Weeks had passed since the incident outside the cinema but the remnants of what had been a big purple bruise still covered the left side of Alex's face. Looking in the mirror, she sighed to herself, at least the concussion was gone. Making her way outside for a smoke she thought back to what her mother had said to her when they left the hospital;

"I'm proud of you, kid. Even though I wish you wouldn't be so reckless sometimes, you did a good thing tonight"

Alex frowned, "You did a good thing tonight." Did she? Well, it was obvious that it was the right thing to do, but she was so worried that it hadn't actually changed anything. Piper was still with her asshole boyfriend, the two girls still didn't quite see eye to eye but that hadn't stopped Alex from warning her about him every chance she'd had. She felt a strange protectiveness over the blonde, even if their friendship wasn't really a strong one.

The buzz of her phone interrupted her musings, it was Nicky, as per.

Hey, supervause, up for coming to a gig tonight? Lorna's asking I come see her play and I need a wingman ;)

Alex rolled her eyes at the stupid nickname she'd gained after the happenings with Jason. Supervause. She did, however, agree to go to the gig. Lorna Morello was Nicky's latest obsession, the two had met at the music store where Nicky worked and it had immediately been seen as challenge by the bushy-haired teen. The band Lorna played for were actually supposed to be quite good in any case, so y'know, why not.

Piper lay on her bed, staring up at the ceiling of her room. She could hear her phone buzzing, even though it was still under the pile of clothes she'd buried it in last night. It was probably Jason, she reasoned, which was precisely why the phone was buried. He has been extremely apologetic after that night at the cinema, trying to convince her that he really didn't know he was being out of line, he thought it was what she wanted, etc. But still, she was scared. Her thoughts kept going back to Alex, she always came close to approaching her during school but she knew nothing good would come of it. That insane hatred that she thought she'd had was gone, replaced by a curiosity that she felt she couldn't fulfil.

Her and Polly had become very close friends, the kind of friends that could tell each other everything, but Piper really didn't feel like she could tell her what had happened that night.

It had been a good few days since the incident at the movie theatre and Piper had been awaiting Alex's return to school anxiously. The hate she once felt was gone, and she couldn't help but picture the way Alex had looked lying broken on the sidewalk. A wave of guilt washed over her.

"Woah, what happened to supercunt?!" Polly exclaimed from beside her, they were sitting in their regular group, and none but Jason and herself knew what had transpired. She looked up at him and saw the anger on his face, obviously remembering how Piper had spoken about Alex when he approached her to apologise on the Saturday morning. Possessively he put his arm around her, she let him, not wanting to provoke any more anger. And besides, she liked the feeling of his arm around her shoulders.

She looked over at Alex for the first time that day, seeing her eyes widen as she took in the scene, seeing the way they were acting like a happy couple. She thought she saw a flash of something in the eyes of the dark-haired girl but she wasn't really paying all that much attention to anything other than the big purple swelling that covered the left side of her face. Her breath caught in her throat. Shrugging away from Jason she started to make her way over to the girl when she felt someone grab her arm, she let Polly drag her into the girl's bathroom and tried to prepare for the onslaught of questions she was about to endure, but she still couldn't get Alex's face out of her mind.

"Seriously Pipes what the fuck was that? You were going to go over to her? I thought you hated that bitch."

In that moment Piper seriously thought about revealing everything to her friend, but there was something stopping her. She was scared she had overreacted, that Jason's behaviour was actually the norm and that it had all been for nothing. She tried hard to swallow the lump in her throat and brushed it off.

"I dunno, Pol. I guess I just wanted to know what happened to her."

A knock at the door snapped Piper back into reality,

"You ready?" Cal's head appeared from behind the door. Shit, she'd totally forgotten she said she'd go out with him tonight. She shot him an apologetic look;

"Give me five minutes."

Cal didn't quite have the natural ability to make friends that she had, he was a likeable guy - that much was for sure - but school was a judgemental place and she guessed the other kids thought he was a bit weird. So, when it came to doing stuff outside of school Cal usually didn't mind going it alone, but tonight there was some sort of gig on - a local band, she thought, and he'd asked her along.

Piper didn't have much experience with gigs, she wasn't that into music really, so she didn't really know what the sort of dress code was for these events. With the short amount of time she had to change, however, she just threw on the first things she could grab and they were out the door.

Nervously, Piper made her way towards the venue, letting Cal lead the way. The people hanging around the entrance, smokes in hand, were giving her an indication as to the type of music to expect for the evening. The overall theme seemed to be a grungey punk-like feel, and once they were inside the atmosphere made Piper's stomach flutter. The room was already pretty packed with people, the air thick and with an almost hazy quality, there was a song playing through the speakers that Piper felt she should recognise but couldn't quite put her finger on, it was good though, she started to nod her head in time with the rhythm. Looking over to her brother she noticed that he too had a smile on his face, she had made the right choice in coming here, a step outside her comfort zone was more than welcome at this point.

Cal had just excused himself to go to the bathroom when she heard a voice that was all too familiar.

