A/N: Thank you kindly for all your lovely reviews! Hope you enjoy this one, it took me a while. Sorry for any typos but it's 3am.
It takes Piper approximately three seconds to remember where she is. It takes her another two to open her eyes fully. It takes the blonde five seconds to remember whose arms are wrapped tightly around her waist, but no matter how long or how hard she tries, she doesn't think she'll ever really figure out why she's so content right now, despite the fact she's still fully clothed in bed with a stunningly attractive woman (this is not a scenario Piper is used to at all). Sure, it would be nice if they were naked and breathless, but Piper's as happy as she has ever been to just lie still with her head on Alex's chest, listening to the deep, even breaths coming from the brunette. She's not sure how they ended up like this in their unconscious state, but Piper's lying slightly horizontal across the bed, resting her head and chest on Alex's body, encompassed securely in the younger woman's arms. It's not the most comfortable position, but they made it work, because judging by the already darkening sky visible through the slit in the curtains, they've slept through most of the afternoon. Piper reluctantly lifts her head from Alex's chest and marvels for a moment at the brunette's picturesque face. Her lips are parted slightly and her eyes are firmly closed, the only indication that she's even alive being the steady rise and fall of her chest. Careful not to wake her guest, Piper slides remorsefully out of Alex's warm embrace and tiptoes out into the main area of her home. Her phone lies discarded on top of the sofa, but work is the last thing on Piper's mind right now. She pads over to the kitchen and takes a long, hard look in the fridge before pulling out a few rashers of bacon. It may be about four pm, but anytime is a good time for bacon in her book. As Piper goes through the motions of cooking her favourite hangover cure (a tried and tested recipe), she tries to sort through her emotions from the previous night.
While it was difficult to compress everything down into just a word, if Piper had to pick a handful to use to describe her feelings throughout the night, her feelings towards Alex and simply Alex herself, she would choose... different, unusual, foreign, or something along those lines. It was unfathomable to the blonde that she'd told most of her life story to a woman she barely knew, but there was something about Alex that told Piper she was going to have to tell her eventually. Whether it was Alex's raspy voice or her charming green eyes filled with a thousand unspoken promises, there was something absolutely addictive and intoxicating about her that made Piper slightly crazy. It was quite evident then, that something serious was going on now, that this was not one of Piper's little games she liked to play with women; if she tried to fuck around with Alex she would probably get a short shift. But what was most alarming to the blonde was that she didn't want to play games with Alex, she wanted to treat her well and take her out to dinners and really get to know her. Startlingly, Piper could almost see them together. After all, Alex was willing to stay even when she'd got a taste of how fucked up Piper was, a quality that the blonde had not yet found in anyone else (not that anyone actually knew how fucked up she was). But Piper Chapman didn't know the rules; she'd never had a proper girlfriend, never had someone to come home to at night, never cooked breakfast for a girl. "Well now you can cross that last one off the list." She reminds herself as the sweet smell of freshly cooked bacon seeps through the apartment. Piper decides she's just going to do what comes naturally to her; she's going to charm Alex Vause into falling for her. That might be quite difficult; however, as Piper's pretty sure she's already metaphorically face planting for the other girl more and more with every passing minute in Alex's company. She's not proud of how quickly she's become smitten with Alex, but it's real and it's happening right now and there's nothing much she can do to stop it, not that she even wants to.
