Chapter 20: Good and bad days

Piper hated that she had to be extra cautious around her mom. It was exhausting to keep up with the things she told her. And when it was her birthday she was very annoyed that Alex couldn't be at her party. The afternoon was over and Piper felt truly bored. Her family was there and a few friends including Polly. Around 5 Polly came to her asking her to come with her. At first she was confused but then her mom came to her saying she could leave and wished her fun the confusion but also curiosity grew.

"What is going on?" Piper asked.

"Well I told your mom that I organized a surprise party so you could celebrate with your friends." Polly told her.

"Is this where we are going?" Piper wanted to know.

"Not exactly." Polly replied. They walked until they stood in front of the house where Alex lived. "There is no party. But I knew you wanted to celebrate with Alex too."

Piper was surprised to say the least. She was so happy that her friend was so thoughtful.

"Thank you, Polly. Yes, I really wanted that. This is the best birthday present. You're the best." she hugged her tightly.

"And I hoped I had the best present for you today." she heard from behind and turned around to see Alex standing in the doorframe.

"Alex!" Piper smiled widely.

"Bye, you two." Polly said and turned to go.

"Bye. And thank you for bringing her here." Alex told her thankfully.

"No problem." Polly answered.

The two girlfriends looked at each other and smiled.

"Happy Birthday, Pipes." Alex said and kissed Piper.

"Thank you." Piper smiled and felt giddy with excitement.

"Come on in." Alex said and let her in. As Piper entered everyone else wished her happy birthday too and she saw that the Vauses even decorated for her. So obviously this had been planned.

"Thank you all. This is so amazing." Piper smiled widely.

"Well come over here and get some cake." Diane called her over.

"You made a cake for me?" Piper exclaimed in surprise.

"Of course. How many times do I need to tell you that you're like a second daughter to me. And for your children you make a cake on their birthday." Diane simply explained.

"Thank you, Diane." Piper smiled widely.

They had a great little party and Piper was so happy that she was so welcome in the Vause family that she sometimes felt more related to them than to her actual family sometimes. She felt bad for feeling like this, but she couldn't change it. She felt so much more accepted and free to be herself around Alex's family than her own that she often wished her own family would be more like the Vauses. The evening went by way too fast for her liking and she was happy that Polly had told her parents she'd be back the next day, which meant she could stay over tonight. Soon Alex and Piper went to Alex's room for some time alone.

"Hey." Alex smiled at Piper as if right now their evening had only just begun.

"Hey." Piper smiled back. She was still waiting for Alex to give her her birthday present.

"I still have something for you." Alex almost whispered to Piper.

"I believe so." Piper chuckled. "You better have."

"Please, you think I would forget to get you a birthday present?" Alex looked at her with her signature smirk on her face that always managed to throw Piper off her feet completely.

"N-no, of course not." she tried to keep up their light tone and banter but failed due to being completely flustered. She felt a blush creeping onto her cheeks. Alex was amazed by Piper's reaction. It intrigued her that she could get Piper to lose her composure so quickly.

"You're so cute, you know that?" Alex chuckled.

This made Piper blush again. "Ah, stop it."

"It's the truth." Alex said like it was common knowledge. She pulled Piper closer and kissed her. It soon turned into more and they found each other laying on Alex's bed with hands all over. After a not so short make out session Piper broke away.

"Wasn't there something you wanted to give me?" she looked at her girlfriend with the glow in her eyes that Alex loved.

"I thought that was what I was doing?!" she teased Piper.

"So really making out on your bed is my birthday present? Then we can't do this anymore because I'm already like 24 according to the amount of birthday presents I got recently." Piper challenged her. "And it would really be inappropriate for you to make out with a woman that much older than you."

"Touché." Alex laughed. "I don't have a comeback for that right now."

"Then how about my real birthday present?" Piper laughed too.

"Okay okay." Alex returned and handed her a wrapped present. Piper took it and unwrapped it.

"Happy birthday, Pipes." Alex said and went on explaining what she had gotten her. "I know it looks like an empty journal right now. But as you can see I already put some photographs in there and wrote down a few things. I thought we could make it our 'picture diary' where we keep the important things and pictures to remember in."

"That's a great idea. Thank you Alex." Piper smiled widely and pulled her girlfriend in again to kiss her.

After a while and another long make out session the two fell asleep in each others arms. The next morning they were woken with an amazing smell of fresh pancakes and chocolate. After the breakfast Piper unfortunately had to go home but she had enjoyed her birthday party at the Vauses a lot. A lot more than the one her parents arranged if she was honest.

The next weeks went by without anything much happening. Piper and Alex saw each other at school and sometimes during the afternoons when Piper could escape her house without being questioned by her mother about where she went. About two months after her birthday she came home from a walk in the park with Alex when her mother was waiting in the kitchen for her.

