Chapter 23: Anniversary
Sunday afternoon Piper sat on the couch of their living room and texted with Polly. She would have loved to stay with Alex for the rest of the day but her mom had asked her to come home. She had invited the Wiley's over and of course she expected Piper home when her 'boyfriends' family came over. So right now she and Michael sat at the couch talking. They had been meeting regularly or had been telling their parents they'd meet to keep up the act of playing a couple.
"Did you finally joined the basketball team, like you wanted to?" Piper asked him. He had been talking about it for a while and had practiced to make it into the team.
"Yeah. I've been to a couple of practices and I think they like me and I gotta say I'm not bad at it." he told her.
"Cool. So you like it?" Piper asked.
"I do. It's fun, the guys are cool, plus there is this really cute guy." he replied almost whispering to her.
"Uhh, it's getting interesting. Tell me about him!" Piper demanded.
"Can we go outside? Out of the hearing range of our parents?" he got up from the couch.
"Sure." Piper followed him outside and they sat down on the bench in the garden.
"So. His name is Brandon. He is so funny and smart…" Michael told her and went on with everything he liked. "But I don't even know if he's gay. And even if, what are the chances of him liking me?" he ended sounding a bit gloomy.
"Hey. stay optimistic! How about you try to find out about the first I don't know and then we can go from there?!" Piper suggested.
"I'm not gonna go to him and ask him directly if he's gay!" Michael replied aghast.
"I didn't say that that was the way. You could start a general conversation with him. And then, if it fits slowly touch the topic of liking other people and preferences. Maybe tell him of a friend who is trying to find out if he's gay?! Would be helpful if you really had a friend in that situation." she looked at him questioningly.
"I've got someone in my class struggling a little right now?!" he answered.
"See. Good point to start. Bringing that up you could test how he feels about gay people in general and then however that goes find out about his orientation." Piper explained.
"That's actually not a bad idea." Michael replied and thought about it shortly. "I'll try to come up with something."
"And if it takes more than one conversation because the situation or atmosphere is not right to bring it up, then that's good too. Make a connection." Piper challenged him.
"It's always good talking to you, you know? Thanks for the advice." Michael said gratefully.
"Well let me know if it works, okay?" Piper laughed.
"So how are things with you and Alex?" he asked.
"Great. Coming saturday we got our first anniversary. I can't believe we've been together for a year already. But at the same time I still can't believe that it took me so long to tell her how I feel." Piper smiled widely.
"Gosh, you look so happy I'm getting a little jealous." Michael was happy for his friend.
"I am. The only thing that annoys me a lot is that I have to hide everything. I want to shout out to the whole world that I am in love and happy and that I love Alex, but I can't even kiss her when we meet with many people around, because I'm scared to death my parents will find out." Piper told him.
"I understand that completely. But I get your decision not to tell them. I'm in the same situation with my parents. They wouldn't accept it either if I told them I am gay." he said empathetically.
They were silent for a bit until he pointed on Pipers scarf and asked if it wasn't too warm for that and that he hadn't ever seen her wear one before. Piper blushed again and eventually pulled it away a little. Michael laughed when he saw the flashing bright hickey.
"Woah. Kudos to Alex for that." he laughed.
"I don't really think that's very funny. What if my parents saw that? I'll have to pin it on you and then they'll probably come with that embarrassing 'But you're using protection' talk. And I am not looking forward to having to go through that situation." Piper exclaimed and Michael lost the smirk on his face.
"Oh shit. I don't want that either." he agreed. "But it looks like things got heated between you too."
"Well. We uhm, finally went that next step." Piper told him.
"Congratulations. Your first time together? That's a big thing. We should celebrate that!" he exclaimed excitedly.
"Not just together. For both of us the first time in general. And thank you, I guess." Piper smiled a little shyly.
"Even more reasons to celebrate!" Michael got quite excited about this.
"You're right. This is a reason to celebrate." Piper smiled.
"Dare I ask how it was?" he asked cautiously.
"It was great. I was kinda a bit scared before but it seems we work together perfectly. For a first time I thought it would be quite weird and so but it wasn't at all." Piper explained.
"That's amazing. I thought so too, but in the end mine was okay. We were both really nervous and that wasn't helpful but one can always learn and improve." Michael shared his story.
"Wait, when? How can I not know this?" Piper looked at him a little shocked.
"I actually didn't tell anyone. But about four months ago." he answered.
"Woah. Sometimes I got the feeling everyone around me has done it before I got there. But I actually don't regret not having done it earlier. Yesterday the time was right, we were both ready for this and I actually wouldn't want it any other way." Piper explained.
