Chapter 26
It was almost 3 am when Alex tip toed from the guest room into Piper's room. She knocked very quietly on Piper's bedroom door, but she couldn't hear any movement from the other side. She edged the door open and slipped inside, she may have wanted to make a good impression on Carol, but she wasn't going to miss the chance to sneak into Piper's room in the middle of the night.
There was just enough moon light coming through the window for Alex to see the outline of Piper's body. She was lying on her back with one arm under the covers and the other arm resting above her head. Alex very quietly walked towards the bed and lay next to the blonde, slipping under the blankets. She leaned in close and kissed the blonde on the cheek and placed a hand on her stomach, hoping she'd wake up.
Piper eventually started to stir, she had been expecting Alex to come for a late night visit, or at least she was hoping for it. She was still half asleep, but she didn't miss the feeling of Alex's hand resting on her stomach.
"Al..."
"Good morning Pipes." Alex leaned in close again but this time she kissed Piper on the lips.
"Hhhmm, it's not morning when the moon's right there."
Alex smiled into the kiss and moved until she was straddling Piper's lap, "Want me to make it up to you?"
Piper didn't bother answering and wrapped her arms around Alex's neck and pulled her down until their lips were touching. Kissing Alex took her to another place, and Piper tightened her grip around the brunettes neck as she kissed her harder.
Alex was more than happy with the reaction she was getting from her girlfriend lying underneath her, "Fuck Pipes."
Piper didn't realise how much she needed this, she'd missed this level of intimacy with her girlfriend, and it just cemented everything in her mind. It made her realise how much she actually trusted this girl, and how much she loved her, she never wanted anyone else to touch her like that, never. She reached out and took Alex's hand, leading it down towards her underwear. She didn't want to wait anymore, she just wanted Alex to take her away.
0-0-0-0-0
Alex woke up with a smile the next morning, even though she was alone in the guestroom. She picked up her phone from the bedside table to check the time, it was almost 8 am, Piper would be up soon. Alex stretched out her arms and yawned, she had a much better sleep after her late night visit with Piper. She kept smiling as she thought about it, she'd had to put her free hand over Piper's mouth to stop her from making too much noise, which turned Alex on even more. After that, she stayed in Piper's room for a while, just holding onto her while they both relaxed.
Alex ended up going back to the guest room around 5 am, and fell asleep straight away, she didn't dream at all. That had been happening a lot lately, she didn't dream anywhere near as much as she used to, and it almost felt weird. She finally sat up and put her feet on the floor. Ordinarily she would've gone back to sleep, but she didn't want Carol to think she was lazy. Plus, she didn't want to waste time that she could be spending with Piper. She planned to have breakfast with the blonde and then go home, she didn't want to mess up her studying routine.
Alex stood up next to the bed when there was a knock at the door followed by a voice, it was Carol.
"Alex, can I come in for a moment?"
Alex stood in the middle of the guestroom in her pajama shorts and tank top, she rummaged through her back pack for a sweater before she answered.
"Yeah, sure."
Alex sat back down on the bed and Carol walked in, they'd never had a one on one conversation like this before, and Alex was more than a little nervous.
Carol shut the door behind her and stood in front of Alex, "I heard some noises and figured you were awake."
Alex nodded and tried to smile, hoping that Carol wasn't there to get angry.
"I won't take up too much of your time. I just wanted to talk to you about Piper and her father."
The mention of Piper and her dad in the same sentence made Alex instantly uncomfortable, "Why the hell does she want to talk to me about Piper and her dad?"
"I spoke to Piper's dad last night after dinner, I'm sure you know they haven't spoken much lately."
Alex could see and feel how uncomfortable Carol was with the whole conversation, "Yeah, I know."
"Anyway, he hasn't seen Piper much lately, and he was hoping to spend some time with her before she goes to college. He wanted to have her spend some time with him at the house once her exams are over."
Alex still wasn't sure where Carol was going with all this, "Okay..."
