A/N: Thanks to all of you who have left reviews, really appreciate it guys and also all the people who followed and read in secret as guests. Hope you're all having a great weekend so far (did anyone see that 3 piece tailored suit Laura Prepon wore to the SAG Party last night?! Made my weekend for sure ;-) ) Anyhoo...Christmas is approaching fast, so on with the story!
Alex chuckled at Piper's admission and leaned back to look at the blonde as she spoke with an undeniable smirk on her face.
"And there I was thinking you might play hard to get."
"That was two days ago Alex. You've got an awful lot of ground to make up since then." Piper smiled and stood to go back to work. Alex shook her head, smiling at Piper as she walked away from her.
"So, how about we both get some work done this morning and then we finish up by lunchtime and go out and get some fresh air? I was thinking we could head to the Christmas market at Union Square if you fancy that?"
"Yes! It would be great to get out of the apartment for a bit and use my legs." Piper clapped her hands together at the prospect of freedom.
"OK. 2 hours enough for you to do all of that if you don't spill anything then?"
"Deal."
They worked in relative quiet for the rest of the morning before Piper closed the orders book over with a thud. The receipts were neatly organised with invoices and all the paperwork had a record in the orders book now. There were only a few days left of 2015, but it covered everything for this year apart from that.
"Ok, let me go and get changed into something I can wear in public and we can set off if you're ready too?"
"Yeah, I can close this down at any point now. I'll drive us there so we don't have to worry about the crowded subways. The roads might be choked with traffic, but at least your ribs won't get bashed by Christmas shopping."
Piper changed into some thick black leggings and a chunky knit sweater, topping them off with a matching black scarf and bobble hat before putting on some knee length brown boots. She looked adorable as she put her long winter coat on as they got ready to lock up.
"I see you've got your presents all sorted there. Are you heading to see your family for Christmas or are they coming here?"
"Oh, yeah. With the snow expected over the weekend, I don't want to risk them getting stuck trying to pick me up or, worse still, me getting stuck there and not able to get back. So, I'll probably just stay here and sort the presents when the weather has cleared."
"Don't you have to be here with someone?"
"Well, Polly will be around so I guess I'll spend it with her. What about you? Are you going anywhere for Christmas?"
They started walking out of the apartment as Alex answered, with Piper locking the door behind them.
"I'll be staying home I guess. Nicky is coming around, so we'll probably get drunk and watch horror films and have an anti-Christmas day." She laughed as she climbed into her car and fastened their seatbelts.
Alex started to weave through the streets, heading into the city when Piper had an idea.
"Why don't you both come over to my place? I'll invite Peter and Polly as well, but at least I won't feel like a gooseberry if there's a group of us. I'd have to get some food in, but everyone could chip in with the cooking and dishes I guess."
"Well, er, are you sure you'd want to be entertaining while you're still taking your meds? I mean, the last thing I would want to do if I wasn't drinking would be watching a load of people who are."
"I don't mind it actually. I can think of the benefits to my liver and it means I'm guaranteed to not be hung over on Boxing Day. There isn't much room though, so it would be a bit of a squeeze."
"Well, my place is a bit bigger and we could do it there. But…..you might not like the fact I don't have a Christmas tree."
"Alex! How can you not have Christmas decorations up by now?!"
"Well, I kind of lost track of time and I've not been home as much as I had expected lately….But if you can live without the tree, I don't mind opening up the invite. Even to Polly."
"OK, I guess I'll have to get my tree time in the morning in that case. You sure it's OK?"
"Fine. Honestly. I do need to get some supplies in though, so maybe we can do that later."
"Great!" Piper beamed at the prospect of having some banter with Nicky again and Christmas being slightly merrier than if it were just her and Polly.
"OK, let's see if we can park down here and walk around the corner…"
Alex managed to squeeze into a space a block away from the market and they got out of the car and paid the meter before heading towards the stalls. There were people everywhere and Christmas tunes were playing from speakers in several different directions as they approached. It had been a while since Piper ate breakfast so they headed straight for a German food stall selling enormous Bratwurst and got one each loaded with onions and mustard. Alex felt her stomach flip when Piper closed her eyes and moaned when she took the first bite. That was an expression she loved to see for very different reasons normally, but the sight was glorious. They ate their hotdogs while walking around the stalls and Piper picked up some small gifts from some of the handmade stalls to wrap as presents. They followed their noses to a stall selling mulled wine and hot apple cider, where Piper got sulky because she couldn't drink alcohol yet. As she stomped off to see the cute woolly reindeer mittens on the stall next door, Alex had a word with the drink stall holder. A couple of minutes later, Alex came up behind Piper and put her arm around her waist.
