Rated M for Mature
Independence Day came and went, but Piper didn't see much of Alex during the three-day celebration. Despite significant protests from the blonde, they'd decided that it was best if she stayed at her family's home rather than spend the night at Alex's cottage. The minute her parents drove back to Connecticut, Piper jogged to Alex's place, and they had copious amounts of sex.
As August rolled around, Alex still disappeared on Sundays for at least five hours. One of those afternoons, Piper decided to surprise her.
"Hey, babe," Alex called as she entered her cottage. "I'm home."
"Hi." Having just showered, the blonde stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around her body. "I have a surprise for you."
Alex placed a kiss on her forehead. "Does it have to do with you being naked?"
"No." She shoved the handsy brunette away. "Give me five minutes, and I'll show you."
"I like the scenario playing out in my head better," Alex yelled through the closed bathroom door.
Piper quickly dried off, threw on her clothes and grabbed Alex's hand as they headed outside and around the cottage.
"What's this?" Alex asked.
"A hammock." The blonde gestured towards the cloth hammock.
"I can see that…" she trailed off as if expecting a more descriptive answer.
"I found it in the shed the other day." Piper sat down and reached for Alex. "It was tucked way in the back, and I thought maybe you'd been meaning to put it up."
"That was thoughtful of you." The brunette joined her on the hammock, pulling her close. "You hung it by yourself?"
"I did," she stated proudly.
"My mom and I had a hammock when I was growing up. After she died, it got all tattered from the weather and eventually ripped. I bought this one a few years ago, but never bothered to hang it."
She propped her chin on a hand and watched Alex intently, allowing her to continue.
"We didn't have a view like this at our house, but we still loved being outside. My mom would sit in a lawn chair, and I'd lie in the hammock, and she'd push it with her foot so it would sway." The brunette smiled with reverence. "There are times when I miss her so much that it physically hurts."
Piper wrapped her arms around her companion, and they laid in silence for a considerable amount of time. At one point, the blonde thought that Alex might've fallen asleep.
"Alex?" she whispered.
"Hmm?"
Once again, Piper propped her chin on her arm and stared at her companion. "Where do you go on Sundays?"
The brunette shifted in the hammock until they were eye to eye. "How long have you been holding that question in?"
"The entirety of our relationship," Piper admitted with a grin.
"Come on." Alex shimmied out of the hammock and reached for her companion. "I'll show you."
They hopped into the Chevy and drove a few miles North along the coast. Piper noticed a sign for Fortunes Rocks and was reminded of the Anita Shreve novel bearing the same name.
"Have you been making up stories in your pretty little head about where I go?"
Piper shrugged as she continued to gaze out of the window, hoping that Alex wouldn't delve further into the matter.
She heard a slight chuckle stuck in Alex's throat. "What are some of the scenarios you've come up with?"
"I used to think that you were going to see Sylvie," she admitted as she watched a flock of geese fly overhead.
Alex snorted. "Hardly."
"Then I thought maybe you were visiting friends or going to church or brunch or something."
"Church?" she asked. "I haven't been in a church since I made my first communion."
Alex turned right onto a gravel road with a homemade street sign that said, Fox Hollow, and drove another hundred yards until they parked in a clearing among towering Balsam Firs, Aspens and Red Maples.
"I've never taken anyone here," she said, reaching for the blonde's hand as she scooted off the bench seat.
"Why not?" Piper's curiosity was piqued as she followed her companion around a cluster of blackberry bushes.
"A few reasons, I guess." Alex plucked a berry and popped it into her mouth.
Before Alex could continue with said reasons, Piper stopped in her tracks. There before her stood the framework of a cottage. One side had limestone halfway up, but the rest of the house was bare lumber.
"Who's house is this?" Piper's eyebrows wrinkled.
A tiny smile registered on Alex's face. "Mine."
"Yours?" she questioned.
Alex took a few steps towards the cottage and touched the limestone. "I've been working on it for the past two years."
"I don't understand." She shook her head, still glued to the spot. "Who are you building it for?"
