A/N : *waves* Hey. I already have a story going, however I began writing this before Parkslope. Now off to see nature and stuff. Enjoy (or don't. I don't own you)
The obscure country bar was unusually busy than it had been in years; A welcome sight to Piper Chapman, who had recently returned to her small home town after a seemingly productive four years attending Smith. 'Tangled up in Blue' was currently accompanying the sound of clinking bottles and heavy laughter through the prehistoric jukebox stationed beside an antique cigarette dispenser. The bar hadn't changed in years; humbly maintaining its place as a historical landmark in the simple town.
Piper gathered her drink order of two bottles of beer, domestic of course, and weaved through the bodies enveloping her path to her table. Mumbling a couple of obscenities as she was pushed left and right, she finally cleared a path and headed over to her companion currently waiting at their impossibly sticky table.
"Hey." The blonde chirped, placing the bottles down onto the solid surface as she eased down into her seat with a huff. "That took… a million years." She finished with a tired sigh as she brought her own bottle up to her slightly dry lips.
"Holy shit, Chapman. I was ready to drink my own tears." Quipped the small girl across from her with wildly curled hair before bringing her own bottle to her lips greedily. Nicky Nichols was an old friend of Piper's. Working together at the town's only grocery store together while Piper was in high school, they had kept in touch as Nicky was one of the only comforts of home she had left after leaving for college. Nicky, a few years older than Piper, looked to the girl as a sort of younger sibling she absolutely loved to torture time and time again. Not having strong family ties, Nicky quickly latched onto the feeling of gaining Piper's attention and they have been friend's ever since.
"I know, sorry. I don't know why it's so busy in here." Piper questioned rhetorically as she took a sweep around the bar with her strikingly big, blue eyes. "It's eerie."
"Oh," Nicky snorted as she lowered her bottle to the table. "The football team won."
Piper snapped her eyes back to her friend before leaning in closer, resting her weight onto her elbows. "The beaver's won a game?" she asked with intense curiosity. Their high school's football team had been notorious for never having won a game since their 1996 season.
"Yeah, I think they would have won a long time if they weren't nicknamed The Lincoln 'Beavers'" Nicky said with a roll of her eyes as she quoted the team's nickname with her thin fingers. "I mean, were The Lincoln 'Pussies' taken?"
"Ha." Piper responded flatly as she lifted the leftover slice of lime from their previous shot of tequila to her lips, biting into it.
Pulling a face, Nicky looked on with a scowl. "How the hell do you eat that?"
"I like lime, Nicky. Leave me alone." Piper finished as she dropped the peel to the table top before wiping her fingers together in vain to rid her hands of the sticky, acidic juice. Looking around once again as she ran her tongue along her teeth trying desperately to rid herself of the string of lime caught in between one of two of them, she took in the sight of celebration absentmindedly. "Have you seen Polly?" she asked flatly as she avoided the eyes of her friend.
Smirking, the brown eyed-girl across from her crossed her arms almost defiantly. "I've seen her around." She said off handedly. "Does that bother you?"
"Why would it?" The blonde shrugged in reply. Turning her eyes back to the expectant gaze of Nicky, she rolled her eyes before lowering them to the bottle in her hands, which were currently preoccupied in peeling the label from its voluptuous body. "Just because she is currently fucking my ex-boyfriend, doesn't mean you can't see or talk to her."
Unfolding her arms, Nicky leaned in on her elbows, mimicking the blonde's previous position. "Would it bother you if I still talked to her?" she asked in an even tone, eyeing the blonde as she awaited her reaction.
"No." Piper responded simply
"Really?" Nicky persisted with a raise of her brow
"Really." Piper said seriously, lifting her eyes to lock intensely onto her shorter strawberry blonde in front of her.
Smirking, Nicky retracted her elbows as she grabbed the bottle once again bringing it to her lips before easing back fully into her seat. "Luckily for you, I'm not a shitty friend. No, I've only seen her around." She finally spoke over lip of her beer bottle before tossing the contents back.
Letting a relieved sigh escape her lips, Piper's facial features softened as she leaned in to grab her friends unoccupied hand resting on the table top. "You are the best friend, Nicky Nichols." She smiled widely, patting the girl's hand before retracting it to rest on her bottle once again. Pausing as she brought the bottle to her lips, she raised an eyebrow in question to her friend.
