She Loves Him. He Doesn't.

Chapter 4

The next few weeks were torture for Kieran. He had only seen Piper twice since he snuck into her house: once after bumping into her in the hall, and another time when he managed to stare at her from a distance at lunch. Well, he technically did that every day.

He was looking at her now. Her hair, particularly. He loved watching the raven strands blow in the wind, perfectly cascading down her back.

Piper looked over, and their eyes met. She looked away quickly, and Kieran stood up.

He found himself running towards her, but she looked up and shook her head.

He stopped in his tracks. There was something in her eyes that made him not want to go near her. Desperation, he thought. She looked as though she was being deprived us something and that she had no way of getting it.

She looked like how Kieran felt.

She was walking away now, her posture defeated-looking. He followed her of course, wanting desperately to know why she felt the way she did.

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Piper knew he would chase after her, but kept walking, increasing her pace with every foot step.

She felt his cool hand on her wrist jerking her around, and his lips were suddenly pressed to hers. Piper slowly backed away, looking flustered.

"Hi," Kieran said breathlessly.

Piper swallowed, preparing herself for what she was about to say. "I can't see you anymore."

He looked at her in horror. "Who said that? You?"

She shook her head violently. "My dad."

He pressed his lips together in frustration. "Why does he have to know? We could always sneak around."

"I don't think that's the best idea," she responded, though the suggestion was beyond tempting, "My dad will be watching me like a hawk. He won't even let me walk home anymore; he's going to be picking me up everyday."

Kieran dropped his head in his hands. "I just don't understand."

She felt a small pang in her heart. "Understand this: Goodbye, Kieran James Anderson."

She turned and walked away, but she could feel his sad eyes drilling into her back. What she didn't know was that she had just shattered every single piece of him.

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Kieran had tried to kill himself more times than he could count. But, every time something had stopped him. Well, someone: his father.

He was driving now, thinking about how easy it would be to just fly off the bridge he was on; he had always wanted to die in the water.

But somehow he couldn't turn the wheel. Nothing was wrong with car. He just felt as though something was tethering him to life: Piper.

Oh, but she had just told him a couple days ago not to see her ever again. He didn't have anything else to live for, he thought. His grades sucked, and he had no plans for college, nor did he have the money to pay for it. He couldn't even see himself graduating high school in June, because he knew he would just drop out anyways. So why did none of that matter whenever he thought about her?

But she was gone, so where was his hope?

He pulled his truck into the driveway, looking around for his father's red truck. It wasn't there. He knew just what he had to do.

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Piper usually didn't get mail, so she was utterly surprised when she received a letter with her name and address scrawled across the envelope.