"Bill tried to speak to her about it last week, but she said no, and I think I know why."
"Why?"
"Because of you, Alex."
Alex wasn't sure what Carol was trying to do, "She never told me about any of this, I didn't tell her not to go."
"I know Alex, I'm not blaming you. But I know that Bill hasn't been very...accepting, of your relationship with Piper. I know my daughter, she's very protective of you."
"Carol, I still don't really know what this has to do with me. I didn't.."
Carol stopped the brunette before she could keep talking, "It's not about that Alex, I know you didn't tell Piper not to stay with her dad. Piper asked her dad if you could stay at the house too and he said no. I'm sure you can imagine the exchange of words that took place after that."
Alex nodded but didn't say anything, this latest piece of information just made her hate Bill even more.
"Anyway, I know Bill, he's not a bad man."
Alex didn't understand how Carol could stand there and tell her Bill wasn't a bad man when he'd probably been cheating on her for most of their marriage.
"I don't want Piper to cut her dad out of her life. And after all, he is going to pay for her college education, they need to have some sort of relationship. Now as I said, I know my daughter, and I know how protective she is of you, and I know why. So Bill has agreed to let you stay at the house with them, maybe your sister could even go and spend a day."
Alex was standing up now, she knew Carol was trying to do the right thing, but it felt like an insult.
"Why would I want to stay in that house with someone that thinks I'm nothing?"
"Because this is what's best for Piper, this is what's best for our family."
Alex didn't agree with anything coming out of Carol's mouth, but she was torn. She wanted to tell Carol what she really thought of the whole situation, but she knew that would make Piper's life more difficult. She had no idea what the right thing to do was, and for one of the very few times in her life, she bit her tongue. She wanted Piper's life to be easy, and she didn't want to fuck up her chance of going to a good college and making something of herself.
"Fine, I'll go with her."
"Thank you Alex, I'm going to talk to Piper about it later, but I wanted to talk to you about it first. Just, please go with her, stay at the house. I know she'll talk to you about it, and I want her to spend time with her father."
Alex knew exactly what Carol was asking her, even if the older woman couldn't bring herself to say the exact words. Carol wanted Alex to convince Piper to play happy families with Bill, even though he was acting like a complete asshole. Alex wasn't willing to lie to Piper about any of this, not after she worked so hard to win back her trust. She'd tell Piper about the conversation with Carol, but she wasn't going to tell Piper what to do. What she would do was make it clear that no matter what, she'd have Piper's back regardless of her decision.
0-0-0-0-0
Alex went home later that day and spent the afternoon reading on the couch while Sally worked an extra shift at Red's. She was about to go make herself a sandwich when her phone started ringing, it was Piper.
"Hey Pipes, how's your enthralling day of English reading?"
"I know my mum spoke to you this morning."
Alex sat up on the couch, Piper sounded upset, "Yeah, she did. I wasn't trying to keep it a secret from you, I just wanted to wait until she spoke to you about it."
"I know..."
"Are you okay?"
But all Alex got was silence.
"Talk to me Pipes."
"I didn't think you were gonna lie to me about it, I'm just really frustrated."
"I know it's not ideal.."
"It's more than not ideal! This is just another game for him, and my mum's along for the ride. Even though he hasn't said it, I feel like he keeps threatening me with fucking college fees. And I know it's a lot of money, but fuck! It's like he thinks he can manipulate the whole situation, and threaten to cut off my tuition payments if I don't do what he wants."
Alex knew how upset Piper was and she hated it, but she didn't want Piper to risk her college education just to make a point.
"Pipes.."
But Piper wasn't done being angry, "No Alex! You know just as well as I do what will happen if we spend any time with him at that house. He'll spend the whole time talking down to you and making you feel like shit. You didn't hear the things he said when I told him I wouldn't stay with him if you weren't welcome too. He doesn't care about any of the things we've been through together, all he cares about is his fucking reputation!"
