The Reign Of Vause

Fine line.

(Alex's POV)

Larry had upset Piper. That was never something that sat well with me. Especially when it came to him, messing with her head. If he wanted war, he'd get war because he definitely wasn't getting her.
"Huh. Remind me again which one of us actually got her down the aisle? And I am warning you now Larry. That, was too fucking far. Look what you just did to her!" I snapped, glaring at him with almost the same amount of venom in my eyes that I had with Danielle, taking a step into his personal space and towering over him.
"How close to death was she?" He asked again.
I don't know if he was confident or just plain stupid for insisting with this question. I could feel tears pricking at the corners of my eyes at the memory of Piper's close encounter with death, but in front of him, they wouldn't appear unless he went too far and I could honestly say he was getting there.
"Right now, I can honestly say that you're closer." I growled, quickly glancing at the pistol I had left on the kitchen island.
Images were now starting to flash through my mind of a dying, bleeding, barely conscious Piper. These memories now haunted me and always would.
As my mind was involuntarily focusing on my flashback that I really did not want to remember, present day Larry was fading into the background,
"Is that a threat? You know, the only reason I haven't turned you in for being a murderess and send you back to prison is for Piper's sake because apparently she loves you." Larry growls back but the images and flashback was starting to take over my mind. I sank to the floor, shaking.

