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Chapter 16: Confession

Piper promised herself she would have a good time tonight. And she did. When she stopped worrying about everything and just being herself with Leo, she realized how much she liked. He made her laugh in one night more than she had in the past two years combined.

The ball it self wasn't fun, but being there with Leo and acting like a child again was. He had an effect on her like no one else did.

As they stood by the car, with Leo touching her bare shoulders, shivers of delight so powerful ran up her spine that they scared her. When Leo leaned down to kiss her, there was no panic like last time. Only desire. She eagerly kissed Leo back, wanting more.

But when the kiss broke, she was overflowed with memories of Mark. Tears immediately sprang to her eyes.

For reasons unable to be explained even to herself, Piper turned and ran. She ran down the street. She heard Leo give chase, but as she turned the corner down the street, she couldn't hear him anymore. She hoped he gave up. She didn't want to talk.

Half way down the street she tossed off her high-heeled shoes, making it easier to run. She ran and ran, not sure where she was going.

She didn't stop until she got a cramp in her side and her sobs made it difficult to breath. She slowed down and looked at her surroundings, realizing she was in a park her mother used to take her and her sisters to when they were little.

She walked to a bench, favoring her right side with out the cramp, threw her shoes to the ground, and sat on the bench, knees drawn to her chin. Through her tears she looked out at the lake, surrounded by a fence to ward off swimmers.

Piper put her forehead to her knees, thinking about Mark. A cold breeze rustled through the trees, but she hardly noticed. Her bare feet were cold, so she put her hands over them, trying to warm them, but her hands were cold too.

She was cold, so cold. Inside and out. Physically and emotionally. She just wanted the cold to end.

As she rested her forehead on her knees, crying, Piper wished the cold and the pain would go away.

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Leo tried chasing after Piper, but he had no clue what he would say to her if he caught up, so he let her run.

But moments later, he began to worry and his police instincts took over. She was a young, beautiful, upset, alone woman alone after dark. Perfect prey for some sick, twisted, perverted sociopath.

Leo got a hold of Andy and told him what happened. Prue immediately began to panic, but Andy, the rational one, suggested a search party. They broke up into four groups, Darryl and Shelia, Phoebe and Eric, Prue and Andy, and Leo, and searched in different directions.

Leo got into his car and searched for Piper in the direction he saw her run off. His panic grew after each foot there was no sign of him until he convinced himself he was looking for a dead body covered in crimson blood rather than a living woman in a red dress.

There were no bodies down the alleys he checked. When he drove past a park, he thought he saw someone sitting on a bench. Leo, not wanting to leave any stone unturned, got out of his car and walked closer. After a few feet he knew it was Piper. The red dress was a dead give away.

He called Andy and said, "I found her."

"Thank God. Where is she?"

"At some park. Give me a chance to talk to her and I'll bring her home."

"Don't be too long."

"I won't," Leo told him, thinking Andy sounded like a Dad.

Leo hung up and covered the last few yards between him and Piper. He heard her sniffling as if she just finished crying. Her knees were drawn to her forehead and she was shaking. "Piper?" Leo asked softly, crouching down at her side.

"Hi, Leo," she said, not surprised he had found her. She didn't lift her head from her knees to look at him.

Leo stood up and sat on the bench next to her. It was then Piper turned her head to look at him. Leo looked at her tear-stained face and knew for sure she had been crying.

"Piper, what's wrong?"

Piper just shrugged her shoulders.

Leo took one of her ice-cold hands in his. "You're freezing," he commented and Piper just shrugged her shoulders again. Leo took off his jacket and draped it across her shoulders.

"Thanks," she said, not making eye contact, but staring out at the lake instead.

"It's beautiful," Leo commented.

Piper shrugged her shoulders. "My mom used to take us here when we were little. Before she died."

"I'm sorry," Leo said.

Piper once again shrugged her shoulders. "I've learned to deal with it."

Leo held one of her cold hands in his, warming it. "Why did you run?"

This time, Piper didn't shrug her shoulders. Instead, tears ran out of the corners of her eyes.

Before he knew what was happening, Leo was receiving the whole story about Mark and his murder. Leo was stunned at the cruel manor in which Mark was worried. Leo had heard of Tony Wong before, and knew he was bad, but this…this was horrible.

