Her phone had started ringing about an hour after they had arrived at Rory's. Alex had really needed a whole hour to reach out to her, that was just sad and disappointing and Piper didn't want to answer it, she didn't want to talk to her. She didn't want to hear her excuses.

"Come on answer it." Rory pushed her after the 10th call in one hour. "She must be worried about you."

Larry breathed out loud and when Piper turned her face to him, his eyes were filled with contempt. "What?" Piper asked, she felt like she had to protect Alex even though she hadn't done the same for her. Larry hesitated with his answer he seemed to be unwiling to reveal his thoughts, reluctant to be the bad guy or even to hurt Piper, at least that was how Piper would have felt.

"What?" she repeated and Larry sighed.

"Well, if she were that concerned with how you are she wouldn't have just stood there and watched while her freak sister beat the" he coughed and gesticulated with his hand, signaling that he didn't want to say the word "out of you. And then she left you with me instead of taking care of you!"

"You told her to get lost." Piper objected, still trying to find an excuse for Alex. Larry shrugged his shoulders, as if he had already expected her to find that excuse.

"And she did. If it were for me nobody could have sent me away in that moment, I would have stayed no matter what. Just saying."

Rory had listened to them talking patiently, but now she seemed to get angry, she jumped off the bed, turning to Piper, upset. "She is your girlfriend and she doesn't even know where you are. Maybe she was just too much in shock to do anything and she feels sorry already, it's not her fault that her sister is how she is. She at least deserves to know where you are. She's still your girlfriend if you don't see her like that anymore then at least have the decency to break up with her." Rory raged and then grabbed for Piper's ringing phone.

"Hey." She answered the phone, leaving her room while talking to Alex, Piper tried to listen but she couldn't understand a word Rory was saying in the hallway.

"So you're into girls?" Larry asked so silently that Piper could only hear it because she was still leaning against his chest. Her head was still pulsating in pain and her right hand was swollen and bloody from when she had tried to protect her body from Nichols' kicks. She really didn't want to have this conversation with him. She didn't know if she could also fall in love with a guy, just because it hadn't happened yet didn't mean it couldn't happen in the future. And she surely wasn't ready to discuss this with somebody who was so clearly in love with her.

Thank god Rory came back before the silence had gotten too weird and Larry hadn't had time to repeat his question yet. She handed Piper an headache pill.

"So, Alex will be here in half an hour. If you don't wanna talk to her you have to call her and tell her that yourself."

„Arghh Rory!" Piper grunted, half angry, but secretly she was also a bit thankful. At least she now didn't have to make the decision herself.

„Already regretting having me back?" Rory winked, teasing Piper making her smile a little.

„Having her back?" Larry was officially the most confused person in this room and Rory and Piper just ignored him, smiling at each other.

Piper sighed, she knew she had to face Alex at some point so rather do it sooner than later while she had Rory and Larry around.

„Okay, but I don't want her to see me like that." There was blood on her shirt and her hand was covered in dried blood from where the boots had ripped open her skin. Her make up was probably smeared all over her face from crying.

„Ok, so let's clean you up and get you in something... clean and not … ripped." Piper hadn't even realized that there was a tear in her shirt and so she let Rory drag her into the bathroom. Larry followed them but Rory shut the door close in front of his face. „No boys allowed in here."

Larry grunted outside the door.

Rory sat Piper down on the edge of the bathtub, getting a washcloth out a drawer.

„Do you love her?" Rory whispered, kneeling down in front of Piper who was close to crying again. She carelfully cleaned Piper'sface from the tearstains and the blood. Piper winced in pain when the rough tissue scraped her bloody lip. At least the headache pill was slowly starting to kill her pulsating headpain.

„Sorry." Rory tried to clean her lip extra careful and tenderly to not hurt her anymore.

„I love her but I guess that isn't mutual."

Rory smiled at her, stroking her thumb over Piper's cheek, and for a second there was this feeling again that she had already had in the car, a feeling like Rory was about to kiss her.

But instead Rory said: „How is that even possible? How could she not love you, she is your girlfriend. I think you should cut her some slack."

Piper grabbed Rory's wrist to stopp her from cleaning her face.

„Why are you on her side? You don't even know her."

„I'm on nobody's side. I just know what it's like to be a crappy girlfriend. Look, I know exactly that Elliot hates this whole being in the closet thing and that she deserves better. She deserves a girl who is proud to be with her instead of someone who always repudiates and hides her. And I really do love her but that doesn't make it any easier to be brave enough to be a good girlfriend."

That made Piper think. Was Alex feeling the same?

„But why can't you just tell your parents?" Piper didn't understand, she didn't want to accept that being brave was difficult and that's just it.

The look on Rory's face was saying 'You're kidding me?'. She stood up and walked over to the bathroom window, where a stack of clothes were lying on top of the hamper, she didn't look at Piper while talking.

„They sent me away once. They took away my first love and I don't think I can stand losing Elliot too."

Piper felt the blood rushing to her face, it still felt kind of awkward and surreal knowing that Rory had had the same feelings as her back then. She was glad that Rory was staring out of the window instead of looking at her.
„But you have me back now." She whispered.

„Yeah, but too late." It was almost inaudible and when Rory turned back to her, there was a layer of sadness written all over her face. „I mean, of course it's awesome having you back in my life. But, you know."
Piper nodded, she knew. It was too late for them, they had already suffered deep scars from what had happened and they had lost the chance to find out what could have happened between the two of them.

„But if somebody beat her up, you would have done something about it."

