I personally don't usually read authors notes, so I feel like a hypocrite hoping you will. But I just had to thank my reviewers both new and recurring. It's your reviews that inspire me and give me the motivation to write more.

I am trying to make my chapters longer. So the break between updating may take longer but I hope that you'll like the finished product.

It's great reading your ideas of what's going to happen, and whilst I already have the story outline in mind, I've managed to expand on it incorporating some of your suggestions. Hope you enjoy :)

oOoOo

I searched the fridge, what seemed in vain, for an edible snack. My eyes landed on the chocolate chip cookies, the batch Morgane had cooked up just a few days ago in a moment of weakness. 'Score!'

I quickly piled a few onto the plate I was holding. I turned and set the plate down on the counter and after pouring myself a drink, picked it up again and made my way to the smaller version of the dining room table that we kept in the kitchen, for purposes such as this. Radarr followed me, and situated himself under the table, waiting to snatch up anything that hit the floor.

I sat down and made myself comfortable and couldn't help but let the smile I felt spreading across my face, take hold.

"Busted Mister!"

I freeze with a partially eaten cookie halfway to my mouth. My gaze flicks back and forth between it and my aunt whose standing in the door, holding a bag of groceries. I quickly shoved the cookie in my mouth and aimed my most charming smile at Morgane. The effect of which was probably ruined by my bulging cheeks.

Morgane shook her head but she couldn't hide the small smile she had, as she made her way over to the counter and dumped her bag down.

"In my defense you are the one who cooked them." I pointed out.

"Yeah, yeah. I don't need another guilt trip, just eat your cookies."

I couldn't resist teasing her. "Are you sure? I don't mind sharing." From the glare she shot me I could tell I hit the mark.

"Anyway…" She said in an obvious attempt to change the subject. "What are you doing home so early? No work at the shelter?"

"Finished early." I replied whilst I resumed eating the cookies.

"Oh, was Piper there?"

I froze, my good mood instantaneously evaporating. "Yeah, I didn't see her though." I reply as nonchalantly as possible.

Morgane glanced up from unloading the groceries. "I really liked that girl. Such strange eyes though… Even so she was quite the looker." I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, but luckily Morgane didn't see, with her head being buried in the fridge.
She re-emerged after a few seconds and smiled at me. "When's she coming around again?"

I lean back in my chair, my appetite gone. "I don't know, you tell me." I mumble.

Raising her eyebrow at my change in demeanor, she pauses in her unloading. "Did something happen?" She asks gently.

I think back over the last four days, ever since that night where she asked me to forget what happened, she'd avoided me like the plague. Not only that, but she never sat with us at lunchtime anymore.

Everyone missed her, even Finn. I couldn't help but feel as if it was my fault. Obviously I must have done something to upset her, I just couldn't figure out what. I mean we were friends, friends are allowed to talk like that and hug. Although my feelings during that hug… whilst overwhelming and confusing, I was able to tell that some fell beyond the parameters of friendship. But still she couldn't have picked up on that…could she?

Shaking my head out of my reverie, I focused back on Morgane, who was leaning against the counter patiently awaiting my answer.

"She hasn't talked to me since our dinner." I admit. My eyes lower to the table, after a few seconds of silence I hear a loud scraping noise and glance out of the corner of my eye to see Morgane pulling out the chair next to me and sitting down.

"Do you know why?" she questioned. I shook my head.

"What did you talk about?" Morgane asked.

I hesitated unsure of how she would take my answer, "Our parents."

Morgane however didn't even flinch, she just smiled reassuringly and gestured for me to continue.

"We were talking about our memories and what we have left of them, she got a little upset. I hugged her but then she told me to forget everything that had happened." I decide to leave out Piper's comments regarding me, since I still didn't even know what to make of them.

Morgane remained quiet for a few minutes. "Perhaps Aerrow, she just doesn't know how to open up to people. From what I could tell she hasn't had many friends. Remember after your parents died, how long it took for you to talk about them, to anyone, and you had Starling, Finn and me. This could be the first time she's ever talked about it, wouldn't that scare you too?"

I felt Radarr rest his head on my knee and give a slight whine, as if he was in agreement.

"Maybe you just need to talk to her."

At those words I felt my determination spark up. "You're right. That might not be the reason but I won't know if I don't ask her. It's time this got sorted out- I'll go talk to her right now!" I pushed my chair back and stood up.

I was halfway across the kitchen before Morgane called my name. I turned back to face her, "Aren't you forgetting something?"
I stared at her blankly. She smiled, stood up and walked over to the counter. She quickly scribbled on a piece of paper and slid it towards me. "Her address, I think you might need it."

"Oh right.." I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head. I picked it up and stashed it in my pocket. I then glanced toward the kitchen table, I asked "You coming buddy?"
Radarr bounded toward me, eagerly jumping up and placing his front paws on my chest. I laughed and pet him on the head.

