Authors Note: I have finally gotten around to updating the second part of this story, of which I hope you all enjoy. This second part is written from Alex's point of view, instead of Piper's, as originally planned, because I wanted to show both sides of the story. Most of this was written on very little sleep, so I hope it's not too bad, because I only went through it once, looking for errors, instead of the usual three or four checks that I normally do. Anyway, enjoy and let me know what you thought!

Tightrope

You're on the tightrope, I've got my reasons

How did we get so tangled?

You turn, I stay straight, I bend as you break

We're so messed up, but I know

That you and I will fall in time, eventually, or maybe we'll both die trying

Cause I ain't seen nothing like you

The way you light up every room tonight, so easily

And I have moved mountains, babe

Just to stumble into your good grace

And I, I still can't compete

"Let's talk."

Your face is all overwhelming relief and you know it, can feel your lips spreading in a smile. You feel lighter, knowing that Piper is finally willing to give you a chance, even as you refuse to admit that you aren't giving her much of a choice. You honestly can't help yourself, have never been able to when Piper was concerned, since every goddamn thing in your life has always somehow revolved around her, since you met the blonde almost eighteen years ago. It's only been made harder recently, when you began to see Piper everywhere, despite the fact that you promised yourself that you would finally leave the poor kid alone, since she obviously wanted nothing to do with you.

But now you're here, standing in her apartment and she's giving you a chance, slim as it is, to make things right, and it changes every plan and promise that you've made in the past seven years; it changes everything.

You suddenly don't know what to say to her, after all these years planning elaborate speeches to gain her forgiveness, you can't remember a single word of what you wanted to say. This isn't surprising, since if there's ever been one person in the world that could make you nervous, could make you completely speechless, it's Piper. She has a certain hold on you, a way of controlling you that you've never encountered with another human being, and the woman doesn't even know it. She has been the one constant in your life, always there in your mind even if she's not there in person, having an input on all your important plans and decisions.

You wish it wasn't true but unfortunately, it is, or otherwise you wouldn't be here. You'd be back walking the streets of Athens or roaming the markets in Kuta, like you have been for the past seven years (though you would never admit it, all those places had something to do with Piper anyway).

"Are you going to say something?" Piper's voice finally pulls you from your thoughts. "Anything?"

"I- uh," you stumbled over your words, feeling like a love-struck teenager as you gaze at the woman that you haven't seen for years. "Honestly? I had a million things I wanted to say to you, but I never really thought that I'd get this far, you know?"

"I can imagine," the blonde murmured, eyeing you thoughtfully as she leant against the kitchen counter, her posture practically screaming of exhaustion. "Where have you been, Alex?"

"Everywhere," you answered with a small shrug, never taking your eyes off the woman in front of you. "And absolutely nowhere. I've been kind of lost, to be honest."

/

You wrote letters to Piper almost every day for months, stuck as you were in your tiny, shitty apartment, with nothing better to do than to beg for forgiveness. You never received a response and you can't say that you weren't surprised, but it still fucking hurt, like a punch in the gut as the weeks flew by with no letters in your mailbox. You pretty much wrote the same thing every day, hoping that this would be the letter that Piper would finally read, once she got over her initial anger at you after your epic fuck up in Chicago. The whole situation wasn't entirely your fault, since Piper had been adamant about telling the truth and it had been a last minute thing when your lawyer offered you the deal to testify against Kubra for your early release. You figured that Piper would end up telling the truth, adding to the evidence against your boss and maybe she would even receive less time for her contribution, maybe even a deal like your own. You had been initially hesitant, since Kubra was well known for his sick, deep revenge and you almost just wanted to reject the idea completely and finish off your time in Litchfield. Prison was a big step up from torture, in your opinion, which was what your life ended up being upon being released; complete and utter torture.

But your lawyer had promised you that the case against Kubra was bullet proof and that information, added to your deep desire to be free, finally pushed you to testify. And my, oh my, what a huge fucking mistake that had been, because of course, some asshole fucked with the evidence, rendering the entire case a huge fucking waste a time and practically insuring a bullet in your brain.

