"This is like, the best night of my life!" Piper had to shout to be heard above the din of the music. "Like unbelievable."

"What?" Alex shouted back. "I can't hear a fucking word in here."

Nicky had dragged them to a random bar on the outskirts of downtown St. Louis where the house band was so crazy loud that she couldn't think straight. Maybe, she reasoned, she was old, but the last thing she wanted to do after playing a raucous show was to go and here raucous music. Nicky and Poussey had been quickly surrounded by girls who'd been at the show and who were more than willing to buy them drinks. "Yo, we won't be long," Poussey assured her as Nicky and Piper chatted."You got your hands full with our girl here, not that you mind," She grinned, watching Piper gesture to Nicky excitedly. "We'll be around."

The second they'd had disappeared into the crowd, Alex's heart had thudded wildly. It had nothing to do with babysitting a drunken Piper. It was more the way drunken Piper kept taking her hand to and dragging her to the bar to order drinks that had names like Candy Shoppe and how she'd randomly flit her fingertips over Alex's rose. The whole situation was as unnerving as shit.

They sat on an old sofa that probably hadn't been cleaned it years, Alex with a bottle of Budweiser in hand, Piper sipping daintily from a day- glo green concotion that reminded Alex vaugely of Ecto Cooler. Although she couldn't hear one damn thing her new bandmate was saying, she felt a pleasantly warm buzz slowly creeping into the recesses of her chest. Piper was so close their knees brushed from time to time and it wasn't unnerving anymore. It was comforting and familiar and Alex found herself inadvertently leaning closer so it happened more than once. Apparently, drunk Piper made it a hell of alot more challenging for Alex to heed her own warnings.

"I said I'm having an amazing time." Instead of shouting, Piper leaned in, her hand coming to rest on the other woman's shoulder, her warm breath tickling Alex's neck as she spoke into her ear.

Alex felt herself flush under Piper's closeness. She's wasted, dumb ass, she had to tell herself. Calm down and quit acting like a horny teenager.

Getting a hold of herself, she managed a smile. "Good. I mean, I'm glad. You deserve it. You were fucking awesome out there."

Piper grinned. "Thanks! Whatever you said. Hey, I love this song! Let's go dance. C'mon!" The blonde sprung up, albeit a bit unsteadily on her heels and started to pull Alex from her spot on the couch.

"Oh no," She protested. "I don't dance."

"What? No, really. I don't believe it. Everyone can dance."

"Yeah well, not me. Ask Nicky. It's not a pretty sight."

"Like anything you do isn't pretty. You're like the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen," Piper said adamantly, slurring her words slightly. "Like you could be a model."

"Right." Alex laughed. "And you, my friend, are drunk." She settled back further into the recesses of the couch. "Anyway, I'm busy." She lifted up her beer.

"Please?" Piper put on a pout. "I really don't wanna go out there by myself. There are some shady guys here."

"What?" Alex was amused. "You think I can intimidate them or something?"

She giggled. "You're taller than everybody in here. "

"Touche." Damn it, why did she have to be so sexy, with her short dress and those legs and that pout? Alex could usually resist a pretty face when it came to doing shit she didn't want to do but with Piper, it proved to be difficult.

"Fine," The brunette grumbled, allowing Piper to pull her to her feet and drag her to the over crowded dance floor where the band was playing a really bad cover of Just What I Needed. As it turned out, Alex didn't have to be self conscious because Piper's dancing drew quite a crowd. She grabbed Alex's hands and spun her, singing loudly to the music.

"Whoah, whoah," She caught the other woman as she leaned forward, wobbling so hard that she almost fell. "OK, you're officially cut off."

"Thanks for saving me," Piper flung her arms around Alex's neck. "Second time in one night."

Between Piper's sweet (but drunken) words and the way she was hugging her tightly, so tightly, in fact, that Alex could smell her perfume, she felt that same pleasant warmth again, low in her belly. This time, it had nothing to do with her buzz.

"Excuse me," She felt a tap on her shoulder. A very attractive red head smiled at her. "You're Alex Vause, right? My friend and I were at the show tonight. You guys were amazing," The woman gushed. "Oh God, I'm so stupid!" She turned to Piper. "You're the new lead singer. You were incredible. Like insanely good."