"I have a surprise for you, but you have to close your eyes first OK?"
Piper turned to Alex with narrowed eyes at first.
"Ah-ah. No peeking. Close your eyes. Tight shut Pipes." She closed her eyes, feeling a little silly standing in a crown with her eyes closed in front of the novelty mittens. A minute later Alex told her she could open them and she gave her a cup of hot apple juice with cinnamon sticks and spices.
"Hot apple cider, but without the alcohol and with all the other trimmings."
Piper grinned "Hot apple juice then?"
"Yeah, but it looks the part, right?" Alex handed her the cup and sipped her own apple juice. "Are you seriously considering these animal mittens?"
"I am. They're cute! Look how cute these reindeer ones are, with little red noses on the end."
"And on what occasion would you be wearing these?"
"I'd wear them every day, going to work in the winter. They are practical and cute."
"Or you could get these plain black ones…that go with any outfit."
"They are the ones you would buy."
Alex chuckled "Yeah, I guess they are. Are your hands cold?" She took Piper's free hand in her own and squeezed it gently. "Mm, you are a little cold. Want me to warm this one up while you have your non-alcoholic cider?"
Piper raised her eyebrow at Alex and smirked. "Are you asking if you can hold my hand Alex Vause?"
"No... I'm saying my hand is available to you, should you want to make use of it for strictly warmth giving purposes Piper Chapman." Alex tried to keep a nonchalant expression as she sipped her own hot drink slowly.
"Oh! Well if you're saying it's for the good of my health, I had better take it then." Piper reached out for Alex's hand and instinctively linked their fingers together. She turned her head away from Alex to hide the grin that spread across her face at the feeling of holding hands with Alex while all the Christmas songs were playing in the marketplace. The grin hadn't dimmed very much when she turned back to find Alex regarding her curiously. "It's medicinal. I know. Totally medicinal."
Alex chuckled and squeezed Piper's hand as they walked on to the other stalls together. They tried on hats, tasted samples of locally produced food and bought a few things for the Christmas dinner they were planning before heading back towards the car. The pace was slow, neither of them wanting to get to the car and separate and Piper was very aware that Alex was rubbing her thumb over the top of her hand as she was talking. Whether Alex even realised she was doing it didn't matter, it was the fact that the little soothing gesture that they used to share so easily when holding hands was there and it felt so right to be touching each other's skin. It was symbolic really, they were wanting to be closer to each other, Alex using the excuse of looking after Piper and Piper not minding at all. It was nice to feel looked after for once and they had fun today.
Alex unlocked the car and let go of Piper's hand as she opened the trunk to put their bags inside. She heard her phone buzz and quickly replied to a text before closing the trunk. Piper opened the passenger door and climbed in to fasten her seatbelt. She was staring out of the passenger window when Alex got in to start the car up.
"Everything OK Pipes? Are you due some more pills?"
"Hmm? Oh, what time is it? 5? I'm OK for a bit yet. Can we stop by Popi on the way home and I can ask Polly about Christmas dinner?"
"Yeah, we can swing by. We're going to get caught up in rush hour now anyway, so no harm going in that direction."
Piper carried on staring out of the window and Alex put the radio on low as they moved slowly through the city traffic to Brooklyn. Mariah Carey started to play again "Oh, good God. Is this woman stalking me with this inane tune?!" Alex switched the radio off again as Piper laughed.
"You're just worried I'll start singing along, but don't worry I can do requests too? What would you like me to sing Alex? How about Mistleoe and Wine? I think you love a bit of Cliff Richard." She reached over to pull at Alex's cheeks, forcing her to break into a smile. "You like that one eh? OK, here goes…Christmas time….misteltoe and wine….children singing…."
"No! Enough already! I can't take anymore!" Alex was laughing as she batted her away from her face.