You remember being ridiculously happy that Piper had lied, once you heard the news, because at least that meant that the blonde would be safe, even if it meant that she hated your guts for fucking her over, again.

And so you had started writing her letters, begging for forgiveness, begging to see her, begging for her to call, but she never did. You spent every day locked inside your apartment, constantly looking out the window and over your shoulder, fearing for your life and hoping that maybe Piper would someday reply. But Piper never replied and after more than a year of waiting, knowing that the blonde must have been released from prison, you decided that enough was enough and that you had to let go.

And then the attacks started.

It was never anything physical, more just mental attacks to keep you afraid and to let you know that Kubra was aware of your existence in the outside world, aware of where you lived. It started with a rock thrown through your window, scaring the shit out of you as you read one of the few books that you owned, what must have been the hundredth time. Then came the door knocking, which was less like knocking and more like pounding, which shook the thin walls of your apartment and left you a mess on your bedroom floor, clutching the small handgun that you owned.

It ended with two bullet holes through your front door, one of which barely missed your head as you dropped to the floor and that was when Mr Crockett finally got off his fat ass and did something.

You were put into protective custody, given a new name and shipped off to Spain where you spent the next six months of your life getting drunk almost every night in attempt to smother the nightmares that haunted you. The one good thing about being shipped overseas meant that you were finally able to access your old bank accounts, and since you were rarely ever checked up on, you started travelling. You had hidden away millions of dollars over the years in off shore bank accounts and that money served you well as you travelled all over the world, never staying in one place for too long. You travelled to places that you had never been before, but more often than not, you flew to the places that you had stayed in back when you were with Piper. You never set a foot back in Belgium, the city which you considered to be the beginning of your downfall, nor did you return to Paris, where you had experienced the worst day of your life. Instead, you travelled to Indonesia and to Greece, places where you had stayed with Piper when you were both happy and in love; places with good memories that helped you move past the more recent traumas in your life.

Places that made you think about Piper every fucking day, especially when you would swear to see her, whether it was at the Coliseum in Rome or in the streets of Prague.

You had been gone for almost six years when you finally received the call, the one that forced you back to the States and into the real world. Kubra Balik was once again being taken to court, with new evidence after fucking Fahri had been caught with almost two hundred grand in his suitcase. (It seemed as if the business had been going downhill in the last few years, forcing the higher ups to do their own dirty work.) As a part of your deal, you were forced to testify should the case ever be reopened and thankfully, after months of work and court hearings, Kubra was finally put away.

And for the first time in seven years, you actually felt free.

And then you saw Piper, truly, this time.

You had been walking home to your apartment in New York, the one you had gotten after Kubra was charged and sent to prison for the next twenty five years to life, when you first saw her. It was early morning and you were returning from a meeting with a parole officer, who let you know that the system would still be watching out for you should Kubra try anything while in prison, but that you were basically off the hook with the system, finally. There would be no more random phone calls or check-ups, nor would they push you to get a job, and you were truly happy with how everything had turned out.

And that was when you saw Piper walking out of the coffee shop, across the street from your apartment building. You had literally stumbled at the first sight of her long blonde hair, half hidden beneath a white woollen beanie that made her skin look positively golden in contrast. Even with her several layers of clothing, you could tell that your ex-girlfriend hadn't lost her figure over the years, nor had she aged much with time. To be completely honest, Piper looked even better than you remembered.

And without even thinking about it, without considering the consequences of your actions, you were crossing the street and following her down the road. You quickened your pace in your attempt to catch up with her, but it wasn't long before Piper was lost in the mid-morning hustle and bustle of New York City.

You had almost cried, thinking that you would probably never get another chance to see her again, but how wrong you were.

You ended up seeing Piper everywhere; at the coffee shop, in the grocery store and at the library, the woman even walked past you once on the street whilst talking animatedly on her phone. You always tried to catch her, but she always managed to unknowingly evade you, until one day, you were leaving your apartment, just as the blonde was walking out of the coffee shop across the street.

