Chapter 6

A/N: Once again I'm sorry for the wait… I hadn't given up I promise! Deaths, weddings, work, life... They just got in the way for a bit. I've had most of this ready for months but getting it to a state where I'd let another human read it took many attempts. I've split the original idea for this chapter in two because I had a few other ideas, plus it would take less time to get another chapter out with most of it written already! Hopefully this will be before next Christmas! ;) I hope I manage to recapture your attentions again and that you'll forgive my plans for these poor characters, I love them and so they must suffer a little…

- BernieWhiskers

"Good morning!" The tall brunette greeted warmly as she walked into the living room of her apartment to find her new housemate already up. Sheets of paper were scattered all over the sofa the younger woman had claimed as hers since having moved into Alex's apartment, almost no fabric could be seen under the mass of black and white text. "How you doing Kid?"

"Morning Al. I'm… good…" the seated woman replied, trying to cover up how the sudden appearance of the brunette had made her jump, she shuffled the papers in her lap.

"No work today?" Alex inquired from where stood after having moved to the kitchen to pour out some coffee, while attempting to hide a small smirk.

"I've got work to do, I just don't have to go in…" The blonde explained with a tired smile, holding up a few manuscripts to emphasise her point. "My boss called to say all the meetings were cancelled and to work from home."

"Today's a reading day then, huh?" Alex gazed at the manuscripts enviously. She took a sip from her coffee and then continued to drink most of it in one go. "Lucky… I've got a longer shift at Red's today because Morello couldn't make it this morning… I love my job, but I love sleeping too!" She gave a short laugh, flattening down an imaginary crease in her uniform t-shirt.

"Yeah, I like this part of my job. I just get to read and correct spelling and grammar, I was practically made for this." Piper's mouth quirked up on one side as she spoke, amused by how apt the statement was.

"Well not all of us can stay at home all day reading…Some of us actually have to go to work" Alex teased as she washed up her mug.

"You work in a bookshop Al… Knowing you, you'll probably end up reading at work…" The blonde smiled but didn't rise to her friend's teasing. "Now shouldn't you be going? If there's one thing I've worked out about your boss, who seems terrifying by the way, is that she doesn't appreciate tardiness!" Piper poked her tongue out playfully, the older woman responded by sticking out her tongue back.

"Pow… Pow…Pow… shots fired! Damn Kid!" Alex chuckled at her friend's response. "Anyone would think you were trying to get me to leave!"

"Well…" Piper began, a cheeky grin hiding behind the wad of paper she held in front of her face as she pretended to have gone back to reading.

"I don't want to hear the rest! I'm going to work. Byeee!" Alex said quickly before Piper could add anything else. Immediately she launched herself, whilst laughing crazily, towards the door. She could hear Piper laughing as the door clicked shut behind her.

A coffee machine beeped in front of Alex and her hands began to automatically work, flipping switches and pushing buttons as she moved cups around, fitted lids and added toppings. She was working on a large order of mid-morning drinks for a group of smartly dressed people, she was the only one out café side as usually it wasn't this busy at this time of day, only a few left to go she thought to herself.

The office workers were the only customers in the café part of the shop save for an older man who had made his way into the café from the bookshop entrance, a book with a receipt sticking out from beneath the cover in the hand that wasn't holding an old carved walking stick. He waited patiently until the large order was complete and the people had dispersed somewhat before approaching the cash register.

Alex watched him remove his well-loved hat, pinching it at the top and placing it over the handle of his walking stick. He leaned his hat-wearing walking stick against the wooden counter before him and searched around in the pockets of his age weathered coat for his wallet. A wise smile spread across his face when he saw Alex glance at the cover of the book, which he had placed next to the till during his search.

"What can I get you?" she asked pleasantly in her low voice.

"A Chai tea latte with whipped cream to go please miss. It's possibly a weird combination I know…" the aged man commented as he counted out the coins to pay for his drink. "But it tastes like Christmas!" He laughed along with Alex.