"Piper? Is that you?" she shouted from the kitchen when she heard someone come home.

"Yes. It's me." Piper replied.

"Come to me please. We need to talk." her mother went on.

"What is it?" she looked at her curiously when she came into the kitchen.

"I'm a bit disappointed." Carol started. "Not just a little, to be honest. I can't believe you would still do that." Piper looked at her confused. "My friend Barbara and I went for a little walk in the park today. And guess who we saw…"

Piper went pale. No. They had always been so careful. Her mother never went just for a walk. "I… uhm, who?" she tried. Maybe she had been there at another time.

"Piper, you know exactly who I mean. It was you and Alex. How many times did I tell you that I don't want you to see her anymore?" Carol started to get angry.

"Mom. She is my best friend. She is the most important person in my life. I can't just not see her. Have you any idea, what that would do to me?" Piper was scared but couldn't just give in and say she wouldn't do it again. That would have meant that she needed to break up with Alex and that was the last thing she wanted to do. Of course, Carol ignored her argument.

"I'm going to have to stay true to my promises. I'll have a registration form from the school I mentioned send to us and you'll go there. You should know, I'm not one for empty promises." Carol said plainly.

"No, mom. Please. Don't do this to me." Piper begged. Piper was very close to crying.

"I told you last time we had this discussion. It's too late Piper. Think about next time you feel like not obeying my rules." Carol gave back. "End of discussion."

"But mom." Piper felt tears run down her face. Carol didn't react and Piper ran upstairs to her room.

She collapsed on her bed and started crying uncontrollably. After a while she was so exhausted she felt like there were no more tears. She got her headphones and turned on some music to take her away from her misery. She turned it up extra loud hoping it would shut down her thoughts completely that had gotten darker every minute. She heard one song that she felt fitted her emotional state perfectly, because even if she was mad at her mother for doing this to her, she didn't want to give up. She'd fight for herself and for Alex and their chance to be together. She send the song to her girlfriend.

XXXXX

Alex sat in her room when Diane came in. "Hey. We're about to eat. You're ready?"

"I'll be there in a minute." Alex replied. She quickly finished the homework she was doing and went downstairs.

"How was everyone's day?" Diane asked when everyone was sitting.

"We started a new project." Louis started and told everyone about the new book project the library had started with his second grade students. Then Felix said his class had taken this sports exam that day and he had been second place to which everyone congratulated him.

"Not a really eventful day for me. School, some homework." Alex just said. "Piper was pretty busy so I didn't see her at school. But we went for a little walk in the park after school. That was nice."

"Great. Sounds like everyone's day had been quite good." Diane summed up.

"How about yours ma?" Felix asked.

Just then Alex's phone beeped. "Sorry." she looked at it and saw it was from Piper. She'd read it after dinner.

"Piper?" Diane smirked.

"Why? Because she would be the only one to text me?" Alex asked curiously.

"No. But no one else makes you smile like that." Diane gave back.

"Okay, accepted, Sherlock." Alex smiled.

"Everything okay?" Diane wanted to know.

"I didn't read it yet. I thought I'd wait until after dinner." Alex explained.

"Admirable self-restraint." Diane said.

Dinner was soon over and as she got up Alex opened Pipers text only to notice she had send her a song. What was this about? She was curious and got her headphones to listen to it.

They left me stranded in the dark

And tore the thread back to your heart

A thousand bullets fill the sky

And once again divide

Are you lonely where you are?

The world is trying to change us

From lovers into strangers

Don't let them pull us out of touch

I would run through the fire

And crawl under the wire

If you're thinking that your hope is lost

Don't shut me out

Don't cut me off

Even if it's one in a million

I'm still believing

Every battle can be won

Don't shut me out

Don't cut me off

Don't you know that the truth hits hardest

The night is the darkest

Right before the break of dawn

Another bridge is left to burn

So many lessons never learned

But we have freedom in our minds

Light in troubled times

'Til better days return

The world is trying to change us

From lovers into strangers

So close and yet so far apart

I would run through the fire

And crawl under the wire

Until I get to where you are

Don't shut me out

Don't cut me off

Even if it's one in a million

I'm still believing

Every battle can be won

Don't shut me out

Don't cut me off

Don't you know that the truth hits hardest

The night is the darkest

Right before the break of dawn

The world is trying to change us

From lovers into strangers

Don't let them pull us out of touch

I am running through the fire

And crawling under wire

Don't tell me that your hope is lost

Don't shut me out

Don't cut me off

Even if it's one in a million

I'm still believing

Every battle can be won

Don't shut me out

Don't cut me off

Don't you know that the truth hits hardest

The night is the darkest

Right before the break of dawn

Don't shut me out

Don't cut me off

Alex was confused. Why would Piper send her a song like this?

