When Piper awoke the next morning, she turned over and found Larry, sound asleep beside her. An ache formed in her neck and she sighed quietly, waiting until the pain had subsided. The smell off him was unbelievable, beer and cigarettes. It reminded her of Alex, how she always came back from the bar smelling of booze and smoke. But she loved it on Alex. She loved kissing her and feeling as though she could get drunk just from the fumes. Alex always drank when they were together regularly, much like larry. But when Alex got drunk, she wouldn't ever lay a finger on anyone.

Fucking Alex.

She checked the time , 7:09am. She hadn't got much sleep, mostly from the fear that if she fell asleep, Larry would hurt her again. Work started at 8:30 which meant she had enough time to shower and eat breakfast. Her feet dragged along the floor, carrying her to the bathroom. When she looked in the mirror, she was met by a shocking sight. Dark purple bruises covered her neck from one side to the other. She gasped and tears formed in her eyes. Larry had been violent many times, but only 1 of his earlier attacks had been bad enough to mark her. How was she supposed to hide this?

She got into the shower and let the water cascade over her body. Her eyes remained closed as she pressed her forehead into the cold, tiled wall. Bending down for the shampoo and soap was difficult as it hurt to move her neck, but she managed as best she could and within 15 minutes, she was out of the shower and was drying her hair. Trying not to anger Larry even more, she dried her hair in the next room and got dressed as quickly as she could. As much as she tried, the bruising on her neck wouldn't cover with foundation. Polly was going to flip when she saw what Larry had done, but realising she would be late if she wasted anymore time, she left Larry a note and left the house.

On the way to work she was able to stop at the Cafe and pick up two coffee's, one for herself and one for Polly. The great thing about owning a business was that she could afford to be a bit late to work. She parked her car and grabbed her bag and the coffee's. When she entered through the door, Polly was kneeling on the floor in front of one of the displays.

"Piper is that you?" She called.

"Yeah. Good morning. I got you a coffee. Hey, what are you doing?" Piper set the coffee's down on the counter and hung her jacket on the coat rack close to the door.

"You know how I like precision, I'm trying to change the display around." She huffed and cussed as one of the soap bars fell off the stand.

Polly had OCD, and everything in the shop had to be perfect. This meant that when customers picked up the items and set them back down even slightly off line, Polly would be there to make sure they were put back in exactly the right place.

"The displays are fine, Poll. Come and get your coffee before it gets cold, we're opening up in half an hour."

Polly let out a huff and got up from the floor. "So, how did last nig..Shit Piper, what is that on your neck?" She rushed over to Piper and tugged at the collar of her blouse. Piper winced as a pain shot trough the side of her neck and along her collarbone.

"Leave it." She spoke, pulling away fastly.

"Piper I am not 'leaving it.' What did he do? I told you to stay over at my house!" It was nice to know Polly cared about her, but she didn't need reminding that another bad decision she had made had left her battered and bruised.

Piper rolled her eyes. "We had an argument because I wouldn't let him go to the pub. I stopped the car because I didn't want him attacking me when I was driving. He grabbed hold of my throat and pinned me against the wall. I guess I shouldn't have agitated him, especially when I knew he was drunk. He stormed off and now he's at home sleeping, probably unable to remember a thing. I know you were right, as usual."

Polly went to speak but Piper gave her the 'don't ask me any more questions because I am not in the mood' glare, and she retreated.

"Kenzi come here!" Alex laughed as she watched Kenzi struggle up the stairs to their apartment.

She couldn't climb the stairs without help, yet she was adamant that she going to do it by herself.

"I can do it, mommy." She said softly, her hands out in front of her so that she was more 'crawling' up the stairs, rather than walking.

Alex followed closely behind her, making sure that she would be there to catch the toddler if she fell backwards. When they reached the top, Kenzi ran off down the hallway and stopped outside their apartment, sitting herself down on the floor. They had been to Red's café while Alex helped move some things for the older woman. Kenzi loved visiting Red as all the staff loved her to pieces. She was mischievous but she knew exactly how to get her own wa, and she had those eyes that would question the temper of even the meanest of people.

"Coming in, or are you staying out here?" Alex asked, raising her eyebrow at the little girl sat outside of her door.

Kenzi thought for a moment before getting to her feet and running into the apartment. She jumped onto the couch and watched as Alex set her jacket down on the counter. When Alex turned around, Kenzi ducked behind the back of the couch, hiding from Alex. Alex laughed and played along.

"Hey, has anyone seen Kenzi? I can't find her anywhere."

After a few moments, a head of dark hair peaked up from behind the couch and she giggled when she realised that Alex was looking directly at her. Alex went over to the couch and sat down, pulling the toddler on to her lap. She wriggled around before settling in a comfortable spot.

"Chip?" Kenzi questioned, pushing her face up close to Alex's. She tried to copy Alex's trademark 'eyebrow raise' but scowled when she failed to do it right.

Chip was Kenzi's favourite teddy. Alex didn't know where she had gotten the name from, but that's the name she had given it ever since she was able to speak. For a nearly 4-year-old, Kenzi never shut up talking.

Alex picked up the little girl and went into her bedroom, picking up Chip from the bed. Kenzi grabbed hold of it tightly and buried her face into the crook in Alex's shoulder.

"I think this little girl's getting a bit too big to be carried now, don't you?" Alex questioned.

