A/N: Hey guys! Thanks so much for the awesome response for this, I'm super grateful and thrilled about it. I've been really excited about this fic, and it's a relief to see people on board.
So I made a post on Tumblr asking if I should post a shorter chapter now, or wait to post a longer one...I had originally planned on a much longer chapter, with a clearer, big deal end point, but then realized I wouldn't be able to work on it until next week at least, and I feel bad waiting that long when I had almost 6k words written.
About 80% of responses wanted me to go ahead and post, so here we go. A shorter, filler chapter by virtue of the situation, but more will be coming soon!
Part of the beauty of falling in love with you is the fear you won't fall.
The Fear You Won't Fall / Joshua Radin
"Out!" Jessica Wedge yells from the other side of the tennis court, her determined sprint seguing into a lazy jog to chase the tennis ball to the fence.
"What?" Piper says incredulously. She's standing at the net, close enough to see where ball hit. "It wasn't even on the line!"
Jessica turns back and shakes her head. "Just over."
Furious, Piper twists around to look at Polly, back at their baseline, shrugging uncertainly. On the other side of the net, Sarah, Jessica's partner, isn't saying anything either.
"Fine, whatever." Piper smacks her racket down on top of the net, annoyed. That had been a blistering fucking return, just after Jessica had made the mistake of running for the net too soon.
It's a challenge match, and the coach isn't nearby to police their calls. Jessica and Sarah are coming for Polly and Piper's ranked doubles spot, but they're losing 3-1 in the second set (first set: 6-3) and obviously getting desperate.
Piper glances hopefully toward the soccer field, but their practice is still going. Alex had really been hoping to get out early enough to come watch Piper "kick Jessica's ass", which she'd promised to do and, so far, is expertly accomplishing.
In real matches, Piper's usual response to someone making bullshit calls is to go a little rogue at the net, slamming shots purposefully at her opponents bodies, but that seems like bad form playing against her own teammates, especially since she's still relatively new.
But if Alex were here to see, it might have been worth it.
She never shows up, though, and Polly and Piper win the second set 6-2, a wide enough victory that Jessica and Sarah should probably be embarrassed for challenging them at all. Sarah shakes the loss off quickly, smiling genuinely when she shakes Piper's hand with the perfunctory "good match" and immediately slipping into easy conversation with Polly, but Jessica is obviously pissed.
The losers have the embarrassing task of reporting the outcome to the coach, and as they head off, Polly and Piper go for their water bottles and tap their rackets gently together. "Nice one," Polly says with a grin. "I think Jess really thought they'd beat us."
"A foolish undertaking," Piper intones solemnly, and Polly laughs. "She gonna be pissed at you?"
"Nah, she'll get over it. She just never likes to lose." Polly takes a long swig of water, then says. "Hey, we're all going to the football game at Overbrook tonight. Want to come with?"
Automatically, Piper looks away. "That's okay," she says lightly, and inadequately, as if Polly is offering to do her a favor.
"You never want to hang out," Polly says, and there seems to be genuine hurt in her voice. "Is it because Jessica will be there?"
"Kind of," Piper mutters, a little chagrined at the straightforward questioning.
"You know, she's only ever been nice to you." Polly rolls her eyes. "Not counting very recent poor sportsmanship."
"I know that." It's true that Jessica's never treated Piper badly, not that she's given her much chance. Even hanging around Polly and Sarah at practice, Piper tries not to interact with her directly. "But, c'mon, Pol...Alex is like my best friend here." Pride swells in her voice at the words. She feels like a fifth grader, so eager for the label. She'd even wear one of those cheesy half heart necklaces from Claire's if it meant solid proof of reciprocation.
"But their shit shouldn't have anything to do with us being friends."
"I know. And it doesn't." She sticks her racket in her tennis bag and slings the strap over her shoulder. "We're allowed to leave after challenge matches, right?"
"Yeah," Polly says, still looking put out. "You know, basketball starts soon. You'll go to those, right?"
She means because Danny plays. "Yeah, I'll definitely watch some." Honestly, Piper spent more than enough time of her childhood and preteen years sitting bored through Danny's games and tournaments, but Janae's boyfriend plays, too, so she figures her friends will probably attend.
