It Never Took a Lot to Make This Hard

“Mason, what are you doing here?” Piper questioned, continuing to stare at him in disbelief. “How did you know I was here?” she asked as he walked inside, shutting the door behind him. She knew she hadn’t given any indication where she had gone to anyone, wanting to avoid just this.

“A friend of mine is here in New York, and she said she saw you out somewhere. I knew that if I called you, you wouldn’t pick up, so…” he trailed off.

“So, you just drop everything and fly to New York?” she finished for him, and Mason nodded his head, smiling at her. “Why?” she asked.

“I had to know you were alright. We all needed to know. Piper, we were worried about you, and then you haven’t been picking up when we call you. I needed to make sure you were okay,” he said, and Piper couldn’t help but smile at him.

“Do the others know?” she asked him. “Do they know you’re here? Does Louie know?”

Mason shook his head, and she quickly engulfed him in a hug, her momentum pushing them backwards, causing them to land on the bed. “Wow, I knew you liked me, but I didn’t know you liked me this much,” Mason joked as Piper stayed where she landed, directly on top of Mason.

“Shut up,” she laughed at him. “Thank you for not telling them,” she told him, looking down at him. “I just…I just like being here where no one knows where I am. Well, except for you,” she said, finally rolling off of him.

“Piper, I’m not leaving here without you,” Mason suddenly said.

“Whoa, what?” she questioned. “What do you mean you’re not leaving here without me?”

“I mean, I’m staying here in New York until you head back to Salt Lake City,” he clarified.

“Listen, Mase, I appreciate you coming here, and I know what you’re trying to do. But, I don’t know how long I’m going to stay here. I could be here for another week or month or year, for all I know,” she tried explaining.

“Well, the same goes for me, then,” he smiled at her. “Piper, you’re not staying here all by yourself. You’re not alone in all this,” he told her, and she couldn’t help but smile, feeling he was telling her the truth.

***

Piper hadn’t believed Mason when he said that he wasn’t leaving New York City without her, but two and a half weeks later, Mason was still there with her. Spending some one-on-one time with him, Piper had found a new side to Mason that she hadn’t known about before. She didn’t know exactly what was going on between the two of them, but whatever it was, she liked it.

She opened her hotel room door, seeing Mason standing there, and she told him it’d be one more minute before she’d be ready to go out with him for lunch. He nodded his head, walking inside, as Piper grabbed a belt and put it on. Her cell phone began ringing, and she glanced at it, a random number coming up that she didn’t know, but she recognized the area code as one from Salt Lake City.

“Hello?” she picked up the phone.

“Piper?” she heard Shaun’s voice come from the other side, and she wondered whose phone he was using that she didn’t know the number.

“Shaun?” she asked, and she saw Mason give her an odd look. “Whose phone are you calling me from? Is this Louie’s idea?” she asked with a laugh, knowing that Louie would do something like this in order to get her to talk to them.

“No,” Shaun said in a serious tone, and Piper sat down on the bed, wondering what was going on. “Louie’s in the hospital,” he told her, and she felt the phone fall out of her hands and hit the ground loudly.

Mason quickly picked up the phone, putting it to his ear. “Shaun, what’s going on?” he asked.

“Mason?” Shaun asked, confused as to how he had just been talking to Piper and now he was on the phone with Mason.

“What’s going on?” Mason repeated. “Piper looks like you just told her someone died,” he said, keeping his focus on Piper, who was simply staring at the ground, still in shock.

“Louie’s in the hospital,” he told Mason, who remained quiet, wanting Shaun to continue. “He tried out this new trick, and he ate it pretty bad, hitting his head on the lip.”

“Is he okay?” Mason asked, a desperate tone in his voice. After what had happened to Kevin Pearce, everyone was always worried when an accident put someone in the hospital. “Shaun, is he okay?” he asked more forcefully when Shaun didn’t answer him right away.

“He’s unconscious right now,” Shaun told him.

“We’ll be there as soon as we can,” Mason said, hanging up the phone and looking down at Piper, who still sat motionless. “Piper, come on, we’re going back to Salt Lake City,” he said, going to zip up her suitcase.

“Mase,” she spoke quietly, and he could tell she was on the verge of tears.

“Come on,” he repeated, picking up her suitcase with one hand and wrapping his other one around her, guiding her out of the hotel room.

***

By the time they got to the hospital, Louie had awoken from his coma, much to the happiness of everyone. Piper walked in, expecting to see Daphne at his side, but she didn’t see her cousin anywhere. Instead, she saw Scotty and Shaun in his room. “Oh, thank God, Louie!” Piper exclaimed, rushing over to his bed.

“Did you and Mason just come in together?” Louie inquired, a knowing smile on his face.

“Not important right now,” Piper scolded him. “Tell me what the hell happened! How did you end up in the hospital?” she asked, looking down at Louie, who still had a smile on his face, much to the amusement of Piper. How could he be smiling when he had just gotten out of a coma?

“Not until you tell me why the hell you just skipped town, not telling any of us where you were headed, not answering any of our phone calls,” Louie countered.

“In all fairness, I told you I was leaving town,” Piper smiled innocently at him.

“Piper,” Louie began.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I needed to get away, you knew that. I couldn’t stand being here anymore, not with the way Daphne was acting. I felt unwanted, and I didn’t see any reason to stay here any longer,” she explained.

“Piper, you’ve got to know that you’re always wanted here. I’d never ask you to leave. Come on, you’re my best friend. And, the least you could have done is answered one of my damn calls!” he said, a smile on his face, letting Piper know he wasn’t too angry at her, more frustrated than anything else.

“Have you talked to Daphne?” she asked him, and Louie looked down at the IV that was sticking out of his hand. “Please tell me she’s at least come and talked to you!” Piper exclaimed.

Louie shook his head, slowly looking up at her. “Nope,” he told her. “I haven’t talked to her since I broke up with her after you left. I don’t know where she’s at, if she’s here in town or gone somewhere with Katrina,” he told her, and Piper could hear the resentment in his voice.

“I’m sorry, Louie,” she told him sincerely. “I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for leaving. I’m sorry for pushing you to be with Daph.”

“None of us knew Daphne was gonna change like she has. And, I’m just glad you’re back. You are staying, right?” he asked her.

“I couldn’t leave you right now,” she smiled at him. “But, I am going to leave you for a little bit. I’ve just got a phone call to make first.”

“Piper, don’t call Daph right now,” Louie pleaded.

“You know me so well,” Piper smiled. “And, you know that I’m not going to listen to your pleas,” she added, walking out of his room and into the hallway, pulling her cell phone out of her pocket and dialing Daphne’s number, ready to give her hell for not being there right now.