Between 7x11 and 7x12

Piper had thought that nothing would ever hurt as much as Josh's rejection, but she was wrong. Watching Finn walk away from her after admitting her feelings to him hurt a thousand times more.

This was why she had never wanted to admit to herself or anyone else that she liked Finn. She had taken a huge risk by being honest, and now she was going to lose Finn forever. He was destined to fall in love with Amy. One day, they would get married, and Piper would have to watch the two most important people in her life vow to love each other forever while she hopelessly sat on the sidelines, her heart breaking into tiny pieces the same way it had been doing since the moment she realized with an uncomfortable feeling in her gut that she didn't want Finn to be with anyone but her.

Would she even be their friend at that point? Or were her two most important friendships fated to deteriorate now, never to recover after she bared her heart to Finn while he dated her best friend?

Oh god. What if she didn't even get invited to the wedding?

This was it. This was what would break her for good. Not Josh's rejection. Not Miss Angela's cruel words. Just Finn and Amy dating. If they had each other, they didn't need her, especially now that she was the other woman.

Dammit. Why did she have to be the Alfie of this situation?

At least she hadn't kissed Finn. That was the only thing she had going for her at this point.

Piper spent most of the weekend curled up in bed, binging Friends, and when she wasn't doing that, she was directing all of her nervous energy into reorganizing her bedroom (three times). By Sunday evening, she was in a dreadful state. Tomorrow, she would have to face Finn and Amy and pretend like everything was fine for the Dancemania cameras when everything was not fine.

She had thought putting up walls after what happened with Josh would protect her from getting her heart broken. And maybe it would have if Finn hadn't been breaking down those walls every time he listened to her worries or told her a corny joke or smiled in her general direction. Piper had never thought her heart could be broken by Finn, and yet, here it was, breaking anyway.

And what was worse- she had spent the entire weekend wrapped in Finn's red hoodie that was too small for him but much too big for her, clinging to the smell of him and trying to hold onto it for when she inevitably lost him as a friend. Her hair had been tossed into a messy bun the moment she got home on Friday evening, and she hadn't bothered with it since. She hadn't showered all weekend, and at this point, she couldn't even remember if she'd brushed her teeth that morning, but what did it matter?

If Piper couldn't be with Finn, she didn't want to be with anyone else. She was destined to end up alone forever. What did she care what anyone thought of her anymore? Who was there to impress?

"You're a sight for sore eyes."

At the sound of her brother's voice, Piper forced her gaze away from her episode of Friends to find James and Julia standing in her doorway. She glared at them before looking back to her laptop and mumbling, "What do you want?"

"Mom called us. She says you're spiraling again," Julia answered candidly, taking in Piper's rearranged bedroom. "I like what you've done with the place."

Piper was sure her sister was making a jab at the fact that her bedroom looked completely different since the last time she had been home, but Piper couldn't help it. When she was filled with restless energy, her hands itched to be occupied with something, and her bedroom was often the victim to such anxiety episodes.

Piper glared at her laptop as she paused the episode she was watching, not bothering to respond to either of her siblings. It irritated her that her mother was talking to them about her, but she couldn't say she was surprised. Her mother always called in her siblings for help when she was going through a crisis and wouldn't open up to anyone else.

Frankly, she should have expected them to show up at some point. It was only a matter of time.

James made himself comfortable on the end of her bed, nudging her foot with his elbow as he gave her a pointed look. "What's up, Pipesqueak? Why do you look like you haven't left the house in a year?"

"You don't want to know," she muttered, folding in on herself against the support of her pillows. The last thing she wanted to do was tell her brother about her feelings for Finn, but she didn't think she was going to be given much of a choice.

Just like Finn hadn't given her much of a choice in the locker room.

Damn these boys who knew her too well to let her hide inside of herself the way she so desperately wanted to.

Her sister joined James on the end of the bed, and Piper glanced at her before sighing warily. Her family had been operating under the assumption that Piper and Finn were more than friends for months. It had annoyed her before, but when she realized that she did actually have feelings for him, the last thing Piper had wanted to do was give her family the satisfaction of being right.

Now that her siblings were here, however, there was no way she could keep it a secret anymore. Reluctantly, without meeting either of their inquiring gazes, Piper mumbled, "I like Finn, okay?"

James and Julia immediately looked to each other. James' eyes had narrowed in the way they did when he was physically in pain, and Julia frowned at him, giving a subtle shake of the head, warning him not to say what he was thinking. Piper had spent her entire childhood watching and exchanging these nonverbal conversations with her siblings to know what they were thinking anyway.

Julia wasted no time in pulling her phone out of the pocket of her jacket. "We have to call in Lauren."

"No, Jules, don't bother her right now," Piper snapped. They did not need to bother their sister with her pathetic boy drama.

"Pipes, this is an intervention. We can't do this without all four of us present and accounted for," Julia retorted.