Piper waves at Polly, feeling slightly guilty as she heads off the courts. She's always assumed Polly's main motivation in befriending her is about Danny - she definitely likes to talk about him - but she always seems genuinely disappointed when Piper turns down an invitation to hang out or sit with her at meals.
She shrugs off the guilt pretty easily, though, when Piper sees the soccer team is finally breaking apart and heading for the sidelines. She stops walking, absently scrolling through apps on her phone to kill time until Alex trots over to join her. She's flushed and sweaty, her knees especially grass stained today, plastic sports glasses looped around her neck, pink circles rimming her eyes. Piper smirks and aims her phone, snapping a photo before Alex can protest.
"I'm instagramming that. Caption: glamour shot."
"Asshole." Alex makes a grab for the phone, and Piper snatches it out of reach. "How'd it go?"
Piper smiles, smug as hell. "We killed her."
"Nice. Was she pissed?"
"Oh, yeah. Started calling lines wrong just to save her dignity and it still didn't help."
"Damn it, I wanted to see that. Today had to be the day for a full scrimmage."
Piper's phone buzzes, and she glances down. "It's the group." Rather than take out her own phone, Alex leans close to read on Piper's screen.
JANAE
[Any of y'all wanna go to the OB game tonight?]
"Polly asked me to go with them," Piper tells Alex.
"She needs to give up trying to steal you," Alex pulls a dramatic face. "I'm starting to feel like we're gonna have to have a duel or something."
Piper laughs a little, inordinately pleased with the possessiveness, even if it is a joke.
POUSSEY
[I'll go w/you if you promise not to ditch me to make out with Marcus all night]
JANAE
[Not sure if I can make that promise.]
POUSSEY
[anybody else gonna step up then?]
"Here, let me answer." Alex takes Piper's phone like hers isn't six inches away in her bag, and quickly texts.
PIPER
[Zero interest in dude sports, sorry]
NICKY
[Bold admission Chapman]
PIPER
[Piper's phones been hijacked.]
NICKY
[Christ, then I guess I'll go, too. Not gonna be stuck here third wheeling you two all night.]
Alex returns Piper's phone with a satisfied look on her face. "Sorry, did you want to go?"
"No," Piper answers immediately. "I actually don't have much interest in dude sports."
But mostly she just likes the idea of it just being her and Alex on campus tonight. She loves their group of friends; the five of them always laugh a lot and have fun together, but she also kind of likes the moment they split up for the night, because she and Alex are always heading for the same place. Sometimes her favorite part of the day is the few hours before bed when they're shut in their room, even if they're just chatting occasionally while doing homework.
Nearly two months in and Piper is still inexplicably greedy for Alex's presence. She's never spent this much time with a single person, not even a member of her family, and yet she always finds herself craving more.
So later that night, after an early dinner with the others, the buses leave for Overbrook - unnecessary in terms of the distance to their brother's school's football stadium, but an easy way to keep track of the Litchfield students who go - leaving the campus much quieter than usual.
Alex insists they spend time outside while it's still warm enough at night to do so, but once the sun sets they still need jackets. Alex buys them two cokes from the dorm lounge's vending machine, and they end up stretched out on the grass outside their dorm, Alex's phone between them playing music, that Tegan and Sara song Piper's always trying to figure out with the weird lyrics about a koala bear.
She never used to do stuff like this with her old friends, this kind of quiet contented nothing. The point of those friendships was always about doing and talking; there always had to be something happening. She doesn't remember ever being so satisfied by anyone's mere presence.
Text Message, Tuesday, October 16, 10:23 pm
MOM
[Hey baby. U okay today?]
ALEX
[Yeah I'm good, how are you?]
MOM
[fine. how was ur game]
ALEX
[We won. 2-0. And I played the whole game cuz Fiona was sick.]
MOM
[u didnt poison her did u?]
ALEX
[Yeah, actually, I saved my murder plot for an off season exhibition game.]
MOM
[I read a book once where an understudy murdered the starring actress to get her part]
[just makin sure youre not doing the sports version]
ALEX
[stop buying books at the grocery store check out line.]
MOM
[anyone ever told you you're a snob?]
ALEX
[Piper does actually. But about music.]
