The Internship

Chapter 10:

Rage, Realizations, & A Stairwell

"Piper," her name was just a whisper as it rolled off of Alex's tongue. The blonde was glaring between her manager turned something and the extremely attractive brunette who she was leading outside, no doubt to her bike and apartment. The same apartment where Piper had been with Alex all fucking day.

'You have got to be fucking kidding me.'

Polly's eyes were surely on her by now, but Piper didn't care to notice; she was too busy pressing her jaw up into her skull, trying to keep her mouth shut.

There was no way that anyone else would ever get themselves into such a fucked up situation. No one, save for Piper Chapman, would ever have the fortune to be pulled towards someone like Alex Vause with a force that felt as permanent as gravity. But, hey, she had been warned, right? Everyone that she had been in contact with that knew Alex had dropped at least one small hint that Alex wasn't one to get messed up in. Well, fuck if Piper wasn't tangled up in her.

"Polly, this is my manager," she spat the words, not looking away from Alex's wide blue-green eyes. Her feet carried her forward through the open door that Alex was still holding open with her long arm. "Excuse us, Alex," she walked directly into the woman rather than turning her body slightly to miss her. The force into the raven haired woman's shoulder made her stumble back, but Piper felt no remorse.

"Hey," the raspy voice called after her with no response once more, her forearm caught in a grasp that still sent electricity through her veins. She pulled away quickly, refusing to fall into another one of Alex's pits. She needed some space. As she regarded Alex with an ice cold stare, one that she hoped the woman would have burned in the back of her mind for days to come, Polly followed her through the door in a more careful and polite manner than she'd given the two women.

"What the fuck was that?" Polly asked quietly in Piper's ear as they walked further into the bar. Piper's body was still on fire with anger and disgust. Did Alex really feel absolutely nothing? If she did, then there hadn't been anything genuine between the women thus far, which made Piper ultimately conclude one thing: Alex was a cold hearted bitch.

'It doesn't make sense.'

"Nothing, Pol," she tried to reassure her friend that everything was fine, knowing that it wouldn't work for very long. "We just don't see eye to eye."

Across the bar, she found her co-workers sitting at a booth. All but one of them were laughing loudly and heartily. Piper made her way to the booth, Polly following in tow.

"Chapman!" Jerry exclaimed through his now diffusing laughter. "Have a seat!" Piper looked around the booth.

"Thanks, but we're just going to the bar. Don't want to cramp you guys up in that tiny booth," she forced a smile and a polite demeanor, wanting to avoid any awkwardness or questions from the co-workers about the scene that they may or may not have witnessed.

"You can have my seat," the quiet man spoke angrily, eyeing Ben across the table, "I was just leaving." Piper shot a questioning look toward Ben after the man stomped off, mumbling something under his breath as he did so.

"Don't mind him, he's just a sore loser," Ben pointed to the open space in the booth with the bottle he clutched in his right hand before bringing it to his lips.

'He's not the only one.'

Piper and Polly slid into the booth. "Who do we have here?" Ben asked, his brow lifted.

The blonde intern introduced her friend to the group and continued her 'pleasant Piper' act for as long as she could possibly stand without ripping a hole into the inside of her jaw with her teeth. She excused herself to the bathroom, hoping it was empty as she slipped her way between bodies and stray chairs in the center of the floor.

"Fuck her," Piper splashed her face with water and held a death grip on the sink as she stared at herself. Her blonde hair was naturally wavy today, where she hadn't dried her hair this morning after her shower.

The young woman shut her eyes, only to rip her lids apart instantly. Behind her eyelids, she had seen a flash of Alex's face, her eyes low and glinting with seduction as she stared at Piper this morning. The moment had been a daring one for Piper, and the thought that Alex could think nothing of her made her grunt in rage once more and throw her head back.

"Piper," Piper's eyes darted to the doorway where Polly had just entered. Her voice was soft, confused, and caring. It made Piper's rage turn into what she was really holding back: a pain ripping through her chest.

Polly's hands were now on Piper's biceps, the blonde only now realizing that she had been staring at the bathroom floor for a few seconds.

