A/N: Halloo! I'm sorry I've not updated in ages, I'm useless at regular updating so please don't hate me… Life just gets in the way… I know this is only a baby chapter but I wanted to give you something… anything…to show I'm still going with this, just very, very slowly… Hope you are not all disappointed!
THUD, THUD, THUD.
The woman on the floor woke with a start, a little disorientated to find herself not in her bed as she expected, but still on the floor where she'd been sat the night before. She calmed a little as she took in the room and confirmed neither woman had made it from the living room to their respective beds, both blissfully unaware and content in sleep until some delightful person had come knocking at the door.
A bright beam of morning sunlight filtered in through the still-open curtains of the room, making Alex close her eyes against the light. Her mind was whirling from the odd dream she'd had about prisons and daring adventures of running from drug lords after finishing the remainder of the script she'd been reading to Piper. She opened her eyes again to find the world a blur. After groping around for a second, the brunette located and donned her glasses and the world snapped into focus.
Coffee. Coffee was the answer, she thought to herself. She struggled to her feet, the blanket she had had wrapped around her fell to the floor as she made it upright. Untangling the material from around her feet, she started towards the kitchen.
Whoever was on the other side of the front door reminded her of their presence once more by knocking a little louder. Coffee, Alex thought again, right after I tell whoever woke me to kindly remove themselves from the building… with a sigh she changed course and hurried to the door before they woke her friend who was still slumbering peacefully. She reached for the latch and opened the door.
"Vause!" A familiar voice laughed from the hallway. "You look bloody awful!"
"Thanks Nichols… that would be because you just woke me up…" Alex grumbled at her friend before opening the door wider. "Come into the kitchen, but quietly. Piper is still asleep. We'll talk once I've had caffeine."
The other woman winked in response and placed a single finger over her lips as she smirked and crossed the threshold, tiptoeing towards the kitchen area.
Alex began systematically opening doors and drawers to begin making drinks, without thinking she retrieved three mugs and placed them by the gently bubbling kettle. Nicky watched her friend shuffle still half asleep about the kitchen with amusement before deciding to speak.
"So… You and Blondie… Both up late, slept in there last night… Together?" The wild-haired woman enquired, her eyebrows danced suggestively as she dodged a sloppy lunge from her friend at her words. She held up her hands in mock innocence, her look however was more mischievous than before.
"We were reading Piper's manuscripts for work, she fell asleep before me and I finished the script and must have drifted off at some point…Nothing happened, Nick." Alex attempted to explain, moving her glasses to the top of her head as she turned back to the kettle to start pouring boiling water, instant coffee and sugar as desired into mugs, becoming anxious her friend was thinking the worst.
The brunette's thoughts drifted to her outburst towards her ex the day before and her pale face reddened slightly at the memory. Not usually one to be shy about her sexscapades when it came to telling Nicky, she reasoned it was too just early for this shit and she still hadn't had her coffee and that is why she felt so defensive of her slumbering housemate.
"Whoa, calm down Vause! I was only teasing! No need to get yourself worked up!" Nicky held her hands up again, this time to calm her friend rather than tease her. She took note of her friends slightly odd reaction and resolved to coax an explanation from her one way or another.
"Sorry… I'm just a bit tired. It's a bit early for this, I'll explain later… Coffee?" the brunette offered as an explanation to her defensiveness, a hand that had been pressed to her temple quickly tucked her glasses back into place and restored her sight again. She handed the wild-haired woman a steaming mug without waiting for her reply and made her way back into the living room.
"So… What are your plans for today, Kid?" the brunette inquired as she handed her recently awoken housemate a mug and flopped herself back onto her sofa she was now sharing with her best friend. She remembered too late she had the final cup of coffee in her hand and cursed softly when a warm trickle of brown liquid spilt over her hand.
The blonde and the fiery haired woman attempted to cover their smiles by each taking a sip from their own mugs while their friend attempted to mop the mess she had made with the hem of her shirt.
"Ummm…" the blonde mused, she took another sip of her drink before replying. "Well, firstly, I think I'm going to have a shower. Then I've got to finish marking up that last script quickly before booking a meeting with the author, Stella, and confirming some details on an event we've got coming up. Then… Actually! I think that's about it!" she finished by staring down into her drink.
"It's a Saturday Kid… Sounds like an awful lot of work for a weekend." The older woman grinned as her friend rolled her eyes.
"It'll take a few hours at best, Al. It's not the entire weekend!" Piper shook her head and smiled before adding, "What about you two?"
The wild-haired woman tilted her head slightly as she listened to the blonde, taking in the easy interaction between the other two women with a small smile. "I'm gonna steal your roomie for a little while if that's okay with you Blondie? I need to eat and…eh, she knows how to show a girl a good time." Nicky joked, with a wink in Alex's direction. She glanced back at the blonde to take in any reaction to her comment, finding an amused half-smile that was not conclusive in furthering her investigation in to her friend's slightly off demeanour.
"Very funny Nick…" Alex protested playfully. She directed her attention to blonde again. "I was hoping you might have some time at some point this weekend… Might you be familiar with making any kind of cake? If you are… Could teach me so I could participate in the charity bake competition at work? I have literally no idea how to bake a cake…" The brunette rambled, feeling a little self-conscious to be asking for help.
"I'm sure I can fit you into my busy plans at some point…" Piper teased, reaching for a pen and scrap of paper that was lying within reach from the night before. She quickly noted something down in her elegant script before continuing. "We've actually got all the ingredients already, except for icing sugar…So if you grab some at some point we can give it a go!"