"No, she didn't get fat." Nicky grinned, knowing the question in the girl's eyes.
"Shit." Piper mumbled flatly as she tossed back another long swig of the golden liquid.
As the evening rolled on, the two girl's caught up with the recent events in each other's lives; Piper having only returned home the previous week. As much as she tried, and much to Nicky's credit, the event's surrounding her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend was never too far from the back of her mind. It lingered in every corner of thoughts. Larry Bloom and Piper had dated for three years before she left home for College. He was her first real love, and she had always envisioned her life with his presence in it.
When high school graduation came around, he became persistent in solidifying his relationship with the blonde with the proposition of marriage. Piper had time and time again told him that she was not ready to marry him. She loved Larry, there was no doubt about that, however she wanted to go to college; wanted to leave her one horse town behind her and eat the world.
The first year away from each other was very strained. Their conversations consisted of Larry filling her in on the latest irrelevant town gossip, followed by his whispered words of longing she was there with him, ending in his quiet resentment of her wanting a future.
Eventually, things started to become a little easier between the two. Once life settled down after her first year, she got into a routine which allowed her to plan her visits more thoroughly and frequently. Their time together was as it always had been before she left; nice, hand holding, strolling through the main street lined with quaint shops. However, her departure had always been the same; Larry begging her to stay; to marry him. Piper always left.
They had still, despite everything managed to make it work as Piper's time away was coming to an end. During the first semester of her last year at smith, things slowly began to shift under her feet. Larry seemed happier, which Piper was relieved to hear. However once his phone calls became fewer and far between, she began to wonder. Having had three years to think about her life, she decided that although she hadn't regret her decision to leave for college, she was ready finally ready to go home to Larry.
It was three weeks before Christmas break, a Thursday to be exact; Larry had called. His voice came through solemn; serious. It was then that he had told the blonde that he had slept with someone else. Piper was winded; Never had she thought that her sweet, loveable boyfriend could do something like that.
It wasn't until the words, "I need some time apart" had left his lips, that the reality of the situation had finally set in. Suddenly, it was Piper doing the pleading. However Larry's mind had apparently already been made up.
It was a month later, that Nicky had called informing her that her high school bestie had currently been seeing her boyfriend.
Six months later, and here she was at Jake's country bar and grill nursing her broken heart with Nicky.
An hour, two shots of Patron and another beer later, Piper was finally starting to loosen up. A petite brunette with firey red lips approached their table donning a navy blue apron just barely longer than her black mini skirt. Removing two full shot glasses off of her trey and placing them onto their table, the waitress smiled widely. "Hey Piper! Welcome home; these are on me." She winked playfully. "Tequila, of course."
"Hey Lorna, thank you so much!" Piper exclaimed with an alcohol-fueled giddiness as she stood to embrace the smaller girl in a warm hug. Detaching herself after a moment, she squeezed the shoulders of the petite brunette with a smile before lowering herself back into her seat.
"Yeah, thanks Morello. That is so sweet of you." Nicky smirked as she eyed the waitress with a smirk, shamelessly checking her out.
"Back off, Nichols. I have a boyfriend, remember?" the girl dismissed with a roll of the eye as she tucked her trey under her arm
"Right, right. Christopher, no? How's he doing, by the way? Still alive, I assume. Hasn't walked into any traffic?" Nicky spat nonchalantly.
With an unamused expression, Lorna smiled superficially while raising her hand to flip the mane-haired girl off.
"When and where." Nicky smirked in response before looking pat the smaller girl to the only entrance of the bustling bar. "Oh fuck." She stated aloud to no one in particular.
"What?" Piper asked half-heartedly as she continued to suckle from the slice of lime
"Uh, Piper; I think this place is getting a little tired, don't you? I think so. Let's get out of here." Nicky rushed her words, not once breaking her gaze at the front entrance as she stood abruptly, tugging on the still seated blonde's arm.
"Nicky, what the hell? We've been here for an hour and a half!" Piper reasoned as she tore her arm free of Nicky's grip, continuing to eat away at the fruit.
