Piper

What just happened? What the hell?

I stood, walking to his door and pounding it as hard as I could. Of course he locked it. Brat.

"Tyler open the door." I said.

"No, go away." His voice was muffled, he was probably face down in a pillow.

"Open the door, come on we need to talk about this. I'm done running okay?" I pleaded, trying a new tactic.

"Go the fuck away Piper." His voice was more defined now, and it sounded like it was just on the other side of the door.

"Tyler Jonathan Scott open the door right this second, we aren't done talking." I yelled, my last option for getting in there.

A loud laugh barked through the door like a seal, spreading a smile across my face.

He was laughing, that was a start.

I slid down the door, pulling my knees to my chest. I couldn't leave, my shirt was in his bedroom. My purse, my keys, all in his bedroom.

Of course the one time I drove my car here I would be stuck on the other side of a locked door without my stupid keys.

Like you would leave anyways.

"Okay if you won't open the door I will just have to talk through it, though I'd rather be looking at your face for this." I sighed, taking a breath and readying myself for what came next.

I could feel the door shaking as he slid down it on his side, and a thump as his head fell back against it. I laid a hand on the door, pressing my cheek into the wood beside it.

It's now or never Piper.

"My name is Piper Page and I've been living with PTSD since I was almost thirteen years old. I watched my father kill my mother right in front of me, and then himself. I sat there alone and afraid for two days wishing he had just killed me too." The tears ran down my face, dripping to the door and down to a small puddle in the floor.

I took another deep breath, fighting back sobs that threatened to rack through me.

"Please Ty, open the door."

"I can't Piper, I can't look at you." His voice sounded broken, like he was crying just as much as I was. "It's too hard, I want you so badly. I can't watch as you reject me again. I can't watch as you tell me you could never love me the way you loved him."

I sighed, and more tears fell.

"That's the thing Ty, I didn't come back here last night to reject you. I came here to tell you I've realized something, and I would really like to say it to your face." My fingers traced the intricate carvings on the door, trying to force myself to keep it together just a little bit longer.

The door opened a crack, and I quickly stood to push it the rest of the way. Tyler was sitting in the floor with his back against the bed, knees drawn up to his chest, and his arms wrapped tightly around them. His face was buried between them.

I sat down beside him, resting a hand on his arm. He glanced up at me for a moment, eyes red and rimmed with tears, before turning away again.

I reached out, grasping his cheek and turned him to look straight at me.

"The thing is, I realized I didn't know what love was. I didn't know until I met you." My eyes burned into his, watching as the words washed over him without truly sinking in. "I realized that all along I didn't love Jack, he was my crutch. He was a way to put the past behind me and focus on something else instead of dealing with the pain by cutting myself."

Another tear fell down his cheek and I quickly swiped it away. It was starting to sink in, but it was almost as if he was afraid to hope for anything. I couldn't blame him with the way I had been towards him.

"Tyler I've never felt this way about anyone, and it scared me so I pushed you away because it was easier than facing up to the fact that I didn't understand what I was feeling. I never meant to hurt you, and I'm sorry that I made you feel like I didn't care, because I do care. I fucking care more than you'll ever know."

Ty leaned into my hand, nuzzling his face deeper into it. He reminded me of a cat, desperately seeking attention from its owner. I almost wanted to pet him, but that would be weird.

Tyler was even more fragile than I was, and I hadn't even realized it. All this time my rejections and taking things out on him was slowly breaking down his surface. Some people show it outwardly, but Tyler was good at hiding it.

"But?" He asked.

"But nothing. Just tell me you feel the same. Tell me you know there's something here between us. Tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it. Even if you want me to go away, I'll do it because I just want you to be happy. Even-" my voice cracked, showing all of my vulnerability in this moment, "even if it means I lose a part of myself in the process."

He grasped my face with both hands and brought my lips to his, kissing me hard and holding me there against him for several long moments.

I was breathless and I couldn't seem to form a single coherent thought if my life depended on it.

