Title: Dirty Laundry

Summary: They say that every family has secrets and for the Carvers that honest rings true. What happens when April learns a few things about her parents that sends her world into a tailspin? Who will she turn to for support during her time of need? [April/Leo]

Disclaimer/Note from the author: This is my second Chasing Life story. The idea sorta popped into my head a few days ago and I've been playing around with it ever since. I wasn't sure whether to post this because there are a few twists along the way but here goes. If you like the story, you know the drill... please review :) It will make me want to update faster.

Date Published: 14 July 2014

© theboyfriend-and-theprettygirl, 2014

Chapter One: Dirty, little secret.

Ever since the intervention where Uncle George had forced her to come clean to her family about her illness, April had gotten used to seeing George back at the house again. Granted, whenever he was over he was always clashing with her mom. She had lost track of how many fights they had gotten into since the week that had past.

Today was no different.

She had fainted again at work. It was the third time this week, so her boss had sent her home and told her not to bother coming back until after the weekend. April didn't know where to be upset or relieved at the idea of having three whole days off to herself. Of course Danny had given her the lecture before she had left for the day 'They would have to put him in a body bag before he took a single day off work.' He was that committed to his job. The sad truth was she honestly believed him and a few weeks ago she would've been the same.

But she was sick.

She could possibly be dying from her Leukemia.

And despite not being scared to die if it really was her time to go...she didn't want to leave her family after they had already lost her dad not that long ago.

April was determined to fight like hell. She was going to get better. She had to. Her family was counting on her to pull through.

Her mom and George were having their usual fight when she snuck inside the house. She was too overwhelmed to deal with their drama today, so she quietly crept towards the stairs, hoping that they wouldn't notice that she had come home early. She wasn't in the mood for another lecture. She still hadn't spoken to her boss about having some time off work to deal with her Cancer. If they knew that she hadn't resolved her work situation, she was sure that they would both be on her case right now and all she wanted to do was sleep for the next six hours.

"All I'm saying is that she needs a proper Doctor, George." her mom said loudly, making April stop dead in her tracks and linger half-way up the stairs.

"So what you're saying is that I'm not qualified to be treating her." George snapped angrily.

"Well yes..."

"Sarah, I treat hundreds of kids a year with Leukemia. I think I'm more than qualified to look after April."

"Kids. That's the key word, George. You treat kids at a Children's Hospital." she cried out. "April is 24."

"I know how old she is."

"So you should be seeing my point. Jesus Christ, George it's not rocket science!"

"I am one of the best oncologists in the state and you know that. Why wouldn't you let me do this? Don't you want the best for your daughter?"

"Don't you dare manipulate me like that. Of course I want the best for her. That's why I have an appointment to see Dr Bryant tomorrow."

"Dr Bryant?" George growled angrily. "He will never treat her one time. His waiting lists are so over logged...April will get much worse and quickly, if you are counting on him to free up his operating schedule."

"He's the best in the State."

"What is this really about, Sarah? You know I am as equally good as Dr Bryant, if not better because I love April...so you know I would do anything to make her better. She would be in good hands with me."

"I just want what's best for my daughter."

"So this has nothing to do with the fact that I was driving the car that killed Thomas."

"You have some nerve to make this about some...grudge that I am holding against you, George."

"Well, is it not? Help me out Sarah for Christ sake! I'm trying to do the right thing by April and you are punishing me because of something that was out of my control! I was driving the car, yes but I didn't cross a lane of incoming traffic and smash into another car on a freeway!"

"I can't deal with this right now. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." her mom said bitterly.

"No. You know what? You of all people should understand this. You're a therapist for crying out loud!"

"You killed my husband." she screamed loudly. "You were driving the car. You took him from me."

"How many times am I meant to say that I am sorry before you realize that I wasn't to blame? There is a man rotting in prison for what he did to Thomas, Sarah. Do I feel horrible that my brother died and I survived...of course I do. But I am not going to let you blame me for his death anymore and I am not going to let you find April another Doctor. She's 24 years old. She is old enough to make her own decisions. She choose me and I'm going to respect her wishes and you are just going to have to learn to deal with that. I only want what's best for her."

"Don't you dare act like I don't want what's best for my daughter! You wouldn't even be able to begin to comprehend what I'm going through!"

"I want what's best for April too, Sarah. I don't know how else to stress that."

