Hey everyone! I was so happy with all the positive feedback, you guys are the best! Hope you like this chapter too!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters used in this story (too bad though). They are property of Netflix and Orange is the New Black.
Piper wakes up to Alex and an older woman who looks just like her chatting quietly. She's confused as the two of them chat endlessly, neither of them noticing that the blonde had woken up. Piper still feels very sleepy and just closes her eyes, slowly waking up with the soothing vibrations coming from the brunette's voice and the equally soothing one from the older woman.
Diane had seen the blonde waking up in her daughter's arms in the corner of her eye as she was talking to the younger Vause. She notices the unconscious shift in her daughter, as if her body unconsciously took note of the younger girl waking up in her arms. Diane decides to still the conversation, secretly just incredibly curious to the girl who seemed to have captured her baby girl's heart.
"We got young ears listening in Al."
"Oh. Hey Pipes."
"Mmm, what time is it?"
Alex glances at the clock: it's only 8 in the evening. She thought they'd been asleep longer; and the hours seemed to fly by when she was silently chatting away with her amazing mom.
"it's 8 PM, kid." Alex says as she turns to look at her student. Piper realizes she hasn't eaten since the terrible lunch she had at the hospital, and on cue, her stomach starts rumbling. Piper's face flushes red, but both older women just chuckle at the sound.
"Well hearing that, I guess it was good of me to pick up some Chinese," Diane says. The blonde and the brunette both look at the older Vause, smiling. They'd both completely forgotten about dinner as they were sharing a bowl of popcorn during the movie and fell asleep during it.
"Nice one, mom."
"Thank you so much, Mrs. Vause."
"Oh God, no Mrs. Vause for me honey, Diane will do just fine," Diane chuckles.
"Okay, thank you, Diane," Piper replies shyly.
"That's fucking better! No need to be shy Piper, Alex here told me all about you." Piper's eyes go wide as Diane drops the curse word; her mother wouldn't even think about taking up the word in her vocabulary, let alone use it. But then she realizes what Diane said after that: Alex had been talking about her with her mother.
"Mom, come on!"
"Oh come on Al, nothing to be ashamed about! You care about her, I think that's sweet." Alex wants to respond, but Piper cuts her off:
"Your daughter has been amazing to me Diane. I'm so lucky that she cares about me." The blonde then turns towards her teacher and looks into her forest greens, gratefulness shining through. Piper doesn't say anything, and neither does Alex. They don't need to; their eyes telling them more than words could ever do.
In the meanwhile, Diane is watching the entrancing display between her daughter and her student; not believing what she was looking at. "They really belong together," Diane thinks as she looks from her daughter to Piper and back. She shakes her head, already knowing how hard the younger brunette is falling for the girl she's still holding in her arms. She smiles; loving that her daughter has the chance on a life filled with true love and her significant other close to her for the rest of her life. She notices the gentle way Piper lifts her hands to wrap them around her daughter's neck; taking note to ask why she has bandages around her wrist.
For Alex and Piper, the world seems to fall away as soon as they lock eyes. Blue washing into green, hearts fluttering and minds wondering. Both girls wondering where this all might lead; both of them hoping that they will have many years together. Preferably as a couple; neither of them thinking they want to stay just friends with the other woman. It's the first time they realize how much they really do love each other.
Diane clears her throat in an attempt to have Alex and Piper snap out of their daze. It works, and both the blonde and the brunette turn to look at the older Vause, a curious look on their faces. That's when Piper's stomach rumbles again, and the two Vause's start chuckling again.
"Let's go eat, I'm guessing the food hasn't cooled off yet," Diane offers standing up from the recliner she'd been sitting in. She looks at the two girls, both of whom just nod and proceed to stand up from the couch. Diane looks at them curiously, letting her eyes quickly scan their outfits.
"I feel overdressed." Both girls have a questioning look on their faces at the older woman's statement before they look down at their outfits. Realizing they're still dressed in their sleeping outfits, they both chuckle.
