Lost Girl

Days passed since Jake had asked Piper to be official with him. Since then, the two were impossible to pull apart from one another. Jake and Piper were seated together on the couch as his arm rested over her shoulder. She was cuddled into his side while he played with her blonde hair. She watched the television program before her, as she then felt Jake's eyes boring into her. She slowly turned to look at him as she laughed awkwardly.

"What?" She asked as he shrugged, smiling at her.
"Nothing." He told her, singing.
"Is there something on my face?" Piper asked, laughing softly.
"Nah." He replied, smiling wider.
"Then why are you staring at me?" She asked confused as he bit his lip.
"Can't a boyfriend just admire his girlfriend?" He asked, as he playfully acted insulted.

Morgan scoffed from the kitchen island as him and Ashley watched the two. Morgan rolled his eyes as Ashley began to speak.
"What's wrong?" She whispered as he played with his food.
"He's so stupid." Morgan laughed softly as Ashley nodded.
"But he's in love, look at them!" She chimed as Morgan agreed.
"Yeah, happy seeing him get back on his feet." Morgan confessed as Ashley took his hand in hers.

The two smiled at each other as Ashley leant over and kissed him softly on the lips before bringing their plates to the sink to clean. The boys had today off as they were leaving for Jake's hometown, Minnesota, the next day to play a game against the wild before setting off to California. The road tripe would go on for the week and the boys were dreading it. An idea had clicked into Morgan's head as he called for Jake.

"Jake!" Morgan yelled over as Jake turned his head and nodded.
"What's up?" He asked, still playing with Piper's hair as Morgan tried not to laugh at him.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Morgan asked, gesturing to his room.

Jake nodded and stood up as he walked with Morgan into his room. Morgan shut the door and turned to his best friend.

"Hey, I was thinking, why don't the girls tag along for the road trip? I know Ashley and I went away recently but Piper and you haven't gotten that choice yet, it would be fun!" Morgan encouraged as Jake let a smile grow onto his face.
"Yeah, that would be great! They'd just have to fly down separately and not on the flight with us." Jake sighed softly as Morgan nodded.
"The girls could ether drive or fly to Minnesota, and fly from there to California." Morgan spoke as Jake nodded.
"Okay, let's go ask the girls." Jake clapped his hands together and smiled his famous grin as they two walked out.

"Have fun, boys?" Jordan raised a brow as Ashley began to laugh from the coach beside her.

The boys rolled their eyes as Morgan flopped down beside Ashley, Jake pushing Piper playfully as she almost fell onto the wood floor. Morgan looked at Jake to begin speaking as he nodded, clearing his throat.

"So, Morgan and I were thinking, and we'd love to have you two come on the road with us for the next few games." Jake mentioned as Morgan continued.
"You could fly or drive to Minnesota then fly to California." Morgan added as the girls smiled at each other, then back to their boyfriends.
"Really?" Ashley asked as she looked up at Morgan.
"Of course, what do you guys think?" Morgan asked, looking from his girlfriend to the other couple on the couch.
"Hell yes!" Ashley chimed as Jake looked at Piper.
"What about you, babe?" He asked as she smiled awkwardly.
"Uh, Jake could I talk to you for a minute." She whispered as he nodded, his face showing total concern.

The two went into Jake's room as she sighed.
"I can't go.." She confessed as he raised a brow, a frown overcoming his face.
"How come?" He put a strain of her hair behind her ear as he admired her face.
"I can't miss work." She spat out quick, not wanting to tell him why she couldn't truly.
"Sure you can, just take a week off, you work all the time!" He laughed softly as she shook her head.
"I just can't miss work." She whispered as he sighed.
"I'm sure you can, Pipe.." He responded as she shook her head.
"Jake, I can't." She told him flatly as he raised a brow.
"Is it because you don't want to come?" He pushed as she threw her hands up in the air.
"No! I just can't take time off!" She cried as she ran a hand through her hair.
"Calm down, I just don't see how you can't take time off... Is it because you don't want time off or you can't.." He questioned before adding in. "Be honest."

Piper sighed as she continued to look down at the ground as she began to speak.

"I don't want to take time off." She confessed.
"How come?" He quizzed, growing concerned as she took a shaky breath, feeling like her world was coming down.
"Because I can't afford to." She spoke softly, making him unable to hear.
"What?" He asked as she cried.
"I can't afford to! Because I can't afford to miss work!" She confessed, her eyes swelling as she shook her head, feeling embarrassed more than ever.

Piper felt as if she let Jake down. She knew that being involved with Jake she would have to be the perfect girl for him, but the problem was her finance. She was in debt and was not in the position to buy luxurious things, especially a trip to California. Right now, she was focusing on working as many hours as she could in order to make enough money to pay back her student loans. She wasn't the girl that Jake needed in his high professional life and she knew it. She just couldn't admit it because she was in too deep with him already. Tears fell down her cheek as she walked out past Jake. He called after her as Morgan and Ashley watched. Ashley stood up to follow her, but she was out too quick. Piper walked out with her boots, sliding them on in the hall, as she went to the stairs and ran down the flights of stairs. She just couldn't live to face the rejection from Jake once he found out.

Meanwhile back upstairs, Jake rested his head in his hands as took a seat on the couch. He sat there, angry with himself for a reason he didn't know. Maybe he pushed her off the edge? He took a deep breath as Ashley stood over him, her hands resting on her hips.

"Well what did you do this time?" She quizzed, a smug look on her face of no impress.
"I don't even know!" He cried, sitting back as he rubbed his face in confusion.
"Well what did she say?" Ashley asked, sitting down next to Jake.

Jake had told her about everything that had went down in his room as Ashley understood her cousin's reasoning. Though Ashley knew that if she told Jake as to why Piper was upset, she would lose her cousins trust, so she decided against it. Not knowing really how to explain to Jake about her cousins position, she patted his leg.

"I'll talk to her, alright? Just don't push talking to her right now." She gave him a weak smile before looking over at Morgan who watched the two from the kitchen.

She stood up and walked over to Morgan, frowning as she put her hair behind her ear.
"I'm going to go talk to Piper, make sure he doesn't stress himself out, okay?" She told her boyfriend who nodded, a small smile appearing on his face.
"Call me later, alright?" He encouraged as she nodded.
"Alright, see you." She gave him a small peck on the lips before turning, grabbing her shoes and purse, and making her way out of the apartment, in hopes to find her cousin.

Notes