Dog Days Are Over

by Alanabloom

Piper and Alex Boarding School AU. Piper starts at Litchfield Academy her sophomore year, where she's assigned the previously vacant half of the dorm room belonging to Alex Vause - resident scholarship kid and purveyor of contraband substances to most of the student population.

6. Chapter 6

A/N: So. I'm back after a lengthy hiatus. If you want to hear a more detailed explanation, it's on my tumblr (alxvse) under the tag 'fic stuff', but the short version is: some personal stuff was going on that led to me needing to prioritize my original projects.

Those are still ongoing - although Alex and Piper's amazing season four storyline got me itching for fic again - so while I don't want to take another break this long again, it might be be two or three weeks between updates. Good news, this is a very long chapter, and I plan to either keep them long like this or, possibly, do slightly more frequent updates with shorter chapters. We'll see what works best going forward.

Anyway, I have so much appreciation for everyone who stuck around patiently and is returning now. Hope it's at least slightly worth the wait.

---

Oh, I wish, for once, we could stay gold.

Stay Gold / First Aid Kit

---

Text Message, Saturday, 11:52 am

ALEX
[Morning sunshine]

PIPER
[I'm literally having lunch right now]

ALEX
[And I just woke up]
[Time of day is all a matter of perspective]

PIPER
[Brilliant logic]

ALEX
[You guys left yet?]

PIPER
[No, dad's still loading the car...and get this, major drama]
[Danny and Polly broke up]

ALEX
[WHAT]
[Who dumped who?]

PIPER
[Guess]

ALEX
[Poor Polly.]

PIPER
[Exactly.]
[She's already called me crying]

ALEX
[Ah geez]

PIPER
[I feel kinda bad for her. They've been together for like a year and a half]
[He pulled the whole 'it's my senior year may as well split up now' thing]

ALEX
[Fuck college gets a lot of people out of relationships]
[In this case, conveniently the day before he leaves to meet Hotties In The Hamptons]

PIPER
[He did flirt with a lot of girls last year.]

ALEX
[YOU better not be looking for a vacation fling]

PIPER
[This isn't even my idea of a vacation.]
[My vacation fling was you at the lake house.]

ALEX
[So I'm a fling now?]

PIPER
[Shut UP you always ruin my banter.]

---

Text Message, Monday, 10:20 pm

POLLY
[Hey Pipe what's up]

PIPER
[Not too much. How are you?]

POLLY
[Everything just really sucks right now.]

PIPER
[I know. I'm sorry.]

POLLY
[Has he said anything to you?]

PIPER
[Not really. You know Danny and I don't really 'share']

POLLY
[I just don't understand why NOW.]
[Like he visited two weeks ago and we were FINE.]
[We were just US. Like always.]
[And to do it like this, I don't even feel like I get the chance talk to him about it.]
[To really understand.]

PIPER
[Yeah, that's tough.]
[School starts back in a couple weeks, maybe you can meet up to talk then.]

POLLY
[Maybe. If he even wants to.]
[Do you think maybe I could come visit YOU?]
[Would that be weird?]
[Sorry, that was dumb. Forget it.]

PIPER
[I just don't want to seem like I'm getting in the middle of it, you know?]
[He is my brother.]

POLLY
[And even you think this is crazy right?]

PIPER
[I think he owes you more of an explanation, yeah.]

POLLY
[I'm sorry. I shouldn't put you in the middle you're right.]
[I'm just kind of a mess right now and I don't know who else to talk to]

PIPER
[what about Jessica and those guys? You haven't told them?]

POLLY
[They saw it on facebook. But you know Jess, she borderline flirted with Danny all the time.]
[She doesn't care.]

PIPER
[Right.]
[I'm sorry Pol. Wish I could be more helpful.]

POLLY
[You've been great already.]
[Just tell me...is he even sad?]

PIPER
[Oh for sure. He definitely seems off]

---

"Hello?"

"I'm a terrible lying person."

"Summer salutations to you too, cheery. Jesus."

"Polly keeps texting me about Danny."

"Ew. Like wanting you to spy?"

"She doesn't come out and say it, but probably."

"And what would be in the report?"

"Not that I'd give it to her, but. He met some girl on the beach on Sunday and is currently off at a bonfire with her."

"Yeah, I wouldn't pass that along."

"He really is such an ass. They've been together for that long, she's a crying wreck and he's off sewing wild oats."

"Euphemistically speaking."

"Gross. But, seriously. Do boys our age just have no emotional depth?"

"Wouldn't know, babe. Enough about them. How's your day? Sneaking off to any bonfires?"

"God, no. Mostly just lying on the beach and going through the summer reading list."

"I hate you."

"Do not. You still haven't started?"

"Nope."

"Al!"

"Pipes."

"We're back in like two weeks."

"I know, I've got a countdown on my phone."

"Aw. That's so lame."

"Sure, asshole, like you don't have one."

"Duh. But we know I'm lame. For some reason, your reputation still suggests otherwise."

"I save the lameness for you, Pipes. Be flattered."

"Sixteen days."

"My countdown includes hours and minutes."

"Mine, too, but I can't look when I'm on the phone with you."

"Fair point."

"I'm so ready to go back. I miss our room."

"Our room, huh?"

"And our bed..."

"Mmm-hmm."

"And you."

"I miss you, too, Pipes."

"I wish you were here."

"Me, too. Well, kinda. Your parents didn't seem to like me as much last time."

"Don't take it personally, my mom doesn't approve of tattoos. On anyone. The school uniform hid them the first time you met."

"There was also the cursing thing."

"One slip up was better than I was expecting from you, to be honest."

"I treasure your faith in me."

...

...

"I should probably go."

"Hang up on me to text Polly, I see how it is."

"Right. I'm just tired."

"Uh-huh, I hear days at the beach take a lot out of you."

"You laugh, but heat exhaustion is a real thing."

"Fine, go to bed. Keep me updated on the Polly gossip. I wasn't very invested in their relationship, but I'm enjoying how fraught the split has been."

"Now I'm imagining you just like...settling in with popcorn to read my texts about it."

"Basically. I wish you could have live texted the fight."

"It was over the phone."

"Oh, well."

...

"I'll let you go. Night, Pipes."

"Night. I'll call you tomorrow."

"Love you, babe."

"I love you, too. Bye."

"Who were you talking to?"

Piper whips around, the warmth in her chest evaporating instantly, her pulse launching into overdrive as she sees Cal smirking at her from the front door of the beach house. She'd been sitting on the porch steps on the phone with Alex, and now Cal is giving her triumphant, 'caught ya!' sort of look that chills her insides.

"I, um..." There's no lie that makes sense, and she can feel the pause growing too long. "It was Alex."

She's all ready with an explanation - that they always say it, half as a joke, it's just the way girls are friends, nothing like that - but Cal doesn't seem to need it. As soon as he hears her roommate's name, boredom and disappointment wipe the smugness off his face, his scoop lost. "Oh. Thought you had some secret boyfriend or something."

It is, objectively, a huge relief, but Piper frowns anyway.

She knows the way she says love to Alex: soft but so full, like the word has a heartbeat. It is nothing like how she says it to anyone else, even her family. It is not the way she'd say it to a friend.

Is the idea of her Alex together really so crazy that it never even crosses Cal's mind as a possibility? Not even a tiny flare of suspicion?

She's been to Alex's place a lot this summer, but Alex came to stay at the Chapman's a few times, too; the very first visit, Piper had been jumpy and anxious anytime they weren't alone, like she needed to shed her own skin to hide the way she glows around Alex.

It feels so obvious. But no one in her family suspects a thing, not even Danny, who at the very least knows Alex likes girls.

Piper should just count herself lucky, really. It's not like she wants them to suspect the truth.

But it makes her uneasy, proving just how far from the realm of possibility the truth is to her family.

---

"That's everything, kid," Diane says, setting Alex's backpack down on the bed. Her eyes move to Piper's side of the dorm room. "Pipe close? I'll stick around and say hi if she is."

"They might still be awhile," Alex tells her, closing the closet door behind a duffel bag full of contraband before turning back to her mom. "Her younger brother's starting at Overbrook so they were heading there first."

"Did the other brother graduate?"

"Nah, Danny's a senior." Alex climbs up on Piper's bed and stretches out across the mattress without bothering to take off her shoes, her eyes fondly roaming the familiar posters on Piper's walls.

Diane smirks a little. "Which bed do you guys sleep in?"

"We just kinda alternate."

"Never thought of pushing them together?"

"RA does room checks. Pretty sure if they got suspicious we wouldn't be allowed to room together anymore." Which, actually, is a perk of Piper's selective closetedness. "Dudes aren't even allowed inside the dorms when they visit, so. Don't think Red's down with any sort of sex. Her poor husband."

Diane snickers at that. "Smartass." She gestures for Alex. "Alright, babe, come give me a hug. I gotta hit the road."

Alex's own smile fades as she slides obediently off the bed; she hates this part. Diane opens her arms and hugs her hard, and like always Alex thinks of the empty, empty trailer back home and wants to apologize for being back here. More than that, this year especially, she wants to apologize for being so excited about it.

She feels a pang of regret for the end of summer, where there were full weeks she had Piper all to herself, every minute of the day, and still got to be waiting for her mom at the end of it.

"I love ya, kid." Her mom draws back to smile at her, and her voice is easy and cheerful, like she can sense Alex starting to tangle herself up in guilt and wants to stop it. "And don't forget to lemme know when you get a game schedule. I wanna try to get down to Burton this time," she tells her, referring to an opponent school slightly closer to Alex's hometown.

"I'll tell you next semester, Mom, you don't need to take off work for a fucking exhibition game."

"No offense, babe, but I couldn't give less of a shit what kind of game it is. I just wanna see you play, yeah?"

"Okay. Text me when you get home."

"Will do." She kisses the top of Alex's head and winks. "Be good, Al."

"I always am."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Love you."

"Love you, too. Tell Pipe I said hey."

"I will."

Then she's gone, and Alex lays back down on Piper's bed and thinks about this time last year, when Piper was just a stranger picking through Alex's books wearing a full school uniform, until she feels better.

She puts on her headphones and stays where she is, half falling asleep to music until she feels a hand on her arm. Alex slits her eyes open to see Piper, leaning over her and smiling sideways, her eyes bright and familiar.

Alex grins. "Welcome home."

---

About a month into the new semester, their class officers - elected at the end of last year - call a meeting of the whole junior class, around fifty girls clustered in the dorm basement.

Piper and Alex sit with Nicky, Poussey and Janae in a corner of the room, practically underneath the ping pong table. Alex is sprawled out on her stomach, Piper absently braiding a section of her hair and talking to Poussey over Alex's prostrate form.