"I'm so happy for you. Do you have anything planned for your anniversary?" he wanted to know.
"Just something small really. After all it is a reason to celebrate." she replied and told him about her idea.
XXXXX
Saturday came and Alex got ready for the ball. Diane helped her with her hair and they talked.
"You seem excited. I've never seen you excited for a school ball like this." Diane noticed.
"It's not really about the ball." Alex replied. "It's our first anniversary. I can't believe it's been already a year. Remember, last year at the ball Piper told me that she liked me. So I'm rather excited about celebrating that with her."
"I can understand that. It's an important date. How are you going to celebrate it?" Diane wanted to know.
"Well, going to the ball and having that time together and with our friends. Plus I got a little present for Piper that I'll give her when we come back." Alex told her. Of course she had more planned for Piper and her after the ball but her mother didn't really need to know about that.
"Cool. It's great to see you both so happy." Diane replied.
"Thanks mom." Alex replied and decided to bring up a topic she had been dreading to ask her mom about. "Ma, I wanted to ask you something. It's uhm,..." Alex got really nervous and Diane wondered why.
"What is it honey?" she asked her voice somewhat calming.
"I mean it's not like… You know I love Louis and he's always been there for me and I see him as my father. But, I was, uh, maybe you could tell me about my biological father?" Alex asked very nervously.
"I, uhm, sure I can. I knew this moment would come at some point but still you caught me by surprise a little." Diane smiled weakly and also a little nervous now.
"You don't have to right now. But it would be nice, if you could tell me." Alex said.
"It's alright, Ally. It's completely normal and natural to want to know where you came from and you have a right to know." Diane explained.
"Thanks, mom." Alex said gratefully.
"Well, where do I start?" Diane began. "It probably started that one night where I went to see that band that was in town with my friend when I was 24. They played a few gigs around the area for a while and we went to see them a couple times. They were this cool upcoming band called 'Death Maiden'. After their concerts we always snuck backstage and hung out with the band. I especially liked the drummer. Lee. After a few times after the concerts that we hung out he asked me out. When the band moved on to New York to play a few gigs I went with them. My parents, to be honest, weren't happy about my choice and we had a huge fight which concluded in not having contact with each other until you were six months old. At that time I didn't care. I led this exciting life as the girlfriend of a cool rockstar and was too in love to see that he wasn't a good person. After some time in New York the band moved on and were on their way to I think Richmond was there next stop. Shortly before they left I told Lee about you. Well that I was pregnant. And he reacted in a really strange way and left without really saying anything. That hurt, but it hurt even more when I couldn't find him anymore and he wouldn't react to calls and the room they had rented as their practice room was empty. Later I found out from 'friends' that the band had obviously already left for Richmond. I shortly thought about traveling after them to Richmond but eventually realized that Lee was what I never wanted to see and had ignored: an asshole. Sorry for the language. The time after that was hard. I wanted to move back home, but when I contacted my parents they were pretty clear that they hadn't forgiven me for running off with that band. Luckily I stayed in contact with Carol over all those years. She let me stay with them for a while. Shortly after moving in with them we noticed we were both pregnant at the same time. I found a job at the diner and luckily they employed me even though they knew I was pregnant. And that's most of the story." Diane finished.
Alex had been listening intently and tried to comprehend everything her mother just told her. "Thank you for telling me all this." she quietly said.
"Everything okay, sweetie?" Diane asked carefully.
"It's just a lot. I think I need some time to comprehend everything you just told me." Alex replied half in thought.
"Come to me, if you want to talk about it more, okay?" Diane offered being a little worried that it was a bit much for Alex right now.
"I know. Thanks, ma." Alex went over to Diane and hugged her. They hadn't noticed the time that had passed but now heard the bell ring signaling Piper was here to pick up Alex. Luckily Alex was ready to leave even though she was still in thought about the story Diane told her.
"Hey, gorgeous!" Piper greeted her smiling widely.
"Hey, you look amazing, Pipes!" Alex greeted back and went over to kiss her girlfriend.
"Ready to party?" Piper asked and Alex affirmed.
They started walking towards the school and Piper noticed Alex being quieter than usual so she asked her if something was wrong. Alex though didn't know what to say yet and had a feeling that if they talked about it right now it would ruin the mood for the night. So she tried to push her thoughts about her father and his band away and concentrate on celebrating her anniversary with Piper.
"My mom just told me a few things. I'll tell you everything when I comprehended all of this myself, okay? I don't want to ruin the mood this evening. It's time to celebrate. It's our special day. I want us to have a great party and later I even got a little surprise for you." Alex told her.
