A/N: Thank you all so much for your responses to this fic! I love reading your comments and I will definitely take your suggestions into consideration for future chapters! (A few of you mentioned a desire to see a jealous Alex and I am thinking I may incorporate that in a future chapter!) Enjoy Chapter 6!

Chapter 6

Piper stood poised on the slotted wooden walkway directly facing the front door to Alex's mom's apartment. She hated to admit that she was nervous to meet Alex's mom, and while excited to spend Thanksgiving with Alex, she felt a bit overwhelmed at the significance that this day seemed to hold. It seemed as if this day would be critical in determining the direction of their relationship, and whether it would lead only to friendship or much more. At the very least, spending Thanksgiving with someone else's family implied a more substantial relationship than simply that of TA and student.

She shifted the can of whipped cream currently in her right hand to the nook between her left arm and torso, while carefully balancing the store-bought pumpkin pie in her left hand. Her now free right hand dug through her purse until she grasped her phone to nervously check the time. Five til eleven. Alex had told her to arrive at eleven. Is five minutes early too early? She wondered to herself. She hesitated for a brief second before shaking her head determinedly. She hated that she was feeling so unsure of herself. She lifted her right hand to knock bravely at the door.

The door swung open to reveal a petite woman with dark brown hair and warm green eyes, similar to Alex's. A welcoming smile adorned her face as she said, "You must be Piper."

Piper took a step into the small apartment and nodded her head.

"I'm Alex's mom, Diane. Alex told me that you weren't able to go home for the holiday, but we hope you'll make yourself right at home here with us."

Piper was slightly surprised by the sympathy in her tone. "Thanks for having me! I brought a pumpkin pie," she exclaimed, shoving the pie away from her body and toward Diane. Sometimes she was a little awkward when meeting new people, especially people like Alex's mom. She really wanted her to like her. "It's store-bought," she said apologetically. "I tried to bake some cookies, but I burnt them. I'm not very good at cooking."

Alex's raspy chuckle filled the room as she entered through the kitchen and gave Piper a cheeky grin, "Really? Miss Overachiever doesn't know how to bake? Hmmm, I don't know. Store-bought usually doesn't cut it in this household at Thanksgiving."

"Oh, Al, quit." Diane reprimanded Alex's teasing. She turned her attention back to Piper and said with a wink, "I'm sure it's real delicious. Thanks for bringing it, kid."

Diane took the pie and can of whipped cream from the blonde and headed into the kitchen. Piper took another step into the apartment as Alex crossed the length of the living room/dining area to meet her.

"She knows I'm just messing with her," Alex called into the kitchen to her mom, but her eyes remained locked on Piper's. Her playful smirk turned into a genuine smile and she softened her voice to say, "I'm glad you made it, Pipes. Let me put your jacket in the bedroom."

As Alex briefly left the room, Piper made her way over to Nicky who was seated at the table, already chowing on a heaping plate of food.

"Heya, Blondie," she greeted around a full mouth of food, "Long time no see."

Piper smiled amusedly. Nicky was certainly different, but Piper liked her. She took a seat at the table across from the auburn haired girl and asked playfully as she gestured to the full plate of food, "What's the rush?"

"Nicky has to go win over her dream girl," Diane explained walking over to stand beside Nicky with a fond smile on her face. She wiped her hands on a dishtowel and asked Nicky if she wanted seconds of anything before disappearing back into the small kitchen.

"Dream girl?" Piper asked curiously, while making a mental note of the easiness with which Diane spoke of Nicky's sexual preference. She wondered if Diane knew about Alex's sexuality and if she did, if she was as cool about it as she was with Nicky's. Piper assumed so, judging solely by the interactions she'd seen thus far; Diane Vause seemed to be an open-minded, caring, and proud parent – none of which were words Piper would use to characterize her own parents.

"Lorna Morello," Alex answered as she reentered the room and took a seat at the table next to Piper. Piper noticed that as Alex sat down, she scooted her chair over just the tiniest bit closer to Piper's, causing their thighs to brush. Her belly flipped at the slight contact, even though it was through two layers of jean fabric. Just being near Alex again was nearly making her lightheaded. With Alex this close, she could smell her unique scent. Citrusy. "She's another grad student in the psychology program with us."

"Yeah, and she just broke up with her boyfriend, so I'm going to go try to woo her at Friendsgiving." Nicky finished, taking another bite of mashed potatoes. "Of course, I had to first make an appearance here, because I would never pass on Diane's cooking," She finished with a cheeky grin to the older brunette through the entryway into the small kitchen.

Piper turned her body slightly to face Alex, "What's Friendsgiving?"

