loose lips sink ships

Drinking so that no one would notice was impossible to accomplish when there was the possibility of running into someone every two seconds and that was why Cole had kept himself from doing so and resorted to suffering. It was getting harder to keep his alcoholism at bay (not that he’d admit to being an alcoholic) and while he’d managed to keep everyone in the dark except for Wes, events like this didn’t make it easy. If there was one person who could keep him somewhat tethered to reality, it was Piper. Unfortunately, every chance he had to find her, someone was in his way. It took much longer than he really would have liked and a lot of fake smiles before he was able to go in search for the brunette. He found her outside and on the phone, deciding to stay back until she was done. Cole wasn’t going to interrupt and be rude about it. When she was finally done, Cole cleared his throat so that Piper knew someone was there and stepped forward rather than hiding back. “Whoa, don’t bite my head off. I figured you’d want my company, but if you don’t I’d be more than happy to go find a lonely corner to sit in.” Cole teased, walking up beside Piper. “What was that phone call about? Everything okay? Is Tim okay?”

As the ajar door creaked open, Sophia made no attempts to turn and see who it was, instead she hummed gently beneath her breath, spinning one of the muffins that were lining every surface in the kitchen. Everything was clean, every surface sparkling, the smell of bleach so strong that it was only the outstanding smell of baking that overtook it. Since she had read her own letter she had spent every waking moment doing nothing but scrubbing, as if cleaning the house she lived in would clean away what had happened, but it had not. That didn’t matter though, she stuck her finger in the pink icing of one cake and licked it, her hair falling limp and lifeless against the shoulders of her white blouse, something that only made her seem more pale, “Did you want a cake?” she asked the person she heard approaching, not particularly caring who it happened to be, after all, every face was the same to her now, everything lacked meaning, she may have been standing there but seh wasn’t herself at all, she was now just a bleach wielding cake making stranger in the same body who was still in denial that her husband was truly gone. Not just for now, forever… the only hint of his existence the ring that was visibly still on her finger, a golden loop that was loose now, slipping every time she moved, threatening to abandon her the way he had two weeks earlier.

Piper had been dreading this moment for days now. She’d been dreading it from the moment delivered the news of his death. She knew that this day would come, she knew that he would die eventually yet she didn’t expect it to be so soon. Her feelings where all over the place, a mix of sadness, anger and a tinge of relief. Not that she would ever admit it out loud but she was relieved. Relieved that his death only confirmed she’d done the right thing. Taking Tim away from Josh before his death could hurt her son had been hard and although there had been times where she doubted if it’d been the right choice to make, she was thankful she’d seen it through. It was a horrible way to feel and she knew it, however, that didn’t stop the relief from flooding into her body ― After all she was only human. Caught up on her daydream she hadn’t realised she’d entered her house. Her feet had carried her into the house of a woman who was supposed to despise her and who could blame her for she’d given her every reason to. She didn’t feel safe in here. She wanted to meet Cole as soon as possible, she needed to see him before she ran into Sophia. He would know what to say to calm her nerves, stop her from panicking, but before she could take another step her body froze. She thought that no one was here, that the coast was clear but apparently she’d been wrong and that mistake would cost her dearly. She could hear her calling her from the kitchen and although she was aware that it was just the two of them in here she couldn’t stop herself from asking. “Are you talking to me?”