"OK, OK. I'll save it until you're not driving then." She held onto Alex's hand again in her lap as they made their way to the store. Fifteen minutes later, they pulled up outside and Piper got out to look in on the window display.
"Aw, doesn't it look cute?!" Before Alex could answer, Piper was on her way inside to see where Polly was. Alex followed behind and closed the door behind her. There were a couple of customers browsing and Polly was on the phone behind the counter when she saw them and waved them over.
"Hey, what are you guys doing here?!"
"Alex took me Christmas shopping, so I asked if we could stop in on the way home to see how the store is doing without me."
"Don't trust me to keep those shutters open without you then?"
"It's not that. I just wanted to see how busy it was…It's not exactly queuing out the door though…have you had many people in today?"
"Yeah, there were some big orders collected this morning and I've sent the last of the deliveries away today via Nicky so everything will arrive in time for the big day. I can't wait to close this place up tomorrow for a couple of day though I admit. It's been tough doing all these hours on my own – not to mention fucking boring" She added under her breath.
"Weeeell, as fascinating as it is listening to you two talk shop…I was wondering if Piper wanted to stay with you until closing time since you're heading over to hers anyway after work for the late shift. Would that be OK? Just means I can get some stuff done is all. I need to go out tonight, so could do with a couple of hours to tidy my place up and get washed up you know."
Piper looked up at her with a puzzled expression. "Oh. I didn't know you needed to be somewhere. Sure, you can head off. I'll be fine with Polly here….I'll, um, walk you to the car then."
Without looking at Polly, Piper walked with Alex until they were outside the store and standing by her car.
"Well, thanks for taking me out today Al. It was good to get out of the apartment for a while. So, um, I guess I'll see you in the morning then?"
"Yep, bright and early. Well, one of the two I suppose." Alex winked and started to move to open the car door but Piper was standing in front of it.
"Pipes? You're standing in-"
"Who are you seeing tonight Alex?"
"What? I didn't say I was seeing anyone."
"No, you didn't. But you didn't say you aren't seeing anyone either." Piper looked at her feet while Alex was sideswiped by the sudden questions.
"Well, I said I had stuff to do…." She sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "Look, if you don't want me to go, just-"
"No. It's fine. I just wondered is all. It doesn't matter. Honestly, just go. I'll see you in the morning." She smiled weakly before heading back into the store as quickly as she could, leaving Alex standing on the sidewalk wondering what just happened.
XXXXX
Piper slumped into a chair next to Polly behind the counter.
"Now she can't walk to her car without you running after her?"
"Have you ever heard the expression 'don't poke mad people with a pointy stick'? It applies here."
"No. But why are you mad?"
"Because Alex."
"That is normally reason enough, but you have gone from happy to mad in like 30 seconds of Alex saying she was leaving you with me. Am I such bad company these days?"
"We had such a nice day, starting from this morning actually…. Oh. Do you and Peter want to come to have Christmas dinner at Alex's place on Sunday?"
"Huh? You were mad with her not ten seconds ago, now you're planning a cosy Christmas foursome?" Polly folded her arms, more than a little perplexed by Piper's pendulum of emotions since she barrelled through the front door.
"Not cosy, Nicky is going to be there too. You like Nicky! It means I won't be a gooseberry with you and Pete and she has more space than my place apparently."
"Where does she live?"
"Er, I don't know. New York I guess. She said you're both welcome and we already got some food today. Come on Pol, it will be fun! And if it isn't well, at least you can make your excuses and leave at any time without any washing up to do. What's not to like about that? Plus, she will have good wine."
"OK, I'll check with Pete. It's not like I'd even thought about what I was going to cook anyway. God Piper, I wish you'd tell me things like this a little sooner."
"Wait. Fuck! I have to tell you something else."
"Jesus Piper, what is up with you today?"
"OK, so Alex told me that Steve told you both about the attack the other week."
"Yes, what has this go to do with-"
"He told you I was raped, but I wasn't. He got it wrong."
"Oh. OH! Thank fuck for that eh?! I thought you were super-recovered a bit quickly!"
"Yes, massive misunderstanding all around. He put two and two together and got something that wasn't four. So, I'm fine and just the bruising and head thing. The police tested me and they said I'm all clear….Not everyone was so lucky I guess with that drug he was using.
"Shit Piper, that's serious…."
