PIPER'S POV

"Tell me again how this is a good idea, Tony." I hissed at him, trying to keep my voice down in this nice restaurant. Mama P sat across the table from us, drinking her wine like lady. I'm still surprised how people can do that, because I'm like a 21 year old kid who is actually able to legally drink. Basically, I have no idea how to properly hold a glass.
"It's time they saw each other again." Tony said, staring at the doorway. I looked up to see my mother walk through the door. Tony stood up, fixing his suit jacket to wave at my mother. I stood up next to him, forcing a smile at my mother.
"She's married." I whispered through my teeth.
"Just keep smiling." Tony said back. My mom walked over to us, giving us both big hugs (she even kissed Tony on the cheek). She hugged Mama P, then took the empty seat next to her, not caring to notice the empty seat to her side.
Tony was the first to speak up. "We already ordered wine, Karen, I hope that's alright."
"Oh, thank you Tony, but I don't drink wine." My mother said.
I shrugged. "More for me." We laughed softly, in a classy way, with classy music playing in the background. It was nice, being classy, but so uncomfortable. My pinky toe was suffocating in my heel, screaming for mercy. I awkwardly tried to let my feet breathe, but it wouldn't be lady like, so I apologized in my head to my pinky toe.
"So, what's the occasion?" My mother said. Then fell an awkward silence over our table. I gripped onto Tony's tight, and he squirmed in pain as my nails almost broke the fabric of his slacks. I began to shake, my foot tapping loudly underneath the table. Mama P reached for the wine bottle, and in the most unclassy way, filled the glass to the brim. Tony rubbed his thumb over the top of my hand, trying to calm me down. It didn't work.
Tony, yet again, spoke up. "Karen, we wanted to have a fancy dinner with you to-"
"Dad's alive." I blurted out, then gasp and covered my mouth with my hand. Tony sighed and shook his head, Mama P chugged her wine, and my mother stared at me with her mouth opened.
"Chri-Chris is alive." My mom said, hardly believing what we told her.
"It's not Chris anymore, mom, it's Noah." I said, loud enough so only she could hear it.
"I-I don't understand, I thought he died in war?" My mom said. I swear I saw tears in her eyes. Mama P leaned overed and whispered what I guess is the story in my mother's ear. We couldn't risk anyone overhearing the story. After Mama P was finished, I couldn't tell if she was more confused or joyful. "We had dinner just so you could tell me this?" Her piercing brown eyes stared into my soul.
"Tony." I said, tagging him in and covering my face with my hands so I could break eye contact with my mother.
"We wanted to, well, reunited you two after years of being apart and we figured a nice restaurant would be the best place.
I heard my mother begin to speak when she was cut off by the deep voice of my father. I bit my lip, not wanting to look up.
"Karen?" My dad's soft voice said. I moved one hand away to grip onto Tony's thigh again. Why the hell did we do this in public and not at our apartment? Oh gosh, this was stupid. I wonder if I could run out and leave, I don't want to deal with this. My mom's probably going to scream, or crying, or do something to draw attention to our table.
"Babe, look." Tony whispered in my ear. I shook my head no. "Seriously, Pipes, look." With my head down, I moved my hand out of my face, then slowly looked up.
My mother was wrapped in my father's arm, her hand over her mouth, crying. My dad was rubbing her back, whispering to her loud enough that I caught a few words.
"Oh Karen....no I love you...." He said, just comforting her. I almost cried at the sight, my father, who we all thought was gone, comforting my mother after they reunited. Mama P was using the classy table napkin to wipe the black tears streaming down her face. I looked up at Tony, who was smiling at them. A single tear fell out of his eye and landed on my hand.
My parents pulled away from the hug.
"Karen, Karen." He said softly, his nose touching hers.
"Ch-I mean Noah." She said. My dad laughed, then kissed her.
"I never stop thinking about you, K. I missed you so much."
"Oh, I missed you too, C-Noah. Oh I missed you so much." Then she kissed him.
My father moved his face, then held her hands when he saw her wedding ring. "Are you...married...?" He asked, shocked.