"It's a good tale." Alex said as she began making the drink, gesturing as she spoke to the book. "I loved it when I read it!"

"You've already read it?" the man asked with surprise, a slight sparkle entered his grey eyes. "It's only been out a few days!"

"Well… I read quickly… Plus I get to read some of the books before they are officially put on sale here and I recommend whether we should stock it on the shelves. I love the stand-alone books that get sent my way. Some, like that one, are truly unique." She began dressing the cup with whipped cream. By the last word she was gazing, with her head cocked to one side, at a slightly lopsided mountain of cream dusted with cinnamon and coco powder.

"That's quite a responsibility! And I'm glad you chose this particular book, I had yet to see somewhere sell it." He replied.

"D'you know the author, Sir?" Alex asked to prompt the conversation, intrigued by his comment.

"You could say that…" the man chuckled as Alex handed him his paper cup followed by a plastic spoon and lid. "Well thank you Miss!" He collected up his belongings, tipped his hat to his barista and tucked the book inside his jacket.

"Have a good day, Sir!" Alex called after him as he made his way towards the door.

"You too, Miss." He answered kindly, he turned to say one last thing. "If you get the chance, try the drink, I have a feeling you might like it." And with that he left the café.

"Vause." Red said from behind the tall brunette, her Russian accent strong. "After your break, you will help Nichols in the storeroom, I think she could use the company." A knowing look showed on the older woman's face.

"Sure Red, will do." the brunette nodded, she glanced at the clock on the wall behind her and began the countdown until her break.

"Yo Vause, could ya pass me those stickers?" Nicky asked, gesturing half-heartedly to a roll of promotional stickers next to the taller woman's left hand. In one smooth motion, she took a sticker off and tossed the rest of the roll into Nicky's waiting hands, the proceeded position the sticker on the book she had been holding.

Nicky looked as if she wanted to say something and then seemed to change her mind. Alex glanced at her friend but pretended not to have noticed. Nicky tried again and then shook her head once and seemed to settle for something else.

"How's Blondie doing?" the red-haired woman offered.

"Yeah, I think she's doing better. She's at home reading some manuscripts today." Alex replied with a small smile. "I think she just needed a while for things to settle down for her. Oh, that reminds me… I'm going to sort out a parking permit for her car so she doesn't have worry about not having a space to park in if she moves her car. I think I might take her shopping later too, as we're running out of food!"

"Well she's had a couple weeks of living with you, speaking from experience, I'm wondering how she hasn't gone mad already!" Nicky threw back her head and laughed, it was the closest to happy she's looked all day.

"Fuck you Nichols!" Alex retorted, a grin now on her face. She was pleased, even if it was about her, that her friend was still trying to make jokes.

"No thanks Vause, don't think you'd do it for me!" Nicky quipped, shooting her a playful wink. Her mind seemed to wander and immediately she became subdued again.

Alex sighed quietly beside her friend, all progress at finding out the problem lost.

"Yo dudes! I'm back!" A cheery young woman with a black tattoo trailing down her throat called over to Alex and her wild haired companion from the doorway to the storeroom. She continued into the storeroom but stopped a few meters from where they stood sorting books onto a trolley to re-stock the shelves in the shop.

"Hey Trish! I didn't realise you were back!" Alex said through a smile, glad to see her old colleague.

"Yeah… Good to see ya, Trish." Nicky mumbled distractedly from next to Alex, her fingers fumbling with a reel of promotional stickers she was attempting to position on the covers of the books Alex had sorted for the shelves.

"Yeah… I got my shit sorted. Red said I could come back if I kept it together. Our family has to stick together, right Nick?" Trish said kindly. Her words were met with a small nod from the short woman. To prolong their conversation, she added: "Hey, I heard Morello couldn't make it in today? She okay? You two are always stuck together like glue! It's weird not seeing you together!"

