Chapter 2

Would you like to hear my voice

Sprinkled with emotion

Invented at your birth

Alex let Piper settle into her high, given it was her first time there was a chance she might throw up. But Alex was glad to see was doing fine, and was leaning into Alex on the couch, with her eyes closed and a faint smile visible across her lips. Alex was almost too scared to move, Piper was so comfortable and relaxed, Alex didn't want to disturb her. So she just sat on the couch with an arm around the blonde for close to thirty minutes. Every so often, Alex's mind floated back to the fact that she really shouldn't be here right now. But then something else would catch her attention, the sound of Piper's calm breaths against her shoulder, the feel of Piper's sweater, and the smell of her hair. All of those things seemed to outweigh the fact that she shouldn't have come back to Piper's house. Besides, Piper wasn't exactly their usual type of customer, and Alex was fairly certain Piper didn't present any sort of danger to her, aside from her boyfriend of course. Alex assumed Piper's relationship probably wasn't going well if she was turning to heroin to make herself feel better.

Piper eventually stirred against Alex's side, "There's beer and wine in the fridge if you want anything, help yourself."

"I might just do that, but it means you'll have to sit up."

"Mmmmm, I'm so comfortable, I don't remember the last time I felt this comfortable, this warm. Does it always feel like this?"

Alex knew the answer, but was almost afraid to tell Piper the truth, that people spend so much time trying to recapture the feeling of their first high without ever getting there, "Not really, but it can still be good." Alex slowly got off the couch, letting Piper lay across it in her absence. Alex walked back into the kitchen, taking in the surroundings on the way. It was a nice house, and everything was very neat and in its place. There were also a lot of pictures everywhere, mainly of Piper and her boyfriend. He was a good looking guy, tall, lean, with a mop of light brown hair. Alex pushed thoughts of Piper's boyfriend to the back of her mind as she collected two beers from the fridge and returned to Piper on the couch, "I got you one, just in case you feel like it. But maybe take it slow with the alcohol, it might make you feel a bit sick."

Piper sat back up on the couch but didn't say much. It was starting to get cold in the lounge room, so Alex picked up a light blanket that was neatly folded on an armchair and brought it over to the couch, placing it over both of them. Piper immediately assumed the same position against Alex's side as she snuggled under the blanket, "Well, you're certainly much nicer than the drug dealers on TV," Piper laughed at her own words, her inhibitions were definitely down at this point.

"Yeah I guess so, but we're not all bad you know. Well, a lot of us probably are, but not me." Alex kept drinking her beer, before she remembered she had her own heroin supply sitting in her jacket pocket. It wasn't something she did very often, but this seemed like as good a time as any to indulge, especially since she'd be spending the night with a high person. She hadn't technically asked Piper if she could stay over, but she wanted to make sure the blonde was okay. Everyone reacts to heroin differently, and Alex wanted to make sure Piper didn't end up feeling sick. Alex took the small vile out of her jacket pocket and snorted some through each nostril, quickly drinking her beer afterwards. She enjoyed the high, but she hated the taste of the powder down the back of her throat. Piper didn't even seem to notice what Alex was doing, and had closed her eyes again.

"So Piper, tell me about yourself?"

Piper didn't even bother opening her eyes as she answered the question without hesitation, "Myself….I don't know, I'm not sure I know who I am anymore. My mum hates me, my dad can't bring himself to talk to me, and I'm pretty sure my boyfriend hates me. I don't know what to say about me, nobody seems to think there's anything good about me."

"So fuck them, you don't need to listen to crap like that, it's total bulshit." Alex could feel her own high settling in, lowering her own inhibitions. "You can't let people like that get you down Piper. I've known you for what, like three hours, and I can already tell you're special." Alex hated the idea of Piper thinking there was nothing good about herself. At the very least, she was kind and gentle.

"You think I'm special?"

"Fuck yes, never let other people make you feel worthless. I don't care if they're your parents or your boyfriend. If they make you feel like that, they're fucking assholes." Alex was slightly surprised by her own outburst, and got to her feet and started walking around the lounge room. She didn't mean to get so worked up, but she hated knowing that Piper thought so little of herself. Maybe it was the drugs talking, but Alex really did feel like Piper was special. She walked over to a stereo that was sitting in the corner and turned it on, looking for a decent radio station. There was silence between them again, but it didn't matter. The silences were never awkward, it felt normal. Once Alex found a station she was happy with she looked back at Piper, who had obviously been looking at her for a while. Alex didn't know what to do, other than look back.

"What about you Alex, do your parents and boyfriend hate you?"

