A/N: 200 reviews. You guys are literally the fucking greatest. I, obviously, am not; I am very sorry for how long updates for this are taking me. I'm just finding it really difficult to come up with even half decent material, and it probably shows. So, from the bottom of my heart, I am very sorry. For the people asking if I have tumblr, I do, but I never use it. If you really want to meet the fifteen year old who's ruining your life (kidding, kidding), PM me for it or follow me on Twitter ( omgschilling). Enjoy this one; it took three separate sittings to produce.


Alex Vause did not like to be kept waiting. Granted, she may have turned up at Piper's an hour before she'd agreed to pick the blonde up, but the very empty house in front of her was causing more than a little annoyance to the brunette. Really, she has no reason to be early; there is school work to be done.

But there is also Piper, who is already so much more important.

So Alex turns up slightly before three, only to be greeted with the black wood of Piper's door staring back at her, as if to say "Why are you here? Piper has a life too, you know." Which she accepted, of course, but Alex just really (really) wanted to see the blonde that had been so dutifully occupying her entire thought process for the past fortnight or so. Despondently, Alex sat back in her car parked parallel to the front door, sitting sideways out of the Aston Martin and leaving the door open, September sun warming her face and casting a bright glow over her frame. She pulls out a novel from her handbag, unfurling the dog eared corner indicating where she'd left off and beginning to pour over the words on the page.

No, she did not like to be kept waiting. But when it comes to Piper Chapman, Alex doesn't have much of a choice.


That's how Piper finds her ten minutes later, glasses almost slipping off the edge of her nose, her figure illuminated softly by the sunlight, raven locks framing her face and catching in the slight breeze; the picture of innocence.

But then, Alex looks up; takes in Piper's lithe form doused in sweat from her run, and she doesn't look quite so innocent anymore.

As is becoming a regular occurrence, Piper stares at Alex, observes the darkening of her jade irises and the abhorrently attractive way her dark navy jeans hug her legs so tightly. And Alex stares straight back at her; at the remnants of water that linger on Piper's neck and in the hollows of her collarbones and at those toned calves that she can now at least remember how they feel wrapped around her waist rather than having to imagine it.

"Hey." Alex smirks, quite pleased with the rather shocked expression on Piper's face.

"You're early?" Piper questions, her voice uncharacteristically high pitched. She's unsure; why exactly is Alex here? Is something wrong? "Why are you here?" The blonde is suddenly alarmed at the suddenness of it all, at the unannounced appearance of Alex, and at her infuriating half-smile that she wears from her position in her car.

"I missed you." Alex jokes light-heartedly.

Except, it's probably the most serious thing she's ever said to Piper. Alex knows that. Piper knows that. It's the honest-to-God truthh that Alex has utterly no reason to be here, other than the fact she just missed Piper. It was that simple, only it somehow managed to be the most utterly complex and confusing thing the brunette had ever encountered. They're unequivocally not in love. But, fucking hell, are they well on their way.

Piper falters under the enormity of the statement, speechless for once in her life, the teasing nature of Alex's low tone betrayed by the sincerity all too visible in shining green irises behind her thick-framed glasses. But then, Piper just grins, wide and genuine and showing off her dimples, the way Alex loves. It positively kills her, that smile, it really does, so the brunette just smiles back at her rather bashfully. She knows, that Piper knows, that Alex really did miss the little shit.

Terrifyingly, it doesn't bother Alex one bit.


It strikes half past four before Piper slinks out of her bedroom; showered, changed, overnight bag in hand and absolutely thrumming with anticipation at whatever inevitably unorthodox plans Alex has for them this evening.

"Sorry I'm late." Piper apologises as she steps into the open plan kitchen, smiling at the sight of a tall, alluring brunette running her finger down the spines of an array of books sitting adjacent to Piper's fireplace. Her finger stills on one before pulling it from the shelf and into her right hand. Alex pauses, smiles at her choice, and replies.

"If a girl looks swell when she meets you, who gives a damn if she's late?" Alex quoted, smirking and tilting the novel in her hand, light overhead reflecting off the striking red design on the cover.