MOM
[well that I'm proud of u for]
ALEX
[Hypocrite.]
MOM
[lol how is Piper?]
ALEX
[She's good. We're just in our room studying for a history thing tomorrow]
MOM
[well I won't distract u. just wanted to say hi]
ALEX
[Thanks. Is work ok?]
MOM
[no complaints here kiddo. love you.]
ALEX
[Love you, too.]
Text Message, Wednesday, October 17, 3:11 pm
DAD
[Hi sweetheart. How are you?]
PIPER
[Hey, I'm good. You?]
DAD
[Just fine. Classes still going well?]
PIPER
[Yeah, just busy getting ready for midterms.
DAD
[Did you get that essay back yet?]
PIPER
[Yep, got an A.]
DAD
[That's my girl.]
[I transferred some money your debit account, didn't like it getting too low.]
PIPER
[Thanks.]
DAD
[No problem. Try to call home sometime this weekend.]
[And call your grandmother, too, please.]
PIPER
[I will. Sorry.]
Piper shows up for lunch one Saturday wearing one of Alex's Litchfield Soccer T-shirts, and Alex brings them both drinks from the beverage station, so she's not sure which thing Nicky's pointed look is referring to. "You two are like an old married couple."
Alex rolls her eyes for show, and kicks Nicky under the table for sincerity. "So are you and Janae. Just an ornery, unhappy one that maybe should have gotten divorced already."
"I found her hair on my track pants this morning," Janae says blithely, her most common complaint about rooming with Nicky.
"Case in point," Alex deadpans while the rest of them laugh.
"Speaking of couples," Nicky says, breezily changing the subject. "Excellent news: Laney Dorse is single. Heard she dumped Sylvie last week."
"Nice," Alex replies carelessly. "Go for it."
"Oh, no, I meant good news for you, Vause. She's much more your type."
"That's your type?" Piper asks, frowning slightly and twisting around in her seat like she's hoping to double check what Laney Dorse looks like - which is tall and curvy with a wild mane of dark hair. And dead sexy.
"You don't know me," she tells Nicky.
"Hey, I'm just going on past experience."
"What, one person?" She assumes Nicky's referring to Casey Thompson, the one girl here she'd had a brief, ill defined something with last year.
Poussey snickers. "Yeah, Nicky, doesn't seem like you're factoring yourself into figuring out that type."
Piper's head snaps up at that. "What? You two - "
"Sexiled me all'a first semester? Yeah, they did," Janae says with an epic eyeroll.
"Calm down, it was barely a month," Nicky is saying, but Alex's eyes are on Piper. She looks flushed and almost irritated - almost jealous. Alex really doesn't want to be this person, analyzing every little moment and allowing them to swell in importance, but sometimes she can't help it. There is a tiny, candlelight flame of hope that lives in some secret hatch inside her head, and it's things like this that make it talk to her, whispering maybe maybe maybe.
"I was just doing my civic duty. Initiating the baby dyke."
Alex rolls her eyes, because Nicky's lesbian bravado act is probably the second most annoying thing Nicky does. To Piper, she says, "We were just messing around. Shockingly I managed to avoid falling for all this." She waves a derisive hand at Nicky, and everyone except Piper laughs.
After lunch, Nicky and Poussey go off to meet with a biology study group, and Janae goes on a run because that's what Janae does even on off days. Alex looks at Piper as the others scatter. "Want to see if the ping pong table's free?"
Piper shrugs like she couldn't possibly care less. "We can."
She's not making eye contact, and Alex has to bite back a smile as they head down the stairs to the basement. "You're acting like Snow White's eighth dwarf." She waits, forcing Piper to finally turn around with an impatient, questioning look. Alex smirks and clarifies, "Pouty."
"I'm not pouting."
"You are." The basement is mostly empty, two girls on the couch watching a movie. Alex leads the way to the ping pong table on the other end of the room, mostly out of earshot. "Are you mad I never said anything about Nicky?"
"Kinda," she mutters.
