Alex looked again at the pictures Piper had taken. She really was good and that only added her attractiveness. The picture she had edited herself, you couldn't tell that there were two pictures if you didn't know it. Piper wasn't one of those people that just thought they could do something or were too proud to ask help. She truly was talented, and Alex made a note to tell her that when they'd see next time. Piper was so down to earth and modest that Alex doubted if Piper even knew how skilled she was.

She really should stop thinking about Piper like that. She could admit herself at this point that she was interested in Piper. Even though Piper hadn't hated her flirting, quite the opposite actually. But she had a boyfriend, so Alex didn't want to get her hopes too high. It was fun to mess with Piper and see her flustered but Alex had to suppress the want for anything more.

[Nicky] - You up for a couple of drinks after work?

Alex glanced at her phone screen to see who had messaged her. A small smile tugged at her lips when she remembered what happened last time when they went to a "couple of drinks".

[Alex] - I have an early morning tomorrow.

[Alex] - But yes.

She could handle her drinks. And maybe she could find someone who would make her forget Piper. Maybe that was it, she hadn't got laid for a while, so maybe there's just so much sexual tension in her that Piper seemed to be constantly on her mind. Deep down Alex knew that it wasn't about that but she could wish.

[Nicky] - That's my girl! Hurricane at 7?

[Alex] - See ya there.

Alex was done with work at six. She had plenty of time to go home, grab a shower and then meet Nicky at the bar. She wasn't one of those girls who spent hours choosing the outfit and doing make-up. She had plenty of clothes that she knew looked good on her and would be perfect for a bar. She just wore what she felt like or what happened to catch her eye first. She did her make-up more carefully than usual but that didn't take long either.

When she was ready, Alex called an uber. She knew that she wasn't going to stay sober enough to drive her own car back.

Alex stepped into the bar confidently and looked around for her best friend. Soon she found her already sipping a beer in one of the booths. She went there and sat on the other side of the table.

"Oh no", Nicky sighed as she looked at Alex.

"What?"

"I know that look", Nicky shook her head.

"What look?"

"You're gonna get laid."

"I don't have such a look", Alex defended herself.

"Yes, you do", Nicky argued. "Are you saying that you weren't planning on getting laid?"

Alex narrowed her eyes at her best friend.

"Thought so. Things didn't work out with Piper?"

"It isn't about that. And turned out she is our new photographer. I'm not going to make things awkward."

"Whatever. As long as you don't ditch me too early."

Piper was coming home after a girls' night with Polly. She would have spent the night there but Polly needed to leave for work early in the morning.

When the elevator had stopped on her floor, she stepped out and started to look for her keys in her purse.

She stopped in her tracks and snapped her head up when she heard a moan. She saw two women and immediately recognized Alex even though she had her back toward Piper.

Alex had some blonde woman pinned against the wall next to Alex's door. Of course, Piper knew that Alex was into women, but it was an entirely different thing to see her in action. And judging by the other woman's moans, Alex knew what she was doing. Piper couldn't help but stare and for a second, she hoped that she was the one being pinned against the wall.

Piper shook her head. She did not want that. She blamed her sudden urge on the fact that they never did anything like this with Larry. Their love making was ordinary, almost boring. Who could blame Piper for wanting some excitement?

Alex seemed to sense someone watching them because she pulled back and turned her head to look at Piper.

Piper blushed furiously. She had got caught staring at the private moment after all.

Alex smirked at her and was quite pleased that there was a shock on Piper's face but interest as well. Maybe she would get Piper in her bed after all.

She winked at Piper before opened her door and pulled the other blonde into her apartment.

Piper just stood there for a while before finally got her keys out of her purse and went into her own apartment.

Piper was laying on her bed and Larry was laying half on top of her. They were both naked and Larry was breathing heavily.

"That was so good", Larry sighed finally as he rolled off Piper.

Piper stayed quiet. It was decent at its best.

Suddenly she was alone, not even sparing a thought where Larry had disappeared. Her hand was traveling down to her own body, wanting to satisfy that need Larry wasn't able to.

Just when her hand had passed her mound, she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

She groaned and was going to just ignore the knocking. When it didn't stop, Piper got up and grabbed a towel which she wrapped around her naked body. She felt the need in every step she took and it definitely wasn't helping that Alex was the one who had been knocking.

Alex's eyebrows shot up when she saw Piper's state. "I was going to ask if you wanted to grab a coffee, but I can see you were busy", Alex smirked as she checked Piper out.