[Alex: Pipes, what is this about?]

[Piper: Mom is sending me to the boarding school.]

"NO." Alex exclaimed and Diane looked at her daughter and saw how her face scrunched up and tears started to fall.

[Alex: Why?]

"What's wrong, honey?" she asked her anxiously. Alex played her the song. She didn't know what to say.

"Carol is sending Piper to that boardings school." Alex told her mother sobbing.

[Piper: She saw us walking in the park.]

"Oh, no. Why?" Diane asked and Alex showed her Piper's text as response. "Oh fuck."

"Mom, you aren't allowed to say that word if we aren't!" Felix shouted from the living room. Diane ignored it for now. She was speechless. She had known Carol for so many years but started to feel like she never really did. She couldn't believe how she could do that to her own daughter. Diane pulled Alex in a hug. It broke her heart to see Alex hurting like that.

"I have to go see her." Alex sobbed out and let go of her mother.

"Alex, I don't think it's a good idea to go over right now." Diane said.

"I'm not gonna ring at the door. It's not the first time I snuck in to see Piper." she admitted.

"Really?" Diane looked at her surprised. It was quite sweet but also pretty risky.

"It's not that hard to get onto the little porch roof in front of Piper's window." she explained. Just then they heard the bell ring. They looked at each other. Nobody expected a guest. Louis, who didn't know anything about the whole thing yet opened the door and let their unexpected guest in. Alex and Diane went into the hallway to see who it was and as soon as Alex saw the blonde hair she ran towards Piper and pulled her into a tight hug.

"I-I'm s-sor-ry. I-I d-d-didn't know w-where els-se t-to g-go." she stuttered still crying.

"Sh. Everything will be fine. You can come here anytime." Alex tried to calm her a little but really felt like crying too.

Diane smiled weakly. "Come in, sit down. I'll make you a tea, it'll calm you down a bit."

"Thanks." Piper sobbed.

Piper and Alex sat on the couch for a while while Piper tried to calm down. Diane brought her a tea and after a bit Piper felt a lot calmer already, even if she was still upset.

"Can I stay here?" Piper asked quietly.

"Sure." Alex replied and turned to her mom. "She can, right?"

"Yeah. As long as it takes to solve this." Diane replied. She had already made up her mind to have a word with Carol the next day. She wouldn't let her do this.

"I'm going to call your parents. They're probably worried about where you went." Diane said.

"I'm pretty sure they haven't even noticed I'm not home. So… you don't need to." Piper replied. She didn't care what her mother would think. She wanted her to worry and be upset.

"I'll do it anyway, Piper. You'll understand one day when you have kids." Diane said and got up.

Alex and Piper stayed cuddled up in each other on the couch. They heard Diane talk to Carol.

"Hi, Carol. It's Diane. I just wanted to… Yes. She's here, she's upset. … No. I won't send her home. .. Because you both need to calm down a little and then we can talk about it. … Carol, the girl is old enough to make decisions for herself. … No, you know what? I won't discuss this over the phone. We'll all calm down a little, sleep over it and then we can talk tomorrow or whenever everyone is ready to have a calm, productive conversation about this. … Please, Carol, stay reasonable. …. Okay. Goodnight. See you tomorrow." Diane hung up.

"She wasn't really a fan of my choice of where to stay, right?" Piper tried but the intended joke didn't come out as wanted.

"You think?" Diane chuckled lightly. "Okay, you two. You have school tomorrow, so it's time to go to bed. We can talk about this further tomorrow when everyone is rested and a little calmer, okay?" Both Alex and Piper nodded and got up to go to Alex's room and get ready to sleep.

When they were laying next to each other Piper already felt a lot calmer and more hopeful that things would be alright.

"Why can't my mother be a bit more like yours?" Piper quietly said.

"We can't all be so lucky." Alex didn't really know what to say.

"I don't know what to do, Al." Piper said. She felt like she had nothing she could do to avert this disaster.

"We won't find a solution right this minute I guess, but you got all of us behind you. We'll think of something. Maybe together we can convince your mother, that sending you away isn't the best idea." Alex said half to calm Piper and half to convince herself.

"I can't go there, Al." Piper replied. "I don't want to be so far away from you."

"Me neither, Pipes. Even if I could get my drivers license and visit you whenever I could. That'll just be another ten months until it's possible." Alex told her and kissed her on her temple.

"Promise me, that whatever will happen, if I have to go there or not, everything will be fine with us? We'll make it through this?" Piper turned and looked at her anxiously.

"I promise, I'll do anything to see you, be near you and to be with you. I love you, Pipes." Alex reassured her. That made Piper smile and Alex happy to see her girlfriend more hopeful. She loved that smile.