"Myself, silly," Alex chuckled. "I like living on Mr. Bankston's property, but I never thought that would be my permanent home. Besides, I want a place of my own with more privacy than I have on Sand Point Road."
"Alex, this is…" She joined her lover next to the cottage. "I can't believe you're building a fucking house! Is anyone helping you?"
"I couldn't do all of this on my own." She touched the grout and seemed satisfied that it was dry. "Remember the man in the deli at Shaw's who complained about heavy lifting back in June?"
Piper reflected to the time they went grocery shopping for their first dinner together. "Yeah, Diego, right?"
She nodded. "He and his brothers help me every Sunday." She walked around the stone wall and stepped on the cement floor through the open wooden frame. "Another crew will do the electrical and plumbing, but I designed the whole thing."
"So you're building a house from scratch?" Piper asked with astonishment in her tone.
"Pretty much, yeah." She picked up a pine branch that had fallen in the house and threw it outside. "It's taking forever, but I have to get it right. I'm hoping it'll be ready before the end of the year; it just depends if we'll have an early winter. Once we get the walls up, that'll make it easier to work during any season."
The blonde couldn't believe it—she knew Alex was talented and that she was good at fixing things, but to build a house was a totally different level. Piper wrapped her arms around her lover's waist and leaned in for a kiss. To say that she was turned on by Alex's abilities was an understatement. As they kissed, Piper considered having sex right there on what she assumed would be the living room floor, but the brunette pulled back.
"Let's save that for later." Alex smiled.
Piper wiped her mouth, a little disappointed that her companion wasn't as horny as she was. "How did you design it?"
"My mom dated an architect for a while, and he always had design books lying around, so I read most of them when I was supposed to be doing calculus homework," she explained as she looked at the A-framed roof above. "I based the design on traditional English cottages. To make it look like it was built a hundred years ago, I'm using reclaimed materials and construction techniques authentic to that period." She picked up a hammer and tapped a couple of long nails into a door hinge.
Piper twirled around in the open space, shocked by what she saw.
"I can't wait to start the interior—I got a shitload of wood from two barns that they tore down a few years ago near Estes Hill. That was actually my motivation for building this place. I saw these huge, oak beams, and I had to have them." She grabbed the blonde's hand and walked back towards the side of the house that was covered halfway with stone. "This limestone was salvaged from the piers of an 1890 bridge in Hobbs Crossing when it was replaced last year. I paid a fraction of the cost than if I would've bought them new."
"You're blowing my mind." Piper shook her head. "I can't believe you did this…that you're doing this!"
"Sometimes I can't believe it either." Alex smiled fondly. "Come on, I'll show you around." She entered the cottage again. "Where we're standing will be an open concept living room. There'll be a fireplace right there and a breakfast nook to the right." She moved to where the nook would be. "The kitchen will be right there."
"I'm sure you can't wait to have a bigger kitchen," Piper said, moving into that already framed space.
"I'm looking forward to that more than any other room," the brunette replied. "I already ordered the Viking appliances." She walked through the living room down what Piper assumed was a short hallway. "This is the master bedroom. It's not huge, but it's bigger than what I have now."
The blonde peeked around a corner. "Will this be the bathroom?"
She nodded. "I'm only putting in one full bathroom, and there will be a half-bath on the other side of the house, next to the guest bedroom/office." Alex walked towards the other side of the cottage and showed Piper the guest room. "The entire floorplan is about a thousand square feet, not including the porch." Alex stepped back outside. "Check out the view."
The ocean was a mere 25 yards away, and it was perfectly framed by at least ten tree varietals.
"It might even be better than your current view."
"I'll eventually put in a boat shed, but I need to build a staircase to access the water first." She shoved her hands into her pockets and walked towards the water. "It's a pretty steep incline."
"I don't know what to say," Piper admitted, still too astonished to fully take it all in. "This is just stunning, Alex."
"Thank you." She smiled and reached for the blonde's hand. "I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. There was a long stretch last winter when I thought about giving up and selling the land."
