A/N: Thank you so much for the response to this story! I'm so happy so many of you are enjoying it!

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to update. The past year was a life-changing one for me (in a good way!) and I was caught up by it. I have more time now over the summer and have just watched the new season of Orange and am feeling the Vauseman love once again! I intend to continue with this story as well as Fall Girl.

Please review! They keep me going!

Chapter 4

Larry straightened his bowtie and cleared his throat nervously. He had a shiny metal tray loaded with hors d'oeuvres precariously balanced on one hand. "What is this event for again?"

Piper shrugged in reply and said, "I think it's some graduate student appreciation reception? Maybe for recipients of university fellowships or something?"

Piper really wasn't a hundred percent sure herself. As a member of the Student Affairs Committee, she had had to sign up to work five events over the course of the semester and this had been one of them. She had not been pleased to discover that Larry was working the same event, and he had been attached at her hip since the event started thirty minutes ago. It wasn't that she disliked Larry; no, she thought he was actually a pretty decent guy. It was knowing he had a huge crush on her along with the fact that his feelings weren't reciprocated that made her feel uncomfortable and self-conscious around him.

Piper surveyed the crowd, wondering briefly if Alex would be in attendance. She didn't think so. The event was formal, and she couldn't see her edgy TA coming to an event in which she'd have to wear a fancy dress. But boy how the mental image of Alex in a form-fitting dress made Piper swoon.

The venue was really beginning to fill up, and Piper noticed the refreshments table was looking slightly understaffed. Of course, most attendees would be congregating at the free beer and wine table. Piper turned to Larry. "I think I'm going to go see if they need an extra hand," she said, gesturing toward the refreshment table, "I'll see you later, Larry."

Piper was happy with the decision she had made to help out; the line at the refreshment table had grown in length as the two students in charge of pouring and handing out drinks fell behind. Piper quickly joined in and together they were able to move things along more efficiently.

Piper was in the midst of pouring a glass of white wine when the sound of a familiar husky chuckle forced her eyes to raise. Immediately they connected with bright green ones, shining with a hint of amusement. Alex was wearing her signature smirk, and Piper was momentarily stunned by just how amazing her TA looked.

She was in a tight V-neck black dress, that flared out slightly at the waist. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders in big loose curls, with streaks of blue swirling through them. Her makeup, as always, was flawless.

"Whoa there," Alex said, reaching out for the wine bottle Piper was still currently pouring.

Piper finally blinked, breaking the spell, and realized that she had almost overfilled the glass of wine. Her cheeks flushed slightly as she stuttered out an embarrassed, "Oops."

She met Alex's eyes once again and smiled at her sheepishly. She extended her arm to the older girl and offered, "Wine?"

Alex laughed, but accepted the wine. She eyed the full-to-the-brim glass and looked at Piper suspiciously. With a raised eyebrow she said suggestively, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to get me drunk."

Piper blushed harder at Alex's flirtation, but raised a mischievous eyebrow in response. "And what would you say if I was?" In truth, she wouldn't mind spending time with a slightly intoxicated Alex. With lowered inhibitions, Piper was almost positive Alex would give in to her attraction to her. She still wasn't quite sure what exactly was holding Alex back, but whatever it was needed to be taken care of. Piper was growing more and more impatient.

Alex looked intrigued by Piper's response. She narrowed her eyes at the younger girl and bit her lower lip slightly. The action drew Piper's eyes to Alex's full lips and caused her tongue to dart out unknowingly to wet her own.

Piper watched as Alex's lips curved into a wide smile. She blinked her eyes back up to Alex's as Alex laughed softly. "Then I'd say you're off to a good start," she said, glancing at her glass of wine as she raised it slightly. She took a large sip of the wine, then set the glass down on the table.

The amusement Piper had noticed when she first arrived returned to Alex's eyes as she smiled playfully at the blonde. She shook her head slightly as she allowed her eyes to roam over Piper's form, barely managing to hold in a chuckle. "What are you wearing, Jeeves?"

Until that moment, Piper had completely forgotten about the ridiculous server's uniform she had been required to wear to the reception. She groaned softly and rolled her eyes, trying to mask the embarrassment she felt at Alex seeing her in the ugly, unflattering uniform. "I know; it's hideous. They made us wear them."

