Baby steps - A TNS Fanfiction

You can't keep running away

Finn's Back Garden

"The green plant."

"They're all green!" Piper hissed down the phone, trying not to draw attention to herself. After climbing over the back gate, and tearing a hole in her shirt, she was now crouched outside the back door, looking for Finn's spare house key.

He said he had hidden one when they first moved in, but the question was - where?

"It's in a plant pot, and I think the key is underneath it." Finn tried to explain. In all honesty, he couldn't remember exactly where the key was, and it was quite likely that he had moved it at some point. But he wasn't about to tell Piper that.

After she'd finally picked up the phone, it had been his idea that she stayed in his house for as long as she needed to. She'd been hesitant, trying to insist that she could find a place, although he insisted it wouldn't be any trouble.

It was a lot of trouble.

Finn shifted to hold the phone with his shoulder as he moved Grace to her bed, carefully pulling the covers up to her chin and tucking her toy dog up next to her.

From the other end of the phone, there was the sound of something smashing, and a long stream of swear words.

"You are so lucky that you aren't on speaker phone." He joked, but there wasn't a reply. "Piper?"

"Yeah, sorry, I thought the neighbors were awake. Oh god what if they've called the police! Mum is going to blow a fuse if she finds out I've been arrested again."

"Hold up: again?"

"Long stor- I'm going to kill you."

"Wait, what, why?"

"It was under the doormat. Not a plant, the doormat."

"Oops? Anyway, you were going to tell me why you were arrested..." Finn probed, hoping that he was being subtle.

"No I wasn't. Can I call you back?"

"Yeah, sure!"

Piper hung up the phone and sighed. All of the recent events must be getting to her.

After wrestling her suitcase up the back door steps and locking the door behind her, she allowed herself a small smile. Finn really had started cleaning up after himself.

She almost tripped over the large box of Christmas decorations in the living room.

Flashback

Sitting in the back of a police car, her head pounding like someone was hitting it like a drum, Piper closed her eyes and sunk back in her sleep. The handcuffs were rubbing her wrists.

"Okay, kid? Where are your parents?"

She didn't want to answer.

"Do you know how to contact them?"

"No.." The nineteen year old whispered.

"Where are you from?"

"Toronto, Canada."

"You're a long way from home."

"Not far enough."

The policeman looked in the mirror to see the tears streaming down her face. He sighed.

"I'm going to have to take your name and age, and place of residence, but you're going to have to come to the station tomorrow, okay?"

Piper nodded. "My name is Piper Chaves, I'm 19, and I stay in the dorms at New York film academy."