A/N Hi guys so here is Chapter Two. I apologise for taking so long to get it up. I have honestly been sitting here re-reading the ending for over 5 hours, constantly making changes as I try to get it to flow as best as I can. I'm still not 100% happy with it but it will have to do as I'm keen to progress with it. This is a longer chapter, nearly 3000 words, so I hope that makes up for the delay.

A big thank you to those who reviewed, you guys really help keep me motivated. I know it was mentioned that the previous chapter had some punctuation issues. I apologise for this, it has been a while since I have edited anything and even longer since I have edited my own work, which I find to be even more difficult. So please bear with me and I hope that as the story progresses my editing greatly increases.

For any of those interested, I have been writing another fan fic based on events after the season 3 finale. I am jumping back and forth between them so give myself a bit of variety.

Happy reading,

Mrosse38

"Seriously Nicky, are you fucking kidding me? You didn't think it would be worth mentioning that there was a half-naked chick in our bathroom BEFORE I walked in and made a complete fucking arse of myself" Piper whispered harshly at her roommate as they stand in her bedroom, the door firmly shut. Piper now all to conscious of the now fully clothed guest in the room just next door to where they were standing, mindlessly flipping through the channels of the TV

"Well I did tell you to get that lock fixed ages ago" Nicky snickered "So technically it's your own fault."

"Well technically I should shove my foot up your fucking arse and parade you around like some sort of fucking marionette" Piper fumes, her hands perched on her hips in anger.

"Pfft, well in that case can I shove a lamp up yours in hope that you will lighten the fuck up?" Nicky retorts with a smirk lacing her lips.

"Ugh, now she probably thinks I'm some sort of weird pervert who gets off on creeping on girls in the bathroom." Piper groans, rubbing her hands over her face in an attempt to shield herself from the embarrassment she was feeling.

"Well aren't you?" Nicky teases.

"Ha Ha Nicky, you're fucking hilarious."

"I know" Nicky replies with a wink. "Listen Pipes, calm down. The only one making a big deal out of it is you. Vause really couldn't give two shits if you practically saw her half-naked. Sometimes naked introductions are the best kind. Besides, since when have you even given a shit what someone thinks?" Nicky questions with genuine curiosity.

It was true. Piper was well known for her carefree, no bull shit attitude. She did what she wanted, when she wanted and couldn't give a fuck about the consequences. Even if those consequences meant that people would form a bad opinion of her. Looking back, she honestly couldn't remember a time when she actually gave a crap about what someone thought about her. But for some reason, here she was, worried what Alex thought about her. She actually wanted Alex to like her. Get your shit together Chapman, she's just some girl you barely even know Piper thinks to herself.

Turning back to Nicky, Piper puts on her best carefree expression, not wanting to give away any hint of the feelings she is currently experiencing. Knowing that if she did, her friend would pull her aside and question her for hours. Piper Chapman didn't do feelings. She was meant to be an empty shell, uncaring and incapable of expressing love. "Look I don't, but when that person happens to be good friends with my closest friend I don't exactly want them be weirded out by the very presence of me. It kinda makes it difficult if we ever wanna hang out as a group you know. I mean remember Rebecca, that bitch hated me with a passion and wouldn't even hang out in same club as me, let alone come to our apartment. I'm pretty sure she was ready to start an 'I hate Piper fucking Chapman' Facebook page."

"Well if she did I'm sure there would be a shit tonne of members, myself included. Besides, she hated you because you took her lesbian v-card, bailed from her house at like 3 in the fucking morning and then never bothered to answer any of her fifty text messages she sent you. Yes, the bitch sent you fucking fifty messages, I counted."

Piper looks at her friend, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well, you know me Nicky I'm not exactly the stay and cuddle after sex type. I'm not the cuddle type EVER and she fucking knew that so it's not like it's my fault that her little feelings got hurt. What did she expect? That Piper Chapman, the girl with the fucking heart made of ice would suddenly change, and for her?"

"I know Piper, we have gone over it a million times. Believe me I know, it would take a fucking miracle for someone to break through that stone cold heart of yours. I swear if anyone ever does, I will personally bow down to them. Anyway, it doesn't matter because now we have the whole 'no fucking Nicky's friends and/or colleagues' rule."

Piper just looks at Nicky and nods her head in acknowledgement. Nicky had called that rule into place after Piper had fucked, and then bailed immediately after, one too many of Nicky's associates. She remembers how Nicky had come home furious late one night after her shift at Red's, complaining about how the new girl spent the whole night following her around like a lost puppy, asking her questions about Piper and when she would call after, Piper had slept with her the week before. From that night on, the rule was firmly set in place.