You followed her, of course, all the way back to her apartment, only a few blocks away. How fucking ironic, you thought, that Piper would live only a few streets away from you in such a huge city; so close and yet always out of reach.

And so when you went home, you wrote her a letter, feeling as if you had gone back in time seven years as you pressed the pen against the page. You walked to the blonde's house and placed the letter outside her door, wishing you had the courage to just knock and endure whatever the blonde had to say to you after so many years without contact, but you ran instead, convincing yourself that you had every intention to return.

And return you did.

/

"Lost," Piper repeated the word softly, pulling you from your thoughts once more and it's only now that you notice the slight drunken slur to her words. "Yeah, I know what that feels like."

You watch the blonde silently, taking the precious time to study her as Piper stares off into space, lost in her own thoughts. Not for the first time, you wonder what your ex-girlfriend has been doing for the last six years, since she left Litchfield. You honestly don't know a thing about Piper's current life, whether she has a partner (though you know she's not married or engaged by the lack of ring), where she works or who she hangs out with. You wonder what happened to Larry, who Piper was so insistent on marrying, or whether she had gone ahead with her soap business upon leaving Litchfield.

You wonder if you'll have a chance to find out.

You look at the way the blonde is practically slumped over the counter, every line of her body screaming exhaustion as she runs her fingers through her hair tiredly. You notice the dark twin bruises beneath Piper's normally vibrant blue eyes, a testament to her lack of sleep and you sigh quietly to yourself. This isn't fair of you, to take advantage of Piper in this state, tired and drunk as she is. It isn't fair for you to seek her forgiveness, only to receive it in a moment of weakness for the blonde. You don't want that. If Piper decides to forgive you, you want her to do it knowingly, you want her to mean it and you want it to be real.

"This is a bad time," you finally murmur, breaking the silence with your soft, deep voice. Piper looks up at your words, her eyes wide and surprised. "I should probably go."

"You're leaving?" Piper asks in disbelief, with a hint of worry and a dash fear in her voice. "You only just got here, and you haven't even said anything yet."

"I know," you shrug with a small smile. "But you're drunk and I'm not and this isn't how I want to do this. I want you to remember what I have to say in the morning, not only pieces of it."

Piper is quiet for a few minutes, simply staring at you without a hint of emotion to let you know what's going on inside of her head, before she finally nods. "Am I going to see you again? Or are you going to disappear on me?"

"I'll be back," you promise, before deciding on a better solution. "Or, you can come over to my place sometime, when you're ready to talk. I actually only live a few blocks away."

You take the envelope from your letter and pick up a pen off the counter before quickly jotting down your address, adding your phone number underneath. You walk around the counter and hold the paper against the fridge, attaching it with a magnet before giving Piper a small smile.

"I'll see you around, kid," you murmur, slowly walking backwards.

"You will," Piper answered, with a small reluctant smile beginning to tug at her lips, and that's all the reassurance you needed before closing the front door to Piper's apartment behind you.

/

You wake up the next morning with a smile on your lips, feeling happier than you have in years. After returning home last night from Piper's apartment, you hadn't been able to shake the feeling of joy that came with seeing your ex-girlfriend. It felt as if a weight had been lifted from your shoulders, as if all the guilt you had been harbouring for the last seven years was finally beginning to seep out of your heart. You knew that nothing was okay between you and Piper, at least not yet, but just knowing that she was willing to talk to you was more than enough to add a bounce to your step. You were simply grateful that the blonde was giving you the time of day to explain your side of the story, rather than kicking you out onto the street like you deserved.

Your happiness only increases when you're drinking your morning coffee and you notice the light on your answering machine blinking with a new message. You press the play button and grin when you hear Piper's husky, morning voice echo throughout your apartment.

