A/N: Yes… I know it's been a while. Please don't hate me… It's here now though so please forgive me for being awfully uninspired these last couple of months. New year, hopefully better time keeping? We can hope… Enjoy!
"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…"
The words rang in the air, their message amplified by the sudden absence of sound between the two women. One shocked into silence and the other anxiously waiting for a response.
"Well shit…" the older woman exhaled when she could stand the quiet no longer. She rose from the arm of the battered sofa and came to sit facing her housemate, the better to read her reactions to the situation.
"For someone who reads so much, that wasn't very eloquent…" the blonde commented and laughed, it sounded hollow with the threat of tears. She offered no resistance when the brunette took her hands and held them gently in hers.
"I know, sorry…" She tried catching her friend's eye, hoping to get through the haze that had begun to shroud her. "I wasn't sure what to say. Are you going to go?" Alex ventured to ask.
The younger woman dropped her shoulders as she sighed to herself, she had already resigned herself to her fate. "I don't have a choice." Piper mumbled, avoiding the worried gaze of her friend. "She will just keep demanding if I don't. Might as well get it over with. I have no idea what I'm going to say though."
"You do realise you've done nothing wrong don't you, Pipes?" Alex enquired of the younger girl softly. She furrowed her dark eyebrows as she waited for a response. The rumble of cars outside their building occupied the slight break in conversation while the blonde pondered her response.
"Yes…" Piper replied with enough hesitation to indicate she was starting to think the contrary.
"You are also old enough to decide where you live and who with, Kid. Admittedly, we haven't known each other very long and to some people moving in with me was a rash thing to do, but I feel like I've come to know you better in the short time you've been here than some people I've known for years." The brunette began, sincerity making her voice ring with clarity. Her gaze flicked to the open window where bright beams of light were infiltrating the living room as she weighed up whether to keep talking.
After an intake of breath, she continued. "Your mother doesn't have to like your decisions or me for that matter. If you feel they were the right decisions, that is all that matters. I will come with you if it would help? Or drive you if coming in would cause trouble? I'm here for you, Piper."
She looked away to hide the sudden uncharacteristic wave of emotion that welled up within her. Her rage at the events of the last couple of weeks, her sadness due to the hurt both women had faced in that time and her almost overwhelming need to take care of the woman before her. It was scary to think it would have been so easy for them to have passed each other by and never have met at all. She couldn't imagine a more upsetting thought in that moment.
The pair sat for a few minutes. Neither wanted to move or disturb the other as they appeared lost in thought after Alex's unintentional burst of sentiment.
"What did I do to deserve meeting someone like you?" the younger woman murmured almost to herself, glancing up as she spoke. She finally met Alex's eye.
"That is the question I should be asking you, and why are we only just meeting now?" Alex smiled warmly at her friend. She felt less exposed at her words, the worry she had spoken out of turn dissipating at the more relaxed postured of the woman opposite her.
The blonde gave a weak smile and acknowledged her friend's kind words with a small squeeze of their joined hands. "Would you mind driving me? I could do with the company on the way, but I think I should talk to her alone. I don't want to put you through the interrogation you would no doubt receive…"
"If I can survive Red interrogating me, I think I could take your mother. But if that's what you want, I'll take you. Let me know when you want to go." The older woman joked, in an attempt to make her friend smile again.
The journey to the wealthier area of the city was over much quicker than the younger woman had hoped. The closer they drove to the Chapman estate the more anxious the blonde passenger seemed to become about arriving at their destination. Despite this they travelled in relative silence, comforted by the other's company, only speaking to ask for or to give directions.
Too soon Alex's old car rumbled onto the extravagant gravel driveway that surrounded Piper's childhood home and they pulled alongside a line of sleek looking convertibles and other expensive cars. Alex switched of the engine and waited for the noise to settle, she took in Pipers wince at the sudden quiet and subtly observed how she sat. Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap and her shoulders were tense. Tiny tremors shook her body in anticipated and dread for what was about to happen.
"We can always leave…" The older woman whispered gently, so as not to startle the already agitated woman.
"We've come all this way, I need to. It'll only get worse if I don't go in." Piper whispered back grimly.