He pulled away and his forehead rested against mine, his breaths heavy with the desire that coursed through him for me. The same desire I had for him. There was no denying it now, I loved him. I loved him so much it physically hurt.

"All my life I have been lost. I've searched for a reason to keep going, to wait out the storm. I didn't truly know who I was until I thought I lost you. And in that moment when I thought I would never see you ever again, I realized that all along I had been waiting for you." He paused, letting it sink in.

"All my failed attempts at suicide, it was all because I was destined to meet you. When I thought it was over, I just wanted to die all over again because I didn't want to live without you. I can't even begin to say I understand it. Or even know what this is between us, but I do know that my heart has never felt about anyone, the way I feel about you." He leaned forward and kissed me again, his fingers tangling in my hair. After a moment he pulled away again and rested his forehead to mine.

"I do know that who I am without you is someone I don't want to be anymore. I don't want to hide behind the mask of lies anymore. I want to know the real you, and I want you to know the real me. I love you Piper. I love you so damn much it hurts." A smile spreads across his face, breaking through the tears and bringing immense happiness swelling in my chest until I thought I would burst.

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to respond to those three simple words. All I knew was I loved him too. And if this was what love was, then I was along for the ride.

"I love you too Ty. I don't even know what love is, but I know that I love you." I said, wiping at my own tears that seemed to never stop falling. "I want to know the real you too."

His legs sank to the floor, his hands patting his lap. I crawled into it, pushing back the hair that fell across his face.

I grasped his wrist in my hand, lifting it to my lips and kissing the scars there.

"You told me once we could be broken together, but I think what would be better is if we could fix each other. If somehow we could make each other whole again. I'd like to try to make you feel whole again, starting with telling you that nothing you can say to me will change how I feel about you. Nothing will make me run away again. I'm in this for the long run Ty."

His fingers caressed the skin on my back, rubbing slow gentle circles up and down my spine. His other hand turned in mine, caressing my cheek softly and tracing my lips.

"I like the sound of that."

I reached around my back, unhooking my bra and letting it fall to the floor. Ty traced a finger down my scar, murmuring how beautiful I was.

"Good then let's celebrate." I whispered.

*

I opened my eyes and smiled. Ty leaned on one elbow just staring down at me with the happiest look on his face.

"I love you." He said. "It will never get old to finally say that."

I laughed, tapping the end of his nose and leaning up for a kiss.

"It will never get old hearing it."

He smiled, pulling me on top of him and deepening the kiss. I was still naked from the night before, and I could feel his desire to have me again.

"This will never get old." He said, tracing his lips up my neck.

I shivered in his arms, goosebumps racing up and down my body as small sounds made their way out of my mouth.

"No it won't." I agreed.

He flipped me over, kissing a trail down my stomach, all the way down to the tops of my feet.

I laughed, because it tickled, but my laughs soon subsided when he kissed his way back up.

My thighs jumped as he stopped there, his tongue tracing a line to my center.

My eyes closed, fireworks bursting behind my lids as he pulled me over the precipice into oblivion.

It was slow yet fast, hard yet soft, a wonderful sensation that left me screaming for more. More of him. Then he was inside me, and together we made one. One beautiful couple who was whole and complete together.

Stars collided, bursting into beautiful colors as rainbows formed across every surface of my closed eyelids. Emotions came alive and danced all around me, pulling me under their spell and forcing light into every corner of darkness until there was no darkness left.

So this, this is what it feels like to make love.

"I love you Tyler Jonathan Scott." I cried out, clutching to him tightly as the last remnants of pleasure rode through me.

Ty laid beside me, holding my hand tightly as his own eyes closed and together we fell asleep in the most peaceful bliss neither of us had ever felt before in our lives.

Together we were whole. Together we would be okay. Together everything felt right.

*

"You play poker gorgeous?" Ty said, absentmindedly playing with my hand as we watched something on tv.

