Piper ~ H.S

~Forty-Nine~

A/N: A new chapter, finally! Sorry for the wait - I wanted to complete my other fanfic before updating this again. But it's all done now so 'Piper' is back!! :D

"I can't believe Ashley actually spilled out everything to Aidan about how much she's liked him all these years," I told Harry as he made a turn into Heath's street.

"Well, I mean...she was drunk," Harry chuckled, "that wine did her a favour, though. I doubt she would've even confessed to Aidan at all without it."

"True. And besides, it worked out in her favour - because it turned out that Aidan liked her back," I rolled my eyes, "I can't believe he never told me that he liked her. We're twins - we're supposed to tell each other everything. If he'd just told me, I would've set them up ages ago."

"Well, maybe he thought you'd be pissed at him for crushing on your best friend," Harry suggested.

"I-" I began to protest, but I cut myself off as I began to think, "actually, come to think of it...maybe a few years ago, I would've been pissed. All that 'you're trying to steal my best friend' stuff," I admitted with a chuckle, "I'm over it now, though. I think they're super cute together."

"Yeah...me too," Harry nodded in agreement before breaking out a smile, "kinda like us."

I smiled as well. "Yeah. I guess so," I replied cheekily.

We pulled up in front of Heath's house - and I leaned back in my chair and let out a soft sigh.

While I had perked up a little bit since the party, it didn't exactly mean that I was over everything that had just happened. I was still deeply hurt by the things my dad had said to me - and while I tried my hardest not to think about it, it all just kept lingering in the back of my mind.

"Are you OK, Leah?" Harry asked me - stopping the car engine and looking over at me.

"Ugh..." I let out a long sigh, "no matter how hard I try, I still can't stop thinking about that stupid party..." I lowered my eyes.

"Oh, Leah..." Harry sighed as well and reached over to clasp my hand in his, "I know, love. Everything your father did and said was just...so wrong," he began to stroke the back of my hand with his thumb, "and all of that shit with your mother didn't help either. I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. It's not your fault," I told him in a low voice, "I'll get over it eventually, I'm sure..."

"You're so strong, Leah. I love that so much about you," he brought my hand to his lips and kissed it tenderly, "but you shouldn't even have to get over it, because your parents shouldn't have treated you like that in the first place."

I smiled at him. "Thanks, Harry, but honestly - there's not really anything I can do about it. And right now, I just wanna go back home with you and Piper."

Harry smiled back at me softly. "Me, too."

We unclipped our seatbelts and climbed out of the car - with Harry locking the doors behind us as we walked up Heath's driveway - with me knocking on the front door once we were close enough. And it took a little while, but Heath finally answered the door - looking astonished to see us.

"Leah," he frowned a little, "you're...early."

"Yeah. Party was over a little earlier than we expected," I replied, "can you please tell Piper that we're here?"

Heath's face hardened a little. "You're not supposed to have her back until tonight."

"Oh, for God's sake, Heath, please don't do this to me," I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples stressfully, "I don't need it, OK? It's not like I planned to pick her up this early."