I think this is the longest I've not updated any of my stories so far. Sorry it's so short and that it's taken me this long to add another chapter. Life is busy sometimes.
"You ready?" Alex asks from where she's standing by the front door.
"No," Piper responds as she descends the staircase, rolling her eyes while doing so.
"Come on. It can't be that bad," the brunette begins, running a hand along her fiancée's hair as she walks closer. "I'll be there with you the whole time."
"I know," Piper smiles, leaning into Alex's touch. "I'm just nervous."
"Pipes, I've met your family before. They know we're together."
"Yeah, but I don't know how they're going to react about the whole marriage thing. I don't know - they don't ever really like talking about our relationship to anyone nevermind us."
"It's unlikely they'll be against it," Alex tilts her head. "I mean a front page spread of you with your hands down my bikini bottoms and the fact that we live together absolutely screams friendship."
"Shut up," the blonde chuckles, hitting the taller woman on the arm. "Let's just get this over and done with."
"That's the spirit," Alex smiles, before opening the front door.
It's only been a few days since Piper had proposed, yet the pair are still yet to inform the blonde's parents. Their relationship has never been something they've discussed - yes, they knew the pair were dating and live together, but Piper was unsure as to how her parents would react to such a lifetime commitment. Whenever they're asked about it, Piper has found her parents avoid the subject, choosing to prefer talking about their daughter's writing career as opposed to her more-so public relationship.
The car journey doesn't take as long as expected, and when the couple find themselves parked outside the Chapman home, Piper seems a lot more relaxed - well, on the outside at least.
"The childhood home of the one and only Piper Elizabeth Chapman," Alex announces, causing Piper to roll her eyes at her fiancée's playful tone of voice.
"Soon to be Vause."
"Oh yeah?" the brunette asks, her eyebrows raising in amusement.
"Let's get this done with before we end up doing some questionable things in this car," Piper digresses, leaning over to deliver a quick peck before getting out of the passenger side of the car.
Once they're both walking up the path to the property, Piper grabs Alex's hand, squeezing tightly as the front door opens prematurely, yet fortunately only Cal's presence is revealed.
"Ah, lesbians," the bearded man says, widening his arms as a sign of greeting.
"Are you really gonna say that every time, Cal?" Piper asks, trying to sound annoyed, but that eventually fades into an inevitable smile as she watches her brother pull Alex into a welcoming hug who chuckles loudly at the man's force.
"Stop being such a spoilsport," her brother responds, pulling back to give the same amount of affection to his sister. "It's good to see you both," he adds before stepping back and leading the way into the house. "Although, this is bound to be one hell of an afternoon."
"Yeah, that's one thing you're probably right about," Piper says under her breath, ensuring her grip on Alex's hand remains strong as they follow her brother's lead.
By the time their evening meal is ready, Piper is still yet to tell her parents the news. The dining table has her father and brother at either end, her mother next to Neri, Cal's wife, and Alex to her left.
"I have some news," Piper says as the end of one conversation opens the door for another.
"Are you writing another book?" her mother asks, voice rising at the thought of the promising prospect.
"Not quite, no," the blonde says, letting out a heavy breath until she feels Alex's hand landing on her thigh under the table in a reassuring manner. "Alex and I are getting married," she reveals, deciding to go head first with the facts of the situation.
"Wow! Congrats you guys!" Cal says from his end of the table in a positive manner.
"I only proposed recently, so we haven't started planning or anything like that," the blonde adds, feeling somewhat insecure as everyone's eyes are fixed on herself and Alex.
"I always thought Alex would be the one to propose," Carol says, surprising both women.
"I thought so too," the brunette chimes in, looking over at Piper as she speaks. "This one beat me to it."
"Let's see the ring!" Neri says in an equally as excited manner as her husband, leaning forward to get a better look as Alex raises her left hand for the other woman to see.
"Gosh, that's beautiful, Piper," Neri says in awe, staring into the ring on Alex's hand.
"At least your choice in jewellery is one of the few things you picked up on from me," the blonde's mother says, chuckling as she too looks at the silver band on her soon-to-be daughter-in-law's finger. "Planning's going to be exciting, Piper. I can introduce you to one of my friends who plans these sort of events."
