is this really your escape?;; rex & piper
Waking up at 8 wasn't something that generally happened in the life of Piper, unless part of the management team was dragging her out and mumbling something about sound check time. When she was at home, she usually slept in until at least 12 after staying up 'till 3am in the morning. She assumed the boy drooling slightly on her couch had basically the same story, although for completely different reasons. They were from two different worlds, yet somehow had managed to become closer than Piper had anticipated. She seemed to become someone he went to whenever he had had a fight, or too much to drink or got hurt in some way. Which is exactly why he was sleeping on her couch, worn blankets strewn over his body. Blankets that always hung over the couch so she wouldn't have to dig them out to accommodate the countless times he'd appeared at her house at 3am, clutching a bloody elbow or nose or laughing at something or talking about something she couldn't make sense of.
When Piper stayed up 'till 3am, she was watching Clueless, How I Met Your Mother and old reruns of Friends. Falling asleep on her couch wasn't a totally foreign concept to her. It was nearly as familiar as her own bed.
When Rex stayed up 'till 3am, it was because he was partying, or at least that's what Piper had seen. Usually because that was around the time he stumbled into her apartment, waiting for the blonde to patch him up and fall asleep and let her tuck him in.
It wasn't any different the night before. Just as the darkness began to drink her in, an uneven, loud, thumping knock made her fall off of the couch with a terrified shriek. And she let the boy lean on her and laugh about something she wasn't listening to in her ear, she let him nearly pull her over as he stumbled, and she let him collapse on the couch as he still spoke. Eventually, she shushed him, promised no, I won't tell your mom, draped some blankets over him and muttered a fond “Goodnight” to the stupid boy. And he was stupid when it came to this.
So why did Piper so badly want to experience the world he came from?
That morning, she decided as she rolled from her bed with a groan to go check on him, she was going to speak to him about it. Not that him falling into her apartment every so often wasn't delightful, but she worried about him. Not that that was anything new. Piper was that way; a worrier, a wonderer, someone who over thought everything she did. In her mind, Rex was someone who needed worrying about.
“Morning, sleepy,” Piper muttered with a small smile as she nudged the boy 'till his eyes were open, until she was sure he was awake. “There's a bucket on the floor if you need it. Get it on my floor again and you'll be cleaning it up this time,” She teased lightly, picking the coffee and the water from the floor. “I got coffee, I got water. I've got some painkillers in the cupboard if you need me to go get them for you.” She smiled at him brightly as she offered him each of the cups before she sighed, smile drooping into her teeth snagging her bottom lip. It's not that she minded looking after him in this state, that was completely fine. It was how to go about it without sounding really condescending or something.
“Ok-Okay, here's the thing. Rex... It's not that I mind you coming here, 'cause I really don't. I don't mind patching you up when you've been an idiot,” She teased again, smiling slightly despite her thoughts running at a thousand miles a minute; even caring for a friend she was over-thinking. “It's just... All this drink and drugs and stuff is bad! Drugs are bad! Really, really bad, I can understand the drink, I guess, because at least that's legal. But the drugs just... And I don't like seeing you like that, I don't like-” The singer cut herself off, frowning, her face softening as she stared at the boy in something close to wonder, and not for the first time she wished she could see how his thought process worked. “It's like... How can you just... Not care if you hurt yourself? You just go out and do it, like... don't you think about it at all? Not in a bad way, just... Doesn't it worry you? That you get into fights and what could happen? I mean, I'd worry, you know that." The small blonde paused, a frown on her face. She'd gotten off topic - into a topic they'd discussed before. "But, um, moral of the story, drugs are bad. And drink is bad. I mean, you don't have to go out every night, right? Have you ever just tried staying home and watching some TV? I have some good films, stay and watch some here. I've got Clueless, c'mon! It's fun, I guarantee you. I mean, you won't be missing much from out there, would you?”
