Do not own Orange Is The New Black or any of the characters.

Monday, November 4th, 2002- Part 2

The sun was warm and bright as Piper stepped out of her house with her book bag over her shoulder. It was a surprisingly warm day for this time of year, not that she was complaining. The air smelt heavy of dry leaves and grass as she slowly descended the front steps and began to walk in the direction of campus.

She paid no attention to the sounds of the morning traffic or the voices of her fellow students as she got closer to campus. She was too lost in her own thoughts to take in what was going on around her in the world. She was thinking about Alex as she walked through a woodsy part of campus and made her way up to the English building. She was thinking about the kiss as she pushed open the heavy wooden doors and nearly crashed into someone. Luckily, the person was more aware of their surroundings than Piper currently was and cleared out of her path in the last possible second. Piper just gave a surprised apology before continuing on her way. She was thinking about how good the whole damn thing had felt as she somehow managed to avoid running into anyone else as she walked along the empty hallway to the lecture hall.

Yes, she'd seen and made up with Zelda since that night. They'd kissed and fucked over the weekend. And as much as she tried to stay in the present, her thoughts had been consumed with the raven-haired brunette.

She was still thinking about Alex and Zelda as she walked up the slightly spiral staircase to the second level of the hall. She breathed in the scent of paper and dust that seemed to linger in all old buildings. She usually found comfort in the smell, but today, it wasn't helping much. Guilt twisted painfully in her stomach as she slowly made her way through the rows of empty seats and towards her usual spot.

Their usual spot.

Piper was both relieved and disappointed that Alex wasn't there yet. She usually arrived before her.

All Piper could hear was the beating of her own heart as it pumped out blood to the rest of her body as she began to move.

She didn't go towards Alex. She stopped a few feet in front of her, coming to stand in front of the desk.

She looked at Alex for a second before taking in her costume. She was glad that the room was dark so Alex couldn't see the flush of her cheeks. Piper knew that Alex had a great body, but she'd never seen it in all it's glory until now. She'd only seen Alex from behind a counter or seated beside her in class. It was always partly hidden in some way. But here, there was nothing hiding it. Even the darkness of the room could not hide Alex Vause from view. Piper couldn't help but stare at Alex in that costume of hers. The thin material of the bodysuit stretched and clung to Alex's body in all the right places. Her breasts were pushed up and on display, giving the blonde urgent needs to reach out and touch. The bodysuit rode up Alex's long torso, making it extremely high cut on her legs. It just barely seemed to conceal her.

Piper had never had superhero fantasies, but she sure as hell was going to start after tonight.

The blonde licked her lips nervously before realizing she'd been staring for God knows how long. She looked away quickly, trying to come up with something to say next. She wasn't good with putting herself on the line like this. She wasn't as savvy. She was used to people coming on to her, not the other way around. Piper gathered herself and seized every ounce of courage she could find within to do what she was about to do.

Her friends, Zelda, and everyone outside of this room were far from her mind as she took the few steps to get closer to Alex.

The brunette stared back at her, an eyebrow raised but nothing else. Both knew what was most likely going to happen next.

Why else would Alex come to the party only looking for Piper?

Their eyes met as blue looked into green before traveling down to linger on lush, red lips. Heat filled Piper's stomach and traveled upwards to her chest. Her heart was racing as she caught herself nervously wringing her hands.

She closed her eyes suddenly, not daring to think any longer as she pressed her lips to Alex's.

The kiss was a little unsure at first as they both got over the initial shock of it.

Alex closed her eyes as soon as she felt Piper's lips on hers, gentle and unhurried. Despite what the little voice at the back of her mind was saying, telling her to stop this before it went too far, Alex's hands worked with a mind of their own. She pushed that little voice away as her hands came to rest on Piper's slim hips and her mouth pressed hard in response.

Where Piper's lips were gentle and unsteady as if asking permission, Alex's were bold and daring, kissing her back with power. The tip of her tongue swiped fearlessly against the blonde's bottom lip before slipping inside.

A few moments passed before the kiss grew with their confidence. Not daring to deny what both clearly wanted any longer.