"Nobody." Piper finished the quote with a grin, impossibly more enamoured with the older woman than she was five minutes ago. It's so ridiculous that Alex can have such a profound effect on the blonde just by quoting Catcher in the Rye from memory, but affect her it does, and Alex's infectious charm is quickly becoming utterly irresistible to Piper.


"I'm telling you now, Alex, that if you don't buy Parmesan cheese I'm walking the hell out of this store right now." Piper threatens, folding her arms like a scorned child and furrowing her eyebrows.

"Are we really going to have a fight over cheese?" Alex sighed but questioned the blond with a half-smile.

"This isn't just any cheese!" Piper hissed angrily. "This is Parmesan cheese."

"Yes, which I hate, and will never even use again after tonight." Alex returned, attempting to return the block of cheese to the shelf. "I am not buying a pound of fucking cheese."

"Then I'm not staying over for dinner. Pasta without Parmesan cheese, is not pasta." Piper countered.

A standoff commenced, right there in the middle of the grocery store, in the dairy isle currently inhabited by no one but a rather tall raven-haired girl and a persistent blue-eyed blonde. It was an odd sight; two incredibly attractive women in their late twenties, the tallest in a tight grey sweater and even tighter jeans, while her counterpart faced her challengingly in a open denim shirt, underneath which was a plain white tee worn with jeans of a similar style to the brunette's and paired with simple, laced brown boots. To anyone who happened to walk past, they would have looked like a married couple having an argument over what to make for dinner that evening.

When, in actual fact, they were colleagues who'd been on one proper date yet couldn't get enough of each other, so much so that Alex had actually invited Piper to come shopping with her. Because that sure wasn't the typical behaviour of a couple at all.

Alex's hand hovered in mid air at the threat, torn between her own stubbornness or the possibility of passing up an evening with Piper because she couldn't part with a few bucks for a block of cheese. Huffing loudly, the brunette conceded and returned the Parmesan to the trolley while shaking her head.

"We can buy the damn cheese." She muttered, but couldn't help the small grin that tugged at the corners of her lips upon hearing the quiet exclamation of delight from Piper. The blonde subconsciously has to stop herself from hugging Alex, but she beams up at her gratefully with bright blue eyes and captivating dimples, and there's not much the brunette can do but smile back at her.

That's how they're spotted by her; she sees them looking at each other as if nothing else in the world even exists, never mind matters. Alex sees her first, love struck expression quickly changing to one of absolute panic as she spots the advancing figure behind Piper.

"Fuck." She curses softly, striding forwards to stand in front of the blonde slightly, protecting her from the inevitable onslaught currently barrelling towards them from the opposite end of the isle. Piper turns, confusing marring her face before a stark realisation blankets her and she stiffens, instinctively standing closer to Alex, half hidden behind the tense brunette. Alex inhales sharply, bracing herself.

"What the actual fuck?!" The shrill cry of the woman can probably be heard across the whole damn store. Alex bristles at the piercing tone while Piper grows a little more cowed, flinching slightly.

"Sylvie," Alex greets tersely, but she's quickly interrupted by her furious ex girlfriend.

"A week, Alex?!" She yells, gesticulating wildly at the compromising position Piper and Alex are in. The brunette is about to reply with something fairly civil, but any expectations of niceties are well and truly thrown out the window once Sylvie comes out with her next statement. "And you've already got a new fucking whore to mess-?"

"She's not a whore." Alex snapped immediately, nostrils flaring in anger as she pressed the length of her arm back against Piper protectively, who proceeded to curl her fingers around the smooth forearm of the brunette. It's not that she was intimidated by an ex girlfriend or anything, but she really didn't want to be on the receiving end of Sylvie's famous temper, whether that be verbally or physically.

"Oh, fucking silly me, is she your girlfriend then?" It's evident that she doesn't remember Piper from the night at the bar, but she continues her assault, stepping closer to the pair. Her question hangs awkwardly in the air between them, and Alex hesitates momentarily before replying.

