A/N Wow, thank you for such an amazing response to the first chapter. I appreciate all the reviews/favs and follows. I've been crazy busy this past month but now things are slowing down so I plan to try to update this much more frequently.

…

"So, how did your date go last night?" Polly asks as she takes another sip of her latte, her eyes focused upon her best friend who sits opposite her, both having come to gather at their regular coffee shop for their weekly ritual of morning breakfast before Piper started work.

Piper rolls her eyes, a frown forming upon her lips at the memory of last night's disastrous date. "Horrible. Remind me to never let you set me up again. It was almost as bad as the time you continuously tried to set me up with sweater vest."

"His name is Larry, Piper. Besides, he is a good friend of Pete's and I thought he was nice."

"Yeah, Barry was real nice," Piper mumbles as she takes a bite of her breakfast bagel, ignoring Polly's glowering eyes, remembering the hell she had received from her friend after her blatant refusal take anything past a handful of dates.

In truth, someone like Larry was everything the blonde knew she should want. The man the perfect image of what her own mother had imagined for her future, the same image her mother would ramble endlessly about each time Piper would force herself to visit. Much like the few men her own mother had set her up with in the past, Larry was comfortable- the safe option that Piper had been instilled, from an early age, to want.

Despite Piper being brought up otherwise, the blonde had grown to despise the idea of spending her life with someone like that, to be transfixed into a life devoid of adventure. Piper craved passion, constantly searching for a spark she had still yet to find, an ignition into something more powerful. Piper constantly found herself in search of that chemical reaction, seeking out the fireworks she could only hope existed for her, having yet to find anything remotely close to what she had hoped.

"Come on, Pipes. He wasn't that bad," Polly chimes in, breaking Piper from her own thoughts. "Besides, your mom would have liked him," she adds with a grin.

Piper scoffs loudly at the comment, shaking her head as she eyes her best friend and begins to thoughtlessly pick at the bagel in her hand. "My mom would have simply liked the idea of him," the blonde states firmly, knowing her own mother would never truly accept whoever she decided to date, having witnessed the wall of passive aggression the older woman hid behind on the handful of times Piper had regrettably, under her parents incessant nagging, brought the person she was seeing to meet her parents.

After the last introductory visit events, in which her mother so brazenly informed Piper that her boyfriend at the time was not good enough whilst the man was well within earshot, she had stopped informing her parents whenever she would begin to date someone new for the fear of her mother attempting to sabotage it.

Whilst, even now that Piper was older and away from the confines of the family home, she still felt stuck, trapped in between the image of who her parents expected her to be and who she truly wanted to be. The blonde often being subject to snide comments from her mother regarding her lifestyle choices, forcing herself to keep her own opinions secret in an effort to continue to please and get the approval of her family, in particular her father.

Polly simply shrugs her shoulders as she takes another sip of her drink, having heard this argument from her best friend countless times before. Polly knew all too well how Piper's mother could be, having been friends with the blonde since childhood, witnessing on many occasions the joyous ranting's and obscured world views that were of Carol Chapman, the older woman clearly having a somewhat fractured and out-dated interpretation of how things should be.

"Maybe, you should turn gay again and go back to 'college phase Piper' and start dating girls," Polly unhelpfully suggests, referring to the times in college in which Piper often found herself dating a girl, something her mother was most definitely not aware of.

Piper rolls her eyes and frowns. "It wasn't a phase, Polly. You don't just turn gay. You fall somewhere on a spectrum," the blonde states firmly, slightly annoyed at her friends continued ignorance, having had the argument of 'labels' many times before with her best friend who still was yet to properly grasp the concept. "Kinda like a Kinsey scale," she adds as an afterthought.

Whilst Piper had dated a string of girls during her college years she had since graduating, rather unknowingly and perhaps subconsciously as a result of her mother, found herself dating guys in the few times she did allow herself to be talked into a date. For the moment though, Piper was heavily career focused, determined to prove her parents wrong after she put her foot down all those years ago and refused to allow them to dictate that she would study law as opposed to her long term dream of therapy.

