A/N: Good evening / morning / afternoon folks! This has been the hardest chapter to write so far as there were so many ways the story could have gone from last night and I've changed it so many times I might have preferred a multi-choice for you to select from! It's too big a topic to move on from too quickly, so I'm not gonna lie, we're in an angsty phase and there are ZERO unicorns to be found on this page...

Thanks for the continued support, reviews and follows - you guys are so good to me. Hope you have a good weekend people :-)

The worst part was over and Piper felt some relief that she didn't have to hide this anymore from Alex, but wished that she hadn't been forced to share that burden with someone else. Telling that story meant it was real and she didn't want to be treated differently as a result. She was still holding Alex tightly from behind and found some comfort from being able to feel the warmth of Alex through her tee shirt and the familiar scent inhaled as she breathed was soothing in itself, even though they hadn't spoken or made eye contact since her revelation a few minutes ago. Piper needed to close the conversation off somehow or they'd be like this all night.

Releasing her grip from Alex, she moved to the side of her and moved the curtain of dark hair that was covering her face with her hand, putting it behind her ear.

"Alex?" The taller woman sniffed and wiped her face with her forearm, bringing her glasses up into her hair to keep it back so she could dry her eyes a little.

"Alex, look at me." Piper reached up to stroke her fingers along the brunette's cheek. The taller woman turned around to face Piper for the first time since she told her about the attack and her eyes filled with more tears as soon as she did. Alex looked up to the ceiling and blinked them away quickly before looking at Piper again.

"OK?"

Alex shook her head and spoke softly. "Am I OK? How can you even ask me that after what you just told me?"

"Alright. Maybe that was a stupid thing to say, but I don't know what the right words are in this situation. I meant, can I trust you not to break any more of my stuff I guess?"

"Sorry….I'm so fucking sorry….For all of this." Alex started crying again now, apologising between sobs. Piper stood next to her awkwardly for a while.

"Well, I was thinking about getting some new crockery sets anyway. I guess you've helped me to make my mind up…." Piper looked around at the mess of broken plates and glass all around them.

Alex banged her hands on the kitchen top. "How can you make a fucking joke out of this?!"

Piper took her face in both of her hands again and looked her dead in the eye before talking sternly.

"Hey! Don't lose your shit on me now Alex. You wanted me to share this and I haven't got my head around what it means to have told you this yet. It's fucking raw for me right now to have this out there and I need you to be strong because I don't know how else to deal with this. I can cope with this on my own, but I can't do this for both of us…..Do you understand me? I'm making a joke because I'm trying to steer us away from the pit of despair we're teetering on the edge of right now."

"I don't know if I can be who you need me to be. I feel so ill equipped…. I never expected you to tell me something like this…..Jesus, I was expecting a mugging story! Never…..this." Alex ran her hand through her hair, not sure how to deal with this, or with Piper for that matter.

Piper lost her temper in an instant. "I fucking warned you Alex! I told you this was not a box I wanted to open. But, NO, you wouldn't let it fucking lie would you?! You had to keep on at me until I cracked. And NOW you're looking in your toolbox for some sort of fucking manual to help you out?! Well, newsflash…there isn't one!" Piper snapped, throwing her hands in the air.

"That is NOT what I meant and you know it!"

"Do I? Do I know it?! How the Hell am I supposed to know? Did you seriously think I was such a fucking pussy that I would lose my shit like this over someone stealing my purse?! Jesus Alex…give me some credit." Piper started to walk towards the lounge to get some space between them.

"Ow! Fuck!"

"What?"

"There's fucking GLASS everywhere Alex!" She picked her foot up to inspect what was jabbing her in the toe and pulled a shard of broken glass out. "Don't move anywhere. There's broken shit all over the floor and we've both got bare feet." Alex looked down at the damaged kitchen ware all around her on the floor before looking back up at Piper. "Fuck. We're trapped like 5 year olds playing alligators."

Piper hoisted herself up onto the breakfast bar and swivelled her legs around to stretch them out and reach over to the sofa with her feet, pushing off to roll onto the sofa. "Well jumping around the furniture isn't quite as much fun when you're trying not to bleed on it." She mumbled before Alex did the same and joined her on the sofa.

