A/N: Wow! Thank you guys so much for the response to this fic! I'm so happy to see so many people interested in it! I hope you enjoy chapter 2 just as much as chapter 1!
Chapter 2
"Hey, kid." Alex said to Piper when she showed up at her office the following Monday. Piper blushed; Alex calling her 'kid' made her feel like anything but. In fact, to Piper, it sounded more like a term of endearment.
"Hi," Piper sounded almost shy. "Wanna go for coffee again? I could really use some caffeine. Mondays are always rough for me."
Alex smiled sympathetically. "I never turn down coffee. Just let me lock up." Alex grabbed a post it and scribbled a quick note Alex Vause will be back at 2:30. She stuck the note to the door and proceeded to lock it.
"I thought you said no one ever shows up?" Piper questioned, gesturing to the note.
Alex smirked. "Must you question everything?" She joked, making Piper flush with slight embarrassment. "Usually no one shows up. The only exceptions are before an exam and after an exam. You guys have your second exam on Wednesday, right?"
Piper nodded. "I guess that makes sense. Are you sure you should leave then?"
Alex shrugged and said, "I put a note up. If they really need my help they'll wait around until 2:30 or email me their questions. I'm not too worried about it, Pipes." Piper knew her adherence to rules greatly amused her TA.
Piper smiled and said, "Okay. Let's go."
When they arrived at the coffee shop, the line was relatively short. They placed their orders, and Piper insisted on paying for Alex's coffee.
"You didn't have to do that," Alex said with a chuckle.
"I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to." Piper smiled endearingly up at the older girl. "Think of it as my way of saying thank you for all the help you've given me over the past few weeks. I feel so much more confident about doing well on this exam."
"Well good. I'm glad I could be of service in your quest to maintain the title of University of Litchfield's Greatest Overachiever," Alex, of course, responded to Piper's praise with a joke. Piper just smiled sheepishly at their little running joke at her own expense. She knew it was just a joke, but she hoped Alex didn't just see her as a goody-goody. Alex grabbed Piper's coffee and handed it to her, and then grabbed her own cup. She looked around the mostly empty café and said, "Do you wanna sit and drink our coffees here? Or do you need to get back?"
"I don't have anywhere else to be!" Piper rushed out eagerly. She couldn't contain her excitement at the prospect of getting to spend more time with the dark haired girl. Alex looked a bit taken aback from her enthusiasm, so Piper blushed and dialed it back a bit. She stated much more calmly, "I mean, I have a break until three, so I have time to sit."
Alex smirked amusedly and led the way to a table in the corner. As they got situated, Alex took a careful sip of her coffee, testing out the temperature. Satisfied that it was cool enough, she took a drink, then locked eyes on Piper who was licking a bit of whipped cream off the tip of her nose. Alex's eyes darkened at the sight.
After getting the bit of whipped cream off her nose, Piper focused her eyes on Alex. The look her TA was giving her made her belly flip. Piper felt a pang of heat shoot straight to her core. Her cheeks flushed and she cleared her throat softly.
Alex snapped out of it so fast, Piper was left wondering if she had imagined the look in the first place. In an attempt to hide how flustered she was, she took another drink of her coffee.
"Is there anything you wanted to go over one last time to review for the exam?" Alex asked, grasping for a safe topic of conversation.
Piper shook her head. She was relieved to have the attention off of whatever had just happened between them. "No, I think I'm good." She smiled at Alex and remembered what Polly told her a few days ago. She asked, "So what do you do as a grad student? Other than TA-ing, of course?"
Alex stared at Piper. She was the epitome of WASP-y at the moment, sipping from some girly, sugar-y coffee drink, her long blonde hair pulled into a loose messy bun. She looked smaller than usual in her oversized mustard-colored sweater, and her dark blue skinny jeans were tucked into a pair of knee-high brown riding boots. Alex usually rolled her eyes at basic-looking girls, but the look suited Piper. The younger girl took another sip from her drink, and looked up at Alex expectantly through her long lashes.
