A/N: Happy weekend everyone! So I've worked hard to make sure I didn't leave you hanging for too long this time. Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews on the last chapter, really enjoyed reading those as always. So, yes...since we are over 1000 now (really amazed at that!), here is another chapter for you. I'm not going to mention politics. I think we could all use a break from it quite frankly! Have a good one and hope you all have some great plans for the time off. I'm currently nursing a hangover after a night out in Cambridge, so I'm heading out for a pancake brunch cure before I drive home :-)

Piper recalled what had happened that morning, eyes fixed on Alex's as she went through the events. She hadn't prepared herself for what emotions she wanted to see reflected back at her, but Alex nodded as she progressed through events until she got to the part where she stormed out of the meeting.

"So. Do you still think I'm being dramatic?!"

"Pipes, I can see how that looks to you. But it really isn't what you think it is."

"Really? Well, I'll tell you what I think it is first. I think it's you meddling in my life where it wasn't asked for, wanted or needed. I think it's you trying to control me, hide things from me and make me out to be helpless without you. It's you making me feel like I can't function like an adult in this world without constant help."

Alex rubbed the back of her neck in frustration. "No! It's not that at all!"

Piper pushed away to stand up and Alex trapped her by putting her arm against the wall of the doorway.

"If you'd stop running away whenever anyone has tried to explain this, you'd know it wasn't. Just wait will you? Stop pushing me away and listen to me."

"Well, it looks like you've had years to prepare the speech you're about to give me, so forgive me if I'm cynical of the tale you're about to tell." Piper stepped back into the corner, away from Alex's breath on her skin. Alex took another step forwards to close the gap so she could see the blue gaze on her in the shadows.

"Jesus you'd make a Saint want to throttle you when you're like this." Alex said through a clenched jaw as she tried to bottle that same feeling.

"OK. I missed you like crazy when you left me. You know that because I've told you. I saw that you had registered your name as a Company Director for PoPi a few years ago, so I knew you were doing alright and you were in New York. When I found out my evidence sent you to prison I felt guilty – you know that already too. Really fucking guilty for how that went down and I wanted to try and help. I knew your parents wouldn't entertain a word from me and you wouldn't either. So I got in touch with Polly."

Piper balled her fists. "You had no fucking right to do that Alex. I didn't want anything from you."

"I know. But I wanted to do something. I don't know….to deal with my guilt, to deal with the love I still had that I had no outlet for. I just needed to do something and I asked Polly. She hung up on me, didn't return my emails, told me to leave you alone. The whole nine yards. I tried to take the advice, honestly I did. I tried to reason that I needed to walk away and leave things alone…. That I'd fucked up and it couldn't be undone. But I couldn't rest." Alex turned to lean against the wall next to Piper now that she was more sure the blonde wasn't going to bolt.

"I went to visit the store one day and refused to leave until she talked to me and let me do something to help. I told Polly about the distribution business I was running and – after a long time arguing, she agreed that I could provide free delivery – getting your products to you and sending things out. She said you'd not want me involved and I twisted her arm and said you never needed to find out."

"So it's exactly as I thought. – you meddling in my life when I didn't ask you to. Polly told me about the delivery deal. That doesn't explain anything about how you know Mrs Reznikov." Piper folded her arms over her chest and made it clear she wasn't budging from her original viewpoint.

"I know. I'm getting to that. Red – I call her Red. Her other name is a bit of a mouthful. Anyway, we got introduced when my John Peter's brother came to me for a job. He'd just been released from prison and the rehabilitation programme was struggling to find him any work. If he didn't get a job, he'd have to stay outside of the city in a volunteer programme. Anyway, I signed him up as a driver and Red was his supervisor at the rehabilitation programme. Over time, we've taken a few girls from her and we developed a good relationship where I'd help her out in a jam."

Piper's gaze softened a little as she was curious how this would lead to PoPi again. She nodded and leaned her head against the side wall as she listened to Alex continue.

