One Week Later...
"Hey, Pip, listen...I've been thinking." Lin sat down on the couch.
"What's up?" Pippa sipped her coffee.
"My parents said it was totally fine, and if your parents say so as well, would you like to come back home for me for Winter break?" Lin asked.
"Of course! I'd love to!" Pippa exclaimed and gave Lin a hug.
"Hey, hey, slow your roll there, you don't even have permission yet." Lin laughed.
"Yes, I do." Pippa sat back and sipped her drink once more. "My parents and I had a bit of a falling out."
"When?" Lin's eyes widened.
"Oh, forever ago." Pippa replied. "Months."
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. What happened?"
"Unimportant." Pippa shook her head. "But what is important is that we're going to have an amazing Winter break!" Pippa smiled and gave Lin another hug.
~~~~~
And that it was looking out to be. A day and a half later, they were packed up for break, and staring at the door of the home Lin grew up in in Washington Heights. "Ready?" Lin asked. Pippa nodded, then Lin opened the door. Pippa didn't know why she was so nervous; she related this to how she felt when she met Matt's parents for the first time. But then again, this was kind of similar. Sure, Pippa and Lin weren't dating, but they were living together, and Lin definitely knew how to take good care of her, but not dating. They definitely weren't dating. "Hello!"
"Hello!" Lin's mother, Luz, came into the room at the sound of the door opening. She enveloped Lin into a hug.
"And Mom, this is Phillipa." Lin gestured to Pippa.
Pippa blushed. "Please, you can call me 'Pippa'."
"Oh, Pippa, I've heard so much about you!" Luz exclaimed and gave Pippa a hug as well.
Pippa looked over at Lin. "You have?"
"No worries, Honey, only good things. Only good things." She rubbed Pippa's arm, making her smile. "Well, I'll let you two get unpacked and relax for a while. I'll have dinner ready here soon."
"Thank you so much." Pippa called, right in line after Lin's 'thank you' to his mother.
"Your family is so sweet." Pippa said as Lin showed her to the guest bedroom. "They raised you well." She mumbled.
Lin snickered. "What was that last part?"
"Nothing." Pippa replied and looked at Lin, who looked back at her with raised eyebrows.
"Anyway..." Lin laughed, brushing off the comment. "Are you tired? Because if you are, I can let you be, and you're more than welcome to take a nap before dinner."
"I mean, I am kind of tired." Pippa looked down at the made bed.
"Well, then take a nap, I don't want you to be super tired." Lin told her.
"Can you stay?" She asked.
"Oh, is that what this is all about?" Lin smiled. Pippa nodded. "No problem. I'll stay with you." Lin laid down beside Pippa, under the covers, and he wrapped his arms around her waist. "This good?"
"This is perfect."
~~~~~
"Luz, go get Lin and Pippa, and tell them that dinner is ready." Lin's mother told her daughter. The younger girl with her mother's name turned the corner to the guest bedroom.
She just knocked on the door. "Dinner's ready." This woke Lin and Pippa up both, immediately.
"Okay." Lin called back. "Pip..." He shook her awake as she tried to bury her face into the pillow. "Dinner's ready."
"Okay." Pippa sat up. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail before going to the kitchen with Lin.
"Is she your girlfriend?" Lin's sister asked as she watched Pippa start to make her plate, as per Mrs. Miranda's request stating that "Pippa is the guest, so she gets to get her dinner first".
"No, Pippa is not my girlfriend." Lin rolled his eyes at his older sister. "She is just a really good friend."
"Yeah, a really good friend you're living with and sharing a bed with." Luz taunted.
"Shut up."
After while, everyone was sitting around the table, and Pippa, of course, was the subject of conversation.
"So," Lin's father started. "Pippa, I hear that you are double majoring, is that correct?"
"Yes, in acting and music, and I'm working on a minor in dance."
"That's impressive."
"Why, thank you." Pippa smiled, and Lin gently rubbed her knee under the table. Pippa smiled at this, and glanced over at Lin.
~~~~~
It was after dinner when everyone was just relaxing. Pippa even had participated in a family game of Spades, which was pretty fun, since she hadn't played in a while, and was finding herself missing the days that she'd play the card game with her parents when she was younger.
When it started getting late, the family started going their own ways; Pippa going and taking a shower before she went to bed. Almost if on cue, right as she was getting out of her shower, her phone started ringing incredibly loudly. She quickly answered it, in fear that the ringing had woken up someone. "Jasmine, what's up? Why are you calling so late? Are you okay?"
"Pip, you're with Lin, right?"
"Yeah."
"Go sit with him and turn on news channel five." Was all Jasmine said before hanging the call up and leaving Pippa in utter confusion. Pippa got dressed and twisted her damp hair into a messy bun before going to the living room to find Lin.
"Hey, Jazzy wants me to see something on TV, can I turn it on real quick?"
"Sure." Lin handed her the remote.
"She told me that you need to see this with me." Pippa grabbed Lin's hand when he started to leave.
"Um...alright." Lin sat down, and Pippa laid her head on Lin's shoulder as she flicked to channel five.
In an instant, the words running on the screen brought her to sitting straight up.
Former Julliard Student, Matthew Verde Found Dead In His Home Yesterday Night. Police and officials in the area have ruled the death as a suicide.
~~~~~
A/N: Ooh, cliffhanger. What do you think is going to happen? Either way, hope you enjoyed it! Xx. ❤