Flashback

They had taken Piper away from me and into the operating theatre. My world began to spin. All I could see were doctors in scrubs and white lab coats walking all over the place, some who walked past asking if I was ok. I must've looked how I felt. I was covered head to toe in Piper's blood I guess. Machines were beeping everywhere. There was chatter from relatives of other patients. I had to lean against the wall otherwise I would faint. I put my head back against the wall and stared at the ceiling. The fluorescent lights brought my mind back to prison. Back to a time where Piper was breathing with all of her blood still in her body.
I took a deep breath, wiped away my tears crawling down my face and sighed. As I wiped my tears away, the metallic smelling, dried in red liquid that was my wife's blood on my hands caught my attention. I needed to wash my hands, my whole arms actually. I looked down at my now bloodstained wedding rings that were only 2 weeks old. Piper's blood had made the large diamond on my engagement ring and the smaller ones that surrounded my wedding band look like rubies.
I found the nearest bathroom and took off my rings to wash my hands and arms. I picked up my platinum wedding ring,
"P+A Forever and Always"
I couldn't contain it anymore. I broke down. Sobbing uncontrollably into the sink, I could see myself in the mirror facing me. I looked awful. Not half as bad as Piper looked at the minute but awful none the less. I continued to wash away Piper's blood as I cried. Once I was clean, I turned my attention to my wedding rings to get them clean also. I was gentle with them because they were so important to me and because I didn't want to lose them down the plug hole.
When I had washed them, I put my engagement ring back on but stared at the inscription I had had a jeweller do for Piper and I on my wedding ring. I was now on the floor leaning against the sinks.
"P+A Forever and Always"
I couldn't help but think 'What if Piper never makes it through this? What would I do without her?'
I started to cry again, staring at my wedding ring just as Polly walked in.
"Oh my God! Alex?! Are you okay?!" She asked, sounding genuinely concerned. Her best friend had been shot after all I guess.
"Yes Polly. I'm fantastic. My wife is in surgery and I might never see her again. I'm just nifty." I snapped at her sarcastically through my sobs. Sarcasm was my defence mechanism when I knew my shields were down.
"Ugh. Piper may hate it when I say this but I was right. You are a supercunt." She sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Excuse me?!" I snapped again.
She looked down at me glaring up at her because of what she had just called me and saw I was clutching my wedding ring. When she really looked at me, she saw my tear stained face. Name calling wasn't a new thing for me but now was really not the time for it.
"Aw fuck. Alex I'm sorry. I'm just worried about Pipe." She sighed and slid down beside me.
"I must look so pathetic. I'm supposed to protect her!" I sighed then sobbed, looking down at my wedding ring again.
"You're allowed to be. Your wife, my best friend, is currently fighting for her life right now. And you did protect her, you slowed down her bleeding and rushed her here. You saved her. Plus I've seen it all before." She said sympathetically.
I looked up at her, confused.
"You've never seen me upset before. Only Piper has."
"No. I meant Piper." She said, looking to face me and continued.
"I know Pipe was the one who left you all those years ago and I also know she did it just as your mom died and honestly, after hearing that come out of her mouth I started to walk away from her as a friend. I mean, who does that?" She starts.
I cut her off, "Someone who was hurt."
"Yeah, Alex I'm not going to lie, you really did hurt her. She thought you didn't love her anymore. She said you were always on your laptop at the desk in the corner of your hotel suite of wherever you were in the world and rarely had time for her. She came back to us in a state. Getting drunk and insisting we went to clubs every night, hitting on anything that moved."
I cut her off again.
"She did what?" Oh look at that, my jealousy shining through again.
Polly continued,
"Point is, we fought about how she treated you when your mom died. Yes Alex, for once I was on your side against Piper but that's when she broke down in my arms screaming 'What have I done?!' 'How could I have been so cruel to her Polly?!' 'I love her but she'll never forgive me'. Not going with you to your mom's funeral cut her up inside, she said it was one of the worst mistakes she'd ever made, she said she loved your mom, she said she still loved you and she felt awful about it."
Hearing this made my heart break even more. Piper may have left me but what she had written in her note to me was true. She did still love me, well, obviously we were now married.
As I was thinking, Polly continued.
"7 years ago I've gotta say I hated you both. I was comforting Piper everyday until Larry came along and hating you for doing that to her. Yet, I also hated her for walking out on you like that." She sighs and continues,
"Ugh what I'm trying to say here is, Piper regretted leaving you from the second she set foot back in America, probably as soon as she got on the plane actually. Meaning, right now she is going through surgery and WILL come out of it FOR YOU. She's never going to leave you again. Trust me." She finishes and starts to sniffle.
I looked over to her and made my own confession.
"You know, Polly, I'm sorry about when we first met, when Piper introduced us."
"You mean finally getting my name right?" She tried to giggle, wiping her eyes and nose with a tissue from a mini Kleenex pouch she had in her purse.
I tried to form a smile,
"Yeah, that's what I mean. Look, if you're going to be honest, I might as well be too. I knew your name from the minute Piper asked if she could bring a plus one to my party. I always listen to everything she says. The reason...." I sighed and continued.
"The reason I mixed up your name intentionally was because I was jealous of you. I felt threatened. When it comes to Piper I get jealous really easily."
"Yeah no kidding." She laughed, cutting me off.
I gave her a small chuckle back.
"Wait, YOU were threatened by ME?" She asks incredulously.
I just nodded at her but continued.
"You and Piper have known each other for years. Back then you knew her way better than I did and I wanted a shot with her. Hmm, no, bad choice of words." I winced and continued,
"I wanted a chance with her and I didn't know that you were straight back then, usually everyone I invited to parties were either gay, drug dealers, acquaintances and Piper. Honestly? I thought you were there because you were interested in Piper in, well, I guess in the same way I'm interested in Piper." I sighed.
"Well. That explains a lot." She says, stunned. Remembering that night made another memory pop into my head and a little chuckle come out.
"What's so funny?" Polly asked, intrigued.
"That was the same night that I discovered Piper likes it when I get jealous. When everyone left that night, we had some of the best sex we ever had." I chuckled.
Polly raised her eyebrows and held up a hand,
"I don't want to know the details."
I chuckled,
"Oh you were never going to."
"You know Alex? Piper is really lucky to have you. You're not so bad." She smiled and offers me a tissue. I slid my wedding ring back on and took it.
"Thank you."
"Now come on. If there's any news on Piper, they'll never find us in here to tell us." She says getting up as I followed her out of the bathroom and back into the waiting room. While her back was turned, I kissed my wedding rings and whispered "I'll always love you Pipes. No other girl has or will ever compare."

I was brought back to reality at Piper's voice. At the lack of yelling between myself and Larry, she must have re-emerged.
"Alex?" I heard her mumble but images were still flashing through my head.
Next thing I knew, Piper was on the floor, by my side,
"Oh my god! Alex?! Baby?! Are you ok?!"
I couldn't answer her. All I wanted was reassurance that she wasn't an apparition that my mind was forming. I pulled her quickly close to me and kissed her deeply over and over again.