A/N: Hello to you all, me again... :) I'd like to apologise for the wait on this chapter but I've had a lot of changes going on recently which have left little time for me to do much writing... I also apologise for any mistakes as I've been writing and editing this while very tired so I might have missed a few typos or grammatical errors... But anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter :)
"Piper? Hey, what's up girl?" Alex asked happily as her mind processed who was calling. She felt her growing excitement to be talking with the blonde again in a way other than text, she preferred communicating face to face or at least being able to hear the other person.
Alex heard her friend sob once before she heard the rustle of material that muffled the sound of another sob. Alex's heart stopped at the sound, this was not a happy call.
"Pipes? What's wrong?" Alex questioned worriedly, she started collecting up her things and throwing them the closest bag she could find. There was a slight pause.
"I-I'm fine." Piper tried to stammer out, sounding less than fine and it was clear that she knew she wasn't fooling anyone. Especially Alex.
"We both know that's not true." Alex said softly. "Now come on what's up? Do you want me to come and see you?" She added, her bag now packed, ready to leave at the slightest inclination from Piper.
"I'm sorry Al." Piper sniffed. Then the sudden realisation of what Alex had said afterwards seemed to hit her. "No. No, no… It's probably best you don't…" Piper answered carefully. "I mean it's not that I don't want to see you again, I do. It's more that it might make this even worse…" Piper trailed off guiltily.
"Okay…" the brunette replied soothingly. "What will it make worse? Larry and Holly?" Alex said asked, slowly piecing together fragments of their conversation that day into why Piper might have called her crying and why she wouldn't want her to come and see her.
There was a pause before Piper replied and Alex's mind wandered in this time to why she had packed her bag and offered to go and see someone she had barely known two weeks at the drop of a hat, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. She reasoned that she would do it for most of her friends, Alex shook her head. No she wouldn't… Nicky maybe, but not many others. There was something about hearing Piper so upset that made Alex angry. She also felt guilty, thinking that although indirectly, it was partly her fault. The sound of Piper's wavering voice jolted Alex from her thinking.
"Yes. It's them." Piper said simply. Then she paused for a second before adding, "You know her name is Polly right?"
"Yeah, it's what I said…" Alex said with a smile, she could tell from her voice that Piper knew she remembered her friends name but had purposely got it wrong.
"Of course." Piper replied with a laugh, it sounded as if she was already feeling happier than she had been. A few moments of silence went past before a quiet chattering sound could be heard down the line.
"Pipes, is that you? Are you cold or something? Where are you?" Alex questioned, a hint of worry creeping back into her voice.
"Oh… Sorry… I didn't realise you could hear that… It's a bit cold out here. I kind of locked myself out on the balcony of the spare bedroom…" Piper admitted with embarrassment.
"When you say kind of locked out…?" Alex prompted.
"I might have to climb through the open window next to the door to get back in again…" Piper said with a light laugh. Then she said, "Or I might be able to fight with the door, we'll have to see."
This earned a rumbling chuckle from the brunette, who shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"If you're cold maybe you should go in?" Alex reasoned, not really wanting to stop talking to the blonde but she didn't want her to catch a cold or get ill just for the sake of a few extra minutes of conversation, no matter how enjoyable.
"I think I'll stay here for a while longer if that's not a problem?" Piper said in response and Alex was secretly pleased she didn't have to say goodbye to her new friend just yet. Because for some reason the thought of that made her sad.
The two women paced around in their separate locations and talked about anything and everything that came to mind.
After a while Alex thought of a question. "Where in the world would you like to go that you haven't been before?" Alex asked, curious to get an insight into Piper's dream for the future.
"I'm not sure…" came Piper's reply. "I think maybe Paris, I always fancied getting lost somewhere so beautiful... How about you?"
Alex laughed kindly and smiled fondly at the view out her bedroom window while Piper tried to question her as to what was so funny.
"Why are you laughing at me Al?" Piper asked childishly, making Alex rumble even louder and smile even wider at the use of her nickname. Alex could hear that the blonde's voice betrayed that she was nearly joining in with Alex's deep and infectious laughter.
