Chapter Text
~ PIPER ~
Piper McLean should’ve been worried about being sent back to her room or given extra chores for being out in the hall past curfew, assuming she was caught. Yet here she was, walking confidently from her room to the other end of the floor, marching up to the hall monitor and tapping on his shoulder.
The Wilderness School employee should’ve been surprised and unhappy to see her and yet she trusted he wouldn’t be. Against the odds, she trusted that she’d be able to convince him that she should be there and he shouldn’t question it. In fact, he should forget he even saw her. She trusted this because she’d done it before.
She flashed him a smile and quietly, quickly, let him know he really ought to take a bathroom break. She’d been sent to remind him. That was all.
Relief broke over his features as though he’d been holding a full bladder for hours. He thanked her, pivoted on his heal, and headed the other direction.
Not that she cared about this place or had much compassion for its employees, but she did feel a slight twinge of guilt about using her ‘abilities,’ or whatever they were. She reminded herself that she was in control. It wasn't a danger to anyone she cared about. Before the hall monitor could return, Piper slipped into the dorm room belonging to Leo Valdez, one of her only friends in ‘armpit Nevada’ as Leo called it.
She knew Dylan, Leo’s roommate, was currently staying overnight in the nurse’s office, recovering from a fight he’d picked with one of the other kids. Which was just as well to Piper because the guy never knew when to quit hitting on her. She rolled her eyes just thinking about it.
Light-footed as a shadow, she crossed the room to Leo’s desk, where he was sitting, faced away from her, tinkering—he always had to be doing something with his hands. The light of his desk lamp, an amber pool in the dark room, made Leo look fiery at the edges. She clamped a hand over Leo’s mouth to stop him from yelling as she inevitably startled him. She swore she felt the heat of his panic on his skin like he had a fever. He was burning up.
He flinched violently, whirling around in his chair, fighting off her grip. He slumped against the desk with relief when he realized it was her. He glared at her.
“Jeez Pipes,” he hissed. “Were you trying to give me a heart attack? What if I had punched you or flipped you because I thought you were the enemy?”
“The enemy?” Piper’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “Please, Leo, you’re not really the hand-to-hand combat type.”
“Whatever. Wait! What are you doing in here? You’re going to get us in trouble!”
“I didn’t think you cared about that. Besides, I can reason with anybody. You know that.”
“You mean like how you sweet-talked those car salesmen into letting you walk off the lot with those brand new models?”
Piper pinched his arm.
“Ow! Hey! Do you deny it?”
Piper looked down. She sighed. “Leo, I want to go home.”
“You miss your Dad?”
They’d had a lot of conversations during their time at the Wilderness School, as ‘delinquent’ youths, to get to know one another. Leo knew all about her mega-movie star father, Tristan McLean. How Piper had only done what she had to get him to pay more attention to her as his only child.
Piper nodded. “How can he spare the time to research this place and make arrangements to send me here, but he can’t spend time with me?”
“I mean he probably had his assistant do it, right?”
Piper shot him a withering look.
“Crap I didn’t mean to say that. I’m sorry. That’s not exactly comforting.” Leo slid from the desk chair and sat on the carpet. He ran his hand over its surface, rough like low-grade sandpaper.
Piper joined him, rolling his chair to the side, so they both sat with their backs to the desk.
“Are you looking forward to our field trip tomorrow?” she asked Leo, sarcastic again.
“Oh. Yes. Our field trips are always so educational—I love them. I’m always counting down the days until the next one. Can’t believe we only do one a week.”
Giggling, Piper nudged Leo’s shoulder with her own.
He started laughing at her amusement, but suddenly stilled and put a finger to her lips. “Shhh. If they hear us—“ He let his hand drop.
“When did you become the responsible one?” she whispered. She shivered, thinking about how Leo had touched her face.
Crossing his arms, Leo frowned. “You wound me. I’m plenty responsible.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“When it matters,” added Leo, softly.
She softened. “I’m glad you’re with me in this place, Leo. I don’t know what I’d do by myself. I mean, of course I don’t wish you were here. This is an awful place to be, but selfishly—“
Leo beamed. “You’re allowed to be selfish for once, Beauty Queen. I’m glad you’re here, too. In case that wasn’t already obvious by my being a thorn in your side day in and day out.”
“You’re not!” The implication that she was unselfish or any more so than anyone else made Piper squirm. Under her breath she muttered that she was in fact very selfish. Too selfish.
Leo made a show of cupping a hand to his ear and leaning closer to her. “I’m sorry. Didn’t catch that.”
