Please Be Careful With My Heart
Disclaimer: 'Charmed' is not mine. I just love it so much so I did this. So, please don't sue me.
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Here's a sensational chapter for you all!
Chapter 15 - Slow Silent Movie
The next day, Piper, Leo and Paige were in the school cafeteria for lunch. When Seth arrived and went to their table.
"Leo! Hey! How's your column?" Seth gave Leo a high five.
"It's going great! Maybe I'd be able to submit it by tomorrow." Leo replied.
"Good, good! Hey, Piper, Paige!" Seth was smiling as he gave Piper and Paige a wave.
Piper was still nervous so she just smiled awkwardly at him. Though he explained what pushed him to do what he did, Piper still felt fear around him, 'Technically, it was an attempted sexual assault. I can't just go back to treating him as a harmless friend after what he did. It's not that simple.'
Seth avoided Piper's searing stare and said to Leo, "Oh well, since you already had your lunch, let me treat you to desserts, huh? What do you think?" Seth offered.
"What for?" Piper asked suspiciously narrowed her eyes. 'He maybe doing this to make up for what he did, thought he could just clear everything up with just one dessert.' Piper thought.
Paige, Leo and Seth noticed the suspicion in Piper's voice. Piper noticed this so she thought of a cover. "I mean why? 'Cause usually, you're the one who always asked to be treated for desserts, not the other way around. So I'm just curious." Piper flashed a wide, fake smile.
"Well, because I got a B+ in Geometry and that rarely happens." Seth reasoned. "That is something to be celebrate for, right?"
"Well, that's good! Because, I'm dying for ice cream and I want to get rid of the spicy, icky taste of this sauce from my mouth. Yuck." Paige pushed her plate further with a funny face showing how horrible the sauce was. "I don't even know what they put in it. And I don't wanna know."
"So that's a yes from Paige. How about you Leo, Piper?" Seth asked.
Leo could sense the uneasiness between his friend and his girlfriend. He wanted to know what's bothering them but to save Piper from the tension, he decided not to take on the offer. "Uhm. I think I'm going to pass. Well, I need to go anyway, I still have to talk to the coach for some additional info for my article."
"Oh. Piper?" Seth offered.
"No." Piper's answer was direct and solid, also a little bit rude. Paige and Leo looked at her with confusion. Piper had never been rude to anybody until that time, even to Missy. 'I wonder what's wrong?' Leo and Paige both thought.
'She seems like she wanted to get rid of Seth as much as possible.' Leo thought.
'What's up with her? She was okay before Seth came. I need to know this. Piper, you are going to tell me everything whether you like it or not.' Paige thought, determined to know what's troubling her best friend.
But that afternoon, Piper was so insistent on going home early, saying she had to do a lot of homework and help Grams cook dinner and all. Truth was, she was just avoiding Paige and Leo, she knew they knew something's up with her and she's not going to let them find it out. At least not anytime soon, if she can help it. She didn't want to ruin Seth and Leo's friendship.
The next day, Piper and Leo were walking to the Audio/Visual Room (AVR), the Glee Club was about to present a series of short movies. Paige was already there waiting for them.
Everyone was ready to watch the movie, what they didn't know was that Missy was in the back negotiating with the person-in-charge with the multimedia system.
"Come on, just pretend you put the wrong tape, that you don't know anything about it, and you don't know who smuggled it in. You should be able get away with that. And this money could go a long way." Missy was waving 200 bucks in front of the face of the operator.
The man smiled, accepted the money as Missy handed him a tape. Missy left to join her friends in the audience with an evil smirk on her face.
The AVR was full of students from different levels. Piper was seating between Leo and Paige, she was happy and excited to watch the movies prepared by the Glee Club, well, we all know how she loved acting.
The lights were turned off. Silence. The big screen lighted up, flashed a solid blue color. Then black again. Smile and excitement was all over Piper's face.
Then the movie began, suddenly everyone gasped. Paige's was probably the loudest. Piper's smile instantly faded. Her eyes started to water. She was breathing fast. Missy on the other hand, was smiling. 'Too bad, Phoebe couldn't see this.' Phoebe still had classes and a major exam at that time.
The movie was in slow motion, with no sounds.
Piper was in the 'On the Edge' office. Seth was behind her walking slowly, an evil smile on his face. He looked at Piper up and down, an intense desire could be seen on his face.
Then Piper turned around to face Seth.
What happened next made every single person in the AVR gasped louder than the first one. Shock and disgust on their faces.
The world seemed to stop in Piper's point of view. But the movie continued to play in front of her. She could hear the people's whispers around her. All their hurtful words and judgements. But Piper couldn't do anything, they were just reacting to what they're seeing. Even though, what they're seeing was fake. Piper couldn't blame them.