"I'm not laughing at you," Alex managed to choke out after a few seconds of trying to compose herself. "It's just that I would have picked Paris too. And for a similar reason. Maybe we'll go one day." Alex said. Neither her tone nor her words indicating whether she meant that they would go together or just that maybe one day they will both have gone to Paris.
Alex could hear Piper yawn down the other end of the phone and began thinking of a way to suggest that maybe they should both retire for the evening without making it sound like she had had enough of their conversation. Alex was fairly sure that she would continue talking to the blonde all night if that was what she asked her to do, however the blonde's yawns were becoming more frequent and she didn't want her friend to have an accident if she fell asleep while leaning on her balcony rail…
"You still awake there Pipes?" Alex said jokingly. She was met with a yawn and she smiled at the image in her head of Piper trying very hard to stay awake.
"Hmm? Just about…" Piper replied sleepily. "Maybe it's time for bed." She added afterwards.
"Maybe indeed kid. We don't want any accidents involving you falling over the railing as you're half asleep!" Alex spoke softly, so as not to interrupt Piper's sleepy mind but hoped her words would get the blonde to try to get warm again and sleep.
While the two women were talking on the phone, a key turned in the door of Alex's apartment and a tall figure slipped into the darkened hallway and towards the bedroom Alex was standing in while talking on the phone.
The figure stepped up behind Alex and laced their arms around her waist, causing her to jump slightly at the contact as it seemed she had not heard their quiet entrance due to being completely distracted by listening to a sleepy reply. After a few seconds, recognition spread through the brunette as she took in the sight of her girlfriend when she glanced over her shoulder to identify the intruder.
Their conversation nearly having been over anyway, Alex began to bring it to an abrupt close.
"I'll speak to you later Pipes, Sylvie's here." Alex said into the microphone of her phone.
Sylvie dropped her hands from Alex's waist sharply at the sound of Alex's nickname for Piper and Alex held her breath, knowing full well that things were about to get messy between them, just as things with Piper and Larry had been a little while before.
"Why can't you talk to her while I'm here?" Sylvie demanded accusingly. "What were you talking to her about?" She folded her arms across her chest and her scowl radiated anger and jealousy. Alex hurriedly pressed the end call button and hoped Piper had not just heard her grumpy girlfriend's outburst.
"Jesus Sylvie, calm the fuck down!" Alex exclaimed, growing annoyed that Sylvie seemed to have no trust in her, even after everything she had done to Alex. "She needed someone to talk to after having an argument with her boyfriend. So she called me. I was just talking her out of throttling him to death." Half way through her angry reply Alex attempted to break the rising tension at her defensiveness with a joke, while hinting that Piper was not single and that she was not cheating with her all in one sentence.
"Not sure why you bothered, with him out the way you could have her all to yourself." Sylvie retorted rudely.
Alex's mind spaced out for a second at her girlfriend's words, she had been so calm a few minutes ago… Alex abstractly wondered if her girlfriend was drunk. Or high maybe? Why was she not seeing reason here? Why was she so paranoid about Alex talking to other people? Then she reasoned that she did know why, because then maybe Alex would find someone else. Someone who wouldn't keep messing her around and causing her more trouble that they were probably worth putting up with. Sylvie was scared that Alex would see through her at last and leave her.
The tense silence between the two women was broken by the beeping ring of the landline phone in the apartment. Alex stalked out of the bedroom without replying to Sylvie's comment to answer it, leaving her girlfriend to cool off a little before she came back into the room. Alex picked up the phone angrily.
"Hello?" She snapped at the unfortunate caller.
"Hello Sexy. Is Alex still at work? Do you want to come and play?" a female voice asked seductively.
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Alex all but growled down the receiver.
"Sylvie? Is that you?" The caller said by way of response, all seductiveness gone from her voice.
"No. This is Alex." Alex said through gritted teeth, her eyes had lost all traces of the warmth they had held during her phone call with Piper.
"Shit-" was all the mystery woman was able to say before Alex had hung up on her and thrown the phone back into the cradle that lived in one of the cubby holes in the grand book case in the lounge.
