Chapter 27
Piper was frozen to the spot after Sally's outburst, she didn't even notice Alex grab her hand under the table.
"I'm really sorry Mr Chapman, my sister shouldn't have said any of that."
Bill responded through his clenched jaw, "No, she shouldn't have."
"She's just been really stressed out lately, she didn't mean it."
Bill stood up and started walking away from the table, turning around before he left the room, "I think it's best if you both leave tomorrow."
Piper put her head in her hands, Alex could tell she was crying. The brunette chased after Bill before he went upstairs.
"Please Bill, let me explain."
He turned around before he walked up the stairs, "What exactly are you going to explain?"
Then he pointed towards the front yard where he knew Sally was standing, "That is exactly why I didn't want my daughter with you. That little outburst just proved to me that I should have listened to my instincts, that my daughter deserves better than you and your family."
He tried to walk away, but Alex stepped in front of him, "Please don't just walk away from her, she's really upset. Sally fucked up, just please don't take it out on Piper."
Alex had gone into complete damage control, she didn't like Bill, but she was doing this for her girlfriend. Alex knew Piper had a difficult relationship with her dad, she knew how much the blonde hated him at times, but she also knew how upset Piper was about the whole situation.
Alex knew that Piper didn't have a great relationship with either of her parents, and that made her feel so alone sometimes, it made her feel like an orphan. She knew that Piper couldn't help but want her dads love, no matter how much of a jerk he could be. But it was pretty clear to Alex that Piper didn't want to admit any of that. It was a lot easier to be angry than to be hurt.
Nothing Alex could say was going to get through to Bill tonight, and he stepped around Alex and walked up the stairs towards his bedroom. Maybe she couldn't get him to talk right now, but she'd try again in the morning. Alex knew that Sally was just looking out for her, but she really fucked things up for Piper, and Alex was worried about her. She went back to the table where Piper was still sitting, but now she was really crying, Alex had never seen her cry like this.
Alex walked over to the table and sat next to Piper, wrapping her arms around her. Piper threw her arms around Alex as soon as she felt her sit down. Alex didn't say anything, she knew Piper just needed to cry. She pulled the blonde in close and gently rubbed her back, trying to calm her down, but it didn't seem to work.
They kept sitting there, until Alex heard Piper speak in between her sobs, "Why doesn't he love me?"
Those words broke Alex's heart, and she pulled Piper even closer, "He does Pipes."
"Why are you defending him?" Alex could only just make out Piper's words, as her voice kept cracking.
"I'm not, but he does love you."
Piper finally removed her face from Alex's shoulder and looked her in the face, she still had tears streaming down her cheeks, "I don't even remember the last time he told me he loved me. I don't remember the last time he hugged me properly…"
Alex didn't know how to respond to that, so she kissed Piper on the cheek and pulled her back in for a hug, "I'm sorry Pipes."
Alex wished she could get angry at Bill, tell him to fuck off and get Piper out of that house, but she didn't believe that would make her girlfriend feel any better. She knew Piper needed some sort of closure with Bill, no matter if it was good or bad. They'd at least hang around until the morning to try and talk to him again, to try and salvage something.
"I'm gonna go outside really quickly and talk to Sally. Then I'm coming back and taking you upstairs, let me take care of you babe."
Piper almost didn't want to admit how good those words sounded to her. She spent so much time trying to be strong, but right now all she wanted to do was fall apart, knowing that Alex was right there. There were so many different thoughts running through her mind, making her anxious, she didn't know how to slow it all down. She was angry at Sally, angry at her dad, she hated feeling like this.
Alex stood up and kissed Piper on the lips, "I'll be right back okay." Piper nodded and watched Alex walk out the front door.
0-0-0-0-0
Alex walked down the drive way and saw Sally and John standing near his car. She could never hate Sally, but she was pissed off at her for creating the whole situation that upset Piper so much.
Alex walked up to them, "What the fuck was that Sal?"
Alex saw her sister instantly screw up her face, "That was me fucking defending you! Me defending you while your girlfriend sat there and watched!"
Sally knew she had overreacted in there, but she didn't like the way Alex was talking to her.
"Fuck Sal, that's not what this is about! Being here was about supporting Piper, it wasn't about you and me. All she has done for the last year is stand by us, and you completely fucked things up for her tonight."
Sally stepped closer to her sister, while John stayed standing next to the car, not saying a word.
"I can't fucking believe you're saying this to me. I know Piper's done a lot for us, but that doesn't mean it's okay to sit there and let her dad talk to you like that."
