A/N: Firstly, thank you so much for 600 reviews! Means the world to me. This is probably the second or third to last chapter, unfortunately, but I'll try and squeeze in as much as I can. Leave a review, please :) Sorry for typos.
The sheet in her hand is brilliantly white, upon which bold, black lettering is printed that screams formality and prestige before Alex even reads the words being spelt out. So she reads and eventually the lines begin to elide together and the words blur and she doesn't know how to feel, really.
The letter falls to the carpet of her hotel room, and Alex realises she needs to buy an aparment.
She knows exactly what day it is, but she checks again, hoping in vain that time may have started creeping backwards within the last five minutes she's spent staring at a sheet. But she knows that minutes will tick by and she needs to do something, talk to Piper, because Alex now has twenty four hours to decide on the rest of her life. She picks the letter up, stuffs it in the pocket of her leather jacket, and snatches her car keys from the table. The expensive paper slices her finger in her haste, and Alex thinks that's one hell of a metaphor.
Anyway, she's going to need tougher skin than that if she's to be a Headmistress.
A warmth hangs in the air around New York City, sweet sunlight glowing over branches of trees that sway in the gentle breeze. Piper sits across from Alex, studying the concerned planes of her girlfriend's face. Couples and families walk by, but Piper's only focused on the way strands of Alex's hair glint in the light and her full bottom lip juts out in inviting thought.
"Did you make this up?"
"Even I couldn't think of this one, kid."
"I can't tell if that makes it better or worse." Piper admits quietly, leaning back on the soft grass of Central Park and closing her eyes to the sunlight. The stillness of air surrounds them, watching on expectantly.
"Small world though, right?" Piper implies rather awkwardly. Alex hums a distracted agreement as she continues to pour over the words, as if trying to validate every single inch of fine print. But they're definitely real and terrifyingly official-looking and the surname signed off at the bottom is undoubtedly the same one as Piper's doctor from the hospital. The school crest at the top certainly belongs to the Academy and Alex rather wishes she'd paid more attention to the school president's last name before now.
"It's your Doctor's dad then, yeah?" Alex asks and Piper nods, sure of herself.
"I can't believe I never thought to ask." The blonde muses, her eyes still closed. Alex tells her she had a few more important matters to worry about, and Piper has to admit that's true. Still, Alex is just waiting for her girlfriend to ask the bigger question. The brunette lies down by Piper's side, underneath a large oak tree that broke up the sunlight in terrific patterns and spilled over the pair in splintered designs. So, before Piper asks one big question, Alex asks her own first.
"Do you wanna buy an apartment Pipes?" Alex questions amicably, and grins at the way Piper's eyes fly open in surprise. Her eyebrows raise and searching blue eyes demand a further explanation from Alex. "I mean, I need to buy one anyway, so..." Piper smirks at Alex's adorably flustered nature, and the decision is as clear to her as the sky above them. Her own house has been cold and lonesome for as long as she can remember, more so now that she'd been gone from it all summer, and Piper nods as she shifts on top of her girlfriend, straddling Alex's hips. She lingers on the green of the brunette's enchanting gaze, at the hope promised in her irises.
"Okay, Vause, I'll buy a place with you." Piper's eyes glint at the prospect and Alex smiles up at her as she loops her fingers through the belt buckles of the blonde's jeans. "Now it's my turn to ask the questions."
"Fire away."
"Are you gonna take that job?" Piper asks seriously, looking down at her girlfriend expectantly. Alex sighs and strokes Piper's skin above her waistband as she ponders on her answer. Certainly, taking Healy out of the equation, Alex had never enjoyed her job as much as she had at the Academy. The prospect of more and more time with Piper begins to entice the brunette as she gauges her girlfriend for a moment longer.
"Do you want me to?"
"Nope, no answering questions with another question." Piper announces, placing her hands over Alex's to stop her efforts to distract the blonde. "What do you want?" Briefly, Alex thinks about answering with 'You', but she has a feeling it may be a little ill-conceived.
