be more convincing, more final if she could be staring into Bobby’s eyes as she spoke, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She thought if she raised her eyes and looked at him, she’d see his heart being pulled from his chest, and she couldn’t stand to think of him hurting.
He didn’t dissect her words about morals and convictions or try to argue his way to the truth. He grabbed his things from her desk and quietly made his way to the door of her bedroom. He dropped his head, and rubbed at his eyes, clearly feeling like he was out of options. “When I go, you need to understand that’s it for us. I won’t stand by and watch you put yourself in danger. If I walk out this door right now, you’re on your own. That goes for Betty and Jules, too.” He was facing away from her as he spoke.
“You really think they’ll just stop talking to me because you tell them to?” Piper, for the first time in this conversation, felt a righteous indignation about Bobby’s decree and ultimatum.
“No, I won’t tell them they can’t talk to you. I’m hoping that the person I started to care about is as principled as I thought. If you’re putting yourself in a compromising position I hope you won’t be selfish enough to subject anyone else to it. Especially people who have suffered enough already. If you truly can’t let anyone in, at least you can minimize the collateral damage. I might not know who you were, but I’d like to think I was starting to know who you are.” He didn’t wait for her response, he didn’t look back to see if his words had impacted her. There was nothing left to do but leave.
When she heard the thud of his truck door slam and the rumbling of his engine starting up she knew she was in the clear. She let a few warm tears roll down her cheeks, thinking they’d be enough to release the pressure of emotion that had built up inside her. Instead they were the beginning of a flood. She lay back down and pulled the blankets up over her face and sobbed. She cried at the thought of losing Jules and Betty’s friendship. She cried for what could have happened last night, where she could be waking up this morning if it weren’t for Michael. And she cried at the thought of living the rest of her life without ever being kissed by Bobby again.
As she lay in bed aching mentally and physically she realized stories like these, the ones filled with revenge and vigilantism, all had one thing hers did not. A capable, trained person with a litany of abilities. She was not an assassin skilled in martial arts and able to physically protect herself. She wasn’t a robotic, cold-hearted black widow void of all emotion. She didn’t carry a gun. She didn’t even have mace for that matter. She was like someone who’d never played football joining the NFL and playing without pads. Yet, even all that wasn’t enough to stop her. She might be the underdog here, but it wasn’t impossible, and that’s all she needed to know to keep driving forward. There was a chance that this journey was a self-inflicted masochistic punishment for the failures of her past. Happiness seemed at her fingertips, but she wasn’t ready to indulge in it, and there were miles to go before she’d feel worthy of it.
Her eyes were puffy and burning from the salt of her tears. She had managed to stop blubbering and wailing long enough to reach for her phone. She squinted and queued up a familiar number. It rang three times and finally an answer.
“Michael,” she mumbled, trying to mask the devastation in her voice. She may not have been able to give Bobby what he needed to keep him around, but Michael needed much less from her, and she wasn’t ready to go back to being completely alone in this world.
Chapter Twelve
Seventy-one days. That’s how long it had been since Piper had spoken to Bobby. She had seen him and Betty, twice through the window of the diner, but she stealthily avoided being seen by them. She had almost called him a handful of times, but managed to fight off the moments of weakness with the reminder of what that phone call would entail.
Once, in the middle of another sleepless night, she came to the