"Thank you for being here for me," Piper said with a small sigh. She wiped away a few stray tears as Charlotte smiled a little, following her as they left her bedroom. They spent a good amount of time in there, comforting each other and sharing tidbits about how awful men were. While she was still upset, Piper was happy that she had a friend she could go to for comfort with things like this. Jana or even Marla wouldn't have been near as understanding and would've taken advantage of how down and vulnerable she was feeling.

"No problem, girl. And remember, Jasper was just taking his frustrations out on you but you still shouldn't let it go that easily," she reminded her as they went downstairs. The blonde nodded in agreement.

"Oh, trust me, he's getting the silent treatment and I may consider spitting in his food a couple of times," she replied. The two shared a laugh as they reached the door. Their smiles quickly fell though as Charlotte opened the door, greeting them to the sight of Jasper standing there with one hand on his left eye and the other one raised to knock. He looked at them just as startled before lowering both of his hands and turning his attention to Piper.

"Piper…"

"What the hell happened to you?" Charlotte asked. A grin appeared on the blonde's face despite the fact that a part of her was also a little concerned. She wasn't going to let him know about that of course.

"Karma. It's swift and sweet. Bye." She pushed past him and stepped onto the porch, quickly going down the steps as he turned to call out to her.

"Wait! I wanted to apologize!"

"Kiss my ass!" she called back as she kept walking. The blond sighed and turned to look at Charlotte again.

"Can I come in?"

"What the hell happened to your eye?" she asked again as she pulled him inside and closed the door. As annoyed as she was at him for his behavior with Piper, it was still concerning to suddenly see him with a bruising and swelling eye. Diana also became alarmed when she saw him, gasping and quickly walking over to ask the same question as her daughter.

"What happened to your eye?!" She gently touched the bruising underneath it and he visibly winced before moving his head away.

"Henry punched me in the face," he answered. Both women gasped in surprise at the revelation. Taking his arm, Diana pulled him along into the kitchen, instantly going into mom mode and preparing a cold compress made of a bag of frozen corn wrapped in a washcloth. Charlotte followed them and folded her arms as she eyed him.

"Why did he punch you in the face?" she questioned. He sighed and glanced at Miss Bolton before focusing on Charlotte.

"We got into a huge argument, I told him about me and Piper, he decked me. Also, can I stay here? I need a place to stay." She sighed as she thought about Piper. How could this be her safe place if the guy who broke her heart was staying here? Plus, she was looking forward to it just being her and her mom again. But before she could even answer, Diana pressed the compress to his eye and made him hold it.

"Of course, you can stay here, Jasper. We have the extra rooms," she said with a friendly smile. He returned it appreciatively and she patted his shoulder. "Let me go fix one up for you." She gave her daughter a stern look that seemingly translated to "be nice" before heading upstairs to fix up a room for him. As soon as she was gone, the young woman smacked him upside the back of his head, causing him to groan in pain.

"Ow! What, is it 'Assault Jasper Day'?!" he asked in exasperation.

"When I told you to talk to Piper and not string her along, I didn't mean to turn into Henry and become a massive asshole! You broke her heart!" she exclaimed. He sighed and leaned against the counter as he held the compress to his eye.

"I was upset after seeing my mom and I took it out on her," he explained. "I already know I was wrong and I'm going to apologize whenever she's ready to talk to me." She pursed her lips in a firm line before sighing and leaning against the counter as well. She wanted to be angry with him but unlike Henry, he seemed to be more self-aware and actually apologetic. Plus, the fact that he had to deal with his mom made her a lot more sympathetic than she usually would be.

"So, your mom is still…a work in progress huh?" she asked softly.

"Progress that will never finish," he mumbled. "I know she's…unwell, and I shouldn't hate her. I have to be understanding that she's had a hard life and circumstances out of her control but when she's screaming at me that she hates me and that I'm unwanted…Fuck, how can I not hate her? How can I not hate anyone who says that to me?" His voice wavered as he spoke and he quickly tensed up his jaw, looking in the opposite direction of his friend as he fought back tears.

Charlotte looked at him and bit down on the corner of her lip before reaching over to grab the back of his neck and pull him closer. He laid his head on her shoulder and let out a few pitiful whimpers before his shoulders started to shake with his sobs. He let out all of the frustration and pain he had built up in him from the day, as well as the years of pain from his mother. She moved her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly, silently comforting him knowing it was what he needed the most.