Piper started to open her mouth to reply when Alex quickly jumped in. "Uh, she's shy. Around people she doesn't know I mean."

The red head smiled and somehow, Alex got the impression she wasn't very bright. "Whatever, it's cool. Anyway," she giggled, "You're probably gonna say no, since you're famous and all but my friend and I wanna buy you a drink, if that's cool." She gestured to a petite blonde behind her who gave a little wave.

"I dunno," Alex looked quickly to Piper. "I'm with my friends."

"Hey, she's cute." Piper whispered loudly. "It's ok...go if you want."

"What?"

"You're into girls, right? She's totally hitting on you. Go on," Piper gave her a little nudge and Alex shook her head.

"It's against the rules," She whispered back. "Band only tonight."

"A drink is against the rules?"

If Piper kept pressing her body flush against hers, Alex was certain the composure she was keeping was surely going to crumble.

"Thanks for the offer, but really, I'm good. " Alex told the red head, a little curtly, if the truth be told.

"That's fine," The woman looked put out and for a brief second, Alex almost felt bad. "Emjoy the rest of the tour." She turned on her heel and headed toward the bar with her friend, their heads bent together, undoubtedly talking about what had happened.

"Alex-" Piper started, but the brunette shook her head. "She was just a groupie, Piper. You could practically smell the desperation on her. She just wanted to get me wasted so she could take me into rhe bathroom and tell all her friends she fucked a "rock star." I've made that mistake before."

"Mhmm," Piper murmured. "So I don't get the problem."

"The problem is I'm thirty five years old. I'm not going to be anyone's conquest."

"You want a relationship. Let me tell you, they're not all they're cracked up to be." She pointed a crooked finger. "You know what you need, you need another drink. You know what I need? Another drink. I'm buying." Wobbling, Piper turned to leave the dance floor and Alex took her arm.

"Oh no, that's the last thing you need. You've had enough."

In a split second, Piper's entire face changed and her eyes became narrow slits. Gone was the happy go lucky expression she'd worn and in its place was an anger that quite frankly, frightened the other woman a little.

"You don't get to tell me I've had enough, OK?" She hissed, wringing free from Alex's hand. "Who do you think you are, my mother?"

"No," She replied calmly, "But I am your bandmate. And I'd like to think someone who's becoming a friend. I'm just looking out for you."

"Yeah well, you don't need to. I'm a grown woman who's perfectly capable of taking care of herself." Her speech was becoming more and more unintelligible and she shook her head. "I'm gonna go dance." With that, she disappeared, weaving through the throngs of people.

"Dude," Nicky suddenly was behind her and she put a hand on her shoulder. "I saw Chapman leave. What the fuck did you say to her?"

"Oh fuck me, she left the bar? Go after her, Nick. She's wasted-"

"Poussey's got it. We saw her leave. Let's get the fuck out of here." The other woman guided Alex out of the bar onto the side walk.

"OK, what'd you do?"

Alex sighed. "I opened my big mouth and put my big foot in it. It's a talent of mine."

Nicky raised an eyebrow, leaning against the building. "Why, cuz you cared? Trust me, Vause. She'll get over it." She nudged her. "It's one of your best qualities...annoying as fuck, but yeah..."

"It was stupid, Nick. We barely know each other, and I'm trying to fucking police her." Alex hugged her arms around herself against the cool early morning air. "I know she can take care of herself but-shit, there's this thing about her that makes you want to protect her, you know. Don't fucking repeat that," She warned her friend. "Don't ask me why because I don't get it myself."

"Cuz you like her, man. And you can deny it up and down, but there it is." Her phone buzzed and she took it out of her pocket. "It's Poussey, she's with Chapman." She read on, her face falling into a frown.

"What's going on? Where are they?"

"Uh, Chapman's OK. Poussey couldn't get her into a cab though."

"So where are they? C'mon, Nick, you're scaring me."

"They're a couple of doors down." Nicky grinned,"Chapman's getting a tattoo."