Piper June.

Ezra tapped his pencil on the wooden table lightly, watching the red and white clock on the navy blue wall. The heavy seat across from him was oddly empty. Where was Piper? (Maybe Ezra was finally starting to care about his classes, or something.) He wanted to show her that he actually did his homework for once, and that he actually got it right (he looked up the answers online after he was done and there was only one problem that was slightly off, but still). He chewed on the end of his pencil.

Was she even in school today?

Jude wasn’t there either, but Ezra figured that she was with Quinn, since he wasn't in school either. He started working on his music theory homework, drawing notes and rests on the staff. When he glanced at the clock again, Ezra figured that Piper simply wasn’t showing up after all, seeing as it was almost quarter to four and the library was starting to empty out. With a heavy sigh, he shoved his books into his backpack and walked out, his footsteps echoing in the hallway as he made his way out of the empty school.

It was raining, so he just took a cab home and spent the fifteen minute ride wondering about where she was.

Piper was missing on Tuesday.

Piper was missing on Wednesday.

Piper didn't come to school on Thursday either, but that was only because it was an in-service day for the staff and the students didn't have class.

On Friday, he decided to ask Jude and Quinn about it.

“Has anybody talked to Piper lately?” he asked, taking a sip from his water bottle.

“She’s just sick,” Jude said loftily, picking at her apple without making eye contact. What was she hiding? They were sitting in the field behind the school, watching the drizzle fall down. Quinn and Jude were sitting on the steps above Ezra, and he sat a few steps below, facing them.

“With what?”

“A cold.”

"Just a cold?" Ezra eyed her skeptically, but didn’t say anything. After putting out his cigarette, he tossed the rest of his lunch in the rusty garbage can and popped a mint in his mouth. He wiped his hands off his corduroys and fixed his sweater, then turned to Jude and Quinn.

They were too busy swapping spit, so he mumbled a quiet goodbye and left.

Their school had two lunches, one at 11:30 and another at 12:25. He had 11:30, along with all the other underclassmen. He walked to the office, glancing at the clock on the wall.

12:18.

He walked into the air conditioned office, blinking at the bright lights. He made his way to the receptionist’s desk, flashing her his nicest smile.

“Um, I’m looking for the coursework for a friend of mine? She’s been really sick lately and I just wanted to make sure she was all caught up on her schoolwork, you know?”

“I um…what’s her name?” the secretary asked, smiling a little.

“Piper,” he said, “Piper Fleming.” She blushed and stood up, walking towards a table that was piled with different books that had sticky notes on them. The secretary handed him a stack of different sorts of books, as well as a folder of papers.

“You know, I really shouldn’t be doing this,” she confessed with a quiet whisper. “But you seem like a nice kid, so…okay.” He smiled at her and chuckled, scratching the back of his head. He said thanks and took the books, whistling a little as he walked to his locker. He grabbed his car keys and jacket from his locker, then waited in the hallway near the cafeteria until the bell rang and dismissed the students to either lunch or class, depending on who they were.

Ezra walked outside in the sea of students, going unnoticed. He carried her books easily under his arm, but eventually put them in his school bag along with his books. He listened to Deaf Havana on his way into the subway station, stopping to buy a small bear on his way. Maybe she'd like it or something, since she was sick and all. People brought people gifts when they were sick, right? Or at least they did in movies, anyway. It took him almost an hour to get to Piper’s house, simply because he got lost and missed his stop twice.

By the time Ezra got there, it was starting to rain harder and his hair started sticking to his forehead. He looked up at her house before he opened the small gate. There wasn’t a car in the driveway or in front of the house, and there was a light on in one of the windows upstairs. He walked up the steps when the rain started to fall harder, ringing the doorbell.

He waited for a few minutes before ringing it again.

“Piper?” he called out, this time knocking on her door. “Piper!” He was in the middle of knocking when she unlocked the door, huddled in a big yellow blanket.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, hand on the screen door.

“I brought you your homework,” he said half hopefully. “Mind if I come in?” She shook her head and unlocked the door. He walked into the warm, dimly lit house.

“You should probably come upstairs. My mom comes home for lunch sometimes,” she said quietly, walking in front of him and leading him to her room.

Piper didn't seem like herself.

He followed her, trying to figure out why she looked so upset. Piper shut the door behind him as he looked at her room. Her room was nice, with soft white walls, movie posters and lights. There was even a whole wall of maps near her bed, and a book shelf right above it. There was a desk facing the window, and a vanity counter pilled with books and a laptop resting on top of it.

It was kind of what he imagined her room would look like.

Piper sat down and he sat at her desk, going through his bag to get her things.

“I got you—” Ezra stopped midsentence and looked at Piper, trying not to stare. She looked like someone had just dragged her down the stairs and then some. “What, uh, what happened?” he stammered.

“Nothing, I just…” Piper trailed off, unsure what to say. "Nothing. It's fine. It's not as bad as it looks."

“Don’t nothing me, what happened?” he asked, worried. “Did someone do this to you?”

“No. I just…” She paused again, biting her lip. It wasn't like she could tell him the truth.

“You just what? Pushed yourself down the stairs the other day?”

“No! But…”

“Who did this to you?" he asked quietly, frowning. “You can tell me, okay? It's going to be alright.”

“No one did this to me, okay? It was an accident.” She smiles a little and wraps the blanket more tightly around herself.

“Doesn’t look like an accident, Piper.”

“It doesn’t matter, okay? Can we drop it?” He sighed and rested his head on a closed fist, frowning a little. "Aren't you supposed to be in school, anyway?”