"Speaking of you sleeping with a bunch of my friends, never calling them and making me feel like shit when I try to let them down gently. How about we call it all even and I promise to never use it against you again?"

Piper raises her eyebrows, curious to know what her friend wanted. "I'm listening."

"Okay so you know how Vause has just moved back to town? Well she needs to go apartment hunting tomorrow and I was going to take her but Red called earlier saying that Brooke got the flu and she really needs someone to cover her for the day shift tomorrow. Sooo, I was kinda wondering since you have like no life outside of your training schedule, and I know for a fact that tomorrow is your rest day, I was hoping you could maybe take Vause to the showings for me?"

Piper groans. "Nick do I have to? Tomorrow is my only day off and I have some very important things I have to attend to."

"Piper, sitting in your sweatpants on the couch having a 12 hour Netflix marathon as you stuff your fat face with your favourite Chinese takeaway hardly counts as 'very important things'" Nicky laughs knowing that that was what Piper had planned.

"Ugh, fine. But you so owe me. Oh, and for the record I was planning on ordering pizza" Piper says seriously. "Now get out of my room and go entertain your little friend" she quips at Nicky as she opens her bedroom door and shoves her forcefully out her bedroom. Closing the door, Piper walks to her bed and flops down, sighing deeply. Tomorrow was gonna be a long day.

Piper wakes the next morning, looking over at her clock it reads 7am. Alex had her first apartment viewing at 8am. Groaning, she pushes the sheets off her body, swings her legs to the side of her bed and gets up. She walks to her dresser, grabbing a pair of faded blue jeans and a white sweater and quickly changes. Sitting on the edge of her bed, she pulls on her favourite pair of converse and ties the laces. Opening her bedroom door, she begins to walk down the hallway noticing the light of bathroom shining under the door. She leans against the frame of the door and lightly knocks. "Hey Alex, are you almost ready to go?" she asks.

The door suddenly opens almost causing Piper to tumble forward into the woman standing before her, looking incredibly hot, dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans and a loose fitting white v-neck shirt. "What, you're not going just come barging in like you did last night?" Alex chuckles, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

"Uh, yer listen sorry about that. Nicky keeps telling me to fix that lock but I am just so busy all the time with my training. Like I tried to get it fixed a few months ago but when I rang the guy he said he couldn't make it and then I rang another guy and left a message but he never got back to me. So I called…."

"Relax kid" Alex laughs cutting her off. "I'm fucking with you. You know I must say you are kinda cute when you ramble" she says playfully, causing Piper to blush a deep crimson. What the fuck? Since when does someone make her blush she thinks.

"Anyway, let's go" Alex says as she gently pushes past Piper, what feels like a spark igniting between them as their shoulders touch. Alex shoots Piper a wide smile, clearly having felt it too. Piper walks to the kitchen in a daze and grabs her purse and car keys. She ushers Alex out the door, shutting and then locking it behind her and they make their way to Piper's car.

They both sit in silence as Piper begins the drive towards the first prospective rental place. "Uh sorry," Piper says apologetically pointing to the radio, "It's broken."

"Oh, I don't mind" Alex replies shrugging her shoulders.

"I could, uh, grab my phone and play some music off of that if you'd like" Piper stammers out suddenly nervous for no obvious reason.

Alex chuckles. "Kid its fine really. You know there was this crazy time before radio's existed and people actually talked to each other during their commute."

"Oh, shit, right sorry" Piper splutters, trying to control the blush that she can feel creeping into her cheeks. Two blushes in one hour, that had to be some kind of record for her. "So what do you wanna talk about?" Piper asks recovering slightly.

"You"

"Me?"

"Yep."

"Uh, well there's not much to talk about" Piper says suddenly very nervous. Piper hated talking about herself, the slightest detail about her life having the ability to trigger one of her many horrible flashbacks.

"I find that hard to believe" Alex says as she leans towards Piper, staring at her intently. "Alright, let's start off easy then, what's your full name?"

"Piper Elizabeth Chapman" Piper answers, playing along hoping Alex will soon get bored of her. Truth be told Piper felt like she was a very boring person. Nothing ever really happened in her life that was worth talking about, well nothing good at least.

"Hmm" Alex hums. "Piper Chapman" repeating it back to herself, letting the name role off her tongue. "I like it" she confirms with a bob of her head. "Nicky says you guys have been friends since you were young?"

"Ah yer. We grew up together, went to the same school. We met first day of grade 6 and just sort of clicked. We have been friends ever since" Piper says smiling at the memory of a young bushy haired Nicky. Nicky was truly her best friend, she had been there through Piper's darkest times. Nicky is the only one to have ever seen her cry. She is the only person Piper truly cares about. The only person Piper feels any kind of love towards. The only person Piper would ever trust and in theory, the only person capable of breaking Piper's cold heart, or so she thinks.

