Please do read the Author Note.

AN: So I deiced to change the rating of this fic, since I will be discussing violent and abusive themes in this. I do not want to be responsible for not labeling what may be triggering content to some, so this is, from here on out, an M-rated fic. I will also change it in the tags of this story. Please do forgive me if some of you only followed this story for its rating, but I realized too late which themes I would bring up. I will write at the top of all the chapters that are going to contain triggering content. I apologize for my bad planning and scatterbrained publication of this story.

P.S A shout out to all you fantastic guests who left reviews! I can't reply to you guys, but seriously all of you melted my heart and made me smile. I am so grateful for that. Never thought that this story would get such a reaction. I'm blown away by all the response!

Thank you so much! And to the rest of you all who left a favorite, followed and reviewed, thank you so much! You guys are the best.

D.S

Thanks for reading. Love always.

Nightmares

After quite some time, Alex emerged from the bathroom, fully dressed in the clothes Piper had given to her. They looked to be a bit too short, but they were cleaner and warmer than her previous outfit. Alex fiddled a bit with her fingers before she fixed her glasses, which sat perfectly on her nose already. It was almost like she pondered what her next move might be. It was uncanny how much she looked like a little deer caught in the headlights of a speeding car. Something about her seemed to be out of place. She seemed to be stronger than the average person was. It was just the way her whole aura seemed to glow with an almost untouchable core. Like nothing could ever scratch an inch on her surface. This was a girl who could stand up for herself, but at this moment, she looked more fragile than a porcelain doll on the edge of a dresser, ready to tumble to the ground.

Alex took a deep breath and looked down onto the floor before she spoke, this time with a more sure voice.

"Thank you so much for being kind to me, I know I'm just a stranger and you don't have to do anything more. I'll get going. Thank you." Alex lifted her spring green eyes to Piper's crystal blue ones. Only then could Piper see how puffy they were and her gaze was almost hollow, but the shininess of them told Piper a different story. All the cuts and bruises didn't help the picture either.

"No, you don't have to go." Piper said as she sat up a bit straighter on her bed, but Alex still turned around, ready to open the door to Piper's room.

"I want to do more for you, Alex."

"Look, you don't have to, you have done so much more than you need to already." Alex said in a soft and shaky voice and pressed down the door handle slowly, like she was forcing herself to leave. Her whole body language was stiff like she was fighting every step to actually leave.

"No, I only did what anyone else would've done." Piper said and rose from the bed, slowly walking closer to Alex.

"I won't let you leave. You can't go out there, Alex. I know something terrible happened to you. Please just stay the night, my parents won't be home for another week and I don't have school. Please?" Piper pleaded and stood behind the older girl's back.

"Why, are you doing this...? I'm... I'm just a stranger, I could be a thief or a... a... whatever. How do you know that you can trust me?" Alex said down to the floor, but still had her back turned to Piper.

"I don't think a thief or a bad person would have reacted the way you did when I tried to help you up, or try to leave when asked to stay." Piper said in a hushed tone. She extended her arm, but withdrew it immediately since she wasn't sure of how the other would react to the touch. They stood there in somewhat of a cold war stand off. Neither girl said a word until Alex moved again, apparently having made up her mind. She turned around and Piper let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Look, Piper. I can't..." Piper closed her eyes when it became evident that the other still wasn't giving up on leaving.

"Please, don't..." Was all that the blonde could say. She didn't want Alex to leave. Piper knew she could help her, at least with giving a roof over her head. It would feel like she was abandoning the other if she let her walk out the door.

"Piper..."

"No." Piper interrupted again, but all she was met with was the other girl turning around again.

"Please, don't leave." Piper whispered, and the raven-haired girl stopped dead in her tracks. She saw how Alex's shoulders slumped a bit as she sighed, clearly giving in to Piper's pleading.

"Okay..." The raven-haired girl just whispered. Piper released a quiet breath and smiled lightly. She walked closer to the other and placed a tender hand on her shoulder. Thinking that this time it would be more okay to touch her since she agreed to stay.

"Come on then, I'm sure you're tired, so lets just go to sleep." Alex nodded, still facing the door as Piper blew out all the candles in her room and got them something to sleep in.

