~~~~immegan: yes dear in to every life a little rain must fall...as fan fiction readers we have to have angst :) Clarice91- 100 is a bit too much this time around! Mcin1910-my stories will stay up as long as fanfiction dot net allows them, so tend to real life and save the complete disregard of it for when Jenji puts out Season 2 and we all binge watch! TheVausemanFeels- thanks for the review and I'm thrilled y'all like the happiness the girls have definitely earned...now I go about setting it all a blaze..or not ;)~~~

Chapter Three

For Whither Thou Goest

The flight was long and they both slept through most of it. Alex read a paper back while Piper played with her Kindle. Once they got through customs, which was difficult for both of them because Alex was pulled out to be searched. Piper could tell she was making a valiant effort to act like it didn't bother her at all because it was their honeymoon and Alex Vause would not give in to her fears. They rented a car and drove to their bungalow on the beach. Piper had made hasty reservations but it wasn't prime travel time there and it was nice. The weather wasn't pristine or hot, actually it looked like it might rain any moment. However, once they got to their place and saw the startling beauty of the white sand beaches, neither woman cared.

They were just relaxed and natural. Piper thought that perhaps this would always be how they were at their best...traveling together. Each did their roles with ease. Alex got the bags, while Piper arranged the car. Piper worked on their itinerary while Alex drove and made sure their place was safe. She didn't even go in the bungalow until Alex went inside and inspected it. The Concierge that brought them to the house seemed a bit put out but Piper had learned long ago to trust Alex. Once, she found a poisonous snake in their bed in Jakarta. Ever since, Alex had always checked their rooms. Even in Paris, Alex would go check first to make sure it was right for Piper. The only time she didn't was on the Toronto trip and truth be known, Eva had already checked everything was to Piper's liking.

"This is great. Thank you," Alex said to the man as she passed him a rather large tip. She then instructed him that they would be eating their evening meal at the clubhouse. She ordered Piper's favorite white wine, taking a chance that the main meal would go well with it. Piper knew she was probably right. It was a gift Alex had. She could choose the best wine. Once he left Piper looked at her and they just laughed. The front room was spacious with a huge open window to the beach. It has safety shutters that he started to tell them about before he left, but Alex assured him that they knew. There was a huge king size bed in the back part, a small kitchenette and refrigerator and a bathroom off to the side. Piper poked her head in as she put their toiletry bag on the sink. It has a shower stall big enough for two so that was perfect. She did look down to make sure no huge bugs were inside. She knew Alex had checked but it didn't hurt to check twice. Piper turned and walked back in to the main room with a smile on her face.

"Here we are...on our fucking honeymoon. Do you believe it kid?" Alex asked as she pulled her wife in to her embrace. Piper fell in to the warmth of her arms and shivered as the excitement of her words washed over her.

"No. I still think sometimes I'm going to wake up passed out on the couch in Connecticut and the last months would have all been a dream," Piper admitted. Alex scrunched her forehead and leaned it to press against Piper's in her sweet way.

"I still think I'm going to wake up in my bunk to the realization I lost you to Larry. I would dream about you having kids with him and making all your dreams come true. It would make me so sick...but I did it to myself. Now though, that is all gone and we have nothing but OUR life together to plan. Wanna go down to the beach before it starts raining?" she asked. Piper answered by taking her hand and heading to the door. The sand wasn't hot, just warmed by the morning sun. The water was blue and it shimmered in a way that made Piper just exhale all of her worries. Alex came up behind her and wrapped her up in an embrace that Piper was positive could heal any heart ache.

"You know, we've traveled lots of places but only in a few have we been alone. Those were always my favorite. British Columbia, Paris, Cardiff-sorta -" Piper said listing some of the short trips they would take to get away from Alex's business.

"Toronto, " Alex interrupted, "That was my favorite of all our trips. I love that we share a past together and those memories...they sustained me through the worst time in my life. Once, I was way high...I had made a deal and then went to a club and got completely wasted. I got robbed and left to just OD in some flop house in Paris. I lay there, completely out of my mind and the only thing I could do to make myself get up and go to find a phone to call for help, was imagine you were with me...telling me to get up and move. I didn't do much after that. I actually tapered off more and made my move to Vermont. I still used some but as you know, after that I was arrested. You see, you were always with me, even when I screamed at you for leaving me, I needed you to be whole." Piper closed her eyes and pushed her fear down. Alex never shared the details of her drug addiction. Piper assumed she did in her NA meetings but she never shared with Piper.

"I...am so thankful you did. Not that you got arrested or had to go to prison, but that you got out and got clean, " Piper turned in her embrace and held Alex's face in her hands. "Do you think we would have found each other again if we'd never gone to prison?"