"You look cute," Alex replied with a soft smile. Almost as an afterthought she added "kid," to the end of the sentence, in an attempt to make the statement lighter; less meaningful. Piper ignored the attempt anyway. Instead, her insides were doing somersaults because Alex had just called her cute.

Piper smirked flirtatiously and said playfully, "So do you." She let her gaze travel along Alex's curves accentuated by the dress she was wearing.

Alex let Piper ogle her for a minute, basking in the younger girl's appreciative gaze. Alex didn't shy away from the attention; in fact, she was pleased that Piper had reacted in that way.

Piper was drawn out of her blatant staring when Alex began to lean forward across the table that separated them. Piper froze as Alex's hand reached out and tugged at the plastic nametag that was attached to her shirt directly above her left breast. Piper's breath hitched, completely aware of how close Alex's hand was to her breast; how close Alex's face was to her own as she leant across the table. The blonde felt a surge of heat rush to the apex of her thighs and she suddenly felt dizzy. Alex released the nametag so that it snapped back against Piper's chest. Piper shivered as her stormy blue eyes met Alex's clear green ones. She seemed amused by Piper's reaction; in fact, she even rasped out a laugh.

Piper felt embarrassed about responding so obviously to Alex's proximity, but Alex said in a teasing tone, "You never told me your real name was Viper." She smirked. "Menacing."

"Huh? Oh." Piper shook her head slightly, then laughed. "Yeah I think whoever made the nametags was either high or thinks he's a comedian."

Alex laughed. "Maybe both?"

"I'm surprised you're here." Piper said when they had finished giggling about the nametag.

"It should be me saying that about you. This is a function for graduatestudents." Alex laughed and took a step around the table, bringing her closer to Piper. "Free food. Free booze." She gestured to the alcohol filling the table then pointed to herself and finished, "Poor grad student. When free food is involved, I can be coerced into practically anything."

Piper smirked coquettishly. "I'll keep that in mind."

Alex raised her eyebrow in response. She said, "You always seem surprised to see me away from my office. What, do you think I live in the psychology building?"

"Of course not!" Piper exclaimed with a small giggle. She took a small step back. "I just didn't think tailgating and a fancy event were really you."

Alex hummed, seeming to think about it. She leaned so that her shoulder rested against the wall and asked curiously, "So what do you think is me?"

Piper stuttered, not sure exactly how to answer that question. "Um, well, I always just picture you spending your free time in cool dive bars or riding your motorcycle around town. You know, stuff girls like you do."

Alex laughed loudly, "Girls like me?"

Piper blushed again. It was beginning to become the norm when Alex was around. She looked to the floor then met Alex's eyes again. "I just mean, well, you're kinda like this mysterious badass."

Alex's lips formed a slow smile. She took a step closer to Piper. "Badass, huh? Piper, I'm sorry to disappoint, but I don't even own a motorcycle."

As Piper was beginning to respond, Nicky appeared tugging at Alex's arm. "Alex, there you are. Silvie is losing her shit looking for you." She paused for a minute, turning her attention to the blonde standing awkwardly to the side. "Oh. Hi, Piper."

"Hi, Nicky," Piper replied with a small smile and wave, going back to the task of pouring wine that Alex had distracted her from.

Alex shot Piper an apologetic smile. "I should probably go mingle." She rolled her eyes slightly. "It was really nice to see you here tonight, Pipes."

Piper smiled sincerely. "You too. Getting to talk to you made working this event actually enjoyable."

"Happy to be of service. See you Monday, Viper." Alex said with a smirk as she turned to leave.

Nicky dragged Alex away and whispered loudly, "Silvie saw you with Piper and began grilling me about you two. She remembered that Piper is a student in Healy's class. You better go do damage control. I tried to play it cool, but that Silvie is one suspicious bitch. I don't want her to go spreading shit about you and an undergraduate."

"Can I borrow some of that liquid eyeliner-" Piper froze mid-sentence in the doorway to Polly's bedroom. She brought a hand to her mouth in an attempt to stifle her laughter. "Oh my god, what are you?!"

Polly glanced toward Piper from her position in front of her vanity mirror, where she was currently adjusting the amount of cleavage visible behind the most hideously colored orange dress Piper had ever seen. "I'm a sexy prisoner." At Piper's skeptical look she continued, "What? It's original. And what are you? The frumpiest black cat anyone's ever seen on Halloween? Pipe, Halloween is the one night girls can dress slutty and no one can say a word about it."