Piper's mind was racing as she continued to get lost in the sensation of Alex's kiss; her warm, wet tongue darting in and twisting around her own. She could taste the sweetness of Peach Schnapps on her tongue and it caused her to melt even further into the kiss. Her hands flew to the sides of Alex's face, pulling her in as close as possible. She was suddenly overcome with a deep desire to feel Alex's slick tongue on other parts of her body. She wanted every inch of her skin to be caressed by that devilish tongue.

Nat King Cole sang loudly from the speakers as Alex wiped down the espresso machine, making the chrome shine. She'd skipped class that morning and gone to work early. She was feeling a little guilty about that. Not the whole skipping class part, she wasn't even in the class to begin with. It was the avoiding Piper thing that was eating away at her. Alex didn't usually avoid difficult things. But that morning, she just couldn't muster the energy to go to class and see Piper.

Not that she didn't want to.

There was usually a no better way of spending a Monday morning than sitting next to the beautiful blonde and stealing glances. But Alex didn't know if she could handle sitting beside Piper for a full two hours that morning, not being able to touch her or talk to her. She knew they were in need of talking. They hadn't exchanged one word since they'd been rudely interrupted that night and Piper had fled without a glance. Alex knew she should be angry about that. It had been Piper who had initiated the kiss, only to run off the second it was over. And yes, Alex had been fucking pissed the next morning when she woke up with a pounding headache. She'd blamed her whole hungover state on the blonde. If Piper hadn't invited her to the party, she never would have drunk before and after the kiss. She never would have been in this unbearable state in the first place if Piper Chapman had never graced her with her presence in the first place.

However, her anger simmered down as soon as her headache cleared and a quiet weekend stretched on. She tried not to think about Piper as best she could while focusing all her attention on Sylvie. They had spent almost the entire weekend in bed. And it wasn't all just about sex, no. It had been one of those lazy, sleepy weekends that you dream of when rushing to work, wishing you could crawl back into bed. They had slept late, drank large amounts of coffee and tea, read the books cluttering their end tables, watched pointless sitcom reruns on TV, and ordered food delivery. It was a perfect weekend, in fact. Or it would've been if only Alex hadn't been consumed with guilt and confusion every time she looked at Sylvie and remembered about the kiss.

"What's got your panties in a twist this morning?"

"Excuse me?!" Alex snapped out of her thoughts and turned to glare at Nicky, who was smirking at her with a knowing grin on her face.

"Come on, Vause. Just fuckin' spill already! I can see something is bothering you. What's up?"

Alex was silent for a moment as she grumbled over whether she really wanted to have this conversation now, with Nicky, at fucking 9 am on a Monday morning. She knew she needed to talk to someone about Piper. And usually, Nicky was her go-to person for girl trouble. But there was something holding her back from confessing all that had gone down on Halloween; something about kissing Piper that she wanted to keep private. Not that she thought Nicky would go blabbing to Sylvie. Nicky barely knew Sylvie. The two of them had met very briefly at Alex's Birthday party earlier in the year. She knew she could trust Nicky.

That wasn't the issue though, she concluded as she continued to glance at Nicky, eyebrows slightly raised in thought. A sigh escaped her lips as Nicky continued to look back at her with a smirk spreading across her face and those dark eyes dancing in amusement.

"I kissed someone," said Alex at last.

"Oh."

"Someone who wasn't fucking Sylvie."

Alex ran a hand through her hair as she looked away from Nicky and those knowing eyes of hers. She studied her distorted reflection in the espresso machine for a second, wondering if she should tell Nicky more. She knew her coworker would pry her for more. And with that thought, Alex found herself telling Nicky everything. She only left out the details on who the person was, of course.

Nicky sat now on the small step stool, chin in hand, elbows resting on her knees as Alex finished off her tale of adultery. Well, she wasn't sure if she would go so far as to call it that considering that it was just a kiss. But they both knew that sometimes, it only takes one kiss to change everything. Kisses weren't simple things. They were small, yet powerful things. Wasn't that why half the time in fairy tales, something big and life-changing happened after two people kissed?