"So do know what this about?"

"The upper classes get part of the social budget every year to throw some kinda bonding thing. Usually just a G-rated party with pizza or something."

"I don't see any pizza."

"This is probably just to announce it. There's always some lame ass theme we'll have to dress up for."

"Pass," Alex puts in, half muffled against the carpet. She turns her face, cutting her eyes toward Nicky. "Speaking of parties, Nichols, I need a liquor store run soon."

Nicky was the only one of them to get a parking spot in the junior lottery (a coincidence Janae is strongly suspicious of it, given Nicky's status as Red's favorite), and Alex plans to make Nicky's car her sole transportation for product acquisition.

"Only when we figure out my compensation."

Alex scowls. "Like you need it." She cuts her eyes over, sees Nicky's unwavering expression. "Fine, I'll start charging you face value."

Janae pops up from the carpet at that. "You said you were already charging us face value."

"Yeah, sure, J, what kinda good business sense is that?"

"Bet Piper pays face value," Janae grumbles.

Alex catches her eyes and winks, while Piper wrestles her face into a disapproving expression.

"Okay, everybody, let's get started!" Molly, the chipper junior class president, claps her hands for attention. Vice-president Jessica Wedge stands beside her with a smugly bored expression. Alex rolls her eyes, reaching up to unwind the loose braid in her hair - she doesn't mind Piper doing it, but always refuses to leave it in.

"So you know the tradition is to have a party for class bonding at the beginning of junior year...but since there are already so many dorm socials that include us all anyway, we decided to do something a little different." Beaming, Molly nods at Jessica, who reaches for a box on the couch and pulls out a small, green plastic Nerf gun, still in the packaging. "So we're going to play a little game of...Assassins."

Janae visibly perks up, whispering "Oh, hell yeah." under her breath, but no one else has much of a reaction.

Alex makes a soft scoffing sound, muttering to Piper, "So they spent the whole party budget on dollar store guns?"

As if they could hear her, Molly adds, "Some seniors did it a few years ago, and it lasted about two weeks...at the end, there will be one winner who will receive a very special prize...we're keeping it a secret, but it's valued at almost three hundred dollars."

This causes a palpable uptick of interest in the room, and Molly smiles in satisfaction before going on to explain the game set up, which are surprisingly complex.

Everyone will get a Nerf gun and another student as their target. There's a facebook page to keep track of who's still in the game, and any student who gets 'killed' by their target has to text the class treasurer, who's apparently in charge of updating it.

Alex sits up at one point and nudges Piper's elbow with her own, nodding amusingly at Janae and her avid attention as Molly goes over specific rules: class time and official school activities like practices or rehearsals are forever off limits, while buildings like the dining hall, libraries, academic buildings and dorms will start off as safe zones, with the bans gradually lifting as the number of active players drops.

Jessica moves gingerly around the crowded room passing out the Nerf guns, with four yellow foam suction darts in each pack; she tosses Alex's unceremoniously at her still prostrate form, and Piper has to reach out and snatch it mid-air before it hits her in the head.

Poussey's already ripping hers out of the pack, experimentally loading a dart in and brushing her finger on the trigger. "So, what we thinkin'? Alliance?"

"Fuck no," Janae scoffs. "We don't know what target we're gonna get. I'll kill any a'you bitches."

"Your wartime loyalty is beautiful," Nicky mutters.

Something hits the side of Piper's head. She turns around just in time to see Alex flicking another dart in her direction, bouncing off her nose.

Nicky lets out a groan. "God, please let me get assigned to kill you two."

---

"Where's Janae?" Piper asks the next morning when Nicky shows up in the dining hall for breakfast alone.

Rolling her eyes, Nicky plunks her tray down between Alex and Poussey. "She wouldn't leave with me." Piper understands instantly; Assassins officially starts today, and at the moment the only acceptable shooting locations are outdoors and off campus. "She's figuring out..." Nicky's voice turns mocking, a poor attempt at channeling her roommate's. "Discreet routes around campus."

Poussey points a finger. "Don't do imitations of other races. Just a pro tip." Alex and Piper laugh as Nicky's face reddens, but Poussey's gaze slides past them. She smiles in the direction of another table, full of her fellow volleyball players. "Hey, I'mma go over there for a few minutes."

"Is it cause Nicky's racist?" Alex asks as Poussey smirks and takes her tray.

"More cause she wants to flirt with that freshmen," Nicky mutters as soon as Poussey's out of earshot, referring to Brook Soso, who Poussey's gotten friendly with the first few weeks of the season.

Piper glances at her, surprised, while Alex throws her a look. "Shut up."

"Wait, she like girls?" Piper says in an undertone, the heat rising to her cheeks the moment she says it. She's been friends with Poussey for a year, and it's only just now occurring to her that she's never heard her so much as mention a crush on anyone else.

She's embarrassed she'd just assumed that meant Poussey was straight.

"We don't know that," Alex says, a note of admonishment in her voice directed at Nicky.

"Wellll," Nicky counters. "We kinda do."

"Not your place to say," Alex tells her calmly, rolling her eyes at Piper.

"What up, losers?" Janae drops her tray in Poussey's vacant spot. Her Nerf gun is visibly stuffed into the waist of her skirt.

Alex grins. "Shot anyone yet?"

"Haven't had a chance. Y'all?"

They all shake their heads. Piper's got her Nerf gun in her bag, along with the folded piece of paper with her target's name (Felicia Montez, who's in her second and fifth period classes today). Alex is fairly disinterested in the competition, and next to Janae anyone's intensity would pale in comparison, but Piper's been secretly strategizing herself.

It'd been kind of awesome to win.

"Alex," she says suddenly, nudging their knees together and dropping her voice to an unnecessary whisper. "Look."

Alex follows her gaze to her own target, Meredith O'Grady, moving out of the dining hall with her roommate. "Oh, yeah."

"Go you can catch her before she gets to another building."

Alex's eyes flare as she smiles, touching Piper's leg under the table. "Fine. But only to impress you." She slings her bag over her shoulder, unzipping the front pocket where her Nerf gun is stored. "Be back."

Piper twists around her chair, grinning to herself as she watches Alex speed walk across the dining hall after Meredith.

Janae flicks her on the arm. Hard. "Ow! Jesus, what?"

Dead serious, Janae informs her, "You're not supposed to know anyone else's targets. Even your girlfriend's."

---

Alex slides back into her chair three minutes later, proudly displaying an envelope with a brand new target. She grins, hooking her ankles around the legs of Piper's chair, tugging it close to her own. "Target vanquished, m'lday. All in your honor."

Piper smiles back, leaning close to her. "Guess I'll have to reward you later."

Alex's grin turns wolfish. "See, I like that motive better than the three hundred dollar prize."

Behind them, Nicky holds her Nerf gun under her chin and dramatically clicks the plastic trigger. Janae sighs, long suffering. "You can't have that out in here. We're in a safe zone."

"Don't be bitchy to me just cause Vause killed someone before you did."

Janae's face freezes at that realization, then quickly turns stony and determined. "I'll have two dead by lunch. Fuckin' make a note."

---

Though it's early in the semester to make a definitive call, but so far, in a shocking twist, drama has actually become Alex's favorite class of the day. It's one of only three classes she has with Piper, and now that junior year has hit, Ms. Rogers holds frequent classes in the auditorium, which gives it the feel of a barely chill hangout.

Alex also enjoys catching Piper's eye in the middle of 'performances' and flicking her gaze suggestively up to the catwalk where they first kissed. Every time it makes Piper smile, blush, and touch her fingers almost unconsciously to the ruby slippers charm of her necklace.

They've started the year with a Shakespeare unit, and after a week of mere play discussion that felt more like being in an English class, they've been doing scene work, spread around the auditorium reading lines in groups of two.

Alex's tendency to view this as a flirtation opportunity really clashes with Piper's rigorous academic work ethic, so that's been pretty fun, too.

But today, day one of Assassins, they have to actually perform in front of everyone, which is and has always been Alex's least favorite part of drama.

After reading both, half the class has been working with Much Ado About Nothing while the other half handles The Taming of the Shrew. Piper and Alex have been (with varying focus) practicing the latter, and are the third pair to get called up to do their scene.

Piper is reading Katherine, with Alex taking the male lead Petruchio; after two years taking drama at an all-girls school, everyone's used to girls performing all the roles, including romantic ones, but Alex can't help but be pleased by Piper's complete lack of hesitation in picking their scene, especially with Polly in the class.

And, okay, it's been kind of fun seeing how far Piper can get into the reading without blushing.

Today, though, she's focused and committed to the role, so to have any fun at all, Alex is forced to step up from her usual drama class method of underacting and actually try.

"Thou hast hit it," Alex reads out, the words clunky and awkward in her mouth; she never really adapts to the Shakespearean language. She smirks, then, waggling her eyebrows. "Come sit on me."

A few soft giggles ripple through the class. Alex watches Piper bite her lip for a second before saying, loud and full of overdone snark. "Asses are made to bear, and so are you."

Alex reads the next line silently to herself, abruptly deepening her voice and spontaneously taking on a mocking douche bro cadence. "Women are made to bear, and so are you."

More laughter, including Piper's for a split second before she smooths her expression back into character; Alex never did that voice in rehearsal - mainly because she never really cared about rehearsals.

"No such jade as you, if me you mean."

Alex keeps going with the douche persona, which sounds particularly hilarious with all the thou and arts. It's pretty fitting, anyway; Petruchio does seem like an asshole.

It has the class giggling throughout the scene, and she can see Piper's eyes sparkling with laughter even as she valiantly makes it through without breaking.

Only after a few minutes, when Alex dips her voice into a bit too familiar territory on the line, "Marry, so I mean, sweet Katherine, in thy bed." does Alex catch a bit of discomfort leak into Piper's eyes, her gaze darting worryingly to their audience. Alex takes a step back, instinctively going bigger and broader with her recitation, even more obviously playing for laughs until Ms. Rogers finally cuts them off, chuckling a little when she does.

"Okay, that'll do, ladies." She smiles. "Piper, you've got a great grasp on the language, and Alex...interesting interpretation. It's nice to see such effort from you." She leads the class in obligatory applause as Alex and Piper take their seats in the front two rows with the class. "Suzanne, Maureen...you're up next."

Alex tunes out the next scene, propping a notebook on knees and scrawling out a note before poking Piper in the arm with her pencil to draw her attention to the page.

Proud of me for making an effort? More rewards tonight?

Piper smirks but doesn't answer, pointedly moving her eyes back to the stage and affecting an expression of concentration.