Piper kept getting more and more upset, and Alex focused on calming her down.
"Do you need some time out babe? I'll come and get you."
Piper closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "No, I'm sorry, I just..."
"You don't need to apologise Pipes, but I do want you to listen to me. Maybe this is one of those situations where we need to just go with the flow. Just go along with your dad, let him think whatever he wants, and then once you're at college you won't need to deal with him as much. And he'll pay for your tuition."
"I feel like I'm selling my soul Al, I feel like I'm letting you down if I just sit back and go along with his bulshit."
"You're not letting me down, you're doing what you need to do."
Alex didn't want Piper to throw away her chance at a good education just to make a point, even if it was an important point. Alex kept trying to focus on the long term, looking way into the future, when they didn't need to rely on anyone else for money and they could live their lives anyway they wanted.
0-0-0-0-0
The start of June finally arrived and Piper had already sat two exams, with three left, while Sally had sat three of her exams. Piper just had to get through the next week, then it would all be over and she could start her summer with Alex. Nicky had already made sure everyone was coming to her party, which would happen once everyone had finished their exams. Piper felt weird when Nicky came up to her at school and asked her to come, she didn't really want to go, but she felt obliged to say yes. Besides, she knew Alex would definitely be there, and she wasn't ready to completely trust Nicky.
Piper had finally spoken to her dad again and tried to remember Alex's words, even if she didn't always agree. He kept asking her about spending time with him at the house during the summer break. Part of her didn't even understand why he cared so much. They'd hardly seen each other in the last 12 months, why was he making such a big deal now about spending time together?
Piper was sitting in her room doing the last bit of preparation for her English exam the next day when her dad called her. She really didn't feel like talking to him, but she knew he'd keep calling.
"Hi dad."
She wasn't interested in exchanging pleasantries with him, she just wanted the conversation to be over.
"Hi sweetie. I know you're busy, but I wanted to check if you'd made a decision yet about the summer holidays?"
But Piper didn't respond, she knew what she was meant to say, and she hated it.
"Just give me three days Piper, let me spend three days with you before you go off to college for three years."
"And what about Alex?"
"I already told you Piper, she's welcome to join us."
Piper scoffed at that comment, "Welcome, since when is she welcome in your house?"
Piper could imagine the look on his face right now, but decided it wasn't worth the fight, "Fine, forget I said anything, lets do it the week after finals are over."
The two exchanged more generic pleasantries until the call ended. Piper wondered if she should cut her dad some slack, but then she'd remember how absent he'd been for her whole life, and the way he'd treated her mother for so long. Piper wanted to forget about her dad and focus on the good things in her life, including Sally.
Sally had been completely immersed in studying for the last few weeks, Piper was starting to miss her. She could see her friend slowly getting closer to John, then she suddenly realised she wouldn't have that support anymore once she moved away. She'd relied so heavily on Sally for almost 12 months, they were always there for each other. Now, not only would she be hours away from Alex, but from Sally too. Piper was nervous at the idea of making new friends, she didn't think she'd ever find anyone like Sally.
She'd need to make sure Sally and John would come and spend a day at her dads house while she was there with Alex, she felt like there was safety in numbers.
0-0-0-0-0
Piper sat in the classroom and waited for her last exam to start, with Sally sitting behind her. Once this exam was over, that was it, she'd never have to step foot in this high school again. It felt like she'd been at that school for so much longer than a year. So much had happened, her life had changed so much. It was so crazy to think about how different her life was 12 months ago, she didn't know Alex or Sally, she'd never been in love, she didn't know what it meant to have a real friend.
She felt a tap on her shoulder just as the teacher handed out the exam papers, it was Sally.
"Good luck Pipes."
Piper smiled, "Good luck Sal."
Three hours later, Piper walked out of that last exam not knowing how to feel, everything was about to change, but it was exciting. She was so tired and zoned out that she didn't even notice Alex sneak up behind her in the car park and wrap her in a hug.