Funnily enough, Alex Vause is not used to waking up in the bed of a millionaire. More than that, however, she's certainly not used to waking up in the bed of an infuriatingly charming, beautiful blonde woman either. So she is understandably disorientated when she opens her heavy eyelids and looks around her blurred surroundings. Groping wildly, her left hand eventually finds her glasses and Alex pushes them onto her face as the memory of the previous night filters into her mind. Piper, kissing, crying, wrestling, bed, spooning are all words that bounce from side to side in her brain as the brunette tries to get her bearings. The first thing she notices is that Piper isn't there, and that actually upsets her more than it should. The bed still bows slightly on the side where the blonde was sleeping, so Alex guesses (hopes to God) she's only gone to the bathroom. Alex doesn't move from her spot underneath the covers as her mind is suddenly overloaded with disjointed images from last night. She remembers the taste of Piper's lips, the feel of her in her lap in the car, the way she'd held Alex's hand and how it had been both the most beautiful and most heartbreaking thing in the world to see her cry. The brunette understood now that she was more than just a shoulder for Piper to cry on, because Piper Chapman didn't do crying on shoulders. The manner in which Piper let herself go in Alex's arms was a remnant of how the blonde seemed to trust her so much. So that left Alex, more scared than she was before their night out. She was absolutely terrified of how quickly she'd developed such an infatuation with the blonde, and what it meant for them going forward. Piper liked her back, that much was obvious, but the depth of their feelings towards each other was unknown. Could Alex really have fallen in love with someone over night? She doubted Piper could, but Alex was really fucking scared about how much she liked the feeling of Piper's head on her chest throughout the night.
She would later realise that the fear of falling in love with someone is already silent love.
Alex's morose examination of her feelings was interrupted by the bedroom door opening slowly, and a sigh of relief involuntarily slipped from between her lips as the object of her concerns stepped into the room.
"Someone's happy to see me." Piper quipped, the tray of bacon and coffee balanced between her hands.
"Don't flatter yourself, Pipes. I'm much happier to see the plate of food you've lovingly slaved over for me." Alex teased, her voice low and raspy with sleep. She peeled back the covers so Piper could climb back underneath and set the tray between them.
"Good morning to you too, asshole!" the blonde retorted as the pair fell back into their comfortable back and forth banter.
"I don't like bacon." Alex lied, and Piper's face dropped for a moment before she realised Alex was obviously joking.
"I don't give a fuck." Piper deadpanned as she took a bite of her toast. They chuckled quietly in the dim lighting of the room before Alex realised something.
"Piper? What time is it?" Alex asked, remembering that they hadn't fallen asleep until nearly six in the morning.
"Half four!" Piper chirped, cocking her eyebrows as Alex choked on the piece of bacon she was eating.
"What! Why didn't you wake me! We've wasted the whole day!" Alex knew Nicky was going to be absolutely freaking out that she hadn't called. Piper watched the brunette intently, cocking her eyebrows as Alex looked at her for an explanation.
"Well you seemed to be enjoying trying to squeeze the air out of my lungs, so I thought it would be best not to disturb you." Piper offered and Alex felt her face grow warm.
"Actually, Piper, it was you who decided to conveniently wrap yourself around me, where else was I supposed to put my arms?" Alex shot back. "Who knew the great Piper Chapman was such a fan of cuddles?" It was Alex's turn to smirk now as the blonde narrowed her eyes at her secretary.
"Shut the fuck up, and eat your bacon. Besides, the night is still young, Alex." Piper whispers mysteriously.
"Are you trying to sound deep?" Alex replies sceptically, taking a swig of coffee from her mug.
"No, I'm trying to ask you out on a date." The blonde says nonchalantly. Alex chokes on the coffee.
"But we just spent all last night together!" She splutters, before realising how rude it sounds.
"Jesus, you could've just said no thanks!" Piper tries to act cool, but she feels a strange pain in her chest at Alex's rejection. She'd actually gone to a lot of effort to cook breakfast for her only to have it thrown back in her face.
"No, I didn't mean that, it just came out." Alex murmurs sheepishly. Taking Piper's hand, she manages to meet the blonde's gaze for once and feels tremendously guilty for the hurt she sees in it. "I would love to go on a date with you, Piper Chapman." She grins. "Wow, that was fucking corny." She thinks.
"Wow that was really fucking corny sweetheart." Alex isn't even surprised that Piper now sounds like a mind reader on top of everything else. She sticks her tongue out at the blonde and the pair finish their breakfast (late lunch) in a comfortable silence. Suddenly, a thought strikes Alex.
"Why are you so eager to take me out on a date straight away?" She's not complaining but it seems odd after they'd seemingly agreed to take it slow.
