Piper June.

It was the last day before fall break, a sunny, bright Tuesday. Piper and Jude were having family over, and since Quinn's grandmother had gone to Boca Raton for the winter (the cold aggravated her arthritis), Quinn was spending the holiday with Jude's family. Ezra, of course, was dreading the arrival of his soon-to-be stepmother's family, her father, mother, two sisters, and their kids. At least they weren't staying with them, but still.

He wasn't looking forward to it and was planning on spending as much time as possible with his friends. Except that most of his friends were going to be out of town for the holidays.

“Finnely,” Quinn said as he sat down on the edge of Ezra's bed, sighing heavily. “Bro!” Ezra grumbled, cursing at Quinn quietly. “Let's get goin'. Maggie took Jude's car for the day so we don't have a ride, so let's go.”

"Don't you have your own car?" Ezra asked sleepily, pulling the covers over his head. "Why are you even here?"

“C’mon!” Quinn yelled, pulling the quilts off his friend with a scowl. "You're gonna make us late. And you know how Judy gets when she's late to things. I ran out of gas and I don't have time or money to fill the tank, so let's roll."

“I’m gonna get up right now," Ezra mumbled, rolling over as he rubbed his eyes sleepily. And for once, he was tired from studying and not partying. (Piper was making him soft.) "Where is she, anyway?”

"Upstairs, making awkward conversation with Rose or whatever her name is." Quinn watched as Ezra stumbled into his bathroom, hair sticking up every which way. "Just get dressed and let's go! It's the last day! No one cares what you put on."

"Yeah, hm." Ezra stood in the doorway, brushing his teeth as Quinn tossed a t-shirt and jeans his way. "So, is…uh… is Piper here?”

“No, Romeo," Quinn teased with a laugh. “I think she's with Maggie and Clark today.”

“Oh.” Ezra nodded, turning to rinse his mouth out in the sink. He dressed slowly, pulling a button down over his shirt as he sat down on his bed.

“Speaking of Piper, though...” Quinn began to say as he dug a cigarette out of the carton on Ezra's desk. “How are things going with her?”

Ezra shot Quinn a look, narrowing his eyes at his friend.

“What?”

“I’m just curious.” Quinn wriggled his eyebrows and nudged him, prompting Ezra to roll his eyes.

“No, okay? The answer’s no. Still no. Probably gonna be no for a while. Get off my back,” Ezra answered, annoyed.

“Clock’s ticking, kid.”

“Tweedledee and Tweedledum!” Jude exclaimed, footsteps a dull thud above their heads as she stomped towards the door. "Let's go!" Quinn looked at Ezra pleadingly, frowning a little.

"We should probably get going before she comes down here."

“You’re so whipped, seriously,” Ezra laughed as he shrugged on a jacket.

“At least I’m getting some.”

“Yeah, talk like that in front of Jude and see how much you're really gonna get.”



Piper was missing at lunch that afternoon, much to Ezra's chagrin. He was starting to look forward to seeing her and so not seeing her didn't sit quite well with him. Maggie was there, and so were Clark, Jude, Quinn, and the girls (Tessie and Annie and little Claire). But Piper wasn't. They all sat on the school steps out back, laughing and eating as they watched tiny little snowflakes fall from the sky. It wasn't sticking, not really, but it was nice to look at all the same.

“Where’s Piper?” Ezra asked, prompting a fierce glance from Jude.

“You don’t need to know.”

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ezra said sarcastically. "I didn't know I was asking you."

“Don't be rude, Jude,” Maggie said with a soft smile, laughing. “She's in the library. I think she had a term paper due for her history class or something?”

Jude glowered at her older sister, making a face. She was only enabling Ezra and Piper and Jude was less than thrilled, to put it lightly. Ezra was up to something. She could feel it.

Piper hadn’t shown up to tutoring the day before, and since he had to pick Eliza up from school, he didn't have time to swing by her place and see if she was okay. There was something going on with Piper, there just had to be. He didn't know what, but whatever it was had to be pretty bad. Whenever he asked around, people usually got pretty silent or told him to mind his own business. He ate his lunch (which consisted of nothing more than an apple, a sandwich that he usually picked up on his way to school, a bottle of water, and a cigarette) silently, wondering where in the world she could be.

She hadn’t gone to the library that afternoon either, which worried him. Any and all calls to her went directly to voicemail.

Ezra spent his dinner brooding, and unfortunately, his family noticed.

“What’s the matter?” Charles asked, watching as his son circled the rim of this glass with boredom.

“What? Oh, nothing," he said simply. "I'm fine."

“Is this about your grandparents? I know you wanted to see them, but - ”

“It's not about Ma and Pop," Ezra said, glancing down at his plate. He wasn't really hungry, even if it all did smell pretty good.

“Are you sure? 'Cause - "

“Yeah, I'm just...” He didn’t know how to answer Charlie's question, so he just didn't and made a show of picking at the food on his plate.

“Is it a girl?” Rose asked, much to Ezra’s surprise. He looked up, curious.

“What?”

“Well, I mean, you are a growing boy… I wouldn’t really be surprised.” Rose smiled and he rolled his eyes, making a face.

“May I be excused?” he asked, gulping his glass of water down. He then stood up, cleared his plate, and made his way to the living room, grabbing the keys out of the bowl near the door.

“Where are you going?” Charles asked, frowning.

“Somewhere.”

“Ezra, just… don’t get in too late. You need to be here to meet Rosie's family, okay?” Charles sounded defeated, looking at his son as he pulled on his coat and hat. Ezra mumbled a reply, walking out of his house without bothering to look back or say goodbye.

