"Piper?"

A few knocks followed.

I reluctantly lifted myself up off the couch and walked sluggishly to open the door.

"James? What are you doing here?" I asked, quickly wiping my tears with my sleeve.

"Uh, Leo's crashing at my place. I came by to get some of his clothes," he said softly.

I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach.

"Oh. Right. Yeah, lemme get some of his stuff," I forced the words out, trying my best to smile.

I walked away, leaving James in the living room. I packed his clothes up as quickly as I could, holding back the tears. Was this really happening? Could it really be that Leo was not coming home?

I couldn't contain the emotion. Tears begin falling. I started shaking. My crying must have been audible enough for James to hear. He appeared beside me quickly.

"Piper," he soothed, putting an arm around me. "Shh.. shh.. it's okay, Piper. Calm down."

"He's not coming back," I whispered. "I thought he...How could he...Why...Oh god...No..."

My words came out scattered and made no sense at all. But James seemed to understand.

"He will come back, Piper. He's just going through something right now," James spoke softly, saying exactly the words I needed to hear. "He's gonna wake up and realize what he's throwing away here. And he will come back."

I choked back more sobs. "How do you know?"

He paused for a moment, then looked in my eyes. "He'd be a fool not to." James softly kissed my forehead and smiled, "I'm jealous every single day of what you guys have. It's something amazing...You know that..And it makes it that much harder because it seems like it's ending, right?"

I nodded slowly. James really understood.

"If I know Leo, he will come out of this. You mean everything to him, and I don't think he's stupid enough to throw that all away."

"I really hope you're right," I sighed, wiping my tears.

He kissed my forehead and hugged me once more.

I really did hope he was right...but I had an awful feeling that he was very, very wrong...

I laid back down on the couch after he left. I tried to forget everything. I just wanted to relax and not stress. I took deep breaths and laid my head back.

"Piper?" a voice interrupted my thoughts.

I lifted my head.

"Piper!"

I turned to face the door.

There, standing with a huge smile, stood Leo. I didn't move, I could barely breathe.

"L-Leo?" I stuttered. Then it really hit me. "LEO!" I screamed, rushing over to him. "You're home! I knew it! I knew you'd come back!" I cried excitedly.

He wrapped his arms around me and held me against him.

"Of course I came back, Cherry," he whispered. "I would never leave you."

"Oh, Leo I was so scared. I thought you were gone forever," I sighed, resting my head on his chest. "Thank god you're home...I love you so much."

"I love you, Piper," he said, then leaned into kiss me.

We broke apart at last. I was still smiling as I opened my eyes.

"Leo?"

He was gone.

What? He was just holding me! He was just kissing me!

"Leo!" I screamed. "LEO!"

I sat up, breathing quickly.

It was...

"Just a dream," I sighed, wiping away the tears streaming down my face.