A/N: Thanks for all the positive messages about the last chapter, it was really good to see so many of you on the same page with the fact that intimacy is not going to be easy after one session with the rape counsellor. I'm going to be clear on this before you read ahead - Piper needs and wants love and affection - and she wants to give those things too. Feeling vulnerable and exposed in the shower without warning is a very different situation for her.

This is only a short one, but I hope it sates those people who want a twice weekly update ;-)

Alex was taking the warmed pizza out of the oven when Piper came into the kitchen wearing PJ's and towelling her hair dry.

"Hey."

"Oh, hey. Do you want some of this? You hardly got a look in when I was driving back earlier, you must be starving."

"It's OK. I'll have a slice thanks. I was going to get some water, do you want any?" Piper walked towards the unit where she knew the glasses were and Alex turned into her as she was getting a plate out.

"Sorry. Um, yes please." Alex avoided her eyes and focused her efforts on plating up the pizza and putting the TV on in the background to break up the tension in the room a little. Piper filled the glasses with some iced water and walked over to put them on the table next to the pizza and sat down on the sofa to grab a slice as she waited for Alex to join her.

"I'm just going to get a quick shower while you eat that." Alex said quickly as she went to her own bathroom upstairs.

"OK" Piper shouted after her and sat watching what looked like Terminator 2 on the TV with the rest of the pizza. When the credits were rolling and Piper realised that Alex still hadn't returned from her shower, she decided to go and look for her. She hadn't exactly planned on coming to stay over at her girlfriend's place tonight to just eat her food and watch TV on her own, so she wondered whether Alex had got carried away working again. Ducking her head around the doors on the main floor, it looked like she was still upstairs. Piper locked everything up and turned the lights off to head upstairs to find her.

"Al? Are you up here?" She called as she climbed the stairs to Alex's room. Rounding the corner, she found the brunette lay up against the pillows on the bed, papers sprawled over her lap and glasses at a jaunty angle on her face as she snored softly in an almost seated position. Walking over to gather up the papers, Piper could see photos on the top corners of some of the files and names. She must have been looking through employment files for some reason, though Piper didn't recognise anyone in the photos as she collected them all together to stack at the side of the wall. Alex was lay in her short black robe, which had fallen open slightly, revealing a cute black camisole top and silky shorts. As tempted as the blonde was to stand and observe her sexy as Hell girlfriend laying like that for a while longer, she knew Alex would want to be up again early in the morning to look after the new warehouse deliveries, so she took her glasses off gently and put them on the night stand before gently waking her.

"Come on babe, let's get you under these covers. You must be dead on your feet and still you won't stop working. Some things never change hey?" Piper pulled the groaning woman to her feet briefly as she lifted the covers up for her to immediately sink back inside them. Alex hadn't even opened her eyes, just responded robotically to Piper's commands and snuggled straight into the pillows. Piper wasn't actually tired, given everything that was whirring around in her mind from today's events, but she walked around the other side of the bed and climbed in anyway. She lay on her side, watching the dark haired woman sleep soundly next to her. She stroked the hair from her face and Alex didn't so much as stir, she was so dog tired. She tentatively stroked her fingertips across her cheek so as not to wake her or freak her out by being so close to her if she opened her eyes. She was breathing in a steady rhythm and was quickly into a deep sleep, even after being awoken by Piper putting her under the covers a few moments ago. She had clearly been under a lot of stress, with the expectations that winning this new Italian contract had brought, yet she had still been there for Piper to see Sarah and to help her on her way to see Julie too, despite all of the other pressures she was under. Feeling a stab of guilt for having assumed the worst over the meeting with John Peters as well, Piper rolled onto her back. Alex's room had a large window in the ceiling so she could watch the stars sparkling on this clear night as she lay there thinking about the rollercoaster that had become her life since Alex had reappeared in it. Piper had been constantly expecting the worst from her ex-girlfriend from the very moment she first laid eyes on her in that bar with Nicky and she'd been consistently wide of the mark every single time. Maybe she had to face the fact that she had major trust issues these days and she wondered whether that was something she should talk to Julie about next week. She lay there for a long time, mulling events over in her mind, before eventually forcing herself to employ some relaxation techniques she had learned to aid restful sleep. They mostly involved closing her eyes and consciously relaxing her muscles one at a time before feeling like she was floating. It took a couple of attempts, but eventually she made it to sleep just after midnight.

