Chapter 28

Piper woke up early, she could just see the first of the day's sunshine coming through the window. She still felt tired, but she didn't think she could sleep anymore. She'd spent all night cuddled into Alex, and she felt so much better now. Last night was the first time she'd really let herself fall apart like that in front of her girlfriend, she couldn't stop herself, and she wasn't quite sure how to handle it. What she did know was that Alex stayed with her the whole time, and made her feel better. She'd fallen asleep holding Alex's hand against her chest, she still was. She brought Alex's hand up to her mouth and kissed it, before bringing it back into her chest. It'd been a rough night, and Alex was still very much asleep. But she needed to talk, now.

Piper brushed Alex's hair behind her ear, "Al, are you awake?"

Alex mumbled something under her breath but didn't open her eyes, "Al, please wake up."

Piper leaned in closer and kissed her on the lips, and Alex slowly kissed her back, "Mmhhmm, can you wake me up like this every morning?"

Piper leaned in closer and smiled into the kiss, "Yes…"

Alex pulled Piper in even closer and wrapped her arms around her, they were both still naked, and she couldn't get enough of feeling Piper's skin against her own.

"Thanks for last night, Al."

"You don't need to thank me."

"I want to. I really needed you last night, and you were right here the whole time."

Alex smirked, "Did you think I'd be running off someplace else?"

Piper playfully hit her girlfriend on the arm, "No."

Alex kept running her fingers up and down the soft skin of Piper's back, kissing her cheek and then her neck, she wanted to keep the blonde close, she wanted to protect her.

"How do you feel today?"

"I'm still tired, but I feel better. Maybe last night needed to happen…"

"Maybe…"

The two girls stayed in bed together, just cuddling. Piper wasn't ready to face her dad, Alex was the only one she could be around right now without feeling nervous and uncomfortable. Piper was resting her face back against Alex's chest, on the verge of sleep, when there was a knock on her bedroom door followed by a voice, it was Bill.

"Piper, are you awake?"

Both girls woke up as soon as they heard his voice and sat up in bed. This was the last thing Piper was ready for, besides the fact that Alex wasn't meant to be sleeping in her bedroom.

"Hold on dad, just a second."

Piper jumped out of the bed, "Fuck! Why the fuck is he knocking on my door now!"

Alex stood in front of Piper, who was madly trying to find clothes for them to wear, "Hey, calm down Pipes, take a deep breath, I'm right here remember."

Alex didn't let Piper look away, keeping her hands on her cheeks. Piper gave her a nervous nod and started rushing around the room again, throwing jeans and a t-shirt in Alex's direction. They were both dressed 30 seconds later, but Piper felt like she couldn't bring herself to speak, she didn't have the energy for any more fights. Alex could see how frozen she was, so she walked past her and opened the bedroom door, there was no point in trying to hide the fact that she'd spent the night in there with Piper.

Bill looked at Alex before stepping past her and into the bedroom. Alex sat on the bed and watched Bill walk towards his daughter.

He looked tired, maybe even sad, "I remember how excited you were when we first moved here, you loved this room. You loved the big windows, and the fact you'd have your own bathroom. You begged me and your mother to let you paint it yourself."

Piper smiled at the memory, she hadn't thought about those days for a very long time. Back then she was still care free, and she was definitely her dad's little girl. She had no idea what to say, and let Bill keep talking.

"I didn't mean what I said last night, I don't want you girls to leave today. Please, stay for another couple of days."

Piper just nodded, "Okay…"

She heard her dad take a very deep breath and exhale loudly, he walked over to the window and looked out at the yard, "I do love you Piper, you and your brother. But I'll never stop wanting the best for you."

Piper didn't move, she'd been standing in the same spot since Alex opened the bedroom door, "Alex is what's best for me."

This time Bill turned around to face his daughter, "Maybe, I don't know that, I don't think you can possibly know that when you're 18 years old. I wasn't much older than that when I first met your mother."

"So? I'm not like you and mum. And this doesn't even have anything to do with Alex, I have hardly seen you since mum left you. It feels like you don't even care about me and Cal."

