Hey, sorry it's been so long! I've had two months of exams and then I needed to focus on those! So here it is! Piper's past! Let me know what you think! The reviews, favourites and follows have been much appreciated and so encouraging!

Enjoy!

New Years (Approximately 11 years ago…)

"No Mom, I don't know what to tell you, it's not going well. Mom, I'm not trying to upset you, I'm sorry. I just, I think I need to figure out what to do." Piper went over the conversation she had had with her Mom before she'd got back in the car to come back to campus, recalling the disappointment on her mother's face. Piper had found college to be significantly more stressful than she could imagine. She'd come into it with the wrong mindset; a habitual drinking habit forming since her girlfriend - no, ex-girlfriend - left the country without so much as a good bye. The last year had been intense; chaotic, wonderful and stressful all at the same time. And now…it was coming to an end. She was sitting in the corner of the party remaining in precisely the same position that she had fallen after sliding down the wall, knees clutched to her chest, bottle in hand, feeling the celebration go on around her and having absolutely no idea what to do with her life - the eternal bane of the student she supposed. Suddenly, as if by magic something happened that caused her heart to flutter back to life, a solitary beat after months of painful quiet. "Hey, I'm Stella." The Australian slid down the wall, knees clutched to her chest replicating Piper's figure. "How's the party looking from down here?" Piper laughed. A laugh, a real laugh, she was surprising herself. Stella was gorgeous, tanned and tattooed in pretty much every available space it would seem; her hair was shaved on the back and sides, longer on the top, the sort of length you wanted to lace your fingers through whilst you made out; a cheeky grin and eyes that Piper could merrily look into as she moaned- she was getting carried away. "It's looking swell, but shouldn't you be finding someone in preparation of the ball drop?" Stella grinned, "I'm with the most beautiful girl at the party right now, so I think I'll stay here." Piper felt herself blush, one minute to the countdown someone had shouted over the music and noise. "I would have to argue that that would be you I'm afraid, the most beautiful I mean" They smiled at one another and in that moment it was a cliché, it was that scene in that teen movie where the room slows down, the lights brighten just enough to see the glow on one another's faces, the music fades to the background and *Ding!* something clicks.

"10.

9.

8.

7.

6.

5.

4.

3.

2."

And kiss.

Let it shatter your world and be reborn in the ashes of the fiery zest and tingling sensation she leaves on your lips; go fiercely into the night, the warrior charging full speed into battle; your tongue as your sword clashing with her own; the firework exploding to call the new year to order in her stomach and her chest; the acrobat drawing the gasps of the crowd as you hurtle toward the ground, be the rush she feels, be the suspense, be the action.

And break.

Leave her wanting you. Wanting more. The dramatic exit in the teen romance…so she knows how good your ass looks in those jeans.

"And that's how I met Stella Carlin. She changed everything." Alex squeezed her hand supportively. "Go on." Piper looked at her and frowned. "Are you sure you want to hear this?" Alex nodded. "Absolutely, don't leave anything out."

Approximately 10 years ago…

So she dropped out and they lived the gap year life. Almost as typical as any other gap year, they travelled; tanned skin and skinny dipping, late nights and later mornings, to Piper's surprise even a few tattoos. They went from Massachusetts to Thailand, Thailand to Indonesia, Indonesia to New Zealand, staying in each place until they had had enough of that particular regions variety of sun and blue waters, until they'd grown bored of the people or the hotel room or the local cuisine. They had no responsibilities, no reason to go home. Stella ultimately, showed Piper the world, one sordid act at a time. In each place Piper had never thought of how Stella could afford the lifestyle they were leading, she followed unquestioningly into a life of drugs and sex. A bad decision always closely followed by a high and another bad decision. And then all of a sudden - incoming: reality check.

"So yeah, basically, it turned out that she was lining my suitcase - and hers - with drugs. I was a drug mule and I didn't even know it." Alex looked at her stunned, "Are you shitting me?" Piper laughed. "Looking back on it, it makes me laugh, it explains a lot but at the time I didn't care, I didn't want to care. In a way, I'm relieved she did it, if she hadn't then I don't think I'd have woken up out of that daydream." Piper gave a small laugh. "It'll probably come back to haunt me ahaha, you'll find me in cell block H, all 'It was one time ten years ago!'" Alex laughed with her, enjoying the sound of Piper's laughter, she had missed it. "So you'll be carted off anytime now then." She winked at the blonde and Piper laughed, "God, I hope not!" Alex pulled her closer into her arms. "They'll have to get through me first! What happened after that then?"

Sometime in the last 10 years…

Piper's second try at college was significantly more successful than her first it had to be said. She went back to Smith and she got her English major. And then as rare as a unicorn in a Subway restaurant, she got a book deal immediately after college. "Orange is the New Black" A 'what-if ?' novel, what could have happened, she supposed, if she hadn't caught Stella out when she did. And then she couldn't meet the deadline, her advance already spent and her commitment and enthusiasm for the book had died. She finished it half heartedly two months after her publisher's deadline having battled through the writer's block to produce…something. It could've been a best seller. It wasn't, but it could've been. So there she was; 24, with a flop of a book, a degree that apparently could do very little to get her a job she even remotely enjoyed, single and lonelier than she thought she'd ever been before. Which was when Polly had the greatest idea, a mother and a wife, her life so much more secure than Piper's, and now she could be and have all that as well as being a business owner. Enter to the world; PoPi, a soap store, supplying organic hand crafted soaps for bathroom indulgence, bath bombs and bits. The idea was theirs to take the world by storm with. So they set up shop, creating unique scents and products in the kitchen and shipping them off by the box load. Soon they were swamped in meetings with retailers who showed potential interest in their unique vibe. Evidently it wasn't meant to be…soon chains of a bigger and more advanced bath/cosmetic store opened, arrived from the UK like an unwelcome blast of reality and cold harsh truth - the business collapsed and whilst Polly had Pete and the kids to go back to, Piper had nothing.