The towel hid Piper's private parts but there was still a lot of skin showing. Alex seemed to be particularly interested in Piper's bare legs. "What were you doing?" Alex asked even though she sounded like she knew damn well what she had interrupted. "Something I could help with?"

Piper was done. She was done with Alex always knowing what to say to get her flustered, so instead of getting flustered, Piper grabbed Alex's T-shirt and pulled her in for a kiss. It was her time to make Alex flustered.

Except that Alex wasn't flustered. At all. It seemed like she had known that Piper would do that because as soon as their lips touched, Alex's fingers went through Piper's hair to keep her in place and she started to walk Piper backward into the apartment.

When they were both inside, Alex kicked the door shut before pinning Piper against the nearest wall. Piper moaned and felt Alex smirk against her mouth. "Damn. You must really want this."

"Stop teasing me... Please."

Piper whined when Alex pulled back.

"Just because you asked so nicely", Alex smirked before pulled the towel off Piper's body.

Her eyes roamed slowly over Piper's now naked body before she dropped on her knees. "Hold on tight", she warned with a final smirk before diving in.

Piper sat up panting heavily and with wide eyes. She couldn't believe that she had had a sexy dream about her neighbor. She never had sexy dreams. Never.

Oh god, how could she be able to face Alex again?

The clock was already over seven, so Piper hopped up and went to put on her running gear. She needed to calm down and what would work better than an old, good run.

After about an hour later, Piper felt more control over her own body and headed back to her apartment. Now she could almost pretend that the dream didn't happen. She just needed-

"Oh crap", Piper muttered aloud as she turned on her heels. What she did not need was to walk into Alex.

"Piper!"

Piper grimaced. She had hoped that Alex wouldn't spot her. She could already feel the blush forming on her cheeks. Piper took a deep breath, it wasn't a bad thing to speak to Alex. Besides, there was no way that Alex would know about the dream.

"Alex, hey", Piper greeted as she turned around to face Alex.

Alex walked up to Piper. "Good run?" she asked as she pointed toward Piper's red cheeks.

Piper let out an awkward laugh. "Yeah."

"Great", Alex nodded as her tongue came out to wet her lips.

Piper couldn't help but stare. She couldn't believe that she had dreamed about that tongue not so long ago.

Her attention was brought back to Alex's words when she heard the word 'work'.

"Sorry, what did you say?" Piper asked embarrassed.

Alex just chuckled and even though it was impossible, it felt like Alex knew about the dream. "I asked if you were free tomorrow afternoon. I have work for you."

"Yeah, I'm free."

"Great. We have one writer who always demands to get just the right kind of picture to her texts. And by right kind, I mean her kind. Even I can say she has a terrible eye for good photos."

"But if she wants a terrible picture can't we just say no to her?" Piper asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Good luck trying to say no to her", Alex laughed. "Of course, we'll be the ones to decide at the end but... if you don't want to start a war, I advise that you'd try to change her mind instead of just taking a picture she doesn't approve."

"Are you having a war with her?" Piper joked.

"I would be having if she didn't have a crush on me", Alex smirked confidently.

Piper couldn't help the eye-roll after that statement. "Of course, she does. It feels like everyone's having a crush on you."

"I can't help it if women can't resist me", Alex shrugged.

Piper just shook her head. "Tomorrow afternoon, prepare for war, got it. Send me details later?"

"Yeah, I will. See you tomorrow."

"See you", Piper nodded before rushing into her apartment.

When she was inside, she hurriedly took her phone and dialed her best friend's number.

"Piper, hey."

"Polly! Thank god you answered. I need your help."

"Okay", Polly chuckled at Piper's frantic tone. "What is it?"

"I had this dream... You know, a sexy dream", Piper almost whispered the last part.

"That's normal, Piper."

"But it was about my neighbor! The one who I have to work with and who also happens to be a woman", Piper rambled desperately.

Polly was quiet for a while. "So, what's the big deal? That it was about a woman?"

"Yes!" Piper exclaimed. "I'm not... gay. I'm not supposed to have sexy dreams about women!"

"Honey... You don't have to be gay to be attracted to girls. And I think you've always been attracted to both girls and boys."

"What? I have not!" Piper defended herself before stopped to think. "Have I?"

"You always comment if you think a girl is pretty and-"

"But the fact that I find girls are attractive doesn't mean I'm gay!"

"No, it doesn't but you don't have to be gay to like girls. And it looks like you're crushing after this woman. You don't have to use any labels, just do what feels right", Polly advised.