Piper looked down at her baggy black sweat pants and loose long-sleeved black t-shirt. She hated Halloween. As Polly alluded to, it was an excuse for slutty girls to act even sluttier; while nice, normal girls had a difficult time finding a costume that was modest, but still cute. Costumes on Halloween could either be slutty or clever – and Piper didn't have time to be clever.

She shrugged. "You didn't tell me we were going to this Halloween party until this morning. This was all I could throw together on such short notice."

Polly rolled her eyes. "I didn't know about it until last night. Come here." Polly pulled her blonde friend over to her closet. "I have a black leotard you can wear. Ohhhh! We can make you cat ears and hot glue them to a headband. It'll be soooo cute!"

Piper shook her head slightly, but let Polly play dress up. She had to admit, her roommate always knew just how to style her to make Piper look amazing.

"So which bar are we going to again?"

"The Woodshed?" Alex looked at Nicky skeptically as they approached the brightly lit club.

Nicky shrugged. "I heard they're throwing a killer Halloween party. I thought we could check it out."

As they approached the somewhat sketchy looking establishment, the sound of techno music grew louder. A group of drunk costumed co-eds stumbled out of the door laughing and talking loudly about the cheap drinks.

Alex shrugged and smiled widely at Nicky. She was sold at the mention of cheap drinks. "Let's go!"

The club was decked out for Halloween; artificial cobwebs were strung up along the walls, doorways, and barstools, spooky specialty cocktails were advertised on the special Halloween menu, and black and orange lightbulbs tinted the club in an eerie glow. Alex and Nicky bee-lined directly for the bar and began to peruse the specialty drink menu.

"Have you ladies been helped?" A pretty female bartender dressed as a vampire asked the girls.

Nicky shot her a winning smile. She ran her finger down the list of drinks as she replied, "I will have the vampire's kiss." Her finger stopped on the drink's name as she winked suggestively at the bartender.

The bartender leaned forward slightly across the bar toward Nicky and shot her a flirtatious smile back along with a nod. Then she turned her attention to Alex, "And for you?"

Alex shook her head amusedly at her friend's antics as she replied, "I'll try the zombie."

"Coming right up!"

After receiving their drinks, the two set off to explore the rest of the club. The main bar area was set up with a few unoccupied tables, and a door off to the side led out to a rather large patio area. "This place is actually pretty cool." Nicky said settling into one of the patio chairs. A small fire burned in an outdoor fireplace, keeping the chill from the night air manageable.

Alex joined her friend. She sipped her zombie cocktail. "Yeah, and actually reasonably priced."

"So what happened with you and Silvie after the graduate student reception?" Nicky was curious.

Alex sighed and leaned back in her chair. "She was definitely suspicious of something going on between Piper and me. I tried to reassure her that Piper is my student and I was being friendly and saying hello. She then told me she could tell I was attracted to her and went all psycho-jealous-bitch on me, so I left."

Nicky whistled her sympathy at Alex's situation. "Do you think she'll let up?"

Alex shook her head. "No. I told her long before I even knew Piper that it was over between us. Now I think she's blaming all that on this made-up idea she has of me and Piper."

Nicky laughed incredulously, "Made-up?"

Alex shot her a look. She rolled her eyes and said, "Well, not entirely. But the situation Silvie created in her head is made-up. Nothing has happened between Piper and me."

"But you want it to? And so does Piper?" Nicky probed.

"So fucking much," Alex sighed in resignation. "And I think Piper does too. She's kind of upped her flirting with me. It's becoming more obvious, and I don't know how long I'll be able to stop myself."

"Well, you better be careful. Silvie is just crazy enough to do something drastic, like report you to the university or something," Nicky said standing up. "Want another?" She asked gesturing to Alex's empty glass.

Alex nodded and Nicky ran off to get them more alcohol.

Polly, Piper, Pete, and Larry (much to the annoyance of Piper) paused outside the exterior of The Woodshed.

Green and orange lights glowed from the windows and the thump of the bass could be heard coming from deep within the club.

"This is the place you wanted to go to?" Piper laughed. She could hardly see Polly at a club like this. Sketchy.

Polly shrugged, although she looked slightly disgusted. "I heard this was the Halloween party to be at. Let's just check it out and if it's sketchy we can go somewhere else."

Pete grabbed Polly's hand and the couple headed toward the entrance. Larry looked over at Piper with a sheepish, yet hopeful look. He shrugged and said, "It could be fun?"