"Alright, OK, I'm sorry. I meant you need some professional help to deal with this. No, I didn't expect to hear you tell me….that. But I'm glad you did and of course I want to be there to help and support you. I just don't want to mess anything up by doing the wrong thing. It's not that I'm backing out. I said I wanted to stand with you to fight this monster and I absolutely will do that – especially knowing what you're dealing with, we're dealing with. I just want to do it right…..Gimme your foot. Did you get all the glass out?"

"I think so. You'll have to put the light on, I can't see."

Alex let out a deep sigh and rubbed her face as she walked over to the switch near the door. "God this is so fucked up."

"Yes. I'm with you on that." Eventually, Piper turned to Alex and sighed. "Isn't this where you're supposed to tell me to think of the stories I'll have?"

Alex got on her knees in front of Piper and lifted her foot to inspect for glass. "I hardly think that applies right now."

"You always used to say it in times of suckiness. I think it definitely applies…" The blonde muttered loud enough for Alex to hear as the brunette put her foot back down. "Looks like you're good, but you should put some antiseptic cream on that just in case."

The house phone started ringing and Piper looked at Alex, a sense of panic washing over her. "I'm going to have to get that. It will be Polly and she'll come around here if I don't pick up this time." Alex nodded and went to pull her boots on before searching through the bathroom cabinet for some cream and a sticking plaster.

"Hello?"

"Hey Polly…Yes, I'm fine…..I know…Yes…..Alex came around earlier…No, I put it on mute when I was in bed last night and forgot to turn the volume on in the morning…..What time did you call round?...Oh, I was in the bath then, sorry…Yeah, I know…..I'd forget my name if it weren't on all my ID cards…"

Alex found what she was looking for and headed back into the kitchen while Piper talked on the phone. She brushed up the broken glass as quietly as she could and put the broken pieces into bags lined with paper to stop the glass from tearing through before wiping up the spilled liquids as best she could. There was mayo, tea, water and white wine vinegar all over the floor and it took several towels to clear it up. Alex was still wiping things over when Piper put the phone down to Polly.

"Well, I think I survived the Spanish Inquisition. She thinks my phone was muted. Let's leave this until the morning now. I need to go over everything to make sure every piece of glass is cleared in the daylight, so no walking around in bare feet OK? Leave your shoes this side of the bathroom as that's our clean zone now."

"OK. I don't mind clearing it up though. It is my mess after all and I'm going to replace everything I damaged, don't worry about that."

"We can both do it in the morning. Come on."

Alex picked up the cream and sticking plaster and followed Piper back into the bathroom. "Here. Do you want me to do it or do I need to just kiss it better at the end?" They both smiled, remembering the times when Piper had cut herself when they used to be together and she had insisted on Alex kissing the sticking plaster to help make it better every time.

"Just kiss it better." Piper grinned and washed her foot off under the Fawcett while Alex went to retrieve the duvet from the lounge and drag it back onto the bed.

They got washed and Alex knelt down to kiss Piper's toe sweetly before they climbed into the bed together. Even though they were both emotionally drained from this evening's events, neither could switch off from going over things in their heads and they lay in silence for a while. Piper was considering the temptation to change the subject to something more light hearted, but actually she was too tired to have a whole other conversation about anything at all.

"Pipes?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll never forgive myself for this you know. If it weren't for me naming you to save my own ass, none of this would have happened." Alex was laid on her back, staring at the ceiling through eyes that were watering yet again. Piper sighed and turned to face her.

"None of us knew any of this was going to happen. There's no point in you going over the ifs, buts and maybes. Believe me, I've spent a lot of time and energy doing that already and it's exhausting."

"Did you tell anyone about the attack at the time?"

"I decided to not take any chances on another attack, so I didn't tell anyone. I was pretty bruised and sore for a while, but told everyone it was bad period cramps and laid low in my bunk. There was some bleeding over the next week, but it stopped and I figured I was healing OK. It's not like the medical station in a prison have any real interest in sending you to an OBGYN anyway. They pretty much give you weak pain killers and check you aren't going to die on them."

Alex was quiet for a while. "You haven't told anyone about this?"

"No. What was the point? I'd get the same again if I snitched and anyone who might've cared couldn't prove anything because there wasn't any evidence. How would my parents have reacted to me telling them that when I'd only just begun my sentence? They would be destroyed by it and it wouldn't change a thing about what happened except they would report it and I'd end up with God knows what kind of payback torture."

