Treatment// l.h

Chapter 7: Piper

Piper jumped and scooted away from Luke as fast as she could so they were now just sitting next to one another.

Piper's mum turned on the light and looked around the room, finding what she was looking for, "Piper Jane Adams!"

Piper looked over at Luke who was shaking with fear and she instantly remembered that day in Jenkin's when he had been terrified of her yelling at him. She was curious what that was all about.

"What the hell are you doing sitting in here with him?" She screamed and Piper looked back at her mum.

"This is Luke, and he's my friend. We met at treatment when you left me there." She shot back, not phased by her mother yelling. It wasn't anything new.

Mrs. Adams looked between Luke and Piper for a moment before sighing, "We'll talk about this later."

"No we won't." Piper growled and stood up, grabbing Luke's hand and taking him up with her. She dragged him past her mother and into the main room where the children were sitting.

"Where do you think you're going?" Mrs. Adams cried.

"Don't act like you're disappointed that I'm leaving just because your little Girl Scout troupe is here." Piper snapped and grabbed the car keys from her bag, "Don't expect me back tonight, mother!"

With that, Piper slammed the door behind her, completely forgetting about Luke. She swore to herself and whipped the door back open, snatching Luke's arm and pulling him out the door before shutting it again.

"I'm supposed to bring Elena home but I'll just text my mum." Luke laughed and struggled to keep up with Pipers pace.

Piper nodded and jumped in the passenger seat of Luke's car, waiting for him to get in. She was furious. Her mother was nothing but fake. Those past few days had been hell for Piper. Being home was almost worse than being in treatment.

Luke seemed to notice Piper's heavy breathing and placed a hand on her thigh, which didn't help at all. In fact, it made her breathing quicken even more.

"You okay?" His thumb rubbed circles over her pale leg and she took a deep breath before nodding deeply.

"Can we go see Addie?" She asked.

"Of course." He answered immediately.

Luke started the car after he texted Liz, but didn't move his hand from Piper's thigh. Her heart was beating faster than it ever had and she felt like she could pass out. It was a mix of anger and the affect Luke's touch had on her.

"Can we maybe turn the air conditioning on?" She breathed and Luke didn't hesitate to press the buttons.

His thumb kept drawing delicate circles and Piper wasn't sure if she liked it or not. She didn't know why she was feeling like this. It was the same feeling she had that first day, when he rubbed circles on her back. It was soothing, but nerve wracking. She had never had someone touch her so gently, so carefully.

They pulled up into the lot of Jenkins and Piper was finally able to think clearly because Luke had removed his hand. She just then realized that she was still in the hideous uniform. It seemed that Luke didn't notice until then either because when he helped her out of the car, he started laughing.

"You're a real asshole." She pushed his broad shoulders and tried to act angry but Piper couldn't help laughing as well. She hadn't really laughed in so long, and it felt refreshing.

"You have a pretty laugh." Luke cooed and Piper blushed, pushing him away once again when he tried to pull her towards him.

Piper looked down to the ground, remembering the problem and quickly fixed it. She took the vest and hat off, letting her hair fall down. That left her in a white button up, a tan skirt, and knee high socks. It was ugly, but still better than the full uniform.

Luke stared and Piper furrowed her eyebrows, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I just-- um, you just look really cute ." Luke looked to the ground and kicked a few pebbles, there was no point in lying to her.

Piper almost puked.

She was so bad with boys and to have one of them call her cute was outrageous. She swallowed loudly before thanking him quietly and walking into the office.

Luke followed behind her and they walked quietly through the doors. Piper checked them in at the front desk and walked down the corridor with Luke right next to her.

"Sorry if I made things awkward." Luke murmured and Piper stopped walking. She grabbed his arm to keep him from walking any further as well.

They stood facing each other in the middle of the familiar hallway. Piper didn't know what to say but she felt bad about the way she had acted when he called her cute. It wouldn't have been bad if she hadn't made it bad.

"No I'm sorry for making things awkward. I've just never really had a boy compliment me and I don't really know how to feel about it." She confessed and felt embarrassed. Luke was probably very experience and here she was, freaking out over someone calling her cute.

He smiled , "And that's perfectly fine."

Luke grabbed her hand and they walked down the rest of the corridor. Piper had that feeling again, but this time she didn't feel like she was going to throw up or pass out. Instead, she felt warm and happy.