"It'll be okay, Pipes. I'm going to meet Nicky on her lunch break, but if you need me at any point I will be back in my car and with you as soon as I can be. Text me when you want picking up and I'll be here, okay?" She reassured her friend, anything to try and comfort her in anyway.
After a small nod of acknowledgment from the blonde, Alex watched her friend reluctantly exit her vehicle and stand by the passenger side for a second. With a visible intake of breath, her whole posture changed, the nervous blonde who had just left the car was replaced with a calm, collected and confident figure. When no trace of nervousness remained she slowly began to approach the huge front door of the Chapman residence. It occurred to Alex as she waited that the room she could see closest to her was bigger than her entire apartment. She whistled a breath at the thought. What to do with that kind of money…she mused.
On the step of the grand entrance, Piper paused with her hand raised to knock. The door swung open before she could make contact with the heavily varnished wood.
"Welcome home Miss Chapman, good afternoon to you." An elderly gentleman greeted her kindly.
"That will be all Samuel." Commanded a voice from beside him. Samuel inclined his head to the unseen speaker and gave a respectful bow to Piper standing exactly as she had been before the door had opened. He seemed to know better than to wait for the reply Piper clearly had been about to produce at his words as a new figure filled the doorway.
"Don't just stand there Piper, darling." Carol Chapman, Piper's mother, instructed her from her new position. "If you needed driving I could have sent a car for you. I see your new acquaintance is lingering. Her car is making the driveway look untidy. Really Piper, what would the neighbours think?"
The older Chapman tutted and glared over her daughter's shoulder at the out of place vehicle and its driver who seemed to be waiting for them to go inside before leaving. She turned abruptly and stalked away from the entrance and made her way deeper into the maze of corridors, leaving her daughter to stare after her receding form.
Piper glanced over her shoulder at the car she had just exited, reassured at not being stranded at her family home just yet. Her stomach flipped with nerves as she took the last step and the door locked shut behind her the second she passed the threshold.
Alex entered the place where she worked, noting the distinct lack of lunch rush she had been expecting. Nicky waved enthusiastically as her friend appeared at the door. The wild haired woman met the taller woman at a table tucked into the corner closest to the gap to go behind the bar.
The shorter woman playfully punched her friend's shoulder in greeting and laughed when Alex pretended to be injured from it. There was something slightly off with her normal confident posture, Nicky noticed. It worried her that her friend might be struggling more than she let on to anyone else.
"So, what you been up to since I left you this morning, Vause? Missing me every second I bet!" Nichols enquired, waggling her eyebrows suggestively as she untied her apron.
"I've just dropped Piper off at her mother's for a what can only be described as an 'Intervention'" Alex sighed, she raised her hands to make air quotes. "She got a letter while I was out. And to top it off, we bumped into Sylvie yesterday while we were shopping."
"Shit, Vause… What did the Witch want?" Nicky growled with annoyance, the mere mention of her friend's ex filling her with simmering anger. The evidence of which was clear from the cleaning cloth balled up in her fist. A few people peered over at their table due to her slightly raised voice.
"Which witch?" Alex asked in mock confusion, rolling her eyes as she spoke.
"The witch I've met, Vause…" Nicky replied dryly. She shook her head in exasperation and her flame coloured mane crackled around her.
"Well you might have met Mrs Chapman at one of your mother's many 'rich people parties'… If their house is anything to go by they would definitely have been invited." Alex tried to reason.
"Stop avoiding the question, Alex." The fiery haired woman cautioned her friend. The brunette sighed and looked down at the table between them before answering.
"She caught me tickling Piper when she reached up for something on the top shelf and accused me of sleeping with her… I told her she'd have to live with never knowing if I was…" Alex admitted quietly. Guilt seeped through her again as she thought about the day before and the fact Piper was at that moment forced to endure visiting with her mother due to the events with Larry and her association with Alex.
"She can't catch you doing anything Vause… You didn't do anything wrong." Nicky replied simply, wiping the table between them with the cloth in an attempt to calm down. She looked up at the older woman by the end to gauge her reaction.
"No… I suppose not… I just still feel guilty about what I said though. I didn't want Piper to think badly of me for it. Or for anyone to judge her for it." The brunette admitted, her eyes glued to the salt and pepper shakers her hands were fidgeting with as she spoke. She brought a hand up to move her glasses to the top of her head and exhaled sharply, covering her eyes with her hand as she did.
