Life has been rather crazy as of recent, but I hope this chapter was worth the wait...
The stream of natural light shining through the blinds is what brings Piper out of her sleeping state. Her surroundings are initially unfamiliar, yet in eyeing the several items spread about the room, she's immediately reminded as to where she is and who she's with.
Her arm is resting on top of a strong counterpart that's circled around her naked torso; in feeling as though she can't wait any longer, she shuffles her body so that she turns onto her side, the hand holding her body now lying over her hip limply.
Studying the woman in front of her, Piper's lips turn up into a smile, witnessing - for the first time - the image of a naked, sleeping Alex in the same bed as herself.
She doesn't know how long she'd been staring at the older woman, and it isn't until her green orbs open that the blonde snaps out of her daydream.
"Staring's becoming a bit of a habit for you, Pipes," her rough, sleepy voice announces, offering a grin while doing so.
"I wasn't staring."
"No?"
"I was observing."
"Observing. That's what we're calling it now?"
"Mm-hmm," Piper mumbles, arching her body forwards to connect their lips for the first time that morning.
"Anything you want to do today?" Alex goes on to ask through the kiss.
"You," the blonde answers immediately, not giving the brunette a chance to act or respond as she moves down her body towards her most intimate area.
By the middle of the week, the pair had familiarised themselves with their surroundings and had just about gotten used to the logistics of their rented home. They'd been attempting to avoid social media, yet with underlying fears about their sighting at the airport together, Piper had briefly checked, only to confirm the fact that they were seen. The news was limited - only really people and publications stating they'd been seen together at the airport alone; thankfully, no tip off about their location seemed to have reached the media as of yet.
On their 4th day, Piper found herself lying on the bed of their cabana reading a book, basking in both the serene atmosphere of her surroundings and the fact that - for the first time in months - she had well and truly found herself in a state of relaxation.
Alex had opted to stay inside and make them some cocktails, and in what was taking longer than expected, the blonde assumed she'd taken on the task of making lunch at the same time.
In hearing the sliding door to their house shut, Piper turns from where she's positioned at the point in which their pool diverges into their private spot on the beach. Having setting her sights on the older woman, the blonde's jaw drops; walking with a tray in her hand which is holding two champagne flutes and two bowls of food, is Alex, and although the blonde had seen the brunette in a bikini throughout their week, she was yet to witness the current one she was wearing.
It's dark blue in colour - one of which poses a contrast to the white bikini Piper herself is wearing - and in its skimpy form, the top half of the garment barely covers Alex's breasts, while the bottom half is low enough to reveal her hips' v-lines that lead to her centre.
"I made lunch," the brunette announces, rounding to the end of the cabana bed to place the tray down onto the small table. "What?" she goes on to ask, having seen the look the blonde's giving her.
"Is that new?"
"It is. Do you like it?"
"I love it," the blonde admits, putting her book down onto the sandy floor and getting up from where she was resting to walk around to where Alex is currently standing. "I love it a lot," she adds, wrapping her arms around the brunette's waist.
"How about you show some love to the food I just made," the taller woman says, chuckling at the blonde while placing her hands on her shoulders.
"Mmm, maybe later," Piper adds, reaching up to kiss the brunette while moving her hands down so that they're resting on the older woman's ass. "I have other plans right now," she adds, quickly turning their bodies to the right so that she can push Alex down onto the bed.
"I thought you wanted to go swimming after lunch?" the brunette asks, letting out a huff when her back hits the surface.
"I changed my mind," the blonde continues, lowering herself on top of the older woman, again connecting their lips.
Revelling in their assumed privacy, the blonde grows confident; shifting her body to the right, Piper runs a hand down Alex's exposed abdomen and into her bikini bottoms, smiling into the kiss as the woman below her lets out a open-mouthed groan while tilting her head back in pleasure.
From where she's sitting in the living area with her feet up reading a book, Alex hears a crash from up the stairs followed by the sound of a swearing Piper. Placing the paperback down onto her lap, she turns her head to see if the sound of the loud, stomping movement upstairs will travel down the staircase. In knowing that the blonde wasn't appearing anytime soon, the brunette puts her book down onto the coffee table and gets up to go and assess the damage.
"Pipes?" she asks while rounding the top of the staircase, walking into the bedroom slowly and immediately frowning at what she sees.
Standing at the foot of their bed, Piper is in her night shorts and bra, frantically trying to pick up the items that - along with her open suitcase - are all over the floor.
"What're you going?" Alex asks, causing the blonde to visibly jump, obviously stunned by the appearance of the older woman.
"Fuck. You scared me," Piper voices, turning on the spot to face the brunette, holding two pieces of clothing in either hand.
"What's going on?"
"I can't find my fucking passport," she admits, turning back to continue rummaging through the contents of her items on the floor.
Somewhat entertained by the blonde's theatrics, Alex doesn't quite know when the right time is to step in. Scanning her eyes around the room, she looks over to where she's last seen her own passport, and in seeing the blonde becoming more and more stressed while frequently swearing to herself, Alex finally moves further into the room and wraps her arms around the blonde from behind, stopping her motions.
"Alex - I need to find it."
"No, you need to calm down," she says, finally managing to make the smaller woman stop what she was doing. "Look over on the bookshelf," she whispers into her ear, trying her best to not sound smug.
Looking over to her right towards the bookshelf that already held some items upon their arrival, Piper sees that lying on the edge of the second shelf is both of their passports, resting one on top of the other.
"Fuck," the blonde mumbles, her head dropping down as Alex lets out a deep chuckle into her ear.
"Stop stressing," the brunette adds, stopping her light laughter when she feels the blonde turn in her arms, wrapping her hands around her shoulders while burying her head in space between her shoulder and neck.
