A/N: Hey guys, just a little note to say that as I live in the UK, I know very little about the geography of California, so a lot of the locations mentioned etc have just been results of google searches and stuff I've seen on tv and films. I've tried my best to be as accurate as I can, though some of it, I've just made up. There's a bit more direct quoting from OITNB. I don't feel too confident in this chapter, I feel like I spend too much time explaining things which have previously been explained, so I need to step away from that in future chapters..

Also, where I describe the "second song," the song in mind is Kiss Me by Ed Sheeran.

Let me know your thoughts, please review!

Chapter 8: First Date

When Piper awoke on Wednesday morning she could feel the restlessness of butterflies in her stomach, they hadn't stopped fluttering since before she had gone to sleep. She woke at the same time as she did every day, and made her way to the kitchen to start the coffee machine. Larry joined her shortly later, and poured himself a large bowl of cereal. Piper sat with him, glad that they could enjoy silence together.

"Isn't today your day off?" Larry asked once he had finished his breakfast.

Piper nodded, "Today and Friday, working all weekend."

Larry wrinkled his nose up, "We need to find you a job where you get weekends off."

Piper gave a non-committal nod of the head and busied herself with pouring them both some coffee.

"Are you doing anything today?" Larry asked, "I've got a bit of a busy day ahead, the producers are stopping by and I think we may be going out for dinner so I may not be home until late.."

Piper allowed herself a small smile knowing this meant that she had more time with Alex. She turned to face Larry, "that sounds exciting," she spoke as she passed over his mug.

"You don't mind?" His eyes were filled with concern.

"Larry, this is your career! Of course I don't mind!" she ran her hand through his dark hair thinking about how she used to show her boyfriend affection, "and anyway, one of the girls from the Bookstore is meeting me later today, so maybe we can go grab dinner instead of lunch."

Larry took her hand between his own, "I love you."

Piper smiled at him, she knew that although her feelings were a chaotic mess right now, she couldn't let it show. And she did love, Larry. "I love you too," she said back, leaning in to give him a light peck on the lips. She could feel Larry's attempt to pull her in for more and she shook her head and simply said "morning breath."

As Larry got changed, Piper went through her wardrobe trying to decide on what to wear. Alex had said to be quite casual, and to wear flats or whatever she found most comfortable. The California sunshine looked especially hot this morning, so she tried to find something light. Larry gave her a quick peck on the cheek before he left, and Piper felt herself relax. The last time she had lied about anything had been the lie about Alex's job, she had told Polly that Alex was an importer, which wasn't a lie exactly, just an omission of the truth. She tried to convince herself that this was the same, she hadn't lied to Larry, she just hadn't told him the exact truth. It was no use. She felt guilty.

Her phone suddenly buzzed, and she practically leapt across the bed to grab it, knowing it wouldn't be anyone else other than Alex.

Lex: Good morning, ready for our date?"

The guilt vanished in an instant, as she smiled at the screen of her phone. She had seen Alex on Monday and Tuesday, at work, they had talked a little, flirted a little, but mostly they had been busy with their work. Of course, as expected, there had been some probing and teasing from Nikki, apparently she hadn't got much out of Alex on the matter of her sleepover on Saturday night.

Piper: Just trying to find something to wear, I wish you would just tell me where we are going.

Lex: I know a way to solve this problem, and it doesn't require clothes..

Piper: Well I'm thinking that maybe we need to just take things slow, you know, see whether we still like eachother that way.

Lex: Such a killjoy.

Piper: I'm just trying to be sensible.

Lex: Key word: Trying.

Piper laughed. Alex knew as well as she did that their connection remained, and it seemed as strong, perhaps even stronger, than before. But she still wanted to be careful. Rationally it didn't seem possible to feel this way, not so soon after their reunion, but they had history, and if you took away the cartel, if you took away Larry, if you took everything else away, they were the same two people who had fallen hopelessly in love, and had never fully managed to fall back out of it.