The red-haired woman's hand froze over the books she was about to pick up at the mention of her colleague's name. "Dunno…Sure she's… fine." Nicky said, her breathing catching slightly as her eyes darted down to stare at her hands. She became still, quite the opposite of her usual bouncy self.

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of Red's voice over the small set of speakers in the storeroom "Trish. Please come to my office."

It was as if she had heard their conversation or could sense the tension in her adoptive daughter. Which if she was looking at the CCTV then perhaps she really could… There was no telling with Red most of the time. Either way they all knew not to keep her waiting.

Alex waited a few moments after the polished wooden door to Red's office had snicked closed behind Trish before turning to her friend.

"Nicky? You okay? Nichols…?" she asked. "NICK!" Alex called loudly.

"Jesus Vause…" the flame haired woman jumped visibly. "What?" She snapped.

"I asked if you were okay. You completely spaced out when Trish asked where Morello was… What's going on?"

"And I said hey, hey, hey, hey…No? Okay…" she tried. When her friend gave her a serious look she went for a different tact. "Sure? Why wouldn't I be? Nothing's going on, that's point." Nicky muttered, attempting an insouciant shrug whilst refusing to meet Alex's worried gaze.

"I know you Nichols. Don't bullshit me. Is it about Lorna?" Alex said, giving her friend a gentle nudge.

"Yeah…" Nicky nodded glumly, picking at her fingers while she spoke.

"You two had a falling out or something?" Alex queried softly.

"Or something…" Nicky answered quietly. The wild haired woman waited for the brunette to ask another question, but when she didn't it became clear she was patiently waiting for Nicky to elaborate.

"I thought-" the shorter woman inhaled sharply, pausing her sentence as she thought about how to finish it. "I thought maybe she and I were… possibly… Well, I don't know what I thought, Vause."

"What do you mean Nick?" Alex said with a gentle tilt to her head.

"I thought maybe we had 'something'. I fucked it up when I tried to kiss her last night. No show at work the next day, go fucking figure." Her voice broke on the last few words.

"Well…" Alex began, carefully considering how she proceeded. "What do you mean tried?"

Nicky thought on her answer before responding, a hand self-consciously rubbing at the back of her neck, ruffling her mane at the same time. "We kissed… and it seemed to be going okay, well more than okay. Until she remembered and announced that she was kind of seeing someone. Worse, a guy. Christopher. Fucking straight girls, they'll be the death of me."

Alex whistled, "Fuck dude. I'm sorry. Didn't think she'd have that in her…"

"Al, now don't go thinking badly of her, at least she said something before letting it get further, it was just me seeing what I wanted to see. Not what was really there." Nicky defended. That's when the brunette realised just how back her friend had been caught.

"Rule number one: Don't fall in love with a straight girl!" Alex said somewhat seriously, she laughed to soften her words at the look Nicky gave her.

"You're one to talk… "Nicky breathed softly enough that her friend didn't hear her over the sound of a book snapping shut.

"I think I met the author of a book I've read today…" Alex mused thoughtfully as wandered into the living room.

"Oh really?" Piper murmured distractedly from where she sat on her sofa. Paper still covered every surface she wasn't occupying herself.

"Yeah, he didn't say it but I think he was definitely linked to that book somehow… Anyway Pipes, can I ask you something?"

Piper looked up sharply, dropping the paper in her hand to give Alex her full attention. She stood and moved so she was leaning against the arm of the sofa closest to Alex and began wringing her hands nervously whilst waiting for Alex to speak.

"So, we've hardly got any food in the house now, last time I went shopping I hadn't bought with the thought of having someone else living with me…" Alex began carefully.

"I'm sorry Alex… I can always leave…" Piper mumbled, a small frown creasing her brow, her shoulders drooping as she exhaled.

