A/N Hello again, another update for you all because frankly you guys deserve it. This chapter starts off at the end of the last one and mostly focuses on Alex's side of things/POV.

Much love to you all for taking the time out to read yesterday's update, thank you so much. It's absolutely crazy to sit here and watch my views go up by the thousands each day, when it was only this time last week that I decided to finally give writing/posting a go.

I apologise in advance for the mistakes I know exist. This chapter took a bit of time to write and it's starting to get a little late here for me to edit properly, but I wanted to get it up for you before I headed to bed.

Thanks so much for the new reviews and follows :D

Mrosse38

Alex is suddenly snapped awake from her sleep by a blood curdling scream. Confused, she sits up from the couch and looks to her immediate left where Piper lays, her face contorted in agony as her body shakes in her sleep. A whimper escapes Piper's lips, as Alex's watches her eyes dart erratically back and forth under her lids. Realising she in having a horrific nightmare, Alex leans back down and gently strokes Piper's cheek as she whispers her name quietly in an attempt to wake her. "Piper...Piper."

Piper's eyes suddenly open and her body shoots up from the couch, scaring Alex, who quickly sits upright behind her. Piper's breathing is rapid and her head darts around the room as she attempts to take in her surroundings. Seeing the panic in Piper's form, Alex wraps her arms around her waist and gently whispers in her ear. "Are you okay? You were screaming in your sleep."

Alex keeps her hold on Piper as she waits patiently for her to respond, hearing her sucking in deep breaths, trying to get her rapid breathing under control. Piper suddenly stiffens in Alex's arms and she jumps from the couch, Alex quickly releasing her hold on her to prevent her from panicking further. Alex watches as Piper grabs her jacket and bag, racing towards the door, sudden fear sinking in at the thought of the blonde girl's departure, particularly in her current state. "Piper wait," Alex calls after her as she struggles to detangle herself from the blanket they were laying under.

Running after the blonde, Alex only has time to take a few steps before she hears the handle of the front door being wretched open. "I've got to go, I'm sorry," she hears Piper call out, her voice constricted as if she was struggling to breathe.

"Piper," she calls out in one final attempt to get the blonde to stay. "Fuck," Alex whispers to herself as she hears the door slam close. Racing to the kitchen counter, Alex grabs her house keys and slips on a pair of shoes and runs out the door after Piper. Sprinting down the steps of her apartment, Alex arrives at the kerb just in time to see the taillights of Piper's car as she speeds off rapidly down the street, her tyres squealing as she takes off. "Fuck," Alex again mutters to herself as she strokes her hand through her thick, black hair.

Running back up the steps and into her apartment, Alex races to the living room and grabs her phone. Unlocking it, she scrolls through her contacts until she finds Nicky's name and hits call, nervously chewing her nails as she waits for her to answer.

On the fifth ring Nicky answers. "What?" she screams into the phone.

"Nicky, it's Alex. Listen something's happened to Piper."

"What the fuck, what's happened is she alright?" Nicky practically yells into the phone cutting Alex off.

"I don't know. We were asleep on the couch and she seemed to have some kind of bad dream and when she woke up she completely flipped the fuck out and practically ran out my apartment" Alex relays to her, still panicking as she recalls the blonde's reaction.

"Fuck," Nicky mutters through the phone. "Did she say anything to you?" she asks, hopeful that Alex was just over exaggerating and her best friend was simply headed home to their apartment. It wasn't very often that Piper would have nightmares that would be enough for her to react this way, but when she did, Nicky knew she needed help in order to calm down. Piper was a runner and sometimes there were certain things even she couldn't run from.

"All she said was that she was sorry and she had to go," Alex replies. "She looked so freaked out Nicky, I mean she was fucking screaming in her sleep."

"Fuck me, it sounds like it was a bad one. I knew it was a bad idea for her to stay over at a place she was unfamiliar with. Look, I'm going to need to go find her, do you have any idea where she went?"

"No idea, before I could get her to stop and talk to me she was already gone. Please Nick, let me help you," Alex begs suddenly feeling guilty at the thought that she was the reason Piper had reacted this way.

Nicky chews on her lip contemplating Alex's request before she answers. "I don't know Vause, Piper can be pretty messed up after one of her bad nightmares. That shit can sometimes get pretty ugly, you sure you want to be around for that?"

"Nicky, please, I care about Piper a lot and really want to help her. Fuck, this all my fault. Please, just let me come with you so I know she's safe," Alex cries, desperate to help the evidently troubled blonde.

There is a long pause at the other end of the phone line as Alex waits impatiently for Nicky to answer. "Okay, I'll be at yours in 10 to pick you up" Nicky replies before the line goes dead.

