(I'm the police chief's daughter and you're the town's resident petty delinquent, my dad says you spend more nights in the town jail than you do in your bed, would you like to spend a night in mine?) [M RATING]
Being the police chief's daughter, Piper Chapman heard her fair share of warnings about who to stay away from. Normally it was easy. Most of the boys her father rounded up were exactly what he said they were. Arrogant. Deadbeats. Scum. Not worth Piper's time. Every once and awhile an out of towner would blow through and she'd poke around him until her dad finally drug him to the station for some reason or another. By then Piper would lose interest, instead opting to heed her father's warnings, and within the next few days the boy would be gone again. Piper was, for all intents and purposes, a Daddy's Girl. And she was hesitant to throw it away for some teenaged rebellion and a quick romp. That was until Alex Vause.
They'd grown up together in the way kids raised in that sort of town do; aware of each other but never quite acquaintances. Alex Vause was a grade above Piper and she'd occasionally hear stories about her drifting through the school halls (the rest she'd hear from her father). Alex Vause was bad news. Alex Vause was trouble. Alex Vause was someone who Piper Chapman should stay away from. Which had been easy. Up until she actually met the girl.
The first time Piper Chapman had met Alex Vause she'd been sixteen (Alex, seventeen) and visiting her father at the station. He'd been caught up in a shift and ended up staying later than he'd intended, so Piper, being the good girl she was, had brought him some dinner. Alex Vause was in holding. Some of the boys in the next cell over hooted and hollered when Piper strode in, Alex Vause's eyes narrowed. She'd followed Piper's every move, watching her silently as she talked quietly with her dad. When the boys' attentions finally wavered, having failed to garner a reaction from the blonde, Alex's persisted. When her father stepped away for a moment, Piper lingered. Turning to meet the heavy gaze at her back, Piper found herself shivering. It wasn't until her father returned that she shook herself out of her trance and bid him a quick farewell. She thought about Alex Vause and her piercing gaze for the rest of the night.
They'd bumped into each other in the hall several times before and after, but no further interactions took place and so the memory of Alex Vause and her sea-green gaze soon faded from Piper's mind. They didn't have their first true interaction until Piper was seventeen.
She'd somehow allowed her friends to talk her into attending one of the year's most anticipated parties. Though, if she's being honest, it wasn't all too hard a task on their end. She hadn't been invited to a lot of the "cooler" parties prior to her junior year. Being the police chief's daughter tended to make people weary of her credibility as far as fun teenage activities went. It hadn't bothered her too much for awhile. She was content to behave and stay out of trouble for the most part, but lately she'd been feeling restless. Her friends had finally managed to start convincing people she was on the level and eventually the invitations started tentatively coming in.
Tonight's party was a major event. A yearly celebration thrown the last month of the school year when the Nichols family went out of town for a month. Or rather, Ms. Nichols and her boyfriend of the moment. Nicky, the daughter, would be left alone in her extravagantly large house to throw the most talked about party of the year. Typically a weekend-long affair, it was, simply put, the most anticipated event the youth of the small town looked forward to. People looked forward to the Nicky Nichols party more than they looked forward to graduation itself. Rolling in with her friends, Piper could see why.
The house was flooded with kids of varying ages. Most, if not all of Piper's graduating class (and the one above it) were in attendance, as well as several people who she'd recognized as having already graduated, back in town for the event of the year. The spacious house was packed, and about an hour into the party Piper lost track of her friends. She'd been dancing in the living room with a boy her father had probably told her to stay away from when she'd finally decided to step out for some air. Grabbing another drink, she headed for the back patio.
Several people were mulling around when she pushed through the doors and into the night. Couples, who sat talking quietly. A few lone smokers, catching a quick smoke. People enjoying the cool warmth of the night. She filled her lungs with the crisp summer air and took a sip from her drink, her thoughts wandering to other things. She doesn't know how long she'd been observing the night sky when she felt a presence settle against the railing beside her.
