Thank you to everyone who dropped a line on the last shot. I really appreciate you beautiful people following my fics and saying nice things:)

So my original plan was to do a Vauseman!fluff countdown to Christmas but there's something like a week left and ten shots to go? (and BB that needs updating yesterday!) So um yeah, I'll see what I can manage:) (and will sleep when I'm dead)

Prompt from Kojojo: Mistletoe

Christmas at the Country Club. A social obligation that Piper had to fulfill to keep her parents happy. And she wanted them happy, because that would make it easier for her to get to the party she actually wanted to attend later with her friend, Polly. Still, preserving the fresh-faced, painfully polite socialite façade required of her at these events was incredibly hard when surrounded by the self-righteous and entitled elite that her parents called friends. And it got considerably harder the more time passed (and more alcohol was consumed). In the last half hour alone she'd been cornered by the three-time champion of the English Rose gardening cup, whose interest in Piper was brought on by her thirst for gory details about her parents' separation of two years ago and the events that led to their reunion not long after, and then swept up by two different men – potential suitors, her mother called them – wanting desperately to be her plans for the rest of the night. One of them, Piper had to admit, was especially handsome, and the top plastic surgeon in the city. But her interest died down quickly when she learned that he knew exactly how handsome he was. And that after a few glasses of expensive whiskey, his conversation became rather handsy.

She ducked around a corner and into an over-enthusiastic flowering fern. Much to her relief, because the duck was her attempt at taking cover and the fern was doing a pretty good job of helping her cause. The swift disappearing act had been necessitated by her spotting the plastic surgeon on the terrace on her way back from the ladies. He was in the middle of another hands-on tête-à-tête with her mother no less, and Piper didn't want to risk being seen and asked to join them. Shrill laughter rang out in the hallway behind her and Piper instantly recognized the grating sound of her mother's faux delight. Shit. They were coming back inside. Piper pressed her back against the wall and held her breath as a group of guests, including the two she was actively avoiding, drifted past and into the hall. Exhaling slowly, she peeked through the leafy foliage and watched as her mother sauntered across the room as if she wasn't just felt up by a man who wasn't her father. Her eyes then scanned the area until she found the man who wasn't her father, tracking his movements until he eventually found a place at the bar. Good. He should be there for a while. The tension left her body and she went from hiding out to simply standing next to a large plant. And then the clutch in her hand vibrated. If it's not one thing, it's the other…

Piper pulled out her phone and tapped the screen to reveal the text message that had just come through.

Polly

Commence Operation Ditch the Bitch in T minus 1hr

Her friend had a way with words alright. She typed a quick reply:

Meet you outside. Don't forget my outfit.

She buried the phone in the clutch again. It wouldn't be the first time that she changed in the back of Polly's car. The mere fact that her mother approved of her current attire meant that she wouldn't be caught dead with it in the real world. One more hour to go. Piper's eyes scanned the room as she thought about what the most painless way to pass the time would be. She was bored out of her mind, so the logical thing to do would be to find the most colorful character and strike up a conversation. And then repeat…

"Ass-grabbing Surgeon just spotted you," a low, husky voice came from behind her, making Piper jump in fright.

"Excuse me?" She turned in the direction the sound came from, but saw nothing.

"You're not very good at this hiding out thing." The voice came again.

A deep furrow creased Piper's brow and she leaned around the wall, coming face to face with a waiter, the only other person in the hallway and therefore, the only logical source of the comments she'd just heard. "Do I know you?"

The woman glanced over Piper's shoulder and then back at her with a smile. "Looks like he has to pass Gabby Homewrecker and she'll definitely pull him aside because she's in the field for a new nose."

Piper followed her gaze and saw the handsy plastic surgeon making his way from the bar, looking directly at her. Then a hand came out of a group he was passing, stopping him in his tracks. She was right. Piper turned to the waiter at her side. Her dark hair was swept up in a bun and little wisps had fallen, framing her face. Luminous green eyes bore a mischievous glint behind her secretary glasses. She studied her face, her own expression one of mild interest, thinking how the clean-cut rent-a-waiter's uniform contrasted with that look in her eye and the smirk curled onto her lips.