XXXXX

Alex woke with a jolt at 6am, feeling as though she had slept in already. She hadn't slept for much more than 4 hours regularly recently and having more than that felt as though she had already missed half of the day. She was about to scramble out of bed when she realised she wasn't alone in there and saw Piper still sleeping peacefully by her side. Realising she had probably been there all night and Alex hadn't been holding her now felt like it was a wasted opportunity, but Alex had a lot to do today and couldn't really lie in bed gawking at her sleeping beauty, much as she was sorely tempted to. She gently climbed backwards out of the covers and used the light from her phone to find some clothes so she didn't disturb Piper. Bundling her clothes up and finding the files she was looking at last night, Alex crept out of the room and down the stairs to get dressed. Running the tap to brush her teeth, she dialled Bill Turnbull's number to see if he was all set, brushing her teeth as it rang.

"Morning Bill. It's Alex…Yeah. Are you guys all set?...Uhuh…Right…..14 of them…yeah….I'll call by this afternoon then. You have my number if you need anything…..OK. See you then." Alex hung up and finished cleaning her teeth before heading into the kitchen to fire up her laptop and make some coffee. She was in the middle of a skype call to Italy when Piper came downstairs and caught her eye to make the universal sign for 'would you like another hot drink?' by waving her empty mug in front of her. Alex smiled and nodded as she carried on explaining the order the containers would be arriving in to someone who clearly wasn't understanding very well. Piper curled up on the sofa with Alex's copy of Alice in Wonderland and a mug of coffee as Alex continued her call. She was completely absorbed in the story when Alex appeared behind her and planted a kiss on top of her head.

"Good morning. I hope I didn't wake you with my repeated spelling of the word 'straighteners'?" She budged Piper over on the cushion to sit beside her so they could both stretch their legs out.

"No, I woke up and wondered where you were. I should have known you'd be working again."

"Well, I've got to-" Piper held her hands up to stop Alex's defence.

"I'm not even going to try and tell you that you shouldn't be working on a Saturday, don't worry. I've learned over many years that you wouldn't listen if I did and I know how important it is for you to get this contract sorted out. Do not worry. My lips are sealed." Piper punctuated the end of the sentence with a kiss to Alex's lips.

"I have to say, I wasn't expecting that. Lewis Carroll must be chilling you out, so by all means carry on. Do you want some breakfast? I can make you some….pancakes, or toast?" Alex was about to get up when Piper pulled her back down.

"Nu-uh. I can do that." Piper sat up onto her knees on the sofa and pulled Alex to sit back against the upright before putting her knee over her legs to straddle her lap.

"Before I do that, I wanted to say that I'm really proud of what you've done with this new contract." Piper cupped Alex's cheeks in her palms and brushed her thumbs along her cheek bones. "You've worked so hard to get this business up and running and I know you've been barely sleeping to get everything organised." Alex smiled up at her, feeling a lump in her throat at the sudden emotion she was feeling at the praise. She wasn't someone who did anything for praise or reward and it felt a little pathetic that it meant so much to her to hear Piper say these words to her now. "Those girls love working for you and you're so good with them all. You always lead by example and give 100% to everything you do…..So, I just wanted to say that I think you're amazing Alex Vause and even better than that, you're mine." Piper leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips. Alex put her fingers into the hair at the base of Piper's head and pulled her girlfriend into a longer kiss, their lips moving sensually against each other and Alex's fingers mussing up the blonde hair as she gently massaged her neck and scalp as they kissed. Alex moved her other hand to base of Piper's back and pulled her closer still, her arm surrounding her into a tight embrace as she held onto her girlfriend. Piper moved her fingers through Alex's hair and sought to deepen their kiss by pressing her lips more forcefully against her girlfriends, running the tip of her tongue across Alex's lower lip every so often but not pushing inside her lover's mouth. As she pulled Piper more tightly against her to press out any space between their torsos, Alex broke the kiss off to press the side of her face against the blonde's chest, breathing her in. Piper stroked Alex's hair around her ears as she rested her chin on top of her dark locks and soothed her other hand up and down Alex's back.

