A/N: I'm updating a day early because you've all been wonderfully patient and this is your reward. Something about delayed gratification. Now... who's ready for dessert?


Nicky saw Piper walk out of the guest room and minutes later out came Alex. "Next time just hang a sock on the door and you won't have to worry about anyone walking in on you."

Piper felt like a kid caught with its hand in the cookie jar. "What? No, it wasn't like that."

"What was it like then? Me and Alex were room mates a long time ago and let me tell you, from what I've heard coming from her room, she really seems to know what she's doing."

"I'm sure she does." Piper mumbles, but Nicky hears her.

Nicky pours Piper a glass of wine, pats her on the shoulder and says to her, "don't worry, Blondie, you'll find out soon enough." She winks at her and then walks towards the kitchen just as Alex arrives. "Here" Nicky hands Alex a glass of wine, "drink up, don't worry about going in tomorrow, if anything pops up I'll handle it. You need a day off."

Nicky walked away towards the kitchen to help Lorna finish dinner with a scheming smirk on her face.


No one was particularly surprised that dinner was actually fun without Sylvia. As the night came to a close Nicky and Lorna saw the two women out.

"Remember, if I see that ugly mug of yours in that store tomorrow I'll make you pay, Vause." Nicky said to Alex.

"Yeah, yeah. I got it."

They all said their goodbyes and Piper and Alex left. As the two women walked out of the building Alex turned to Piper asking her. "Mind if I walk you home? I kind of need the air right now."

Piper smiles over at her and nods, "Sure."

Piper starts off in the direction of her building. They walked for a few minutes in comfortable silence before Alex asked. "You mentioned having to move in a bit of a rush. Why?"

"My, um, ex-boyfriend-"

"Larry?" Alex smirked remembering their conversation at the coffee shop.

"Yes, Larry. He's a writer and was offered a job in San Diego for some newspaper. He wanted me to move with him and I wasn't about to drop everything, leave my job, my best friend, my life to move across the country with him. I just wasn't."

"Why not?"

Piper wasn't exactly expecting that question, but couldn't help but answer. Alex had this was of extracting information from her in the most subtle and sly manner possible.

"I'm guessing mostly it was the timing. Popi was getting busier and busier and I couldn't just leave Polly to run things by herself-"

"You couldn't hire anyone to help her? That way you could've eventually opened a branch in San Diego, have two stores."

"That's true. I never even thought of that. But still, I wasn't going with Larry."

"Ah, so you didn't want to move across the country with Larry, not that you wouldn't necessarily move."

Piper didn't answer right away. "I was doing laundry one day and when I went to put his socks away I found a box with a ring in it. An engagement ring."

"You two were engaged?"

"Almost. You see, I was shocked when I first saw it, but then I was so happy I started to cry. I couldn't tell him I found it though, it would've probably ruined whatever surprise Larry had set up. So I was quiet, I didn't tell anyone, besides Polly."

"Of course you told Holly."

Piper smiled at the name. "After two weeks though there was no sign of him planning anything. No special dinner date, no weird behavior on his part, nothing. That's when I really thought about. Did I really want to marry Larry? Or was I just excited at the idea of marriage? The prospect of having a picture perfect life? It was like… like when you're eating ice cream straight from the container and you look in and see one last spoonful. You're excited you have more, but sad that it's the last spoonful."

Alex nodded and smiled slightly enjoying the way that Piper chose to use an ice cream analogy.

"I soon realized that I was far too concentrated on a nice wedding and a picture perfect life much more than I was on my possible marriage with Larry. So on the last day I had to give him my answer, which he assumed would be yes, I told him I wasn't moving and I broke up with him."

"Two birds one stone."

"Yep, pull the bandage off as quickly as possible to minimize the pain." Piper mimed pulling one off. "That's why I had to move so quickly."

"What about all the boxes?"

"Well, right after I moved business really started to pick up and I just dove headfirst into that. It was a welcomed distraction from what was happening in my personal life at that time. My inability to handle emotional chaos head-on is why I'm still living from boxes mostly. Being alone in there and unpacking those boxes is always a little hard for me. I always start, but can never seem to keep going after about half an hour."