Meanwhile, the Hart household was still abuzz with chaos. Jake bemoaned the loss of his favorite planter as he cleaned up the shards with a broom. It was one that he got from a yard sale and he was told it held magic in it that would bring peace and happiness to his home, but maybe that wasn't true since things seemed pretty unhappy and unruly since Henry returned. Still, he was going to miss his magic planter pot. In the kitchen, Henry and Kris were both angry but for different reasons. Henry was angry that his "best friend" would cross the line of hooking up with his little sister, and his mother was angry because her son seemed like such a different person.

"I cannot believe this," she muttered as she placed ice on his bruised knuckles. The blond nodded in agreement and winced as he held the ice to his skin.

"I know! I can't believe Jasper hooked up with Piper!" he replied. She looked at him with a frown and shook her head.

"No, I can't believe you! You said such awful things to him, Henry! I never raised you like that!" He sighed and leaned against the counter while looking down at his hands.

"Mom, I-" She quickly shushed him and he sighed again. He knew a lecture was coming and he definitely wasn't looking forward to it.

"Henry, I've accepted the tattoos, I've accepted the smoking, I've turned a blind eye to that…girl that I don't even know staying in your room, but this… What is going on with you? What's happened to my son?" she questioned with a gentle voice. Henry leaned his head back and exhaled heavily as he stared at the ceiling briefly then looked at his mother.

"Mom, nothing's happened other than life, okay? Things changed for me in Dystopia," he answered. Kris sighed heavily and shook her head in disappointment.

"Well, something happened and even if you don't want to talk to me about it, you need to get it together quickly and snap out of this weird funk you're in because I don't like it," she said firmly. "You and Jasper need to talk like the adults like you are instead of shouting and arguing like two crazy people." Before he could respond, he looked towards the front door as he heard it open.

Piper blinked in surprise as she entered the house, seeing the remnants of some kind of argument or fight. Her father was sweeping up shards of something and mumbling to himself. She had an inkling that it was his favorite "magical" pot that was destroyed. Before she could say anything, Henry quickly stalked over to her from the kitchen.

"You and I need to talk!" he said sternly. She raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes dismissively.

"No, we don't," she mumbled as she turned away to go upstairs. Henry quickly grabbed her arm and turned her back around, catching her a little off guard as she blinked up at him.

"Jasper?! You're fucking Jasper?!" he exclaimed. Gasping a little, her cheeks almost instantly began to heat up and they turned red. With her heart pounding against her chest, she glanced behind him to see their parents watching. Her mother looked concerned while her father looked both concerned and queasy. She quickly found her voice and shoved her brother off of her as she glared at him.

"Henry, what the fuck?!" she hissed.

"They already know, he said it right in front of them," he said. She groaned and covered her face in absolute embarrassment, her cheeks even hotter and redder now. What a wonderful way for her entire family to find out she lost her virginity. She was absolutely mortified. Kris sighed softly and stepped forward.

"Honey, maybe we should talk about this," she said gently. She pulled her hands away from her face and looked at her entire family who was staring her down. It felt like she was under a giant hot spotlight and she just couldn't take it.

"Okay, can everyone just…back up!" she exclaimed and ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm not talking to anyone about this! Leave me alone!" She quickly made her way to the stairs so she could escape but Henry followed her.

"You need to stay away from Jasper! He's too old for you!" he said. She whipped around to look down at him, leaning over the railing slightly as she glared down at the blond.

"You need to mind your fucking business!" she snapped. "Why are you telling me what to do when you're the one screwing Charlotte's friend?! You barely even know her yet she's staying in your room like your wife or something!" He rolled his eyes and folded his arms in irritation. He wasn't in the mood for this again. However, Piper wasn't done and she turned her attention to her parents.

"And instead of wanting to talk to me, talk to your son about the fact that he's been smoking in the house! And he's been snorting cocaine!" she yelled, causing her parents' mouths to drop in shock. Henry's eyes doubled in size and he looked at his parents briefly, then Piper again.

"Piper!"

"Kiss my ass!" She flipped him off quickly before storming the rest of the way upstairs and rushing into her bedroom. Slamming the door shut, she leaned against it and breathed heavily. The sound of her mother's yelling was muffled but still very evident and it made her feel a little better.

She slipped off her shoes and made her way to her bed, grabbing one of her pillows and screaming into it. It was something she learned in one of her many therapy sessions and she found that it did help her to calm down, something she really needed at the moment. She couldn't believe Jasper told Henry, and she really couldn't believe that he told him right in front of her parents. It seemed like he was determined to make the day the worst possible one for her. Dropping her pillow, she sighed heavily and grabbed her phone from her back.

