Hi guys! I'm so sorry I didn't write a chapter yesterday, I was really busy. I'll try to write another chapter later on today. I was wondering if you guys want Alex to be a drug dealer or not. Please voice your opinions. Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you guys are loving the story. As always, I'm going to ask that you guys leave suggestions in the comments of what you'd like to see in the story, and I'll try my best to include it. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

-beauty8897

ALEX POV

"I'm heading home Nicky!" Alex shouted as she headed for the door. She had stayed some of the morning but had to get back home so she could change for work.

She didn't even wait for a response from her friend who was doing who-knows-what with Lorna before she made her way through the front door.

As she leisurely strolled to her car parked in the driveway, her mind drifted to thoughts of what had happened last night. She involuntarily sighed as she remembered what it was like to wake up with the blonde in her arms.

Just being with her was so… satisfying. Having Piper in her arms made her never want to let go. She had woken before the blonde and spent a few minutes admiring the golden hair that framed her face, her long lashes, and her perfect body framed perfectly in the t-shirt and short exercise shorts she had borrowed for the night. Piper was a goddess in Alex's eyes, and here she was in her arms; a perfect angel.

She felt protective of this woman who seemed so fragile. Alex knew she would do anything to keep her safe. All these thoughts passed by without her seeing the obvious indications of falling in love.

She got home quickly so she could change and not be late to her job at the nearby diner, "Alice's Place".

She was putting on her uniform when she heard vibrations coming from her phone. She quickly found it in the pocket of the jeans she had been wearing. She answered right away when she saw that the call was from Piper.

"Hey, Al." said a shaky version of the voice she loved so much. "I need help." Her brow furrowed in worry when she heard the desperation and exhaustion clear in Piper's voice. She decided she would drop everything to make sure her blonde was okay.

"Text me the address." Alex said as reassuringly as she could as she took off her uniform and began to change back into her clothes, "I'll be right there."

All she heard before Piper hung up was a weak, "Thanks."

This just managed to worry Alex even more and she rushed to her car as soon as she got the address. "Hold on, Pipes. I'm coming for you." She said under her breath as she stretched the speed limit on the freeway.

She pulled into a neighborhood that obviously belonged to the wealthy, filled with big houses and expensive landscaping. She stopped in front of a house as unremarkably unoriginal as the others and almost jumped out of the car. She saw the garage door open as if someone had forgotten to close it in a haste to leave.

She bound up the steps to the front door and knocked loudly against the large wooden door. When no one came she tried again and shouted, "Hello, anyone in there?"

She decided to try the door and was surprised to find it open. She hesitated at first but then decided with a resounding "Fuck it." that she would go through because Piper needed her help and her worry was eating at her.

As soon as she entered the house, she called for Piper again. "Pipes? Where are you?"

All she heard was a groan and headed hurriedly in its direction.

She emerged into a huge kitchen that was seemingly expensive with its silver appliances and ornate backdrops.

All this she barely noticed because all attention was diverted to the groaning figure on the floor.

Alex carefully approached the blonde. "Pipes? It's me, Alex." Alex couldn't help but gasp when her goddess turned her face from the crook of her arm to face Alex.

The beautiful face that filled her thoughts was covered from the corner of her forehead to her cheekbone and eye with a purpling bruise. Her cheek was slashed with five lines of still bleeding scratches. Her beautiful lips were held in a grimace of pain that broke Alex's heart. Her blue eyes seemed to be confused as they tried to adjust on what they were seeing. Finally, clarity settled into Piper's foggy state. Her eyes seemed to smile on their own at the sight of the brunette.

"Alex. You came." Piper said trying to sit up, and then let out a stifled yelp as she brought a hand to her head.

Alex had finally gotten past her shock and came to her knees next to Piper as her hands gently examined the violence on Piper's face.

Finally, she stopped and then looked into those blue eyes as if trying to convey more in her next words than what they meant on the surface. "Of course I'm here." After some thought she sighed as she brushed some loose strands from Piper's face. "I'll always be here for you, Pipes." She brought her lips to leave a barely-there kiss on the bruising skin that was her forehead. She felt tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. Here Piper was, laying on the floor of her own kitchen looking as if she had survived a boxing match. Who could have done this to her, other than her own family? Who could do that to someone as good as Piper? Anger started to boil as she held the broken woman protectively in her arms.