"Now you want what's best for her, huh? What about when she came to you weeks ago and you didn't have the decency to call her own mother and tell her that her daughter was sick...possibly even dying from Leukemia? What then, George?"

"I wanted to tell you." George said quietly. "But April told me that I couldn't. I was only respecting her wishes because of-"

"So help me Lord, if you even say to me 'Doctor patient confidentiality' I will throw you out of my house."

"I had an ethical obligation to my patient, Sarah."

"What about to your family? Didn't you think we deserved the right to know?"

"Of course you did. I just figured that April would've told you first."

"Well, you made the wrong call. So now I'm going to make sure that I do right by my daughter and get her the proper help."

"SHE'S MY DAUGHTER TOO, DAMMIT!" George yelled angrily. "You think that I don't want to see her get better and fight off this Cancer? Jesus Christ, Sarah I'm her father for God's sake!"

April felt her legs buckle beneath her quickly. Had she heard, right? George was her father? Her uncle George, the man that had been M.I.A. for the last two years was her dad? Surely, she had heard him wrong.

"How dare you." her mom snapped quickly, bring her back to the present situation. "How dare you call yourself her father when you have never even once contributed towards her upbringing."

"And whose fault was that?" George hit back angrily. "I wanted to be there for her. You told me that you didn't want my help. You told me that you were going to keep it from Thomas. That it was a mistake, Sarah. How do you think I felt all those years watching my brother raise my daughter?"

"Is it true?" April asked from the entrance to the living room, making both George and her mom turn around to face her.

"April...honey what are you doing home so early?" her mom asked a little flustered, ignoring her daughter's question and quickly changing the subject.

"Is it true? Is George my...dad?" she said blinking back the tears that had started to burn away at her eyes.

"Honey, I don't know what you heard...but George and I are just trying to find you the right help-"

"IS IT TRUE?" she yelled, cutting her mother off quickly. She couldn't take anymore lies. She needed to know the truth, even though she was kind of dreading it.

"Yes." George said quietly.

"George." her mother snapped, glaring at him angrily.

"She deserves to know the truth, Sarah."

"I cant believe this." April said backing away from them quickly. "All this time...how could you lie to me like that? Why wouldn't you tell me?"

"April..." George said stepping closer towards her, but she pulled away quickly.

"You've been my father this whole time?...and you knew it too and you let me believe that...that he was my father when he wasn't? How could you let him raise me as his daughter? Didn't you love me?"

"Of course I loved you, April. I still do.. But I had no say in the matter whatsoever."

"April, your father loved you very much." her mom said quickly.

"My father?" she repeated laughing loudly. "Which one mom? My uncle George or Thomas Carver the famous novelist?"

"April." her mother said shaking her head. "He was still your father. He raised you as his own daughter."

"Oh really? Because he wasn't even my biological dad."

"That doesn't mean that he didn't love you, April...or that he loved you any less." George said quietly.

"I can't deal with this right now." April said throwing her hands up in the air. "I can't look at either of you."

"April, please...we can talk about this."

"It's a little too late, mom." she said before storming off.

"April..." her mom called out behind her. But it was too late, she had already slammed the front door shut.

"Now look at the mess you've made! Are you happy now?" she heard her mom yell at George and that was all she heard before she started running down the street.

She had no idea where she was running to but she needed to get far away. She couldn't believe that they had all lied to her all this time. Her mom. Her dad. Her uncle George.

Did her grandma know the truth as well? Was she another person to add to the long list of liars?

After about two minutes of running, she felt tired, out of breath and winded. Her lack of energy was something she was still struggling to get used to. Clutching at the stitch at her side, she continued walking downtown. She needed to get as far away from her house as she could, in the event that her mom or Uncle George- or should she be calling him dad, now?- followed her. She couldn't face them today. She needed some time to think things over. She needed some space.

April was so disorientated and consumed in her own thoughts that she didn't even realize that she had smashed into someone.

"Watch where you're going, idiot." said a young man, pulling off his motorcycle helmet. "April?"

April looked up quickly. It was Leo Hendire.

"April, are you alright?" he asked placing both hands on her shoulder gently. "Why are you crying? Is everything okay?"

"I've just had the worst day." she said biting her lip at little, to stop herself to breaking down and sobbing uncontrollably.

"What is it? It's not about your diagnosis is it? Your Cancer is not terminal is it?"