Alex stayed sitting on the bed, and she could hear the frustration in Bill's voice, "That's just not true Piper!"

"How was I supposed to know that!"

"Because I'm your father!"

"That doesn't fucking mean anything dad!"

"Well it does to me!"

Alex got up and walked to the other side of the bed, linking her fingers through Piper's, she wasn't sure how the blonde would react.

"I'm your father, you're my responsibility."

"What does that even mean, dad?"

"It means you don't need to wonder whether or not your father loves you."

With that, Bill walked out of the room and back down the stairs, leaving the two girls standing alone in the room.

Alex shut the bedroom door and walked back to her girlfriend, "Are you okay?"

Piper wrapped her arms around Alex's neck and pulled her in close, "Yeah, I'm okay. Please just stay with me for a while. Can we get back into bed?"

"Of course."

0-0-0-0-0

Piper and Alex spent the afternoon in bed. Alex wasn't tired anymore, but knew how emotionally exhausted Piper was, and she didn't want to leave her alone. Alex was lying on her back reading a magazine while Piper slept next to her, then her phone started ringing, it was Sally.

"Hey Sal."

"You were supposed to call me today."

Alex had completely forgotten about letting Sally know if everything was okay, "Right, sorry, I've been with Piper."

"How is she?"

She knew that her sister cared about Piper, but she was still annoyed about what happened the night before, "She's exhausted."

"Can I talk to her?"

"Not right now, she's still sleeping." Alex wanted Piper to sleep for as long as possible, she knew how draining these emotional situations could be. Besides, she was still in protector mode, the most important thing to her right now was making sure Piper got whatever she needed to feel better.

There were a few moments of silence before Sally spoke up again, "I'm sorry about last night, I shouldn't have acted like that."

"I'm not the one you need to apologise to Sal."

"I'm fucking trying Lex, okay, cut me some slack."

Alex tried to keep her voice down, she didn't want to disturb Piper, "I know you're trying, and so is she."

She heard Sally's laugh come down the line, "So you're the grown up now, huh kid?"

Alex knew her sister just wanted to cut the tension, but she wasn't quite ready for that, "No, I just wanna look after her."

"I know. Look, how about we all go out to dinner tonight, wipe the slate clean?"

Alex looked down at the blonde lying next to her, still asleep, with her fingers curled around the blanket, "I'll let you know, I'm not sure she'll be up to it."

"Well, what if you and me have dinner?"

Alex shook her head, even though she knew Sally couldn't see her, "No, I don't wanna leave her alone."

Alex didn't want to upset her sister, she owed her everything, but all that mattered right now was Piper. There was no way she'd leave the blonde alone tonight, tomorrow, or the next day. Piper had spent so long holding in all these emotions, it was going to take her some time to deal with it all.

Sally's voice was starting to sound dejected, but she wasn't angry at Alex. She knew that her sister's actions were all driven by love, she just wasn't used to being on the other side, "Okay. Well, I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah, later Sal."

Alex hung up the phone and lay back down next to her girlfriend, wrapping an arm around her waist. Things were changing, and it wasn't just about Piper going to college or Healy going to trial. Life wasn't just about her and Sally anymore, it was about her and Piper.

She was almost 17, and she was sick of always feeling like the victim for the last three years. She didn't want to be the victim anymore, she wanted to be the strong one. The person that looked after the people around her, the person that Piper would always be able to rely on and trust.

0-0-0-0-0

It was almost dark by the time Piper finally woke up. She opened her eyes and actually felt rested, it was nice. She rolled over and saw Alex lying on her back, but this time she was asleep. She was thinking about whether she should wake up the brunette when she heard her phone vibrating on the bedside table, she picked it up and saw her best friends name flash across the screen.

"Hi Sally."

"Piper, hi. Did I wake you up?"

"No, it's okay I just woke up."

"Alex still with you?"

Piper looked down at the sleeping brunette, "Yeah, she's lying right next to me, sleeping. I didn't have the heart to wake her."