"I want to go on holidays, Pipes. I want to go to Cambodia and then I want to come home and move into a house with you," Alex starts to go off track, but Piper glares at her despite the offer of a holiday. "...And I want to go to Healy's final address tomorrow and I want to see his fucking face when I get announced as his successor." She admits.
Alex has changed a lot over the past year. She has lost all her inhibitions around Piper, and she has gone from a ruthless pragmatist who fucked girls for fun, to a hopeless romantic who gets more joy from lazing in Central Park with her girlfriend than she does from anything else. There are a lot of things that have changed her. Maybe it's the fact she's finally grown up. Maybe it's the fact she fell in love.
Or maybe it's just the way Piper loves her.
Maybe it's all of these things, but one thing Alex hasn't lost is her lust for power. The more Alex thinks about it, the more it makes sense to her; she can protect Piper and be with her as often as she likes and she'll get to see that condescending smirk wiped clean off Healy's face. She'll make the students happy and prove to people that sometimes, despite her flaws, she can be the good guy in a story.
Alex Vause deserves a happy ending.
Piper breaks out into a blinding smile, dimples and all, and kisses Alex with all the hope and happiness she can muster. Alex grins into the kiss and slides her hand underneath Piper's grey shirt, splaying her hand across her back and pulling the blonde's lithe body flush against hers. Piper positively melts with relief that things have worked themselves out so quickly. Their lips are soft against each other's, as they have been for the past few days, a welcome change from their previous frenzied affair. Alex can see how Piper's excited already, and she chuckles breathily when her girlfriend lies down by her side and looks at her as if Alex can offer her the world. Really, if Alex can offer her presence by Piper's side for the foreseeable future, that's enough. The blonde ghosts her fingers delicately across Alex's face for an incalculable amount of time, basking in the serenity of the moment.
"I love Cambodia." Piper whispers, as if a louder register would shatter the tranquillity.
"Me too, kid. But we'll go wherever you want to go." Alex shrugs nonchalantly, pulling one of Piper's legs over her waist and resting her fingers by the edge of the blonde's jaw. Sunlight catches in rivets of Piper's hair and across her collarbones, and Alex feels like the luckiest girl in the world that she gets to see Piper like this, bright and smiling and looking back with love burning in her captivating blue eyes.
"I could live with Cambodia." Piper murmurs. "But I'm pretty happy right here."
"Are you?" Alex asks, though she knows the answer. She looks up to the sky for a moment, and they both smile as their hands find each other through the blades of freshly cut grass.
"Yeah." Piper tells her. Alex looks back at her expectantly, a coy grin playing on her lips. "This is good." Alex kisses her then, softly with her fingers lightly pressed against her cheek, and she would have to agree that things are really rather perfect.
Polly Harper's not useful for much, but she damn well owes Piper and Alex for the way she's acted in the past few months. Sure, she was around when Alex was gone, but it was as if she was rubbing the relationship's failure in Piper's face rather than being a decent best friend. Added o the fact that she and Alex had literally come to blows over the blonde, Polly is more than a little surprised when the happy couple come to visit her in her realtor's office. Piper's got a huge grass stain on the right knee of her jeans that Polly notices the moment she walks through the door held open for her by Alex, who pats the blonde on the ass as she walks through before standing proudly by her side in front of a gobsmacked Polly.
"Um...hi?" Polly offers dumbly, nodding her head to the two seats in front of her desk.
"Hey." Piper and Alex say in unison, grinning widely. Alex sits down in a chair and pulls Piper into her lap. They offer no explanation, quite enjoying Polly's awkwardness in wake of their intimidating presence. Alex idly brushes Piper's hair over her right shoulder while continuing to smirk in the direction of her best friend.
"Can I help you...?" Polly asks them, crooking an eyebrow and outstretching her palms in frustration.
"Yep!" They exclaim happily, and Piper bites her lip to stop from bursting out into raucous laughter at how annoyed Polly is becoming. The blonde shifts a little further downwards in Alex's lap so that she can feel her girlfriend's breath against her neck, adding to Polly's discomfort.