"Don't know if you heard Nicky back there, but I'm banned from work tomorrow. If you want, I can help you unpack. I have nothing else to do and I can reach all the high places without a step-stool mostly." Alex smiled her award-winning you-can't-say-no-to-me-even-if-you-want-to smile.

"That'd be great actually. I'll order take out. You ok with pizza?"

"Sounds good to me. I'll bring the beer."

Together they walked to Piper's building with few words being exchanged. A comfortable silence enveloping them. Both extremely excited about the next day, yet neither wanting it to show. There was definitely something between them and that night it shifted.

They stopped in front of Piper's building and stood there a minute.

"What time should I come over then?"

"Is seven o'clock ok?"

Alex nodded and they both stared into each other's eyes for a few minutes, she played with a piece of Piper's hair, then leaned in and gave Piper a kiss on the cheek.

"Tomorrow at seven." Alex turned and walked away without looking back. Piper watched her walk away until she could no longer see her.


At just after seven on Saturday night Alex knocked on Piper's door. When the door was answered Piper smiled at the sight before. Alex was holding another brown paper bag filled with beer.

"I feel like you have a never ending supply of beer at your place."

"If you're lucky, one day, you might just find out." She transfers the bag into Piper's arms and brings her face closer to Piper's in the process and then follows the blonde into the kitchen.

Piper still has the goofiest smile on her face when they reach the kitchen. "They're still cold too." She noticed as she's putting them in her refrigerator.

"Mhm. I don't live too far." She drops that piece of information as casually as she possibly could. "Here." Alex hands over a grocery bag with a pint of vanilla ice cream, a container of raspberries and a container of brownies. "For dessert."

Piper recognizes the ingredients and responds playfully, "what makes you so sure I want all the fixings?" She puts a hand on her hip after she puts the items away.

"Just a guess. But if I were you, I'd give it a try before saying no. You never know, you might develop a taste for it."

With a smile the blonde says to her, "the pizza's on its way. Beer on the couch?"

"Beer on the couch." They sit and start on beer number one.

"How're you doing today?" Piper twists the cap on her bottle and tosses it towards Alex. "For your art project."

With a smile she responds, "thanks." She twists the cap off her own bottle, takes a generous drink, and answers Piper's questions. "I'm doing just fine. Like I said, I'd checked out a while ago. I wasn't happy. I know it makes me sound like a terrible person, but I don't really feel anything. Just normal."

Even though Alex wasn't at work, she still worked from home. And Piper had an unusually busy day at Popi seeing as the holidays were over. Meaning neither of them had had any time to really eat anything. So as they drank their beers on an empty stomach, the quick effect of the alcohol was welcomed as it helped calm their nerves.

"Normal is good. It's better than bad, I guess. I was only asking because," she took another drink, "mm, if you need to talk, I'm here, you know."

"You're the last person I want to discuss my ex-girlfriend with."

"Hey, I'm good listener!"

"I'm sure you are, but I'm still not discussing my ex-girlfriend with you."

"Why not?"

"Honestly? Because while here in your apartment, drinking beer and sitting beside you… my ex is the very last thing I want on my mind."

Half a bottle of beer gone and Piper was feeling braver and looser. "Ok, what do you want to talk about then?"

Alex, to her credit had a higher tolerance, but the beers she brought tonight were a little stronger and she hadn't really eaten anything so she wasn't as in control as she would've liked.

"Are you seeing anyone?" Surprised at the personal nature of the question, but also a little excited, Piper didn't answer at first. "Oh come on, you know more about me than I do about you." She flicked the bottle cap back over.

"No, no I am not." She was at the stage where she was over enunciating in an attempt to not slur her words and sound drunk.

"Lucky me."

"I could say the same thing."

By this time they were both facing each other on the couch and slowly but surely inching closer.

"Why's that?"

"Because you make me feel drunk sometimes when I nidn't neven drink anything." Piper slightly slurred out.

