AN: Much more time than usual, finally, is going to be covered in this chapter and this will be the last one. Fear not, there will be an epilogue chapter since I have promised you one and there is just one particular scene with these two that I can't get out of my mind and it needs to be added to this story. These two have endured their fair share of hardship. They need a little light as well.

But seriously though, thank you so much for being so patient with me. I know I must be the shittiest writer to follow, but it means so much to me that most of you have stayed.

Thanks for reading. Love always.

Take off you winter coat, it's too heavy

Piper didn't leave her room that Sunday. There wasn't any point to it. Her room was the only place that still felt somewhat normal and sheltered. Nothing had changed in there. It was all still the same. Even if her pillows didn't smell of Alex, her presence still lingered in the room. Her copy ofThe Old Man and the Sea was still placed on her desk instead of its usual place in her bookshelf. It was the small details. They made it seem like her room was itself, like it didn't belong to the rest of the house. Those small details reminded her of Alex and it made it feel like a safe zone. The rest of the house, however, was her parents' space and she'd had enough of them. Besides, she needed the time to figure out how she would best cope with having to live in that hollow house until she turned eighteen.

Strangely, she didn't feel as lonely as she thought she would. It was mostly due to Alex. They had texted back and forth the whole day. She would've called the other if it didn't make her think about that red and purple bruise around Alex's neck. Her ribbon of death. Piper couldn't imagine that talking would've been easy or even comfortable while her throat was sore. So instead, she was slightly worried that her swift fingers over her screen would soon wear the display down, since they somehow managed to keep three or four conversations going simultaneously. It all started with a text from Alex. She had gently asked if she had gotten home okay and if she got a lot of shit from her parents. Piper tried to keep it as brief as possible, downplaying the whole thing. Instead, she shifted the focus onto the other. It felt as if Alex had been her cliff too often and Piper wanted to show her that she could also be someone to lean on. And she really didn't want to think about it too much. There was just too much messy things in her head as it was. She just needed to press the pause button and engulf herself in Alex's pixelated words.

Later that night, Piper told Alex the whole thing. From the very beginning. It felt good to let it all out, but the feeling was only temporary since it didn't change anything. The problem still persisted. It was frustrating and no matter how she twisted and turned her situation, it was still the same. The thing was, she couldn't just up and leave the house. Her parents would call the police again and make it even worse for her. It just wasn't worth the trouble. She had seen enough of the inside of a police car to last her a life time. So, she would just have to endure eight months in a passive aggressive hell. But she didn't want to just endure it, the problem was that she'd yet to figure out a way to fight it.

Dinner wasn't hard to avoid, surprisingly. Neither her mother or father had called out to her around the time she knew dinner would be served, but she didn't care. The less she had to be around them, the easier the wait until her eighteenth birthday would be. She'd had to sneak down later to grab something to eat.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday rolled around. The fog had seemed to clear a little, but it was as if she just floated along, doing what she had to do be able to just stay afloat. She didn't have the fight in her to be anything but slightly conscious of what was going on around her.

When Thursday came, Piper noticed that she had developed a routine. The first thing she always did in the morning was to text Alex. It was just a simple and brief good morning text, but it felt necessary to send it, almost like it gave her the energy to stand up from the bed and get dressed. She would then walk to school, numbed with blurred and distant thoughts. The only thoughts that seemed focused were those about Alex. She was always the lighthouse in her mind storms.

As soon as she got home, she would go straight up to her room and camp up in there until she was sure no one was in the kitchen and then she could finally go and eat. It was almost like playing a twisted form of hide and seek.

She didn't know how long her punishment would go on. She already had to live with her parents, and they with her, so she didn't see the need in extending the torment further. However, neither her mom or her dad hadn't even breathed a word in her direction about anything since that faithful Saturday night. Everything in her house was always so quiet. Even more so after the fight. She could barley hear anyone, beside Cal, go up and down the stairs, but no one said a word. So, Piper thought it better to play it cool rather than to stir the pot further. She kept to her routine and kept to her room. That way, her parents could continue to play pretend and she could keep focusing on herself.