They talked about the case for a while and Piper forgot about what happened with Alex until they closed the store and arrived back at her apartment. She was lying in the bath when she started to wonder where Alex had been heading tonight. She hadn't exactly been secretive about it, but she hadn't mentioned it earlier either. But then, what business was it of Piper's? It wasn't like they were together and Alex was perfectly entitled to do whatever the Hell she wanted and it didn't always have to include Piper. In fact, Piper thought she might be glad of an escape from looking after her all of the time.
XXXXX
The next morning, Piper stayed in bed as Polly got ready for work. Walking around the day before had tired her out and she had been out cold all night and was still groggy when Polly came in to say goodbye.
"SuperCunt is downstairs already and I'm heading off now. Pete said it will be an extra Christmas present to spend the day surrounded by women, so he's fine with dinner tomorrow. I'll take those books back with me as well. Text me if you need me to pick anything up for dinner tonight. I don't think there's much in now. Bye!"
"Bye Pol." Piper turned over onto her side and picked up her phone to see what time it was. 8am, time enough for another nap then.
XXXXX
This was the first morning that Piper hadn't been up already when Alex got there and she'd not heard or seen anything from her since she arrived 45 minutes ago. Conscious that Piper had acted a little odd when she left her at the kerbside yesterday and there was a lot to be arranged for tomorrow, she decided to look in on Piper's room to see if she was awake. She had brought muffins from the coffee shop for breakfast and made a coffee in the kitchen for Piper before heading upstairs with them and knocking on the side of the door. Piper didn't move, so she walked further into the room and stood next to her bed, where she could see Piper was laid on her front and clutching her pillow as she slept. Alex put the coffee and muffin down on the table by the bed and sat on the edge of the bed where Piper was facing.
"Hey, Pipes. Are planning to sleep through Christmas here?"
There was no movement from the body under the covers, so Alex reached out to smooth Piper's hair away from her face. She soothed it behind her ear and ran her hand down to Piper's neck and across her shoulder to run her hands up and down the arm that was hugging the pillow.
"Come on sleepy head, I've brought you some coffee." Alex continued to stroke up and down Piper's arm for a second before stopping to pick up her own coffee mug.
"Don't stop. That was nice." There was a muffled voice from the pillow next to her.
Alex chuckled and went back to stroking Piper's arm.
"You like that do you?"
"Yeah, it's very relaxing."
"Well, I want to wake you up, not send you back to sleep. You haven't even opened your eyes to see who it is yet. It could be a masked intruder for all you know."
"Are you wearing a mask Alex?"
"I might be. Why don't you open your eyes to see?"
"Because I have an image in my head now and I might be disappointed if I open them and find that Catwoman isn't perched on the side of my bed." Piper smiled into her pillow before slowly opening her eyes as she heard Alex laughing. She stretched out her legs as she laid on her front and focused on Alex sitting by the side of her.
"Well good morning. Sorry to disappoint with my outfit choice, but since you said I had so much ground to make up I figured it was too soon for PVC in the bedroom." Alex smirked and moved her hand away to sit in her lap. Piper turned onto her back and began to sit up against her pillows.
"You're right. Plus, it isn't Christmas until tomorrow so I'd have to wait a whole 24 hours to unwrap you. Is that my coffee on the side?" Piper nodded towards the table, managing to keep her face reasonably composed.
"Yes, I brought you a muffin too. Breakfast in bed gets me bonus points, right?"
"Depends…Is it blueberry?"
"Of course."
"Mmm, the points are all yours. So, Polly and Peter are in for dinner tomorrow. Did you check Nicky is OK with us gatecrashing?"
"Yeah, she's fine with it. Probably even happier that you will be there. A bit of eye candy will make her day I'm sure." Alex rolled her eyes as she remembered Nicky's shit-eating grin when she told her about Piper coming around for Christmas.
"Any other guests you're inviting I should know about?" Piper spoke while looking over her coffee mug at Alex's reaction.
"Nope. That's all from me…..Why do I get the feeling you're fishing for something? If you want to know something, just come out with it and ask." Alex's eyebrows knitted together suspiciously as she challenged Piper to not beat about the bush.
"OK….Where did you go last night?"
"Why is this so important to you to know where I went? It was really nothing very interesting, honestly."