"What's it to you, anyway?" She snarled. Sylvie was taken aback by the surprise of not hearing a smug 'Yeah, she is, actually,' from her ex, and for a long moment she doesn't quite grasp what Alex is saying. Eventually, it clicks, and she laughs caustically in their faces.

"Oh my God, you're standing here buying fucking groceries and looking like something out of the Twilight Saga yet you can't even ask her out?" Sylvie gloats, scoffing in disbelief at her luck in catching them out.

"Fuck off." Alex rolls her eyes at the utter immaturity of the girl, wondering what in God's name she ever saw in her. Here, seeing Sylvie and Piper in the same light, it's honestly unfair on her ex; Piper is infinitely more charming, alluring, beautiful, smart and ultimately just perfectly suited to Alex. They fit together like pieces of a perfect puzzle (or, like pasta and parmesan cheese, according to Piper), and it's just a complete waste of time to even compare the blonde with anyone else.

Piper presses her fingertips into the lithe muscles of Alex's forearm, soothing the tenseness of them as she continues to regard the encounter with a semblance of fear that's quickly turning into annoyance.

"Let's just go." She urges quietly in Alex's ear. Sylvie hears it though, and continues to, what can only be described as, fucking screech in the general direction of Piper and Alex.

"Oooh, is big bad Alex Vause taking orders now?" She attempts to get under the brunette's skin, but Alex just chuckles amusedly, utterly unperturbed.

"Yes, I'm taking orders from Piper, who may not be my girlfriend but has managed to make me happier in two weeks than you managed in two years." Alex retorts effortlessly, smirking smugly at her speechless ex.

"Fuck you." Sylvie spluttered. Upon hearing Piper's involuntary chuckle at her pathetic comeback, she directed the final remnants of her temper towards the blonde. "And go fuck yourself, blondie!" Piper continues to smirk condescendingly at the poor girl who's making quite a fool of herself in front of a small crowd in the dairy isle. The blue eyed girl slips her arm around Alex's waist, the brunette returning the action as Piper leans into her embrace, rather provocatively pressing her warm body against Alex's. Piper stares lustfully at the taller girl's profile and inviting red lips for a moment before quickly coming up with a scathing response to Alex's ex. They're the first words she's ever spoken to Sylvie directly, save for the introduction of her name, and they're utterly magnificent.

"No need, I have Alex for that now."


Piper did a lot of thinking about the grocery store incident for the next hour or so as they strolled aimlessly past shelves housing food that Alex Vause would just never buy in a million years. But they walked, laughed about the encounter, talked about menial things and decided on a plan of action so to speak for the rest of the evening. She rather liked the way Alex had handled the girlfriend question, avoiding it rather than outright saying yes, or no, or really putting any labels on such an unquantifiable thing. They'd address it eventually, of course, Piper would make sure of it, before things got much further, but at the minute she is quite happy to inhale the delightful aroma of chicken arrabbiata that Alex is currently slaving over.

"I can't believe I'm making this for you, only for you to go and ruin it with fucking Parmesan cheese." Alex comments from her position facing away from Piper, towards the corner hob upon which rests her pot of pasta and saucepan of...well, sauce.

"No, I can't believe you're making that for you, only to go and not even finish it properly without Parmesan cheese." Piper mocks teasingly as Alex looks over her shoulder, a half smirk playing on her lips before she turns back and begins to plate up. The blonde contents herself with trying as best she can not to stare at Alex's ass, instead looking around again at the rustic nature of Alex's apartment. It's fantastic, really, with black, granite-like countertops and light wood cupboards with a similarly coloured floor, a wrought iron twisting staircase spiralling up to the higher levels of the home. Beside the staircase rests a small bookshelf adjacent to the window, back-dropped by red brick which is covered in part by various pieces of artwork. It's an awesome sort of place, with a low ceiling and modern lights, all very reds and blacks and browns, right the way down to the leather sofa a little bit away from the kitchen. It's smaller than Piper's house, obviously, with an opposite colour scheme, but it's absolutely stunning without really trying too hard, much like its inhabitant.

"Appreciate." Alex commands sarcastically as she pulls the blonde from her reverie, setting down the white porcelain bowl in front of her that brims with a delectable blend of chicken, pasta, tomatoes, onions, herbs but of course lacking in that one thing.