"So Piper Chapman, how old are you?" Alex asks breaking Piper away from her thoughts.

Piper laughs nervously, turning her head to face Alex. "What is this, 20 Questions?"

"It is if you want it to be."

Piper again turns to face Alex, their eyes locking together. God, her eyes are so beautiful. And those lips. She just wanted to kiss them. Shit control yourself Chapman, you shouldn't be doing this. You know Alex isn't just someone you will want to fuck and forget. She is different. You don't need to be dragging Alex down into your bullshit like you have done with Nicky Piper thinks to herself. Alex smiles, causing Piper to break away from her train of thought. "Okay," Piper half-heartedly agrees, "But I get to ask you questions too."

"Okay deal that seems fair. You intrigue me Piper Chapman. So, how old are you?"

"23. You?"

"26. Nicky tells me you are a boxer, is that true?"

"Yes," Piper confirms "I'm not pro or anything but it pays the bills and I enjoy it. Now my turn. How do you know Nicky?"

"Nichol's and I used to work together at Red's before my girlfriend, well ex now, got a job out of state. Me being the dumbass that I am, decided to follow her even though deep down I knew we weren't gonna last. Six months after we moved, I came home from work to find her fucking her new boss in our bed. So I packed up my shit and moved back here as soon as possible."

"Oh wow god, that's horrible. What a bitch. Sorry to hear that. Uh, does that mean your single then?" Piper asks before she can stop herself.

"Wow you're bold Ms Chapman" Alex replies laughing. "Oh and by the way, that's two questions. But yes I'm single. What about you?"

"Sure am. I don't really do the whole relationship thing" she says quickly, instantly regretting the words as they leave her mouth. She really needs to put a stop to Alex trying to get to know her. She shouldn't be letting her in, but there was just something about Alex Vause that she just quite couldn't put her finger on. Piper knew the more she let Alex in, the harder she was going to find it to push her away. She needed to put a stop to this, and fast.

Alex frowns at Piper's confession. "I think you'd be great at it" Alex says, making Piper's lips turn up into a half-hearted smile. She knew this wasn't true. Piper didn't do relationships, ever. The closest she had ever come to a girlfriend was Nicky and even that relationship could be strained at times.

"It's still my turn" Alex says. "So are you close with your family?"

Piper's smile falls and her eyes suddenly become dark. She feels the familiar coldness wash over her at the thought of her family. "I don't want to talk about them" she spits at Alex.

Alex's eyes widen at her reaction. "Shit, sorry Piper. I didn't…."

"Just drop it" Piper says cutting Alex off, her hands tightening around the steering wheel.

"Piper, I.."

"I said just fucking drop it Alex."

They make the rest of the drive in uncomfortable silence. As Piper pulls to the curb outside the address of the rental property, Alex turns to face, her eyes softs. "Can I ask you just one last question?"

Piper turns to face her, the anger disappearing as she looks into those gorgeous emerald eyes. Piper takes a deep breath calming herself and simply nods her head.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Piper asks confused.

"Why don't you do relationships? I mean yer I've only known you for not even a day and I know this is quite forward, but honestly you seem like quite the catch. You are absolutely gorgeous and I'll bet a total badass. I mean it's not every day you come across a female who could totally kick the arse of every guy on this street. Honestly, it's kind of hot. Also, by judging from the extensive book collection in your apartment, which I know isn't Nicky's, you are incredibly well read and very smart I don't doubt. Here you are on YOUR day off, taking a near stranger house hunting as a favour to your best friend. I mean shit Piper you are amazing, anybody would be lucky to have you, man or woman" Alex says sincerely, giving Piper a warm smile.

Piper breath catches in her throat, no one had ever said something so sweet to her before. But it simply wasn't the truth. Finally, this was her chance to push Alex away. Get her to see her for who she truly was.

Taking a deep breath, she shakes her head in disagreement and laughs without humour. "I'm only going to say this once. Trust me Alex, no one would be lucky if they had me. I'm fucked up. I'm a mentally scarred narcissist who is incapable of showing love. And if I'm being truly honest, which doesn't happen very often, you are best staying clear of me. You seem like a really nice girl and I don't want to drag you down into my shit. Besides, I don't fuck Nicky's friends anyway, so you are wasting your time" Piper says in a voice as cold as ice. With that Piper opens the door and steps from the vehicle, leaving a shocked Alex remaining in the passenger seat. Fuck Piper thinks as she feels the unfamiliar burn of tears in her eyes. Who is this Alex Vause? And how had she managed to start breaking down her walls in just one day?