Keep You Right Where I Want You

Piper loved Hawaii; it had been her saving grace.

At the top of her list of Things That Never Should Have Happened, was The Divorce. Be that as it may, when you're a child you have no say in the matter; and if your parents no longer love each other, that's the usual route that life takes.

Piper was seven when her parents split. It was better for everyone all around, but in that moment, it was the absolute worst thing that could have happened to her. She knew kids who had divorced parents, and it was all just one big nightmare. There were battles over the kids, arguments over who was at fault because of the way the marriage ended, and what stuff belonged to whom. No one took into account what the children were feeling or what they were thinking; which was why, when her parents sat her down to explain things, she had a total meltdown. Of course, it was nothing like her best friend Susie said it would be and it wasn't nearly as traumatizing as she had pictured it. All in all, it was a good decision for their family as a whole.

Things settled in a, relatively, peaceful fashion. Piper and her younger brother, who was two at the time, went to live with her mother in California; while the rest of the Raneri kids (the three of them that were still under the age of eighteen, at least) stayed with her dad in New York.

Life wasn't perfect; but then again, it rarely is. As things worked out, her mother had a drinking problem. Piper spent the better part of her days taking care of her younger brother Sebastian- either because her mother was too drunk or sick, or simply because she didn't care. She had to grow up fast, and by the time she was nine years old, Piper knew all about making dinner and forging her mother's signature so that they could get through their school days.

The only person in the entire world, other than her baby brother, who really understood how difficult it all was for Piper, was her friend Zaphod. She had known him while living in New York, and through some sheer willpower on her dad's part, and some serious dedication between the two of them, they stayed in touch. She would spend her days writing letters to her friend, explaining that she sometimes got really worried about her mom. She knew she was sick and that Piper couldn't fix whatever was wrong with her mother.

Eventually, all those letters turned into late night phone calls. And as she grew and changed into a teenager, their conversations became more serious. Piper was concerned for the well being of herself, and her brother. At the age of sixteen, Piper was playing house and being mother to her ten year old brother. And still, she spoke to Zaph, told him all her fears. He was the one who finally convinced her that maybe moving back to New York to be with her dad was a good idea.

Somewhere along the way, Piper realized that her feelings for her best friend weren't just platonic.

So at sixteen, she moved back to New York, taking her younger brother with her. The moment she was back home with her dad, her life clicked into place. And for a few months, everything was good. Her grades in school picked up, she became more confident in herself as a person, and she and Zaph spent loads of time together. He was the one constant thing in her life.

It all went to hell when her mom found out they were still in New York and insisted that she talk to Piper and know what was going on in her life. On the best of days, her mother had been sleeping off and on and cared enough to ask how her daughter was doing; on the worst of days, Nadia was drunk and wanted to rag on her daughter and tell her all about the poor life choices she was making. It got so bad that her dad decided to uproot their family, and they firmly planted themselves in the Hawaiian soil.

The beaches, the water, the island life and people; all of it changed Piper for the better. It didn't matter that her mom was sick, here. She could pretend to be someone else with a totally different life. But she didn't feel obligated to do so. It was a fresh start, and it was for the good of all of her family, even if one of her siblings had decided to move to England and two of them were married and had children, so they'd decided to stay in New York. All of it shaped the woman into who she was now; the one who was strong and would stand proud no matter what obstacles she had to face.

She was Piper Malibu Raneri, and she didn't care who knew it- she was a strong young woman capable of tearing someone apart with her words.

But instead of taking that opportunity? She chose the opposite thing:

Kindness.



Zaphod Stark was used to one thing: being compared to his father.

All he ever wanted out of life was to be his own person, was to be able to do his own thing. Instead, from the time he was old enough to understand, he'd had a planned life thrust upon him. He didn't get the opportunity that most people got. He didn't get to choose what path of life to take. Zaph Stark was set up to inherit his father's company: Stark Industries.

Expectations were what he failed at. That's why he liked being friends with Piper Raneri so much; she didn't expect anything spectacular out of him- she believed in him and encouraged him to always try his best, but she wasn't the type of person to thrust some unreal ideals onto his shoulders. She cared enough to ask what he wanted to do and not tell him what he had to do. She was good to vent to, good to listen to, just... good.

He wasn't sure when he noticed it.

At some point, during their late night phone calls between the ages of twelve and sixteen, he realized how deeply he cared about her. Hearing her in distress, hearing the heartbreak in her voice nearly every time they spoke on the phone made him want to do something. Not that he could actually erase the pain that he knew her mother was creating, but he did the best that his teenage self could do; he gave her the guidance she sought and told her that maybe it'd be a good idea that she move in with her dad instead. He never dreamed that she would actually value his advice enough to listen to it.

His days were filled with boring talks of family business, so when she finally came back to New York and they were able to go and do things, to know that she was physically there so he could hold and hug and speak to her, it made his life bearable. Now they could talk in person, now he didn't just have to take cues from her voice or how quiet she was being. If she didn't like something, she told him so and no amount of power behind a last name made her back down; that's what he loved about her. Piper treated him like a person, and not like an instrument important to his family's- or to anyone's- success.

For a time, their days were ate up with hanging out at book stores or ice cream shops; going to the beach and spending late nights talking, or taking her little brother to play soccer in the park.

He could pinpoint the time that it all went wrong.

He could tell you the exact day of when her mom started calling again, because he could see it in the way she carried herself. The way her shoulders curved in, her tight smiles and exhausted glances. And one day, she came to tell him the news that they were moving; not just to anywhere, but to Hawaii.

In that moment, he hated that place for taking away his best friend.

He would have absolutely no idea that it would become an important fixture in his life.

One day.