"This is weird," Alex says as they get out of her car, being that they had to park a few roads away from where the event was taking place.
"What is?"
"That you're up for an award and here we are parking a few streets away like we're just going to the cinema or something," the brunette laughs, followed by the blonde letting out a giggle.
"Yeah, well I didn't want to make a big deal out of it… and I'd prefer if this were over sooner rather than later."
"Why's that?" Alex asks as the blonde loops their arms together.
"I don't want to spend our time together surrounded by a bunch of people who are just trying to pry into our privacy."
"I'm surprised my invite was still on the table," the older woman voices quietly, not wanting to start another confrontation.
"I'm surprised you didn't turn it down," Piper honestly responds, "but let's not think about that," she adds, smiling at her girlfriend as they turn the corner of the road they had been walking on towards where the event was being held.
"Is that the place?" Alex asks, looking towards the group of cameras by the front of a theatre down the street.
"No, they're just there for the fun of it," the blonde replies sarcastically.
"Alright, smartass," the brunette smiles, shoving her girlfriend's shoulder.
Upon their approach, the pair detach themselves from one another, and while trying to walk through to the entrance without being noticed was their initial plan, it was one that fell through immediately due to being spotted.
Reporters turn - obviously in their element at the sight of the two women together - and face their cameras towards the two women, attempting to get the best images possible of the pairing. A series of flashes invade their vision, and while the women make their way through the crowd of people, a flood of questions are thrown their way.
Choosing to ignore the vocalisations being aimed at them, the couple eventually manage to enter the building and emerge into the main hall where they find their seats on a round table surrounded by a group of writers with their plus ones - a few of which the blonde had met before.
The ceremony turned out to be surprisingly entertaining for the pair, yet it wasn't until the very end where the blonde was finally up for an award: Author of the Year. Her second book that had been out for quite some time was the one up for the award, and despite the range of equally successful authors nominated in the room alongside her, Piper was the expected winner, and when her name was indeed was read aloud - announcing that she had won the award, the room erupts into a cordial rhythm of applause in the form of a standing ovation.
In the short period in which they were waiting for the results to be read out, Alex took hold of her girlfriend's hand under the table - squeezing out of reassurance, and when the blonde eventually stood up, she didn't let the brunette's hand go, instead choosing to keep their hands linked while using her free right hand to cup the back of the taller woman's neck and kiss her on the cheek as she smiles at the congratulating words that are whispered into her ear in return.
The walk to the podium isn't extortionately long, but seems like forever for the blonde - especially when she's focusing on not falling over in front of a large room filled with extremely influential people due to the height of her heels.
Piper is handed the award by the year's previous winner, and now finds herself standing at the forefront of hundreds of sets of eyes watching her every move as well as listening to everything that comes out of her mouth.
"Hey everyone," the blonde chuckles, looking down at the trophy in her hands. "I'd never have expected this in a million years," she pauses again, causing the room to chuckle along with her at the blonde's seeming speechlessness.
The blonde carries out a short speech - giving all the generic levels of thanks, until she takes one last pause, huffing into the microphone emotionally.
"And finally, I'd like to thank the person who has made this all possible for me weren't it for her actually reading some of my work coming up to 4 years ago," Piper begins, eyes scanning around the room of avid listeners, trying to stop her build-up of tears from leaking.
"We've been through a lot recently… well, by that I mean a lot of shit," the blonde chuckles along with the room, not caring that her foul language is being recorded. "But your support has meant everything to me, and I'm glad that along the way we've worked some things out," Piper pauses one last time, blinking repeatedly as a small flow of tears stains her cheeks while clearing her voice to hide the high-pitched cracks it was beginning to present.
"Alex," she continues, finally making eye contact with her girlfriend who is looking straight back at her, a close-lipped smile adorning her lips. "You're the greatest thing to have walked into my life, and I love you for that," the blonde's voice inevitably cracks - something she knew she wouldn't have been able to have avoided no matter how hard she tried. "And I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you," Piper smiles, saying one more emotional thank you before walking off the side of the stage to another soundtrack of applause.
She's both relieved and nervous about the awaiting aftermath of the events that had just transpired; yes, she had just voiced her love for her girlfriend on a platform where the information will spread like wildfire, but the things that had come out of her mouth were things she hadn't mentioned to the brunette before, catalysing a new hope that the idea of spending a lifetime together won't scare Alex off.