Alex paces nervously in her apartment as she awaits for Nicky's arrival. She was so worried for the blonde. Alex knew Piper had issues, with Piper describing herself as 'fucked up' in one of their first meetings. However, seeing those issues in action was terrifying. Alex was terrified, not OF Piper but FOR her. Alex wanted to take all the bad things away, but knowing she can't she opted for the next best thing, simply being there for Piper when her ugly past decided to raise its horrific head. Alex's phone goes off with a message from Nicky telling her she is outside her apartment. She grabs her jacket and practically runs down the steps and slides herself inside Nicky's car.

"Hey," she mutters to Nicky, truly wishing that they were meeting on better terms.

Nicky pulls her car away from the kerb and begins travelling in the same direction Alex had last seen Piper go. Glancing over at Alex she mumbles her response. "Hey."

"So what's the plan? Do you have any idea where she could be?" Alex asks, hoping that Nicky would be able to give their search some sense of direction.

Nicky rubs her face with her right hand as she pulls up to stop at a red light. "Honestly? I have no fucking clue. The last time this happened was a few years back and we had just moved here so she didn't have a car and couldn't travel far. But now? She could be fucking anywhere."

"Do they happen often? The nightmares?" Alex asks, worried about how long the poor blonde had being suffering with these horrific dreams.

Nicky takes a deep breath, determining whether or not she should answer her question. Over the years, Nicky had learnt to keep her mouth shut about Piper. In theory, Nicky was incredibly lucky because of how close she was with Piper, leading to Piper willingness to share bits of information with her. However, Piper never told her the whole truth and Nicky never asked out of fear it would make Piper close up and refuse to provide her with even little pieces of information. Better to have some truth from Piper than not at all, right?

"The nightmares, yes. Sometimes they happen every night. But, thankfully, the ones like you saw don't happen very often anymore," Nicky says as she finally decides to respond to Alex's question, knowing that Piper had never even once felt comfortable enough to fall asleep at someone else's place. This allowed her to know her and Alex were the real deal, that Piper had finally found someone who she was willing to let in. Nicky loved and trusted Alex and she hoped that, in time, Piper would realise she did as well. Knowing that Piper would need a push in the right direction, she decided to help with first few steps of letting Alex in.

"Fuck, do you…..do you know why?" Alex replies in a quiet voice, incredibly terrified to know the answer.

Nicky shakes her head. "I don't know the details, she's never told me, she's never told anyone. All I know is that her father was a fucking bastard and her mother was too busy trying to pretend, to the outside world, that they were this perfect fucking family. She didn't give to shits what was happening to her own kids."

"Fuck, that's messed up."

"Tell me about it, whatever went on behind the closed doors of the Chapman household was pretty fucked up. For as long as I've known Piper she's always been slightly messed up, it got worse as she got older before she finally got the courage to bail out at 18."

"Has she ever tried to get help? You know talk to someone about it?" Alex asks as Nicky continues to drive.

Nicky shoots her a look. "Are you kidding me? Have you not met Piper Chapman? That kid is the master of avoiding her feelings."

Alex simply nods her head in agreement. From the time she had spent with Piper, she knew she struggled with conveying her emotions and feelings, as if she was truly terrified to allow someone to get close to her. The more Alex got to know the real Piper Chapman, the more she wanted to protect her and be the one she finally lets in.

Nicky and Alex continue to drive around aimlessly searching for Piper for well over an hour. "Fuck me," Nicky says breaking the silence, "Where the fuck are you Chapman?"

"Does she have like a favourite place to go? Maybe somewhere you guys used to go together that Piper really loved?"

Nicky's eyes suddenly open wide and she turns to Alex with her mouth open in realisation, snapping her fingers at her. "I've got it, fuck me why didn't I think of it before?" Nicky says as she suddenly turns the car around and starts back into the direction they had just came. "There's this park that Piper and I used to go to when we first moved here. It has this lake in the middle and we used to just sit there for hours" Nicky explains.

After a 10 minute drive they arrive at the park to find it to be completely empty, except for Piper's car parked over in the far right corner of the parking lot. Sighing a breath of release, Nicky pulls the car in and parks, looking out towards the lake noticing the small silhouette of her friend as she sits with her back leant against a tree. Nicky undoes her seat belt and reaches for the handle of the door before she is stopped by Alex's hand. "Please, let me go," she begs wanting to be the one to comfort Piper after her episode. Nicky simply nods her head, knowing that it was the right thing to do. That it was time to pass on the 'torch' and let Alex be the one who let her calm her.

Alex opens the door and steps from the car, walking towards Piper's figure hunched over by the tree. She continues to walk forward, making sure she makes enough noise to ensure that she doesn't startle Piper. "Hey," she whispers quietly to Piper, who remains unmoved continuing to stare out across the blackness of the lake. Alex takes a seat next to Piper and mimics her posture, wrapping her arms around her legs and pulling her knees into her chest. A few silent minutes pass before Alex speaks again. "What we looking at?"

Another minute goes by and Alex think Piper isn't going to respond and begins to panic, fearing she had made a mistake and should of let Nicky come to her.