"Hey, Alex, it's Piper. Look, this is fucking crazy, since I literally kicked you out of my apartment yesterday, but I was wondering if you wanted to come out to lunch today? There will be a couple of other people there too, Nicky included; you remember Nicky right? Of course you remember Nicky. Well, she'll be there and I'll be there and honestly, I'm too fucking hung over today to deal with people, but I can't cancel so I'm going to use you as my buffer. Consider it a part of your five step forgiveness plan. I know it's not really the most ideal way for us to talk, but maybe having you there will help me become more accustomed to having you around and maybe we can go out for coffee afterwards. It's up to you."

The rest of the message consisted of Piper rattling off the address to a restaurant a few blocks away from your apartment, where you were meant to meet her at midday. You looked at the clock on your microwave, glad that you had enough time to shower before you had to meet Piper, and of course you were going to meet Piper, even if it meant having lunch with her friends.

It would be good to see Nicky at least, you thought as you finished your coffee.

You shower quickly before looking for suitable clothes, rubbing your dark hair dry as you search through your wardrobe. You settle for a pair of tight black jeans and a loose white t-shirt, sitting a black fedora on your head over your wavy, raven coloured locks. You pull on your favourite pair of black combat boots as you stumble towards the door, with your phone and wallet in your back pockets. You rush down the stairs of your apartment building, knowing that you're going to be late and cursing yourself for taking so long to choose something to wear for a casual lunch, but you want to look good for Piper.

God, you feel like you're twenty five again, rushing off to meet the blonde for a date, with the same nerves making your palms sweat and your heart pound against your chest.

You arrive at the restaurant five minutes late, adjusting your glasses on the bridge of your nose as you glance through the window, searching for a glimpse of blonde hair. You're interrupted by someone clearing their throat and you turn around to find Nicky standing behind you, catching you completely off guard.

"Are you a stalker now, Vause?" Nicky asked with a smirk, looking exactly the same as you remembered from prison, minus the beige khakis. "You look kind of creepy staring through the window, looking for Chapman."

"I was invited," you answered immediately, feeling slightly defensive beneath Nichols intense stare. You hold your old friend's gaze until her smirk finally cracks, forming into a wide grin and you can't help but return the smile. "You look good, Nicky. The outside world agrees with you."

"I do all right," Nicky chuckled, pulling at the lapels of her leather jacket, which was thrown over a white tank top and a black skirt. "Can't say the same for you, Vause. You got old."

"Fuck off," you laughed, shaking your head, only to stop suddenly when a voice sounded from behind you.

"Who are you to talk about getting old, Nicky?" A familiar voice spoke from over your shoulder, causing you to whip around in surprise. "Wasn't it just last week that you were getting me to dye your hair to cover all of your greys?"

"Piper," you murmured softly, your eyes wide as you took in the woman standing before you. Piper looked gorgeous in a pair of tight dark blue jeans with black boots that hugged her toned calves perfectly, while wearing a tight white button up shirt with a black women's suit jacket over the top. You felt as if all the air had escaped your lungs as the blonde pulled off her sunglasses, exposing her bright blue eyes that were sparkling in the early afternoon sunlight.

"Alex," Piper said quietly in response, raising her blonde eyebrow slightly. "Glad to see you could make it on such short notice."

"Well, now that we've got the awkward greetings out of the way, we should probably go inside," Nicky finally spoke up, breaking the silence. "I don't know about you two not lesbians, but I'm starving and we sure don't want to leave the others waiting. You know how Barry gets when he's hungry, Chapman."

Your eyebrows practically rose into your hairline at Nicky's words, as you watched in quiet surprise as the crazy haired woman pushed past you and into the restaurant. Piper was watching you with a small smirk, her neat white teeth biting her bottom lip as you stared back at her with wide green eyes. "Barry? She doesn't mean Larry, does she?"

"You've been gone for a long time, Alex," Piper said, though there was more amusement in her voice than anything. "It is possible that my ex fiancé is now married to my best friend, who was indeed invited today so yeah, Larry is probably here too."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" You muttered in disbelief. "Larry and Polly?"

Piper laughed briefly, but it wasn't long before her smile faltered and she sighed softly, turning her gaze away. "You've been gone for a really long time, Al. A lot of things happened."

You could only watch as Piper opened the door to the restaurant, turning back briefly to gaze at you with soft, sad eyes. "You coming in?"

