Before they knew it, it was time for the house warming party that Piper and Alex were hosting. The two of them had gone out shopping during the day and bought in a huge amount of food and Alex also got in some alcohol, much to Piper's displeasure. It was getting more difficult refusing it now that Alex drank it.

They didn't have a huge group of friends and Piper didn't really talk to many people at work but it wasn't awkward. Polly and Pete were obviously there along with Cal and Neri who weren't going on a honeymoon until after the baby was born as Cal didn't trust her flying. Danny and Helene had also come before their flight back to LA the next day. Zoe and Grace were also there and Lindsay tagged along with them, however, she looked less than enthusiastic. It seemed since helping Alex with the apartment, Grace and Lindsay were now okay. You could tell that it was still a little tense but not as bad as it was. However, it was clear that Lindsay and Zoe didn't particularly get on. Nicky and Lorna were also over and Piper and Alex hadn't seen Lorna look so happy. All night, she kept her hand in Nicky's and proudly introduced everyone to 'her girlfriend, Nicky.' As presumed, Nicky got on like a house on fire with Cal and Pete. They were cracking jokes between each other within minutes.

Piper had also invited a few other people from work including Trevor and Veronica. Harper had originally been invited as Piper got on well with everyone in the editing department but she declined and Piper realised it was because she said she couldn't bring Larry as a plus one. She didn't blame her though; she would refuse to go somewhere if she couldn't bring Alex as her plus one. She just didn't want Larry anywhere near Alex so she hadn't wanted him to come.

The party wasn't too awkward as the alcohol was now flowing. Due to the size of the apartment, a fair few people were able to stay over. Nicky and Lorna weren't as they lived so near. Grace and Zoe had requested a room and so had Polly and Pete. Cal said that he and Neri were going to leave early and take Danny and Helene with him. Lindsay had also requested a room.

Throughout the night, Piper distanced herself from the alcohol. Alex had bought a number of bottles of wine and a selection of beer and Piper was tempted to just pour herself a glass of wine. Surely the problem she'd had before was no longer relevant as Alex was out. She wasn't going to drink herself senseless with her beautiful fiancée so nearby.

It was around eleven when Cal said to Piper that he was leaving as Neri was tired and wanted to get home. Due to this, Piper decided it was time to inform everyone about the engagement. They were wearing their rings but no one had asked them about it.

Turning down the music, Piper called for everyone's attention and asked for Alex to join her. "Everyone, we have some news that we want to share with you!" Piper cried and everyone looked at them expectantly.

"Yesterday, Piper and I had a moment and we realised that we never want to be apart from each other again," Alex said taking over. "Last week, I picked up an engagement ring and yesterday, I asked Piper's dad, Bill, for his permission to marry his daughter. Piper then surprised me by asking me first."

"Basically, we're getting married!" Piper announced loudly and everyone clapped loudly and congratulated them. Looking round the room, everyone seemed genuinely happy for them but when her eyes landed on Lindsay, the redhead looked less than pleased but Piper shook it off.

Her brothers then came over to her and Cal congratulated them before getting off and Danny just shrugged. Helene was sleepy as she'd had a fair bit to drink and Neri was practically asleep anyway. Piper went with them in the elevator and watched them drive off so that they got off safely. Cal hadn't had much to drink, only one beer at the beginning of the night, but she always felt slightly worried when he drove as he was a little reckless.

When she got back upstairs, she had no idea where Alex had gone so she decided to head into the kitchen. Finally, she caved and she picked up a glass and filled it half way with white wine. She brought it up to her mouth and took a small sip and savoured the flavour on her tongue for a few moments before taking another sip. Before she knew it, sip by sip, she had drunk the half glass so she refilled it. This time, she filled it to the top.

She had just taken a sip of the fresh glass when someone walked over to her.

"Piper, what are you doing?" Zoe asked with a frown pointing to the wine. "You're supposed to have given it up."

"Yeah well I changed my mind," Piper replied with a shrug and took another sip as if to back up her point. "I don't need to be careful as I'm always going to have Alex by my side to help me."

"Then where is she now?" Piper looked around the room and registered that Zoe had a point.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find her," Piper said. She put down her wine and walked out of the room and she noticed that Zoe was following her. "Zoe, what are you doing?"

"I'm making sure you don't fall over."

"I've had half a glass, I'm fine. Go back to Grace." With that said, Zoe held her arms up in surrender and walked back into the living room where she had left Grace talking to Lorna.

Piper then had to think where Alex could be; she obviously wasn't in the kitchen and she doubted she was in the living room or Zoe would have told her she was in there. Thinking quickly, she decided to check the library to see if her fiancée had needed a slight time out with so many people and taken refuge in a book. However, when she looked in, Alex wasn't anywhere to be seen. Piper then checked the bathrooms and again, she couldn't find her. She then decided to check their bedroom. She didn't know why Alex would be in there but she couldn't think of anywhere else she'd be.

When she did get to her room, the door was already slightly ajar meaning that someone had to be in there as Piper had shut the door firmly behind her when she'd left the room before everyone had arrived a few hours before. Peeking in, she saw something that she didn't like.