"I love you too." Piper replied and they shared a short but sweet kiss before both decided it was time to sleep and so Piper fell, feeling quite content, asleep in Alex's arms.

The next morning they were woken by Diane and told to get ready for school. When they walked towards the school they were both too tired to really say something. Alex though noticed that her girlfriend was probably thinking about the talk she and Carol would need to have later. Diane was calling her later asking her to come over to find a solution. Piper and Alex would come back together from school and they'd hopefully have a productive discussion with Carol that wouldn't end with Piper being send to the boarding school.

"What if she sends me there?" Alex heard Piper ask. It was so quiet she almost didn't hear it.

"Then we'll figure something out together. Let's hope it won't happen but if it does this doesn't change how we feel for each other. We'll find a way to make it work. We won't see each other as often as now but I won't let that get in the way of us being together." Alex explained.

"It's gonna be so hard. I don't want to lose what we have, but how are we going to do this?" Piper had always had her doubts about long distance relationships. She just couldn't imagine a relationship could work if you couldn't see each other and be with together as often as you can or want to.

"I know it'll be hard. But don't you think it's worth fighting for us?" Alex asked.

"I do think it is. But can you understand that I got my doubts that long distance relationships work?" Piper wanted to know.

"I can understand. But who couldn't do that if not us? I love you Piper. And I know I always will. We've known each other since the days we were born. We've always been together, as friends and now as girlfriends. Whatever comes, I don't want to imagine a day of my life without you in it." Alex let her know.

"Oh, that's so sweet." Piper smiled widely. It made her happy hearing Alex say that. "And I feel the same."

They arrived at the school and went to their classrooms. Neither of them could really concentrate on their lessons as both were still trying to figure out what to do and what would happen if they couldn't convince Carol to let Piper stay at this school. When they walked home together they were both too tense to start a conversation. When they arrived home they expected Carol to be there but she wasn't. Diane told them that Carol didn't want to come over so they'd go to Piper's home to have a conversation with her. Alex wanted to come but Diane denied, saying it wouldn't be a good idea. It was literally the first time Piper saw Alex arguing with her mother. When they arrived at the Chapman's house Piper was so nervous she felt sick and her hands started shaking.

"I don't know if I can do this, Diane." Piper stuttered anxiously.

"Honey, you can't run from this. She's your mother and we need to discuss this." Diane tried to reason.

"But what if she really sends me there?" Piper asked.

"Well, we're here to avoid that, right? Stay optimistic." Diane told her.

It didn't completely convince Piper but she felt a little bit more hopeful. They went in.

While Diane went straight to find Carol Piper tried to avoid her mother. She soon heard that Diane obviously found her as the voices got louder. Clearly they had started the discussion. Piper felt bad that she let Diane go to her mother alone but she felt frozen and like her feet were connected to the floor. She couldn't move, she was too scared. Then something happened that had happened rather rarely recently: her dad came home earlier.

"What is going on?" he asked Piper.

Piper explained that Diane was here discussing with Carol that Piper shouldn't go to the boarding school and about Alex. Bill was surprised to say the least. He had had a lot of "work", at least that's what he said, and wasn't home much. He knew that Alex was gay and that his wife wasn't very accepting of that, but he had missed the whole discussion and threads between Carol and Piper. He apologized to Piper that he had been so absent, "but there were many things coming at me at once at work" and would have a word with her mother. Piper doubted that would happen soon when her mother and Diane came into the hallway, still arguing loudly but stopping as soon as they saw Bill.

"Stop this." he said commanding. "Carol, I need to talk to you. Obviously I have missed a few things around here."

Carol and Bill went to the kitchen for the discussion and closed all doors demonstratively so no one would follow. Diane and Piper stood in the hallway looking at each other anxiously. It took a while but then Carol returned from the kitchen and explained what they had discussed, probably leaving out a few things. Long story short Piper would not go to the boarding school and Carol would work on accepting her friendship with Alex and Alex's homosexuality. That was the best outcome Piper could have hoped for. That meant maybe someday in the not so far future Alex would be able to visit her and not by climbing through the window. But that wasn't a thing to bring up right now. Piper wanted to give her mother some time to accept it and when she seemed to be okay with it ask her if Alex could come over. She smiled widely showing her happiness.

"Thank you, mom." she said honestly grateful and did something she hadn't done in a long time: hug Carol. Who seemed to be completely surprised by this but soon returned the hug and was happy herself.

**Hey everyone. Thanks for everyone who is still reading this and especially to those who make the effort to leave a review. I always like hearing what everyone thinks. So please keep them coming. Also if you have ideas what you would like to read, let me know, if I like it, I might add it to the story. I can't promise but I will definitely think about it. The song lyrics used in this chapter are from the song "Out of Touch" by Michael Patrick Kelly.