In a rare event, she turned off her phone to escape everything and everyone she could. She was still upset about what Jasper said and didn't really feel like dealing with anyone for the rest of the day. Falling back onto her bed, she turned her phone back on and watched as it vibrated and lit up then quickly began to alert her to all of her missed notifications. Missed comments, likes, texts, and oddly a bunch of missed phone calls from Jana and Marla. Before she could check, Marla's name popped up as she called her again. She considered ignoring it but sighed and answered it anyway.

"Hey."

"Oh my God! Why haven't you been answering or responding to my texts?!" Marla practically shouted into the phone. Piper sighed and closed her eyes.

"My phone was off, today's been a hard day," she answered.

"Oh my God, did someone die?"

"No, I-"

"Okay, whatever," she interrupted. The blonde rolled her eyes and considered putting her on mute and ignoring what she figured was going to be a bunch of rambling about stuff she really didn't care about. "Guess where Jana and I are at right now."

"I really don't care," she answered honestly.

"Oh, you don't care that we're at the mall right now watching Jack Swagger eat a taco? Okay, fine," the brunette replied. At that, the blue eyed girl sat up fast enough that she almost flung herself off of the bed.

"Bitch, you're lying!"

"Look at your texts!" she shot back. Piper quickly pulled her phone away from her ear and pulled up her texts, seeing a bunch from Jana and Marla. She opened the latter's texts and almost instantly was greeted with a set of blurry pictures of who was definitely Jack Swagger entering and leaving a store. She wanted to scream but she held it in as she placed her phone back on her ear.

"You're in the food court right now?!" she asked quickly. She got up and quickly put her shoes back on then quickly left her bedroom.

"Yes!"

"I'm on my way!" she practically screamed before hanging up. She skipped every other step as she ran down them and ignored her mother yelling at Henry as she grabbed her car keys. "I'm going out!" she called out to no one in particular and ran out the front door. Kris didn't even notice her daughter leave as she continued to scream at her son.

"Cocaine?! Henry, cocaine?! I can't believe my son is snorting cocaine like some junkie on the street! What on Earth has gotten into you?!" she hollered. Jake remained behind the couch, gripping the broom close to his body as he watched his enraged wife scream. He was also upset with his son but his wife was much scarier than he was - not that he was scared of her or anything.

"You know," he spoke up meekly, "when I was in the navy, I once considered trying cocaine! Turns out it was flour and it did not feel good to snort. I was sneezing out flour for weeks!" Henry's eyebrows knitted together as he looked at his father but his attention quickly returned to his mother when she clapped her hands loudly.

"Focus! How much do you…do? Snort? Take? Whatever the terminology is!" she exclaimed with a flustered wave of her hands. The blond sighed and sat up straight on the couch.

"I just do a few bumps or lines here and there when I'm not feeling well and need a distraction from things," he answered. As his mom threw her hands in the air and turned away from him in disbelief, he scrambled for something to say that would make it better. "But I don't do it that often!"

"Henry Prudence Hart!" Kris said sternly as she faced him again with her index finger firmly pointed. "You are my son and my son does not do drugs! Especially not in my house! Now look, I asked you to come home because I missed you and wanted to see you but this isn't you." She gesticulated towards him to emphasize her point. "This is some coke head from Dystopia and I don't want him here! So you get your…shit together and stop! Or else you can go back to Dystopia and kill yourself with all the drugs you want. And I want that girl out of your room! She's not welcomed here!"

With a frustrated huff, Kris glared at both her husband and her son before storming upstairs. Left in silence, both Jake and Henry stared out into space before slowly looking at each other. Neither of them really knew what to say but the eldest Hart soon cleared his throat and leaned in to speak softly, making sure he didn't alert his wife and upset her more.

"She cursed," he stated with wide eyes. "She only does that when she's really mad so make sure you fix your…crap, boy." He nodded firmly before continuing to sweep up the broken pieces from the floor. Henry sighed heavily and slumped against the couch. This just wasn't his day.

At the mall, Piper quickly ran through the food court and paused when she spotted a large crowd of people. She figured that meant that she found where Jack Swagger was, as they were all standing behind a velvet rope that essentially divided the court in half and blocked them off from a certain area. She pushed her way through the crowd, ignoring protests from people as she shoved past them and made her way to the front until she saw the familiar locks of her "friends". She stepped between them and shot them a smile before looking around for the particular star.

"Took you long enough to get here, Hart," Jana said with an eye roll. She stepped aside a little to give the blonde enough space. "I'm surprised your phone was off. Did someone die?"

