oh my god, they were quarantined

One

Just a heads up: This chapter does include a brief reference to events from the season 7 finale. Nothing major, but I figured I should give a warning for anyone who hasn't seen it yet and doesn't want spoilers!

All of the characters are around 18/19 in this and are in their first year of university.

-----

Did you get all of your stuff out of your dorm?
Are you going to have to go back again?
Are you at Finn's yet?

Piper glanced over the text messages from her mother and sighed, glancing around Finn's bedroom. Haphazardly-packed boxes of belongings from her college dormitory currently cluttered his bedroom floor, making the room feel incredibly small (and it wasn't very big to begin with).

Behind her, she heard Finn let out a deep breath as he carried another box into his room. "I think that's the last one," he said, setting it on top of a pile of his own clutter on his desk.

Piper slid her phone into the pocket of her shorts and turned to him, giving him a tight smile in response. In the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic, the university that she attended with Amy, Finn, Henry, and Kingston was moving all of its classes online for the remainder of the semester. Piper and Amy had spent the morning moving their belongings from their shared dorm room to the boys' house, where they were planning to stay until the lockdown on the city lifted - whenever that would be.

Finn rubbed his hands together, glancing around at all of Piper's stuff. His hands went to his hips as he looked back to his girlfriend, frowning slightly. "You okay?" he asked, noting the hesitant look on her face.

She nodded as he stepped closer to her, placing his hands on either of her arms and rubbing them soothingly. "Yeah, it's just..." Piper glanced around the room as she sought the words she was looking for then finished with a shrug, "It feels kind of weird moving here instead of going back home."

He nodded understandingly, and she knew that he was experiencing similar feelings about not being able to go home to see his parents and little sisters. Finn's mom was currently undergoing chemo treatments for breast cancer, and in the growing pandemic, the number of people she was around had been limited for the time being to Finn's step-dad, his little sisters who were still living at home, and her doctors to limit the risk of exposure. Meanwhile, Piper's oldest sister Lauren and her husband and newborn daughter had just moved back to Toronto from Boston and were staying at their childhood home with Piper's parents while looking for their own house.

Piper could have quarantined at home if she had really wanted to, but living in quarantine with a colicky newborn, who Piper was very afraid of potentially exposing the virus to, and her overbearing mother and sister sounded like the exact opposite of a good time.

So when her boyfriend and best friends began discussing the idea of quarantining together, she had jumped at the chance.

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Finn sighed, trying to give her an encouraging smile regardless. "But at least we're stuck in this together."

Piper hummed her agreement as she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest. His arms immediately wrapped around her, and he rested his head on top of hers as she closed her eyes, breathing in the smell of his faint cologne. She was in a weird place emotionally – excited at the prospect of living with her boyfriend and best friends, guilty for not going home to quarantine with her family, worried about the pandemic and how it could affect the people she loved.

In the midst of it all, it was nice to just have a quiet moment alone with Finn in his room.

"We can't leave my stuff in here," she eventually mumbled against his chest, breaking the comfortable silence.