"Fuck Piper… I can't believe how you've kept this to yourself all this time. How the Hell have you been carrying on a relatively normal life?"

"It took a while to bury it, but I locked it away when I left prison. I took it as starting a new chapter and closing off anything that happened in there, plus I knew there was little chance of me ever seeing any of them again. Only that fucking douchebag Darryl had to fuck all of that up…"

"What have you told Sarah about it?"

"Not much. She knows I was attacked, but she thinks it was an altercation with an inmate."

"Are you going to tell her what really happened?"

"I don't know. It's not sunk in that you know about it yet. It's not something I'm ready to share with the world you know? Please, please do not tell anyone about this. I know I probably don't have to ask you that, but I really need you to promise me you'll not discuss this with anyone. You are the only person I've told about this and I can't stomach the thought of having to go through this with my Mother or even Polly. OK?"

"Yes, of course. It's your decision. I won't say a thing to anyone." Alex turned to face the blonde on her pillow.

"Pipes?"

"Yeah."

"Would it be OK to hold you, like put my arm around you a bit?"

"Yeah, I think that would be nice." Piper moved closer and lifted her head for Alex to snake her arm underneath as she rested it back on Alex's chest and put her arm over Alex's stomach. Alex rested her hand across Piper's back, the flat of her palm on her side.

"Is this OK?"

"Yeah, that's nice."

"Good. You'll tell me if you're not comfortable with something though, right?"

"Alex, you're not going to break me. You don't need to ask my permission every time you want to hold my hand or kiss me. We're not in elementary school. You're my girlfriend. I'm kind of expecting it." Piper lifted her head to look at Alex and reinforce the message by leaning up to kiss her on the lips briefly.

"I don't want to trigger anything and you've freaked out a couple of times when I touched you tonight. Maybe we should take it slow again?"

"I'm not ready to analyse this and I don't know what to tell you…. I'll tell you if I'm not comfortable with something is the best I can offer, but I want to be close to you. I'm not uncomfortable with this contact."

Eventually, Piper drifted off to sleep lying on Alex's chest. Sleep just wouldn't come for Alex though as she lay in the darkness, staring at the ceiling and trying not to disturb the woman lying in her arms with her thoughts.

Piper slept in the brunette's arms all night and Alex's alarm on her phone woke them at 8am. She reached over to put her glasses on and turned the alarm off. Piper had also been woken by the noise and she lifted her head off Alex when she moved to get her phone to lie on her own pillow. Her neck was aching from sleeping in the same slightly raised position all night and she squinted at the daylight streaking through the open blind in her bedroom.

"Good morning." Alex leaned over to peck Piper on the cheek.

"Good morning yourself. Do you have to go to work this morning?"

"No. I can send Nicky a message and ask Lorna to open the place up this morning if you want?"

"Look at you all relaxed about someone else having the keys to the kingdom."

"Relaxed is pushing it. Accepting is maybe a better word for it. I've come to realise that I can't watch them all 24/7 and I have to learn to trust they know what they are doing now. I'm at the end of a phone if the shit hits the fan anyway. I can always go in later if you want to get rid of me?"

"Sarah is coming at 10, so I was planning to be at the store for lunch time."

"OK, well I can drop you off on my way then. I guess we should get the place cleaned up before she gets here or she'll be crunching glass as she walks in the door."

"Good point. I'm gonna put some sweat pants on to clean up before I get in the shower. Do you want to borrow some?"

"Yeah. I'll just call Nicky to let her know I won't be in first thing and check Lorna has the keys with her."

Piper got dressed and left some clean clothes out on the bed for Alex before slipping on her shoes and heading into the kitchen. Alex had made a good job of it already, so she got the vacuum out and ran it over every surface to get any stray shards as well as going over their footwear to make sure nothing would be trodden into the carpet further down the line. She felt like it was a CSI situation she was clearing before Sarah arrived and Alex came in as she was putting the vacuum away.

"Good job. I'll see what I can do with that tea stain on the wall, but you might need to redecorate. Will your landlord be OK with that?"

