A/N: In case anyone is still reading this... HI, IT ME. I may have surpassed the two week limit just a smidge. BUT! I'm still uploading so I still get points? Anyway everyone should thank Guest452 in their review because if it weren't for them I wouldn't have had anything to write/update. SO EVERYONE SEND GUEST452 A PEANUT BUTTER CUP.


The next morning Nicky walks up forty minutes late armed with Piper's precise coffee order as a peace offering. Just as she's walking up to the door Piper rounds the corner carrying a brown bag from the best bagel shop in that part of town.

Nicky immediately starts apologizing. "I know, I know. I'm late again. I overslept. I've been having trouble sleeping and didn't wanna fuck up my program so I took this herbal shit and whaddya know, it actually works."

"Nature knows best." She walks up to the front door, unlocks it and let's Nicky in first.

Nicky is immediately suspicious. Normally Piper would have at least said something about her tardiness.

"Here, I brought you coffee as a peace offering."

"Oh, thank you! I brought bagels! Come on, my office."

Here it is. She's gonna gimme the lecture in her office.

Piper pulls up a chair and sets both the coffee and the bagels on it. She goes over to her desk and gets a plastic knife then plops onto the couch.

Nicky is stood at the door watching all this happen.

"Come sit and have breakfast with me. I got the fancy cream cheese!"

Nicky walks in cautiously. "Listen, I don't know what's going on, but something's not right. I have serious insomnia so I've seen enough documentaries on the History Channel about ancient war tactics to know that this is a possible attack. Like, the Trojan Horse thing sort of. Except with bagels."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Piper says right before biting into the bagel and getting cream cheese on her face. "Oh is that what you meant by peace offering before? Are we at war?"

"You've got stuff on your face, Chapman." Piper wipes it off. "No we're not at war, but something sure is rotten in Denmark."

"You know, everyone always talks about the Mel Gibson movie, but that's not the best one. I prefer the one Kenneth Branagh. Much better adaptation."

"Hamlet?"

Piper nods.

Nicky finally gives in and sits on the couch to enjoy her breakfast. "Also Mel Gibson's a bit of an asshole."


Nicky spends the day observing Piper. She knew something was different but couldn't quite place it and she was determined to find out what.

They were sorting through the arts and crafts material when Nicky saw a container of glitter. Red glitter. She opens it and walks slowly up to Piper so as not to spill any of it. I'll pretend spill some of this on her and see her reaction. She knew Piper had one mortal enemy: glitter.

As she gets closer she begins talking and actually ends up really tripping on a box just as Piper looks up.

Her hair, her face, everywhere. Piper looked like a Christmas ornament.

Nicky knew that now she'd get yelled at and stood still as a statue. To her surprise Piper laughed. She thought the blonde had lost it. When Piper laughed again and glitter came out of her nose she couldn't help but laugh too.

Soon both of them are laughing. Nicky is still unsure of whether or not Piper will kill her.

"Do me a favor?" Piper says as her laughter dies down. "Go in my office, in the grey filing cabinet, last drawer, there's a beige tote bag in there. Can you bring it to me please? I need to change. I always knew this would happen one day." Piper laughed again.

"Now I know something's up." She mumbled under her breath on her way to Piper's office.


"Hey, Chapman, wanna get lunch?" She stuck her head in Piper's office.

"No, you go ahead. I've got a few errands to run."

"You got it, boss." Nicky taps on her door frame once and leaves.

After she's finished her lunch she calls Alex.

"Hey, Nicky."

"Your girl Chapman? She's lost it."

"What?"

"I don't know what it is, but something is... off with her."

"What do you mean off? Did she mention anything?"

"No, but I can feel it. Just like cats can feel the rain, you know? I just feel it."

"Did she yell at you for being late again?"

"No, the opposite actually. She brought me bagels and didn't yell at me. Also, how did you know I was late again?"

"You're always late."

"Well time isn't even real so we're all late and not late at the same time."

"Ah, you've been watching documentaries again. I guess the insomnia is back."

"It is. I thought that with me getting clean and shit I'd sleep better. I mean, that's what healthy people do right? Sleep and jog."

"I wouldn't know. I subsist on coffee."

"That's right, I forgot you're like 90% human and 10% coffee."

Alex laughs a little into the phone.

"Oh, hey we're getting dinner Sunday, don't forget."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"Alight, I've gotta get back to work." And with that Nicky hangs up.


Saturday was usually the busiest day at the community center. Every kid in the neighborhood was there and it was the first day of the kickball tournament.

Piper had texted Nicky letting her know that she'd be a little late and to start setting up without her. Nicky was almost done when Piper shows up.

"A little late, huh?"

"Really. I'm getting shit for being late from you?"

Caught without a response she points out the obvious, "Jesus, you still have glitter all over."

"I feel like it's fused to my skin. No matter how hard i scrub it just won't come off."

"Give it a few days and it'll come off."

"How are you so sure?"

"Because I learned the hard way."

"Oh, did the glitter get on you from a costume or something?"

"No, more like a stripper or something."

"Well, if it's not off in a few days I'm going to a strip club to ask for advice."

"I'll be right there with you."


By the end of the day everyone was exhausted.

"I don't know where these kids get all this energy from. Before heroin I used to do coke and trust me, not even all coked up was I as wired as those kids."

Piper laughs. "I bet you were a handful as a kid."

"I was a perfect fucking angel, thankyouverymuch."

Piper takes the last bag of equipment and hurls it inside the closet. "All done."

"Now we get to go home?"

"Now we get to go home." Piper nods.

"Hey you wanna grab a drink, Chapman? Or in my case a ginger ale."

