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Without further ado… I hope you'll enjoy chapter 4!

The drive to Connecticut was as awkward as could be. The silence in the car was consuming and every time Charlotte attempted a glance at Alex she felt shame and guilt engulfing her. She wasn't sure how much longer she could endure the stress.

Alex's jaw was clenched and her knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel tightly. It was all she could do to try and keep herself grounded. She knew if Charlotte even opened her mouth to say anything else to her she would completely lose it.

The older brunette sighed for the millionth time, trying her best to ignore her racing thoughts, the dozens of questions she had, and the twinge of hurt burning her throat. All she needed to do was to bring the kid back to wherever the hell she belonged, so she could be on her way back home, worry free, as quickly as possible. Thanks to a tank full of gas and absolutely no desire from either sister to take the recommended hourly break to stretch the legs, Alex was managing to shave off their travel time considerably.

They'd been driving for nearly two hours in uncomfortable silence when Alex was distracted from her dwelling by a sharp noise. She held her breath, trying to focus on her surroundings and see if she could hear it again, but she was only met by the awkward silence. Minutes later, as she drove down I-95 and the big blue sign announcing "Connecticut Welcomes You" appeared on their line of sight, Alex heard it again.

"I'm sorry," Charlotte sobbed, not being able to hide her guilt anymore. "I'm sorry," she coughed, not even caring to wipe the tears blurring her eyes.

Alex's heart clenched as she glanced to her right. She stepped lightly on the brake, decelerating the SUV to give the teenager a little more time to grasp the fact she was indeed taking her back home. Alex kept driving without saying a word, but she was painfully aware of her sister's nervous antics. The more she drove, the more the younger girl shifted in her seat and tugged at her sleeve, and the more Alex glanced at her, the more she noticed the girl's grimace intensifying. With yet another sigh Alex decelerated the black Evoque and carefully pulled up on the side of the road, quickly checking her rear view mirror and turning the hazard lights on, to make them more visible. Even though it was very early in the day, the last thing she needed was to get hit by another vehicle.

Alex stared at the steering wheel for a minute before turning on her seat, her right leg bending and resting on the seat as her back pushed against the locked door. It wasn't the most comfortable position, but it allowed her to face her sister.

"Why'd you stop?" Charlotte whispered, biting her lower lip.

Alex's throat was as dry as her mood. "I think you're ready to talk."

"I didn't mean it," the young brunette confessed. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, afraid to catch any glimpse of Alex. "I don't care about your job, you're not a disappointment," she said, trembling. Charlotte cleared her throat, trying to make it work better but her voice still hitched. "I don't care about anything except you're my sister and you're all I could ever want." Even though she had her eyes closed, she knew Alex was watching her carefully. She wished she knew how mad she had made Alex, but she didn't have the courage to ask. "I'm sorry," she breathed.

For Alex it wasn't a matter of an apology, so she wasn't even going to acknowledge it. Yes she was mad and hurt, but she wasn't so dense she couldn't see there was more to the situation than Charlotte was willing to share.

"Why did you fake the call?" Her tone wasn't even demanding this time, there was no harshness to it, but Charlotte still felt the sting.

The young brunette sucked in a shaky breath, turning her head to look through the window. "I don't wanna go back."

Alex shouldn't have been surprised at all. She had never gotten the impression Charlotte was happy with her situation, whatever it was. But hearing the words still rattled her, and a sense of uneasiness rose again. "Why's that?"

When the teen shrugged, Alex lifted her glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers, shaking her head. "You're going to have to give me more than that, kid," she exhaled. "Is everything okay... at home?" she asked cautiously, wincing internally. She really didn't need the added trouble, but she couldn't go on with her life without asking. In her mind it was like a marching band kept parading it to her that she had a sister, that she was a sister. The older sister. She had to be accountable for this person, at least for the moment. Until she could return her and move on.

The question seemed to spark something in Charlotte as the younger brunette finally whipped her head to look at Alex. "Can't you just..." She didn't know what she wanted to ask. She didn't even have the words to voice what she felt. It was a mix of so many things she didn't even know anymore what it was exactly. Fear was just the very tip of the iceberg. Did she feel paranoid, lonely, hopeless... threatened? She knew she did, but which one weighed her down more Charlotte couldn't tell.

"What?" Alex asked. "Trust that if I open the door right here you'll find your way home?" Alex laughed bitterly, pushing her glasses back down.

Charlotte's eyes dropped from Alex's face, focusing instead on her sister's boot. She shook her head, knowing she hadn't exactly made it easy for Alex to trust her. "Look kid, as much as I enjoy being pulled over by the side of the road, wasting my day away trying to pull any truth from you, I would really appreciate it if you could just give me your address so we can both get out of each other's hair." Alex knew she was the one pushing a line now, but it seemed to be the only way to get anything out of the teen and she was exhausted of the whiplash she was getting. She noticed her sister clenching her jaw and watched her curiously as she leaned forward, reaching for the center console. She sighed in relief as she noticed Charlotte setting up the car's GPS.

"There."

Her sister's tone was somber, but Alex didn't even bother anymore. At this point she was just glad she had an address to go to. Pushing her leg down, she sat straight on her seat. "Guess we're going to Fairfield then."

Charlotte deflated at Alex's notorious joy and eagerness to get rid of her. "I guess."

#####

"Are you sure this is the address?" Alex asked, driving down Midlock Road and taking in all the multi-million dollar looking houses, with huge, impeccably maintained gardens and trees.

"Yeah." Charlotte bit her lip. "Look!" she pointed to the last house before the road opened up to a round cul-de-sac. "That's the house."