"What, is there a time limit or something?" Piper replies, but she doesn't meet Alex's gaze.
"Pipes." Alex states abruptly, sitting up straighter in the bed.
"Okay, well..." Piper begins. "I'm going to Milan tomorrow and I wanted to take you out before I left. It seemed like a good idea." She trails off quietly, and Alex is damn sure it's the most adorable thing she's ever heard. Seeing the usually confident woman acting nervous around her evokes a rather odd feeling of pride in Alex. But she's disappointed, incredibly so, to learn she's going to be separated from the blonde after only meeting her the day before. Pulling herself together, Alex smiles comfortingly over to Piper.
"Like I said, I'd love to go out with you." She hopes the older woman can hear the sincerity in her voice. Piper returned her smile warmly, rubbing her thumb over Alex's knuckles. She really was going soft.
The pair worked slowly to clear up the plates from their food, not so subtly stealing glances across the kitchen at each other when they thought the other woman wasn't looking. Alex marvelled at how the grey t shirt hung off Piper's lithe frame, and she wondered how much time the blonde must spend working out. Piper meanwhile, was more concerned with how much better her old t shirt looked on Alex than it did on her. She wasn't about to ask the taller woman for it back anytime soon. It was already dark outside when Piper dropped her secretary back at her apartment, shouting from the car that she would pick her up at eight.
"Dress fancy!" Piper reminded her and Alex grinned, waving goodbye as the blonde drove the Porsche off into the night. She drummed her well manicured nails on the steering wheel as she waited for the traffic near her apartment to clear. Her flight to Milan was in about twelve hours, so Piper knew there was no option of inviting Alex back to her apartment for "coffee" after their date. Date. The word sounded foreign to Piper; the truth was she'd never offered to take anyone out on a date. She'd lost count of the amount of times she'd been on the receiving end of an invitation, but never before had the blonde asked anyone out. It was comical really; Piper was this sexy, confident, leggy blonde, yet she'd never even dated anyone. She didn't know the rules, or really how to go about it, but she figured making dinner reservations for two would be a good start. Piper dialled the number for 'Masa' on her hands free and moved the car forward slowly as the traffic began to clear. The thick French accent of her old friend rang out into the interior of the car.
"Monsieur Bernard, this is Piper Chapman." The blonde's voice took over an involuntary business-like tone. "I know it's late notice, but I need my usual table ready for eight o'clock tonight." Piper grimaced at Bernard's sharp intake of breath.
"Miss Chapman, this is very late notice, even by your standards." He scolded her.
"For fuck sake, I know! This is really important, I'll pay double?" She tried to reason with him. A long sigh came from the other end of the line.
"See you at eight o'clock, Miss." Bernard muttered, disgruntled at how he would probably have to cancel an A-list celebrity's reservation now. Piper smiled happily and hung up, pleased with herself. She always was the persuasive type.
"Wow, you are the luckiest fuckin' bitch I ever met, Vause!" Nichols screamed when she read the text over Alex's shoulder.
"What? She's just texting me." Alex shrugged casually as she set her phone down.
"Yeah, but the she is like the richest bitch in New York! Not to mention she is fuckin' smoking!" Nicky exclaimed, perplexed as to why her best friend wasn't flipping out. Truth be told, Alex was going crazy but for different reasons. She was nervous to spend a night, one on one with Piper, despite the events that transpired the previous evening. Dinner at what was bound to be one of New York's fanciest restaurants was a whole different ball game to bonding over hangovers. Alex had a middle class upbringing, sure, but she wasn't posh by any means.
"I don't like her because of the money." Alex reminded the shorter girl.
"Ah, so you like her then?" Nicky grinned crookedly up at her friend as the brunette's face turned red.
"She's...different." was all Alex could reply, turning back to the mirror to finish applying her lipstick.
