It's the same old story every single time, and as he closes the door to his apartment -softly, because he's heard enough doors being slammed in the past hour- he knows it's as much his fault as it is hers. He sits on the floor because he can't bring himself to do more than that, he hasn't got the energy to move any further, he's too worn out. Fighting the exact same fight over and over is starting to drain him and this is not what he wanted to start when he kissed that gorgeous girl from the second floor. But the thing is, he knew since way before kissing her that she meant trouble and yet he started this and got tangled in her carefully crafted web that he now fears he'll never escape from. He still kissed her and let her push him away and bring him right back into his arms as if he was nothing but a toy. He learned quickly she fought and loved with the same passion and intensity, that she would grab his hand and drag him into whirlwinds only to suddenly drop him when he least expected it, letting him fall without looking back. And yet he stayed, because he wanted to know why, he was too fascinated to let go even when it hurt.After meeting her dad, he figured it out, the kind of things she'd been through that had left her with a heart so unwilling to love anyone back even when she wanted to. How she became the Piper he loves, terrible, beautiful Piper, a lost child craving love that she can't return, caught herself in a mix of feelings that make her dizzy and unable to focus enough on anything but the strongest one, the one that takes over her entire self and overwhelms her until she can't breathe, can't remember anything but her profound terror of putting herself out there only to be left alone. His phone starts ringing and he doesn't even need to look at it to know it's her, calling to apologize, say what an awful person she is and how she wishes she could be better for him, cry quietly on the other end of the line as he sits there knowing there's no way he can ever stay away when she keeps pulling him back in with a force stronger than gravity. He doesn't pick up right away. He waits, considers not picking up at all. But then he closes her eyes and sees her, knows exactly how tightly she's hugging his knees as she stares at her phone and re dials his number, digging her nails into her hand as she waits, and he can't do it. "Please don't leave me", she says, and he's heard it a thousand and one times before, can almost feel her hand on his shoulder just like that first time, spinning him around, pulling him back to her. "I could never," he replies and he hopes she knows how much he means it, but that she never finds out how much it weighs him to know it sometimes.
