invasion ↠ jackson avery ✓

20

[BELLA LEDFORD]
Seattle, Washington

˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚

Time seemed to rush by Bella Ledford as she thought back to the day her plane landed in Seattle, and she began writing a new chapter of her life. Starting a new job at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, formerly known as Seattle Grace Mercy West, had to have been one of the most difficult part of it all. The British neurosurgeon welcomed change like an old friend and found it to be a challenge, rather than something that intimidated her, so that was not the culprit. Eventually, she figured that not everyone could handle things the way she had, so said change seemed to force those around her to crumble and desperately try to push it away. That was what put her in a complicated situation. She had to realise she was the change.

If there had to be one thing Bella Ledford believed in, it was that everything happens for a reason. From a very young age, she found this to be true and it stuck with her until this very moment. Everything she's been through has formed her into the person she was today, and no matter what she experienced, she was thankful for those lessons.

Learning the hard way challenged her, and being at Grey Sloan Memorial did just that. She was emotionally put to the test, time after time, and the conflict had very much to do with Jackson Avery. The plastic surgeon was one of the closest friends Bella had found at her new job, and it messed with her head in ways she didn't expect it. After all, his relation to the person she wished to forget was staring at her right in the eyes, every time she remembered the surname. It was difficult to decide how she felt because one minute she wanted to put distance between her and Jackson, the other she wished she could tell him everything.

At this point in time, Bella was comfortable with being friends with the youngest Avery. Their relationship didn't have to be anything more than professional, and Bella knew that she could step back at any time she wished. That wasn't the issue. And none of it had to be an issue, really, but it was hard to let herself feel and just be.

What did it say about her? She was friends with the grandson of the man who violated many women in his lifetime, Bella included, and got away with it. Was she aiding this? Was she succumbing to it?

It took a long time for her to get to where she was. Trauma can shape people differently. Some of them end up tougher than they were. They grow a thick skin, and they become uncontrollable in a sense where they refuse to take any more abuse. This doesn't mean they have no feelings, or rather, turn inhuman. Just like becoming more sensitive and closing off doesn't mean people can't deal with what's to come in the future.

If Bella had to self-diagnose herself, she'd say she was somewhere in the middle, though definitely leaning towards the hard candy shell. There was a moment in her life where she decided to end the suffering of her day-to-day life and take control of everything she had left. Something terrible had happened to her, and it bothered her like an itch in the middle of her back that she couldn't scratch, so she went and did something about it. This is not to say everyone should be like her, or the way she processed everything is how it all should be done. But this worked for her—rising up on top and handling it all by the throat, with a deathly grip. She has always had that fire in her, it just needed a little bit of lighting up to find it once more.