"It wasn't a big deal. It didn't even mean anything." They grab paddles and start hitting the ball back and forth - with some unnecessary force on Piper's end. "I'd only kissed three girls before. They were all older, and straight, and playing this stupid drinking game at my neighbor's trailer. They mainly did it because boys were watching, but I didn't care at the time...I just wanted to kiss a girl. Nicky and I started being friends after the whole Jessica thing, and she talked a big game...told me none of those counted."
Nicky at fourteen had been all puffed up, hollow bragging - she'd apparently kissed five girls, and claimed to have done "serious stuff" with two of those. Only when she and Alex were making out the first time did she admit that serious just meant making out horizontally, plus some under the shirt action.
"We never had feelings for each other or anything," Alex says. "It was just, like, we'd get kinda drunk and then hook up a little."
"So you were friends with benefits," Piper practically spits out, like the concept is beneath her, and even though Alex should probably be annoyed at the judgment, her head just keeps chanting maybe's.
"I guess, if you need some annoying rom-com label for it," Alex says with a smirk.
It had always been very clinical and deliberate with Nicky, fun for the month or so they'd kept it up, but they'd gotten bored and let it peter out without regret.
Alex's phone buzzes, and she plays out the volley until Piper slams the ping pong ball past her. "This isn't fair, you've got the tennis skills."
"I don't think they really apply. You just suck."
Once she's chased down the ball, Alex pulls her phone out of her pocket.
NICKY
[Pipes cooled off yet? Somebody seems pretty jealous of our hot heavy affair]
[but seriously if you ever want a reminder of what benefits youre missing with your platonic gf, we can always have a relapse.]
Alex grits her teeth and ignores that.
For the record, Nicky giving her shit about Piper - especially this "platonic girlfriend" brand of shit - has recently become the most annoying thing Nicky does.
But okay, maybe sometimes she has a point.
Because stoned Piper is very...tactile. And it's possible Alex positioned herself here on purpose, sitting on the ground in front of the overturned tree trunk, leaning back on Piper's legs while she plays absently with Alex's hair.
"I don't think I like gin," Piper says, putting her cup on the ground and turning both hands' full attention to Alex's hair. "It tastes like...yellow."
The others slowly splutter into high induced giggles. Alex tips her head all the way back to look at Piper. "What color does vodka taste like?"
Piper's face pinches into intense concentration. "Blue," she declares at last. "But like a really light blue, you know?"
"Rum?" Poussey prompts.
"Burgundy. No. No. No, maroon."
"Important distinction."
"Whiskey?"
"Haven't tasted it."
"Tequila?" Alex's head is still tilted, practically in Piper's lap.
"Gold," Piper says right away, particularly emphatic. "And silver. Silver and gold."
Alex grins upside down at her. "You're only saying that because you love tequila."
Piper smiles back, then takes the proffered joint from Janae. Instead of smoking, she places it between Alex's lips and holds on while she inhales.
Nearby, Nicky lets out a theatrical groan. Alex covertly gives her the finger, though she's fairly confident that Piper is too high to think anything of it.
Group Text: Janae Watson, Poussey Washington, Nicky Nichols
NICKY
[Taking final bets on how long it'll take Vause and Chapman to bang]
JANAE
[We sure they aren't already?]
NICKY
[actually bang and/or fall apart completely]
[both options are on the table]
POUSSEY
[Ah leave them alone]
JANAE
[Can I go fuck by Christmas and THEN fall apart?]
NICKY
[YES thank you for actually participating]
POUSSEY
[you're both terrible ppl]
"Come here..." Piper's got her phone held out with one hand, in classic selfie position, and she's beckoning Alex with the other. Dutifully, Alex leans in, close enough that Piper's hair brushes her cheek and she can smell the cinnamon gum Piper always chews after they smoke.
Alex smiles automatically and Piper takes the photo. Alex stays close enough to see the screen, watching her debate between filters on Instagram.
It's a good picture, featuring Piper's real smile, the one that takes over her entire face. Alex watches while she thumbs out a caption:
#RoomieLove. I guess we get along or whatever.
"You're a dork," Alex informs her, resting her chin briefly on Piper's shoulder.
Piper twists around to look at her, eyes still full of leftover smile. "Shut up, I'm the only one maintaining your social media presence."
"Nah, you're just still in Freshman Facebook Frenzy. You'll slack off."
"I'm not a freshman, and I don't know what that means."