All the while, Piper was staring at the screen, not blinking, tears streaming down her face like a waterfall. Heart beating faster and faster. She was starting to feel pity. Pity towards her self. 'Why does everyone loves hurting me?'
Then she suddenly remembered Leo beside her. She looked down at his clenched fist upon the armrest of his chair. Then looked up to see his usually angelic face, now full of anger and rage, she had never seen him like that. Piper was looking back and forth at Leo and the screen with tears in her eyes. Every time she looked at Leo, the obvious hurt and disappointment on his face crushed her. "Leo?" she whispered, a cry of distress can be heard from her voice. But Leo was too attached with what he was seeing, he didn't even bother to respond to girlfriend's call.
Piper and Seth kissed each other hungrily as Piper laid on her back at the top of the table. Seth kissing her all over, his hands travelling her body.
Piper looked down again at his tightly clenched fist, and tried to touch it but the moment her hand made contact with his fist, Leo violently pulled his hand away, as if Piper's hand was mud, a disgusting dirt.
Leo's withdrawal made Piper cry bitterly, her hands covered her mouth. She couldn't take it anymore, she closed her eyes tightly, more tears ran down her cheeks. She closed her eyes, convincing herself that what was happening was just a bad dream, a very, very bad dream. That Leo did not do what he just did.
The movie lasted for another minute, yet, Piper felt as if she was watching it forever, over and over again. Then something pulled her out of her thought. Leo got up from his seat and left the room as fast as he could.
"Leo, wait!" Piper called, she ran after him. She had to explain and clear herself up. If Leo wanted to break up with her because of that video, that's Leo's decision, but she wanted to at least tell him the truth. 'He must know the truth. He deserves it. I owe him that.' Piper thought.
Leo ran, he could hear Piper calling for him, and her footsteps behind him. He was furious, 'No one has ever hurt me this way. Well… this is more painful.' The memories of his mother came rushing back to him. Apparently, his mother cheated on his father and chose her newfound guy over them, her family. That part of Leo's life was agonizing for him and swore to himself that it won't happen again. He will never allow anyone to hurt him like what his mother did to his father. But this one, this is beyond everything.
Still, he wanted to be fair and at least give Piper a chance to talk, just talk. So he stopped and without turning around, waited for Piper, as he felt her right behind him, he grabbed her by the arm, pushed her inside an empty room and closed the door.
Piper faced Leo with a tear-streaked face, still sobbing. "Leo. Let me explain, please." Piper pleaded as she tried to touch him but Leo pulled away vigorously, which made Piper cry more.
Students were outside the room, where Piper and Leo were. They didn't want to miss a dramatic break-up, especially Piper and Leo's. They were eavesdropping, actually they didn't need to because Piper and Leo's voices could be heard 6 feet away from the outside of the room.
"Ok! Explain. Explain to me. Why did you have sex with Seth! It was bad enough that you cheated on me, but to do it with my friend! Take note, MY FRIEND!" Leo was furious, tears already starting to form in his eyes, tears caused by the fact that the love of his life cheated on him with his bestfriend and by the hurt that he was feeling. To see the love of his life, crying her heart out. 'I hate to see her this way. But she hurt me so bad. I'm the victim here. I have the right to express what I'm feeling, right?'
"Leo, I didn't!" Piper insisted. "What you saw, that's not true. I will never do that! Please believe me, Leo. Please… believe me!" Piper pleaded with all her heart. "I love you, Leo." she whispered desperately.
"I'm not so sure about that anymore." Leo whispered. Even he was surprised by his own response. 'Is that really how I feel?'
Piper was surprised by Leo's answer, 'How could he even question my love for him?' Piper, was getting angry, angry at the person or persons who did this to her and to Leo for being so damn hard-headed, and blind. "Leo, they framed me up! That video was edited! That's not what happened! It's not what you think it is! Please…" she trailed off, getting tired of explaining herself.
"I saw what I saw. And that's all I need to know." Leo cut her off. Then he remembered the day before, "Is that why you started acting different around Seth? Because something happened between the two of you that you don't want me to know! " Leo accused her.
"I told you! NOTHING happened! When will you get that with that thick head of yours! Nothing happened between us!" Piper was getting irritated.
"Thick head, huh?" Leo said in a much lower voice. "You mess around with somebody and now I'M the thick-headed one!" he said while pointing to himself. "What about you, you, you… you slut!" The word just came out of Leo's mouth, he didn't even notice it and just continued, "I bet you were just waiting for the right time to dump me so you could sleep with every other guy in campus, right?" Leo said sinisterly.
Piper's heart shattered by that statement. The guy she loved, loves… the guy she has ever cherished, the guy she has risked falling for, had made the worst judgement of a lifetime. Much worse than other people's charges against her combined. All the agony, pain and anger she was feeling right then mounted up. It gave her the energy to slap Leo in the face really hard, it made his face so red. "How-dare-you call me that!" she said with so much venom. "Of all people I expect to be there for me at times like this, you- you're-" Piper couldn't even continue her statement and just said in a much lower and with much ache voice, "How could you hurt me this way?" she said in between sobs. She was crying openly. Then she sat on a chair, and just sobbed harder. Her hands hiding her face.