"We were watching a movie on the couch before you arrived. I went to pick up Piper from the hospi-" Alex gets a slap on the arm from the blonde beside her. Piper really doesn't want her teacher's mom to know that she'd been in the hospital with stupid cuts on her wrists. She looks away from the piercing gaze of Diane. She's suddenly embarrassed at her desperate attempt to ease the pain.
"Let's go eat." Piper isn't sure which one of the two Vauses said that, their voices being very much alike. She just follows her teacher into the kitchen, the smell of Chinese washing over her once she enters.
Piper spends the entire weekend at Alex's apartment, learning more about her AP History teacher then she'd ever get out of her on her own. She already loves Alex's mom Diane, and the relationship mother and daughter share. They're not just mother and daughter; they're best friends and tell each other everything.
Piper learns that Alex came out to her mother at an early age, but only having a few real relationships. The younger Vause could throw a mean tantrum when she was young, but Diane usually just found it cute. "The jet black hair and the glasses, and then the passion in her voice during those. Cutest thing ever!" Diane told the blonde. Alex just chuckled, realizing how much of an ass she'd sometimes been towards her mother.
Piper is still very tired, although the nightmares seemed to have lessened in amount. As the blonde slept away, Alex and Diane chatted away, glad to have some mother-daughter-time, just like the 'old days'. Alex wasn't very old, but she had to grow up fairly early in life; consequence of the life she and her mother were forced to live. Diane had always gone out of her way to get the younger Vause what she wanted (within reason of course), and Alex couldn't wish for a better mom.
Monday morning rolls around for the three girls. Piper and Alex learn that Diane had taken off the entire week at her job in New York (Alex finally made enough to help support her mom so that she could cut back to just one job), and is hoping to stay with them. Alex realizes she really has to go back to Litchfield High; she still has other classes other than the blonde's and a schedule to follow. She can't afford to take the week off; she'd end up way too much behind on everything she had to get done with her students.
Piper on the other hand might have been discharged from the hospital, she was also given orders to stay inside for the entire week. She still is too weak to do much, and she's glad to not worry about high school drama for a bit. She can only imagine what everyone at Litchfield will say about what happened, she is sure they will find out soon enough.
"I could hang out with Diane, Al. I really don't mind."
"Are you sure Piper? You don't have to if you don't want to."
"It's fine Alex. It's just during the day, and we can go out and do things in the evenings as well."
"Piper will take care of me just fine Al. Don't you worry about that," Diane chimes in. "We'll hit it off won't we, kid?"
"Yeah of course! Come on Al, it'll be absolutely fine." Alex sighs, torn between calling in sick and staying home for the rest of the week and leaving her mother alone at her apartment with her student.
"Okay okay, fine … But Pipes, nothing too exhausting okay?" Alex says, she had given her mother a brief explanation about why her student has the week off from school. Diane knew not to ask questions, she wanted Piper to tell her on her own, not pushed. Diane wasn't stupid, she knew it could cause her to relapse or fall deeper than she did before.
Alex goes to get ready; putting on a more conservative outfit than what she's used to wearing in her spare time. She doesn't want to cause more trouble for herself or her student; knowing that she took quite the risk with taking her student into her apartment instead of letting her go home to her parents. Piper and Diane are doing the dishes together as Alex steps in the kitchen.
"They're starting early," Alex thinks as she sees Piper and Diane rock out to whatever song is playing on the radio. A smile is etched on the face of the younger Vause as she's extremely glad her mother and her student instantly clicked and started chatting away like old friends trying to catch up on their lives. You'd think that Piper and Diane met years ago, when they actually met a couple of days ago. She can't wait to hear about the adventures her two favorite girls will go through during the coming week.
"I'm heading out. Mom, no embarrassing stories, please? And Piper, nothing too exhausting please, I want you to heal properly," Alex says as she turns down the volume of the radio. Piper and Diane both turn from the sink and look at the younger brunette. Piper nods, not wanting to upset her amazingly caring history teacher.
"Can't promise anything, kid."
