Okay - this will be the last update here until my finish my other story. I had these chapters already mostly completed, so didn't really want to wait to get them out.
Thanks for all the reviews!
"Piper!" Lorna exclaims, getting up from where she was seated at one end of the booth, hugging the tall blonde.
Laughing at her friend's dramatics, Piper returns the hug, genuinely happy to be seeing her friend after so long.
"How've you been?" the blonde asks when they pull away from the embrace.
"Oh, you know - same old same old, but I believe that it's you that has some explaining to do," the brunette claims, smirking while raising an eyebrow.
Suddenly panicked as to what the smaller woman is talking about, Piper doesn't know how to respond, but she doesn't get the chance to as the conversation is interrupted.
"How's that book of yours coming along, blondie?" Nicky interrupts from her seat, shouting loudly.
"Nearly finished, which you should know considering I've sent you all the pages," the blonde chuckles at the wild-haired woman's obvious early state of intoxication.
Shifting her eyes around the booth while Lorna tries to stop Nicky from embarrassing herself, Piper's sight finally lands on Alex, who is staring directly at her, clearly ignoring whatever's being said to her by the people around them.
Offering a small close-lipped smile, Piper looks down at the table and sees that everyone must have brought a recent round in, so in excusing herself, she heads over to the bar to purchase a drink of her own.
"Thought the first round was on me?" comes a rough voice, followed by the image of Alex moving to stand next to her while leaning on the side of the bar.
"I didn't want to bother you," the blonde replies bluntly, doing a bad job at hiding her anger.
"Nothing you do could ever bother me, Pipes," Alex admits, sounding sincere.
"Sure, Alex," the blonde dismisses, not waiting for a reply as she instead orders her drinks.
The evening is in full swing by the time everyone has drunk a fair amount; Piper no longer seems to care about what she's doing or what she's saying. She had, however, managed to somehow hold her tongue when it came to speaking about Alex, and after growing tired of watching the brunette sitting in her world of confusing happiness with Sylvie, Piper excuses herself from the table and moves towards the dance floor.
The music is thumping, and it's the first time that evening that Piper allows herself to forget about her struggles, forget about her deadlines, and - most importantly - forget about Alex. It's a mission she's been looking to overcome, and although it seems as though it's something she's only able to achieve when under the influence, at least it gives her some time to enjoy herself without thinking about the consequences of her actions.
It isn't long until the blonde feels a body against her back and a set of hands roam to eventually land on her waist. The feeling is one the blonde hadn't felt in a long time; being in someone's company romantically is something that had only happened sparingly since her career as a well-established writer had taken off. No matter how hard she tried not to, she imagined the hands belonged to Alex, that the breath on the side of her neck belonged to Alex, that the body she was provocatively grinding against belonged to Alex. The low, yet still feminine, voice whispering in her ear added to the heated atmosphere, and when the plump lips grace her neck, Piper's head tilts back as her body arches backwards, fusing their bodies together even closer.
Not wanting the person to leave any marks along her neck, the blonde turns around, and has to blink twice to remind herself that the dark-haired woman now standing opposite her wasn't the person she had been thinking about. Before she allows herself to drown in her thoughts of the older woman, Piper smirks and continues dancing, unknowing that she had gained herself an audience.
With her arms resting on the mysterious woman's shoulders, Piper leans in to connect their lips when she suddenly feels another set of hands rest on her sides and pull her backwards. Losing her balance slightly, she falls back into a strong set of arms, and as she turns her body around, her nose is filled with a smell it will always deem as what can only be described as irresistible.
"What're you doing? I was dancing," the blonde slurs as she's dragged away from the dance floor and into an empty VIP room that is closed to the public on this occasion. "Get off of me!" Piper drunkenly struggles against the brunette's strength, feeling even more angry with her agent than she was earlier upon her arrival.
"What're you doing?" Alex asks, turning the blonde around yet still keeping a firm grip on her upper arms. "Do you not remember what happened last time?"
"I'm an adult, Alex. I can do whatever I want with whoever I want," Piper spits out, angry at the older woman's nerve.