"No! No... That's not what I was going to say!" Alex interrupted her quickly, not being able to stand the idea that the blonde thought she was no longer welcome to live with her. She nudged the blonde's foot with the toe of her shoe to get her to look up again. "I was going to ask if you want to come food shopping with me? So I can get to know what kind of things you like. I mean, I want you to actually like the food in the house…"

"Oh…" Piper said, startled that this was not her being told to find somewhere else to live. "Um… That would be nice. Thank you Al…" her heart fluttered Alex's thoughtfulness.

"Not a problem, Kid." Alex said with a reassuring smile, nudging Piper affectionately as she stepped past her to get her purse from the small coffee table. The younger woman laughed as she lost her balance backwards into the safety of the sofa cushions. Seizing her chance, Alex darted forward and began tickling the blonde and laughed as the blonde began wriggling to free herself, clearly very ticklish and no match for the brunette.

"Al! Al… Alex! I can't breathe! Please!" Piper managed to get out between short laughs and gasps.

"Who knew you were quite so ticklish Ms. Chapman!" the older woman commented as she retreated to allow her friend to regain her breath, pleased that she could make the other woman laugh, even if it was through a friendly form of torture.

Piper struggled to her feet and slowed her breathing in an attempt to slow her heart rate and her mouth quirked into an involuntary smile at the sight of her friend's wide grin.

"Race you?" the brunette proposed, raising her eyebrow in the signature Vause look Piper was becoming accustomed to.

"You're on!" the blonde answered quickly and made a mad dash towards the door, laughing excitedly as she felt Alex lunging after her, less than a step behind.

"I'm in charge of the shopping trolley!" Alex announced quickly as she ran to the line of trollies and extracted one from the pack, fumbling in her haste with the chain that connected each trolley to another.

"Haha… Okay then… What are you, like twelve?" Piper laughed in response.

The older woman squared her shoulders, raising herself to her full height and held her head proudly before throwing the other woman a wolf-ish grin. "Thirteen actually. At least let me be a teenager!"

The blondes mouth quirked at her friends humour and she shook her head in mock despair. Without another word she walked towards the entrance to the shop and began browsing the endless products crammed onto the shelves.

A few aisles later the older woman gently tapped her friend on the arm as they were walking down the aisle that contained fruit and vegetables, to gain her attention. The pair paused their slow wander to take stock of the items adorning the shelves. There was a moment before the older woman spoke.

"What kind of things are you looking for then Pipes? Toiletries? Food? Give me some ideas and then we can play the game of 'hunt-the-product!' around the shop."

"Well… Salad items are a good start…" The blonde walked over to the section of the shelves that contained various bags of mixed leaves and stared up and down the wall looking for a familiar brand.

"Leaves… You want to buy leaves. To eat…?" Alex joked, bringing the trolley closer so that Piper could put them in, even though she teased her. She received a playful nudge for her comment and she grinned at the small smile Piper was trying not to let show. Their eyes met for a brief second and then the blonde dropped her gaze to the bag of leaves she still held in her hand.

Piper took a moment before replying, her voice held a note of laughter. "Not a salad fan then? Seriously you're missing out."

"I'm not a rabbit! I can't eat that!" the older woman joked in response.

The blonde rolled her eyes at this and gave the brunette a mock scolding gesture.

"Sure you can Al, it's good for you!"

"Whatever you say, Pipes. I haven't died yet!" Alex joked happily.

The younger woman reached up towards the top shelf of the aisle she had just walked down to collect an item she had just spied as she let her eyes roam the aisle shelves. Just before her fingers made contact with the packet she was aiming for, she felt a warm presence behind her and then a light but insistent pressure at her sides. She dropped down from her tiptoes and fell backwards at the sensation into waiting arms. Immediately she began her attempt to wriggle once again out of a relentless tickling spree at the hands of her new housemate.

"Alex! Nooooo…! Al!" the blonde managed to gasp out in between trying to defend herself from the persistent presence of tickling. She couldn't help but smile as she hopelessly tried to free herself again. After using up her available energy she slumped back into the brunette's embrace, the sound of the older woman's deep laughter reverberated through her back as she leaned against her to regain her balance. The previously attacking hands rested motionless now on her hips allowing her to compose herself. The blonde exhaled a small laugh and made once again to take the item she wanted from the shelf, her hand got less than half way there.