Alex seemed to consider this and finally she answered, "I'd like to say yes, but I know the answer is no. I hate what happened to me in prison...what happened to you, but we both know being incarcerated together at Litchfield made us face our own shit and that brought us together. So no, I would have lived my life in Vermont, found a girl to live with and traveled on my ill gotten gains. If I'd ever seen you out in public, I would have stayed back and just watched you."

"You wouldn't have walked up and said, "Hi Pipes"?" Piper asked. Alex just shook her head.

"Would you have said anything to me if you saw me out someplace?" Alex asked. Piper remembered how she saw Alex at her mom's funeral, just right after they had broken up and she never stepped forward. She had decided that cutting Alex out of her life was as crucial to saving her life as breathing air.

"No, but I would have cried myself to sleep that night...especially if I saw you smile at a girl, " Piper admitted.

"You didn't cry when you saw Nora at the prison," Alex teased back.

Piper didn't smile she just turned her head to the side and replied, "Yes I did. I was scared you'd say something to Larry and he'd worry about us being together. But my mind kept thinking about how you held her close and-" Piper stopped and swallowed. She never felt this way about anyone else she dated. Larry once got drunk at a party and some trashy ass girl had her hand down his pants. Piper had laughed and asked him if he wanted a few moments to finish getting off. He had jumped up and apologized profusely. Piper had just kissed him and winked at the girl. If it has been Alex, she would have smacked the both of them and Alex would have been hard pressed to get her back in bed.

Alex kissed her wife then, wiping away the bad memories. It was a long, deep and passionate kiss that literally made Piper's knees weaken. It was so wonderful that neither noticed the rain start to fall. It was a full fledged downpour before Alex pulled away. They ran, hand and hand back in to their cabin. Each was soaked to the skin so they peeled off their clothing and Piper laid them out on the stone counter to dry. The water was luke warm but it felt good to clean up after the flight. Alex washed her hair and kissed Piper's shoulders when she was finished.

"I want to visit Vermont with you sometime. I know you had a place there but it got confiscated in the trial. Where did you stay when you got out of the camp?" Piper asked. She wasn't going to skirt around discussing the camp. Their one session with Dr. Speer they'd had together since Piper's trip to see Alex's rapist had given them good tips on talking things through. She had told Piper not to press for details of the attack, but not to avoid talking about that time either.

"In a boarding house...I really don't feel any connection to the place. I lived there not even six months before I was arrested. I spent more time in jail there than I did in my house," Alex said. Piper had thought she was arraigned and released on bail. Alex told her she went through a drug rehab and was incarcerated from her arrest through her sentencing. It was so that time would count on her sentence. This made Piper frown and hug her close as they got dressed in dry clothing. Alex pulled her to snuggle on the couch.

"Was Nora your girlfriend through it all?" Piper asked.

"Yes. We had just started dating. She worked at a ski resort and was teaching me how to ski. I sucked at it and gave up, but kept the instructor. Her dad lives in Manhattan so it wasn't too hard for her to visit me at Litchfield. I still felt bad, though taking her from her life in Vermont when I had no interest in forever with her. So you really didn't like seeing me hug her? I hated seeing you with Larry so I guess we're even. He turned in to a huge prick once you were in prison but I guess you did blind side the guy." Alex admitted.

"He is a good man, just not in regards to me. He loved me truly and I loved him right back but his love came with conditions, I don't even think he knew he had. In theory, he knew I had slept with women. I theory he knew that I had a very fluid look at sexuality- he just didn't understand that it was a part of me as much as my love for him. He thought once I chose him, I magically became a heterosexual woman. I never contradicted him because it was easier to explain. Not his fault though, I lied to him, to my family, to myself- anything to put you behind me and create a new life for myself out of crime," Piper explained. She adjusted herself so her legs were over Alex's lap and her head on her shoulder.

"He lost all good man points with me when he sent that article and tried to have me arrested at the grocery store...oh and did that damn interview on the radio that coulda got you beat up or worse," Alex answered in a soft voice that didn't hide the steel in her voice. Piper nodded and smiled, tracing her fingers up Alex's forearm in small intimate circles.

This small cue led to another kiss, and then another as Piper was pressed down on the wicker sofa. Their clothes were tossed aside and Alex ravished Piper to the sound of the thundering rain. Piper held her head between her thighs by her dark hair. She thrust up with her hips and growled out exactly what she wanted Alex to do. Alex was happy to oblige her bride shivered herself as Piper keened out a wailing orgasm.

Alex moved up to hold her close and stretch out with her on the couch. Her lips were wet with Piper's excitement and she kissed them, licking all the wetness from her face, like a kitten with cream. Alex moaned and shuddered as Piper's fingers found their home on her engorged clit.