Huffing, Nicky turned to her friend as she leaned down closer to her so that she was at eye level. "Chapman, I think we should go." Nicky murmured purposefully while glancing back once.
"Nicky, what are you-" Piper's words died on her tongue as she looked passed her friend to lock her eyes onto the forms of Larry and Polly, who had yet to notice her presence. Eyes widening in horror, she dropped the lime to the table, wiping her hands thoughtlessly on her jeans. "Shit! Shit!" Piper exclaimed in an angry whisper. Looking up to her friend, she reached her hands out, grabbing Nicky by her hips, pulling her to stand in front of her, effectively blocking the couple's view of her.
"What are they doing here?" The blonde groaned as she lowered her head, dropping her forehead to rest against Nicky's stomach in defeat.
"Well, considering this is one of the only bars in town and they're both painfully dull when sober-" Nicky trailed off with a smirk as she threaded her fingers through the blonde locks of her friend sympathetically.
"We need to get out of here." Piper whispered as she raised her head once again to lock eyes with her friend, still desperately clinging to her to keep her in place.
"Okay, I'll go with Lorna to settle the bill. You go hang out in the washroom." Nicky pointedly said before turning to Lorna. "Morello, You lead them to a table and keep them distracted."
"Right." Lorna agreed with a nod before turning on her heel.
"Okay kid, go." Nicky said, removing Piper's hands from her before ruffling her hair once and following behind Lorna to the bar.
Piper raised from her seat and stealthily sauntered over to the washroom. Once she was nearing the door, her pace picked up as she rushed through the swinging door pushing it open. Once inside, she leaned against it, closing her eyes as she let a long breath escape her lips. Raising her hands, she ran them roughly over her face as she let out a string of curses.
"Are you okay?" A smooth voice called over to her, effectively breaking her from her silent tirade. Snapping her eyes up to the direction the voice had come from, she gazed over at the concerned eyes of a tall brunette, hidden behind the frames of thick, secretary glasses with her hands currently stilled under the running water of the tap.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." The blonde whispered dismissively as she peeled herself off of the door, making her way over to the sink. Turning the tap on, she cupped some water in her outstretched palms, bringing it up to splash her face.
"Are you sure? I mean, do you want me to call someone or-?" the brunette trailed once again, as she layed a hand on the back of the blonde.
"I'm good. I'm fine; great." Piper once again whispered as she gripped both sides of the porcelain sink.
"Okay." The girl eyed her skeptically, before removing her hand to reach for a paper towel. Ripping a couple of pieces, she silently offered them to the reeling blonde. Piper noticed movement in her peripheral and glanced sideways to see the outstretched paper towel being offered to it. Sighing in defeat, she took them, dabbing them along her damp face.
"Thanks." She mumbled, not once meeting the girl's eyes as she took a double glance into the mirror. Dropping the towel to the floor, she raised her hands to grip at her hair as her eyes widened. "I look like shit!" she exclaimed. "No, no, not now." She chanted quietly to herself.
"You don't look like shit, kid." The brunette husked a chuckle as she looked on
"No, I do! I look like I've been slamming back tequila for the past hour!" she exclaimed while pointing to her reflection.
"Have you… been slamming back tequila for the past hour?" the brunette inquired while suppressing a grin at the blonde's frazzled behavior.
"Yes!" Piper exclaimed with panicked eyes
"Okay, come here." The brunette whispered with a tug onto Piper's arms, leading her blindly to one of the stalls. Closing the lid of the toilet, she instructed the blonde to sit. Noting the blonde had listened, she walked out only to return a moment later with some damp paper towel. Crouching down so that she was close to eye level with the blonde, she began dabbing the paper towel along the forehead of the girl, while simultaneously brushing the hair behind her ear. "So what's the crisis?" she asked softly as her eyes followed her hand's movements.
"My ex-boyfriend just walked in." Piper sighed as she closed her eyes, seemingly calming down slightly.
"Okay, I guess that can be pretty dramatic." The brunette smiled softly as she moved the paper towel lower to dab the blonde's slightly reddened cheek.
