Chapter 12

PIPER POV

"I'm just saying, P, I am very happy that Pete and I haven't made it exclusive, because that means that I can still have flings with other hot dudes… ohhh, like the guy over there, he's cute isn't he?" Polly asked me as we walked across campus, and she nodded towards the guy she was talking about just as he passed us.

"I don't know, Pol, I can definitely point out some good arguments for why being exclusive totally rock," I said and smiled at her.

"That's because you have a hot girlfriend, and when you are with someone like her, you have to make it exclusive to keep others away," she said and looked at something behind me. "Aaaand speak of the devil and he shall come, here she comes."

I turned around and locked eyes with my girlfriend who was approaching us.

"Hi, Al," I said as she reached us.

Alex moved up closed to me and pressed her lips on my cheek. "Hey," she said as she retreated her lips. She looked over at Polly and said; "Always a treat Polly."

"Right back at ya, stretch."

"Been too much around Nicky I can hear," Alex said and referred to one of our many outings.

"Yeah, she has taught me some things," Polly said and raised her eyebrows.

Both Alex and I gave each other a confused look before we looked at Polly just as confused. Alex then looked back at me and said; "I am so sorry."

"Hey, it's nothing bad," Polly defended.

"When Nicky is in the picture, it is always bad," Alex said.

"Okay, as much as I would love to keep our conversation going, I have to get to my next lecture or else I will be late, and we don't want that," she said and disappeared into one of the buildings.

"We should probably head towards English huh?" Alex asked me and took my hand in hers. I love that we can do this. To walk across campus, hand in hand, just being in each other's existence.

"So, spring break's coming up," Alex started as we walked.

"Ahh, I look forward to a break."

"You've got something special in mind? Something you wanna do? Or are you going home?" she asked suddenly sounding a little nervous.

"No, I don't think I am going home, it would just be one week alone on the couch watching Netflix, so why travel all the way to Norway to do that?"

"That's true," she said now a little calmer.

"I don't really know what I want to do, I haven't really thought about it. But, I'd love to go somewhere."

"New York gettin' too boring for you?"

"No, but it is spring break, aren't you supposed to go somewhere during spring break?"

"Oh yeah, totally, that's the only rule of spring break," she said and chuckled a little. "Where you wanna go?"

"I don't know, somewhere, anywhere, as long as it with you I don't care."

"Cheesy."

"I know you love it."

"I didn't say I didn't love it when you say cheesy things, I just wanted you to know that I considered that cheesy," she said and kissed my hairline. "But, anyway, I don't have to work this break so I can devote all my time to you."

"And who's the cheesy one now?"

ALEX POV

"God, I don't understand anything in bio," I said as Piper and I stepped out of the building for the last time this day.

"Me neither," she said and lifted her hand to cover her eyes from the sun.

"At least your GPA will be saved by your no-ending knowledge in English," I said thinking back to all the English lectures where she just knows so much more than the rest of us.

"I am not that good," she said not liking to get compliments.

"Can't you just accept a compliment for once, you really deserve it."

"Okay, thanks. Can we go by the library before we head to yours?" she asked as we almost passed the library.

"Sure."

I am not a lot in the library, I prefer to do reach online but I can see that Piper takes full advantage of the library card the school provides. She knows her way around the library, and since she knows exactly what she is looking for, she goes very determined over to a shelf. People also greet her, people I've never seen in my life and she greets back, but later turn to me to say that she has no idea of they are. She has been here so much that the plastic on her card is even starting to fade off.

"What are you looking for?" I asked and watched her with amusement of how fast she was reading through the titles to find her book.

"Just some light read…," she said still focused. "… here it is."

"Not To Kill a Mockingbird," I said teasingly as I saw which book she had taken from the shelf.

"Why not?"

"It is kinda boring," I said and watched as she became disappointed in me.

"You can't say that, this happens to be my favorite book."

"I always thought you were one of those Pride and Prejudice kind of people."

"That one's good, but not as good as To Kill a Mockingbird," she said and looked at the back of the book. "No one ever forgets this book," she read. "That is true. Have you even read it?"

"Technically no, but we had an assignment about it in high school."

"And you didn't read it because?"

"I didn't really care much about school at that time, plus I was reading something else."

"What?"

"Well I don't remember that now, but it probably was The Catcher of the Rye," I said and watched her respect for me come back.

"That one's good too, but you have to read To Kill a Mockingbird."

"What if I don't want to?" I challenge knowing she only can take that much.

"I will make you," she said and looked at me in a way that told me she wasn't kidding. "Oh, and before I forget, here you go."

She reached into her bag and takes up a book. She hands me the book and I can already see that it is a biology book.

"This is what I use to be on track in bio, and I have even marked out the most important things. I have to get it back though."

I quickly look through the book, and she has actually marked out things on every page until the next three chapters ahead.

"This is why I love you."

"And here I was thinking it was because I give you discounts on coffee," she said and smiled at me.

"Well, it is that too. And speaking of which, what do you say to give me one now?"

"But that is a detour to your home," she said smartly.

"Well, see it as a chance to go through Washington Square Park," I said knowing I had won her over.

"Okay, fine, but only 40%."

"50%."

"45% and that is the highest I'll go."

"Deal, man you're hard today."