"Yeah," you replied, you deep voice equally soft. "Yeah, I'm coming."

/

"That was awful."

"It wasn't so bad."

"Pipes, that was the most awkward and horrible experience of my life."

"Well, now you're over exaggerating."

Its late afternoon and you're walking aimlessly down the street with Piper by your side, after just leaving the restaurant. In your opinion, lunch was quite possibly the most awkward experience of your life, as you sat around a table with not only your estranged ex-girlfriend but also her ex fiancé and her best friend, both of whom were known to hate your guts. It had started off more amusing than anything, watching Larry's eyes widen with both disbelief and anger as you walked into the restaurant with Piper, but the amusement had faded much too quickly. Larry was much too polite to say anything outright, but the tension from his angry silence and his hateful glares had left you exhausted before you had even ordered. Polly had seemed too shocked to say anything at your sudden appearance, merely giving Piper a meaningful look before exchanging forced pleasantries with you. The only highlight of the entire experience was Nicky, who had no qualms about making awkward jokes and references during the entire meal, while Piper looked on with quiet amusement.

To be quite honest, Piper seemed to have enjoyed the entire ordeal way too much, hiding her grin in her salad and barely saying a word, forcing you to make conversation with Nicky and Polly in an attempt to dissolve the tension filled silences.

"It actually went a lot better than I had expected," Piper continued thoughtfully, with a smirk pulling at the corners of her lips. "I honestly didn't think that Larry would be able to make it through the entire meal, especially with Nicky throwing in those comments about the chapel and what not."

You snorted with laughter, eyeing the blonde from the corner of your eye. "You and Nicky seem close, at least, closer than you were when I last saw you both."

"She was really there for me when I got back from Chicago," Piper shrugged, though a fond smile graced her lips. "I mean, as much as Nicky can be there for a person without ruining her tough as nails reputation. I tried to keep in contact with some of the other girls after I left, but it didn't last, though I see Morello with Nicky every now and then."

"Oh yeah? Did that Christopher guy every come back into the picture?" You asked curiously, remembering the fiancé that was waiting for Morello on the outside; the bane of Nicky's existence.

"Christopher never existed," Piper replied casually, causing your eyes to widen with shock before the blonde continued. "I mean, he did exist, but not for Lorna. It was all very… complicated."

You were both quiet for a few minutes, lost in your respective thoughts. You shook your head as you considered the information Piper had just told you, wondering what that must have been like for Nicky. You knew that your friend had been heartbroken when Morello ditched her for her fiancé and you could relate to that, to that feeling of abandonment and worthlessness, since you had been in a similar situation yourself. But when it came down to it, you had always known that Larry had existed, had known from the beginning that Piper was engaged and despite your hope that things could work out between you and Piper back then, you had always known that there was a chance that the blonde could turn tail and leave you in the dust like she inevitably had. It hadn't made the experience hurt any less, but at least you had been prepared for it. God, how it must have felt for Nicky, to find out that she had been left for a relationship that wasn't even real.

So lost in your thoughts, you hadn't even realized that you were walking down the street that led to your apartment building until Piper came to a slow stop. You paused beside her, looking up at the building before turning your head to look at your ex-girlfriend, who was looking down at the pavement.

"Do you want to come in?"

"I should probably get home."

Both sentences were spoken at the same time, followed by a strained silence as Piper finally looked up to meet your gaze. You tilted your head slightly in question, having thought that you and Piper were getting along quite well, despite everything, but perhaps you had missed a sign. You watched in quiet disappointment as Piper glanced away with a soft sigh, shoving her hands into her pockets as she looked at the door to your apartment building.

"This all feels too normal," the blonde finally said softly, still avoiding your piercing gaze.

"What do you mean?" You asked, your voice equally soft, although you already knew the answer, but you wanted Piper to confirm it.

"I don't know," Piper sighed again, scuffing her shoe against the sidewalk. "It just feels the same, you know? It's like, every time we meet, we fall back into this pattern so quickly and you have this way of just making me forget. I see you and I forget to be mad or upset, and fuck, I forget why I was even angry with you in the first place and I hate that. I fucking hate that you can still do this to me, Alex."

