A/N: Am I good or what?! This has got to be the quickest update I've ever done! Go productive me! Thanks for all of the comments everybody! And for those of you that didn't comment…you will die slow, horrible deaths. Violent? Why, yes, yes I am ;-P

Chapter 9

Thierry realized he was gritting his teeth with anger and tried to relax. *How could Piper have survived living with that bastard Adrian? She's much stronger than I've given her credit for.*

"Hunter left a few days after he came and so did the tension in the household. Adrian's suspicions remained, though. I didn't leave the mansion for the rest of that week. He had softened towards me when Hunter left and even justified his tirade by saying that he knew what was best for me." Piper shook her head in disgust. "I thought that if I waited a while, he would ignore me and get buried in his work again. I'd been thinking a lot about Connor, but it wasn't safe to even do that with Adrian nearby. I knew that I had to stop seeing him. It hurt so much to have reached that decision, but I knew it would hurt more if Adrian found him."

There was a knock on the office door. Piper and Thierry had been so involved in what they were doing that they hadn't sensed anyone outside. Hannah entered with a small tray of drinks.

"You two have been cooped up in here for so long that I thought you might like something. I brought lemonade, but feel free to ask for something else." The beautiful girl smiled and set the tray down on her desk in front of Thierry.

Piper was looking at her birthmark. She'd glanced at it before, but hadn't paid much attention. Hannah noticed her scrutiny and raised a hand to the rosy smudge.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare. How awful of me! Thank you for the drinks." Piper rushed an apology for her rudeness.

"It's alright. I'm used to people looking at my face. I'm not ashamed of the mark. It's a symbol of Thierry's love for me." Hannah turned soft eyes on the blonde man behind her desk. He smiled back warmly.

Piper felt a prick on her heart and looked down at the tattoo on her wrist.*I'm a terrible person. I'm jealous of people who I barely know and have been nothing but kind to me.*

"Let me know if you need anything else. Sorry to have interrupted." Hannah quietly shut the door behind her.

"You two look very happy together." Piper said softly.

"Thank you, we are." Thierry replied just as soft. "Would you like to continue or take a break?"

"Maybe we should take a short break. Everything that's coming up is very difficult to handle." Piper's voice shook and she stood up. "I think I'll go feed."

Thierry stood up as well. "You may only drink from a willing donor or animal on my property. I'm sorry, but those are my rules."

Piper nodded. "Can I go to the forest that Ash and I went to?"

He nodded. "Whenever you're ready to tell me, I'm ready to listen."

Piper wet her lips with the tip of her tongue. "It's not a question of being ready; it's whether or not I can."

She stepped out into the corridor and headed for the back entrance of the mansion.

"Hey." Ash was standing at the top of the staircase.

"Hey." Piper stopped and waited for him to come down.

"Going to hunt?"

She nodded.

"Can I come?"

She nodded again.

"Good! You know, I'm glad that you're not a chatterbox because that gives me the chance to listen to myself talk. Don't you think I have a sexy voice?" His eyes were glinting with humor, and Piper couldn't help but smile.

"Yes, Ash, you have a sexy voice." Piper rolled her eyes and continued on through the house. Ash fell into step beside her.

"Seriously, on a scale from one to ten of Sexy Voices I've got to be at least an eight."

"At least." Piper said with heavy sarcasm. Her face suddenly got serious and she turned to look him in the eye. "Thanks for not hounding me with questions. You're trying to cheer me up and I appreciate it."

Ash's smile immediately fell and he stopped mid-stride. "Does this mean you don't really think I have a sexy voice?"

Piper smiled and pushed open the back door. "Of course you have a sexy voice. I just don't know if it's worthy of an 8 on the Sexy Voice Scale."

Ash gasped indignantly. "Not an 8?! You're insane, woman! Absolutely insane! But that's why I like you!"

"I don't know why I like you, Ash. Consider yourself one lucky bastard."

"I know exactly who my father is, thank you very much. I just choose not to communicate with him very often."

Piper was extremely grateful for the friendly banter between them. She needed something to take her mind off of all the horrible memories. Ash was such a decent person, and Piper didn't know very many of those. *Mary-Lynnette better know how lucky she is.*

They were approaching the edge of the trees now, and Ash put a cool hand on Piper's elbow. "I have a confession to make. I'm not bombarding you with questions because I was listening to the both of you in the next room." His face flushed with embarrassment.

Piper's eyebrows rose, but she realized that she wasn't angry. A part of her wanted her first friend here to know the truth.

"It's okay. I'm glad that you know. It makes things easier somehow."

Ash nodded and started into the forest.

"Ash?" He turned at her hesitant call. "I want you to come with me back to Hannah's study. You don't have to hide to know my past. I want to tell you. You-" she paused for a second before continuing. "--you're my friend."

Ash didn't smile at her childish remark or nod his head. He just looked into Piper's somber green eyes and said "You're mine, too." He knew that there was no need for an elaborate reply or emotional embracing. Piper was baring her heart, and he finally got to see inside of her. Past the ice princess and rigid remarks was a little girl who just wanted to be loved.

Piper smiled at him and looked into the forest. "I'm starving. First one to catch the biggest animal wins."

Ash grinned back at her. "You're going down, sweetheart! I was hunting when you were learning the alphabet."

The challenge was on. Piper and Ash stealthily took off in separate directions of the small woods.  Piper ran through the trees with the moon shining down on the path in front of her and realized that for the first time in eight months, she was at peace.