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WHO: Lena, Piper, Lewis Carroll and eventually Thomas
WHAT: Piper leaving the house!
WHEN: Sunday
WHERE: Carroll house and then hospital room

Lena made her way to Piper's place, plenty happy to help her friend venture outside her house. She had stopped at a bakery to pick up some goodies for Thomas, and then she knocked on the door. When Charles answered, Lena beamed at him. "Chaz!" she said, giving him a big hug while he laughed. "Good to see you. Where's my Piper?!"

He smiled and ushered her in. When Lena caught sight of her friends, she smiled and rushed over to hug her too. She was in a good mood now that her boyfriend was healing. She felt like hugging everyone.

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In order to make her mind quiet down, Piper had thrown herself into her getting ready routine. Shower, hair, makeup, outfit, shoes. It had a soothing sort of rhythm, and she fell into it gratefully.

She was wrapping up a plate of biscuits for Thomas when the knock came, and she came out of the kitchen to greet Lena. "Hey, lovely," she said, giving her a squeeze. "Thanks for coming."

"Oh of course. I did this too, and I don't blame you at all." After suffering through a week of Lucifer, she hadn't wanted to leave her house ever again. "You look beautiful."

"She always does," Charles said sweetly.

"Wow, he's well trained!" Lena giggled.

"I'm just ready to get back to my life, you know?" Piper asked, collecting the plate from the kitchen. "Aww, thank you. I have been living in my pajamas, thought I'd try dressing like a human."

She kissed Charles' cheek. "Aren't you sweet. Hang on two ticks, I'm going to down some advil before we go." She slipped back into the kitchen, downing three of the little pills and some water. The idea of leaving, even with her friends, made her anxious, which meant a low-grade headache was starting to build between her eyes.

"More like he knows how to make me feel better when I'm down," she said, smiling.

"I really do," Lena nodded sympathetically.

"Well he's a good guy," she said in Charles' general direction, causing his ears to burn red. Which was ridiculously adorable in her humble opinion.

"I still have Thomas' car, since he can't drive it for awhile if you want a ride. Braving the subway seemed like a big deal for a first time, eh?" she suggested.

"Now that I can't dispute at all," Piper agreed.

"That does sound good," she said. "It does sort of seem like a big deal, just...too many people and augh. Not fun."

"And you have no idea how much I love driving," Lena added. "It's like freedom, but in a really shitty, old car!"

Charles laughed and then he offered Piper his hand, in case she wanted the extra support.

"I'll take your word for it, I've been taking the tube everywhere my whole life," Piper said. "Mum had a car, but we only really used it to visit her sister, and she always drove. The rides were nice, though."

She took Charles' hand, picking up the plate with her free one. "Alright," she said. "Let's go, before I talk myself out of it."

Charles held on tightly to her hand as Lena led them to the car, chattering the entire way.

"Thomas hates driving but I love it, and yet he's the one with the car. He's the one with the kid too though so I guess it makes sense. Okay, here we are!" she unlocked the doors and then beamed as Charles let Piper choose where to sit and made no move to get in until she was situated.

Piper held onto his hand, focusing on Lena's voice instead of her anxiety. It worked well enough, and before she knew it, they were at the car.

"You keep mentioning his son, what's he like?" she asked, getting into the backseat. She held her plate in her lap, enjoying the feeling of sunlight on her face after so long inside.

"Jamie is awesome," Kat said as she drove. "You never know, he might even be there when we show up, keeping his father company. But yeah, he's an artist and he's dating my friend Aiden's friend Theseus. And he's just the nicest kid ever. I feel all ridiculous and protective over him. It's so weird."

"He sounds lovely," Piper replied. "It's not weird, I think it's sweet. What sort of art does he do?"

"He draws and paints and...stuff," Lena laughed as they continued driving. "And this is showcasing my ignorance of all things arty even though I grew up surrounded by it."

Piper laughed too, and it made her feel a bit better. "I was just curious, no worries," she said. "I can't draw at all beyond doodles, I'm probably even more ignorant than you."

"He's really good," she said, because at least that she did know. "Got into SVA and everything. And I seriously sound like I'm gloating about my own kid, fucking hell."

She steered the car into the hospital parking garage and searched for a spot.

Piper whistled. "Wow, he must be really good," she mused. "I've heard they only take the best of the best." She smiled. "It's actually pretty adorable, I have to say."

"They do, and he's totally one of the best," she said, sliding into a spot and then turning around to wink.

"Alrighty, here we go. We do have to walk through the garage though."

"I can hold your hand," Charles assured Piper.