"Yeah, for most people that would be dramatic." Opening her eyes, she locked her gaze onto the occupied eyes of the brunette in front of her. "When he walks in with his current girlfriend, who happens to be your ex-best friend, it takes a turn to cataclysmic."
Snapping her grayish-green eyes to the defeated blue of the blonde's, her hand stilled.
"Wow." She whispered, not knowing what to say to such a situation
"Yeah." The blonde responded deadpanned with a nod. Sighing deeply, she looked down to her hands, picking her nails out of habit. "Thank you."
"For?" she questioned, as she ran the paper towel under the blonde's left eye, wiping away the stray smudge of mascara feft behind.
"For this." The blonde mumbled before smirking slightly. "And for acknowledging how much this situation blows."
Chuckling, the brunette lowered her hand before rising from her crouched position to her full height. "Anytime, kid." She replied as she offered a hand to help the blonde stand.
Smiling softly, Piper took her hand and raised herself to a standing position. "What's your name?" she asked with a squint of curiosity in her eyes.
"Alex." She replied just above a whisper.
"You're not from around here, are you Alex?"
"Do I stick out that much?" Alex asked with a self-conscious chuckle as she adjusted the frames covering her eyes.
"No," Piper chuckled with a slight snort. "It's just, small town, right?"
"Right." Alex agreed. "You're right, though. I'm just passing through." After a quiet moment, she turned to toss the ball of paper towel in the garbage can. "Well, I should get going. Are you going to be okay?" The brunette asked cautiously.
"Yeah. I guess I have to face them sometime." The blonde shrugged sadly.
"Good luck, kid." Alex said simply as she smiled and left the stall.
Walking towards the bar with a somewhat renewed confidence, Piper approached Nicky and Lorna locked in an intense conversation. Lorna saw her first as her eyes widened, causing Nicky to turn.
"Chapman, what are you doing?" Nicky hissed discreetly, looking over to the happy couple seated across the bar.
"I'm not going to run, Nicky." Piper shrugged with a self-deprecating smile. "I'm going to go say hello, and move on with my life."
"She's lost her mind." Nicky stage whispered to Lorna standing awkwardly behind the bar. "Piper, you don't have to prove anything to anyone. It's a shitty situation caused by shitty individuals. You don't have to put yourself through this." Nicky tried to reason
"Nicky, this is the smallest shithole town in America. I am going to run into them sooner or later. I'm just going to go over and show them how fine with it I am." Piper shrugged with a forced smile.
"Okay, crazy. Call me when you're ready to go home and instantly regret this." Nicky said as she raised hand to Piper's shoulder, squeezing it supportively before turning back to Lorna.
Taking a deep breath, Piper turned on her heel, eyes unusually focused as she made her way over to the happy couple's table.
Larry currently had his arm draped around the shoulders of Polly Harper. Polly had been Piper's best friend practically out of the womb. The became instant friends in the sandbox and had been insuperable ever since. That was until, Piper's third year at Smith as she had noticed her best friend become uncharacteristically distant with her; Piper only now realizing the reason why.
As Piper approached the couple, she took one last calming breath before plastering on a wide smile.
"Hey guys." She chirped happily with a lazy wave of her hand.
Looking up, Larry's eyes widened as he instinctually removed his arm from around the brunette flanking his left side. Sitting straighter, he cleared his throat as a visibly uncomfortable smile graced his features.
"Pipes." His voice wavered only slightly as he blinked slowly. "You're home." The man stated, rather than asked with a nod.
"Yeah, I just got in last week." Piper said, her smile never faltering once. Turning her gaze to the very uncomfortable looking face of her former best friend, her smile widened almost manically. "Hey Polly." She forced the name from her throat as it was laced with the bile also rising.
"Hey Pipes." She whispered, turning her eyes to look beyond the blonde.
There was a deep, underlined tension surrounding the three of them as the reality of the situation seemed to suffocate them. Shifting from one foot to the other, Piper wrung her hands together nervously as she searched her mind for anything to say to justify the stupid decision of coming over to their table.
Clearing his throat, Larry raised his hand in Piper's general direction as he smiled widely. "You look great."
"Thanks; thank you." Piper rushed out, thankful for the conversation resuming. "You both look good; happy. You look happy… together." The blonde mumbled the last word as her eyes tore away from them, now realizing what a mistake this was.
