Piper shut the apartment door behind her with a soft click. The breath she exhaled floated into the hallway like a prayer and she hurriedly approached the elevator and pressed the down button, waiting for the orange glow to reassure her that the lift, was indeed on its way up. Her mind was racing with an imax of moments she spent in this very hallway - groceries dropped, awkward glances with the neighbors who surely had heard them in the shower that morning, and mostly, an entwined set of arms and legs that let the trappings of life in the drug business fall away with each additional step towards the door to their sanctuary.
Must keep going, must keep moving forward, must not think about the tear-filled eyes of the only person she'd ever loved more than herself, was the mantra playing through Piper's mind with each shaky breath.
That life was no more,she told herself, as she stepped onto the elevator and pressed her thin back against the back wall only to slide in a crumpled heap to the floor. She had to figure out who she was, why she had made all these questionable choices, and escape this cycle of rejection that caused her heart to ache with every beat. She was no one's little errand girl and in the moment, running seemed like the only solution because if she had spent one more moment in the presence of Alex Vause, she would never have walked out that door. The silent tears streaming down her face began giving way to wracked sobs as she descended to the ground floor.
This life with Alex had been what she wanted - all glamour and intrigue and free falling through life without thinking of tomorrow, only of now - but as her girlfriend had become increasingly aloof and the business had become more erratic and dangerous, Piper just wanted to wake up in the same bed every morning without worrying she'd have the barrel of a gun pressed to her forehead. Alex had tried so hard to keep her out of the messier portion of her work but more and more lately, the violence had slipped in and Piper had awoken in a cold sweat with her heart racing more times than she cared to admit. The empty feeling of rolling to find solace in your lovers arms and cracking your eyes open to find yourself alone in bed had done little to ease her worries.
The elevator slid to a squeaky halt after its 17 floor descent and Piper pulled herself together as she quickly at her eyes, she looked up and was not prepared for the sight of Alex's figure to be leaning against the frame as it slid apart.
Their eyes met and for one brief second Piper forgot why she was leaving and instead was slammed with the rush of heat that so often coursed through her body when she looked in the taller woman's eyes. She audibly gasped as the already out of breath Alex leap towards her and their mouths crashed together. Tears mingled with a deep and erratic kiss that felt like something more than just goodbye.