So you brought out the best of me,
A part of me I'd never seen.
You took my soul and wiped it clean.
Alex took a deep breath before she walked into the visitation room. Today was the big day, she was finally meeting Piper's mom. Alex had to agree with Piper, this was hardly how she had pictured meeting Piper's mom for the first time ever. As soon as Alex woke up that day her mind had raced with trying to think of all the things she would ask or say to her. Piper had told her to stop worrying and that she would probably just blame her for things that were out of her control. For the most part, anyway. Alex sighed and shook her head, she saw Piper's mom straight away. She had the same blonde hair and blue eyes that Piper had, the only difference was that Piper's mom's eyes were cold like ice and her hair was curled neatly. Total WASP.
"Mrs. Chapman." Alex greeted the woman and waited for a response. She stood still, trying to be polite despite her current situation.
"Hm." The woman grunted in reply and gestured for Alex to sit down. "So, you're the woman who has ruined my daughter's life." she said bluntly.
Alex almost flinched as she sat down in the plastic chair. "With all due respect, Mrs. Chapman. I didn't force Piper to carry that suitcase, she chose that. Yes, it is my fault that she is in prison but if it wasn't me who gave her in then it would have been someone else."
Piper's mother's face didn't react at all to Alex's admissions. Her face was stone cold as were both her eyes and tone. From the stories Piper had told Alex about her mother, she guessed that the look had come from years of cheating on her husband and being cheated on by her husband.
"I didn't come here to talk about that." The woman dismissed, placing her hands neatly on top of the table between them, "I came to talk about my daughter." She looked up at Alex, waiting for a reaction.
Alex did her best to keep her poker face but she was more than surprised, she nodded slowly. She had come here to talk about Piper? In what way? What could she possibly have to talk about Piper with Alex of all people. Alex wondered if the woman maybe meant she had more accusations to make but surely her tone wasn't harsh enough to suggest that. Alex swallowed hard, "Okay.." She said quietly, already prepared for some kind of backlash.
"I now understand that, despite my voiced opinion and wishes on the matter, my daughter will not listen to me when it comes to you." She paused, looking pointedly at Alex as if to help her point sink in. "So, for now, I shall swallow my pride and be civil with you long enough to voice my wishes from this point onwards." She looked at Alex again, waiting.
"Your wishes? I..I don't understand." Alex replied, frowning slightly. Was Piper's mom saying she was okay with the two of them being together? No, she wasn't okay with it. She had just said as much.
Piper's mom nodded, "My daughter refuses to part from you and she has thrown any hope of a future with Larry away. As stubborn as she is, she is still my daughter and despite what she may have told you about me I do happen to care about and love her dearly. So, I have a few terms and conditions of sorts for you, if you wish to stay with my daughter. I do not expect you to comply with them past this conversation, what you do in here will be not of my knowledge and so I will never know if you keep to these conditions or not. However, I hope that your pride, love and respect for my daughter will compel you to at least try to go along with them."
Alex only nodded at this point, curiosity and wariness all clear on her face. She had dropped the pretense of her poker face halfway through listening to the woman's words. She was being honest with her and so Alex would be honest with her too. She was yet to decide whether or not she would stick to these 'conditions' that Piper's mom came up with but they couldn't be too demanding or excessive. At the sight of Alex's silence the woman nodded again briefly before continuing.
"Good. Let me begin by saying that if you put my daughter through any such danger again you will have me directly to answer to this time. My daughter will not keep such activities from me again. I think one stint in prison is enough." She cleared her throat, "Which leads me to say that I expect no less than the two of you to stay together for the duration of Piper's stay here and should you still be together when you are released I want her to have no involvement with anymore illegal activity and I think it would be better if you pried yourself away from such a life also. Unfortunately my daughter insists that she cannot live without you and I will not stand here and serve as a shoulder to cry on should you be ripped from her life again to return to prison." The woman took a breath. "I also hope that you do not break her heart. I understand that my daughter left her when your mother passed and she knows how strongly I disapprove of that. I want you to know that this does not give you permission to ever do the same to her. This may sound unfair but I have not seen Piper happy like this in a very long time, despite the fact that she is in prison."
"Mrs. Chapman, I..." Alex began, she was quickly cut off by the woman holding a hand up.
"Alex, please. Let me finish." She said, her voice not quite as cold as it had be when their conversation first started. Alex nodded again.
