Missing Moments

Piper Helps Finn Pack

Between 7x19 and 7x20

It was a few minutes after 11 o'clock, but Finn was feeling rather good about himself. Since he and Piper had started dating, he'd been making more of an effort to be on time for things, and if he had to say so himself, he was doing a pretty good job of it.

Or at least, he thought he was until he walked into their favorite café and found Piper sitting alone at a table for two, an empty plate in front of her and rage in her eyes.

"Hey," Finn said hesitantly as he approached her. "I know I'm a few minutes late, but—"

"A few minutes?" Piper looked at him indignantly, and he froze.

"Weren't we meeting at 11?" he asked slowly as he cautiously took the seat across from her. She was glaring daggers at him, dark eyes following his every move.

"The movie started at 11. We were supposed to meet here at 10."

No way. Finn immediately pulled out his phone to check their texts, so certain that they had agreed on 11. His heart sank when he realized she was right. He was supposed to have been here an hour ago.

Groaning, he threw his head back then said as sincerely as possible, "I'm so sorry. I thought for sure we said 11."

Piper clenched her jaw and stared pointedly out the window next to them. "You're lucky I don't have my license, or I would've just left," she grumbled.

"I'm sorry," he apologized again, and she sighed, rolling her eyes.

"What have you even been doing?"

"Uh..." Given the anger radiating off of his girlfriend, Finn was fairly certain that telling her he'd only gotten out of bed less than an hour ago would be a terrible move right now. Even still, she seemed to suspect as much anyway.

Her eyes narrowing even further, Piper said, "You were sleeping, weren't you?"

"Maybe," Finn admitted with a sigh.

"Well, that explains why you didn't answer my calls."

"I'll make it up to you."

"How?" she asked, crossing her arms as she arched an eyebrow at him.

"I'll buy you coffee," he offered, completely overlooking the cup that was already sitting in front of her.

"No need. The waitress brought me one on the house because she thought I'd been stood up."

"At least it was free?" Finn said in a weak attempt to lighten the mood. It didn't work. Sighing, he glanced over to the counter and said, "Look, I'll eat really fast, and maybe we can still make it for most of the movie."

"Forget it. There's no point in going now." She picked up her phone without looking at him, and with another sigh of resignation, he moved to the counter to order.

The girl working the cash register greeted him with an icy stare, and Finn could only assume she was the waitress who assumed Piper had been stood up. Right before he paid, he noticed a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies in the display case. Knowing Piper had a sweet tooth, he added one to his order then rejoined her at their table.

"So what are we going to do for the next three hours then?" Finn asked as he sat down again. They didn't have to be at the studio for their final rehearsal with Miss Angela until 2.

Piper simply shrugged. "I don't know."

"Come on, Pipes, I'm sorry." She huffed and glanced up at him. Frowning, he added, "Why don't we do lunch tomorrow?"