"Never thought I'd see a girl like you at a party like this." A low voice drawled. Piper tilted her head to study her new partner and was met with a sea-green gaze. Alex Vause. She froze, turning to face her more fully. "Does daddy know you're here?"
Straightening, she faced the older girl head on. She opened her mouth to retort, but no words came out. Flustered she closed her mouth again. Alex smirked, taking a draw from the cigarette held loosely between her fingers. "I'll take that as a no."
"I'm not supposed to talk to you." Piper finally stutters out and Alex laughs.
"And yet here you are."
They eye each other for a moment and Piper chews her lip thoughtfully. Alex's eyes are boring into her once more and she suddenly finds herself captivated with the older girl all over again. She pauses, considering her options. What's the harm in entertaining a little bit of conversation with Alex Vause, she's already partaking in behavior her father would surely frown upon could he see her now, how much worse could chatting up her father's least favorite town delinquent be?
Conversation, she finds, is easy. Alex is smart. Smarter than anyone's ever given her credit for. And Piper finds herself drawn into the easy way she discusses weighted topics. She's well read. Piper's rarely received a chance to talk to someone who's so well read to the extent that she is (all those missed parties and nights spent studying). Alex meets her at every topic she presents and surprises her with a selection of her own, and before Piper knows it she's spent over an hour on Nicky Nichol's back porch discussing the philosophy of life with Alex Vause.
They're knee deep in a debate about philosophy when shouts begin to echo through the party. The doors fly open and people start pouring into the night.
"What's going on?" Piper shouts in confusion.
"COPS!" Someone yells.
Alex's eyes sweep over the crowd, "Fuck."
Piper's initial reaction, as it turns out, is to freeze. Her body going rigid as people pour out of the house, scattering in every direction. A hand closes around her wrist and suddenly she's being tugged through the fleeing bodies. Alex. Alex is pulling her from the deck. Alex is leading her from the party.
"Where are we going!?" She half yells as she finally comes to her senses.
"We're getting the fuck outta here!" Alex hisses back. "Unless you wanna stay and face the wrath of your dad!"
The thought alone sends Piper running. Alex's hand has moved from her wrist to her hand and their fingers tangle together as they run through the yards. She rounds a corner and jumps onto an old motorcycle parked a few streets down.
"Get on." She commands, tossing Piper a helmet.
"What?"
"Get on!" Piper eyes the bike wearily, fingers digging into the helmet. "Piper! Seriously. Do you want to get caught?"
She throws a leg over the bike, pulling on the helmet and climbing up behind Alex. Her arms snake hesitantly around her waist and Alex tugs them tighter, pulling her flush against her back before kicking the engine to life. They peel out of the driveway noisily and tear down back streets, the fading sounds of sirens nipping at their heels. Finally, after what seems like hours they swing into an abandoned apartment complex, rundown and crumbling. A place Piper's father had warned her about. Alex maneuvers the bike behind a dilapidated wall and kills the engine. Helping Piper from the bike she moves down the building and slips quietly through a hole in the wall, disappearing into the darkness. Piper pauses, eyeing the crumbling wall. Was she supposed to follow? Is this her cue to leave? Alex's head pops back through the opening and she fixes Piper with a disgruntled look.
"Are you coming?"
Piper jolts, discarding the helmet beside the bike and following Alex through the hole. They emerge upon a center courtyard, now fashion with various tarps and old furniture. A collection of discarded beer cans and bottles and old cigarette butts decorate the floor and Piper frowns slightly in distaste before glancing back at Alex.
"What is this place?"
"I come here sometimes to think." Alex murmurs, kicking a few bottles aside and settling on a worn couch. "Used to be a party spot, but I... ended up liking it too much to share. Kicked everyone out. Cleaned it up. It's mine now."