Alex was sat on bottom of the bed but she wasn't alone. Lindsay was sat with her and she had her head on Alex's shoulder.

"I just didn't know what to do!" Lindsay was saying but her voice was slightly muffled due to speaking into Alex's arm. "So I met up with him and he gave me it so I took it. It was the most incredible and the worst feeling of my life. I simultaneously want to do it again and to stay as far away from it at the same time. I chose the former. I'm sorry."

"Linds, listen to me," Alex demanded and pulled Lindsay up so that she was looking at her. "I saw what heroin did to people, it was my career to import it. You have to promise me that you'll never do it again and if you ever see him or have the opportunity to do it again, you call me immediately. I'll pick you up wherever you are no matter what the time is. Promise me!"

Lindsay sniffed and wiped her eye, clearly crying. "I promise. God, Piper is so lucky to have you," she muttered. "I always wondered what it would be like to have you but I'll never get that now."

Then all of a sudden, she launched herself forward and kissed Alex and at this, Piper crashed into the room and Lindsay pulled back.

"What the fuck is going on here?" She demanded pretending, for now that she hadn't heard the previous conversation.

"Fuck, oh my gosh, Piper I'm so sorry!" Lindsay cried. "That's not what I meant to do. I just…I don't know!"

"Piper, go easy on her," Alex said quietly.

"Why didn't you push her off you?" Piper asked and Alex heard the vulnerability in her voice.

"Because you didn't give me time to," Alex replied still speaking calmly. "I know you heard the conversation. I didn't know it was going to take that turn."

"I didn't mean to!" Lindsay was still saying before she suddenly bolted and left the room quickly.

"Lindsay!" Alex called and took after her quickly leaving Piper in their bedroom. Due to people blocking up the hallway, Alex was able to catch up to the redhead. "Listen, it's okay, I get it. You've had a fair bit to drink too so I'm gonna get you a glass of water and you're gonna go to bed."

Lindsay nodded and let Alex mummy her for the next few minutes. She let Alex get her a glass of water and she accepted the clothes that Piper brought in from Alex's request. Once she was tucked up in bed, Alex kissed her forehead and Lindsay was asleep in minutes.

Alex left the room to see Piper stood outside waiting. "What happened?" Piper asked gently.

Sighing, Alex took Piper's hand and led her into the closest room which happened to be the library. She then sat on the sofa in there and pulled Piper so that she was sitting on her knee.

"She was out late last night, completely off her face and someone offered her a hit which she took," Alex replied sadly. "She then saw him again this morning and he offered to sell her some cheap which she accepted as she was still slightly drunk from last night. She took some again a few hours before she got here and I recognised the signs so I called her out on it. She's worse than I thought she was. There's something else going on than just Grace fucking her about."

Piper didn't quite know what to say; she'd never expected Lindsay to be someone who took drugs. She was an ex athlete so she knew what drugs did to her and it always wouldn't help in her line of work. As much as she wanted to help, she knew that there was nothing she could do as she hadn't experienced it. It was clear that she still has some feelings for Alex as she'd kissed her but Alex was the best one to help her go through what she was going through. Nicky was also an option but Piper didn't want to let her get near heroin again just in case she was tempted. There would be nothing worse than Nicky getting arrested just after she'd got out again.

"Do we tell Grace?" Piper asked and Alex shook her head.

"No! Lindsay doesn't want anyone to know!" Alex said quickly. "She doesn't even want you to know!"

Sighing, Piper stood up, pulling Alex with her. "We need to get back to the party," she muttered. However, before they left the room, Alex pulled her in for a kiss but she pulled back rather abruptly.

"You've been drinking wine," She stated.

"Al, it's not a big deal," Piper replied. "It was like half a glass of wine. Besides, Zoe's already told me off about it."

"So you'll listen to Zoe but not me?" She asked starting to get a little annoyed.

"What? Don't be silly, Alex." Not wanting to talk about it, Piper just turned and left the room, leaving Alex behind. She waltzed straight into the living room and struck up a conversation with Polly before Alex came in.

The party seemed to gradually die down. All of Piper's work mates left and Nicky and Lorna decided to call it a night. Both had had a little bit to drink and were feeling the effects of it from not having it in a long time. Polly and Pete also decided to go to sleep and Piper told them they were in the purple room.

Grace and Zoe then said they were going to retire for the night and were told they were in the orange room. Zoe went immediately but Grace held back.

"Have you seen Lindsay?" She asked. "I haven't seen her in ages and she's not answering her phone."

"She's already gone to sleep," Piper replied and she led Grace to the blue room. She opened the door slightly and quietly and showed Grace the sleeping form of Lindsay.

"I'm worried about her," Grace said quietly. "Her mom is ill and she's taken it worse than I thought she would. She found out yesterday. She went out last night and didn't get home until after I'd had to leave for work this morning for a kid's party."

"How bad is her mom?" Piper asked. She knew from what Lindsay had told her in the halfway house that she only had her mom left. Her dad didn't want her when she was younger and she didn't have any siblings. Her father's parents didn't even know about her and her mother's parents had died a long time ago. No wonder she's turning to drugs, Piper thought to herself.