Piper squeezed her hand. "I'm glad you didn't."
"Me, too. Come on, kid." Alex tugged her back towards the Chevy. "It's getting dark, and I don't have lights out here yet. That's next week's task."
As they hopped into the truck, Piper couldn't help but think about summer coming to an end and what she'd miss when she left Kennebunkport. She only had one week left at her internship, and then she and Polly would head back to Smith a couple of days after that. She felt a knot in her stomach at the thought of having to leave Alex, but she dared not share her feelings at that particular time. She would eventually admit to Alex that she didn't want the summer to end, but such a conversation required a special time and a place, and driving back to Sand Point Road after seeing Alex's future home didn't feel like the appropriate time.
To say that Piper sulked around the Weber Shandwick office the last week of her internship was an understatement. The pouting didn't end at work—she sulked when she got home and waited for Alex to arrive, and even when the brunette was present, Piper couldn't find it within herself to be cheerful. She and Alex still hadn't had a conversation about where their relationship was headed when Piper went back to college, and the thought of where that discussion could go felt like a 500 pound gorilla on her back.
During Piper's last week in Kennebunkport, she noticed that Alex was not as present as she'd been in the past. The brunette's answers were often curt and to the point, and she wasn't as affectionate as she'd been even just the week prior. At first, the blonde attributed Alex's demeanor to being busy with end of summer chores and building her cottage, but by the time Thursday rolled around, Piper was convinced something else was at play.
It wasn't until her final night in Maine when Piper finally broached the subject of their impending separation. Alex had prepared lobster bisque, which the blonde knew was a tribute to their first meal together, but neither woman made verbal reference to the significance of the meal.
"I'm going to miss your cooking," Piper commented as she put away the last of the dishes.
Alex dried her hands. "I'm sure the food at Smith isn't that bad."
She was a bit miffed that Alex hadn't been the one to bring up her inevitable departure, but Piper wasn't about to leave town with a quick kiss and a pat on the back, wondering where they stood.
Piper guzzled the last of her wine. "Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room or are we just going to ignore it?"
"What elephant?" Alex refilled both of their glasses.
"I'm going back to college tomorrow." The blonde folded her arms and lifted her eyebrows. "You've been acting like you don't know that."
Alex retreated into the living room. "You've made that abundantly clear this week."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
She took a sip of the dry Riesling. "You've been moping around like somebody died."
Piper couldn't believe her ears—it was as if her leaving had no effect on Alex. "I've been moping around because after tonight, I don't know when we'll see each other again," she stated as if Alex should have understood her behavior without explanation.
"I'm used to people coming in and out of my life." The brunette set her wine glass on the coffee table, and then plopped onto the sofa with a sigh. "I'm like a fucking Barbara Streisand song."
"You're making a joke about this?" Piper abandoned her glass in the kitchen and stood in the entryway to the living room, arms still crossed. "As if I'm just some other person in your life?"
"You're not just some other person, Piper," she replied with exasperation. "But I didn't think this would be more than a summer thing."
"A summer thing?" Piper jutted her chin back. "So, that night when you pretty much admitted that you were falling in love with me—that was just something you say to your seasonal girlfriend?"
Alex grabbed a throw pillow and hugged it against her chest.
The two remained silent, Piper rooted to the spot between rooms and Alex watching a candle flicker in the breeze. With every tick of the antique clock on the bookshelf, the blonde grew more anxious. Part of her wanted to walk away, but if she did that, she knew Alex wouldn't come running after her. Piper would go back to college and wonder when she'd see her again.
"We had a great summer, kid." Alex's voice cracked just enough for Piper to detect it. "One of the best I can remember, but we both have to go back to the reality of our completely different worlds."
She swallowed the lump in her throat. "So I walk out that door, and that's it? We're done?"
"Not done like forever," Alex tried. "But I have a lot of shit to do here, and you should focus on your last year of college."
"We're not going to talk or text?" She took a step further into the living room, still shocked by Alex's out-of-the-blue stance on their relationship. "You're not going to visit me in Northampton?"
