"Christ," Alex muttered as she heard her phone pinging for the third time in ten minutes. She doesn't look at it. Over the past few weeks, she'd spent more and more time with Piper. And less time doing homework, which had piled up considerably. Not to mention the time spent with Nicky…

She loved her best friend, but she caused her grief like no other. Despite her own business, she hated Nicky's drug abuse. It made her feel like she was screaming into the void. As she looked back, it had gotten worse in recent months. Since Lorna had been messing her around...but Alex had ignored it, hoping it was temporary. Now it was staring her in the face. In fact, it had slapped her in the face. Alex closed her eyes as she thought about it. She wanted to push it all right out of her head, but it played again and again...

"Nicky?" Alex rapped on the door again. "Come on! I have snacks and booze, what's not to love?"

When there was no answer at Nicky's front door, Alex hadn't been concerned. Nicky was notorious for ignoring everyone - if she was in the mood, she shut everyone out. But she never ignored Alex's thinly veiled attempts to make her feel better. She always, eventually, came to the door. Alex had been there for ten minutes now, pleading at the door - Nicky's record was four and a half.

"Nicky?" Alex said again, less confidently. She took a step back, biting her lip. In a last ditch attempt, she tried the handle. Her eyebrows shot up when the door creaked open. She didn't even have to step into the room to see what was wrong, it greeted her instantly at her feet. "Nicky, oh my god!"

It wasn't that she even really cared about her grades - strangely enough, good grades weren't really a consideration in her line of work - but if she wanted the sperm donor who called himself her dad to keep paying her fees, she had to keep her grades up.

When it started to ring, Alex grabbed it and without looking at the caller ID, pressed it to her ear. "I'm all out for this week," she said, without giving the person on the other end a chance to even say hello. "Texting me incessantly won't help, I can't pull LSD out of my ass."

There was a hesitation but after a beat, a small voice piped up. "Uh, Alex?"

Alex's cheeks glowed beetroot, and she slapped a hand to her forehead. "...Piper?"

"I can call back another time if you're busy," the blonde said, twirling the phone wire between her fingers. The pink wire of her bedroom extension matched her nails. "Though I wouldn't say three messages is incessant…"

Alex suppressed a groan. "Maybe incessant was the wrong word choice."

Piper giggled. "Well, would it kill you to pick up the phone?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. Going to live with her father - a real threat if she didn't toe the line - would make her feel like dying, but she wasn't going into that now. "You know customers...stoners, they don't like to give up without a fight."

"I don't either."

"I have homework," Alex said reluctantly after a moment of silence. "You know what Healy's like. He can be a real hard ass."

"Really?" Piper let a little laugh out. "Huh, he always lets me off when I forget my homework."

"I wonder why." Alex smirked, rolling her green eyes. She doubted Piper ever 'forgot' about homework, rather than simply ignoring its existence. "Some of us don't have that luxury. I'll catch up with you later, Piper."

"Wait!"

Alex held back a sigh. "Yes?"

"I'm bored," the blonde complained. Alex could almost hear the pout in her voice, yet the smile that plastered her own face was strangely stubborn. She hated whining, but she found herself unable to put the phone down. "Come hang out with me."

"I'm busy," Alex said. "Not all of us can afford to flunk every class, you know."

"Listen, I'll take care of your homework."

"You'll do my homework?" Not even Alex could hold back a laugh. "You don't even do your own!"

Piper laughed too, an easy chuckle that surprised Alex. Despite reassuring her of the opposite a few weeks ago, it was hard not to think Piper was a priss who would take offence at the smallest of things.

"Of course I'm not doing your homework," she said. "There's this girl...she's a real math genius. She'll do it."

Alex crossed her arms, clamping her phone between her shoulder and ear. Suspicion crept into her voice as she asked, "Why would she do it?"

"Mm," Piper said, picking lint from her skirt. "She's a little short of cash right now."

Alex sighed. "Aren't we all?"

"Nope," the blonde said, popping the P. "I just got my allowance."

Alex rolled her eyes. "I thought you were grounded. And that your credit cards had been cancelled."

"Well, they are," Piper said. "But Daddy always relents in the end."

"Of course he does," she said under her breath. "Listen, I'm not pimping out some girl to do my homework. It's wrong, Piper." The brunette murmured as she worked out an equation, jotting her workings out down on the notepad.

"And selling drugs isn't?"

"It's not the same," Alex insisted. To her, selling drugs to rich kids was always going to happen. If she didn't profit off of it, someone else would. And someone else might lace it with who-knows-what. Alex was always fair on price, and she always sold what she advertised. "What's her name? Do I know her?" There was an edge of worry to her voice. She was unconcerned about what other people thought of her - or so she said - but anxiety still crept into her tone at the thought of people knowing anything about her.

