PANIC | Jiper

Chapter Three

TW: Umm...sitting on a couch? And playful wrestling, I guess. Oh, and mentions of cheesy rom-coms. Very dangerous. And some bad language too, but not excessive.

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They had finished eating. Piper had actually eaten her food, and she didn't seem embarrassed about it like she usually did. Good. They had put their dishes in the dishwasher and were now sitting as far away from each other on the sofa as possible.

Awkward silence.

"We don't really do this that much, right?" Piper asked nervously.

"What, hang out alone?" Jentzen chuckled. "No, we don't."

They smiled at each other. "Well, at least not anymore..." he said, looking away mournfully.

She whipped her head around to look at him. "What do you mean?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Forget it." He paused. "You wanna watch a movie?"

"Sure, but I'm choosing," Piper said.

Jentzen shook his head. "Oh no, no, no. You see, this is my house and my TV, and as such I am entitled to choose the movie."

She scooted towards him and reached for the remote. He held it above her head, and she reached up to get it.

"Oh, come on!" she said.

"You know you're never gonna get it," he said teasingly, grinning.

She grabbed his arm with one hand and tried to get the remote with the other, but he still held it out of her reach. They wrestled for the remote for a while, laughing.

Piper collapsed onto the coach, out of breath but smiling triumphantly, the remote in hand. Jentzen smiled.

"So what was it you said about me knowing I'm never gonna get it?"

He didn't respond. Piper turned on the TV, and while she was distracted he reached out and yanked the remote out of her hand.

"Hey!" Piper said, attacking him to get it back. He laughed and pushed her to the floor but eventually gave her back the remote.

She huffed in pretend annoyance, before trying to find a movie.

"Ooh, how about Rapinzel?" she asked excitedly.

He looked at her and blinked. "No."

She rolled her yes. "Fine, I guess we'll just watch another boring cheesy rom-com," she said.

"Hey, I like those movies," Jentzen said defensively.

"You do?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes!" he said. "You know, you used to like them to."

She ignored his comment, changing the subject. "Hey, this looks interesting!"

"Dawson's Creek?" he asked. "A teenage drama set in the 90's?

"Yeah!" she said excitedly.

He shook his head. "It doesn't sound too great."

"Well, it's my decision, so you don't really have a choice!"

They watched the first episode and were completely hooked. After the whole wrestling thing, they weren't sitting on opposite ends of the coach anymore. They were just sitting next to each other - with a respectable distance between them, of course. They watched the second episode too. And the third.

It was admittedly, a very good show. About this group of teens living in a small town. Granted, the first three episodes were heavily alluding towards a relationship between the characters Joey and Dawson, although Dawson was infatuated with the new girl from New York called Jen, and the chemistry between Pacey and Joey was apparent from the start.

"Did we really just spend three hours watching a show that was filmed in 1998?" Jentzen asked.

"Hey, it's a good show!" Piper exclaimed.

"You know what?" he said thoughtfully. "It is. You know, your choice wasn't half bad."

She blushed. "Thank you. It was better than anything you would have chosen, at least.

He scoffed, and pushed her onto her back. She smiled before pushing him back, and he pencil-rolled off the couch, landing with a thump before grabbing Piper's arm and dragging her down with him. She shrieked, laughing.

They heard the key turn in the lock and both quickly sat up. Liana entered and smiled at them.

"Hey," Jentzen said. "I thought you were staying at Jade's tonight?"

She smiled, depositing her handbag on the kitchen counter. "I am. I just needed to pick some things up."

She walked over to the couch and Piper stood up to hug her. "It's been a while. It's nice to see you again," Liana said.

"It's nice to see you again too," Piper smiled.

Liana checked the time. "You might want to get Jentzen to drive you home before it gets too dark," she pointed out.

Piper gave Jentzen a panicked look. She wasn't ready to go back and face Hunter yet, or to go anywhere other than here. Somehow this house had become like a safety bubble. He shook his head, reassuring her that she didn't have to.

Liana noticed the exchange, and was worried about how scared Piper seemed at the mention of leaving. "Or you could always sleep over here? Our dad is in Texas, so the guest room is free."

Piper looked over at Jentzen, wanting his opinion. He smiled - it was her choice.

Piper gave Liana a cautious smile. "Thanks. That's really sweet of you. I hope I'm not being too much of a burden or anything."

"Oh, not at all," Liana exclaimed. "I have some old clothes you can borrow for tomorrow. They're all clean, so go right ahead."

Piper nodded. "Thank you."

Liana waved it away and rushed upstairs. Piper looked over at Jentzen. "I hope you don't mind me intruding."

He shook his head. "You're not intruding at all. You're my friend, and you're going through a lot right now, and the least I can do is be here for you."

He looked away nervously. "Besides, it gets pretty lonely here. I mean, it's a miracle whenever my dad manages to reluctantly drag his ass out here, and I love Liana, I really do, but she's busy most of the time. So you know, it's kinda nice to have you here."

Piper smiled at him and he wrapped her in a hug.

"You know, you really are a great friend," she said, readying her head on his shoulder.

"Right back at ya," Jentzen answered, smiling and squeezing her tighter.

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Disclaimer: Do feel free to watch Dawson's Creek, it is an actual show and it's very good! It's on Netflix (at least in my country). I've always thought Joey and Pacey's relationship was slightly similar to Piper and Jentzen's, just due to the dynamics and how impossible it was for them to get together and fall in love.