"Where's my cheese?"

"You think I'm touching that stuff? Nuh-uh." Alex shook her head adamantly, sliding into the seat directly opposite Piper.

"So, you have a phobia of chairs and cheese, and a hatred of salad cream? Remind me why I'm here again?" Piper rolls her eyes at the antics of the brunette, but spots the cheese and a grater out of the corner of her eye. Briskly, she stands, takes the items from the counter and settles back into her chair, eyeing Alex with a sceptically raised eyebrow.

"Careful what you wish for." The older woman mused darkly, red lips curling into a smirk. Piper blushed a little, accepted the warning (encouragement) and drew the pasta onto her spoon before wrapping it around her fork. She eyes it suspiciously; aware of the fact Alex is anticipating her reaction to the meal. Piper wets her dry lips momentarily, tongue darting across the moist skin before she takes a steaming hot mouthful of the stuff. Alex watches her expectantly, smirking at the low hum of appreciation from the blonde and her expression of surprise at how damn good it tastes.

"That's quite something." Piper half-compliments Alex, rewarded with a dry laugh from the brunette.

"Judging by the way you're moaning like a cat in heat, yeah, I'd say it is quite something." Alex surmises. Piper purses her lips and shrugs lightly, unashamed at the fact she's one of those people who moans at the taste of good food on her lips.

The pair continue their seemingly endless effortless conversation over the meal, intermitted with a few suggestive comments from both parties, but nothing particularly serious is spoken about until Piper takes her last forkful of pasta, licking her lips appreciatively before leaning back in her chair and crossing her legs. Alex watches her for a moment, her own bowl set off to the side, before prying a little deeper.

"What made you want to be a teacher?" She inquires genuinely, resting her chin dramatically on her knuckles, elbow propped up on the granite tabletop as she leans in. Piper considers her answer, and thinks about giving the usual spiel of 'Oh, it's just so rewarding', but quickly decides Alex deserves a bit of honesty in reward for her sumptuous meal.

"Does any teacher really grow up thinking this is what they want to do with the rest of their lives? Teaching the same shit every single term for about forty years?" Piper asks rhetorically. Alex shakes her head in agreement, willing the blonde to elaborate.

"I never really had a clue what I wanted to do with my life, because I had a hell of a lot more to worry about." She explains cryptically, her gaze drawn downwards to the intricate detailing of the table top. "So I did my degree in Chemistry, because it was easy as hell to me, and I knew I wouldn't be stressing out night after night studying something I was never going to understand." Piper begins talking with her hands as she often does, waving them animatedly and scoffing slightly.

"I just needed something easy, something that wasn't going to make my life harder than it already was." She mutters finally, picking at the edge of the table with her thumbnail. Alex furrows her eyebrows in thoughtfulness, before grabbing Piper's hand and stilling it abruptly.

"Why?" She asks softly, gaze boring into Piper's own guarded one. A look of reluctance crosses the blonde's features, before she sighs heavily and takes her hand from Alex's grip, unclasping her watch. The brunette watches her with marked confusion, an eyebrow raised in question. Wordlessly, Piper tilts her wrist upwards underneath the light, exposing a jagged scar on the side, just over her bone. Not like one that would have been created deliberately, but a raised mark, white in colour and looking as if the blonde had been struck by something sharp. Alex pulls the younger girl's wrist towards her, caressing the scar with the soft pad of her thumb and feeling a little guilty that she'd failed to notice it before.

To be fair, she'd only ever seen Piper without a watch on once, last night, and they'd kind of been in the middle of more pressing matter.

"What..." Alex trails off, utterly perplexed at how the scar came to be on the left wrist of the blonde. Piper chews on her bottom lip for a moment, drawing further into her chair and looking at their linked fingers. Alex's hands are strong, sure in their movements, confident and bold when she touches the blonde (as she'd learnt the night previously). Piper meanwhile, has slim, dextrous fingers that are demanding and persistent against Alex's skin, unrelenting in their desire to draw out a reaction from the brunette (or, to have a reaction drawn out of herself). Really, it's uncanny how their hands reflect their personalities so closely. Alex, collected and assertive. Piper, insistent and perhaps occasionally frenzied.