You're not entirely sure what to say or if you should say anything at all, but you do anyway. "You have every right to be mad, Pipes."

"I know!" Piper's voice is suddenly angry and she growls softly as she pulls her hands from her pockets to run her fingers roughly through her hair. "I know that I have every right to be pissed off, but then I see you and I'm just not. It's like all of that shit that we did to each other, it all just fades into the background when you're around. And I'm scared, Alex, I'm really fucking scared that if I go up into that apartment with you, that I'm just going to let it all go and I don't know if I can do that yet. I don't know if I want to."

You understand where she's coming from; you know the feeling all too well. You remember that feeling of anger that fuelled you, years ago, when Piper left you in Litchfield for Larry. You remember being so angry that you wouldn't even let yourself think about the blonde when she was locked up in SHU after her fight with Doggett. You were so pissed off for letting the blonde hurt you again, but all that anger and pain had evaporated upon seeing Piper in Chicago. You had wanted to be mad, but you couldn't even dredge up the slightest bit of negative emotion when you saw her from across the yard; all that was left was relief and joy.

You understand how she feels and you accept it.

"I am sorry, Piper, for all of it," you finally said, with your voice hoarse and strained. Piper met your gaze as you spoke, the frustration and anger seeming to seep out of her blue eyes as she stared back at you. "I really am."

"I know," Piper said softly, reaching out to touch your arm briefly before letting her hand drop to her side. "I know you are, Al."

And then you watched her turn and walk away, wondering if you would ever see her again as she slipped around the corner and out of sight.

/

It's almost three am when you're awoken by someone pounding on your front door. You sit up in bed, feeling a surge of fear at the noise, until you manage to convince yourself that Kubra is behind bars and unable to hurt you. You push yourself out of bed, sliding on your glasses as you pick up a pair of pyjama pants from off the floor, pulling them on as the knocking starts up once more. You grumble in complaint as you leave your room, shuffling across the apartment until you finally reach your door, which you pull open to find a dishevelled looking Piper standing on the other side. She pushes past you without a word, leaving you standing by the door with bleary eyes and a confused frown on your face.

"By all means, come on in," you murmur to yourself as you shut the front door, turning to face Piper, who is standing in the middle of your living room with her hands on her hips. You recognise the blonde's stance and immediately know that you're in for a rant, but you're happy that she's here nonetheless.

"You lied to me," Piper finally said, whirling around to face you in all her messy haired glory, with her beautiful face fixed in a perfect scowl. "You promised me, swore to me, that you had never lied to me before, but you did and then you lied to me again and again, so how the fuck am I ever meant to believe what you say, Alex? How am I meant to read your letters and hear your apologies when all you do is lie to me?"

"I don't know," you responded honestly, feeling a lump forming in your throat as you choked out the words. "I have no fucking idea, Pipes."

"Then why the fuck did you come back?" The blonde asked angrily, throwing her hands up into the air. "Why the hell couldn't you just stay away? You come back here, throwing around these apologies and acting all sad and sincere, but you haven't actually told me why the fuck you came back after all these years of nothing from you. So, why, Alex? Why the fuck are you here?"

"I wanted to see you," you answered, shrugging your shoulders, as if that explained everything. "I knew you were mad and I wanted to try and fix things between us."

"Fix things? Fix things?" Piper asked, laughing hysterically without a hint of humour in her voice. "You haven't done anything to fix things, Alex! All you've done is apologize for some shit that happened seven years ago, but you never explained why you did it. I know why you gave up my name, I get that, but you said that you were done with me, Alex, so why did you throw me underneath the bus again? Was it revenge for me choosing Larry? Why?"

"I didn't think that you were going to lie," you tried to explain, your voice betraying your frustration. "I thought that you were going to tell the truth!"

"But you told me to lie," Piper hissed.

"And since when the fuck do you do anything that I tell you to, Piper?" You asked, crossing your arms over your chest to hide your shaking hands.