Alex tried to shove those thoughts away and said, "I spend most of my time doing research. I'm getting my PhD in experimental social psychology."
"Sounds fancy," Piper replied. She thought back to her syllabus for her intro class and said, "We haven't got to it yet, but does social psychology focus on, like, interactions between people?"
"Pretty much. Social psychology is a huge field and contains many sub-fields and areas of interest," Alex answered.
Piper smiled coyly and asked, "And what's your area of interest, Alex?" She couldn't keep a flirtatious undertone from her voice.
Alex's eyebrow raised in response. She replied, "My primary interest is coercion; how to get people to do what you want them to. I'm kind of interested in the psychology behind marketing products and how to get people to buy things they don't really need. It's kind of the evil side to psychology. A lot of psychologists hate marketing." Alex seemed proud of the fact that her research seemed a bit controversial. She continued, "I'm also interested in prejudice and stereotyping, specifically toward LGBTQ youth."
"That sounds really interesting, Alex. What first got you interested in psychology?" Piper asked, taking another sip of her drink. She was still unsure about Alex's sexual orientation, but the clues were leading Piper to believe that she was probably at least bisexual, like Piper. Given the comment Alex's office-mate, who Piper had learned was named Nicky, made the first time Piper stopped in for Alex's office hours, the fact that she studied LGBTQ youth specifically, and considering all the times Piper caught Alex looking at her in a way that screamed I'm into you, Piper was feeling like she was on cloud 9. And given this new hope, she was even more curious and intrigued to learn more about her elusive psych TA.
Alex smiled and shook her head softly, as if remembering back to a time long ago. She said, "I had this psychology teacher in high school who took a liking to me. I grew up pretty poor, Piper; raised by a single mom. We didn't have much, and I never expected to go to college, because I knew my mom wouldn't be able to afford it." Alex was speaking into her cup, but looked up at Piper as she said this. It was as if she wanted to gauge Piper's reaction to this bit of information.
Piper smiled encouragingly at Alex, and when Alex didn't detect even a hint of judgment in her face, she continued. "I was a good student, and I guess Ms. Bartlett saw potential in me. She helped me apply for colleges and scholarships that I had no idea even existed. I managed to get enough scholarships to pay for my first year, and then enlisted in a work-study program for the remainder of my time in undergrad. I worked two jobs in addition to taking classes, but in the end it was all worth it. Ms. Bartlett was just so passionate about psychology and she's really the reason why I took an interest in it. But once I started studying it at the university level, I really enjoyed it. Humans are so complex. I love learning about why we do the things we do; I just find it fascinating."
Piper looked at Alex in awe. "That's an incredible story, Alex. I can't imagine doing all this while working two jobs at the same time." Piper blushed and looked down at the table, embarrassed. She said, "I don't even have a job. My parents pay for my tuition."
Alex shrugged and said, "You shouldn't feel guilty or embarrassed about that, Piper. You're a really hard worker and a smart woman. I think it's great that your parents are able to help you achieve your dreams." For a second Alex couldn't believe what was coming out of her mouth. She had always despised the undergrads at U of L, as most of them came from wealthy families, and felt entitled because mommy and daddy paid for everything and they had never had to work for anything in their lives. Most things were just handed to them, on a silver platter no less. But Alex was finding that those things don't apply to Piper. Piper was an enigma, the exception to the rule.
Piper shrugged and confessed, "My dad cheats on my mom." She didn't know why she said it, except that maybe she was trying to show Alex that just because her parents paid for things didn't mean her life was perfect.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Piper," Alex said, laying a sympathetic hand on Piper's.
Piper glanced at their hands then back at Alex. "My mom knows. She just pretends it doesn't happen and that everything is fine." Piper took a deep breath in and then forced a smile. "I'm sorry; I don't know why I brought that up. We should talk about something else."
Alex smiled at Piper and removed her hand to take another drink of her coffee. "We can talk about whatever you want to, Pipes."
Piper laughed and said, "I don't want to talk about my parents; too depressing. Let's talk about something happier."