"MMM, I must say when you cover me in those flavorful kisses, it makes me so hot. I can't believe the conversations we have now. This intimacy is the sexiest thing we've ever done...well except maybe for that time in Paris on the rooftop," Piper said wiggling her eyebrows as she flicked her lover's clit just the way that sent her flying in to ecstasy. She saw Alex remember that amazing fucking and Piper actually laughed as her wife's eyes rolled back in her head. She came all over Piper's fingers and she milked her pleasure until Alex whimpered and grabbed her wrist. She relented and brought her fingers up to Alex to suck.

"I can't believe anything about us now, but we're going to keep doing what we're doing until our whole life together is more about our marriage than our time before," Alex murmured. Piper blinked as these words, this promise made touched her heart. They fell to sleep on the sofa, wrapped in one another.

A few hours later they went to dinner. The food was superb and Alex drove Piper to a late market right after so they would pick up some staples. Neither wanted to go out to eat, they'd rather eat in and spend their time on the beach making love. Once they got back to the place, Piper noticed out Alex checked out the room again and was aware of a couple that had moved in next door. There was plenty of privacy but she knew her girl would be careful. Knowing how she was attacked, it made more sense to Piper. She had been reading lots of books on PTSD in assault victims, since she herself was first in therapy. Now though, it was less "self help" and more "how do I help my partner?" Dr. Speer had given her a few good titles. She shouldn't encourage OCD behavior but she should just let her be extra cautious. Piper couldn't fault her after all that had happened to them. Granted, the horror they faced came at the hands of those supposed to guard them and keep them healthy. Still, anything could happen at any time so her precautions were understandable.

They played cards for a few hours. It was strip poker, Alex's favorite. Piper won the first two hands then Alex really picked up her game. Soon she was naked, on the floor at her lover's feet. "To the victor goes the spoils, " Piper told her in her best sultry voice. She crawled up between her thighs and started to remove her pants and bra. Soon, she was giving her all her spoils and loving how her wife shivered with delight.

The entire day had been exhausting but perfect. The next day they spent on the beach. It was perfect weather, not too hot, not too cold. The afternoon, brought showers again and Piper made them a light dinner. They talked about what they wanted to do with the Brooklyn home over dinner.

Alex surprised her, "I don't think we should sell at all. First, it has been in your family for years and second...if you're honest with yourself, you know Brooklyn is your home." Piper started to argue but had to smile. She was right. She loved where they live now because Alex had created it with them in mind. She missed her local shops and friends that live near by.

"Yes I know, I'm a Park Slope narcissist," she retorted. Alex frowned at her.

"Look, I meant what I said in that dryer but no, I see more of you now. It isn't about the stature of the area you live in...Which technically I know isn't Park Slope anymore...close but not in Park Slope. I know it is about the community you have there. Lorna talks about it all the time. Even the parts of Brooklyn that aren't so high brow, have a sense of community that is unique. So I don't think you should sell," Alex concluded.

"We," Piper replied.

"Hmm?" Piper just smiled at her confusion.

""Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee; for whither thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God." Piper quoted.

Alex blinked and looked at her like she crew a third eye. "Did you just quote the bible to me Piper Chapman?"

She laughed and nodded. "It is from the book of Ruth. I read it in a Fanny Flagg book and looked it up once. I was raised Episcopalian but never really attended Church. That was from the Book of Ruth and is often quoted at marriage ceremonies. It was said by Ruth, to Naomi though- that part is left out often. I mean that everything that was mine is now yours..where ever you are is my home. So the Brooklyn brownstone is ours baby." Alex swallowed and shook her head. "What?" Piper asked leaning forward. Alex reached out and stroked her cheek with fingertips so light it seemed to Piper like she thought she would disappear if she touched her.

"You're right of course. Only you would quote a bible verse you learned about in a modern fiction book...and it apply to us. Did you know that Ruth did take another husband and have a child that she gave to Naomi as her son as well? They raised him together and he was the grandfather of King David." Alex said. Piper was flabbergasted. She knew that Alex had strong opinions about Christianity and if she were ever to embrace any religion it would be more open and less restrictive.

"I um recall reading the rest but had forgot that point. How did you..." Piper asked curious.

"Jail...for two weeks, all I had to read in Vermont was a bible. The jailer there, a fucker named Marcus, wouldn't give me the books Nora brought by. He kept just bringing me the bible. He said "Lesbo drug dealer- yeah you need the word of God more than anything. Eventually, my lawyer threatened to sue enough that I got my books," she answered with a disgusted tone.

Piper shook her head. She could still remember the ignorant, evangelical mania of Pensatuckey and how it almost cost her everything. Spirituality, she could grasp, but religion got mired down in the Dogma of man. It just wasn't for her.

"So, we'll keep it. We can split our time there or rent it out. Actually, we could rent out the top part as well," Piper suggested. Her woman had made the top floor a great little apartment. It lacked a kitchen but she'd lived in worse places in New York.

