isn't it? [taylor swift]

chapter 12

"She was doing what?"

"Coke," Selena replied, sighing as she leaned back on the couch, her face in her hands as the man on the speaker was genuinely speechless. He'd known that something was majorly wrong with Leia but it was like nothing he said would get through to her.

"Leia Hudson... is on cocaine?" Riven clarified, his voice crackling due to the poor line signal as Selena and Cara sighed once more. They'd had to repeat this numerous times for the man and it still seemed like he was having a hard time believing them.

"I am so confused."

Everyone mumbled in agreement as they sat in Taylor's living room. Cara, Gigi and Taylor were all sitting spread about across the room as they listened to Selena's retelling of the events that had happened. Their schedules had all been hectic for the past week so it had taken them this long for them all to be in the same country to have this discussion.

Tate was lying with his large head resting in Taylor's lap as the dog snores softly, obviously having found it tiring being constantly on edge around Dylan. Taylor had never really been a dog person, but the dog was so much like his owner that she had easily found a love for the huge pup. Her hand was subconsciously even stroking his ear, the large dog forgetting yet again that he wasn't a lap dog.

"Guys, it was bad," Selena tried to explain to them all just how bad their friend had gotten since they had all last managed to speak to her. "Like crazy bad."

"She was a complete mess," Selena continued, her voice laden with anguish. "Leia was shutting us out, using drugs to numb the pain she was feeling. It was like she had completely lost herself."

Cara shook her head, tears glistening in her eyes. "I can't believe we didn't see it sooner. We should have been there for her."

"It's not your fault, Cara. We all missed the signs," Gigi said, resting a comforting hand on Cara's arm. She knew this was affecting her on a deeper level than the rest of them.

Taylor shifted her gaze from Tate's fluffy head to Selena, her expression filled with concern. She knew that Leia was struggling, but she hadn't realized it had gotten this far.

"Did we?" Taylor muttered, her voice so gentle and broken that the others almost missed it at first. "She's been acting weird since that night with Justin... and then at my party, I confronted her and I just knew something was wrong. But I just walked away."

"And that's also not your fault," Gigi replied, looking sternly at her friend from across the room. "We can't beat ourselves up for this. Leia made a mistake - and we'll help her through it when we can - but it is not on us."

Taylor drummed her fingers on the arm of the couch, lost in thought. The idea of reaching out to Leia's family seemed like the most logical next step, but there was an underlying feeling of apprehension within her.

There was an uncomfortable silence as everyone tried to process the story that Selena had just told again. None of them really knew how they were supposed to react to the news that their best friend was becoming addicted to taking drugs and was also potentially being hurt by her current boyfriend - if they even were that.

Before anyone could say anything, Selena's phone started ringing.

"Who is it?"

"It's... Leia?"

"ANSWER IT!!!" They all yelled at the same time, everyone frantically screeching at each other and at Selena for the girl to pick up the phone call. Selena yelled back at them, telling them to shut up as she clicked accept on the phone call.