"Nah, today's just been super shitty. Seeing Jack will make it a lot better though. You know, he and I are acquaintances," she said with a cocky grin. Marla raised an eyebrow as she looked at the blonde.

"Seriously? You always say that but why don't I believe you?"

"Because he wouldn't acquaint himself with Porky Hart over here," Jana said with a chuckle. Piper whipped her head around to glare at her but the brunette just smirked. "It's true, you may wanna lay off the cookies, Porker." She pinched her side before the blonde quickly slapped her hand away.

"Listen, you wide eyed, protruding nose, flat chested, split ends, no chin bitch-"

"There he is!" a boy squealed excitedly, stealing Piper's attention away from the brunette. She turned to look in the direction he was pointing and gasped when she saw the familiar head of curls and dimples as he smiled while talking to someone in his entourage. He held a bag in his hand as he left a store and made his way to one of the tables. As he placed the bag down, he looked up briefly before doing a double take and looking in the direction of the three young women.

"Oh my God, he's looking at me!" Jana squealed as she jumped up and down. She quickly fluffed up her hair and pushed up her breasts in her sweater before smiling brightly at the superstar. Piper glanced at her and resisted the urge to roll her eyes before looking at Jack again, gasping a little when she noticed him walking over.

"God Jana, your life is like a movie," Marla said wistfully. "You've dated a super rich prince and now you're about to start dating Jack Swagger!"

"I know, don't be too jealous, Porker," the brunette said behind gritted teeth and a big smile. The blue eyed woman just breathed out heavily and tried to tune out her "friends". Even though Jana thought he was looking at her, Piper could've sworn he was looking directly at-

"Hey," he greeted Piper with a half smile. Jana's smile quickly fell as Marla's jaw dropped in shock, everyone falling silent save for a few whispers and mumbles as Piper stood there just as surprised.

"Um…hi?"

"You're that piano player from that underground restaurant, right? Füd?" he recollected. The blonde's eyes lit up and she nodded quickly.

"Yeah! Yeah, you went there on a date with my best friend Charlotte," she said with a growing smile. Jack nodded as his own smile grew as well.

"Yeah…wow, I haven't seen her in a while. How is she?" he asked. A lightbulb lit up in Piper's head and she bit back a grin.

"She's great! Graduated from Stanford, she's in Swellview for the holidays, and she's single," she answered. His eyes lit up at that and Piper had to resist the urge to smile bigger. This would kill Henry and make Charlotte feel so much better. A win-win situation in her book.

"Really? Huh…" Jack nodded slowly and looked off into the distance as he thought something over.

"What the fuck is happening?" Jana questioned in disbelief. She was ignored as Jack looked at the blonde again.

"You know, I'm having a party at my place in LA. I came here to buy some stuff at more reasonable prices," he explained. Piper let out a friendly chuckle.

"Aren't you a multimillionaire? You're still shopping for deals?"

"You know it!" he answered and the two shared a laugh.

"What the fuck is happening?!" Jana nearly screamed.

"Anyway," Jack continued, "I would love it if you came through. You can invite anyone you like, maybe a boyfriend or some friends...like Charlotte..." The young blonde grinned and nodded her head.

"That sounds awesome! I would love to go and I'm sure Char will be free too."

"Great! It's Friday night starting at nine. Give me your number and I'll text you the details," he said. She happily gave him her number and watched as he called her so she'd have his number. Once she saved it, he thanked her with a smile. "See you then. With Charlotte?"

"Oh, definitely with Charlotte," she answered. He winked and pointed at her before leaving to continue his shopping. Piper was practically glowing, both from getting to talk to Jack Swagger and getting his number, but also because she could practically feel the jealousy radiating from Marla and Jana.

"You really do know Jack Swagger…" Marla said in disbelief. She nodded and smiled at Jana who still stared in both shock and confusion.

"Maybe you should have more cookies and you'll have the number of a celebrity in your phone," she said with faux sweetness in her voice and a playful wink. Not bothering to wait for a response, she quickly turned and pushed her way out of the crowd to go back to Charlotte's. Her day just got a whole lot better.

A/N: Thanks for reading! So, in my head, I see this as sort of the start of the "final act" of the story. From here on out, things will slowly start to come to a close as we see the results of everyone's behavior take shape and they start to move on and figure out what they'll do next. The last chapter was essentially the last big blow up and now is the cooldown. That's all to say that we're finally slowly coming to an end. There are still many chapters coming but we are in the final stretch. I know it's been a lot but I want to thank you all for reading and all of your wonderful comments. It really means a lot and I hope you all look forward to more!