The only constant thing was that their fridge always contained something to eat. Sometimes, she would catch a glimpse of her mother or her father, but she could never see their eyes. It was always just a piece of clothing or the back of their heads. It was as if they knew when she was coming into a room and decided to turn around in the last second just to spare themselves from having to look at their daughter. Even if she pretended that it didn't hurt, she could still feel the knife twisting around in her stomach and the looming, throbbing pain lasted long into the night. But there were never any tears. She'd run out of them long ago.

Three weeks after the incident a thin, thin layer of snow had settled on the ground. It seemed to be the beginning of a really cold winter. It already felt like Piper had went through a winter rather than autumn and the prospect of having to actually live through one felt incredibly heavy. She'd not even been able to see Alex again. They'd talked so much on the phone, though, but Piper needed her physical presence more than she needed the static vibrations of her voice. It was always comforting to hear the other's voice, of course, but it was only so much of a band aid. A voice can't really hug you and winters always felt so lonely.

She still hadn't taken out her winter shoes. Her white converse did nothing against the cold, but the snow had fallen over night and she'd overslept that day, barley managing to make it to class in time, let alone having the time to regard the weather. But she didn't really mind the cold. Everything around her had started to feel so cold, but there were always clothes. The only thing she minded though was the loneliness. One can't dress for loneliness.

Piper was thinking about stopping by the library, she had a huge test coming up in biology. Her room had started to feel more and more infiltrated by the hostile silence in her house. It was getting harder and harder to focus. Why was silence always so loud?

She figured that enough time had passed for her parents not to care if she got home a little later than usual. Not that they seemed to care at all about what she did since they hadn't cast her a glance or even uttered a word in her direction in three weeks.

With determination, she started to walk towards her beloved library.

When she entered the familiar building she was brought back to her latest visit. It was an ambivalent feeling, but she still smiled a little at the memory of Alex and her walking out together, even if she had come so close to losing the other at the time.

She walked past the check out counter and saw a little sign. It caught her eye. In red all capital letters the sign said "HELP WANTED". Piper looked around. There were a few people there, mostly middle aged women. She approached the desk and cleared her throat. The woman behind it had to be at least sixty and her gray hair sat around her shoulders. She wore a forest green cardigan with a golden brooch. The lady seemed to fit right into the library, as if she had not been outside the building since it was built. It wasn't that she seemed dusty like the shelves, she just seemed frozen in time, much like the library.

"Excuse me." The blonde whispered out in a hushed tone. The lady behind the desk seemed friendly, but Piper didn't want to take any risks.

"I was wondering about the sign." Piper pointed to it and the older woman smiled.

After about twenty minutes the blonde had landed herself a job. It was perfect. The fact that she hadn't thought about getting a job before was astounding. It was the most brilliant escape plan. Every weekend, she would help stack up returned books and new arrivals. If it worked out well, she could even work on weekday evenings. She would finally have a good excuse to spend as little time as possible at home.

Her second last semester in high school was approaching its end. It was beginning to be even more stressful to keep up in school, but she kept mostly to herself and just focused on getting the best grades that she could. Her old friends had seemed to have noticed that she was different so they hadn't even bothered to talk to her. At first, the blonde hadn't even thought about it, that's how "close" she and her old friends had been, but it felt like a huge relief when she noticed their absence. However, Piper had gotten a new set of friends at school. They were more acquaintances than friends, but it never bothered the blonde. There was never a discussion about who had what or who did what. Piper was so thankful for it. Even if she didn't say much, she always felt included in the group. If one would categorize them according to Mean Girls, they would be the "greatest people you would ever meet", but Piper always thought of them as the "artsy" ones. They were fun and lovely and had similar views to Alex, which was the best comfort. She would imagine how the raven-haired teen would respond to their arguments. It always made her smile.

The days seemed to blur together. Sometimes it was hard for Piper to tell if it was a Tuesday or a Friday, it was only school that made it possible for her to be able to tell the days apart. Sometimes it was painful to get out of bed, but she knew that she had to. Every day that she could cross out on her calender was a day closer to her eighteenth birthday.