"You're clearly not thinking straight right now," Alex voices, stepping closer to the blonde.
"I'm perfectly fine," Piper replies, placing her hands on the older woman's shoulders, feeling the rippling muscles under her black v-neck. "I think you're the one with the problem here."
"Don't turn this on me," Alex defends herself, tone rising.
"You're the one who came to me for advice about your commitment issues and then you bring her here with you so you can practically fuck at the table," Piper shouts, the alcohol in her system not doing a good job at hiding her anger or jealousy.
"That doesn't mean to just go around throwing yourself at people!" Alex angrily announces, pushing the blonde backwards so that she is pressed up against the wall; and if it weren't for the large consumption of alcohol she had ingested, Piper may have been able to identify the burning jealousy behind the older woman's dark, green eyes.
"I was having fun - I would hardly call that throwing myself at people. And it was only one woman, not a fucking army."
"You know she only wants you for your body," Alex says, trying to continue her line of argument.
"Well maybe I'd like someone to take an interest in my body once in a while," Piper argues back through clenched teeth, angry that she's been put down for her actions by Alex of all people.
"I won't be there to pick up the pieces, Piper," Alex grunts out, seeming as though she's losing her cool.
"I'm not expecting you to," she pauses. "I'm sure you're fiancée's wondering where you are, so if you'll excuse me, I have places to be," the blonde concludes, trying to get out of Alex's loosened hold.
"What the fuck's that supposed to mean?"
"Just let me go, Alex," Piper says, avoiding the question.
"No - what's your fucking problem with me, Piper? Why can't you just accept that I'm looking out for you? You've been so off with me lately and I don't know how much longer I can take it."
"If you can't take it any longer, why don't you just leave?" the blonde comments before lowering her head downwards. "I don't know if I can take this any longer, Alex. I can't keep seeing you knowing that everything's going to change."
"What're you talking about?" Alex voice softens, letting go of the blonde's arms to move them to her shoulders, using her right hand to cup the blonde's jaw to make their eyes connect.
"Alex… I-" Piper begins, about to let it all out - all of her emotions, but she's caught in the older woman's gaze; lost in her green orbs. Leaning forward, she rests her forehead against the brunette's, feeling her heavy breathing on her face. "I think I've drank too much," she diverts, choosing to instead savour the moment.
"I think so too," Alex smiles, yet not moving back from where their heads are fused together. "Pipes-" she goes on to whisper, to which Piper nearly crumbles, feeling her resolve disappear in hearing her the nickname Alex had reserved for only her being said so quietly in an unfamiliar tone of voice.
Moving the rest of her head forwards, Piper lines up her mouth with Alex's, anticipating rejection at any moment, but in feeling no protests from the brunette and instead observing her eyes close over slowly, when the feeling of their lips brushing against each other lightly shoots through her system, the blonde panics, instead feeling a loud huff of warm breath paint her face as she pulls back away, refusing to commit to a kiss knowing it would be a one-sided affair.
"I think you should go."
"Piper-"
"Please," the blonde voices, pushing her open palms against the older woman's sternum lightly.
Dipping her head slightly in a nodding fashion as she licks her bottom lip, Alex complies, removing herself from the blonde's body entirely and leaving her to file through her thoughts on her own.
Piper stands against the wall in disbelief, not being able to get her head around the fact that she had nearly kissed the older woman, and if she could recall, it seemed as though Alex was welcoming it to happen.
Knowing that she can't spend too much longer thinking over the situation, Piper leaves the room with the aim of going home. As she sees her friends, she goes to approach their table, even observing that Alex is now sitting next to Nicky with no sign of Sylvie in sight. Upon going to announce her departure, the blonde trips, and, for the second time that evening, she loses her balance, except this time landing in the hands of a familiar - yet not the desired - brunette.
"Are you okay?" the woman Piper recognises from the dance floor asks, smiling as she wraps a hand around her waist.
"Yeah. Thanks for catching me," Piper mumbles, feeling tired all of a sudden.