"Listen to yourself Sal! You're meant to be her best friend, but you have no idea how much she needs more from her dad. You have no idea how much her relationship with her parents has fucking broken her!"
Sally was shocked by Alex's reaction, "And maybe you have no idea that her chasing love from a complete asshole like that, isn't gonna do her any good."
"That's not your decision to make!"
This was the first time the two sisters had fought in a long time, and they spent a few moments just staring at each other, not sure what to do next.
Alex was the first one to break the silence, "She's sitting in there right now crying her fucking eyes out because she thinks her dad doesn't love her, she probably thinks neither of her parents love her. It's easy for you to stand there and say she needs to get over it, but you've never been in that situation. We always knew how much mum loved us, so I don't think either of us have the right to tell her how she should react right now."
Sally just stood there, she didn't know what to say.
"I think you guys need to go home."
"Lex…."
"I know why you did it, but you don't know what she's going through. And I need to stay here with her, so just go home. I'll call you tomorrow."
0-0-0-0-0
Alex left Sally standing in the driveway and walked back into the house, finding Piper sitting in the same spot at the table.
"C'mon Pipes." Alex helped Piper stand up and walked her upstairs. She assumed Sally was still outside, but her focus was all on Piper. They walked into Piper's old bedroom and closed the door behind them.
"Do you want a shower Pipes?"
The blonde nodded and let Alex lead her into the bathroom that was attached to the bedroom. Alex slowly helped Piper get undressed before taking off her own clothes. Piper glimpsed at herself in the mirror, it didn't even look like her. All she saw was the tears, the puffy eyes and the messy hair, she felt pathetic, but she didn't even care.
Alex turned on the shower and got the water nice and warm, then she grabbed Piper's hand and pulled her under the warm water with her. Piper sighed as soon as she felt the warm water run over her skin, and Alex ran her finger tips over her cheeks, wiping away her tears. In her whole life, Alex was the only one that had ever showed her this much love, and it's like Piper was only just realising this for the first time. She pulled the brunette under the water with her and whispered in her ear, "I love you."
"I love you too."
All Piper wanted to do was stand under the water and never leave. No one could bother her in here, no one could drag her down. She kept standing under the water as she felt Alex running a bar of soap over her skin, then slowly letting it all rinse away. Alex hugged her again once she was done, "Want me to wash your hair?"
Piper just nodded, and handed Alex the shampoo bottle. Alex put some shampoo in the palm of her hands and started rubbing it into Piper's long blonde hair.
"Close your eyes."
Piper closed her eyes as Alex rinsed all the shampoo away, then she repeated the same routine with the conditioner. The brunette quickly washed her own body while she left the conditioner in Piper's hair. She was about to rinse it off when she heard Piper whisper, "Not yet."
Alex followed her lead, she wasn't sure if Piper wanted to use sex to help her forget, but that's not what happened. She felt Piper wrap her arms around her neck, pulling their bodies impossibly close together. Alex responded and put her arms around Piper's back, letting her hands run up and down her body, until she heard the sobs again.
"It's okay Pipes, I've got you, I'll look after you."
Alex didn't know how long they stood like that for, but she knew Piper needed this, she needed to know it was okay to fall apart sometimes. And Alex wanted her to know that she'd always be there to look after her. Eventually, Alex felt the sobbing slow down, she felt Piper's body start to relax more.
"I'm gonna rinse out this conditioner, then I'm getting you into bed. We'll talk all night if you want, or we can just go to sleep, okay?"
Piper nodded against Alex's shoulder, and eventually let her rinse out the conditioner. It wasn't much longer before Alex got her girlfriend into bed, still naked, with their bodies pressed up against each other. They were both under the covers, and Piper had her face buried in Alex's chest. She loved this position, it was the feeling of her cheek resting against Alex's bare skin, and the feeling of being wrapped up in her arms. This was the safest she'd ever felt, like this was the only place where she could be truly vulnerable, where she could let it all out without being afraid.
She felt Alex kiss the top of her head, "Are you tired Pipes?"
Piper nodded against Alex's chest, she was too exhausted to talk.
"Try and sleep babe, we can talk in the morning. Wake me up if you get upset during the night, I don't care what time it is."
Piper nodded again, and let herself relax even more against Alex's body. Her mind had finally slowed down enough to let her sleep, and she knew it was only because of Alex.
0-0-0-0-0
Alex fell asleep with Piper snuggled into her chest, she knew the blonde needed to be held. But she woke up in the middle of the night and tried to pull Piper in closer, but she wasn't there. Alex sat up and looked around the room, but it was pitch black. She reached onto the bedside table, put on her glasses and turned on the lamp. She stood up and saw Piper wrapped in a black dressing gown, sitting at the small desk in the corner of the room, "Everything okay?"