"Why can't you just sit in separate fucking chairs?" She blurts out, endlessly ignored by their antics. Piper shrugs, and Alex's lips not so accidentally brush against her shoulder. Polly's within a second of losing her temper, though.
"We need an apartment." Piper elaborates slightly, attempting to ignore how Alex's fingers are creeping up the back of her shirt, hidden from Polly's view. Polly visibly deflates with relief, pulling out a few files from a cabinet and setting to work. It's a little hard to take Piper seriously when she's literally sitting in someone's lap, but Polly really is happy for her best friend. She's known Piper for a long, long time, and she's well aware of the fact the blonde has been to hell and back more than once. She's never going to be best friends with Alex, but Polly's honestly grateful for the smile she puts on Piper's face, because she's never seen Piper so at ease with herself than when she's with Alex. They're a little overbearing and borderline intimidating as a couple, but Polly's sure she's never seen any two people made for each other the way Piper and Alex are. So Polly pretends not to notice that Alex has her hand halfway up the back of Piper's shirt and she pays no attention to whatever the brunette whispers in her girlfriend's ear, because Alex is making Piper smile and laugh and she's happy and that's really all that matters in the end.
Alex lets Piper talk through their plans, eventually removing her hand from Piper's back so she can scroll through flights to Cambodia and decide on what she wants. Of course, she's going to have to go to the school tomorrow, considering she'd just spent an hour on the phone with the school's president to take him up on his offer on a condition or two. Alex agrees to take the job as principal, provided she and Piper get the whole month of September off to sort their lives out. Of course, Alex makes it very clear that she's running the school the way she wants to, and if anyone so much as makes a snide comment about her inexperience, she'll be out of there faster than anyone can blink. Mr. Anderson had assured her that every good head teacher must start somewhere, and his faculty were adamant that she'd be more than up to the task.
And that was that, really; Alex is going to be headmistress of the Academy and she's going to live with Piper after they spend a few weeks in Cambodia and maybe she'll even shake Polly Harper's hand if she does a good enough job.
"Alex?" Piper nudges the brunette, but is rewarded with nothing but a grunt. "Alex!" Piper knocks her shoulder against Alex's a little harder. Still nothing. Polly raises her eyebrows in silent amazement as Piper's girlfriend continues to lie fast asleep against the pale oak desk. Piper narrows her eyes in frustration, deliberating momentarily before a sly grin adorns her lips and she leans down to Alex's ear. Polly watches in confusion as the blonde covers her mouth with her hand and whispers something inaudible to her girlfriend. Piper's lips are obviously close to Alex's skin, and Polly rolls her eyes in knowing clarity a split second before Alex jolts awake, raven hair sticking to her face slightly and glasses askew.
"No fucking bitchens, Piper!" Alex exclaims as her head shoots up. "Wha-" Alex starts, looking wildly between a smirking Piper and a bewildered Polly. Piper laughs in disbelief as a blush makes its way onto Alex's cheeks, staining them a delightful red.
"Bitchens?" Piper teases while Polly lets out a chuckle of her own. "What's the blush for, sweetheart?" Piper inquires smugly. Alex frowns, fixing her glasses and ruffling her messy hair, glancing down at Piper's watch. It's been hours since the couple sat down across from Polly and Alex had fallen asleep halfway through it, minutes after shifting Piper off her lap.
"I think you know just well what it's for, Piper." The brunette grumbles. "Are you finished?" Piper nods, still chuckling a little as the threesome stand to their feet.
"Thanks so much, Pol." Piper grins, enveloping her best friend in a grateful hug.
"No worries, I'll get you guys sorted." Polly promises and throws a hesitant look towards Alex before continuing. "It's the least I can do." Alex inclines her head forward slightly and a slightly appreciative smile tugs at her lips for a moment and it's quite possibly the nicest thing she's ever done to Polly.