Sally needed to get it out of her system, she hated knowing that she hurt her best friend, the only friend she'd had for the last few years.

"I'm so fucking sorry Piper, I was an asshole last night, I wasn't paying attention to how much you were hurting. Will you forgive me?"

Piper felt a huge wave of relief wash over her, "Yeah, I forgive you."

Sally didn't want to let the silence linger, and she didn't want to wait any longer to see her friend, "So c'mon, what are you doing tonight?"

"I have no idea, first I need to get your sister out of bed."

"Well tell her to get her lazy ass up! We're going out to dinner tonight."

0-0-0-0-0

Sally went back to the house to have dinner with Piper and Alex later that night, John dropped her off but didn't stay for long, he wanted to give the girls some space to sort things out. Bill wasn't home, he'd told Piper and Alex that he had dinner plans with some business partners. Piper assumed that was code for going to fuck one of his lady friends, she didn't want to know. At least he'd arranged to have lunch with Piper and Alex the next day, it was probably best that they had some more time apart anyway. Piper was still trying to process everything that happened in the last 24 hours, and she was sure that her dad was too. She was trying so hard to separate the part of Bill that was her dad from the part of Bill that cheated on her mother and slept around. She didn't want to think about all the bad things he'd done, she just wanted her dad back. Part of her worried that was a selfish way to think about it, but she was so tired.

Piper had spent all day in bed with Alex, either talking, sleeping or thinking, she'd done a lot of thinking. She wasn't angry at Sally anymore, but she did have some things to say to her best friend. It felt a bit awkward when John dropped Sally back at the house, it was that same layer of unbearable politeness that Piper experienced with her family most of the time. Alex could sense that Sally and Piper needed some alone time, and walked John back to his car once he was ready to go.

Piper and Sally stood there staring at each other once they were finally alone, Sally was the first one to break the silence.

"I'm sorry Piper, I fucked up last night."

Sally hated feeling awkward around her best friend, so she put all her feelings to the side and hugged Piper. She was so relieved when she felt the blonde hugging her back, she had every right to be angry right now.

Piper had already forgiven Sally, but she still wanted to say her piece after she pulled back from the hug.

"I know you didn't mean it, but you need to start trusting me more when it comes to Alex. I know she'll always be your little sister, but I'm in love with her. You had no right to be mad with me last night, I'm doing my best in a shitty situation, and you know how much I have defended Alex to my parents. Alex and I talked about the whole situation, she knows what I'm going through, and she knows that I'm not gonna let my parents walk all over her."

Piper felt like she was starting to ramble, but she didn't really care, she needed to get these emotions out.

"Alex is nearly 17, and we fucking love each other. So don't make the assumption that you're the only one that can take care of her, or look out for her. I'm on her side, but she's also pretty good at standing up for herself."

That was it, Piper didn't have anything left to say. She never wanted to get in between the close relationship Sally had with Alex, but she wanted to make it very clear to Sally that she wasn't the only one that cared.

Sally was still trying to process all of Piper's words, "You're right, I need to learn how to stay calm when it comes to Alex, and I know you love her. And I'm sorry for being a shitty friend, I should've been there for you last night, I should've known how tough things are for you right now."

Neither of them had anything left to say, so Piper grabbed Sally by the hand and pulled her towards the lounge room and onto the couch. She leaned her head on Sally's shoulder while they waited for Alex to come back inside.

"I'm so fucking scared about college…"

Piper wasn't sure where those words came from, but it was the truth, she was scared.

"Which parts?"

"All the parts. Getting good grades, fitting in, finding new friends, being away from you and Alex…"

Sally leaned her head against Piper's and put an arm around her shoulders, "You're not allowed to replace me as your best friend."

"Neither are you. When do you start your cooking apprenticeship?"

"After summer, Red's organised it all for me, she's fucking amazing, which makes me even more paranoid about fucking up."

"I don't think it's possible for you to fuck this up."