"Most of the grad students in our department come from all over the US and can't always make it home for Thanksgiving, so we put on a Friendsgiving here for everyone who's stuck in Litchfield."

Piper nodded her understanding.

Diane entered again carrying two big bowls, one filled with mashed potatoes and the other with green beans and carrots.

"Need any help, Ma?" Alex asked, already starting to get up.

"Everything is ready, I just need help getting it all set up on the table. Rhonda and the kids should be here any minute." Piper began to stand too, planning to pitch in a bit, but Diane shook her head. "Uh uh. Sit back down, Piper. You're our guest! We've got it covered."

Piper did as she was told. Minutes later, the table was beautifully set and Diane's best friend Rhonda and her two kids Peyton and Alec had arrived.

"I'm gonna jet before everyone starts eating." Nicky said, gathering her things to leave. "Thank you so much for lunch, Diane. It was wonderful as always."

Diane pulled Nicky into a hug. "Good luck with Lorna, Nick."

"See you later, Nicky. Text me and let me know how it goes." Alex said walking her friend to the door.

"Yeah, you do the same," Nicky said suggestively, flitting her eyes toward Piper and watching her cheeks redden slightly. "Later, Blondie." She said with a chuckle, ducking out before Alex could retaliate.

"Alright," Diane said, ushering the two younger kids over to the table. "Let's get you guys some food and then we'll set you up on the coffee table."

The little girl, Peyton, stomped her foot and folded her arms across her chest. She whined, "But why can't we sit with the grown-ups?"

Diane began filling the kid's plates, while Piper watched with amusement. Diane explained, "There aren't enough chairs, hun. See, there are only four chairs and there are four adults."

She handed Alec a plate, who obediently went and made himself comfortable on the floor by the coffee table. Peyton continued, "But we wanted to sit with Alex." Her lower lip trembled.

"If you're good, and eat your lunch at the coffee table without any more complainin', maybe Alex and her friend Piper will play a game with you later."

An instant smile replaced her frown. "Really, Alex?" She asked as she took her plate from Diane and turned her attention to the younger Vause. "Will you?"

"Sure thing, kid." Alex replied with a smile. She gave the girl a pat on the head. "What was that game we played last time? Pets?"

Peyton laughed. She exclaimed, "Yes! Pets. But I don't really play that anymore. I like to play Princesses now."

"Okay. Well, go eat your dinner and when we're all finished eating, Piper and I will play Princesses with you."

Peyton grinned from ear to ear. "Yay! I'll be sure to eat real fast!"

As Peyton settled herself across from her brother at the coffee table, Alex rolled her eyes at Piper. She chuckled and whispered quiet enough so that Peyton couldn't hear, "Kids are so weird."

Piper laughed and bumped her shoulder against Alex's. "You're good with her though. I can't wait to see you play a game called Princesses."

"Trust me. It can't be any weirder than Pets. She went through a phase where she really wanted to be a dog, and would just following me on her hands and knees everywhere. She would pretend to pant, and wanted to eat and drink out of bowls on the ground. She's a unique kid."

Piper covered her mouth to quiet her giggle. "I actually think that's pretty normal for kids. When my brother was about her age he had an alter-ego named Kyle who was from California and loved to surf. Kyle had a pet dolphin and only ate what Cal (that's my brother's actual name) considered to be California food."

"Wow. Yeah, kids are fuckin weird." Alex said with a chuckle.

"What are you too giggling about?" Diane asked as she and Rhonda joined them at the table. Diane passed a plate each to Piper and Alex and the four of them began to pile food onto their plates.

"Just about how weird kids are," Alex replied. "No offense," she said to Rhonda.

Rhonda laughed, "Oh trust me, I know. I live with it."

"Did Alex do anything weird when she was little?" Piper chimed in.

Alex shot Piper an disbelieving look. "Hey!"

Piper's grin was mischievous. "What?" She replied with mock innocence. "I'm curious about what you were like as a kid."

Diane smiled warmly at their interaction. "Alex was pretty normal, actually. She was mostly a quiet kid, liked to read a lot. You did go through this phase, though, where you quacked like a duck all the time," Diane recalled with a fond laugh.

"What?!" Alex asked incredulously. "Are you serious?" She couldn't help but join in with the other's laughter.

"Yeah, you did. You would quack when you greeted me, said goodbye or goodnight, and when you told me you loved me. It was cute. You were probably four or five."

"Why did you keep me?" Alex laughed jokingly. "I would have thought I was defective or something."

Diane softened. "Because you were mine and I loved you. I thought it was sweet."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love you, too, yadda yadda yadda," Alex replied, making light of the sentimental moment, but also responding with warmth and affection.