"Does she think badly of you for it?" Nicky asked, humouring her friend the stupid question.
"I don't think so, she said she would be lucky to have someone like me. I think I'm pretty much the master of handling things completely wrong." The brunette spoke through her hand. After a second, she picked up a menu from the table menu rack and began squinting at it without her glasses on.
"Huh…" Nicky mused, raising her eyebrows quickly, relieved her friend missed the gesture as she was looking at the menu like it was the most interesting thing she'd ever read. Despite the fact they both knew she knew it by heart. She hastily continued to avoid making her friend suspicious. "Well there you go, Vause. She's not upset with you and your ex is almost certain you've found someone better. This does not seem like a bad thing?"
"Piper and I are not together… You do know that right?" Alex frowned at her friend's choice of words, worry that she had given her the wrong impression creasing her brow.
"Of course I do. Miss Worrier." Nicky assured her, noting her friend's anxiety. She berated herself for her usual lack of tact. "I wouldn't blame you though, if you did like her. She is an incredibly attractive woman. If it wasn't for Lorna…" she trailed off and tensed as her face darkened. The shorter woman glanced over towards the till area where she had last seen the most recent object of her desire to check she hadn't been overheard.
"Don't even think about it…" Alex warned protectively. She continued less fiercely. "We've both been through a lot recently. I wouldn't take advantage of us being thrown together like this. Besides, she might not even be interested."
"But then again, she might be. So calm down dude. I was just winding you up." Nicky backtracked, trying to placate her friend at the same time.
"How are things with Lorna?" Alex asked carefully, trying to sound light but neither woman was fooled that this conversation came under 'light conversation' anymore.
"You know it's not taking advantage if she feels the same… Just saying…" Nicky grinned mischievously to try and cover her discomfort at the turn this conversation was taking. She dropped the grin before she went on. "Morello is back at work, but she's pretending nothing happened."
"How convenient…" Alex remarked simply. A flicker of annoyance crossed her face at the way her best friend was being treated.
"Well, it's not, actually. For me or anyone around me…" The wild haired woman protested. "Because I realised I am hopelessly in love with an incredible, insane, beautiful woman who's never going to love me back. It's just not worth it." The younger woman looked surprised at her own outburst but didn't hurry to take it back having finally admitted it.
"It won't always be like this Nick, either she'll sort her shit out sharpish or you will find someone who isn't going to screw you around." Alex said confidently, her conviction that it would all turn out okay lending strength to her friend.
Nicky shook her head as she realised the roles had reversed and she was no longer the one doing the comforting but the one being comforted. "When can we get off this fucking rollercoaster?" she joked animatedly, laughing at her own comment. Both women seemed to appreciate the attempt to return to a less intense level of conversation in their current surroundings and just for a break from the accompanying stress it brought with it.
The pair ordered some food from their colleague working the tills, who turned out not to be Morello luckily for the wild haired woman. They continued chatting freely while they ate their lunch and laughed at shared jokes and funny facial expressions they pulled at each other to let out some tension.
A short while later their conversation was interrupted by the brunette's phone buzzing with an incoming message. She immediately wriggled the device out of her pocket and unlocked it to read the full message.
From Piper:
Hey Al, can you come get me please? We're done here. X
"Is that Blondie?" Nicky asked curiously. Her friend nodded her reply as she quickly typed out a message back.
From Alex:
On my way, Pipes. I'll be with you very soon. X
"She just messaged me to go and get her… Sorry Nick, I've got to shoot." Alex apologised, not wanting to leave her best friend to her thoughts but also not wanting to make her newest friend wait.
"S'alright my dude. My break is nearly up anyway, so off with you to collect your roomie. Don't make her suffer any longer then the has to…" Nicky reassured her apprehensive friend. "Like you said, we're all gonna be okay."
"Thank you, Nick. I feel a bit better having talked to you about it all…" The taller woman confessed with a grateful smile and another playful punch to Nicky's arm.
"I'm glad, so do I, Vause. But now life must continue. Until the next time?" Nichols replied, a silly accent making her words sound comical.
"Until the next time, Nichols." Alex said with a salute before turning towards the door and striding quickly back to her car.