"Alright," Polly says as she holds her hands up in mock surrender, knowing that Piper would be prepared to go on a tangent at her suggestion. "Anyway, Pipes. I better get going, Pete's on Finn duty and god only knows what they are getting up to," Polly says with a laugh as she dusts her hand of any remaining crumbs and begins to stand from the table.

Piper smiles at the mention of her 9-month old godson, the blonde often proclaiming that he was the only man she needed in her life. Piper loved Finn and jumped at any chance to take care of him, the little boy such a sweet child that Piper had no qualms whenever her best friend would ask her to babysit. Whilst Finn had been unexpected at first, the blonde having bared witness to her best friend's freak out upon realisation she was expectantly pregnant, the little boy had actually brought them closer as friends, despite in bringing on Piper's mother's growingly persistent comments that she should attempt to follow suit as she neared thirty.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow at dinner," Piper says as she too stands, giving her best friend a warm hug before the two women walk together from the shop, offering each other a quick goodbye as they go their separate ways.

….

Piper walks the short distance from the café to her workplace, the enveloping warmth of the office building as she enters a much welcome change from the cool outside air that greets her every morning. Piper shrugs off her jacket as she steps over the threshold, the familiar bland white walls of the building greeting her, instantly dampening her mood and causing the blonde to momentarily frown.

"Good morning Piper," a thickly accented voice calls from her right, Piper's eyes lifting to connect with those of her receptionist, the girl's deep red lips curling into a warm and welcoming smile.

"Morning Lorna," Piper greets back, walking towards the desk on the opposite side of the room and leaning against the counter, returning a wide smile as Lorna passes her a collection of envelopes with her name printed as the receiver. "How was the dinner with Christopher last night?" she asks as her eyes briefly dart downwards, shuffling absentmindedly through the thick stack.

"Oh, it was perfect," Lorna replies excitedly, fixing her curled hair slightly as she smiles broadly towards Piper. "My Christopher is such a romantic," she continues, looking jubilant as she discusses her fiancé and future husband, Piper having spent hours in between clients, listening to the brunette happily discuss possible wedding plans and her honeymoon to Bora (Bora) Bora.

Piper smiles and nods. Despite having worked at the clinic for almost two years she was yet to meet Christopher, having only heard all about the man through her receptionist who never ceased to gloat about how fantastic he was, the few times they had arranged to commit to dinner plans foiled by an unexpected illness on Lorna's side.

The sound of the office door behind her opening catches her attention, causing the blonde to glance backwards slightly just as her superior, and the senior therapist at the clinic, enters into the small foyer in which they stand, his face adorning the same familiar scowl that greeted them each morning.

"Good morning, Mr Healy," Lorna chirps as he approaches, briefcase in hand, her voice ever pleasant and welcoming despite the steely and cold response she knew she would receive from the aging man.

Mr Healy grunts, pushing his way past Piper to collect his own mail, the blonde raising a knowing eyebrow towards Lorna as she steps backwards to let the man through. Piper attempts to keep her facial expression neutral as she watches Lorna bite at her lip, obviously attempting to desperately suppress a giggle as they silently communicate the unspoken. With one final huff, Mr Healy turns on his heel and walks towards his own office, the uncomfortable silence upon his arrival still evident as he closes the door louder than necessary.

"Such a pleasant man that one," Lorna mumbles as she turns her focus back towards the blonde, a smirk adorning her lips. Piper grins widely in response, her eyes bright as she chuckles quietly, her hand coming up to muffle her laughter from the grumpy senior therapist behind the door to their right.

"I'm honestly still surprised he's allowed to practice," Lorna whispers as she leans against the counter, her mind wandering back to their practices most recent complaint of the senior therapist proclaiming the ability to 'cure' a client of her homosexuality.

"Didn't you know, lesbians are very dangerous, Lorna," Piper says with profound sarcasm, rolling her eyes slightly at the statement. "It's the testosterone," she adds, deepening her voice as she attempts to mimic that of her older colleague, causing a fresh wave of suppressed laughter between the two as they remember Healy's justification as to why he would suggest such a ridiculous concept, the proposition that there was anything wrong with it ludicrous and so clearly a reflection of the older man's outdated and bigoted views.