"She's got a week maximum," Grace replied sadly. "It's stage four breast cancer. She didn't get it checked when it first appeared and when she was finally admitted, there was nothing that could be done."

"We'll all be there for her though," Piper assured Grace. Grace nodded and then headed to room Piper had pointed out to her.

Sighing slightly, Piper turned and went back to the kitchen to start putting things away. It was well past three in the morning but she just wasn't tired. She also knew she wouldn't be able to sleep with what she had learnt about Lindsay. She knew she should go to bed as Alex was probably waiting for her but she couldn't get her body to move in that direction.

Instead, she placed all of the empty bottles in a box to take to the recycling on her way to work the next day. She'd noticed that a fair few of her staff members had taken advantage of the free alcohol and she knew that they'd be going into work the next day feeling horrible. It amused her and she was curious to see if any would ring up saying they were ill as they'd forgotten that they were at their boss' party who would know the truth. In actual fact, she probably would let them just take the day off.

Afterwards, she headed back to the living room and collected in all of the glasses before returning to the kitchen. She put the dirty glasses in the sink and saw that there was a glass on the side and noticed that it was practically full; it was her glass from earlier. She stared at it for a few moments but then with a sigh, she picked it up and poured it down the drain. She'd promised that she wouldn't drink and she intended to keep that promise.

Just then, she heard shuffling behind her. Turning, she saw Alex stood by the door wearing a pair of pyjama shorts and a loose tank top.

"I'm proud of you," Alex muttered motioning towards the wine glass before walking further into the kitchen to hug Piper. "What are you still doing up? Come to bed."

"I just feel like I have to clean," Piper replied.

"I'll clear everything up while you're at work tomorrow," Alex promised. "We probably shouldn't have a party on a Sunday next time though."

With a sigh, Piper put down the glass in the hand and followed Alex to their bedroom. She headed into the bathroom to take off her makeup and take her earrings out before going back to the bedroom. She stripped out of her dress and underwear before slipping beside Alex under the duvet. She immediately felt Alex's comforting arms around her and she felt her bare body embracing her from behind.

"Lindsay's mom's ill," she whispered.

"I know," Alex replied just as quietly and kissed Piper's neck. "Lindsay will be okay, we'll help her. For now though, sleep baby."

So Piper did what she was told.

oOoOo

The two were woken abruptly at seven in the morning to a loud noise even though Piper's alarm wasn't supposed to go off for another hour. Piper leant out of Alex's embrace and looked at her phone and noticed that it wasn't that that was making the sound. The sound also hadn't stopped. Someone was screaming.

Suddenly, the two shot out of bed, grabbed their gowns and threw them on as they followed the sound. Polly and Pete were stood outside a room looking panicked. As they got closer, Alex and Piper realised that it was the room that Alex had put Lindsay in the night before.

"What's going on?" Alex demanded and Polly just pointed inside the room.

Slowly, Alex and Piper walked into the room and were horrified at the sight. It was Grace who had screamed. She was next to the bed sobbing hysterically with Zoe not far behind her who was on the phone to someone. Lindsay was still on the bed but she was not moving. Piper looked down and saw puddles of blood surrounding her and there was one of their meat knives on the floor. There was also a note that was on the side of the bed but it wasn't addressed to anyone. Hesitantly, Piper picked it up.

To Alex, Piper, Grace or whoever else finds this,

I got the call this morning that my mom died in the middle of the night. At least she's not in pain anymore right? I'm sorry I've done this but I just couldn't think of anything that would help me. I don't have anyone. Grace, you hurt me so badly with everything but you have Zoe so I know you're going to be okay. Then there's Alex and Piper who are both amazing but they have each other so they'll be fine.

Alex, I'm sorry for putting you through last night with the heroin, I took some just before I wrote this and I can't believe I've done it again. This is the only way that I'll get off of it. I can't take the pain anymore. I just want it to be over.

I'm sorry guys but this is the only way for me now. I loved you all, except you Zoe. I really didn't like you.

Goodbye,

Lindsay Callahan

Piper almost screamed as she read the letter but instead, she just burst into tears. She looked up to see that Alex was crouched at the side of the bed so she joined her, silently giving her the letter. Alex read it and passed it to Grace.

"The police are on their way," Zoe muttered quietly but no one seemed to notice her. "I'll go wait and let them in."

She then left the room and informed Polly and Pete of what had happened before going to the elevator to await the police so they could take the body.

"If only I'd waited for her to get in like I thought of doing," Grace muttered with her tears flowing rapidly down her face. "I would have seen her. I would have noticed it. I can't believe she's gone! I can't believe she's dead!"

Hi guys, sorry for the lack of update recently, I've been busy with getting ready for uni. I was also quite disappointed with the lack of comment on the chapter before despite it being a crucial chapter to the story. Oh well. This one was quite difficult to write as you can imagine but it had to be like this. Let me know what you think of this chapter. Updates will start to become a little slow soon as I move to uni this weekend and then I have all the business of registration and actually starting my course so I may not be able to write as much. With that being said, I will complete this story, even if it takes me while so hang in there. Anyway, thanks for the support and I can't wait to see what you guys think of this chapter and what is to come. Love you, Emss x