"Thanks." A pause. "Really." Piper almost faints at Alex's candidness, and Polly too seems a little surprised. To her credit, Polly nods slowly and smiles a little at the imposing brunette. Piper settles her hand affectionately in Alex's and waves goodbye to her best friend, slipping out of the establishment with her jaded girlfriend in tow.
"I'm pretty sure she's more whipped than me." Alex points out to Piper as they stand on the sidewalk, attempting to hail a cab. She's referring to Polly's odd enthusiasm for taking on the entire task of the couple's moving process, from selling Piper's old house to finding them a new one.
"Maybe I'll leave you for her." Piper replies amusedly, grinning sideways at her girlfriend. Alex, narrowing her eyes in mock horror, leans down to Piper's ear slightly as a cab pulls up.
"Judging by what you were whispering in my ear back there, you have no interest in doing anything of the sort."
Slender fingers brush underneath the collar of her girlfriend's crisp white shirt before trailing slowly downwards, smoothing the lapels of her fitted black blazer. She runs her hands across the brunette's lustrous hips, tugging slightly at the waistband of her tight-fitting trousers.
"This is so weird." Alex commented hoarsely as she followed the movements of Piper's fingers carefully. The blonde glanced upwards, catching Alex's gaze and smiling warmly at her.
"You'll do great. You always do." Piper reassured her. "C'mon, we're gonna be late." She took Alex's hand, intertwining their fingers sweetly after pulling the hem of her own black dress downwards slightly. The familiar archway of the Academy welcomed the pair, its darkened threshold beckoning with untold promise. Their heels fill the void of silence as they cross the marble floor towards the hall where Healy's final address to the staff and teachers was to commence in a matter of minutes. The couple pause outside the door.
"You okay?" Piper asks earnestly, trailing her thumb across Alex's cheek. The taller girl nods assuredly, but a sense of nerves still washes over her slightly. Alex isn't used to dealing with nerves, and they're not the crippling kind that make her want to vomit, but she's used to feeling almost smugly convinced in herself at all times. She's still confident, of course, but the unfamiliarity of the situation unsettles her slightly.
"Yeah." Alex replies sincerely before turning to the heavy black doors in front of her. She hasn't shown her face to most of the hall's inhabitants for months, and while they may be aware of her unfair treatment, there's still a fair amount of judgement still to be passed. A beat passes, involving a deep breath and an instinctive squeeze of Piper's hand before the blonde slides it through Alex's elbow and curls her fingers around Alex's wrist. The older woman lets loose most of a smile at the gesture, and pulls backwards on the gold handle. The quiet chatter continues for a second or two, before the hundreds of people in the room become aware of the clicking of heels on hardwood floors. Silence ensues, and every head in the room swivels.
Not in their wildest dreams did they expect to see Alex Vause looking like literal sex on legs with a delightfully smug, impossibly healthy Piper Chapman by her side.
Alex picks out Nicky from across the room, who's shaking her head with a wry smirk on her face. The expression makes Alex chuckle a little, and she probably looks awfully arrogant when she throws a wink in her best friend's direction. Thankfully, this is Alex Vause we're talking about, and she could not give a fuck if people think she's arrogant. The silence lengthens for an unbelievable amount of time before chaos erupts within the hall and pupils are practically salivating over the pair almost at their seats by the front. Boys turn to their friends and slap each other on the shoulders, nodding suggestively at the attractive couple and the girls are almost at the point of yelling with excitement. The teachers, too, exchange disbelieving glances, wondering where the fuckthat entrance came from.
Mostly, though, people are happy; the return of the Academy's best two teachers can only be a good thing.
Healy watches them too, beady eyes snapping up from his prompt sheet to land on the two women he thought he'd never have to lay eyes on again. Piper's appearance didn't annoy him much, but his blood boiled at the sight of the confident brunette currently taking a seat right in front of his podium. Healy looked around in confusion, wondering who the fuck she thought she was taking the seat that was reserved for his successor, whoever he may be. Eventually, Healy decided to think nothing of it, deciding it was obviously Alex being ignorant as usual rather than there being any chance whatsoever that she was getting his job.