"You live there?" Alex asked again, skeptically. When Charlotte didn't say anything, noticeably pretending she didn't hear her, and instead leaned more towards the window, feigning a sudden interest in the view, Alex rolled her eyes. "I swear kid, if this is another lie, you and I are going to have a problem."

As soon as Alex parked the car, Charlotte jumped out. Alex, however, took her time, still taking in her surroundings and very much aware of the fact she was walking into her sister's game. But since it was all Charlotte was giving her, she would give her the benefit of the doubt.

"Charlotte, this better be it," Alex muttered, joining her sister on the other side of the road.

Charlotte bit her lip but nodded. Her feet were heavy and dragged on the limestone path. "This is it," she whispered as they both stood staring at the huge wooden door. She took a deep breath and lifted her hand to ring the bell. Maybe she should have called or texted first, but it was too late to dwell on that now. As much as Charlie wished she had had the clarity and the capacity to think about this through, there was no going back. They could already hear the faint sound of footsteps and before they knew it, the door was sliding open.

"Piper!"

Alex watched intently as Charlotte threw her arms around a tall blonde woman. She could tell the blonde was just as surprised to see her sister as she had been the previous day. That wasn't a good sign.

"Charlie?" Piper asked confused, pulling back slightly from the hug but holding on to the girl's arms. She looked from Charlie to Alex and back to the young brunette. "What are you doing here, honey?" The smile on her face was contagious and Alex found herself not wanting to look anywhere else. But the woman's smile fell quickly and Alex noticed her blue eyes darkening with concern and perhaps a hint of protectiveness. "Is everything alright?"

However enticing it was to witness the exchange and, particularly, to take in the beautiful stranger, Piper's surprise finally fully registered and Alex felt her frustration rising. This was not the moment to get herself worked up over a woman. She was here to return Charlotte and apparently she was still nowhere close to that.

"So she doesn't live here?" Alex blurted out. The blonde took her eyes from Charlie's guilty face and focused on the woman standing next to the shorter brunette. Alex caught her confusion and noticed she hadn't even introduced herself. "Sorry," she apologized, extending her hand for Piper to shake. "I'm Alex Vause," she said in a husky tone and looking straight into the blonde's azures.

"Piper Chapman." She shook Alex's hand, letting it linger for a moment more than strictly necessary. She shook her head with a smile, trying to pull herself together and trying to focus on what was going on. Luckily for her she didn't have to put the puzzle together herself, as Alex offered her a key piece of information.

"I'm sorry about this," Alex apologized. "We'll be out of your hair in a second. This one told me she lived here, but obviously that's another lie." Charlotte didn't miss the scolding tone and she looked at Piper apologetically.

Piper glared at Charlie, but it was clear by the knowing smile on her face that she wasn't really mad at her. Alex wondered how often something like this had happened. "No, it's okay. Come on in," Piper offered, opening the door more and stepping aside to let the two brunettes in. She pointed Alex the direction to her living room and let her walk in front of her as she grabbed Charlotte's arm. She pulled the teen discreetly towards her and placed her arm around the girl's waist as they walked slowly behind Alex. "So Alex..." Piper whispered. "As in your sister Alex?" she asked even though she already knew the answer.

Charlotte nodded slowly before stopping and turning more towards Piper. "I'm sorry I came here Pip," she let out with a pained shudder, her gaze cast down.

Piper sighed, pulling the younger girl into a hug. "You ran away again?" she prompted softly.

Charlotte nodded.

"You can't keep doing that, sweetheart." Her tone wasn't disapproving. Piper knew that wasn't going to help any. She had made that mistake once and learned from it. Still, Piper worried.

"I will keep doing it," Charlotte said quickly, pulling away.

Piper sighed. She knew that too. "Do you still have the phone I gave you?" When Charlotte nodded she took a deep, relieved breath. Over the years she had provided Charlotte with phones to make sure the young girl could always reach her if she found herself in a sticky situation. It had already been useful once or twice.

"I'm sorry I didn't call first, but-"

Piper shook her head, squeezing Charlotte's arm. "I don't care sweetie. You can always drop by at any time, you know that, right?"

Charlotte shrugged, but ended up nodding reluctantly. "Yeah. Thank you, Pip."

The blonde smiled. "Did you tell your sister?" she asked softly.

"No!" Charlotte shook her head briskly. "No," she repeated in a lower tone, looking down the hall to make sure Alex wasn't looking. She relaxed when she noticed her sister was already out of sight.

"Don't you think maybe you should?" Piper pried. She knew it made Charlotte uncomfortable to think about it, but she felt obliged to make her do it. Charlotte's situation was in desperate need of a solution and unfortunately it wasn't going to happen without intervention.

"Alex doesn't really care," she said dejectedly.

Piper frowned. "How do you know that?" She didn't know the woman but if Alex was willing to escort Charlotte to her supposed home, there had to be a part of the woman that wanted to make sure she was safe and cared for.

"All she wanted was to call my mom you know? Get rid of me."

Piper looked at her knowingly. Over the years Piper had grown privy of Charlotte's insecurities and her oversensitivity to rejection, even when it wasn't there, so she knew to always take it with a grain of salt. "Did you think maybe she was worried and wanted to make sure everything was okay?"

She shrugged. "Can't you just tell her I live here?"

"I'm not going to lie to your sister, honey."

Charlotte frowned, looking at Piper with her best puppy eyes. "But..."

Piper shook her head. "No buts Charlie," she denied. "Talk to your sister. If there's anyone who can help you right now, it's her."