Now Leo understood Piper's hesitation in getting involved with someone else. The ring she wore for 'sentimental value' must be from Mark, Leo concluded. He wasn't surprised to find out Mark was dead, because no man in his right mind would willing give up a woman like Piper.

Piper finished up her story. "I couldn't save him. I wasn't there when he needed me the most," she said and she began to sob.

Leo held her close and let her cry, knowing she needed to get it out.

Piper eventually began to calm down and lifted her head from Leo's chest. He gently wiped away her tears. "Feel better?" he asked.

"Yeah I do," she said, shivering. "But I'm still cold." Only on the outside, she mentally added. She felt emotionally better now that she poured out her heart to Leo.

Leo took care of that, grabbing her shoes and carrying her to the car. To him she was very light, barely any extra weight. Once he sat her in the passenger seat, he hopped in the driver's seat and turned the ignition on. He turned up the heat as high as it would go and moved the vents so they would face Piper.

"Thanks," she said as a chill passed though her. She snuggled deeper into his coat trying to get warm.

Piper was still cold when they pulled up to the manor. Leo walked around to the passenger's side and opened the door. "I can walk," Piper insisted, but Leo ignored her and carried her to the door. Once at the front door, Piper insisted he put her down and he obeyed, but kept one hand across her waist for support.

Piper was barely in the door before Prue had her in a hug. "Oh my God! Are you alright?" Prue asked, smoothing Piper's hair.

"I'm fine," Piper said, still shivering. Prue finally released her and Phoebe hugged her, making sure she was fine. "I'm okay, everyone. Honest. I'm just a little cold."

"Okay, Honey. Why don't you change into something warm?" Prue suggested. Piper consented, going upstairs.

Once she was out of earshot, Prue turned her wrath onto Leo. "What did you do to her?"

"Me? I didn't do anything!" He went on to explain how Piper told him about Mark. "That is why she ran. Because of Mark."

Prue looked up towards the stairs. "Poor girl. She took it so hard you would have thought she's the one who killed him."

Piper came back downstairs in a few minutes, wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt. After being reassured Piper was alright, Prue finally agreed to leave. It was almost three in the morning. "I have to be to work in three hours. I have to go home and down at least twelve cups of coffee."

Piper gave her a hug. "Sorry about all the late nights," Piper said, referring to other nights she went with out sleep because of Piper.

"Anything for you," Prue replied. "Besides, this is nothing compared to all the nights I had to stay up and wait for the cops to bring Phoebe home," Prue teased her younger sister.

"Hey!" Phoebe protested. "It was only twice!"

"Only twice you got caught," Prue reminded her and Phoebe gave her a not-so-innocent smile.

"Really? I want to hear more about this," Eric said, kissing Phoebe.

"Maybe you will," Phoebe said, kissing him back.

"I like the sound of that," he said, kissing her again.

"Alright you two break it up." Prue got between the two. "You all need to go to sleep."

Everyone began heading two the door, but Leo hung back. "Wyatt, are you coming?" Andy asked.

"I want to talk to Leo for a moment," Piper said. The others said good-bye and left. Phoebe went upstairs, leaving them alone.

Once alone, Piper hugged Leo around his waist, her head coming up to his mid-chest. "Thanks for listening."

"Thanks for telling," he replied. He was being honest. He felt as if a wall between him and Piper had been knocked down.

They stood there for a few minutes, holding each other. Piper, almost falling asleep against him, asked, "Do you really have to go?"

"Not really," he replied.

"Will you stay? I don't want to be alone."

"Sure," he said, not moving. "Are we going to stay here?"

"Oh," Piper said and led him up to her bedroom. Once up there, Leo stripped down to his boxers and laid next to Piper and held her hand. Soon she was in his arms as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Piper had been cold ever since she ran into the park, but now, lying in Leo's arms, she was warm. On the inside and outside.

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Leo woke up and saw Piper lying peacefully in his arms. He hated to disturb her, but he had to work the afternoon shift today. Good thing it wasn't the morning, other wise he wouldn't have been able to function. He still had to shower and change. He searched for his clothes on the floor, found them, and slipped them on.

