"I never asked?" Piper echoed incredulously. She took a sharp step back, folding her arms. "I also never asked if you had herpes, but I assume we're all clear on that front?"

Alex rolled her eyes at the accusation, but her fist balled up by her sides. "Pipes, don't be so ridiculous!"

"I'm the ridiculous one?" Piper asked. Alex eyed the vein that bulged on her neck as her voice rose. "Somebody almost shot you! And I'm the ridiculous one for being worried about her being free?!"

"Piper," Alex tried, short and bitten nails coming up to rake through her hair, "I didn't want you worry you." It seemed she had inadvertently accomplished her own goal, because Piper didn't look worried in the slightest. She looked pissed.

Piper opened her mouth, but the doorbell cut her off, signalling the arrival of the pizza she had been so looking forward to only a few moments ago.

Yet unsurprisingly her appetite had subsided since ten minutes ago, and she sighed as she yanked the door open. Alex watched as her whole demeanor changed. She was instantly charming, a smile as slick as oil, passing the delivery boy two twenties and telling him to keep the change. Her hand lingered on his arm a little longer than necessary, and Alex pressed her lips together as she finally noticed Piper's unusually bouncy hair.

When Piper finally let go of his arm and turned to Alex again, he was leaving in a rush of blushes and grateful mutterings about a great tip. Neither Alex or Piper seemed to notice him as they stared each other down.

"You had your hair done," Alex said, after a moment of silence. Her arms were crossed over her chest. "It looks nice."

Piper smirked. "You noticed."

Alex rolled her eyes, realizing she had given Piper the exact reaction she had been baiting her for. She tossed her own hair haughtily. "You spent so long talking to Little Caesar over there, I had a good look at the back of your head."

Piper snorted a laugh, unable to help herself despite still feeling prickles of annoyance. She crossed her ankles, leaning against the bannister. "He's in Cal's grade at school," she said, clutching the pizza box to her chest. "And this is Domino's Pizza."

Alex nodded. She rocked on her heels, not wanting to leave, but not wanting to outstay her welcome either. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew she was in the wrong here. Her reluctance to storm out hadn't gone unnoticed by Piper, and she decided to put her out of her misery.

"Do you still wanna stay for the pizza?" Piper said. "There's way too much for me, and my parents are out all night...they took my brothers to dinner and a movie."

"You didn't wanna go?"

Piper shook her head. "I had other things on my mind."

"I still wanna stay," Alex said, extending an olive branch. She smiled a little coyly, and then said, "only if there's no pineapple, though."

"Pineapple on pizza?" Piper wrinkled her nose. "Who do you think I am?"


A pastry in one hand and a broom in the other, Nicky looked over to Red for a response. "Can you believe that?"

Red cast her eyes heavenward, wishing that Nicky would talk about anything else but Lorna. Then she checked herself - it had only been a few weeks since she'd been begging Nicky to think about anything other than drugs, after all. Another obsession hadn't quite what she'd meant, but Lorna was healthier than heroin...even if it was annoying to listen to.

"Mm," Red said, running her finger down the shopping list for that evening. She had really only been half-listening to Nicky, and she knew it.

Nicky stuffed the rest of the pastry into her mouth. "You sound like Marka," Nicky said indistinctly, her words muffled by the mouthful.

Red set the list down. "I know it's tough, Nicky, but you can't be mad when your friends find someone. Jealousy is only natural, but-"

"Friends?" Nicky scoffed, sweeping the floor a little too aggressively. "Would a friend really bite - "

"I don't need to know," Red said, swiftly cutting her off with a raised hand. She took the broom from Nicky, clicking in annoyance as she collected the dirt Nicky had missed on the floor. "Honey, I know you're struggling, but you're getting fixated."

Nicky looked at Red, her lips pursing. Obsession was always Nicky's problem. She never just liked something; she loved things with every fiber of her being, and her addiction didn't stop with chemicals. She got addicted to every single thing she had the tiniest interest in.

"I don't say that when you're rambling about a new recipe," Nicky said reproachfully. She tilted her head.

"No," Red agreed readily. She leaned against her broom. "You're too busy stuffing your face." Red didn't wait for a reply, and instead nodded her head in the direction of the counter. "There's a customer. Serve her, please, and then we'll close up. I've been trying out a new recipe." Her eyes twinkled. "Why don't you stay awhile and try it?"