"I cut class." He shrugs. "It's not that hard. So... how are you feeling?”

He'd get to the bottom of Piper's bruises, but it seemed like that was a question for another day.

“Sick,” she coughed, laughing afterwards. "I've been sick all week."

Somehow, Ezra doubted that she missed school because of some stupid cold.

“I got you something.” He tossed the small white bear into her small hands. Piper just looked at it before looking at him, laughing and throwing her head back.

“This is so cheesy.”

“It’s the thought that counts,” he defended with a chuckle.

A few hours later (and believe it or not, they hadn’t really run out of things to talk about) they were sprawled on her bed, legs hanging off and feet touching the floor lightly. He looked over at her, watching as she tossed the small bear back and forth. (They decided to name the bear Andrew, after a singer in a band they both liked.)

“Can you tell me now?” he asked quietly, glancing at her big blue eyes.

“Tell you what?”

“Who did it. You don’t have to even give me a name. I’ll figure it out eventually. I just… I want to know.”

“Um… okay. Well, the person is kind of… close to me, I guess I could say. They’re older than the both of us, so don’t get any ideas. I don’t know. It’s going to stop eventually. It has to, right?”

He nodded, trying to figure out who she was talking about.

“Have you ever thought about telling somebody?”

She shook her head and bit her lip, staring at the ceiling.

“I don’t think anybody really cares,” Piper mumbled, turning her head to the side. “What’s the point?” Ezra was quiet for a few moments, thinking of what to say. He couldn't just say he cared, because he did, but he didn't want her to think he was just saying that because he had to. She started to cry despite herself, biting her lip harshly.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized softly, pulling her closer. She hiccupped in surprise, crying harder. She turned and buried her face in the crook of his neck, sobs muffled. He rubbed her back and mumbled comforting words, holding her tightly. Ezra sat her up and they leaned against a map of London on her wall. Her cries quieted after a little while and she mumbled an apology, embarrassed. “Hey,” he said quietly, “look at me.” She did after a few moments, wiping her face. “Have you ever considered self defense or something?”

“What?”

“I mean you can’t stand there and be a punching bag for whoever it is, right?” She chuckled quietly despite herself, shrugging. “Give me your hand.”

“What?” He took her right hand, holding it up.

“You’ll take your hand right? And make a fist.” Ezra bent her fingers into a fist with his hand. “Like this, right? And you just…” He trailed off, raising her hand to his jaw and punching himself lightly. “You try.” She laughed, shaking her head as she blinked her red eyes at him.

“I don’t want to hit you.”

“I’ll be fine,” he reassured. “Go ahead.” She bit her lip and tried it without much enthusiasm. He fell over and she gasped, leaning over him. “Ow,” he groaned into her blanket.

“I’m sorry,” she gasped quietly, leaning on him. Of course, she punches the guy she likes so hard that she actually hurts him. Only Piper would do something like that. “Did I hit you hard? Are you okay? Do you need ice?”

“No. Eliza hits harder than you do,” he laughed, turning over and giving her a silly grin. She crossed her arms and turned around, mock pouting. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. “Did I scare you?”

“You’re not funny.”

“I’m sorry,” he laughed. She turned around and frowned at him. “Smile?” She shook her head and he laughed, pushing the corners of her lips up slightly. She laughed and his fingers fell. He looked at her and, for some reason that he didn’t exactly understand, kissed her. He took her by surprise, and for a few moments, she just stopped moving. “You know, it takes more muscles to smile than it does to frown,” he mumbled against her lips as he pulled away.

“R-Really? Huh. How about that?” she stammered, looking at him. He was about to say something else, but the sound of a door shutting downstairs stopped them. “Hide,” she urged as he stood up, looking around her room. “The closet. Go!” she said quietly.

“Piper?” Olivia called out downstairs. “Piper?”

“I’m up here!” she said, fixing the wrinkles on her bed. Olivia opened the door to her bedroom a few moments later.

“Why’s the front door unlocked?”

“Oh, um, well Jude came by with my books and stuff,” she lied, jerking her thumb to her desk, where the books (and little Andrew) sat patiently. “Sorry.”

“It’s just fine, I was just wondering. Are you feeling better?" she asks, a hand on her hip.

“I'm fine. I was just working on some math homework.”

“Well…okay, if you say so. I’m going to go out for some groceries. Do you want to come along?” She shook her head. “You sure? Well, Jude’s coming tonight, right? Your father and I are going to go visit some relatives and we’ll be gone for most of the weekend. You sure you don’t want to pick anything out? Maybe we can go shopping for a little bit?” she asked half hopefully, looking at her step daughter.

“I want to finish my homework before Jude comes over, mom. Sorry.” Olivia sighed.

“Okay. Maybe next time. I’m going to leave you some money for the weekend, okay?” Piper nodded, holding her blanket tightly around her face. “I’ll be back in an hour or so. We’re having take out for dinner.”

“Sounds super.” Olivia sighed again and shut the door, and Piper let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She heard Olivia’s car start up a few minutes later. “You should probably come out now,” she said quietly, sitting back down on her bed.

“So Olivia and your dad are leaving for the weekend,” Ezra said conversationally. It was like the kiss hadn't even happened and like it was all a figment of her imagination.

“Yep," she replied with a nod, clasping her hands on her lap.

“There’s a party tonight. Do you want to come with me?” He smiles. "It'll be fun, c'mon."

“Maybe next week?”

“I’ll hold you to it.” He kissed her lightly again, making the blood rush to her cheeks. “Bye, Piper.”

“B-Bye.”