In Your Eyes

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(Two Weeks Later)

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"…seventy-one…seventy-two…seventy-three…seventy-four…"

"Keep going, babe, almost there."

James held on to Ali's sneakers from his kneeling position, watching and helping her through her workout. He had the day off, but would need to be at a promotion later that evening with the team. Until then, he and Ali decided to do a circuit type of workout together just for the hell of it.

"Fuck!"

"You got this, Als."

Ali grit her teeth and kept forcing herself up to her knees and back down again. Her abs were burning and her face was dripping with sweat. She saw James' steady face in front of her and felt his weight forced onto her feet to keep her still.

"Come kiss me."

Ali sat up and touched her knees. "Eighty."

"Pretend like you want some tongue."

She hit the floor and came back up again. "Eighty-one."

James facially shrugged. "No love from my girl. None." He smiled as Ali flung upwards again then went back to the floor, still counting off. Her face was all focused and cute, and he tried not to distract her too much. It was hard not to. In just a pair of purple Nike shorts and a lime green sports bra, James found it much more difficult to keep his eyes off her bare midriff.

"…Ninety……one….."

"Push it."

"…Ninety…..two……FUCKTHISSUCKS…"

James grinned. "You make me happy, you know that?"

Ali exhaled and placed her hands over her face out of exhaustion. James tapped her knees.

"Eight more - don't give up now!"

"Uggghhhhh…." Ali threw herself upwards until her elbows touched her knees and then went back down again.

"Ninety-three" James said for her. "Seven more." He watched her squeeze out the final sit-ups, his smile growing with every one she completed until they were all done. When she hit one hundred, she fell backwards onto the floor of their living room, gasping for air. James let go of her feet but stayed kneeling, watching her chest-heaving breaths take over.

"Fuck you" Ali said with a small laugh.

James' mouth fell open. "Fuck ME?"

"For being good at this!"

"Ohhhhh……Oh I'll take that then, yes…fuck me…" He smirked, arms folded over his chest. Reaching behind him, he grabbed her water bottle and handed it to her. "A well-deserved drink, I would say. Good job. Kicked that part of the circuit's ass like I knew you would."

Ali lay there still, panting and trying to drink at the same time.

James watched her proudly. "Plus - I love it when you get all angry like that."

"Horny bastard" she said between breaths. She lifted her head enough to give him a smile, then lay back down again, too tired to move.

"Don't get too comfy - we have push-ups next."

Ali let out another groan and let her legs fall to one side on the floor. James couldn't help but laugh; she was entirely too cute and she had no idea she was at that moment.

Reaching out weakly, slightly exaggerating her weakness, she gripped at the hem of his shorts. "Have mercy on me….dearest husband…..have mercy…"

"Pffft." James got down to where he was eye level with Ali on the floor, and her hand went to his face, feeling around like she was blind.

"I'm too exhausted to continue…I must lie here all day and not move…."

"You're ridiculous!" James took Ali's hand and kissed it. "And it's not working, by the way."

"Damn." Ali dropped her hand with a smirk. "I tried."

James kissed her hand again, then gave it back to her. "We don't have to keep going--"

"--Oh yes we do!"

He moved his head back slightly. "Well damn! Okay." Watching Ali take a drink of water, he couldn't help but focus on her mouth this time. She was the perfect little package of fit and sexy in that moment, and if he didn't watch himself,his package would be perfectly erect. He groaned and rolled onto his stomach, his face pressed into the area rug.

"Tired?" Ali asked. She poured a little water from her bottle onto the back of James' head, which he swatted at furiously.

"THE HAIR, Ali."

"Sorrrryyyy……" She rolled her eyes and smiled. "After this, we still on for lunch?"

"A quick one."

His words came out muffled because his head was still pressed into the rug. Ali rolled onto her stomach and tapped him on the head. "Say again, Mumbles?"

James lifted his head, his eyes bright and his grin wide. "A quick one. I have the promo tonight."

"Ohhhh…that's right. OH - are wives supposed to go?"

"Not this time."

"Whew." Ali looked around, spotting the textbooks on the coffee table she needed to crack open at some point that day to study. She had an exam in two days and she was procrastinating. Badly. "Guess it'll be just me and the books tonight."

