One year later
From where she's standing, Piper scans her eyes over the crowd of people she's surrounded by; the people who mean the most to her. From observing the presence of close friends to family members, she stills when her eyes set on the very being that - no matter where they are or what they're doing - will always catch her eye.
She watches the dark-haired woman tilting her head back while laughing as she balances a champagne flute between her fingers mid-conversation. The shining sun highlights her - ever so slightly - bronzed skin from their most recent trip abroad, while her wavy hair complements the glasses resting on her nose. She's dressed in a burgundy tailored suit matched with a white shirt and black heels - a style that never fails to catch Piper's eye.
Caught up in her gawking, the blonde fails to notice that she is no longer standing alone at the side of the party sipping on her drink.
"Everything okay?" a feminine voice asks, causing the blonde to turn her head to the side.
In seeing that she's been joined by her best friend, Piper lets out a smile, nodding as she speaks.
"Everything's great. So what do you think of it?" she goes on to ask, looking around.
"Considering I know how much you guys paid for it, I'd say it lives up to its price tag's expectations," the brunette says, chuckling. "I mean it, Pipes, I love it. It's very… you."
"Thanks, Pol," the blonde smiles. "It was a pain in the ass to decorate though."
"Well with your compulsive nature, I can imagine."
"I have you know, I'm not the only compulsive one in my relationship."
Laughing loudly before taking a sip on her drink, the smaller woman replies.
"Now that I also believe. I'm happy for you both, Piper, even though your home is now miles better than mine."
"Thanks, Polly," Piper smiles before looking down at the contents of the liquid in her best friend's glass. "Tired of orange juice yet?"
"God, I would do anything for a glass of wine," the shorter woman replies before placing one hand on her extended stomach. "It'll all be worth it in the end."
"I can't believe you're having another one!"
"Neither can I, but I think I'm ready. Well, I'm not so sure about Pete, but he'll get there. Now it's just you next."
"Oh I don't know about that," Piper counters, feeling her cheeks begin to flush at the thought.
"Oh, come on, Piper, I know you. It's something you never used to shut up about."
"I know, Pol, but that was when we were younger and before I realised what I wanted for my future. That Alex is my future."
"You know there's ways around it with how advanced science is. I wouldn't just throw it out the window if it's something you always have and still do want, Pipes. Just think about it."
"Polly, I think we've gone through enough change for the time being, but I'll keep it in mind," she smiles, hoping the topic of conversation will change.
The brunette seemingly gets the hint and leans over to give her best friend a hug.
"Alert at 1 o'clock," Polly whispers into the blonde's ear before giving a wink and walking back over to her husband and son.
Piper - looking over to where her best friend had just alluded towards - spots a set of green emeralds looking her way, seemingly carrying out an observation much like the one her own blue orbs had been carrying out minutes earlier.
She watches the brunette lift a hand while delivering a tentative wave as she fails at keeping her poker face, obviously unable to keep a straight face as the blonde feels her own lips curl upwards to reveal her perfect white teeth.
Adjusting her hair behind her ear, Piper watches her girlfriend excuse herself from whatever conversation she was involved in and begin to walk over. She'd craved Alex's presence throughout the last 3 hours they'd been somewhat separated, but in knowing this event is a celebration of Alex's recent achievements as well as their new step together, Piper relented from being an interruption.
"Hey," Alex smiles, leaning forward to kiss the blonde's cheek.
"Hey back," Piper chuckles at the feeling of Alex's breath tickling her face. "How's everything going over there?"
"Considering I'm getting a little distracted, it's going okay."
"Hmm, what's been distracting you, Ms Vause?"
"I'm not too sure. It felt like someone was watching me," she tilts her head before continuing. "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you, Ms Chapman?"
In feeling her cheeks reddening, Piper knows there's no point in lying.
"You know I can't not look at you when you're wearing that," the blonde emphasises, raking her eyes down the brunette's body.
"If it weren't for the fact we were hosting this, I'd take you upstairs and give you a preview of something much better than that," Alex responds, mimicking her girlfriend's choice of wording with a lower tone of emphasis.
"Jesus, Al," Piper says, biting down on her lip. "I'm gonna… I'm gonna go over there and you can…"
"Yeah, okay, I get it," the brunette chuckles as the blonde walks off while trying to hold back her smile as to prevent her flustered state from getting the better of her.