Nicky nodded a little too eagerly, and as she turned, Red smiled sadly. Her love for Nicky was as constant and strong as it was for her boys, and the girl had turned into her permanent little shadow before she had known it, but she never wanted to leave. Red didn't mind; in fact, she loved having the company of a daughter, having never known it before, but she wished Nicky had a better home life.

Red wiped a cloth over a table as Nicky served the customer. She watched proudly as Nicky trailed behind the counter, offering a smile to the girl at the counter. But Red's own smile slipped as Nicky, upon seeing who she was serving, took a step back.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Nicky asked, her face set in a thunderous glare. "I'm surprised you had the nerve to show your face around here."

The brunette tugged at the strap on her bag. "How was I supposed to know you would be here?" she snapped back. "Why are you even working a shitty Saturday job? Your mom is loaded."

"Don't play dumb," Nicky said, ignoring the slight. "You're a lot of things - but dumb isn't one of them."

"I got caught, didn't I?" Sylvie crossed her arms over herself. In her attempt to look inconspicuous, she was drawing more attention to herself.

"Caught?" Nicky scoffed. "You didn't exactly plan a covert operation. You did it in fucking broad daylight. You were hardly oblivious, you just didn't care."

Sylvie clicked her tongue; she couldn't and wasn't going to disagree. Instead, she chose a different tack. "Speaking of oblivious...how is Lorna?"

Eyes narrowed, Nicky slammed her hand down on the countertop and ignored the flash of pain it caused. She had tunnel vision now. "Leave Lorna out of this."

She looked down at the floor so that all Nicky saw was the top of the baseball cap she had rammed on her head and a messy ponytail sticking up out of the back.

"You gonna make me?" She grinned up at Nicky, her eyes manic.

"Stay away from Alex too," Nicky said in return. Her fists balled up by her sides. "She doesn't want to see you. None of us do."

Sylvie opened her mouth to reply, but shut her mouth when she noticed an interloper to the conversation. A flash of red hair was all Nicky needed to switch to cashier mode and nothing else.

Through gritted teeth she hissed, "Can I take your order?"

Red offered a tight smile to the girl, her hand brushing over Nicky's arm as her brow wrinkled questioningly. Nicky shrugged in return, offering nothing but a forced smile that looked much more like a grimace.

Sylvie looked from Nicky to Red, her eyebrows raising. The cogs were turning in her mind. "Uh...yeah," she said finally, her lips twisting into a crooked smile. She reeled off an order and Nicky bagged it up, dropping it in front of her.

"Is that everything?" Nicky asked, acutely aware of the fact that Red was still hovering behind her. She could almost see the half concerned, half curious look on her face despite the fact that she couldn't actually see her face.

"Everything okay?" Red asked, her tone deliberately light. She sized up the customer, wondering what had been said before she walked over. Her hand rested on the counter beside Nicky.

Nicky glared at Sylvie, knowing that Red couldn't see her face. "Everything's fine," she sang, pulling at her hair.

"Mhm," Sylvie said, a smile creeping over her face like ivy on an abandoned building. "Nicky was just telling me the specials."

"We don't have any specials," Red said, raising her eyebrows. "You two know each other?"

"No," Nicky said without drawing breath. She didn't want Red knowing anything at all about what she used to get up to, or who with; she already knew enough, and that wasn't the really ugly stuff. She shook her head.

It was clear Red didn't believe her, but she nodded nonetheless. "Okay," she said simply, tugging at the receipt that printed from the register. She handed it to Sylvie with an air of wariness. "Have a nice day, then."

As Sylvie turned and left reluctantly, Red turned to Nicky. Her hands fell to her hips. "Are you going to tell me what that was all about?"

"What?" Nicky asked indignantly. She placed her hands on her own hips, mirroring Red. "I told you. She was just a customer."

"If you're sure," Red said skeptically.

Nicky hesitated for just a second before nodding again. "I'm sure." She ran her fingers over her phone in her pocket, thinking about Alex. "Hey Red?"

"Mm?" Red said. The hopeful way her eyebrows rose made Nicky feel guilty, but she pushed down the feeling.

"Can I take my break now?"

Red nodded. The disappointment was cleverly hidden behind a neutral mask, but Nicky still sensed it. "Of course, honey. Take as long as you need."


As the credits rolled on the movie Piper had put on to keep them company in the background, Alex eyed the last slice of pizza in the box.

"Go on," Piper said, brushing crumbs from her lap. She pushed the box towards Alex. "You can have it."

"Thanks," she said, picking it up with already greasy fingers. There had been a time, before she'd started her business, when she didn't always know when her next meal would be. That, coupled with growing like a sunflower, had left her with plenty of room to fill out and she never missed an opportunity to eat.