Polar opposites, but unquestionably made for each other.

"Don't you ever wonder why I lived with my grandparents since I was about thirteen?" Piper questions quietly.

"I guess it's crossed my mind." Alex admits honestly.

"It was because of my parents." Piper's stomach churns at the memory, and she shifts uncomfortably before continuing. "They were just..such shitty parents." The blonde laughs caustically, devoid of humour while shaking her head. Alex's heart thumps with fear for Piper's younger self, and her voice comes out shakily.

"Did your Dad do this?" Piper cringes immediately, attempting to hide it but not before Alex notices, her fingers tightening around the younger girl's slender wrist as she inhales sharply.

"It wasn't..." Piper isn't exactly sure how to word it. "It wasn't supposed to be me." She slumps, suddenly unwilling to talk about it for much longer. So she gets the hell on with it.

"He was drunk, as usual, slurring and screaming at my mom in the kitchen." Piper explains bluntly. "I was about thirteen, and I knew fucking rightly what was going on." Her voice is laced with bitterness as the memory comes flooding back to her. "So, being the dumbass that I am, I stormed right into that kitchen, full of bravado and anger and whatever else, only to be met with my mother sitting in the corner crying and my dad brandishing a fucking-" Piper chokes on her words, voice breaking, strong facade shattering in front of Alex's eyes.

"A beer bottle. And he- he was so fucking drunk- he just turned on me- and- and-" Alex stops her, waving a hand and pushing her chair back with a scrape, scarpering over to gather Piper in her arms as the blonde falls apart, breathing rapid but she surprisingly doesn't sob. A tear escapes, rolling down her face that the brunette seems to just know is there, despite the fact that Piper currently has her face burrowed into Alex's stomach. Alex catches the tear with her thumb, drawing it underneath the blonde's eye slowly before moving her hand to Piper's head and stroking her hair. They stay like this for a long moment, the only sounds being the even breathing of Alex and the slightly panicked breaths of Piper as the brunette continues to work her fingers through blonde tresses slowly.

Alex stares down at her, and she finally sees. She looks at Piper, but she looks through her, deep into the dark depths of her troubled soul. She sees further back than just thirteen year old Piper. She sees an ultimately more terrifying Piper, ten years old listening to her parents arguing outside her room over which one needs to stop drinking. Her little brother is in the next room crying for help, and Piper just wishes her parents had never even met. She's in her room, alone, and her tears threaten to overflow and stain the hardwood floor upon which her tired frame lies curled upon. Because, while Alex might have grown up without a father but with a mother who loved her totally, Piper might as well have grown up with out both.

"That's why I moved." Piper mumbles eventually against the soft material of Alex's sweater.

"What?" Alex is infinitely confused at what the blonde means.

"Don't put your happiness in other people's hands. They'll drop it." Piper says strongly, raising her head to look at Alex solemnly, blue irises flaring with emotion. "They'll drop it every time."


Alex wonders about Piper's philosophical statement for quite some time, and it distracts her throughout the drawn out process of agreeing upon a movie to watch.

"Why don't you have any rom-coms?" Piper complains from her cross legged position on the floor. Alex fails to answer her, mind a million miles away as she blindly keys in a number on the microwave for their popcorn. "Alex?"

"Hmm?" She shakes her head to rid herself of worry for the moment, sauntering over to the blonde and sitting on the arm of the sofa. "Romantic comedies? Are you fucking kidding me?"

"But Sandra Bullock," Piper pouts in annoyance.

"Mostly horrors, sorry kid." Alex shrugs idly. "Think you can handle Insidious?" The younger girl scoffs, before beginning a whole rigmarole explaining how she most certainly was not afraid of a horror movie.

Alex doesn't hear a word.

She sits, perched on the edge of the sofa, with that look of otherness clouding her jade irises, seeing things much too far as her thoughts hang off a deadly precipice. Alex clears her throat. Considers. Decides. Now or never.