Being that her award was the last of the ceremony, the blonde moves straight into a small interview station where she has her picture taken and has a few questions directed her way. In that moment, Piper feels spaced out; people bombarding her with questions is the last place she wants to be, and before any more can be asked - and before anyone gets to pick apart her speech, the blonde says her thanks and heads out to try and finally find Alex.
Having left her clutch with her girlfriend, she has no phone to use, yet as she is escorted out into the main after-party event, she sees the brunette standing in the filled room from afar. Thanking the security member who subsequently turns and heads back the other way, Piper approaches the tall woman, delivering a toothy smile that's mirrored when Alex looks up, obviously having sensed someone coming her way.
"Hey," the blonde says, failing to hide her happiness.
"Hey right back at ya," Alex responds, opening her arms to pull the blonde into a tight embrace. "I'm proud of you, Pipes."
"You are?"
"I am," the brunette confirms sincerely. "I loved the speech."
"You didn't think it was too much?" Piper asks, pulling away slightly.
"I think it was perfect."
"Cringey much?"
"You love it," Alex pokes her arm.
"And I love you," the blonde smiles.
"And you say I'm the cringey one?"
"Shut up," Piper laughs, returning a small hit to the taller woman's arm.
"I do love you back though," the brunette eventually voices quietly.
"Phew," the blonde huffs out, "that would have been embarrassing… you know, with the speech and all," she trails off.
"Totally embarrassing."
In a spirit of the moment manoeuvre, Piper places her hands around her girlfriend's face and leans in, delivering an appropriate - yet passionate - kiss.
"Thanks for coming."
"Of course - any time," the brunette smiles before leaning back. "Wanna get out of here?"
"I thought you'd never ask," Piper says in a low tone, letting her girlfriend know where the rest of their evening will be taking them, and despite both women feeling as though all eyes are on them, for the first time in their romantic relationship, it isn't something that bothers them.
"You good?" Alex asks from where she's leaning above her girlfriend, body naked.
"Mmm-hmm," Piper mumbles, tilting her head backwards from where she's lying in the same state of undress as her counterpart. "Ready," she says breathily, trying hard to not give into the feeling of jutting her hips upwards, desperately trying to seek any form of contact.
"Okay," Alex responds, leaning down to continue their zealous kiss, smiling at the feeling of the blonde's hands running through her hair to keep the contact between their lips.
Several minutes pass until the blonde pulls back on the brunette's hair, creating a level of distance between their faces.
"Al, I can't wait any longer," she mutters, and before the blonde can add to her statement, the brunette descends on her body, whereby she eventually is lying on her stomach between her girlfriend's legs.
The sudden sensation of hot breath against her centre causes the blonde's hips to buck upwards, and it isn't until she feels Alex's tongue run through her most intimate spot that she feels her resolve crumble, whereby she uses her hands to anchor down the older woman head.
Piper is loud; moans fill the blonde's bedroom at a growing rate, and when she feels her girlfriend pull away from her centre despite the pressure of her right hand, her head flies forwards.
"Alex, what're you-" she begins, but doesn't get to finish her sentence when the brunette rests her chin on her navel, fingers running along her abdominal.
"You still wanting this?" Alex asks as she looks over at the side table, and in seeing the blonde's eyes follow her line of vision - returning with a nod, she sits up and gets up from the bed, moving to prepare herself.
Resting up on her shoulders, the blonde watches her girlfriend's fluid movements as she takes the item from the sideboard and adjusts her own positioning while making the new addition to her body.
Venturing into more adventurous waters in the bedroom was something Piper had hinted on during the last time they had been left panting under the covers a few weeks before. The very little alone time they had shared hindered a progression of sorts, but in taking a more… specific shopping trip, the blonde ensured she would act out on all of the fantasies she had roaming around her head staring herself and her girlfriend.
When she's no longer alone on the bed, Piper lowers herself back down, wrapping her arms around the brunette's back as she leans down to peck her lips.