He jumped down and dashed into the hallway, most likely heading for the front door. I was about to follow when Morgane brought me to a halt again, "You'll let me know how it goes?"

I turned my head to look at Morgane and gave her a small nod.

She smiled, "Good luck."

oOoOo

I stood in front of the address Morgane had given me. The house was small but cozy looking, it stood out compared to all the other houses on the street which had all been expanded and remodeled, whilst this one had been left unchanged and had weathered over time. The sizable rowan tree growing in the front yard though shrouded most of the house from prying eyes, making it a little more inconspicuous.

Radarr was pacing in circles around my legs. I had decided to leave him off leash since we weren't going all that far and were sticking to the footpaths. I stood there a few more moments, which seemed to agitate Radarr even more. I bent down and ran a comforting hand down his back, "It's all right boy."

I stood back up and glanced down at the scrap of paper in my hand again, checking to make sure I had the right address.

'Well here goes nothing.'

With that thought in mind, I briskly walked up to the front door and knocked on it before I could change my mind.

I stood there, waiting patiently. I couldn't hear anything moving inside the house, I tried again. I was just about to give up when the door opened.

It was Piper, but not like I'd ever seen her before. I soaked in her appearance; her hair was loose and fell past her shoulders in soft waves, it partially covered her white tube top, which she wore in contrast with a lime green skirt. (A/N link on my profile) Her hands clutching at the doorframe were covered in what seemed to be dirt and when my eyes swept over her again I noticed her feet were bare.

I was shocked into silence, I'd never seen her wear anything like her current outfit before, at school she always wore a minimum of jeans and a t-shirt.

Piper appeared to be faring no better than me, she seemed as shocked as I was, only for a different reason. She glanced around as if to see if I'd brought anyone else, seeing I hadn't her eyes finally settled on me again and an expression of what seemed to be a mixture of disbelief and wariness spread across her face, "Aerrow what are you doing here?"

I snapped myself out of my stupor. I then realized I had in no way prepared what I wanted to say. 'Might as well take my chances and get straight to the point.'
I took a deep breath. "Look I really like you- and I really want us to be friends. I'm sorry for whatever I did the other night that upset you but if you're punishing the others for something I did, please don't. Whatever I did, blame me- not them. They're your friends too and I don't want to be responsible for ruining that."

Piper seemed stunned, I couldn't blame her, I was a little too, I had no idea I was going to say that until I'd said it.

She stared intently at me for a few seconds before lowering her gaze to the ground, "Aerrow you didn't…" She paused as if contemplating what she should say. "You shouldn't-I didn't mean… Ugh!" She appeared to be getting more agitated. "Explanations are not my forte!" she finally bit out and threw her hands into the air in frustration.

I shifted my stance in order to cover up my urge to reach out and comfort her. Since in past experiences when I had, it didn't turn out so well.

Piper suddenly glanced down at her feet. I followed her gaze, it seemed Radarr had picked this moment to make himself known. Butting his head against her leg and rubbing up and down against it once he knew he had her attention. A small smile crept onto Piper's face as she knelt down and scratched Radarr behind the ears.

Once she stood back up, she smiled softly at me. "Would you like to come inside?"

Startled, I managed to stutter out "Uhhh, sure."

She stood to the side, and I walked through the doorway with Radarr hot on my heels. She closed the door behind us and gestured to follow her. We walked down a dimly lit hallway and just as I was starting to wonder if the rest of the house was so oppressive, we emerged into the kitchen which was flooded in light due to the floor to ceiling glass paneling lining the back wall.

I watched as Piper opened a cupboard and rummaged around for a while before re-emerging with a dog dish bowl. She went to fill it up at the sink whilst I cast a quick look around the house, since I hadn't noticed any signs of pets as we walked through, I was confused as to why she had a dog dish.

She set down the bowl in front of Radarr and he happily started lapping it up. She glanced up at me "I hope you don't mind, he seemed thirsty. I keep it for emergencies," she gestured to the bowl, "we tend to get a lot of strays coming through here."

I blinked in surprise, 'Am I that easy to read?'

Piper bit her lip and I noticed she was fiddling with her crystal necklace, "I think I owe you a bit of an explanation. You're right, it's not fair that I'm ignoring the others but it's not your fault either, I'm just not…. Good with people."

"I'm sorry if I pushed it too far the other night." I offered.

Piper shook her head "You didn't. It's just.. I've had bad experiences with telling people something personal."

"Oh…" was all I could vocalize. 'Well Morgane wasn't far off' I thought.

The silence was broken by the whining originating from the glass panels, we both glanced over simultaneously to see Radarr scratching at the window, in an effort to get to the back yard. Horrified I cry "Radarr- stop that! This isn't our house!"

