A/N:

Surprised? I am, too. But luckily, I think I've found my muse so here I am. Hopefully the muse won't leave me sooner than she arrived.

But anyway, I apologize for the very long delay. You've probably even forgotten this lil story but I'm hoping I can continue to put it back on track.

4

It felt like an eternity, waiting for the door to open.

But then it did, and soon enough, she wasn't just facing a door anymore.

There she was, Paige with a huge smile on her face, saying something that Piper didn't really understand. Because her attention was elsewhere. It was on Alex, who was standing behind her, giving Piper a piercing look that she had no idea what it meant, looking like the goddess that Piper always thought her to be.

Suddenly, Piper forgot Larry. She even forgot Paige.

All she saw was Alex. The Alex who most probably didn't give a crap about her anymore. The Alex she used to love, or still loved?

And by then, she knew.

She was truly, and royally fucked.

-o-o-o-

They were finally seated at the table, Piper and Larry on opposite sides, with Alex on Piper's left, Paige in front of Alex. It all felt so awkward and Alex was sure Piper (and her pathetic-looking boyfriend) could feel it, too. Not to her surprise, Paige seemed to be the only one at ease as they started eating. She'd always been so positive about things and Alex knew this was one of those moments she wasn't gonna let anything, and anyone, ruin.

"I'm really happy you could make it. I was starting to think you were avoiding me," her girlfriend said directly to Piper, wearing a huge smile on her face.

But Alex knew her girlfriend. She might have looked like she was kidding but she also meant it, kind of. Paige just wanted to have friends, and here she was, ruining that for her.

And then she could swear she saw Piper's face turn white.

"Me? Avoiding you? No, of course not. Why would I do that?"

And there it was, Piper's lying voice. Alex was so familiar with that voice. She knew that back then, Piper thought she wasn't aware when she was lying to her. But she was. Always. But she decided to pretend she believed all her lies. It was just much less complicated that way.

But she hated how much she still recognized that voice. And how much hearing the sudden shift in Piper's tone still affected her. Like she was lying to her again.

She fought the urge to scoff.

"I'm sure Piper was just busy, babe," she decided to save Piper from revealing the truth. She could try to make up some story. But she really was a bad liar.

And if the lies had ruined their relationship before, they would save her and Paige's relationship now.

Piper then looked at Alex as if thanking her, but Alex just shrugged, not too obviously. Just enough for Piper to see and for Paige, and Larry (oh right, he existed) not to notice.

As Alex finally noticed the other person in the room, she decided to just shift the focus on him.

"So… Harry, is it?"

The guy looked offended and Alex took joy in this.

"Larry."

"I'm sorry what?" She briefly looked at Piper and she had her head bowed, like she was embarrassed for the guy. Huh, interesting.

"Larry. My name is Larry."

"That's what I said," she shrugged as she took a bite of her food.

"Harry, you said Harry."

"My bad, must have been just a slip of the tongue. So… Larry," the emphasis on the name was made to mock, but noticing how Paige was giving her the death stare, she did everything she could to sound a lot more pleasant. As genuine as she could. "What is it that you do?"

"Uhm… right now, n—"

"He's a writer."

Alex was surprised that it was Piper who answered. She clocked an eyebrow at her but Piper refused to look at her for more than a second, shifting her eyes towards Paige, whose eyes Alex could feel were still at her.

"He's been freelancing the past couple of months, gives him more control of his time, you know. Right, babe?"

It would have been funny if that little pet name Piper just called him didn't sting Alex a bit. She was obviously trying to make him look better than he probably was. And yet, instead of that making Alex feel smug, it made her feel so much worse.

Piper never did that for her. Well, she couldn't. Because to everyone in Piper's life, Alex was nonexistent. She had never been good enough to be introduced to anyone.

Alex must have gone down this hole for a bit because as she realized how bitter she still felt about the past, she suddenly then just noticed everyone looking at her like something was wrong with her.

"Babe, everything okay?" Paige had this worried look on her face but Alex could still feel cautiousness emanating from her, like she still wasn't giving Alex a pass for her behaviour towards Larry earlier.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, must have zoned out for a bit. It's the lack of sleep. You were saying?"

"Larry was just saying he might have an article published in the New York Times soon."

"Really?" Alex made the mistake of looking at Piper and she had this unreadable look etched on her face and it frustrated Alex to bits because she'd always been good at reading the blonde. But maybe not anymore. "Great. That's great."

The dinner went on and Alex tried her best to be present, to pay attention to what everyone was saying. But the fact that she's just admitted to herself how the past still affected her really caught her off guard. She'd then tried to avoid looking at Piper at all costs, not caring if anyone noticed. She was too surprised by the truth that she felt like she was now moving on auto-pilot.

Soon enough, the dinner was over but Alex's hope that Piper and Alex would finally go home got crushed when Paige offered to give them a tour of their little place, and probably all the pictures from every adventure they had gone to.