She lead them both to her parents bedroom that had a large enough bed to given them both some sense of space and so she didn't have to drag out some old and dusty mattress. She still wanted to be in the same room as the other girl, so she could keep an eye on her. Piper really didn't want her to leave yet. She wanted to know what had happened so maybe she could be of better help to the other girl.

After having changed once again, they both settled under the covers. Yet again, Alex turned her back towards Piper.

As the minutes ticked by, Piper watched the raven-haired girl's back. She didn't move an inch and her breathing couldn't be heard. The blonde didn't dare to breathe loudly. She was afraid that if she did, she might disturb or wake Alex up. She couldn't tell if she had fallen asleep or not, since she didn't move.

Maybe fifteen minutes later, Piper's body started to ache a bit from the awkward position she was in. She needed to move herself desperately. Little by little, she moved onto her back. The storm outside raged on harder than before. Had it been summer, the rain may have been accompanied by thunder that would've lit up the room with its powerful flash. She was glad that it wasn't. Piper hated thunderstorms. She couldn't tell why, but they scared her and since she only had someone's back for company, the whole situation would've been much scarier. She was thankful that it was only an autumn storm. Piper loved them. They were cozy and was a good enough excuse to make hot chocolate and curl up with the steaming cup and a good book. However, this particular storm made her edgy. The whole evening and night had been so weird. Finding the other girl in the backyard and the whole ordeal before. It was actually rare that she pondered over her parents relationship anymore. It seemed futile and overdue. It was what it was. Soon she would be able to move away from it and do what Danny had done. Even so, she would still want to visit Cal. He was a good brother and they always had fun when they spent time together. All these thoughts made her almost itchy to leave and be somewhere else. It was like her throat was tighter than it usually was and didn't want the air to reach her lungs. But it wasn't like the kind of air shortage one gets when winded from a long run. This was more panic related and she just wished she could be somewhere else. She could almost feel how the tears were being pressed out of her eyes. Piper bit the inside of her cheek, trying hard not to cry. She was so thankful when she heard a small whisper coming from beside her.

"Thank you. I..." Alex whispered so quietly, Piper thought she didn't mean to say it out loud and turned around to face her back again. All of the earlier thoughts just evaporated into the air as she focused on the other girl.

"What happened to you?" Piper whispered back, aching to know what had happened. She heard how Alex drew a sharp breath and saw how her body started to tremble, like she was holding back violent sobs. Piper yet again bit the inside of her cheek for being so clumsy with her mouth.

"Shit, I'm sorry, Alex." Piper moved closer to the other and put a hand on Alex's shoulder. Suddenly, the raven-haired girl threw herself around and embraced the blonde fiercely. After the shock, Piper returned the embrace and started to stroke Alex's hair, trying to comfort the other. She always found it soothing when someone would do that to her. Her dad would always do it when she was sick or if she was really upset about something. It made her feel safe and she could only hope that Alex felt the same.

"It'll be okay. Whatever happened, it will be okay." Piper whispered and continued her motions.

"No. It won't..." Alex whispered between quiet sobs. The blonde closed her eyes and just focused on trying to console the other girl.

Eventually the raven-haired girl's breathing evened out and she fell asleep. Piper on the other hand lay awake for quite some time before her world turned into darkness and sleep finally had mercy on her.

Piper sharply woke up from her short sleep by screams.

"No, no, no, no! God no! Please stop hurting her! No, no... no. Mom!" Piper was completely paralyzed by what she heard and by the time Alex stopped talking in her sleep, she woke up as well. Silent tears streamed down her face and her breathing was fast. The raven-haired girl squeezed her eyes shut and put a hand on her forehead as she seemed to fight sobs.

"Did you have a nightmare"? Piper whispered as to not startle the other as much, however, her intentions failed as Alex twitched and opened her eyes widely. When she saw that it was only Piper beside her she sighed and nodded.

"Do you wanna talk about it...?" The raven-haired girl closed her eyes again and turned her back on Piper. It started to feel like a defense mechanism. Like it was the only move the other could do to protect herself. Piper thought she was just going to close up again, so she relaxed back into the bed, still facing the others back.

"He... He just wouldn't stop..." Alex whispered and Piper could see how the sobs shook her body again. It terrified the blonde to no end by what she had heard. What did the other mean by "He just wouldn't stop?" Someone had obviously hurt Alex, considering the bruise on her cheekbone, it was a strong possibility. Even so, it didn't really explain why she ran away. And then with the sleep talk about something hurting her mother? Had her dad done this? And where was her mother? Was she still with the person who seemed to hurt them? Piper tried to calm her racing mind, she couldn't jump to conclusions like that. She knew nothing about what had really happened and she could be totally wrong. This nightmare could just be a fantasy monster brought to Alex by stress of maybe just running away from home for some reason.

