Author's note: Sorry it has been so long again. I've just been so busy with everything but here is finally the next chapter. I hope you'll like it!
Piper was pacing in her apartment. Her mind was constantly occupied by a certain raven-haired beauty. Like she hadn't already been on Piper's mind enough before. But now it was different because now Piper knew that she wanted her. Alex really wanted her, so all those suggestive comments and the flirtatious behavior hadn't been to get Piper flustered. Well, at least not only to get Piper flustered. Alex had tested Piper's reactions and tried to figure out if she was interested.
Piper stopped in front of her mirror. She looked at herself with a slight frown on her face. She knew that she looked good and that men usually found her tall and slim body attractive. But Piper couldn't get over the fact that Alex found her hot. Alex who literally could have anyone she wanted.
Piper was mentally listing the pros and cons of just going to Alex's apartment and starting to make out with her. She wasn't too worried about what others would think if she started seeing a woman. She knew she had Polly's full support whatever she decided to do and even though her parents were a little bit closed minded, she wanted to believe that they loved her enough, so they would get over it. But could she herself handle being with a woman? What if it just felt new and exciting at the moment but it would wear off soon? And then she would feel bad if she had led Alex on.
But isn't it like that with everyone? Piper just had to take the risk that it wouldn't lead to anything. And Alex had been willing to be Piper's experiment, so she had to know the risk too. Piper groaned, why were feelings this complicated?
She heard a faint sound behind the wall and it felt a bit surreal that the same woman who has been occupying her mind better part of the day was actually next to her, separated only with one thin wall.
Okay, Piper had decided that she was going to bite the bullet and just go to Alex. But what would she say? She couldn't just knock her door and kiss her. If she went there to talk about work, Alex would see right through her. And asking her on a date or anything like that would be too much.
"Fuck it", Piper muttered as she grabbed her keys and left the apartment. She trusted that Alex would know what to do.
She took one deep breath before knocking on Alex's door. It didn't take long before the other woman came to open the door.
"Piper", Alex grinned with raised eyebrows. "Well, this is certainly a nice surprise."
"Alex, hi. Were you busy?"
"I was doing some work stuff. But I could use some distraction."
"I could be your distraction", Piper said while trying hard to fight the blush she felt already rising on her cheeks.
"Oh, could you now?" Alex smirked. She seemed pleased, like she had known that was the reason Piper was there.
"Uhmm, if you still want, that is..." Piper said as she ducked her head down.
Piper didn't even have time to glance up to see Alex's expression when she was already being pulled in a feverish kiss.
It took a couple of seconds for Piper to realize what was happening before she kissed Alex back.
After a little while, Alex pulled back smirking. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist me."
"Could you just stop being overly confident for a second?" Piper groaned.
Alex made a humming sound like she was thinking about it as she pulled Piper into the apartment. "No."
Piper closed the door behind her before resumed kissing Alex. The other woman was quick to push Piper against the now closed door.
They made out for a little while, just enjoying the other's lips against their own and their bodies pressed tightly against the other. Piper tried to chase Alex's lips when she felt her withdrawing but when the lips remained out of her reach, she opened her eyes to look at amused Alex.
"I was just wondering if you were here to take me up on my offer about the sex or were you here just to make out?" Alex asked wanting to make sure that they were on the same page. "I'm fine with both."
"Oh... uhh, I don't know?"
Alex face softened. "That's okay. Just tell me if I do something you're not comfortable with."
"Okay", Piper nodded as she took hold of Alex's t-shirt pulling her back against her.
"Wait, wait. I have a question before we continue", Alex started seriously before broke into a smirk. "Tell me what you thought about your first kiss with a woman. Well, the first kiss that you remember."
Piper rolled her eyes, she had been waiting for Alex to make some smartass comment. "It was decent... Not sure if it was convincing enough for me to switch sides."
Alex's eyebrows shot up as she noticed Piper's teasing grin. "Oh, you little-"
Piper didn't let her finish as she connected their lips in a heated kiss.
Alex started to guide them toward her couch before a knock on the door interrupted them. It wasn't even a knock, there was someone literally banging the door.
"Oh, for fuck's sake", Alex muttered as she reluctantly withdrew from Piper. She chuckled at Piper's whine and gave her a quick kiss on her lips before turned around and went to open the door.