Piper's gaze sweeps around the courtyard, an empty pool sits to the right, full of graffiti and various bits of discarded trash. Alex sits upon an abandoned sofa, moth-eaten and weathered, a lazy-boy in similar disarray sits to her left and a ratty torn tarp strung over them in a tent-like fashion sags above them, protecting them from the full barrage of the elements. A few crates lay before the couch, fashioned into a makeshift table of sorts, and Piper lowers herself gingerly onto one. Alex lights up a cigarette.
"Figure we wait here for a bit for things to cool down." She takes a puff, "Before I take you home."
Piper nods, casting her gaze around the complex once more. "Did you do all this?"
Alex casts a sweeping gaze, landing on Piper before dropping to her feet, now propped up on the crates beside her. "Most of it."
"It's nice."
Alex chuckles.
"What?"
"You don't have to pretend kid, I know it's not your scene."
She blushes, gazing down at her own feet before meeting Alex's gaze once more. "No, I... I mean it. Really. I don't really... have anywhere... y'know... my own. It's nice that you can just... come here to escape."
Alex eyes her thoughtfully for a bit, slow curls of smoke leaving her lungs. Eventually she tosses the butt to the ground, grinds it with her boot before standing.
"Come on."
Piper glances up at her in confusion. "What?"
"Come on. I wanna show you something."
Alex takes her hand once again and leads her into the night. They forgo the bike this time, instead opting to walk quietly. Alex's fingers are warm against her own and Piper can't help sneaking glances at their hands, Alex's face. They walk for a good while, Alex occasionally murmuring a soft tidbit or two about her life or their surroundings. Piper occasionally chimes in with her own offerings, but for the most part she's content to listen to Alex's rasping voice.
She leads them through the town, stopping at various points of interest. Secret hovels Piper never would have known to explore herself. Places her father has warned her against and places that are so well guarded even he doesn't know of their existence. And the meaning of Alex sharing these places with her is not lost Piper. For once in her life she feels like maybe she isn't the police chief's daughter, she's just another kid. Dawn is breaking by the time they pull up in front of Piper's house. Alex lets the engine idle as Piper climbs from the back of the bike, pulling off the helmet and handing it back to her quietly. She takes it and their eyes meet.
"Thank you..." Piper mumbles haltingly, "for this."
Alex sits a little straighter, a soft smile touching her face. "Anytime, kid."
Neither of them know what else to say and so they leave it at that, Alex pulling the helmet over her head as they continue to hold each other's gazes.
"I'll see you around, kid." She finally murmurs, kicking the bike back to life.
Piper knows, in the back of her mind, that she should be weary of her father hearing the telltale signs of Alex's bike kicking to life outside his home in the early hours of the morning, but the only thing her mind could focus on was that sea-green gaze, and that ever-present, enticing smirk, packed full of unspoken promises. This is where Alex Vause begins to become the only thought that matters to Piper Chapman's mind.
It starts quite easily after that. Alex graduates at the end of the month and suddenly they're entangled in the long hot grasp of summer. Alex's world becomes Piper's and suddenly all the places her father told her never to go have become her favorite places in the world. His grumbling stories about Alex Vause and the trouble she's got up to that day lead Piper to smiling quietly into her dinner, hiding small grins behind gulps of water. She tells her parents she's out with friends and she tells her friends she's at home studying and suddenly her days and nights are filled with nothing but Alex.
They're nearly a month and a half into their tentative arrangement when it happens.
It's a week and a half after her eighteenth birthday and Alex has taken her for a ride out of place from their usual hangouts. They're outside city limits, stretched out on a grassy hill, watching the night sky roll in around them when Alex's gaze turns to Piper. Feeling Alex's attention on her face, she pulls her gaze from the slowly forming stars to Alex's sea-green. There's a strange sort of seriousness to her face that gives Piper pause, before Alex smiles softly and leans in. Their lips met gently at first, and Alex almost immediately pulls away, gauging Piper's reaction. A deep breath. And suddenly they're clutching each other's faces. Their mouths moving as if they can't get enough. Alex's tongue slips into Piper's mouth and it's the most delightful thing she's ever felt.
