This chapter is rated T for Teen.
Piper had to move out of the dorm by the end of June no matter if she was returning to Smith in the fall or not. She'd asked Alex to help her move and suggested that they borrow one of her parents' cars.
It would be the first time that Alex would meet the Chapmans, and Piper had warned her that she wasn't optimistic about their meeting, but the brunette insisted upon at least saying hello. She knew enough about the Chapmans from her girlfriend's stories to not expect a warm welcome.
They rode the train into Connecticut on a Saturday, both buried in the books they were reading—Piper for pleasure, Alex for work. From the train depot, they caught the bus for the brief 10 minute ride to Piper's home. When they arrived at the Chapman household, Piper told Alex to take a deep breath, and they'd be out of there in 15 minutes.
"Mom? Dad?" She called upon entering the home.
Her mom sauntered into the foyer, looking like she'd stepped right out of a Talbot's catalogue. "Your father's at work."
"Mom, this is Alex."
Alex reached out her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Chapman."
Carol put her hands on her hips. "So you're the woman who turned my daughter into a lesbian?"
The brunette retracted her hand and scratched her head, looking away.
"She didn't turn me into anything," Piper said with embarrassment.
"Piper will never have babies, and I won't be a grandmother if she stays with you," Carol spat.
"That's not true." Alex shrugged, and then offered, "The kind of sex we have, you know, lesbian sex, might not produce babies, but we could get artificially inseminated and make you a grandmother pretty easily."
Piper closed her eyes and sucked in her lips.
"That's disgusting!" Carol turned and walked away.
"No, it's not," Alex called. "What's disgusting is not loving Piper no matter what her sexual orientation is." She walked into the other room and stood in front of Carol again. "Your daughter is the most intelligent, thoughtful, inspiring woman I've ever met. I can't even begin to explain how much joy you're missing by not having Piper in your life!"
The blonde stood in the entryway with her mouth ajar.
Alex whipped around and grabbed her hand. "Come on, babe. We'll rent a fucking car; you don't need anything these people have to offer."
The brunette tugged her lover out of the front door; Piper clearly too stunned to speak.
They walked in silence to the bus stop, and Alex punched a few things into her cell phone to see when the next bus would arrive.
Once inside, Piper finally spoke. "I can't believe that just happened."
"You warned me," Alex confessed. "I just thought…I don't know, I thought it would go better than that."
"My mother is a horrible person," the blonde admitted, staring straight ahead.
"Don't say that, Piper." Alex took a deep breath and rubbed the back of her girlfriend's head. "She's got a fucked up view of the world, and she doesn't treat you with the affection of a mother, but she still gave you life and pays for your education."
"My father pays for my education," she replied dryly.
"Still," Alex tried. She tugged Piper closer. "Just because your mom disrespected you doesn't mean you have to follow suit. Forget about her for now. Let's rent a car, get your shit, and I'll take you back to my apartment—our apartment."
Piper nodded and turned her attention to her girlfriend. "Thank you."
The brunette smiled softly.
Piper ended up charging the Ford SUV that they rented to her father's corporate account at Enterprise, feeling like she was sticking it to him. Truth be told, he probably wouldn't even recognize the charge since he traveled so much.
They arrived at Smith three hours later, and Poussey was in their room, packing up her own belongings.
"Poussey, this is Alex," she introduced.
The black woman smiled. "Alex Vause, I feel like I know you."
"I have to go get the boxes that Becky saved for me," Piper announced. "Be right back."
"It's nice to finally meet you," Alex said to Poussey, shaking her hand.
"Piper talked about you all the time." She folded a shirt, putting it into her box.
"I hope not annoyingly so." The brunette lifted her glasses on top of her head.
"Nah, man. Your girl is crazy in love with you," she offered.
Alex ducked her head and smiled softly.
Poussey looked at the other woman with a serious expression. "I don't know if Piper is coming back to Smith or not, but you take real good care of her, hear?"
Alex nodded. "I will."
They made quick work on the small dorm room, finishing all of the packing in under two hours.
On the car ride back, Piper seemed distant.
"What's wrong?" Alex asked from the driver's seat.
"I'm upset." Piper shrugged, eyes still trained on the trees they were passing on the right. "I don't want my parents to have any control over me, and they do right now because of money."
"In three years, you'll be done with college, and you'll get a job," Alex tried. "You'll be able to afford stuff on your own."
"I don't want them paying for anything for me anymore."
Alex put her hand on the younger woman's thigh. "You have to let them contribute to your education. That's important, Piper."
The blonde turned to face her girlfriend. "I wish we were married, then we'd be obligated to share resources."
"We don't have to be married to share resources." Alex removed her hand, placing it back on the steering wheel. "Anything I have is yours, and that's not out of some obligation."
"But marriage makes it official," Piper stated, looking once again out of the side window.
She glanced at her companion. "That might be in the cards for us down the line, but right now, you need to concentrate on earning your degree, and I need to concentrate on being effective at my job."
The blonde whipped her head around. "What do you mean, it 'might' be in the cards for us?"
"I'm saying that we don't know what the future holds," Alex shrugged, eyes still trained on the road. "There are other things…other priorities for each of us right now."
Piper looked at her with melancholy eyes. "Do you want to marry me?"
"Eventually, yes." She glanced at her lover as best she could while driving 70 miles per hour. "Nothing would make me happier."
That caused the blonde to smile faintly.
They continued driving until they reached New York. Piper had dozed off twice, but Alex loved to watch her girlfriend sleep. After unloading all four boxes and two suitcases, Piper brought the car back to Enterprise, and then took the Subway to their apartment.
Alex would be lying to herself if she said that marriage hadn't been in the recesses of her mind. She'd never allowed the thought to cross her lips, because it was an idea that had no business in the present. She knew that if marriage was an option for them, it would be in the far distant future. What surprised her was Piper's desire to wed at such a young age—not that her lover had insinuated that they should be married there and then, but that she'd consider committing to her girlfriend for a lifetime when she had only finished her first year of college.
After living together for a month, the women settled into a routine. Alex was pleasantly surprised at the way they cohabitated—at first, she thought that the tight quarters would lead to territorial issues and quarrels—but she was glad to see that they could both sense when the other was in a mood. Piper had an excellent read on Alex, and she knew when to get closer and when to draw back. The brunette was grateful for her intuition and could picture the two of them living together for a long time.
Piper had been accepted at Barnard, NYU and Fordham, and the women celebrated her college acceptances by attempting to cook at home in their miniscule kitchen. A stove with only two burners and a counter that was stacked with books, mail and other paraphernalia proved the task impossible, so they settled for ordering Thai food and playing cards well into the night.
Since she'd begun the internship in the Barnard College Advancement Office, Piper chose to enroll at the all-women's college in the fall. Besides, she could walk to campus in less than 15 minutes or take a quick Subway ride if the weather was foul. She'd already made a few friends at her internship that she was sure would carry over into the academic year.
Alex initially thought when they moved in together that they'd hardly leave the house in favor of having sex 24/7. That proved true for the first week, but then they slipped into a more normal and acceptable sexual routine, making love every two or three days. To be fair, nothing was routine about their sexual encounters—every time was different. Sometimes it was straight up fucking, while other times, tears fell as they made sweet, tender love. Alex's favorite, though, was when they made love and talked during the act. She'd fallen in love with Piper's verbal dexterity when they'd first met, and to hear her voice during sex, no matter if she was talking about a class, a novel, or what she planned to do to her lover in bed, it always drove her over the edge every fucking time.