A/N: Seriously, you guys are awesome! I really appreciate all the follows, favorites, and reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
Chapter 3
"Get up."
Piper removed her eyes from where they had been glued to the TV for the past hour to glare at her roommate.
"Piper, I mean it. You've been moping all week; enough is enough! I get it; I really do. You liked her a lot, but you weren't. even. dating. She cannot be worth more than a week of sulking. Hell, even a week is too long." Polly had moved in Piper's line of vision so she could no longer use the TV as a distraction. Grabbing Piper's arm, Polly began tugging her friend in an attempt to get her off the sofa.
Piper scowled at Polly's attempt and whined, "Owww! Polly, stop; you're hurting me."
Polly immediately released Piper's arm, and Piper grinned in triumph as she buried herself deeper into the couch cushions, pulling a blanket over her sweats and sweatshirt clad body.
Polly huffed in annoyance when she caught on to how Piper had played her. With both hands on her hips, Polly said authoritatively, "You're coming tailgating with us."
Piper rolled her eyes. "I don't really feel up to it, Polly; and I'm already working at a concessions booth at the game later. I just want to chill until I have to work."
Polly dramatically collapsed onto the couch next to her best friend. She threw her legs over Piper's lap and said, "Pipe, please? If not for yourself, do it for me. I miss my best friend! It will be so much more fun if you're there. For reals."
Piper closed her eyes and took a deep breath in through her nose. She knew she'd give in, because Polly was, in fact, her best friend, and she found it hard to deny her much when she out-right begged for it like she was doing now. Polly was a master at the guilt trip.
But, honestly, Piper was tired of wallowing over Alex. She was sick of feeling mopey and sorry for herself, and she knew she was missing out on things she'd normally think were really fun; like tailgating with her friends.
"Alright, fine," Piper relented with an exaggerated sigh, but smiled genuinely. "When are we meeting up with everyone?"
"Yay!" Polly squealed and threw her arms around Piper in a side hug. "Can you be ready in thirty minutes?"
…
"Chug, chug, chug, chug!" Alex squeezed her empty beer can until it flattened out, proving its emptiness, and flung it to the ground. She wiped some of the amber liquid from her chin with her forearm, while lifting her other arm in victory. She grinned triumphantly as Luschek, Mendez, Poussey, and Nicky finished shot-gunning their beers shortly after.
"Damn, Vause," Nicky said, impressed with her friend's aptitude for chugging beer. Alex gave an over-exaggerated bow, picking up the discarded beer can as she righted herself.
"So, what do I win?" Alex asked Nicky, smirking as she walked the can to a nearby recycling bin. The rest of the contestants began to disperse to other fun tailgating activities.
Nicky thinned her lips out and said, "I think your prize is waiting over there." She nodded her head to the edge of one of their University of Litchfield canopy tents, where Silvie was sitting in a canvas chair, beer in hand, staring at Alex.
Alex rolled her eyes. She groaned and said, "I told her up front I wasn't interested in anything serious, but she's been following me around like a puppy for the past few weeks. She never comes to these things, yet here she is."
Nicky sighed and nodded knowingly. "That's the problem with casually hooking up with other grad students in the department. If things get awkward, there's no way to successfully avoid. You're stuck in constant contact."
Alex gave her friend a sympathetic look. They began making their way back toward the tents and their tailgating friends. "How are things with you and Morello?"
Nicky shrugged, but still managed a playful half-smirk. "Oh, you know, pretty shitty."
Lorna Morello, Nicky, and Alex all started the program together last year, and at first they had been a pretty tight cohort. But then Nicky and Lorna started secretly hooking up, and Nicky had fallen pretty hard. This went on for most of the second semester of their first year, until the new cohort of students arrived a few months ago and Morello met Christopher.
"It's just a pain in the ass to have to see them together; the way she falls all over him; like he's a Greek god or something. He's not even close," Nicky shook her head, pausing just outside their tailgating area. She lowered her voice and said with feeling, "I know he doesn't really care about her. He's just using her, and when he breaks her heart, I'll be the one that picks up the pieces."
Alex gave her a sympathetic shoulder bump. "I'm sorry, Nick; that has to suck."
