Private Parts

CHAPTER ONE

A huge sigh escaped a young girl's lips on this spring day just outside of Mystic Falls. She was standing outside of what was her home for the past year and a half. This girl, dressed in an oversized well worn in knitted cardigan with jeans and DM's was Piper Farron. The building she was standing outside of? A hospital for the mentally ill, though this isn't what you initially are thinking. No, she was in the ward for the depressed youth who needed help to cope with their manic depression.

Her parents paid to have her sectioned after her brother whom she was extremely close to, died a mysterious death. No member of authority could give the Farron's a straight answer as to what killed Kaden. Piper and Kaden were extremely close before his untimely death, he was the type of brother who was proud to be seen out in public with his sister. Some people found that strange, but they didn't care. They cared for each other, and each were each other's best friend. It was true, when Kaden died Piper did fall into a pit of despair and manic depression. She withdrew from her usual popular life and stayed in Kaden's room the entire time- moving all of her belongings into his room and making it her own whilst not touching anything that was left behind of his.

Her parents became more and more concerned about her change in personality, and after failing to get through to her and falsely thinking she was trying to take her own life (she was just washing the conditioner out of her hair in the bath tub) by drowning, they decided it was best to section her.

So a year and a half later, here she is standing outside waiting for a taxi to pick her up and take her back to Mystic Falls. She felt glad to see the sunshine hit her face and the crisp spring air make her wrap her thin and moth eaten scarf round her neck. Everything felt refreshing, and she was glad to be out. Though she doesn't hold a grudge against her parents for putting her inside. She did at first, and wished she could suddenly see her friends but after some time of councilling, medication intake and reading every book in the hospital's library, she realised they were only looking out for her. Snapping out of her thoughts, she saw her taxi pull up to the curb and with a shy smile, she confirmed her name to the driver before getting in and letting the taxi take her back to where it all began….. Mystic Falls.

She looked out of the window as the world rushed by her, and she began debating in her mind, if she was truly ready to be out and back in town yet. She had spent an entire year and a half not seeing anyone. She refused visits from her friends Matt Donovan, Bonnie Bennett and Tyler Lockwood for the first four tries they attempted to visit her. She only allowed visits from her mother because she brought clothes and new journals for her to write in. Once her friends stopped attempting to visit her, she figured they had decided to just give up on her completely. Little did she know, things had got a little crazy in Mystic Falls during her time away. As the taxi pulled up to the curb by the sidewalk in front of The Mystic Grill, she noticed out of the window Matt Donovan cleaning tables sporting the Grill's work shirt.

She just found herself staring at him for a few moments, not really hearing the driver calling out to her for his fee for the drive. When she did hear him, she apologised sheepishly and paid him with the money the hospital gave her for the taxi. She had told them she' would pay them back for the ride once she was home and asked her mother for the money. Opening the car door, she swung each leg out of the doorway, and stood up out of the car, grabbing her duffel bag and slinging it over her shoulder, as she closed the door with her spare door. She looked around, suddenly being overwhelmed with thoughts of anxiousness and pure worry. Would anyone recognise her? Or even want to remember her or know her again? How would her own parents react to her being home again after they didn't bother to pick her up and bring her home themselves.

"Welcome to Mystic Falls," She heard from behind her, and as she turned round she realised it was indeed Matt Donovan greeting her, as if she was a stranger or a newbie to the town. "Thanks… but it's more of a 'welcome back' in my case" Piper replied, smiling shyly and awkwardly. She couldn't blame Matt for not realising who she was, she wasn't wearing the kind of clothing she used to be seen in, her hair was a darker shade of blonde than before, due to not being able to highlight it with dye in the hospital. Her hair was also braided in two lose braids like pigtails. She had no make up on, and looked like a complete stranger. She watched as the turn tables turned in Matt's mind as she spoke, and his realisation became sudden and obvious on his face.

"No way! Piper!? Well… long time no see stranger" Matt spoke to her in a cheerful voice, a smile becoming evident on his lips. "Yeah, I know. Sorry about that… but hey, I'm back." Piper replied to her old friend, deciding now wasn't the best time to start apologising for turning him away when he and the others came to visit her and be the good friends they were to her. "Come in for a drink? The others are inside," Matt asked her, offering her inside and willing to make the drink on the house for her. He wanted her to see the others, and figured it would be good for Bonnie Bennett and Tyler Lockwood to see her again as well. This however, scared Piper and made her withdraw again. This was one thing she needed to learn to not do on her own. Her councillor told her so, deciding that if she didn't start learning these life lessons out in the real world amongst her old friends, she never will become the girl she wants to be.