Piper: I'm just going to jump in the shower and then I should be ready in about an hour.

Alex: Thanks for the visual..

Piper: Try thinking with your head for a change, Vause Mouse.

She smiled at the nickname, it had been a playful term she used to describe Alex back when they had been in one country or another, when Alex's work had started to get ontop of her, and she was hurrying around in a panic like a little scurrying mouse.

Alex: Attempted. No use. Blood just isn't used to servicing that part of my body.

Piper put her phone back on the bedside table and headed for the bathroom. Alex had always liked to surprise her, with shopping trips whenever she got paid for one of her "jobs", or out to a nice restaurant for a nice meal. But this was different.

After her shower, she changed quickly into the outfit she had picked out, a pair of faded denim shorts and a thin cotton vest top. She dried her hair and teased it with her curling irons so that it fell in loose curls, she remembered how Alex had always liked her hair this way. Larry had always preferred it straight or tied up. She applied a light layer of make up, and gave her eyes the smoky effect that she knew Alex loved but that Larry had always complained made her look like she was trying too hard. She couldn't help but compare the two, they were so different and offered her completely different lives.

When she felt as though she couldn't do any more to make herself feel ready she text Alex to let her know. It was nearing 9am now, and Alex had told her that they would make a day of it. She felt her stomach complain at her for not yet having any breakfast and she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge before leaving her apartment and going down to wait for Alex.

She half expected a beautiful car to pull up, maybe a vintage Chevrolet or a Mustang, the type of car Alex that would suit Alex, but instead Alex arrived in a very uniform looking black car. The window rolled down, and the raspy voice called out, "hop in Kid!"

Piper slipped into the car, and smiled as she saw her ex-girlfriend. She couldn't help but stare as she settled into the seat, Alex looked stunning. Her eyes were lined with black, and the blue-green eyes looked as deep as the ocean. Her lips looked full and soft, and her jet black hair fell around her shoulders. Piper couldn't suppress the goofy smile which took over her face, she felt excited like a teenager sneaking out for the day, "so can you tell me where we are going, now?"

"Well, as you may have noticed, funds aren't what they once were.." she tapped the dashboard of the car, "so we wont be pouring champaign over each other like it costs less than water..."

The two women smiled at the memory. Alex had agreed to her output being increased, and as such, Kubra had wanted her to import on a more international basis rather than just domestic. Rather than importing into the united states, she would now be involved in moving heroin from one country to another. Kubra had struck a deal with another Cartel which had opened up the opportunity to make more money, and who best to do it than Alex. As such she would be spending much less time in the states and much more time in various countries around the world. She had managed to convince Piper to come with her. Her very first international operation had been a success, and when the money had been wired into her account, Alex had room service deliver two bottles of their best champaign up to the penthouse suite, and as they stood on the balcony overlooking the city lights at night time, she popped the bottle open and poured the hundreds of dollars of champaign over the pair of them, laughing as she did so. They had then proceeded to drink the other bottle and celebrate in Alex's most favourite way, with sex. Hours and hours of sex, followed by sleep, and then more sex in the morning.

"So I figured, as your new to the LA and all, that we should explore..."

"Explore?"

"You said you didn't know the city? So I'm gonna show you it."

"Oh, I've already been to like, Universal City and Santa Monica Pier, but I don't mind seeing them again" Piper said, hoping she hadn't ruined Alex's plans.

"No, I mean I'm going to show you My L.A"

Piper raised an eyebrow in question.

"None of that touristy shit, I'm gonna take you to some of my favourite places."

