Piper Chapman was never one that acted based on a whim. She always had all of her actions planned out and thought about ahead of time. Her parents taught her to be like that. She never took risks because of this. She played it safe and kept her head down.
She was the good girl who everyone thought would never leave their little town. She was expected to marry a rich man and stay living in the same suburbs that she grew up in.
What people didn't know, was that Piper Chapman also had an adventurous side that she never showed. She wanted to travel the world. She wanted to see everything that her little town couldn't offer her. She needed to get out. She needed to leave.
Piper Chapman never took risks.
I guess that's why her parents were surprised when she packed her bags and told them that she was moving to New York.
Piper Chapman never took risks.
Alex Vause would change that.
Piper was only in New York for a whole 3 days before she was regretting it. The city of dreams isn't so shiny once you're stuck there by yourself.
Moving was one thing that Piper didn't think through all the way.
You need stability to move to New York. Piper was a broke college grad who relied on her parents. You needed connections to move to New York, somebody to show you all of the ropes and help you out. Piper left all of her friends back home. You needed money to move to New York. Again, Piper was a broke college grad.
Fortunately, her parents thought head. They gave her a couple thousand dollars just so she could make it through at least a month in New York. At least for a while, this broke college grad could pretend that she wasn't so broke anymore.
Piper found herself a shithole apartment in Brooklyn because let's admit it, she would never be able to afford to live in Manhattan.
She found herself a job at a little coffee shop in Manhattan. It didn't pay too well but at least it was something. It was cute too. Never too busy and never too dead. Usually just business people or college hipsters frequented. Because God-forbid that they ever drink Starbucks.
Piper Chapman was happy.
She was no longer Daddy's little girl. She was no longer that little rich girl who would never leave her hometown.
Piper Chapman had the opportunity to reinvent herself. So when the opportunity arose, she took it.
It was a boring Wednesday morning. Right after the rush hour of the early morning commuters getting their burst of energy.
It was Piper's favorite time of the day.
She got to sit back and watch all the people talk to their friends or work on papers, or just simply sit there and enjoy their coffee. It made Piper feel like she belonged. During this time she felt connected to the rest of the bustling city.
She was a New Yorker now, and she was damn proud of it.
She was waiting for something big to happen. Something extravagant that would change her life forever.
She never thought that she would find it in the tall brunette who walked through the door that morning.
Piper felt the wind being knocked out of her. She had never seen someone so beautiful before. She was staring at those emerald eyes that matched perfectly with the pale skin of it's owner. The long black hair that made you want to run your hands through it. Piper was staring so log and so hard that she didn't even realize that the brunette was speaking to her.
"Hellloooo. Yoohooo. Excuse me" the brunette said, trying to snap Piper out of her daze.
Piper quickly came to her senses and diverted her gaze, which happened to have fallen onto the brunette's plump lips.
Piper's cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment at being caught staring.
"Hi, uh, yeah, s-sorry. Can I help you?" Piper stuttered whilst trying to recover.
The brunette looked at Piper with amusement. That signature smirk making it's way onto her face.
She chuckled and then spoke again.
"Ah so," She glanced down and looked at Piper's name tag, "Piper is it? I'm Alex. I'll have a black coffee, please."
Piper tried not to think about how good it felt to hear her name come from Alex's lips. Alex's deep voice making Piper shiver in a welcomed way.
"Uh hi A-Alex. Uhm, I'll get that right away."
Piper quickly turned away and started to make her drink to avoid anymore embarrassment. She turned away so fast that she missed that smirk make it's way back onto Alex's face.
She quickly made the drink and then handed it over to Alex.
"Uhm that will be $2.50 please"
Alex handed over a 20 dollar bill. Piper looked at her quizzically.
"Keep the change"
"Wait no this is too much, here le—"
"I said keep the change, kid" Alex interrupted
Piper looked up at Alex and they locked eyes. They both felt something and they both knew it. Neither one would voice that though.
They stared at each other for a few more moments before Piper spoke up again.
'Thanks, Alex" It came out as almost a whisper.
Alex smirked again.
"Don't mention it."
Alex then turned on her heel and walked away from the counter. She sat down at a booth and then began to read.
With that, Piper continued her day.
Alex stayed there for hours.
Multiple times throughout the day, Piper could feel Alex's stare on her. But every time she went searching for those emerald eyes, she was met with Alex promptly shifting her gaze back to her book. Piper just smiled and moved on.
Piper finally got off work and made her way over to Alex.
Alex simply looked up at Piper, smiled, and then nodded her head to get Piper to sit down.