Alex smirked and said, "Okay, Piper. I just spilled my whole life story. Why don't you tell me something about yourself. You mentioned you're not a psych major, so what are you studying?"
At that, Piper perked up. "I'm double-majoring in theater and English. I want to be an author and a playwright. I thought studying psychology would help me write better; make my characters more believable. I'm working on my senior Capstone project now. I'm writing a play that will be staged next semester!"
"Wow, Piper, that is really impressive. I'll have to come see it." Alex said supportively. Piper blushed and hoped she and Alex would still be friends at that point. She wondered what would happen next semester when the older girl was no longer her TA.
"Thanks, Al. You should totally come! I've been working really hard on it." Piper finished her drink and checked the time on her phone. "We should probably actually head back. It's already 2:30."
Alex sighed and said, "Yeah, I need to get back." She finished her drink and the two girls stood and walked toward the exit. "Are you heading back in the direction of the psych building?"
Piper nodded shyly, and they began to walk back in that direction. Alex asked, "So what's your play about?"
Piper smiled mischievously and said playfully, "I guess you'll have to come see it in May to find out."
Alex nudged Piper's shoulder gently. "You're gonna make me wait that long?"
Piper nodded, smirk still in place. They arrived at the psych building and Alex said, "This is my stop, kid. Thanks again for the coffee."
Piper swayed awkwardly, almost feeling as though this was the end of a date. She wanted to tell Alex how much fun she had and ask when she could see her again. But this wasn't a date, so Piper settled with, "No problem. I had fun getting to know more about you, Alex."
Alex smirked at Piper's sudden shyness. "Me too. You're not half bad, kid."
As Piper backed away with a small wave, Alex was inwardly cursing herself. It was against the rules for graduate students to date undergraduate students at the U of L. Up until today, Alex wasn't sure of Piper's feelings toward her, and she could pretend their interactions were harmless. But today, Alex definitely got the feeling that Piper was attracted to her; and the worst part was, the realization made Alex unreasonably happy. This situation would be so much easier to handle if the attraction wasn't mutual.
Alex knew that she needed to put her attraction toward the younger girl to the back of her mind for now.
…
Alex didn't hold office hours on Wednesday because of the exam, so Piper had to wait until Friday to see her again.
Their exams had been returned to them in class that day, and Piper was eager to show Alex that she had made an A on it. She bounded up the stairs of the psychology building and rounded the corner that led to the graduate student offices.
Without knocking, she barged into Alex's office and came to an immediate halt. Some girl Piper didn't recognize was leaned up against Alex's desk and Alex was standing in front of her. And they were close. Piper's not-so-discrete entrance drew their attention, and when Alex saw Piper standing in her doorway, she took a step back from the other girl.
Piper tried to hide her hurt and confusion. Alex wasn't anything to her except her introduction to psychology TA. She hadn't done anything to indicate to Piper that she was interested in her as anything but a student, so Piper shouldn't be so upset at the possibility that Alex had a girlfriend. Except she was.
Piper did her best to hide her emotions and plastered on a smile. "I got an A on the exam!" she said, ignoring the other girl.
Alex rolled her eyes. She said teasingly, "I know, Pipes. Who do you think enters the grades?" Then she smiled more sincerely and said, "Congrats; you definitely deserved it."
The other girl had been inching toward the door during the interaction. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, "I didn't mean to interrupt your office hours. I'll see you later, Alex."
After she left, the atmosphere in the office was tinged with slight awkwardness. Piper kept her eyes focused on her shoes. She plucked up a bit of courage and met Alex's eyes. She asked, "Was that your girlfriend?"
"No," Alex replied, "Well, it's complicated." She shrugged offering no further explanation.
Piper nodded slowly. "I see." She stood awkwardly in the office for a few more minutes grasping at something to say. Alex wasn't offering much help. "I should probably go. I'll see you Monday."
But when Monday rolled around, Piper didn't show.
A/N: This was just a bit of a filler chapter; the next chapter will have a bit more to it! Thank you all so much for supporting my stories! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review and tell me what you think! I love to hear from you guys! –HM :)