Piper tried to smile, "Yeah, I just couldn't sleep."
Alex couldn't be bothered finding clothes to wear, walked over to the desk and put her hands on Piper's shoulders from behind, "Why didn't you wake me up?"
"I don't know…"
"You wanna talk?"
"What happened to Sally and John?"
Alex spun Piper's chair around and knelt in front of her, placing her hands on Piper's knees, "I told them to go home and that I'd call tomorrow."
Alex ran her hands gently up and down Piper's thighs, "C'mon Pipes, you look exhausted, come back to bed."
"Is she mad?"
Alex was thrown by that question, "What?"
"Sal, she's angry isn't she? She's angry because she thinks I didn't stand up for you…"
Alex didn't want Piper to be worried about Sally's reaction, she wanted her to keep resting, "Sally doesn't know what she's talking about, she'll get over it. I'll talk to her again tomorrow and it'll all be fine."
Piper kept staring into space, not saying anything.
"Listen to me Pipes, Sal fucked up tonight, not you."
Alex kept rubbing Piper's thighs, trying to get through to her, "You've been so fucking stressed out lately, and I know you're worried about college, you didn't need any of this extra stress tonight. You don't deserve any of this."
Piper finally spoke, her voice was barely a whisper, "I don't know how to do this without you…."
Alex stood up and put her arms around Piper, who rest her head against Alex's stomach while she stayed in the chair.
"Hey, you're not gonna be alone Pipes. I'm gonna call you and text you every day. I'll come visit you whenever I can."
Piper wrapped her arms around Alex's waist, "I just feel really alone right now."
Alex could hear Piper's voice cracking again, and pulled her up standing until they were facing each other. She placed her hands on her girlfriend's cheeks, "You're not alone Pipes, I will never let you be alone. We'll talk to your dad in the morning, we'll smooth things over, and we will fucking enjoy ourselves. And you know what?"
"What?"
"I'm gonna look after you the whole time, and we are gonna have the most fucking amazing summer together. You won't be able to get rid of me."
Alex was relieved to hear the small laugh escape Piper's lips. She knew exactly how Piper was feeling, and she would do anything to take that feeling away.
"Your parents do you love Pipes. Fuck, your mum even lets me stay over now, she might even love me."
Piper laughed again and wrapped her arms tighter around Alex's waist, running her fingertips over her bare skin. She rest her head against Alex's shoulder and closed her eyes when she felt her girlfriend's fingers running through her hair.
"How about I go get us some food, we never did get to finish our burgers."
Piper nodded against Alex's shoulder, "That sounds good."
Alex leaned in closer and kissed Piper on the lips, "You're shivering, get back into bed, I'll be quick."
Piper got back under the covers while Alex threw on shorts and a tanktop before going downstairs to get the food, the brunette could tell Piper wasn't ready to go back to sleep just yet.
0-0-0-0-0
Alex turned on the light as she walked into the kitchen, but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Bill sitting at the counter with what looked like scotch.
"Shit! You scared me. I was just getting some food for Piper, she can't sleep."
Bill looked Alex up and down, he still had no idea how to feel about this girl, "Why can't she sleep?"
Alex wasn't willing to sugar coat the answer, "Because she thinks you don't love her."
Bill stood up and slammed his fist against the bench, "Of course I love her! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."
"She needs to hear you say it…"
Alex didn't know this guy well enough to know what he'd do next, but she was surprised when he sat back down and sipped his drink.
"Leftovers are in the fridge, there's some juice in there too you can bring her."
Alex slowly made up two plates of food to bring upstairs, while Bill sat there in silence with his scotch.
"Do you want me to make you a plate?"
"No, I should go back to bed."
"Bill…"
Alex would never stop trying to get through to him, "Just tell her you love her."
Bill nodded in Alex's direction, finished his drink and stood up, "I'll see you in the morning Alex."
A/N
Hi folks,
Apologies for the shorter chapter, but I really wanted this scene to sit alone. Piper has been put under a huge amount of stress in the last year, and she's held it together pretty well. Now, she's finally been tipped over the edge, and she breaks down. The issues with her parents completely boil over, and she lets herself feel those emotions, which is overwhelming. This chapter is also key to show how much Alex actually loves this girl, and what she's willing to do for her, including standing up to Sally.
Anyways, keen to hear your thoughts on this chapter.
Cheers.