"I don't know your face, which means you're new here. So how did you know Gabby Home- I mean, Miss Braithwaite was going to pull him in?"

"Reading people – it's my thing," the brunette said with a shrug. "I'd say you have about three minutes to find a new hideout before he gets bored and remembers why he moved from the bar in the first place."

"I don't know…" Piper mused, looking back at the object of their conversation, "they look pretty cozy. He likes the touching and she likes being touched."

"Yeah, but she talks too much and too much of it's bullshit. Look at his face… she's already losing him. Two minutes." That last was spoken right in her ear and Piper shifted her eyes (she was too scared to turn her head all the way) to see the brunette had wedged her face between the wall and Piper's head, the minimal space between their cheeks pulsing like a live charge.

Piper swallowed hard, completely flustered by the unexpected breach of her personal space and the unexpected effect it was having on her. "Why?" she whispered.

The question made the warmth of the almost contact disappear as the woman straightened and Piper was almost sad that she'd said anything to begin with.

"Why what?"

"Why two minutes?" She tore her eyes from the surgeon to rest them once again on the face that was becoming more intriguing by the second. She was enjoying speaking to someone who wasn't a total bore and wanted to keep it going. (For an hour?)"Why won't he just excuse himself and walk away?"

"He's a perv, but he's also a nice guy," she replied. "So he'll be polite and wait for her to reach a pause in her story. Take this." She pushed a glass of champagne into Piper's hand and the blonde realized for the first time that she was carrying a tray laden with drinks. "No schmoozing with the guests," the waiter explained off her questioning look. "The boss has to think I'm working and not just standing around… not working."

Piper smiled at the clear irritation in the woman's tone. "What's his name? The boss… we've had Ass-grabbing Surgeon and Gabby Homewrecker…"

"Prick Face," she deadpanned and it caused a snort of laughter to burst from Piper who had to lift her hand over her mouth to catch the champagne that splattered out.

"Who are you?" The appeal and wonder was clear in her voice when she asked it.

"I'm Alex. Here…" She held out a napkin and Piper took it up, patting her mouth and hand dry.

"Well, Alex…" Alex. She liked it. It felt right in her mouth when she said it. "I guess I better make myself invisible again… for both our sakes apparently."

"How so?"

"I don't want you to get in trouble for excessive schmoozing with guests."

"Thanks, I guess."

"You're welcome. And thanks for saving my ass, quite literally."

"Any time, kid."

Piper let her brush past and into the hall, watching closely as Alex weaved her way through the crowd, the smell of her lingering… making Piper linger, just so she could be in it a little longer.

And then time seemed to be the last thing on her mind and people were a lot less bothersome as she ventured into the party area and, much to her mother's delight, mingled with everyone there, always making sure to be in deep conversation when Ass-grabbing Surgeon moseyed by. But her sudden gracious affability had nothing to do with living up to social expectations and everything to do with a certain dark-haired waiter. Piper felt inexplicably drawn to her mysterious energy, utterly captivated as she watched Alex move silently through the room, pausing only when a drink was taken or an empty glass was given. The clutch in her hand vibrated a few times but she didn't want to look at her phone. Because then she'd have to look away. So Piper had opinions on seasonal cuttings and vineyards in Italy and corruption in the Pulitzer voting panel. Anything that would keep her floating around inconspicuously, as Alex floated around her. And every time her roaming eyes landed on the slim figure standing taller than most of the people there, Piper would find impossibly resplendent green eyes looking right back at her. They'd share a smile, a nod – like each was aware of the other's plight, stuck in a place where they were forced to be something they weren't.

At one point Alex winked in passing and her train of thought buckled on itself and crashed and burned, forcing Piper to ask the woman with too much make-up to please repeat the question. Her eyes followed the retreating waiter who was stifling a laugh as she went. And then it became a game… Alex tried to trip her up, while she tried to get through it unscathed and be a good little WASP. As the evening drew on, Piper found it harder to fight the laughter that bubbled under whenever Alex pulled a face or made some obscene hand gesture behind the back of the person she was speaking to, and eventually – for lack of a better plan – she escaped to the terrace where she could recover without having to look at Alex. Unfortunately, she walked straight into Ass-grabbing Surgeon as she got there.