"Raincheck. I'm exhausted. I'm just gonna go home, shower and past out all weekend."

"Alright, see you Monday then."


Sunday evening rolled around and Nicky sat in a booth waiting for Alex.

"And finally you're here." Nicky said as Alex slid into booth.

"I'm sorry I know I'm late. I got a little caught up in something I was doing." Alex smiles her clever answer.

"Yeah, yeah, just don't make a habit out of it. I'm the late one. That's my title that I've earned."

Twenty minutes later and they have drinks and appetizers.

"How are things going at the community center?"

"Pretty good actually. I don't hate it as much as I thought I would, to be perfectly honest."

"And does this have anything to do with that girl you were flirting with on the Fourth of July?"

Nicky smiles. "Yeah a little I guess. She's real cute."

"And she's fun too. The kids loved her."

"Just my luck, becoming interested in a girl that likes kids."

"I can't even picture you in the same room as a kid."


As the night went on the two friend continued to catch up on all that had happened since they last saw each other.

"I called you last night. Why didn't you pick up."

"I was asleep."

"Bullshit. You and I both know you weren't fucking sleeping."

"Fine, I wasn't asleep. I was busy though. And besides I knew we would see each other tonight so it wasn't a big deal."

"What if it was an emergency. And I was dying."

"It wasn't and you weren't."

"Your best friend is alone in her apartment, close to death, and she calls you and you can't even pick up the phone to say your final goodbyes?"

Alex tilts her head, "if you don't stop you will die. Sooner than you think."

As Alex shifted Nicky noticed something on her chest and stared, slowly leaning toward her.

"You know if this were any other person I'd find it weird, but when it's you staring intensely down my cleavage it feels normal."

"Did you get a new- no... it looks like a rash."

Nicky went around to Alex's side to get a better look. "That's not a rash that's-" Nicky reached over and scraped something off her friends cleavage.

"Nicky! Stop that."

Nicky stopped mid sentence and her eyes went WIDE. She quietly went back over to her seat and nearly stuck her thumb in Alex's eye.

"Do you know what that is, Alex?!"

"Maybe if you back your hand up a bit."

Alex looked at the spec on Nicky's thumb. "It's glitter."

"Yeah, glitter. Red glitter."

"So what?"

"So what? Earlier this week I tripped and accidentally spilled a tub of red glitter on Piper."

Nicky stared at her and saw her connect the dots also. But Alex being Alex concealed the fact that she knew.

"You know that isn't the only tub of red glitter in the city, right?"

"So you're telling me that if I go to your apartment right now I'll find a tub of red glitter?"

Alex just continued looking at Nicky.

"And not a blonde covered in glitter."

Not a word from Alex.

Nicky pulled out her phone. "Let me ask Piper then..."

"Ok fine."

"I knew it! You guys had sex!" Nicky whispered.

"Yes."

"So that's why she was acting all loosey goosey the past few days. Chapman got some." Nicky nodded her approval. "So earler when you said you couldn't answer my call because you were busy doing something you really meant someone, didn't you?"

Alex stares at her.

"You two make a cute couple. Not as cute as Lorna and I will but still cute nonetheless."

Alex smiles as she sips her drink.

"So does that mean she dropped her viking bitch?"

"Yeah, I told her I wasn't gonna do the whole sneaking around thing again."

"Good for you, Vause, good for you." Nicky is quiet a moment. "Do you think this means I can be late every day now?"

"Probably not."

"Just give her a little sugar before work, that's all I ask."

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't just ask me that."


The next morning Nicky strolls in with a smile on her face.

"What are you all happy about?" Piper asks wearing a similar smile.

"Oh, just a little thing called sleep. I got a full four hours last night. I feel like a superhero."

"Oh my god, all this for four hours?"

"I hoped for more. I even left the bar early."

"Oh?"

"Don't worry I wasn't drinking. I had dinner with Alex. I left early because she was getting real cozy with some girl in the back corner."

"She was what?" The color drained from Piper's face.

"Yeah, and she was hot too! Something tells me she went home with her."

"How do you know?"

"Because I called her in the middle of the night I called her to verify a fact I just heard on this documentary I was watching and she didn't answer."

"Maybe she was sleeping. Sometimes people do that in the middle of the night." Piper smiled.

"Alex drinks enough coffee to keep the entire city awake. So no. I think she was with this chick from the bar."

"I don't think so."

"I think I know my best friend a little better than you, no offense Chapman."

"That's a valid point, but I still don't think you're right."

Nicky saw that Piper was close to caving but she wanted to have just a little more fun. "You know what's funny? She texted me this morning asking if I know how to get glitter off of skin."

Piper nearly dropped the clipboard she was holding. "Oh?"

"She probably got into some freaky shit with the girl from the bar."

"She wasn't with the girl from the bar."

"Oh yeah? And how would you know?"

"Because I just know."

"Is it because you were with her all night? And got red glitter on her that I picked from her cleavage at the bar?"

"You really did that?"

"Of course. I needed the evidence and she's got a great rack."

Piper sighs and slumps her shoulders. "We've been seeing each other for the past week almost."

"And by seeing you mean fucking."

Piper doesn't even bother to act annoyed. "I can't help it. She's just so... She's 80% sex appeal and 30% caffeine."

Nicky laughs out loud. "Good one, Chapman."

"You're not upset at me, are you?"

"Why would I be upset?"

"She's your best friend and I don't want you to think I used you in anyway to get to her."

"No, I'm not upset. I'm happy for you two. You guys look great together."

Piper was relieved to have told Nicky. Whether they wanted to admit it or not they two had become pretty good friends over the last few months.

"Does this mean I can come in late again?"


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