Alex's loud laugh echoed in the living room. "I make you feel drunk? What, like, you can fight everyone in a bar? That kind of drunk?"

"No, the kind where I can't move fast and I want to throw up."

"That's… not what I expected to hear."

"I need another more beer."

"Yeah bring me "another more" beer too, please."

A few minutes later Piper comes back with two beers and two shot glasses.

"Tequila!"

"Right, like either of us need to be more inebriated right now."

"It's Saturday, quit being na spoil sport." Piper put the shot glass as close to Alex's eyeball as it could get without actually getting it wet.

"Ok, fine." Alex downs her shot and looks at Piper. "Well? Don't tell me you're backing out now…" Piper downs her shot and slams the shot glass on the coffee table.

"I'm gonna hate myself tomorrow and I'm just drunk enough not to care about that right now."

Alex smiles. "Why aren't you seeing anyone?"

"Alex, the dating pool in this city is atrocious!" It took her three tries to get the word 'atrocious' out. "I was approached by a man the other day wearing a speedo and a cat."

"Maybe the cat's his pet that's why he was holding it."

"No, he was wearing the cat. He had it draped around his neck like a scarf. And the cat just was there and didn't move. He wasn't wearing any shoes. It was fifty degrees outside!"

"He can't walk around without any shoes on. That's ridiculous, maybe you didn't see them."

"Are you telling me he was wearing invisible shoes?"

Alex thought about this for a bit but was interrupted when she heard Piper snort.

"What are you laughing about?"

As if she were telling Alex some big embarrassing secret that could ruin the prom queen's reputation she pulled Alex closer, holding onto the collar of her shirt, and whispered in her ear, "his nipples were really hard. Like, they could cut glass."

Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe they were both just so tired after such a busy day, maybe it was the familiarity between the two but neither of them could stop laughing at the silliness of everything. Two grown women with jobs and leases in their name were laughing at a nearly naked guy, wearing a cat, with very hard nipples.

As their laughter died down they found each other still in the same position as when Piper pulled Alex over only just a little slumped now. Both with their backs against the couch leaning on their elbows. Their eyes met and they couldn't, no matter how hard they tried (not very hard), look away.

Slowly Alex started leaning in determined not to pull back or play any games. She wanted Piper. Piper wanted her. And now there was nothing stopping either of them from having each other.

When Alex was about six inches away there was a knock on the door. For a moment they were both a little confused, but Alex quickly forgot about the disruption and resumed her journey when suddenly Piper called out, "Pizza!"

"What?" Alex was only slightly annoyed.

"That must be the pizza. I'm so hungry!" Piper was secretly glad for the interruption. She really, really wanted to kiss Alex but she had two beers and a shot of tequila on an empty stomach and couldn't really trust her body at the moment so food was mandatory.

She got up to go answer the door and Alex sat there a little stunned.


"Pizza is so good. It's just bread, cheese, tomato sauce and pepperoni, but it's so good."

"I went through a period of my life where basically the only thing I ate was pizza for about six months."

"How are you even alive?"

Alex shrugged but didn't say what she really wanted to 'it wasn't the worst thing I was putting in my body.' Alex tried not to dwell on certain parts of her past as they only stirred up bad memories and that's not how she wanted this night to go.

"Hey, I have an idea."

They're both sprawled out on either end of the couch with their feet on the coffee table. Alex simply turns her head towards Piper, too tired to really move, and makes a sound that let's Piper know she's listening. "Hmm."

"How abouuut we don't do any unpacking and just sit here and not move? I'm so tired and I just want to marathon a tv show I've seen hundred times so I can be guaranteed some laughs."

"Sounds good to me."

Three hours later and they were six episodes deep into the first season of one of Alex's favorite tv shows. When she found out Piper hadn't seen it she decided for the both of them what they'd be watching.

At a particularly funny scene Piper laughs so hard her body lurches forward and she grabs Alex's knee. She's laughing so hard no sound is coming out and she's silently shaking. Alex, only slightly concerned, sits up and rubs small circles in between her shoulders.

