A/N: Hello! I decided to split what might have been a very big chapter into two smaller ones. I'm still writing the next and really hope to have it ready for Christmas weekend for you. In the meantime, I hope this keeps you warm like a snuggly hot chocolate in front of a Christmas movie ;-)

Alex called to pick Piper up from the store on Wednesday night so they arrived at Alex's place together. For the duration of the journey, Alex had been telling her about the many applications that Lorna had received for some logistics junior management positions that they had created as a result of Piper's suggestion. The qualifications were fancy, but the experience was thin on the ground as it was mainly recent graduates. As Alex started to question whether it was too much of a risk to hire new graduates, Piper shrugged.

"Well I'm sure you'll find the right person eventually."

"Yeah, I know we'll get there. But what if they actually haven't got a clue what they're doing?"

"You can train them."

"Doesn't that defeat the object of all of those fancy letters after their name?"

"I don't know Alex. You're the expert."

They walked through the front door and Piper dropped her coat onto the hook and kicked her shoes off.

"What's up with you tonight? You're quiet." Alex opened the cupboards to make a quick chicken salad for them both.

"Nothing."

"Something then. What's happened today to make you so grumpy?" Alex poured a glass of white wine and held it up to ask if Piper wanted any.

"No thanks. I'll get some water." She dropped onto the chair by the kitchen top and rested her chin into her hands. "Steve's giving evidence tomorrow."

"Ah, OK." Alex poured some ice into a glass and filled it with water, handing it to Piper before kissing her on the forehead.

"Are you worried about it?"

"I know I shouldn't be."

Alex passed Piper some salad to cut up while she cooked the chicken breasts. "Have you spoken to him?"

"Yeah, he called me earlier."

"I don't know why he has to tell you that. He's just stressing you out when there's absolutely nothing you can do." Alex shook her head and clenched her jaw at Steve purging his worry onto someone who had more than enough to worry about already.

"I'm not going to hide away from it Al. I'd rather know than find out later."

They continued to cook and eat, Piper going over the different outcomes from what might happen with Steve's testimony and Alex trying to convince her to not overthink it. By the time they had finished their meal and Piper was tidying the plates away, Alex had enough of hearing about it.

"So….it's what, 9pm now? You've decided you're going to court tomorrow. You've not only thought about Steve's testimony, but now you're filling in what the other women might say and you've never even met them. What time tonight are you going to give this up and start to relax?"

"I know you're sick of hearing about it…." Piper sighed and pushed the dishwasher to start before walking to join Alex by the sink.

"It's not that I'm sick of hearing about it Pipes. It gets you wound up and you have nowhere to put that anger at 9 o'clock, except to toss and turn in bed and worry about things you can't change. I can't do or say anything to help you, except change the subject and help you relax." Alex took Piper's hands by her side.

"Shall I come with you to court tomorrow?"

Piper leaned in to kiss her on the lips, then kiss along Alex's jaw. "No, it's fine. It will be boring and I know you've got loads to do with the interviews already."

"Do you want me to be there with you though?" Alex leaned down to look her in the eye.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll probably only be there for a couple of hours anyway. I'll see you afterwards. We're at my place tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah. Make sure Steve the puppy doesn't follow you home."

XXXXX

Piper arranged to meet with her Lawyer in the morning before the case to catch up on recent events and took a seat at the back of the gallery benches when the case was to be heard. She glanced around her fellow observers, wondering if any of Darryl's other victims were among them. Hush fell amongst them as the Judge came to be seated and Piper listened to the all-too familiar introductions of processes and terminology only known by legal eagles. Before long, her attention was focused on the witness stand, as Steve walked up to take his sworn statement to tell the truth. He looked determined and seemed to deliberately avoid looking beyond the person asking the questions at any time. The prosecution were asking the questions first and the tone was professional but allowed Steve to keep to facts. It had been hard listening to the answers, the first time she had heard it in such graphic detail. She forced herself to listen, convincing herself that it would help strengthen her own resolve if she had to take the stand herself. They broke for lunch and Piper walked to a store around the corner to grab a salad, picking up a message from Alex when she switched her phone on. She returned the call as she sat in her car, sheltering from the cold reality of the case.

"Hey Pipes. How's it going?"

"Good. I think it's good. He seems confident up there at least."

"Ok….Is he finished?"

"No. The defence lawyer is cross-examining when we go back after the break."

"The hard part is still to come then."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah….it's just hard hearing about it you know….."

