Trigger warning for this chapter. Talk of previous abuse, upcoming court trials, and crap boyfriends *

Halloween came and went. While normally a holiday Lily loved, her spirited walk through the woods resulted in her catching a cold. Well, Sarah said it was only a cold. Lily felt like death. Everything hurt, she couldn't breathe, and she had gone through what felt like an entire hospital's worth of tissues for her nose. John straight up sequestered himself in the master bedroom citing his adamant refusal of catching teenage cooties. Lily did not find his attempt at humor very funny. However, she did appreciate the vitamin C packs he would slip under her door along with chocolate and tissue packs when he heard her moaning loudly about how unfair her short life had been.

Leah hadn't heard from Sam for nearly two weeks before he decided to show back up. Leah lost her mind when he finally returned. He refused to tell her why he wasn't responding to any of her calls, continued giving keeping his space from her, and ultimately said he had come down with mono. Leah didn't buy that for an instant. But, without Sam offering her any further information her father ended up being the one to tell her to drop it. It had resulted in a huge shouting match between Harry and his daughter, but there was nothing else for it. Both had strong stubborn personalities but truly cared deeply for those they loved. Harry hated seeing his daughter so upset, but there was nothing he could do for her. Sam needed his space.

This lack of empathy resulted in long conversations between Lily and Leah. Leah wasn't afraid of catching the cold Lily had acquired, although she seemed relieved to actually find her sick. Not in a cruel way, but after the stunt Sam had pulled, she wasn't feeling too generous in the trusting department. Their friendship blossomed over the weeks that followed into a wonderfully sarcasm filled thing of beauty.

Lily hadn't felt like this before, at least not that she could remember. She actually had a friend, a real one. She started opening up a bit more to Leah about what her life was like before coming to Forks. She hadn't had it as rough as some of the other kids in the system had. But she definitely had her own experiences and stories to process through. She had finally opened up about what happened briefly to Leah causing her to come to Washington in the first place. It had happened one particularly frustrating afternoon for Leah while working in the indoor community garden with Lily.

"I am so done with Sam for now. I don't know what the heck is wrong with him, but he makes it out like I'm the crazy one. I am not the one who disappeared. I am not the one whose changing. I am not the one trying to avoid everyone that cares about him. That's all him. But yet I'm the psycho girlfriend, if I'm even that at this point" vented Leah into a very abused looking carrot planter. Carrots were an easy vegetable to grow. You plant the seeds, water, and wait. That's all there is to it. But, needing something to do with her hands while she explained her feeling to Lily, she ended up crunching the delicate sprouts.

"Leah, you know you're my favorite, but you are crushing those carrots. Here, let me take over for you. Why not water the spinach instead?" Lily offered somewhat whining. The carrots were starting to look abused.

"Fine, its not like I have the magic touch you do. I swear, these things just grow better because you're here. You've been cagey about what brought you here. Could you distract me from my crap boyfriend please? All I do lately is complain about him. I wanna hear more about you. What's going on in Lily's world?" was the very blunt change of topic. Well then Lily thought to herself. I guess I could open up a bit. She's been so open about her life and her issues and…. It could help talking about it. I trust her. If anything, she could just not believe me. It wouldn't be the first time, but nothing ventured nothing gained and all that.

"Alright, but would you please not tell this to anyone? I don't really like talking about it. I don't remember my parents very much. I remember a female voice humming, and a warm hug but that's about it. I don't know what happened to them, but I was brought to the orphanage when I was around four years old. I don't remember much from that time other than being hungry and cold. It wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. Families would come and essentially line us up to see which little darling they would take home. I was chosen a few times but always returned. After a while, the families stop picking you. Foster Families started not too long after that. I moved schools a lot because no family was ever in the same area. My last one though… They were not one of the good ones…" Lily paused. She hadn't had to tell this story to anyone other that the responding officers. She wasn't sure where to go with the story. Leah didn't push her to continue, but Lily could tell she had her full attention.

"They were abusive. Plain and simple. People like to throw the word abusive around, I know. But its true. I can't really talk about what they did because there is a court case pending… but, the Wilson's have been so wonderful to me. Sometimes, I feel like I don't belong with them. They're so good and wholesome, you know? I'm not. I'm broken and patched together with different pieces. They try so hard and I just I can't" but Lily couldn't continue her train of thought. She was quickly pulled into a bone crushing hug by Leah. She felt her cheeks and hadn't even realized she had been crying while telling her everything.

Leah held her through the sobbing. She didn't try to stop her tears or hush her. She just held her tightly while Lily cried her pain out. After what felt like hours, she finally started to sniffle signaling the end of her tears. Nothing was really said between the girls at first. Nothing needed to be said. At that moment, something happened between the girls that would forever bond them together. It was just the first string in the cord of their bond, but it had formed nonetheless.

Neither girl noticed the plants had been revived from the earlier trauma looking healthier than ever.