"But it is your first year, so you're still trying to prove to people back home that you've made friends."
"Are you complaining?"
"Nope, I completely understand. They should be jealous of us."
Text Message, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2:48 pm
ALEX
[what's your shoe size]
PIPER
[um. why?]
ALEX
[getting you a christmas gift.]
PIPER
[you don't need to buy me shoes for Christmas]
[oh wait are you working at the bowling alley?]
ALEX
[HA knew you'd figure it out]
[but yes I should have said STEALING you a Christmas gift]
[size please]
PIPER
[9 1/2]
[but don't steal if it's going to get you in trouble]
ALEX
[ I think you should know by now I'm good at being covert]
Text Message, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 4:11 pm
PIPER
[I'm so bored.]
ALEX
[Chez Chapman not have the appeal of the esteemed Kerman House?]
PIPER
[Not quite. I wish we could've all stayed at the dorm and cooked our own Thanksgiving like characters do on TV]
ALEX
[tbh I don't think I'd trust that oven with a turkey.]
[or any of us w/cooking one.]
Text Message, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 8:20 pm
ALEX
[how was dinner w/ the old crew]
PIPER
[Awkward.]
[They didn't really wanna hear stories about school but I don't really care about gossip on people we barely know.]
[like I tried to explain the thunderstorm thing and they were just like "what's the big deal"]
ALEX
[They're just jealous.]
PIPER
[what have you been up to?]
ALEX
[Oh I'm living it up. Haven't moved from the couch in hours.]
[that's a lie I went to the fridge for a beer]
[#exercise]
PIPER
[but you worked earlier?]
ALEX
[no just stopped by to see if they'll give me shifts over Christmas break.]
[and then I bowled a game.]
[I am not good.]
PIPER
[we should all go bowling when we get back.]
[isn't there an alley somewhere?]
ALEX
[yeah but trust me you don't want to see Janae bowl.]
[she fucking sucks at it and hates sucking at anything so she just starts messing around.]
PIPER
[Messing around how?]
ALEX
[Granny style bowling, pushing it w/ her foot, etc.]
[She starts out super serious and then as soon as she starts to lose just goes into all that bullshit so you know she's not actually TRYING]
[and then she makes us all play air hockey until she feels superior again]
PIPER
[This actually sounds really amusing let's do it.]
Text Message, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2:01 pm
PIPER
[Happy Thanksgiving!]
ALEX
[you too. I feel like there should be a turkey emoji]
PIPER
[there is, see]
ALEX
[that's a rooster dumbass.]
PIPER
[close enough.]
Text Message, Thursday, Nov. 24, 5:39 pm
PIPER
[there is wine]
[I can SEE the wine]
[but I can't drink the wine]
[That + my grandmother and my mom passive aggressively fighting about food = torture]
ALEX
[If you need an emergency relaxation break, check your left sneaker.]
PIPER
[What did you put in my shoe?]
ALEX
[go see for yourself]
[a gift, courtesy of the Thanksgiving fairy.]
PIPER
[ALEX!]
[what the hell what if my mom had found that?]
ALEX
[why would your mom be looking inside your shoe?]
[ps if you're about to eat dinner, smoke first...it'll make it the best thanksgiving meal you've ever had]
PIPER
[I can't smoke this all myself.]
[and I can't smoke this HERE]
ALEX
[1. share w/your brothers then]
[2. sure you can just open an upstairs window]
[I assume your house is many many floors.]
PIPER
[you're insane.]
ALEX
[but correct]
Text Message, Thursday, Nov. 24, 7:51 pm
PIPER
[I'm so full right now, I feel gross.]
[have you eaten yet?]
ALEX
[No. Mom's still at work.]
PIPER
[have you been cooking?]
ALEX
[fuck no. She brought home a ton of food from the restaurant yesterday, just waiting on her to heat it up.]
[that's Thanksgiving trailer park style, Pipes. Don't be jealous.]
Text Message, Thursday, Nov. 24, 9:04 pm
ALEX
[my mom says to tell you hi]
PIPER
[should I say hi back?]
ALEX
[uh that tends to be the polite response Pipes]
PIPER
[I know but I've never met her so I didn't know if that's weird.]