"I can imagine….If it gets too much, just take a break outside. Listen Pipes, I have to go. We've got a few interviews to do yet. I'll see you later OK?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you later. Bye."

Piper went back into the court room to hear the prosecution question Steve. His earlier confidence was soon shaken when the grey-haired prosecutor had him admit that he had been friends with Darryl for some years and had never seen him be anything less than gentlemanly in front of women before. Steve's attempted protest to counter that statement was cut off with another loaded question about whether Darryl had asked if Piper was single. Steve responded to say that he'd told Darryl she was and the prosecutor proceeded to conjure an image of a successful, handsome professional man on a night out with friends to have a good time. Piper balled her fists at how the facts were being twisted and her stomach was in knots as she saw Steve's earlier determination crumble into desperate please to correct the prosecutor's interpretation of his testimony. Steve's account of finding Darryl on top of Piper around the back of the bar was particularly hard to hear this morning, but it was cut off an analysed differently at every turn this time. He was confident in leaving Darryl and Piper to get to know each other. He was angry that Darryl had been successful with the woman he had long held a torch for. He set out to make it look like what was happening in the alley wasn't consensual because he couldn't stand the thought of his childhood sweetheart choosing his best friend over him. Steve was furious and stood abruptly in the stand to refute the statements vociferously. Steve was warned over his conduct and it took a couple of minutes to calm things down. In the midst of him taking a drink of water as the prosecutor checked his notes, Piper caught his eye. He looked crestfallen to see Piper there in the gallery and she was at a loss for what to convey back to him with her small smile of encouragement. She could sense he was losing his composure and the case was being turned on it's head. She had been in those shoes herself and the end result was as bad as it could get.

She waited for Steve at the end of the day to reassure him, but it was difficult to draw positives from the day and they could both sense it.

"The prosecution are paid to do that. It's not over yet. There's hard evidence that they have to take into account."

"I'm really sorry Piper. I…don't know what happened up there. I just fell apart…..I did loads of preparation with my Lawyer to stick to the facts and not get emotional….but when he was twisting my words in there…..I just….couldn't sit and let him talk like that is what happened."

Piper hugged him hard and rubbed his back. "It's alright. This case doesn't hang on just today. Don't beat yourself up about it. You're not on trial here remember."

"You sound like you've done this before."

Piper released him and smiled. "That's because I am the expert here. Are you coming back tomorrow?"

"No. I've switched a lot of shifts around to save my holidays so I have to get back to work. It's testimony from a couple of his other friends tomorrow. A couple of guys from work and someone he plays football with. I guess it's a character witness thing. Are you OK?"

"I'm OK. I'm more worried about you. Please try not to overthink it. Just be glad it's over with OK? I'll let you know when I get called. See you Steve." Piper leaned to hug him hard again and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks and sorry." Steve smiled weakly before walking to his car, shoulders slumped.

XXXXX

Piper was preparing some sauce for a steak dinner when Alex came around later.

"I'm so glad you're already doing dinner. I'm starving!" Alex hung her coat and dropped her bag in Piper's room before joining her in the kitchen.

"I'm glad you're hungry because I've followed a recipe for four people with this sauce."

"Need a hand with anything?"

"Can you set the table please?"

"Sure….How'd it go this afternoon? Any better?"

"Worse. Way worse. But it was expected I guess. The prosecution ripped him apart."

"And that is why puppies might be cute to look at, but rubbish at confrontation."

"Don't be cruel Alex. Most people would crumble in that environment." Piper put the steaks into the hot pan while Alex uncorked a bottle of red wine.

"Did he cry?" Alex rolled her eyes.

"No he didn't. Will you give him a break please? He's my friend and I won't have you talking about him like that. Especially when he saved me from that bastard raping me."

"OK. Fair point. I'll stop kicking the puppy." Alex mock surrendered and Piper pointed at the plates for her to put the salad out.

They ate their dinner in comfortable conversation. Alex told her about the candidates they had seen today and Piper was pleased they had some appointable people in to see them.

"So, I was wondering if you or Polly might be on the panel for the next stage of the process? I've asked them to prepare a presentation on strategy for managing European contracts from 3 New York offices."

"You want us to help you with the interviews?"

"Yeah. You have a different perspective and it's good to get someone external on the panel. You'll think of things we might not."

"I'd love to! Polly would be up for it too. Wait – three New York sites? I thought you had two?"

"We're thinking we might need another. The French contract has been confirmed and Bill's guys are struggling for space. With us expanding the office space in our place, we have less space for storage already. It's just an idea at the moment, but getting their strategy ideas would be good."