That first thin, white layer of snow had stayed and soon it was a couple of inches thick. It wasn't even the middle of November, but it felt more like January. Darkness seemed to cling to every available surface and it was like the earth had stopped turning. It was like an eternal night. Piper felt so damn tired all the time.

She had just said goodnight to Alex. She had seemed particularly solemn. The raven-haired girl had talked about a letter they had received from the police department, calling them to witness against the man. A public defender had even been assigned to them. Alex and her mom would have to have a meeting with their attorney the following day. Piper was a bit nervous, she wondered if they would call her as well. She even thought about whether the letter would be addressed to her or her parents. As usual, her mind was racing a million miles a minute, but for once, it wasn't focused solely on herself. Piper thought back to their first conversation they'd had after the police had arrested that awful man. It had been two days after, the raven-haired girl had finally somewhat regained the ability to talk again. It had sounded strained, like she was in pain. Piper had constantly asked if she was okay to continue to talk, but the raven-haired girl continued to assure her that it was fine. There had been a lull in the conversation when Piper blurted out in her usual way:

"I um... Called you my girlfriend." Piper had whispered out. It felt so preschool-like to say it in a way, but she really just wanted the other to know.

"What?" The raven-haired girl chuckled. "To who?" She could hear the other clear her throat. It must've still been sore.

"My parents and my brother. I didn't know what else to say but..." Piper trailed off, unsure of how to continue the conversation. She really did want Alex to be her girlfriend, but she just didn't know how to say it.

"Do you wanna pass me a note and have me circle yes or no?" Alex said before the blonde could hear that raspy chuckle again. It sounded so easy, like it was a simple breath. Piper actually blushed. She could feel the rush of butterflies cloud in her stomach.

"No. I'm just... I didn't know what to call you." The blush on her cheeks felt warm.

"But, I think we're more than friends, you know." Piper sighed, the nerves were taking over. What if the other didn't think of them as more than friends? What if the kisses were only the product of extreme situations? The walls in her room seemed to crawl closer. They seemed to be shrinking. It got hard to breathe. She needed to be more than friends with Alex. There was no one else. No one else that she could ever imagine needing as much as Alex. Piper guessed that she would have to learn how to live with it. There wasn't any possible world where she could survive if the raven-haired girl wasn't there, girlfriend or not. She took a shivering breath. The static silence seemed to fill up the room.

"Yeah, it feels that way." Alex finally said. It sounded like she smiled.

"But let's work up to it." The other continued. Her voice always seemed so calm and sure.

"Get to know each other better and all of that kind of stuff." A light chuckled carried over the radio waves and vibrated into her ear. Piper also smiled. The weight of her imagined horrors had been instantly lifted.

"Yeah. That sounds like a good idea." The blush on her cheeks warmed her up, as did her heart. She couldn't have felt more happy.

That night was the first time in a long while she'd fallen asleep with a smile on her lips.

It had taken Piper almost four weeks to talk to her parents. In a way, it had bothered her, but it was also nice to not have been an active participant in their faked lifestyle. But, when the clocked ticked closer and closer to her first shift at the library, she had to let Bill and Carol know that she would be going out so they wouldn't just call the police at the first chance. The biggest problem was that she didn't know how to say it. Would she just casually go up to her mother and tell her? Or would she just go to her dad's office to knock and tell him through the door? Or would she just simply write a note? She had lain awake the whole night, thinking of the best way to say it. It shouldn't haves bothered her as much as it did, talking to her parents, but it really messed with her.

On a Saturday morning, Piper gathered the courage to go down a little earlier to have breakfast at the dining table. As soon as she walked out of her room, she didn't dare to take a breath. The whole way down the stairs, she held her breath. She could feel her heart pulse in her ears. Piper wasn't sure what she was afraid of. Even if they said she couldn't go, she would go. And her getting a job couldn't be seen as a bad thing. She could always claim it would look good on her resume. Her parents would never argue about something looking good, especially a resume.