"She's probably studying or something," Piper sighed, but Julia had already hit the call button. A few seconds later, their sister answered, her picture appearing on Julia's phone screen.

Lauren was standing in the kitchen of her apartment, stirring something in a pot on the stove as she greeted her siblings. James and Julia both grinned at her.

"Wow, Laur, your hair looks really nice. Did you do something different with it?" James asked, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

From where Piper was curled up against her pillows, she could see that Lauren's hair was pulled into a messy bun much like her own. Lauren rolled her eyes at the sarcastic remark. "Oh hush," she said, "What do you guys want?"

"Pipes is worried we're bothering you. Are you busy?" Julia asked.

"No, just making dinner. Why?"

"Piper's having a crisis. We're holding an intervention."

"A crisis? What's happening? Hand me to her. Is she there?" Lauren's voice was laced with concern as Julia passed the phone to Piper.

Sighing, Piper pulled herself into a sitting position and took the phone, giving a small smile that came off as more of a grimace. "Hi."

"What's going on? Why are you having a crisis?" Lauren asked immediately, wasting no time to get down to business.

"I'm not having a crisis," Piper sighed exasperatedly. She turned her glare to Julia, who simply raised her eyebrows skeptically. "It's not a big deal. We shouldn't have bothered you with this."

"Tough luck, sis. I'm already on the phone. Start talking," was Lauren's response.

Nothing like being put on the spot by her well-meaning yet overbearing older siblings.

Piper glanced around her room, wondering for a second if she could still find a way out of this so-called "intervention," but then her gaze landed on the photo of her and Finn hanging on her mirror. It was one of the ones they had taken at prom- the night that everything had changed for them when she finally allowed herself to open up to a friendship with him.

Lip quivering and tears springing to her eyes for probably the hundredth time that weekend, she told her siblings everything. How Amy and Finn started dating two weeks ago. How Piper had overstepped her bounds in the name of protecting Finn. How Amy had figured out she liked Finn and had, for a reason that was completely beyond Piper, mentioned it to him. How Finn had questioned her about her feelings in the locker room and ultimately walked away from her.

What she didn't tell them was how she was certain that Finn had already known she liked him before she ever stepped foot in that locker room or that even though she had been terrified to tell him how she felt after being rejected by Josh, she was even more afraid of the small part of her that had wanted to tell Finn how she felt.

Finn hadn't rejected her, but the fact that everything was left up in the air seemed much worse. He could still reject her at any given moment and probably would as soon as she walked into rehearsal tomorrow. That possibility had hung over her like an ominous omen all weekend.

If she had completely shut down because Finn had walked away from her, claiming he needed to think, then she dreaded to think of what she was going to do when he rejected her completely.

"Wait, so how long have you liked Finn? When did this become a thing?" Lauren asked when Piper had finished her story. She hoped that her sister wouldn't be offended that she had never told her about her feelings, but to be fair, she hadn't confided in anyone about her feelings except for Henry, and that had only been in a moment weakness.

Shooting a hesitant look towards James, who was doing an impressive job of keeping his face impassive through all of this, Piper admitted, "I mean, I've only actively been acknowledging it for a couple of weeks."

"I'm sensing a 'but' here..."

"But maybe I've always liked him. I don't know. Everything is confusing."

"He never said that he didn't like you back," Julia pointed out reasonably. "Just because he walked away doesn't mean there's no hope, Pipes."

She bit her lip and hopelessly flopped back against her pillows again. "He's still with Amy," she countered, "Why would he date her if he had feelings for me?"

Her siblings remained quiet at that, and James and Julia shared another silent look. Piper sighed, shaking her head at herself. "I blew it. I never should have said anything."

"Well I, for one, am proud of you speaking up," Lauren told her, "That's not always easy to do, but you did, and you survived."

"At the expense of my friendship with him."

"You don't know that you're going to lose him," Julia pointed out, "You have no idea what he could be thinking right now."

"Yeah, Jules is right," Lauren said, "And just because he's with Amy now doesn't mean that it can't still work out in the future. Most people don't marry who they date at 16, Piper. Not everyone can be James and Riley."

Piper's gaze turned to her brother, who had fallen uncharacteristically quiet at the talk of her feelings for Finn. James was the most protective of all of her siblings, and she dreaded to find out what he was really thinking. He hated Finn. This had to be his worst nightmare come true.

James rolled his eyes at Lauren's comment before meeting Piper's gaze. With a heavy sigh, he said, "Look, you can sit around and talk about what happened and what could happen and everything in between, but that's going to get you nowhere."

"You're the man here. How do you suggest we solve AmyGate of 2018, oh wise one?" Julia asked, fully serious despite the joking manner in which she phrased the question.

"It's simple. You gotta talk to him."

"I can't talk to him," Piper protested. Just the thought of facing Finn tomorrow made her stomach flop nervously.

"Fine, then don't," James said with a shrug. "But then you risk losing him forever."