They lay for awhile afterwards, after they've contented themselves with the taste of each other's mouths for the time being, still clutching each other's faces, foreheads resting against one another gently. Alex tucks a strand of Piper's hair behind her ears and suddenly they're laughing. And then they're kissing again. And the night rolls on around them. She leaves her out front of her house that night with another kiss. Their last of the night and their first in goodbye. Piper can still feel Alex on her lips when she climbs into bed an hour later.
Summer eventually rolls into autumn and, for Piper, a new school year begins. Their time together lessons significantly, school occupying most of Piper's day and leaving little room for their once-usual freedom of the night. They flounder at first, struggling to make sense of this new schedule they both must work around. Eventually though, they find a pace. Piper's last class lets out at three and Alex is without fail always waiting for her in the parking lot, leaning smugly against her bike. Piper's friends have found out about their relationship several weeks earlier, before summer's final turn and the creeping grasp of fall. Though Polly, at this point, is the only one truly left. Piper's slow distancing of herself from her old group uprooting all but the small brunette's presence in her life. She rolls her eyes at the older girl's presence, though always promises Piper she'll cover.
Alex hands her a helmet, making a blithe comment about the horrors of high school and how she can't believe Piper's got her coming back, even if it's just for a few minutes every afternoon. Piper smiles, wraps herself around Alex's waist and out they peel, content to have each other for a few precious hours before the weight of responsibility calls them apart again. Eventually though, it's not enough for Alex.
The first night Alex sneaks through Piper's window is a night of many firsts.
Piper's reading in bed when she first hears the soft tapping. Brows furrowing she sets her book aside, pulling herself from the bed and treading quietly to the window. Sliding it open silently she's met with Alex's husky voice, drifting in with the cool autumn air of the night. "Hey."
"Alex! What are you doing here? How did you get up here?" Piper whispers in various states of alarm, stepping back as the brunette tumbles into her room.
"Ugh." She grumbles. "Not easily."
"Alex!" Piper hisses again as she straightens. "My dad is asleep downstairs! If he catches you here he'll kill us both! You can't be here!" The rest of her tirade is interrupted by Alex's lips upon her own. She's powerless. "Alex..." She whispers softly as they pull apart.
"Relax kid. I wanted to see you. ... I missed you." Alex murmurs softly, her nose trailing softly against Piper's face.
"I miss you too." Piper murmurs back, burrowing into her embrace.
They stay holding one another for a moment in the dim lighting of Piper's bedroom before Alex murmurs, "So this is what Piper Chapman, police chief's daughter's bedroom looks like..." Her eyes sweep across her surroundings as they pull apart, "I gotta tell ya, kid, I was expecting way more pink."
"Shut up." Piper mumbles halfheartedly, turning back towards the bed.
She settles in again, picking her book back up as Alex explores. She wanders quietly, idly picking up trinkets or photos to study before moving on. Piper watches her from the corner of her eye, content that Alex is willing to investigate silently. She wanders for awhile before finally crawling up next to Piper, saying nothing as she settles beside her. Her chin rests against Piper's chest and her eyes flick over the words on the pages for awhile before her attention moves on to other things. She's tracing illegible patterns across Piper's collarbone when she finally sets her book aside.
"Are you staying the night?" She asks. She's only half joking, dragging her fingers through Alex's hair, nails lightly scraping her scalp.
"Mmm..." Alex hums happily. She drops a kiss to Piper's collarbone, burrowing her face against her, "Yes."
She kisses a slow trail across Piper's neck and Piper finds herself breathing heavier by the time Alex finally reaches her lips. They kiss deeply, Alex's tongue delving gently into her mouth. One of them moans, Piper can't tell who, and Alex's hand reaches up to stroke across her cheeks, cupping her jaw lightly as she angles the kiss deeper still. Piper's hands travel down Alex's back to rest against the small dip where it meets her hips. Alex grunts.