"Tell me about Alex," there wasn't much that she could hide from Polly, and despite how she felt about the surprise visit earlier, Piper was glad to have her best friend with her now.

Piper and Polly had remained at Rips until darkness took over the streets and the street lamps were fully lit. The blonde, who had refused to drink much after her previous night had surely destroyed the lining in her stomach and crippled her liver for the day, sat around her co-workers as they indulged themselves in a large amount of alcohol; her best friend wasn't far behind them.

When they left the bar, Piper left through the front door, refusing to cross paths with cue-ball who knew Piper's face and had witnessed the scene between herself and Alex earlier. She assumed it hadn't been the first time that he had seen such drama around the raven haired, beautiful, cold woman.

"Spill, Piper," Polly commanded in a caring voice as they walked back to Piper's apartment. Piper took a minute to think about how she was going to tell her best friend what was going on when, quite honestly, she didn't know herself. What was there to say? That the beautiful woman with her sparkling eyes, sexy glasses, and dangerous demeanor had been pulling at her heart strings ever since she had slammed into her with a door? Yeah, no.

"Obviously, we met at work," she started trying to put words together to appease her friend, staring up at the passing dark buildings. "Alex is, well," she paused.

'Downright stunning, an intellect, a manipulator, a mystery, dangerous, so many things…'

Piper's feet stopped moving and she exhaled heavily, trying to rid herself of all the feelings clouding her mind.

"Have you ever felt like something was just right? Even when it shouldn't be. When everything surrounding you tells you to run away as fast as you can, but you can't. You don't want to," Piper felt the gaze of her friend, but didn't dare look at her. If she were to move right now, she wouldn't be able to hold it together. Everything that she just said would become real and there would be no turning back.

There was no turning back, not now. Not even yesterday. Not five days ago.

"Come on, Pipes," Polly took her by the arm and led her down the sidewalk to her apartment, "we'll go eat ice cream, watch movies, and talk shit about this Alex cunt until you feel better." Piper chuckled and let her friend's presence take over her thoughts for the night.

Piper was still awake when the sun started rising the next morning. Her best friend had kept her word when they had returned home the night before. They each made it through a pint of ice cream and watched Pretty Woman, Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Silver Linings Playbook back to back. Halfway through Silver Linings Playbook, Polly crashed. Nothing more had been said about Alex.

That didn't mean the thoughts were gone.

Piper stared out at the sunrise through her living room window from her white lounge chair, watching as the light reflected off of each building until they were all naturally illuminated. The way the city slowly began to wake was magical to the young woman. There were early birds, most of them running, followed by the weekend workers who seemed to drag themselves to their destinations rather than walk, and then the rest of the city followed, forming the hustle and bustle that was New York City.

Piper sipped at the tea in her mug as her friend stumbled out of her bedroom, yawning and rubbing her eyes.

"Morning, sleepy head," there was nothing to Piper's voice. It felt hollow even to her, but she had resolved to take only today to determine how she was going to deal with work from here on out. Even after seeing Alex leave the bar, her hand touching that damned brunette the way it had touched Piper's lower back only hours before, there was still a voice in the back of her mind that kept telling her that she couldn't have been so wrong about the raven haired editor.

"Did you even sleep?" Polly asked as she plopped onto the couch. Piper didn't answer, only taking another sip of her tea and gazing down at the people on the street below.

"Do you care if I go for a run?" the blonde turned to her friend with the question. Polly shook her head and her lips formed a knowing smile. "Okay, I won't be gone long."

The blonde changed into a pair of running shorts, a sports bra, and a tank top. She pulled on her running shoes, on which the soles were almost bare of any grip, and grabbed her phone and headphones off the table by the door where she had dropped them the night before. When she went to plug the headphones into the jack, she saw that the notification light was flashing. Three missed calls, and a text message: all from Alex.

From: Alex

Piper, we really need to talk. Please call me back. It's not what you think.

The blonde tapped the home button with her thumb, choosing to wait until she was too tired to have any emotional reaction before acknowledging Alex's attempt to apparently explain herself. What was there to explain? Really?