"Until I get home." James rolled onto his back, pulling Ali with him. She lay across him awkwardly, but shifted a bit so that she was at least straddling James and sitting up. Their fingers laced together, arms lazily moving as one.

"Is that my warning?" she teased.

James nodded.

Ali leaned on his arms, their hands still clasping one anothers'. Her butt rested on the upper part up his thighs, given how tall he was. If she scooted just a hair north….

"And just what is that a warning for?"

James saw the smirk that followed, so he knew Ali was all over his motives for later. "As if I need to tell you."

"Baby making?"

James laughed. "Don't call it that…."

"Why!?!?" Ali watched James take his hands away from hers and she sat on his legs, dumbfounded. "What? Really?"

"It's weird."

Ali frowned. "Weird?" She had to think for a second to figure out where this conversation went from fun to 'weird'. She noticed James had turned his head to the side now, his eyes directed away from hers. "Hey. Is something up?"

"No."

She made a face at him. "You're a terrible liar. Always have been."

James smirked at this. "You know me too well."

"So what's wrong?" Ali felt rather concerned at the change in James in those few short minutes. It wasn't like him to go from being completely playful to full-on serious unless something was really bothering him. "If 'baby making' grosses you out or whatever, I promise not to--"

"--Naaaah, it's not that, really" he replied, sounding as if he was disgusted with himself. He brought his eyes up to meet the dark brown of Ali's, who were looking at him from her seated position on his legs. "How long has it been since we decided to try doing this?"

"Getting pregnant?"

"Yeah. How long since the doctor's appointment."

Ali shrugged, trying to think. In the meantime, James linked his fingers back into hers as they had been before. "I don't know…I guess almost two months?"

"And you're not pregnant."

She laughed. "I….don't think so?"

He nodded, feeling just as dejected as he did before. When Ali didn't say anything, he cautiously brought his eyes back to her, and there she sat: her brows bent unhappily.

"You're worried" she said flatly. "James…"

"I know, I know - it takes time."

His arms went limp and Ali let go of his hands. She felt a whirlwind of emotion at that moment, so she leaned forward and took James' face in her hands, the hair about his mouth rough against her skin. "No one said it was going to be done in a jiffy" she said softly. "So don't go blaming yourself for any part of this. It's only been two months."

James felt stupid, but it was on his mind more and more. Maybe he was overreacting, but this meant the world to him. From start to finish, he had to show Ali that he could do this; that he wanted to do this. The problem was the waiting. He knew he had never been great at being patient; he lived most of his life in fast forward…and this seemed to have been going in the same direction.

With her thumbs, Ali brushed across the soft rise of James' lips. She wished there was more she could do, but all she could do was be as patient as she could be right along with him. "We're in this together, right?" She saw him nod, his frown slowly turning upwards. "I'm just as impatient as you, babe. I just don't show it as much."

"I'm excited." The corner of his mouth lifted shly. "Crazy, I know."

Ali loved him. She loved him from his weird, long toes all the way up to the hair that was neither ginger nor brown on the top of his head. She ran a hand through that hair, still damp from the sweat of their workout. "I am too. Just…….just calm your tits, James."

He laughed so hard he nearly knocked Ali off his body with the rumble of laughter. She grabbed his hands again, their fingers lacing, even as he continued to laugh. He looked at Ali out of the corner of his eye as if she might say something else to crack him up all over again. Instead, she simply sat on his legs, looking happy.

"At least I got you to smile again" she said.

He lifted himself up into a sitting position, balancing Ali in his lap. He kissed her, smiling all the way through the kiss. "You always do."

"Mmmm…" Ali broke the kiss that followed, enjoying the sweetness in it. "I could kiss you all day."

"Can't."

She cocked her head. "And why the hell not?"

"Push-ups are next." James kissed her forehead. "Up and at 'em Lady Neal!"

With a very happy groan, Ali rolled off of him, ready to tackle the rest of their workout.

* * *

"Ready, bud?"

"Ready!"

Bailey threw his Penguins hat on, the one that Piper had picked up for him the last time she was in Pittsburgh, and grabbed his small piece of luggage. He was halfway to barrelling out the front door, but Piper intercepted him with one arm.

"Easy, Bailey - you'll run out of steam before we even get there!"

He was laughing the entire time she said this, entirely too excited to contain himself. It was his first trip somewhere alone with his big sister, and while Piper knew he would be excited to go to Montreal to see a live hockey game, she never knew he would be this excited.

