care about you [completed]

Anger

Piper was not doing good. She was emotionally a complete mess: she was upset, with herself, because she's had the opportunity to tell Amy about her feelings for him but didn't, she was heartbroken, because she couldn't be with him, because she could never hurt her best friend, but on the forefront of her mind, she'd been feeling angry. Angry at him. How could he kiss her? He knew it would mess things up! He knew that it hurt more to have betrayed the one person she cared about most at the studio than to get over her feelings for him. Why did he kiss her? 'Because he loves you!' A tiny voice screams in her head, but she showed it very politely to the door.
"Pipes," She goes into full alarm mode. Why is he talking to her? She bites her nails avidly and stresses about whether he can hear her heart beating. Thump. Thump. Thump.
"Piper," She forces herself to look at him. 'He looks cute.' She thinks instantly but slams the thought down. "Finn." She gets out. Her voice is all high pitched and sounds like she's been crying. Great.
"We haven't talked."  Confusion floods her expression. Isn't not talking the point?  He must notice because he replies,
"I know that we're avoiding each other, but that's not a good long term plan, Pipes. How are we gonna dance together?" She'd been having this thought too. Dancing with Finn felt horrible; like a sin.
"The team!" That was not supposed to be shouted. "We have to be fine for the team."
"I agree. So what-"
"Friends. You and I will be friends. I never told you that I liked you. I'm fact, gross. You are my best friend! I don't think about you like that."
"Friends. Yeah, friends sound good. If we're friends on the outside, we'll dance like friends too."
"Yeah."
"Yep."
She looks into his eyes, and they're beautiful and for some reason this brings out all the hostility that she's kept bottled up.
"Why did you kiss me?" She's not screaming, but almost whispering, and that's even scarier, even stronger. "You messed us up, Finn. How could you mess us up? I'm not a cheater. Alfie, Alfie is a boy who kissed my brother's girlfriend, is a cheater. I'm not him. I promised myself I would never be him, and now, because of you, I am. I'm a bad person, Finn." She doesn't even notice her voice break or the tears. "I did this to her. You kissed me but I kissed you back. I lied to her about my feelings. I didn't tell her. She's always had my back. She is always there for me, and I kissed her boyfriend and didn't tell her. And I have to. I have to tell her and when I do, she will hate me. She won't be able to stand near me. She won't see my guilt through her pain. And the worst part is that I still care about you!"
He doesn't say anything. He just looks at her. He looks broken. His eyes have lost their shine and have become hollow. His lip quivers and his eyebrows furrow in sadness.
Finally he speaks, "I'm sorry."
She feels so elated to hear him say that. He's sorry. He's sorry that he messed them up and he knows what he did. This elation lasts for less than a millisecond. In it's place is guilt. He made a mistake. He didn't mean to mess them up. Neither did she. Neither did Riley. But they did. "I'm sorry too."
"Piper." She looks at him sorrowful.
"I care about you."