"I fucking knew you were fucking her!" a voice shouted from a few meters away.

"For fucks sake…" Alex muttered as she dropped her hands from the blonde's waist, turning as she did so, to look at the owner of the familiar voice whilst cautiously positioning herself in-between Piper and the newcomer.

"So you're not denying it?" the voice demanded when Alex didn't reply immediately, annoyed by the lack of reaction.

The brunette sighed as she set her jaw and relocated her glasses to the top of her head. She closed her eyes as she considered the best way to respond to this fucked up situation.

"Well?" she was prompted.

Something in the brunette's composure cracked, anger flowed through her and shaped her lips.

Fuck it. She thought.

"You know what Sylvie? You lost any right to know what's happening in my life when you did what you did." Alex snapped, jabbing a finger towards the other woman's chest. "So yeah, maybe I'm fucking her, or maybe I'm not. You'll just have to live with never knowing which it is."

With that she took Piper's hand and led her away down the aisle, away from the woman she had once been with, before she'd shattered her trust in love and broken her heart. Leaving her ex to gape at their backs as they left, rattled by the harsh words that had tumbled from her former lover's mouth.

The older woman didn't drop the blonde's hand until they reached the checkouts and even then she kept an eye out for any sight of her ex coming back for round two. This resulted in very little conversation between the two women. Piper observed the tension in her friend and felt a stir of sadness in her stomach. They unpacked the items they had managed to gather before they were interrupted onto the conveyer belt in relative silence, the cashier kept up a healthy stream of conversation that only required a few encouraging noises from Piper so as not to seem rude.

They paid for the items and the journey to the car was completed in silence. It was only after both women had climbed back into Alex's car that any real attempt to talk was made.

"I'm sorry for what I said back there. I shouldn't have risen to it and I really shouldn't have insinuated we might be sleeping together…" Alex began to apologise, her shoulders drooped. "I knew it would aggravate her... That's not an image you probably want people to have. I shouldn't have taken that advantage." As she finished speaking she bowed her head.

The blonde could only think how broken she looked in that moment. It stirred a protective feeling in her stomach to see Alex look so vulnerable. She brushed her fingers across the woman's knee to get her attention.

"Al, it's fine. She can think what she wants, as can anyone else. I'd be a very lucky woman to have someone like you." She finished with a smile as she tried to catch the other woman's eye.

Alex blushed at the compliment even though it was obviously meant non-romantically, and Piper reddened when she realised what she had said. The pair left it with no further comments made as neither knew what to say in response to the other's reaction. After a few minutes of silence between them Alex turned on the radio and began tapping the steering wheel in time to the soft music coming from the car speakers. Not long after she began murmuring the lyrics to one she seemed to particularly like. Piper gave a small smile at the sight and joined in with the songs she knew.

It took a few trips from the car to the main entrance to their apartment block to get all the bags inside the building, once they managed that it was a case of juggling and carrying all the bags a short distance at a time and attempting to get up the stairs to Alex's door and into the kitchen of their apartment.

"Do you have a preference as to what we have for dinner?" Piper asked Alex as she began unloading the items from the bags onto the kitchen counter.

Alex took the items the blonde unpacked and put them into the cupboards, fridge or freezer. "Um... I hadn't really thought about it to be honest Pipes. What do you fancy?"

The blonde held up a can of tomatoes and a packet of spaghetti with a small grin. Alex turned back to the fridge and began handing back the other ingredients that could be used for spaghetti Bolognese. "I'll take that as a yes?" Piper asked with a small laugh.

"Sure Kid, I haven't had pasta in ages!"

"Right, let's get the rest of this away and I'll make it, give you the night off!" Piper replied with a wink.