Alex hurriedly writes out something else, then pokes Piper harder.

In thy bed?

Piper's body jerks with a quickly suppressed laugh. Alex flips her notebook shut, pleased with herself.

---

Poussey's back at their table for lunch, though predictably Janae isn't there; Piper had the last class before the period with her, and Janae had stayed firmly in her seat after the bell rang, pointedly waving Piper away. She'd stayed in the dining hall after the official end of breakfast, too, and has apparently taken to sprinting between buildings at the last possible moment to avoid ambush.

So they've already been eating for nearly ten minutes before she comes in, stopping by their table before she even goes through the line for food, slamming a sealed envelope down in front of Alex and speaking mainly to her when she announces, "Two kills this morning. Just the fuck like I said!"

Alex wrinkles her nose. "I didn't challenge you, psycho."

Nicky eyes her roommate pointedly. "And how many classes have you been late for?"

"One. Just made the bell for the others. Suck it." Smiling smugly, she heads off, leaving her bag at the table but carrying the envelope protectively with her.

"She scares me," Poussey states flatly.

"You got a plan yet, Pipes?" Off Piper's surprised look, Alex smirks. "Oh, c'mon, I saw that steely glint in your eye when you got your target."

"I may be planning something for before tennis practice."

"So sinister. It's kinda hot."

"Felicia's never gonna see me coming."

Poussey straightens up and, in perfect Janae cadence, intones, "Don't tell anyone your target, you're ruining the integrity of the game!" As Alex and Piper laugh, she gives Nicky a significant look. "See, I can do the impression."

"Lesson learned, geez."

Janae rejoins them, then, and when the lunch period ends, she actually gets up to leave when the rest of them do.

They've gotten three steps out of the dining hall when Janae calmly shoots a dart into Nicky's arm, then without missing a beat holds out her palm. "Target, please?"

Alex, Piper, and Poussey crack up, howling with laughter while Nicky stares at Janae with her mouth hanging open. "You bitch."

Janae waggles her fingers impatiently. "Target."

Muttering expletives to herself, Nicky rummages in her back for her envelope, while Alex gives Janae an admiring look. "Fuck, J, why didn't you warn us so we could film that? I would have watched it every day for the rest of my life."

"Integrity of the game," Poussey reminds her.

Nicky slams a new envelope into Janae's hand and the group starts moving again. Piper lilts slightly into Alex's side, glancing habitually around to check for other assassinations in progress - she saw five this morning between classes - and nearly slams into Janae's back when the other girl stops walking suddenly.

"Fuck, Nick, now I don't even feel bad about killing you."

Poussey snorts. "You didn't feel bad in the first place."

Janae ignores her, waving the piece of paper holding her new target's name in front of Alex. "Cause I'm a better friend than Nicky, I'm making you an offer: you want to trade with me."

Piper leans close to read the name, a slow grin creeping across her face as she does. She flicks her eyes up and meets Janae's. "Nice."

Janae is holding a piece of paper with Jessica Wedge written on it. Alex's expression is skeptical, and she's not making a move to take it, so Piper accepts it for her. "Al, this is perfect. You'd get to eliminate her from a game she helped come up with."

"I dunno, I'm not exactly playing very aggressively."

Piper sighs impatiently. "You can muster some aggression for Jessica."

Loudly, Janae clears her throat. "Uh, could ya just accept the good deed and give me your target? I don't like being out in the open like this."

"Fine." Alex rolls her eyes. She hands over her own envelope, giving Janae an almost sarcastic, "Thanks."

Janae smirks in response, then takes off sprinting for one of the academic buildings, calling over her shoulder, "Don't forget to text that you're eliminated, Nick!"

"Sleep with one eye open tonight, asshole."

---

Piper and Alex sprawl out on Alex's bed that night in front of her laptop, open to the official facebook page for the game, checking out who got eliminated - including Felicia, whom Piper took out by hiding by the dorm entrance between her last class and tennis practice.

"That's like a fourth of the class just today," Alex observes. "How the hell is this supposed to take over a week?"

"I bet today just got rid of everyone who doesn't care."

"And yet somehow I survived."

Piper lays down and rolls onto her side, grinning up at Alex. "You had to survive to take out Jessica Wedge once and for all. It's your purpose."

"I don't know if a dart to the throat is a permanent solution to bitchiness, Pipes."

"And yet you've already picked out where to aim."

Alex's lips curl slowly. "Fine. I wanna shoot her."

Piper hooks a finger around Alex's T-shirt and pulls her in for a kiss, just because. She stays close when she murmurs, "You know what I want?"

"Me?"

"Yeah, but besides that."

Alex presses a smile along Piper's jawline. "Tell me."

"I wanna win."

Leaning back to grin at her, Alex says, "I knew it. You got that look."

"I could give Janae shit about it for years."

"You really could." Alex slips her hands under Piper's shirt. "I love how diabolical this is making you." She pulls the shirt over Piper's head and then diips her fingers under the bra straps before slipping them off Piper's shoulders. "We should form an alliance. Just me and you..."

"I wonder what poor soul has her for a target...if I got her I think I could get around her strategy -"

Alex pauses with her hands on Piper's back, drawing back to look her in the eyes. "Pipes?"

"Mmm?"

"We've reached the point in the evening where you stop talking about Janae."

She grins, curling her fingers under Alex's chin and bringing her lips close. "Got it."

---

"So, get this. Danny texted me last night."

Polly sidles up to her and delivers this revelation the first chance she gets at tennis practice; they're in line for a serving drill, their coach on the other side of the court and barking corrections and criticisms one player at a time. Both Piper and Polly had cracked the top six in singles this year, too, making practices even more intense.

Except when Polly uses them to talk about Danny.

"He texted you?" Piper blurts without thinking.

"Well, I texted him this article about a movie we had talked about wanting to see. But then he kept texting me back. Like, he's definitely the one who turned it into a whole conversation, y'know?"

"Hold on..." As the girl in front of her finishes up, Piper steps up to the baseline. The coach has her serve five times before waving her along. She trots off the court and waits for Polly to take her turn.

Polly rejoins her in the back of the line. "We've definitely been talking more since school started back. And I haven't heard that he's with anyone else. Have you seen him? Has he mentioned anything to you maybe?"

"I haven't seen him since we dropped him and Cal off, Pol," Piper tells her honestly. "Cal and I text sometimes, Danny and I...not so much." Polly's face falls into disappointment, and Piper hastily adds, "Which is kind of a good thing, though...last year I usually only saw him when he came over here, to see you. So the fact that I haven't seen him means he's not over here seeing some other girl."

"That's true..."

"And if he's texting you a lot, that's gotta be a good thing." Piper's not sure where this instinct comes from; she spent the last few weeks of summer watching girls in the Hamptons and, later, girls from their hometown follow her older brother around, and yet she can't stop telling Polly exactly what she wants to hear.

She looks cheered by Piper's agreement. "If I could just see him, I could at least gauge it, y'know?" She grabs Piper's arm, suddenly urgent. "We should go to an Overbrook football game sometime. Please? If you're with me it's not like this huge pressured thing for us to hang out, cause obviously you're gonna say hey to your brother."

They're at the front of the line again, which saves Piper from having to answer. She's distracted as she steps up to the baseline - second serves this time, no faults accepted. She managed to go all of football season last year without going to a single game; it's not a streak she's eager to break.

But when Polly goes through the drill and meets Piper back toward the fence, her eyes are still shining with renewed purpose. "Please, Pipe? Come with me? We haven't hung out at all outside of practice this year anyway." She lowers her voice, glancing a few spots ahead of them where Jessica's talking with Sarah. "It can be just us."

"Really?" Piper says skeptically. "Cause you guys all go every home game."

"We don't have to hang out with them, though. I swear."

Polly's not breaking eye contact. There's obviously no out here.

"Okay, fine. I should check in on Cal anyway," Piper relents, already disproportionately bummed at giving up several Friday night hours with Alex. "One thing, though, can we wait until this whole Assassins game is over? That's a pretty limited off campus space to be walking around in."

Polly splutters out a laugh. "Wait, so you're seriously into the game?"

"You're not?"

"Dude, no, I'm already out. Like...literally right after breakfast yesterday." She pauses. "Actually, funny thing, Alex was my target."

"Oh, yeah? And...who shot you?"

"Nora Frost."

"Good to know."

"...sure. But, yeah, it's an away game Friday anyway. So hopefully by the end of next week the shooting thing'll be over, and we can go to the game?"

"Sounds good."

Practice ends half an hour later. Polly's reading Piper texts from Danny while Piper thumbs out a message to Alex about Nora Frost when Jessica walks up to them, Sarah trailing behind her, and addresses Polly like Piper's not even there. "So I'm hitting some major dining hall fatigue. Wanna walk to the bakery and get dinner stuff?"

"Sure," Polly says easily, putting her racket carefully in its bag. "Now?"

"Yeah, if I fucking go back to my room right now I will not move all night."

Sarah and Polly laugh at that, and then Polly looks at Piper. "Wanna come?"

She opens her mouth to refuse as she usually does, but her phone buzzes in her hand, Alex replying. Suddenly inspired, Piper bites back a grin. "Yeah, sure."

Polly's eyes widen in undisguised surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah, if that's cool? I'm starving."

"Of course."

---

Text Message, Tuesday, 5:21 pm

PIPER
[FYI: Nora Frost had your name as of yesterday.]
[So beware]

ALEX
[Hey, good looking out, babe.]

PIPER
[Unless someone's killed her since then.]

ALEX
[Very possible.]

PIPER
[RED ALERT JESSICA IS GONNA BE HEADING TO THE COFFEE SHOP WITHIN LIKE TWO MINUTES]

ALEX
[Okay?]

PIPER
[Actually we're leaving now]

ALEX
[You're going with her?]

PIPER
[And Polly and Sarah.]

ALEX
[Ummm why is that happening]

PIPER
[Oh my GOD I'm behind enemy lines for you dummy]
[If you leave in five minutes you'll make it by the time we're in line.]
[And you can take her out.]

ALEX
[Oooooh. Ok.]
[Nicely done.]

PIPER
[How did you not get that?]

ALEX
[Nicky and I might be smoking a little bit.]

PIPER
[Without me?]

ALEX
[Neither of us had practice.]
[You know I get bored when you're not around.]
[But I got this, I'll leave in a few minutes.]

PIPER
[Good. Watch out for Nora Frost.]
[Also for the record...I don't feel like this alliance is MUTUALLY beneficial so far.]