Sally laughed, "Oh trust me, Alex isn't the only Vause that can fuck things up, I do a pretty good job of that myself."

"So let me get this straight then, we're both scared…."

"Yeah, I guess so….."

0-0-0-0-0

Alex and Piper spent another two days staying with Bill, before they went back home. It hadn't exactly been a warm and fuzzy family occasion, but it was definitely an improvement. They didn't talk anymore about what happened on that first night, but at least Bill was being nicer to Alex. Piper knew it didn't look like much to most people, but it was a big deal for her dad. Piper felt him holding onto her a moment longer that he usually would when they said goodbye, and that meant something to her. It wasn't much, but she'd take it. All she wanted was for her family to accept her relationship with Alex. She knew it would take a long time for them to reach that level of real acceptance, but at least they were trying. To be honest, it was more than she'd been hoping for initially, and it put her at ease. This was a starting point, and as time went by she'd keep hoping that her parents would come to accept Alex.

Even though they'd only been gone a few days, it felt good to be back in the Vause apartment. Piper walked through the front door first, with Alex following behind her. Alex closed the door and snuck up behind the blonde, wrapping her arms around her waist and pressing her lips against her neck.

"Sally won't be home till tomorrow, she's gotta make up for lost time with Johhny boy. Which means we have this place to ourselves all night."

Piper smiled and felt the shivers go down her spine, "Mmhhh, I think you're reading my mind."

Alex spun Piper around so they were facing each other and kissed her, pushing her slowly towards the couch. She needed to touch the blonde, right now. Just as she was lying on top of Piper on the couch, there was a knock at the front door.

Alex was not impressed, "You have to be fucking kidding me!"

She contemplated answering it, but she let her hands take over as she went back to kissing the blonde underneath her. At least until the knocking got louder.

"Fuck!"

Piper smiled at her girlfriend's frustration, "You'd better get that."

Alex shot her a wink before she got up and walked towards the front door, she heard a voice coming through from the other side before she opened it, it was Nicky.

"C'mon Vause, open up! I know you're in there. I promise to leave you and blondie alone once we do some party planning!"

Alex turned the knob and finally let Nicky into the apartment, "Your timing really sucks sometimes Nicholls."

Nicky pat her friend on the shoulder and walked into the apartment, "I'll be quick, then I promise I'll leave you two alone to fuck."

Nicky still hated thinking about Alex and Piper having sex, but she wanted to show them that things could go back to normal. She wanted to show Piper that she didn't need to worry about anything happening at the party. Nicky wanted both Alex and Piper to be there and to enjoy themselves, mostly she just wanted her best friend back.

Nicky sat next to Piper on the couch and slapped her on the thigh, "Okay ladies, the party is next Friday, so I sure hope you've left that whole weekend free. Trust me, you'll need it to recover."

Piper smiled and took Alex's hand as she sat next to her on the couch, "So how many people are coming to this thing Nick?"

"I have no idea, a lot, but it will still be an asshole free zone, I promise."

Alex was looking forward to the party, but she was also a little nervous about it. Things were only just starting to get back to normal between Piper and Nicky, and she knew Piper wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of the party. Things always seemed to get out of hand when alcohol was involved, but Alex knew how hard Nicky was trying. Deep down she didn't believe Nicky would try anything, and she knew her biggest concern for the night would be making sure the blonde was okay.

0-0-0-0-0

Surprisingly, Alex and Piper ended up having dinner with Carol later that night. The older lady called Piper during the afternoon and asked if they'd like to come over for dinner and spend the night at the house. Piper was completely caught off guard and immediately said yes, this was a big step for Carol, and it made Piper happy, it reminded her that her mum actually did care.

Piper had dragged Alex shopping all afternoon to buy supplies for college, and the brunette was exhausted by the time they got to Carol's place. They all ended up in the lounge room, with Piper excitedly talking to Carol about what she'd bought, as well as filling her in on their last few days with Bill. Piper was sitting next to Alex on the couch, while Carol sat across from them in an arm chair.

