THE FIRST NIGHT
"My beating heart belongs to you/I walked for miles 'til I found you/I'm here to honor you/If I lose everything in the fire/I'm sending all my love to you" Last Night on Earth, Green Day
It should be easy, shouldn't it? I mean it was Piper! His best friend, they told each other everything, there were never any secrets. Until about maybe a year ago… or five. He couldn't help it, look at her! She's the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. And she was so nice, and she obviously cared for him so much, how could he not fall for her.
Just lean over and tell her. Just… just… crap! Come on you can do this! He yelled at himself in his head. His apartment was small but there was always room for Piper.
They were sitting close together on his couch drinking hot chocolate, even though she argued it was too early for it. It was just Halloween, it's not even Thanksgiving yet, blah, blah, blah. Leo didn't care. It was cold and Hot Chocolate was, well, hot.
Having a hot drink in his hand wasn't the best thing to be holding when Piper dropped the bomb. There was no warning at all. There was no "Leo, I need to talk to you about something important" or any "I think I'm going to" it was just BAM!
"Leo, I'm joining the Peace Corps."
He thought he was going to throw up.
After taking a minute to find his voice he finally said: "When are you leaving?"
"I got my letter yesterday, I leave right after Christmas." She said it as if she had won the lottery, he heard it as if she had said "I have terminal cancer."
"How long are you going to be gone." His voice cracked on the last part and Piper's face fell. She put her mug on the table and leaned over to give him a hug, but he shrugged her off.
"Why didn't tell me you were thinking about joining?" Leo asked, staring down at the marshmallows floating in his drink.
"You would've tried to stop me."
"You're damn right I would! How can you just leave me like this?" He yelled. She got up off the couch, getting ready to leave. She made up her mind and she didn't need him to tell her what to do or not do.
"You're being selfish! This is what I want!" Leo stood up too.
"No! You think that if you go and help some poor people in a third world country it will make you feel better about letting Jason die!" As soon as he said it, he knew he shouldn't have. "Pip—" He was cut off by her hand slapping him hard across the face, followed by a steaming cup of hot chocolate.
"Don't you DARE talk about him!" He didn't see her walk out, there was chocolate obscuring his vision but the slamming of the door was deafening.
He couldn't get burned but, damn, that hot chocolate felt like a third degree burn.
THE FIRST AFTERNOON
"I'm trying, I'm trying/To let you know just how much you mean to me/And after all the things we put each other through and/I would drive on to the end with you/A liquor store or two keeps the gas tank full/And I feel like there's nothing left to do/But prove myself to you and we'll keep it running" Demolition Lovers, My Chemical Romance
Leo stood outside of her apartment door a few days later, holding chocolates even though they would be useless. It was worth a shot. He knocked on the door and waited. She opened it, saw him, and tried to shut it again, but he jammed his foot in the door before she could.
"What do you want?" She demanded. She hadn't seen her look that angry in years. She was seriously scary.
"To apologize, I didn't mean to say what I said I just—" I just didn't want you to leave because I'm in love with you and I can't have you leave I'm so close to telling you, please just listen to me.
"I don't care. Now if you'll excuse me I need to pack." Why don't you just take out your dagger and stab me? Leo thought. She tried to close the door again but Leo didn't move.
"I acted irrationally angry and said a lot of things I shouldn't have said, but can I please just come in and talk to you."
Piper's face softened and she opened the door. "You have ten minutes, Valdez."
He apologized for ten minutes straight. He told her he didn't want her to go, but it was her choice and that he would miss her but he hoped she would be happy. Finally, he asked "How long will you be gone?"
"Twenty seven month." Leo almost cried. Twenty-seven? As in more than two years? That twenty seven? "But I mean, there are going to be ways for me to communicate to back home, so I'll be able to keep in touch with you. Just try not to get into too much trouble while I'm gone, okay?"
You need to tell her. You need to tell her now. Tell her you idiot!
He didn't tell her. He gave her a hug, wished her luck and left her to pack.
THE SECOND NIGHT
"She's not my girlfriend, /She's just a friend who's a girl, /She's my buddy, she's my best mate, /And she rocks my world, /I wanna tell her, but I just can't find the time, /Or find the words, /Oh, for God's sake, kiss the girl." Kiss the Girl Chameleon Circuit
In the month before Piper left, they had spent almost every available moment with each other. And now, after a month of being together, they were going to spend twenty-seven apart. They walked into the airport, Piper's flight was scheduled to leave at nine. Leo thought she looked adorable holding her pillow and wearing her ducky pajama pants.
When she was about to leave him and go through security, as far as Leo could go, she turned to him. "Well, I have to go now." She looked sad, but not the kind of sad that made him think she had any second thoughts about what she was doing.
"Piper…" This is your last chance, idiot. Come on, you can go to MIT full scholar ship and fight an army of mountain-throwing giants, but you can't just man up and say "Piper, before you go I want you to know that I'm in love with you and have been for the last five years and I really don't want you to get on that plane without knowing that."
Piper dropped her stuff on the floor and moved forward to kiss Leo.
Leo nearly caught fire, but he managed to kiss her back. It didn't last nearly long enough.
"I love you too," Leo thought she was going to cry, "but there is a plane waiting for me and I'm getting on it. Will you wait for me?"
"McLean, I've waited for you for five years, I can wait another two." She gave him another small smile and hugged him again. "Here's looking at you, kid." Leo whispered. He knew Casa Blanca was her (secret) favorite movie, and that had just about done it. Piper let out a sob on Leo's shoulder and he was pretty sure he was crying too, but his face was so hot the tears evaporated right away.
She pulled away, whipped her face and picked her stuff back up. "I need to go." Piper said, putting on a brave face.
Leo waved to her as she went through the metal detector and finally disappeared behind all the security. It was the last time he would see her in person for over two years.
THE SECOND AFTERNOON
"I don't ever want to let you down/I don't ever want to leave this town/'Cause after all/This city never sleeps at night/It's time to begin, isn't it?/I get a little bit bigger, but then I'll admit/I'm just the same as I was/Now don't you understand/That I'm never changing who I am" It's Time, Imagine Dragons
"Yeah I just landed."
"Sweetie, I'm so sorry I couldn't be there, but the driver is going to take you straight to the set to see me, okay?"
"Okay dad, I'll see you soon." Piper hung up her phone. LAX was buzzing with people and she had never felt more overwhelmed. There wasn't much technology in the small African village she had spent the last two years in and all the lights were suddenly making her dizzy.
Piper made her way to the baggage claim and found her suitcase, then started scouring the area for her ride.
She finally found the man she was looking for. "McLean", his sign read. His sunglasses and hat covered most of his face, but she would know those curls anywhere.
Piper ran towards him, jumping on him so quickly Leo lost his balance and tumbled to the floor. Piper suddenly didn't care about the fact that she was straddling her boyfriend in the middle of LAX on the dirty floor, all she cared about was that she was with her boyfriend. She leaned down and kissed him. Their relationship was so developed emotionally, but this was only their second kiss. Piper didn't want it to end.
Unfortunately, people were staring and her bags were at risk of being stolen, so she got off Leo.
It took them two hours to get out of the airport garage.
It was worth the looks from Piper's dad when they showed up way later than he expected.