She couldn't be more annoyed when she discovered it was Larry there with a bunch of roses. "Can I help you?"
"Piper!" Larry exclaimed when he saw her standing behind Alex and pushed past her into the apartment.
"Larry? What are you doing here?"
"I don't like when we're fighting", Larry slurred and that's when the women realized that he was pretty drunk.
Alex furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "Fighting?"
Piper glanced at Alex before turning her attention back to Larry. "We're not fighting Larry. We broke up."
Larry looked at her like he was going to cry. "But... I bought you flowers."
"Oh my fucking god", Alex growled. "Larry, get out. This is my apartment and you are definitely not wanted here."
"Excuse me? Can't you see we are having a conversation here?"
"No, Larry, she's right. You shouldn't be here", Piper shook her head.
"But I need to-"
"I swear to god I will punch you in the face if you don't leave now."
"Your little threats don't scare me", Larry said as he took one swaying step closer Alex.
"Okay, okay", Piper rushed between them when she saw Alex's threatening face. She started to push Larry out of the apartment. "What do you say if you'll go to my apartment and I'll come shortly after? We can continue our discussion there."
After Piper had opened her door and closed it behind Larry, she turned around to face Alex who was not looking very pleased.
"I'm so sorry."
"What do you two have to discuss? Why you just didn't tell him to fuck off?"
"He was drunk out of his mind. He wouldn't have listened."
"Right", Alex rolled her eyes. "Go take care of your drunk boyfriend."
"He is not my boyfriend anymore and you know it", Piper said annoyed as she crossed her arms on her chest. "And even if he was, what would it matter? Five minutes ago, you were more than happy when I wanted to explore my sexuality. I didn't realize you needed commitment as well."
"I don't!"
"Then what's your problem? I know it's not nice to get interrupted by my drunk ex but I didn't want it to happen either! Why are you acting like this is my fault?"
Alex sighed. She knew she wasn't being fair but couldn't help but think Nicky and Lorna's situation. "I know it isn't. Let's just talk about this later, go take care of him."
Piper sighed too. "Yeah, okay."
They both turned around and went to their own apartments.
"What the hell, Larry?" Piper asked immediately when she had closed the door behind her.
"Pipes, I miss you."
"We broke up for a reason. I'm sorry if you feel like there's still something between us but there isn't. You have to move on."
"Have you?" Larry asked bitterly.
"I'm not having this conversation with you. Maybe I have maybe I haven't, it's not your business."
"Fine. I'll just leave."
Piper checked the clock and realized it was already almost 9 p.m. "Just... Wait a second. I'll call you an uber. I don't want you to wander drunkenly around Boston."
After Piper had called an uber and Larry had left, Piper threw herself on her bed. She wondered if Alex really was upset and or just annoyed by the interruption. She reached out to get her phone from her nightstand before opening a chat with Polly. She quickly filled in her best friend about the events of the last hour and didn't need to wait for the answer long.
[Polly] - Ugh! I'll make sure to chastise Larry for ruining your lesbian adventure. And make sure you two will talk about this because I'll be really mad if you pass up an opportunity to sleep with a woman.
[Piper] - Polly! Larry doesn't need to know about my lesbian adventures. And why are you so keen on getting me to sleep with her?
[Polly] - Because I've seen how you look at her.
[Piper] - I don't look at her differently than any other person.
[Polly] - Sure you don't.
[Piper] - I don't!
Piper frowned at her phone screen. She knew that she had zero poker face and even Alex had said that she had noticed how Piper looks at her. But Piper had thought that was only Alex being confident about her abilities to attract women to herself. Was she really that obvious?
[Piper] - Do I really?
[Polly] - Yes, honey, you do.
[Piper] - We'll talk, don't worry.
Piper sighed as she thought back before Larry had interrupted them. She really had enjoyed it and wondered if it had made any difference if she had told Larry to 'fuck off'. Probably not, the mood was already ruined. Damnit, Larry.