"No. No. It's nothing like that." she said sniffing a little. "It's about my family. They are just not who I thought they were."

"Come here." Leo said. taking her suddenly by surprise and pulling her in for a tight hug. "Do you want to talk about it."

April nodded without a word.

"Let's go back to my apartment. I'm not too far from here. Have you had lunch? I was about to order something to eat. You look a bit pale."

"I don't think I have an appetite. But you should get something while we are here."

"We are both getting something, girly. I am not taking no for an answer. You need to make sure that you are keeping your body healthy if you want any chance of fighting off this Cancer. This place is the best Vegan Restaurant in all of Boston." he said smiling a little. "The food is delicious. Trust me, after we get something to eat, I'm all ears...but first we've got to look after your health. Come on."

-x-

"So your uncle is really your dad?" Leo asked, before stuffing another spoonful of his salad into his mouth quickly.

"Yep. How messed up is that?" April said turning her fork around in her salad to play with her food.

They were in Leo's apartment, sitting down on his living room floor eating their salads. She was kind of relieved to not be alone right now. Leo had really surprised her by being an attentive listener. She had expected him to be a little bit more of a smart-arse since her first impression of him was that he was a rich and spoilt jackass. But he had really proven her wrong. She couldn't help but smile at this other side to him. He was really sweet when he wanted to be and the more she was getting to know him, the more she was starting to like him. Really like him.

"Yeah, that is pretty messed up." he said breaking her out of her thoughts. "But if you want to hear messed up you should hear some of my stories about my dad and my family."

"Surely, they can't be worse than finding out that your uncle is your father?"

"True. Unless, you consider finding out that your dad paid your mom money to keep away from you all these years, when you thought she was just a selfish bitch that walked out on her family."

"Leo, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. I only found out last week. Apparently she saw my dad's election bid. Remember my exclusive story on the night? Well she heard that I was sick and she found me at the hospital. It was actually during one of our support meetings. Which, by the way you haven't been coming to lately."

"I'm sorry." April said quietly, placing a hand on his lap and then quickly pulling it away when Leo looked down at where her hand had been.

"For what? Not coming to the meetings or for my mom?"

"Both."

"That's okay. I understand where you are coming from... I remember what it was like when I first realized that I was sick. I'm just happy that you finally came clean and told the rest of your family. Even if you are pissed now...they still love you and they had a right to know. You did the right thing, April." he said pushing back a strand of her hair and tucking it behind her ear.

April blushed. She was sure that her whole face was as red as a beetroot. She hated that spending time with Leo always made her heart race that much faster. Or the way that she had no control over the butterflies that fluttered in her stomach whenever he touched her.

"I still can't believe that they would lie to me like that." April mumbled. She was trying to make conversation because the distance between herself and Leo was so small now and all she really wanted to do was jump his bones.

But she had a boyfriend. She couldn't do that to Dom. No matter how much she really liked Leo, it wasn't fair to Dominic.

"Sometimes people lie to you to protect you." he said softly.

April's eyes lingered on his lips. She couldn't stop herself from staring. A part of her wanted to lean over and become familiar with them. She had just had the worst day of her life- the only exception obviously being the day that she was diagnosed-and he was being so nice to her. So caring and attentive. She wanted to thank him. She wanted a distraction. She wanted him...

"April, your phone is ringing." Leo said breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Ugh, it's my mom." she said hitting decline. "What am I going to do? I don't want to go home tonight. I can't face her today."

"You could crash here if you want?" he offered up casually, trying not to sound to keen or overly excited.

"Are you sure?" she asked quickly. "I could go over to my best friend's place but that's probably the-"

"-first place that they will go looking for you." he said finishing her sentence with a small smirk. "I'd be happy to have some company. I get so lonely by myself anyways."

"Okay, it will only be for one night." she said wrapping her arms around him quickly in a tight hug.

"April, you can stay as long as you like. I don't mind."

"Thanks Leo." she said softly into neck. "You are such a good friend to me."

Friend. Leo sighed heavily. He really hated that word.

-xx-

Author's Note:

Okay, so do you love or hate it that I've made George April's father? Please leave me a comment or review because I am totally freaking out!

I hope you guys liked it. There will be more family secrets revealed later on so I hope that you guys want me to continue. Thanks for reading!

Paris xx