She laughed again. “I said that I’m plenty selfish, so I don’t know how you got all these ideas about my moral superiority.”
It was Leo’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “I didn’t say anything about morality. Just—you can stand to let yourself do what you want to do, more than you do. That’s all.”
Piper felt her cheeks go hot. She looked away from Leo, though she felt his gaze on her.
He continued. “You restrain yourself. I can tell. It’s like you think you’re going to do something bad.”
She felt almost angry with Leo for reading her so clearly. Despite his tendency to humor and brash self-assuredness—both coping mechanisms she had learned—he could be serious and very perceptive. Her lip trembled. “I do not,” she protested.
He gave her an unimpressed look.
“Leo!”
He grinned. “Yes, Piper?”
She swatted at his shoulder. “Take it back.”
“No.”
She pouted at him, trying to pour as much emotion into her eyes as possible. She was a pitiful puppy. Leo had to see it her way.
Leo put a hand up, to cover his face. “No!” he said again, though there was something off with his voice.
She grabbed his hand away from his face and held it with both of hers in her lap. “I am selfish, Leo Valdez. I do things that I want. I’m not all restrained or whatever else you said.”
For some reason, Leo was breathing hard as if he had been engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Piper rather than merely sitting across from her, his hand in hers. He swallowed. “Prove it. In the next 24 hours, you have to do something—whatever you want—without overthinking it. Without talking yourself out of it.”
“And you’re the judge are you? You have to be around when it happens, then?”
“Y—yes.” Leo still hadn’t moved his hand.
Piper could feel his rapid pulse through his wrist. She realized just how close they were sitting. Without overthinking it. Without talking herself out of it. She surged forward and kissed Leo. She dropped his hand and moved hers to his face, thumbing over his cheekbones before threading her fingers through his hair.
When she finally pulled back, breathless, Leo said, “Piper. What are you doing?” He sounded dazed and far away.
She felt her stomach drop faster than on a rollercoaster. She snatched her hands away from Leo, trembling. Shit. He hated her now. She’d made him uncomfortable. She’d ruined the only friendship she had here. Choking on tears, “I’m sorry. Leo, I’m sorry.”
He seemed to follow her as if magnetically drawn, leaning toward her, almost closing the distance between them again.
She turned away, sitting on her trembling hands, burning with embarrassment for reading the situation entirely wrong. She felt the thud of Leo’s forehead against her back.
His voice sounded strained when he said, “If you wanted to kiss me, you should’ve asked.”
“Jesus. Leo, you told me to not overthink it. Fuck. I’m sorry. I—you’re right,” said Piper, her voice shrinking as she spoke. She had been so stupid. How had she just assumed that would be alright? That Leo would want that just because she did?
“Right. I just didn’t realize you were going to do your charm thing. I know I joked about it before, but now that I know what it feels like, I’m starting to feel sorry for those other guys.”
Piper whirled around and Leo nearly fell over. “Charm thing?” Realization dawned and her eyebrows skyrocketed behind her bangs. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Eyes widening, Leo whistled. “You didn’t realize you were doing it, did you?” She saw now that he looked more alert and relaxed than he had only moments before.
She shook her head vigorously. “Leo, I’m so fucking sorry.”
Leo rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s alright.”
“No, it’s not! See!! This is why I can’t be selfish. This is why I have to be restrained. I’m a danger to others,” wailed Piper.
“It was a kiss, Pipes. You’re not a ticking time bomb.”
She was crying. What was wrong with her? “But I still made you do something you didn’t want to do. I’m such a terrible person and friend.” She swallowed, trying to regain control of herself.
“Ask me.”
She hiccuped. “What?”
“You’re not doing it now. I can tell. So ask me.”
She hiccuped again. Though she figured it would only add to her growing humiliation, she thought she owed Leo this after whatever had just happened. “Would—would you want to kiss me?”
“Yes.”
She startled. “What?”
“You really don’t need special powers for that, Beauty Queen. Not where I’m concerned.” Leo leaned forward again, tilted his head slightly, and kissed her.
She hiccuped against his mouth. Shit.
She felt Leo jerk away from her and saw him collapse onto the carpet, clutching his stomach. Immediately alarmed, she reached out to him, but then realized he was doubled over in laughter. She started giggling too, hiccuping every so often.
When he finally recovered, he sat up. He smiled softly at her. “You should probably go back to your room anyway. Gotta rest up for the Grand Canyon tomorrow. I have a feeling, it’s going to be a life-changing experience.”
She snorted, rolling her eyes. “Oh, I’m sure.”