A/N: It's been way too long since I updated this. However I didn't want to give up on this story, so I sat down and wrote what I had in mind since the start of this. It is coming to an end, meaning there will be around 3 more chapters. I hope you are still interested in reading this.

Alex kept her head high all the way to Piper's office. She felt a mix of self-confidence and enthusiasm consume her entire body. It was finally time. She didn't even bother to knock before entering, something that startled the blonde, who didn't look as if she were in a great mood. I'll fix that, Alex thought.

"Hey, Pipes…" She said playfully, making her way to the desk. "So… I have something I wanna tell you."

Piper sighed heavily. "I was kind of hoping I would get the chance to talk to you." She then added, "About something very important."

"What's wrong?" The brunette asked, certainly not expecting what came out of Piper's mouth as a response.

"This."

"W-what?" Alex's hands twitched and suddenly couldn't breathe.

"I'm so terribly sorry that I allowed this to go on for so long." The older woman said with an icy facade. "But we can no longer be-" She hesitated. "Whatever we were."

"Piper." Nothing more than a whisper. "Please don't do this." A broken plea.

"It would be best if you started calling me Ms. Chapman." The blonde pointed out, neither her face nor voice betraying any kind of emotion that she might be feeling.

"Look me in the eyes-" Alex snapped, pain transforming into anger. "-and tell me that what we had meant nothing for you. Then I promise I will never bother you again."

"We had fun, I won't deny that." Each word that came out of Piper's mouth was calculated. "But I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression that it was more than that."

After that, the only sound in the room was Alex's heart cracking to pieces. "I see…" She managed after some moments. "I, um… I have to go to class."

"Wait, didn't you have something you wanting to tell me?" Piper asked, just as the brunette opened the door.

Alex was grateful that she had her back to her ex-lover, so she couldn't see the tear that ran down her cheek. "Forget about it. It was something stupid anyway." She murmured before exiting the room and promising to herself that it was the last time she went there.

…..

Piper quickly wiped her tears away before answering to the knock on her office door. Hours had passed, yet she still found herself tearing up at the thought of the brunette. "Yes?" Her voice was broken, showing exactly how she felt inside.

The door flung open and a very angry Nicky stormed in. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Chapman?"

"Hey, mind your language." The student completely ignored this failed command.

"Why?" The question was so simple yet the answer so complicated.

"Go back to your class, Nicky." Piper was tired and in no mood to explain her actions to the younger woman.

"No. Not until you give me an explanation."

"You are in no position to demand that." She pointed out, a little harder than she intended.

"You are right." Nicky's demeanor softened. "But, Alex is my best friend and you've hurt her so incredibly much, that I can't recognize her right now." Piper felt each word like a stab in the heart. "And alongside with that, you are hurting yourself."

"Would you believe me if I said that I was doing this for her?" The blonde asked, suddenly feeling very small.

Nicky scoffed but said, "If you explained why, maybe."

Piper considered her options and asked, "Do you promise to not tell her about this?"

The student didn't hesitate at all when saying, "Yes."

So, the blonde starting telling the story to Nicky because she needed to share this burden with someone, she needed to have someone to understand her. And maybe Nicky wouldn't, but she was the only person that knew enough to be trusted with this.

….

"You don't have proof." Piper told him the moment her mind starting having rational thoughts again.

"Of you kissing her in the rain, whispering sweet things in her ear?" Healy asked with a taunting smile. "No, I don't. But it's not like I need it."

"Nobody is going to believe you." She said, crossing her arms. Thank god he hadn't caught them in a more private moment…

"I wasn't planning on telling anyone."

"Then what the purpose of this?" The blonde asked through gritted teeth. "Since you clearly are in no position to destroy my career."

"I was never planning on doing that. You can still be saved." Piper scoffed at his words, but Healy ignored it. "However, I don't need anyone to destroy her."

"No." She released it in the form of a shaky breath and he smiled to see that he had found her weak spot. Bastard.

"She is already failing many classes. If I don't pass her, she will have to repeat the year." With every word that he said, Piper hated him even more.

"Why punish her? I'm the one doing something wrong." The blonde told him, hoping that she sounded less desperate than she felt.

Ignoring her question Healy said, "Alex can go to college and you can keep your job here; everybody wins. Hell, I'll even pass that friend of hers, Nichols."

"Why are you doing this, Sam?" She hoped that by addressing him with his first name, she would be able to win him over, make him see that he was being crazy.

"I'm doing this for you." Healy told her sweetly, reaching for her hand. The blonde yanked it out of his reach. "You will be thanking me in the future, as you look at your husband and children."

But she didn't want a husband or children. She just wanted Alex. But even more than that, Piper wanted the brunette to be happy. If sacrificing their happiness meant giving a chance for a future to Alex then… "I will break up with her today."

Healy flashed her a wide smile. "I'm glad I could talk some reason into you."

…

"Do you see now that this wasn't my choice?" Piper asked after she finished explaining.

"Of course it was." Nicky said, irritation in her voice. "You chose to let Healy win." She emphasized on the second word. "You chose to give up on Alex when things started getting rough."

"There was nothing else I could have done!" The blonde cried out, frustration taking over her. She was utterly powerless, the realization sunk in. She was losing the person she cared the most about and there was nothing she could do to change that. "This sacrifice is giving Alex a chance for a future."