"Shit, Al! You scared me."
Alex kept hugging Piper from behind and whispered into her ear, "Sorry babe, but you fucking did it."
Piper turned around so she could hug Alex properly, all of a sudden she felt so excited, and she was so happy Alex had surprised her.
Then she felt another set of arms around her, it was Sally, "Thank fuck that's over!"
The three girls finally let go of each other and piled into Piper's car, that was the last time they'd all been driving back from school together. Piper felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, like she could finally breathe again. At least until the next week when her and Alex would be spending three days with Bill.
0-0-0-0-0
Alex was putting the last bits and pieces in her backpack, Piper would be picking her up soon and taking them to spend some time with Bill. Alex didn't like him, and the idea of spending three days in his house made her incredibly uncomfortable. But Piper wanted her there, that was the only reason she agreed to go. At least Sally would be joining them for the first day, even John was going to tag along.
She heard her phone vibrate on the bed, Piper had just parked her car downstairs. Alex zipped up her backpack and grabbed her keys, this was going to be a long three days. Alex made her way downstairs and saw Piper parked out the front of the apartment building. She got comfortable in the front seat of Piper's car, leaned over to give her a kiss and grabbed her hand, "Let's do this babe."
The drive to Bill's house was mostly quiet, but Alex felt Piper squeezing her hand extra hard once they eventually pulled into the driveway of the huge house.
"Hey, look at me Pipes. I'm right here, we're in this together."
Piper squeezed Alex's hand again and closed her eyes, it was time to get out of the car and face her dad. They finally got out out of the car and knocked on the front door, with Bill greeting them a few moments later. Piper didn't even feel like she was seeing her parent, she might as well have been talking and smiling at her dads gardener. The whole thing was so completely robotic, and unbearably polite.
Once they were inside the house, Piper grabbed Alex by the hand and pulled her upstairs to her old bedroom. Sally and John wouldn't be there for another two hours and Piper needed a moment to breathe. She practically shoved Alex into her room and shut the door behind them, groaning.
"Oh my god! It never used to be like this with him, it was never this awkward when I was a kid."
Piper sat on her old bed next to Alex and sighed. Alex had zero desire to defend Bill, but she could see Piper working herself into a bad mood, "Pipes, we've been here for less than five minutes, give him more time. He's probably really nervous, I'm sure he'll be more relaxed by tonight."
"You don't know my dad Al, he doesn't do relaxed."
Alex stayed on the bed while Piper unpacked some of her things. They were only there for three days but it looked like Piper had packed for a month. Alex knew her girlfriend was avoiding going back downstairs, at least until Sally and John arrived. Almost thirty minutes had passed before Alex spoke up, "We've been in here for a while, why don't we head downstairs and have a drink or something?"
Piper started biting her bottom lip, "I know we need to go down there, but I don't know what to say to him. What do I say?"
Alex go off the bed and grabbed both of Piper's hands in her own, "Just take a deep breath, you're overthinking the whole situation. We are gonna go downstairs, get a drink, and make small talk with your dad."
Alex linked her fingers through Piper's and was about to lead them back downstairs when the blonde's phone started ringing. Alex rolled her eyes as Piper desperately grabbed at the phone, she didn't think she'd ever seen her girlfriend this nervous, at least not this type of nervous. But she seemed to calm down by the end of the phone call. Sally and John ended up leaving the city earlier than they'd planned, and had just pulled into the driveway.
Piper ended the call and practically ran past Alex and downstairs to see Sally and John. Alex followed her slowly, she wanted to find the right balance between protecting herself from Bill but still supporting Piper. Sally and John were already in the hallway by the time she got to the bottom of the stairs, and she could see Piper introducing John and Bill.
Sally walked towards her sister, "So how's it going?"
"We haven't been here that long, but she is fucking uncomfortable in this house. She literally ran past me when she knew you were here."