"Well, all I can say is welcome to the softball team!" Nicky laughed, walking out of the bedroom and leaving Alex alone with her thoughts. Apparently, Nicky had gone home with the receptionist Alex had met the previous morning, Morello or something. Alex had been otherwise engaged during Nicky's explanation of her evening, her thoughts drifting back to Piper. "What if she goes to Milan and doesn't come back? Her mind offered. "Or worse, what if she meets someone in Milan and loses interest in me?" Alex's stomach twisted at that. Pushing those thoughts from her mind, the brunette instead tried to focus on the here and now. Her dress was a nude colour, coming down to her mid thigh and detailed with silver across the front. It was open at the back down to the middle of her spine, with sleeves that were mostly sheer, save for a few more silver detailing here and there. Her heels were black, similar to the pair she wore last night. Alex left the front of her hair down this time, pushed to the side slightly and wavy rather than curled. She hoped all of this added up to what Piper meant when she said to dress "fancy". Alex glanced at her phone again, re reading her last text from Piper.
From: Bae (yes, Piper had actually added herself into Alex's contacts as fucking bae, but the brunette didn't have the heart to change it, not that she really wanted to)
I'll pick you up in five.x
That was four minutes ago, so Alex said goodbye to Nicky (who waved her off with a "Tell her I want an autographed nude!") and opened the door to her apartment, deciding she would save Piper the bother of having to get out of her car. However, she was too late as she opened the door and almost walked into the blonde who was just in the process of raising her hand to knock. In her hands were a bunch of the biggest red roses Alex had ever seen, but as per usual it was Piper who Alex couldn't take her eye off. The whole eye fucking thing between the two was becoming a regular occurrence. Piper's dress was slightly longer than last night's, a cobalt blue number that hugged her figure tightly with sleeves that came to her elbows. There was however, a slit up the left side of the dress above Piper's leg that left little to the imagination. Her heels were also black, but slightly higher than Alex's and her hair was slightly curlier than usual. "Holy shit." Alex thought, but apparently she'd said it out loud because Piper immediately burst into laughter.
"Holy shit to you too. Now, take these flowers and let's go before I change my mind and we end up going nowhere except your bedroom." Piper said it jokingly, but the look on her face told Alex she was actually deadly serious.
"You brought me flowers?" Alex raised an eyebrow as she carried them inside to set them on the kitchen table. Piper hovered outside and fidgeted with her nails.
"Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?" She countered.
"Sure it is. Thank you, Pipes." Alex told her, not noticing that Piper didn't seem too sure of herself. Piper grinned up at the brunette as they walked down the steps to her car.
"Hi." Piper whispered. Alex chuckled lightly at her sudden shyness.
"Hi." Alex murmured back. "Oh my god. Is this your car?" Alex gasped when she saw the red Ferrari parked at the side of the road.
"Sure is. Well, one of them. My favourite one." Piper explained, opening the passenger door for Alex. "It's for special occasions." The blonde closed the door softly behind Alex before skipping over to the driver's side.
"This is a special occasion?" Alex teased, but judging by the flowers and Piper's unusually chivalrous attitude, she already knew the answer.
"Of course." Piper says, and her voice is unusually devoid of sarcasm. Alex doesn't like it. It's setting her more on edge than she already was, and that's saying something. The blonde pulls out into the street as Alex tries to ignore her boss's unnerving change in demeanour.
"So are you going to tell me where we're going?" Alex enquires, and she's rewarded with a trademark smirk making its way onto Piper's lips.
"What do you think, sweetheart?" Piper grins and the brunette shrugs, admitting defeat. "You'll like it, hopefully." The blonde adds. "So, what did Nicky say?" Piper attempts to make small talk with Alex. The reason for her strange behaviour, unbeknownst to Alex, is that Piper is extremely fucking nervous; she's out of her depth for the first time in her life. What if Alex doesn't like the food? What if she gets bored? What if Piper doesn't impress her enough and she finds someone else while she's in Milan? The blonde's mind is full of what if's, and she just wants to make Alex happy, she wants the brunette to stick around. No one ever really stuck around when it came to Piper, and now she's found someone she desperately wants around, she's in danger of fucking up because of that very reason. Alex's dulcet tones pull Piper from her anxious thoughts as she answers her question.