Whilst Piper loved her job, finding it incredibly fulfilling and enjoying the close friendship that had blossomed between Lorna and herself, she struggled with the highly opinionated views of her more senior colleague, finding herself often having to hold her tongue at his constant narrow-minded quips, choosing to focus upon the people her position allowed her to help, forcing everything else to the background.

"God, I can't believe he actually said that," Lorna says, shaking her head.

"I know," Piper agrees. "I swear sometimes he sounds exactly like my own mother," she murmurs remembering the countless times her mother had made just as ridiculous statements about something she clearly knew nothing about.

For this reason, Piper had been internally grateful for the moment she had been accepted into Smith and was given the chance to attempt to free herself from the restrictions of her suffocating and intolerant mother. Despite her best efforts though, her mother still attempted to take control despite being hours away, constantly suggesting she should return to school despite Piper's constant insistence of how much she truly loved her job.

"Coffee, Piper?" Lorna asks a she makes her way from behind the reception desk and towards the wooden table in the foyer that housed the small coffee machine, interrupting Piper from her own thoughts.

"Mmm, no thanks," Piper responds as she collects her belongings and turns towards her own office. "I've just got to go over a few things Lorna. I'll be in my office if you need me."

"Okay, just remember your first appointment is at nine," the brunette calls over her shoulder as she busies herself with the coffee maker, Piper nodding and murmuring a polite 'thank you' as she approaches her office door.

Entering her office, Piper shuts the door gently and makes her way to her desk on the far side of the room, rounding it and sinking into it's comfortable leather chair, impatiently tapping her long fingers against the wood of the desk as she awaits her computer to come to life.

As the screen flickers on Piper begins to scan through the small history notes of her first client, the lack of detail within causing the blonde to become slightly frustrated. Like with most things in her life, Piper liked to be prepared, to know the best course of action to take to achieve the desired outcome. Piper rarely allowed herself to be unprepared when handling patients, needing stability and a sense of understanding in order for to feel safe moving forward, constantly ensuing she put this practice into how she conducted herself as a therapist.

Before new clients even walked in their session, Piper liked to have a detailed outline of how best to approach and manage their situation through the use of client history notes, which she used to better understand the person behind the name. However, rather unusually with this particular new client, she had nothing but a name and date of birth. The person Piper had yet to meet was a mystery, a complete enigma the blonde will now have the responsibility of learning to understand and help with whatever demons she may be facing. This made Piper somewhat nervous, the lack of preparation before the session making her anxious.

Piper glances towards the bottom of her computer screen, eyes focusing upon the small clock indicating it was now time for her first client of the day, that it was now time to face the uncertainty of what this person may bring. Whilst, Piper was confident in her abilities as a practicing therapist, she still found herself filled with doubt when she was unprepared for the session.

Taking a deep breath, Piper pushes herself from her chair, stopping briefly to nervously flatten out her black pencil skirt before walking the short distance to her office door.

Opening the door, Piper's eyes focus upon the only person in the waiting room, a dark-haired woman whose head remains lowered, elbows pressed against her knees as her eyes remain focused upon the linoleum floor below, her long, dark locks hiding her face as she bounces her legs up and down, apparently nervous despite her rigid body desperately attempting to hide it.

Piper takes note of this, it suggesting to the blonde that this was perhaps the woman's first time, knowing from previous experience, most patients tended to be apprehensive about seeking out the use of a trained therapist, many feeling as if it was the 'weak' option as they attempted to get a handle upon their problems.

Piper pauses for moment, eyes transfixed on the dark-haired woman, feeling herself for unequivocally, for whatever reason drawn, to this particular individual, like an imaginary pull pushing her forward. Taking a deep breath, Piper then murmurs the name, that at the current time she does not know, would flip her world upside down.

"Alex Vause."

…..

A/N Next chapter will be Vauseman centric as it will be focused on their first session together- just wanted to establish a bit of character background info with this chapter-so sorry if it felt a little slow.

I have a pretty good idea now where I am headed with this fic but as always feel free to leave/PM me suggestions/requests and I will do my best to fit them in around the story.

Mrosse38