"We need to keep her mind occupied, let's hit the pool."
"That's actually a pretty good idea."
Sally smiled and pulled Alex back towards the front door, "I'm not just a pretty face Lex."
0-0-0-0-0
It turned into a pretty warm afternoon, so the pool was a great idea. They all got changed into bathers and got into the water while Bill started the barbecue for dinner. Piper felt better once they were in the water. Her dad hadn't been rude or said anything bad, but she still couldn't relax properly.
"Burgers okay for dinner Piper?"
"Yeah that's fine dad, thanks."
Piper swam over towards Sally and John while she waited for Alex to finish getting changed. This was the first time John had been to Piper's old house, and he was clearly impressed.
"This place is amazing Piper, thanks for the invite."
"Yeah..." Piper kept looking back towards the house and her dad. He never used to cook, and now here he was cooking burgers for dinner while they all sat in the pool.
Sally tried to get her to snap out of her daze, "Feeling any better?"
Piper let herself laugh, "Now you sound like Alex. I know he's trying, I just can't get comfortable. It's like I keep waiting for him to say something about Alex."
This time it was John's turn to chime in, "I know I'm a bit of an outsider here, but Alex can definitely handle herself. She's basically got half the senior guys afraid of her and Nicky."
Piper smiled, she knew he was right, but that wasn't the point. She knew Alex could handle herself, but she shouldn't have to deal with things like that during the summer break, especially with everything they'd been through in the last 12 months.
"Alex is the toughest girl I know, right behind you Sally."
Sally raised her eyebrows and gave John a quick kiss, "You've got us here with you today Pipes, it'll be okay. And you of all people know that I'll stand up for Alex if anything did happen."
"You're right, you guys are totally right, I need to do a better job of relaxing."
Piper took another deep breath and tried to reset her emotions, she wanted to give her dad a chance. It wasn't much longer before Alex walked into the backyard, and Piper couldn't take her eyes off her. She was wearing tight black shorts with a bikini top.
Bill's own voice barely managed to cut through Piper's daze, "Alex, could you do me a favour and grab the long tongs from the kitchen bench?"
Piper kept her eyes on the younger girl as she walked back into the kitchen and came out with the tongs for Bill. Piper kept watching the exchange, with the continued sickening politeness, until it all came to an abrupt halt.
Bill grabbed the tongs from Alex and couldn't help but notice the big scar on Alex's side. He'd been on his best behaviour all day, but now he couldn't stop thinking about what Alex did to end up with a scar like that.
"That's quite a scar."
Piper glared at her dad as soon as the words left his mouth. She knew how sensitive Alex felt about her scars from the car accident, and she didn't want the younger girl to feel uncomfortable. This is exactly the type of situation Piper was desperate to avoid over the next three days.
She saw the tell tale signs of Alex's nerves as she started playing with her glasses and looked towards the ground, "Yeah, I guess it is."
But Bill didn't take the hint, "I'm guessing it didn't happen during gym class?"
"No..."
Piper could see how uncomfortable Alex was, she hardly ever spoke about the car accident, and especially not to people she barely knew. She knew her dad was trying to work out if the scar came from Healy or Alex being reckless, making him worry even more about their relationship. But she didn't think Alex was going to cope well with his questioning.
"So how did it happen? Did you get yourself involved in a fight?"
Piper jumped out of the pool and walked towards Alex and her dad, "Just drop it dad, it's nothing."
Bill looked clearly annoyed as he tried to change the subject, "Of course, forget I said anything."
Bill dropped it and walked back into the house, but Piper was worried he'd bring it up again later, she'd need to tell him what happened so he'd stop questioning Alex about it.
"Fuck, sorry Al, he's..."
"It's fine Pipes, he's allowed to ask. It's kinda impossible to not notice it."
Alex tightened her grip on Piper's hand and pulled her into the pool. Alex was determined to get through these few days without any fights, no matter how uncomfortable she felt.