"But... What about Larry?"

"I know you two had known each other for a long time but you really need to think about the future. You're just going to hurt him more if you let him believe that you two are doing well even though you're unhappy."

Piper sighed. "But it doesn't solve the Alex problem."

"What problem?"

"Well, she is pretty much my boss, what would everyone think of that? And she is this... this lesbian goddess and every other woman is having a crush on her. She could have anyone! Why would she want me? I always go flustered around her and she probably thinks I'm some weirdo and now it's even worse because every time I see her I can't help but think about the damn dream and get even more flustered than normally!"

Polly just laughed at Piper's panicked tone. "Relax, Piper. You're going to be fine. And maybe she thinks you're really hot and wants to bang you."

"Polly!" Piper exclaimed horrified. She couldn't believe what was coming out of her best friend's mouth.

"Look, Piper. You told me that she's been flirty with you and I don't think anyone is going to flirt with someone who they don't want like that."

"But she thinks I'm straight... I mean I am straight, but she thinks that I don't like her like that and what if she just plays with me because she thinks it's funny to see me flustered?"

"I don't know what to tell you, Piper. I know I said this already but do what feels right. If your heart tells you to try this out, then you should do that."

"Right", Piper sighed.

"I know it's probably confusing right now but I'm here if you want to talk. Anytime."

"Thanks, Polls."

"Alright, I need to go back to work. Go get your woman!" She quipped jokingly.

Piper chuckled. "Not likely. Anyway, see you at some point."

"Yeah, bye!"

When the call ended Piper went to take a shower. She needed to think and what better place than a hot shower.

[Piper] -Hey, we need to talk. Can I come to your place later today?

[Larry] -Of course. What is it?

[Piper] -I'd rather just tell you when I get there. Is around 1 okay?

[Larry] -Yeah, I'll be here.

Piper knocked at Larry's door and soon Larry came to open it.

"Hey, Pipes. Everything alright?"

"Look, we need to talk", Piper sighed as she stepped inside.

"About what?" Larry asked as he closed the door.

"About us. Larry... this is not working anymore."

"What?" Larry asked with furrowed eyebrows. "I thought we were doing good? And I've tried to change, Pipes, I-"

"Larry, you have changed, and you've been wonderful lately but... It just doesn't feel the same anymore", Piper explained as she looked at Larry's eyes.

"But... why?"

"I don't know, Larry", Piper shook her head.

"Now what? This is it?"

"You deserve someone who is going to love you and that's not going to be me."

"Piper..."

"I'm sorry, Larry. It's better this way."

Alex stepped into the cafe a little early, hoping that she had enough time to order a coffee for herself and prepare herself mentally to face Sylvia. Alex tried to maintain good relationships with people she had to work with, but Sylvia did not make it easy. She really was a bitch and thought that she was better than anyone else and thought that everyone either wanted to be her or be with her. She had sent Sylvia's article to Piper yesterday and she could only hope that Piper would come prepared and with good arguments.

A few minutes later Sylvia walked in and Alex had an urge to roll her eyes at Sylvie's crop top and mini shorts. She really seemed to think that she was irresistible in those clothes.

"Alex, hey!"

"Hello, Sylvia", Alex nodded smiling. "How has your day been so far?"

"Great, I'll go get a coffee for myself and then we can go to business?"

"We have to wait for Piper."

"Who?"

"Our photographer", Alex furrowed her eyebrows.

"Oh. I thought it was just going to be the two of us today."

"No. She is the professional one, so we need her input too", Alex shook her head.

Sylvia honestly had the nerve to pout and Alex already could feel that she wasn't going to like Piper. "Right. Anyway, I'll go get the coffee."

Just when Sylvia had come back with her coffee, Piper stepped into the café and Alex silently thanked whatever god there was that she didn't need to be alone with Sylvia.

Piper noticed them and started to walk toward them and Alex couldn't help but briefly thought that she would have enjoyed much more to see Piper's legs in those mini shorts Sylvia was wearing.

"Hey", Piper smiled to Alex before turning to Sylvia. Her face stayed neutral as she offered her hand to shake. "Hi, I'm Piper."

Sylvia looked at the hand for a second before taking it. "Sylvia."

Piper narrowed her eyes slightly at the almost rude introduction. "Well, I'm going to grab a coffee quickly and then we can go to business."

Alex nodded. "Yeah, go ahead."