"Yes, as long as I don't go for crazy colours, he won't even notice." Piper waved her hand dismissively.

It was 9:15 by the time they had emptied the trash and cleaned everything down. Piper was ready to head into the bathroom to shower when she saw Alex picking up her things.

"Are you leaving?"

"Er…I wasn't sure if you wanted me to stay while you had your meeting, so I was going to head out and get some coffee - since I broke your coffee machine last night. I will replace that and everything else I damaged of course."

Piper walked over to where Alex was standing and reached for her hand.

"Will you stay for the meeting? I don't know if she'll want to ask about the attack again and I think I'd feel better about that if you were there. Would you mind?"

Alex pulled her girlfriend into a warm embrace, speaking softly. "Of course I'll stay. Do you want me to pick up some coffees anyway for when she arrives? Do you know what she likes?"

"No need to do that. We can have water or instant if necessary. Actually, we can have a fresh smoothy since my blender was safely stashed in the cupboard last night." Piper smiled before leaning in to kiss Alex on the cheek. "I'm just going to have a quick shower and then I'll get onto the ingredients list if you want to get it out."

Piper went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Leaning over the sink to check her face in the mirror, she could see dark circles around her eyes from recent events. She was trying to put on a brave face for Alex which mostly meant avoiding the topic that was causing her so much anxiety. She hadn't expected Alex to lose her temper last night, but she also hadn't foreseen her girlfriend feeling so guilty about everything either. She shouldn't be surprised about that, but she didn't have the energy to maintain this superficial smile forever for the sake of protecting Alex's feelings as well as her own. Saying a problem shared is a problem halved is all well and good until you realise it's a bit more than you were expecting to be sharing half of. Piper turned the shower on to warm up as she undressed and watched the steam cover the mirror before stepping under the hot water to wash some of the anxiety down the drain. She could do this. If Alex was true to her word of standing by her side through this, she could have the conversation with Sarah and see where it leads.

Alex was sitting on the sofa, texting Nicky when Piper came back in all showered and changed into black jeans and a cream sweater.

"Hey. You ready for one of my super smoothies?" Piper rolled her sleeves up and opened the fridge to get her ingredients out for a kale and broccoli special.

"You know me, I'll try anything once…..But there is a lot of green there….are you sure you have a recipe?" Alex followed her to sit at the breakfast bar.

"Trust me. This is gonna taste delicious and it's sooo good for you!"

Piper had the blender on when Sarah knocked at the door, but Alex was keeping an eye on the time and watched from the window when 10am arrived, so she opened the door. Piper switched the blender off and followed Alex to the door as Sarah stepped through.

"Hey Sarah, how are you?"

"Hey Piper. I'm really good thanks. How are you guys doing today?" Sarah put her files down to take her coat off and Alex waited to take her coat to hang it by the door.

"Oh, Sarah. This is my girlfriend, Alex. I think you guys have met before?"

"We have. Although I don't remember her having that title last time? In fact, you didn't correct me when I asked if you had a boyfriend or husband who could help you in one of our previous meetings?"

"No, you're right on both counts there. It's new. Well, it's not exactly new. It's complicated. Nevermind." Piper shook her head, not wanting to get into this right now.

"Complicated? OK, say no more. I find relationships with women often are!" Sarah laughed and Piper couldn't stop herself from enquiring if Sarah had current experience of that, leading Alex to raise an eyebrow at her from behind where Sarah was sitting.

"Oh, I have recent experience of complicated yes. I just got out of a relationship with my partner of 3 years, so I'm all about simple and no strings at the moment. Certainly not looking for a U-Haul chaser put it that way." She smiled genuinely and Alex decided to prevent any further interrogation from Piper by offering her a drink.

"We're all out of tea and coffee I'm afraid, but Piper just made a smoothy if you fancy it? Or water maybe?"

"No, I just got out of Starbucks actually so I'm fine thanks."

Alex walked over to pour out the smoothies for her and Piper and let them start their meeting. She didn't want to sit in on it from the start like she was supervising it.

"So, are you redecorating?" Sarah asked, looking around at the bare walls and tea stained marks in front of her.

"Oh. Er, yes! It needs freshening up a bit, you know how quickly things start to look tired."

"I do. I wouldn't have thought you'd get tired of your graduation photo with your family though." Sarah nodded towards the wonky and smashed photo still hanging limply from the wall.

