I am sorry for the wait, but I do have a very demanding day job and it is a very busy time currently. I take work home every night and every weekend. Please have some patience with me. I PROMISE I will not abandon this again. I will see it through to the end. It might just take some time in between updates.
37.
"So, are you all sorted for tomorrow?" Piper tries making conversation as she and Alex stands at the tracks watching Cameron ride.
"Yeah, all sorted." Alex responds without looking at the blond next to her. Instead she just keeps staring at the boy on the track. She does not want to talk about it and hopes that the subject will be dropped. Out of the corner of her eye she can see Piper nodding while pursing her lips. She has a feeling the subject won't be dropped and her thoughts weren't even cold yet when Piper speaks up again.
"You know…." She starts and waits for Alex to look at her, but she doesn't so with a roll of the eye she continues "I don't know why you wouldn't just let me take you to the airport. It's the least I can do."
Letting out a frustrating breath Alex turns to look at her "Piper, we have been through this. I do not want you to take me to the airport. I do not like goodbyes and I definitely don't like these sappy airport goodbyes you see in the movies all the time. I am getting a cab and that is the end of the story. Now can we please drop it."
"I honestly don't know why you have to be so stubborn all the time. It's like you are trying to prove a point or something." Piper snaps.
Suddenly Alex turns furious. "I'm being stubborn?" she exclaims "are you fucking serious right now? Just because I don't give you your way all the time I am being stubborn. What point exactly is it that I am trying to prove Piper."
"I don't know Alex, why don't you tell me?"
"I am not trying to prove anything. If you just pulled your head out of your ass in time we wouldn't be in this fucking situation in the first place." Alex snaps back and the words are out of her mouth before she even realises it.
Piper looks around and realises that they have gained some attention from other parents standing around watching their kids ride, so she grabs Alex by the arm and drags her off to the side, out of earshot from the other people but still close enough so they can keep an eye on Cameron.
"Is that what this is about?" Piper asks with a raised eyebrow "because I didn't immediately make up my mind about what I want. Because I didn't straight away wanted to jump into a relationship with you?"
Alex lets out a bitter laugh before she stares the blond straight in the eyes "No, I knew you needed time. I am not a fucking unreasonable person Piper. I knew the situation was fucked up. It's not about making your choice straight away. You made your choice. I wasn't your choice. I was your second choice and only because I am leaving. If I weren't leaving you would never have had a change of heart. The only reason why you suddenly thought you made the wrong decision is because I eventually stood up for ME and am doing what I think is right for ME." Alex stops to take a breath before she continues "and you can't handle that, because I am not doing what is right for you?"
Piper is shocked to silence and has no idea how to respond to that. She can understand how Alex can think that she was her second choice but she also can't at the same time understand how Alex can think that. She had more than herself to consider and she thought she was doing best for…
Before she can continue thinking Alex interrupts her thoughts "do you have nothing to say?"
"You weren't my second choice Alex." Piper softly breaths out and tears start forming in her eyes. "You were my second choice for Cameron. You were my first choice but I have to do what I think is best for my son."
"Bullshit Piper. You knew exactly what you wanted and the only reason why you oh so suddenly had a change of heart was because you found out I was leaving and I am not willing to do that just to found out a couple of month or years down the line that you are still wondering about what could have been had you not had a change of heart right at the last second just because you couldn't have it all." Taking a deep breath, she continues her rant "Stop using your son to justify the choices you make in your life. It's not…"
Suddenly Pipers sadness does a one eighty and her face is full of rage when she interrupts Alex "Don't you fucking dare." Piper almost scream as she takes a step towards Alex pointing a finger at her, not caring if she is attracting attention from other people. "Don't you ever in your fucking life dare to insinuate that I use my son. I do what I think is best for him. I do not use him when I need an out and FUCK you for saying that."
"Piper calm the fuck down, you are making a scene. I didn't…."
"You didn't what..." she interrupts "and you think I fucking care that I am making a scene. You are pushing the wrong button here Alex and you are fucking pissing me off."
"yeah well, you have been pissing me off for months, so I guess we are equal now." Alex counters.
"I guess this is just easier for you isn't it?" Piper says.
Alex looks at her in confusion "What are you talking about."
"I am talking about you leaving. I guess it is just easier for you to pick a fight with me, take a stab at my parenting skills to make me furious at you. I guess that is easier for you than actually leaving us behind on a friendly note."
"You think this is easy for me?" Alex almost shouts.
"No Alex, you are making it easy for yourself." Piper scratches her forehead, thinking before she continues. "Maybe you are making it easier for the both of us."
The two woman stand there staring at each other, both of them filled with rage, breathing heavily. Not another word passes between them for another couple of minutes. Neither of them really want to attract unnecessary attention and they know that this is not going to end good. Piper is tired of Alex's 'kicked puppy' attitude and Alex is tired of Pipers 'it's all about me' attitude and in the moments that passes between them they realise that maybe a break from each other is the best thing for them right now.
Piper is the first one to break the silence "I am taking a cab home. Have Cameron home by five."
"I promised to get him a phone so it might be a little after that." Alex tells Piper. She does not inform her, she does not ask her, she tells her.
"Why the fuck are you buying a five year old a phone?"
"Because I am leaving tomorrow and I promised him I will call him regularly."
"And I don't have a phone?" Piper asks sarcastically
"Well it's not like you're around…." And then Alex closes her mouth without continuing and she swears she can see flames in those blue eyes staring at her.