Piper left her camera and her bag on the chair before went to buy her coffee

"She seems young", Sylvia commented immediately when Piper was out of the earshot.

Alex turned her head to look at Sylvia warningly. "She might be young but she is very good at what she does, so play nice."

Sylvia rolled her eyes. "Sure."

After a while, Piper came back and sat down with the two women. "So, where do we start?"

"Have you even read the article?"

"Of course I have read the article!" Piper said sounding a bit offended that Sylvia thought she hadn't.

"Sylvia, she's a professional photographer, she knows what she's doing. Stop questioning her professionalism", Alex defended Piper with furrowed eyebrows.

"Fine. So, what do you think would be a good photo?"

The article was about gay people and how they were normal people too. Piper had a couple of ideas but she guessed this was a trap. "Alex told me that you usually have some ideas yourself, so what if we start with them?"

Sylvia's eyes lit up and Alex didn't know if it was because she got to say her opinion first or because Alex had talked about her.

"Well, obviously, we need to photograph gay people. So, I was thinking about a gay bar?"

Alex turned to watch Piper's reaction. She looked like she tried to think a way to politely tell Sylvia 'absolutely not'.

"The article is about gay people, sure. But we need to look deeper."

"What do you mean?" Sylvia asked, looking irritated that Piper hadn't straight up accepted her suggestion.

"You write about how gay people are normal too. How they live like every other people etc. So, a photo of a gay bar where is only gay people gathered around their own kind doesn't send the message that they're normal and living everywhere among the rest of the people."

"I have more experience working at the magazine, you should listen to me."

Alex was about to defend Piper again but Piper beat her to it. "And I'm the one with a photographer's degree which means that I recognize a bad idea when I hear one."

Alex had to bite her cheek to prevent herself from grinning. It looked like Piper could handle herself just fine. It was funny how at times Piper could be flustered and almost incapable of forming full sentences and sometimes she was so confident and quick-witted.

"Excuse me?" Sylvia stared Piper angrily.

"Piper's right here, she's the professional one, so, she knows what to photograph and what looks good", Alex interrupted.

Sylvia seemed almost hurt that Alex was on Piper's side. "Fine. What do you suggest then?"

"My suggestion is to find some ordinary place like a café or a restaurant and photograph a gay couple there. Or a gay couple doing something that every couple would do. The point isn't to get the readers to be like 'oh, look. Gays'. The point is that the readers realize that they love each other and act like every other couple regardless of the gender."

"Sounds good", Alex nodded. "Sylvia?"

"Yeah, whatever", Sylvia rolled her eyes. "It's not like you're going to listen to me anyway."

"Alright then, I think we're done", Alex said, not having the patience to deal with Sylvia's bullshit.

"Great", Sylvia said before took her purse and left the café.

"That went well", Piper said sarcastically.

"You started a war, kid", Alex laughed.

"I did, didn't I?" Piper shook her head.

"It was her fault really. She decided to hate you before you even showed up. Sylvia thought that it was going to be only me and her, so she got mad when I told you were also coming. She probably thought this was something like a date."

"She probably doesn't like you anymore because you defended me. Thanks about that by the way."

"You seemed to handle yourself just fine though."

"I'm not always flustered, you know."

"I'm starting to see that. But I have to admit that I like making you flustered", Alex smirked.

Piper rolled her eyes playfully. "Shouldn't be surprised that Alex Vause's favorite thing is to make women flustered."

"One. Just one woman at the moment", Alex smirked.

A soft blush spread on Piper's cheeks and she turned her head to look at her coffee mug. "Oh..."

"And, here we go. Flustered Piper is back", Alex laughed.

Piper pouted at her. "Stop teasing me." Her eyes widened as she suddenly remembered other time she had said those words to Alex in a very different setting. She blushed furiously as the remembered the dream and all the details again.

"What?" Alex asked, confused by Piper's suddenly weird behavior.

"Nothing! Look, I just remembered that I had this... thing. I got to go!" Piper said as she hurriedly stood up and took her stuff. "I'll take the pictures and send them to you by next week."

"And I'm just going to pretend that you aren't ditching me with the lamest excuse ever."

"Sorry."

Piper genuinely sounded apologetic, so Alex just laughed. "It's fine, kid. Go do your thing, we'll see at some point."

Alex watched amusedly as Piper almost ran out of the door. Soon she would get the young woman where she wanted her. Which was under her, in her bed.

Thanks for reading! Like always, please review and tell me what you thought! I think I'll be on time next week, I've almost written the next chapter already!

-Iina