I had no idea what it was, because I hadn't been paying attention. I was lost to my own thoughts about how good it felt to finally feel free of the things that had bound me for so long. To finally feel like it was truly a part of my past.

I had been working with a counselor daily for a week now, sifting through my issues and learning how to put it all in the past and move forward. It hadn't been easy, but I faced my problems head on and Ty was with me every step of the way.

I hadn't left his apartment since that night, not wanting to spend my nights alone. Sophie was gone, only a note left on my desk as proof that she had even been there at all.

In it she said she was going to leave for a while to find herself and work on all the things she realized she needed to let go of because of me. She thanked me for helping her see just how broken she was, by letting her help fix me. She then promised to return again when the time was right.

I knew she would keep that promise. Sophie always kept her promises. I only wished she would allow me to be there for her the way she had been for me.

"Hmm?" I asked, leaving the recesses of my mind and turning to Ty.

"Poker? Do you play?"

"No, never have."

He smiled, bringing my hand to his lips to kiss.

"The guys wanna play. I have been cancelling on game night for too long now. Would you like to join us? I'd really like for you to get to know them. If you don't want to play, you can just sit in my lap and be my cheerleader." He smiled his cocky smile, winking at me as he yanked me into his lap. "Like this."

"I'd love to." I said, laughing as he squeezed my ass and leaned up for another kiss.

"Good. You will love them. They can be real assholes at first, especially Matt, but deep down they are decent guys. You just have to crack through all the bullshit that comes out of their mouths. Old habits die hard and all apparently."

The way he had talked about his friends over the past week had me nervous yet excited to finally get to know them. Despite all the shit talking they had done the first few times I met them, I could tell they meant more to him than he would ever let on. More than he would ever even tell them.

"Can't wait." I said, adding a smile so he would know that I wasn't being sarcastic.

"I'm kind of glad, because they will be here in five." He smacked my butt again, and my eyes widened. "You should probably get dressed."

I had grown used to lounging around his apartment in minimal clothing, and now was none the exception.

I jumped up, running to his room and sifting through the pile of clothing I had. He laughed as he came into the room and watched me dress.

"I love it when you panic. It's the cutest thing ever. Even cuter than when you pout or get angry. I love everything about you Piper. Every stupid little thing."

I crossed the room, stepping between his legs and wrapped my arms around his neck.

"I love every stupid little thing about you too Ty."

I leaned down for a kiss just as a knock sounded on the door.

We stayed there for a moment, ignoring the door and kissing. The knocks got louder and louder and finally Ty stood and walked towards the door.

"Coming, geez." He yelled.

"Ty?" I asked, before he could open the door.

"Yes love?"

"Whenever you are ready, I'm finally ready to share it all." I had been putting off telling him because until this moment I wasn't sure, but now I knew that I was. I was finally ready to show him the real me, just like he had asked me a week ago to do. I wasn't done healing by no means, but I figured telling him would only help the process.

Not to mention it would bring us even closer. A week ago Ty agreed that we would spill our secrets together, at the same time. I needed to deal with some things before I spilled, so that's what I had done. Now we could finally know every part of each other's lives and together we could move forward.

"Okay gorgeous. Me too."

He winked at me once more as he opened the door and ushered his friends inside, then he took my hand and pulled me over to formally introduce us.

"You playing tonight?" Matt asked.

"Nah, I'm just going to watch and refill the snacks and booze."

I walked to the fridge to get some beers, setting them on the table. Then I made my way into the small kitchen and started to prepare some food.

"Hey Piper?" Ty asked from across the room.

"Yeah?"

"You're beautiful."

Ugh! I know I said twenty chapters, well technically I said fifteen, but that didn't happen. I just couldn't finish it in one chapter. There's too much more to happen and it would be rushed and awful if I tried to fit it all into one. I'm just not good at this short story thing lol. So I'm thinking maybe three more to tie up all the loose ends and give it the ending it deserves. Bear with me.