"So, one day she came to me for a different kind of help. Her family runs a café and cake store in Queens and it was in need of some major repairs after storm damage destroyed the roof. They didn't have insurance to cover it and the place was going to fold if they didn't get it done and the city would revoke their food trading licences without it. She asked me about a loan. It was fucking awkward. She's a really proud woman and it was clear all other options had been tried before she swallowed her pride and spoke to me. I hadn't seen her like that. We were friends by that point and I didn't want loan repayments to be something we were discussing. I mean, what if they couldn't pay one time? I felt uneasy with it and said I'd think it over. I went back to her with a deal to buy shares as a silent partner. They run it and when things got better, I'd take a percentage of the profits. It's a deal that suited us both and she bit my hand off. It didn't take long for them to turn things around and they moved to bigger premises in a bigger part of the city later, expanding the café and selling their cakes into other cafes in the area."

"I'm still listening." Piper nodded as Alex dipped her head to check on her.

"Polly always wanted me to keep monthly records of what we would have charged for the deliveries, so she could see what the real outgoings might be for running everything. So, I went round each month with the paperwork for her. It was all done through the books, I just paid the bill myself. So no tax man will be knocking on the door, don't worry." Alex tried a small smile and got one in return.

"Anyway, she got used to me coming in and asking how business was doing and told me things were looking pretty bad one day. She was struggling to run the store and keep on top of the finances and was worried she'd have to close up. I said I'd try and help her out with cutting some costs and offered to help with the money. She took the advice, but flatly refused the money. She said you'd rather see the business fold than take my help." Alex glanced at Piper, who turned her eyes away.

"The only way to stop PoPi from closing was investment. You weren't making enough to cover the bills and Polly stopped paying herself a proper wage, taking only enough to cover basic bills."

"Was that when she moved into that rat infested flat share in Queens?"

"Yes."

"She didn't tell me any of this… Only that she made a bad choice when she moved out of her old place." Piper's brow was furrowed in confusion that all of this had been going on and she had no clue.

"She didn't want to worry you I guess. You had something to look forward to when you got out. Why would she say anything to change that?"

"Jesus." Piper ran her hand into her hair.

"She still wouldn't take my help and she looked like shit. I spoke to Red and asked her if she'd return the favour by investing in PoPi. It would keep my name and money out of things and you'd get the investment you needed to keep going."

Piper thought for a while on how easily that could have been cleared up by Polly if only she had not been so explosive at hearing Alex's name.

"But why would Red need to talk to you about our plans today? I don't understand. If you're not involved in the investment, why would she need to talk to you?"

"I don't know really. It might be because she's running the rehabilitation programme and investing in your company. If you're wanting to get involved with taking on ex-cons, I guess it might be a conflict of interests for her. She left a message on my phone saying she needed to talk to me about an extension of the rehabilitation scheme, so maybe it was your meeting. I don't know, I haven't called her yet. Polly sounded more urgent when she said you'd disappeared."

"Right." It was a lot for Piper to process. So much had been kept from her over the past few years and she honestly hadn't realised things had been so close to folding with the store while she was in Litchfield.

"I know it was me getting involved when you didn't want my help. But you needed it Piper. PoPi would have folded for sure. Would you really rather have seen that happen than take anything from me? I helped, yes. But it's not my money OK? I just saw a way to help you. I know that won't wash with you, but I did what I thought was best for you at the time….and I'm sorry if you think that was wrong…But you've got your own store to run now and you had that future to look forward to while you were in prison."

Piper closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the cold wall. She was so angry about all of this happening behind her back, but also suddenly grateful that Alex had stepped in to help Polly when she couldn't .

"I don't know what to say." Piper shook her head, genuinely at a loss for words and unable to grasp onto a single emotion as her internal meter waved through them like a wheel of fortune on a game show.