"Uhh. I love surprises!" Piper exclaimed. "I got one for you too, by the way." she smiled widely.
"Do you?" Alex chuckled. She was happy Piper just went with it and trusted her to talk about it when she was ready.
"You'll get it later though." Piper replied.
"Same for you." Alex said as they arrived at the school.
"Hey, lovebirds. Eventually. I thought we were on our way home until you two finally made it here." they heard someone shout at them from afar and who else than Nicky would have come up with something like that?
"Hi nag. Maybe if you weren't so annoying sometimes I would care." Alex returned. Their friends laughed at their friendly banter.
"Let's go in!" Piper exclaimed to get everyone moving. She went ahead and everyone followed her. They had a great time. Everyone danced a lot and they chatted about everything and nothing. The evening went by too fast but everyone enjoyed the evening a lot. Polly and her boyfriend were the first to leave and when Nicky and Lorna said they'd go home Piper and Alex decided to make their way home too.
"Wait, I wanted to give you something." Alex stopped Piper. When they had returned from the ball they went straight up to Alex's room, of course not avoiding a short chat with Diane and Louis about their evening, but as soon as the door closed they were unable to take their hands off each other. After slowing it down a little Alex went into one of her drawers and got out the present she had gotten Piper for their first anniversary.
"Happy first anniversary, Pipes." Alex handed her an envelope. It was a ticket for an escape room. Piper had been talking about wanting to go and try that. Piper's eyes went wide in surprise when she saw what Alex got her.
"Woah. Thank you. Oh my god, I love it. I'm so excited." she smiled widely and hugged Alex. "I love you." she kissed her and being a little surprised by the sudden 'attack' the fell on Alex's bed. And while Piper just wanted to keep lying here and kiss her girlfriend, and also do a few more things than kissing, she also wanted to see Alex's reaction to her present. She reached into her backpack, she had brought a few things as she knew she was staying over, and got the wrapped present out.
"Happy anniversary, Al. It's been such an amazing year." they shortly kissed and Alex unwrapped the present to find a self made scrapbook. Over the last year Piper had been collecting movie theatre tickets and other things from nearly everything they had done together and put it into the scrapbook along with a few stories and things she wanted Alex to know.
"Wow. this is so thoughtful. Our first year documented." Alex laughed. "Thank you, my dear crafty girlfriend." she smiled widely and pulled Piper in for a long kiss. It soon turned more passionate and heated. They helped each other out of their dresses and went on exploring each other.
The next morning they woke up cuddled into each other.
"Good morning, Pipes." Alex was the first to speak, her voice croaking from the first use after sleeping.
"Morning." Piper mumbled back still half asleep. They kept like that, close to each other and silently enjoying the closeness for a while. Alex's thoughts at some point returned to the story Diane had told her the day before.
"A penny for your thoughts." Piper said after she had been watching her girlfriend for a bit. Alex jerked in surprise. She had been so in her thoughts and not noticed anything around her until Piper brought her back.
"Mom told me about my father yesterday." she shortly revealed.
"Your father?" Piper asked. "Oh, sometimes I forget that Louis isn't biologically seen your dad." she added as it had just dawned on her.
"I know. And he is. I mean I've been calling him dad for as long as I can remember. And he's always been there and was and is the best father I could ask for. And I see him as my father. But I'm also curious about the biological second part of me and where that came from." Alex explained. "So, after a long time of contemplating it I asked my mom about it yesterday. And she told me the about how they met and the sad ending."
"So that was the thing you had on your mind yesterday? This is something big. How do you feel? What did she tell you?" Piper asked. She looked attentively at Alex trying to figure out how she felt about all this. Sometimes already Alex's facial expression and body language told her more than Alex was giving away with words.
So Alex told her the story she had heard from her mother. She couldn't really say how she felt about it.
"That must have been hard. Well, hard for Diane when she was all alone so suddenly, but also hard for you to just hear all that." Piper said
"Yeah, I still don't know what to do now that I know all this. Can we talk about something else? At least until I figured out how I feel about all this?" Alex asked.
"Sure. How about we get breakfast first? I'm starving." as Piper said that Alex's stomach growled. "I take that as a confirmation then." Piper laughed. They got up, got dressed and went to the kitchen.
"Hi girls." Diane greeted them. "Did you sleep well?" Both affirmed and the family chatted through breakfast about their plans for the day and whatever came up. Eventually Piper had to say goodbye as her parents were expecting her back home.