ALEX
[she said it first she's never met you either.]
PIPER
[ok tell her I said hi.]
ALEX
[too late she thinks you're rude for waiting.]
PIPER
[I hate you.]
Text Message, Friday, Nov. 25, 12:17 pm
PIPER
[you need to download snap chat]
ALEX
[aw you miss my face?]
PIPER
[haha I want to show you the hiding place I found for your 'gift']
ALEX
[The FBI's not gonna flag a text if you say POT]
PIPER
[I also think I packed one of your shirts by accident]
ALEX
[which one?]
PIPER
[if you had snap chat I could show you.]
ALEX
[yea too bad a shirt's such an impossible thing to describe]
PIPER
[Distressed looking gray one.]
ALEX
[*sigh* and now I am also distressed.]
PIPER
[wow]
[you are much less cool than I originally thought.]
ALEX
[fuck you I'm hilarious.]
Text Message, Friday, Nov. 25, 6:24 pm
PIPER
[I can see you watching Parks and Rec without me you jerk.]
[It's MY Netflix account]
ALEX
[I was gonna go back and rewatch them with you.]
PIPER
[we were supposed to be binging together]
ALEX
[and like I said. I'm happy to rewatch.]
PIPER
[no never mind, I'll catch up now...the only reason I haven't watched is bc I was gonna wait for you like a COURTEOUS person]
ALEX
[oh really cause it looks like you were just too busy marathoning One Tree Hill]
PIPER
[ok we need to make you your own profile]
ALEX
[please do then I can stop switching over to Danny's when I watch movies from the Gay And Lesbian section.
PIPER
[hahahaha]
[wait but do you really do that?]
Thanksgiving break is less than a full week, but time at home passes at a glacial pace compared to time at Litchfield. She and Alex text constantly, at least, and it's the only thing that gets Piper through it.
She goes to a dinner with her old friends the first full day back, and they sound so genuinely excited to see her in the group message Gina starts that Piper's actually looking forward to going, but within fifteen minutes it's painfully clear she doesn't have much to say to them anymore.
They don't know who Alex is, or Janae or Nicky or Poussey, and so Piper's stories aren't interesting to them. But even when she recognizes the names in their stories, all people she grew up going to school with, none of it feels like it has anything to do with Piper.
So she doesn't make follow up plans with them, even though she's incredibly bored the entire break.
On Saturday, one day before they get to head back to school, Piper knocks on her older brother's bedroom door. Alex had texted explicit orders that she wasn't allowed to return to Litchfield with her "gift" unsmoked. "Hey."
"Sup, Pooh."
She gives him the obligatory sigh and eyeroll at the name. "Can we go somewhere in your car?"
"Where?"
Discreetly, she closes the door behind her and pulls her hand from the pocket of her jacket. "Anywhere we can smoke this."
Danny's eyes light up. "Damn, Pooh Bear. That Alex girl is a terrible influence on you. What d'you think Mom and Dad will say if I tell them your roommate's the school dealer?"
"Probably something similar to their response when I say that your girlfriend is one of her biggest customers," Piper shoots back, a thrill chasing the words up her throat. It's the kind of quick, perfect response Alex would come up with. She'll have to text it to her.
Danny flashes his teeth. "Touche." He stands up, slamming shut the textbook he'd been reading when she came in. "Let's go."
She figured her brother would know a safe place to smoke, and he does: they end up on the kind of out of the way cul de sac that looks like a make out spot from an 80's movie. He shuts off the car, rolls down the windows, and they light up. Piper only takes three hits before she waves away her brother's attempts to pass it back; Danny's more than happy to finish the joint off himself.
Piper doesn't dislike weed, but there doesn't seem to be any point of it here, like this, without her friends around sharing in a gleefully broken rule. Piper wants Alex to know she smoked it, that she wasn't too afraid of her parents to sneak away and do something bold, but without Alex actually here, sharing it with her, the actual high isn't nearly as fun.
"Alex!"
Piper drops her duffel bag and leaps up on Alex's bed, hugging her with her knees on the mattress. Alex laughs, giving her a sardonic pat on the back. "Aw, poor thing didn't have a good trip home?"
