Piper found herself standing next to Nicky in the cafeteria line. Her first instinct was to turn around and pretend she didn't see the younger girl, but she knew that would be too obvious. Piper knew she needed to try and have a civil conversation with Nicky, but it felt so awkward.
While Piper was standing there trying to decide how to start the conversation, Nicky had already said hello.
"Earth to Piper...hello Piper."
Piper spun around and finally realized what was happening, and tried to maintain her composure.
"Hey Nicky, sorry, I was completely stuck in a daydream. How have you been?"
"Alot better, thanks. Look, I don't wanna make this weird, but it means alot to me to still have Alex in my life. She's really helped me clean up my act."
Piper wished that Nicky hadn't mentioned Alex, but she knew she needed to try and deal with it.
"Yeah, I know...I'm honestly happy that things are getting better for you."
There were a few more silent moments before Nicky started talking again.
"So where is Vause? I haven't seen her all day."
"She woke up with a pretty bad cold so she stayed home today. She's not a very good sick person."
Piper couldn't help but laugh as she remembered how defiant Alex had been that morning. She kept insisting she was fine until she got dressed and practically sweat through her t-shirt and couldn't stop sneezing and coughing.
Piper noticed Nicky smiling, it felt weird standing there laughing with Nicky.
"Oh yeah, she'll swear that she's fine until she fucking collapses."
They kept laughing with eachother until they collected their food and went their separate ways.
Piper made her way through the cafeteria until she saw Sally and John sitting together, and she walked towards them.
"So you and Nicky are on speaking terms now?"
Piper just shrugged, "I guess. I mean, I know I can't ignore her forever, but it still feels kinda weird."
"It's definitely a good thing Pipes. Alex tells me she's doing better?"
That was the part Piper tried to focus on, that Alex was helping her friend clean up her act and get better.
"Yeah I think so, she seems happier, and more stable."
They kept eating their lunch until Sally remembered something.
"Shit, I forgot to tell you. Julie was texting me earlier today."
Piper became worried as soon as she heard that name, and it was written all over her face.
"What did she want? She hardly ever contacts you..."
Sally could see the worry all over her friends face.
"It's okay Pipes, she was just checking up on us. Well, I think she was mainly checking on Alex."
"She must feel bad after what happened..."
"Yeah I'm sure she does. Anyway, I told her Alex was home sick today. She said she might go see her when she's finished work, just to check if she needs anything."
Piper let those words sink in. Piper had known Sally and Alex for nearly a year, this was definitely out of the ordinary for Julie. Maybe she really did feel guilty about what happened with Alex. She snapped back to reality as she heard Sally's voice keep talking.
"I texted Alex to let her know but she's not responding, she's probably asleep. If you talk to her today, just give her a heads up. At least she's probably too sick to start a fight with her."
The two girls shared a quiet laugh, and Piper had no doubt that was true. She reminded herself to pick up some things from the pharmacy before she headed back to the Vause apartment after school.
0-0-0-0-0
Alex was lying in her bed with her face pressed into the pillow, she felt like hell. She had a thumping headache, she couldn't stop coughing, and her nose managed to be blocked and running at the same time. Sally had left her with an old nasal spray and painkillers before she left for school that morning, but nothing seemed to help. She'd been desperately trying to sleep all day, but kept waking up from a coughing fit and covered in sweat.
She kicked the blankets off in frustration when she heard a knock at the front door. She looked at the alarm clock, it was only 2pm, Sally and Piper wouldn't be back from school for another couple of hours. Alex groaned and dragged herself out of bed, still in her tank top and pyjama shorts from the night before.
She finally made it to the front door, but looked through the peep hole before she opened it, it was Julie.
Alex was almost reluctant to open the door, she hadn't spoken to her aunt since their last fight, she wasn't sure what she was meant to say to the older woman.
Alex took a deep breath and composed herself before opening the front door.
"Hi Aunt Julie."
She cringed at the sound of her own voice, which was nasal and tired. She stepped aside and let the older woman into the apartment, closing and locking the door behind her.
"Hi Alex."
The two women looked at eachother, each trying to work out what the other was thinking.
"I contacted Sally earlier, I wanted to see how you girls were doing. She told me you were sick, I thought I'd stop by and see if you need anything."
This was the first time Julie had ever come to the apartment like this, she almost never checked in to see if they were okay. And she certainly never cared about Alex having a cold.
Alex wasn't sure what to think, but she also didn't want to be rude.
"I'm fine Aunt Julie, it's just a cold."
"I know it's just a cold, but I thought...I just wanted to check on you after everything that's happened."
Alex nodded and they both walked towards the kitchen.
"Coffee?"
Julie nodded and sat at one of the kitchen stools while Alex made the coffee. They stayed in silence until Julie's voice cut through the tension again.
"Are things better at school now?"
Alex passed the older woman her coffee before sitting on a stool next to her.
"Yeah, it's alot better actually. I don't have to keep looking over my shoulder anymore."
"And how are things with Piper?"
Alex didn't feel comfortable talking to Julie about the blonde, "She's good, we're still together. She's pretty busy preparing for finals right now."
The reality was that Alex would struggle to carry on a conversation with Julie at the best of times, let alone when she felt like hell.
"Are you sure there's nothing you need? I can tell you don't feel well Alex."
But Alex just shrugged her off, "I just need to sleep."
"Well, why don't you go lie down and I'll make you some tea."
Alex didn't have the energy to argue, so she left her coffee behind and went to lie on the couch. She couldn't stop coughing, it was driving her insane.
She closed her eyes and eventually heard Julie walk into the lounge room, and felt her kneel down next to the couch.
"Here, it might make your throat feel better."
