The Broken Girl and The Golden Boy

Anger vs. Instinct

Chapter 16: Justin

"Piper..." I said, moving closer to her. She backed up and pulled her hair in front of the bruise again.

God, that bruise... I wanted to kill whoever had done this to Piper. If she'd just give me a name, I swear to god, they'd be dead within hours.

"Don't," she said, shaking her head at me.

"I just want to help you," I murmured, trying to make my voice as soothing as possible, despite the rage that was making the edges of my vision turn red, "Please, just let me in." She turned away from me, trying to avoid my gaze as she shook her head no. Aw, hell, no! I wasn't about to let her pull that avoidance bullshit on me again. I moved in even closer, close enough that I could reach out and touch her... you know, if I was... shit, nevermind.

I heard her breath hitch in her throat and swallowed hard. Was she reacting to me being close to her? No, hell no! That was a stupid, arrogant thing to think. Once I got my shit together and refocused on the conversation, I added, quiet yet firm, "Look at me."

I watched as she hesitantly moved to do just that. She shuffled in a little circle, keeping her gaze on the floor. After a minute, she looked up with this shy, scared look in those beautiful chocolate eyes and met mine. Gentle as possible, I reached out a hand and brushed her tangled, blonde hair away from her face and searched her features for something - anything that would give away the answers I was looking for. But as usual, Piper's face was unreadable, keeping all of her secrets hidden - buried somewhere deep inside of her.

I gulped when I saw the full scale of her injury. The bruise stretched from her cheekbone all the way down to her jawline. Almost unconciously, I started to lightly trace a finger over the bright blue-purple blotch that was dominating half of her beautiful face. "Piper..." I muttered. I needed to know and I could tell from Piper's eyes that she knew exactly what I was about to ask.

"No, Justin," she cut me off before I could get the rest of my words out, "I can't just let you in. My shitty life is my problem, not yours." She brushed my hand away from her bruise and stared down at her trembling hands. It looked like she was struggling with something, like she thought that keeping me out was the only way to protect both of us.

"Piper, I want it to be my problem," I protested. She stared up at me, her expression flickering through many different emotions, too fast for me to register them all, before finally settling on fury.

"Get it through your thick skull!" she shouted, getting in my face again, "I don't want you interfering with my life. I don't even want you to be a PART of my life!"

She was yelling and wild and I really needed to calm her down if I was going to find out anything. So I kissed her. What the hell? Piper tensed up and didn't respond, but just as I was about to pull away (because let's be real here, kissing someone who won't kiss back is awkward as fuck) she threaded her fingers through my hair and her lips began to move against mine. And I'm not going to lie, it was pretty nice, kissing Piper.

Who the hell am I kidding? That was probably the best fucking kiss of my life. I heard a door slam down the hall, but I was ready to ignore it. Apparently Piper wasn't, though. She practically jumped out of my arms and started to shove me toward the window. Well, she tried to, but I wouldn't budge - I wasn't going anywhere without some kind of explanation.

"What's wrong?" I asked her as she continued to push on my chest like it would actually make a difference.

"You can't be here!" she whisper-shouted. Her eyes were panicked and her movements were getting more jerky and desperate by the minute.

"Piper, seriously, what the hell's going on?" I demanded.

"He can't see you!" she insisted frantically. My mind processed her words quickly. If her father was dead and she didn't even have a brother, then...