I feel Piper brush past me and watch as she slides the glass panel open and lets Radarr out. She tilts her head at me, "You know I was gardening before I answered the door, perhaps we could continue this outside?" She asked, seemingly uncertain how I'd take such a request.

Wanting to make her comfortable I agree instantly. I follow her out the open panel and step down the few stairs only to stop short in amazement at what lay before me. The garden was flooded with colour, with my first glance I was able to distinguish Calla lilies, Freesia's, Hydrangea's, Iris's and multiple forms of roses, orchids and tulips that Morgane would have loved to have. How could I have not noticed this whilst we were in the kitchen?

Whilst it was not as spectacular as the clearing I'd found a few weeks ago, it had the same feeling to it, as if it was bursting with life. The flowers and bushes were lined along the fences, but slightly curved inwards in the corners of both the back fence and where the garden met the house, forming a circular patch of grass in the middle of the garden. It was arranged in such a way it looked like a natural medium size clearing.

"Wow…" was all I could muster.

"It's sort of a pet project of mine." Piper explains whilst kneeling down at the edge of the grass, in front of some shoots.

"It's beautiful." I manage to say.

She smiles at me, "Gardening always helps me think, so as you can see I do a lot of thinking."

I make my way towards her and sit down on the grass, not too far from where she's kneeling. I watch as she buries her hand into the earth surrounding the shoots, not knowing what she's doing even after all the times Morgane has tried to teach me how to garden.

I suddenly notice how relaxed she is and it occurs to me I had never seen her this unguarded before. I tilt my head to observe her better, it was like she was aglow, like she truly belonged out here under the sun, amongst the flowers.
Glancing Radarr out of the corner of my eye, sniffing his way around the garden however, brings me back to reality and reminds me of why I was here.

Something from what she said in the kitchen stood out to me. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

For some reason I didn't feel as if I needed to elaborate. Piper glanced up and I could tell she knew exactly what I was referring too.

I watched as she took a deep breath and withdrew her hands from the dirt, picking up a rag set on the grass beside her and wiping her hands.

She takes a deep breath, "I grew up without much contact with people outside my family, we moved a lot and my mum insisted on home schooling me. But when I turned 13 things changed and I was enrolled in school, it was the first time I'd ever been around people my own age."

She broke off for a moment to grab a hand shovel and started digging a small hole beside the shoots. "Things didn't start off much better than they did at Greenborough.. but it got better after I met Lark. She was nice and funny and really smart. She was my first friend; we were basically inseparable." Piper paused, taking a breath before continuing on, "Still there were things I couldn't tell her but she seemed okay with that. But then one day something happened and I told her a secret I'd never told anyone, I thought I could trust her."

Piper placed the shovel down and reached for an unplanted shoot I noticed lying at the edge of the grass, she drew it out of its container and placed it into the freshly dug out earth.

"The next day at school everyone was whispering and pointing at me. They called me a freak.. I tried to talk to Lark but she just ignored me, eventually my parents found out what had happened and they withdrew me from school." Finished with patting down the soil around the shoot, Piper leant backwards allowing her to cross her legs and swivel her body to face me and looked me straight in the eye.

"A few months later my parents died in a car crash. My brother became my legal guardian and he agreed that I should continue home schooling -but he had to work a lot, so I managed to home school myself; it wasn't so hard." I tried to keep my face straight, I didn't know what I'd expected her to say but this… How had she managed to keep this to herself this entire time?

"But social services found out I was home schooling myself a few months ago. They told my brother it wasn't acceptable, that I had to be enrolled in school or I'd be removed from his care."

"And that how you ended up at Greenborough.." I finished the story for her.

"Yeah…"

We remained in silence for a while before she broke it, "It's not your fault Aerrow, it's just when we started talking and you wanting to listen and… help. You just-reminded me of her."

"Piper I'm so sorry you went through that, but you have to know, I would never hurt you like that." Piper looked at me as if she couldn't quite understand what I was saying. "I know you have secrets... But if it means that much to you, I won't ask and you don't have to tell me anything. Just know I'm here."

Before I could comprehend what was happening Piper had lent forward and wrapped her arms around me. I sat still in shock for a few seconds before my arms automatically wrapped around her and I held her as close to me as possible.

We remained like that for a few more moments before Piper pulled away, she looked at me as if in shock at what she'd done "I shouldn't have done that.." she whispered.
"Hey, it's okay." I said whilst smiling to reassure her.

Piper broke her gaze with me and reached over to pick up her watering can. "I'll stop avoiding the others, that wasn't fair to them. I'll be at the lunch table on Monday."

"We'll be glad to have you back Piper." She glanced at me and the corner of her mouth quirked upwards.