"Nicky? Oh, you really don't wanna know what she said about you, Pipes." Alex laughs, and Piper does what she's supposed to and laughs right along with her. The conversation begins to flow and the blonde settles, Alex's calming presence relaxing her. She seems to have this way of making Piper both absolutely crazy, and also incredibly serene and relaxed when she's around. Piper can't even imagine losing her temper because of something Alex has done. They pull up to the imposing restaurant, Piper jumping out of her side and opening the door for Alex as usual.
"Are you going to do that all the time, Pipes?" she whispers into the blonde's ear as Piper wraps an arm around her waist.
"Don't complain, I could be doing much worse to you, Miss Vause." Piper replies suggestively, handing her keys over to the valet who greats her with a familiar smile. Alex doesn't recognise the restaurant (it's in a part of Manhattan that's so exclusive she'd feel as if she was trespassing if she ever visited it). The pair walk to the entrance arm in arm, both shivering slightly from the cold evening air of New York. It was the sort of terrifically dark night where you felt as if you were disappearing every time you crossed a road. Piper greets a small, beady eyed man and speaks to him with the sort of accented French Alex would expect to hear on the streets of Paris rather than New York. What a damn surprise, Piper is multi lingual on top of everything else. It's pretty attractive, though, much like everything else the blonde does. The tuxedo-clad man leads them inside, and not for the first time that evening Alex nearly collapses. The ceiling is high and wide, from which hangs an enormous glittering chandelier that casts bright warmth across the restaurant. The floor itself isn't overly big and save for a few tables in the middle, it's mostly occupied by red velvet booths around the side. Every table is occupied, but it's unnervingly quiet and Alex feels like everyone has suddenly stopped eating to stare at Piper Chapman and the tall brunette on her arm. It hasn't really dawned on Alex that she could be on the cover of a magazine or something in the morning. The waiter leads them to a more spacious, secluded booth on the edge of the room, and there's already a bottle of chilled champagne waiting for them. Alex feels like she's walked right into the middle of a Hollywood movie, and she almost asks Piper where the cameras are. The pair sit opposite each other and Alex watches Piper intently as she speaks in rapid French to the waiter pouring their champagne. She's decided that it's a really big fucking turn on listening to the blonde talk like that. Piper seems slightly agitated, however, and something still feels off to the brunette. The waiter places a menu in front of each woman before striding off, muttering something under his breath. Alex raises an eyebrow at Piper who's chewing her lip and trying to burn holes through the menu with her eyes.
"Are you gonna tell me what's wrong or do I have to try and figure that one out myself too?" Alex asks the blonde who whips her head up, seemingly surprised to hear someone talking to her. Piper's face softens as she takes in Alex's concerned expression.
"Nothing, he's just unhappy that I've landed in at the last minute. I mean, we could've gone somewhere else but..." Piper trails off and Alex takes her hand that's resting on the tabletop.
"What is it, Pipes?" Alex presses, rubbing her thumb smoothly over Piper's knuckles to try and get the damn girl to just relax.
"I wanted to impress you." Piper murmurs, and Alex nearly kisses her right then and there in the middle of the restaurant, judgemental upper-class onlookers be damned.
"Oh, Piper. You don't have to impress me! I'm not going anywhere." Alex soothes, incredulous as to why the blonde is acting so strange. Suddenly, it clicks. "Oh my God." Alex cries.
"What?!" Piper looks at her with a shocked expression.
"Do I make you nervous, Piper Chapman?" Alex chuckles darkly as she finally seems to have got one over on her boss. Piper feels her cheeks heat up as she realises she's been caught out. Fighting to regain her composure, she replies quietly.
"Yes, okay, you make me fucking nervous, Alex!" Piper whispers harshly. "Despite what it looks like, I have never done this before! I don't know the rules." The blonde's temper falls and quickly as it has risen and she regards Alex with a wary expression. The brunette has a cocky smirk on her face. "My, my, how the tables have turned." Alex thinks.
