Four days had gone by, and Alex hadn't heard a word from Piper. She knew the young woman was stubborn, and she most likely wouldn't reach out to Alex until Alex reached out to her. The brunette was stuck at a crossroads—call Piper, apologize, and offer to drive her to Smith; or allow Piper to try life on her own at college without being romantically involved with Alex.
"Alright, Al, you've been moping around like a lovesick puppy," Diane said, offering her daughter half of her chocolate chip cookie. "Something happened with you and Piper?"
Alex huffed. "How'd you guess?"
She sat next to her daughter. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really, no." She pretended to read a book, but she'd been stuck on page 26 for the last 10 minutes.
"Isn't she moving into the dorm today?" Her mom asked. "That's gotta suck."
Alex lifted her eyes off the page. "Thanks for reminding me."
"She didn't want you to go with her?" Diane pressed.
"I don't want to talk about it," she snapped, closing the novel and resting her head on the back of the sofa.
The two women sat in silence, and Alex concentrated on the tick of the clock hanging on the wall. "We broke up." The words burned in her throat.
"No fucking way! That doesn't make any sense."
"We got into an argument about love, of all things, and I said that we should take a break." She shoved her finger and thumb under her black frames and rubbed her tired eyes.
"You two seemed so happy," Diane commented quietly.
"I was happy," Alex admitted, turning her head to look at her mother. "But I think Piper needs to experience college on her own and not be tied down to me or wonder what I'm doing when she should be enjoying herself."
"Don't you think Piper should be the one who determines how she wants to spend her time in college?"
Alex shook her head as if there was no way her mom could understand.
"Piper is a thoughtful, mature young woman," Diane continued. "I never got the impression that she wanted to 'escape' in college the way you did." She rested her hand on her daughter's leg. "I watched her fall in love with you, Al. I can't speak for Piper, but I would bet she knows exactly what she wants, and that's you."
"I hope you're right." She smiled as best she could and then excused herself to her bedroom.
Alex tried to busy herself with reading, but it was no use. She couldn't take her mind off of Piper. Finally, she pulled out her phone and wrote ten messages in the text box, but deleted all of them. She settled on a simple statement and hit send: I'm a jackass.
Thirty minutes went by, and Alex felt like she suffered more with every tick of the clock, until she received Piper's reply: No arguments here.
Alex smiled at the text and felt her heart beat at a more normal pace. Moved in yet?
Piper: Yeah, will call you later…jackass.
She ran a hand through her hair. That was something.
Alex spent the evening helping her mom make chicken noodle soup. As she was peeling carrots, her cell phone rang. She glanced at the number, grabbed her phone and told her mom, "I have to take this." She walked to her room as she answered the call. "Hello?"
"Hi," Piper said with what Alex could tell was a perturbed but faint smile.
"Hey," she said apologetically. "I'm an idiot."
"I thought you were a jackass?"
"Take your pick," Alex said with a half-laugh.
"How about both?"
"Sure…yeah, we'll go with both today." She bowed her head. "How was moving in?"
"Stressful," Piper breathed. "My parents argued the whole time and didn't pay attention to anything I had to say."
She shut her bedroom door. "Is that a surprise?"
"No," Piper admitted. Silence hung between them until the blonde spoke again. "My roommate seems cool. Her name is Poussey."
Alex chuckled. "Like pussy?"
"No," she said. "She's very clear about the French accent."
"I can't wait to meet her," Alex said as she sat on the edge of her bed. She wasn't sure if that was entirely true.
"I have to go to a welcome barbecue on the quad in a few minutes, so I better go."
"Right," Alex responded, flopping down on the bed. "Have fun."
"Thanks. Talk to you soon."
They hung up, and Alex realized that didn't go at all like she'd hoped. Piper sounded monotonous and not at all excited to talk with her. There was an ache in Alex's chest, and she didn't know how long it would remain. There was no sense crying over their current state; after all, Alex was the one who put them precisely in that position.
Over the next month, Alex and Piper talked on the phone every other day, but they exchanged texts every night before falling asleep. The texts were usually a simple good night, and once the brunette wrote, I love you. Piper didn't write it back.
Alex tried to keep her mind off of her young lover by staying busy with her four graduate school classes, and she would soon be even busier with the internship she'd just scored. She couldn't wait to tell Piper the news.
"Guess what?" She began without preamble one late October afternoon.
There was cheering in the background. "What?" Piper asked.
"I got the internship at Peter Lang Publishing!" She couldn't help the excitement in her voice.
"That's awesome, Alex! Congratulations."
"Thanks." She walked into a Columbia University building. "I start on Monday. They're giving me a $5,000 stipend."
"You deserve it," Piper said. Again, Alex heard cheering.
"Where are you?"
"At a field hockey game. We're winning 5 to 1."
"Oh," Alex said. "I was thinking of taking the train to visit you this weekend."