"Piper! I see you managed to escape," he said with a dashing, perfect-toothed smile.

"Excuse me?"

"Cecelia, she had you cornered for the past ten minutes. I tried signaling you to ask if I should come over and save you, but you didn't notice."

"Oh," was the only response she had to give. She didn't notice him. In all honesty, she hadn't noticed anything since running into Alex. There was no room in her head for anything else. And then as if on cue, her clutch vibrated again.

Piper dug the phone out and groaned at the display. Six text messages and four missed calls. She ran her finger over the screen to call up the latest text:

Polly

We're here.

Could it have been an hour already? Just like that?

"Refreshments?" The familiar husky voice called Piper's attention and she looked up to find Alex with an outstretched tray. Eggnog this time. A knot of disappointment curled in her stomach and Piper realized, much to her amazement, that she didn't want to leave the club's horrible Christmas party. That she would be quite happy to stay there all night, in fact.

"No thank you. Piper?"

"Not for me. I'm actually… I have to go…" Her tone was laced with apology and regret. She glanced at Alex just long enough to see her eyebrows raise in questioning surprise before dropping her head to focus intensely on putting her phone away.

"Vause, we need more ice."

Piper turned to see another rent-a-waiter calling to them from the hallway. Definitely Prick Face by the way those hands perched on his rigid hips. And Vause…? She looked up at Alex who was already bowing out of their company and making her way back inside. Really? Was that going to be the end of it? Her clutch vibrated again. Apparently so…

"Please excuse me," Piper said and disappeared without waiting for any kind of acknowledgement from the surgeon.

She only became aware of the fact that she was running when she got to the door to the back kitchen and had to physically stop herself from bursting through it. She might not be alone. There might be other waiters helping with the ice thing. Piper pushed the door slowly, schooling her features to the best version of easygoing inquiry she could manage in such a short space of time. She was prepared to walk through the kitchen to look for Alex, but as it turned out, the ice machine was right there. And so was she.

"You're not supposed to be back here," the brunette said, lifting a freshly filled ice bucket to the table behind her and moving on to the next one without pause.

"Will I get in trouble for schmoozing with the help?" It was supposed to be cute and funny but Piper cringed the second the words left her mouth.

"What did you just call me?" She sounded mildly amused more than offended and Piper loosened up a little.

"Sorry… I didn't mean…"

Alex turned to put the second bucket on the table and as she did, the metal lid of the ice machine slammed down, making them both jump. It also brought Piper's attention to something else.

A knowing smile made its way onto her lips. "Oh look, something else that's not supposed to be back here."

A leafy twig was suspended above them, dangling from what looked like a broomstick laying flat on top of the ice machine.

"I swiped it from the lobby. Reading people… it's my thing, remember?" And she was smug about it, too.

"So you figured I'd come back here and you'd what, manipulate me into kissing you?"

"That, and also that the bubbles in your system would make you an easy mark."

"Wow, you are so full of it."

The brunette chuckled. "I knew it was a long shot. But you can relax, I don't buy into the mistletoe thing anyway."

She watched as Alex started digging in the ice again, effectively brushing her aside along with whatever expectations she may have had. Her brain was buzzing under the weight of that fourth drink, but Piper was pretty sure the light, heady feeling couldn't be blamed on alcohol. And she didn't want to be brushed aside. There was something about the good girl breaking bad on hallowed ground that emboldened her.

"Me either," she said, moving to close the gap between them. "Which is neither here nor there since this is holly."

Alex straightened and her barefaced puzzlement was instantly replaced with surprise as Piper leaned in, planting her lips on hers and although deliberate, the kiss was soft, shy almost. She felt a hand come to rest on her back, firmly pulling her closer and Piper responded by parting her lips ever so slightly. She felt a warm tongue brush against hers with the lightest of touches before disappearing again and sighed slowly as the sweet contact was broken.

"So that's what it feels like…" Alex murmured, "being manipulated into kissing someone."

"Horrible, wasn't it?"

"The worst." This time it was Alex who leaned in to take Piper's mouth with hers.

And this time there was nothing shy about it.