She walked calmly back into her bedroom before stopping and turning to look straight at her girlfriend. She looked at her until she began fidgeting under the hard stare from the brunette's seething emerald eyes.
"Who was it?" Sylvie asked nonchalantly, tugging at the sleeves of the coat she hadn't bothered to take off.
Alex moved her glasses onto the top of her head before looking straight into Sylvie's eyes, she put her hands into the front pockets on her faded jeans and then answered.
"I think you know perfectly well who it was, don't you?" the brunette replied bluntly. The ice in her voice made her stare even more piercing.
Sylvie flinched at her simple words but did not look away. That was all the confirmation Alex needed before she pointed at the drawer in which Sylvie's belongings lived in with a half-hearted sigh.
Sylvie didn't move but just stared at Alex like she was trying to figure something out. She looked Alex up and down, taking in how her shoulders were slightly drooped, how her usually perfect hair looked dishevelled and how her usually expressive face was devoid of all emotion. If she had been crying or shouting at least it would have been some kind of reaction. But there was nothing and that was scarier than any rage or other emotion Alex could have reacted with. It meant that she was serious this time.
Alex felt empty. But at the same time she was full. A churning mess with a mind that was reeling and spinning.
"Get out." Alex stated simply as she noticed Sylvie still hadn't moved. She let the numbness take over her body as she watched Sylvie finally stumble towards the drawer and begin stuffing handfuls of her belongings into the rucksack that had been folded alongside the drawers content.
"I want my key back too." Alex said and let out a sigh. She had nothing more to say.
A while after Sylvie had left her apartment for the last time, Alex had begun clearing up the mess she had made after the woman's departure. She now had a few less plates than she may have had when the day had begun…
She decided she needed a distraction. A big one. So she called the one person who she knew would be awake and very keen to put the plan forming in her head into action.
"Yo Vause, What's up?" came the familiar voice of Alex's wild haired best friend.
Without greeting her in return Alex went straight to why she called. "Can you please take me somewhere where I can get very drunk…?" she asked, no emotion to her voice.
"Oh… That bad huh?" Nicky said with a raised eyebrow. "I'll be at yours in ten." She said and hung up.
Alex hummed to herself in sad agreement, before collecting the bag she had packed earlier that evening for a very different purpose and sat on the floor in front of her door and waited for Nicky to arrive.
True to her word, ten minutes later there was Nicky's distinguishable knock on the door. Alex opened it but did not offer for her friend to enter.
"Shall we go?" Alex said, eager to leave and begin drinking as much as possible as soon as she could.
"I know just the place." Nicky replied with a sly grin.
"You drunk enough yet to tell me what brought on the sudden desire to drink your troubles away?" Nicky asked her friend casually, trying to just slip it into conversation.
Alex looked up at her wild haired best friend and Nicky rolled her eyes at the expression on Alex's face. It was one of 'Not nearly enough.'
Slowly a thought came to Nicky and she tilted her head and frowned slightly.
"Or should I say who?" She whispered softly, loud enough to still be heard over the music that was slowly growing louder the longer they stayed at the club but quietly enough that Alex barely heard her.
A single tear rolled down Alex's cheek and she wiped it away quickly before she managed to say the words that had been on repeat in her head since she'd heard answered the phone earlier 'Hello Sexy…'
"She has been cheating on me again."
Alex heard Nicky's quick intake of breath and she could feel the boiling anger coming from her friend.
"Well shit." Nicky said simply, before adding cautiously, "You still with the crazy bitch?"
Alex shook her head slowly from side to side, a small smile played on her lips at her friends description of her ex-girlfriend.
"Well kid, it's probably for the best. I know you were together a long time, but she royally fucked up if you ask me…" Nicky shrugged as she spoke.
"I guess…" Alex mumbled almost inaudibly. "I don't know why I stayed really. I think it was the familiarity of it all." She hung her head guiltily and Nicky lifted her chin with her curled forefinger very gently so that they were looking straight at each other.
"You don't have to stand for it any more Alex." Nicky said seriously, her gaze never shifting from Alex's deep green eyes. The effect of Nicky using her first name brought Alex's focus to every nerve ending in her body, back to the present and back to where Nicky could stop her from falling into a dangerous spiral she swore she'd never lose herself in again after it happened the first time.
