Long overdue, but here it is: the final chapter.

There's a 6 year time jump between this chapter and the last one, so hopefully that's clear.

Enjoy!

Distance, arguments, reunions, elation - a glimpse into the shadow of the events having occurred over the next 6 years.

As planned, Alex had completed one remaining year at Litchfield High as an English teacher while, in a spur of the moment decision, Piper went on to complete her Master's degree in Literature. The decision meant the couple carried out another spell of separation, but when the year was up, Piper moved back into the city where - with the persuasion of her girlfriend - she applied to study further for a PhD in Literature. Despite her initial worries about being able to juggle such a demanding level of study, the blonde was accepted into the programme which not only provided her with a working wage, but with an extremely impressive addition to her résumé. She went on to take up a role in research, and while her doctorate status gave her a real sense of accomplishment, her girlfriend often liked to remind her of possible alternatives, instead joking about the merits of being called 'Dr Chapman' whenever she deemed appropriate. And while it soon became a form of inside joke between the pair, the blonde too chose to take advantage of having such a vocative to her name, especially when it came to making things - if possible - more exciting in the bedroom. However, in her current professional world, the blonde works with local universities to deliver lectures on particular topics and genres that her form of research specialises in.

Piper's relationship with her parents seemed to vastly improve over the years; her decision to develop her English-orientated career finally seemed to convince Carol that that wasn't going to be changing anytime soon - the couple were even often invited on breaks away with the blonde's parents. By the time they hit their 4 year anniversary mark, Alex was accepted into the family to the extent in which Piper often joked about her parents taking a liking to her girlfriend more than herself.

Since finishing her teaching career at Litchfield High, Alex moved into working with the formation of curriculums and educational development. Although she had planned on leaving and never turning back, 2 years into more of an office-based job, the persuasion of an impressively increased wage and remaining local managed to sway the older woman to return to Litchfield High - this time in a senior leadership role where she could still teach after-school classes to offer students help if it was needed. After proving herself as an important asset in the workplace, the brunette worked her way up through the ranks, finally securing herself the role as Assistant Head Teacher - one of which she still happily obtains.

Although the brunette at times found herself wondering if going back to teaching full-time was a wise thing to do, along with advice from Piper and her mother, she decided to continue only doing so sporadically if she were needed, not wanting the stresses of running several classrooms filled with 30 plus adolescents to affect her stress levels as they had throughout the years prior.

The couple's relationship seemed to be stronger than ever: they moved into an apartment together once Piper had graduated with her Masters degree, and on their anniversary - 4 years after having left college at an undergraduate level - the blonde aged 26 and the brunette aged 30, Piper got down on one knee and proposed to her long-term girlfriend through a flood of tears, whereby this - along with Alex's emotional acceptance - all but confirmed the fact that both both women were in it for the long run.

So now as they're surrounded by all of the people who they value in their lives, Piper and Alex can finally admit that they'd made it. Despite all the odds and the location in which their forbidden relationship had flourished from, over time they had proved to one another that nothing had changed, and although they had combatted a number of obstacles along the way, there was nowhere else they'd each rather be.

Alex - from where she's standing - is zoned out.

Although she knows she should be listening to whatever it is that is going on in the group conversation around her, she can't help it. How can she when the position in which she's standing gives her a perfect view? She does, however, attempt to train her subconscious as she fights hard to prevent a spontaneous smile from creeping along her lips while she watches Piper from across the room.

The blonde is wearing a beautiful white dress covered with lace that compliments her newly cut bob-length wavy hair. She's talking animatedly to her uncle and aunt - ones of which she barely gets to see considering they no longer live in America, and the brunette finds herself transfixed as she watches Piper's head tilt to the side while her pristine white teeth make an appearance for what must be over the hundredth time this day alone.

The brunette further observes the way in which the younger woman is talking so expressively; her shoulders move forwards and backwards along with the animated manoeuvres her arms are carrying out, and its in this moment Alex's eyes become hypnotised by the blonde's hand that is in sight.

From where Piper is standing sideways, Alex is given the perfect view of the shimmering object that now inhabits the blonde's ring finger - one in which the older woman had spent hours searching for, wanting it to be not only a perfect fit, but a perfect design. Deep down inside the brunette knew Piper would love anything she had picked out for her, but in knowing how special the sentiment of marriage was - and definitely still is - to her now wife, the process is one she carried out with care.

Although Piper was the one to propose using the ring that the brunette has now been wearing for the past two years, Alex had insisted on getting her partner her own ring to wear; despite the blonde's initial protests, she caved in. Whether or not she would admit it, the brunette knew wearing an engagement ring was something Piper had always wanted, and when she herself presented her fiancée with her own ring to wear, Alex knew she had made the right decision just based alone on the sight of the dimples that seemed to have been permanently presenting themselves on blonde's cheeks.