The pair sat side by side on the sofa Alex usually claimed, bowls of pasta in their laps so they could watch an episode of a program together while they ate. Part way through their meal Piper looked over at the brunette to see if she was enjoying the food and noticed she had a small smudge of sauce on her face. Not thinking, the blonde reached across to gently wipe it off with the side of her thumb, she realised what she had done and looked away with an awkward smile.

Alex noticed her friend's sudden shyness and decided not to mention it, simply smiling warmly while continuing to face the screen, she remained aware however of every movement of the woman beside her.

To distract the blonde Alex decided to share a little anecdote she had just remembered. "D'you know, I once tried making a vegetable lasagne but only put one layer of pasta sheets in the middle because I forgot lasagne had layers, plural…"

"Really!?" Piper exclaimed with a giggle.

"Really… Cooking has never been a strong point of mine, it's a wonder I never gave myself food poisoning… At least you can cook! This tastes amazing!" Alex replied, embarrassment colouring her usually pale cheeks.

They continued eating and soon forgot the little moment even happened. Once the women had finished eating and the program had ended they both got up to put the kitchen to rights. Alex took up her position at the sink to wash up and the younger woman found a towel to dry up the newly washed kitchenware. After being dried, everything was put back in its rightful place in the varnished wooden cupboards.

The two women retired back to the living room where Piper picked up a handful of manuscripts from where she had stacked them on the coffee table before they had gone shopping and Alex began flipping through channels to see if anything she liked was on. After a while Alex looked over at Piper tucked up with a blanket reading and switched off the television. The brunette got up and turned off the main light, then quickly crossed the room to turn on a lamp on the table beside Piper's sofa. She flopped back down in front of the sofa the blonde was curled up on, leaning her head back against the sofa cushions and the younger woman's knees. Her friend looked away from her manuscript for a second to look down at her friend.

"Nothing on that you like?" Piper teased, mentally comparing her friend to a bored teenager.

"Nope... I was wondering if I could read manuscripts with you?" Alex inquired, tilting her head further back so she could see the blonde while she spoke. Her eyes were a deeper shade of green in the warmer lighting.

"Of course you can! I've just finished with these ones anyway." The younger woman replied. She handed Alex the finished manuscripts. "Grab another from the table, will you?"

Alex leaned forward to collect another stack of treasury tag bound paper and immediately felt a chill go through her hair where she had been leaning against the sofa and Piper and now wasn't. She settled back into a comfortable position and tugged a spare blanket from over the arm of the sofa.

"It's titled: "Litchfield" By Stella Carlin." Alex read.

"Oh, that's the newest one I've been given, I haven't even looked at it yet! Will you read it out loud?" the blonde asks, ruffling Alex's hair by accident as she shifts positions so she can see the writing over Alex's shoulder. Piper settled on her side, using one of her arms as a pillow, her blanket pulled up to her shoulders.

Alex began reading, her voice so low she could feel the rumble of her words in her chest. As she read Piper made comments about lines or phrases she wanted to add annotations to. She read page after page until a few hours had passed, Piper's commentary had slowed and Alex could have sworn she heard yawning behind her.

"Pipes, do you want me to stop for tonight?" Alex said quietly after the most recent yawn.

"No Al! Please don't stop reading, it's very relaxing." Piper mumbled sleepily right next to her ear.

So the brunette kept reading but made her voice softer, until her friend's breathing had slowed considerably and she was certain Piper had drifted off to sleep. She glanced round and smiled at the content look on the younger woman's face, how peaceful she looked while sleeping. Alex returned to reading, but silently now.

Not long after she felt her own eyelids grow heavy and the words in front of her started to become fuzzy. The older woman barely noticed when her limbs relaxed and her head lolled backwards, resting lightly against the blonde's stomach. Neither woman noticed when the evening became properly the night, nor when the sun began to rise again in the morning.

A/N: As usual thank you for reading and if there was something you did/didn't like please let me know so I can keep/stop doing it! Thank you to the new followers and gentle nudgers, it really is encouraging when in a bit of a writing slump! :)