Alex couldn't help but laugh at the question, "I dunno kid. Let me see, dear old dad is dead, and there is definitely no boyfriend. So that leaves mum, she seems to love me no matter what I do, which is kinda fucked up in itself."

"No, that's not fucked up, it sounds wonderful. About your mum I mean, not the rest." Both women laughed and Alex joined Piper back on the couch, opening the second beer for the blonde.

"How could your boyfriend possibly hate you?"

That was the first point in the evening where Piper seemed lost for words, "It…it's a long story."

Maybe it was the drugs again, she couldn't tell anymore, but all Alex wanted to do in that moment was wrap Piper in a hug. She seemed sad all over again.

"Sorry Piper, forget I asked. Just remember, I definitely don't hate you." When Alex saw the smallest of smiles spread across Piper's lips she let go of the last of her inhibitions and pulled her into a hug. It felt so good, Alex never wanted to let her go. She also decided she wanted to bump her high up a notch, and took out her vile again to snort more heroin.

Piper watched Alex carefully, "Should I take some more?"

"Definitely not. I'm looking out for you tonight remember, just relax and enjoy it, you don't need any more Pipes, I don't think you need anything at all."

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Piper felt a tingle go through her shoulders as soon as she heard Alex use her nickname. The two kept talking about nothing particularly important, in-between bouts of sleeping on the couch and drinking more beer. Piper lost all concept of time and how long they'd been hanging out in the lounge room. Eventually, tiredness was taking over. She looked over at the clock next to the couch and was surprised to see it was 3am, and she was starting to slightly slur her words. "Alex, I wish I could stay up with you all night, but I think I need to go to bed. Will you stay with me?"

"Of course I'll stay, I'm more than comfortable on the couch."

Piper reached out and grabbed the brunette's hand, she could barely keep her eyes open, "No, I don't want to sleep alone." Piper didn't give Alex a chance to respond before she pulled her towards the main bedroom, not caring this was the bed she had shared with Jack for so long. Jack didn't even feel real to her in that moment, he was just a distant memory she wanted to forget. All she could focus on was the here and now, and that was Alex. Piper's exhaustion was quickly winning out, and she was not concerned about modesty, all she wanted was to collapse into bed. As soon as they entered the bedroom, Piper took off her clothes and threw them haphazardly on the floor, before pulling back the sheets and getting comfortable in her bed. Piper looked back to the doorway to see Alex still standing there, looking slightly unsure of what to do next.

"Please Alex, I just need to have someone next to me while I sleep." Piper beckoned Alex to join her in bed as she closed her eyes again, pressing her face into the pillow. Alex carefully took off her own clothes, leaving on her underwear, before sliding next to Piper under the sheets. But it wasn't enough, Piper wanted to be held. It had been so long since she'd been held until she fell asleep, it was the type of human contact she'd been craving for months. Piper reached behind her and grabbed Alex's arm, pulling it over her own body until she had cradled the warm hand against her chest. Now Piper could relax, she could finally get some sleep.

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Alex was relieved when Piper wanted to go to bed, she loved talking to the blonde but she was still feeling jetlagged from her trip and was craving sleep. She was happy when Piper pulled her towards the main bedroom, she still couldn't fight her inner need to be close to the blonde. But she had no desire to take advantage of her, just to be able to sleep next to her. Alex could see how tired Piper was, a combination of the late hour and the heroin. But Alex was taken aback as Piper stripped off all her clothes in front of Alex before getting into bed. The brunette wasn't sure what to do, until Piper made it perfectly clear she wanted her in the bed immediately. Alex stripped down to her underwear and got in the queen sized bed. She assumed this was the bed Piper shared with her boyfriend, but all Alex could smell was the blonde, it was all around her. Just as she was starting to drift off to sleep she felt Piper grab her arm and pull Alex flush up against her back, pulling Alex's long arm over her body, holding it close to her chest.

Alex could feel her heart beating in her chest, it didn't matter how high she was or how much she'd drank, she still couldn't reconcile the fact she was in bed with Piper like this. Alex loved being this close to her, the feeling of skin against skin, it was so completely intimate, and Alex had no intention of breaking Piper's trust. Alex pulled the blonde in closer and whispered in her ear before letting herself drift off to sleep, "Goodnight Pipes."

A/N

Apologies for the shorter chapter, but I wanted their first night together to stand alone. Let me know your thoughts, hopefully their first night together didn't come across as creepy. And FYI - the snippets of text at the start of each chapter are just a few lyrics I have been listening to a lot while writing this.

Cheers.