Excusing herself, Alex pretended she needed to go to the bathroom and when she was already left alone, she decided to go out of the house, staying at their front porch hoping Paige wouldn't go looking for her.

And Alex didn't know if the gods out there loved her because Paige indeed didn't go looking for her, or if they hated her because someone else did.

"Finally managed to get away from… all that?" Piper's voice was soft and Alex found herself taking a sharp intake of breath as she felt Piper closer.

"I wasn't trying to get away. I just didn't think I was still needed there. Showing pictures isn't exactly a two-person job."

"Right."

There was a pause. Piper was standing next to Alex and there were a few inches between them but Alex could still feel Piper. Her warmth that gave Alex goosebumps. She could still smell her. That scent that made Alex dizzy.

"Then you must be a hell of a lot better at this than I am, because the moment I set foot at your door, I just wanted to go back home and… hide."

To say Alex was surprised at this admission was a bit of an understatement. She never expected Piper to be more forthcoming about her feelings than she was. Piper had always been the one to keep her feelings to herself, to lie about them, if that made things easier. She had never been the one to offer more complications to an already complicated thing.

"You told me I was good at it, at hiding things. At hiding you. And maybe I am. Maybe I've done it so much that I've become an expert." Piper paused, looking at her briefly before looking straight ahead. "But tonight, Alex," hearing the blonde say her name again made her look. And Alex wasn't prepared at seeing Piper fight the urge to cry. Suddenly, she found it hard to breathe. "…Alex I realized, I'm not good at seeing you hide me."

Alex felt the world stop. In an instant, she's forgotten something else, somebody else existed. In a manner of seconds, all that there was, was Piper. And Piper's truth.

"And It's unfair, I know," Piper continued, and Alex couldn't take her eyes off her. "You're doing it for your… you're doing it for Paige. And it's a small favor, considering what I've done to you. But It's just… really hard. I'm sorry."

"No…" It was then that Alex found her voice again. Piper looked so much in pain that Alex just couldn't take another second of it. "You shouldn't apologize. If anyone should understand, it should be me. I know, too."

But truthfully? Alex didn't. She was hurt that Piper kept her a secret despite claiming she loved her. So how could her hiding Piper hurt the same way when the blonde wasn't in-love with her anymore?

"Yeah, but still… I'm making things complicated. And I'm really sorry."

"I'm in this, too, so maybe you should stop hogging all the blame. And I'm sorry, too," Piper finally looked at Alex with a questioning look on her face. "For the way I acted towards your… new Larry. That was really uncalled for."

Piper then chuckled which again, surprise Alex. It was like seeing a whole new version of the blonde. Someone she was familiar with but really didn't know.

"To be honest, I kind of expected it."

"You expected me to be an asshole?"

"I expected you'd rip him apart. You can smell shit like a dog."

"I don't know whether I should be more concerned that you compared me to a dog or that you just called your own boyfriend shit."

Piper then looked up and sighed deeply, looking exasperated. "He's not really a writer. He's not about to be published in New York Times or in any other fucking paper for that matter. He's not… doing… anything."

She kept shaking her head and Alex could feel her frustration from this distance.

"But I lied about it not because I'm embarrassed for him but because I was embarrassed for me. Is that mean? Am I being mean? He's my boyfriend, I shouldn't be talking like this about him. Not to other people."

"Well, I'm not just other people."

"Yeah, you're my ex-girlfriend. That makes it even worse."

"You're allowed to be… upset about things, Pipes," the slip of the nickname surprised Alex. And apparently, Piper, too, because her head whipped towards her so fast Alex would have laughed if the situation they were in wasn't this.

"It's not working anymore. I've been trying but I don't think there's any way to save it. I don't think I still even l—"

"Hey, there you are!" Larry's voice startled both women that they sprung apart as if they were caught doing something wrong. Thankfully, Larry seemed oblivious to this.

"Paige and I were waiting for you, you said you'd just be a minute."

"Uh, I just… thought I'd get to know Alex more. You know, for Paige's sake. Where is she by the way?"

"Right here. Larry said you both have an early day tomorrow? So I decided to stop taking him hostage."

"Yeah, I wish we could stay longer," she looked at Alex who raised an eyebrow at this and Alex could see Piper fight a grin. "But Larry's right, we should really get going. Thanks for the lovely dinner, Paige… and Alex."

"The pleasures ours. Promise me this won't be the last?"

"Y-yeah. Of course. Good night."

Paige then proceeded to hug both Piper and Larry. Larry, on the other hand, just shook Alex's hand. And when the blonde finally faced her, Alex felt her heart race, having no idea what Piper was about to do.

"Good night, Alex. Thank you."

And soon enough, Piper was hugging her for the first time in as many years as she could remember.