Throughout the last year the couple had been together, everything seemed to be moving on the up. The mass hysteria regarding their relationship - to the thanks of both parties - died down; Piper's book sales shot through the roof; Alex went through with her long-term plans to establish her own publishing agency - giving her the freedom over choosing who she worked with, and the pair took the step of finally moving in together, deciding to buy a local 3 bedroom modern home that - despite it's rather large, yet affordable fee in their case, neither woman had far to relocate.
The housewarming stroke Alex's business celebration had been Piper's idea - something she thought would be a piece of cake to organise, yet by the time all of their guests had gone home, the blonde found herself worn out on the sofa occupying the patio in their garden, resting her head on her girlfriend's lap.
She knows she should be going to bed - she has another big day of writing ahead of her, but spending this kind of quality time with her girlfriend that she'd seen very little of during their busy, conflicting schedules as well as the house move, is something she wants to hold on to.
"I think you need to go to bed, kid," Alex begins as she runs a hand through Piper's blonde hair, pushing it away from where it was blocking her eyes.
Leaning further into the brunette's leg, Piper knows she isn't going to last outside for too much longer.
"Will you come with me?"
"Of course," Alex chuckles. "Want me to carry you up?"
"I can walk," the blonde groans, attempting to get up before nearly falling back down.
"Very convincing, babe," Alex chuckles as she wraps her arms around her girlfriend's waist from behind. "Let me help," she adds, smiling as the blonde melts into her body letting her pick her up in a bridal style to take her indoors.
After succeeding in the mission of locking up the house while carrying Piper upstairs, Alex carries out her nightly routine in their en-suite before returning to their bed, chuckling at the sight before her.
With her blonde hair splayed out all over Alex's pillow, Piper is lying on her stomach with her trousers stuck around her ankles, revealing her black underwear, while her upper half is naked, leaving the brunette somewhat impressed that the blonde managed to remove her shirt and bra successfully in her tired state.
Smiling to herself, Alex walks around to the blonde's side of the bed, gets in, and turns off the side light. Now lying in the darkness, reflecting over the day's events, the room's silence soon breaks.
"You're on my side," Piper mumbles into Alex's pillow.
"And whose fault is that?"
"I was hoping you'd do something about it," the blonde voices, causing a bout of confusion to cover the brunette's face, not knowing the undertones of her girlfriend's message.
"Pipes, just sleep on my side. You're up early tomorrow."
"Hmm, I'll skip," the blonde begins, rolling over so that her leg is hooked over the older woman's body.
"You can't," Alex smiles, placing her hand under the blonde's knee resting over her hip. "Let's just sleep, okay?"
The blonde doesn't provide a verbal response - only the sound of light breathing, which confirms the state of her depleted physical function.
It's 6:00am when Piper hears her alarm go off. In an unsurprising fashion - having turned off the ringing sound coming from her phone, her girlfriend is left undisturbed being that the strong arm wrapped around the blonde's stomach from behind had remained in place.
Managing to get out of Alex's hold, Piper heads down to the kitchen, knowing that a cup of coffee will set off her day - which is bound to be as busy as they have been for the past three months - off on the right foot.
She'd previously pledged a break from writing her next book - and quite frankly work altogether - until she found increased levels of stability throughout her personal life, however all of that changed 6 months ago when she received a phone call - one in which completely threw those plans out the window.
"God, Pipes, keep going," Alex pants from where she's lying on the bed in Piper's bedroom.
Both women's naked bodies are lined with a shimmer of sweat - an indication as to what it is they'd been doing for the last half an hour, and as the blonde continues to move her hips - ensuring both of their centres are in line with one another, both parties know they won't be able to last for too much longer.
"Are you close?" Piper pants out as she leans down to connect their lips, speaking through an opened mouth.
"Yeah," Alex groans, anchoring her hands down on her girlfriend's moving hips. "I want you to come with me," she adds, shifting her legs further apart as to assist the blonde's movements.
Unable to keep their lips fused, Piper pulls back slightly, eager to watch the brunette's face, and just as her body begins to take over - aided by the sound of her girlfriend's heightened breathing, the blonde's home phone begins to ring.
Normally the pair would just ignore a ringing phone, but the unfamiliar sound of such a device being called startles both women, causing Piper's hips to slow in their mission despite the protests from the woman below her.
"What're you doing? Keep going," Alex nearly shouts, lifting her back off the bed almost as though in panic.
Although unsure as to who would be calling her home directly this early in the morning, the blonde gives off a smirk to the woman below her and picks up the pace of her hips, holding back a chuckle at the sight of Alex's eyes rolling to the back of her head as she falls back down onto the mattress.