"The lake," Piper finally responds, making Alex release a breath that she wasn't aware she was holding.

"Oh yer? It's a nice lake, very blue like your eyes" Alex responds, mentally kicking herself as she realises how stupid she sounded. The sound of Piper's quiet laughter fills Alex's ears and she smiles, so thankful at the sound.

"Wow, you're deep" Piper says through her giggles.

"Yep, I'm as deep as this fucking lake. Makes me pretty amazing," Alex laughs back with a large grin plastering her face.

"Wow, and modest too. You really are the complete package," Piper quips back as she turns her head and finally faces Alex, her beautiful blue eyes piercing into hers.

"Oh you have no idea, kid" Alex responds with a wink, lightly elbowing Piper's side. "You, okay?" she asks Piper quietly, removing one her hands from around her knees and placing it on Piper's.

Piper looks down at Alex's hand, before taking it and holding it in between her own, thankful for the warmth it was suddenly bringing. "You know what, I think I just might just be."

They sit in silence for a few minutes longer before Piper finally speaks again. "Look, I'm really sorry about tonight Alex. I didn't mean to do a runner on you, sometimes it just gets too much you know?"

Alex turns her body towards Piper, placing her other free hand on top of Piper's, which still encase her left hand. "Don't be sorry Piper, it's okay I get it," she says gently.

"I haven't scared you away?" Piper asks nervously.

Alex smiles warmly at her and removes one hand to brush her fingertips across her cheek. "You could never scare me away Piper. I meant it last night when I said I wanted you. I want all of you, the good and the bad. I want you to feel that you can talk to me about anything."

Piper returns Alex's smile, nervously chewing on her lip before replying. "I want to tell you everything Alex, but I'm scared. Scared to tell you the truth and also scared that I feel I need to. I want this with you Alex but I'm so used to shutting people out that it's hard for me to let you in. But I want to let you in and that both excites and terrifies me."

"Hey," Alex says, taking her hands and cupping Piper's face leaning forward, her face is inches from Piper's. "You don't need to be scared, I PROMISE I'm not going to hurt you."

"I know," Piper responds quietly and leans forward, allowing Alex to capture her lips in a sweet kiss that fills her body with the warmth it had been lacking since she had left the comfort of Alex's arms hours before. Breaking the kiss, Alex pulls back and rests her forehead against Piper's. "It's late, how about we get you home?"

Piper nods and allows for Alex to pull her to her feet. They walk towards Nicky's car, hand in hand. Nicky steps from the car and walks towards Piper, before embracing her in a tight hug. "Shit you scared the crap outta me. You alright. P?" she whispers softly in her ear. Piper nods and pulls back from the hug. "I am now. I'm so sorry Nick."

"It's okay Pipes. Shit you look exhausted, let's get you home. How about you let Alex drive?"

Piper nods and fishes in her pocket, pulling out her keys and handing them Alex before walking towards her car and hopping into the passenger seat. Alex drives to Piper's apartment in silence, one hand on the steering wheel the other tightly holding Piper's, fingers interlaced. She pulls to the kerb and switches off the engine, letting go of each other's hands they walk up the stairs and into the apartment.

Alex leads Piper towards her bedroom, opening the door and pushes her gently to sit on the bed, crouching down to remove her shoes. "Thank you for everything tonight Alex," Piper says as Alex begins to stand, looking down at her with sparkling eyes.

"You're welcome Pipes," she responds, the nickname effortlessly falling from her lips. "I better let you get some rest. I'm just gonna go crash on your couch tonight so I will see you in the morning." Alex walks towards Piper's door before she feels herself yanked back gently by the wrist. Turning, she looks at Piper in confusion.

"Come be my big spoon," Piper replies, still holding Alex's hand as she walks backwards towards the bed.

"Okay," Alex smiles and let's go of Piper's hand to untie her own shoes. Kicking her shoes off, she slides herself in behind Piper in the bed, wrapping her long arms around Piper's small frame.

"Good night Al," Piper whispers in the darkness.

"Good night Pipes," she responds, placing a small kiss on the back of Piper's neck before they both quickly fall into a comfortable slumber, both excited for what tomorrow would bring.

A/N And there we have it, a little bit of Vauseman goodness for you. I hope it doesn't seem to rushed. I'm going off of the premise of having an instant connection with someone and maybe the whole love at first sight thing.

To those who reviewed saying you hoped Alex went after Piper, I hope this satisfied your needs. I thought it would be a cute little way of showing how their relationship is beginning to form and how that, even though they have only known each other a short while, they already have incredibly strong feelings for each other.

I do have an assessment that needs completing, whilst it's not overly difficult it is rather time consuming. In saying that don't expect to wait too long for an update. Just so you know, I'll probably be quickly writing the next chapter for 'Broken' before diving back into this. I'm currently liking the whole switching between stories because it gives me a bit of diversity and allows me some time to thoroughly think about what I want to happen in the next chapter.

Thanks again for reading :D