"Taystee, and no. She doesn't mind," Piper insisted. "Plus, you know, what if she has to resort to other things if we don't pay her for homework?"

Taystee? Alex thought, raising an eyebrow. Even so, she shook her head good-humoredly. "That's a stretch." But she put down her pen, a smile playing on her lips.

Piper must have heard it in her words, because she seized her opportunity. "So you'll meet me?"

"Fine," Alex relented, throwing her textbooks on her bed. "Where?"

"Storky's."

"..."

"The booth closest to the counter, okay?" Piper continued.

"You're serious?"

"I'm always serious!" The peals of laughter that followed were contagious.

"I'm not gonna turn up to Storky's to the cast of Punk'd, right?"

Piper rolled her eyes this time. "Just meet me there."

Alex shoved her phone into the pocket of her knock-off Levi's, threw on a jacket to combat the cold now that the mild days had given way to frost, and headed out the door. Snowflakes were fluttering down, much like on that awful day a few weeks ago.

Alex ran out into the street. Her heart thudded underneath her sweatshirt, sweat beading on her forehead. It was freezing out, but she batted at her face wildly to cool it off. "Help!"

The ice on the sidewalk gave no traction, and she slid right over. Her knees were bleeding, but if she noticed, she didn't show it. "Can somebody help? My friend is in trouble!"

No-one stopped. No-one even looked in her direction. Was she invisible? She thought. With trembling hands, Alex punched in 911. Reeling off Nicky's address, she continued breathlessly, "I think my friend's taken something...she's collapsed on the floor, I can't wake her up."

Listening to the operator, Alex ran back inside. Crouching down next to Nicky, she sobbed over her. "Come on, Nichols...I can't do this without you. We're a team, right?" She sniffed, wiping her nose on the back of her hand.

Nicky didn't stir, and her breathing, if she was breathing, was faint.

"I'm getting you help, Nicky," Alex said, her hair falling in Nicky's face. "Just hang on a little longer, okay?"

Alex ignored the snowflakes raining down on her. It only served as a reminder. At least this time, though, the ground wasn't covered in a sheet of black ice. She rubbed her hands together as she walked to the bus stop.

On the bus, she looked out of the window. She didn't like public transport; people were generally assholes, and since she'd...blossomed when she was eleven, she was accustomed to comments being thrown in her direction. But today was different. Today she was going to be seeing Piper. And despite everything else, she couldn't stop the smile on her face.


Pushing the door to Storky's open, Alex looked up as the little bell jangled above her. It was the type of place her mom would have taken her as a treat when she was little - though that happened so little, she could have counted it on one hand.

Piper, true to her word, sat at the booth closest to the counter. Her face beamed a smile and she beckoned Alex over. Alex laughed softly at her goofy expression, and smiled back - until her eyes flitted to a familiar face a little behind the blonde.

Alex's pace quickened and her smile faded into a glare by the time she reached the booth. She threw her backpack down onto the bench, her eyes dark.

"Wait here," Alex said, her attention entirely captured by a scene behind the counter of Storky's. She locked eyes with Piper, whose brow knitted in confusion. Through gritted teeth, she hissed, "I have something to take care of."

Piper's gaze followed Alex as she stormed up to the counter, as she slammed her hand down on the table. It throbbed, but she had other things on her mind. "What the fuck, Nicky?"

Nicky jumped, slipping a small baggie into her pocket. "Relax, Al," the blonde said with an easy smile. "Me and Taystee are just having a conversation." Her voice lost its friendly tone and gained an edge."I am allowed to have friends other than you, aren't I?"

Alex ignored her. "You're Taystee?"

"And you are?" Taystee raised her eyebrows.

"None of your business."

Alex grabbed Nicky's arm, twisted it and, ignoring Nicky's yelp of pain, dipped her hand into the copper-haired girl's pocket. "Is this what you call a conversation?" Alex glared as she held up a baggie of white powder. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Weed is one thing, Nicky, but you promised."

"I didn't promise shit!" Nicky retaliated. She snatched the baggie from Alex's fingers, turning to Taystee. "Tell Vee I'll pay her next time I see her," she muttered.

"I'll add it to your tab," Taystee said, raising her eyebrows at Alex. "You ordering, or what?"

"Thanks," Alex said sarcastically, her grip tightening around Nicky's arm. "But we're done here. Nice to know you're using your skills in math for the greater good."

Taystee shrugged. "Everybody's gotta eat."

Alex waited anxiously outside of Nicky's hospital room until Marka emerged. The older woman's eyes were red around the rims, but she looked far away. Alex hesitated for a moment before calling.

"Mrs Nichols?"

The blonde's head snapped up. Her eyes, so much like Nicky's, bored into Alex. "Yes?"

Alex almost lost her nerve. "How...how is Nicky?"

