A Place To Call My Home

Chapter 19

I fake it so real I am beyond fake

Someday you will ache like I ache

Alex let Fahri take her back to his apartment, he wanted to make sure she was okay, but she refused to go to the hospital. She could only walk by leaning heavily on him, she was in a lot more pain now that she was after her first encounter with Jack. She kept reminding herself that she'd experienced so much worse in the past, that she could push through it.

"I'll take you to Piper's house once we're done here."

Alex stayed on his couch while he went to his bedroom, coming back with a long bandage and a small bag of pills.

"Take these for the pain, don't go overboard."

Alex stuffed the pills into her pocket, and Fahri indicated for her to lie down on the couch. She was still angry at him but tried to keep control of her emotions. She lay back on the couch and he lifted her top to get a look at the damage.

"Just let me feel around, see if there's any obvious breaks."

Alex grit her teeth and felt his cold hands pressing up her torso.

"Sorry Alex, I know it hurts." He couldn't find any obvious signs of a serious break, and stopped to let Alex rest.

"Are you okay?"

She just nodded, trying to ignore the pain. Fahri got her a glass of water and she took two of the pills he'd given her.

"Come on, stand up and I'll put on the bandage, it'll help."

Alex did as he asked, but her pain was the least of her concerns. Every part of her body felt tense as she thought about Piper. Every one of those thoughts hurt, they made every movement and every breath hurt even more. Alex felt helpless, she had no idea how to help Piper through this. But the worst part, the part that made her feel like a horrible person, was that she was almost relieved. She knew how much Piper wanted a child of her own, but neither of them were ready to be parents, not now. Alex was still tangled up in the cartel, and Piper was still fighting her demons. She would never let herself admit it to anyone, but she couldn't stop her mind from wandering to those thoughts.

Alex finally stood up and let Fahri wrap the bandage around her, and every moment of it hurt. As soon as he was done, Alex pulled her top back down and pulled Fahri towards the door, she needed to see Piper.

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Fahri drove Alex to Piper's house, they sat in silence for most of it. Alex wasn't ready to talk to him properly. She didn't say anything when she got out of the car, she didn't care if he was upset. She knocked on the front door, hoping Piper would answer. She waited a few moments and eventually she saw Nicky on the other side of the door.

"What, you're finally fucking here? You left her at the worst possible time, and now you wanna just walk back in. She's too fucking good for you Vause, and so is Diane."

Those words made Alex feel worthless. She couldn't even get angry about any of it, it was all true. Nicky stood her ground and blocked the door, she did not want Alex stepping foot in that house. She was about to slam the door shut when Alex saw Piper walking down the stairs behind Nicky. The blonde's face crumbled and she ran to the front door, pushing past Nicky and throwing her arms around Alex's neck and burying her face in her long dark hair.

Alex held onto Piper tightly, she couldn't bring herself to say anything, not yet. She could feel the desperation in every touch from her girlfriend, "Please...I need you to stay this time."

"I'm so sorry I wasn't here Pipes."

Piper couldn't bring herself to let go of Alex, the familiar smell of her hair and the feel of her touch was the closest she had gotten to any sort of comfort since it happened.