"Pipes..." She murmurs, pulling back, "I want you."
Piper stills for a moment. Only a moment. The most they'd done so far had been some heavy petting. Piper had had sex with a few boys before Alex, but never had she cared for someone so deeply and wholly as she did, Alex. It was a new experience entirely. Alex had been patient with her, sensing her apprehensions and never quite letting their sessions develop into anything more than a few teasing touches or grinding hips. She knew what they had was special, and she didn't want Piper to be just another quick fuck in one of her familiar old places. She'd been planning to woo her, make their first time something really spectacular. But then school started and their time together dwindled significantly. Suddenly Alex found herself missing the blonde more than she could stand. And tonight, seeing Piper snuggled up in her bed, cozy and wrapped in a book, her heart melted. Suddenly she realizes she doesn't have to woo the blonde because she's already more devoted to her than anyone else in Alex's life ever has been. Suddenly she realizes she is too.
"So take me." Piper whispers. And suddenly Alex is releasing a lung full of air she didn't know she was holding.
Their mouths meet gently once again, Alex's fingers curling around Piper's neck as she drags them closer together. Piper's panting softly, by the time they pull apart. In their preoccupation Alex has rolled so she's leaning above the blonde, her thigh falling between Piper's. Piper's own leg has bent slightly, a light pressure between Alex's legs and she's slowly begun to grind against it. Piper's hips are pushing back against her own and their chests brush lightly as she leans in for another kiss. Clothes are shed slowly as she trails her mouth down Piper's neck. Piper's T-shirt is the first to go, leaving her clad in nothing but a strikingly scanty pair of panties.
Alex's attention diverts to Piper's newly exposed chest, pausing to take the uncovered expanse of skin in. Her fingertips trace over Piper's ribs as she leans down to capture a straining nipple in her mouth. Piper mewls softly, arching herself off the bed and into Alex's mouth. Her hands trail across Alex's back, tangling in the hem of her shirt before dragging it over her head. Shaking her hair out as Piper tosses the shirt to the side of the bed, Alex reaches behind herself and unclips her bra. Piper gasps softly, her hips rolling gently against Alex's.
With a knowing smirk Alex leans down once again to capture her panting lips. Their hips begin grinding once more as they ride each other's thighs, lost in the haze of the kiss and each other. Taking advantage of Piper's distraction, Alex trails a hand between her legs, slipping deftly beneath the damp material of her panties. Pulling away from her lips abruptly, Piper gasps out a moan as Alex's fingers swipe across her entrance.
Alex laughs quietly, leaning down so her mouth is level with Piper's ear. Her fingers continue to tease at Piper's wetness as she whispers, "What do think your dad would say if he knew his least favorite delinquent was currently in his daughter's bedroom defiling her?"
As predicted Piper trembles beneath Alex's fingers. Alex chuckles again, sucking Piper's earlobe into her mouth as the fingers in her panties swirl against her clit. Piper's hips jerk forcefully, another moan rumbling from her throat.
"Shhh..." Alex hushes, "wouldn't wanna wake daddy."
"Alex..." Piper gasps, "I need-"
Alex drops a kiss to Piper's jaw, her fingers once again sliding against the entrance of her cunt. "What do you need, babe?"
"I need-" Piper tries again, her hips straining for Alex's fingers. "Alex..."
Alex's mouth works it's way over Piper's jaw, lightly sucking and biting. "Pipes... Tell me what you need."
"I need you." Piper finally gasps out. She's rewarded with Alex's fingers pushing into her, deep and filling.
"You've got me, babe."
