A/N
Well hey.
Here is another oneshot which I have once again stupidly decided to finish writing at 3am.
Hopefully I can build up to doing a multi-chapter fic eventually, but life is currently very busy, so potentially in the
next two weeks I may start somtething.
But in the meantime, have some more Vauseman luv.
Oh, and please review if you've got time/are feeling nice, I find it so helpful!
Enjoy x
Piper smiled to herself as she ascended the stairs in the apartment block, her footsteps echoing around her. At the top, she paused to gaze out of the stairwell's window, an occasional habit that she had developed since she'd moved in there. Her smile widened as her eyes eagerly drunk in the vast expanse of the city before her; the sun was going down, igniting the sky and painting it a brilliant orange, and below, vehicles wove aggressively through the intricate network of long avenues that New York was so famous for, whilst hoards of people bustled their way haphazardly towards the nearest subway station, styrofoam cups of strong coffee in hand. Sometimes Piper would stand here for minutes on end, watching the people scurry around like little ants. Sometimes she may pick a person from the busy streets beneath and let her eyes idly follow them until they descended into the sweaty depths of the subway, or faded out of her view. And sometimes, she'd stare across the horizon just because she could now; now that she was out of prison.
Piper sighed contentedly and turned her back on the window, leaving New York to slow down for the night, and fumbled for her door key. Upon entrance to the flat, Piper heavily dumped her bags and sauntered into the kitchen, where she was greeted with the irresistible scent of Chinese food, but much more importantly, the irresistible sight of raven hair and piercing grey eyes, framed with trademark black rims.
Alex's face lit up as the blonde entered the room and Piper smiled shyly as she proceeded to melt into the taller woman's embrace. This was mutually one of their favourite parts of the day; it made them both happy, simple as that.
"The food smells amazing, Alex." Piper looked up at her, "did you make it?"
This evoked a throaty laugh from Alex. "Are you fucking kidding me?" She rested her forehead on Piper's and sniggered quietly. "Piper Chapman, you have previously bragged that you know everything about me," she brushed a strand of hair away from Piper's face, "but obviously you never picked up on the shit cooking skills."
"Okay, maybe I momentarily forgot one thing. But yeah, your cooking is pretty bad..." Piper giggled into a kiss, jumping as Alex lightly slapped her ass.
"You're pretty bad." Alex whispered in her ear in a tone dripping with what could only be described as pure, unadulterated desire. As Piper then watched her girlfriend sorting out the food into bowls, she was overwhelmed with a sense of pride and relief for Alex and their relationship. They'd gone through hell, then gone to prison, (aka hell again), been split up in Chicago, (where their whole situation was well and truly fucked), and then, finally, the pair were reunited back in Litchfield, where sincere apologies, then solid plans, were made.
And Piper still couldn't quite believe the way her life had changed since prison – for the better. After the gates of Litchfield had been shut behind her, Piper had moved back in with her parents for a short, albeit difficult duration, and had spent countless meals frantically dodging awkward questions about potential boyfriends, and hell, even Larry, as if they were bullets fired from her mother's mouth. Piper's sole salvation for these months had been the blissfully unspoiled moments where she was able to curl up in bed and dreamily mull over the meticulously planned life that she and Alex were going to live upon her girlfriend's release. Piper would fall asleep with a smile every night knowing that, somewhere far on the other side of town, in the most uncomfortable bed imaginable, in the grimy institution that was Litchfield Correctional Facility, Alex was smiling herself to sleep too. Finally though, as Alex was released from prison, Piper was released from the horrific realm of her parent's house. Piper had sorted them out a flat to live in ready for when Alex left, the pair began to job hunt, and the rest was history.
"Piper?" Alex gently prodded her nose. "You seem kinda distant today, and seeing as we're not in prison now, it means I've got to be the one you offload all your shit onto. I'm your counsellor now." She stuck her tongue out playfully and Piper rolled her eyes. Alex was such a dork sometimes, but she wouldn't have it any other way; Alex was perfect.
"Jesus Pipes, you are quiet. I prescribe noodles." Alex handed her a bowel of the most delicious looking noodles which served nicely to perk Piper up as she simultaneously remembered what she'd brought home with her. Bowl in hand, she sauntered over to her pile of bags by the front door and fished around in them a bit before grasping what she wanted.
"I bought a film home for us!" She beamed, holding up the DVD before handing it to Alex who studied it carefully.
"What the hell is this film about?!" Piper watched as Alex lightly traced the cover with her fingertips, eyes scanning the description quickly, and she shrugged.
"It's just some random-ass scary film... I don't know! I just grabbed it and thought it'd be fun for our cute night in." Piper wiggled her eyebrows as she put the DVD into the machine and picked up her bowl of noodles, before turning round to see Alex already huddled on the sofa under a blanket which was pulled up to her chin, her bowl resting on her legs. Piper raised an eyebrow at Alex's cosy situation, only to be met with the quirking of one perfectly shaped eyebrow in return as she was welcomed into the soft embrace of the blanket, surrounded by the sweet aroma of noodles. And Alex looked cute... if not a little... jittery? Strange, thought Piper, and she frowned a little bit as the movie began.
"I thought you said this was meant to be a cute night in?!" Alex broke the silence that had fallen as the opening scene, which depicted a derelict manor, had played out. Piper's head snapped to her right to see Alex's eyes fixed firmly on her bowl of noodles, jaw chewing mechanically.
"Normally, you're the one telling me to shut up in films, but now, I'm going to tell you, Alex... shut up!" Piper chirped sarcastically, eliciting no response from the taller woman apart from the ongoing sounds of shifting food and chewing, which was strange, thought Piper, as Alex would have normally quipped right back.