Piper watched their interaction and felt her heart melt. She had never seen this softer side to Alex, and it was nice to see where Alex had come from. It was only making her fondness for Alex double. Her own family wasn't very warm and loving, at least not in such a direct way, and it made Piper feel good to be a part of this kind of family environment for a holiday that was supposed to be all about family and thanks.

The rest of the day was full of board games, card games, and a small game of Princess, in which Piper was the princess ("Because she has long blonde hair, is pretty like a princess and is girly, duh," Peyton had said. Alex agreed with her on the pretty part). Alex was the black knight who had kidnapped her ("Because Alex only wears black and is gothic," was Peyton's logic). Alec was the prince who was on a quest to save princess Piper, and Peyton was a magical fairy who was guiding Alec on his quest.

Later, after Rhonda and the kids had left, Piper and Alex both agreed (begrudgingly on Alex's part) that the game of make-believe was actually the highlight of the day.

Piper glanced at the time on her phone. 6:15. Now that Rhonda had left, it was only the three of them, and Piper didn't want to overstay her welcome.

"I guess I should be heading home. Thank you so much for having me over today. The food was amazing." Piper said when their current game of scrabble ended. Alex had won for the third time, and Piper was getting tired of losing.

"Oh, so soon?" Diane asked. "You are more than welcome to stay and watch a movie with us. It's tradition."

Piper smiled, relieved and happy that she wasn't crashing family time and was being invited to stay longer. To be honest, after a day full of family and togetherness, she didn't really want to go back to her lonely apartment. "What movie?"

Alex snorted and Diane rolled her eyes. Alex said, "Well, you see, mom is one of those Christmas-crazies who believe the second Thanksgiving is over it is acceptable to begin decking your halls. So we always end Thanksgiving with a Christmas movie."

Piper laughed. "Don't worry, Diane. I'm the same way. Christmas-crazy, here, as well," She said raising her hand.

"See!" Diane said to Alex. "It's completely normal. Anyway, I'm gonna run the leftovers over to the homeless shelter a few blocks down. I should only be about fifteen minutes. While I'm gone, you girls pick out a movie."

"Okay. Are you sure you don't want us to help?" Alex asked, standing up with her mother.

"Nah, I think I'm good. I won't be long. Pick out a good one." Diane grabbed the leftovers she had already packed up and threw them into a large tote bag, then headed out the door.

Piper's stomach flipped nervously now that she was alone with Alex. There had been mild flirtation between them all day, but it had been tampered by the presence of other people. Now that they were left to their own devices, Piper hoped she had enough self-control to keep her from doing something stupid. Alex can't date students, she mentally reminded herself. She just had to keep that thought in her head.

"So where do you keep the movies?" she asked, heading into the living room.

Alex followed her and knelt down in front of the cabinet underneath the TV. "In here," she said, opening up the cabinet doors. "And here are all the Christmas movies," she said, gesturing to an entire shelf.

Piper laughed, "Wow, you weren't kidding. That's a lot of Christmas movies."

"Have at it," Alex said. "You can pick. This time."

Piper raised her eyebrow, but didn't question the pretty clear implication that there would, in fact, be a next time. Instead, she knelt beside Alex and began to rummage through the films.

After a few minutes of pondering, Piper sighed and announced, "I have made my decision." She paused for dramatic effect, and then pulled The Santa Clause dramatically from the shelf and held it up in front of Alex's face.

Alex's nose wrinkled in distaste. "Really?" She questioned sardonically. "That's one of mom's favorites, too. I'm more of an It's a Wonderful Life gal."

"Wow, say 'gal' again," Piper teased, standing and placing the chosen movie onto the coffee table. "Well, that took all of five minutes. Why don't we start some of the dishes for your mom while we wait for her to return?" Piper really did want to contribute in some way to express her thanks to Diane for the amazing food, and also, she wanted something to keep herself busy and distract herself from her intrusive thoughts of all the things she wanted to do to Alex. Oh, how that list was growing.

Alex smiled, looking somewhat impressed at Piper's thoughtfulness. "That's a great idea, Pipes. You wash and I'll dry?"

Piper smiled in return and nodded. "Sounds good!"

Alex used her phone to play some music, and the two began to do the dishes. Piper filled the sink with warm soapy water and adorned Diane's oversized yellow rubber gloves. As they washed, Piper began to dance more and more to the music, causing Alex to chuckle softly with amusement at her moves.

Just as she handed a newly clean plate to Alex for drying, a song she instantly recognized began to play through the phone's speakers. Her eyes, locked with Alex's, opened wide in excitement as a huge grin grew across her face. She couldn't help herself as she began to sing along excitedly to the lyrics, "I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want. So tell me what you want, what you really, really want. I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really, really, really wanna zigazig ah."