She sets an easy pace, easing in and out of Piper's heat as she grinds her own hips into Piper's thigh. Piper's hands claw at her back as she arches beneath her, nails digging painful half crescents into Alex's shoulders. Alex groans, shuddering against Piper's thigh as their chests brush against each other and Piper's slick walls suck gently at her fingers. Her free hand rises to play with one of Piper's nipples as the blonde begins to whimper below her.
"Let go for me, Pipes." She whispers, abandoning the blonde's chest to draw her more tightly against her. "Come on, kid. Come."
A wetness explodes across her hand as Piper's walls clench greedily against her, "That's my girl." Her hips spasm against Alex's hand as she works her gently through her comedown, eventually easing her hand free with a sigh. "Pipes..." She murmurs, dropping a slow kiss to her lips.
Piper hums tiredly against her and they lay in each other's arms for awhile, kissing softly and breathing quietly. Their foreheads rest against one another and they gaze into each other's eyes as Alex runs a hand across Piper's cheek, tucking her hair behind her ear. Alex's hips shift against Piper's thigh as she settles deeper into the bed and Piper absently notes she's still wearing her jeans.
"What about you?" She murmurs tiredly.
Alex smiles gently, thumb still tracing across Piper's cheek. "Relax kid, we've got time." She drops another light kiss to Piper's nose, "We've got time."
They take each other again (and again) before finally rolling over just before sunrise. Piper wakes several hours later, just before 11 AM, to the foreign feeling of Alex's skin pressed against her own. She hums contentedly, settling into the warmth of Alex and her bed for a moment before jerking awake abruptly.
"Alex!" She hisses.
"Mmmm..." Alex moans, burying her face against the pillow she was currently splayed across.
"Alex!" Piper shoves against her shoulder in a panic.
"What?" Alex grumbles.
"Alex it's eleven AM!" Piper whisper-screams.
"Oh fuck." Alex murmurs. She rolls over, casting a gaze towards the window she crawled through hours earlier, now pouring over with warm sunlight, and Piper's momentarily distracted by the sight of her bare skin wrapped in her sheets. "Fuck." Alex's attention turns from the window to the blonde beside her and a familiar smirk works it's way across her lips at the girl's hesitant wonder. "Mmm..." She hums happily, pulling the younger girl to her lips. Piper melts against her. They break apart, but she holds their foreheads close, one hand gently cupping the back of Piper's neck. "So how're we gonna get out of this?" Another kiss. "Please tell me daddy dearest isn't downstairs."
"No..." Piper half-sighs, "he should be... gone. Mom though..." Alex's lips have moved to trail across her neck and she suddenly found herself struggling to remember what the problem was.
"Mom... ?" Alex probed gently.
"Mom's home. She's probably... downstairs..." She's sinking further into the bed under Alex's attentions, "I can... sneak you through the front door... maybe... if we..."
Alex hums against her throat and Piper shudders deliciously, a flush of warmth heading to pulse between her legs. Alex is flat against her back now, Piper laying over her with one of Alex's talented hands just barely beginning to stroke between her legs when a thump sounds outside the room.
"Piper!" A shrill voice calls.
"Fuck!" Piper shoots up in a panic. They stare at each other in alarm before Piper shoves Alex from the bed. "Hide!" She hisses.
"Where!?" Alex hisses back turning in circles, her gaze following the blonde as she picks up various items of clothing and flings them towards her.
"Piper!" The voice is growing closer.
"In the closet!" Piper hisses, shoving Alex and her armful of clothing into the small hollow.
She's yanking her T-shirt back over herself when the door swings open and her mother strides in. "Piper Elizabeth Chapman! Are you still asleep at this hour!"
"No mom!" Piper calls casually, just barely sliding into the chair at her desk to cover her lack of pants. "Just working on some studying."
"Hmm..." Her mother's eyes narrow, examining the books spread across the desk. "Well. Come downstairs now. Your breakfast is getting cold. And you have tutoring at twelve, so please try to be ready. Honestly, Piper, the amount of money we spend on this you'd think you'd take it a little more seriously." Her words begin to fade as she strides back down the hall, Piper watching her anxiously until she disappears down the stairs.