"Answering a question with a question does not provide an answer….If it isn't interesting, why don't you just tell me?"
Alex took a deep breath. "I went to a group meeting with a friend. It was kind of last minute and they needed some moral support. Don't ask me who and don't ask me what meeting though Piper, that's not my confidence to break."
Piper considered her answer for a moment and decided that it wasn't fair to push Alex to break a friend's confidence just because Piper was a nosy and jealous person.
"Alright, I can accept that."
"You can 'accept' it? Well, that is a relief." Alex's answer was curt as she was a little annoyed that she was having to explain and defend herself at all here.
"Alex, I didn't mean it like that. I mean I can accept that you wouldn't want to break a friend's trust. I understand that and respect that totally." She reached for Alex's hand and brought it to sit on her own lap on the bed.
"I guess I forgot you have your own life until you left early yesterday and I realised I had never asked you something."
Alex looked confused now. "Asked me what?"
Piper considered if there was a way to ask this without it being so blatantly obvious that she was asking if Alex was in a relationship. There wasn't and she was all about cutting through the BS these days.
"Al, are you seeing anyone? I mean, are you living with, sleeping with, regularly hooking up with anyone that I should know about? Not that I have a right to know I guess, but I just don't want to risk starting something here that might get me punched in the face."
Piper's face was deadly serious and Alex laughed loudly as she squeezed Piper's hand.
"No Pipes, I'm totally single and fancy free and there is zero risk of you being punched in the face by any crazy exes. Although I do have a crazy ex recovering from a punch in the face at the moment, so you should definitely watch out for her."
Piper was worried for a second, before realising that she was that crazy ex.
"Oh. Good. I mean, that's a relief. I also am single and fancy free right now, in case you were wondering." She smiled coyly, watching Alex from beneath her eyelashes.
Alex took Piper's mug and put them both down on the table before leaning in towards Piper.
"Oh, I've wondered. I've been wondering for a very…..very…long time now." Alex was barely an inch away from Piper's lips when she finished speaking and her hot breath was making Piper want to lick her lips. The brunette looked into Piper's eyes and could see her own yearning reflected back at her. She raised her hand to cup the underside of Piper's jaw, leaning on her other hand for support. Piper closed the distance between them and pressed her lips firmly against Alex's delicious pink lips before lifting her own hand to reach into Alex's dark hair to pull her closer still. Piper parted her lips to gently suck at Alex's lower lips and soothe over it with her tongue. The feeling of Alex's hot mouth on hers was sending her stomach into somersaults as their lips sought to taste each other. Their kisses became firmer and more urgent as Alex tentatively moved her tongue between Piper's lips and into the hotness of her mouth. Piper moaned softly at the welcome feeling of Alex exploring her mouth and her tongue was just as eager to feel Alex. She pulled Alex closer still with her hand at the base of her head, her hand twisted into dark hair that she never wanted to let go of. The want and yearning between them was buzzing through every nerve ending, every skin cell that was in contact between the two women was pulsing with need as their tongues danced together with fervour and familiarity. Piper's heart was racing and she felt her body aching to feel Alex's touch on more than just her lips. She fought to keep her mind from thinking about what she wanted to happen next and focused on keeping her hands fixed above shoulder level. After a few more seconds of hot making out sitting on Piper's bed, she pushed the brunette back gently by her shoulders to break the kiss. They were both a little breathless and Alex moved her glasses to the top of her head.
"Fuck." Piper breathed as she held onto Alex with her hand on the side on her neck.
"Fuck indeed." Alex whispered back before leaning in to give Piper another slow kiss on the lips.
Piper moaned again as Alex gently tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth as she pulled away from her.
"OK. I need to get up. And get a shower. Yes, a shower is a good idea right now." She started to get up and pulled the covers open at the opposite side of the bed so Alex couldn't block her escape. "And you can wait in the kitchen for me. You've not got enough points to be in here right now. Be gone!" Piper smiled as she grabbed her robe and a towel and headed to the bathroom.
Alex laughed and laid back on Piper's bed for a moment. She could smell Piper on her pillow and she breathed it in to fill her lungs.
"Piper Elizabeth Chapman, I'm so going to have you for Christmas this year." She thought to herself as she lay with her face on Piper's pillow.