Alex blinked at the display, but couldn't hide her amusement, and a smirk and chuckle got out. "Wow." She stated bobbing her head. "Please, don't quit your day job."

"Hey!" Piper said, offended. She flicked a handful of bubbles toward Alex's face and watched with a giddy wide-eyed expression as they landed and popped against Alex's nose and cheeks. Alex lifted the towel she was using to dry dishes to her face and removed the suds.

Alex couldn't even think of a comeback, as she was so mesmerized by Piper in that moment. The look of pure child-like joy, her eyes sparkling with an adorable lopsided grin adorning her face. Her nose scrunched up as she let out giggle at Alex's expense and turned back to the sink, continuing to hum along to Wannabe.

Before she could turn her body fully back to the sink, Alex grabbed her arm softly, but firmly, and spun her back around. In that moment, desire had fully taken over, and she took a step closer to the blonde, almost eliminating the distance between them completely.

As Piper felt Alex tugging gently at her arm, she spun back toward the brunette and quickly inhaled through her nose at Alex's proximity. She had closed the gap between them, one hand still grasping her arm lightly, the other rising up to tug gently an on errant curl that had broken free from the haphazard messy bun she had thrown her hair into before they started the dishes.

Alex's eyes were so dark as they met Piper's and watched as Piper's own pupils expanded. Alex tucked the errant curl behind Piper's ear and trailed her fingers along the blonde's soft cheek, down her jawline, finally to rest beneath her chin.

Piper knew her breathing must be erratic, but she could barely think straight. She couldn't believe this was actually finally happening. Alex tilted her chin up slightly, her eyes darted down to Piper's slightly parted lips.

In the huskiest voice Piper had ever heard, Alex whispered, "I really wanna kiss you."

Piper felt a rush of heat straight through to her core, as her heart really and truly skipped a beat. She blinked slowly, deliberately, and looked up at Alex through thick lashes. "Why don't you?" She whispered back in her own husky tone. She really didn't want to beg, but dear god, please, Alex.

Alex inhaled through her nose. Her eyelids fluttered shut, and Piper's followed suit. Alex tugged gently at Piper's chin finally pressing their lips together softly.

Piper exhaled shakily from her nose, increasing the pressure between their mouths, and pressing her body closer to Alex's. She really wished she wasn't wearing these ridiculous rubber gloves, as she wanted more than anything to tangle her fingers into Alex's long dark tresses.

The hand that was grasping Piper's arm released the limb and found Piper's waist instead. Her other hand traced patterns along Piper's cheek and neck, before settling on the back of Piper's neck to hold her firmly in place.

Just as Alex was opening her mouth to deepen the kiss, the faint sound of keys jingling outside alerted the two girls to Diane's return. Even still, Alex had a hard time removing her lips from Piper's. As the key turned in the lock, Alex had to physically place both of her hands on Piper's waist, and gently push the girl away from her, effectively breaking their lip lock. Piper whined at the loss of contact, causing a smug, amused smile to appear on Alex's face.

Piper's eyes finally fluttered open and met Alex's, as Diane entered the apartment announcing, "I'm back!"

"In here," Alex called, never breaking eye contact with the blonde. Piper smiled shyly at her, then averted her eyes back to the dishes. "We were just starting the dishes," she said as Diane appeared in the entryway of the kitchen.

"That's very sweet of you girls, but I can get those later. Now what movie did you decide on?"

"The Santa Clause," Alex replied. "I let Piper pick."

"Great choice, Piper. One of my favorites! Why don't we eat some of your pumpkin pie while we watch?" She cut them each a slice of pie, then ushered them both into the living room.

Piper took a seat in the armchair, settling her piece of pie onto the coffee table. Alex put the movie into the DVD player and situated herself into one corner of the couch. She glanced at Piper settled in the armchair and smiled as she watched the younger girl lift her hand to touch her lips lightly.

"You want a blanket, Pipes?" She asked, reaching behind her to grab one to drape over her and her mom.

"Sure, thanks," Piper replied, smiling at Alex as she tossed her a blanket.

As she settled in to watch the movie, Piper couldn't help replaying the kiss she and Alex had just shared over and over in her head. Questions like "What does this mean?" "Will it happen again?" and more importantly, "Should it happen again?" began to swim in her head, but she quickly pushed them aside as the movie began. She'd overthink later. For now, she just wanted to enjoy the rest of her Thanksgiving.

A/N: Please review and tell me what you think!

Also- please no negative comments about Thanksgiving in general. I do know the history behind the holiday, but today it is just a good excuse to spend time with family and think about what you are thankful for.

Thank you! Love you all!

-HM