"I dare you Alex. I dare you to finish that sentence." Piper challenges. "that is the second time in a couple of minutes that you are insinuating that I am a shit mother but you are forgetting one thing Alex, I AM his mother and my decisions is the ones that counts and I can eliminate all the decision you made like that." Piper finishes with a snap of the fingers.
"What exactly are you threatening me with Piper?" Alex asks as she crosses her arms over her chest and raises her eyebrow.
"Oh Al," Piper says with mock affection but Alex can hear the words dripping with venom "I am not threatening you with anything. I am making you a promise."
Before Alex can respond the blond turns on her heel and walks over to the tracks waving Cameron to come in. Alex herself takes a couple of deep breaths to calm herself before she turns also heading back to the tracks.
"Mommy has to go, but I will see you at home later when you are done riding okay." Piper says to her son.
"We are going to the mall after this. Alex said she will buy me a phone so she can call me."
"So I heard." Piper huffs in annoyance. "I will see you later okay. I love you."
"Love you to mommy."
And with that Piper turns around, gives Alex one last look and walks off.
This was definitely not how Alex imagined her last day here would turn out. Being the stubborn woman that she is, she is not willing to admit that maybe she was a bit harsh. She definitely does not think Piper is a shit mother. She is a great mother in fact, but the blond just has ways to infuriate her and bring out the worst in her so in her mind if anything was going to change today, between them it would have to come from Piper's side.
In Piper's mind Alex was being a horses arse and she will not let it slide that Alex insinuated that she was a bad mother. She might be a lot of things, but a bad mother is not one of them. And maybe she is a bit absent when she shoots, but currently she shoots close to home and she sees her son every day and she spends every weekend with him. Alex was just looking for ammunition and she hit Piper where it mattered. She overstepped a line she had no right to cross, so in Piper's mind if anything was going to change between them today, it would have to come from Alex's side.
It is because of this stubbornness that Piper does not leave her studio when Alex drops off Cameron. She stays in her safe place when she hears the garage door opening and Alex pulling in. She gets up from her chair but stands in the same spot listening when she hears the two entering the house and Alex going to place Camron's bag in his room. She crosses her arms and leans against the desk when she hears Alex calling a cab and the two playing while she waited for the cab. She slowly approaches the door of her studio when she hears the cab hooting and Alex saying her last goodbyes to Cameron.
"You know I am not going to see you for a while after I leave today right?" Piper hears Alex ask her son. She does not hear a response from the boy so she assumes he nodded when Alex continues "I promise I will call you as soon as I can, so you need to keep your phone with you okay." Again there is no response from Cameron so again Piper assumes he nodded. "It will not be for at least a day, maybe a bit more, because I have a 3 hour layover and sometimes flights get delayed, so don't think that I forgot if I haven't called this time tomorrow yet. I will remember. I promise."
Piper moves so she can see the two at the front door and right then Cameron leaps at Alex and wraps his arms around her neck as she is standing in front of him in a squatting position. The force almost knocks her over but she uses one hand on the ground to steady herself and the other arms she wraps around the boy. Piper hears a sob leaving his throat and then he whispers "I love you Alex." Piper has to wipe away tears of her own now and when her vision is not blurred by the tears anymore she can see Alex is wiping tears away as well.
"I love you to buddy." Alex whispers back. She gives him one more tight hug and then tries to gently push him away, but he would not let her go. "You have to let go now, I have to go." And with that they hear the cab driver hooting again. Reluctantly the boy lets her go, tears still streaming down his face.
"I don't want you to go Alex." He cries.
"I know buddy, but I have to. I promise you," she says squeezing his shoulders "I promise you I will not forget about you. I will phone and skype you so much you are going to get tired of me." She sadly smiles at him.
"You promise." He asks.
Standing back up to her full height "I promise" she says as she bends down to plant a kiss on top of his head.
They say a last couple of goodbyes and before Alex turns to walk out the door she looks up towards where the bedrooms are with a sad expression on her face. A new set of tears leaves Pipers eyes as Alex proceeds down the steps, driveway and through the gates.
As she enters the car and closes the door, Cameron takes of running towards the gate screaming her name. Piper runs after him and grabs the crying almost five year old embracing him in a tight hug. He is wiggling trying to get out of her grip, but she just squeezes him tighter whispering soothing words into his hair. Eventually he wraps his arms around her neck and they cry on each others shoulders.
Alex didn't hear Cameron screaming her name but when the cab started pulling away she turned to look through the back window wanting to catch one last glimpse at the boy. She sees him running towards the gate and notices Piper behind him scooping him into a hug and then she knew Piper had to be close by the whole time while her and Cameron said their goodbyes.
Only when the cab took a turn and they were out of sight did she turn back around in her seat because she knew that was the last time she would see the two blonds before she found herself at the airport the next morning.
This is not how she wanted to part ways with Piper. This is not how you part ways with someone you care about, but she can't help but think that Piper was right and maybe she was trying to make this easier for herself because she cared so much for the blond. If she didn't leave like this, maybe she would not have left after all.
That was not an option though. She needed this. She needed the break. She needed the time away from the blond and she knows Piper needed the time away from her as well.
She boards the plane the next morning with a heavy heart. She wished she had said goodbye to Piper, but at the same time she thinks that Piper could also have made the effort to say goodbye to her. She realises that it is because of these types of thoughts and stubbornness that she finds herself in this situation. At least they had their goodbye at the waterfall and for now that will just have to be good enough.
As they starts taking off, she stares out of the window silent tears falling, unaware of the two blonds sitting on the bonnet of a white Audi a couple of miles from the airport watching her plane fly over their heads, the smaller of the two blonds waving and shouting "bye Alex.", the bigger of the two blonds blinking away tears.