Friday, August 29 (2)

Eventually, Alex loosens her hold slightly and allows her arms to slide from Piper's body. She moves her hands to the other woman's face, holding it gently, a palm against each cheek. They look at each other, unspoken words passing between them before Alex closes the gap that separates them and presses her lips softly against Piper's.

It takes only moments for the kiss to deepen, Piper's lips part the instant she feels the softness of Alex's tongue touch them and one of them moans, but neither is sure who. Alex breaks the kiss and rests her forehead against Piper's shoulder, her eyes closed.

Her arms find their way around Piper's body again and they hold each other close.

"I don't want to let you go," she whispers.

"Never ever do," Piper breathes in response.

"You smell so good," Alex murmurs against Piper's neck, a few seconds later.

Piper chuckles. "I smell like somebody who hasn't showered for more than thirty-six hours, Al. But thanks for the thought."

Alex steps back and looks at Piper.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" she asks, her hands moving to Piper's biceps.

"Surprise?"

"Hell yes it's a surprise! Seriously, what? How?"

"I told you I hoped to be home for Labor Day," she shrugs. "And I am."

"You're early!"

"Only by a few days. If it's a problem, I can always leave..." she says playfully, stepping away and half turning towards the door.

"I don't fucking think so," Alex replies, pulling her close again. "I don't think I'll let you ever leave."

Piper smiles as she wraps her arms around Alex's waist. "Works for me," she mumbles into her shoulder.

When Alex releases her, she takes hold of her hand. "Come on, let's go upstairs and you can tell me exactly how this early return has happened. Seems John decided we were closing up early today."

Piper grins as she reaches for her duffel and lets Alex lead her to a door off the staff area of the store and up a set of stairs.

"He seems nice."

"Yeah, he's a good kid."

"He's given me a tour of the store while we were waiting for you."

"Kinda different to the tours you're used to, I guess."

Piper smiles a little. "And him."

Alex pauses as she reaches the internal door to her apartment and glances back at Piper. "Huh?"

"He's a vet, isn't he."

Alex's eyes widen in surprise. "He is?"

"Yeah. 1st Infantry, he said."

"How did I not know that? How do you know that?"

Piper grins. "Well when he snapped to attention and addressed me as Captain as soon as I entered the store, that was my first clue."

Alex shakes her head, bewildered. "I had no idea," she murmurs, as she pushes the door to her apartment open.

Piper follows her in, her eyes automatically scanning the room. They're in a large and bright living room, with high ceilings and an enormous L-shaped couch that sits around a low coffee table. There's a television mounted on one wall and another is lined with built-in floor to ceiling bookshelves that still can't quite contain all the books Alex owns. There's an antique writing desk in one corner of the room and a door that leads into a hallway. The room has two large windows that overlook the street, one of which has a built in seat with a multitude of cushions piled in it.

Piper smiles and nods at the window-seat as she lowers her bag to the floor. "That's where you sit when you write to me."

"Sometimes, yeah."

Alex has both hands on the back of the couch now, leaning forward, her arms locked out and taking much of her weight. She rocks back and forth a couple of times, looking at the window. Piper is standing close-by, her duffel bag at her feet, looking around.

The silence slowly envelops them, then both start to speak at the same time.

They laugh awkwardly, then Alex turns to Piper and nods at her. "You first."

Piper removes her patrol cap and holds it in both hands in front of her. She looks at the floor, at Alex's feet, then at the bottom half of her legs. She can't quite bring herself to look Alex in the eye.

"There's so much I want to say to you," she begins quietly. "I don't really know where to start."

Alex remains silent, but nods in understanding.

"I have pictured this moment in my head for weeks, meeting you again."

"Me too," Alex murmurs.

"And now that I'm here, it's all a little… surreal."

Alex chooses silence as a reply.

"It's like, it can't be real because this moment only lives in my head." She finally looks up at Alex. "Does that make sense?"

Alex pauses a beat before answering. "Yes, Pipes. Perfect sense."

"And so, now that it's real, I kinda don't know what to do."

Alex smiles softly and takes a step towards Piper. She takes hold of one of her hands and runs a thumb over the back of her knuckles.

"Come," she murmurs and leads Piper around to the couch.

Alex toes off her shoes and sits in the corner section, tucks her legs under her and pats the seat beside her, gently tugging Piper's hand. Piper drops her cap on the coffee table and accepts the invitation.

As Piper sits, Alex releases her hand and holds her arm out. Piper needs no further instruction and curls into Alex immediately, pressing her body against her side. Alex wraps an arm around the other woman and holds her close, then kisses her hair.

"This is okay, right?" she murmurs. "We don't have to do anything, we don't have to play out any imagined scenes, we don't even have to talk. We can just be here, like this, together."

Alex feels Piper's body relax against her.

"God, why has it taken me twenty-eight years to find you?"

Alex smiles into Piper's hair then rests her cheek against her head.

A few minutes pass until Piper speaks again, quietly. "I found out we were coming home last week. I could have written and let you know, but I guessed I would probably be home before the letter was. We packed up and shipped out late on Wednesday night, which was like, still early afternoon over here. We flew to Kabul, then to Germany, then back here. Landed late this morning."

"Afghanistan, then," Alex says softly.

"South Dakota, yeah." Piper looks up at Alex and smiles, before resting against her again.

"I called you a couple of times, but your phone was off. So I called the store and John answered and told me you'd be back after three-thirty, so I thought I'd just turn up and surprise you. I came straight here."

"So you've been up since, what? Wednesday night?"