Alex rubbed her face and stared out into the water that was pouring from the spout outside the doorway. She was relieved that she'd been able to find Piper at all after Polly's rough description of her last known location, but frustrated that she was yet again dropping everything to run after the blonde after she had gotten herself all riled up. The fact that she hadn't thought twice about heading out into the rain and dropping her plans to make sure her girlfriend was alright was enough to tell her she was in deep. She swallowed the sudden lump forming in her throat at the enormity of what that meant and fought hard to prevent her eyes from getting watery. Alex couldn't stop putting Piper above everything else in her life, even when she wanted to stay away and let things run their natural course. Even when she would take the impact of Pioer lashing out, just knowing she was safe was enough in that moment. Piper was in a world of her own, processing everything she had just heard and Alex doubted the blonde even realised what emotions she herself might be struggling with in all of this. A tinge of annoyance started to bubble inside of her as they stood in silence and Alex felt as though she might let it escape if they stayed here for much longer. It was no good talking to Piper when she'd had a drink, so Alex resolved to make a move before her trail of thought escaped her mouth. She moved towards her and rubbed her hands up and down Piper's arms.

"You're soaked through. Let's get you home before you catch your death."

Piper nodded and followed her out into the rain again, walking back to the car. The journey home was quiet as Piper leaned her head against the foggy glass, staring at the scenery flashing by as Alex drove her home. She was shivering, despite the heated seats and blower being on full and Alex followed her inside once they got to her apartment.

"Shall I run you a bath while you get out of those wet clothes?" Alex asked as she took her jacket off and hung it up.

"Thanks. I can't stop shaking. I'll put the heating on high."

Alex went into the bathroom to run the hot tap, finding some of PoPi's new samples to pour under the water. She sent Polly another text to let her know they were home now and she would stay for a while to make sure Piper was OK. She was swirling the water around to move the bubbles around when Piper came in wearing a bathrobe.

"Do you want a beer?"

"Yeah, I guess I could have one. Thanks."

Piper returned with an open bottle and passed it to Alex when she turned the taps off.

"Thanks. I'll leave you to it. If you need anything, just give me a shout and-."

"Alex, wait."

"Yeah?" She stopped in the doorway.

"I'm sorry."

Alex managed a small smile. She turned to walk out of the bathroom when Piper's small voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Will you hold me for a while?"

Alex turned and gazed at the shivering blonde in front of her. She looked so vulnerable that it was already taking every ounce of her restraint to not touch the frail beauty in front of her. She walked forwards to put her arms around Piper's slim frame and kissed the top of her hair. Piper moved her arms around Alex's waist and pressed the side of her face into the brunette's collarbone. She gripped the taller woman so tightly, she was sure there would be marks on the skin beneath her shirt. They stayed like that for a long time, Alex's arms running up and down the blonde's back to soothe and warm her as they stood quietly before Piper broke the reverie.

"I'm sorry I always think the worst of you. I….I don't know why I do that."

Alex nuzzled her nose into the blonde hair beneath her and kissed the top of her head repeatedly as she ran her hands up and down Piper's back.

"I'm sorry I've given you reason to feel like that."

Piper pulled her closer and breathed in the scent of Alex's shirt, concentrating on the feeling of being held so tightly by the warm arms around her.

"Come on. Get into this bath while the water is still hot. You need to warm through." Alex leaned back to look at her, but was reluctant to break their embrace, despite her words. A tear was making it's way down Piper's cheek when Alex looked at her face and the taller woman wiped it away with her thumb. "Don't cry. It's OK now. We're OK. Right?"

"God, I'm such a fuck up." Piper pulled away to wipe her face. "Will you stay with me?"

"You mean tonight?"

Piper's face crumbled into a full blown sob as she replied. "I don't know…I mean….here in this room now….(sniff)….I mean tonight…..I mean…..I mean…..please don't leave me Alex." She wailed as she gripped the sleeves of Alex's shirt as she dropped to her knees.

"Ssshhhhh." Alex didn't know what else to say. It could be the alcohol making her emotional, it could be the court case, the counselling, the investment meeting quite frankly. She dropped down next to the blonde and pulled her into her lap as she leaned them both against the bath.

It seemed like a long time had passed before Piper ran out of sobs and Alex's shirt was soaked from the blonde's face. She pulled a towel off the rail and held it up to wipe her face when she calmed a little.