"Please mom?"
"Okay, nothing too embarrassing, but one or two stories might just slip." Alex sighs, she knows she can't tell her mother to do shit, Diane will always do what she wants, it being the best thing or not. She nods in response before turning the volume up again and walking out of the kitchen and into the hallway. She picks up her bag, the keys to Piper's car (the blonde had insisted on her using it; "It's the least I can do to pay you back Al") and makes her way to the front door.
"BYE GUYS!" she yells out and hears a loud "BYE" coming from both women in the kitchen. She closes the door behind her as she heads to the elevator. "This is going to be a long week …" she sighs.
The first half of the week had been uneventful: Alex was sticking to the lesson schedule Litchfield High had given her in preparation of her subbing gig, and Piper and Diane mostly stayed inside the younger brunette's apartment; Piper didn't want to wander off too far and embarrass herself in front of Diane if she couldn't keep up with the older woman. They did prepare dinner together every evening as they waited for Alex to get back from Litchfield; quickly learning the most efficient way to work together.
It is now Thursday, and Diane had offered to take the blonde out for lunch; on her of course. Piper had insisted that she didn't need to do that, that she was fine in Alex's apartment, but Diane knew Piper wanted to get out of there for once.
"Piper I'm sorry but I have to ask."
"Uh … Okay?"
"Why do you have those bandages around your wrist?"
"These?" Piper asks as she lifts her arms a little.
"Yeah … Look sweetie, I know about what happened last week, but something else seems to bother you as well." Piper wants to interrupt her to deny that fact, but is silenced as Diane lifts her hand to stop her from talking, "if you don't want to tell me, that's okay, but just know that it might help to talk about it."
"God this woman is amazing," Piper thinks as she looks up at the older woman in front of her. She smiles, not really knowing what to say just yet. She wants to spill it all out, everything that happened a few years ago and how the recent events made her think back of it … but she can't. She knows she can trust Diane, but she also realizes she wants the first person to know about all of it to be her AP History teacher Alex Vause.
"Thank you Diane. It really means a lot that you and Alex support me. My mom is a true WASP, so she dealt with this the only way she knew how to, ignore it. She came round, or at least I hope so, but the past few days, hanging out with you and Alex really have been a relief. I finally get to be myself, cuts and everything, and it just feels good." Piper sighs.
Diane smiles as she puts her hand on top of the young blonde's that's resting on the table. Piper smiles in response as she feels the older woman gently squeeze her hand.
"People deal with these kind of things in different ways Piper. Your mother reacted in the only way that was known to her; and that's understandable. You dealt with it in a different way," Diane says softly as she lets her fingers trace the white bandages around Piper's wrist, "and that's okay too. It was a desperate measure, one I hope you won't go back to. But if you do," and Diane emphasizes her words causing the blonde to look up at her, "that's okay. I can't begin to imagine what it feels like to have to go through everything you went through, but I'm not gonna judge you." Diane smiles, and Piper smiles back.
"You're an amazing girl Piper, I can tell! Whatever happened in the past doesn't define who you are now; you learn from it, you grow into a better person. If you wanna talk to someone, do it. If you don't want to do that just yet, that's okay too. This is something you should do on your own terms, not on anyone else's. It doesn't have to be me, you can tell your family first, or my daughter; but just don't do it under pressure, do it when YOU are ready for it. Okay?" Piper looks up at her and nods, feeling slightly better at the older woman's encouraging and soothing words.
"Now, let's eat! I'm starving," Diane says to change topics. Both of them sensed the unasked questions hanging in the air, but the seriousness proved to be too much for them. Piper is grateful that Diane can read her so well; the blonde really wanted to talk about something else. Thinking about her past happened every single day since a few years ago, but talking about it with someone else was something she couldn't bring herself to do just yet.
They fill the rest of their day together with light topics; some of them completely random. Neither of the two know just how they got to talking about them, but neither of them really cares either. They're both very glad they hit it off like they said they would; and Alex arrives home once again to them cooking dinner for the three of them.