Kenzi shook her head and locked her arms tighter around Alex's neck. Defeated, Alex kept hold of Kenzi and exited her bedroom. Just then, her phone rang on the counter. When she picked it up she saw Pipers name on the screen. Her heart began beating faster and her hand shook. It was only Piper, why was she getting so nervous?

"Hello?" Alex spoke, putting the phone to her ear.

"Hey. Is this a bad time?" Piper asked, hearing confusion in Alex's voice.

She cleared her throat. "N..no. Sorry, I just didn't expect you to call that's all."

"Oh, are you sure? I can call back.."

"No." Alex almost shouted into the phone. "No, I'm not busy. I was going to call, I've just had a busy day. But I'm free now."

"Who's that mommy?" Kenzi asked, lifting her head from Alex's shoulder.

Alex put the phone to her chest so that Piper couldn't hear her speak. "Go watch TV okay, I'll be back in a minute."

She set the toddler down and watched as she ran back to the couch.

On the other side of the phone, a look of confusion appeared on Pipers face. She was sure she had just heard someone call Alex 'mommy.' Shaking the thought from her mind, she went back to conversation.

"Hey Pipes, are you busy tonight?"

"No, no. Why?"

"We can do something, if you want to. I mean, we don't have to. It was just a suggestion." Alex stumbled over her words, becoming angry at her growing nerves.

"Of course. I mean, I'd invite you over here but..." Piper stuttered.

"Hey, I understand. We can just go for a walk or something." Alex knew that going over to Pipers place would be a bad idea, especially with Larry around.

"Sounds great. I just got back from work so give me an hour or so."

"Great, I'll pick you up and then we can decide where to go. Is that okay?"

Piper smiled at the thought of getting to see Alex again. "That's fine, do you remember my address?"

"I think I'll be able to find it, see you soon." Alex responded.

After hanging up, Alex knew that she would have to find a babysitter. Nicky was working tonight and Lorna had to visit her parents this morning. Reluctantly, she called Red. It wasn't that she didn't trust Red, it was just that she wasn't sure if she would be able to look after Kenzi. She was a handful, and she had only ever watched her in the café when there were others around.

"Alex? How can I help you?" A russian accent rung out in Alex's ear.

"I know it's short notice, but you couldn't look after Kenzi for a few hours, could you? I know this is a big ask, but I wouldn't ask If I wasn't desperate." Alex closed her eyes and prayed she would say yes.

"Of course, you know I love that little one! But would it be okay if you brought her here?"

"That's fine! Thank you Red, I really appreciate it."

Once she had told Red that she would be round within the next hour, she got a bag for Kenzi and packed some of her things. Clean clothes were essential for Kenzi as she was the messiest toddler in the world. No matter what she was given to eat or play with, she would find some way of destroying her clothes with it.

"How would you like to spend some time with Red?" Alex asked, setting the child's bag down by the door.

Kenzi stuck out her bottom lip. "But I wanna stay here with you." She whined. Alex's heart broke as she watched her little girl in front of her. She felt guilty for handing her over from person to person.

"Mommy has to go out for a little bit." Alex said, walking over to the toddler and kneeling down in front of her.

"I wanna come with you." She whispered, her lip quivering as she realised that her mom was leaving her behind once more. Alex sat down on the chair and pulled her on to her lap. She resisted for a moment before giving in and folding her arms.

"You can't come with me, Kenz. But I promise that I'll be home in a couple of hours."

A tear fell down Kenzi's cheek and she buried her head into Alex's stomach, clinging to her t-shirt.

"Hey." Alex spoke softly, picking the little girl up so that she stood on Alex's thighs. "When I get home, you can sleep in my big bed. And tomorrow, we can watch your favourite movies. How does that sound?"

Kenzi looked into Alex's eyes and then flung her arms around her neck tightly. Laughing, Alex picked her up and headed for the door.

"Sit still please." Alex asked, trying to strap a wriggling Kenzi into her car seat.

Obeying, Kenzi settled down and waited to be secured into the seat. She gripped on to Chip the Elephant tightly as Alex began the journey to Red's café. Red lived above the café that she owned with her husband.

"Where are you going?" Kenzi asked, kicking the seat in front her with her feet.

"I'm meeting up with one of my friends, but I promise I won't be long."

"So why can't I come?" Kenzi whined.

"I told you, you gotta go stay with Red. Mommy hasn't seen her friend in a long time, and we have a lot of talking to do. But maybe one day, you can come and visit her with me. Okay?"

Alex looked into the rear-view mirror and watched as Kenzi nodded her head furiously. When they reached Red's place, Alex said her goodbyes and left quickly. Although Kenzi always knew who she would be staying with, saying goodbye to her was hard and she cried if Alex hung around for too long.

Sitting in the car, she checked her call log to see how long it had been since Piper had called. It had only been 40 minutes, and Piper had told her she would need at least an hour to get ready.

'Hey, I had something to take care of but it didn't take as long as I expected. Is it okay if I call round now? It'll take me another 10 minutes at least to get to your place but I don't mind waiting.'

'I don't mind. I should be ready by the time you're here. See you soon x'

As Alex got closer to Pipers house, she became increasingly nervous. She had seen Piper so many times, heck they even lived together for 4 years. Yet her heart felt as though it was ready to beat through her chest.

Pulling up outside Pipers house, Alex decided it was time for a pep talk. 'You can do this. It's only Piper. Come on, you don't get nervous. Not Alex Vause.'

(A/N) Again, I just want to say that the feedback I am receiving is great!

I wanted this story to be different from others that I have read, and I felt

that giving Alex the child was the right thing to do. Keep your comments coming!