Piper moved to press her lips against top of Alex's head and breathed in the warm smell of her hair as she rested there, while Alex moved to wrap both arms around Piper's back to hold her as closely as she could, pressing an occasional kiss onto Piper's collarbone.

"God I've missed you." Alex finally breathed out into Piper's t-shirt, where she was snuggled as close as she could get. Piper chuckled as she repeatedly kissed the top of Alex's head.

"I've missed you too."

"Can we just stay here like this for the rest of the day?" Alex was breathing every breath through the fabric of Piper's t—shirt with her nose and speaking so her lips brushed the material against Piper's skin with their movement.

"That sounds like a great idea. Fuck it, let's stay like this all week." Piper grinned into the dark hair as she pulled Alex closer.

"Mmmmm, I'd like that." Alex nuzzled her nose between Piper's breasts and kissed her softly against her top.

"I totally would, but my knees are starting to complain about the sudden extension to their shift already. I've negotiated a 5 minute consultation period right now though."

"Such a democratic leader Pipes. I do love that about you."

"Mmm, let's see if you love my cooking skills just as much when I make you the perfect toast and coffee combo in 4 minutes and 30 seconds."

"I'm sure I will. Although whether I'll like it as much as the warm up remains to be seen." Alex moved her hands lower onto Piper's ass and squeezed her cheeks quickly before stroking her hands up and down Piper's back.

"I think you might be unfairly biased to certain skillsets here." Piper tried to lean back to look at Alex, but the brunette pulled herself back into Piper's chest, not wanting to break their contact.

"Give the people what they want I say."

"There doesn't seem to be room here for anyone else. You've squeezed all the gaps out." Piper chuckled.

"Good. I want to keep it that way. Mmmm, you smell so good." Alex pressed her face into Piper's t-shirt again. Piper smiled and inhaled Alex's hair again.

"Mhmm, and so do you babe. But maybe it's a good thing we decided to not do this all week, because that wouldn't be the case by the end of the week I think."

"I disagree. I love the smell of you all the time. When you just woke up, when you eat garlic bread, when you've been running-"

"Ew, Alex! That's gross!" Piper leaned back to recoil in disgust and once again Alex pulled her back flush to her torso.

"Hey, I've still got 4 minutes yet!"

"Stop trying to cheat. You've only got 2 and a half now."

"What?! Where was my minute counter? I think you've lost count already. You'd better start again to be sure." Alex grinned and nipped at Piper's breast through her top quickly and growled.

"Oh no. I'm not facing union action on account of your underhand tactics to get a time extension. These are not extenuating circumstances Ms Vause."

"I've lost my trail of thought now. You could at least put the timer on hold until I find my place again. Where was I? Here?" Alex moved her hands back to grab Piper's ass.

"Hahahaha! Alex! No!" Piper pushed back on Alex's arms so she could see her girlfriend, dipping her head to capture her lips in a kiss before Alex could pull herself back into her chest again.

"Mmmmmm…..You're…..distracting…me again…." Alex spoke against Piper's lips as Piper grinned into their kiss.

"Totally…..unashamedly….distracting…" They melted into a lazy kiss again and Piper moved her hands to cup Alex's face in her hands as she felt Alex's hands soothe over her back.