"You should have let her make that choice."

"She would have said no." Piper's voice was too quiet and filled with too much pain.

"Damn right, she would. You think Vause wants a future without you?" Nicky shook her head in disgust. "I mean, how could have you said that to her right after she finally admitted loving you. I mean you took asshole to a whole new-"

Piper's mind stopped processing any words after the three words that came out of the student's mouth. Admitted loving you. "L-loving me?"

Nicky opened her mouth as if to say something mean but then looked at the blonde that was staring at her like a lost puppy and instead settled with a soft, shit. "She didn't get to tell you, did she?"

Piper shook her head ever so slightly while saying, "She was going to tell me that she loved me?" Her voice must have been very broken because pity replaced the anger in the students face.

"I swear to God, you two are like a real life soap opera…" Nicky sighed. "Go fix things, blondie."

"Aren't you going to ask me if I love her?"

Nicky flashed her a genuine smile for the first time since she came into her office and said, "I already know you do. I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

….

Alex had stayed home for the next few days and had sad movies playing on her TV all day long to justify the used tissues that were scattered all over the place. And since her phone was off-limits -due to it always receiving messages from either Nicky or the blonde- they had quickly turned into her primary source for killing time.

She was in the middle of a movie that she knew ended with the dog's death when there was a knock on her door. At first, she thought she could just ignore it; they would go away after a few unanswered knocks, right?

When her assumption proved to be wrong, she shouted, "Leave me alone, Nicky." However, there was no answer and the knocks only grew more persistent. "Fine, I'm coming."

Alex didn't give a damn about how she looked -dirty Pajamas and red puffy eyes- when she opened the door. She just wanted to make that person go and then get back to watching movies and crying about her own miserable life.

"You almost broke down my door, dude. Like-" The brunette wasn't fast enough in slamming the door shut.

"Alex." The voice that tortured her in her dreams said. It was as smooth and velvety as she remembered it to be.

"Go away." She murmured, trying to force the door to close, despite the hand that was holding it open.

"Just hear me out." The blonde pleaded and it almost broke Alex's resolve instantly. She had been successfully avoiding her texts for the past four days. She wasn't going to give in so easily.

"I don't want to." Alex said icily. She wished that hate was behind every word that came out of her mouth, but it wasn't. "You made a choice, now you should face the consequences that go with it."

"Just give me a chance to explain." She said, but removed her hand from the door.

The brunette didn't look at her former lover as she closed the door. She wanted it to look as if she was disgusted by her sight or didn't even bother to acknowledge her but truth be told, every second that she spent facing the blonde, brought her closer to giving her a second chance.

…..

After returning home from her visit to Alex, Piper felt as if she would puke. Her ex-girlfriend had looked terrible and it all was her fault. She always thought that she was helping the younger woman. Helping her to allow herself to open up, to become a better person. But maybe all this time, Piper had slowly been poisoning the brunette.

Maybe the visit had been a bad idea after all. At first, the plan was to go there and try apologizing. If that wasn't successful, Piper would tell her that she loved her. But when the time came, it felt wrong blurting it out like that, while standing outside her flat. It felt as if it was a trick to get her back.

All this time it felt as if Alex was the dangerous one. Always pushing the boundaries, always flirting with danger. But at least she was true; the blonde knew what she was dealing with. Piper on the either hand, she was a drug. When with her, the younger woman was always happy, or more correctly, oblivious. Oblivious to the damage that Piper was doing to her. Oblivious to the fact that Piper was slowly, but steadily wrecking her.

….

A week had passed from the visit and Alex had started attending school again. However, the blonde hadn't approached her, afraid of scaring her away. That didn't mean she didn't observe her. Every free moment she had, she spent it on watching the brunette. Piper was more than happy with the fact that Alex was starting to slip back into her old routine. Maybe, just maybe, the damage she had done wasn't too much.

The final bell had rung and finally she and most of the students were free to go. The blonde was on her way to her car when she heard shouts coming from detention.

"You have to let me go."

"You clearly don't understand the meaning of detention, Nichols."

"I could hear you guys from the either side of the building." Piper joked, walking in the room. "Is everything all right?" Normally, she would just stay away from the potential trouble, but something in the student's voice told her that it was urgent.

Nicky's whole face lit up at the sight of the blonde. "Thank God, you are here." Turning to her teacher she asked, "Mrs. Bell, could I… um… have a few minutes with my counselor?"

Bell thought about it for a while, before finally saying, "Fine. You have five minutes and then you come back here. Understood?"

"Perfectly." The student was out of the room in a matter of seconds.

"What's going on?" Piper asked, leaning against the hallway wall.

"Alex's mother. She had a heart attack and she is at the hospital right now. I can't go because of fucking detention, but you can." Nicky said without taking a breath.

"Oh my god… I-"

"Stop wasting time. Every word that comes out from your mouth equals another second Alex has to spend at a hospital corridor all by herself." When she saw the hesitation in Piper's voice, Nicky said, "Promise me you'll go."

"I promise."

A/N: So, what did you think? Your feedback is the most amazing thing in the world. I love reading your thoughts on what I've written, so please it would mean everything if you showed your support by leaving a review. Also, suggestions are still being accepted, so if you have something you would want to see happen at the end, let me know. Love you 3