"Oh, well that's the whole problem isn't it?" Alex's gaze flits between Piper's eyes and her lips. Her tone lowers slightly. "Rules aren't any fun." Piper has to bite her lip, close her eyes and squeeze her thighs together at that. Alex grins crookedly at Piper's reaction and continues touching the blonde's hand, enjoying having the upper hand for once. Piper may be able to render Alex speechless with her outrageous comments, lavish cars and swanky restaurants, but Alex is no stranger to turning on the charm. Alex reluctantly let's go of Piper's hand and opens the menu as the blonde across the table tries to sort herself out. Opening the menu, Alex thinks she's seeing double at the figures on the page.
"What the fuck!" She almost yells, glaring at Piper who raises her eyebrows. "Piper, the fucking food here is like three hundred dollars a pop!" she hisses, and Piper shrugs.
"So?" She replies, perplexed at the brunette's sudden outrage.
"So, if I were to actually order a meal, which I would have liked to do, it's going to cost me about six hundred dollars!"
"Okay, kid. One, you're not fucking paying for it." Piper replies. "And two, you will order whatever you want and then some, because this?" Piper gestures to the menu. "Is where I decided to take you, and I'm prepared to pay the price, if you'll pardon the pun." Piper laughs at her own joke but Alex still looks pissed off. "Seriously, Alex. It makes no odds to me whether the meal costs ten bucks or a thousand, so get whatever the hell you want. I'll be more annoyed if you don't order something than if you order three portions of the most expensive thing on the menu." Alex nods begrudgingly and turns her eyes back to the menu. It does look good, she has to admit. Piper clicks her fingers in the most over confident manner Alex has ever seen, and a waiter appears at the edge of their table. Piper orders a bottle of their finest red wine, and some chicken dish that Alex can't even pronounce. Alex meanwhile, orders what she supposes is the closest thing to a steak she's going to get in this damn place, and the waiter collects their menus with a smile that doesn't quite reach his face.
"You're popular." Alex quips when he leaves.
"They don't like the media attention I bring." Piper explains as if it's the most normal thing in the world. "They say it's untraditional." Piper rolls her eyes at that, but stops short of anything more insulting as the waiter returns with their wine. Alex reckons the bottle probably costs more than her dress. "Cheers." Piper smiles at the brunette across the table, raising her glass.
"Cheers." Alex reciprocates, clinking their glasses together and tasting the rich, fruity taste of the alcohol. She moans softly as the liquid travels down her throat. It's damn good.
"Do that again." Piper smirks.
"Try not to spill it all down yourself tonight, Pipes." Alex fires back, laughing as Piper opens and closes her mouth, trying to form a comeback.
"Oh, but if I do, will you take my dress off me again?" she eventually replies and Alex shrugs. "So, Alex Vause. Talk to me about this whole art thing you've got going on." Piper enquires, setting her glass down and leaning forward onto her elbows. Alex mirrors her action and clears her throat. It's not every day you get to talk to one of the biggest art importers in the world over a thousand dollar meal in Manhattan, and Alex will be damned if she isn't going to enjoy it.
The conversation flows comfortably throughout the meal, each woman throwing up a flirtatious comment here and there only to be met with an even raunchier one thrown back in their face. The food is great, no one bothers them, and they simply get lost in each other as they always seem to do. Piper loves it when Alex talks about her art; it's the most beautiful thing to watch someone talk about what they love. Alex, meanwhile, gets most satisfaction seeing Piper's shy, more guarded aura rather than the confident wall she tends to build around herself. They talk about art, literature, music, travelling, television and even sex comes up at one point.
"So, you're gay?" Alex says again, her speech slurred slightly as they've moved onto their second bottle of wine and there was more than an adequate amount of liquor in her coffee.
"Yes, if you couldn't tell by the way I've been looking at you ever since you walked through my door." Piper says. She's not quite so drunk; she's only had about two thirds of a bottle while Alex had the rest.