Larry and Polly shared a concerned look as they realized that this would be the moment they had to confront Piper about their unholy union.
"Look Pipes," Polly began with saddened eyes
Involuntarily cringing at the use of her nickname, she shrugged her shoulders to release the tension before turning her gaze back to her former best friend. "No, Polly. It's fine." She smiled forcefully. "You two decided one day that you love each other. I can't really do much about that, can i? I just wanted to come over and say that I am fine with it; totally fine. Perfect, in fact." She rambled desperately as she tried in vain to mask the hurt and anger she was currently feeling bubble inside.
"Okay," Larry began cautiously, shooting a look to his girlfriend before trailing his eyes back to the blonde stood awkwardly in front of him. "That's great, thank you. We really appreciate that." He finished with a timid smile.
"We? Ugh… ugh, gross." Piper let slip with exasperation as her eyes turned skyward.
"Piper." Larry warned as his eyes narrowed slightly.
"Right." The blonde nodded slowly as she shrugged once. "Well, I wanted to wish you both the best of luck and I have, so… yeah. I'll see you around." She finished as she began to turn and retreat to the bar where Nicky and Lorna looked on.
"Thanks Pipes; you'll find someone someday too." Larry called out to her, making her stop dead in her tracks. At this point, Piper's blood boiled as she was past her limit. Turning back towards the couple slowly, she gave her ex an incredulous look.
"I'm sorry?" she asked in an eerily even tone
"I… I was just saying-" Larry began with wide, brown eyes as he tried desperately to backtrack from his insensitive comment.
"I know what you were saying." Piper began as she raised her finger to silence him. "For your information, I don't need anyone to be happy. Secondly, what makes you think I'm not with someone?"
"Are you?" Polly interjected hopefully
Silence.
"Yes." Piper responded in a low, monotonous tone.
"That's great, Piper." Larry offered evenly, with a look that somewhat resembled jealousy. Interesting.
"It is!" Piper continued with a devious smirk. "In fact, he- they- they're here tonight." She stumbled as she searched desperately around the bar with her widened blue eyes. Piper had always had a habit of acting first and thinking later.
"Where is he?" Larry persisted once again with a slight smirk, letting on that he knew that Piper was lying.
"He's…" Piper began as she desperately searched for a guy. There was a man leaning against the jukebox in his mid to late thirties in a cowboy hat; No.Turning her gaze to see a table of underage high school students from the football team seated nearby, she shook her head subtly; illegal… AND creepy. Suddenly, her eyes widened as she saw the brunette from the washroom rise from her seat, throwing her leather jacket on as she dropped some cash to the table top. Turning, she began to make her way towards the blonde and Piper smiled deviously. Hot AND a woman; Get ready, Larry's ego…
Alex was a few feet away when she saw the blonde smirking at her. Stopping suddenly, her brows furrowed in confusion as she gave the blonde a quiet, questioning look. Receiving a determined look in response, she continued to walk slowly towards the exit. As she approached the blonde, Piper suddenly threw her arms around her neck as her body melded to her own.
"There you are." The blonde cooed before placing one hand behind the head of Alex, pulling her forward to crash their lips together, Alex stilled, her eyes opening widely as she took a quick glance over to the couple currently gawking at them from the table to her right. Alex, coming back to the present, closed her eyes and melted into the kiss as she placed her hands on the hips of the blonde. Piper released a thankful sigh as she continued to move her lips along the soft ones of the tall brunette. After a few moments, Piper pulled away to look pleadingly into the eyes of Alex. Retracting her hands from around the girl, she wiped her lip once with her thumb as she turned towards she couple.
"Guys, this is Alex." Piper began tentatively. "My girlfriend." She finished while throwing a look over to Alex, silently pleading with her to go along with this ridiculous charade.
Opening her mouth once, twice, before shutting it again, seemingly finding no words, Alex gave her a pointed look before turning her gaze towards the silently staring couple, both mouths slightly agape.
"Alex Vause." She smirked while extending her hand towards Larry. "Doctor, Alex Vause." She smirked smugly, while throwing a wink over to the subtly snickering blonde.
