So… I'm still alive, just in case anyone cares. Hey-ho.
This. Took. Forever. But 'tis done now. Basically, this is one of those it-was-Leo-not-Jason-on-the-Wilderness-School-roof-that-night stories, but I never intended it to be romantic. I like Jasper. However, it's not too hard to interpret it that way if you so wish.
A looong one-shot that swings from humour to angst to hurt/comfort and back again.
Hope you enjoy, folks!
xXx
Leo groaned and let his head rest on his folded arms on the desk in front of him. "Tell me again how much longer we're supposed to survive this torture for." Piper smiled despite herself and checked her watch,
"Um, 45 minutes? Give or take." He groaned.
"Goodbye, cruel world." She giggled, then quickly shushed herself as Mrs. Cricken looked over.
"Ah, you love it really," she whispered. He just looked at her. She glanced at the teacher – who was neatly distracted lecturing Isabel on the fact that they really didn't need to know the exact colour of her bra each and every day (a concept that Piper heartily approved of) – then leaned in conspiratorially. "You know, there's supposed to be a meteor shower tonight." He sat up, curious.
"Hmmm?"
"It's supposed to be quite an impressive one," she continued in a conversational undertone, "and it's just a shame that we won't be able to see it, stuck in our dorms. Say, purely hypothetically, an escape plan could be formulated, and a couple of juvenile delinquents could get out after hours…" His ember-like eyes had a mischievous glitter to them, and he grinned,
"Say, if said conspirators were to agree to meet at 9 o'clock in the corridor outside the girl's dorm…"
"I'm sure that such an escape could be arranged. Agreed?"
"Agreed."
xXx
It was already dark by the time they'd gotten out of the building – narrowly avoinding capture by Coach Hedge, which wouldn't have been pretty - and onto the roof. The night air was clear and cool, and the pair of them sat back-to-back, staring at the sky. "Technically, this could count as homework, you know." Leo said, "Science. Cosmo… sumo… astroturf-oly-something…" Piper smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Cosmology?"
"That's the one. Hey, Pipes, look!" He pointed as a streak of silver flashed across the already star-bespattered sky. Piper looked, and her jaw dropped. Reading about it was one thing. Seeing it for herself in a barran stretch of desert with no light pollution was quite another. Despite her Cherokee heritage, she didn't really take the time to stop and look at the natural world on a regular basis, but she couldn't help being impressed. Soon enough, shooting stars streaked the heavens. She thought of one of the stories her Dad used to tell her, and the thought made her smile. Leo looked over his shoulder, "what're you smirking about?"
"You can't actually see me," she said, "how do you know I'm smirking? Anyway, I wasn't smirking, I was smiling."
"I'm just special like that. And of course you were smirking."
"Magic hedgehogs." He swivelled around to face her.
"Magic hedgehogs", he repeated, "only Piper could possibly dream up magic hedgehogs. What, pray, are magic hedgehogs?"
"Hedgehogs that are magic?" She grinned, "a story my Dad told me." She explained how the Cherokee believed that the stars were all magical creatures, like hedgehogs with glowing fur, living in the sky, "some hunters even caught some once," she finished.
"So, basically, we could be watching a bunch of celestial hedgehogs committing suicide by flinging themselves off their little celestial cliffs?"
"Just because you're a complete philistine with no hope of redemption doesn't mean we all are."
"A phili-what?"
"Philistine. Someone with no appreciation of culture and the finer things in life."
"So… magic hedgehogs are the finer things in life now?"
"You're impossible." He gave her his best winning smile.
"I know that, my dear." They scooted back a bit so they could lean against one of the bizarre chimney-like things that stuck out of the roof; Piper still didn't know what the heck they were for, if not to provide comfortable seating for escapee delinquents. She shivered; her snowboarding jacket was still drying after being hosepiped the previous afternoon (long story), and the night was turning cold. Leo draped his army jacket around her shoulders and, after hesitating for a heartbeat, she put her arms through the sleeves and wrapped them around herself. "Hey," she said, "who says the age of the gentlemen is over?"
"Funny, that. No-one's ever accused me of being a gentleman before." The thought made her smile.
"Aren't you cold?" She asked. But she knew the answer already.
"Nah, the cold doesn't bother me. I don't know what you're always whining about."
"I don't whine about the cold."