---

Alex takes one more deep hit from the joint before handing it back to Nicky and leaving her in their smoking spot in the woods. She has to stop by to the dorm first - unlike some overzealous participants, she doesn't carry her Nerf artillery around everywhere - before she heads to the edge of campus toward the coffee shop/bakery that serves as Litchfield students' only off-campus gathering place.

She's got her headphones in, and just for fun she pulls up Hit Me With Your Best Shot on Spotify, takes a screen capture and sends it to Piper with the text: war music.

She comes up on the little street that runs parallel to campus, the coffee shop being the only place of interest amid a bank, post office, and a few T-shirt shops that mainly sell memorabilia for the university a couple of miles away. Her last hit of weed obviously through her a little further behind, and Alex can see Piper and her tennis teammates already sitting down in the square of plush armchairs, sandwiches on the coffee table between them.

Jessica's back is to her, the chair directly across from Piper. Alex waits at the window until Piper notices her, her mouth twisting into a close lipped smile that probably isn't as subtle as she means it to be. She looks away pretty quickly, though, refocusing her exaggerated interest on Polly in the seat next to her.

Alex smiles to herself; Piper has a shitty poker face.

She tucks the Nerf weapon, dart loaded, into the back pocket of her shorts and pushes through the entrance. The bell dings but no one looks up - except Piper, Jesus - as Alex strides calmly to Jessica's chair and, with a shit eating grin, holds the Nerf gun to her temple.

"Any last words?," she asks, mainly because Piper is watching now with unabashed glee and seems to want this to be entertaining.

Jessica twists around, and okay, yeah, Alex will have to thank Janae more sincerely for this trade, because it is gratifying as hell to watch the other girl's face contort into utter shock for the few seconds before her eyes narrow in loathing. "You fuc - "

Alex clicks the plastic trigger and the foam dart bounces harmlessly - but comically - off the center of Jessica's forehead. "Sorry," she tells her with a smile. "But that didn't sound like it was gonna be very nice."

Jessica's face is bright red, her teeth practically bared, but it takes Piper spluttering out a too loud laugh before she whips around, understanding what happened. "You bitch," she grits out in Piper's direction. "That's some bullshit and you know - "

"Hey, fuck off her," Alex growls, all traces of amusement gone from her voice. She accidentally brandishes the gun when she says it, which makes her feel more threatening even though the thing is made of highlighter green plastic. "Don't wanna be seen as a sore loser in a class bonding game, right, madame vice president?" She smirks, holding out a hand. "I'm gonna need the name of your target."

For a moment she thinks Jessica will outright refuse to give it to her, which would be fun - the pause is long enough that Alex starts mentally composing an email to Molly, helpfully informing her that the class veep isn't following the rules - but then Jessica pulls out an envelope and drops it on the floor at Alex's feet.

"Cute," Alex tells her, a smile on her face and the word dripping with the acidic flirtation that had become her specialty toward the bitter end of her tenure as Jessica's roommate. She smoothly retrieves the envelope, repockets the toy gun, then looks at Piper. "Pipes?"

She nods toward the door, and Piper stands up, slinging her tennis bag over her shoulder and looking relieved to get away. Half her sandwich is still on the plate in front of her, so Alex picks it up and takes a bite before giving a general grin to the group. "See ya."

Piper makes eye contact with Polly, murmurs, "Sorry," out of the corner of her mouth, sounding half-sheepish and half-amused. Alex leads the way to the door, and she can feel Piper's laughter in her ear and Piper's hand on her back, an unchecked instinct. It makes her smile, even moreso when they hit the sidewalk and round a corner and Piper threads their fingers together, swinging their arms a little in a rush of giddy adrenaline.

"That was incredible. Her fucking face."

"Gotta admit, that felt good." She tugs on Piper's hand and backs her up against the far side of one of the columns outside the post office, kissing her quickly. "You make a good undercover agent. What do ya say we go back and celebrate a mission complete?" She arches an eyebrow, drops her voice. "We coulda died out there, solider."

Amusement and arousal dance together across Piper's expression; she bites her lip and squints, eyes on Alex's. "You're still stoned, aren't you?"

"Very much so."

---

By the end of the week, over half the class has been eliminated, leaving about twenty players still competing. Poussey got ambushed during a free period on Wednesday, but Piper, Janae, and even Alex are still in the game.

Alex's continued survival is mainly a consequence of sticking close to Piper. While she isn't taking it to Janae levels - which still include sprinting between buildings like she's running a track event, and refusing any non-school sanctioned social hangout that isn't in a safe zone - Piper has been careful about her movements around campus, making her routes unpredictable and discreet while Alex follows along indulgently.

On Sunday night the Facebook page updates with fresh rules: the library and all rec/lounge rooms around campus are no longer safe zones.

They don't study in the library much, so Piper just nods her head and comments, "So we just stay out of the basement next week. Easy."

"They better not lift the ban on the dining hall, or you and Janae are gonna go on a hunger strike."

Their phones buzz at the same time, always an indicator of group message activity.

---

Group Message, Sunday, 7:23 pm

NICKY
[FoL in our room tonight?]

POUSSEY
[I'm down.]

PIPER
[Me too!]

JANAE
[I'm in.]

ALEX
[Aren't you in the room with her?]

JANAE
[Yeah but I figured y'all would be more excited to come if you knew I'm here]

ALEX
[Fair.]

NICKY
[Thank fuck.]
[Between Poussey ditching us for vball friends all the time and J refusing to leave safe zones I've been third wheeling the octopussies all week.]

PIPER
[Octopussies?]

ALEX
[Explain.]

NICKY
[My wit is clearly over your heads.]
[Octopus = you two are disgustingly handsy]
[Pussy = gay]

PIPER
[wow you're right that was so nuanced]

NICKY
[Come over in five minutes.]

---

Toward the end of the summer, Nicky had made a late night (possibly drunken, though she's yet to admit it) Amazon Prime purchase of the entire series of The Facts of Life on DVD. She brought the collection back to school with the very gleeful proposal that they watch the whole show together.

Alex assumes this is the kind of spontaneous, half joking purchase people with unlimited cash can make. She'd also assumed the irony - boarding school students watch outdated Boarding School Sitcom - wouldn't sustain the activity beyond a few viewing sessions, but their invented FoL Drinking Game has made it a fun, regular event. She's not even sure if their enjoyment of the show itself is actually ironic anymore.

It does help that the Drink When rules are vague enough to be frequent and open to interpretation - such as "Tootie has no chill" or "Everyone obviously hates Blair."

Alex and Piper are on Janae's bed, leaning against the wall and facing the TV. Their legs are wound together and Piper's got her head on Alex's shoulder, causing Nicky to pointedly declare, "See? Octopussies."

Onscreen, the house mother, Mrs. Garrett, makes a comment on a boy Blair brought over who's obviously into Jo. "What a well mannered young man."

"I know," Jo replies. "Doesn't he give you the creeps?"

"Jo displays obvious lesbian behavior," Alex and Nicky recite in tandem, lifting their cups in a cheers. The others drink dutifully; it's a frequently hit item on their Drink When list, especially this episode: Jo's already showed distaste for a boy flirting with her and mentioned her motorcycle.

Alex adds a little more rum into her quickly depleting rum and coke, then pours a fresh splash into Piper's cup for good measure.

"What if we spent as much time with Red as they do with Mrs. Garrett?" Poussey muses.

"You mean Fisher," Piper corrects. "Mrs. G's more like their dorm counselor, she's not the headmistress."

"That'd be even worse," Nicky mutters.

"Speak for yourself, we're not all Red's pet," Janae says.

Alex snaps her fingers, pointing at the screen as Jo walks into the common room wearing a motorcycle helmet and leather jacket. "Obvious lesbian behavior! Drink!"

"I thought we said we were maybe overkilling it counting every motorcycle reference," Poussey says, taking a gulp nonetheless.

"Look at her, you gotta count that."

"Think they'd let a student have a motorcycle here?"

"Only if they're lucky enough to get a damn parking spot."

Piper's playing with the edges of Alex's sleeve. Just to her, she says, "You'd look hot on a motorcycle."

"Simmer down, Chapman, save your sexual fantasies for the bedroom."

Alex smiles and kisses the top of Piper's head, endeared as always by the soft, loose way her words slip out when she's tipsy. "Maybe I can just get the outfit."

The others groan and boo and gag, predictably, but then they fall silent for a few minutes (save for a "Tootie has no chill" sip) as Jo gets asked out by the boy Blair liked. Jo is - of course - unbothered at the prospect of giving up the guy.

"You want him, you got him, I won't take your guy," she says to Blair onscreen.

"Take my guy?" Blair overacts incredulously. "Listen, when it comes to men the only thing you can take from me is lessons."

For some reason, Blair delivers this very close to Jo's face and, halfway through, drapes an arm around her shoulder as if they're dancing, prompting all five viewers to yell out, "GAY!" and then drink.

"God, when are they gonna hate fuck?" Nicky laments from her own bed across the room.

Alex grabs the current DVD case, looking ahead at an episode called "The Secret." She nudges Piper and points at it. "Please tell me the secret is Jo's hidden sexuality."

Onscreen, Jo says the line, "Who cares about hairstyles?" and Janae waves her cup around in response.

"Obvious lesbian behavior!"

Alex throws her a mock offended look. "Hey!"

"I mean, your hair's fine, but look at Nicky."

"Okay, I'll give you that."

"Fucking assholes."

---

Monday rolls around, and Piper decides she needs to get a bit more proactive in the offense part of Assassins. She only took out three targets last week, and no one since Thursday.

Fortunately, her current target, Darby Wallace, is on the volleyball team with Poussey, and they've got an away game on Monday. Even more fortunately, Poussey doesn't like Darby that much, and is easily talked into passing along intel in the form of texting when the team heads back to Litchfield.

So Piper's waiting near the parking lot when the bus pulls in, and by the time Darby's about ten feet away from it - and no longer participating in a school sanctioned event - she gets a dart to the back.

"Whatever," she says, gritting her teeth around instinctive anger and rolling her eyes before handing over her envelope.

Piper grins in triumph, catching Poussey's eye behind her and mouthing a thanks. Poussey's with Brook, though, walking a little separate from the rest of the team, so Piper opts not to join her - better not arouse Darby's suspicions anyway - and heads off on her own.

She's almost back to the dorm before she remembers to open the envelope and check her new target.

Alex Vause.

---

Text Message, Tuesday, 3:13 pm

PIPER
[Hey, I'm gonna be late back to the room later...reserved a study bay in the library for after practice, I really need to knock this paper out.]

ALEX
[Ugh that's no fun.]
[Want me to come up for a study break?]

PIPER
[See that would defeat the entire purpose of me working OUT of the room]

ALEX
[So is that a yes?]