"Breathe. You've gotta breathe, Pipes."

The unexpected nickname sort of brings Piper down from her laugh induced high. She looks over, a smile still comfortably sitting on her face, and sees Alex as if for the first time since the first day she came into the shop.

She looked at her nose and how it was so cute she just wanted to pinch it. She looked at her skin and how it looked so delicate and her hands were naturally drawn to it. She lifted her hand and placed it on Alex's cheek and stroked her cheekbone with her thumb. She looked at her eyes and how they were such an interesting shade of green. As if they only turned bright when around certain people. She looked at the crinkles at the outer edges of Alex's eyes and thought how she found them cute. Born either from a lifetime of laughing or squinting when she didn't have her glasses on. She lightly touched her frames and in response Alex simply arched an eyebrow. Piper smiled at that and continued her appraisal. She looked at her chin with the faintest little crease mark. Then she looked at her lips. At that moment Piper feared that she'd never be able to look away. In fact she wasn't even looking anymore, she was just straight staring. And slowly, as if she'd planned it all along, a thousand watt smile spread across the brunette's lips.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you it's rude to stare?"

Piper looks back up into her eyes and for a split second she doesn't think. She just feels. She feels the chemistry that floated between them that first day. She felt the butterflies when she said Alex's name for the first time. She felt the heat that spread through her body at the showroom party after Alex played with her hair. She felt the sparks that flew between them the first time they had lunch together. She felt the satisfaction at knowing that Alex was jealous of some sad mope named Greg for buying her a cookie and scribbling his name on a napkin. She felt the disappointment at having Alex not kiss her the last time they were alone in her apartment together. And finally she felt need. The need to finally be able to feel Alex's lips on hers.

Piper closed her eyes for a moment, let out a contented sigh and smiled. She knew what was about to happen and it was as if she was taking her first deep breath in a very long time.

She felt Alex's hands on the back of her neck, pulling her closer. It was a short distance but it felt like there was an ocean between them at that very moment.

And then, finally, she felt them. The softest lips in the entirety of human existence slowly, almost unsurely, met hers and for a second neither of them moved. Both too stunned and relieved that this was actually happening. After a few moments Piper started kissing back. She surprised herself with her own forwardness. She was no longer operating on conscious thought, the only thing in her head now was instinct. She didn't fight it, she couldn't fight it.

Her lips tasted of beer, tequila and something else she couldn't quite describe at the moment as words escaped her. She felt Alex's other hand come up to the other side of her face. She moved her hands into the darkest head of hair she'd ever seen and just grabbed on for dear life. She felt before she heard Alex laugh. A deep yet soft buzzing sensation on her lips.

"Breathe. You've gotta breathe, Pipes."

When Piper opened her eyes she saw the smuggest smile make its way onto the brunette's face. She didn't know whether to be annoyed or to wipe it off by resuming what she was doing. She'd have to wait a few minutes though because she was breathing too hard.

"I should have you help me unpack more often."


They spent the next who knows how long on the couch making out like two teenagers at a school dance that could be caught by chaperones at any moment.

After a while they just lounged comfortably on the couch sitting so close to each other they nearly occupied the same space.

Around midnight Alex thought it was best she leave. She was really into Piper and didn't want to rush things or make her feel pressured into anything by hanging around too long after their first kiss.

Piper walked her to the sidewalk outside her building. "Thanks. For your help. You're the best unpacker I've ever met." That stupid smile made its way onto Piper's face again.

"Well, I'm more than happy to help. I really like unpacking and I'm very good at it, but you know that now." Alex's face mirrored Piper's smile.

"Mhm, definitely." Piper tried her hardest not to giggle.

"Hey… "

"Yeah?"

"Have dinner with me." It wasn't a questions because neither of them needed to play coy any longer.

"Ok, when?"

"How's Thursday?"

"Mhm, Thursday's good."

"Ok, I'll see you then. I'll call you with details early on next week." And with that Alex stepped closer to Piper and gave her one last kiss for the night. A kiss that the blonde would be able to feel for the next week.