"What are you doing here?!" One of the teachers whispered harshly towards Alex. The brunette, annoyed at being interrupted from her conversation with Piper, turned around to the voice's owner. When his identity comes to her, a megawatt grin spreads across Alex's face.
"Surprise, bitch." She grins. "Bet you thought you'd seen the last of me."
"You can't sit there." The teacher insists, ignoring her smugness.
"Ah, Barry!" Alex cried cheerfully, taking unreserved pleasure from the way his expression began to turn more and more annoyed. "Why ever not?"
"That seat's for the new Principal." He naively explains. Piper stifles a laugh while Alex does little to mask her amusement.
"Aw is that so?" She teases. "You know much about your new boss?"
"Well, obviously not. I've never met him." Larry defends himself abruptly.
"How do you know it's a he, Sally?" Piper buts in, cocking a sceptical eyebrow. Larry says nothing, sinking further into his seat and averting his gaze from the intimidating couple in front of him. Piper and Alex chuckle lightly to themselves as they turn back around, the irony of his comments providing endless amusement. A hush ran through the hall suddenly as Healy cleared his throat. His hefty figure was back dropped by a vibrant red curtain with the navy and white school crest emblazoned across it. Piper and Alex settled themselves, inwardly groaning as his monotone voice began what would inevitably be the most mind-numbing speech the pair had ever heard.
Eventually Alex entwined her fingers with Piper's discreetly, contenting herself with studying the blonde's knuckles and delicate hand instead of listening to Healy, and then the school president drone on and on (and on). She mapped out the familiar features, from the tiny freckle on the side of Piper's wrist to every minute detail of the small ring on her third finger. The light overhead bounced off the sapphire middle in every direction, and provided Alex with the sudden thought of putting a ring of her own on Piper's finger one day. Startled by the unexpected idea, Alex's eyes widened of their own accord and she quickly attempted to stifle her fanciful imagination. What calms her eventually is the fact that she has all the time in the world with Piper. Neither of them are going anywhere, and when the time is right, Alex will pop the question without a second thought and Piper will reply with a tearful yes and things will be as they've always been. There's no rush. Piper glances downwards at their fingers, and she's reminded of the day Alex came to visit her the very first day she was able to speak after her accident. Their nails are varnished and Piper's hands are softer, smoother, but the ease at which their fingers fit together still makes her smile to herself, the way it did that day in the hospital.
Mr. Anderson begins speaking about successors and futures, pulling the couple from their reverie. Alex's stomach twists nervously and Piper can sense her apprehension. They wait, Piper running her thumb sweetly over Alex's knuckles as the anticipation builds and builds. Healy becomes more agitated as he realises Alex still hasn't had to move from the seat and the brunette smirks at his obvious discomfort.
"Somebody needs to get his face on video." Alex whispers to Piper who stifles her laughter behind her free hand. A tension fills the room, people's ears pricking up as the president finishes his address.
"And now, it gives me great satisfaction to welcome your new Headmistress," The female introduction sends shockwaves rippling, and Healy's expression visibly falls. Alex grins. "Whom most of you will already know. Ladies and Gentlemen, your new Principal of Litchfield Royal Academy...Alex Vause."
It's picture perfect. It really is. Healy looks ready to blow a gasket, Piper is almost bursting with pride, Nicky is laughing and Alex is smiling bashfully when applause erupts through the hall, intermitted with whoops and cheers from all of the pupils. Piper kisses her girlfriend proudly on the cheek, pulling back to grin at Alex triumphantly.
"I told you." She says over the raucous applause.
"You sure did." Alex laughs slightly as she stands, smoothing down her trousers before ascending the steps confidently. Her reception continues as she shakes hands gratefully with Mr. Anderson, who nods knowingly at his new Principal. He just knows that Alex Vause could run this place with her hands tied behind her back. Unsurprisingly, Healy doesn't even acknowledge her presence on the stage, which simply gives Alex even more pleasure. She clears her throat slightly and leans her elbows on the podium, bringing herself closer to the microphone. She winks subtly at Piper, who has on that magnificent smile that fills Alex with confidence.
