PIPER'S POV:

"Hey, Pip," Ned sighed "c'mon, calm down and talk to me. What's going on?"

I pulled away from him and swallowed a lump in my throat, sniffing and wiping my eyes… "Is anyone else in?"

He shook his head… "Dad's gone to help Lauren lock up. You're worrying me now, Pip, what's going on?"

I motioned inside and Ned stepped aside, following me into the house and through to the kitchen. Switching the kettle on, I leant against the worktop as I waited for it to boil…

"Stop trying to waste time, Pip; what's got you so upset?" Ned asked

"When you were in Sydney, I did something stupid," I admitted "something I'm not proud of and something that I wish I'd never done…"

"Which was?" he questioned

Pursing my lips together nervously, I pulled up the sleeves of my jumper, revealing the scars from my wounds…

"You cut yourself?" he inquired

I swallowed a lump in my throat and nodded my head… "Yeah."

"Why?" he asked

"It was after I was raped, and it was the only thing that made me feel better." I admitted "Talking to people didn't help; nothing did, so I took the cowards way out."

"That doesn't explain why you ended up on the doorstep crying your eyes out though." he informed me

"Tyler thinks I could do it again." I replied

"Right; could you?" he asked

I shook my head… "No! I know now how stupid it was of me to do it and think that it would make things better. Ultimately all it did was make things worse. I'd never do it again, no matter what the circumstances."

"No matter how much pressure you were under? No matter how stressed you were?" he inquired

"No!" I proclaimed "Why are you asking?"

"I just need to be sure." he informed me "I love Tyler, Eden and my family too much to betray them after everything they've done for me."

"Don't you think you should be telling Tyler this, not me?" he questioned

"Probably." I replied

"Well why don't you head home and do that then?" he suggested, raising an eyebrow at me

I pursed my lips together nervously and exhaled a breath I didn't know I'd been holding… "Okay."

"And Pip…" he spoke as I rose to my feet

"Yeah?" I inquired, turning back to him

"I'm always here for you." he informed me

I smiled at him warmly… "Thanks, Ned."

"Not a problem, Pipsqueak. What are big brothers for?" he asked

Piper told Ned everything, and he convinced her to go back to talk things through with Tyler – how will that go?