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Chapter 5 - Pushed away
Piper watched as the rain pounded her window, harder and harder. Curled up on the the sill, she had a view of half the neightbour hood, and although she couldn't see it in the darkness, she knew exactly where Leo's house was.
Prue had dropped him off at his house on the way home, and Piper had been thinking about him ever since. Something had changed between them, that she knew, but she couldn't pinpoint exactly what had happened.
"Pipe? Are you OK?" Prue asked from the doorway. Piper didn't turn around, she just nodded at her reflection in the window.
"Do you - do you want something to eat?"
"No. Do you need to me to make something?" She half-joked.
"No, we're OK." Prue replied softly. "I ... Night."
"Night." Piper murmured, and she heard Prue pull the door shut behind her. Still staring in the direction of Loe's house, she sighed heavily. Why couldn't life be like it was when she was three, when her biggest concern was what to paint for mummy ...
A few streets away, Leo was sat on his bed, leaning on the wall looking out of his rain-splattered window. It was late, but he could see a faint light in the distance. He wondered vaguely if Piper was still awake. Probably. She was likely to be worrying. Would it be too late to call her -
A muffled ringing sound interrupted his thoughts, and after several minutes of confusion her realised it was his mobile. He found it after a few minutes under a heap of clothes. The illuminated screen read "Piper" and he quickly pressed answer.
"Hello?"
"I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" She asked anxiously.
"No, no I was already awake. I was actually going to call you." He admitted. "Great minds think alike. What's up?"
"Nothing. I just ... wanted to talk for a bit. But yo can go back to sleep if you want."
"No, no, I told you, I wasn't even asleep. What do you want to talk about?"
"Anything. Anything at all. Just ... make me laugh or something."
A few minutes passed with the two them chatting aimlessly, and Piper began to wonder if she'd imagined this "change". Maybe, with all the emotions surrounding Grams' heart attack she'd just gotten confused.
"Are you coming round tomorrow?" She asked him after a while.
"Uh, yeah, if you want me too. Aren't you going to the hospital?"
"I ... I don't know if I can face it. I ... is she going to die, Leo?" She sounded so vunerable and defeated, he wished he was there with her, to hug her, hold her, comfort her.
"No." He whispered. "She wont. And I'll definetly be round there tomorrow."
----
He was as good as his word, Piper marvelled, opening the door at half-past seven the next morning. Even though the two of them had been talking until three a.m, he looked wide awake and alert - which is more than could be said of her.
"Hi." She said tiredly, and he looked at her for a moment, taking in her pale face and bloodshot, circled eyes. Then he pulled her into a hug, wishing he could just make it all go away, make her happy again.
"Oh, hey Leo." Phoebe's voice pulled them both from their thoughts, and they broke apart.
"Hi, Phoebe, how are you?"
Phoebe looked at him, as though he'd asked a very stupid question. Then, after a while, she shrugged. "We're going to the hospital soon." She told him. "Except Piper." She looked at Piper almost accusingly.
"I don't like hospitals." Piper told her younger sister. "They -"
"Remind you of death." Leo finished.
"Right." Piper nodded, and Phoebe rolled her eyes.
"Do you guys have to do that?"
"Do what?"
"Finish each others sentances like that. It's really annoying." Phoebe replied.
Piper glanced at Leo. Now that she thought about it, they did do that a lot. But that was what best friends did, right? Finish each others sentances, say and think the same thing at the same time, get upset when the other was ...
"Sorry, Phoebe." Leo smiled, a note of sarcasim in his voice.
"Yeah, sor-ry sis." Piper mimicked, causing Phoebe to mutter something under her breath and walk away.
"So, you want some breakfast? Or have you already ate?" Piper asked.
"Yes, and yes." Leo replied. "What you got?"
"Food." Piper smiled, and walked into the kitchen, Leo right behind her.
Almost an hour later the lot of them were gathered in the hallway, Phoebe and Paige putting on shoes and jackets, while Prue tapped her foot impatiently, all ready to go.
"Are you sure you're not coming?" Prue asked again.
"I really can't." Piper said weakly. "You know I can't." Prue nodded.
"OK. I'll call you at some point. If you change your mind -"
"It's only a bus ride away." Piper recited. "OK, I get it."
"Ready!" Paige announced, jumping to her feet. "Can we go now?"
"OK, comne on Pheebs ... See you two later." Prue said, giving Piper a breif hug before herding the younger two out of the door.
"Bye." Piper and Leo said in unison, making Phoebe send another eye-roll in their direction.
Walking into the living room, Piper switched ont he T.V set and flopped out of the sofa. Leo sat next to her, and brushed her hair away.
"How are you?" He asked quietly.
"Better." Piper nodded. "You're right, Grams will be fine. The doctor said yesterday they're happy with her condition. Well, you know, not totally happy, since she's there in the first place, but -"
"Rambling." Leo interrupted. Piper smiled at him, then looked back at the T.V, slightly horrifed, but not trying to show it.
She couldn't, could she? It was so wrong, so unblievable unthinkable. This was Leo.
Oh my god I have a crush on Leo!
She had done for a while, she realised. But the way he'd been with the whole Grams-thing had made her realise it ... Suddenly, she didn't just see him as her best friend in the whole wide world ... Maybe, one day, he could be her boyfriend?
She looked over at him, laughing at the Friends episode that she was pretending to watch. Did he like her? No, probably not. Why would he?
But he wouldn't laugh if she asked him.
"Leo?" She said quietly. He looked down at her.
"What's wrong?" He said, looking at her full of concern.
"I ..." She wasn't really sure what to say, didn't even know what to think ...
"Hey, come on, Grams will be fine." He said softly, pulling her towards him. She put her head against his chest, listening to his heart beating. And then, she raised her head slightly, and pressed her mouth onto his.
He drew back after less than a second, leaving her stung. He didn't even get caught up in the moment ...
This wasn't how things were on T.V.
"Piper ..." He said softly, and she felt heat rise in her face.
"Sorry." She muttered.
"I don't want to -"
She jumped up, embarrassed and, suddenly angry.
"I said I was sorry!" She snapped. What had she been thinking?
"Piper, I just don't -"
"I get it, Leo! You are totally replused by me, and you don't want me anywhere near you!"
She couldn't be there, not near him, not in the same room ...
She ran for the door, ignored him as he called out her name and slammed the door behind her. Her feet pounded against the pavement, and she started to cry. Maybe Grams' heart attack had left her emotions raw. Maybe she liked Leo more than she thought.
Or maybe she was just so hurt at being pushed away by the one person she'd always counted on.