Whilst she watered the shoots, I used the time to get a better look at the garden, which served to only further impress me the more I looked at it. "This place is amazing." I voiced, turning back to face Piper.

It was only then I noticed the hot sun beating down on my back. "Wow, is it hot out here though."

Piper suddenly glanced up from where she was placing down the watering can. "It's a nice change of weather though, the rain was really good for the plants but too much can be bad for them and the sun helps it soak in."

I thought about what she was saying, "Yeah I guess you're right. I mean the rain was good for the plants and all, but it was really pouring for a while there."

Piper winced, "Sorry." She muttered

"What?" I asked 'What's she apologizing for?'

Piper's eyes widened, apparently she didn't know she'd said anything out loud. "Uhh- do you want to go inside? You're probably thirsty from the heat, right?"

Mystified by her sudden urge to change the topic I simply smiled, nodded and gestured for her to lead the way.

I whistled for Radarr and we walked back into the kitchen with Radarr padding after us. I stood with my back leaning against the kitchen table whilst I watched as she poured us both glasses of water.

She grabbed a glass and held it out towards me; I wrapped my hand around it, only to nearly drop it in shock when I felt our fingers brush against each other. The warm feeling I gotten when I first shook her hand shot through me again. I glanced up to see her staring at me with wide eyes. Our hands remained frozen around the glass before Piper suddenly broke her gaze and pulled her hand away, and turned back to her drink like nothing had happened. I stood quietly, taking small sips out of my glass, perhaps nothing had happened and I was imagining things again.

"PIPER! You home?"

I jumped at the sudden shout that rang through the house, but before either of us could say anything, a man walked into the kitchen and froze upon seeing me standing there, leaning against the table.

I blinked a few times in shock, it was the same man I had seen outside of the market a few weeks ago. I was once again startled by the similarities he had with Piper, his short blue black hair which was tousled and sticking up in some places, his cocoa complexion which was easy to see due to his blue t-shirt and the only difference being his dark brown eyes which held both confusion and veiled hostility. Then it hit me- Piper's brother.

As if confirming my thoughts, Piper walked over to where he still stood in the doorframe and gestured. "Aerrow this is my brother Drake. Drake this is Aerrow."

Like in our previous encounter he gave me a once over "You're the kid from the marketplace."

I stiffened, slightly offended at being called a kid, after all I doubted he called his sister a kid and I was a year older then Piper.
Piper on the other hand was glancing between us, looking confused.

I tried to go for the friendly approach, to defuse the apparent tension in the room. "It's nice to meet officially, Piper's talks highly about you." I held out my hand to shake.

He stared at it for a few seconds before grasping it and giving a firm shake. "Likewise." He said, a small smirk spreading across face, as if amused by the situation.

We stood there awkwardly for a few moments before Radarr whined and butted his head against my leg. I looked down at him, smiling. "Well we better go, it was nice talking to you Piper, see you Monday?" I asked.

She managed a small smile and a nod. I glanced at her brother who was watching our interaction intently "It was nice to meet you Drake." I offered. He simply nodded in response. 'Okay then…'
With that I quickly made my way out of the house and onto the street, with Radarr bounding alongside me.

oOoOo

Drake watched as Aerrow shut the front door behind him.

"You didn't tell me you met Aerrow."

He turned around to see his sister staring at him levelly from her place next to the counter.

"I didn't do it on purpose if that's what you're thinking. I'd hardly call it a meeting anyway -but I knew who he was the moment I saw him, after what you told me."

Piper broke her gaze from his after he started to level the same intense stare she had been giving him, back at her.

"So… what did he want?" Drake asked evenly, walking over to the fridge and pulling out a can of soda.

"He confronted me about the cold shoulder I'd been giving him and the others the past week."

"And…"

"And I told him about Lark, he said he understood and promised not to push the topic but asked I stop ignoring them." She elaborated. "...I completely ignored him, and all he wanted was to make sure that what he thought he did, didn't ruin my friendship with the others... He's so understanding and selfless."

Drake turned to face Piper and watched her with obvious concern. "How are you handling it sis?"

Piper raised her head and had it been any other person they would have taken a step back from the anguish written across her face, unfortunately for Drake though, he'd seen his sister like this one too many times.

Piper placed her elbows on the counter and buried her face in her hands. "I don't understand why now? Of all times- why did I have to find him now?"

Drake took a step forward and wrapped one arm around his sister's shoulders. "You know we can't choose the way things happen Pipsqueak, I wish we could. But did you really think avoiding them- him, would help?"

Piper unpeeled her face from her hands and looked at him imploringly, "They'll find me, She'll find me. They always do. The best way to protect them is to not get too close." After that being said, she turned her head away from her brother.

Drake sighed and took a step back, "He's your match Piper. Do you really think it's gonna be that easy?"