"Thank you." She paused, "I do not know how your financial situation stands after you were arrested and nor do I wish to know. I only ask that you obtain a legal job if you must to help support both my daughter and yourself once you are free of this place. I will not have Piper living with another person who relies on others for money. Larry was one of those people and, quite honestly, it was embarrassing." The woman looked at Alex, acknowledging her small smirk at the sound of Larry and his failures. "I do not know if you love my daughter in the same way as she loves you. I hope with all my might that you do because if you didn't I know that it would break her. I also understand that the two of you have been through much together and most of it I will never grow to understand. In saying that, I want you to know that as long as you make sure my daughter is always happy and do whatever you can to keep her this happy then I.." She halted and averted her eyes from Alex for a moment, as if what she was about to say was hard for her. "I do not approve of your relationship but I will not make any attempt to voice or act on my feelings towards the two of you. Given time my opinion about the two of you may change, for now though, all i expect from you is to keep my daughter as safe and happy as you can." She nodded and looked at Alex expectantly having finally finished talking.
Alex sat back in her chair and pushed her glasses on the top of her head. This was all somewhat overwhelming. She had hardly expected to hear this when she first sat down. "Mrs. Chapman I..."
"Please, call me Carol."
Alex nodded, "Carol. I honestly don't know what exactly to say," Alex begun. "I only know that I will do everything in my power to keep Piper safe and happy. I have no plans to involve myself in anyway in an illegal lifestyle ever again after I leave Litchfield. Piper and I have plans to move to London once we are both released and we are going to start a new life there with two of our close friends. I also want to say that I will comply with every single one of your wishes. I love Piper more than I have ever loved anyone in my life and although it broke me to pieces when she left, I would never ever dare do that to her." Alex took a breath and looked round at the window behind her to find Piper looking through the glass at the two of them. Alex couldn't quite bring herself to smile through the overwhelming emotion she felt. She turned back to Carol. "I can't express how grateful I am to hear that you will give Piper and I a chance to prove ourselves to you. Me most of all. Whilst I cannot take back the time I took from Piper by giving her name up, I won't lie and say that I regret it. Prison had brought Piper and I back together and although it took us ten years to get where we are now I am confident that we will remain solid from here on out. I hope that I can one day earn your approval and I will do everything I can to get that. All I ask is that you don't expect things for Piper and I to go easy or without a few big hiccups here and there. I will be spending a considerable amount of time in prison after Piper leaves and so I cannot make any guarantee that our relationship will be able to pick up where we left it. In saying that, I want to express that my love for Piper is very, very real and I know that it will never go away." Alex sighed, taking a deep breath. She watched Carol cautiously as she saw the woman process Alex's speech.
Carol nodded and offered Alex a genuine smile. "Good. That is all I can expect from you Alex. I understand that you have already served one year of your sentence in another prison before Piper arrived here?" She stated more than asked. Alex nodded a yes anyway.
"Right." The blonde woman continued, "That means you will have 6 more years to serve after Piper goes." She mused, thinking. "I do not know if you have a good lawyer Alex but if you do not I shall hire you one. Should you already have a good lawyer then I must ask to meet with him. I think I know a way I can get you reduced time." Carol sighed, rubbing her temples. "The less time you spend away from my daughter the better her mental health will be, I know that much."
"I have a lawyer, I'll get your number from Piper and tell him to call you." Alex replied. At this, the guard announced that visiting hours were over. Alex stood up and waited, unsure how she should say bye to Piper's mother. A hug felt too forward. She was relieved when the blonde woman offered Alex a hand to shake. "Goodbye Mrs. Chap- I mean Carol." Alex smiled.
"It was good to finally meet you Alex. I think it's safe to say that I was pleasantly surprised." Carol smiled warmly at Alex before turning to leave.
Alex shortly did the same and walked out into the corridor after the mandatory search had been complete. She breathed a big sigh of relief, that had gone better than Alex could have ever imagined. Who knew that Piper's mom could be so accepting? The news about the possibility of less time was also very good and Alex could feel a happy feeling settle in her stomach. Maybe things would be alright for Alex and Piper after all. She couldn't see Piper by the window anymore and assumed that she had probably gone to the canteen to eat. Alex headed there, a smile resting lightly on her lips and a bounce in her walk. She felt much lighter suddenly, as if a weight had been lifted from her that she hadn't realised she'd even been carrying. As she entered the canteen she headed straight for the suburb table without bothering to look to see who was there first. She sat down, feeling to light to eat. "Hey guys." She said happily. The whole table looked at her simultaneously obviously surprised at her light and easy tone.