He took one last look at Piper and gently kissed her forehead before walking quietly out of the room. He slowly shut the door and bumped into a yawning Phoebe.

Phoebe let out a squeak of surprise and quickly covered her mouth. Leo hoped he hadn't woken Piper. "Holy shit, Leo! You scared me half to death! What the hell are you doing here?" she asked, hand over her chest trying to slower her heartbeat.

"I stayed the night," he told her, walking down the stairs.

"Oh. So did you have fun?" Phoebe asked suggestively.

"I slept well, if that's what you mean."

"That's not what I mean."

"I know."

"So where are you going?"

"To work. I have to be there," He looked at his watch, "half an hour ago! Shit." He raced downstairs and let the door slam close behind him.

He drove like a mad man to work. He didn't care if he was wearing the same suit as last night. He clocked in forty-five minutes late.

Eric took one look at him and laughed. "Where did you sleep last night?"

"At Piper's."

Eric's eyes bulged. "Are you serious?! So how was it?"

"Shut up, Eric," he said and got down to work.

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Piper woke up in the morning and stretched out, only to find the space in the bed next to her empty. She looked at the clock and figured Leo left already. She headed down stairs to where Phoebe was making coffee.

"Good morning, sis," Phoebe said, handing her a cup of coffee. "Have a nice night? That's an awful big smile on your face."

Piper took a sip of the coffee. "Shut up, Phoebe."

"Hey, I'm just saying I wish you told me. I would have had Eric spend the night."

"If Eric spent the night, no one in this house would have gotten sleep."

"You're right," Phoebe happily said. Piper just rolled her eyes.

"Piper, you know I really like him, don't you?"

"Yes, I know." She went upstairs to shower and dress.

As she showered, Piper thought about last night. Piper was lucky to have gotten four hours of sleep a night since Mark died. She suffered from insomnia, often sitting up for hours at night, wondering about her life and where it would lead. She was angry. Angry at the world, at nature, at God, at fate, at destiny, and not least of all, at Mark. How could he leave her? Didn't he know how much it hurt her? She knew her anger at Mark was irrational, but she couldn't help it. It wasn't as if he chose toleave her. But when she slept in Leo's arms, she slept the whole night. There were no dreams, no nightmares, just blissful sleep.

Later, Sarah came over and Piper relived last night's events for her. Piper finally confided her deepest thoughts to her. "Sarah, I really like him."

"Do you love him?"

"Not yet. It's too soon. But I think I'm falling for him." She played with the ring on her left hand.

Sarah hugged her. "I'm so happy for you."

"I'm scared." She was still playing with the ring.

"Piper, I'm going to tell you something I've never told anyone before." Sarah held out her left hand and on it sat a gold band with and intricate design and many small gems. "Do you know where I got this ring from?"

"You told me your parents were jewelers. I figured you got it from them."

"Right on one part. My parents did make it, but they didn't give it to me."

Piper waited for her to continue. "My husband gave it to me. We married when I was twenty-four. Marcus was in the military and we just bought a house in San Francisco after we married. Six months later, Marcus was at work. He was working at the front gate as one of the guards who checks clearance for people entering the base. Well, he refused to give access to someone, and they shot him in the neck. They killed him for doing his job." A single tear ran down her caramel-colored skin.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know," Piper said, wrapping her in a hug. But Sarah didn't break down like Piper would have. Piper now had more respect for Sarah than ever, and she always had respected Sarah a great deal.

Sarah wiped the single tear away. "Piper, both of us need to move on. You have a great guy and I met someone I might like last night."

Piper squealed with delight. "Tell me all about it."

When Sarah finished talking, Piper hugged her again. "I'm so happy for you."

Sarah grabbed Piper's hand with the ring. "This is what you and I are going to do. On the count of three, we're going to take off our rings. We're going to move on. Okay?"

"Okay."

"One," Sarah said, and they put their fingers around their rings.

"Two."

"Three," they said in unison and took off their rings.

Piper felt much better. Sarah put her ring on the necklace around her neck, but Piper took hers and put it in the box she kept in her dresser drawer. She put in the box, put the box in the drawer, and firmly closed the drawer.