Piper cleared the plates away and Alex went to change into some yoga pants and a tight black tee shirt. Piper brought her another glass of wine to the sofa and a glass of iced water for herself. Alex pulled her in to rest her head against her shoulder as Piper put the TV on. They sat watching the Late Show for a while before Piper nudged Alex to lie back so that she could lie against her.

"Everything OK?" Alex tried to peer over her glasses to see if Piper was still watching the TV.

"Yeah…..just thinking is all."

"About the court case?"

"No…..I'm not actually. Just thinking about tomorrow."

"So…." Alex started.

"So….?"

"Are you ready for tomorrow?"

Piper smiled and hugged Alex tighter. "Yes. Are you?"

"Yeah I am. Are you nervous?"

"No. Not nervous. Excited I think. But then I don't want Julie to say something that might make me nervous….or make you say we have to wait again."

"I don't think it's up to Julie to be fair. We have the final say in anything. Besides, you've been really good at waiting this week." Alex grinned as Piper lifted her head and scowled at her.

"One last night of innocence then?"

"Innocence you say? I can't promise any of that." Alex lowered her tone as she ran her fingers beneath the bottom of Piper's shirt to stroke her back. Piper giggled and inched her body up so she could lean on her elbows above Alex.

"I don't want you to." She husked before dipping her head to press her lips against those smiling beneath her. "Honesty? Yes. Innocence…..not so much." Piper smiled as she nipped at Alex's bottom lip with her own.

"Mmmm." Alex moved her hands underneath Piper to stroke her fingers over her stomach. "I think that's a deal I can deliver on."

Piper sat back on her haunches, knees either side of Alex's hips. She ran her fingers over the brunettes' warm cheeks.

"Alex…..I feel like this is a new start for us."

Alex ran her palms up and down the thighs that stretched over her body, smiling in agreement.

"I think I want it to be a new start. I need to know you can forgive me for Paris and we can move on from that." Alex started to protest, but Piper silenced her with her index over the words. "Please. Let me get this out. I'm so sorry I did that to you Al. I had to force myself to fall out of love with you by walking away and I did that by convincing myself that I couldn't possibly be in love with someone who would let me put myself in danger. I never stopped loving you and walking away from you like that broke me. Apologetic words aren't coming close to explaining how I feel…but I just need to know you can find it inside yourself to trust me again….to love me again." Piper held her breath as she searched the green eyes watching her intently.

"Alex, I…I'm falling in love with you." Piper pushed the words out in a breath. Holding onto them was becoming a daily struggle to not admit how she felt about the woman beneath her. By not admitting it, she felt like she was hiding something from Alex and she wanted to start their new day without secrets. Emerald eyes were sharply focused on hers now and she took another breath, feeling that she's broken the barrier a little already. "I love you Alex."

Alex reached up to pull Piper down to lie against her chest. "C'mere." Was all she whispered. She moved her hands so one was pressed tightly around Piper's back and pushed her fingers into the blonde hair that fell over her face, pushing it back and pulling her tightly to her chest at the same time. They lay like that for a while, both women clinging to one another like life rafts in a choppy sea and neither willing to release the other first.

"I never thought I'd hear those words from you again." Alex's voice sounded tight and Piper reached up to touch her face to soothe and reassure her she was listening. Her temple was wet and Piper closed her eyes again and snuggled closer to her, inhaling the unique scent of Alex's skin against her face. She stroked her hands across her cheek, wiping away the tears and shifted to move back to regard Alex face to face.

"I love you Alex. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone or anything in my life. I need you to hear that. I need you to know….to understand how I feel about you. I love you so fucking much Al." Piper leaned down to press her lips against Alex's and felt her girlfriend grinning against her mouth as she kissed her repeatedly.

"I believe you." Alex chuckled a little as she pushed Piper back slightly so she could see her properly. "I believe you and a forgive you. Of course I forgive you. I'd have done anything to get you back and I'm sorry if I've done that too literally by being overbearing. I just want to show you I'm sorry….To show you I've changed Pipes. You can rely on me now. I want to be there for you, no matter what. You leaving Paris was the wake up call I never wanted, but desperately needed to pull me out of the quicksand. It hurt like a mother fucker….for a long time. But it made me realise what was important in my life and that was you and my Mom. I lost my Mom and I was too absorbed in Kubra's business to make the most of the time I had with her…..I won't make that mistake again with you. I've changed Pipes, I want to show you that every day. I want to show you how much I love you too."