"What do you mean? Did someone hurt you and your mother?" Alex didn't answer and just continued to cry harder. It felt so frustrating not getting any answers, but could she really blame Alex? They had barely known each other for a few hours and Piper wouldn't expose her inner most secrets to a stranger either. The blonde had to accept that she was a stranger to Alex.

"Alright, come here." Piper softly said and turned Alex around to hug her.

It was clear that the other girl needed a safe haven, comfort and someone to tell her that it was going to be all right. Sure, everyone is responsible for their actions. In Alex's case however, she just couldn't be responsible for hurting her mother or someone else. The way she acted told her that and she just had a feeling about Alex. Even if she seemed tough, she wouldn't hurt someone she loved. Piper bit the inside of her cheek. She was being silly and really needed to stop thinking about what could've happened. If the other wanted her to know, the answers would come with time.

Piper had become very good at reading people. Ever since the incident with her father, her whole world shifted and she started to see it differently. She started to listen more carefully to what her parents said to each other, how they acted around each other. Piper's friends would think she was crazy, when she said that her parents detested each other. They would usually comment with, "What, are you crazy, Piper? They're adorable together." When Piper got that response she would usually just shut up or change the subject to whatever was really important to her friends.

She swatted those thoughts away, she didn't need more things to be sad about. Her main focus at the moment was to try and comfort the girl in her arms. It actually felt a bit weird to take care of someone when she was so used only take care of herslef, but it was good. She felt useful. Yet again she felt stupid. This wasn't about her feeling like a better person. She sighed and stroke the silky, raven hair. The sobs had stopped, but she could still feel the wet stain on her shirt that the raven-haired girl left on her.

"Ssh, ssh. Hey, whatever happened it's not your fault, okay?" Piper cooed, trying with all her might to calm the raven-haired girl. Alex just shook her head, crying harder into the blonde's chest. It ached inside of her. She wanted to make this stranger whole again. It was a weird feeling. She didn't know the raven-haired girl at all, and yet she wanted to make all the bad things go away.

"Hey, you know what?" Piper softly said and looked down on the other, a light smile bracing her lips. Alex looked a bit confused and slowly shook her head. Her cheeks were covered in tears and Piper gazed down at the girl for a moment before she wiped them away.

"Before I found you, I read a really good book. You like books?" Alex only nodded, still with a puzzled look on her face.

"I could read to you or you could read something on your own?" Piper whispered, still stroking the other girl's hair.

"Yeah... Read to me." Alex nodded, but still had hear eyes out in dead space. Piper could see how the tears slowly stopped running down her face and that the girl was in that stage where everything is just strangely calm. The aftermath of a crying session.

The blonde untangled herself from Alex as she rose and went to her room. She wondered for a while what she would pick up as she scanned her small bookshelf. There were so many good books on the shelves, but she wondered what the raven-haired girl would like.

At last, she went for one of her favorites. It didn't seem fair to the raven-haired girl if she picked up the book she had been reading prior to the whole ordeal.

When she got back, Alex laid in the exact same position she had left her in.

"I picked one of my favorites, I hope that's okay." She climbed back into the bed and sat up, leaning against the headboard of the bed. Shockingly enough, Alex placed her head in her lap as she opened the book to its first page. Piper cleared her throat before she started to read in the dim light coming from the corridor outside the bedroom.

""So you're all set for money, then?" the boy named Crow asks in his typicalsluggish voice. The kind of voice like when you've just woken up and your mouth still feels heavy and dull. But he's just pretending. He's totally awake. As always.

I nod. "

AN: The quote is from Kafka on the shore by Haruki Murakami. For those of you who haven't read it, it's about this boy, Kafka, who is running away from home. I just found the quote fitting and I absolutely love Kafka on the shore.

I know that Murakami is criticized for a lot of things, mostly about his views on women. I couldn't agree more that his views are off, but I can't help but love the way he writes and how he weaves his stories together... I don't know. I could go on and on about his books, but this isn't the place. Thank you for reading. Love always.