"Hey"

She could practically hear the smirk. She turned to face Alex, a smile spread across her face as she realised that out here she could speak to who she wanted, no questions, no judgement, she was a million miles away from school. It felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, she had never felt so free as she did tonight.

She turned to face Alex, trying to contain her grin. She'd forgotten how much she'd wanted to talk to her earlier, all her apologies and thanks were bursting to get out, but as she looked at her she couldn't help but feel that now was not the time, so she figured simple was the way to go.

"Hey" she flashed back "What're you doing here, are you a fan of the band?"

Aex laughed at this, more out of surprise than anything, this was the last place she'd been expecting to see the blonde. "Nicky knows the bass player" she said, gesturing over to where Nicky was standing talking to Morello - a relatively short petite girl with dark hair and bright red lipstick.

"What about you, what brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"I'm, uh, here with my brother" Where was Cal anyway? She thought to herself

"I see"

Piper was still nodding along to the song, the other girl met her gaze and smiled, it was a smile that was impossible not to return. They just stood for a minute, she really couldn't help but sway long to the music.

"God this song is great, what is it?"

This earned her a look of disbelief. "You don't know this song?!" Piper shook her head, laughing slightly at the disbelief in Alex's voice. She started to sing along to the words, staring wide eyed in an attempt to get Piper to recognise the lyrics - which did of course lead to Piper having to stifle a giggle, Alex was many things but most definitely not a singer. She eventually gave up;

"Jeez, kid. I thought everyone knew this song. It's Patti Smith, y'know, because the night?"

She had honestly never heard it and just shrugged. "Whatever it is, it's reeally good"

This earned her another smile from Alex;

"You've got good taste."

The praise made Piper's spine tingle, she knew that she desperately wanted this girl to like her. It was kind of insane how comfortable she felt right now, so far from what she'd thought of as her comfort zone, and with the person she'd thought she hated, but it all just felt so much more real than anything she was used to, she felt more like herself right now than at any time she could remember.

It was at this point she remembered that she was currently missing her brother, shit. The first band was on stage starting to set up and she knew she had to find him before the music started. She looked up at Alex apologetically, noting the small frown on her face as the other girl noticed her own change in facial expression.

"I'm so sorry but I've got to go find my brother" She gestured around the crowded space; "He could be anywhere and I'll have no chance once the band start." Alex nodded, understanding.

Reluctantly, she took half a step into the crowd to begin her search, but then darted back to where Alex was standing. "Come find me later" she said touching the other girl's arm, before rushing off again and disappearing into the crowd.

"-Oh yeah, yeah I've heard of them actually, big guy - blonde hair? Sounds like he's having a psychotic episode?"

Alex only half listened to the conversation her friend was having with her would-be lover. Nicky had all but forgotten her existence the second the two of them clapped eyes on Lorna Morello, Alex resorted to people-watching, something that was a favourite hobby of hers in busy places such as this. She liked trying to guess peoples stories, their backgrounds, why they were here, and she was scouting the room for a potential target when she noticed a familiar head of blonde hair standing just a couple metres away. She smiled to herself, this was one person whose motives for being here she couldn't work out, and she felt drawn to her in a very powerful way.

"Hey" she had approached the girl from behind, feeling strangely nervous about the encounter. Trying very hard to keep cool, not letting her nerves show, she just kept up that famous smirk.

As the two began to talk she couldn't help but notice how easy it was, how comfortably the conversation flowed between them. This wasn't the Piper she'd met in school, gone was the rehearsed smile and glassy expression, the girl in front of her seemed so much more alive. She stared admiringly at the way the blonde didn't seem to be able to help herself from moving with the music, this was a Piper she wanted to see more of. Definitely.

She gasped in mock horror at Piper's confession of not knowing Patti Smith - although truthfully she was surprised, she thought it was just one of those songs that people grew up listening to - but really she was thankful for her apparent lack of musical experience, it gave her an excuse to invite her home later on, listen to some records and suchlike. Nicky was coming over too, it wasn't to be meant as a date or anything.

Alex didn't really think about her sexuality much, it wasn't really something that had been relevant in everyday life so far. Nicky had pestered her with questions from time to time but she never really gave satisfactory answers so eventually she'd given up. She didn't like to label herself, but she sure as hell liked Piper.

She was about to bring up rendezvous at her house later when she picked up a change of mood in the blonde, frowning slightly, she tried to work out what was up. Piper looked up at her apologetically, looking ready to run at any moment.

"I'm so sorry but I've got to go find my brother" It clicked into place, then. She had mentioned that she was here with her brother, but Alex had been too mesmerised by this new Piper to pick up on the fact that the brother was nowhere to be seen. She nodded in response, unable to think of anything else to say, and watched as the blonde began to leave.

Cursing herself for missing her chance to invite her back later, Alex turned to walk back to Nicky when she felt a pressure on her arm that made her insides twist.

"Come find me later." There was pleading in the girl's voice.

Alex let her face sort itself into a broad grin at this, 'Oh I will' she thought, but Piper was gone.