"And I'm assuming that the girlfriend doesn't know about this."

"Fuck no!" Alex looked at Nicky like she'd suddenly grown two heads. Why in hell would she tell Sylvie that she kissed someone else? Sylvie was already vulnerable enough these days. She didn't need her going over the edge.

"Well, Vause... I would say you got yourself in a fucking pickle here. But you probably already know that. Do you like this other person or was it just a rando? Because if it's the fucking latter, then it's no big deal. You can just blame it on being drunk."

Alex's silence to the question gave it all away. Piper wasn't just some rando, as Nicky had put it. She was a girl that Alex liked very much and could possibly see herself being with if she played her cards right, of course.

Piper bolted out of her seat the moment the lecture was over and was out the building door faster than she'd ever been before. She was a woman on a mission. She'd thought of nothing but Alex and Zelda throughout the whole class. She knew this was something she would regret later when studying for her final exam. But right now, she didn't give a shit. Right now, the only thing that seemed to hold her attention was figuring out her love life. She liked both Zelda and Alex.

She enjoyed being with Zelda, but she couldn't help being curious about what it would be like with Alex. If the kiss was anything to go by, it would be one hell of a roller coaster ride. She knew she had to make a choice quickly before it continued to eat away at her. Or at the very least, come clean to Zelda about the kiss.

Piper was a sweaty mess in more ways than one by the time she arrived at the class, just mere minutes before it was about to begin. She quickly slipped off the tennis shoes she'd shoved onto her feet that morning and shrugged out of her coat, depositing both not so neatly into one of the cubbies in the corner of the room. She had rushed home after class to exchange her book bag for her yoga mat and now she stood for a second, trying to catch her breath while looking around the room. Zelda caught her eye almost immediately. A wave of guilt fluttered in her stomach at seeing the redhead. She smiled weakly at the other woman before slowly beginning the long march towards the open spot beside Zelda.

"Hey Babe," spoke Zelda as she unraveled from her stretch and came towards Piper. She reached out and touched the blonde lightly on the wrist before capturing her lips in a light kiss.

"Hi," whispered Piper with a weak smile. An uncomfortable feeling twisted in the pit of her stomach as Zelda continued to look at her all lovingly. A couple of days ago, she would happily bathe in those adoring, googly eyes that Zelda always seemed to be wearing when looking at her. But now, it was making her sick. No, seriously, she was going to vomit, she thought. She hated herself at this very moment.

Luckily though, Piper didn't have to say anything more as the class began. It gave her another hour to ponder over the dark swamp of her thoughts and feelings. It wasn't until after the class was over that Piper managed some courage to approach her girl.

"Hey, can we talk?" she asked as she finished putting on her shoes and tucked her rolled mat up underneath her arm.

Zelda looked up at Piper from her position on the floor, where she was currently doing up the laces of her boots. The redhead smiled kindly at Piper, thinking that she just wanted to talk about date plans or something not so serious.

"Sure. Hey, why don't we go to that coffee shop you're always disappearing off to? It's close by, isn't it?" replied Zelda as she stood up a moment later and swung a tote bag onto her shoulder.

"No! No, let's not...go there. I'm always there." Piper tried to keep the panic from her voice at hearing where Zelda wanted to go. She'd yet to take Zelda over to the little cafe she was always running off to and now was certainly not the right time for that.

"Okay, where to then?" Zelda frowned slightly but tried not to let her disappointment show as they walked out into the sunny, autumn day.

"Why not just right here?" examined Piper as she stopped walking abruptly and pointed towards a bench.

"Pipes, I don't know if you've noticed, but it's freezing out here. Let's go find somewhere warm and indoors to talk. Somewhere we can...you know...cozy up together." A sultry smile appeared on Zelda's face as she spoke the words 'cozy up'. She just wanted to have a cute date moment with her girlfriend. The redhead reached out for Piper, but before she could, Piper took a sudden step back from her.

Zelda frowned, a look of hurt flashing across her face as she looked at Piper for some sort of explanation. Piper was acting weird. Weirder than normal.

"What the hell's wrong with you?"