Before the three women realizes it, Saturday evening comes around, and it's time for Diane to go back to New York. Small hints about Alex's early life had been dropped by both brunettes, shedding a small bit of light over the situation Alex grew up in. Piper has always been a curious one, and she wants to know everything about her history teacher, the first person to really care about her. Although her never-ending curiosity also applies on this situation, she asks minimal questions about the younger Vause's life, not wanting to intrude.
Nevertheless, Piper had gotten excessive answers to every single question she asked throughout the week, and every time Piper's heart fluttered at the instant bond she seemed to have formed with Alex's mom. Diane had pulled her in for a hug at the most random moments, seeming to know when the blonde needed a loving touch or embrace and taking over from her daughter. The oldest Vause told her daughter about it, already knowing that Alex really wanted to be the one to do that.
"You got everything, mom?"
"Yeah, I'm fine Al. I've got everything."
"I had a really great time Diane. Thank you for everything, you're such an amazing mother."
"No problem kid. Glad that I got to meet you, Piper. You're a really sweet girl and you know that Al and I will always be here for you."
"Yeah, I got Alex's number last week, and I have yours now as well. Thank you so much," Piper finishes as she's pulled into a hug by the older woman. She feels soft lips being pressed to her forehead, and tears prick in her eyes. "God this is what a mother should be like," she thinks as she tries to pull back. Diane won't allow it, she just pulls her back, holds her even tighter.
Diane still doesn't know the full details of what happened to Alex's student, but she doesn't pry. She guesses it's something quite delicate, and she doesn't want to break down the progress that the blonde seems to be making. She presses her lips against the young blonde's temple before pulling back slowly. Piper takes a step back, but Diane keeps her hands on the young girl's arms and rubs up and down.
Alex is the next one to receive a hug from Diane. No matter how old she gets, a hug from her mother makes her feel safe, safer than anyone else could ever make her feel. Diane pulls her only daughter into a tight embrace that lasts minutes, but feels like hours for the both of them. Diane presses her lips to her daughter's forehead for at least a minute, knowing that Alex worries about her student a lot. "Take care of her and of yourself babe," Diane whispers as she nuzzles her daughter's hair. Alex only nods in response, still held tightly. She snuggles closer to her mother, extremely glad to have her.
Piper watches the scene in front of her with tears in her eyes; the love between mother and daughter seeming to be pouring from every action. She's kind of jealous of her history teacher and the bond she shares with her mother, wanting to feel the same kind of love from her own mother. She also knows it's something that will take A LOT of time, if it ever happens.
Piper is snapped out of her thoughts as she hears the older Vause bidding them both goodbye for the last time.
"Bye girls."
"Bye Diane. Thank you."
"Bye mom, love you so much."
As Diane steps into the elevator, both girls turn back to step inside the apartment, and they bump into each other as they both try to step through the doorway. They again feel the spark between them as they touch; but neither of them dares to call out on it. They both know they love the other, but the situation they're in doesn't allow them to take things further, so they don't (or not yet at least).
Alex promises herself she'll always take care of her student, whenever she asks her to. Piper promises herself to trust her teacher, even though she knows she can't or won't trust too many people around her. They look at each other, Alex stepping back, allowing Piper to step inside the apartment before her. Piper steps in before Alex, and she turns back to face the brunette as she's closing the door behind her.
She steps closer, throws her arms around the taller woman's neck and immediately snuggles closer. She feels the brunette's strong arms wrapping around her frame, her hands coming to rest on the small of the blonde's back. Piper places her head against the brunette's chest, and Alex gently puts her chin on the blonde's shoulder. They continue to stand like this for God knows how long, no one or nothing interrupting the intimate moment between the two of them.
"I'd like to find a therapist Alex."
So? What did you think? Hope you liked that bit of Diane. We all want a mom like her, I know ;) Don't worry, she'll come back! I mean who else is Alex going to talk about when she finally realizes the extent of her feelings for Piper? ;) (hint hint)
Until next time, xx Ellen