Alex started the engine and they drove away from the residential area and onto the highway. As they drove, Alex plugged her phone into the car radio and selected a playlist. As the first song started, Piper thought it may have been just chance, Alex couldn't have remembered that this song had been playing the night that they first met, that they had danced to this song like nobody else was around. But when the second song came on, a slower song, she knew that this play list had been created especially for today. The second song was a beautiful love song, one that Alex had played constantly in the earlier months of their relationship. Piper laid back into the car seat enjoying the sound of the guitar and soulful voice. She could feel Alex's eyes glancing between her and the road, and as she turned to meet them, it was only for a second but she could see the emotional vulnerability in those green blues before Alex turned her attention back on the road. Piper thought back to the first time she'd heard the song played, it was one of those lazy Sunday mornings, she had just dried off after a shower and was laid naked across the bed waiting for Alex to return back to bed. Alex had been in the kitchen attempting pancakes and had this song playing through the docking station as she cooked. When she had returned to the bedroom with the pancakes, she was covered in flour and had pancake mix, but proudly held a plate of in perfect shaped fluffy pancakes.

"Do you remember how proud you were making those pancakes from scratch?"

Alex nodded, "I've got them perfected now, you'll have to come over for breakfast sometime."

Piper laughed, "or stay over?"

Alex gave her a devilish grin, "that would be preferable."

Some time passed as more familiar songs filled the car. Piper felt nostalgic and happy, she knew that this was exactly what Alex had been trying to achieve, but it felt perfect.

"Have you had any breakfast?" Alex asked, as she pulled into a parking area.

Piper shook her head, she had almost forgotten she was hungry. She felt her stomach give a rumble, "no."

"Good, I know this place," Alex replied before disappearing a pay and display parking ticket.

They walked away from the parking lot and weaved through a few buildings before they arrived at their location.

They reached a small diner which served breakfast and nothing but breakfast, all day. It had a 50's diner feel to it, with black and white kitchen tiles and baby pink and baby blue décor, and a golden duke box in the corner. Alex explained that L.A was full of up-market cafes, bistros and the like, that everything was modern and shiny, and sterile. She preferred places with some character. This place wasn't on one of the main roads, it was in one of the back streets, but it was packed with people who, like Alex, wanted to eat breakfast in a place which served real food, and not food for the diet concious. Piper was what Alex had always described as a "foodie", she was a food-snob, brought up on upper-class meals, taught how to count calories before she could even tell the time. But Alex also knew that sometimes, Piper liked to "rough it", liked rebel by indulging in food which her mother would have a heart attack upon sight of, let alone taste of.

Alex observed Piper, watching the cogs of her mind turn over as she took the place in.

"I like it," Piper spoke slowly, as though not fully committed to her statement, she didn't usually like "themed restaurants," but this wasn't too bad. She could see why Alex liked it, her ex-girlfriend had always had a fascination for things which came out of the 40's and 50's time period, this explaining the tattoo of a pin up girl on her arm.

A waitress soon approached their table with a notepad, she removed a pen from behind her ear and smiled at them sweetly.

"What can I get you girls?" she spoke with an accent which wasn't local to the area, it sounded southern, or perhaps mid-western.

Alex hadn't even picked up a menu, but she was ready to order, "I'll have the Banana Stack, and a coffee, please."

The woman nodded and noted it in the notepad before turning her attention to Piper, who apologised that she hadn't yet picked up the menu. The waitress, who was slightly rotund around the waist, poked the pen back through her greying brown hair and behind her ear. She told Piper she would be back with their drinks while she made up her mind.

"This place is very.. homely," she said thinking about the waitresses motherly face. A face far more kind than her own mothers. Alex laughed, it was exactly the reason she loved coming here.

Piper picked up the menu and browsed through her options. When the waitress arrived with a pot of coffee and two mugs, she decided to go with her favourite, and ordered a bacon stack. She watched as the woman noted it down and delivered the piece of paper to the window into the kitchen. She then collected somebody else's order and took it to a table. Piper looked to the window into the kitchen where she watched as the cooks made everything from scratch, rushing around the busy kitchen. Piper felt her stomach grumble at the smell of pancakes and waffles, and syrup and bacon. She looked up to see Alex smiling at her from behind her mug of coffee.

"What?" She asked reaching over to pour her own mug of coffee.

"Nothing, I was just remembering how you are about food."