"I don't know where you put it all," Piper complained as Alex took another bite. "I look at a pizza and gain five pounds."

Alex licked tomato sauce from her fingers. "You drive everywhere, you eat a feast every night, and you think shopping is exercise."

Piper snorted a laugh. "I haven't heard you complaining."

"I'm not," Alex insisted. She wiped her hands on her jeans. "Sometimes I look at you and wonder what you see in me."

Piper stopped short, all hints of laughter gone. She looked at Alex, really looked at her, until the brunette squirmed under her gaze.

"Don't say that. You're beautiful, Alex." She leaned over, until their noses almost touched, and brushed a crumb from her cheek. She let out a giggle. "When you're not covered in pizza, anyways."

"Mm," Alex said, shaking her head. It was plain to see on her face that she disagreed. She wrinkled her nose, propping her glasses up on her head. Taunts from middle school still rang in her head. She brushed off the compliment. "You would say that," she smirked. "You're just trying to get in my pants."

Piper laughed again. "Is it working?"

"You tell me," Alex said, connecting their lips. It was strange not tasting her usual strawberry lip gloss, but this time was different altogether. Piper deepened the kiss, her fingers tangling in Alex's hair.

Piper broke away, a wicked grin stretching over her cheeks. "I think it's working," she said, a little breathless.

Alex's eyelashes fluttered open. "Then don't stop."

Piper's hand trailed down Alex's back, her fingers tracing patterns on the soft skin. Alex wrapped her hand round the nape of Piper's neck. Her fingers raked through the freshly styled blonde hair and when she remembered, she stopped, her hand dropping to Piper's side.

"No," Piper murmured through the kiss, dragging Alex's hand back to her hair. "Keep doing that."

"But your hair," Alex said, pressing her forehead to Piper's. Alex's own hair was scraped back against her head haphazardly, but Alex knew Piper cared more than she did.

Yet she shrugged. "Don't worry about it," she said, a twinkle in her eye. "I'm not."

Alex took her advice to heart as she tangled her fingers in the mess of blonde hair. She leaned into the kiss and Piper leaned back so that her back touched the floor, Alex hanging over her. Brunette hair tickled her face.

Piper's hand tugged at Alex's shirt until the sleeve slipped down her arm, exposing bare skin littered with goosebumps. She ran her fingers down the skin, softly giggling as Alex's hairs stood on end.

Alex's own hands roamed Piper's body, settling on the bottom of her shirt, which she tugged off effortlessly. It landed in a heap on the other side of the room. Alex caressed her now exposed hip, but Piper froze.

"What?" Alex asked, her brow creasing. "Is something wrong?"

"Shit," Piper said, scrambling to her feet. She wiped her mouth off, trying to clear her skin of lipstick smudges. "There was a key in the lock," she explained, pushing her hair back against her head. "I thought they'd be gone for hours."

"Can't we just hide out in here?" Alex said, sitting up. She fixed her glasses on her nose and looked to Piper questioningly.

"No," Piper said. "She'll come in and check on me." Her cheeks tinged pink. "And she always comes in to kiss me goodnight before she goes to bed."

Alex smiled, looking down. "That's sweet."

Piper sighed. "I could think of other words right now."

Piper dragged Alex out of her bedroom as she fixed her shirt and as Piper pulled her own over her head. As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Piper stopped, her heart thudding underneath her shirt. If she hadn't heard them come in...she let out a breath. It didn't bear thinking about - all hell would have broken loose.

Her mom started as she caught sight of Piper on the stairs.

"Piper," Mrs Chapman said in surprise. She looked her daughter up and down, confusion written all over her face. Her gaze fell to Alex, and the little V in her forehead deepened. "I thought you weren't feeling very well."

"I'm feeling...better," she said, choosing her words carefully. She swatted at Alex as she smirked. "I invited Alex over for a pizza and a movie."

It wasn't a total lie. Yet she still couldn't quite meet her father's eye as she said it.

Mrs Chapman nodded. "Have you been driving with your roof down?" she asked, gesturing to her own perfectly coiffed hair. She raised her eyebrows. "And your father said you'd never get any use out of that thing."

Piper desperately patted her hair down. "Yep," she said quickly, nodding a little too quickly. "I picked Alex up. She wanted to try the roof."

Alex raised one of her own eyebrows but said nothing.

"Well, you certainly sound brighter," Mr Chapman laughed. "Despite the forty dollars you just wasted on your hair."