The lights were orange and one was flickering, making the shadows jump along the wall. She swallowed around the lump in her throat, but took Charles' hand and got out of the car. "Just keep walking," she sang quietly, adapting the Finding Nemo song.

Charles wrapped his arm around Piper and he made sure their pace was quick as they headed for the elevator.

"All good," Lena assured her. "And here's the elevator!" She thumbed the button and they rose to the floor Thomas was on. "Here we go! Should we go buy him a horrible teddy bear or something at the gift shop."

Once the three of them were in the elevator, its florescent lights shining steadily, Piper felt like she could breathe again.

"You totally should," she said, as they stepped out into the hallway. "Something with neon fur, or something. Brighten up the place."

Lena led them to the gift shop where she found a bear that matched her hair colour perfectly. "Holy shit, this is amazing," she laughed and after purchasing it, she led the both of them to Thomas' room. "Wonder if any of the other Kemps are around. Hello, Kemps!"

She was answered by Thomas who smiled widely at her. "Hello!"

"Aww, it's so cute," Piper said, playing with one of its ears.

She followed Lena in and waved. "Hello, Thomas," she said. "How are you feeling? I brought you some biscuits, if you feel like eating."

Thomas smiled at Piper and waved at Charles. "Hello! This is a nice surprise! Charlotte just went to get herself some coffee. And I would love biscuits."

"I brought you some doughnuts too," Lena informed him "We're spoiling you!"

Piper sat the plate down on his bedside table. "I wanted to come and say hello, see how you were doing. Plus, I think the biscuits were starting to take over our kitchen, and we couldn't possibly eat them all. So hopefully you'll like them."

"I love the company," Thomas beamed. He reached over to take a biscuit and then he sighed happily. "This is delicious, thank you."

Charles took a seat and he leaned forward. "How are you feeling then?"

"Better every day," he said with a smile. "Thank goodness."

Piper sat down next to Charles. "Good, I'm glad you like them. And that you're feeling better. Any word on when they'll let you go home?"

"They keep saying two days, but they said that yesterday too," he groaned. "I just want to get out of here, but I guess they know best, hmm?"

"He's cutely impatient," Lena spoke up. "But hell, I was too when I was in hospital."

"They usually do, yes," Piper replied. "And yes, I know the 'impatient to be released' feeling quite well. I almost screamed at one of my nurses the day before they finally discharged me. So perhaps...less cute and just mostly impatient."

"Extremely impatient," Thomas nodded in agreement.

"Awww," Lena leaned down to kiss him lightly.

"Hospital beds are just not conducive to sleep," Piper empathized. "And everything smells like alcohol."

Maddy came click-clicking around the corner, talking to Thomas before she was even fully in the room. "You know what we should do, Tommy, once you're out, we should watch the Star Wars prequels. I know you don't like them, but spamming you with Ewan has made me want to watch them again-"

She trailed off as she noticed the other people in the room, waving slightly. "Oh! Hello."

Thomas nodded his agreement with Piper and then he grinned as his sister walked in. "I'd brave the prequels again for him! Piper, Charles, this is my sister, Madeline."

Lena went to give Maddy a squeeze. "Maddy's awesome!"

"I like to think I'm pretty cool, but I'm probably biased," Maddy laughed, hugging Lena.

"Plus, plus! Samuel L. Jackson with a light saber! I mean, how can you go wrong?" she went on, crossing into the room to properly greet Piper and Charles. "Nice to meet you both. I have had rather a lot of coffee, it makes me chatty. Well. Chattier than usual."

"It's fine," Piper told her, smiling and shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you too.

"I do like his purple lightsaber," Thomas agreed.

Charles knew he had to be discreet around the new person, most likely, but he still greeted her with a smile. "Chatty is great! Very nice to meet you."

Thomas was just excited to have so many people visiting him. "The company is wonderful."

"It's pretty great," Maddy said. "Mace Windu and his purple lightsaber are not having any of your shit."

"Aww, aren't you nice," she told Charles. "But I can prattle if left unchecked, so feel free to tell me to shut up. Seriously."

"Personally, I don't mind," Piper added. "The last couple weeks have been kind of bleak for me, it's kind of like a blast of cheer. A bit like a J-pop video."

Maddy laughed and took a chair on the other side of Thomas' bed. "Thank you...I think." Piper laughed too.

"Well I agree," Thomas said, smiling at his sister. He knew what poor Piper had been through from Lena as well, and he was certainly glad to assist in cheering her up. "Can I interest you in drawing on my head bandage, Piper?"

At that, Lena laughed so loudly it echoed off the walls.

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