PIPER
[Fine.]
[But you can't stay.]

ALEX
[Quick and dirty, huh?]
[I feel so used.]

---

Alex leaves the dining hall after dinner and walks to the library. She starts to put in headphones, but remembers Piper's recent admonishments about that - apparently Assassins now requires constant vigilance.

She texts Piper for the number of her study bay; there are a dozen or so of them, small private rooms meant for study groups. She finds Piper in room five, sitting at the table that takes up about seventy-five percent of the room's space, typing away on her laptop.

Alex closes the door behind her and leans against it. "You know getting it on in the library is on my boarding school bucket list." Piper looks up and smiles, closing the laptop immediately. "I always kind of pictured it happening in the stacks, like in the movies, but this works, too."

"So glad it's acceptable to you," Piper jokes, walking around to the furthest corner of the room, the one that isn't visible through the window of the door. Alex meets her there, fastening her hands to Piper's hips and pressing her against the wall. She's still wearing her clothes from tennis practice, these short track shorts that drive Alex crazy and a red tank top over her gray sports bra. She tastes vaguely like sweat and she bends her leg back, heel pressed against the wall, and fits her knee in the juncture of Alex's legs, earning an immediate and surprised moan of pleasure, rolling up from the back of Alex's throat.

She lifts her hands to Piper's face, catching her bottom lip lightly between her teeth, sinking deeper and deeper into the moment, into Piper,

when she feels something hard jab into her stomach.

Alex disentangles their lips, raising her eyebrows at Piper from two inches away. "Um. I'm not used to this feeling."

Piper's eyes are sparkling, and she's badly suppressing a smirk.

Alex glances down to see Piper holding her Nerf gun between them.

Blowing out a lengthy, beleaguered sigh, Alex gives Piper an exasperated look; she looks smug, thoroughly kissed, and infuriatingly hot.

"Et tu, Pipes?"

"This is gonna hurt me more than it's gonna hurt you," Piper replies smoothly.

Alex can tell she practiced that line.

She takes a careful step back, holding her hands in the air, and gives a slow pivot away from Piper. "Fine," she intones with a level of drama that would make Ms. Rogers proud. "Do it. Stab me in the back."

"It's a dart in the back. No stabbing."

"We had an alliance."

"I got your name. Can't choose my orders."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night."

"You know I love you."

"That's so wrong, Pipes." Alex twists her head to meet Piper's eyes, watching her lose the fight with her smile as she pulls the trigger. The dart hits Alex's between the shoulders, but she splays a palm instantly across her chest, letting her face pinch in a hyperbolic wince.

Piper touches the back of her hand to Alex's cheek. "You were so beautiful...and so very young..."

"Fuck off..." Alex swats her hand away and Piper breaks into laughter that Alex can't help but follow.

"I'm sorry!" Piper says between giggles, tugging on Alex's T-shirt and pulling her closer. "I couldn't resist, it was too perfect..."

"That was cold, kid."

"I know," Piper says with wicked grin, kissing Alex to punctuate it. "So who's your target?"

Alex hesitates for a heartbeat of a moment, then looks away. "Actually...it's you."

Piper's eyes widen. "What?"

"Yeah, this is awkward but...I was gonna just hold onto it until I was eliminated...keep you in as long as possible. Y'know. For the alliance." She smiles, sadly. "And because I knew you wanted to win."

Horror and guilt are starting to cast long shadows on Piper's face. "Fuck I'm...Alex, I didn't even think of that, listen, you don't have to text that you're out, we can just pretend I never shot you..." The ramble is flooding out of Piper, fast and nervous, only slowing when Alex feels her lips twitch, betraying her. Piper stops talking abruptly. "Wait, are you...are you fucking with me?"

Alex bursts out laughing, and Piper shoves her lightly against the wall. "You ass! I felt terrible!"

"I'm sorry," Alex mocks, parroting Piper's words back at her. "I couldn't resist, it was too perfect..."

Piper's lips are pulled tight, determined not to laugh. "I hate you."

"Did you think we were gonna just hold onto each other's names until the game ended, refuse to kill each other, like, Hunger Games style?"

"Shut up," Piper orders, kissing her roughly to enforce it.

Alex complies happily, though after a few moments she angles her head away enough to murmur, "You know you totally deserved that."

---

"Twelve juniors left," Alex informs Piper later that night when they're back in their room with the lights off. They're curled up on Piper's bed, Alex's phone glowing above them, open to Facebook. "I feel like it's basically a race to see if you or Janae has to kill each other first."

Piper muses on that. "If one of us gets the other, we'll probably be able to do it. So really I just need to start knocking out as many people as possible so I get her name before she gets mine."

"Probably be harder to kill now that everyone'll know who to look out for." Alex heaves a dramatic sigh. "Unless you're planning to seduce everyone into a sex trap."

"All's fair in love and war."

"Uh-huh." Alex leans back to set her phone on top of the dresser, then rolls over, straddling Piper and smirking. "You're lucky I'm finding your whole take no prisoners thing sexy."

Piper smiles in delight. "I am a force to be reckoned with."

Alex arches her hips enough to reach between them and ease Piper's pajama shorts down her legs. "So prove it."

---

"Janae has asked me to inform you that your friendship is temporarily suspended," Nicky tells Piper in a bored voice at breakfast the next morning. "She refusing to be in the same room as you until this is over."

"Fine, but after I tell you the incredible story of how I eliminated Alex yesterday, would you repeat it for her? I want Janae scared of me."

"Wait, you killed Vause? Tell me everything."

"You don't have to sound so proud of it, babe. Plus, your strategy with me isn't gonna work with J."

"Your strategy?" Nicky props her elbows on the table, placing her chin in her hands. "Now you really gotta tell me everything."

---

By Wednesday, Piper's only seen Janae during classes, four more people have been eliminated, and safe zone designations have been lifted from both the dining hall and dorms.

Alex, Nicky and Poussey are the only ones at their table for a few meals. Nicky observes Alex packing food into a ziplop bag to go and comments, "Behold, the perks of sleeping with your roommate."

"You're not bringing Janae food?"

"Fuck no, I'm trying to starve her out. I'm ready for this shit to end."

There are only five players left on Thursday, until Piper follows Jess Sherborne out of the bathroom in the math corridor and shoots her the second she gets outside.

As soon as Piper gets her target, she goes sprinting off to find Alex, just coming out of another building. Piper loops a hand through her elbow. "I got her," she hisses in a stage whisper, not bothering with a greeting. "Janae's mine."

"Yeah?" Alex grins, delighted with the impending drama. "You got a plan?"

"I'm skipping tennis practice today. But you know who would never skip a practice?"

"Oh, I see what you're thinking. Clever girl."

"If we get back now, I can make it to outside her room while she's changing for track...can you keep watch for me? Maya and Chloe are the only ones we need to look out for now."

Alex rolls her eyes. "Yes. But I don't know why the fuck I'm helping you after what you did to me."

Piper makes an attempt at fluttering her eyelashes. "Cause you love me."

"Yeah, that. My Achilles heel...that you kinda grossly exploited in battle, by the way."

---

Piper's leaning on the wall outside Nicky and Janae's dorm room, and she has to stand there pretending to polish her Nerf gun for fifteen minutes before it pays off.

The door opens, probably at the last possible second Janae can leave and still make practice in time, and Piper has about two seconds to smirk maliciously and slightly lift the gun before it slams in her face.

Piper looks down the hall, where Alex is sitting bored at the other end, keeping watch at the top of the stairwell. She shoots her a thumbs up, then raps her knuckles against the door. "May as well get this over with, Janae. You and I both know if you miss practice today they probably won't let you run in the meet tomorrow."

"You got practice too, bitch," comes her voice from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, but no matches til next week. So I'm not that bothered about missing it."

"How bout I text Maya and Chloe and tell them right the fuck where to find you."

"A) I have Alex on lookout, and b) then they'd just be standing right here with you as their target."

Silence follows that pronouncement, and Piper smirks, leaning against the door frame. "I can stay here all day." She pulls out her phone, keeping the Nerf in one hand. "Did you know there's Facts of Life fanfiction? Alex and I looked it up. Here..." She starts scrolling on her internet browser. "If we're gonna be here for awhile, I'll read you some."

She can hear Janae groaning on the other side of the door, and Piper struggles to keep the grin out of her voice as she starts to read. "This is called just gonna stand there (and watch me burn) - watch me burn is in a parenthetical, Janae - and it was written in 2011. I think it's nice people still cared that much about the show in 2011, don't you? Anyway..." She clears her throat. "If there's one thing Blair Warner knows, it's that she has VERY good taste..."

---

"Watching Blair laugh her stupid laugh and toss her stupidly perfect hair, Jo felt her hands curl involuntarily into fists. She felt sick in a way that reminded of the time she wiped out on her bike - the wind knocked out of her and her chest hurting..."

"Uh. Whatcha doing, Chapman?"

Startled, Piper glances up to see Nicky standing over her, Alex behind her. At some point during the last fic, she slid down to a seated position. She's gotten a few odd looks from neighbors coming and going, but it hasn't stopped her from reading.

"Waiting out Janae."

"And doing some light reading," Alex adds with a smirk.

"Hey!" Piper gets to her feet, looking eagerly at Nicky. "Can you let me in?"

"Fuck that, dude, I don't wanna get killed in my sleep." She gives her a sardonic look, waving an impatient hand. "Back the fuck up."

Piper sighs and takes a step backward. Nicky unlocks the door and slips inside without widening the gap enough for Piper to even glimpse the room. The door slams after her.

Alex props her chin on Piper's shoulder and grins. "Feel free to keep going."

Clearing her throat primly, Piper returns her attention to the screen, rapping the Nerf gun on the door a few times for good measure. "If Jo didn't know any better, she might actually think she was jealous - "

The door opens and Nicky sticks her head out. "Hey, yeah, she's gone."

Piper aims at the doorway. "Don't believe you."

"See for yourself," Nicky opens the door all the way and gestures for them to come in.

As soon as she's inside, Piper starts opening the closets, checking for Janae's hiding place and finding nothing until she hears Alex say, "Did she fucking go out the window?"

Piper turns to see Alex and Nicky peering outside, the screen having been popped out and propped against the wall.

Nicky looks incredulous. "You think she made it to the tree?" She leans out a little. "At least there's not like a body."

Alex shakes her head. "Sorry, Pipes, but I'm impressed by her commitment."

"Fine. You can be impressed." Piper flops down on Janae's bed. "But I'll be here when she comes back."

Nicky blinks at her, belatedly realizing her mistake. "Aw, fuck."