"We've got some time to decide. Chaucer likes both spots and I mean to make him another tower for the brownstone. After the store has been open for awhile and turning a profit, we can maybe move there. It would make sense- then I could oversee the Brooklyn store," Alex suggested. Piper frowned at the idea as her first thought was about Becca.

"After Becca, gets through the program," Piper said. Alex shook her head and looked at her the same way she looked at her in that dryer long ago. "What?"

"Your jealousy is showing again, Pipes. You have no reason. I married You woman!" Alex said as she pulled her closer.

"I'm not jealous! I'm just ...cautious. yes I trust you...I don't know her," Piper explained. She knew she was being irrational about the whole thing. She stood up and moved away from her under the pretense of getting some water. Alex followed and turned her around. Piper didn't look in her eyes but pulled herself away and back to the bottled water on the counter.

"Piper, look at me. You just said you love how we talk, so talk to me woman. Why is Becca such an issue for you?" Alex didn't turn her back around but she pressed her body to Pipers and snaked her arm possessively around her stomach.

She wasn't sure she could put words to it. "It has to do with the time I didn't know..." she stopped and swallowed. How could she explain it to her?

"Is it because I didn't tell you about her right away? Or that I slept with your former bunkie?" Alex prodded. She thought of Stacy and though it hurt a bit, she knew that wasn't the reason.

"You were sure when we were apart that I was married. I was with Larry...this was something you had years to get accustomed to because well, we were engaged when I surrendered myself," Piper began. Alex didn't speak to this, just nodded against her hair and continued to hold her as they stood before the window.

Piper looked out at the night that was slowly falling. She took a deep breath and continued, "All I had was the complete knowledge you'd find someone to fuck. I had the complete and utter fear that you'd fall in love with another woman completely. That...and worrying about your well being occupied my every waking thought that wasn't focused on writing my book. It was so bad Alex, I moved away so my family wouldn't see me and have me committed," Piper admitted.

Alex tightened her arms and exhaled."So you think Becca is that woman?"

"Yeah, she saved you when I couldn't. She was there for you when my own stupidity took you away from me," Piper said as silent tears started to fall. Alex turned her around and wiped her eyes.

"No baby, it wasn't your fault. I read the letter, remember? I know you wanted to be there for me, to wait for me until I was released. I pushed you away, I ran at the first sign," Alex sighed and took a deep breath. "Larry played us. He played in to our worst fears and though I do believe he had no idea what this would do to us, he did know it would hurt us. Who knows Piper, maybe we wouldn't have made it if you came to visit. I was determined not to let you be hurt again in a prison, so I may not have ever agreed to visits. We may have grown apart with just letters. I can't say if I'd taken the Camp opportunity if we were still communicating at the time..and though it caused me to...be...raped, it did get me my freedom sooner. I know for a fact, I did that so I could see you again and see if you were really happy with Larry. It is what is is kid..you've no reason to fear Becca, but I understand why you do." Alex kissed her again and then licked a tear from her cheek playfully. Piper reached up and wiped her face and then buried her head in her partner's long hair.

"Take me to bed and how me how much you choose me," Piper whispered. Alex did just that.

They spent the rest of their short honeymoon, in the sand, the water and the bed. Piper hated to leave. They didn't do one ounce of drugs while there...both knew they wouldn't. She had out grown her need to do X in foreign countries and she would never jeopardize Alex's recovery. They didn't even go dancing in some of the resort clubs. No, they made love so many times that Piper was a bit sore.

"We are going to increase your workouts woman. Oh, we also have martial arts training the day after your Paley Center talk. That should increase your stamina," Alex said with a quirky smile as they drove through the busy streets towards the airport.

"Hey you are in stellar shape now and I just need to pick my Yoga back up," Piper replied. She missed her Yoga classes with Yoga Jones. She had been a savior to Piper in many ways. She was out now and living in California. Piper made a mental note to look her up again and start correspondence. She had a feeling it would thrill her to know they were married.

This thought gave her an idea. "Hey, I know you are a bit concerned about my going back in to Litchfield to do my reading. Would you like to go with me? I can get you a pass, easily," Piper said. She knew it was a trigger for Alex and maybe it was the wrong thing to ask, but she had a feeling that Alex would rather face her own fears head on, rather than sit outside and worry about Piper.

"Let me talk about it with my therapist but yeah, I think it would make me feel better if we went together," Alex said. Piper hadn't thought about her discussing it with her therapist.

"You do that, I'll do the same. We have time to figure it all out," Piper said. Alex smiled one of her bright, open smiles that could stop traffic.

"Yeah, we got time...the good kinda time, for once," she replied. Piper laughed and agreed.

***a short one for a short honeymoon...more to come! Thanks to my life partner and good friend Bassren for being sounding boards for me on this story. Please keep the reviews up! I love all the follows and favorites as well. Your reviews fuel my creative fire! Peace and enjoy the Super Bowl, American readers. Go Seahawks! Blessings, Fae***