For the rest of the day Alex was in her room mostly and read and thought about the story about her dad and what she wanted to do now that she knew that. Eventually she came to the conclusion that she needed to speak to her mom about it and maybe ask her a few more questions. She needed to know more or else these questions would just loop in her head again and again. She found Diane and Louis talking in the living room.
"Mom. Can I talk to you?" Alex asked almost shy.
"Sure. What is it, honey?" Diane turned towards Alex.
"Should I leave you two?" Louis offered. He figured what this was about. Diane had told him last night that Alex had asked about her father. He got up. "I'm gonna read in our bedroom and leave you two to talk. You probably still have a few questions, Alex."
"Are you angry with me?" Alex noticed that he probably knew about this and didn't know how he felt about it.
"Alex, no. Don't think that. It's only natural to be curious about where you come from. I knew that someday you'll ask questions. This isn't about me." Louis answered calmly.
Alex went over to hug him. "You're the best dad I could have asked for. You know that, right? It doesn't matter that we aren't biologically related. You were always there for me when I needed someone." Alex told him. "I just…" she didn't know how to finish.
"Thank you for saying that." Louis replied with a lump in his throat. "It's okay, Ally. I'd be curious too. It's natural that you have questions."
Alex was relieved to say the least. She had worried about his reaction. "I love you, dad."
"I love you too, sweetie." he replied and left the room. "I'll leave you two to talk."
Alex sat down next to Diane on the couch. "It almost makes my heart burst to see you two so sweet together." Diane admitted.
"Oh please don't. I still need you! And Felix and Louis probably too." Alex chuckled.
"Don't worry. I won't leave so soon. How do you feel about all this? Now that you've had a night to sleep over it and a day to think about it." Diane wanted to know.
"I don't really know. I still have so many questions." Alex replied.
"Ask away." Diane offered.
"You said yesterday that he, he wasn't a good person, he was an asshole. Is that true? Was he really that bad?" Alex eventually asked.
"Well, Lee's first priority was music. And he was always clear about that. Which doesn't make him a bad person. Actually I liked that about him, that he had a passion for something and put everything into it. But as I later realized he didn't care about much else. Everything else was just a accessoire to his life but not necessary, as in he could go without it. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what I was to him, and eventually came to the conclusion that to him I was just another groupie in the end and he didn't care as much about me as I thought he did. After he just walked out on me like that I was heartbroken and sad but also mad and pretty angry. He didn't care what happened to anyone around him. It didn't matter if it was his doing. If people and things fit in his plan then good, they were welcome. But if he would have to change something or if it restricted him in his life he let go of many things quite fast. And I realized that that's just what I was. Someone that was about to change too many things in his life. To ask things of him that he didn't want to give. And that's when he left. It would have been nice to have an explanation or at least some reaction to me telling him I was pregnant, but in the end it wouldn't have changed anything. Either way he would have left. It was a long and painful way to realize that I had dreamed about being able to make him the man I wanted and needed and that I'd be able to change him." Diane told her.
"Do you regret meeting him?" Alex asked shyly.
"No. Even if it was a hard time and I'd never had any of it planned like this, I got you out of all this. And I could never regret this. I love you, Alex. You and Felix are the two best things in my life. And Louis being such an amazing dad to you. I'm sorry that your biological father is such an asshole, but I'm thankful to him for giving me you." Diane answered.
"Do you ever wish you had chosen someone else to be my father?" Alex wanted to know.
"Well, I sometimes wished it was someone who cared about you more than Lee. But a few things can't be changed." Diane looked at Alex to figure out how she took all the new information.
"But then I would be a whole other person. I mean half of my genetics would be different. But you chose someone else to be my much more caring father. And I love calling him dad." Alex replied.
Diane laughed. "That's right, but genetics aren't all that defines who you are. And that's true. I've never thought about it like that."
Alex laughed too but soon turned more serious. There was another thing on her mind that worried her. "What if I turn to be like him? What if I become an asshole too?"
"Don't you!" Diane stopped her right there. "Alex. Even if genetically seen you have half of Lee. But as I said, this is not the only thing that defines who you are. You are defined by your choices. You have such a big heart and care so much about your friends and family. Even if I see a few things from Lee in you you're so much not like him. You're such an amazing person I can't even begin to tell you. Even if you don't want to see that sometimes. I love you so much, honey."
"I love you too." Alex replied and hugged her mother tightly. "Thank you for telling me all this." She felt how this talk had exhausted her emotionally. The two just stayed like that for a long time in each other's arms.
** Sorry that it took me so long to finish this chapter. But I promise as long as you don't read THE END at the end of the chapter I will update at some point. I'm not abandoning this story. Also because I want to finish this one so I can start with the next one, that I already have partially planned in my head.