Approximately two years ago…

"Piper, you can't hold on for Alex Fucking Vause forever. When was the last time she even sent a fucking christmas card? She doesn't care about you, in the nicest fucking way Pipes, it's been almost a decade. Don't you think if she was coming back she would've done it by now?" Polly was pacing. Nicki stood in the corner her arms crossed watching the scene unfold. Piper sat on the edge of the bed, clad only in underwear, her top and skinny jeans laid out on the bed, her heels by the door. She had a glass in her hand - her third since Nicki had arrived - "I just don't want to go, it's not about Alex." She said it defiantly, "It's about me! I don't want to go." Polly rolled her eyes. "Look worst comes to worst, Pete, Finn and I are leaving for my Mom's as soon as you get your arse out of here, if everything goes to shit, text me and I'll ring you and tell you my apartment is on fire or something and you can go round there and crash okay?" Piper gave a small sigh and started pulling on her jeans, "Fine." Polly clapped sarcastically "Finally!" Piper looked over at Nicky, she'd only been home from a brief trip to England for a few days and she was heading back out in a few more. "Nicky, you're being uncharacteristically quiet?" She waved a dismissive hand at Piper, "Jet lag. Polly's right. Time to move on."

"I guess she must have just seen you, amirite?" Alex gave a small nod, "She told me when she came back, we had a long, long conversation about her trip but go on." Piper swallowed.

Nicky nodded, twice, as though to reinforce her point but she didn't look Piper in the eye, Piper dismissed it and finished getting ready. She already knew how this date was going to go, - Hi, I'm Piper, Polly's friend. Yes, Pete's told me all about you. No, no, I'm not still gay. No, I don't still smuggle drugs. Oh you've heard of my book. Blah, blah, blah. She could already feel the disinterest for this guy creeping in. "Tell me about him again?" Polly grinned, "His name is James, he's a doctor…" Piper tuned out.

*Three hours later*

Piper let herself into Polly and Pete's flat. Not only had the date been a complete waste of time, she had been bitten. Not by her date, which would've been absolutely horrific and so only added to the tone of the evening but by a dog - just after her date told her that she would have to grab the check because he had left his wallet at home. The whole thing was an eye-roll and shudder inducing memory she was rapidly trying to repress. She shoved the door behind her, feeling the alcohol she had been knocking back to make the conversation bearable -along with the three glasses of wine she'd had before she went out - when she heard a voice. Greaaaat, she thought with an eye-roll, tonight of all nights someone decides to burgle Polly and Pete's place. "Hello?" The currently detached voice called again. She stepped around the door confused to find a man in cargo shorts and a shirt-t-shirt combo eating chips on the couch. "This is Polly and Pete's place, right?" How drunk was she? She thought it was plausible that she might've let herself into the neighbours flat, but she didn't think so. "Yeah." The guy looked almost as confused as she had felt.

"Are you a burglar?" Her tone was flat and unamused. "Um, no - no, no, I'm uh, I'm Larry, I live next door, they asked me to water their plants while they're on vacation." He was nervous, stumbling over his words in an attempt to explain himself. "They have air conditioning and cable so…" He shrugged. Piper gave a small nod, her brain still trying to catch up in it's inebriated state. "I'm Piper, Polly's friend." Larry nodded. "I'm sorry are you supposed to be staying here or something?" It had suddenly occurred to him that it might be he who was intruding on this scene and not the slightly tipsy, leggy blonde who had just stumbled through the door. Piper shook her head slowly, "No, no. I have keys, I was just in the neighbourhood, I actually just got bit by a dog."

"And he looked after me, he fussed about me getting a tetanus shot, he bought me chinese food, he checked out my but when he thought I wasn't looking. Larry was the best thing that had happened to me in a long time Al. He let me sober up and we just stayed up all night, him making these goofy jokes and me rolling my eyes at him. It was great. And looking back on it, Polly and Pete were probably betting on me to end up back at theirs and hang out with Larry." Alex nodded thoughtfully. "Tell me about him." Piper took a deep breath, she hadn't really accounted for this conversation ever occurring between her and Alex, she supposed they were too far gone to stop now. "He's Jewish, a freelance writer, - a good one too -, his parents are great, his Dad is a lawyer and his Mom is probably about the most friendly person you could meet, he kind of looks like that guy from American Pie and he has the willpower of a chimp, he's sweet and his reliable and he's kind." Alex pressed a kiss to the top of Piper's forehead. "Then there's really somewhere you ought to be my beautiful Pipes. Go be with your guy." Piper squeezed Alex around the middle, nestling her face into her chest. "I don't want to let you go again." Alex squeezed her back, a lone tear rolling down her cheek. "Time to go home Pipes. It's time to go home."

Stay tuned for what happens next! Update very soon hopefully! Also Season 4, GUYS, what's up with that?! Okay! Reviews, Favourites and Follows and I'll see you next time! 3