*Author's note : I wrote this chapter meanwhile listening to 'Come back...Be here' and referenced it a few times in the chapter so I recommend you listening to it meanwhile reading to get a special experience :) I hope you enjoy! Love Al.*
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Four words.
Four simple words, in a gray bubble.
"Hey Sarge, remember me?"
It only took those four words to make Pip's eyes water.
Was this real? Did he really just text her? She should text back right? Yeah, of course she should. But wait, what should she write?
'What took you so long?' or 'No, I don't remember you, who's Sarge?'.
God Pip, You can't communicate with sarcasm through text! What if he took it the wrong way? What if he thought that she actually didn't remember him.
Pip's head started to spin, She didn't know what to do! She looked down at her palms and saw a faint tint of red. No. Stop, Pip. You know that's not real. Just breathe, like Doctor Jackson told you. Breathe in, Breathe through,
Breathe dee-
"Black Coffee for Piper?"
Pip looked up and saw a barista holding her order. She quickly moved over to the counter, rubbing her imaginary bloody hands on her jeans while jamming her phone in her pocket.
"Thank you" she said, taking the coffee in her hands and taking a large sip of it before heading out the door.
It was still cold in New York in mid-April at 3pm but Pip didn't mind. It kept her grounded, down to Earth. And walking through Central Park or Manhattan's great streets helped her stay that way.
She'd realized that running was a bad trigger for her. It would bring back too many bad memories and bad memories only bring bad experiences. That's what Doctor Jackson always told her.
Doctor Jackson was Pip's therapist. She kept Pip's internal glass of emotion from falling. Safe from trauma, imaginary blood, and duct tape.
Of course, she couldn't tell her everything that had fucked her up but hey, everybody lies to their therapist about things, right?
In fact, she was on her way to see Doctor Jackson right now.
As she walked through the doors of the therapy office, she would listen to the rhythm of her shoes. Long, Long, Short, Short. Long Short, Short. Long, Short, Long...Shoot Pip, don't think about that. If you're far away, he's safe. Safe but far. But if he was jus-
"Piper? Did you hear me?"
Pip shook her head and looked at the receptionist, a woman in her late 50s, maybe early 60s.
"Yeah, Sorry, I was distracted, what did you say again?"
"Oh, it's okay sweetie, I said that Doctor Jackson's ready to see you."
"Oh, thanks."
Piper, she still hadn't gotten used to that, had she?
Piper was her new name. Well, not really, only her New York name. The podcast had gotten so big and with so many people knowing her name it was better to go by something else.
Also, if anyone wanted to find her, they wouldn't because she was off the social media grid. There was no username or email that started with Pippa Fitz Amobi.
Now, there was only Piper and her new number, but she kept the old one, just in case of some random, beautiful, charming boy would text her and come bac-
Pip, Stop.
"Hi Piper! It's good to see you."
"You too, Doc."
—
Once Pip got back to her dorm on campus, she basically threw herself on her bed, face first into the pillow. Groaning as she thought about what she had just talked about at therapy.
She had talked to Doctor Jackson about her ex-boyfriend "Davi" and how he'd texted her today; Yes, she knew it was unoriginal but when she first brought him up, she didn't have that much time to create a very good name.
She told Pip that maybe she should text him back. I mean, they didn't have any bad blood between them so maybe she was right.
Pip took her phone out of her back pocket and opened it up to the text. She smiled, knowing that he'd thought of her again.
Even just thinking about it made a few small tears slip out of her eyes, thinking about it. But she knew she shouldn't. If she texted him back, it would put him in danger.
But Max was in jail. The case was closed and Max was set to stay for 25 years. I know, it was too little but still something.
As she was about to text something, an incoming call came in from one of the only people that she was still in contact with. One of her best friends.
"Hi Nat." Pip said as a small smile appeared on her face.
"Hi Pippy! How's your day been?"
"It's been eventful, to say the least."
"Oh yeah? What's up?"
"Well, I got 100 on my essay that I turned in last week. My professor said it was the best one he'd seen-"
"Holy Shit Pip! That's amazing!"
"Yeah, and then I went to therapy and then... I came back to the dorms."
Nat could tell that Pip was leaving something important out of the conversation. And even though she knew that this wasn't her place, she knew that she had to do this, because she knew that Pip would never.
And she wanted to reassure the panicked boy pacing around her living room. So she had to act.
"That seems like a pretty normal day, Pip. Is there something you're not telling me?"
"Well...something else did happen."
Pip was sure that Nat could hear the smile that grew on her as she thought of the four words that had appeared two hours ago.
"I got a text..."
"Oh really, I get about 21 everyday." Pip heard the sarcasm spilling out the phone.
"No, not like that."
"So, like what?"
"It was from Ravi..."
The other line went silent. Well, kind of. You could hear a pair of footsteps but she didn't think much of it. Probably just Jamie in the background.
"Wait, like 'Ravi' Ravi? RAVI SINGH? YOU'RE RAVI!?!?" Pip could already tell that she was smirking on the other line
"Yeah...My Ravi"
She hadn't said that in a while and it made the butterflies that she'd locked up burst out of their cage and fly free...
"WHAT DID YOU RESPOND!?!"
...And suddenly the butterflies felt guilty.
"I didn't."
"WHAT!?!"
"I didn't know what to say at the moment! Or now! Maybe I should ask God what to do."
"Pip, Taylor Swift isn't God."
"Take that back! She is! She always gives me the best advice."
A faint chuckle got picked up, coming from Nat's side. Was Jamie listening to their conversation?
"Okay, fine what is Taylor telling you?"
Taylor was telling a lyric from one of her favorite songs.
'In New York, be here.' That was what she was feeling. She wanted him. Right there, in front of her, giving her the grin that made her cheeks a bright crimson.
"...I want him back. But I can't because I have no courage and I can't interfere with his life. I mean, what if he's finally doing well and I mess everything up for him? I can't do that. I love him too much to ruin his entire future!"
"Pip, you know that's probably not true. He had to text you for a reason."
"I know, I just feel like I'm bad for him..."
Pip's eyes watered ever so slightly and she knew if she talked about him more, the tears that had been building up in her heart would spill into a waterfall. And even though Nat wasn't there with her, she hated crying in front of people.
"I gotta go, Nat. I've got an early day tomorrow. Love you."
"Love you too, but isn't tomorrow a Saturd-"
Nat didn't have time to finish her sentence. Pip had already hung up. Nat then looked over across the room, at Ravi.
"I told you she was going to be panicked."
"I know, I just needed to know she was okay, I just needed to hear her voice."
"Ugh! I still don't like that I went behind her back and let you listen to that phone call!...but I know deep down that it was necessary..."
"Yeah, thanks for that. I'm glad that she's still willing to talk to me. But we need to change her mindset. She feels like she's a burden to all of us! And she shouldn't feel that way!"
"Maybe go to New York? I mean she did say that she wanted you there."
"Maybe I will."
And then even Ravi thought about what Taylor would say to him now. And he found his answer pretty quickly. This really was 'Falling in love in the cruelest way', but he was already in love.
Still falling for her when she was worlds away.