"That would be nice," she replied. "But I'm road tripping to DC with a few friends to protest against police brutality."
"Sounds like fun." Alex smiled dimly, remembering that they were at entirely different points in their lives. She'd been there, done that. Berkeley was one of the most progressive colleges in the country, and she'd gone to 10 or 15 rallies in her time there. She couldn't fault Piper for wanting to use her voice for good causes.
"I'm super happy for you, Alex," Piper said. "I have to go. Let's talk later tonight."
"Ok." She lowered her head and felt a pang in her chest. "Enjoy the game."
Alex sat through her least favorite class: Topics in Biblical Literature, glancing at her phone every few minutes. She didn't expect Piper to text her during the two hour class, but she hoped that she would.
The evening turned into night, and there was no word from Piper. Alex knew this would happen—that's why she tried to break things off with her girlfriend in the first place. She hated waiting around for Piper to contact her, and it bothered her greatly that she couldn't concentrate on anything else.
To make matters worse, Piper informed her that she planned to go to one of her friend's houses on Cape Cod for Thanksgiving. That was their holiday, and it was the last straw for Alex holding out hope that they would have a normal relationship over the next four years.
It just couldn't happen.
Alex sunk her teeth into her internship and loved working with her boss, Jeff Byers, one of the senior managing editors at Peter Lang Publishing. He was a self-classified nerd, but he loved talking with Alex about rewriting textbooks for the modern day student and was fairly confident that there would be a job opening for her after she completed her Master's degree.
On Thanksgiving morning, Alex and her mom went grocery shopping just like they'd done the year before. She was in a terrible funk, but her mom did everything she could to shake her from her foul mood.
"Let's get three bottles of wine this year, hon." She held up two bottles of pinot noir and one of chardonnay.
"Sounds good." Alex tried to smile, but she couldn't fool her mom. "But not this one; too much oak." Alex took the bottle of white wine out of her mom's hand and replaced it with a dry Riesling.
"I'm going to bake a sweet potato pie for you, just like Piper did last year."
She let out a feeble laugh. "That was inedible."
Diane strolled the cart down the baking aisle. "Well, it'll be good this year. I promise."
The women drove home with five bags of groceries, and Alex figured they'd have leftovers for days. There was no stopping Diane Vause when it came to Thanksgiving, and Alex couldn't chastise her mom for that—they'd spent many Thanksgiving dinners eating Oscar Meyer turkey sandwiches instead of feasting on a roasted bird and all the trimmings.
"Shit, there's one thing I forgot," Diane said once they put all of the groceries away. "The damn cranberries!"
"I'll run out and get them." Alex picked up the car keys.
"No, I'll go. You stay here and start making the crust. No reason we can't bake the pies tonight." She grabbed the keys out of her daughter's hand. "Be back in a jiffy."
Alex hadn't baked in months, and as she started preparing the ingredients, she remembered why she liked working at the bakery in Berkeley—there was a precision to baking, and you had to pay attention to every last detail in order for the product to come out right.
Feeling nostalgic, she turned on her mom's stereo and played the Ray Charles album that they'd listened to last Thanksgiving. She smiled at the memory of that day and hoped that this would be the only Thanksgiving that she and Piper would spend apart.
She mixed all of the ingredients in a large bowl, and then wrapped the dough in plastic wrap to let it rest when her mom came barreling in. "I'm back!"
"In here," Alex called from the kitchen. "I just finished making the dough and was thinking about opening a bottle of wine. Want some?"
"Wine sounds nice," came a voice that was certainly not her mom's.
Alex spun around to see her girlfriend leaning against the wooden beam connecting the living room and kitchen. "Piper?"
The blonde smirked. "Hey, babe."
Alex rushed over, throwing her arms around her thin frame. She felt Piper's arms encircle her in a tight embrace.
Alex pulled back. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Did you really think I'd miss Thanksgiving with you?" Piper smiled and brushed Alex's hair over her shoulder. "A year ago today was when I realized I was falling in love with you."
Alex blushed. "Me, too, but I thought…"
The blonde didn't allow her to finish. She crashed her lips against her girlfriend's, tongue begging for entrance.
Diane cleared her throat. "Maybe I should excuse myself."
Piper placed two chaste kisses on the side of her girlfriend's mouth, and then pulled away and wrapped an arm around Alex's waist. "Nonsense! We have four days together; we can makeout later."
Alex flushed, and Diane good-humoredly slapped Piper's arm.
"How did this little plan come about?" The brunette asked, grabbing her girlfriend's hand and tugging her to the sofa.
"Piper called me a week ago and asked if I could pick her up at the train station," Diane said. "She wanted it to be a surprise."
"Clearly, I'm surprised." She kissed Piper on the temple and wrapped an arm over her shoulders. "So you were never going to the Cape for Thanksgiving?"
Piper snuggled closer. "Some of my friends are, but no, I wasn't going to miss this holiday with you."