"I… dunno Matt, I'm not exactly dressed right to see the old gang and I have to get back home, see the folks." Piper spoke up, her awkwardness of being social and anxieties showing. She didn't want to seem rude or anti social, but she wasn't so sure she was ready to see Bonnie and Tyler. It was true what she said, she did need to tell her parents she was out of hospital and home. She also felt it was necessary to find out why they didn't bother picking her up and bringing her home themselves. She couldn't understand what parents wouldn't be there for their child when coming out of hospital. "Oh ok, well, come back later? I know the others would like to see you Piper. It's good to see you looking well." Matt replied to her knowing after what she has been through it was best not to push her. Pushing anyone to do something they didn't want to at the moment wasn't the way to go.

Things were intense in Mystic Falls, vampires had come back to the town and caused a lot of mayhem. His sister Vicky had been turned into a vampire by Damon Salvatore and then killed because she went rogue and rabid practically. Elena Gilbert was dating one of the Salvatore brothers called Stefan, Bonnie found out she was a witch, and Elena was a doppleganger of a very old vampire who turned Stefan and Damon. On top of that, things were getting weird with Tyler after his father died and his cousin miraculously showed up in town then disappeared, and Caroline had found this new air of confidence and attitude which she didn't have before. "Yup… things have definitely become intense and weird around here…" Matt thought to himself. He walked back into The Grill to continue his work, as Piper continued her walk away fro the building and she made her way towards her home, a place she felt like she hadn't seen in many more years than the year and a half.

As she draw closer to where her house resides, just on the other side of the high street she wondered if she wanted to be back in the house, but she knew she had to do this. If she didn't go back home, she'd never move on with her life. "You can do this," She said to herself, taking a deep breath in and then out again. She walked up the road and approached the picket fenced lot where her house stood firm and tall. Walking up the path to the front door, she glanced at the front lawn remembering the times Kaden would have water fights with her in the summer. She felt glad it was a happy memory that flashed through her mind, when once again her thoughts were broken from her mother's startling exclamation. "Piper! You're home!" which caused Piper to just give her a forced smile a shoulder shrug, extending her arms in a manner that shouted 'well spotted Sherlock'.

"The hospital left a message on the answering machine saying you were leaving today, but we were out shopping, when I called them back they said you had taken a taxi here. Oh I'm just glad you're home, come on let's get you inside." Her mother explained to her, as she wrapped her arms around Piper's shoulders and ushered her inside the house.

It was probably down to the anxiety that Piper was working through, but she could have sworn her mother's attitude and eagerness to getting her inside the house was a sign that she didn't want their neighbours to see her back in town. Once inside, she marvelled the walls of the house as if she was visiting the place for the first time, things seemed so different now, yet everything looked the same. Piper wondered what it was, that was made her think this thought, but decided it was best to do what she did best: shrug it off. She would just write it down in her journal in the evening before she went to sleep.

It wasn't long before her father appeared from the living room, from his usual chair Piper could only imagine. She gave her father a sheepish smile, which she felt she was giving to just about everyone she saw today. Her father said no words, just walked up to her and grabbed her pulling her into his arms, hugging her tightly. Like most fathers, he wasn't very good with words and found his actions spoke louder than any words he could muster to say. Being the loving daughter she always used to be, she hugged him back, feeling overwhelmed by the recognisable smell of his cologne. Tears fell from her eyes by this point, as everything familiar to her just became too much to take in. From the way her father gripped her tighter, she could only come to the conclusion that he too was trying to not to cry.