"I kissed someone!" Piper blurted it out like a projectile stream of word vomit. She didn't imagine telling Zelda like this, but it was all becoming a little too much for her. She just needed to get it off of her chest. Unfortunately, her moment of relief was short-lived as she looked into the eyes of the other woman.

"What?"

"I kissed someone. At the Halloween party. I'm sorry Zels."

"Who?"

"Is that really important? It was just a stranger. No one you know."

"Why?"

"I dunno. I was drunk and we had just gotten into that massive fight and I just was feeling reckless, I guess. I'm so sorry. You have to believe me, Zels. I feel terrible about the whole fucking thing."

"Boy or a girl?"

"Huh?" Piper was confused by this question. What did it matter if it was a boy or a girl she kissed? No matter their gender, she still went behind her girlfriend's back and kissed someone else.

"Was it a boy or a girl who you kissed?"

"Does that really fucking matter?" Not only did it not matter, but Piper also didn't really feel like sharing who it was that she kissed. Zelda didn't know who Alex was, but Piper was suddenly overcome with a funny feeling that Zelda would somehow figure it out.

"It matters because if it's a boy, you are just falling on old habits. But if it was a girl, you wanted to hurt me," replied Zelda blankly.

"That doesn't make any sense. You know I'm Bi. I didn't kiss anyone to hurt you. It was a mistake! A drunken one!"

"Newly Bi."

"It doesn't matter what the gender is. It was just a kiss."

"This is about more than just a kiss, Piper. If it was just a drunken kiss, a moment of weakness, and what fucking not, then you could've let it slip under the rug and not tell me. We never really said we were exclusive. However, this kiss clearly meant something to you for you to be feeling guilty enough about it to tell me."

"It was a girl," spoke Piper quietly after a moment had passed. She was tired of this conversation and she knew that Zelda would continue to poke at it with a stick until Piper confessed the details of her mystery kiss.

"A girl from one of my classes. But it really meant nothing, Zels. I was drunk. She was drunk. It lasted all of 30 seconds." It had really been at least a solid minute, but Piper kept that detail to herself.

"I can't fucking believe this."

"Zels, please. Let's move past this. I know this relationship is new, but I really like you. And I think it could go far."

"Then let me meet your friends."

"What?"

"If it's really that important to you… if I'm important, then let me meet your friends...properly. Introduce me as your girlfriend."

"Zel. That's not fair. You know I'm not out yet."

"No. What's not fucking fair is that you continue to keep me at arms length. You don't care about introducing me to your friends or coming out to them because it's not important enough to you. I'm not important enough. I really like you, Pipes. And I do think this could go far too, but you're still experimenting...clearly."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"Wasn't it like only a few months ago that you realized you might like girls? It's all still new to you...this queer world. And that's fine. We all go through that kid in a candy store phase of coming out. You're experimenting...with that girl at the club, with me and now with this mystery girl from the party. But I don't want you to break my heart a year from now when you meet your future husband."

"Fuck you! I might have only just realized I'm attracted to women, but that doesn't mean shit. It shouldn't matter if I'm new to dating women or an old pro at it. I'm not using women as some new toy to play with until Mr. Right fucking comes along!" Piper's heart was racing and her blood continued to simmer within. She was angry and hurt that Zelda thought all this about her and her sexuality. Who knew who she'd end up being within a year or even ten years' time? She could be in a relationship with a woman or a man or very much alone. But there was one thing that Piper knew for sure, that her being bi wasn't just some stupid experiment. It all felt right to her.

And with that, Piper ended it with Zelda. Not because she wanted to. A part of her wanted to stay and work it out with Zelda because she really did like her. But another part of her wasn't convinced it was worth fighting for.

Alex immediately looked up as the bell above the door rang and a sweaty Piper came walking through.

"So… I did it."

"Did what?" asked Alex as she peered over her glasses at the blonde for a second before returning back to the inventory ledger she'd been writing in a moment ago before Piper had entered the shop.

"I ended it with Zelda."