When the brunette arrived at the Chapman estate for the second time that day she parked even closer to the door than last time, so her friend wouldn't have as far to walk to get to the car. She got out of the car and texted the woman inside as she walked to the door to let her know she was there before she knocked. The door was promptly opened, and the blonde appeared in the door way. She still had the confident façade she had assumed before entering the house, but it looked like it was becoming harder for her to maintain. She stepped towards her housemate and stared straight at the car and Alex stepped backwards to open the passenger door for her friend.
Once Piper was safely in the car, the taller woman strode round to the driver's door and glanced back at the door way to see Piper's mother glaring at her with her arms crossed over her chest. A mask of disapproval fixed on her face, the older blonde woman raised her chin with an air of disdain and abruptly turned back into the house like she had before. The door slammed closed again like nothing had happened.
Alex got into her car and settled into the seat for a second, she looked over at her passenger who remained staring ahead. With a strained expression the brunette started the car and sped away from the house, trying not to wheelspin and create tyre tracks in the gravel even though it would have given her great satisfaction to do so. After a few minutes of quiet driving Alex opened her mouth to speak and Piper merely shook her head to silence whatever she had been going to say. She would speak when she was ready, it would seem.
The older woman gestured vaguely to the radio controls in an open invitation to put it on should the fancy take the younger woman. Shortly after, Piper extended one finger and clumsily poked the on button and turned it down until the sound from the speakers was barely audible. Piper seemed to drift off into her own thoughts and Alex respected her need to some time to herself after the meeting, which did not seem to have gone particularly well.
They arrived back at the apartment still in silence and neither woman seemed about to change that until the door had shut behind them. The blonde turned back to the older woman and opened her arms in a silent request. The brunette complied immediately and wrapped her arms around the shorter woman and held her close as she began to shake. The older woman attempted to soothe the woman in her arms with quiet words, tracing gentle patterns down her back and eventually the shaking subsided. Piper took a deep breath to steady herself and spoke for the first time since she'd left her childhood home.
"Al… I know I promised, but could we take a rain check on baking that cake please? I feel awful, I think I should go lay down for a bit." The blond murmured into Alex's shoulder.
"Sure, don't worry about it. It's not urgent. If you need anything, just shout, alright?" Alex answered, her voice as soft as her emerald eyes as she pulled back to look at the woman she held in her arms.
They untangled themselves and Piper made her way to her bedroom, leaving her housemate staring after her. Alex wandered over to her usual sofa and scooping up a book that had been lying on the coffee table as she passed it and sank into the cushions with a sigh.
Hours later, the brunette was considering what to make for dinner and decided to check on her housemate to see what she wanted. Very lightly she knocked on the door and carefully turned the handle so as not to wake her friend if she was still sleeping but giving her enough warning if she wasn't. The blonde was curled up on her side underneath he covers and quite clearly asleep and so the brunette retreated and left her to rest.
Alex started awake in the early hours of the morning, she checked the time on her phone screen and winced at the brightness before it adjusted itself to the rooms brightness. Her throat felt dry and she looked around for a glass of water that wasn't there. She shook off the confusion of waking up, tucked her phone into the breast pocket of her nightshirt and swung herself upright to get out of bed to get that water.
She padded barefoot to the door of her bedroom and into the kitchen where she fumbled around without her glasses on to retrieve her water. She began making her way back to her room when she heard a sob coming from the bathroom. She altered her course towards the bathroom door instead and nudged it open slowly to see Piper sat by the toilet crying. Just as the older woman opened the door Piper leant back over the toilet to continue throwing up.
Alex hurriedly put down her glass and rushed to crouch at Piper's side, gathering up the blonde hair in her left hand and rubbing her back soothingly with the right as whole-body shudders overtook the other woman. Once again Alex began murmuring soft noises and words to try and calm the other woman. Her heart ached to see her friend so unwell.
After a while Piper stopped being sick as there was nothing left to throw up and Alex helped her sit back against the bathroom wall. The blonde refused to look at her and kept her head turned away.
Alex leant over to pick up the glass of water she had not got around to drinking and offered it to Piper, who rinsed her mouth out and took a few sips to take away the vile taste in her mouth.
"I'm so sorry for that Al…" she began.