Rory sighed, sitting herself down on the hamper.
„Somebody yes. But if it was my mum who beat her up, honestly, I have no idea what I would have done. I mean if I stopped her in that second, what would happen on the long run? It would maybe get even worse. Is that cowardly and dumb and falseand selfish? Yeah, but I think if you are in that situation and everything happens so fast, wrong and right aren't the things crossing your mind. Just shock and fear and I don't know. At least that is what I would have felt. So try and cut her some slack, ok? At least let her explain."

Piper shrugged her shoulders, she had no idea what to do. She wanted to forgive Alex, she wanted to believe that she really loved her, but when she listened to her heart, all she could hear was pain and disappointment. She felt like Alex had cut into her heart with a razorblade and her blood was oozing out at every heartbeat.

Rory grabbed the hem of Piper's bloodstained, formerly white shirt.

„May I?"

Piper hesitated, she was still pretty insecure with her body. But then she remembered that Rory was suffering from the same insecurities like she did and so she nodded, letting Rory pull her shirt over her head.

Then the brunette started cleaning Piper's hand that was still covered in blood and again Piper winced in pain, her hand was red and swollen, it was probably broken.

„We really should go to a doctor with that." Rory said, while wrapping her hand with a bandage from the medicine cabinet.

„Here, I wore it once already but it's better than yours." She helped Piper to don a shirt from the stack of clothes on the hamper.

„What is taking so long?" Larry sounded annoyed and a little bit jealous, waiting there in Rory's room for the two girls to get finished.

Piper was already moving towards the door, when Rory held her back.

„One last question. Who is he?" she nodded towards the door, speaking silently to make sure Larry wasn't listening.

„He... he is a friend." Piper didn't exactly know what to say, she didn't really know how to describe him. Who was he?

The brunette looked deep in her eyes, as if she was trying to read her soul. „He's in love with you."

She said, as if it wasn't obvious.
The blonde shrugged her shoulders: „At least one person." she whispered, grinning a little.
„What?"
„Just kidding." Piper laughed for a second until she felt a sharp pain ripping open the chap in her lip and she remembered why she was here, what had happened.

That second the doorbell rang and she knew the moment was here, she had to face Alex.

Rory took her not broken hand, pushing it encouraging, reassuringly. „You're ready?"
„No."

Piper had no chance to avoid this talk, if she didn't face her now she had to face her tomorrow or the day after that. There was no way around it.

When she walked into the kitchen, Alex was already standing there, leaned against the table, looking exhausted and as if she had cried.

Larry had let her in after Rory had asked him to, so Piper had another minute to breathe.

Piper let go of Rory's hand right before she entered the kitchen. Alex wouldn't get that she didn't hold her hand because she had feelings, but because she needed to feel supported.

Larry stood a few metres aways from Alex, looking at her in contempt. He was clearly angry and now that he knew that the two of them were a couple, he thought even less of Alex, the girl who had the girl he wanted and treated her like this.

„Hey." Alex said, attempting a smile that looked so full of discomfort.

„Hi." Rory walked towards the raven haired girl, outstretching her hand to introduce herself. Alex took the hand, rather reluctant. But Piper assumed she was also thankful because Rory had gotten her here.

The brunette nodded towards Larry and then towards the door to signal him that they should probably leave the two of them alone. The boy looked like he'd rather stay, but Rory stared at him until he finally gave in and walked out the kitchen, with a last threatening look towards Alex. Rory pushed Piper's hand a last time, giving her a smile before she walked out and closed the door behind her.

Alex didn't say anything, she couldn't even look at her and kept staring on the floor instead. Piper didn't even consider saying anything, she was not able to, she felt like frozen.

Like paralysed.

Her lip was bleeding again and when Alex lifted her head and saw the red liquid dropping onto the floor, she outstretched her arm like she wanted to make it stop.

Piper took a step backwards, even though they were already standing so faw from each other that Alex had no chance of touching her by just outstrechting her arm.

„Don't." Piper said, her voice cold as ice to cover the pain.

„Piper." Alex whispered, her arm still outstretched, without moving. Piper hadn't seen her like this, she looked small and weak, but Piper couldn't feel anything. She didn't feel pity, she didn't feel hate, she didn't feel strange. All she felt was cold, and hollow.

She thought she would ask her why, why she had done nothing, why she still stood to her sister, although she was a monster. But now, that Alex was standing in front of her, a tear rolling down her cheek, she didn't want to know, she didn't want to hear those excuses.

„Let me explain." Alex cried, she sounded really desperate.

„What would it change? I know your excuses already, all of them." Piper knew there was only one thing that Alex could say that would maybe change something, if she told her that she loved her, then maybe, just maybe they could find a solution to this.

It was dumb, but it was the reality.

Thanks guys for all of your many many comments. I see that last chapter was very upsetting and so I wanted to answer a few comments. I don't think Larry is better or worse than Alex, he just had had different experiences in his life and that for acts and reacts differently. Nobody is just black or white, good or evil. And love is clearly not about being with someone 'good' or 'not good', it's about your heart wanting someone despite what your brain wants, right? And I do think Alex is a hero here in her own way, maybe not to Piper but she sacrifices so much for her family, for Nicky, for Diane and I think that is pretty heroic. Has Alex made mistakes, hell yes. Is she a bad person because of it and deserves no forgiveness? No, she is still human and humans are full of mistakes. (And just because you don't know Alex's reasons and motives yet, doesn't mean she didn't have them, remember you only see and know what Piper knows.) And maybe Larry isn't the shining knight he seems to be in Piper's eyes. Also this story is not suppossed to be a romantic comedy or even a lovestory. I actually don't think this story is really about love itself, it's more about the moment when you have to learn To fight for yourself and when you have to decide what kind of person you wanna be. So if anybody doesn't want to continue reading this story that is okay, I get that this story is not for everybody and there is nothing bad about that. Still I'm gratful and happy for every person reading and supporting. You are awesome. XXX