Piper couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face when Alex's long arm casually drew her closer against her body. They were sat side by side on a cube bunk, a pillow propped behind them to save their backs from the harsh cinderblock wall. Around them their friends spoke of Tricia and their best memories of her.
Piper settled against Alex and sighed happily, allowing her eyes to slip closed and the current cube conversation to wash steadily over her in a tide of drunken giggles and soft memories.
The mystery bottle of hooch that had been passed around made her head heavy and mind sluggish. It has been a while since her last alcoholic drink and Piper wasn't the best of drinkers to begin with, as Alex never failed to remind her - especially after long nights in glittering clubs all across the globe that too frequently ended with her international drug smuggler half carrying, half dragging her home.
The memory was a happy one that Piper sunk into, the scent of Alex's hair lingering around her and the soothing brush of a warm hand across her shoulder enhancing the relaxing effect and caused her to drift.
She dozed for an immeasurable amount of time, floating between memories of golden beaches, sparkling skies and flashes of smouldering green eyes that set a slow burn in her chest.
"Hey kid," was hushed with warmth into her ear, and Piper stirred with a soft exhale of air. "You're drifting off…"
Alex's tone was tender and gentle.
It reminded Piper of those lazy mornings they spent together, wrapped in white sheets and each other's arms, warmed by the soft beams of swirling sunlight through the open windows that made Alex's skin glow and eye's glint with something that Piper could never put her finger on.
"What are you thinking about?" Alex asked quietly, pressing her lips to Piper's forehead.
"Us." She replied, turning her head to look at Alex. Her raven haired companion smiled back, glasses pushed to the top of her head.
The moment of eye contact between the two was disturbed as a large mass of hair and noise shoved a nearly empty bottle of brown liquid between them.
"You two want any more?" Nicky asked, shaking her hand and the enclosed bottle in a hope to entice them. The liquid sloshing in her face made Piper recoil with a grunt and quick shake of the head. Alex smirked, snagging the bottle from Nicky and taking a quick swig from it.
"Don't handle your drink too well, eh Chapman?" Nicky teased with a grin. Alex couldn't resist getting a few words in.
"She's the biggest lightweight I've ever met, honestly, the amount of times I've had to haul her drunken ass out of clubs is close to world record levels."
Piper pulled away from Alex to retaliate, but before she could so much as speak a single word Alex had clamped her hand over the blonde's mouth.
"Hrrrggg!" was about as much as Piper could get out as Alex smirked happily. Nicky was watching the pair as though they were the most interesting tv show she had ever seen.
"You know it's true Pipes, don't deny it." She teased. "I've got enough vomit ruined t-shirts to prove it." Laughter broke out in the cube and Piper huffed against Alex's palm.
Piper glared daggers and gripped Alex's wrist, dragged the clamp away from her mouth, which was now twisted into a pout.
"I was actually going to say that you're just as bad!" She retorted, sliding her fingers down the soft porcelain skin on the inside of Alex's wrist.
An eyebrow was quirked and silence fell in the cube. Morello was on the edge of her seat with a huge grin plastered across her face and a gleam in her eye.
"Dish out the dirt, Chapman!" she egged on. Alex leaned forward, grasping the hand stroking her wrist and pinning it palm-up to the bed.
"Yeah Chapman," She drawled, dragging her nails over the tips of Pipers fingers, making the blondes heart race against her chest. "What dirt have you got on me?"
Piper narrowed her eyes, not falling for the seduction-distraction technique. She cleared her throat with an upturn of her lip.
"I distinctly remember that time in Barcelonaending with you in-"Alex darted in with the speed of a snake and silenced Piper with a firm press of lips. She pulled away with a lopsided smile.
"Ok, Ok, Piper. You win." Alex sighed with a small frown. "I never want to relive that memory ever again. In fact I'd shoved it into a deep dark corner of my mind. You just hadto bring that up again didn't you." She pouted with a tilt of her head that made Piper grin.
Nicky was wide-eyed on the other side of the room, looking incredibly pissed off.
"Are you kidding me?!" She shouted, making everyone jump. "You two with your stupid mysterious emo relationship need to write a fucking novel or some shit cause this is getting ridiculous!"
"Sorry Nichols," Alex grinned. "But Barcelona is one story that will stay a secret until I'm dead."
"I might post it on my blog though." Piper deadpanned. Alex growled.
"I'm happy with you telling the world anything else that happened, but I swear to god Piper…if you so much as mention Barcelona then I will curse you with terrible body odour from beyond the grave."
Piper pulled her lower lip into her mouth with a grin and Alex couldn't help but laugh.
Nicky groaned from across the room.
"Oh for fuck sake, if you can't tell us any of your interesting stories then I want you to answer at least one with complete fucking honesty, okay?"
"Depends." Alex said.
Nicky shook her head and waved a hand in the air.
"It's not for you, Godzilla. This questions for Chapman." There was a gleam to her eye that made Piper uneasy, but she nodded anyway.
"Go ahead…"
Nicky's face split into a shit eating grin.
"Who's better in bed?" She all but beamed, "Alex or Larry?"
All eyes turned to Piper's rapidly blushing face.
"God, I'm not drunk enough for this shit." She groaned.