"Who did this to you Piper?" She said trying to hide her growing fury. At this, tears started to roll down Piper's cheeks as she buried her face in Alex's shoulder. Her heart broke again. "I hurts to much to cry." She said in between heavily muffled sobs. Alex decided to let it go for now for Piper's sake.

She rested her head on top of the blonde's and rubbed her back soothingly, "Ok. It's ok. I'm here now." She placed another kiss on top of her head as tears continued to roll down Alex's cheeks. "No one can hurt you."

PIPER POV

Two hours later Piper was laying in bed with two ice packs placed strategically on her face. She had laid there for a while, resting in the safe crook of Alex's arm as the brunette muttered reassuring things in her ear between carefully placed kisses. After they had calmed down from the trauma of the morning and a few ibuprofen, Piper felt better and they decided to watch a movie.

She was slightly startled and mumbled an incoherent "Ow" from the loud noise when Alex suddenly almost yelled a frustrated "Fuck!" She quickly apologized as she realized her loud noise had augmented Piper's throbbing headache.

Piper just shook it off. What had Alex so upset? "What's wrong, Al?"

Alex just shook her head, "It's nothing."

Piper put her hand against Alex's soft cheek, "Tell me."

The brunette turned her green eyes away and sighed in defeat. "I was supposed to go to work." She looked back to gage Piper's reaction and regarded her wide eyes. "But don't worry, I probably won't be fired, I'll just be missing the pay check." She said as she offered a small smile.

Alex had forgone a pay check for HER. She had driven who knows how many miles to reach Piper when she needed her. Alex was there. She had been there when not even her own family had bothered to care of her whereabouts.

Not only that, but Piper had wanted Alex. No one else. She needed to feel the safety and familiarity of her arms arounds her. She needed to smell that intoxicating mixture of leather, smoke, and lavender that was Alex. She needed to see those emerald-green eyes, and see her earth shattering smirk. She needed Alex, and she had a feeling that would never change.

Piper felt she owed an explanation. She paused the movie before she captured those green eyes in her own as she prepared to tell Alex what she has been hiding for too long.

"My dad…" she said not sure where to start. "He disappears every night. He has affairs, and it was all okay for a while. My mother knew but she chose to ignore it and let it consume her. She drowns her jealousy in alcohol whenever she can. She'd rather suffer and drink than have others know how unperfect our family is."

Alex seemed to be listening intently with one brow furrowed and her eyes seemingly seeing right into Piper's soul as they looked at each other. She now had to say the part that she had been dreading.

Her eyes shifted from those beautiful green ones as her hands suddenly became interested in the texture of the bed spread. Her voice came out shakier than she had hoped and her eyes watered, "She hits me sometimes, when she's drunk; and today it was worse than ever. Then, she just left. She sped off so she wouldn't have to face me." One tear escaped the confines of her eye and slowly rolled down her cheek.

Now that it was all in the open, she looked to Alex and was surprised to see anger in her eyes as she stared at the wall, and one hand tightly clenched a handful of bed spread.

She saw Piper looking at her and her expression softened as her hand let go of the blanket to come up and wipe the tear now reaching Piper's cheek. Her hand cupped her face lovingly as she looked deeply into her eyes.

"You don't deserve this Piper." Her eyes shifted away and her hand fell from Piper's face. Her voice filled with rage suddenly, "Your mother doesn't deserve you! I just wish I could…" Her voice trailed off as she took a deep breath and looked back to Piper apologetically.

"I just… can't stand to see you hurt. It breaks my heart." Her voice broke on those last words. Now Piper could see the tears escaping Alex's eyes, and her heart burst with the concern she held in those green spheres.

She now took her turn wiping away Alex's tears and brought her lips up to meet Alex's as her hand lovingly stroked the length of her face. This kiss was different than the others. It was slow, patient, and careful. There was something new that made it better than all of their other kisses, a mixture of passion and compassion. When the kiss ended, Piper rested her forehead against Alex's as they breathed each other for a moment, both wondering what that something was; if only they knew that that something, was love.