"It was so long," Piper moans, dropping her head on Alex's shoulder in mock exhaustion. "Do I have to go home for Christmas?"
"Afraid so. Well. You have to leave the dorms, at least. But you could always hide out in the trailer park. I'll take you hostage."
"Yes, please. I'll hang out at the bowling alley while you work."
"Speaking of..." Alex grins and leaps off the bed There's a bag draped over her desk chair, and she reaches in and emerges, triumphant, with a pair of bowling shoes identical to her own. "Officially the most fashionable item you own."
"Wow, thanks. Now I can be a hipster, too."
Alex screws up her face, offended. "I'm not a hipster. I stole these from my place of employment, I didn't raid a thrift store."
Piper laughs. "I missed you."
They spend a lazy Sunday night in their dorm room, still in vacation mode. Piper stays on Alex's bed, and at some point they stretch out on their stomachs with Alex's laptop in front of them. Alex is reading out loud from a blog of one of the other sophomores, McKayla Franks, whose entries read like a parody account, satirizing Rich People Problems and Humble Brags. They follow her blog with great amusement, and recently there have been an influx of paragraphs that build up to a reaction gif, so it's actually necessary that Piper stay close enough to see the screen even as Alex does her usual dramatic read.
"...meanwhile, everyone is posting photos of their good 'ol fashioned American Thanksgivings, which does make the Le Chateaubriand in Paris taste a little bittersweet. God, I hate when that happens."
Piper's laughing quietly as Alex reads, and then all at once her fingers land on Alex's forearm, stroking gently, making her skin shiver.
Alex's voice stumbles a little but she keeps reading on autopilot. For a second she thinks maybe this was some planned move, something Piper's been working herself up to, but then Alex glances away from the screen and sees Piper's just studying her tattoo.
"Did it hurt to get?" Piper asks when she realizes Alex has stopped reading.
"A little." Her voice comes out kind of hoarse, and Alex has to swallow before continuing. "Why, you want one?"
"My mom would freak. Start screaming about wedding photos." She lifts herself up on an elbow, using the other hand to push back the shoulder on Alex's tank top, reaching over to touch the salt shaker on her skin.
Alex's breath catches in her throat. She's afraid to move. Lots of people have some strange need to touch tattoos, she knows that, but surely Piper doesn't need to linger this long, the pads of her fingers skimming over every grain of spilled salt made out of ink.
"I like this one a lot," Piper says, still touching her. Alex has perfected the telling of the story behind the tattoo, both how and why she got it, but right now she's afraid to talk too much, doesn't want to interrupt the string of maybemaybemaybe unraveling in her head.
But then she lifts her eyes to meet Piper's, and there's nothing there but sweet, sincere Piper Curiosity. There's no possibility in her face, and all at once the moment feels wrung out and used up in a way that's almost unbearable, so Alex sits up and hops off the bed, all jerky, sudden movement. Her heart feels like a pulled muscle, sore from too much racing, and she needs to get out of here. "Would you eat popcorn if I made it?"
"Sure," Piper answers, so easy. "Want me to come with you?"
"Nah, you're fine, it'll just take a few minutes."
Alex grabs a bag from the half full basket of snacks beside her mini-fridge and heads downstairs to the basement kitchen.
The thing is, she's not delusional. This isn't all in her head, it can't be. If someone could check Alex for evidence, they'd find Piper's fingerprints everywhere, proof of countless lingering, any-excuse touches. Maybe it's pathetic that Alex catalogs each one, notices and overthinks and remembers, but that isn't the same as making it up.
"So we'll check your name off on the bus sheet riding back, and you hang around for another hour so," Alex tells Janae. The five of them are sitting around Nicky and Janae's dorm room, waiting until it's time to go to Overbrook for a basketball game, and Nicky and Alex are making a passionate case for rule breaking in the name of getting some.
"And when she says hang around, she means in his dorm room," Nicky adds. "With a jock strap on the door or whatever disgusting shit men use."
Poussey and Piper laugh at that, but Janae just frowns, checking her face in the mirror for the dozenth or so time since they've been here. "Eh, I don't know. If they catch me and I have to miss practice, then it'll be a meet - "
"Christ, that's your whole problem," Nicky says. "You run a hundred miles a week and yet no one's getting the benefit of your hot bod."