Placing her hands down on the brunette's shoulders to aid the increasing speed of her hips, Piper attempts to block out the sound of her calling house phone, and when it rings off and then returns a following time, not even the temptation of her girlfriend's breasts could tear the blonde away from her annoyance at whoever kept calling.
Coming to a complete stop, she drags her hands along Alex's torso, muttering an apology while doing so, before leaning over to answer the phone resting on the nightstand.
"Can I help you?!" the blonde asks in a frustrated tone, hoping to let the person on the other end of the line know that they had chosen the wrong time to try and contact her.
"Miss Chapman, sorry to bother you. Is now a good time to talk?" an unfamiliar voice asks, causing the blonde's eyebrows to furrow.
"Well it wasn't, but now here we are," she replies in an angry manner, causing the woman below her to run her hands along her hips, hoping that the circular movement of her thumbs would be enough to soothe the frustrated blonde.
The person on the other end of the phone relays information that Piper would have never expected in her wildest dreams; upon hearing mutterings of the word 'script', 'film' and 'your novel', Piper lifts her knees, causing Alex's eyebrows to rise in question. She soon gets completely off the bed and stands in the middle of the room, one hand resting on her naked hip, and if it weren't for the fact that she were so confused, Alex would have found the temptation of the view of her girlfriend's body from the side incredibly hard to resist.
"I can do that for you," the blonde says out of confirmation, sounding a lot happier than she had been when she initially answered the phone. "Oh, please, call me Piper," she corrects the person on the other end, chuckling.
The exchange continues for a couple more seconds until the blonde presses the red button on her device to end the call.
She stands stationary in the room, looking at the white wall in front of her almost as though caught in a trance.
"Pipes?" Alex asks from where she is now resting her weight on her elbows. "Is everything ok?"
Turning from where she had been standing, the blonde lets off a smile. Walking back to place the phone on the nightstand, Piper returns to her place on the bed, this time straddling her girlfriend's stomach.
"They want to turn my book into a movie," she reveals, smiling widely.
"No fucking way," the brunette comments out of surprise. "Congratulations!" she adds, running a hand down the blonde's bare left arm.
"They want me to help with the script altering."
"How long will that take?"
"They didn't say, but I have a meeting in a few days."
"I'm proud of you, Pipes," Alex voices sincerely, mirroring the smile her girlfriend too is displaying.
"Enough about me for the time being," the blonde counters, leaning back down to connect their lips. "Where were we?"
The sound of the coffee machine finishing breaks the blonde out of her daydream. She collects her filled mug and moves over to the marble kitchen island where she pulls back one of the stools and takes a seat.
Although she knows she should begin making her breakfast, Piper finds herself slipping in and out of a daydream - one in which keeps taking her back to the morning she received her phone call of good news, although the contents of the call not being what her brain and body seemed to be focusing on.
Herself and Alex hadn't had sex since they'd both embarked on their new work projects. The last time striking throughout her memory being the night they had first moved into their new house officially - marking a milestone for the both of them, but considering that happened nearly over two months ago, Piper finds her restraint collapsing.
Work on the script had taken longer than expected; the producers wanted to change around the ending for a full cinematic experience, yet in not wanting the ending she had crafted to be tampered with, the blonde put up a fight. She went to the extent of threatening to remove her consent for her material to be used, yet within a few days of doing so, her original plot was instilled.
Likewise, Alex parted ways with the company she had been working for for the last 6 years to move from a department manager to being the founder of her own agency business. It was something she had been planning for quite some time, and when a vacant building came onto the market at an affordable price along with sponsorship from Nicky's own publishing company, her long-awaited plans went ahead.
With the blonde's early morning wake-up calls and Alex's often late returns, the pair would often miss one another, and if they didn't, it was rare that they could even converse after eating dinner before their fatigue got the better of them.
Piper knows it's something she should bring up with her girlfriend, yet in knowing that they both really can't afford to take any time off work this week, she relents. With her final week of script editing and Alex's final set of recruitment meetings, the blonde has something planned.
With Christmas nearing, she knows exactly what is it she's wanting to do to make it special, but doesn't allow herself to get too carried away and over think the awaiting planning process.
Snapping out of her thoughts for the final time at the sound of the dishwasher beeping, the blonde downs her - now cold - coffee and turns off the machine before heading upstairs to get dressed while not waking a sleeping Alex.
After rushing out the door having put on her shoes, Piper smiles when she checks her phone for the final time before driving off. A message of confirmation she had been waiting for had finally come through, and in what is now a not so patient mood, the blonde hopes she can make it through the day without malfunctioning mentally as well as physically.