The blonde leaned back to look into the green eyes that were observing her with such concern now. "Alex, I know I've got trust issues…..and I'm so sorry that you're in the firing line every fucking time I go off like a firework. I want to get better. I'll get whatever help I need to do it. Please give me another chance?"

Alex stroked her fingers through Piper's hair, avoiding her eyes while she considered the promise to get help.

"I want you to talk to Sarah Phillips again. Start those sessions back up and try and deal with this anger you have. Will you do that for me?" Alex ran her thumb across Piper's cheek.

"Yes. I will call her in the morning."

"I don't know where this rage comes from, but you've got to find a way of containing it while you find out the facts whenever you get annoyed by something Pipes. You didn't even ask me before you made your mind up I'd done something terrible. Polly too for that matter."

"I know…..Sorry doesn't cut it…..You've heard it before, right?"

"Sorry is a start. But it's just a word at the end of the day. Action speaks louder than words." Alex looked into Piper's eyes as she spoke, showing that she meant what she said.

Piper nodded. "I'll call Polly and tell her I'm sorry later."

"I've let her know you're OK. I think you'd be better sleeping on this and talking to her in the morning. Probably better to do it face to face I think hey?"

"OK. I really am sorry Alex. I'll try harder, I promise."

"I know." Alex kissed the top of her head before moving to stand up. "I think you need to start over with that bath water.

Piper stood up with her and pulled the plug on it. "I'll take a shower instead." She reached for Alex's hand and squeezed it. "Will you….come with me?"

Alex was confused. "Where to?"

"In the shower."

"Pipes….I don't think you're ready for that. I didn't mean I wanted you to try harder like-."

"I know. I just….don't want to be alone right now and….you make me feel safe." Piper lifted Alex's hand and kissed her knuckles.

"I'll er….what if I wait outside the door, is that better?"

"I want you under the water with me."

"Pipes, are you absolutely sure? You've made so much progress lately and-."

Piper stopped the questions with her mouth over them. Alex stopped murmuring the end of the sentence when she felt Piper moving her lips slowly against her own. Slim fingers moved into dark hair around her neck and Alex felt gentle fingertips moving against the back of her neck, moving up to push handfuls against the back of her scalp as Piper pulled her ever closer. She responded with equal fervour as she felt Piper move her left hand down to her waist, pushing slightly under the fabric of her shirt before resting on her skin.

Alex moved her hand to the same spot on Piper's body and stilled when she realised that her robe had fallen open while they were kissing. Suddenly realising that Piper would be naked beneath that single layer, she found her heart beating so much faster. She was fighting with herself to continue their make out session and not turn it into a big deal for Piper, but the way they were touching each other felt so familiar and real that Alex wanted to carry on. But what if Piper froze when they were in the shower? They could be taking a step back on both the intimacy and the showering confidence in one lustful moment. Piper sensed the hesitancy and pulled back.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing…."

"Why did you stop?"

"I didn't. I was just…thinking."

"About?"

Alex sighed. "We've never pushed things this far before and I don't want to ruin the progress you've made."

"OK….."

"I worry that if we get into that shower, you might suddenly freeze up and we're back to square one."

"Right." Piper pulled her robe back around her and tied it tightly. "You think I'll freak out again and it's not turning you on."

"I didn't say that." Alex lifted her chin with her fingertips. "If we get into that shower naked right now, I know I'll want to fuck you. And THAT is not what you want from me tonight." Piper's eyes closed as her stomach flipped at the thought. "Pipes…. We're not ready for that. Let's take it one step at a time OK?"

"Maybe I want you to fuck me." Piper challenged.

"You don't. You couldn't change in front of me last week. Remember?" Alex was determined to stop this with her brain before their vaginas called mutiny and sailed out of the safe harbour.

"It doesn't mean I don't want you to." Piper whispered.

"Baby steps OK? When we're ready, it will be fucking incredible." Alex kissed her slowly again.