When she entered the kitchen, her mother stood by the counter, dipping a tea bag into a cup. The steam from the hot water rose, disappearing into thin air. Carol didn't look up. Piper stopped a second in the kitchen entrance. Her mother looked tired. Her hair didn't look as smooth and arranged as it used to be. The blonde wondered if she'd hit the bottle harder than she usually did. It made her stomach knot into a tight ball.

With a deep sigh she entered the kitchen, trying to ignore all the thoughts raging in her head. She was the reason her mother was in worse shape than before. A lump started to form in her throat and put pressure on her tear ducts. She had to grasp the fridge handle hard to silence her mind. It was her mother's choice, not hers. It was her mother's choice, not hers. She swallowed hard and took out the milk.

When she was settled at the dining table with her bowl of cereal, her mother was still standing by the sink, dipping the tea bag over and over again. Piper sat with her back to her. She cleared her throat.

"I got a job... at the library." Her voice felt so thin, but it still seemed to fill out the entire house. Even if she wasn't talking directly to her, it still felt like she was hopscotching on a mine field, like she had trespassed into enemy territory. One step away from disaster.

"I start today." She didn't know if her mother had stopped her robotic movements, but she was in the same room so she had to be listening to Piper. Her pulse jumped against her skin and it was erratic, almost like she had ran for miles and miles. Or just balancing her footsteps close to a land mine. That was sure to make ones pulse race.

"Just so you know where I am, so you won't call the police." It felt like her heart would jump out of her chest and she had to force herself to shove the first spoon full of cereal into her mouth. The food seemed to grow when she tried to chew it, but she forced herself to continue to chew. She did that twenty times before she could swallow. It was completely tasteless, but she had to act normal. She couldn't let her mother see that her mere presence was affecting her. The blonde forced another spoon of food into her mouth.

All Piper could hear was footsteps growing more distant and a tea cup hitting the coffee table. She could even hear the couch cushions being pressed down, but that was all she got.

She spent almost every weekend at Alex's place, even when she was working. It was her new routine. As soon as Friday came, she went home, packed her bag and walked to Alex. It was pure bliss. At Alex's there was nothing to tiptoe around or listening to doors shutting and opening.

Over the passing weekends, their bond evolved, growing impossibly stronger. It was no longer a chain, it was woven into their souls. They were completely inevitable to each other.

To continue to keep her parents at an arms length, she would simply send a text to her mother, or leave a note saying where she was, knowing that they wouldn't want to come and get her seeing as her mother thought that Alex lived somewhere "dangerous". It felt like she finally had gotten her safe haven. A place where she could exist peacefully. It was like she could finally breathe.

In December, the eight of December to be precise, Piper finally got the courage to ask the raven-haired girl to be her girlfriend. Alex had chuckled loudly and exclaimed in her hoarse way "Yes, of course, you idiot". The raven-haired girl smiled so wide before she kissed her. Sure, they had kissed a lot after that desperate rain kiss, but the "girlfriend" kiss felt completely new, like Alex reinvented the idea of what a kiss was. They had fallen back down on the other teen's bed, giggling like little kids. The raven-haired girl's eyes had sparkled so brightly. It was like watching fireworks bloom out amongst stars on the night sky. Piper felt her whole being flutter. She trembled, but it felt good. It felt like she was being restarted, like she was finally coming alive. That night, the blonde finally knew what it felt like to smile into a kiss.

On valentines day, Alex took her out to the diner where Diane worked. It was just perfect in its simplicity. They had ordered a big plate of fries and a burger for each of them. When Diane had a break, she would come and sit down opposite them, telling them about her own romantic adventures in her youth. Alex groaned many times and blushed slightly. It was really cute to see her squirm a bit, but Piper was so intrigued. During her many weekend stays at Alex's, she had become quite attached to Diane. She was a lovely mom and the other woman had in a way taken Piper under her wings. The blonde was eternally grateful for it. It wasn't even awkward when the blonde would arrive at Alex's house before the other teen when she had the late shifts at the record store that she worked at.