Alex couldn't hide her shock at the amount of money she'd spent, just to let her mess it up. A rose blush swept across her cheeks as she thought about the moment again.

"I know," Mr Chapman said, rolling his eyes. "But it makes her so happy. Who could say no to that?"

Alex shrugged. "I guess," she said, wondering if he'd have the same attitude to her making Piper happy. She doubted it. She swallowed hard at the thought. "Anyway," she said, her voice breaking a little, "I should get going. My mom will be worried."

"I'll drive you," Piper said instantly. She smiled at her parents. "Don't wait up."

Mr Chapman raised an eyebrow. "I won't wait up," he said. "Because you'll be back before nine, won't you, darling?"

Piper rocked on her heels, holding back a sigh. When she realized her dad wasn't in a relenting mood, she nodded. "Fine."

"Go on then," he said, waving her off. "Have a good night, Alex. Glad you could keep Piper company."

Alex smiled. "Yeah," she said, watching as Piper grabbed her keys from the hook by the door and swing them around her fingers. "Me too."

As Piper started the engine, Alex turned to her. Her voice was quiet but clear when she finally spoke. "I'm sorry I lied to you before."

Piper looked to her. "I know."

Alex played with her seat belt. "I didn't want to."

"I know that too."

A smile played on Alex's lips. "You didn't tell me you had a convertible."

"Well," Piper said, pushing a button that caused it to open up and let the moonlight swathe them. "You never asked."

After a rather breezy car ride, Piper pulled up outside of Alex's house. She looked at herself in the rear view. The sunglasses and headscarf she usually wore when the sunroof was down would have looked ridiculous in the dark, but she was regretting it now. She wrinkled her nose at her reflection. "I look like I've been hit by a truck."

"That's okay," Alex laughed. "I do too...do you wanna come inside?"

Piper nodded, opening up her door. "Just for a little bit."

As they made their way inside, Alex's phone began to ring. She had ignored it enough times this evening, and sighed as she pulled it from the pocket of her knock off Levi's. Before she even had the chance to say hello, she was met by Nicky's voice coming out like a burst water pipe. There was no stopping her.

"Nicky?" Alex said once Nicky finished talking. She opened up her bedroom door in a panic, her vision ebbing away at the edges as her heart pounded. "You saw her today?"

Piper sat down on Alex's bed, looking at her questioningly. She patted the spot next to her silently as Alex listened.

Alex sat down quietly, chewing her thumbnail as Nicky recounted her encounter with Sylvie earlier that day, but only after complaining that Alex hadn't been picking up her phone. Alex looked to Piper.

"I'm sorry, I've been busy," she said, worry causing lines on her forehead. "Yes," she replied as Nicky told her to be careful. "I will, I promise. You be careful too."

Alex pressed her lips together as she hung up the phone.

"Is everything okay?" Piper asked needlessly, because Alex was pawing at her eyes. "Oh. Sweetie, what happened?"

"Sylvie," Alex said, taking a deep breath. She drew her knees up to her chest. "Nicky saw her today...and she's crazy as ever it seems." Her voice was so dejected that Piper couldn't help but squeeze her fingers in an attempt at comfort.

Piper couldn't stop the worry that crept onto her features. She chewed her lip. "Are you safe?"

"I don't know," Alex replied honestly. "I thought she'd stay away. She is supposed to stay away. From all of us. It's in her conditions…"

"Call the police, then," Piper urged. "Don't let her win."

Alex shook her head. "No," she said softly. As much as she didn't want to see Sylvie, she didn't want to be the one to land her in jail again either. It just didn't feel right. After all, Sylvie hadn't hurt her...not really. Alex bit her own lip.

"At least tell someone. Tell your mom," Piper said. Her forehead creased. "She can keep you safe."

Alex snorted. "She can barely get herself up in the morning, but yeah. She could keep me safe." Her voice was dull and flat and she leaned against Piper miserably.

It was then that Piper decided to ask the question that had been playing on her mind since she'd met Diane. "Is your mom...okay?"

"Not really," Alex said. She picked up a photograph that sat on her windowsill beside her bed and smiled sadly at it. Her and her mom smiled up at her, in better times. It was a sad reminder.

Piper waited for her to continue, but she didn't, and it didn't look like she wanted to be pushed either. "Well...would she see a doctor?"

"No," Alex said, worry creeping into her tone. "She wouldn't go. She doesn't have the money. And nor do I."