Diane excused herself to get things ready for tomorrow's dinner, leaving the two younger women alone.
Alex wasted no time kissing Piper again, this time with more finesse. "You taste good."
"So do you." She removed a hair out of Alex's mouth. "I missed you so much, Alex."
"Probably not as much as I missed you," she admitted, holding her tightly.
Piper looked into her eyes. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."
"Maybe we could slip into my room," Alex whispered before capturing Piper's lips once again, tugging her bottom lip gently with her teeth.
The blonde returned the kiss with gusto. "That would be kind of embarrassing. Your mom would know exactly what we were doing."
Alex smiled against her lips. "She was young once, too, you know."
Piper grinned. "I'm thinking some naughty thoughts right now."
"Yeah?" Alex pulled her to her feet and kissed her again. "Wanna show me?"
They stood in the center of the living room, kissing and letting their hands wander over each other's body.
Diane walked in and quickly averted her eyes. "I'm gonna take a ride to Betsy's house. Help her with some pre-Thanksgiving stuff."
"Sounds great," Alex said, not taking her hungry eyes off the woman in front of her.
"I'll call before I come back."
"Uh huh," her daughter replied, tilting her neck to the side as Piper placed little kisses along the column of her neck.
"In their own little world," Diane mumbled on her way out the door.
Alex lifted Piper's sweater and threw it aside, removing her own shirt seconds later. Her hands covered Piper's breasts and her lips traveled across her cheek, down her neck and onto her chest. Piper made quick work on Alex's bra and leaned closer to take one of her nipples into her mouth.
Alex moaned. "I want you so badly right now."
Piper unzipped her lover's jeans, still concentrating on making Alex's nipples into firm peaks with her mouth. "Off."
The brunette stepped out of her jeans, and then shoved Piper's pants down her legs, never once removing her hands from her former student's body. "You feel good, so smooth."
It was Piper's turn to whimper as Alex dropped to her knees and ripped off Piper's thong. She spread her legs open and licked her center.
Piper's knees gave out and she almost fell. "Fuck! I need to sit down."
"I have a place you can sit," she replied with a cocky smirk.
"Do you?" Piper jutted her hips forward, and Alex noticed that she had recently waxed.
Alex sat on the rug and rested her back against the lower part of the sofa. She beckoned Piper over with her finger. "Come here."
Piper walked over to her lover, lowering her knees to the sofa and placing her pussy directly above Alex's mouth. The brunette couldn't even wait for Piper to lower herself completely; she extended her neck and stuck out her tongue to taste her.
The blonde cried out her name and placed one hand on the back of Alex's head, showing her exactly where she wanted her mouth. "Right there, Alex. Yeah…"
Alex licked her lover with pure delight, feeling her own juices flowing from her center at what she was doing to Piper, paying no mind to the large window above the sofa with the curtains pulled open. She placed one hand on Piper's toned thigh, and the other traced a pattern on her vaginal lips, relishing in the silkiness of her young skin. She watched Piper come undone, yelling her name and praising God as an orgasm tore through her.
When she was done, Piper slithered down Alex's body, leaving a wet trail down her chest and stomach. She kissed Alex with an open mouth, and the brunette smiled into the kiss.
"That was nice," Alex commented.
"It was," she said between kisses. "Your turn."
Piper kept moving down her lover's body, removing her underwear along the way. She spread her lover's legs open and crawled between them, taking in a big whiff of Alex. Before diving in with her tongue, she looked up at her. Alex's eyes were hooded with desire, and she couldn't wait any longer. She thrust her hips off the floor to meet Piper's mouth.
"Ungh, Piper." Alex writhed beneath her, savoring the feeling of Piper's tongue squirming inside of her. "I'm going to cum, babe…God, Piper, ungh…Oh, fuck, fuck!"
When her orgasm subsided, Alex pulled her lover up her body and wrapped her in a tight embrace. "So much for making it to my bedroom."
"Beds are overrated," Piper commented while rubbing her fingertips between Alex's breasts.
The brunette let out a contented sigh, and they laid in a sweaty heap until both of their breathing was regulated.
Piper raised an arm across her lover's chest, resting her chin on the back of her hand. "I know that I'm only 18, but I don't want you to insinuate that you know what's best for me just because you're older," she began, looking Alex in the eye. "And most of all, please don't accuse me of not knowing what love is."
The brunette ran her hand down the back of Piper's head as her expression turned solemn.
"I remember reading once that real love isn't so much a feeling as it is a decision, and I made a decision a year ago to love you," Piper explained. "So let me do that, Alex. Let me love you, and if I make mistakes along the way, we'll deal with them together. Just please trust that what I feel for you is very, very real."
"I won't doubt you again." Alex kissed her forehead. "I'm glad you're here, babe."
"I never want to leave," Piper whispered.
"That makes two of us," she sighed.
Author's Note: Did you really think these two could stay broken up? They're like magnets, I tell ya.