Using the thumb on her own left hand, the brunette brushes along the surface of the latest addition to her own ring finger, establishing what she has quickly identified as a new habit. The reality of the events of the past day is yet to sink in, and in hearing loud laughter ring out from the group of people she is standing - and meant to be conversing - with, Alex snaps back into reality, smiling at the image of her friends laughing at - what she can only assume was - an entertaining story.

Piper - in a similar manner - hasn't been able to take her eyes off her wife throughout their entire wedding day let alone the reception. From the moment she had walked down the aisle, led by her father, the image of Alex in her white jumpsuit with her black glasses and long hair - although mostly through her poorly focused teary eyes - is one she knows she is never going to be able to forget. The blonde had found this feeling to have stemmed throughout the course of the day, whether that being noticing the brunette - not so subtly - watching her from afar, or during their first dance.

Picking a song to dance to was something that had driven the blonde insane. Alex was insisting upon the blonde picking, and when - after the few glasses of wine she had consumed one evening in which was supposed to be a 'quiet night in' - Piper produced a rather emotional display regarding the importance of the both of them choosing together, Alex knew better than to argue any further on the topic.

They'd finally decided on a song in which they were both familiar with - an acoustic version of Keane's Somewhere Only We Know, and although Piper had initially found the thought of carrying out their first dance intimidating, when the time came, all worries dissipated.

With one hand linked with Alex's and the other resting on her shoulder, the blonde - as cheesy as it probably looked - found herself lost in the brunette's green eyes. All thoughts of the people surrounding and watching them left her mind, as what really mattered to her - what would always be one of the few things that genuinely mattered to her - was right in front of her eyes.

Yes, she used to doubt herself and questioned the merits - and even the ethics - regarding the ways in which herself and Alex's relationship had began - especially whenever the typical 'how did you meet?' question was asked, but over the years, none of that seemed to matter. Nothing else seemed to matter other than the fact that they were both sinfully happy together, and the blonde continued to relay her internal happiness in more external means way on past their first dance up until the evening's set of speeches.

Never in her life had she exercised her tear ducts out of the feeling of utter happiness, and from where she's currently seated next to her wife in the middle of a long table that is situated in a sideways fashion, putting them at the forefront compared to their guests who are sitting on surrounding circular tables, Piper tries her best to focus.

From having to listen to the words of her Father, Alex's mother - her now mother-in-law, Polly, and Nicky, the atmosphere seems somewhat overwhelming. Words spoken elicited both tears and laughter from all parties, and when Alex herself steps up to deliver a few words she had - unknowingly to the blonde - prepared, Piper found herself in a state where anything other than focusing on her wife was impossible.

She watches Alex express her thanks in a passionate manner with her usual charming flair that balances both along the lines of sincerity and humour, and no matter how many times she told herself she wasn't going to cry, Piper's waterworks slowly begin to trickle down her cheeks the moment Alex addresses her name while turning her head to the left to make eye contact from where she was standing to Piper's right.

The blonde identifies a shimmering watery lining covering Alex's own green eyes, and throughout the entirety of watching her wife speak, Piper smiles to herself at the fact that the older woman keeps switching her eyes between the paper she's holding in her hands and the audience of guests, knowing that if they were to continue their stare-off, Alex would be unable to continue speaking as coherently as she is currently managing.

Hearing the brunette speak is something the blonde could do forever. Something she wants to do forever, and in hearing Alex's perfectly synthesised rendition of her love and thanks, Piper knows that this is exactly where she wants to be - who it is she wants to be with, and when Alex finally sits down - the room erupting into a flurry of applause as she does so, the younger woman leans over and places her hands onto her wife's cheeks, pulling her into a loving kiss, knowing that no matter how hard she tried, no words could possibly explain how she is currently feeling.

Pulling away while smiling, Piper feels Alex reach a hand under the table to connect their hands. She looks down and assesses the shining gold ring encircled around the brunette's ring finger, again letting off a grin. Moving her head back up so that blue eyes once again meet green, Piper feels Alex squeeze her hand.

All of those years ago, Alex had prompted the younger blonde to read between the lines with the question: 'What is this really trying to tell you?', and if the blonde were to apply that very question to this moment as their hands sink into one another, she wouldn't even have to second guess her answer; there are no possible lines to read between. Unlike the answer to the question their very first encounter had arisen, in this moment Piper knows exactly what is being silently voiced, because in the act that can only be interpreted as a loving one, the blonde feels irrevocably happy, and in knowing that Alex too feels the same exact same way, Piper is filled with a potent sense of sheer completion.

So that brings this story to an end!

It's been fun to write considering I know this topic isn't everyone's cup of tea - some of us prefer coffee (myself included, but that defeats the purpose of this analogy).

I feel like I've left this story in the right place, and so I don't see a necessary purpose in making a sequel.

Thanks for all the kind comments - I hope you enjoyed reading the story as much as I did writing it.

Until the next time.