"You can fall for me anytime," the woman winks, obviously attempting to flirt with her.
If she had looked over, Piper would have seen a particular set of green eyes boring into her soul, eagerly watching the interaction, but for once she chooses to go with her gut, no longer feeling comfortable in her current environment.
"I need to go home," she voices, moving towards the club's main door.
"Here," the other woman says, linking their hands, "let me."
Surprisingly feeling welcomed to the contact, Piper lets the woman guide her to the exit, and upon reaching an empty spot on the pavement, she breaks away the hand connection.
"Thanks, but I can take it from here," the blonde admits, holding her hand out for a cab.
"Are you sure? I don't want you going home alone," the woman responds, in a motive that even Piper can tell is code for 'let me take you back to my place'.
As a cab pulls over, Piper waits to pull open the door and get in. Giving the driver some brief instructions, she looks over at the woman on the street, giving her a disgusted look.
"You don't know me," she voices, before slamming the door shut.
The following two months were isolating for the blonde. Not only had she travelled home to see her family and visited some of her college friends, she had finally managed to - given that she used every spare second of her day to put pen to paper - finish her novel.
She was meeting with Alex for - what she hoped would be the final time - before the finished work would be sent off to the editorial and publishing team ran by Alex's best friend, Nicky.
Neither herself or the brunette had addressed what had happened between them in the club the last time they went out together, and a part of the blonde wishes that Alex doesn't remember, but given the brunette's strong tolerance to alcohol, she doubts that would ever happen.
So as she knocks on the door and hears a deep, 'come in' from the other side, Piper smiles at her agent, who looks good considering it's 10am, and notes that she is sitting on her sofa instead of occupying the space on the other side of her desk.
"Morning," Piper says while approaching the other spare space on the sofa.
"Good morning to you too, Chapman. Have you got the goods with you?"
"Oh I've always got the goods with me," Piper laughs, handing over the final chapter of her novel - one of which Alex had already prior read ahead of the meeting from an emailed version, but still wanted a hard copy to keep.
"I really love it, Piper. The entire premise of what you've written defies all of the expectations I had of you at the start of all this."
"I appreciate that. Thank you, Alex," Piper responds, feeling her cheeks blush at the older woman's admission.
"I sent everything over to Nicky a couple of hours ago, so her publishers can start getting that together on her end."
"About time," Piper sits back, letting out a relieved sigh.
"But that partly isn't why I brought you here today. I thought we could talk about… you know… what happened. I wanted to apologise for how I acted."
"Alex - you didn't do anything wrong. You stopped me from getting into a pretty fucked up situation, and if we're going to be apologising, I should be the one taking the lead with that."
"I'm sorry if I came across as a little harsh with you," Alex continues, ignoring the blonde's last comment.
"You didn't," Piper breathes out, wondering if their near-kiss was going to be addressed.
"I-" they both begin at the same time, chuckling at their poor timing.
"You go first," Alex says.
"No - it's fine. Yours is probably more important anyway," the blonde counteracts, shuffling awkwardly on the sofa, but in witnessing Alex's stubborn nature, she continues. "I was going to ask why you're not sitting at your desk like you normally are for meetings?"
"Well, I'm quite liking my new second home over here," Alex admits, turning sideways to face the blonde while running her hand along the top of the leather seat.
"How is your office sofa your second home?"
"Sylvie and I have had a few misunderstandings recently so I've been sleeping here," Alex admits, looking as though she's hiding something.
"You know you can always stay at my place, Al. I have the room."
"I couldn't ask that of you."
"What were you arguing about then?" Piper asks, hoping to God that the brunette's answer will sway in her favour.
"I told her that I don't feel ready to get married so soon, and let's just say she didn't take it well."
"What was her reaction?"
"She went off on a tangent about some dumb shit, trying to blame me for irrelevant things. Yeah, we're not exactly in the best of places right now."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"No you're not," Alex challenges, looking into Piper's blue eyes.
Fuck - she knows, Piper panics, trying to think of a way out of the situation.