"I'm not like anything with food," Piper frowned, she didn't like when people told her that she could be a little stuck up. She didn't like to think she could be anything like her mother, but knew that in some ways, she could be just like her.

"Mmhmn," Alex hummed between tight lips.

"I'm not!" Piper argued, "I just like.. you know.. decent ingredients, and..." she trailed off as she realised she was saying exactly what Alex had expected her to say, "shut up!"

Alex laughed, "I like it," she said, and allowed her hand to rest upon Pipers.

As they fell into an easy conversation, the waitress arrived with their order, and topped up their half emptied pot of coffee with some fresh. Piper looked at the large stack of pancakes in front of her and the crispy bacon, all drenched in thick maple syrup and didn't even wait for Alex before she took a fork and dug into the delicious food.

"Such a Lady," Alex laughed she watched piper fork a second mouthful.

"It's so good," Piper said as she continued to attack the pancakes like she hadn't ever had a good meal.

Alex laughed and began to eat her own. She talked Piper through the plan for the rest of the day, after breakfast they would head to a few of Alex's favourite places in L.A, and then drive down to Venice beach for some lunch, before heading to the art walls, and then to one of her favourite spots on the beach, before heading back home.

The date progressed almost exactly as Alex had described. In L.A, Alex took Piper to a few places and stores that she liked the most. They visited a record store that still sold records on vinyl, a clothes boutique which sold individual pieces of clothes which Alex loved but could rarely afford. Then Alex drove them to Venice, where they had walked through the circus that was Venice beach, littered with all kinds of street performers, artists, and fortune tellers. They watched a man juggling knifes, and Piper decided to visit a fortune teller although she didn't believe they held any power. She could barely hold back from rolling her eyes as she was told that her future and her past would collide in a dramatic and violent ending, and that somebody she loved would leave her world forever.

Alex laughed at this, joking that she had managed to escape an international cartel of drug dealers, yet she was going to die when Larry came at her with a gun. Piper didn't find this so funny, and they agreed that while they spent time together, they wouldn't acknowledge Larry's existence.

Once they'd ate at a place of Piper's choice, they headed back to the car, where Alex drove them to "her" spot on the beach, which took them about another fifteen minutes. It was around 4pm when Alex pulled up along the side of a quiet area by the beach, where the only other occupants were a few dog walkers, and a youngish girl who sat reading a book. Alex began to remove her shoes and socks, and Piper copied. As they walked down the sandy steps to the beach below, Alex entwined her fingers with Pipers, as she had wanted to do all day, but knew better than to have their relationship out in the public eye. Now they were alone, she felt happy feeling the familiar hand interlaced with her own. They walked towards the sea, where Alex rolled up her jeans and walked through the shallow warm water.

"So, why here?" Piper asked as she looked around at the beach. They were walking towards a wooden pier which looked as though it hadn't been used in decades.

"When I first came to LA, it was about 11 months after my mom died," she chose not to mention the part about Piper leaving, it didn't seem appropriate right now, "when it reached the one year anniversary, I knew I couldn't return to New York to visit my mom," she continued, the weight of what remained unsaid, weighed heavy in the air. "So, I wanted to find some place where I could find some quiet, and just sit. Just be alone as I felt. And that's not easy in La La Land. Even the places you expect the be quiet, there's always someone, even in the apartment, I can hear the streets below, or the neighbours. This is the closest I came to finding it."

Piper rubbed some circles on the back of Alex's hand, she wanted to comfort her the way she hadn't stayed around to comfort her before. She found that they were now stood in the shade beneath the pier. She leant against the wooden structure, and pulled Alex towards her.

"I came here, and except for the odd car or seagull, it was quiet," Alex explained, her eyes were piercing into Pipers, "it was here that I decided I needed to let you go, that I needed to try and get over you.. I spent two years trying, and I thought I was doing well." The taller woman ran a hand through her dark hair and frowned, "I thought that because I was able to sleep with other women, that maybe I was over you.. I ignored how I would compare them to the memory of you, I ignored how alone I felt the next morning and you weren't there, and then one ordinary day at work, there you were, and I didn't know how to feel, or what to say.."