0-0-0-0-0
Piper finally managed to calm down once she was in the pool with Alex, she even started to forget where she was. She kept her focus on the warm sun on her shoulders and the lame jokes John kept telling.
"C'mon guys, that one was funny!"
Alex splashed him with water, "John, you need to stop talking before she dumps you from sheer embarrassment!"
Alex was surprised at how well she actually got along with John, most of the time he was easy to be around, which is exactly what Sally needed in her life. They all sat in the pool while the sun went down until Bill called them inside for dinner. Piper bit her lip again as soon as she heard his voice, and Alex noticed every one of those nervous movements.
"It's all good Pipes."
Piper needed to believe her, even if it wasn't necessarily true, she needed to believe it.
They all dried themselves off before sitting down to dinner, the same sickly polite conversation continued, until Bill started talking to Alex again.
"So Alex, what are your plans when Piper heads off to college?"
Piper glared at him again from across the table, her mind was racing, "What kind of a fucking question is that!?"
"Umm, just focusing on high school I guess, that's about it."
"And is school important to you, Alex?"
It wasn't only Piper glaring at Bill, Sally's eyes were practically boring a hole into his forehead by this point.
"Yeah, it's important."
"And what about after high school?"
Alex grit her teeth, "I don't know, money's pretty tight. I've been thinking about the community college."
"It's hard to get a job without a proper college education Alex, you should be thinking about scholarships. Have you looked into it?"
"No...But I really doubt my grades are good enough for that."
Bill tried to make light of the situation, but his next words were still laced with his own disapproval, "Perhaps it's time to focus on improving your grades instead of getting into fights."
John could see that Sally was about to explode, he put a hand on her leg under the table to try and calm her down, but there was no stopping her when it came to Alex.
"Can we please stop the fucking interrogation! She's made it pretty fucking clear Bill, we can't afford college, and no that doesn't mean we're destined to be nobodies forever. And you wanna know how she got that scar? In a fucking car accident that nearly killed her. So why don't you cut her some fucking slack."
Everyone sat at the table in shock and Sally kicked back her chair and walked out the front door, with John following closely behind.
"Sorry guys, I'd better go talk to her."
Piper watched John leave the table and tried to process what just happened. She was glad that Sally stood up for Alex, even though she knew it wouldn't do anything to convince her dad about their relationship.
John followed Sally to the front yard until she finally stopped in the driveway in front of his car. He walked up next to her and slipped an arm around her waist, "So, that was awkward."
"Yeah, that's the polite way of describing it."
"Do you want me to take you home?"
Sally shook her head, "No, I'm not leaving Alex in there with that asshole."
"She's not alone Sal, she's got Piper with her. You gotta step back a bit."
"No, fuck that, Piper sat there saying nothing! She would've just let him sit there for the next hour pummeling her with questions."
John knew he was walking a fine line, and needed to pick his next words very carefully, "You need to start letting Alex fend for herself, she's nearly 17 Sal. You can't always be there to make everything better again, what about your own life?"
John knew he'd sit a sore point as Sally shrugged his arm off her waist, "You don't get it John!"
"I do Sal, I get it. I'm just worried about you."
Sally didn't want to start a fight with John, but she also didn't want to go back into that house. Bill was not going to stop talking down to her sister, and she couldn't help but be annoyed at Piper for not saying something. She knew that her friend was in a difficult situation, but Sally couldn't help being annoyed. She knew she'd fucked up, that she shouldn't have flown off the handle like that, but it was done now.
All she could do was walk back into that house and explain her actions. But she also had every intention of telling Bill that he'd overstepped the line, that Alex and Piper deserved better.
A/N
Hello. I know I said this chapter would be Nicky's party, but that will now be in the next chapter as I wanted to spend more time exploring Bill and his relationship with Piper.
Keen to hear if you thought Sally over reacted? Is she being too hard on Piper?
Cheers.