A/N: Vauseman, Vauseman Vauseman- Much like Beetlejuice, if you say it three times, they are guaranteed to appear….

So here's another installment. Italics denote a flash forward.

Thank you for your comments and views thus far, please feel free to leave endless amounts of further feedback. Enjoy!

There are about half a dozen people in the movie theatre, which is just fine by Alex, it means that she and Piper can have the back row to themselves and spend most of the film fooling around; like horny teenagers with no place else to go. At least they would be, if Piper wasn't so intent on watching the damn film.

'You told me you had seen this movie before' Alex whispers as the ads are coming to a close.

Piper shakes her head, 'I must have got confused with another film'. She shuffles in her seat a little to make herself comfortable.

'But…'

'Shhhh' she says putting a finger to her lips, 'the movie's starting now'

Alex ignores her and leans in for a kiss, as they are flanked by long shadows cast by the flickering pictures on the screen. Piper responds at first, but then it quickly escalates into something firmer, more urgent, so that they drift into more risky territory and then her fingers begin to fumble with the belt buckle on Piper's jeans.

'Al, what are you doing?' Piper hisses, her blue eyes wide with disbelief.

'Making a pot roast, what the fuck do you think I'm doing' she grins, moving in to continue where she left off. But Piper turns her head so Alex's lips catch her clumsily on the side of her mouth.

'There are senior citizens in here, we can't do this'

'They probably got up to much worse back in their day, give or take a corset or two, don't worry about it. Plus no one can see us, you'll just need to be a lot quieter than you normally are' she grins.

A middle- aged woman with very long, severely centre-parted hair, turns round and glowers at them. Alex guesses she's never made out in a cinema movie theatre in her entire life. She's probably got cats, a bad dandruff problem and is always on time for the early bird special.

'We're going to get thrown out if you don't stop it Al and besides, I want to watch the film, it's supposed to be really good'. She's doing that stupid lopsided grin now, the one she does when she's excited about something and it's so fucking adorable that it makes Alex want her all the more.

'You can listen to it while we make out' Alex whispers.

'It's in French, I need to read the subtitles' Piper protests.

Alex sighs and leans back in her chair, 'so you're gonna leave me hanging?'

Piper nods.

Alex snatches up her slurpy from the cup holder and sips noisily. She smirks noticing that it's irritating Piper. 'You do know they all die in the end right?'

'Alex!' Piper says, slapping her on the leg 'you've just ruined the whole film now'

'I'm kidding' she laughs.

The middle-aged woman turns around again, scowling, but this time she isn't content to leave it at that. 'Can you two please be quiet, some of us have paid to watch the film, not listen to you carrying on with whatever it is you're doing'. She looks them up and down with thinly veiled disdain and it immediately riles Alex up in a way that is dangerous. Now she's going to have some real fun.

'Sorry' she says and Piper is impressed and more than a little surprised that she almost sounds sincere. But then she plays an Alex card, a solid Ace, as she continues speaking to the woman.

'How terribly rude of us not to ask. Would you care to join in?' she says, raising her eyebrow.

Piper is trying to stifle her giggles now. She doesn't want to laugh, give Alex anything to reinforce her ass hole behaviour, but if she's honest, she fucking loves this side to her, this unpredictability, not giving a shit what anyone thinks. It's hot. Very hot.

The woman's face is frozen for a few seconds, as if she can't quite believe what she's hearing, then she hurriedly picks up her bag and moves to another seat a few rows away, all the time glancing back as if she expects them to follow her.

'Don't worry' Alex yells after her, 'it isn't contagious'.

She takes another sip of her slurpy, sitting back in her chair: triumphant.

'Jeez Al, I can't take you anywhere can I?' she says whispering, but still unable to stop a small smile forming at the corner of her lips.

'She was an uptight bitch' she replies, grinning.

'Imagine when we have kids? I don't know who I would have to yell at more'.

The change in Alex's expression is almost instantaneous, morphing into something altogether more serious.

'Shhhhhh' someone hisses from the front row.

Piper drops her voice, 'I was just…..' she starts, desperate to explain, but she tails off, because she doesn't actually know where to begin . In truth, this is the first time she's even thought about children since she lost the baby. It had just been pushed to the back of her mind, something that was too painful to contemplate, but the look on Alex's face tells her that mentioning this is a bad move, so she changes the subject. After all, now is not the time to get into this, not when things are still so complicated.