"Woah, you high Vause? The fuck are you so happy after you just got grilled by the big bad WASP?" Nicky asked incredulously.
Alex laughed breezily. "The big bad WASP? Funny Nichols." She punched Nicky playfully on the shoulder. "She didn't grill me." Alex stated simply, she didn't want her friends to know what Piper's mom had said to her before Piper. The reminded her that she had originally come in here looking for her favourite blonde. "Where's Piper?" She asked, turning to search the canteen and feeling disappointed when she couldn't see her.
"She's in her bunk," Lorna replied eventually. "She looked pretty upset, she told me that you were probably gonna' hate her after you finished talking to her mom." Lorna shovelled some more food into her mouth before continuing. "She mumbled something about how you couldn't bring yourself to smile at her." Lorna shrugged, "She's probably just hormonal."
Alex thanked Lorna and said goodbye to the rest of their group at the table before she ran towards Piper's bunk. It took the guards threatening her to get her to slow to a fast walk. Eventually she arrived and was greeted by the sound of snivelling. Alex sighed and walked over to Piper's cube. She looked over the wall at her girlfriend who was curled up underneath her blanket, clutching a roll of toilet paper. Alex rolled her eyes, typical Piper; jumping to conclusions as always. "Piper?" Alex said quietly, getting the blonde's attention. "Stop fucking crying, grow up and chill out. Everything is fine." Alex's tone was firm but not harsh. She wasn't going to humour Piper today. Things were going too well.
Piper sat up and looked at Alex confused, "How can everything be fine when you couldn't even smile at me. I saw you Alex, you looked... weird."
Alex laughed and leaned on the wall, "Gee thanks Pipes. Good to know. Your mom was just having a serious conversation with me that made me feel a whole of things and well, you know how well I deal with emotions." Alex arched a brow at Piper but at the sight of another outburst from the blonde she cut her off. "Don't worry Piper. Your mom was.. well, your mom was pretty fucking nice."
"What?!" Piper sputtered, unbelieving. "Alex, please don't lie to me. Just tell me how horrible she was."
Alex laughed again and sat down on Piper's bunk. "I'm being serious, Pipes. She was way nicer than I expected. She didn't hurl insults at me and she didn't forbid me from being with you." Alex shrugged and pried the toilet paper from Piper's hand so she could take them into her own. "She told me that she would accept that you and I wanted to be together and that she would give us a chance to prove to her that we aren't making a mistake and that we're serious." Alex stared down at Piper's hand into her own as she went over the conversation again. "She told me that all she expected from me was to keep you safe and happy once we were out of here. Oh, and to be a decent law-abiding citizen." She chuckled and glanced back at Piper who still looked shocked. "She was pretty cool and even said that she would try and get my sentence reduced so that we could be together sooner." Alex paused, "Well really she said so that your frame of mind wouldn't go all wacky once we got separated." She smirked. Alex waited for Piper to say something sarcastic about how she didn't need Alex to stay sane but when none came she frowned, worried a little. "Pipes? You okay?" She asked.
Piper looked down at Alex and nodded, her eyes still wide. "Alex, I..." She begun before abruptly stopping. Then, suddenly, she crashed her lips into Alex's. Alex noticed that this kiss was different from others they had shared before. This kiss was filled with hunger like the others but it had underlying tones of tenderness, happiness and most of all, love. This wasn't the usual passionate and hunger filled kiss that Alex was used to sharing with Piper but it was something more. They were something more, Alex mused. She knew that things had changed for them now. They were serious about spending their lives together, their relationship had been one that had started from adventure and lust. Prison had turned it into fire and passion and was now bringing them to love. Real and true love. Not the kind of love they had been in before, in love with the good and ignoring the bad. They were truly loving each and every part of the other, the good, the bad and the wicked. Prison had changed them as a couple for the better in it's own twisted and horrible way. Alex knew that she would never regret her decision to name Piper. How could she regret the very thing that led them to this? This. This that was better than the future Alex had once dreamed for Piper and herself. This where settling down and maybe one day having a family of their own was actually a possibility. This where the only danger one their lives were the dangers of an ordinary person. This that was the true start of Alex's life. A life she knew her mother would be proud of. A life she knew her mother worked and worked for Alex to get. This, that was her one and true love sitting opposite her in the bunk as they kissed and held each other. A silent promise and confession all wrapped up in one.