PIPER POV

"Hi, mom," Alex said as we walked into the apartment. "We bought coffee for you, with Piper's discount."

I chuckled a little of this and closed the door behind us as Diane came towards us. "Ahhh, what should we have done without Piper's discounts."

"Buy the coffee at full price," I said and looked at them.

"Happy that part of our life is over," Diane said and walked towards the kitchen area. "So, girls, I don't have to work tonight, so what do you wanna do?"

"Pizza and a movie?" Alex asked.

"Okay, but there is something I want to show Piper first though, baby photos!"

"Yes!" I said at the same time as Alex said "No!". I looked at Alex in wonder.

"Mom, you can't show Piper baby photos, we have to already be married for 70 years before I let you show them to her."

"But Alex you were so cute, and I had to go around with you kicking me every fifth minute for nine months, so I have dibs on the baby photos."

"Moooom," Alex said and this is the first time I have heard her whine.

"I want to see them," I said and looked at her.

"Pipes, if you see them now you will never look at me the same way."

"Why not?"

"Because they are horrible."

"They can't be that bad."

"Trust me, they are. And if you see them now, I have to see yours when I visit your home."

"Oh, you're coming to Norway? And besides, Norwegian parents doesn't really show photos around like that."

"I'll go looking for them myself."

"Well good luck finding one of me, because it is like they threw away the camera after I was born. It's tons of photos of Danny, but none of me, but then again there are many of Cal too and I was born at that time. There might be one of me, it is actually kind of rude."

"Well, I will seek up the one photo of you that exists and just imagine how you'd look like later."

"Creep," I said but smiled at her. Honestly, I don't have anything against her seeing my photos, but it is true what I say, my parents never took any photos of me because they said that "a woman should never look back", whatever that means.

"Okay, now that your adorable little fight is over, who wants to see how pink Alex was as a newborn?"

"Augghh," Alex grunted but sat down on the couch and I sat down beside her.

ALEX POV

It took forever for Piper to finish through album after album with photos of me because mom had a story to every picture, but I am also kind of happy that mom let Piper see my photos, because mom is very picky of who gets to look at the photos, so I take it as a sign that she wants Piper to be as close to us as possible.

After all the photos were seen and every story was told, we decided to order some pizza and find a movie on Netflix. I love that the three of us can hang out like this, that mom adores Piper so much that she even wants to hang with us and wants to spend time with Piper and to get to know her. It was never like that with Sylvia. Mom never told me, but I know she didn't like her very much, and all this tells me that I did the right thing when I decided to go for Piper.

It is many hours later when Piper and I head into my bedroom to go to bed. It has been a long day and we are both tired, but we still can't be too close to each other for a long time, before things start to heat up. We can't get enough of each other.

We are in the middle of a steamy make-out session when Piper starts to mumble between kisses. "You know monkeys shouldn't eat bananas."

"What?" I said but kept on kissing her.

"Monkeys… they shouldn't eat bananas… because it is too much sugar for what they can handle… and it can give them diabetes… and ruin their teeth… it equivalent to giving them cake and chocolate," she said still in between kisses as I wouldn't let go of her.

This is a personality trait I recently found out she had. When she was in the right mood - some kind of mix between excitement and happiness, especially when she is a little tipsy - she would start to mention these random facts that she knows, and this is one of her cutest personality traits. Some people may find a habit like this annoying, but it isn't like she does it all the time, it is only when she is in the right mood - so she didn't do it the first time we kissed, or slept together, or on Valentine's because these times she was too excited to do it -, and I find myself trying to get her to that state because I find it so adorable when she tells me her little facts and I always wonder what she will say next because she never tell one fact twice.

"How do you even know this?" I asked amused of all her knowledge.

"I don't know, I read it somewhere."

It is many hours later and Piper and I are laying on my bed somewhere between awake and asleep. "Can you read a little of To Kill a Mockingbird for me?" I asked her hoping she hasn't fallen asleep.

"I knew you'd come around," she said and stepped out of the bed to find the book in her bag. When she came back to the bed, with the book in her hand, she snuggled herself back into the covers and snuggled into my side. "When he was nearly thirteen my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed, and Jem's fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury."

Piper's words soon filled the room, and I don't know why I have never gotten her to read for me before. She reads with a very calm voice, and even though this is To Kill a Mockingbird, I find myself to want her to continue because it would mean I could listen to her for a little longer.

"Myrtle Beach," I say into the dark room.

She stops to read and looked over at me. "Excuse me?"

"Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. That is where we should go for spring break."

"And how are we going to get there?"

"By car."

"Who's car?"

"Our car?"

"You have a car?" she asked surprised.

"Yes, but we don't use it a lot, because we can get everywhere we need without it. What do you say? There's a beach there, and warmer than here. And there aren't too many who go there for spring break, but enough that it is going to be wild," I argued.

"Of course I'll go," she said.

I looked at her for a second, before I drew her face close to mine.

A/N: So I am back, and hopefully I won't have to take any more breaks before the end of this story. We are soon coming to an end, and I think after the next two or three chapters I'll jump some months forward. I saw one of you asking for public sex and I'll definitely add that in the next chapter. Nothing much happened in this chapter, but I wanted to post something and also lead up to the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed anyway, and please leave a review of what you thought.