"Why?" Alex wonders, as if a lesbian is the most confusing, perplexing thing in the world.
"Because, being with a woman is like being with God himself." Piper states, and Alex giggles at that. "No, I don't know really, I just am. Trust me, one day you'll think to yourself, Wow, I am so fucking glad that Piper Chapman is a lesbian. If there really is a God he surely must be between my legs. Yep, thank you God for being a lesbian." Alex might be drunk, but she gets what Piper means and blushes, trying to get the image of Piper between her legs out of her mind. Not because she doesn't like it, but because she loves it so damn much she's afraid of what she might do.
"Were you always this humble?" Alex retorts, and Piper just laughs. It might be the alcohol, it better be the alcohol, but Alex is half in love with the blonde by the time they leave. Piper's arm around her waist makes her feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and the way she holds her hand across the middle of the car just positively kills Alex. All the little touches, like the flowers she brought her or the way she insists on opening the car door for her just make the brunette fall for Piper that little bit harder. She can't explain why Piper makes her feel like this, and she sure as hell doesn't know how, and in fact Alex doesn't even know what she's feeling. But if she had to guess, that warm, fuzzy feeling she had? That sure as hell felt like love to her. So when Piper walks her up the steps to her door and shuffles her feet nervously, it's Alex who brings her nimble hand up underneath the blonde's chin and tilts her head up. It's Alex who leans in slowly and presses her lips tentatively to the blonde's. It's not like the kiss in the club; it's slow and calculated. Piper wraps her arms around Alex's neck, twisting her fingers in that long, raven hair. Alex's hands wander around Piper's waist and hover slightly above her ass. It's Alex who deepens the kiss, pressing Piper up against the door and tasting the bittersweet tinge of wine on the blonde's tongue. Piper involuntarily moans, because for a straight girl Alex is very talented with her tongue. They continue like this for what felt like hours but was only a few minutes, tasting and probing and teasing each other like they have been for the past two days. It's Piper that pulls away first, but she leaves her hands in Alex's hair as she looks into the taller girl's eyes. She wants to stay so badly; fuck Milan, fuck work, fuck everything else that isn't this incredible woman in front of her. But if she stays, Piper will never leave, so she kisses Alex again before stepping away. Alex smiles at her, because she can see the pain of leaving etched perfectly over the blonde's face.
"Thank you so much for tonight." Alex drawls, even though she thanked the blonde about a million times in the car.
"Don't mention it, kid. I had fun." Piper smiles sadly.
"Me too." The brunette whispers, brushing a strand of hair behind Piper's face.
"Well, goodnight Alex. I'll be home soon, I promise." Piper seems genuinely distraught at the fact she has to leave. She is genuinely distraught. "I..." Alex raises her eyebrows as Piper's eyes drop to the pavement. "I'll miss you, Al." She says, so quietly Alex almost mishears her.
"I'll miss you too, Pipes. Goodnight." And it's true. Alex will miss Piper despite the fact she'd only met her two days ago. It's funny how love works; you think your life's great even though you're not in love, yet once you are in love, everything that doesn't involve the object of your desires seems mundane and boring. Even things like eating lunch won't be the same, simply because Piper won't be there.
"Goodnight, kid." Piper gives Alex one last smile, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. She doesn't want to go, but she does, she turns and walks down the steps like the asshole that she is. Alex opens the door to her apartment and gives Piper a wave before stepping inside and closing the door to the cool night air. Looking back on it, slumped against the door, that's the moment Alex Vause knew she was absolutely, utterly, completely fucked. Because she was head over heels in love with Piper Chapman.
Piper goes home that night and for the second night in a row, after a six year dry spell, she cries. She cries for what feels like hours. Because she's going to miss that fucking girl so much it breaks her heart. It may only be a few weeks, but Piper's never felt the way she does in Alex's company. Piper's never felt what it feels like to be in love with someone. As she climbs despondently into bed that night, praying for sleep to come to her, she remembers why you shouldn't tell anybody anything; if you do, you start missing everybody.