"Why're you always right about everything?" she mumbles, feeling her stress begin to dissipate just from being in the older woman's company.
"I wasn't right about anything, Pipes. You just didn't know I'd put them there earlier," Alex begins, putting a piece of the blonde's hair behind her ear as she pulls away. "What's going on up there?" she asks, tapping lightly on the blonde's temple.
"I'm just stressed about travelling," Piper admits, yet in sensing the smaller woman is lying, Alex tilts her head to the side.
"You travel all the time, Pipes. What's really wrong?"
"I just don't want this to end," the blonde finally admits, letting out a defeated sigh. "I don't want this all to change when we go home."
"Nothing between us is going to change, Pipes. The way I feel about you will always be the same if not growing."
"I know, I've just gotten so used to seeing you all the time…"
"We'll still see each other, Piper," Alex chuckles, cupping the blonde's jaw while placing their foreheads together.
"Thank you," the blonde says brushing their lips together.
"Anytime," the brunette tilts her chin forwards, fully committing to the kiss.
"I guess we're really going this then?" Piper voices when their lips break apart.
"I guess we are," Alex smiles, pleased that everything between them is going so well.
"Jesus I wonder how everyone's going to react when they find out you're my girlfriend. I mean, social media will lose their shit, but my family," the blonde pauses. "There's a big chance they're gonna lose their shit even more. My mom wasn't exactly thrilled when those pictures of us went around."
"That's a bridge we'll cross when you're comfortable tackling it," the brunette admits, before lowering her tone of voice. "So… I'm your girlfriend now, am I?"
"Oh, Alex, I'm sorry it just slipped out."
"Oh, I'm all here for it."
"You are?"
"Well, I was trying to think of a good way of asking you, but I guess you've beaten me to it."
"Oh shit, I ruined your plans?" Piper's eyes widen as she pulls away, hands gripping at the taller woman's biceps.
"Pipes - it's fine."
"I'll just a…" the blonde begins looking around. "I'll go into the bathroom and then I'll be right back," she smiles, rushing into the en-suite and closing the door.
Biting her bottom lip, Alex stands stationary, shaking her head slowly while shutting her eyes over at the actions of her counterpart.
In hearing the bathroom door open again, Alex has to compose herself - not wanting to display how hilarious she's finding their current situation.
"Pipes have you seen my passport?" the brunette asks, having now chosen the way in which she wants to make this memorable.
"No. Um… have you checked your bag?" the blonde voices innocently, walking further into the room.
"Mmm, yeah, I can't seem to find it anywhere."
"What's that over there?" Piper adds, walking over to the bookshelf where they both knew the 'missing' item was, resting her back against it.
"Hmm, let me see," Alex approaches, standing in front of the blonde. "Oh look, here it is," she smiles, lifting her arm up to grab the red item. "Thanks, Pipes," she concludes, before turning and walking back to the edge of the bed.
"Alex!" Piper says almost angrily from where she's still leaning against the bookshelf.
Laughing from her position, Alex turns back around, walking back over to stand in front of the blonde, moving close so that their breasts are touching while cupping her jaw to lead a passionate kiss.
"Be my girlfriend," the brunette mumbles between the kiss, breathing heavily while running her hand along the waistband of the blonde's night shorts.
"Hmm," Piper probes, wanting to make the most of the moment.
"Will you be my girlfriend, Piper? Please?" Alex asks as their kisses become more desperately wanting.
Pulling back for a split second, Piper smiles, looking into the taller woman's green eyes.
"Yes."
"Yeah?" Alex smiles, her glasses falling down her nose slightly.
"Yes. I'd love to be your girlfriend, Al," she confirms, moving her hand from the brunette's jaw to help fix her glasses before rejoining their lips.
They smile into the kiss both at their new given status and the fact that upon sliding her right hand into the blonde's shorts, Alex discovers that Piper isn't wearing any form of additional layer underneath.
Stepping off the plane, the pair move through the airport security to go and grab their bags.
"What're you doing?" Alex asks at the feeling of the pinkie on Piper's left hand hitting her own.
"Can I not hold my girlfriend's hand?" the blonde asks.
"Of course you can, but are you sure you want to do it in public when you're book's coming out next week?"
"I'm sure," Piper smiles, connecting their hands smoothly.
Although the pair are wearing sunglasses - the blonde also wearing one of Alex's baseball hats, by the time they've collected their bags and begin to make their way out of the airport, a flash comes their way.
Initially neither woman thought anything of it - having become accustomed to people trying to take their picture when in public together, however upon turning the walkway's next corner, a flood of flashes - along with shouted questions and callings of both of their names - comes to light.
Standing by the taxi pick-up point is a large group of photographers attempting to picture the two women, and it's at this point that the blonde wonders why out of all the famous people in New York, the press are so fixated on her.
With their hands still intertwined, Piper squeezes her fingers to match the brunette's firm grip while beginning to increase the pace of her walking.
"Ignore them," she voices, trying her best to use a calm tone of voice and not panic her girlfriend.
"I'm trying," Alex responds through clenched teeth, and when they finally reach the automatic doors taking them outside, the eager group of photographers seems to have doubled.
They ignore the questions being hurled at them regarding their relationship, managing to finally get into their ordered car rather rapidly thanks to the intervention of the airport's security.
Tilting her head back against the headrest, Piper lets out a sigh.
"I'm sorry," she voices, turning to look at her girlfriend, whispering despite the barricade lining the middle of the car preventing the driver from hearing them in the first place.
"Don't worry about it. You weren't to know," she replies, reaching over to once again connect their hands. "It's all gonna be okay."
"Yeah. Yeah it just might be," Piper replies sincerely through a close-lipped smile, feeling surprisingly content considering what they had just experienced.