'You do realise that your tongue is all blue right?'

'What?' Alex says, looking a little confused.

'From the slurpy'

'Oh' she grins, her mood lifting again, 'care to take a closer look?'

'Why not' Piper replies grabbing her hand, 'let's go….'

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Alex was napping in the chair in her office, drifting in and out of shadowy, shapeless dreams as she battled to maintain a hazy consciousness. She had been woken up by a car alarm sounding, in the street below her apartment at 1am. By the time it had stopped an hour later, she couldn't get back to sleep, every little noise causing her to toss and turn; like the dripping of the bathroom tap and the meowing of some alley cats.

'Have I come at a bad time?' a voice said startling her and snapping her awake.

'Oh, hey' she said, running a hand over her face and wishing that Piper had picked a more opportune moment to come and visit her, preferably where there wasn't the possibility she had been snoring.

'I've come for our 'friend lunch, your 'daughter' let me in', she smiled. 'Philly cheese steak or sundried tomato, tapenade and burrata?' she said holding up a couple of brown paper bags.

'Well, given that I don't know what the fuck's in most of the second one, looks like it's Philly cheese steak' Alex replied, still trying to get herself back to a state of full wakefulness.

Piper handed her the sandwich and perched on the end of the desk, leaving only a few inches separating them. Despite not having eaten all morning, Alex's interest in food was wavering. Instead she found her gaze lingering over Piper's long legs, the tight black jeans fuelling her imagination in a way that she knew they shouldn't.

Piper removed her coat and draped it across the desk. She was wearing an aqua marine cashmere jumper, which set off the blue flecks of her eyes. The sandwich really was no competition for Alex's attention.

'Where are you manners Al?' Mia said from the doorway, 'shouldn't you offer the lady a seat? She is a guest after all' she grinned.

'How kind of you to point that out Mia, if only you had something else you should be getting on with rather than offering me etiquette lessons', she replied bluntly.

'Ok, ok, I get the message. Now you crazy kids be safe and if you can't be safe then be careful. Don't forget, a high percentage of accidents happen in the workplace' she grinned, disappearing back into the front of the store.

'She certainly keeps you on your toes, doesn't she?' Piper said laughing.

'Something like that…anyway, she was right, it was rude of me, why don't you have my chair, I guarantee it's the most comfortable thing you ever sat on, well, apart from my lap that is'.

'Well which one is on offer?' Piper asked, the words slipping out of her mouth before she had the chance to properly consider them.

'Whichever you find more comfortable?' Alex replied holding her gaze: daring her.

'I think I had better stick to the chair' she said, fervently reminding herself she was engaged and ignoring the very obvious chemistry that was sparking between them like some sort of super charged current.

They switched places and Piper shuffled around a little trying to ascertain if the chair really was as great as Alex was making out.

'So?' she asked

'Well, I think you're right, it is a great chair…'

'It is, but I guarantee my lap is superior, the offer is still open…'

'I bet it is and my answer is still the same'

'That's quite some restraint you got their kid'

'What makes you think that I'm having to use any restraint?' she said, carefully unwrapping her sandwich.

'Because you're only human' she replied, her eyes glinting with the promise of something delicious.

'Have you always been this arrogant?' she said, tilting her head a little and regarding her curiously.

'Arrogance is crude and egotistical' Alex replied, examining a piece of steak that had fallen out of her sandwich.

'So what is this then?'

'Inevitable' she grinned.

'I meant your attitude' Piper replied, finding herself getting a little flustered.

'There is no attitude, I just call it like I see it'.

They were interrupted by Alex's phone buzzing on the table next to Piper. 'Looks like someone called Sylvie is trying to get hold of you' Piper said, reading the display. 'Girlfriend?'

Alex shook her head.

'Someone that's tested out your lap?'

Alex laughed, 'hey, I don't just offer my lap to anyone you know, I have got morals'

'Uhuh' Piper replied, not entirely convinced.

'I do'

'And why should I believe that?'

'Because' she said leaning in, so close that Piper could feel her breath on her cheek, 'if I didn't, right now that sandwich would be the last thing on your mind'.

'Al!' Mia yelled from the counter 'there's a customer here to see you'.

'I'll be back in few minutes' she said pulling away and making her way out of the office.