Letting an explosive breath of air from her lungs, she stands on shakey legs, throwing open the doors of the closet. Alex gazes silently back at her with an armful of clothes. "You know I could make a joke about your choice in hiding place." She teases. And suddenly they're both laughing quietly.
They dress quickly, stealing kisses here and there between layers of clothes. Piper leads them quickly and quietly downstairs, keeping an ever-present eye out for her mother and brother as she ushers Alex towards the door. She gives her one last kiss in the hallway before Alex slips through the door, and she into the kitchen. Her mother, as it turns out, is none the wiser.
"What is that god-awful racket?" She asks when Alex's bike kicks to life a few houses down.
Piper smiles quietly into her breakfast.
And thus Alex's new favorite hobby becomes sneaking into Piper's room. She spends the night more often than not and soon Piper is spending the odd night out with her once again. Though now, more often than not, their nights tend to end with them naked and breathless. Polly always covers for her, the nights Piper slips out to spend with Alex, saying she'll tell anyone who asked that Piper spent the night at hers. Piper repays her kind with the same favor anytime Polly feels the urge to spend a night out of her own with whichever boy she was currently dating.
The school year wanes on and Piper begins preparing for college. They avoid the topic at first, afraid to upset the delicate balance, but the conversation eventually breaks open and soon they're faced with serious discussions about the future. College plans roll over to after and after rolls over to life and both of them are quietly struck by how effortless it all is to suddenly see a future of theirs instead of mine.
Piper's dad begins to grumble less and less about Alex Vause. Her attentions slowly being filled with jobs, life, and Piper, she's had less and less time to stir up familiar trouble throughout the town. It doesn't stop her completely, however. They're at the dinner table one night, a family affair, when he begins an old familiar tirade about Alex Vause. She'd nearly gotten caught for some discretion of a sort earlier that day while Piper was busy tending to an overflowing schedule. They hadn't had a chance to see each other and Alex's boredom led her to some of her old habits in the meantime.
"What is it about her you hate so much, daddy?" Piper asks him quietly, hoping to come off as nothing but casual inquiry.
He hems and haws for a bit, sighs and huffs. Finally, removing his glasses and trailing a hand across his forehead he murmurs, "She's a smart kid. Smarter than most of the other ones I bring in every other night. It's just a shame to see her letting that go to waste."
They let the topic fall for the rest of the night. Though inside Piper's suddenly filled with a tentative grasping of hope.
Their final summer comes and goes, Piper's post-graduation celebrations being spent in a small cabin upstate that Alex had rented for the weekend (she'd told her parents she was with Polly, of course). She chooses a college semi-close, Alex gradually moving between their two bases before finally settling fully into Piper's new town. They rent an apartment towards the end of the year, prepared to spend the rest of Piper's college career in it as soon as the semester ends. Alex manages to stay out of trouble in the new town, now twenty-two and far more grounded than the wild thing she was in her youth. A slow change that she's been evolving through since she turned eighteen.
They're nearing the end of Piper's first semester in college when she finally decides to tell her parents. Telling them she's bringing someone very special home, they count down the days and hope for the best. Alex cracks an endless well of jokes about saying their final goodbyes because Piper's father is surely going to murder her the second she walks through the door (and then again when he finds out she's touched his baby girl).
They agree to meet for dinner their first night back. Piper's house, they decide, is the best place for the "meeting", the less public carnage the better. The doorbell rings and they share one final hopeful smile before the door swings open and Piper's mother is greeting them. She falters, upon noticing Alex. Falling silent and fixing them both with a stern knowing stare, she eventually gathers herself and offers a clipped and foreboding welcome. It's smoother than Piper had thought it would go, though her mother's never been their real concern. And she is, for the most part, reserving judgement until the news reaches Piper's dad. His opinion will decide whether Alex Vause lives or dies.