She won't drop Piper's happiness.

"Pipes?" The brunette questions softly, interrupting Piper's speech.

"Yeah? Piper smiles amicably from her juvenile position on Alex's floor, shuffling closer to lean her head against Alex's knee, beaming up at her.

"I need to ask you something...and- and you have to listen to my reasoning, okay?" Alex's heart thumps with nerves as Piper raises her eyebrow in question.

"Okay..." Alex exhales slowly, taking her glasses off and setting them on the table, shifting onto the sofa and offering a hand to Piper. She takes it wordlessly, hoisting herself up onto the three-seater and facing Alex who plays idly with Piper's thumb.

"I know you probably think this is a really fucking stupid idea, and I kind of do too..." Alex starts, doing little to perturb Piper's confusion. "But, to be honest?"

"I like you, Piper. A lot. You're a little shit, and you're awkward and confusing and a little bit obsessed with foodstuffs." Piper laughs despite her apprehension. "But you're different, and I guess that's why like you." A delightful blush colours Alex's cheeks, and of course the blonde knows exactly what's coming.

Well, she thought she did, but she certainly didn't expect the next noise she heard to be piercing shrill of a smoke alarm and a colourful repertoire of expletives from Alex.

"What the ever-loving fuck?!" She yells, leaping from the sofa and striding over to the source of the eye-crinkling smell infecting her apartment and the blaring noise that had interrupted her dating proposal to the blonde. "Fucking shit the bed; Piper, can you give me my fucking glasses? Oh my god, fuck this, fuck that, fuck it, fuck off..."


Alex had continued to swear terrifically at the thing before the ruined popcorn had been replaced by Piper, who had sent Alex outside with a cold beer and insisted she leave her to it. The blonde dutifully watched over the microwave and managed to key in five minutes (rather than the fifteen Alex had accidentally pressed), removing the bowl upon hearing the beep and smiling when she saw the golden popcorn cooked to perfection, placing it on the coffee table and stepping out onto the small balcony to call Alex inside. Piper knew exactly what the brunette planned to ask her.

Happily at ease with herself, she knew exactly what her answer was going to be, too.

"Popcorn's ready." The blonde announced, slipping her arm around Alex's waist and leaning over the balcony with her. The typical sounds of Saturday night in New York City drift upwards to them, taxis beeping their horns and occasional roars audible from various corners of the capital. The street below them is quiet, shrouded in darkness. Piper looks at Alex, who's staring back at her seriously. Raven tresses fall over her shoulders, green eyes still visible in the dark, shining with a silent promise. She's beautiful.

It's dark, but Alex stays beautiful.

The older woman gathers herself, and refuses to be interrupted by anything else as she takes Piper's hand within her own. Pale moonlight falls over the blonde's face as she looks at Alex expectantly. She understood that they were different people together in daylight than they were in the dark.

"What were you going to ask me?" Piper encourages. The brunette purses her lips, smirks crookedly, and doesn't even have to ask.

"Be my girlfriend." Piper doesn't even have to consider.

"Okay." The blonde smiles, happy and elated and just fucking excited. There's nothing to worry about tonight, out here in the terrific blackness of Alex's balcony. They beam at each other adoringly, and they're happier than ever. They kiss, lips meeting slowly, Alex's hands cupping Piper's cheek as the younger girl encircles Alex's waist happily, a hopeful feeling to the long meeting of lips, a wordless promise that this will inevitably be one hell of a ride. Simultaneously, they both remember about the popcorn and the movie and the prospect of an entire night together, and the kiss breaks mutually. The first of many. Alex links her fingers sweetly with Piper's again, pulling her back towards the warm confines of her apartment. Just before she reaches the door, the blonde calls out to her, for no particular reason other than the fact she just cannot quite believe this is all real.

"Why me?" She asks Alex dreamily. The brunette turns to her with a wide grin. She says nothing.

They laugh, and the stars watch. It's good to be alive.


A/N: By the way, I have the story line for this all planned out, and I think it's just fair to warn you guys now; Persuasion's angst will look like a nursery rhyme compared to this. Read and review, please :)