One Last Time [Vauseman Fanfic]

10: I Loved You First

So you brought out the best of me,
A part of me I'd never seen.
You took my soul and wiped it clean.

Alex took a deep breath before she walked into the visitation room. Today was the big day, she was finally meeting Piper's mom. Alex had to agree with Piper, this was hardly how she had pictured meeting Piper's mom for the first time ever. As soon as Alex woke up that day her mind had raced with trying to think of all the things she would ask or say to her. Piper had told her to stop worrying and that she would probably just blame her for things that were out of her control. For the most part, anyway. Alex sighed and shook her head, she saw Piper's mom straight away. She had the same blonde hair and blue eyes that Piper had, the only difference was that Piper's mom's eyes were cold like ice and her hair was curled neatly. Total WASP.

"Mrs. Chapman." Alex greeted the woman and waited for a response. She stood still, trying to be polite despite her current situation.

"Hm." The woman grunted in reply and gestured for Alex to sit down. "So, you're the woman who has ruined my daughter's life." she said bluntly.

Alex almost flinched as she sat down in the plastic chair. "With all due respect, Mrs. Chapman. I didn't force Piper to carry that suitcase, she chose that. Yes, it is my fault that she is in prison but if it wasn't me who gave her in then it would have been someone else."

Piper's mother's face didn't react at all to Alex's admissions. Her face was stone cold as were both her eyes and tone. From the stories Piper had told Alex about her mother, she guessed that the look had come from years of cheating on her husband and being cheated on by her husband.

"I didn't come here to talk about that." The woman dismissed, placing her hands neatly on top of the table between them, "I came to talk about my daughter." She looked up at Alex, waiting for a reaction.

Alex did her best to keep her poker face but she was more than surprised, she nodded slowly. She had come here to talk about Piper? In what way? What could she possibly have to talk about Piper with Alex of all people. Alex wondered if the woman maybe meant she had more accusations to make but surely her tone wasn't harsh enough to suggest that. Alex swallowed hard, "Okay.." She said quietly, already prepared for some kind of backlash.

"I now understand that, despite my voiced opinion and wishes on the matter, my daughter will not listen to me when it comes to you." She paused, looking pointedly at Alex as if to help her point sink in. "So, for now, I shall swallow my pride and be civil with you long enough to voice my wishes from this point onwards." She looked at Alex again, waiting.

"Your wishes? I..I don't understand." Alex replied, frowning slightly. Was Piper's mom saying she was okay with the two of them being together? No, she wasn't okay with it. She had just said as much.

Piper's mom nodded, "My daughter refuses to part from you and she has thrown any hope of a future with Larry away. As stubborn as she is, she is still my daughter and despite what she may have told you about me I do happen to care about and love her dearly. So, I have a few terms and conditions of sorts for you, if you wish to stay with my daughter. I do not expect you to comply with them past this conversation, what you do in here will be not of my knowledge and so I will never know if you keep to these conditions or not. However, I hope that your pride, love and respect for my daughter will compel you to at least try to go along with them."

Alex only nodded at this point, curiosity and wariness all clear on her face. She had dropped the pretense of her poker face halfway through listening to the woman's words. She was being honest with her and so Alex would be honest with her too. She was yet to decide whether or not she would stick to these 'conditions' that Piper's mom came up with but they couldn't be too demanding or excessive. At the sight of Alex's silence the woman nodded again briefly before continuing.