It's an awkward affair at first (though Piper's brother seems delighted about the spectacle). Bill Chapman abruptly halts as they come through the entryway and into the kitchen, his eyes darting between the brunette and his daughter in thoughtful stony silence for a moment before he invites them all to sit. Everyone walks on thin ice as dinner progresses and it's not until he sets his silverware aside (Carol standing to clear the plates and leave them to their verdict), that he clears his throat and fixes them with a heavy stare.
"How long has this been going on?" He asks gruffly, and they share a brief nervous look before Piper blurts out the truth. The entire truth. A whole three years of it. He's silent for a moment, weighing the years in his mind before nodding his head once. "I don't like it... but I'd be a liar if I didn't say I'd always wondered what happened that year that turned Alex Vause into somewhat of a model citizen." His gaze flicks between the two of them, the faintest of smiles touching his lips, "I guess now I know."
A breath of air Piper thinks she's been holding since she turned eighteen explodes from her lungs and she glances at Alex with a relieved sort of giddiness. Alex smiles demurely back, flicking her gaze back to Piper's dad and nodding her head once. The rest of the night goes smoothly for the most part and they're left with an invitation to return a month from now for another family dinner (the lingering question of making it a monthly thing hanging open at the end of the suggestion). They're outside on the front stoop when Piper's mother calls her back in quickly to grab some leftovers, insisting relentlessly until the blonde finally agrees.
"I'll be right back." She murmurs exasperatedly to Alex before slipping back through the doors.
Alex is left to stand on the porch a moment, face upturned to the warm summer breeze under the night sky. The door clicks open and Bill Chapman steps out, causing Alex to tense slightly. Here it comes she thinks.
"I can't pretend that you're my first choice for my daughter." He begins, lighting up a cigar and joining Alex in her contemplation of the sky. "But I suppose if she had to choose any of them, I'm glad it's you."
Alex eyes him curiously for a moment. Silent as she allows him to say his peace.
"You've always been a smart kid, Alex. Something that's killed me from the first time I brought you in. I know Piper's good for you. I've seen that... maybe clearly for the first time tonight, but I've seen it changing over the years." He nods, taking a long draw from the cigar. "Maybe in your own way you're good for her too. Who knows... but she seems happy. And so do you." Turning to face her now, he fixes her with a wry smile. "You'll understand that I expect you to stay out of trouble for good now."
Alex grins, casting her gaze to the concrete before them before bringing it up back up to meet his once more. "Yes, sir."
Nodding again his smile grows a little bigger as he sticks the cigar back between his teeth. "And if you ever hurt her I won't hesitate to lock you up for good."
Fighting her own growing grin Alex nods again, stifling a quick chuckle. "Yes, sir."
"Good." He nods.
Piper comes swinging through the door in that moment and pauses, he eyes flicking between the two of them in sudden fear. "Daddy..." She begins.
"Relax, Piper. We're just saying goodnight."
Her gaze flicks from her father's amused expression to Alex's and she relaxes visibly, moving to stand beside her girlfriend. Alex's arm snakes around her waist and she leans into her warmth as they both bid her father a goodnight.
"What was that all about?" She whispers to Alex as they make their way down the walk.
"Nothing, babe." She grins, "Just looking out for his little girl."
They share a kiss outside Piper's car, which Alex suddenly deepens, pulling apart to rest her forehead against Pipers, thumbs gently stroking at her jaw.
"Hey... I love you, you know?"
Piper smiles radiantly, her attention flicking between Alex's sea-green eyes in love-filled wonder. "I know. I love you too. Now, come on..." She pulls away, "I think we've pushed my father's limitations far enough for one night."
Alex laughs aloud as they slide into the car. Their hands meet over the center console, their fingers tangling together immediately, and they share one final gaze before pulling out into the night and away from the quiet town.