"You know where you're going?" David asked her. "Got your route all planned out?"

"Yes, Dad."

"Check your oil?"

She looked at him and smiled. "For the fourth time today, yes."

"Good." He gave her a quick wink, happy to see his daughter smile.

April came out of the back of their home, carrying an extra tiny jacket. "Here - you better take this."

Bailey was stomping his feet, rearing to go and not having any of these last minute questions from his parents. Piper rubbed his head as she took the jacket from her mom. "What's this?"

"Just a rain jacket…you know….just incase." She smiled a worrisome smile. "Don't stay out too late with him."

"I'm not planning on staying out at all once the game is over."

April looked at her smartly. "You're not going to just leave him in a hotel room while you go over to Si--"

"No no no noooooo, Mom. This trip is as much about Bailey as it is about anything else" Piper protested, half laughing in the absurdity of the question. "Besides, it's only one night. Try not to worry too much, okay?"

"Okay." April looked up at David, who wrapped his arm around his wife lovingly.

"You two have fun" he said. "Cheer loud, okay Bailey?"

"I will, Dad! Bye Mom!" With that, the boy was already down the porch steps to the driveway.

Piper looked over sympathetically at her mom and dad. "I'm all over this. No worries, right?"

"No worries" they both said.

"Good. Good." She turned to leave, but not until she put her own Penguins hat on. "See you soon."

"Have fun!" April said, and then the front door closed. A few minutes later, Piper and Bailey were on their way.

It was a seven hour drive from Bar Harbor to Montreal and luckily for Piper, her brother slept through half of it. They left before the sun was even up, which helped them to get a leg up on the drive. The game was that night, and she had plans to get them to the city long before the puck dropped. Her estimated arrival time was around 2 in the afternoon, which gave them ample time before the 8 pm puck drop.

Besides this being a fun trip for both her and Bailey, the trip was also serving two purposes: one, so she could visit with Sid on one of his road trips, which she'd never done before, and two…..so she could tell Bailey she planned on moving to Pittsburgh.

She didn't know how she was going to do it, and she didn't know when she was going to do it…but she knew it had to be done on this trip. In all honesty, Piper had no clue if there was going to be a 'good time' versus a 'bad time'. She was scared of what her brother's reaction might be: would he hate her for leaving? Would he be sad his only sibling was moving so far away? Would he not care at all?

Even she didn't know what her own reaction would be when she told him. Her parents had been just as her father said they'd be: supportive, and they never once blinked an eye when she brought it up to them. Somehow, they both seemed to already be expecting it. Maybe David had told April all of it once Piper had gone to him with her concerns a month ago. She really didn't know, and she wasn't going to worry about it.

Once she told Bailey - then the hardest part was yet to come: how she'd tell Dani, Amy, and Robin.

Piper flicked the music on the minute her thoughts went in that direction. She needed to stay in the moment, enjoy this trip with her brother, and make sure he had the time of his life. Any thoughts about her future commitments would be waiting for her on the other side of the trip.

When the pair stopped because Bailey had to pee, Piper picked up a few items at the convenience store where they stopped. They were now in northern New Hampshire, with just under half the trip left to go. After Piper checked out and went back outside to the car, she checked her phone for any messages…only to find she had several from Sidney already:

6:30am S:How's the progress?

6:45am S:Must be on the road as we speak. :) Be careful and let me know when you're in town. We're here already, ready to skate. Can't wait to see you.

11:19am S:Really love playing hard to get, don't you, baby? Jk. Skate went well. Still no headache. Miss you.

A smile spread across Piper's face subconsciously as she read his messages, realizing how excited he sounded for her to be coming. Since he returned to the ice with no signs of his lingering headaches and cleared all post-analysis of his minor concussion, Sid was as happy-go-lucky as Piper had ever seen him. It was evident whenever they face-timed at night. He was more giggly-Sid than serious-Sid, and Piper was happy to see it. However, after nearly two weeks of nothing butface-timing and phone calls, it was high time she got an eyeful of her not-so-tall but very dark and handsome captain live and in the flesh.

When Bailey emerged and was ready to go, Piper tossed him a package of his favorite candy, cherry red Twizzlers, and they set off on their journey once more. As they headed out onto the highway, Piper clicked on the bluetooth speaker within her car.