Alex raises her eyes eyebrows and smirks suggestively. "Pretty soon you're gonna come knocking on my door, Watson. And I may not say no."
Janae snickers. "I'll just try like fuck to resist."
Alex and Nicky do that sometimes with Poussey or Janae, mock flirting as a way of giving compliments, never anything serious. Nicky does it with Piper, too - always calling her baby duck and managing to make it sound lewd - but Piper's noticed Alex never does.
Maybe it's just because they're roommates, and after the Jessica incident last year she doesn't want to even jokingly give Piper the wrong idea. But it's just as likely that she doesn't think about Piper that way, even in a teasing manner; that's not the way you joke with your tagalong, first year roommate who's imprinted on you.
Piper's not sure why it bothers her, but it does. She sometimes still feels like a naive little kid compared to the others, but she especially doesn't want Alex to see her like that.
They're not even through the first quarter of the basketball game, Piper and Alex more occupied with the plate of concession stand nachos they're sharing than the action on the court, when Polly texts.
POLLY
[u gonna come hang out?]
Piper twists around on the bleachers and catches Polly's eye, several rows up and over. She makes a mock pouting face, then smiles, jerking her head for Piper to come up.
"I think I gotta go put in an appearance," she tells her friends, nodding in Polly's direction.
Nicky barely looks up from her phone. "More power to ya."
"Ya don't want drama with the sister-in-law," Poussey says with a grin.
Piper makes eye contact with Alex. "I'll be back."
"Okay, but I'm gonna finish these," Alex tells her, ostentatiously licking cheese off the end of her finger.
As Piper maneuvers her way awkwardly up the bleachers, Alex reaches for her purse and pulls out headphones. She's barely plugged them into her phone when Nicky gives a shout of a laugh. "Wow, you're not even subtle, are you?"
"What?"
"Baby Duck's gone, and that's it? You're not even gonna pretend to engage with the rest of us?"
"You two've been on your phones the whole time." Alex doesn't even bother mentioning Janae, who's at the end of their row, avidly watching the game and shouting at Marcus in a way that sounds more like a coach than a supportive girlfriend.
"We're taking a Buzzfeed quiz about which celebrity baby we should date," Poussey informs her helpfully. "When they grow up, obviously."
"Exactly. Not good company." Pointedly, Alex starts untangling her headphones. "Don't know why we even come to these things."
"You came because you're whipped," Nicky says cheerfully. "And we like to watch."
"Shut up," Alex mutters, not in the mood for this.
"I'm telling you, Vause. Go for Laney. Or, hell, Sylvie...sure, she's a little nuts, but she's always been into you."
"Yo, I heard Sylvie straight up went into Laney's room and broke the arms off all her volleyball trophies." Poussey leans around Nicky to look at Alex. "You don't wanna mess with that."
Nicky shrugs. "Still, a crazy girlfriend's better than platonic girlfr - "
Alex cuts her off. "If you say that one more time, I'm gonna fucking punch you."
"Okay, ladies, let's keep the peace," Poussey gets up and forces herself in between Alex and Nicky. "But real talk...Piper's into you, Al. For sure."
Before this welcome validation can settle, Nicky makes a scoffing sound. "Of course she's into her. It's embarrassingly obvious. But the question is, does it matter? Chapman doesn't know she's got a huge crush, so she'll probably realize it in fifteen years when she's got her husband and two point five kids living in suburbia...she'll be telling her wild boarding school stories and think, holy shit, I should've lady banged my roommate when I had the chance! At least then I'd have a good story to - "
"Fuck off," Alex snaps, meaning it, more annoyed than they usually get at each other. She puts in her earbuds and turns up her music, fixing her eyes on the court and not even glancing over at Nicky. She does, however, look back to where Piper's sitting with Polly and Jessica and a couple of boys from Overbrook. One of them she vaguely recognizes from that day Piper's brother came to buy weed is sitting beside her, the two of them talking, and somehow that just makes Alex feel worse.
A/N: So obviously a lot of this is set up, but hope you enjoyed it anyway! As I said, this was a shorter chapter than most are intended to be, and the next one will be a much bigger deal, plot wise!