She scrolled through her playlist as she bounced down the stairs, choosing a song that seemed fitting for her. The warmth of the sun hit her skin and she finally smiled. The pounding bass in her ears and the feel of concrete passing beneath her feet carried Piper away from the world for a while.

Don't you worry, don't you worry child.

Alex's fingers pushed through her dark locks, tugging at them in frustration, as she leaned back against her bike outside of Rips. For the first time in the woman's life, she truly didn't have a clue what she was supposed to do.

Piper had showed up at exactly the worst time of the night. Even though Alex had no intentions whatsoever toward the brunette model that she was leading outside at the time, she knew it looked bad. It probably looked more than just bad, especially since she was doing a damn good job of making Ben and the others believe that she was on her way to getting laid.

'Stupid fucking bet.'

Alex had tried to stop Piper, to get her to listen to what she had to say; but, she didn't want to cause a scene and she knew, from her experience earlier that morning, that Piper wasn't exactly good with listening in stressful situations. After she had paid the model and the woman disappeared down the street, she tried to call the blonde woman to ask her to come outside. Of course, it was a fruitless endeavor, Piper hadn't even answered the phone.

"I see you're trying to take my advice," Cue-ball was now standing a few feet in front of her, Alex could see his shadow on the ground in front of her. Her chin lifted as she acknowledged the man that was nice to her for absolutely no reason.

"I don't do relationships," she said simply, her mind still grinding like a rusty machine, bogged down by all of the anger and frustration at herself that she was feeling at the moment. "Actually, I'm just really good at handling them really badly." A deep chuckle came from the man.

"You're a smart girl, you'll figure it out, Vause," and with that he moved back to his post by the door, leaving Alex to her thoughts. She considered going to Piper's apartment and waiting there until she returned, but trashed the idea after remembering that her friend would be with her.

'She probably wouldn't talk to me anyway.'

Alex pulled her phone back out of her pocket and dialed it once again, this time knowing there would be an answer on the other end.

"Talk to me," Nicky answered the phone the same way no matter who was calling. It always made Alex laugh. Today, the shell that was her face only cracked a sliver, the corner of her mouth twitching up a bit.

"Can I come over?" Alex swung her leg over her bike and leaned back, her free hand propping her up as she closed her eyes with her head back.

"Uh, yeah. You okay, Vause? You sound a little off," Alex sat back up and ignored the concern in Nicky's voice.

"See you in a minute," she hung up, tied her hair behind her neck and sped her motorcycle off in the direction of her friend's home.

Nicky was sitting on the front step when Alex pulled up. Her hair was back to its usual frizziness after it had been tamed last night. The woman met her halfway up the walk to her house.

"Red's got some people over," the girl put her hands on her hips and flicked her eyes back to the house that she shared with a Russian woman who had become a motherly figure to the girl. Nicky worked for the woman in her restaurant when she and Alex first met.

Alex lifted her chin a bit and walked past Nicky toward the stoop, where she took a seat on the concrete step. Nicky followed and took a seat beside her friend, clearly curious as to what had her so out of it.

"Want a cig?" Nicky asked as she pulled a menthol cigarette from a pack sitting on the steps. Alex shook her head in response.

"I quit, remember?" She took her glasses off and looked at them, spinning the frame between her fingers absent mindedly. Nicky put the filter in her lips and sparked a lighter.

"Best way to judge how fucked up you are right now," Nicky smirked. "Talk, Alex." The raven haired woman slid her glassed into her hair and rubbed her face with both hands.

"I sort of fucked up with Piper," she started, but decided it would be best to just tell Nicky the events of the last two hours. Starting from Polly calling Piper, she told her everything from driving around to going to Rips to the bet.

The stupid bet. And then there was the look that Piper gave her in the bar. It had chilled Alex to the bone, cutting her deep, and it still hadn't worked its way out of her head. Nicky listened intently, staying silent the entire time like the good friend that she was. That was the thing about Nicky that made her so different from everyone else in Alex's life: even though she could be a complete and total nut, she was smart, too smart for her own good, and she empathized with others really well.

"Damn, that's fucked up," Nicky finally spoke once Alex was done with her recollection of the night. "Why aren't you over there?"

"Over where?" Alex was confused by her question.