"I still want you to shower with me." Piper stood her ground, determined to make some progress in this fucked up day she was having.

Alex chewed her cheek as she thought about safety first. "Go put a t-shirt and shorts on and bring me a set too then…Wrap it before you tap it, right?" Alex winked.

Piper grinned. "Did you just use a condom slogan?"

"Ew, no."

Piper returned a couple of minutes later wearing a grey top and black shorts, throwing Alex a different colour.

"A white t-shirt? Seriously?"

"What? You said we needed protection, you didn't say you wanted a colour palette to choose from." Piper smiled as she leaned into the shower to turn it on.

Alex shook her head and started to take her clothes off. She knew Piper was watching her and took her time, raising her eyebrow as she turned around to give her a full frontal before pulling the shorts up her milky thighs. "See something you like?"

"You know I do. Stop tormenting me or I'll need to make this a cold shower for both of us."

Alex smirked and pulled the white top over her head. "Ready for action. You sure you're OK with this?"

"The uniform is an unexpected accessory, but I'm OK. Ready?" Piper held her hand out and gestured for Alex to step under the water first.

"This feels weird. Are you coming in or are you going to stand there judging the wet t-shirt competition?"

"I'm suddenly very conflicted about losing this perfect view."

"Get over here and keep me company." Alex reached out and pulled Piper under the water gently, leaning down to kiss her as the water fell over their faces.

"Mmmm. You're scoring high points contestant number 1." Piper murmured against her lips.

"Oh yeah? Wait til you hear my speech about world peace." Alex whispered into her ear before kissing down her neck.

"I must say….you have piqued my interest already." Piper moved her hands into Alex's wet hair and pulled her lips towards her collarbone.

Alex smirked and reached round the blonde to pick up a bottle of shower gel before squirting some into her palm and rubbing it under the white top, around her torso. "You like my intro so far?" Alex continued to move her hand up, soaping her breasts under the water.

"Jeeeeesus Alex." Piper gasped. She closed her eyes under the water and reached for the shampoo, lathering up her hair as she watched Alex move over her body with more shower gel. "Want to rinse together?" Alex moved to stand behind Piper now, pressing her front into Piper's back. She moved her hands up into sudded blonde hair and moved her hands to wash the suds out under the water. The felt the blonde pressing back into her, leaning her head back onto her shoulder as the last of the shampoo washed out. Alex poured more shower gel out into her hands and worked it up and down Piper's arms, pushing her long fingers underneath the shoulders of the grey top the blonde was wearing and towards her collarbone.

"This isn't playing fair."

"What? We're showering. We're using protection." Alex spoke softly against her neck before she moved to her knees to begin working the gel into a lather over her feet and up her toned calves. She pressed her fingers in to work the muscle a little as she moved up and down the smooth skin of Piper's lower legs. Looking up to see Piper watching her intently, Alex smiled and held the blue eyes with her own gaze as she leaned forwards to place open-mouthed kisses on the inside of her knees.

"Are you good?" she asked as she poured more gel into her palm and rubbed her hands together slowly before pressing them onto Piper's left thigh and moving up and down in a circular motion.

Piper reached down to push her fingers into the wet hair of her kneeling girlfriend, nodding as their eyes connected again. "Are you holding your breath?" Alex chuckled as she did the same on the right leg. As the brunette worked the slippery suds higher towards the bottom of shorts Piper was wearing, the blonde's breath hitched a little and Alex moved her fingers to the back of her thighs, inching towards her ass. She felt Piper grip at her hair a little more and looked up to see Piper's eyes were closed, head dropped back a little, exposing her neck more. Alex wiped the suds from the top of her leg and moved her lips towards Piper's athletic quads, focusing on Piper's face all the while. She smiled to herself as she saw the blonde's lips part when Alex began kissing her way up her right thigh, her mouth working at the skin to kiss and suck it occasionally. As she reached the edges of the shorts, she worked her tongue underneath the hem a little and ran it all along the edge before sucking the skin a little again.