"Come… you must be hungry and in need of a drink," Her mother Sandra said, breaking apart her husband and daughter. With a swipe of her sleeve, Piper wiped away the tears from her cheeks to stop them from falling off the edge of her chin. "Actually… I wanna see my room. I saw Matt at The Grill and he wants me to see the gang there. So I might just change and head out…" Piper spoke to Sandra back in reply, her voice quiet rather than the confident and loud volume she used to speak at. Seeing her mother nod, and look surprised at how Piper wished to leave the house so soon after leaving, she sighed. She gave her parents thoughts and feelings a real think over in that moment, which caused her re think her plans. "A drink here first can't hurt though." She then decided to say, which brought a smile to both her mother and father and she followed them into the kitchen. The kitchen was like every other kitchen in the houses of Mystic Falls, cupboards and sink lining the walls of the kitchen, whilst stood a centre work surface to stand in to look like a bar area, and overlooked the open walkthrough to the living room.

Stools stood in place around the centre work surface, and Piper took placement on her usual left hand side stool. Her elbows sat on the marble surface, as she leaned her chin into the palms of her hands. Her mother fixed her a cold refreshing drink and although, Piper didn't ask for it, she did make her daughter a sandwich to eat. It was obvious by this movement that she wanted Piper to be in the house for as long as possible, and Piper couldn't help but wonder if her mother wanted her to be out in public at all. "Mom… I can get something at The Grill, there is no need to make me food," Piper tried to change her mother's mind, but nothing really worked, so with a hefty sigh and giving into her mother's wants, she ate the sandwich made for her and drank the drink she was given.

A few minutes later, she was in her old room and looking through her wardrobe seeing the kinds of clothes she used to wear. Pencil dresses and skirts, fitted tops of various designs, along with many super skinny jeans in her other drawers and many other flimsy bordering on see through lose fitting over tops and strappy vests. In the bottom of her wardrobe were various boots and shoes- mostly all of the heeled variety whether they be wedge style or stiletto. She sighed, realising how much she had changed in just a year and a half.

"Hospital sure changes a person…" She muttered to herself, closing her wardrobe, staring at her reflection in the full-length mirror on the door of the wardrobe. She stared with another hefty sigh escaping her lips, and she wondered if she should even wear anything that she used to or stick to what she was wearing. If Caroline sure her now, she would surely have something to say about her outcast thespian look. She decided she would go for a in between look instead, so she dug out a pair of her non torn up jeans and removed her hand knitted cardigan, placing it neatly on the bed. Removing her DM boots off her feet, she then went on to remove her torn up jeans and replace them with the more suitable ones. She then replaced her DM boots back on her feet and pulled out a clean ribbed plain black tee from a drawer. Once satisfied with her new clean look, she decided it was now or never to see the old gang. If she was to see her friends Tyler and Bonnie and in turn everyone else, she had to just go for it now before she retreats back into herself again.

She walked over to her bedside table, which was just a plain wooden drawer like every other young woman's bedside tables were. Pulling at the drawer, she took out her wallet, glad to see it was still in it's usual place. She was even more glad there was still some cash in it- though it wasn't much. Counting it came to a grand total of $30. Deciding to not worry about it, she placed it in a bag and slung it over her shoulder before deciding to leave the house. Running down the stairs, she took out her braids in her hair and combed her hair through with her fingers, before pulling it back and tying it up into a ponytail. Due to the previous hairstyle, it turned this into a highly volumised ponytail and frizzy. "Where are you going Piper?" Sandra called out, walking out from the kitchen just as Piper reached the floor from the bottom step. "I promised Matt I'd say hi to everyone in The Grill… I have to Mom, otherwise I'll never learn to move forward. My therapist insists on it." She told Sandra, hoping that the words "my therapist" and "insists" would make her mother drop the subject and just let her go. Thankfully, the key words in her response worked, and she watched as it was now her mother's turn to do the sighing. "I'll be fine Mom, I promise." Piper said one last time, giving her mother a firm hug and kiss on the cheek before exiting the house and heading back into town.

As refreshing and welcoming the outside world felt to her, when outside the gates of the hospital, it was now becoming scary and overwhelming. 'I made a promise to Matt' she thought to herself, as she put her head down and reached the square and The Grill. She walked inside, and looked around and things so much more tense and quiet than she remembered. She wondered why that was, but then part of her didn't want to know. She couldn't see Matt Donovan initially and could guess he was out the back working, so she scoured the building and found a table near the back of the place and sat there. She looked down at her hands, as they clasped together, and her fingers twiddled together in an anxious manner. She sat there for a good five minutes before she was ready to leave and just go home. 'Don't give up so soon- you're a strong person Piper' she imagined her brother Kaden saying in her thoughts.

