Chapter Text
“Sweetie, is there any chance our wedding could take place in a grocery store Upstate?” Larry asked, one hand covering his phone. Piper looked up from the salad she was making.
“What?”
“You know that buddy of mine who runs that small town papers? He says he will publish me regularly if I write an article about our wedding in a grocery store. He says it’s original,” he rolled his eyes and tried to hide his laugh.
“But why the grocery store?” Piper asked, confused.
“Oh, his brother owns the place and he thinks it would be good for the business.”
“And that’s in the same town?” Piper lifted her eyebrows and Larry nodded. “It has like three people living there, why do they need an ad in the local paper?”
Larry chuckled quietly and shrugged. “Fuck do I know,” he mouthed.
“You know what, Greg?” Larry said to the phone and left the kitchen. “She said no but if I can write anything…”
Piper was left alone again which at least gave her time to focus on what she had been cooking. She was making a fancy dinner for her best friend Polly and her husband Pete to celebrate her and Larry’s engagement. They had already celebrated it in a bar two weeks ago but that didn’t end up well for the guys, they probably didn’t remember much of it. Especially Larry, since he was the one who suggested the celebration dinner party.
Piper went with it for Larry who had been feeling a little tense lately because he couldn’t find a decent job and he could use any distraction there was. This time Piper was determined no one would end up wrestling with a street lamp – Pete –, no one would start singing karaoke in a bar without karaoke – Pete – and no one would throw up – Larry. Polly was pregnant and Piper, trying to be a supportive friend, decided not to drink so Polly wouldn’t feel left out. Piper missed a good margarita, especially at times like that when she had to deal with drunk Larry. It was much more fun dealing with your drunk fiancé and friends when you were also drunk.
Larry returned from the living room, put his cell on the kitchen counter and sat at the bar stool facing Piper.
“So I didn’t get the job,” he announced.
“I’m so sorry,” Piper said and looked at him. “But I can’t have a wedding in a grocery store in Redneck’s County.”
“Yeah, it’s okay, me neither,” Larry shrugged with a smile. “Want me to help?”
“I’m good, thanks,” she said, cutting the vegetables for the salad. “No, wait, actually, could you check on the meat in the oven?”
“Sure,” he said as he got up, walked around the counter and bent down to the oven. “It’s getting brown… -ish.”
“Alright,” Piper looked over her shoulder and then decided the meat was done, so Larry turned off the oven and left the meat to finish off. Then he returned to his bar stool. They chatted for a bit while Piper cut the vegetables.
“Damn it,” Piper mumbled in a mid-sentence, suddenly remembering she forgot to buy Polly’s favorite apple juice.
“What?” Larry asked, looking a bit alarmed.
“I forgot the damn apple juice.”
“It’s okay, I can go get it,” Larry offered, already up again but Piper stopped him.
“No, you don’t know which one. The baby only allows her to drink one special kind, apparently,” Piper sighed, looking at her watch. It was only six, they were supposed to come in an hour.
“I’ll go get it,” she said finally with another annoyed sigh. “Could you please finish the salad?”
“Can you trust me with it?” Larry asked jokingly, walking towards her. He put his hands on her hips and Piper had to smile. Larry was actually a great cook, surprisingly, but she didn’t like him in the kitchen when it was her turn. She liked things her way.
“I believe in you, honey,” Piper breathed out before kissing him lightly on the lips.
“Besides, you can’t screw up anything in a salad,” she added with a smirk.
Larry pretended to look offended until she kissed him again, this time wrapping her arms around his neck. When she pulled away, she gently stroke his cheek and smiled.
“Thank you,” she said and went to the bedroom to find her purse. She heard Larry laughing behind her saying she was indeed welcome.
Piper knew she looked pretty much like crap. She managed to do her make up before she started cooking, at least, but she wore her old ripped jeans and an even older plain denim shirt that was probably full of stains but Piper was afraid to look at it in the mirror when she left the apartment, so she just hid it with a simple grey leather jacket. Her hair was even a bigger mess than the shirt, she felt the hair sticking out in every direction, until she couldn’t bare it anymore and stopped in an abandoned aisle at the grocery story to retrieve a hair tie from her purse.
When she finally felt better about the hair, she could focus on finding Polly’s stupid apple juice. She had to go through an aisle with alcoholic beverages first and her eyes landed on a big sign that said “70% SALE”. It was for a margarita mix and Piper had to laugh to herself against her own will. She picked up the bottle, looking at it. She could drink when she wasn’t with Polly. It’s not like Polly would find out. She was about to put the bottle in her basket when she heard someone behind her.
“It’s a little cold out for a margarita, don’t you think?” a more than a familiar husky voice said. Only hearing it made Piper freeze, her hand half way to the basket. If she were in a cartoon, she could see her hair standing up again in horror. She felt her heart beating like crazy, like she had just met a ghost. She might as well have.