"No, I mean, yes. But not anymore. I only married because I didn't want to be alone, I missed you. But now that you're back, we can be together again. I'm still in the same house. Oh, please don't be angry with me..."
"I'm not angry. You thought I was gone, I get it. I just want you." He smiled at her. My parents kissed again, and while I was happy they were rekindling their love for each other, I also felt very uncomfortable watching them kiss.
"Thank you, Piper, Tony." My mom said, then started crying again.
Tony stood up, then leaned over the table to shake my father's hand. "It was our pleasure. We'll leave you two alone for dinner, which is on us by the way. I've already paid the waiter for whatever you order."
We're leaving? I did not get dressed for nothing. But, Tony ushered me up to leave. I walked over to my parents and hugged them, my mom hugging me tighter than she hugged me earlier. "Thank you, Piper. We love you." My dad said.
"It was Tony's idea, really, you should be thanking him." I said, pulling away from the hug.
"I mean, for forgiving me." He said. I hugged him tightly, trying to hold back my tears.
We said our goodbyes after, and my parents insisted Mama P stay for dinner with them. Tony and I walked in the parking lot, hand and hand.
"We did that. We made them fall in love again." Tony said.
"You did that, not me." I said.
Tony stopped and turned to me, placing his hands on my hips. "It's no longer I, Piper, it's we. We are a we, not an I. We're about to be married, so it's not an I, Me, My relationship. It's a We, and I'm so glad you're the second half of the We." He said with a sweet smile.
"Oh, I love you." I whispered, then cupped his face to kiss him.
We stood there, deep in a kiss, in the middle of the parking lot. My thigh was against Tony's, so when his phone started vibrating, I felt it too. Tony pulled away, and put up a finger to suggest he'll only be a minute.
"What's up?" He said, walking a few steps away.
I twisted my ring, staring at it. The moon was reflecting off it beautifully. I looked up, seeing the stars dancing in the sky. It's such a great night to be in love. Without Tony, I have no idea where I would be. I'm in such love with him, and I'm thankful God put him in my life. I looked back down, looking dead at Tony, not expecting to see his face pale in worry.
I stepped forward right as he closed the call. "I'll be there in a minute, Vic." He said, then hung up.
"What's wrong." I asked quickly.
Tony grabbed my wrist, then pulled me with him as he ran to the car. He unlocked and jumped in the driver's seat. I jumped into the passenger seat just before he pulled out of the parking lot and sped across town.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"The-the tapes are gone." He said, taking a sharp turn onto the street Vic's parents lived on.
"What?"
"The tapes, the recordings, all of Collide With The Sky is gone! Along with guitars, Mike's snare..." Tony trailed off as he pulled up to Vic's parents house. He only put the car in park and then jumped out of the car. I shut it off and shut the door Tony left open, locking the doors. I ran through the open front door of the Fuentes' residence, then ran down stairs to the basement where the band practiced and recorded. I walked in to see Vic pacing, Mike going through the computer, Seren trying to calm Vic and Jaime just standing there in disbelief. I walked over to Jaime and rubbed his back, then he turned to me and embraced me. He dug his head into my shoulder, his tears hitting my bare skin.
"It's gone, Piper, it's all gone." He said. I rubbed his back trying to comfort my best friend.
"I know, Himes, I know." I said softly, letting him cry.
"What happened?" Tony's voice boomed. I looked over to see him staring at Vic, who was still pacing.
"I-I don't know. Mom and dad are gone, so I came down here to finish stuff up before we go on Warped, and it's just all gone. Your guitar, mine, Jaime's..."
"It's gone on the computer. I can't find anything." Mike said, turning in the chair to face his brother.
Vic dropped his head, and I watched as Tony walked over and hugged him, both of them crying into each other's arms.
Then, it hit me. "Wait, don't you have the lyrics and stuff written down?" I asked out loud.
Mike nodded. "Vic keeps them in a notebook."
"Why not just rerecord? I mean, it's inconvenient to rerecord, but, I mean, it's a thought."
"That's easier said than done." Mike sighed.
"And all our equipment is gone." Vic said. "It's going to take forever to do this again."
"This is going to ruin us." Jaime whispered into my ear. And as much as I didn't want to believe him, I did.

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