"Pretty much, yeah. We had about eight hours in Frankfurt and I grabbed a quick bite to eat and a couple of hours of sleep there, but other than that… yeah."

"You must be wiped out."

"Mmmm."

"You haven't been home? Seen Polly?"

"She wasn't my priority."

Alex smiles and Piper feels the hold on her tighten slightly. "Does she know you're home?"

"Not yet."

"You wanna call her?"

"Not yet."

"You wanna grab some sleep?"

Piper looks up at Alex again. "Not yet."

Alex holds Piper's gaze then asks with a grin, "You wanna fuck like a couple of horny teenagers?"

Piper laughs and stretches up to kiss the other woman who makes it a little easier by dipping her head.

The kiss is soft and gentle, unhurried, and is broken when both women smile. "Not yet," Piper whispers.

Alex gently pulls at the other woman's bottom lip with her teeth, murmuring when she releases it, "You're no fun, Captain Chapman."

Piper smiles wider and rests against Alex again. They cuddle in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes before Piper speaks again.

"I need a shower before we do that. Seriously."

"But that means you have to take off the hot uniform," Alex complains.

"True," Piper replies thoughtfully. "And be naked."

Alex immediately leaps off the couch in comic fashion and drags Piper up, tugging her quickly towards the hallway.

They stumble into the wall, both of them laughing. Alex leans back against the wall and Piper presses against her.

"You're funny," Piper grins.

"In the head?"

"Probably. But I kinda like it."

Piper leans in and captures Alex's lips with her own. One hand holds her hip and the other pushes through her dark hair until she's holding the back of the taller woman's head. Alex lets Piper control the kiss, savouring the slow, deliberate way their lips move against each other. When she feels Piper's tongue push against her lips she opens her mouth, inviting her in. Their tongues touch and slide against the other and Alex's eyebrows draw together. She moves her hand to Piper's hair and pulls her ponytail loose before threading her fingers into her hair and gripping tighter as the kiss intensifies. Alex's other hand moves to the zipper on Piper's jacket and slowly starts to pull it down as Piper withdraws slightly to allow the movement.

"I gotta tell you, Chapman," Alex says, her voice low and huskier than usual. "If I remove this jacket and find you're just wearing a tank underneath it, there isn't a hope in hell of you making it to the shower."

Piper smiles and leans in for another slow and lingering kiss, but the hand that was on Alex's hip moves to cover her hand on the zipper, stopping its movement south.

"Better stop then. I seriously need that shower."

She pulls away and Alex groans in frustration, banging her head back against the wall behind her.

"You're gonna kill me," she grumbles.

Piper smiles a little and murmurs an apology, before moving close to Alex again. Alex's arms automatically move around her and Piper nuzzles into her neck, enjoying the feeling of being held close.

"Come on, let me show you the bathroom."

Alex takes hold of Piper's hand and leads her down the hallway, which turns out not to be a hallway at all. As they pass through the door, Piper finds herself in a combined kitchen / diner, almost as large as the living room, at the end of which is another doorway that leads into a corridor with three doors.

"Bedroom," Alex says as she points at one.

"Main apartment door, so I don't have to use the shop," she says as she points at another.

"Bathroom," she says as she twists the handle and pushes the door open.

Piper takes a step forward, guided by a gentle hand from Alex against her lower back.

"Wow," is all Piper can manage as she looks around the spacious bathroom. "I know you said you were having it remodelled, but this is something else."

Alex leans against the doorframe and smiles as she looks at Piper. "I have good taste," she says, not meaning the décor.

"You do," Piper replies, marvelling at the roll-top bath and the open shower. "And you have good taste in bathrooms too."

She looks back at Alex and grins. Alex laughs softly and moves to a cupboard to find Piper a towel, muttering "Busted," as she passes.

Piper closes the toilet lid and sits down, then starts to unlace her combat boots. Alex hangs a towel on a heated rail just outside the range of the shower, then leans in and turns the water on.

"Should have everything you need in there," Alex says, gesturing to the recessed shelf in the shower wall as she turns away.

"Everything?"

"I think so."

"Including you?"

Alex looks flustered for just a moment, then recovers and moves over to where Piper is sitting. She crouches in front of her and rests her hands on the other woman's knees, looking up at her.

"Piper Chapman. You're very, very tempting. But also very, very stinky. I can't shower with that!"

She grins cheekily then laughs out loud when Piper pushes her backwards in mock outrage, knocking her off balance and sending her sprawling across the slate covered floor.

Alex picks herself up and dusts herself off, then pulls Piper from her seated position. She kisses her lips softly, then speaks quietly, her mouth almost against Piper's, punctuating each sentence with a kiss.

"I'm gonna see if I can find something for you to sleep in, because I'm guessing the contents of your duffel are covered with sand. I'll leave it in on the bed for you. Whilst you shower, I'm going to run over to see the Mario Brothers and I'm going to grab us both a coffee, so you don't fall asleep within twenty minutes of your shower. After that, we're going to go back to doing nothing. Okay?"

"Okay."

"No pressure. No preconceived ideas. Just you and me."

"And coffee."

"And coffee," Alex confirms, smiling.

"Okay."

Alex strokes the backs of two fingers down Piper's cheek and looks at her before leaning in and kissing her again.

"I might have to keep doing that though."

"Doing what?"

"The looking and kissing thing."

Piper touches her nose against Alex's and can't quite keep the smile from her face.

"I can live with that."

AN:
No update tomorrow as I'm heading to London. It'll probably be next week now.