Nicky shrugged in response, a devilish smirk appearing on her face masking her previous vulnerability. "Enough about my sorry excuse for a love life. What's the deal with you and Blondie? I haven't seen her hanging around our office this week."
Alex blew out a sigh. She said, "Yeah, I think she's avoiding me. She walked in on me and Sylvie when we were having a kind of heated discussion. Piper asked if she was my girlfriend."
"Woah! You didn't tell me that. That basically confirms she's into you. Why hasn't she been coming around then? Wait, what did you tell her?"
Alex rasped out a self-deprecating laugh. "I told her it was complicated."
"What the fuck, Vause? Last I checked, you were done with Sylvie. How is that complicated?"
Alex shrugged. She seemed resigned when she said, "Dating undergrads is against the rules, Nick. It's better if Piper thinks I'm taken."
"Oh, come on." Nicky replied disbelieving. "When did you become an abider of rules?"
Alex stopped walking, pulling her wild-haired friend to a stop as well. "When breaking them risks my position in this program. It's not worth it. I've worked really hard to get here."
"I know, but I can tell that you miss seeing her. You've been brooding more than usual." Nicky said, tinging her serious observation with a bit of teasing. "It's just a stupid rule, though. You're both of age, consenting adults. I don't see what the big deal is."
"Well, I do handle her grades," Alex laughed.
"Trading As for sex, Vause? That's actually quite genius," Nicky ribbed.
But Alex didn't laugh. "That's how the university could see it."
…
Piper and Polly stood side by side nursing mimosas as they watched Pete and Larry toss a Frisbee back and forth.
A particularly off-target throw from Larry sent the Frisbee out of sight, around a corner of canopy tents.
Piper gave Polly a pointed look. Her best friend's motives had been quite clear since they had arrived to the tailgate, and Polly kept encouraging Piper into activities that forced her to spend time with the geeky boy. Her look said, This is who you're trying to set me up with? Come on.
Polly just shrugged sheepishly. She said, "It was Pete's idea! He thought you two would hit it off."
Piper just shook her head in response, but her attention was soon stolen by the appearance of a tall dark-haired figure holding up a Frisbee as she approached. Alex.
"Lose a Frisbee?" she asked as she entered their tailgating site. Piper watched as her face registered surprise, before settling into its normal cool and collected expression (smirk and all), as her gaze met Piper's. "Hey, Piper."
She felt Polly eyeing her with confusion. She was probably wondering how this stranger knew her. "Alex, hi." She heard Polly suck in a quick breath of air through her nose and could see out of the corner of her eye Polly glancing quickly between her and Alex. She ignored her best friend and said to Alex, "I'm surprised to see you here; tailgating doesn't really seem like your thing."
Alex barked out a laugh and continued to move closer to Piper and her friends. She replied, "Lots of day-drinking and lawn games. Definitely right up my alley."
Before Piper could respond, Polly exclaimed, "You should play a game with us! We were going to play corn-hole next!"
Alex eyed Polly, and Piper sensed her hesitation. Piper nudged Polly hard with her elbow and said quickly, "But you don't have to if you don't want to."
"No," Alex said coolly bringing her gaze back to lock with Piper's, "I want to." Piper felt a shiver run up her spine. Alex's voice sounded even deeper and huskier than normal.
"Awesome!" Polly said way too enthusiastically, making Piper cringe. She knew Alex was probably regretting her decision to hang out with them. Alex wasn't really a fan of perky. "Alex and I can be one team," at this Alex raised a confused eyebrow, "and Pete can be on a team with Piper." At everyone's confused looks (especially Pete and Larry who were extremely out of the loop), she explained, "That way Pete and I can stand together at one end and Piper and Alex can stand together at the other."
"What about me?" Larry asked. Piper figured he assumed he'd be paired with her.
"You can keep score, Larry." Polly said.
A few minutes later they were all taking their positions next to the scoring platforms, Polly and Pete with a handful of bean bags each. As Polly and Pete began the game, throwing bean bags one at a time toward the platform next to where Piper and Alex stood, Alex turned her attention to Piper taking in her appearance.
