After two and a half hours on the road, Alex has recounted the origins of three of her tattoos. When Piper asked about the rest she waved her off, saying, "Gotta leave a few for another time. Like for a rainy day story."

"Don't old people say that about money, or something?" Piper giggled, "Like my Grandma Chapman used to have this coffee can with a bunch of coins in it and when I asked her what it was all for, she said, "Oh, I'm just saving it for a rainy day."

Alex stared at her. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"I don't know," She hunched over laughing. "I loved Grandma Chapman, but she was batshit crazy." Alex found herself laughing too and she shook her head.

"Shit, I need sleep."

"My fault," Piper said guiltily. "I kept you up."

"No, Pipes, it wasn't you. I already told you, we're a team. We all look out for each other. I wanted to help, really."

"But I took up your whole bed. I was practically spooing you," She laughed again. "Sorry about that. Larry says I'm such restless sleeper, he's going to record me one day. And I'm like a serial snuggler..." The grin she flashed was toothy and genuine and Alex, who usually reserved the word adorable for babies and woodland creatures, thought it was possibly the only acceptable sentiment to describe the girl when she smiled like that.

"It was totally fine. I fell asleep in two seconds," She fibbed. There was only so much Piper actually needed to know.

"Good," Her relief was evident and she brightened, shifting gears. "So what's the plan once we get to Chicago?"

Finally, something Alex could discuss without fearing she would stammer or turn beet fucking red. "We're gonna meet in my room at four," She relayed briskly, adjusting her glasses. "If we get in by one or so, I figure that gives everyone enough time to grab lunch and rest or whatever. We'll go over what's going on for the next few days, without Red breathing down our throats, but basically, we have the rest of tonight and all day tomorrow to rehearse before we play The Riv," The brunette said, referring to The Riviera, the concert venue they would be performing at.

"Sounds good. Is it a big house?"

"No bigger than The Fox," Alex reassured her. "You've more than proven yourself, Piper. It's all up from here. In Chicago, we'll get reviewed too, but don't let that scare you. They wanna compare you to Lorna," She lowered her voice significantly. "And it's unfair, but it's gonna happen."

"She was alot more...aggressive than me. I listened to your album a million times before my audition. Kinda made me pause about going through with it."

"Listen, Piper," Alex was careful to use the right words, "Power...it doesn't necessarily mean attacking a song. Your power is how you sing them, what's behind it. Yeah, you sound amazing too, but it's so much more than that. It's what's you're saying when you sing. You tell a story with our songs. Lorna couldn't do that."

As the bus sped along the highway, Piper reached over to squeeze Alex's hand. "That means alot, coming from you." Her blue eyes gleamed as she looked at her. "I can tell a story with your songs because they're amazing. How long have you been writing? I write too but I haven't done my own material in a long time."

It was not lost on Alex that Piper was still holding her hand. "Maybe you can sing some of them for me one day. I'm not as tough as I seem, I promise."

The blonde reddened. "They might not be good...anyway, you didn't answer my question."

"Nice way to avoid the subject, Chapman."

"I've been told I'm pretty good at it."

"Fine," Alex deflected and Piper realized she still had her hand and blushed again, letting it go. "I've been writing since I learned to play. Which was when I was eleven. The songs I wrote back then were pretty shitty, though," She smiled at the memory. "They were all about how I didn't fit in and how bitchy girls at school called me Pig Sty for no reason."

"That must've been hard, kids being so cruel."

The other woman shrugged. "Yeah, well, when you're poor and you have interests besides boys and make up and clothes, you're an easy target. That's why when I taught myself how to play, it opened up a whole world to me. One where it didn't matter that I was different. Music was everything to me back then. Still is."

"Me too."

"I know. I knew it from the second you strummed the first chord on your guitar," She admitted, toying with a stray thread on her shirt. "Nicky and Poussey, I mean, don't get me wrong, they're kick ass musicans and obviously, they're both passionate about it or else they wouldn't be here but I think to them, it's like...easy. Like they're both good at what they do and it comes natural and they enjoy the money and the up and coming fame thing. But it's not something they have to do because they literally aren't good at anything else. Or they'll die if they stop playing. If we ever broke up, yeah, they'd be upset, Nick probably more so, since we started this thing together but they could pick up and go on with their lives. Me, if I couldn't play or write...if I had no outlet for the shit that constantly swims around in my head, I wouldn't wanna fucking be here anymore, you know." She chewed on her lower lip. "And I'm telling you this because I know you get it."

"Completely." Piper paused. "And like I said, I know what a huge deal it is to join you guys because I know how much this band means to you. I'd never do anything to compromise it, Alex."

They sat in comfortable silence for a bit, listening as Red shouted in Russian on the phone, presumably to one of her sons. The bus was otherwise quiet as Poussey had joined Nicky in sleep, resting her head against hers.

"You still have the songs you wrote when you were eleven?" There was a teasing lilt to Piper's voice and Alex chortled.

"Yeah, written on Lisa Frank stationary. Really deep stuff." She paused, "Though not quite as deep when I turned twelve and had a huge crush on Kelly Maltroni. She was a blonde cheerleader who didn't know I existed and let me tell you, Pipes, the angst resulted in some intense songs. Maybe I'll turn them into a album someday," Alex joked.

"Did you always know you liked girls?" The blonde asked suddenly. "Sorry, that's kinda personal. If you don't wanna answer..."

Alex laughed. "I'm a fucking open book when it comes to that stuff, Piper. Uh, let's see, like always? It wasn't ever like this big, startling revelation or anything. I knew I liked girls and not boys since as long as I could remember. But I learned early on it was just another thing that made me different so it wasn't something I announced, you know? Not until high school, when I stopped giving a fuck what anyone thought."

"And your parents? Were they OK with it?"

"My mom knew before I even said anything. She said it didn't matter who I was into, as long as I was happy. And praticed safe sex." She pulled a face. "Do you know how mortifying it is for your mom to hand you a dental dam in front of your friends?"

Piper shook her head."My mom couldn't even say the word sex when we were around. It wasn't something we talked about in my house."

"My mom is pretty great," Alex admitted. "She raised me all on her own . My father was nothing but a sperm donor, basically. He never did shit for us. It was always her and I."

"I'm sorry," The blonde touched her arm gently.

"Don't be. In spite of everything, I didn't have a bad life. Most girls I knew grewing up hated their moms. Mom and I are best friends. I could tell her anything. And if I didn't tell her, she knew anyway." Blushing slightly, she remembered their brief conversation about Piper.

"I'd love to meet her someday. She sounds like an incredible woman."

"She is. And she's gonna try to make one of the tour spots. She works alot but I'm planning to fly her out. I miss her when I'm away."

"About 45 minutes to Chi town," The driver announced, cutting through their conversation.

"Thank God," Alex sighed, "Can't wait to put my head down on the pillow for a little bit."

"I know what you mean. Hey," She turned to Alex, "I've been here a few times. I know an amazing pizza place, if you're interested. I mean, if you like pizza. God, I don't even know if you eat pizza."

"Everyone likes pizza," She smiled, finding Piper's fumbling endearing. "It's a deal."

She settled back in her seat, looking forward to pizza and Piper's company and sleep. And it was then that Nicky's words the previous evening came flooding back to her, making her heart beat a little faster.

"That girl has a crush, whether she knows it or not."