"Always!" Piper shouted, her voice thick with emotion and the tears that you could see beginning to well in her eyes. "I always, always, did everything that you asked me to, Alex, right from the very beginning. I carried a bag of drug money for you! I ruined my entire life, for you."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Your voice finally rises, trembling with your own emotions that are beginning to seep out from within the carefully constructed walls that you had built around your heart. "I never planned for any of this to happen, Piper. I didn't plan on seeing you when I came back and I sure as hell didn't fucking plan on showing up on your doorstep, but I did. I saw you fucking everywhere and I couldn't resist, okay? You never replied to any of my letters and I didn't know how you were or if you were okay and I just couldn't stay away. I couldn't just sit idly by when you were buying fucking coffee across the street from my apartment every day and when you were walking past me on the sidewalk and I'm fucking sorry. I am so fucking sorry that I have managed to fuck up your life again. I'm sorry that I sent you to prison and I'm sorry that I sold you out in Chicago. I am sorry that I wrote you that goddamn letter and showed up at your door. I'm fucking sorry, okay?"

You're both breathing heavily by the end of your rant, staring at each other from across the room. You feel as if a weight has been lifted from your chest but also as if someone has slugged you right in the gut simultaneously, and you're not sure if you feel worse than before or better. But it only lasts for a few seconds, because suddenly, Piper is running across the apartment, closing the distance between you and then she's in your hastily thrown out arms, pressing her lips against yours so hard that you're sure they will bruise.

It's crazy and completely unexpected, but also entirely welcome.

"I hate you." Piper is murmuring heatedly against your lips in between kisses. "I fucking hate you, Alex."

"I'm sorry," you whisper back, though you can't help but smile. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

It feels so good to have her in your arms, to experience this feeling that you never thought that you'd have again. The kisses are dizzying and the feeling of Piper's fingernails scratching against your scalp is making your knees weak, so you begin to slowly manoeuvre the blonde backwards before your legs give way. Your shoulder brushes the doorway of your bedroom and you pick Piper up when you feel her arms tighten around your neck, moaning at the feeling of her toned legs wrapping around your waist. You can feel her heat against your stomach, through the blonde's jeans and everything is escalating so fast that you know you should stop. You know that you should pull away and give yourselves both a moment to breathe because you don't want to rush into something that Piper might regret later.

You remember well Piper's penchant for getting caught up in the moment and you don't want this to just be a moment of weakness for the blonde. You want this to be real and forever and so when Piper's back hits your mattress, you reluctantly pull away.

"Alex?" Piper asked breathlessly, looking up at you with dilated pupils and expression of such want that it almost brings you to your knees.

"I love you," you blurted out suddenly, surprising yourself with your own words and surprising Piper if the look on her face was anything to go by. "I still love you, Piper."

You watch with baited breath as Piper's expression of shock softens into one of understanding, as she reaches up to run her fingers through your hair. Her gaze never leaves yours when she replies. "I love you too, Alex."

The relief you feel is so overwhelming that all you can do is bury your face in the blonde's chest, breathing out a ragged breath that you hadn't realized you'd been holding. You have been back in Piper's life for just over twenty four hours and you had never once dared to imagine this outcome, that even after everything, she still loved you. It's enough to bring tears to your eyes, feeling Piper run her fingers through your hair comfortingly and you lay there in silence for a few heartbeats, just revelling in the sensation.

"I don't think that I'm lost anymore," you finally whisper, pressing your lips against Piper's neck. You feel her smile against your temple, with the warmth of her tears against your cheek.

"Me either," she replied. "I think I'm finally home."

End.

Authors Note: Well, did you guys enjoy it? I know it ended quite suddenly and a part of me toyed with the idea of dragging this story out for a few more chapters, but this is how I always planned on ending it, because it's just so Alex and Piper in my eyes. Maybe, just maybe, after I have updated and finished some of my other stories, I might just add a little epilogue to this story. Let me know what ya'll think about that idea and we'll see how we go, yeah?