Piper hand drifted downward to gently caress her own breasts while she was thinking what could've happened if Larry hadn't interrupted. She closed her eyes and trailed her hand lower but was stopped by her jeans. Piper groaned in frustration and got up from the bed before quickly took off her clothes and changed into her pajamas. After she was in comfy shorts and a loose, old t-shirt she went back onto her bed and resumed her earlier actions. She knew that after this she wouldn't be able to face Alex without blushing but at this point, she was well past caring.
The following day Piper was maybe avoiding Alex a little bit. She had arranged a photoshoot through Jessica at 11 a.m. with two men who she was going to photograph for Sylvia's article. Piper had asked if Jessica could find an actual couple because she thought it was stupid to photograph models that were just made look like gays when there were actually gay people. She knew that people weren't going to know the models' sexual orientation from the picture but it disturbed Piper if she had to photograph straight people for an article that defended gay people.
As Piper had started to notice, Jessica was a pro with these kind of things and indeed managed to find an actual couple for Piper. Her original plan was to take the photos and then visit Alex's office to talk about them and maybe some other things but considering Piper's activities last night she decided to just email the photos to her after she was done.
Alex was sitting in her office and staring blankly at her computer screen. She hated how she left things with Piper last night and regretted that she took out her frustrations on her. Then Alex got an idea. She knew that Piper was doing the photoshoot today and Alex was curious to see how Piper looked when she was photographing.
Before she was even fully processing what she was doing, Alex was already calling Jessica.
"Hi, Alex. What's up?"
"Jessica, hi. I need a small favor."
"Yeah?"
"Piper has her photoshoot today, right?" Alex asked and waited for the little hum of confirmation before continued. "Could you check the place and time for me, please?"
"Why don't you just ask her?" Jessica asked amusedly but Alex was glad to hear some mouse clicking noise, hopefully from checking the schedule.
"Call it a surprise visit."
Jessica was quiet for a couple of seconds and Alex knew she was probably a bit confused. Alex never made surprise visits. Luckily, Jessica soon answered her question. "Alright then. It's at 11 a.m. at the Public Garden. I think they were talking about the east side."
"Thank you", Alex nodded to herself as she checked the clock. It was a little past ten, she had plenty of time.
"No problem. Anything else you need?"
"Nope, that was all. Bye."
"Okay, bye."
Alex counted that if she left ten to eleven, she would be about five past eleven at the park which would be perfect. She didn't want to appear too eager and be there even before Piper.
Now when she knew that she was going to see Piper soon and have an opportunity to talk things through with her, she could concentrate on her work again.
Piper was at the park well before eleven. She was just walking around, checking the surroundings and planning the background, the angle and lightning.
After about ten minutes two men walked up to her a little cautiously. "Hello. Are you Piper?"
Piper immediately recognized them from the photos Jessica had sent her. "Yes, I am", Piper smiled as she offered her hand to shake.
The slightly taller man grabbed her hand first in a gentle grip. "Hi. I'm Caleb."
Piper nodded at him before turning to the other man. They also shook hands and he introduced himself as Nolan.
They talked for a while before decided that it was time for work. Piper pointed out the bench she had found while walking around the park. Caleb and Nolan nodded before sat down on the bench.
"Alright. What do you want us to do?"
"I really don't care. The point is that the readers see that you two are in love which is easy now when you're actually a couple. Do whatever you feel comfortable with."
Both men chuckled. "Okay then."
"I need to change some settings and then we need to wait that enough people walk in the background. You know, because we're trying to send a message that gays are normal people, so we need other people around you."
"Sounds good", Caleb nodded.
Piper adjusted the camera settings how she wanted them before glancing at the couple. Caleb had her arm thrown around Nolan's shoulder and they were casually talking about something. Other couples and people were walking on the bridge behind the bench and it was just perfect. Piper slowly settled down on her right knee, so she wouldn't startle the couple before taking a picture.
"I didn't realize we started already", Nolan commented when he heard the camera.
"We didn't. You just were in a perfect position", Piper smiled as she got up. Suddenly she got the feeling that someone was watching her and turned to look behind her. She was surprised to see Alex there, leaning against a tree with a small smirk on her lips.
"Alex! What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to talk with you. And I thought it would be interesting to see you in your element", Alex explained as she motioned toward Piper's camera. "So, here I am."
Piper blushed slightly as her traitorous mind went back to last night. "Oh..."