"Piper, I like you. I really do." She put the pillow aside. "But it's impractical to think that we can maintain this…this…whatever you want to call it, while we're 500 miles apart."
"Relationship," Piper shouted. "That's what you call it when two people spend as much time together as we have; when two people kiss and have sex the way we do. I know you like spending time with me as much as I like being with you. We're in a relationship, Alex; it's not some fucking summer crush!"
The dark haired woman rubbed her neck and exhaled loudly. "I didn't want this to be a big, emotional thing, and now it is."
Piper felt a tear slip down her cheek and immediately swatted it away. "Of all the ways I thought this night would go, this isn't one of them."
Alex walked over to her lover. "I need some time to figure things out."
The blonde shook her head vigorously. "What's there to figure out, other than calendaring when we'll talk or see each other again? And Smith is 300 miles away, not 500. It would take a little more than three hours to see each other."
Alex ran a hand through her thick, dark hair. "I don't want a secret lover…"
"You've had one for the past five years," Piper interrupted smugly.
Alex eyed her. "Sylvie wasn't a secret—at least not to my friends."
The blonde tried desperately to ignore the fact that Alex was insinuating that she wasn't one of her friends. Piper couldn't help but despise Sylvie even though the women had never formally met.
Alex changed the subject, "We have other things to consider, like what your parents will do if they find out we're a couple."
"I can deal with my parents," she replied defiantly.
"That's bullshit, and you know it!" Alex slapped a hand against her thigh. "That night when I came over for dinner, you didn't stand up for yourself. I don't blame you, Piper, you want your parents' approval—that means something to you. I don't want to jeopardize that."
"I care what my parents think, but they don't define me," the blonde stated. "If I wasn't afraid of you losing your job, I'd call them right now and tell them that we're together."
Alex appeared taken aback. "I thought you weren't worried about me losing my job?"
"I'm not afraid of that, but you are—I'm trying to respect your privacy and validate your concerns."
Alex let out a quick huff as silence once again descended upon them. Piper could feel her heart thumping in her throat and felt a physical pain her chest.
Finally, the brunette put her hands on Piper's arms. "Look, I'm not denying that you and I have a deep connection. What I'm asking is for some time for both of us to figure out what that means and where we go from here." She rubbed the blonde's upper arms with her thumbs. "I've never been in a normal relationship—I don't even know what that's like. I just need time to sort everything out."
Piper lowered her head and took a few steadying breaths. "I don't need time to know what you mean to me."
"Good for you." Alex released her, arms dropping to her sides. "I wish I could say, fuck the world, and we'd live happily ever after, but it's more complicated than that. This isn't some fucking fairy tale!"
Piper didn't know what to say, and she feared whatever came out of her mouth next would be met with equal resistance.
"I'll contact you soon, I promise," Alex offered in a more soothing voice.
The blonde hated every word that Alex uttered, despite how logical they were. Piper didn't want logic—she wanted to be swept away by her feelings and throw practicality aside. Wasn't that what being in love was about? She felt like she'd just taken a punch to the gut and had only seconds to recover before round two could begin. Piper didn't have it in her to commit to another round, so she threw in the towel.
"Fine." She walked into the kitchen and downed the glass of wine. "I guess this is goodbye."
"You can stay the night," the brunette tried weakly.
There was something in Alex's eyes that made Piper decline the half-hearted offer. "I need to get up early, so I'll stay at my parent's place."
Alex looked away.
"I won't contact you." Piper reached out and skimmed her lover's wrist with her fingertips. "I hope you find the time and space you need to make the right decision." It took every fiber of her being to say those words. Piper wanted to appear strong and mature, but she felt the anything but.
As she turned to leave, she felt Alex's hands on her shoulders, and before she knew it, she was in a lip lock with the brunette. The moment reminded her of the first time they kissed—no finesse, no tongues, just sheer desire.
Alex pulled away. "I'm going to miss you."