Piper smiles sweetly. "Al, would you bring me my homework?"

"Ah, c'mon, Piper," Nicky pleads. "You gotta get out, she'll assassinate me for real if she knows I let you in."

"You're welcome to take off. I'll say I got in through the window."

Alex is still leaning on the windowsill. "Yeah, no, babe, I don't think you or anyone else could climb up that tree."

"I bet Janae's planning to."

"If she's coming back at all."

"She has to," Piper reminds them. "By room check at least."

Alex sighs, coming to lean on the edge of Janae's bed. "You're really going to stay here until dorm curfew?"

"Yes. It's not like I can go to dinner anyway."

"Alright." She hoists herself onto Janae's bed beside Piper. "Guess I'll chill here until I have to go fetch you sustenance."

Nicky crosses her arms and scowls at them. "I could go get Fisher, you know. Tell her you guys are doing a fucking sit-in in my room."

"We're in your room all the time, she's not gonna buy you throwing a fit about it now."

Tipping her head back and groaning, Nicky finally seems to acquiesce. She gets on her own bed and starts pulling out textbooks. "Just...don't touch each other."

Alex grins at Piper. "Wanna fuck on Janae's bed? Kind of a power move sort of thing?"

---

Alex and Nicky leave for dinner after a few hours; Alex brings Piper back food, as well as her history textbook and laptop, but Nicky's insisting on going to Poussey's volleyball game as a way to get out of the room and gain "plausible deniability". Alex declares it creepy to sit in their dorm room when they're not there, so she kisses Piper and smirkily wishes her luck before taking off.

So she does homework alone on Janae's bed for three hours. It's sort of eerie - Piper keeps the lights off so Janae won't suspect her presence, and she doesn't want to put in her headphones and miss the entrance.

Her patience is rewarded around nine o'clock when, better than Piper could have hoped, Janae does in fact hoist herself through the window, track bag and all.

Piper hoists herself up on her elbows, playing idly with the Nerf gun and shooting a winning smile at her friend. "Evening, J."

Janae freezes, her eyes darting back like she's considering diving back out the window.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Piper says mildly, taking aim, finger ready on the trigger. "Not worth it."

"Fucking Nicky," Jane mutters, furious.

"You left the window open. Maybe I got in that way."

"Yeah, right. I had to climb a fucking tree on the other side of the building and go around the roof to get back up here. No way Alex let you do that." She hurls her bag across the room and crosses her arms. "Just get it over with, asshole. And get off my damn bed."

Grinning broadly, Piper hops down. "It's nothing personal. I even killed Alex a few days ago." She lifts the Nerf weapon. "Bye bye."

She sends the dart flying at Janae's chest, but she twists out of the way at the last moment, throwing herself against Nicky's bed and then, before Piper can register what happened, turning back to bat her hand at the gun. Piper manages to keep a grip, and they wrestle messily for the hunk of plastic for a moment, Janae pulling it from the barrel so that the trigger digs painfully into Piper's finger.

"Fuck, get off - "

"I'm not makin' this easy - "

Piper accidentally steps on one of Janae's feet - "Aye, watch the shoes!" - and it seems to distract her just enough for Piper to wrench the gun away and fire a dart at Janae's thigh.

"Got you!"

"FUCK!"

Piper lets out an excessively triumphant laugh, figuring she deserves to gloat after that struggle. "Final three, right here!"

Janae stomps past her and starts rummaging in her track bag, muttering angrily to herself, "Fuckin' cheap ass shit...waiting in my room..." She flings her envelope at Piper, who doesn't bother checking yet if she's to take out Maya or Chloe next.

Forcing her face into a serious expression, Piper holds out her hand to shake. "You fought a good fight."

"Screw you." Janae shoves her hand out of the way. "You gonna wanna clear outta here now."

Piper gathers her laptop and textbook, along with the empty bag that had held her dinner. "You know you're not allowed to be, like, actually, mad about this." Janae ignores her. "I mean, that would just be childish. Janae? Don't you agree that'd be childish?"

"You want me to be a good sport, I'mma need at least 24 hours to get there," she clenches out between her teeth.

Piper smirks. "That's fair."

---

Piper wins Assassins the next day after lunch, in a harrowing chase and shootout on quad between her and Maya Clark. It draws a lot of spectators, and Piper gets lucky more than anything - Maya was overzealous, had to stop and reload, chasing darts around in the grass.

Her friends are all watching, and with the exception of Janae they lead a round of applause when it's over. Piper's so dizzy with victory and adrenaline that she goes running for Alex, who has the good sense to only hug her briefly before passing her over to Poussey for the same treatment.

Only Janae refuses to hug her.

They go with her after classes to meet with Molly and find out her prize, which turns out to be four tickets to Six Flags theme park, good for any time before next summer.

"So." Poussey grins, rubbing her hands together. "Who has to miss out?"

"Janae does if she doesn't get way more happy for me really fast," Piper replies, throwing her a pointed look.

Janae gives her the finger. "I told you. Twenty-four hours."

Alex drapes an arm around Piper's shoulders, curling one finger around the eges of her hair. "Don't worry about it, the four of us can split a fifth one. It'll be like twenty bucks each, that's still a good deal."

"I'm down for some roller coasters," Nicky says.

"We'll have to figure when's a good time to go."

"They're good for a year, could always go next semester when it gets warm again..."

Piper listens to Nicky and Poussey debate the best Six Flags season - with Janae eventually chiming in an opinion - and she leans a little closer to Alex, smiling to herself.

"Hey," Alex says in an undertone, the two of them slowing back behind the others. "Stay in and celebrate tonight?"

"Yes, please." Piper's grin fades. "Ah, fuck, actually...I forgot, I told Polly I'd go to the football game with her."

"What?" Alex makes a face. "Why?"

"I don't know, she wants to talk to Danny."

"Fucking of course. You know you don't have to say yes to stuff like that."

"I know, but I hardly ever say yes when Polly invites me to things. She kinda cornered me at practice, said we didn't have to go with Jessica or anyone else...I felt bad." She leans back enough to look at Alex. "You guys can come if you want."

Alex wrinkles her nose in obvious distaste. "Do you...want me to?"

Piper smiles, lightly hip checking Alex. "Well, I want you to come with me everywhere," she teases. "But it's okay, you don't have to. I'll try to ditch early."

---

Text Message, Friday, 7:43 pm

ALEX
[How are things?]

PIPER
[Well we haven't texted Danny yet because we don't want to 'seem desperate']

ALEX
[Yeah I hate when sisters are overeager to run into their brothers at a sporting event]

PIPER
[Speaking of, Cal isn't even here yet.]
[The only good thing about coming was checking in with him and finding out how school's going]
[What are you guys doing?]

ALEX
[playing Catchphrase in the basement]
[Janae's taking it even more seriously than usual, I think you broke her pride]

---

Text Message, Friday, 8:11 pm

PIPER
[Get down to the football stadium dude]
[I'm third wheeling weird sexual tension between Polly and Danny]

CAL
[Fine, I'm walking from the dorm now]

---

"Hey, I'm gonna go meet Cal," Piper cuts her older brother off mid-sentence. She's been standing with him and Polly for the last ten minutes, largely ignored while they have a mundane conversation that somehow seems loaded with tension.

"You got the kid to show his face at a school event?" Danny asks incredulously. "Nicely done. Want me to come with?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Piper catches disappointment dart across Polly's features, so she shakes her head. "No, it's cool. I'll maybe bring him back this way in a little while."

"Okay, Pipe," Polly tells her with a small, grateful half smile.

"See ya, Pooh."

She turns away from them and promptly released the eyeroll she's been suppressing for the past hour or so. Piper moves through the groups of students, Litchfield and Overbrook, clustered in the grass behind the actual stadium seating, and wanders around near the entrance until she sees Cal coming in.

"Hey, bud!" She grins at him, and he makes a face at the enthusiasm.

"Sup." He shrugs out of her half hug and offers a fist bump. "I'm not staying long, some of my suitemates are playing Settlers of Catan."

"Wow. Nerdy."

"We're smoking weed when we do it."

"Oh, so I take it back, very cool. So does this mean you're making friends?"

"A few. The ones that aren't douchebags."

"You want something from concessions?"

"You buying?"

They get in line, and Piper asks, "So do you see Danny much?"

"I see him around, it's not that big. We don't really hang out though...seniors are way too cool for that."

"Hey." She waits until he looks at her. "You not liking it here?"

Cal heaves a sigh. "It's okay. But it's ninety percent stuck up douche bros. And I miss having girls in class. Like, a lot." He looks at her. "You don't miss guys?"

"Not at all, actually."

"Weird."

Piper buys her brother a hot dog and gets them each a soda. As they walk out of line, a group of boys that look like they're Cal's age walk by, and Cal visibly shifts so his back is to them, avoiding eye contact. Piper frowns a little, worry pinging in the back of her mind, but then his phone buzzes and he smirks down at it.

"I gotta go, Pipe, they're almost done with this game, don't want them to start another one without me."

"Fine, but let's get lunch or something soon, okay?"

"Yeah, sure..." He drops his voice, smirking. "Or we could smoke together. Be a real sibling bonding experience."

"Does that mean we invite Danny?"

"Nah. I don't feel like I really need to bond much with him."

---

Text Message, Friday, 8:56 pm

PIPER
[Hey I'm on the back left row of the bleachers whenever you're done talking to Danny]
[But take your time]
[And if you guys wanna just be alone I don't mind heading back to school]

POLLY, 9:09 pm
[No need, coming to you now.]

---

"Hey."

"Hey."

"How'd it go?"

"I mean, you saw," Polly answers, her expression set in disappointment. "He didn't change at all when you left...just kept talking about basketball and fucking college applications."

"He seemed glad to see you," Piper ventures carefully.

"Yeah, but like I was just some old friend or something. Not like..." She sighs shakily. "Not like he misses me. And when I asked if we could hang out just us sometime, he totally brushed it off."

"I'm sorry, Pol," Piper says. "He can be kind of a jerk."

"That's the thing! It wasn't even like he was a jerk. I don't even have anything to get mad about it, it was more like he just..." Her voice breaks. "Didn't care."

"I know he cared."

"But not anymore."

They're in a fairly secluded section of the stadium seating, and Polly puts her feet up on the seat in front of her, folding her arms over top of her knees and resting her chin on her wrist, sniffling pitifully, a few stray tears rolling down her cheeks.

Piper puts an awkward hand on Polly's shoulder, feeling her inadequacy as a friend right now. She isn't close enough to Polly to be the one here in this moment. "Do you, um...I can find Jessica and Sarah - "

"No," Polly bursts out, like a tiny wail. "I can't talk to them about this, that's why I wanted..." She trails off, shaking her head.

