A Place To Call My Home

Chapter 11

Re-inventing what we knew

Taken time is all but true

You're the reason I feel pain

Feels so good to feel again

As the next two days rolled by, Piper became more and more impatient. She spoke with the police twice, telling them everything that happened with Jack, who would be formally charged. The police still hadn't been able to speak with Alex, which just frustrated Piper more. All everyone kept telling her was that Alex was fine, which was obviously a lie if the police still hadn't spoken to her. But still, no one would let her see Alex, and now she would probably be sent home tomorrow. Piper was completely overwhelmed by a mixture of sadness and anger. Anger at Jack for becoming a monster, and anger at herself for being so stupid. She didn't really want to acknowledge her sadness yet, she wasn't ready to face what happened to her. For now, she wanted to focus her energy on Alex, the person that had been holding her life together for the last two months.

Diane had visited her, which Piper found difficult at first, she thought Diane would hate her. But instead she was kind, offering to help both her and Alex get their lives back together. Even though Diane was nothing but kind and understanding, she did still have a serious message for Piper.

"I know how close you and Alex are, but things can't go on like this Piper, it's not good for either of you."

Piper didn't know what to say at first, and Diane could see the confusion that was plastered all over her face. "I like you Piper, and I know how you feel about Alex. I know how rough things have been for you lately, trust me, I know. But I also know what happens when you let these sorts of problems swallow you whole, and it never ends well."

Piper's first instinct was to shut off, she wasn't sure she had the strength to deal with it all yet. It was so tempting to take what she viewed as the easier path, but Diane wasn't done talking.

"This is about both of you now, you and Alex. Trust me, I know Alex isn't perfect, but the two of you need to work together now more than ever. Don't just sweep away all the problems Piper, Alex saw me do that too many times when she was growing up. I'll do whatever I can to help both of you, I just don't want you to make the same mistakes that I did."

"Okay..." Part of Piper wanted to ask Diane what mistakes she made, but another part wasn't ready to know the answer. She also wasn't ready to acknowledge what happened to her yet, she needed more time. Diane's words both comforted her and scared her at the same time. But there was still one question Piper couldn't get out of her mind, "Why don't you hate me?"

"Why would I hate you Piper?"

Piper could barely bring herself to speak the words, but she had to get it out before all her self-loathing took over, "Because I didn't stop him. First I put Alex in danger, the only reason she was there was because of me, all she thought about was me. She pushed him off me, she tried to make sure I was okay. But then he got up....." Piper's voice started to crack, but she forced herself to keep speaking, she needed Diane to know, "he got up and....he hurt her. I tried to stop him, but I couldn't....and now she's here because of me. She's hurt because of me, you should hate me Diane. You should hate me..."

Piper felt Diane take hold of her hand, still holding her gaze, "It's not your fault Piper, it's his, you need to remember that." Piper could see the tears in her eyes, but they never fell. "You probably both made bad choices that night, but neither of you did this. You've both got a lot to learn sweetie, but that doesn't mean I hate you."

Piper still struggled with how nice Diane was being to her. In 25 years of life, Piper's own mother never gave her as much self-belief as Diane had in a matter of days.