Piper took a deep breath. This was going to be much harder than she thought.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

They're eating ice cream sundaes at a place Piper's picked. Which means it's kitted out to look like an authentic diner, except it lacks soul and is full of yuppie assholes thinking that they're being ironic.

Alex snatches the cherry out of Piper's sundae glass and pops it her mouth.

'Hey, you stole my cherry' Piper protests.

Alex pauses, holding her gaze, emerald hues flashing with mischief, 'tell me something I don't know kid'.

'You're fucking incorrigible' she replies shaking her head, but unable to contain a smile nonetheless.

'I think that's enough ice cream for me' Alex says discarding her spoon in the glass with a rattle. All that sugar has left her feeling a little queasy. She spots Piper waving at someone. She turns around to see who it is and then wishes she hadn't bothered; it's the Park Slope mafia; fucking Polly and what looks like a dumb ass friend of some description. They are almost carbon copies of each other, all twin sets and fake smiles, except the new girl is dumpy and generally less interesting to look at. The mood immediately feels dulled and Piper is already throwing Alex a glance, willing her to play nice.

'Hey Pipes, I didn't realise you were going to be here' Polly says hugging her friend. She turns to nod a chaste acknowledgment to Alex who can barely raise a smile.

'Al, this is Melissa, Polly's housemate and Melissa this is Alex, my….' The words are suddenly stuck in her throat, what are they? She's still technically Larry's fiancé, can she have a girlfriend and a fiancé at the same time?'

'I'm her special friend' Alex interrupts abruptly, not bothering to hide the fact that Piper's hesitation has pissed her off.

'Errrm Hi' Melissa replies, clearly noticing the tension

'Come sit with us' Piper says, getting out of her seat and sliding in next to Alex; trapping her.

The pair shuffle into their seats and begin examining the menus. Alex is suddenly in desperate need of a cigarette. Piper places a hand on her thigh, trying to appease her, knowing she's fucked up, but the truth is, there is no label for this, except that it's a mess. Christmas is three weeks away and they are no closer to resolving the situation and Alex is beginning to wonder if they ever will and then she mentioned kids the other week at the movies…' Alex shakes her head as if she's trying to physically dislodge the thought from her mind.

'So you split up with Larry huh?' Melissa asks, tilting her head sympathetically and Alex can feel herself grinding her teeth and desperately trying to ignore the pounding behind her eyes.

Piper squirms in her seat uncomfortably, sitting on her hands like a toddler that has been caught doing something they shouldn't have been. 'It's complicated' she mutters.

Melissa casts a glance over Alex, pretending to be discreet, except failing miserably. She's clearly psyching herself up to ask a question and after a couple more minutes, she finally manages it. 'So you two are….' She doesn't finish the sentence, hoping one of them will jump in and complete it for and unfortunately for Melissa it's Alex that obliges.

'Fucking' Alex replies bluntly, staring at the trail of chocolate fudge sauce that is dribbling down the side of her half empty sundae glass.

Piper shoots her a glare. This isn't like the movie theatre, this isn't fun, harmless rogue Alex, this is full on, malicious, total ass hole Alex. The Alex that she doesn't like. The Alex that she doesn't want Polly to see.

Melissa opens her mouth as if to reply, but instead, no words escape, so she closes it again and quickly glances back down at the menu she's tightly clutching.

'If you'll excuse me ladies, I need a cigarette break' Alex says, not bothering to ask Piper to move and instead just climbing over her.

'Wow' Polly says as soon as Alex has disappeared 'and to think, you were trying to convince me she wasn't an asshole'.

'It's just this whole situation, it's hard on her'

'Uhuh, so what exactly is it you're doing about that then Pipes? Because from where I'm sat, it doesn't look like an awful lot'

'So wait, you're a lesbian now?' Melissa interrupts.

Polly rolls her eyes. 'Mel, do you mind giving me and Piper a few minutes?'

Melissa sighs deeply, 'I think I'm gonna go anyway, I've got to work tomorrow, I'll catch you guys later' she says, grabbing her bag and hugging them both goodbye.

'So, you didn't answer my question. What are you doing about this?' Polly repeats, clearly not willing to let it drop.

'Ok, I'm gonna tell you something Poll, but don't yell, ok?'

Polly nods, wondering just how much more drama her best friend can cram into her already complicated life.

'So we went to watch a movie last week and I mentioned something about us having a kid'

'You and Alex?'