"Hey, don't worry about it Pipes." The older woman said with a sympathetic smile, she tried to catch Piper's eye, but the blonde wouldn't meet her gaze. The young began crying to herself softly, so Alex scooted over to sit next to her and put an arm around Pipers shoulders. Piper fitted herself into the space Alex had created under her arm and allowed herself to be calmed by gentle touches. After a while she sniffed as she reclaimed a little control over her breathing and tears.
"I must look a right mess." Piper said with a sigh. Her face buried in Alex's shoulder once again. Her breathing was slowing down almost to a sleep pace as she had exhausted herself. Alex waited until she was sure Piper was either asleep or not quite conscious enough to comprehend her next words.
"You are beautiful Piper." Alex said softly, stroking her fingertips down her friend's arm.
Alex carefully maneuvered her friend and carried Piper back to her room. She gently tucked her into her bed then went back to the kitchen for another glass of water and placed it carefully on the bedside table of Pipers room along with a bucket from under the sink, just in case… she thought.
After she was sure Piper was settled she went back to the bathroom and gave it a quick once over to make sure it was clean and tidy for the morning. After that she plodded back to her room and tried to settle back to sleep. Almost twenty minutes later she was still tossing and turning, worry for her friend keeping her awake.
So, she picked up a pillow and one of many blankets off her bed and shuffled back into Piper's room and curled up in the reclining arm chair in the corner of the room and soon fell asleep to the sound of Piper's breathing.
Piper stirred early the next morning to see Alex asleep on her armchair and her heart fluttered at everything this woman was doing to look after her, she was quite convinced she didn't deserve such effort. She closed her eyes again for just a second while she tried to think of how to thank the other woman for everything she had done and soon drifted off to sleep again.
A while later that morning Alex woke when her phone began buzzing in her pocket, her alarm to get ready for work. She decided to call her boss and see if she could rearrange her hours, so she could keep an eye on her recovering housemate.
She removed herself from the room so as not to wake the sleeping form by talking and dialled the number. A familiar voice answered shortly after.
"Hey Red, It's me." Alex began, "I need a favour… Piper was ill in the night and I don't really want to leave her…" she trailed off, hoping her boss would catch her drift.
"Take the day, Vause. We'll sort the hours, Trish wanted an extra shift for the weekend anyway." Red settled firmly.
"I just wish I could take away all the hurt she's going through right now." Alex admitted quietly, she rubbed her forehead above her eyebrow with the heel of her hand when she realised Red had heard her.
"There is no strength without the memory of suffering, Vause. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you know which direction to go in." Alex's boss reminded her employee as gently as her normally gruff voice allowed.
"How true…" Alex agreed, simply.
"You really care for this one, don't you?" Red said in her thick Russian accent.
"Somebody needs to be there for her, why not me?" Was all the brunette said by way of reply.
"That girl seems to be good for you, Vause. Let's try to keep her around. Give her simple foods for a while, don't want her bringing it all back up again." Red advised her and hung up before Alex could thank her or reply.
A knock on Pipers bedroom door roused her from her light doze, she smiled weakly as she recognised Alex shuffling back into the room carrying a tray in her hands.
"Hey, Pipes. Thought you might be hungry so I made you soup… I say made… I heated up some soup…" Alex admitted with a grin, gently offering the tray containing warm toast and a lightly steaming bowl next to it.
"Morning..." Piper croaked before trying to sit up a bit. She spied the glass of water and took a sip before trying again. "For breakfast?"
"Technically, it's a late lunch, but… seeing as it's your first meal maybe breakfast?" Alex teased, pleased at the marked improvement in her friend's condition. She positioned the tray over the seated girl's lap and made to retreat while she ate.
Piper smirked at her housemate's reasoning and picked up a square of toast to dip it into the soup. Just before she took a bite she chuckled to herself and called after her housemate: "Nicky was certainly right, you do know how to show a girl a good time, Al."
A/N: Thank you for bearing with me while I found some inspiration to write again…And a way to upload the chapter, there seems to have been problems... It's already been a crazy year, I passed my driving test too! Like always, review or message me if you'd like to! I always love hearing from you all! It keeps me going when I get a new review, favourite or follow! :D
- BernieWhiskers x