It was something Alex often felt guilty about. When her mom needed something, she bought it - tampons, food, clothing, it all came from Alex's side hustle. Her mom tried, but bounced from one dud job to the next. Yet when it came to something so important, her mom's health, she was powerless. Yes, she had savings - but they wouldn't even make a dent in what would be needed. And if she was brutally honest, she didn't want to waste her precious cushion on something that hadn't worked in the past, when her mom was steady and they had job benefits that afforded them healthcare.

"You don't have health insurance?" Piper's brow furrowed. She couldn't imagine not having that safety net. "Does your mom's job not provide any for you?"

Alex shook her head. "Anyway," she said softly, running her finger along Diane's face in the photo, "I don't think my mom would go anyways. Lee would only use it against her."

"There are free clinics," Piper persisted. "I volunteered for one of them for a girl scout badge. They won't judge her." She paused. "And who cares if Lee uses it against her? Who would care what he thought?"

Alex offered up a wry smile. "Those are the people who judge you the most, you know - the ones who parrot 'this is a judgement free zone!'" She let out a deep sigh. "And the court would care, when they take me away from her."

"You're fifteen," Piper said, wrinkling her nose. "You could vote with your feet."

"I know," Alex said. "But she's the one who makes all the decisions about me right now. And that means I'm the one making the decisions about me. I don't want that to change."

It wasn't as simple as Piper thought, and if she thought Alex hadn't spent sleepless nights thinking it through then she was wrong. But, Alex reminded herself, she was only trying to help in a helpless situation.

Piper shrugged, pulling at a loose thread on her socks. "I just...I can't imagine not being able to go to the hospital if I needed to. It's not right, Alex. It's not fair."

"I know," Alex said, leaning back. She placed the photo frame back down onto the window sill, meticulously making sure it was straight, and turned back to Piper. "Life isn't fair."

Piper drew her knees up to her chest. "I don't know how you're so calm about that," Piper muttered. "What if you get sick? What if Sylvie comes back and hurts you?" This time, Piper spoke Sylvie's name not with anger, but with anxiety seeping out of her voice.

Alex shook her head. If she thought that was a possibility, she would have called the police like Pipe suggested. "That won't happen."

"But you've got no-one to protect you," Piper said, her voice rising. She shuffled over towards Alex, resting her head on Alex's shoulder and looping her fingers through Alex's. "I know I pushed you about Sylvie. And maybe I shouldn't have yelled at you," she admitted. She looked up at Alex. "But I'm really fucking worried about you, you know."

Alex shifted, letting Piper's head fall to her lap. She stared down at Piper, and then a flicker of a smile crossed her lips.

"Don't worry," she said, tangling her fingers in Piper's hair. Piper didn't protest, despite having just paid for the blow out. She relaxed into Alex's touch. "I don't need someone to keep me safe. I can protect myself."

"Really?" Piper looked doubtful. "How?"

"I'll show you."

Alex quietly closed the door to her bedroom. She could feel Piper's eyes burning in the back of her neck as she opened up her wardrobe door. It was meticulously organized, right down to the little row of shoes on the base.

Piper raised an eyebrow. She was more of a floordrobe fan, and her clothes, designer or otherwise, were often found strewn around her room on whatever surface she'd tossed them onto. Yet she wasn't surprised by Alex's neatness; it seeped into other parts of her. Her business, her school work, even the way she talked sometimes. Her words didn't spill out like Piper's did, free and rambling and whatever came to mind. It always felt like she was holding back. Like with every sentence, she left something unsaid. It was annoying, yet made Piper hang onto every last word.

Alex pulled out a battered shoe box at the bottom, under a pile of sweaters, and sat down cross legged on the floor next to Piper. Balancing the box on her knees, she pulled off the lid, setting it down next to her. She looked up at Piper.

"You're gonna stomp on her with some old boots?" Piper looked at her dubiously, tapping the box with her foot.

Alex snatched it away. "Careful!" she hissed. Unfurling the top of the boots, the long leather knee-highs, she reached down into the toe. "It's not the boots...it's what's inside."

Piper stared as Alex pulled her hand out with a flourish. "No," she said instantly. Her eyes went from her hand to her eyes. "No, Alex, you can't seriously think that is the answer."

Alex pressed her lips together. "It's the only way."

"Someone almost shot you…" Piper said slowly, deliberately dragging out the words. "And you think the answer is...a gun?"


A/N:

Hello lovelies.
Someone said that they liked the longer chapter length so this one is in line with that.
I hope you all enjoyed this one, and thanks for the reviews on the last one!
Please let me know what you thought in a review. I appreciate every single one.

Hope you're all good.

- Star xo