Piper couldn't stand his awkwardness. Maybe at some point in the past she would have found it charming, but not now. Not after experiencing how sexy Alex's confidence was.

She faked a smile and said, "I think so!" and followed Pete and Polly without another glance at Larry. She was going to kill Polly. Especially if her best friend ditched her for Pete and left her with Larry all night.

As the night drew on, Polly, Pete, and Larry grew exceedingly drunk, while Piper maintained a mild buzz. She wanted to be clear-headed if she felt like skipping out early if Polly abandoned her to Larry.

"I'd like a margarita, please," Piper placed only her second drink order to the vampire bartender.

The vampire smirked at her, but left to make her drink.

"Isn't it a little too cold for a margarita, Pipes?" A raspy voice (a voice now burned into her memory) whispered directly into her ear. Piper's eyes met Alex's through a veil of dark, thick lashes.

The bartender returned with the beverage and Alex motioned for her to put it on her tab.

Piper smiled her thanks. She took a sip as Alex took in her costume. The darker haired girl couldn't contain her smile. "Fancy seeing you here. I didn't think you knew how to have fun, Ms. Overachiever."

Piper rolled her eyes, but laughed at Alex's teasing. "Well, it is Halloween." She paused and blushed slightly. "And I do have fun, Alex. I'm not some academic recluse who just hermits away all day in my room studying."

Alex chuckled at Piper's insistency. "I'm just messing with you, Pipes." She reached over and lightly touched the black furry ears attached to the blonde's head. "A black cat? Very original."

Piper rolled her eyes and smirked. "And what are you supposed to be?"

"Can't you tell?" Alex stood from the barstool and gave a small spin.

Piper shook her head expectantly.

Alex laughed. "I don't know. I'm like a skeleton or something. Nicky did my makeup. I'm not really into the whole costume thing."

Piper nodded sympathetically. "Me either. Polly dressed me up in this."

Alex nodded appreciatively. "She did a good job. You look good, kid."

Piper blushed and smiled shyly. "Thanks. You do too." In addition to Alex's skeleton face paint, the older girl was adorned in tight black skinny jeans, a black tank top, and black combat boots.

Alex grinned and grabbed Piper's hand. "You wanna dance?"

Piper nodded eagerly, and Alex yanked her off the barstool and toward the dance floor at the back of the club. She didn't let go of her hand the entire way.

When they had weaved their way into the crowd, Alex pulled Piper in close and let her hands rest on Piper's swaying hips.

Piper's hands wrapped around the taller girl's shoulders and they began to grind their hips together along to the beat.

They danced to an endless number of songs (Piper lost count), and with each new song, Piper felt Alex tug her closer, impossibly close, until their foreheads were pressed together. Alex's gaze was intense, and Piper watched as her eyes flicked briefly to Piper's slightly parted lips, which were only a breath away from Alex's. Piper swore she could taste Alex's breath – that's how close they were. Alex's fingers traced patterns up and down Piper's sides along the silky fabric of the black leotard. Alex pressed her lips to Piper's ear and husked, "So sexy."

Alex's long hair created a curtain around their faces, giving Piper a false sense of privacy, blocking out everyone around them. She wondered briefly how drunk Alex was. She watched Alex's eyes dart to her lips again, and her mind practically screamed, begged, for Alex to close the miniscule space between them.

Piper waited patiently for Alex to make a move. In Piper's mind, she had made her intentions and desires clear to the older girl. It was Alex who was holding back for some reason, Alex who had a complicated relationship with someone else. It was Alex who needed to make the move. So while Piper refused to lean forward just the slightest bit to connect their mouths, she attempted to make her request as obvious as she could. She grinded just a bit harder onto Alex's leg; touched the tip of her nose gently to Alex's; rubbed her fingers lightly along the darker haired girl's exposed neck, shoulders, and back. She held eye contact with Alex before purposefully, pointedly lowering her gaze to Alex's red lips and then back up through her thick, dark lashes to meet stormy green eyes.

…But then something changed. The song switched, and Alex pulled away slightly, shaking her head. She released Piper's hips and muttered something about needing another drink.

And just like that she was gone.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this slightly longer than usual chapter to make up for my long absence!

Your reviews are my fuel! I love hearing from you guys and it is such a motivator to write again when you know people enjoy what you are writing!

Love you guys!

-HM