Alex obligingly drank the tea, not wanting to admit that the warm liquid felt nice against her dry and sore throat. She handed the mug back to the older woman and lay back down again, closing her eyes.
"There's a water bottle here too if you're thirsty."
But Alex didn't respond, she was already half asleep.
0-0-0-0-0
Julie decided to stay with Alex for a while, she had nothing else to do anyway. But a part of her actually wanted to stay. She sat in the lounge room and watched Alex sleep, but her mind kept wandering to Diane. She'd been thinking about her sister alot lately. Mainly about the fact that Diane would want her to be there to help her daughters, to make sure they were okay.
Julie was starting to feel guilty. Guilty for being so close by and never offering much help to her nieces, guilty because she promised Diane she'd always look after them, guilty because she knew how much easier she could've made Sally's life if she hadn't been so selfish.
She looked back at Alex lying on the couch, she could see the sweat on her forehead and knew she was running a fever. She went and wet a small hand towel, gently placing it on Alex's forehead to help her cool down. But she stopped and took a moment to look at her niece properly, so many times she managed to forget how young Alex was. She looked down at her pink cheeks and black hair, all she could see was Diane. She wiped the damp hair from Alex's face and was about to go into the kitchen when she heard a whisper from the younger girl.
At first Julie couldn't quite understand what Alex was saying, but then she whispered again, and there was no mistaking that one word.
"Mum..."
Julie completely froze, that one word made it all real, just made her guilt more intense.
She knelt back down on the ground and just sat there for a while. She lost track of how long she'd been there for until the front door opened, Sally and Piper were home.
0-0-0-0-0
Sally and Piper walked into the apartment, with both girls surprised to see Julie was still there. They saw Julie standing in the lounge room, she almost looked lost.
"Hi Aunt Julie."
"Hi Sally, hi Piper."
Piper nodded a hello to the older woman before walking over to Alex.
"I'll head home, give you girls some space."
Sally lead her out, "Are you okay? You're welcome to stay."
"No that's okay, I've got a few things to take care of at home. But...what if we all have dinner together next week? My treat."
Sally couldn't even remember the last time they'd had dinner with Julie, she knew this was her Aunt's way of trying to reconnect.
"Yeah, that'd be nice."
Sally said goodbye and walked back into the apartment, moving Alex's legs so she could sit on the couch. Piper was still sitting on the floor next to the couch, trying to convince Alex to take the medicines she'd bought for her on the way home.
Alex was still half asleep, and was definitely not in the mood for any level of conversation.
"Okay so I got you some lozenges, nasal spray and cold and flu tablets. Have you taken anything today?"
Alex closed her eyes again and shook her head, moving the hand towel Julie had left on her forehead. She hadn't taken any medicine since the morning.
"I'm not leaving you alone until you take these pills Al."
Sally would never get enough of watching Piper boss Alex around, and she couldn't get the grin off her face.
"Yeah yeah, I believe that too. Hand them over."
Piper was sporting her own grin and handed Alex the nasal spray, pills and the bottle of water Julie left on the floor.
Alex sat up once she swallowed the pills, "Thanks Pipes."
Piper leaned into her girlfriend and kissed her on the forehead, "You feel that shitty huh?"
Alex nodded, but this time she managed a smile. It felt so good to know that Piper was there, trying to look after her and make her feel better.
"I'm really tired babe, I'm gonna go lie in bed, let me know when you guys are eating dinner."
Piper leaned in and kissed Alex on the cheek as she got up and slowly walked towards the bedroom.
The blonde sat herself next to Sally on the couch, "I'm gonna ask Alex to have lunch with my grandma and mum next week, do you think I'm crazy?"
Sally looked up from the magazine she was flicking through, "Yeah, pretty much."
Sally started laughing but stopped when she saw the look on her friends face.
"C'mon Pipes, I'm just messing around. Are you sure you're okay?"
The truth was that the end of the school year wasn't far away, and Piper was petrified of being away from Alex. Even they'd spoken about it, it still made her worry. She felt like she needed her mother to see the good in Alex before she left for college. But most of all she worried about how the younger girl would truly cope with the distance. The Healy situation still hadn't been fully resolved, and he was still being held in a psychiatric hospital. What if he got out? Or what if Nicky had a relapse? How would Alex cope? There were just so many questions and things that could go wrong. Piper thought she'd be okay with it all, but the closer it got to the end of the school year, the more nervous she got.
"I'm fine. I just...I guess I just realized how close we are to the end of senior year. For me that means going to college, it means alot of time away from Alex..."
Sally knew that tone in her friends voice, "Hey, remember that I'll still be here, I'll look after her. And it's not like you'll be leaving the second school is over, you'll have time with her before you need to pack your bags and go."
Piper tried to smile, "I know, it's just that so much has happened, I feel like life has only just gone back to normal. Ugh, I don't know."
Piper jumped off the couch and started pacing the small lounge room.
"I know I'm probably overreacting but I can't help it!"
Sally stood up and stopped the blonde from pacing, putting a hand on each of her shoulders so they were looking eachother in the eye.
"You know what? I'll admit that I was more than a little nervous when you started dating Alex. You know I'll always be her protector, no matter what happens. And at the start I had no idea how seriously you would take it with her. All I was worried about was my little sister getting her heart broken. But she didn't...Honestly, you changed her Piper, for the better. You got her to open up again. So you don't need to worry about what will happen when you go to college, I can guarantee you she'll be fine. She'll be more than a little lost without seeing you everyday, but she'll definitely be fine. And I'll be here the whole time. Okay? Do you believe me?"
Piper breathed a sigh of relief and pulled them both back onto the couch.
"Yeah, I believe you."