Piper blushed under Alex's scrutiny. The older girl let out a soft chuckle and said, "Well don't you look spirited." And it was true. Piper was decked out in a heather gray pullover sweatshirt with the University of Litchfield's logo and mascot, Leo the Lion, printed proudly across the front. She was wearing dark yellow leggings underneath, tucked into brown knee-high boots.
Piper blushed harder, but met Alex's stare. She said with a hint of sarcasm, "It's a tailgate. You're supposed to look spirited." It was her turn to eye the older girl up and down, and she did so unabashedly.
Alex, on the other hand, was covered in one of her usual dark ensembles; today's outfit consisting of a deep navy blue sweater and black skinny jeans. Her ensemble was finished off with a pair of black combat boots.
"Your turn!" Polly yelled from the opposite scoring platform.
Alex grabbed the black bean bags, letting Piper collect the yellow ones. Even their corn-hole game was Litchfield Lions themed.
Piper watched as Alex swung her arm back then launched the bean bag toward Polly and Pete. She didn't quite manage to stifle her laughter at Alex's terrible throw.
"Hey!" Alex exclaimed, bringing her hand to her chest in mock offense. "That was just a warm-up."
"Right." Piper said, as she prepared to take her turn. She bent slightly at the waist, eyes focused on the tiny hole in the platform ahead of her. She bit her lip in concentration, then flung her bag forward. It landed with a loud thud on the surface of the platform. "Yes!" The blonde squealed, jumping up and down slightly from her excitement. She looked at Alex with a proud smile lighting up her face. Alex watched her with amusement.
"Great shot, Piper!" Larry called from where he was watching on the sidelines.
Piper couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Thanks!"
The game continued on, and Piper was thoroughly entertained by just how awful Alex was at throwing bean bags. Alex had yet to score any points, but Polly was fairly good at the game, keeping the scores close. As they neared the end of the game, Piper's competitive streak was really starting to show.
"Mother fucker!" Piper stomped in frustration as the bean bag she had just tossed hit the platform too hard and bounced off. Alex chuckled at her. Piper shot her a glare and said, "Like you could do better."
This just made Alex laugh harder. "I should have guessed that you were super competitive."
Piper traded in her glare for a grin and shrugged. She looked up at Alex through her lashes and said, "I like to win."
Alex raised an eyebrow. She took her turn then turned to Piper and said, "How are you doing in psych? You didn't come by all week."
Before Alex could mask it, Piper saw a hint of vulnerability in her expression when she asked the question. Piper averted her eyes guiltily. "I'm doing well; and yeah, I was really busy this week."
She didn't know why she was feeling guilty exactly. There was no rule that said she had to go to Alex's office hours. In fact, she had thought Alex would be happy to have a week free from her pestering. However, Alex had sounded disappointed.
Piper's blue eyes found Alex's green ones. Alex said softly, "I missed seeing you."
Piper's eyes widened at the admission and she swore her heart skipped a beat. "You did?" Piper mirrored Alex's softer tone of voice.
Their moment was interrupted as one of Piper's friends, Brook, came bounding over. "Hey! We should probably start heading into the stadium if we want to get seats before the game starts."
All of Piper's friends began packing in their stuff. Piper smiled shyly at Alex. "Are you going to the game? I'm working in one of the concessions booths. If you want to come by, I'll give you a free funnel cake." She bumped her shoulder playfully against Alex's as she bent to grab a bean bag.
Sneaking a quick glance over her shoulder, Piper caught Alex checking out her ass. She smirked to herself before straightening up.
"Nah," Alex replied, not even looking the least bit embarrassed for having been caught staring. "Tailgating is fun, but actually attending the game isn't really my thing," she said echoing Piper's earlier statement.
Piper nodded awkwardly as Alex began to back away towards the direction she had come from.
"I'll see you Monday." The fact that Alex hadn't phrased that as a question made Piper's belly flip.
A/N: I am starting a new semester on Monday, but I will try my hardest to continue to update frequently (once a week), but it may take a bit longer than it has in the past for me to update.
I hope you all enjoyed that chapter! Please leave a review and tell me if you are enjoying this fic and if there is anything specific you want to see happen that I can try to include! Your reviews really inspire me to continue with these fics and I really appreciate hearing your thoughts!
Love you guys!
HM :)