'Yea….and she sort of freaked out'

'Freaked out?'

'Yea, I mean, looked…well…panicked…'

'Jeez Piper, do you not think you should find out if she actually wants kids before embarking on a serious relationship with her?'

Piper stirs the melted ice cream absent mindedly, trying to ignore the nagging feeling that Polly is right and dreading the fact she may need to broach this subject with Alex at some stage. But more than that, she has a horrible notion that she knows how Alex would feel about kids and that's what's making her throat feel dry and her stomach churn: that they may not want the same thing.

She shakes her head 'no, I need to sort the Larry stuff out first, one problem at a time she says. She knows full well this is procrastinating, that the kid issue will need to be raised, but she doesn't honestly think she can handle it right now, so for her sanity's sake, she's putting it on the back burner.

Polly shoots her a dubious look, 'you forget how long I've known you for Pipes, you need to speak to her about this'.

'I know, I will, just not right now' she says, drumming her fingers on the formica table top.

'You're fucking nuts Pipes, you know that?' Polly says shaking her head, knowing full well she is going to have to be there to pick up the pieces, no matter what.

'But you still love me' she grins.

'Yes, I still love you. Idiot. But you need to fix this and soon, I don't like lying to Larry either'

'I know and I will, I'm just waiting for Christmas to be over and then it can be a new year and a new start'

'What did I miss?' Alex says re-appearing. She can guess what they've been talking about, heads huddled together like members of a coven, although she's noticed the dumpy one has disappeared.

'Polly was just telling me how hot she thinks you are, again' Piper says trying to lighten the mood.

'Fuck, Piper!' Polly says, clearly caught off guard and very unimpressed.

'Don't worry Poll' Alex says, using the abbreviated form of her name as if it's some sort of insult, 'you're not my type'.

'What?' Polly replies, finding herself strangely insulted.

'I said, you're not my type'.

'Why?' she asks, her curiosity and pride getting the better of her.

Alex shrugs, 'call it a hunch'. She's holding her gaze now, willing her to come back with some sort of snappy quip, except she she's pretty certain she won't because she's gone for broke, her prissy little ego. But suddenly she's smiling instead, which throws Alex slightly.

'Oh yea? Or maybe you just know you couldn't handle me'.

Alex pauses, regarding her closely and laughs 'Maybe' she grins. She's got balls, she'll give her that. 'But I'm pretty sure I would manage'.

'Errrmm, as riveted as I am by this little display of flirting, I am sitting right here' Piper interrupts, not happy with the turn the conversation has taken.

'Well, maybe if I was actually your girlfriend, then I wouldn't flirt with other people in front of you' Alex says flatly.

Polly and Piper exchange quick glances, neither knowing what to do for the best and this gives Alex a little satisfaction, because she's still pissed at Piper for making her feel so fucking irrelevant.

'I'm going to head back' Polly says, sliding out of her seat, the uncomfortable silence proving too much for her. 'Nice to meet you again Alex' she says, this time with a degree of genuine warmth.

'You too' Alex replies, as friendly as she can muster.

As soon as she's gone, Piper's making those eyes at her: big and upset and so unbelievably cute. But she's been an asshole, so it's going to take an awful lot more than that.

'I'm sorry' she says softly, 'I know I've hurt you, but Mel's question just caught me off guard.'

Alex doesn't reply, she just wants this all to be fixed. Now. And they haven't even discussed Christmas yet.

'You're more than just some dumb label to me, girlfriend, lover or whatever…you're… you're….everything'

The anger is relenting a little, like steam escaping a boiled kettle. She's trying to resist but this goddamn girl has this hold over her that she just cannot fathom.

'Alex' she says softly. She loves it when she says her name like that, almost as if she's breathing it, like its part of her. And now the anger is shrinking further still.

'I love you' she purrs, her nose gently rubbing against Alex's cheek and Alex can feel the last wisps of irritation evaporating into thin air.

'So am I forgiven?' Piper asks hopefully.

'Yes, you're forgiven' she finally relents.

Piper throws her arms around Alex's neck, holding her gaze firmly. 'Good, so let's go back and then we can properly make up'. Her eyes are sparkling with promise.

'Sure and by the way' she says, as she retrieves a box of cigarettes from her pocket.

'Yea?'

'Polly totally wants me' she grins.

Piper shakes her head. 'She was right, you are an asshole'.