It was only after their intense makeout session and they were lying together on the bed looking at each other that Alex was reminded of a line in a book she had read recently from the library. "I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once." Alex found herself understanding the truth behind that. She had never expected to fall in love with Piper Chapman when she first laid eyes on her in that bar. She had never expected to take her around the world, loving and living together. She never expected to plan a future with the woman who both created and destroyed her and yet here she was. Here I am, Alex thought and smiled. A smile that showed her content and happy. As she drifted off to sleep with this blonde angel in her arms she knew she wouldn't rather be anywhere else if it meant Piper wasn't with her.
"So, a beach in Tahiti or back home to London?" Alex asked. Both her and Piper had long stopped referring to New York as home. Both finding that they much preferred the quiet modesty of their London life.
"Tahiti is tempting but I am so fucking tired from travelling and I need to recoup." Piper replied.
Alex nodded and pulled her girlfriend into her arms. They were currently in Spain, lying on a beach that was only ten minutes from their hotel. They had been here for almost a week and Alex knew that they both needed time to recoup. Alex's schedule had been hectic the past month and they had travelled to a new country every week. So far they had been to Italy, Sweden, Greece and then finally Spain. Alex had earned some well deserved holiday time which Fahri had graciously granted her. It was their last night here and Alex would book their flights back to London when they got back to the hotel. She suppressed a yawn and looked down at Piper. She was beautiful in the fading sunlight. Their hectic travelling schedule had left the tell-tale signs of a bad sleeping schedule with the dark circles under her eyes but her skin was tanned a beautiful golden brown. Her hair had been bleached a shade lighter by the sun and her body was toned from all of the swimming and hiking they had done. Alex absentmindedly traced patterns into Piper's palm and she gazed over her girlfriend. She pulled the two of them upright suddenly. "Let's go."
Alex nearly dragged Piper back to the hotel and rushed them into the lift. It was their last night in the country and Alex was going to make the most of it, knowing that they would probably have nothing but rain and cold winds once they got to London. She pulled Piper into her own embrace and smirked at the knowing glint in Piper's eye her movements provoked. She bent down to kiss her, slowly. She was in no rush now. They didn't break the kiss as the ding of the lift announced they had arrived at their floor and she didn't break the kiss to open their room door. Alex had to admit that she was slightly impressed at herself. It was Piper who eventually broke away, breathing hard and grinning. She untangled herself from Alex's arms and used one hand to hold her still. A silent signal that she had to wait. Alex arched a brow but played along, watching Piper with eager eyes. She followed every movement Piper made as she slowly took off each piece of clothing she was wearing, leaving a trail of clothes behind her. Eventually, Piper vanished into their room, the only thing Alex could see was Piper's hand that made a sultry sign, beckoning Alex to her. Alex followed the trail of clothes, much like a trail of breadcrumbs to her very own gingerbread house. Leaving her own trail of cloth breadcrumbs behind her.
Alex flopped down onto the bed beside Piper, their limbs entangled with one another. A small, lazy, smile crept onto her face as she turned to look at Piper. Her face was still flushed from their 'activity' and it made Alex smirk. She reached up with a hand to stroke her cheek and move some of the blonde hair that she had grown to cherish to expose her neck. Alex placed a soft kiss on her neck before she leant on her chin and looked up at Piper. They had been together for almost two years and Alex still found it amazing. She had never committed to just one girl before, not like this. She knew that she could spend the rest of her life like this with Piper as she observed her sleeping form. She was delicate, innocent in looks but she was so much more. Feisty, witty, charming, sarcastic with a volatile temper that Alex had been on the receiving side of on more than one occasion. Piper was perfect in all of the ways that Alex wasn't and maybe that was what made them fit so well together. As if Piper had been Alex's lost puzzle piece. Alex chuckled quietly at her own analogy. If Alex was the clouds then Piper was the ground that Alex fell on when things got too heavy and she turned into rain. She was Alex's safeplace. She was home. Alex sighed happily and turned to lie in the bed. She would book their tickets in the morning, she thought as she drifted off to a dreamless sleep. The warmth from Piper radiated towards her and she clutched onto it with all her strength as she let herself descend into the dark.
Authors Note:
Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I enjoyed writing it quite a lot and I'm pretty happy with where this is headed. That being said, Piper and Alex are a little too happy for women who are stuck in prison so I'm planning to include a few hiccups in the next few chapters. Thanks as always for the reviews, I've got some plans for a new fic that I may be starting over the next few days so keep an eye out for that. I promise not to let myself get distracted from this one though! I do want to actually finish one of my stories for a change.
As always, please review and let me know what you thought about his chapter and thanks for reading! :D