It was snowing by the time he reached the subway station again, but he didn't mind too much. He was going to see Piper, because he missed her and kind of did want to see her. Was she 'sick' again? He took a small detour and got off at a stop two blocks away from his favorite bakery and picked up a piece of cake for her, then took a bus to Piper's street. He tried calling her again as he got closer to her pretty house, and for once, she finally answered. He climbed over the fence in her backyard, smiling when he heard her voice. (He didn't know he could miss someone the way he missed her.)

“Hello?” Piper sounded like she was eating something, which made Ezra want to laugh.

“Hey, where’ve you been lately?”

“I've been here. Where are you?" she laughed.

“I've been looking for you, you know,” he says, eyeing the drain pipe curiously. It wouldn't be the first time he had to sneak into a girl's room, but it was probably the first time he was sneaking in and not being sure what to expect. "Can you open your window, Piper?"

“Why? It's cold," she whined, sniffling a little.

“I wanna talk to you and unless you open it, I’ll have to knock, and Olivia just might eat what I brought you."

“Eat what?” Piper asked, curious.

“You're just going to have to wait and see.”

“Okay…try not to die or something,” she laughed. He hung up without a goodbye, staring at what he hoped was her window. His breaths came out in short little puffs as he scaled the side of the house. (He really was out of shape.) Before long, though, he was tumbling into her room, holding up the small white box lest he crush it.

Piper just stared at him as he sat up, leaning against her wall as he caught his breath.

“Piper?” Olivia called up the stairs, almost scared. “What was that?”

“Nothing! Something, uh, fell. Sorry!”

Piper’s room was dark. The only light was from the film playing on her TV. Since Piper's father was off on business yet again, Piper and Olivia were left to their own devices. Ezra stood up quickly, shaking the snow out of his hair. Piper simply laughed and patted her bed, a small smile on her face.

“You’re really stupid,” she laughed, taking a handful of popcorn from the bowl on her lap. "What if you had fallen and broken your neck or something?"

“Aw, it’s nice to see you too, Piper,” he cooed, taking off his coat. “I brought you some cake.” She bit her lip, pushing her hair behind her ear.

“Why?”

“’Cause I felt like it,” he shrugged. “I think either you’re really upset or you’ve been avoiding me lately, so… think of it as a peace offering.” Piper laughed as she popped open the top of the plastic container. He dug a plastic fork out of his coat pocket, smiling.

“Thanks. I'm not mad at you, by the way. And I haven't been avoiding you. I've just been really sick for the last few days.”

Piper wasn't really sick. She was just trying to take Maggie's advice seriously. She told her that Ezra liked girls who played hard to get and told Piper that if she just acted a little cooler than usual, Ezra would come running.

And sure enough, he did.

“What?”

“I've just been sick. Jeez. But it is kind of nice, I guess, seeing you all nervous and stuff,” she said, mocking his carefree shrug. She ate a forkful of the chocolate cake, inspecting Ezra closely. He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I’m not nervous,” he insisted. “I was just worried about you.”

“You could’ve called.”

“You wouldn’t pick up.”

“I must have missed it,” she said quietly.

“Eight times?” Piper shrugged, glancing down at the small box in her hand. "So, um... how are you?"

“I'm fine. Would you like a bite?" Ezra winked at her and she looked at him wide-eyed, laughing a little. “Don't be weird. I was asking about the cake."

“I’m sure you were. Wouldn’t mind having either, though…” He had a forkful, then cleaned it off with his sweater. “Good as new.”

“Anyway… " Piper shook her head, sighing. "What brings you by? I mean, you don't have an excuse anymore. I'm fine. Did you need something?"

“I can’t come see my favorite tutor now, just because I can?” She nudged him playfully, eating a bit of her cake. "Good to know."

“Really?" She looked at him curiously, licking her fork. "What's going on?"

“Well, I mean, I just wanted to see you and—”

“Sh! The movie’s back.”

“What are you even watching?"

“Life Is Beautiful! Sh!” She pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her bare legs, resting her head on her knees. He mimicked her actions, watching as she mouthed along with the film. Her small hands dug into the bowl of popcorn as she watched the film, biting her lip. Ezra smiled, turning his attentions to the TV as well. "So, what are your plans for Thanksgiving?" she asked as they went on a commercial break.

“I was going to California to visit my family, but I think I'm staying in town instead. Rose's family is coming so..." He shrugged. "We'll see how that goes."

“It's okay. I think Olivia's family's coming too." She sighed. "They're all really annoying and gross."

“We should have our own Thanksgiving," he says, squeezing her hand. "We'll just go somewhere. It doesn't matter. I just don't care. I just don't want to be there."

“And how am I supposed to get out of here? It's not like I can just leave."

“I'll sneak you out. It won't be that bad. I'll fake some sort of weird school emergency or whatever, and Olivia'll let you go."

"You're lucky my dad's out of town," she says, setting the bowl and small box down on her floor.

"Oh, what's he gonna do?" Ezra laughed. "Are you gonna come? It'll be fun. I'll invite some friends and we can go... wherever, it doesn't matter. Family's overrated anyway."

“Is that why you came over? To invite me to a new Thanksgiving thing or something? I mean - " And then he cuts her off, both hands on her cheeks as he kisses her, a smile spreading on his face when she kisses him back, climbing into his lap.

“I just wanted to tell you I missed you, like, a lot." She smiled, laughing at him. And then he kissed her again, and they felt okay, for the first time in a long time.

“B-Bye.”