"Then why…"
Alex silenced her with a finger to the lips. "Please, Piper. This is fucking hard enough as it is." She squeezed both of the blonde's hands. "Take care of yourself."
Piper couldn't stop the tears from falling. "You, too."
She reached a hand out to wipe Piper's tears. "Bye."
Piper turned her face and placed three kisses on Alex's palm. "Goodbye."
She walked out of the cottage and jogged back home, hardly able to see through her wet eyes. Even though Alex made it clear that she'd contact her in the near future, Piper didn't know if she'd ever hear from her lover again.
Once inside her parents' home, Piper walked into the bathroom, blew her nose and wiped her eyes. She looked at herself in the mirror and blanched at what she saw—dejected eyes, reddened cheeks and a big frown. She was generally high spirited and optimistic, and she'd just come off of the most joyous summer she'd had in her lifetime, but Piper felt sick after her encounter with Alex. She blinked a few times and realized that Alex had wrecked her.
She headed upstairs and turned on the water in the bathtub before climbing in, trying to relax among mounds of bubbles, but her mind kept reverting back to Alex—the way she smelled, the way her skin felt, the way she laughed, the way she listened—there was nothing that Piper didn't love about her.
Looking back at their last week together, the blonde could now detect a few signs that should've alerted her to the way Alex's final goodbye would go. Alex had been distant earlier that week—they'd only had sex once, and that had been three days prior, and she hadn't smiled as much as she had all summer. There seemed to be something weighing heavily on the brunette's mind, and it wasn't until that moment when Piper realized that Alex had more than likely been struggling with their immanent farewell.
Alex, Piper reflected, didn't have the same coping skills that she did. She'd been raised by a hard working, single mother; she'd admitted that she 'didn't do school;' and she was all but forced into her role as caretaker when her mother passed away. Alex's job didn't require soft skills such as sensitivity—it was grueling manual labor that demanded grit and muscle. Piper assumed that Alex never really needed to share her deep feelings with anyone (except, perhaps, her mom), and she probably didn't know how to navigate an emotional, delicate situation. Alex had mentioned that people came in and out of her life, but as far as the blonde knew, they weren't as meaningful to her as Piper had become in a short period of time.
As the bubbles diminished and the water cooled, Piper got out of the bathtub and dried off, ready to lie in her bed and think about the memories she'd shared with Alex. She'd already loaded her car with boxes of clothes to take back to college, so she had slim pickings for what she'd wear to bed that night. Part of her thought she'd just go to sleep naked, but that would remind her too much of the many times she'd slept in the nude with Alex. Besides, the last thing Piper wanted to feel was naked.
She rummaged through a drawer and found one of Alex's t-shirts. She brought it to her face and sniffed it. She shut her eyes, refusing to let tears return as she took in the familiar scent. Piper shrugged into the soft t-shirt and slipped on a pair of old cotton shorts when she heard a knock. At first she thought it was the pipes in the old house, but the knock grew louder and more persistent, and it was definitely coming from the front door.
Piper walked down the stairs, careful to stay hidden from the slender window flanking the front door. "Who's there?"
"It's me."
She immediately recognized Alex's voice and took a few steps forward to unlock the door. "Alex? What are you doing here?"
The brunette's hands were shoved into her pockets and her head was slightly bowed. "I'm an asshole."
Piper shook her head, trying to lift herself out of a fog. "I don't understand."
"I came to tell you that I'm an asshole." She removed one hand from her Levi's and adjusted her glasses. "Well, that's it. Bye…" She pretended to turn around and walk away, but Piper had her hand on Alex's broad shoulder before she could step away.
"You are an asshole," the blonde replied, an uncertain smile creeping onto her face.
"Earlier tonight…" Alex finally met her eyes. "I handled that very poorly."
"Yeah, you did." She crossed her arms defensively over her chest.
"I've never felt like this before," Alex admitted. "And it's scary as hell."
She grasped Alex's hand and pulled her inside.
"I kept telling myself that it was impossible to fall in love with someone so quickly." Alex let out a long sigh as if she was frustrated with herself. "That couldn't possibly be what I was feeling."