"If you say so." She shoved his arm. He had a point with the first part, though; the kid must've been some kind of medical miracle. He always felt really hot to the touch, as if he was burning up with a fever, but apparantly that was normal for Leo. 'Normal' in the loosest definition of the word. Actually, she'd found it very handy to have befriended a walking radiator. He drummed his fingers on the rooftop restlessly, staring into space. There seemed to have been a lull in the meteors, but they were starting up again now. She positioned her fingers so they were hovering over his, waiting to strike. Suddenly, she flattened his hand with hers, putting a temporary stop to the drumming.
"Seriously, one fine day I'm going to get myself some industrial-strength duct tape and stick your fingers to the desk/roof/whatever. Can't you just sit still? Just chill. Calm… You won't explode. Honestly." The funny thing was that, for a second her words – though in jest – seemed to have some effect. He was always totally wired – she had no idea why. The ADHD? Probably. But he relaxed, just for a second (just enough for her to question whether she imagined it), before snapping out of it with a start, shaking his head.
"You don't know that." He grinned, "anyway, ADHD is more fun. Can I have my fingers back now?"
"What's the magic word?"
"Um, magic hedgehogs?" She dug her nails in (relatively) gently, and he yelped,
"Okay, ow! Please. The word's please. See? I can be good." She let him go. "Jeez, Beauty Queen, glad my face wasn't there."
"It yet might be. You're infuriating."
"I know that. Love you, too." She laughed, and leant her head on his shoulder as he put an arm around her. He'd started drumming his fingers on her shoulder again, but the jacket sleeve was thick cotton, so she couldn't feel it enough to be irritated by it. They could've stayed like that for minutes, or hours. Keeping track of time was hard, and she wasn't wearing a watch. She wondered briefly how late it was getting. Probably pretty late. Plenty late enough to get in serious trouble. Meh, she was a juvenile delinquent with a criminal record. She ought to start acting like one. She glanced sideways at her friend, who was apparently close to dozing off.
"Hey, Leo?"
"Mmm?"
"Anything in these pockets liable to take my fingers off? I don't trust your gadgets…"
"Your choice, Belleza. Your choice."
"What sort of answer is that?"
"The only one you're getting, Belleza." She harrumphed,
"Belleza? What the heck does belleza mean?" He smiled slyly and held his tongue. "Argh, you're impossible." She wasn't sure if he could tell that she was trying not to laugh. He usually could. She buried her fists in the pockets. There were mostly bits of wire and metal and springs and elastic bands. And pipecleaners. Lots of pipecleaners. Apparently, he had a thing for pipecleaners. She'd already noticed this. She pulled one out and wound it around her finger for a moment before putting it in the top pocket for him to find later. As she did, her fingers brushed something cold and rectangular, and she pulled it out. He started to say,
"maybe you sh-"
But she wasn't listening. She stared at the face in the photograph. Oh, God. The woman had a crazy smile that Piper knew all too well. The angle was low and the image a little bit shaky, like it had been taken by a little kid playing with a camera. She seemed to be shaking her head in amused exasperation, like, what am I going to do with you? The piece of paper itself was crinkled and torn, like the frame was a recent addition to preserve it. "That's-"
"My Mom," his voice was hollow, "yeah." Piper knew vaguely that Leo's mother had died when he was eight – hence the foster homes – but she didn't know details. She hadn't thought to ask. Apart from anything else, he was always so cheerful. She'd never wanted to bring it up.
"She's beautiful." It wasn't a lie. She didn't look all that old, but kind of worn out, like she had to work hard. Her curly hair framed her face and her eyes were just like Leo's; dark and warm, glittering with humour. "She looks a lot like you." He didn't answer. She was silent for a moment, then said, "I bet you're sick of hearing this," she paused again, "but I'm sorry." He made a sound of assent. She took the photograph and put it in his hand, carefully closing his fingers around it. As she did, a horrifying scenario played out in her head. Her Dad. Gone. Forever. Just taken from her. She had no-one to turn to. Nowhere to go. Okay, so maybe she was a juvenile delinquent. She rebelled. She went off by herself. But, really, Piper had never really known what it was like to be properly alone. Even if it was only the hated Jane, someone was always looking out for her. She couldn't bring herself to imagine any different. She buried her face in her hands.
"Hey, Pipes, what's wrong?"
"Nothing," she said quickly, sweeping a swift hand across her eyes. "I'm fine." She settled herself against his shoulder again. It was easier to stay quiet. But 'easier' wasn't always 'better'. She'd learned that a long time ago. She scooted around so she was facing him. "Leo?"