"Ah, yes. That was an accident."

"OK. Let me ask if you've had any more occasions this last week where you've got angry over something then. Has that happened Piper?"

"Er….let me think…..No, I don't think I have, no."

"Are you sure this wasn't a result of you getting angry? It kinda looks like angry to me."

"No. Really, I've been fine. It was an accident. I was using the extension on the vacuum and it got stuck, so I forced it and it went back into the wall and hit the photo. Stupid really, but I'll need to get a new frame. It only happened this morning. I left it up to remind me to get a new frame when I'm in town later." Piper flashed her WASP smile and looked up to take her drink off Alex, who sat next to her on the sofa.

"OK. So, you're alright with Alex joining us in today's session I take it? That's good that you've got some support with you."

"Yes, Alex offered and I thought it would be good to have her here with me for moral support." She reached over and put her hand on Alex's knee.

"Great. I understand you've got the all clear from Dr Shetty now as well. How are you finding it having your independence back? Are you managing OK?"

"Yeah, fine. It's nice to get back into a routine you know. Thanks for the good report to help with that by the way." Piper flashed the WASP smile again, checking off another tick in the report box in her head and thinking at least a few more minutes of their session were already over before anything got too difficult.

"So, have you got many appointments today? I don't know if you have a busy time of year in your field of work…We've been quiet at the store recently but Alex thinks it's just the hangover from Christmas and we'll get busier once everyone gets paid again at the end of the month…"

"Yes, I have a couple more appointments today and then I'll head home to write up my reports. I'm sure Alex is right about things getting busier at the end of the month for you. Is that something you're worried about Piper?"

"Yes. Polly and I both have bills to pay – Polly is my best friend, and she's been working really long hours on her own while I've been off but I've still been paid for that. I feel guilty that one person had to manage at the busiest time of the year when we needed to make the most of the season and I took a wage without contributing."

"I'm sure Polly understands why. The attack you suffered was quite an ordeal. Has it been on your mind since we last spoke?"

Piper stiffened slightly before replying. "Not really, no. Just trying to forget about it really and –."

Alex put her arm around Piper's shoulders before leaning in to kiss the side of her hair softly above her ear. "You can do this." She whispered, her face turned away from Sarah. Alex leaned forward to drink some more of her smoothy before sitting back and resting her palm on Piper's back, moving her hand up and down slowly. The blonde turned to look at Alex, eyes full of fear and nerves. Alex nodded her head and smiled as she continued stroking her hand up and down the small of her back.

"Um, I have been thinking about it actually."

"OK. What is it that's been on your mind?" Sarah smiled gently, her hands resting on top of the notebook that Piper was burning holes with her eyes on. Suddenly, the enormity of speaking to someone who was more 'official' was terrifying. This was about so much more than Darryl and Piper was at a loss for where to start.

"I….er….we…talked about it last night, didn't we Alex?" Piper looked to the brunette for some support, as though she could tell the story on her behalf and save Piper the words. Alex leaned forward again and reached for Piper's hand on her knee, intertwining their fingers together before resting their joined hands back in her lap.

"We did. And last night was the hardest step to take, but it's only the first. I'm right here with you to take the second." Alex held her eyes, as though they were the only two people in the room. Piper grasped her other hand over the top of Alex's and squeezed them together as her knees jigged up and down. She took deep breaths and tried to calm her racing heart, looking at their piled up hands in Alex's lap. Sensing Piper was on the verge of a panic attack, Alex moved her hand to lift Piper's chin to look at her again.

"Have a sip of that delicious green drink and think about nothing more than breathing deep breaths."

"I don't think I can do it Alex….Maybe you could tell Sarah what I told you last night while I wait in the other room?" Piper said hopefully.

"Oh sweetheart…If I could take what happened to you, your ordeal….and make it my own to take away the memories and the pain for you, I would in a heartbeat. You don't know how much I wish I could do that for you….. But it's your truth to speak of." She stroked her fingers over the blonde hair that had come loose around Piper's face and sat back a little to give Sarah and Piper a clear view of each other.

Piper took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she exhaled, before opening them again and looking at Sarah.

"I….er…told Alex last night that I was raped while I was in prison."