"How could YOU hurt ME this way?" Leo was also crying. He leaned back on the wall and slid down to sit on the floor.
They were both crying, both hurt, but this time, not in the arms of each other. One, not comforting the other. Together, but far apart. No one said a word, for minutes, no one uttered a word. Just sobbing sounds from her, disappointed cry from him.
Then suddenly, Leo wiped away the tears on his face, stood up and breathed deeply. He ran his hands from his forehead all the way to the back of his head, then breathed again. Without a word, he opened the door and left.
Piper sobbed harder, as she heard the door closed.
Leo found lots of people outside the door. "Shows over. Are you all happy now!" Leo knew that many people in school wanted to break them up and they succeeded. Leo walked his way out of the building. Then he heard someone's voice, the voice of someone he loathed and despised ever since he walked out of the AVR. Seth's.
"Leo, wait! Buddy!"
Leo stopped to a halt, his face looking down, hands on his sides, and the right one clenching hardly into a fist.
"Leo. I'm sorry, man." Seth apologized. "But Piper… she came to me, looking... hot. She enticed me and… I'm just a guy and she was there inviting me. I'm sorry, my friend." Seth was rambling his way to clear himself up to Leo.
Leo was full of it, he could not just stand there and listen to some guy talk about his girlfriend like that. Yes, even he thinks of her that way, but hearing it from somebody else made Leo's blood boil. So, he did the best way he knew to shut Seth up. He turned around and punched him in the face, so hard that Seth ended up with a bleeding nose. Then he continued his walk home, far from everyone, far from the love of his life. Far from his life… her.
Piper was crying hysterically for she didn't know how long, it seemed long. Then she felt Paige's arms pulled her closer and hugged her. She just cried herself out, held onto her friend tightly like a scared little girl and broke down as Paige whispered soothing words to calm her.
Everyone was staring at them, not even bothering to comfort Piper, they just stood by the open door and watched.
Suddenly Paige heard the sound of cry turned into a series of heavy breaths and coughs combined with sobs. Piper tightened her hold of Paige as a sharp chest pain surged through. "Oh shit!" she whispered as she rubbed Piper's back to help her. "Oh my God. What do I do?" Paige started to panic as she heard a painful moan from the girl in her arms.
Outside, Phoebe just finished her exam and headed to the AVR, hoping to catch at least some part of the presentation but on her way there, she saw a bunch of people outside a room. Curious, she went there and squeezed herself in to see Paige and Piper inside the room.
"Piper? Piper, where's your medicine? Piper, come on!" Paige brushed away Piper's hair off her face, she felt cold sweat on her best friend's forehead. "Piper where is it! Where's your bag!" Paige was hysterical, Piper's eyes were close and she was not answering Paige's questions, all Paige got from her was a series of whimpers and moans.
Piper's eyes are getting heavy, it felt like she was going to fall. Her senses unclear, voices seemed so far away.
Paige scanned the room for Piper's bag. Then she was surprised to find Phoebe crouching down for something behind the teacher's table, Piper's bag. Phoebe opened the bag, took out the bottle of pills and handed it to Paige.
"Thank you." Paige said gratefully. "Piper? Piper, open your mouth. Come on, take this." Paige urged Piper. Then she saw Phoebe's extended arm handing her a bottle of water. Paige smiled thankfully and said, "Thanks." Paige offered Piper the pill and the water.
The pain started to subside, but the heaves continued, for a while longer. Piper's eyes were close the whole time of the ordeal. Paige helped Piper breathe, as she put pressure over Piper's heart and let Piper lean on her. "That's it. Just slow breaths. You're okay." Paige whispered. Paige looked up to thank Phoebe once more, but the girl was nowhere in sight. So Paige just focused her attention again to Piper in her arms.
Everyone was dumbstruck by Phoebe's action. They knew how she hated her older sister. What they saw, shocked them, Phoebe helped her sister. Well, they wondered if it was for good or Phoebe just hit her head hard that morning.
What they didn't know… It didn't change anything. Never did.
Phoebe hurriedly went to the comfort room, good thing, no one was in there.
"Why did I do that? Why did I help her?" she asked herself loudly. "It won't happen again. I won't let that happen again." she shook her head.
Then she looked at the mirror. "You're supposed to make her realize her mistakes. Let her know how you hate her. Not show her an act of kindness!" she then sighed deeply. "Now, concentrate. Don't ruin your own plans." Then she took out her make-up to retouch her self. But she couldn't seem to forget the peacefulness she felt when she helped Piper, when Paige thanked her, it felt good.
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