The red haired woman sensed she now had Alex back from the edge of whatever it was she had been leaning towards, but knew her friend well enough to know that she would still get herself completely drunk that night. Alex would most definitely not be working tomorrow…
"Well if you're feeling up to it, shall we head over to the bar as I spy some very familiar looking waitresses, one of whom has so been checking you out since you walked in! Maybe we could leave with a few numbers…" Nicky offered, wriggling her eyebrows suggestively as she did so, back to her usual quirky demeanour and dragged Alex behind her.
When they reached the bar Nicky grinned like a Cheshire cat and said to the woman she had pointed out to Alex a few minutes earlier, "It's been a while since I saw you in here. This is my friend Alex…"
The next morning Alex awoke and realised it was nearly 11 O'clock. She hurried to get out of bed and found herself tangled in her dark blue covers and fully clothed in the same attire she'd worn the day before. As she broke free and stood. She wobbled unsteadily and screwed her eyes closed to stop the world around her from spinning.
"Shit…" she muttered as many things came back to her all at once. She remembered shuffling into her apartment at around three in the morning, more drunk that she had been in a very long time. Nicky had brought her home after she had the waitresses stop serving her friend for fear of her doing more damage to her internal organs… The longer Alex struggled to piece together the evening the more she recalled. Nicky had gotten a call from Lorna who came to meet them at the bar and they talked while secretly keeping an eye on Alex as she flirted her way through drink after drink and ended up with more than a few numbers she knew she would probably never call.
It took Alex a few minutes to bring herself to open her eyes again and she decided to brave checking her phone. After her eyes adjusted to the glaring screen, a sensation that at first reminded her of looking directly at the sun, she saw she had a missed call and voicemail from Red.
"Shit…" Alex cursed again, she had missed the first part of her shift at the coffee and book shop. She hoped that Red hadn't called to fire her as Alex knew that even though Red thought of her as a friend as well as a colleague, she would not let that get in the way of her business's prosperity and she could not have her staff just not turning up.
With a sharp intake of breath, Alex listened to the voicemail and held her breath.
"Alex, Nicky told me about last night. I don't expect to see you today, especially not with the hangover you most likely have. Give me a call tomorrow if you're coming in."
The brunette released her held breath and heaved a sigh of relief. She would have been a fool to think Nicky wouldn't have told Red about their evening, seeing as Red was practically Nicky's adoptive mother. The two were very close and this earned Alex some leniency due to her close relationship with Nicky.
Happily Alex thought, Red not only hadn't fired her but had all but told her not to come in… That meant she had the opportunity to try and sleep off the rapidly increasing throbbing in her head. She went into her bathroom and found some Paracetamol to try and reduce the pain in her head before she decided to go back to bed for as long as she could sleep for.
Alex's phone started buzzing on her little wooden coffee table, she stared at it from the sofa, then checked the caller ID. She wasn't sure she wanted to talk to anybody right now… the brunette had been awake for just under half an hour and her head was full of thoughts she wished she could get away from but no matter how hard she tried to clear her head they kept coming back. Her attention back on the buzzing machine, she took in the name and answered immediately, knowing that if she didn't there would be hell to pay next time she went to work.
"Hello Red." Alex answered quickly.
"Good you're still alive." Red said by way of greeting in her strong Russian accent. "A woman came in asking for you today." She added, her voice loud in Alex's ear.
Alex groaned audibly thinking that it would have been one of the many girls she had flirted with the night before, she had been so drunk that she probably had forgotten her rule against giving away any information about herself other than her number and on the rare occasion her name.
"She left the name of Chapman. Said you would know it." Red enlightened, noticing that Alex was not sure who she had been talking about.
There came a sigh of relief from Alex's end of the phone and she could hear the smile in Red's voice as she replied.
"A friend of yours, Vause?" the Russian inquired.
"Yes." Alex said with a smile, touched that Piper had come to see her, then she felt guilty for going out the night before and getting so drunk she had then missed seeing her new friend due to not going to work.
"I told her you had called in sick." Red said simply. Alex was grateful that Red was not one to give away details to people, even if Alex was contemplating telling Piper what had happened herself.