That first valentines contained more laughter than she thought could fit into one single night. Later that night, she finally got to feel the other's naked skin against her own. The moon had cast shadows over their bare forms, making everything appear like liquid silver. When Piper was on the edge of unconsciousness, she'd smiled and thought that this was their silver lining, literally. They were on the other side and they'd both come out stronger, but most importantly, they'd come out of it together.

A week later, a letter arrived to Piper. It wasn't addressed to her since she wasn't eighteen yet. In it was a request for her to appear as a witness for the prosecution in the case against the man. A criminal investigator later called her parents to see if they would allow her to testify against the man. Her dad had promptly said no, but Piper had fought him hard and said that she wanted to do it. Eventually, he agreed, but told her he would represent her. She didn't really care if he did or didn't. The only thing that matter was that she could help put that fucking man behind bars and maybe extend his punishment. Her dad had only one condition, she would not appear in the courtroom. They would have her testimony videotaped. Piper wanted to protest. She wanted to be there for Alex, to be able to see her girlfriend, but her father wouldn't budge. Begrudgingly, she accepted his terms. At least she got to contribute with something.

The car ride down to the police station was silent. Her dad's jaw seemed to be constantly clenched. It must've hurt to keep it locked in that position. When they entered the old brick building that served as a police station, her dad kept one of his big hands on her shoulder. In a way she was thankful for it, she was starting to get nervous, but it was only a hollow comfort seeing as her dad was still so distant.

They were lead into a room and left alone for a while, but the camera stood ready to record her statement. Her dad walked her through the questions, coaching her how to most efficiently answer them. They were rough and the flashbacks she got from them were even worse. She had to grip the edge of the metal table, feeling how tiny sweat beads formed on her forehead. It was so important for her to nail her statements, it felt like they would make or break the case. Of course, she knew it wasn't really like that, but it was so important for her to answer them as well as she could. She had witnessed the effect of the assault on Alex. She had seen the other girl's bruises, seen her shy away from a helping hand. She had seen the other girl suffer and she would walk through hell to make sure that the other man paid for that.

There were two parts to her interview. First the prosecution came in and asked her about the assault she witnessed that night and what she herself had been subjected to. After that, the defense attorney came in. It was on old man with long, wispy, gray hair. He wore a beige suit. She was almost afraid that his stomach would pop one of the buttons on his white shirt. His questions were hard to answer since she knew that he was trying to defend the man. She was pleasantly surprised when he didn't ask that many questions. Even so, she still felt like a traitor for answering them.

As soon as she got home, she went up to her room and fell asleep on her bed, clothes still on. Her dreams were haunted by the man's face and when woke up, she called Alex. She had answered, even if the clock was two in the morning. Her voice was laced with sleep. Piper had fallen asleep with her phone pressed against her ear.

With time, her mother started to call out that "dinner was ready", nagging on both Cal and Piper to come down to have a family dinner. At first it was only once a week, but it happened more frequently as time passed. Her mom would even make small talk, but her dad remain silent. There was really nothing to say, since nothing between her mother and father had really changed. She could still hear the front door open and close late at night, so Piper assumed that her dad continued to cheat on her mom. The blonde had already said that she was no longer going to pretend and play along with her mother's pointless small talk or keep adding plaster to her parents reverie. So Piper, let her mother have her monologues, hoping that they would keep her from drinking so late into the night.

When her eighteenth birthday finally arrived, the whole house was filled with cousins and neighbors. It was strange having to pretend again. Everyone was so oblivious to the fact that they were really attending a birthday party held in the middle of a ravaged battlefield. Even if the bullets had stopped whining around their heads, no one had waved a white flag yet.

Later in the evening on the day of her "liberation", Piper felt exhausted. All the fake smiles, greetings and "thank you"'s had been eating her up from the inside the entire day. She was sitting in the living room on the white couch. All of her presents lay on the coffee table. Most of them were gift cards, but other's were things such as pots, glasses and tea cups. Piper was grateful for them as they meant that she could soon start to make her own life with her own things.