"At Chapman's. You've gotta tell her what really went down if you're serious about keeping things good between you two," Nicky was eyeing her strangely, "which, you obviously are if this is tearing you up so badly."

The raven haired woman remained silent for a while, refusing to say anything without being absolutely positive that she was being honest with herself about Piper. There was no doubting that she was attracted to the woman. She was blonde haired, blue eyed perfection, but it was so much more than that. Earlier that day, Piper had been relaxing with her in her apartment just talking. Alex couldn't remember the last time she had been so comfortable around anyone besides Nicky and her mother. In fact, there may have never been another time. It was true, what she had told Nicky last night, Piper was different.

"I'll talk to her," her voice was low, "but, I think I should probably give her a little space for now. The look on her face when she saw me and that girl," a shudder ran through her body as the scene flashed before her eyes. Alex knew one thing for certain, she never wanted to see that again.

"Good," Nicky put her arm around Alex's shoulders, squeezing her in a light, quick, yet affectionate hug. "Even though you made me want to barf last night, you seem happier around her," Alex playfully pushed her friend away and pulled her glasses back down onto her nose, her lips pulling into a smile. The front door opened behind them and four men exited the home.

"C'mon, Red made coconut cake," Nicky tapped Alex's shoulder as she stood and ran in the house after cake like a little girl. Alex rolled her eyes and followed behind the woman, happily taking her friend up on the offered distraction.

Sweat dripped from the tips of Piper's blonde stray hairs that had slipped down from her tight ponytail as she ran. She was back on her street now, her apartment only a few strides up the road. The young woman hadn't focused on anything in particular while her feet carried her forward; the music in her ears had become the only thing she noticed.

Until now.

Piper slowed her speed, taking in the figure standing outside of her apartment building. She pulled her headphones from her ears as she approached the tall frame whose black hair was being lightly tossed from the breeze blowing between buildings.

"Hey, Piper."

Alex walked home from Nicky's early Saturday morning, taking her sweet time as she felt the concrete of New York's sidewalk beneath the soles of her shoes. It was cool outside, the perfect temperature, it reminded her of walking home from Piper's apartment.

'Shit.'

Her fingers pushed her dark hair back from her forehead. Piper was a virus, spreading like uncontrollable wildfire through her mind. She made her feel things that Alex had been trying to steer clear from her entire life. She made her feel. That was the problem. She felt jealousy, frustration, anger, and a sort of vulnerability all in one week. After avoiding them for so long, it was an emotional overload.

And for some reason unbeknownst to her, Alex was craving more.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket once more, not surprised that it hadn't rang all day. Regardless of the warfare waging in her mind on whether or not she should attempt to talk to the blonde again tonight, she dialed Piper. It rang a full seven times before a mechanical sounding voice informed her that the woman's voice mailbox was full. She flipped her phone shut and continued walking.

Alex's keys clinked on the nightstand in her room as she passed it by, dropping them and her clothing as she made her way to the shower, hoping the sting of hot water would wash away the guilt that clung to her skin.

The rest of the night was the same as what had become Alex Vause's normal pattern. She curled up on her couch with a cup of coffee and a book, letting the words take her off to a faraway land where the emotions she felt were not her own.

One line caught her attention. She read it several times before shutting the book and tossing it onto the coffee table, heading to bed. Alex resolved to deal with the Piper situation in the morning, needing to confront her demons and the storm of confusion that was clearly evident between Piper and herself. She sent the woman a quick text message before shutting off the light and clutching the pillow, Jane Austen's words still tumbling around in her head.

'Seven years would be insufficient to make some people acquainted with each other, and seven days are more than enough for others.'

'Try five.'

The editor of Big Apple Publishing was fed up. She had awoken to absolutely no correspondence from Piper, expecting to see at least a text message. At first, she had assumed that the woman may still be in bed, but after 10 AM passed, she knew it wasn't true; this only made her angrier. How could Piper sleep when she had tossed and turned all night? How can she just ignore me? Alex knew how she affected people, she took great pride in it. And it had been clear that Piper had been affected by her charm, but was it possible for her to have shoved the feelings away so easily?

'Dammit, I'll find out.'