Marka tilted her head. "She's going to be fine, Alex."

"You remember me?"

Marka had the good grace to look ashamed, and shook her head. "Nicky told me. You saved her life, you know." She took a deep breath. "The nurses, they said so."

Alex was lost for words. She stumbled over the ones she had, umming and ahhing. "I just did what anyone would."

Marka's voice was flat when she continued. "She's going to kill herself, you know."

Alex said nothing. She wanted to disagree, to say that this would be the scare she needed to finally kick the habit...but she couldn't.

'When I wanted to rebel as a teenager, I didn't eat. That's what we did, back in the 70s." For the first time, Marka's face crumpled. "I didn't even last a month. God, why this? Why her? Why me?"

Alex opened her mouth to continue, but no words seemed to fit. Before she found any, Marka was wiping her eyes. She patted at her cheeks with a handkerchief.

"Visiting times are between two and four, dear. Come whenever you'd like."

"You're going to kill yourself," Alex said, her voice rising hysterically. "And then what am I supposed to do? I need you, Nicky! Why are you doing this to yourself?"

Nicky stood her ground, yanking her arm away. Bruises from cannulas still stood out on her pale skin. "What I do is none of your fucking business, Alex! Go be with your girlfriend."

"You know what?" Alex yelled, not caring that she was attracting the attention of half of the restaurant. She plucked the baggie back from Nicky. "I will. But you're still not killing yourself on my watch!"

Before she had a chance to respond, Alex stormed over to Piper. She grabbed her bag from the bench and jerked her head in the direction of the door. "We're going."

Piper scampered to her feet. Having witnessed the whole scene, she was more than willing to leave - but utterly confused, too. She struggled to keep up with Alex's pace as she charged out of the restaurant.

"Are you okay?" Piper squeaked, practically running behind Alex. "I'm sorry, I swear I didn't know that Taystee sold that shit.."

"It's fine," Alex said, quickening her pace even further. She marched to where Piper was parked and slid into her passenger side. Tears pooled in her eyes, but Piper pretended not to notice as she pawed at them.

"Where are we going?" Piper asked quietly, turning the key in the ignition.

"Anywhere but here."


Sitting on the floor of her bedroom, Piper looked at Alex with uncertainty. Then, after a moment, she scooted closer. Resting her head on Alex's neck, she bit her lip. "It'll be okay, you know."

Her free hand ruffled the plush cream carpet on her floor. As soon as they'd slammed Piper's door behind them, Piper ignoring the calling of her mother, Alex had fallen to a crumpled heap on the floor. Her face was hidden behind her hands, but Piper could still see teardrops rolling down her cheeks.

Alex shook her head, the tears now streaming freely down her face. "I'm so afraid that I'm gonna lose her," she admitted, her hair falling in her blood shot eyes. "And I can't do a fucking thing about it. One day I'm gonna turn up, and she's gonna be lying there, a needle sticking out of her arm...I can't even think about it, yet I can't stop," she sobbed. "I found her, you know. Passed out on her fucking floor! Next time, what if I'm not there fast enough? What if she takes too much? I thought she was doing okay, I thought it was just a bad habit…"

"Oh, Al," Piper said softly. She gathered her hair behind her neck and stroked the soft skin on her jaw, not knowing what to say. "This is not your fault. And she's a fighter. She'll be okay." The words sounded hollow, even to her.

"I need to shut my brain off," Alex cried. She thought about having to go home, about having to face Diane and the mess she'd probably have made at home, face the consequences of not telling her where she'd gone...it made her want to run away for good.

Piper chewed on her thumbnail. As if reading her thoughts, she said, "You can stay here as long as you need to. There's no rush," she murmured. Alex could feel her hot breath on her neck, and she shivered. "I'm always here if you need me."

Alex turned around. Watery eyes and blotchy red cheeks aside, she still looked beautiful. Piper's eyes drifted to her lips. Her own lips pressed together.

"I do need you," Alex murmured. "Now. I need you now."

Unable to stop herself, Alex leaned forward and connected their lips. Piper couldn't help herself, either. The hand that had been gently stroking Alex's neck was now tangled in her hair, pulling the brunette closer and closer. Their chests were touching, and Alex wondered if Piper could feel her heart thumping.

Alex's hand snaked down to the small of Piper's back, caressing the soft skin there. Piper was first to break the kiss, panting and lipgloss smeared everywhere.

Alex looked at Piper, breathless. Lipstick smudges marked her cheeks, mascara streaked right down to her jawline. She tugged at Piper's skirt, and then locked eyes with her. "Are you sure?"

Piper looked down at her skirt, at Alex's hand, so close to her...the brunette's cold fingers brushed against her midriff.

"I…"


A/N:

Heya lovelies! I hope you liked this chapter.
Please let me know what you thought.
Hope you're all good.

- Star xo