The sensation of the hard item running gently through her folds courtesy of another person is one the blonde hadn't experienced in a long time. It was something she was looking forward to doing with Alex, but since suggesting this was something she wanted to try with the older woman, Piper could sense her girlfriend's hesitancy. The blonde found it to be a somewhat intimate act, but as Alex asks for one final time if she's okay and begins to slide the hard end of her appendage into her centre, all rational thoughts dissipate from her kind.
"Fuck, Alex," is all the blonde manages to get out as the sensation of slowly being filled takes over her entire body.
The brunette is going slow - cautious of hurting the woman below her, but when their hips finally touch - indicating that the blonde has taken the vast majority of the extension's length, Alex pauses, awaiting a form of confirmation that what she's done so far is as pleasurable for Piper than it is for herself.
The blonde doesn't even place a doubt in her girlfriend's mind, as she's being as vocal as she's ever been out of all of their sexual encounters. Her toned body is covered in sweat, and as she finally manages to adjust to the size of the object filling her centre, Piper places her hands around Alex's neck - pushing her long, dark hair out the way, to give tones of encouragement.
"You can start to move," she huffs out through heavy breath, and in seeing Alex's emerald orbs searching her own for complete consent, Piper's heart flutters; her girlfriend's need to make sure she's okay is one she greatly appreciates.
Listening to the blonde below her, Alex slowly starts to move her hips, which elicits a flurry of emotions for the pair.
Placing her hands either side of the blonde, Alex continues to thrust her hips forward and back, before placing her head in the crook of her girlfriend's neck, panting heavily at the pleasure shooting throughout her body.
Piper, meanwhile, places her hands on her girlfriend's back, running her fingers along her reddening skin at an increasing pace that matches the shared movements of their hips.
"God, Pipes," Alex pants without her hips faltering their levels of control.
"Right there," the blonde returns, her vocalisations increasing in volume. "Right fucking there, Al."
If anyone were to have walked in, neither woman would have been able to have stopped; they were both too far gone to focus on anything other than their up-and-coming pleasurable crescendo.
"I'm close, Al," Piper voices, tilting her head back while grounding her hands down onto Alex's hips.
"Getting there," Alex pants out, increasing the speed of her hips to try and catch up with her girlfriend.
"Fuck, I need to-" the blonde begins, her body stiffening up.
"Let it go, Pipes," Alex says, trying to encourage the woman below her.
"No-" Piper pauses through clenches teeth, obviously trying to further tense her body to not let herself fly over the edge, "together."
Seeing the struggle of conflicting emotions her girlfriend was going through, the brunette leans upwards slightly and takes the blonde's hand, directing it towards her clit. Piper immediately catches onto the older woman's needs and runs two fingers under the lining of where the toy was attached to her body and along her pulsing need.
Within seconds, Alex's body joins the blonde's in stiffening up as she begins to fall from her climax.
"I'm gonna come," the brunette voices, knowing that's what her girlfriend had been waiting to hear; the blonde lets out a loud moan as she allows the tension from her body to dissolve.
"FUCK, ALEX, I'M CUMMING! I'M CUMMING!" Piper repeats, screaming into the ceiling while her hands land on Alex's ass, pushing downwards.
The brunette's resolve snaps as she too voices her climax, moving down to rest her head into the blonde's neck, groaning as her body shakes.
The grip on the older woman's ass eventually relents as Piper's breathing returns to normal, while Alex herself stops the continual movement of her hips.
Leaning down, Alex connects their lips in a loving kiss, which soon becomes heated when the blonde slides her tongue along her girlfriend's bottom lip, begging for entrance.
Not wanting to hurt the woman below her, Alex pulls away and begins to move her hips backwards until the wet, shimmering extension is completely removed from inside the blonde's centre.
Both women are tired; they had began round one in the shower before moving to the bed, and along with the long evening they had experienced, neither seemed as though they could physically continue.
"Hey," Alex says, lying down next to the blonde.
"Hey. That was incredible," Piper comments, turning onto her side and resting her hand along the brunette's toned abdominal region.
"You can say that again," the older woman smiles. "I love you, Pipes."
"I love you too," Piper mirrors, blushing slightly before failing to cover up a yawn.
Lifting the duvet that was falling off the bottom of the bed, Alex covers their bodies and rolls the blonde into a spooning position, and as she goes to voice one more thing, she hears the light breathing of her girlfriend, indicating that she had already fallen asleep.