"Why? That was a stupid thing to do." Alex's words came out a little harsher than she'd intended, but she didn't bother to correct herself. She didn't pay attention to Piper for a second as she continued to gaze down at the ledger.

"...but we kissed." Piper had been ready to launch into the whole story about how Zelda had treated her like some kid who had just had their first kiss and not as a woman of the same age. She was ready to rant about how much of a bitch Zelda was about it, but Alex's reaction had not been the one she'd been anticipating. So instead, her anger over Zelda simmered down into a confused almost whisper. It was then, with great disappointment, that she realized that she liked Alex a lot more than she'd originally thought and that this conversation probably wasn't going to end the way she'd secretly been hoping it would.

"Yeah so? It was just a kiss, nothing more." She knew she was being an ass at the moment as she pretended that Piper was just a customer and not the girl she'd shared a steamy kiss with just a few days ago. But she knew she had to be an ass. It was for both their sakes. It was too soon for them to open that can of worms. Alex still had Sylvie to think about.

"Why are you acting like this?" Piper tried to keep her voice neutral as she studied the woman behind the counter. She was used to Alex's straightforwardness, but this time it seemed different. No, it was different. There was a coldness around Alex's words like she was pissed at Piper or something. She just wasn't sure why.

"Acting like what?" asked Alex as she looked up at Piper. She cocked an eyebrow as if daring Piper to challenge her.

"Like a fucking jerk!"

"Excuse me? Did you think that you would just come waltzing in here and expect me to fall at your fucking feet because you're fucking available or something now?" Alex meant for her words to come out harshly now towards the blonde. Before, she'd been keeping Piper at arm's length to protect herself, but now she was just pissed off. She was pissed off that Piper just assumed that the kiss was the start of something between them. That she was just seeing the world as black and white and not the fucking kaleidoscope of color that it actually fucking was.

"I just thought..." Piper's voice trailed off. She didn't know what she thought about how Alex might react, but it was never like this. Alex had seemed to enjoy the kiss they shared. She'd immediately kissed her back. She'd thought for sure that Alex would at least be understanding and not angry like she was now.

"Well, you fucking thought wrong. What happened between us was just a stupid, fucking, drunken kiss."

"I just wanted to talk."

"Talk about what?" Alex straightened her back and crossed her arms defensively over her chest. She stared down at Piper, waiting for some sort of response and when she didn't receive one, she continued on. "We kissed. That's it. End of discussion. I'm sorry, but this isn't junior high where you have to analyze every fucking little thing. And I'm sorry if you got the wrong impression from me, but I have a girlfriend ."

Piper didn't know what to say or do. She didn't know what she'd expected to happen with coming over here and telling Alex her news. She'd forgotten that Alex had a girlfriend. Not that the brunette had ever really mentioned it before now. A vague memory of seeing Alex at the bar at the start of the semester flashed through her mind. She did recall Alex mentioning having a girlfriend then. And maybe Alex was right. Maybe Piper had been expecting too much from the brunette. Maybe all this time she'd overplayed the kiss in her head. Maybe it hadn't been that great of a kiss. Maybe it had been just a drunken, sloppy kiss and she was making too big of a deal of it. She was suddenly regretting not only coming over here but ending it with Zelda.

"Are you going to fucking order something or not?" asked Alex abruptly. She just wanted Piper to leave and she knew if she was rude enough, then she would. It was hurting her to see the blonde. It was hurting her to be so mean to her, but she knew it was better, in the end, this way if she pushed and stopped any sliver of possibility of them being together. She wasn't a fortune teller, and she didn't have any sort of sixth sense or anything like that. But she just had a weird feeling or intuition that the two of them together would be like playing with fire. It would blaze brightly in the beginning but one of them, most definitely, would end up getting burned badly in the end.

"Fuck You!" Piper was then suddenly overwhelmed with anger. She was angry at herself. She was angry at Alex for being such a dick. She was angry at Zelda for not seeing her side of things. She was angry for the sudden mess her life had just become in the matter of a few hours.

"Fuck you!" cursed Alex quietly as the door closed with a loud bang behind Piper's swift exit.

Thanks for reading and please review!

Julie