"So," Alex smirks at how her audience lean forward in anticipation. "Let's see how this one pans out, shall we?"
There are few things in life that Piper enjoys more than listening to Alex Vause talk. In fact, the dulcet tones of her girlfriend's voice are only bettered by a handful of other things that also involve Alex's lips and tongue. Alex keeps her introductory address short and sweet and when Piper takes a moment to pause her admiration of the sublimely confident woman on stage, the expressions around the room bring a small smile to the blonde's face. Every pupil sits straight-backed, listening attentively and grinning at Alex's occasional jokes. Piper's bottom lip makes its way between her teeth, attempting to mute the wide smile that threatens to bloom across her face.
She is so fucking lucky.
Every person in the hall, minus a select few who are really missing out, are falling for Alex's charm and wit and poignant honesty that is such a rarity to find these days. Such is the sincerity of her voice that every single word that comes out of her mouth is swallowed up eagerly by the crowd, no matter how quixotic her ideas may be. And Piper's grateful to be experiencing all this, sure, but that's not why she feels so fortunate. She'd come within millimetres of not being here today, listening to Alex talk, and somehow she still gets to be the girl who goes home with Alex at the end of the night.
Piper's lucky to be alive. But she might be even luckier to be the love of Alex Vause's life.
There are moments that remain etched into memory. A split second where the permutations and attitudes of a room shift suddenly and every individual is thrust into another stage of life, where their outlook on life changes rapidly.
When Alex Vause slips quietly into the staff room where her faculty are having a meeting before most of them go back to work, everyone is still a little confused about what exactly happened, or is happening, between Piper and Alex. One moment Alex was being portrayed as some ridiculous lesbian villain who had forced Piper into a weird relationship agreement, and a handful of months later Alex was spending an extortionate amount of time by an unconscious Piper's bedside. Their relationship was unsurprisingly the topic of much discussion, mostly by the female staff, and their answer for what the hell was going on between the two was about to be answered.
Alex receives a warm round of applause from her staff, her charming presence sorely missed within the school. She smiles modestly before her eyes lock with a familiar pool of blue. Piper excuses herself from a conversation as most of the staff go back to theirs, and strides towards her girlfriend with a crooked smirk on her lips, mirrored by Alex. A few eyes track her purposeful walk, and every head in the room snaps up when the blonde moulds her body against Alex's and brings their lips together, her hands gripping the lapels of her girlfriend's jacket as Alex grasps the curve of Piper's strong hips as the blonde kisses her hard.
And fuck if it isn't one of the most liberating kisses they've ever shared.
The sixty or so teachers in the staff room erupt into a chorus of wolf whistles and disbelieving laughs at the sight, and Piper and Alex smirk against each other's lips at the response, at the acceptance. Alex opens her eyes, chuckling quietly at the contented smile on Piper's lips and the adorable way she still has her eyelids shut, leaning her forehead lightly against Alex's.
"Hey." Alex laughs softly, grinning down at her girlfriend.
"Hello." Piper hums dreamily, opening her eyes as a lazy smile tugs at her lips. Alex has only been in the room about a minute and already every opinion of her has changed; Alex looks at Piper the way guys do at girls in movies, her green eyes twinkling with emotion for the blonde in her arms.
And Piper looks back at her exactly the same way.
So that's how the staff find the answer to the question of what exactly Piper and Alex are, and each and every one of them is quite content with their findings. It's in the way they look at each other, as if nothing else in the world even comes close to existing. It's in the way Alex's thumb brushes across Piper's cheek, so lightly it barely registers. It's in the way Piper smiles at Alex as if they could conquer the world. It's simply in the way they are.
The answer, if you haven't figured out yet, is that they are in love.
A/N: Oh yeah, before I forget; thanks to everyone who suggested Alex take Healy's old job, because I hadn't even thought of that! I'm writing an epilogue to Persuasion that's going to double as Christmas one-shot, but I might write the finale of this fic as Christmas based as well. Tell me what you want :)