A week before her birthday, she had started to pack things in her room into boxes and bags. Ever since she got her job at the library, she had tried to look for apartments. She had talked Alex's ear off about wanting to move out of her parents' house as soon as she was labeled as an adult. The raven-haired girl had always listened and suggested different solutions, but Piper had started to grow impatient since she couldn't find a place that sufficed. In the end of April, a lazy Saturday, Piper had talked about it again, but Alex had simply cut her off.

"Move in with me." Her voice was calm and even as if she wasn't just offering the most precious gift in the world to the blonde.

"What?" Piper had just started at the other, completely baffled and a little bit scared that she had heard the other wrong.

"Move in with me. It's easier for us to find a place together." Alex had smiled so wide and her eyes were so big and expectant. Piper had been stunned, but only frozen for a moment before she threw herself in the raven-haired girls arms, exclaiming yes over and over.

Piper smiled privately, when she thought back to the blissful moment. Her lips hadn't left the other's for much more than breathing and placing delicate kisses all over Alex's naked skin that night. The blonde felt her cheeks heat up, the intimate details of that memory consuming her body.

Her wandering thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell. Most of the guests had all gone home, only a few of them were left out in the backyard. Piper went to answer the door. The blonde thought it weird for it to ring so late in the evening when all the other guests had arrived earlier. She shook the thought away and plaster one of her "friendly" smiles on and opened the door. But who she saw on the other side completely shattered her facade.

On her doorstep stood Alex, flowers and present in hand. She smiled so brightly and looked at Piper as if she was one of the seven wonders of the world.

"Happy birthday!" Alex sing sang and offered Piper the flowers. The blonde took them absentmindedly and threw herself around the other girl's neck. She felt small tears forming in the corners of her eyes as the other's arms embraced her as well. Alex placed a kiss on her neck and Piper squeezed her harder.

"Thank you." She whispered, suddenly filled with a new sense of energy. Withdrawing from the other's embrace, she felt courage surge through her as she grabbed the Alex's face and kissed her without abandon.

"Hey." Piper smiled so brightly, finally, finally feeling at rest. She was free. She was about to move in with her girlfriend and school was almost over. Most importantly, she was about to start her life and she would start it with somebody she loved.

"Hey." Alex smirked in her usual way, the corners of her eyes crinkling up and her green orbs were sparkling with life. She was simply radiating. Gone was the scared girl she had once found in her backyard. Gone was the hesitant girl that always seemed to fiddle with her glasses. It was as if life had returned to her body. The most important thing was the absence of bruises on her skin. The only thing that clad Alex's fair skin was freckles that the sun had let bloom.

"Oh, sorry. Come on in."

She basically dragged Alex inside and up to her room, sitting them down on her bed.

Piper opened the present gently as if to not destroy the other girl's handicraft. The present had been wrapped with old cartoon pages. Inside lay a black, hardback book. She turned it in her hands to look at the front. It was Kafka on the Shore. The blonde teared up a little bit, it was such a thoughtful present. Hopefully, though, they would be able to share the book under better and happier circumstances.

"I thought you could finish reading it to me." Alex smiled shyly, fiddling with her glasses. She must have thought long and hard about this present.

"Of course." Piper smiled widely before she leaned over and kissed Alex again, letting the book fall between them on the bed.

Two weeks later, Piper placed the final box of belongings on the floor. She didn't have much, but it still rendered in six boxes.

"Welcome home." Alex said as she walked up behind the blonde as she closed the door. Piper felt the other's arms snake around her hips and settle

"As long as I'm with you, I'm always home." She felt Alex smile through the kiss that was placed on her neck. They both were truly and finally home.

AN: We made it! They got their happy ending after all! So, as I mentioned before, this is the last chapter, but I have started to write the epilogue, hopefully it will be done before the fifth season is released for real.

But I just wanted to thank you all from the bottom of my heart. This fic has been such a journey for me to write. It's been challenging at times, but also so rewarding and the amount of feedback that I've gotten is beyond what I could've imagined. So, thank you so much for reading this and having been so patient with me.

Love always.