The Party was in full swing and Piper was enjoying herself for once. She decided she deserved to have fun. Nicky, clearly intoxicated, had a girl pinned up against the wall outside of her bedroom.

Piper shook her head, smiling as she walked to the kitchen to grab herself another drink. They had a huge punch bowl in the middle of all the food on the kitchen table. As she strolled into the kitchen she was suddenly aware that someone was watching her. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up as she looked over to see who it was. For a split second she could have sworn it was Alex but on a second glance it was just a girl with dark hair, who was, nevertheless, staring at her. She was smiling at her and Piper smiled back before striding over to introduce herself.

"Hi, I'm Piper."

"I know who you are Piper, otherwise why would I be here?"

Piper smiled and waited for the girl to introduce herself.

"I'm Scarlett. I'm corporate at Barneys, I guess you went all out with the invites." The girl chuckled.

"Oh! I didn't realise I'd invited anyone from Barneys but I guess it means you get free drink and free dinner though, right? So it can't all be bad."

Piper had a cheeky smile on her face as Scarlett caught on to her little joke. They both laughed and Piper decided to push her a bit further.

"So Scarlett, when you aren't corporate at Barneys, what do you do?"

"I love art, I'm usually painting or cooking when I'm not at work. What do you do, Piper?"

She smirked when she said Piper's name and it reminded Piper of Alex. Piper was starting to get lost in her thoughts of Alex again. If she couldn't have Alex, maybe she could pretend.

"I usually pick up hot girls at my parties."

Scarlett's eyebrows shot up, she hadn't expected Piper to be so bold.

Piper laughed and stepped into Scarlett's personal space. "What do you say we take some food and go and have our own party?"

XXXXXX

Piper and Scarlett burst through Piper's bedroom door and Piper instantly pushed the dark haired girl against the wall and began kissing her passionately. If she squinted her eyes she could just pretend it was Alex, even though there was no spark, no fireworks like there was with Alex. Piper tried to ignore it, to just focus on the physical need of it all.

Scarlett reached under Piper's top and began groping her breasts. Piper moaned at the sensation, it felt nice. It just wasn't how Alex did it. Piper was desperately trying to stop her thoughts. She spun Scarlett around a little too fast and she went flying into the stack of boxes Piper hadn't got around to unpacking yet. They came tumbling down and some contents spilled out onto the floor. Scarlett got up and tried to gain Piper's attention again, however, Piper's attention was completely focused on something else. She couldn't quite believe her eyes. There, on the floor, amongst all the other stuff that had spilled out, was the photo of Alex in the snow.

"Um, Piper, are you ok?"

Piper was still staring at the floor, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. Scarlett bent down and picked up the photo.

"Woah, she's hot!" Scarlett exclaimed.

Piper sprang back to life again, she grabbed the photo from Scarlett and tucked it under her pillow.

She sat on the edge of the bed.

"I'm sorry Scarlett, I can't do this."

Scarlett sat on the edge of the bed beside Piper and put her arm around her. They were both still a little breathless.

"It's ok, Piper. Whoever she is, I can tell she is very important to you. Do you want to talk about it?"

Piper smiled. "She's my Ex girlfriend. It's a long story but she's not around anymore."

"Ah, I see. The one that got away."

They both shared a smile before Scarlett stood up.

"Look, Piper, obviously I find you attractive otherwise we wouldn't be here but obviously you aren't over your Ex. I don't want to be the one who gets in the way of true love. I'm gonna go and let you get back to your party. Keep in touch though, maybe if you change your mind we could go out to dinner sometime."

Piper stood in front of Scarlett, already feeling bad for wasting her time.

"I mean, obviously I find you attractive too. I just can't get over Alex. She was the love of my life, I need closure before I can move on, I'm really sorry."

Scarlett put her number in Piper's phone and sent a text message to her own phone.

"Like I said, Piper, let me know if you change your mind." And with that she walked out of the door.

Piper sat on her bed for a while contemplating what just happened. She decided if she was ever going to get over Alex, she was going to have to have some closure.

She stayed in her room for the rest of the evening and fell to sleep clutching the photo of Alex to her chest.

XXXXXX

The next morning, Piper woke up to the sound of rustling and upon further investigation found Nicky with two large black bags, cleaning up some of the leftover food and empty cups and plates from the party. When Piper walked in she looked up.

"I didn't think you were getting up today Chapman, it's almost 11." Piper looked at her watch in shock.

"FUCK! What the hell!"

"Calm down, I didn't want to wake you. Its ages since you slept."

Piper thought back to the comforting feeling of having Alex's face clear in her mind again, from the photo as she drifted off to sleep.

"OK, thanks Nick, I'm just gonna go get a shower and then I'll help you clean the place up."

"Yeah, Ok, I'm almost done anyway, that chick you had in your room helped me clean up before she left this morning."

Piper stopped in her tracks. "What do you mean before she left this morning?"

"Well, she came out of your room looking like someone had shown her a picture of a dead puppy, so we had a few drinks and she crashed on the sofa. She told me what happened by the way. I don't know how you could blow her off, Piper. She's fucking hot, not to mention she's basically a Vause lookalike."

"That's the problem Nicky. I'm not over her! I tried to pretend she was Alex. It's not fair on Scarlett. She should be with someone who loves her for who she is not who they are pretending she is!"

Nicky sat down on a chair. "I get that, I do, I loved Lorna. The thing is, she's not around anymore, she's probably out there playing Mrs suburbia with her husband and children and not giving one fuck about me. So I have to move on and try to be happy without her. I tell ya, Piper. It's not easy but why should I let her ruin my life while she's out there enjoyin hers."

Piper scrunched her face in contemplation for what Nicky was telling her. She sagged down on the sofa and let out a puff of air. "I just can't, Nick. You had closure with Lorna, I know she got transferred after the riot to a different prison but you know how it played out, she would be out by now, with her baby and Vinnie. Alex just disappeared. I have no idea where she is! I need closure before I can move on. Please help me find her!"

Piper was practically crying now and Nicky moved across to comfort her.

"I'll help you find her, Piper, I just want you to be happy."

Piper buried her head in Nicky's shoulder, comforted by her friend's presence.

Hey guys,

Here's the second chapter, a little bit sooner than I thought but I was so overwhelmed by the response and reviews from you guys that I didn't want to keep you all waiting too long. I've already planned out how this story will turn out and i'm several chapters ahead. I hope everyone from Houston is recovering from that awful storm and I hope everyone in Florida keeps safe from the impending storm. I'm praying for you guys.

To everyone who reviewed, thank you so much! I definitely appreciate the feedback, it spurs me on! As always, please review :)

Lise xx