inspired by Taylor Swift's How You Get The Girl
for Orange Dandelion ;)
It's late.
That much Alex is aware of.
It's late and it's pouring and she's standing outside Piper Chapman's door slowly loosing the feeling in her limbs. Her knuckles vaguely throbbing where she knocked them against the door several moments ago. She'd knocked long and she'd knocked hard, knowing she'd tap too lightly or too quick if she didn't force herself otherwise. Her clothes are dripping a slowly growing puddle on the porch and the seconds were ticking away with every droplet. But she doesn't let herself focus on any of this.
The door finally swings open and she's met with that familiar blue gaze. Shocked at first, she watches Piper's expression morph to confusion then a very mute annoyance as she catches sight of Alex's rather sizable puddle.
"Alex? What are you- Are you insane!?"
"Pipes." She begins, "I know it's been six months, and I know I have no right to be here right now, like this, but fuck, I needed to see you. I have to tell you... Pipes, I fucked up. I fucked up and I let you walk away and I know what I want now. I know what I want. Pipes." It all comes out in a rush, her hand is grasping the door frame, as if preemptively preventing Piper from closing the conversation before she's had her say.
Blue eyes study her silently, sorting through the tangled lung-full of words now hanging between them. She steps aside, a silent invitation, and Alex steps in. Disappearing down the hall, Alex's gaze sweeps over the small collection of frames and the faces in them as she waits. Pictures of Piper, her brother, Polly...
"Here." Piper returns, tossing her a towel. Alex doesn't recognize it. She drags it over her head, shaking out the droplets clinging to her hair. Piper's eyeing her silently, a new puddle slowly forming around her feet again. "Alex, you're dripping everywhere." She mumbles.
Lowering the towel, their eyes meet. Piper rubs her forehead, "Here." she mutters, pulling a discarded hoodie from the next room.
It takes Alex a moment.
"I'll put your stuff in the dryer." Piper snaps tiredly.
Right. She pulls her jacket from her arms. It's probably ruined. She can't quite bring herself to care. She can't quite bring herself to care about a lot of things like that these days. Her t-shirt clings to her like a second skin and it takes her a moment longer to pull the wet material from herself. Taking the hoodie still hanging between them in Piper's outstretched arm, her cold fingers fumble with the zipper a moment before tugging it on.
"Can we talk?" She tries again, wrapping the towel around her hips to soak the remaining moisture from her jeans.
"Alex..." Piper sighs, "it's one in the morning."
"Pipes..." She let's it hang, waits for those blue eyes to return to her. "Please."
She leads them to the living room. More picture frames adorn the walls, the tables, the mantle of the small fireplace. Alex's eyes sweep over all of them. More faces she recognizes, more faces she doesn't. Piper disappears for a moment, back through the kitchen, depositing Alex's wet shirt into the dryer, and returns with two steaming mugs. She mumbles a soft thanks as the blonde hands her one, motioning to the couch for her to sit as she settles into the armchair across the floor.
She tucks her legs underneath her, curling delicately into the chair, and Alex is struck for a moment by just how beautiful she is. She's in her pajamas, having been awakened by Alex's sudden pounding or about to turn in for the night. Her hands are wrapped around her mug, and she brings it to her lips, taking a small sip of the steaming coffee. Gaze flicking from Alex's to the mug and back, she waits patiently for the brunette to begin.
"So." She prods.
"So." Alex answers, taking a sip of coffee before setting the mug on the table before her. She studies her now empty hands, "When you left. Six months ago. You told me I needed to decide what I wanted."
"I did." Piper murmurs. Another sip of coffee.
"Well..." She chances a glance at the blonde. "I've decided."
"It's been six months, Alex." Piper murmurs. "Half a year. How do you know things haven't changed?"
"I don't." Alex admits softly. "But I'm willing to fight for this, Piper. I'm willing to fight for you."
Piper stays silent, shifting thoughtfully in her seat.
"You walked out on me six months ago, but I didn't stop you. And I should have. And I haven't stopped thinking about you for six months. I've tried, Piper. Believe me. I've fucking tried." Piper's gaze drops to her mug. "I was angry, Piper. Really fucking angry." She pauses, collecting her thoughts, studying her palms. "But then I got sad. I missed you. I missed... us. I missed the sex, sure, but waking up without you... coming home to an empty apartment... the small things... I can't do it anymore. It's not enough anymore. It's not worth the exchange."
Piper meets her gaze again. Holds it. Waiting for Alex to say it. She's hesitant to believe and she needs to hear her say it.
"I fucked up. I'm not happy, Pipes. I thought... as long as I had the cartel, as long as I was on top, had everything I wanted, I'd be fine. But you..." a soft laugh, "you came in and fucked all that up. And now what I want most is you. I want to wake up next to you, and fall asleep holding you. I want to come home from a trip, be it across the country or to the fucking supermarket down the street, it doesn't matter, but I want to come back to you. I want to hear your laughter above everything else in a crowded room, I want your eyes to be the ones I meet in a sea of hundreds. I want one night at home with you over a million nights spent in a million clubs with a million fucking girls who could never compare. I want you, Pipes. And I was a fucking idiot for not realizing it sooner."
"Alex." Piper sighs, runs a hand over her forehead. "How can I believe anything's truly changed? How do I know you're not just lonely and experiencing a moment of weakness and we won't just fall back into the same patterns again in another six months?"
"I'm staying here." Alex murmurs.
"What?" Piper whispers in an equally hushed tone.
"I'm staying here. In the city. I'm working in the background now. I told them I can't do it anymore. The whole jet-setting thing. It's killing me. It killed us. I'm behind the scenes. I coordinate. I oversee. I'm grounded. It took three months to work it all out, but... it's settled now. I'm settled. I didn't want to see you until it was."
"Are you serious?" Piper murmurs. "Alex, I mean... really really serious?"
"I've never been more serious about anything in my life." They hold each other's gazes. "Please, Pipes. Don't give up on us. Not yet."
She stands, placing her empty coffee mug on the table beside her chair. Alex watches her silently from her position on the couch, awaiting her deliberation. She gets as far as the kitchen doorway before turning back towards the brunette. "Well?"
"Well?" Alex returns, a hesitant tinge of hope and light dusting of apprehension coating her tone.
"Come on." Piper whispers. She stand hesitantly, makes her way towards the waiting blonde. She leads them to the stairs, pauses between them and the front door before speaking again. "It's late, and only getting nastier out. You can stay here for the night. We'll figure out what to do with you in morning."
There's a hint of a smile on her face and Alex can't stop the overwhelming bloom of happiness that overtakes her chest. And when she awakens to Piper Chapman slowly blinking awake beside her the next morning she can't help the full-hearted grin that sweeps across her face right before the blonde pulls her in for a kiss.
She doesn't know what sort of future awaits them.
But Alex can't quite make herself care about anything past the "them" anyway.
Short and sloppy, but something that had to be done. Probably takes place in a world where they broke up but Alex's mother's death didn't coincide, and prison and the drugs didn't happen. I didn't want to rush them into anything because I hate stories where they just reconcile and fall into bed without really settling anything, so I imagine they've got a shit ton more to discuss, having been apart for six months, but they're still Alex and Piper and they're not gonna be able to resist at least a kiss. Especially after waking up to one another again after a prolonged period of absence. So things aren't totally okay or settled, but they're going to try and that seemed like a good enough place for an ending :)