"I mean, I'm not exactly feeling sorry for myself either," Alex admits, tilting her head backwards while smirking, "not after what happened."
"What… what're you talking about?"
"You don't have to pretend with me, Piper. We both know what nearly happened."
Piper gulps, knowing that Alex is finally addressing their near lip-lock.
"I didn't make you uncomfortable, did I?"
"Of course not," Alex smiles, reaching over a hand to grip Piper's free one, linking their fingers together. "Not when we nearly kissed, anyway," she reveals, rubbing her thumb along the blonde's smooth skin.
Fighting the instinct to shut her eyes, Piper looks down at their joined hands and then back up into Alex's green orbs. "What're you doing, Alex?"
"I don't know," the brunette replies, and given the look on her face, Piper knows she's being honest. "I know it shouldn't affect me, but…" she pauses, almost as though she's about to reveal a secret. "I can't stop thinking about it. How you could just leave with that other woman and not have a second thought about what had just happened a few minutes before."
With her mouth now ajar, Piper feels her heartbeat quicken - hearing Alex expressing her jealousy regarding seeing her leave with another woman was not something she had ever expected.
"I didn't sleep with or kiss her. Hell, I didn't even go home with her, Al."
"That's not the point, Piper. It's the fact that…" Alex once again pauses, clearly struggling with trying to say what she's really feeling. "I don't want to see you like that with people."
"Says the one that's fucking engaged," Piper blurts out, trying to establish what it is Alex is really trying to say. "I have feelings too."
"I know. I know," Alex agrees, shuffling so that they're now seated in a closer proximity, thighs touching.
"No you don't know, Alex, because when I go to sleep, you're the last thing I think about; when I wake up, you're the first thing I think about; when I see you and Sylvie together, I feel like I'm worthless; and whenever I'm alone with you, it takes everything I have to not grab your face and kiss you into oblivion. I've tried so fucking long - I really have, to try and move past it and let you live your life with her, but it's just so fucking hard for me. So, no. You don't get to talk to me about things being hard. Not when everything and everyone in your life is perfect," Piper rants emotionally, unsurprised by the tears falling down her cheeks.
"Pipes-" is all Alex can say, clearly distressed by the blonde's monologue.
"I'm sorry," Piper pulls her hand away and gets up. "I shouldn't have said anything."
"Piper," Alex follows, reaching out for the blonde.
"Please," Piper holds up her hands pleadingly at the feeling of rejection. "Don't touch me."
The voiceless answer from the older woman - despite the look of guilt plastered across her face - gives Piper all the confirmation she needs, and as she leaves the room in her emotional state, the thought of the look on Alex's face is one that breaks her heart even further.
She's ignored Alex's calls and texts for the last 5 hours since she had walked out on her, instead opting for her own company and a bottle of vodka. The sound of the clicking clock in her living room fills the atmosphere - one of which Piper finds somewhat calming… well, calming enough to prevent the onset of another tearful breakdown.
Here serene silent atmosphere is broken by the sound of her apartment buzzer going. She initially ignores it - it must be Alex, she concludes, but considering it's 3pm on a Monday - the time in which it's common for deliveries to arrive, she gets up, listens to the call, and lets the delivery man up, questioning what it could be internally.
Upon answering the door, she is given a large white cardboard envelope - something she has absolutely no idea about. After closing the door and heading back to her seat in the living room, Piper opens the large envelope, only to find another small white one inside.
Opening the smaller one, she pulls out a small piece of paper, why the fuck would you deliver a piece of paper to someone?, she thinks, and upon unfolding it, her hands begin to shake as her flood of emotions begins to - once again - burst.
Printed in a gold, cursive font - contrasting to its white background, is an invitation - a wedding invitation to be exact, reading:
'You are invited to celebrate with Sylvie and Alex as they celebrate their marriage. 13th April 2019 at 2pm. We'd love to see you there.'
Regardless of how many times she reads it over, never in her life did Piper Chapman think a small, cheaply printed piece of paper could rip her resolve into shreds.