Piper's resolve faltered at that, her eyes watering again with unshed tears. A future without Finn wasn't a future she was interested in living.

How would she ever be able to live with herself if she lost him, all the while knowing there was something she could have done to prevent it from happening?

But god, she really didn't want to have to face him now that he knew how she felt about him.

Ever so reluctantly, she asked, "What would I even say to him?"

"What do you want to say to him?" Lauren asked.

James and Julia both peered at her curiously, awaiting her answer, and Piper sighed, leaning her head against the wall and staring at the prom photo again. After a moment, she whispered, "I don't know."

Her siblings were quiet, waiting for her to continue, but when she didn't, Julia told her, "Well... Think about it at least."

Lauren agreed and asked, "When's the next time you'll see him?"

"Tomorrow," Piper sighed. She hadn't dreaded going to rehearsal this much since the drama with Riley and Alfie two years ago.

"Jules is right. Think about what you want to say ahead of time. Write it all down. Make a note on your phone. Do something so you'll remember. It'll make you feel so much better," Lauren suggested, the inner counselor in her coming out.

"Tomorrow's not going to be as bad as you think it will," Julia added seriously. "You've had all weekend to build it up in your head, but let's not forget that this is the same guy who brought you cake one time just as an excuse to see how you were doing."

"That was months ago, Jules," Piper pointed out though her heart warmed the slightest bit at the memory.

"From everything you've said about him, Piper, it sounds like he would go to the ends of the earth for you," Lauren added, "Something tells me that nothing you say or do is going to push him away for good. He probably just needed time to think things through, like he said."

Piper bit her lip, wanting to believe that her sisters were right. She reluctantly glanced at her phone where an unopened text from Finn still sat on her home screen, asking if they could talk. He had texted her that morning, and she hadn't touched her phone since, too afraid to respond and even more afraid of what he would say if she did.

With some final notes of encouragement, her sisters wished her luck for seeing Finn tomorrow and demanded updates on what happened. Julia took her phone back, keeping Lauren on FaceTime, probably to chat with each other, as she climbed off of Piper's bed and left her younger siblings alone in Piper's room.

Piper watched her sister go before reluctantly turning to her brother. He had been unnervingly quiet throughout most of their conversation. "Just say it," she told him warily.

"Say what?"

"I don't know. Something about how I'm too young for boys, and Finn's no good, and you were right all along."

James' lips formed a tight line as he exhaled deeply through his nose. His eyes met hers for a long, quiet moment as Piper waited expectantly for him to say what he really thought. He appeared to be considering his words carefully, and finally, he asked, "Does he really care about you?"

The question was so genuine that Piper faltered, having fully expected a lecture about dating and how boys were no good. She looked away, chewing on her lip thoughtfully though she didn't really need to consider the question. Of course Finn cared about her. She may not know where his feelings lie, but she knew that much without any doubt in her mind.

Nodding slowly, she murmured, "Yeah, he does."

James nodded seriously then let out another deep breath as if this entire conversation had physically exhausted him. "Then don't let him go," he told her simply.

Piper blinked at him in surprise, her brows knitting together in confusion. "But you don't like Finn," she started to say.

"Of course I like him, Pipesqueak," James said, shaking his head. "You talk so highly of him, and he's been there for you when I haven't been able to, so... How could I not?"

Piper gaped at him at a total loss for words. James scoffed and rolled his eyes every time she mentioned Finn, and now he was saying he liked him? What?

Her shock must have shown on her face because James inclined his head toward her meaningfully. "I'm your brother. It's always been my job to protect you." He paused, turning his gaze to look around her bedroom as he reluctantly added, "It's not easy for me to see some other guy waltz in and take over my job, okay?"

Piper's eyes had grown misty yet again, and she leaned forward to hug her brother tightly, resting her chin on his shoulder. James' arms immediately wrapped around her.

"I'll always need you," she told him, her voice cracking.

He rubbed her back soothingly as he replied, "You're gonna be okay, Pipes."

She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping desperately that he was right.

James stayed with her for two hours, watching Friends with her and offering his unsolicited commentary for each episode. When he finally left, Piper hesitantly reached for her phone and finally opened the message from Finn.

She knew three things for certain. First, Finn was with Amy, so nothing was going to happen between them regardless of how he may or may not have felt about her at one point in time.

But Piper couldn't risk losing her friendship with him. Finn had become her rock. He was the only one whose mere presence could calm her down when she was feeling anxious. He had always made her feel so special and valued and heard, and she couldn't lose the one person who knew her and understood her better than anyone else in the world.

Which brought her to the third thing: She was going to have to take James' advice and talk to him. But she couldn't do it over text. Scary as it may be, she needed to do it in person.

Her most important relationship was on the line, and she was terrified to face whatever tomorrow would hold, but she had to be brave. Losing Finn was not a risk that Piper was willing to take.