"Just ignore me. Do your thing and don't mind me", Alex chuckled.
"Like I could ever ignore you", Piper mumbled under her breath before turning back to the couple. "Okay, I like to photograph people when they are acting naturally, so do whatever you would do if you were here by yourselves and try to ignore me."
"I think we can do that."
The photoshoot went smoothly, the men changed their positions from time to time and Piper was amazed how natural they acted even when they knew that they were being photographed. Piper also changed a bit the distance, angle and the camera settings while trying to forget that Alex was watching her the whole time.
"Alright, guys. This was it, thank you", Piper announced as she turned off her camera.
"That's it? This has been the easiest photoshoot so far. It almost felt like a date", Nolan stated and Caleb nodded in agreement.
"I'm glad if this was pleasant for you. I enjoyed working with you two, you were great", Piper smiled at them.
"Maybe we'll cross paths again some time", Caleb grinned.
They said good byes and Piper took a deep breath before turning to face Alex.
"I hope I didn't disturb you", Alex said as she started walking toward Piper.
"Maybe a little bit", Piper admitted smiling sheepishly, unable to lie to Alex. "But I think you'll be pleased. I got a few pretty good shots."
Alex chuckled. "I bet I'll be. You have yet to disappoint me."
The blonde smiled at her before turning more serious. "So, uh, what did you want to talk about?"
"I wanted to talk to you about last night... I was frustrated and I took it out to you and I'm sorry."
"Oh, yeah, that... it's okay."
"And there was also something else I wanted to talk about but do you want to walk around now when we're here?"
"Yeah, sure", Piper nodded as she hung the camera on her shoulder.
As they started walking, Alex started to talk. "So, my best friend is in love with this straight girl who keeps going back to her on and off scumbag boyfriend. And I'm not trying to say that you're like her or you would go back to Larry but because of that I overreacted last night."
"That makes sense..."
"And look I've had my own experiences with straight women and I know it was my idea to get you to explore your sexuality but after last night... I don't want to put myself in a position where I realize I start liking you more and more and then you decide that you can't be with a woman."
Piper just stared at Alex for a while. She was amazed by how openly Alex always talked about her feelings. Suddenly she remembered that Alex was probably waiting for an answer. "Yeah, I totally get that. Absolutely. You have to protect yourself. Got it."
Alex chuckled at Piper's rambling.
"But- uhh... where does that leave us?" Piper asked cautiously.
"I don't know. I want to explore this, I really do. But... Fuck, Piper, I don't know", Alex sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair.
They were both quiet for a while before Piper started talking. "Alex, I know you're hesitant because I've never been with a woman... And the fact that I like you so much even though you're a woman terrifies me a little bit but at the same time, I don't really care that you're a woman. Does that make even sense? I just mean- It doesn't matter if you're a woman, I wouldn't be ashamed or anything, but this is new to me and that's why it's also scary. I tried to convince myself that I didn't like you because I was scared but now... I know what I'm feeling. I know I like you. Really like you, not just think that you're attractive and want to experience something new."
Alex glanced at Piper smiling. "You mean that?"
"Yes! I can't promise you that this will lead to anything... But I really do like you and want to try this", Piper said softly.
Alex stopped and took hold of Piper's hand. She could hear that Piper meant what she said. "Just promise me one thing."
"What?"
"That you'll never go back to Larry."
Piper laughed. "I can promise you that I will never go back to him."
"Good", Alex nodded before softly kissed Piper's lips.
Piper sighed contently against her lips before tangling her fingers in Alex's hair.
"Sorry, kid. I need to go back to work", Alex said as she pulled back.
"Wait."
Alex quirked her eyebrow as she looked at Piper expectantly. The blonde was biting her lip and looked like she was trying to decide if she should say something or not.
"Uhmm... would you like to... go for dinner sometime?"
Alex couldn't help but smirk. "Piper Chapman. Are you asking me on a date?"
"Maybe? I don't know... if you want?"
"You... are adorable", Alex chuckled as she gave Piper a quick kiss. "But to answer your question... Of course, I'll go on a date with you."
Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you thought. I've noticed that when I write, I struggle to keep things interesting when they start dating, so I'm open to any ideas. Do you guys want drama, angst, smut, fluff? All ideas are welcomed.