"Thank you Red. I appreciate it." Alex said warmly, the closest to happy she had sounded in a while.
"I know you do Alex." Red stated plainly, her tone made it clear she understood Alex's gratification but that she had also said everything she had planned to say. They exchanged polite farewells and Alex was left in silence again and her busy mind began to wander.
An indefinite amount of time later Alex was disturbed from her far away thoughts as her phone buzzed with an incoming message.
From Piper:
Hey Al, I came by to see you at work today but your boss and friend said you were off sick. You okay? Just a little worried, hope you're okay :/
Alex reread the message again and smiled. Something about Piper worrying about her made Alex feel like she was worth slightly more than she had felt she was worth since immediately after finding out that Sylvie had been cheating on her again. She hesitated before typing out a reply. To tell her the truth or not? It was not like Piper would find out exactly was it?
No. Alex couldn't lie to her new friend, the thought of it turned her stomach in knots and she wasn't sure why. She usually didn't mind bending the truth if the situation called for it, but it wasn't something she made a habit of as generally Alex believed herself to be an honest person. She opted to wait and see what her fingers ended up typing.
From Alex:
Hey Pipes, I'm sorry. I did. Sylvie and I are no longer together and I needed to water my problems with as much alcohol as I could physically consume…Not my wisest move, but I'm doing a little better now. :)
Alex pressed send and fidgeted while awaiting the reply. Sudden fear coursed through her at the possibility that Piper might think she was the reason behind the argument she had had. But if this crossed the blonde's mind she did not mention it in her quick reply.
From Piper:
Oh... that's not good :( I'm glad to hear you're doing a bit better though. I'm here if you want to talk about it, okay Al? The least I could do after you helped me. And when you say 'watered'… how much are we talking? ;)
Alex screwed her face up at the idea of recalling her argument with Sylvie. As much as she appreciated Piper's concern she didn't really want to go into it again, at least not so soon. Alex laughed though, at Piper's inquiry as to how much she had drunk to have a hangover bad enough that she couldn't go to work.
From Alex:
Thanks Pipes, but I'd rather not talk about it just yet… still trying to process it all. Haha, enough shall we say, that all my internal organ should have shut down and died…
Alex was grateful of the blonde's concern but she felt like she was still coming to terms with the sudden changes in her life and the knock she had taken to her confidence and state of mind. Randomly she thought, she didn't want to make it seem like she was running straight to Piper as soon as her relationship with Sylvie had ended. She wasn't sure why this occurred to her but once she thought of it, the more it stuck with her. Regardless of her inner thoughts, the pair continued their conversation but switched to light talk about trivial matters, this did not fail though to brighten the brunette's previously gloomy mood and she decided she would not mope around her house anymore. She would get back to work and get back to doing something she loved.
"Excuse me…" a small voice whispered from near the ground behind Alex. She turned around from where she had been rearranging the book shelves to find a young girl of around five or six in a buttoned up rain coat, looking up at her in complete awe.
"Hello." Alex said friendlily to the little girl, stooping a little so their height difference was not so great, knowing her height could be intimidating and hoped to make herself seem less daunting to talk to if she was less of a giant to the girl. "What can I do for you?" she added kindly.
"Umm…" the girl murmured shyly, "I was wondering if you worked here? If so could you please help me find something?" the little girl asked once she seemed to find her voice.
"I do indeed work here, what are you looking for Miss?" Alex answered with her work smile, this smile though was the least fake one she had plastered on her face for a customer the few days she had been back at work since her break up with Sylvie. She could tell that addressing the little girl the way she had pleased her greatly due to the grin that almost reached from ear to ear across her little face.
"I'm Emily!" the girl said happily, "What's your name?" She seemed to become more confident the longer she spoke with the brunette giant standing in front of her.
Alex chuckled to herself before replying. "That's a lovely name. I'm Alex. What can I help you with Emily?"
"I was looking for…" the Emily began, listing off a few genres and themes to Alex, who listened carefully and smiled as the she spoke to her.