"Wanna talk to Sid?" she asked Bailey.

"Are you going to call him?"

"Yeah - you can say hi, okay?" Piper looked at her kid brother, who was smiling from ear to ear.

"Okay." He sat forward, waiting as Piper spoke the name of who she needed her phone to dial. Soon enough, the dial tones were heard, one at a time, until finally…the familiar, deep voice picked up.

"Heyyyyy, there she is."

"HI SID."

Bailey practically yelled his greeting into the speaker. Piper started to laugh as she pushed her brother back away from the speaker where the mic was.

"Sorry about your eardrums there. Got an excited little kid alongside of me."

Sid was chuckling; his voice calm and collected. "I hear that. You there Bailey? Excited for tonight?"

"YES - I can't wait to wear the jersey you got me!"

"What do you say to Sid?" Piper asked, a smirk crawling across her face. I hate how much I sound like my own mother.

"Thank youuu" he echoed.

"You're welcome. It was the least I could do" Sid replied. "And how's my girl doing?"

"She's good." Piper gripped the wheel happily. Even across the tinny-sounding speaker system, Sid's voice could literally melt the panties right off her. "I just got your messages at our last bathroom break. Sorry I got them so late."

"No worries, we were pretty busy all morning anyway. Just wanted to see how much longer I have to wait before I get to see you."

The bad part about a bluetooth speakerphone was the noise that was picked up from the background of whoever you spoke to. Even now, Piper could hear loud male voices in the background, laughing and carrying on.

"Sounds like a party there - or is it just this speakerphone?" she teased.

"Ohh trust me, it's just the phone." A little bit of rustling was heard, and some of the background noise diffused. "That better?"

"Much." Though her eyes remained on the highway, Piper's mind always liked to paint a picture of what Sid might be doing, or what he might look like, wherever he was when they were on the phone together. It was a little trickier to do while driving, but she found herself imagining him in a lobby somewhere, dressed in a suit and never looking more delicious than he did when he donned a tie.

"So how much longer is my wait?" Sid asked. Despite his ability to remain consistently in control of himself, there was still just a hint of longing in his voice when he posed the question.

"About another two hours. I'll phone you then?"

"Shoot a text instead - I may be out to dinner with these guys, or better yet napping."

"Got it, Mr. Routine Man." This got another chuckle out of him.

"I'll get you back for that."

"I'm sure you will" she replied sassily. "We're hanging up now, Kiddo - any final words before he heads to his game?"

"I hope you score a lot tonight, Sidney" Bailey said, looking at Piper for approval. "Like at least 10 goals."

"Wow - I, uh….I'll see what I can do for ya, how's that sound?" Sid was trying not to laugh, but it was clearly audible he was failing. "What if I can only get one or two in the net?"

"That's cool too, I'll still like you" Bailey answered.

Both Piper and Sid busted out laughing.

"Aaaannnnd with that, we'll talk to you later" Piper replied, gazing lovingly over at her brother. "Miss you, baby."

"Miss you more. See ya, Bailey."

"Good luck tonight!"

Piper hit the 'end' button on her steering wheel, feeling extremely good about the night that lay ahead.

* * *

Bailey munched on nachos in his seat next to Piper in the section where Sid had gotten them tickets. Piper insisted, since she was with her brother, that they not sit in any club suites. She wanted to blend in as best she could, if only for her brother's sake. The fewer eyes drawn to them, the better.

So in Section 101, towards the top and in the middle, Piper and Bailey sat in anticipation of the Penguins playing the Canadiens for the first time in regular season. Even though Piper said no club seats, Sidney still pulled out the best tickets he could while honoring Piper's request of blending in: he got them dead center ice, on the side behind the players benches. While they were still a ways up, it wasn't a bad seat at all.

When the team came out for warm-ups, Bailey ditched the nachos and stood up so he could see his hero skate down below.

"I see him! I see him!" Bailey's voice was drowned out by the warm-up music, but was bursting with all of his excitement. "Do you see him, Piper?"

"I do see him" she replied with a smile. She crunched on the leftover nachos her brother discarded her way the minute he saw Sid hit the ice.

"Can we go down?"

"Not now, bud."

Bailey frowned. "Why not? There's all kinds of people down there - look!"

