The Day The Storm Moved On (AU)

Piper VIII

"I can't believe Jason saw us. What if he tells everyone?"

"Tell everyone what? He saw a couple take off before school ended? Do you know how many people do this? It'll be fine, I promise. Unless you want me to take you back, I can do that as well."

I shake my head; I need to do this. My heart did sink when he mentioned being a couple though, and I now have doubts of doing this. Yet, McLean's are never ones to back down from what we set our mind to. Even if everything and everyone tells you it's a bad idea, even yourself.

I take a deep breath and slowly exhale. I make my hand reach over to his leg and rub it slowly. He looks at me and I smile at him, faking my confidence. He smiles back at me and relaxes into it, maybe a bit too much. Well now it's too late to back down.

Eventually we reach my house and make our way upstairs. The maids don't stop us as we make our way through, but they do give me weird looks as I lead Chase through the house. They're used to Jason, hell they probably prefer him since he used to help them out with cooking and cleaning.

I push the memories of Jason making food while singing out of my mind and try my hardest to focus on Chase. He's the one I'm dating, he's the one I'm dating, he's the one I'm dating. I repeat the mantra over and over again, but my heart is more powerful than I would want, and Jason currently holds it, whether he knows it or not.

We make it to my bedroom undisturbed. I throw him in and close the door, locking it for extra security. I press my back against the door and slide down. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Why do you still have pictures of Jason on your laptop?"

My eyes shoot open and I jump to my feet making my way quickly to the open laptop on my desk. I could've sworn I closed that this morning. "I liked the pictures, I had a thing for photography for a while," lie, "and it just so happened that some of my best ones were of him."

I stand there looking him in the eye hoping that he doesn't pick up on the lie that I just spouted from my mouth. He seems to believe it as he shrugs and plops down on my unmade bed. I silently thank whoever is out there for making Chase as simple as he is. Now that that is over, it's time for the hard part. I take a deep breath and crawl into bed next to him.

"So," I say as seductively as possible, "What do you want to do?" I trace my fingers up and down the front of his shirt causing him to raise his eyebrows.

He rolls on his side to face me and smiles. "I think I can come up with a few ideas, that's if you don't chicken out."

I can feel my face flush and heart hammer. "I don't chicken out; I can promise you that."

The smile on his face grows wider and he rolls over to where he's on top of me. Chase holds himself above me. I can feel every part of my brain and heart telling me this is wrong, that he should be Jason. I try to tune them out as he leans in for a kiss. I feel his hand glide up my shirt in a hungry, almost greedy like way. His hands are soft, a complete contrast to Jason's roughly hewn ones.

Chase is quick and nearly childlike getting undressed. He nearly rips my clothes trying to get me out of mine, and not in a sexy way. He was barbaric and ape like in his movements. I could tell the only thing on his mind was my body and his desires. The entire time the only thing on my mind was Jason.

About five minutes later we're laying in my bed and he's sweating more than I thought humanly possible. Once his breathing evens out I take a quick shower, cleansing him from my body, and get dressed. I head downstairs to the kitchen where I see my favorite maid, Melissa.

I sit down at the island and thump my head against the countertop. The surface goes from hard to soft as I realize Melissa slid a rag underneath my head. I stop and put my hands on my face from which I groan loudly into.

"Rough day?"

"In basic terms? Yeah, very rough," I reply. I keep my hands on my face until I hear a plate set down in front of me. The smell of fresh apple pie meets my nose and my hands immediately go to the silverware to start devouring this delicacy.

"How'd you know I needed this," I ask with my mouth full of pie.

"Honey as soon as I saw that car pull in, I knew you were down bad. Now, tell me. Was whatever you did up there worth the pain that you feel in your heart?"

That's Melissa for you, never misses a detail. I swallow my pie and whisper, "No, not at all. If anything, it made it worse."

She takes the plate from me and rinses it off before putting it in the dishwasher. She clicks her tongue as she thinks of a response. I chew my lower lip and add, "I can't stop thinking of him. No matter where I go, he's there, in person, in my thoughts, hell sometimes he's on screen for interviews. I can't escape him. It's almost like he's meant to be a part of me."

Melissa purses her lips and faces me. She leans on the opposite countertop and looks me over. "You know what I think?"

"You do have some of the best advice."

"Go back to him. Leave this dude with the lacrosse hair style and go for your knight in the ring."

"But I cheated on him, who would want a cheater back? I can't even forgive what I did. He trusted me and I betrayed him. I shot him through his bullet proof heart, and I gave love a bad name. Now I'm too late."

"Then forget about him. Right now, forget every little detail about him."

"I- wait- "

"C'mon, if you did it before then you can do it again."

I sit there, mouth open but no noise escapes it.

"Did you forget about him? About the emotions that he put behind every song on your playlist. How his smile always made that small scar on his upper lip disappear. How the sunlight danced off his hair while you and your friends were at the beach. The joy in his laugh and the love in his sky-blue eyes. The glasses he wore whenever he was composing a song or reading a book. All of that. Is it wiped clean?"

No, in fact it's all so much sharper. I love him, but it took so much pain and agony to realize it. I stare in front of me but see nothing. My vision blurs and tears roll down my face as the realization hit me harder than I ever wanted it to.

I feel Melissa embrace me in a hug and I turn into it. I cry silent tears into her shoulder. I hear heavy footsteps come down the stairs and I know that Chase is awake. I make a move to stand but Melissa keeps me seated.

"I'll handle this." She pats me on the back. "You there," she shouts, "you'll have to leave. Also, you're no longer allowed to talk to Piper McLean by order of Mr. McLean. If it is found out that you attempt to contact her you, and your family, will be forced to move. Okay? Bye-bye, have a nice day." Once she's done talking, I hear the door slam shut. I don't dare move until I hear the engine of his car fade into the distance.

I make my way upstairs to wash my face when Melissa calls out to me from the bottom of the stairs.

"Go get him."