Piper slowly managed to turn around to see her. She was immediately struck by her presence, just like she had been the first time she had met her with the exact same opening line. It was the ghost of her past that Piper managed to block completely out of her mind. The ghost was named Alex Vause.
She was standing there, smug smile on her lips, dressed almost all in black and she was as tall and gorgeous as ever. Her black hair was a little shorter than Piper remembered and they were missing the blue strands. Other than that, the woman had not changed at all.
Piper was left absolutely speechless, breathing heavily and staring at Alex like an idiot. Alex, on the other hand, looked as confident as always. Piper knew her well, though, and just by looking into her eyes she saw right through her mask. She knew Alex was just as shocked to see her as she was. Alex was just better at hiding it.
“Alex,” Piper finally managed to say with a cracked voice. She had to clear her throat to continue. “What are… What are you doing here?”
“Shopping,” Alex answered, lifting her left eyebrow. “That’s what people do in grocery stores.”
Her voice sounded a little off. Distant. Hostile even. Piper wasn’t used to that from her and she was taken aback by it.
“Right,” Piper shook her head to clear it. “No. I meant what are you doing in this neighborhood?”
“Visiting…” she hesitated for a second. “A friend. You?”
“I live here, just around the corner actually,” Piper explained, suddenly feeling self-conscious in her shitty home outfit in front of Alex, who looked pretty much flawless and perfectly put together. Very much the opposite of what Piper felt like at that moment.
“It’s a good… neighborhood,” Alex mumbled, revealing that she was nervous too for the first time in the brief conversation. She looked down, adjusted her glasses on her nose and then looked back at Piper. “I sure did not expect to see you here.”
“Right back at you,” Piper nodded and their eyes met for a short moment.
Piper had always felt so guilty about what she had done to Alex. That she had left her when she needed her the most. When her mother died. Piper thought – she knew – she was making the right choice because she couldn’t get caught up in Alex’s illegal bullshit any more than she already had but that didn’t mean she didn’t love her. The day she left Alex in Paris, she didn’t only break Alex’s heart but her own, too. And at that moment, when she was staring down those grey-green eyes, she saw it. She saw the pain in her eyes when she looked at her. She saw again how much she had hurt her. She knew eight years wasn’t enough to forget it for Alex. It wasn’t enough to get over it. And it was then when she realized she wasn’t over it either.
They were interrupted by Alex’s phone buzzing in her jeans pocket. Neither of them noticed it at first but then Alex suddenly woke up, breaking the eye contact and reached inside her pocket for her phone. She looked at the screen and pressed her lips together before looking up at Piper again.
“I’m running late,” Alex said. “I have to…”
“Yeah,” Piper nodded more actively than she needed to. “Sure, go.”
Alex inhaled deeply, as if collecting all her confidence to put on the cool act again. Then she half-smiled, adjusting her glasses.
“It’s good seeing you again, kid.”
“You, too,” Piper exhaled.
After that, Alex turned around, picked up the phone that was still ringing and swiftly disappeared between the aisles. Piper stared after her for a good minute before she decided she couldn’t just let it end here. She needed a closure with Alex and from the woman’s eyes, she knew she would welcome one, too. She put her basket and the bottle of margarita on the ground, just leaving it there, and quickly walked after Alex. She wasn’t at the cashier, so Piper assumed she had already gone out. She left the store, cautiously followed by the eyes of one of the cashiers.
Out on the street, she looked around and saw Alex’s tall figure not more than a block away walking in the exact opposite direction from her apartment. She ran after her and when she was close enough, she called out her name. The brunette immediately stopped and turned around. Piper slowed down to a quick pace.
“Alex, I can’t leave this like that,” she said as soon as she was next to her. Good thing about her morning jogs was that she wasn’t now out of breath even after that short sprint. Alex didn’t say anything, her face was suddenly unreadable, even for Piper.
“I can’t just randomly run into you and act like you’re just another… I don’t know, elementary school classmate or whatever. Like when you say ‘Oh my gosh, so great to see you again’ while you’re thinking ‘Fuck off, bitch’. I can’t do that, it’s not how I… I know you probably still hate me. I’m surprised you haven’t punched me in the face yet,” Piper tried to joke and Alex finally cracked a little, smiling against the pavement. “I just want to talk. That’s all.”
Alex stared at her for a while and Piper almost wanted to give up and walk away but then Alex finally talked.
“Are you free tomorrow at noon?” she asked.
“Yeah, I can make time,” Piper nodded, knowing well she had an important meeting with the people from Barney’s but completely blanking on it at that moment.
“Great, you know Little Paul’s? It’s like two blocks from here.”
“Yeah, I know it. Meet you there tomorrow?”
“Okay,” Alex nodded and was about to walk away before stopping herself. She looked at Piper and smiled, this time almost completely honestly. “For the record, it was good seeing you today.”
With that, she turned around and walked away. Piper stood there, again staring after her. She wasn’t sure if she had made the right choice because she was more than aware of the effect Alex had had on her in the past. She just hoped she could finally get the proper closure they both deserved.