Alex had moved in closer to Piper, with one hand holding Piper's, she moved her other to the small of her back, closing the distance between them, "but I should have known, as I stood here thinking about how I would get past this, how I would move on from you, from us.. that I wouldn't, not ever.."

Piper could feel the warmth of her breath tickling her lips, and then she could feel those soft lips press softly against hers. The kiss was gentle, slow, filled with unspoken words, but it grew with haste, Alex's tongue pushing against her own, that familiar taste, a taste which always left her hungry for more. Piper felt herself kissing back in a way that she could never have kissed anyone other than Alex, filled with need, with desire, with unyielding passion. She pulled Alex in closer, wanting to feel the weight of her body against her own. The kiss could have lasted forever, but as they parted, and she opened her eyes, she felt a little dizzy, and sighed happily into the familiar crook of Alex's neck.

"It's weird how normal this feels," Piper spoke into the soft skin, taking in the scent of her perfume. The same perfume that Alex had worn when they were together. "I feel like I'm 23 and no time has passed," she added.

Alex considered this for a moment, "Well," she began, "I think that when you have a connection with someone, it never really goes away, you know? You snap back to being important to each other because you still are."

Piper looked at the woman in-front of her and thought about how much their lives had both changed. Together, as they were right now, it felt as though nothing had changed, but this couldn't be further from the truth.

"But I've changed so much since we were together," said Piper, "haven't you?"

"No," Alex responded without question, "No, not really. I'm pretty consistent."

Piper raised an eyebrow, "you don't turn kids into mules anymore and make thousands of dollars shifting heroin around the world."

"No, that part has changed.." Alex agreed, "what I do, that's changed, now I'm more about shifting books around a store, for much less money.. but me, who I am, I'm the same."

Piper nodded, "I guess maybe we are the same, but life is just.. different."

They didn't speak as they held each other for a few minutes. Piper wasn't sure how she had ever survived two years without Alex, she felt more like herself when she was with the woman, than when she wasn't with the woman. She knew that at some point she would have to face this, she would have to give up her safety net with Larry, but she was so scared of making the same mistake twice. But Alex wasn't a mistake.

"Hey Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"If I hadn't have left when I did, do you think you would have given it all up?"

Alex thought about this, "no" she said honestly, "probably not."

"What if I'd asked you to?"

"I don't know," Alex admitted, "I think it had to be my own decision, you know? So that I wouldn't regret it or resent you.."

Piper understood, it wasn't personal, it was just the truth.

"Do you miss it?"

Alex nodded, "yeah, I do.. I was good at it, you know? I loved the money, I loved the thrill, it was what it was.."

"Would you go back?"

Alex paused in thought, would she go back? If she knew that Kubra wouldn't shoot her on sight, if he welcomed her back to the "family" as he called it, would she do it?

"No," she decided, "don't get me wrong, a large part of me says yes, but I left because of how much that life cost me, it wasn't worth it anymore. It wasn't worth what I lost."

Piper smiled into her lips as she kissed her, "well, I'm here now."

Alex kissed back, happy to lose herself in the blonde woman once more. She didn't know how long Piper would stick around this time, right now, everything was so unclear. In one breath she felt confident that eventually, when the time came, Piper would choose her over Larry, but in another breath she couldn't help but wonder what she had to offer Piper now. She no longer lived the exciting life with a luxury penthouse apartment in the city, apart from herself, she didn't have much to offer at all. A lot of the $70,000 she stole from the Cartel had been spent while she was trying to shake them off after her escape, more of it had been spent paying her way until she met Nikki and got a job. She'd spent some on her car, and she had kept some in savings. She ignored her doubts and continued to kiss Piper, enjoying what she had missed for the last three years.

"We should do this again, sometime," Piper smiled as they pulled apart.

"Piper Chapman, are you asking me out on a second date?"

"I think I am," Piper smiled, and pulled her in for another kiss.