She pulled on her shoes, a simple pair of black and gray vans. They accompanied her black shorts and dull blue-gray v-neck shirt. She tossed her hair up with her fingers, not really caring what it looked like, although she did have that messy-on-purpose look going for her. She left her apartment in haste, grabbing her keys and phone, and headed to the Gallant Apartment building.

Having to walk to Piper's place didn't help Alex's mental status in the slightest. She had forgotten that she left her bike at Nicky's last night; that would be her next stop of the day. When she reached the front of the building, she checked her phone once more. Nothing.

'Bitch.'

Her feet carried her up the steps quickly and to the ugly green door with the bronze number "307" screwed into its front. Her knuckled rapped at the door rapidly.

"Piper!" she projected her voice so she knew the woman would know it was her. There was no answer, but Alex heard noises of shuffling inside.

"Come on, kid, open up," she knocked again, this time banging the side of her fist into the door.

Still nothing.

"God damn it, Piper!" the door swung open just as Alex's fist was about to meet it once more. Instead she ended up almost hitting the woman that had been with Piper at the bar.

"Watch it!" she yelled at Alex, made her inch closer to the edge of losing it. She glared down at the small woman, daring her to say one more thing in her angry tone. The woman took the hint, her voice grew softer but still cut sharply through the air between them. "Piper isn't here. She went out for a run."

"Know when she'll be back?" Alex had her hand pressed against the door, holding it in place in case the woman tried to shut it.

"Nope," their eyes were locked, each trying to instill a sort of dominance over the situation. Alex knew that this woman was Piper's friend, and she probably knew all about Piper and herself by now, but Alex was serious, she needed to talk to the blonde. She needed to know.

More than anything.

Laughter came from behind her, a familiar light laughter. It made her turn instantly. Piper was coming towards her, accompanied by the man that Alex had threatened at Rips the first night they met. When her blue eyes looked up to meet Alex's gaze, she instantly stopped moving.

"Alex?" her voice was soft and the raven haired woman detected a tremor as she spoke her name. A wave of guilt coated her once more.

Her legs disobeyed her mind, reacting on pure impulse, carrying her towards the blonde who was staring at her with wide eyes. She grasped the woman's wrist, tight enough that she wouldn't be able to pull away, but not in a manner that was meant to hurt her.

"We need to talk," she said plainly as she drug the young woman behind her. Her mind was riddled with thoughts, warnings, screaming that she was going against everything she had ever strived for. Peace, harmony, being alone and without any attachments. It was supposed to make things easier. It did, but damn if she didn't feel better when Piper was around.

She pushed through the door to the stairwell, it was the only secluded place that Alex knew of in the building. She had assumed that Piper didn't want anyone hearing them, but really Alex just didn't want the publicity. She needed the blonde to focus on her and only her; she needed her to hear her out.

"Alex, I don't-," Piper started, her wrist still in Alex's grasp. The dark haired woman was already frustrated; she just needed her to listen.

"Stop, listen to me. Last night wasn't-,"

"We can't-," Alex couldn't take it. All of the feelings from yesterday and days before came bubbling up, boiling to the point of exploding inside her.

"Shut up," her voice was raspy and ranged somewhere between a whisper and a low growl. Her hand left Piper's wrist and both of them immediately found the blondes face. Her thumbs pressed gently against the woman's cheek bones as she used her body to back her up into the concrete wall.

Within half a second and without any thought at all, Alex's lips crashed into Pipers. Warmth crept through her from the soft lips that had instantly accepted her own, responding with the same need that Alex felt. The raven haired woman poured her soul into the kiss, releasing every moment of anguish and every feeling of wanting she's experienced since Piper stumbled into her life.

She stroked the blonde's cheek lightly with her thumb as they broke apart, their eyes locking instantly and both of them at a loss for words. Piper's hand grazed Alex's cheek and her blue eyes grew fiery in the dimly lit stairwell. The blonde leaned into her, their lips meeting once more in another passion filled kiss. Alex felt Piper melt into her and everything surrounding them fell to the background; Alex finally got her answer.

She wasn't alone.

A/N: Hope you're enjoying the ride! A big thanks to all of you for reading!