"Dude, that event is not for at least another two weeks!" Nicky laughed at her friend's attempt at preparation.
"I anticipate a number of failures Nick…" Alex replied in a serious tone to the woman seated next to her. Then turning to Piper, "I'm sorry, I should have thought about it yesterday…"
"Don't worry about it Al, we got interrupted, it's okay." The blonde tried to reassure.
"Well… if that's all settled, can I steal her now? Dude, I'm starving, if you know what I mean." Nicky piped up with a flirty wink at the blonde. She certainly hadn't missed the unspoken conversation the other two women has just shared and wished to discuss it with Alex before her friend could attempt to deny any such thing taking place.
"You are insufferable Nick…" Alex laughed with a shake of her head. She got up to accept the piece of paper from her housemate and handed it to her best friend. "Please look after that for a second, I'm just gonna get changed and I'll be right with you."
The two women left on their respective sofas chatted lightly as they waited for their missing friend to return. A few minutes later their conversation was interrupted by a chirpy pre-set ringtone, it took a moment for either woman to react to the noise.
"Oh shit… I can't get it out my pocket…" Nicky cursed as she fought to retrieve her ringing mobile. A second later she had managed to wrestle it out of her pocket and hastily answer it. "Hello? Hey Red!" there was a slight pause as the wild-haired woman listened to the person on the other end of the phone, before she replied with a laugh. "Yeah… I'll be a good daughter and come when called…" seconds later the line went dead and the wild haired woman began wrestling her phone back into her pocket. At that moment Alex returned from getting ready, wallet in one hand, keys jangling in the other.
"Seems we'll have to take a rain check on our little date Vause, Mumma Red needs some help over at the shop as someone called in sick today." While her voice showed no issue with the new circumstances, the shorter woman looked slightly torn about leaving.
"It's okay, go get ready for work!" the brunette encouraged, knowing full well it wouldn't pay for her friend to be late, regardless of the love their boss had for the quirky younger woman.
"You sure? I'm sorry dude…I actually wanted to talk to you." Nicky met her friend's eye and then looked away quickly, hoping her friend would catch her drift.
"I'll come by when you're on lunch?" Alex offered immediately, fearing the worst at those words.
"Sure, we can catch up then. I'll let you know when I'm off." Nicky agreed. After a second she slid herself from the sofa and into an upright position, and headed for the door. As she was walking out into the hall she spun around and pointed at the sofa she'd been sat on. "I left my keys behind…" the brunette tossed them to her with a chuckle and shook her head as her friend caught them and shut the door behind her.
"Seeing as I'm ready to go out, I might as well run to the shop and grab the final item. Want anything while I'm there?" Alex asked lightly as she stepped towards the door, hesitating to wait for a response before leaving.
"I'm good thanks, Al." Piper replied gratefully as she began collecting up the empty coffee mugs to take to the kitchen.
"Alrighty, I'll see you in a bit then!" The taller woman smiled, waving slightly as she shut the door.
The door to the apartment creaked open with a muffled thud as the person shuffling over the threshold kicked at it to open it wider. Once the figure had entered she nudged the door closed with her hip and made her way to the kitchen to quickly put away all the perishable items she had bought while she was out.
"I got a bit carried away and bought a load of stuff I thought we might need too… like a cake tin…that is kind of important…" the brunette called out to the house, hoping her friend would be listening if she was around. She was met with silence. With a shrug, she continued to put away the items she had brought to make up for the interruption in shopping the day before as well as those needed for the cake making process. After she was finished she walked into the living room area and found the blonde sat staring into space, looking a little dazed.
"What's this?" Alex said, walking over to her housemate, picking up a piece of paper resting on the coffee as she came to perch on the arm of the sofa closest to her friend's head. The blonde took the paper from her hand hastily, before she could begin reading it. A look of guilt flashed across her features at her actions, she dropped her arm heavily against the sofa cushion.
"Oh that… the post came while you were out. My mother found your address. She had someone post it though the outside door, someone must have then put it in your post locker when they saw the number and voila, I collected the post..." she sighed deeply and flopped her head back to avoid any eye contact when she next spoke. "You know what gets me? She waited this long to express her views on the distorted version of events with Larry. This is the first thing she has tried to say to me since it happened."
At the mention of the blonde's ex the older woman's mouth turned down with distaste. She didn't like where this was going…
Before she could lose her nerve, Piper unfolded the paper and began reading it out loud, the roles now reversed between the pair.
Piper,
I was very shocked and disappointed to receive the news that you left Larry-
The brunette put a hand on the younger woman's shoulder to halt her.
"You don't have to read the rest, Pipes." She said quietly, taking in how drained Piper looked compared to her earlier bubbly self. Her work sat completed on the table, as well as her diary open with a new appointment written inside. The brunette wanted to spare her friend any further unnecessary unhappiness, so she added. "I don't think you really need or want to read it again."
Relief flooded through the blonde, the gentle pressure of the older woman's hand gave her comfort that she was not alone. She leant her head against her friend's lap and Alex moved her hand to stoke the blonde hair resting against her.
Piper waited a few moments to allow herself to be calmed by the soothing motions, then she took a breath and steeled herself to reveal the icing on the cake.
"She finished the letter saying she didn't approve of my current living arrangements and by demanding I go to lunch to 'discuss what I've done'. Of course, it's dated for today…"
A/N: Rightio… I've got a large part of the next chapter sorted so it shouldn't be too long before that is finished… if I don't get distracted! :P Feel free to review or message me with ideas/improvements. Also thank you to all the people who have been reading/following/favouriting/reviewing. It literally makes my day. :D
-BernieWhiskers