Heart racing, Piper allowed her to continue.
"As hard as I've tried, I can't get you out of my head."
Their bodies crashed together and lips fused. Piper couldn't touch enough of her companion's skin, and Alex couldn't seem to pull her lover's head close enough. Their frantic kiss turned more passionate, until Alex pulled back.
"I know our shit is complicated, but I want to make it work," the brunette whispered, hands splayed on Piper's back.
"I want that, too." The blonde gently brushed a strand of hair out of Alex's face.
She hadn't expected this—Piper knew they had a good thing going, despite having only known each other for three months. The blonde also knew that Alex was as crazy about her as she was crazy about Alex. However, she admitted to herself that things were, in fact, complicated and could see why Alex would want time to figure out their best course of action. The thing that Piper kept coming back to, though, was that they were better together than they were apart, and regardless of the distance that would unavoidably be between them, they could navigate their budding relationship together.
They kissed in the foyer for what felt like an eternity until Piper finally stopped. "Will you spend the night?"
Alex grinned. "I've never spent the night at your parents' house."
She entwined their fingers and led Alex upstairs. "Let's not mention my parents tonight."
"It's kind of strange that you've never been in my bedroom."
"Oh, I've been in here before." She smirked. "Just not under these circumstances."
"When?"
The brunette kissed a trail down the side of her face. "I installed that ceiling fan a couple years ago."
Piper chuckled against Alex's mouth. "Did you look around my room back then?"
Alex's hand slithered under the blonde's shirt. "I might've glanced at the photos on your dresser."
"What did you think?" Piper nipped at Alex's lower lip.
"I always thought you were cute." Both of Alex's hands massaged up and down Piper's stomach. "But most of the pictures look like you were in high school, so that would be kind of creepy for me to admit."
"You can admit it." The blonde smiled, tilting her neck so that her lover had better access. "I still don't understand how I never noticed you."
"You were distracted by boys," Alex groaned as she removed the blonde's t-shirt. "Nice shirt, by the way."
"Sorry, I might have stolen it."
The brunette gently nudged her towards the bed, and Piper sat on the lip of the mattress, while Alex got on her knees. "I try to make myself inconspicuous around here," she said, returning to the primary conversation. "There would've been no reason for you to notice me when I was working."
"Did you notice me?" Piper, still fully upright, put her hands on the mattress behind her and leaned back slightly.
Alex slowly removed the blonde's shorts and underwear. "I'd seen you around, but I didn't have sexual thoughts about you, if that's what you're asking." She lifted one eyebrow. "Not like I do now, anyway." She dove between Piper's legs, spreading them with both hands so that she could put her mouth on the blonde's center.
"Mmm." Piper's head flew back as her lover kissed her most intimate spot. "So there wasn't a single time when you thought this could happen?"
"The first time I thought about you in a sexual way was when you got that splinter." She placed one of Piper's feet on her shoulder, the other leg hung to the side. "I might've masturbated that night, thinking about you." Her tongue landed precisely on the blonde's clit.
"Mmm, that feels good." Piper moaned, putting one hand on her lover's head.
"And the next night, too." Alex inserted two fingers and continued to lick her clit.
"As a matter of fact," she said between licks. "If I had to mark the time when I started falling for you, it was the day you got the splinter."
Piper sat up, causing Alex to stop her ministrations.
"And that feeling never stopped," the brunette admitted, looking Piper in the eye. "I just didn't know how to handle your leaving, and I did a piss poor job of showing you how I felt…How I feel."
"Are you saying…"
"Yeah." Alex smiled. "I'm saying I love you."
Piper reached out for her, hoisting Alex on top of her as she kissed her with renewed passion. "I love you, too."
Alex reached down with one hand and inserted the same two fingers inside of Piper. She grinned when Piper bucked into her hand, and then kissed her deeper. The women made love all night, basking in words of love and hopeful that, despite their unavoidable separation, they'd make it to the other side.