"I see 'em, but we should just stay up here, okay?"

The boy seemed temporarily deflated, but kept his eyes on the ice, watching as the Penguins in their white jerseys zipped by. Puck after puck was aimed towards the net, often hitting the glass, and just as often not. Every time the loudthunk of rubber was heard on the glass, Bailey giggled. Piper thought it was humorous. Her brother's laughter was her everything; his happiness and enjoyment was the main reason why she planned the trip.

As many of the players spread out on the ice to stretch, Piper let her eyes linger on Sidney. Somehow, helmet and all, his skin was flawless, a single curl perfectly placed over his forehead that lead her gaze straight down to the brown of his eyes, alert and focused. He smiled at Malkin who stretched next to him, and Piper's smile was a reflex to his. When his face lit up, hers did too.

As Sid knelt forward on one knee, stretching the leg that was extended behind him, Piper found herself mentally undressing each layer of his bulky uniform and the padding beneath to the solid thighs she knew existed there. He strength was compact and coiled; his body an engine for his strength.

It turned Piper on.

In fact, she didn't realize just how many nachos she ate in the time that she had been staring at Sid stretching…so when she reached for another chip - that's when she noticed they were gone.

Oh great. There goes my workout, she thought as she set the empty plastic container under her seat. No more staring when there's food around.

The goal horn sounded and the two teams slowly exited the ice one by one. Piper noticed James stuck around out on the ice a little longer than most. He gathered a few pucks and hit them towards the net, skating in lazy circles around until the clock counted down to 0:05 seconds. He glanced up as the buzzer signaled the end of warm-ups. He took a final turn and went towards the tunnel that lead to their locker room. Glancing up, he gave Piper and Bailey a little wave, then down the tunnel he went. Behind waited Sid, who also looked up in Piper's direction. He didn't wave, but he did give them both a smile, which sent Bailey into a fit of joyous applause.

*

For Piper's first away game, it was a fun one. The Pens were the first to score, with Kris Letang getting a shot off a face-off that sent all the Pens fans in the crowd into an excited tizzy. After some time went by, the Canadiens scored. There were a few penalties sprinkled in here and there, which made Bailey almost fly off his seat more than once at the closeness of some of the shots on goal. Even Piper was out of her seat a few times, cheering and screaming whenever some of the opposing players got all over Sidney so much he couldn't even shoot the puck.

"Why are they always on him like that?" Bailey asked, eyes glued to the action on the ice.

"Because he's good, that's why." She couldn't help the amount of bitterness in her tone, but she didn't have to know hockey well to know that was their tactic this game.

A whistle blew and the Montreal fans started boo'ing the referees. Sidney was glaring at someone on the other team, his eyes dark and his brow bent in irritation. Piper watched him say something very pointedly in the direction of that player, his gloved hand removing his mouthguard so he could shout
more clearly.

Bailey shook Piper's arm. "Are they fighting?" The way he said it made it sound as if he couldn't believe two hockey players could possibly fight.

"They're not happy with each other" she said, hesitant to pull her eyes from the ice. To her, it looked like the Montreal player was the one getting the penalty for something he must have done to Sid.

Damn I wish I knew this damn game better, she said to herself.

"What are they fighting about?" Bailey asked. "Is Sid okay?"

"He's fine."

He wasn't, though. Not totally. Piper saw him move away from the ref to get in the face of the Montreal player to say a few more choice words. More of the crowd was getting increasingly vocal over this as well, especially the hometown fans. The giant screens that were suspended above center ice now had a zoomed in image of the two players verbally going at it, while two refs stood between them. As the Montreal player was led to the penalty box and Sid skated back to the bench, Piper saw the image on the screen change………………..to an image of her and Bailey.

"Fuck" she said under her breath. How the fuck did they see me? She had to immediately control every muscle in her face though; she couldn't frown like she wanted, not now, not since they found her.

"Hey!! It's us, Piper!!" Bailey started to wave around him, and the people sitting closest to them looked over with big smiles on their faces.

Piper gave a polite smile while leaning over to her brother. "Let's not wave, okay? We don't need--"

"How old is he?"

Piper looked over at the middle-aged woman sitting next to her. She had a large Montreal Canadiens jersey on, and her accent was thick with a French cadence. She'd been sitting next to her the whole night, but never once said anything until now. "I'm sorry?"