They looked at eachother for a few moments. They simply just stared.
"So Alex"
"So Piper"
Piper smiled. She's not sure why she decided to come sit down. Something just pulled her to do it.
"Well you know what I do, what do you do, Alex?" Piper asked. She couldn't think of a better way to start the conversation.
"Well Piper, I happen to be a tattoo artist. My shop is actually right down the street."
A tattoo artist fit Alex. She was dark and mysterious, but she also wanted to express herself through ink.
"Hmm, tattoo artist. Yeah, I can see it" Piper said.
"Really? Well what else can you see?"
And from there it blossomed. They talked for hours on end. They talked about everything under the moon. They made a connection on a level that neither had experienced before. They matched each other intellectually. They were both well read, both wanted to travel, both loved trying new things. The only difference was that Piper was light and happy and Alex was dark and mysterious.
Same coin, different sides.
And that worked so well for both of them.
Before they knew it, Piper's manager was shoosing them out because the shop was closing. Piper couldn't believe that she spent her entire day in that coffee shop. She was totally fine with it though, she had great company.
Next thing they knew they were walking down the streets of New York, talking about tattoos.
"I just don't think I would be able to do it, you know? Like I've always kinda wanted a tattoo but it's so permanent and I'm not sure I'd be ready to make that commitment you know?"
Alex laughed
"Well that's what's fun about it. Not knowing I guess. You kinda have to go out on a whim but still trust yourself you know? You should get one. A tattoo would look nice on you."
Piper blushed.
"Ehh I don't know. It would just be too hard for me—"
"C'mon Pipes, take a risk."
Piper was reminded of why she moved to New York. She wanted to be that risk taker that would do things on a whim and not care about the consequences. And the way that Alex used her nickname just made the whole decision a lot easier.
"Okay"
"Okay?" Alex asked.
"Okay. Tat me up"
Alex smiled.
Piper smiled.
Piper Chapman was not a risk taker.
Alex Vause changed that.
They found themselves in Alex's tattoo shop with Piper on the table.
"Oook, this is scary. Is it going to hurt? Please tell me it's not going to hurt. Well I mean I know it's going to hurt, but is it going to HURT, lik—"
"Piper calm down. It's just going to sting a little okay? You can trust me. Do you trust me?"
Piper breathed.
"Yes"
Alex smiled.
"Okay good. At anytime, just tell me if you want me to stop, I'll stop right away."
Alex rubbed Piper's back to soothe her muscles.
"It's all going to be ok." Alex said.
She started up the needle and began to work on Piper's neck. She was getting a fish tattoo. It was cute and not too risky.
Piper closed her eyes and tried not to concentrate on the needle stabbing her skin. Instead she concentrated on the areas where Alex's body touched Piper's. And since Alex was practically leaning all over Piper in order to get a good angle, that was a lot of places.
She enjoyed the feeling that skin on skin gave her. She wasn't looking for a relationship or anything like that right now. She just wanted to get on her feet.
But Alex might change that.
Alex will change that.
Piper was thinking about how much she trusted Alex so fast. They barely met this morning and yet Piper was closer to Alex than anyone else in the city. Piper was so enthralled by Alex that she really didn't want this night to end.
It wasn't anything sexual really. She just enjoyed Alex's presence so much that she couldn't get enough of it.
She was so lost in her thoughts about Alex that she didn't even realize that Alex had finished and was calling her name again.
"Pipeeer. Pipeeees"ss. Hellloooo. We're done" Alex chuckled.
"Huh what? Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about…. Stuff."
"Stuff?"
"Stuff" Piper confirmed.
"Alright, well let's check out this bad boy"
Alex pulled out 2 mirrors and angled them just right so that Piper would be able to see her work. It was a tropical fish made of many different shades of blue and yellow. It was beautiful.
"Wow Alex, I—I love it. It's beautiful."
"Beautiful tattoo for a beautiful lady"
Piper just blushed. She was the worst at taking compliments.
"See? Told ya taking risks is worth it."
Piper turned around and smiled. She thought about taking risks and how she should do it more often. So she did.
She crashed her mouth into Alex's. There was so much passion and love that it surprised both of them. They took risks together for the rest of the night.
Piper no longer regretted moving to New York.
Piper Chapman was now a risk taker.
And that risk was Alex Vause.
A/N: YOOOOO. So I was bored and I wanted to write. Not sure if I like this but that's ok. I might start doing a series of one shots because I think theyre fun. I might not.
I might continue Lifeboat but I've like almost completely lost interest in that. I might not idk.
Im just really full of might's tonight.
Oh well.
Happy Easter!