"Hey you made it!" Matt's voice broke through to her, as she looked up to see him standing by her table and smiling at her. "Err.. yeah I guess so," She said, realising her hands were twiddling between each other anxiously, so she pulled her hands off the table and sat on them instead. "The others are over there in the booth, so why don't you come with me and say hi to them? They've missed you." Matt told her, holding out a hand to her signalling for her to trust him. He could see she was anxious, and he didn't feel phased by it or feel surprised. She had spent so long locked in a building and not socialising to the point she was scared of seeing her friends. He wasn't expecting her to be the same old Piper Farron they had known and loved. He just wanted her to trust her friends would look after her and not shy away from her. Gulping Piper took his hand and stood up from the table, grabbing her bag with her other hand and followed Matt to the booth where sat Bonnie Bennett and Tyler Lockwood.

"Look who I found back in town today!" Matt chimed, edging Piper out from behind him, not letting her hide behind him. Tyler was the first to look up from chatting with Bonnie about the current problems in the town. At first, he couldn't help but get a tad annoyed for being interrupted by Matt. What was he thinking bringing someone innocent over and possibly overhear what they were talking about? Tyler could really punch Matt in the arm sometimes at his poor timing. Yet, when he saw the shy girl trying to hide behind Matt, he found he knew that face from anywhere. "Piper?" He questioned looking at her, finding it strange that se was being so shy, but then seconds later the realisation of why she was being so different dawned on him. He felt like face planting the table after wards for his brain taking so long to put two and two together.

"Damn girl, it's been a long time!" Bonnie chimed in, deciding that she would dig Tyler out of the metaphorical hole he had well and truly dug himself in. "Hey, yeah… sorry for that" Piper replied, feeling like it was now time to apologise for her rudeness over this last year and a half. She had honestly felt like a terrible friend and felt like she didn't deserve the kindness they were showing her so far. She had treated them so badly by ignoring them and refusing to see them, but now she had a chance to make up for that. She saw Bonnie scoot over in the booth and pat the sofa beside her, signalling for her old friend to sit down beside her.

Piper hesitated at first, but she gulped down that hesitation and moved forward, sitting down in the booth next to her old friend. "So… how comes you refused our visits?" Tyler asked, digging himself further into the hole than needed, but the truth was he had been dying to ask that question for this entire time. He couldn't understand why she accept her mother's visits but not her closest friends. They were so willing to visit her and try and help her by giving her distractions of happiness and gossip with her about the happenings in Mystic Falls, but she turned them down every time. "It wasn't like that Tyler…" Piper said, still being quiet and edgy around him. He seemed different to her, more unstable and intimidating. This scared her, but she had to attempt to not let that show. "Dude! Not cool!" Matt chimed in, lifting one arm and placing a comforting hand onto Piper's shoulder.

"What? I'm just curious that's all!" Tyler spoke back to Matt. "Matt it's fine… he has a right to ask," Piper spoke up, looking between the two boys in front of her, and with a 'see!?' gesture from Tyler by lifting his hands up defensively and pointing towards Piper, she felt like she could continue. "Thing is, I was in a really bad place Tyler, I didn't want you seeing me that way. I was scared of seeing anyone- even mom. But she insisted on chaining herself to the doors if I didn't accept her visits. So I had no choice but to see her… and she brought me clothes. Thing is, I was under heavy medication and therapy. I was anxious about everything around me, I was manic depressive." Piper began explaining her real issues finally.

"I sat in a room mostly reading just to distract my mind, because every time I wasn't reading I was thinking about Kaden. I was thinking about how he wasn't…isn't there to be my friend or brothers anymore. I was dwelling on his memory that it was causing to spiral so far down I couldn't think straight. I didn't want any of you seeing me in that state." She finished explaining, until she finished talking she hadn't even realised that Bonnie by this point had put one arm around her and pulled her into her. Not only was Piper on the brink of tears, but so was Bonnie. Even Matt was finding it difficult to hear. Every part of who Piper Farron used to be, had disappeared and it was only now that her group of friends could really begin to understand why she didn't want them around. Piper did leave out one vital thing though, how much she couldn't see their random appearances would help her get better. That was one thing that can left to her journals and mind.