"Your child" the woman repeated. "How old is he?"

"Oh…..Oh, no - this? This is my brother, actually" Piper said, realizing now that she thought she was Bailey's mother. She held her hand beside her mouth in order to shield Bailey out. "He was an Ooopsie baby, if you know what I mean."

"Ahhhh…" The woman nodded slowly. She pointed up at the screen. "This true?"

Piper looked up and saw the ever-familiar title Sidney Crosby's girlfriend attached to her name beneath her live image. The whole thing wigged her out a little; seeing herself live on a television, her brother waving beside her. "Ahhh yes, that is true, yes."

"You with that little crybaby?" The woman let out a roar of a laugh, then dabbed at the corner of her eyes. "Ahhhhh….Mon ami, I do not pity you."

Piper was taken aback by the insult. "Crybaby!?"

"Oui! You see? You see his game?" She waved her hands in disgust. "Doesn't get his way? He cries."

Between the next whistle that sounded down on the ice, the image of her and her brother (which was finally gone and back to focusing on the hockey players), and the woman insulting her boyfriend to her face -- Piper needed to leave.

"Come on, Bailey." She grabbed her brother's hand.

"Wait! Where are we going?" Bailey's face scrunched with confusion. The crowd started to boo again, and more players were getting into one another's faces. "They're about to go 5 on 3, Piper!"

"I don't care. Come on."

She excused herself down the aisle opposite the woman who had made fun of Sidney, pulling her kid brother behind her, much to his protest. Up the aisle they went until they made it into the hallway where a lot less people were gathered. The air, alone, helped Piper to think and breathe easier.

"Why did we leave?" Bailey was looking back towards where they came, but was also trying to keep up with Piper. "Can we go back please?"

She was putting her hair up into a ponytail, thinking of a strategy. "Sorry, I just needed air, and I'm afraid to let you sit there all by yourself." Think, Piper. Breathe. Calm. Her words meant nothing. Breathe.

Bailey stood as patiently as he could. He knew the drill with his sister, and he knew better than to talk back to her, but he was more than confused. He hadn't heard what the woman said, and he didn't understand why he was on the screen in the middle of the arena.

"Are we famous now?" he whispered to Piper.

Piper giggled. "What?"

"We were on the screen. Does that mean we're famous?"

"Ohhhh….Oh, buddy, no…not quite famous" she said, hugging him close. "Maybe just stars for a quick minute."

"Can I get a drink?"

Piper smiled. Thank God kids move quickly. "Yeah, what would you like?"

They went over to the nearest vendor so Bailey could get something, and Piper used the time they stood in line to think of what she needed to do. She didn't want to leave the game, but she didn't want to sit next to that woman and listen to her hateful and downright incorrect insults. Piper was also worried that more than one person might think Bailey was her son and not her brother….and would that reflect badly on Sid?

"Who cares" she said under her breath. Her mouth was tense and her jaw was slightly clenched at the mere thought. I brought my brother here to enjoy himself; I can't worry about this stuff. I can't. It'll drive me nuts for as long as I'm with Sidney if I worry about what anyone thinks.

With this in mind, Piper paid for Bailey's drink and they headed back to their seating section. She let Bailey lead the way, reminding him to be careful not to spill anything on anyone in the process.

When they were seated, she saw the score was tied again. The Pens must have scored while they were out in the hall, and it made her feel a little upset she'd missed it. Bailey didn't seem to mind, and they had a whole period left to watch.

Just ignore it all. Remember why you're here. Ignore all else.

Next to her, the lady in the jersey was smirking. Piper ignored it. She watched the game as if she were back in Pittsburgh, as if it were her ice, her town, her home team. Nothing else mattered.

"You missed your sweet little Crybaby score--"

"Excuse me" Piper said, controlling every muscle in her face once again. She had no idea if any cameras were on her or not, so she had to do this correctly. "I don't appreciate you calling anyone 'crybaby', especially the one person who could make every person on your team cry if he cared to. And didn't he win a gold medal for you? You are from Canada, right?"

This shut the woman up. She settled into her seat, her eyes flared with anger but her face never giving way to it. Piper could see she'd been effective, though. That was all she wanted.

"Enjoy the game" Piper said finally, and then ignored her the rest of the time she sat there.

* * *

Notes