"Mmhmm?"
"I want to promise me something." He looked at her like she was mad. Maybe she was. Stranger things had happened. "Don't just… disappear. Not like… you know."
Last month.
He'd just vanished at the start of the holidays. Without a trace. Knowing she was pretty much his only friend, the school had contacted her. Had he seemed different? Had he been planning anything? Did she have any idea where he might have gone? And she hadn't had a clue what to say, but of course she'd let them know if she heard anything. She basically hadn't slept for a week.
Finally, she'd gotten a phone call three days before they were due back at school. He'd been caught. Like, miles and miles from the foster home. And, yep, he'd be returning to the Wilderness school, at least while they found somewhere else for him to stay. She'd been furious, but mostly relieved. Like, trying-not-to-cry relieved. But did he know that? That was the thing that worried her most; he didn't seem to have gotten his head around the idea that people really did care. When he left somewhere, he didn't think about those he left behind. He just… left. That was the worst thing. But how the heck was she supposed to say all that?
Apparently, she didn't have to. His expression softened, and he stared at the sky. "You can't just make anything simple, can you?" He stood up, restless and agitated, and walked over to the edge of the roof.
"Promise, Leo. Please."
"I-" He turned and saw the look on her face, then looked away again. "Fine. I promise I won't run away again. Not without saying goodbye."
"I'll hold you to that."
"You'd better." He harrumphed, "Right, now a promise from you."
"What?"
"Enough of the philosophical stuff, okay? Stop it! Your making my head hurt. No more." She smiled,
"Okay. No more." She thought for a moment, "but what about a question of the non-philosophical kind?"
"I'm worried now. Ah, what the heck? Go for it."
"Where'll you go for the Christmas Holidays? I mean, you won't be going back to wherever you were staying before. How will they go about finding a new foster home?"
"Meh, I don't know. They'll bring in lots of annoying, well-meaning people for 'interviews'", he made air-quotes with his fingers, and she didn't say that 'annoying' and 'well-meaning' probably meant that they were trying to help, "and if I don't fall asleep, I'll consider myself 'friendly' and 'positive', as I'm told I should be and… um, yeah. I don't know. They'll find somewhere to dump me. They always do." He joined her by the chimney-contraption again and took a seat. "Why?"
"I just… well, I-"
"While we're still young?" She shot him a quick death-glare, just to let him know she could still hold her own in the conversation, then continued.
"What if you were to stay with me and my Dad?" She backtracked a bit, "I mean, you don't have to. It was just a thought, you know, if you've got nowhere else to go…"
"No-" He cut her off, "I mean, I'd like that. I'd like that a lot. You serious?" She grinned and rolled her eyes, nervousness gone.
"No. Go crawl back under the stone you came from, peasant." They laughed, "my house is huge. Even you couldn't knock it down from within."
"That a challenge, Beauty Queen?"
"You'll have to face my housekeeper first. You wouldn't stand a chance."
"Ah, jeez. That and the rest of the Royal Court. I'll be good, Your Ladyship." She jabbed her – sharp – elbow into his ribs.
"Call me that one more time, Valdez, and I swear I'll hire a Royal Executioner." He mock-bowed, at least as well as he could while sitting down.
"Anything you say, Your Highness."
"That's it, so help me, Leo-" He was saved by a gruff voice from the corridor below,
"What's that? Eh?" They looked at eachother, like, uh-oh. "If I find some of you Cupcakes out after hours, I swear I'm gonna-" Leo offered her a hand and whispered,
"Tactical retreat?" She eyed the fire escape.
"Let's get out of here."
xXx
Belleza - bell-eh-tha - beautiful, a beauty.
So, um, yeah. I hope you liked it. :)
I love the sort of sibling-like relationship these two have, and there are two main headcannons referenced here:
The sixth time Leo ran away, he was already attending The Wilderness School with Piper, and his disappearance scared her half to death; it made her fear that one day he'd just vanish and she'd never see him again. As a result, she has a tendency to worry about him.
After the War was over, when they weren't at Camp, Leo lived with the McLeans as Piper's foster-brother.
So, um, yeah. Welcome to the weird place that is my head. XD
Any and all reviews make me happy! I especially love constructive criticisms.
P.S. HaveBookWillTravel wrote an awesome Leo/Piper fic partially inspired by my other story Let someone else take the wheel called Some Nights. It's freaking incredible, and if you enjoyed this you'll probably enjoy that too. :)