They were twenty minutes into the film when the first sudden moment happened, the classic face at a window, and Piper instantly felt the entire blanket jerk back towards Alex, causing her to nearly spill her noodles. She turned to look at Alex who stared back nonchalantly.
"What? I fucking twitched. Big deal." Alex crossed her arms and confidently fixed her gaze back on the screen, but her resistance was futile, and as the plot began to thicken and the music started to build over the next few scenes, Piper watched Alex as opposed to the film. As the film continued, Alex slowly sunk further and further under the blanket, maintaining her steady gaze upon the screen until all Piper could see out of the corner of her eyes were a wide pair of grey eyes and the top of a head of raven hair poking out above the blanket. Alex had deposited her empty bowl on the floor beside her and had also curled herself into a tiny ball in the corner of the sofa, and Piper noticed that her knuckles were white from clutching the blanket, supposedly.
It was at that moment that Piper realised that no; she did not know everything about Alex Vause. Not quite, anyway. Her suspicions were, however, confirmed as she witnessed Alex adjust her glasses for no apparent reason, and what Piper did know was that this action was a sign that showed Alex was deep in thought or, like now, uneasy.
Piper's mind was in hysterics. Alex Vause, the tattooed, feisty, ex-drug-smuggler, was scared of horror films. And this wasn't even a good horror film, it was a shit one. This certainly was a turn up for the books. But just as Piper was about to proclaim her hilarious newfound discovery, a guard dog nosily appeared from behind a gate on the screen, and Alex screamed, throwing herself under the covers.
"JESUS FUCK!" She exclaimed as she enveloped herself.
This was enough to launch Piper into loud, reeling laughter. Turning off the TV, she slid under the blanket to find Alex lying on her side, frowning like a grumpy five year old. "I was wrong." Piper giggled into Alex's ear as she lay across her, "I didn't know everything about you. But I do now." She playfully bit Alex's earlobe, watching in satisfaction as the woman's lips momentarily lapsed into a small smile. "Alex Vause." Piper sniggered. "You... are scared... of scary films. You just screamed at a dog, Alex, a dog. People got murdered and you're screaming at the dog. Ridiculous!" Piper broke out into manic laughter.
Alex's eyes fluttered shut and she sighed deeply, turning her body so that Piper was straddling her, still all under the blanket. "Okay kid, you got me." She held her hands up defensively. "Scary films, and that fucking idiot Kubra. That's it, I swear. That's all I'm afraid of." Piper studied Alex's face and laughed once again this development.
"You're suuuuuuure that's it?" She said, jokingly, and was taken aback as Alex's features dropped.
"No, there's one more thing." Alex said slowly, in an almost cautionary tone. She adjusted her glasses for no reason.
"Go on." Piper propped herself up by putting her arms either side of Alex's head so that their faces were hovering inches from one another. Piper could practically feel the anxiousness radiating off of Alex. "Go on, Alex." She prompted again, softly.
Alex sighed and broke the eye contact for a split second, faltering. "I guess I'm scared of, for whatever reason, losing you again."
Piper always had to fight the urge to cry when Alex confessed profound things such as this, she hated this insecurity that Alex had buried somewhere deep inside of her; the feeling of 'not being good enough.' Piper wanted to rip that feeling right out of Alex and smash it into a million pieces before her eyes, to show her that she'd never leave her again. Ever.
"You wanna know why I was distant earlier?" Alex nodded at Piper's question, and Piper began to delicately trace the outline of her face as she explained. "Well, I was distant because I was thinking about how long ago it feels that we were in prison, and then I was thinking about how normal this feels, and then I was thinking about how much I love you, and how I will never, ever leave you again. That was the biggest mistake of my life. A bigger mistake than carrying your damn drug money, idiot." Piper scrunched her nose up as she smiled, and then proceeded to stare down intently at Alex beneath her. "Hey you." She brought their foreheads together so their noses were touching. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that, number one, I can't believe you found out about my horror film...issues." Alex began, her voice slightly raspy. Hot, thought Piper. "Number two, I'm thinking about how much I really, really do love you, Pipes. And that I'm so grateful that we're here right now, not in that shithole of a prison." Piper saw rage flash across Alex's fleetingly darkened expression for a fraction of a second, and decided to place a tiny kiss on her lips to remedy the emotion. As she moved to pull away though, Alex's hand snaked its way to the back of Piper's head, where it gently tangled itself in thick, blonde hair, and caused her face to remain impossibly close to Alex's. "I'm thinking of a third thing, too."
It took all of Piper's resolve to not consume Alex right at that moment, but alas, she was far too curious for that. "What's number three?" She said, her voice barely a whisper. At this, a devilish smirk spread across Alex's face, a look that Piper had become familiar with over the past god-knows how many years now. That look used to drive Piper to do anything, even carry damn drug money. But as she looked at Alex Vause in the eyes again, the insatiable expression still plastered on her face, she knew that she would do any of it again in a heartbeat for Alex, who was now leading her by the wrist to their bedroom.
The pair hungrily ripped each other's clothes off and tumbled onto the bed, where Alex lowered herself so that her face was hovering immediately above Piper's.
"You asked about number three?" She quirked an eyebrow. Piper bit her lip before opening her mouth to say something, but Alex's finger quickly fell upon her lips, hushing her.
"Number three," Alex husked as she descended the length of Piper's body, painfully slowly, leaving tantalizing kisses in her wake, before looking back up at Piper. "Show, don't tell."