"What?"

Polly sucks in a deep breath. "I know you don't like them, Pipe, but...do you even want to be friends with me?"

Piper's stomach swerves unpleasantly at the sudden change in conversation. "What? Yeah, Polly, of course."

"Because...I've been inviting you to stuff since the beginning of last year, and like...you never want to come."

"You know that isn't about you," Piper mumbles, eyes sliding nervously to the field. "Jessica was horrible to Alex, and she still is when she has the chance, I don't...and I never clicked with Madison or Bailey either - "

"I get that, and...I just invite you to stuff with them because it's the only plans I have, but, like...you've never once asked me to hang out with your friends."

Polly's voice is small, but it drops a heavy brick of guilt in Piper's stomach, because she knows she has a point. She and Polly are good friends at tennis practice, or in the few classes they've had together without any of Piper's other friends. But Piper's never once gone out of way her to see Polly at any other time, even though her year's worth of invitations to Piper make it clear she'd like to.

When Piper doesn't say anything, Polly adds, "I know Alex doesn't like me - "

"It's not...that's not it, Pol, I...honestly, I always just kinda thought you mainly wanted to hang out with me because of Danny."

Polly's face falls. "You really think that's the only reason? Still? I thought we were friends - "

"No, no, we are, I meant more, like...when you'd invite me to stuff with your whole group."

"You don't get it, with Jessica and all of them...I was really nervous about making friends, starting here, with all new people. And when you start as a freshmen, everyone is new, and there's this whole scramble...Madison was my roommate, and then she met Jessica, who kinda knew Bailey and Sarah. We were all sitting together within like a week of getting here, and I was just so relieved to have people, you know? An actual group. But it just kind of got stuck that way, before I could even really figure out if we had anything in common and...I'm not really close to any of them. And I always figured that was fine, because I had Danny, but then when we broke up it felt like none of them really cared..."

Polly pulls her lower lip between her teeth, the muscles in her face contracting as she tries not to cry. "God, sorry, Piper...this is awesome, right? Like, I'm trying to make you feel sorry for me until you have to be friend."

"We are friends," Piper says quietly.

Polly rests her cheek on her knees and looks up at Piper for the first time in several minutes. "It's just been a really lonely semester," she admits, small and embarrassed. "And sometimes I see you guys, and you're so tight knit...it makes me kinda jealous."

"I'm sorry." Piper isn't sure what else to say. "I didn't know you were having such a hard time."

"Not your fault."

"Y'know...whatever my issues with Jessica and everyone, I'd be totally down to hang out with just you more. Whether you're with Danny or not."

Polly smiles a little. "I'd like that."

Piper smiles back, but she knows part of Polly wanted more from her.

"You wanna head back to school?"

"Yeah." Polly wipes her eyes and stands up. "Let's go."

---

Text Message, Friday, 10:14 pm

PIPER
[Almost back to the dorm, you in the room?]

ALEX
[Facts of Life in Nicky and J's]
[Comeee]

Piper can feel Polly's eyes on her as she checks her phone. "What are your friends up to?"

She can hear the slightest note of hope in Polly's voice, and Piper's chest goes cold because she can't do it, can't make herself offer an invite. Janae and Nicky's room - anyplace it's just the five of them - is a safe zone, and Polly makes it unsafe. Piper doesn't want to sit there and pretend like Alex isn't her girlfriend. God, even just the thought of Polly there while they make jokes about Blair and Jo's sexual tension makes her uneasy.

"Doesn't seem like much of anything," Piper lies. "I may just go do some reading before bed...but text me later this weekend, okay?"

"Okay, sure...and thank you, for tonight."

"No problem at all. Anytime. Seriously."

Polly gives her a hug, and Piper feels her phone buzz just before she pulls away.

ALEX
[You coming?]

PIPER
[I don't know. Kind of a weird night]

ALEX
[I'll meet you in the room]

---

Alex is already there when Piper gets back to their room, in pajama pants and a tank top and her face folded into concern. Piper's chest warms at the sight of her, and without a word she moves in for a kiss; Alex's lips taste like vodka.

"Hey..." Alex draws back, frowning a little. "Something happen?"

Piper's keeps her hands gripped around Alex's shirt. "Do you think I'm a bad person?"

She grins. "I think you're the best person. But you're asking a very biased source, so I don't know if I can be trusted."

"Al, I'm serious."

Alex's face gentles. "Pipes. What happened?"

They sit on Piper's bed and she gives a detailed account of her conversation with Polly. Alex listens patiently, no interruptions, just plays absently with Piper's hair while she talks.

"I just feel really bad," Piper says when she finishes, eyes searching Alex's for reassurance.

"You know Polly going through a hard time isn't on you. Not at all, Pipes. And you didn't even really know about it."

"Yeah, but she's right. She used to invite me to hang out all the time, so I know she wanted to. And I like Polly! We are friends, but I only act like it at tennis because...I don't want her finding about us. Just because she's dating my brother."

"She's not dating him anymore."

"Yeah, but they still talk."

Alex doesn't say anything. She tucks a piece of Piper's hair behind her ear, and there's something so calm and knowing in her expression it makes Piper want to know everything she's thinking.

"What?" Piper prompts softly.

"It's just...Janae was dating Marcus all last year. He's kinda friends with Danny, right? On the basketball team?"

"Yeah..."

"Did you ever, like...remind her not to tell him? Did you ever worry it'd be get back to him?"

"No..."

"Have you ever worried that Poussey might say something to Brook or one of her other volleyball friends? Or that Nicky might make a joke about it during one of her rando conquests?"

"No," Piper's voice is soft. "So what are you saying?"

"Just...if you and Polly were as good of friends as she thinks you should be...you'd trust her. Even if she was still dating your brother."

"Yeah. Maybe." Piper takes one of Alex's hands in both of hers, tracing the lines of her palm. "I just think part of it is that I met her in the context of Danny, you know? She's always going to feel like his girlfriend first."

"Makes sense. But you can't help that, Pipes."

"But now she's opened up and told me all this and I feel like I have to figure out how to help her. I want to help her."

"See?" Alex gives her a soft smile, threading their fingers together. "You are a good person." Her eyes flash, spreading humor across her face. "When you're not being a ruthless and victorious assassin, I mean."

That revives Piper's smile, and she leans gratefully against Alex's shoulder. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Pipes. And, hey, if you and Polly need to start going on regular coffee runs or...hanging out tat Overbrook games, I guess I can spare you." She touches her lips to Piper's forehead. "Just not too often, okay?"

---

The next month of school feels quiet compared to the high stakes weeks of Assassins. They have their first round of mid-terms. Piper and Polly go on an undefeated streak at doubles, and once or twice a week they hang out after practice without any of their other friends. It gets cold out earlier than usual, and they all decide to hold off on a Six Flags trip until spring.

Ms. Rogers finally starts to wrap up their Shakespeare unit. After two weeks of talking about various re-imaginings of Shakespeare plays, their final project is to pitch their own.

They work in groups of two, and Ms. Rogers tells them to spread out around the auditorium to discuss ideas. Alex tugs on Piper's collar and points up at the catwalk. "Old times sake?"

Piper's eyes light up, but she hesitates before following. "Are we allowed?"

"She didn't say we weren't."

They climb up without being noticed; the curtains are open today, unlike on movie nights, so they can see groups of other students spread across the theater seats.

Alex reaches over, touches the charm on Piper's necklace and winks. "Ah, memories."

Piper smiles, and she has to look away until the fierce need to kiss Alex passes. "So. Any ideas?"

"Yeah, actually. So I was thinking about Romeo and Juliet."

"Cliché."

"Hear me out, Pipes, damn. So, you know that scene in the beginning where Romeo is whining about that other girl he liked? Rosaline?"

"Yeah."

"So Rosaline doesn't want Romeo because she plans to remain chaste and become a nun, right? And she can't be more than fourteen or fifteen, like they are. So what kind of fifteen year old wants to be a nun?"

"Um, a devoutly Catholic one? It's like the sixteenth century."

Alex rolls her eyes. "Or a secretly gay one...in the sixteenth century." She smirks. "How else are you guaranteed to avoid marriage to a guy?"

Piper starts to smile. "So what are you thinking?"

"Rosaline meets Juliet instead of Romeo. Come on, lesbians in the 1500's? Much better star crossed love story than wah our parents don't like each other." She grins, obviously pleased with herself. "Awesome, right?"

"It's pretty good..."

Deflating slightly, Alex makes a pouty face. "Pretty good, Pipes? What's the problem?"

"Just..." She makes an apologetic face. "D'you think it'll look weird? If the two of us do a whole...girl-girl love story presentation?"

"I think it'll look weird if I don't do something super gay."

That makes Piper laugh. "True." Alex had recently presented an English paper arguing that Charlotte Lucas was a lesbian and probably in love with Elizabeth Bennet.

Alex props an elbow on one of the bars of the catwalk and looks at her. "But if it makes you nervous we don't have to."

"No, I'm overthinking it. It's a good idea." Her mind starting to run ahead with the idea. "We should make it as many female characters as possible..."

"Oh, yeah, good call...gender swapped Tybalt?"

"Yes, and Rosaline could have a whole bunch of other, like, young nuns in training or whatever they are. Instead of the Montagues. The only guy we need would be Paris. And maybe the priest."

"Nice. What's our style? Classic Shakespeare or do we wanna do some sort of postmodern steampunk thing?"

"Wait a second...aren't Rosaline and Juliet related, though?"

"Are they?"

"Yeah the whole reason Romeo goes to the Capulet ball is to see her. I think they're cousins or something."

"So it's a plot device detail. Rosaline isn't even seen in the original play, we'll just make them...not related. Anyway, I think cousins got it on with each other all the time back then, right?"

"I guess. There's a lot of cousin stuff in Jane Austen and that's way later than Shakespeare."

---

They have two weeks to work on the project, and it's due just before Thanksgiving break. One Wednesday night Alex and Piper stay shut up in their dorm room, hunched around Piper's laptop, open to Photoshop, debating actresses to use on each character page of their presentation.

"So we said Sarah Paulson for Juliet's nurse, right?" Alex murmurs, leaning over the keyboard to type her name in to google. In their version, the nurse advises Juliet by strongly implying she had her own fraught history with a woman she'd loved.

"Yeah..." Piper slides back on the bed, letting Alex type and dropping her head onto the mattress. "My neck's starting to hurt."

"Me, too." She rubs her eyes. "You at all interested in a smoke break?"

Piper lifts her head, appalled. "We can't do homework high."