"Mom-" the blonde interrupts her mother while giving a close-lipped smile. "It's only just happened. We haven't discussed when we want to get married, but when the time comes, you can introduce us."
Cal then begins talking about his own wedding with Alex, commenting on the niche - although in Piper's eyes: strange - elements of his own that they should also implement, but Piper can't find herself able to listen - not when the solemn look on her father's face doesn't seem to provide her with any form of happiness.
"Isn't that right, dad?" Cal asks from down the table, causing the older man to look up in confusion.
The blonde watches her father agree with her brother, pretending as though he was listening, before changing the conversation entirely. It hurts her - she can't lie, but in this case, her main focus is getting through the evening and getting out of her parents' home.
"Were you being serious earlier about wanting to be called Vause?" Alex asks from where they're both sitting upright in bed; Piper looking through her phone, and the brunette herself reading a book.
Turning her head from her phone, Piper gives off a close-lipped smile.
"Of course. After this evening, I don't think my own family even want me to be a Chapman anymore."
"Don't say that," Alex comments, placing her book onto her side table before turning onto the left side of her body, elbow holding her up. "What if I want to be called Chapman?"
"You want to be called Chapman?" Piper asks, her eyebrows risen.
"Well, not for the name itself, but it's a part of you, so I want that too."
"But I want to be called Vause," the blonde stubbornly responds, managing to successfully hide the effect Alex's prior words had on her emotions.
"So we'll have both: Vause-Chapman."
"Are you serious?"
"I wouldn't lie about something like that, Pipes," Alex chuckles. "Plus, I don't think it'll be a good idea if your pen name goes entirely out of the window. No one will read your books if they don't know it's you."
"I didn't think of it like that," the blonde ponders, realising some benefits of keeping Chapman in her name. "At least that's one thing we've decided on," she adds, letting out a loud sigh before looking back down at the phone in her hands.
"And at least no one said anything bad tonight," Alex again starts a conversation, sensing Piper is feeling an element of sadness as to how their evening had turned out.
"Does not saying anything count as a good thing or a bad thing?" the blonde asks, sounding momentarily distant. "You know what? I'm too tired to talk about this right now." Piper says with undertones of anger.
Huffing loudly, the blonde performs a similar ritual to her fiancée in placing her now locked phone onto the side table - except she also turns off the bedside lamp, creating darkness around the room, before flattening her pillow and turning onto her left side, back towards Alex.
The brunette is momentarily stunned by Piper's actions, but, then again, she doesn't entirely blame her. Most of the conversation on the way home revolved around the blonde's family's reaction to their news, and although it wasn't mentioned so much, Alex knew the woman next to her wanted her father to at least acknowledge her happiness.
Reaching back to place her glasses onto the side, Alex returns to her position, except this time also flattening her pillow and lying down closer to her fiancée, her front touching the other woman's back.
"I'm sorry," the brunette begins, feeling guilty for bringing up the sensitive topic so late in the evening.
Piper's silence speaks loudly enough, as Alex can immediately tell from the sound of her heightened breathing that she is silently crying. Wrapping an arm around the smaller woman, Alex rests her head into the crook of Piper's neck, breathing in her scent. She offers no words - knowing it's not something Piper wants right now, but instead rubs her right hand along the one that Piper is resting on top of her own torso. The blonde welcomes the touch - something Alex guesses she finds soothing, and eventually, Piper turns her head to that she can see the woman behind her.
Despite the tight angle, the blonde manages to find Alex's lips in the darkness and deliver the only form of thanks she can muster at this moment in time. The brunette can feel the blonde's wet cheeks come into contact with her own, but doesn't bring it up - not wanting to ruin the moment.
In what seems like a natural movement, Piper moves her hand from under the one Alex's own was resting on top of, and takes over the position. In a careful motion, she begins to direct the brunette's hand into the waistband of her night shorts, appreciating the grunt she receives from her counter part when she parts her lips to allow some air to intercept their ongoing kiss.
"Pipes-" Alex tries to speak but is cut off by the blonde forcing her tongue into her mouth.
"Just go with it," the blonde eventually voices once she feels Alex melt into her touch, before herself having to break away from the kiss and let out heavy breaths against her fiancée's mouth as she feels her resolve begin to crumble.