"Okey dokey." Alex said with a triumphant grin. "Right this way then Emily. I know exactly the book for you!" Alex lead the way into the children's section and let her hands roam the shelves until she found the title she had been looking for. She removed it from the shelf and handed it to the young customer just as the sound of someone calling out a name could be heard.
"Emily! Emily, where are you love?" a woman's voice called from around the corner. Just as Emily had been about to call back, her mother turned the corner and she skipped to her happily and showed her the book she was holding in her hands.
"Look Mummy! Look at what Alex the book lady found for me!" Emily said excitedly, trying to both gesture to the book and the woman that her mother had only just noticed was standing a little way away both at the same time.
"Who's Alex sweetheart?" her mother asked as she looked through the book and smiled, knowing that her daughter would love it.
"She is the nice lady who works here! She helped me find the book!" Emily continued bouncing in front of her mother until her mother made eye contact with Alex.
"Hello Ma'am," Alex said politely. "Your daughter really has good taste in reading material!" Alex added with a smile.
"Hello Alex." Emily's mother said, returning her smile. "Do you have children? You seem really good with them. Emily doesn't usually take to people this quickly…" the girl's mother trailed off.
"I don't have children. But I always seem to be chosen as the reader in the reading corner…" Alex replied pleasantly and a faraway look flickered on her face for a moment.
"You are going to make someone really happy one day." Emily's mother said to Alex, reading her better than most of her friends could.
"Thank you…" Alex said quietly, not sure what else to say to the kind words.
"You're very welcome." The woman said with a knowing smile. Very soon afterwards Emily and her mother bid the brunette farewell and went to the till to pay.
As the mother and daughter began walking to the exit of Red's little book and coffee shop, Alex could hear the final sentence that Emily said before leaving.
"Mummy when I grow up I want to be just like Alex!"
"Aww, so she sounds so sweet!" Diane said from her end of the phone.
"Yeah, she was. She has come in a few times to see me since, so I think I've got a little friend there!" Alex replied with a short laugh.
"Speaking of friends, Al. How's that Piper friend of yours? I haven't heard much about her recently from you?" Diane asked, curious to know more about her daughter's new friend, never before having Alex talk as much about a friend of hers as she did Piper, despite them only knowing each other a matter of weeks.
"She's good, as far as I know." Alex said with a shrug. "She's been quite busy lately, she's trying to get a manuscript finalised completely for printing and it's stressing her out a bit so I've not spoken to her for a few days as she's spent so much time working that I don't think she's even been home…" Alex chuckled thinking about Piper dashing around trying to get her work finished no matter what.
"Don't leave her be for too long though Al, I'm sure talking to you would be a welcome break from all the stress, or at least it would be for me." Diane could hear Alex seriously considering her words. Alex's mother did not give advice often, but when she did Alex listened carefully as she knew there would always be a point to it even if she couldn't see it to begin with.
There was a pause in their conversation and then Diane broached the subject she had been avoiding since they had begun their talking earlier that evening.
"How are you holding up sweetheart?" her mother asked softly, knowing that for all her daughter's tough exterior she was a very sensitive woman beneath it all and those who she let in close enough to see that were capable of hurting her greatly. Alex had let Sylvie in a few years before their relationship started going wrong and Diane knew that her baby would be hurting still even if she looked, acted and said she was perfectly fine.
"I don't really know." Alex whispered, her voice almost that of a child scared of the unknown. "I think though," she paused, "I think that I'm going to be alright." She sounded surer of herself then she had moments before and her mother felt her heart swell with both pride and sadness for Alex Vause, the daughter she loved more than life itself.
Alex had continued talking to her mother for another half an hour before Diane had had to go and get ready for one of her oddly timed shifts at one of her jobs. Alex was about to call it a night and hoped to fall into a deep slumber when her phone's incoming message tone sounded in the silent room, jolting her from nearly falling asleep.
From Piper:
Hey Al, do you fancy getting that coffee tomorrow? :)
Okay please don't hate me for leaving it like that, again... :) And also please review if you have the chance as I love to hear what you all think of Coffee Stains! Feel free to suggest ideas or things you might like to see happen as I might be able to fit them into my current plans for this story :) Thank you for reading!