Piper could see Alex was struggling to keep her eyes open, "Lie down Al, dinner won't be ready for a while."

Alex wasn't about to say no and let Piper take off her sneakers. Alex lay back down on the couch and stretched her legs across Piper's lap while she kept talking to her mum. She assumed at some point Carol would ask her daughter for more details about how things had gone with Bill. Alex had no idea what Piper intended to tell her, probably nothing. Whatever Piper decided to tell her mother, Alex would support her. The truth would just upset Carol anyway, it probably wasn't even worth telling her what really happened. It didn't take Alex long to start drifting off to sleep, even with all the chatting in the background. She'd been sleeping so well lately, she was hardly dreaming at all, making what happened next even worse. It wasn't something she'd ever dreamed about before, it wasn't even something she had any real memory of.

Alex tried to open her eyes, but everything was so hazy, and she was in pain. But it wasn't a type of pain she'd ever felt before, this was new. She kept trying to keep her eyes open, letting them follow the pain. She looked down to her side and saw the twisted pieces of metal and plastic that were sticking into her skin. She couldn't quite process it, was this real? She tried so hard to think about how she got here, what happened.

She tried to move but it hurt too much, fuck! She wasn't sure what to do, she couldn't tell what was happening outside, she could barely see what was happening right in front of her. Then she turned to the side, she knew she must have been in the car with Diane, she had to still be in the car. But nothing would have ever prepared her for what she saw when she turned her head to look for her mother, nothing could ever erase that memory, no matter how hard she tried. Alex would have lived with the pain in her side forever if it meant she could just get rid of that one memory….

Alex sat straight up on the couch, breathing heavily, trying to work out what the fuck just happened. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, it had been a while since she'd felt like this, long enough that it felt unfamiliar. She closed her eyes and tried to regain some self-control.

Why the hell was this happening now?! Was it stress? Was it something else? Whatever it was, it was embarrassing and it made her felt like she'd taken a step backwards, this wasn't meant to happen to people that were getting better.

Alex sat up properly and opened her eyes, she could see Piper sitting next to her, she could see her lips moving, but she couldn't hear her voice. Alex scrunched her eyes closed again, "Fuck! Pull it together Vause!" She scolded herself internally but was pulled out of her thoughts by Piper. The blonde was now kneeling in front of her with her hands on Alex's cheeks, with Carol sitting next to her on the couch. This was the last thing Alex needed or wanted. All she wanted was to take care of her girlfriend, to show that she was capable of looking after someone else. The scene around her was starting to come into focus, and she could hear her girlfriend's voice.

"Al….Alex, can you hear me?"

Alex nodded and kept taking deep breaths, she couldn't believe Carol was sitting next to her watching the whole pathetic scenario unfold. Sally was the only one that had seen the worst of her dreams, this wasn't supposed to be happening anymore, especially a dream like that. That was an image she would never get out of her mind, that image of Diane, she had absolutely no idea where it came from.

Piper still looked worried, her eyebrows furrowed, her hands still on Alex's face, "Alex, talk to me."

Alex wasn't ready to talk yet, she was still trying to understand what the fuck just happened. She looked towards Carol and saw her talking to Piper, but she wasn't sure what the older woman was saying. All Alex knew was that Piper jumped off the couch and ran towards the kitchen. Carol moved closer to her, even she looked worried. "Fuck" Alex thought to herself, now Carol would really think she was unhinged, and completely incapable of looking after her daughter.

She felt like her heart might beat out of her chest when Carol put a hand on her leg and tried to calm her down, "What happened sweetie?"

Alex finally managed to find her voice, "Nothing, I'm fine, really."

She wasn't sure how to read the look on Carol's face, perhaps it was a combination of fear and worry, maybe something else. All she knew was that she was relieved when Piper came back into the lounge room holding a glass of water. She sat down next to Carol and handed her mother the water, who handed it to Alex.

"Here, it might make you feel better."

Alex steadied her hand and took the water, keeping her eyes on Piper as she took a sip.