"We're just picking photos at this point," Alex points out reasonably. "C'mon, we've got an hour before dorm curfew. And it's been awhile."

"We all smoked last weekend before movie night."

"I meant it's been awhile since it was just us."

Piper rolls over on her back and looks up at Alex, her smile undeniably enticing. "Fine."

Alex grins, pleased, and kisses her. "Love the enthusiasm."

She bounds off the bed and crouches down in front of Piper's bookshelf, going straight for an orange spine on the second row of books, flipping between the pages and pulling out a small ziplock bag of pre-rolled joints.

Piper sits up, shaking hair out of her face. "Um, since when are you keeping weed there?"

Alex holds up the book in her hand. "I hid it in On the Road."

Rolling her eyes, Piper plucks the book from Alex's hands. "You know I don't like your product stashed with my stuff."

"But it's such a clever literary reference." Piper raises her eyebrows, and Alex grins. "Fine, we can just say those are for personal use. As much yours as mine." She holds one of the joints between her fingers, then pulls aside the neck of her T-shirt and tucks it under her bra strap. "Ready?"

Piper can't help but grin, touching her hand to the spot, dragging a finger along the curve of Alex's collarbone. "Let's go."

They shrug into coats and head outside the dorm, leaning instinctively into each other against the bite of November air. Winter nights empty out the campus, and they don't see another person on the walk to the woods, don't even go all the way in to the usual smoking spot. It feels isolated enough in the dark of the trees.

"Kinda regretting this," Piper whispers, teeth chattering.

"We'll be fast," Alex tells her, hunching over the joint and a lighter.

They trade long, deep drags, bouncing on the balls of their feet, pressed together in a tight, warm knot.

"So fucking cold," Piper says for no real reason, her breath fogging the air between them.

Alex grins, coughing out a cloud of smoke and offering what's left of the joint. "Finish it off fast."

She does, letting the stub of paper drop to the dirt and grounding it in with her foot before she grabs Alex's hand. A thrill floods through her, seemingly from nowhere, that makes her feel like a rebellious little kid, hovering out of bounds. She squeezes Alex's fingers and whispers, "Let's run."

She takes off without waiting for an answer, pulling Alex along. It feels crazy and freeing; she hasn't sprinted full speed like this outside the tight confines of a tennis court in years, since neighborhood wide games of hide and seek and a certain tree that was always home base.

The cold air knifes pleasantly to her throat, and she can hear Alex breathing hard behind her. The high hits Piper all at once, breathless giggles bubbling out of her.

Piper pulls up short - it feels, for some reason, like she can't laugh and run at the same time - and Alex slams into her back, sending them both toppling onto the stiff grass.

The laughter just keeps coming, even with Alex on top of her. "Jesus, Pipes..."

Piper curls her fingers around the neck of Alex's shirt and pulls her down to kiss. "We should've just had this kind of study break..."

She feels Alex's smile against her own. "You make a good point."

---

Their laughter is overlapping as they walk up the dormitory stairwell, Alex on a high induced ramble, "They'll begging to put on Rosaline and Juliet as an actual play, Pipes, mark my words."

"Would you audition?"

"Of course, watch this..." They start down their hall, Piper awkwardly walking backwards so she can face Alex, intoning dramatically at her, "Move not not, while my prayer's effect I take...thus from my lips, by thous my sin is purged."

"You're just doing Romeo!"

"Yeah, but it's so much better coming from a formerly aspiring nun, right? Her sin is purged? Please." She starts again with the recitation. "Sin from thy lips! Oh - something about trespasses. Give me that sin again..." Dramatically, she draws Piper in for a kiss, laughing against her lips, nearly sending them both to the ground again.

Piper stumbles slightly, giggling as she carefully straightens up and regains her footing.

She catches a flash of movement out of the corner of her eyes and glances over to see Polly, hovering awkwardly outside her and Alex's dorm room.

The bottom drops out of her stomach. And her lungs, her bones.

The bottom drops out of her insides.

Polly's already walking away, her face pinched in awkward apology. "I'm sorry, Pipe, I was waiting for you...I just texted - " She holds up her phone, uncertain. "I'll go. Sorry."

She hurries down the hallway to the stairwell, heading for her own floor. Piper's brain is clouded with panic; the light of the hallway seems too bright, an interrogation.

It's not like she's never thought about it, being caught; they're not always careful. So of course Piper's pictured it before, tried to decide what she'd do.

Sometimes she even likes to imagine herself smirking and smug, triumphant the way anyone who gets to kiss Alex Vause should be. It would be so good, to get to the moment and realize she actually doesn't care, to smile and shrug and go right back to kissing her girlfriend.

But that's not what happens.

Instead it's like tripping, clumsy and distracted, landing hard on her stomach and spilling carefully packaged truth everywhere.

Alex's hand comes to rest on her arm. She doesn't look scared. Only concerned. "It's okay, Pipes."

"I gotta catch her," Piper mumbles. "I have to talk to her before she texts Danny - "

"Piper, she's not gonna text - "

Piper ignores Alex, running in the direction Polly headed, pounding wildly down the stairs.

"Polly..." Piper catches up to her on the first floor of the dorm. "Pol, listen, that wasn't...it's not what you think."

"Pipe, it's okay," Polly tells her in a calming voice. "I don't care if you guys are gay - "

"We're not. I mean, Alex is, but not...with me..." She can feel herself flushing. "Look, we just smoked - "

"Yeah, I can tell," Polly says with a smirk. She mostly sounds amused, but nothing about this feels funny.

"And...did you hear us, we were talking about our project, you know, for drama. We're doing Rosaline and Juliet, it was Alex's idea, anyway...she was just stoned, and messing around with a scene."

"Okay..." Polly frowns slightly. "But, Pipe, honestly, it wouldn't be a big deal. It's not like people haven't wondered..."

"What? Why?"

"You know. You guys are so close, and haven't even gone out with anyone else in like a year...and Alex used to be a major flirt freshmen year."

Piper's mouth feels unbearably dry. "You're saying people talk about it?"

"Just sometimes."

"Has Danny ever heard that?"

"I...yeah, I think Jessica asked him about it once."

"What'd he say?"

"He said it was crazy, that there was no way you were into girls." Piper's throat tightens, and Polly barrels on, oblivious. "I figured he'd know, but if you are...I won't say anything to anyone, Pipe, and I seriously don't care."

It takes Piper a second to shake the words loose from her throat. "I care." Piper swallows hard, hating herself for reverberation of truth ringing through the words. "I'm not gay, and I didn't...know she was gonna do that." She pushes a hand through her hair, her voice shaking. "I hope it was just that she was stoned and...caught up in the joke."

"I get it," Polly says, serious now, and Piper can tell she mostly believes her. "And I hope so, too...that's kind of awkward, otherwise."

"Yeah," Piper echoes dully.

"Oh! Also. What I came to tell you..." Polly grins, holding out her phone for Piper to look at. "Danny asked me to go to winter formal with him! Just out of nowhere, can you believe it?"

"Wow, that's awesome. Glad he finally came around."

Piper's voice sounds like it's coming through a tunnel. Inside her head, Piper is curled up and trembling and trying not to cry; outside, she smiles, and says everything she's supposed to in an easy, cheerful tone before she finally tells Polly goodnight and heads back to her own room.

---

Alex is sitting on her own bed with her legs dangling off the side, hands playing nervously with her cell phone. Her shoulders sag with relief when Piper walks in, but her voice is tentative as she asks, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah." Piper sits up on the bed beside her, the need for comfort drawing her as close to Alex as possible even though some part of her still feels like they're being watched. She tells herself it's just the weed, just paranoia. "I told her we were just stoned and joking around about our project."

Alex raises an eyebrow. "She bought that?"

"I think so. But..." Piper's voice falters slightly, and right away Alex rests a soothing hand between her shoulder blades. "She said there have been...rumors. About us."

"Oh."

Piper turns to look at her, can't help the hint of accusation weaving through her voice when she asks, "Did you know that?"

"Some of the soccer girls have asked me. And it just doesn't surprise me, Pipes. I haven't even tried to date anyone else since you got here, and you never hang out with Overbrook guys. That's the kind of thing high school rumor mills notice."

Piper's quiet for a long moment before she admits quietly, "She says Danny's heard the rumors."

"Does he believe them?"

"No...Polly said he was like...there's no way, that's crazy, she doesn't like girls."

Alex hears the catch in her voice. She slips her fingers through Piper's hair, and prompts gently, "Pipes?"

"I was just really hoping to hear that he'd just said...who cares if she does?" Piper whispers, the words splintering out of her. "Or maybe that he made some joke about how I could get him free weed now. But he just...refused to believe it. Like it should be completely impossible...in our family it pretty much is."

She starts to cry then. Alex slides back on the bed, pulling Piper with her and letting her bury her face against her chest.

"It's okay," Alex murmurs, close to her ear, holding her tight. "It's gonna be okay, Pipes..."

When Piper's sobs start to slow, Alex touches her chin and makes her look up. Her face is pained as she thumbs away tear streaks and says tightly, "I'm really sorry, Piper, I wasn't thinking earlier...I should have seen her there."

"It's okay." Piper's eyes fill up fresh, and she adds, "I'm sorry I turn you into this secret."

"Hey, no, don't do that. It's not about me. I just wish your family wasn't such shit. I wish you didn't have to be scared."

Piper feels like crying again, and she hides her face in the crook of Alex's arm, shielding the uncomfortable truth she's afraid is all over her face.

Something struck her out in the hallway, when Polly told her she didn't care, a vague, half-formed thought only now beginning to crystallize.

It's not just her family Piper wants to hide from. She'd believed Polly, in that moment: she wouldn't tell anyone, even Danny. Yet Piper had still felt weak with the need to convince her it wasn't true. She hates the idea of rumors swelling, of it being talked about by anyone outside their carefully protective circle. It feels dangerous, and it scares her.

Piper doesn't want to care, but she knows now that she really, really does.

---

A/N: So. Finally wading into a little bit of angst for this 'verse (though this isn't the immediate Death to all Fluff). I've been careful with planning this one, bc I really try to stay away from cliche gay angst YA storylines as much as possible, but still stay true to Piper's character and her kind of central struggle between what she really wants and her need to match other's expectations. After all, this is someone who in canon told Polly she was just experimenting within a few days of her and Alex saying they love each other...and that was in her twenties, when she wasn't really keeping a secret from Polly. So...yeah.

In the meantime, would love to hear what you thought of all the Assassins and Shakesperean hijinks here! I'm exciting about the upcoming material, so I'll try to get to an update as soon as possible. Thanks again for coming back here, it's so appreciated.