Piper didn't say anything, but braced herself with one arm on the wall of the shower, the other holding firmly onto the dark hair moving below her. She was breathing more raggedly now and letting occasional gasps and moans escape her lips. Alex moved a little to do the same on the other leg and moved her hands around the back of her legs, moving a bit further beneath the hem to feel the soft skin that was the delicious ridge of Piper's ass cheeks. Alex moved her hands out and over the top of the wet shorts to lightly kneed and squeeze the blonde's ass, all the while snaking her dextrous tongue over the slippery flesh at the bottom of the shorts. Hearing Piper moan caused her own eyes to close briefly as her stomach flipped and she pulled Piper closer to her mouth. Moving higher, she pushed the bottom of the grey tee up with her nose to make a sliver of bronzed torso visible to her and she ran a line of gentle kisses all along it to Piper's hips. Her hands moved from squeezing her pert ass up higher to reach under the grey tee and rake her fingertips up the smooth skin of Piper's back. The blonde arched into her more and she moved so both hands were now firmly embedded in the dark hair that was getting progressively higher up her body.

"Mmmm have I told you how beautiful you are?" Alex spoke in a low tone as she placed open mouthed kisses around Piper's navel. Her hands moved to Piper's waist and bunched the top up a little higher to allow Alex full access to this particularly erogenous zone she knew Piper had.

"Fffffuck…..No…." Piper panted out with a suddenly limited vocabulary.

"Well, you are very beautiful….(kiss)…..kissable…..(kiss)…..and extremely slippery when wet…(lick)." Alex swirled her tongue along the tense stomach muscles pressing against taught skin and around her navel before briefly dipping it inside."

Alex's knees were beginning to bruise a little from her position and she had to get her mouth away from the waistband of those tiny shorts before she pulled them off without a further thought, so she got to her feet and raised her hands higher still up Piper's ribs, caressing her skin with her thumbs as she leaned to press her forehead against Piper's. Both women were breathing erratically and Alex could see in the darkened blue eyes in front of her that Piper was just as turned on as she was right now. She leaned in to seal their lips together in a searing kiss that pushed Piper against the wall as the brunette's thumbs slowly moved across the underside of Piper's breasts. Swallowing a deep moan from the blonde as she did so, Alex was encouraged and moved her fingers around to stroke the sides of both breasts. Piper moved her own hands over the top of Alex's breasts through her tee and squeezed both slowly, then rhythmically. The blonde's movements were now a lot more urgent and she pinched at Alex's nipples roughly, causing them to stick out through the fabric. Alex kept her movements under Piper's top more slow and deliberate, kissing Piper leisurely before Piper broke away to nip at the dark haired woman's neck and move her hands beneath the white fabric covering her breasts. Alex moaned and grazed her fingertips up and down the sides of Piper's body as they remained pressed together under the cascading water.

"Touch me Alex." Piper reached for Alex's hands and moved them to her breasts. "I want you to touch me." Feeling the stiffened buds beneath her fingers already, Alex responded by pushing her tongue into Piper's mouth with still more vigour and softly squeezing Piper's perky tits. When Piper had to break for air, she lifted Alex's top over her head and groaned at the fantastic sight of Alex's bare chest in front of her. "Fuck, you're hot." Alex smirked in response but before the taller woman could resume her thorough explorations of Piper's mouth, Piper pushed her back softly before reaching to the hem of her own top. Maintaining eye contact with Alex, she crossed her arms and slowly began pulling the top up to reveal her upper body inch by inch. Alex swallowed thickly as she saw the familiar freckles and moles of the body she had committed to memory revealed to her piece by piece. When Piper pulled the garment over her head and pulled her hair free of it, she dropped it onto the floor and took Alex's hand, bringing it to her waist.

"I want to feel you." Piper whispered with as much courage as she could muster, despite her heart beating it's way out of her chest. Alex brought her other hand to mirror her hold on Piper's naked flesh, stepping forward a little.

"I want to feel you too." Alex spoke just as quietly as she slowly closed the space between them to press their bare chests together for the first time in too many years.