"Sorry Carol, I just woke up suddenly, it's been a long day," but Alex could tell that the older woman wasn't buying any of it, but she also wasn't going to push for an answer.

Alex was relieved when Piper finally spoke again, "C'mon Al, let's go upstairs, maybe you need to lie down for a while."

Piper looked towards her mother, who gave her a simple nod, "Let me know if you girls need anything. I can always call the doctor if you still don't feel well later."

Alex had never heard that tone in Carol's voice before, it was almost like she cared, "Thanks Carol but I'll be fine, I probably just didn't get enough sleep last night."

Alex let Piper take her by the arm and lead her towards the bedroom. Alex's initial shock had passed, but she was still trying to shake that feeling, that inner fear she'd avoided for a while now.

Piper shut the bedroom door behind them and hugged her girlfriend, "What happened Al, was it a dream?"

Alex shook her head against Piper's shoulder. Piper had spent so long holding her together, she didn't want her to feel like that cycle would be never ending.

"It was just a dream Pipes, it caught me off guard, I'm okay."

But Piper didn't believe anything Alex was saying right now, "I don't want you to shut me out of this Alex, please talk to me."

"Pipes..."

Piper pulled back from the hug so she could look her girlfriend in the eye, "No, you need to listen to me Al. Keeping stuff from me isn't gonna make me feel better, it isn't saving me from anything, it just makes me worry about you. You've completely held me together lately, it made me fall in love with you even more, if that's possible. I trust you more than I've ever trusted anyone, and I refuse to let you cut me out because you had a bad dream. I know you don't like talking about it, but you don't need to hide anything from me, okay?"

Alex leaned her head back on Piper's shoulder and hugged her again, she needed to feel that comfort, that warmth that only the blonde could give her.

"I dreamt that I saw her body in the car, that's never happened before. I don't even fucking remember anything from the accident…."

Piper didn't need to ask for any more details, she knew exactly what Alex was talking about. It was the first time Alex had really told her the details of her dreams, and this one had obviously left a mark on the younger girl.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Pipes."

Piper kept rubbing her hands up and down Alex's back, "Don't stand there and tell me you're fine, please talk to me. I know it's hard, but keeping it bottled up isn't gonna help you."

Alex kept her face buried in Piper's shoulder, "I don't know what to say Piper, I've never had a dream like that before, I don't know how to process it. I just need to know that you're here with me, that's all I need."

Piper forced Alex to look at her again so she could kiss her gently, "Of course I'm here, I'm not going anywhere."

Those words hit Alex harder than she was expecting, because Piper was going somewhere, in a couple months she'd be nowhere near Alex, but she tried to push that thought out of her mind.

"Let's lie down for a while, my mum will call us when dinner's ready. Part of being in love with someone is letting them take care of you Al."

Alex sat down on the bed with a defeated sigh, "That's practically all you've done since you met me."

"No, that's not true. You guys saved me, you and Sally. But when I realised I was falling in love with you, and then when you told me you loved me, that was the most special I've ever felt. So you see, you really don't know what you're talking about Vause."

Piper smiled and was relieved to see Alex let herself laugh. She didn't want Alex to feel like she needed to keep score about who was helping who, all that mattered was that they helped each other, that's all Piper ever wanted.

A/N

Hey folks! Sorry for the late update, work has sucked lately and I haven't had a heap of spare time. I feel like this is a real turning point in Piper and Alex's relationship. Alex has proved that she'll do anything to make Piper happy, and she's really stepped up to the plate. But now she needs to realise that it goes both ways, which isn't easy for her. I wanted to bring out that softer side of Alex's personality, the part that loves Piper and would do anything for her. Anyhoo, I'm keen to hear your thoughts on how their relationship is growing, especially as Alex slowly becomes less reliant on Sally in her day to day life.

On another note, I'm getting on a plane in a few hours time and going on holiday for a while! It's highly unlikely I'll update while I'm travelling, but you never know. But the most likely outcome is that you won't see another chapter from me until the end of June, once I'm back home and settled back into my regular life.

Cheers.