Authors note. I do not own any of the characters, I'm not American so if some of the terminology is wrong I apologise. Still new to fanfiction, any mistakes are my own, hope you enjoy. Thank you for all of the follows/fves and reviews. It means a lot!

Chapter Three

Piper had quickly settled into her student halls making friends with people from her course. Polly, an opinionated but kind girl and Larry an inoffensive, gentle, sweater wearing guy who had a room two down the corridor from her. Both were New York natives who had opted to stay in halls rather than commuting in from their parents homes in the suburbs.

That weekend Pipers parents had arrived in the city after taking the red eye down from Boston. With them they brought Piper a selection of clothes, money and a new laptop for her studies. To say they were worried about their daughter in the busy city was an understatement and the phone call they received on her first evening did nothing to help dispel their fears.

The weekend passed quickly and Piper was free of her parents once more. Her first official week as a student was a mix of classes, inductions and social events. During one particularly dull induction to the library referencing policy Piper felt her thoughts being drawn once again to the tall hot cop who had been so kind to her on her first day. In the brief quiet moments during the day and night Piper had found her thoughts wandering back to the brunette, as she wondered to herself what she could do to thank her.

The next lecture on their schedule for the day was campus safety. All three toyed with the idea of sneaking off and going outside to enjoy the sunshine, which had been teasingly beating through the windows when Piper heard a familiar throaty laugh. She scanned the room until her eyes fell upon the familiar form of a short, wild haired cop and her taller dark haired counterpart.

"Guys, you know I think we should sit in on this one, you know safety first and all", Piper voiced trying not to sound too eager. The other two agreed, slumping back down into their back row seats.

The two cops addressed the group, Nichols taking the lead. She was a captivating straight talker who appeared far more upbeat than when Piper had first met her. 'Must be getting some' she mused to herself, thinking back to how different her personality was to when they first met.

Alex was happy to stand back and let her colleague lead the group session, she heard familiar peels of laughter filling the room and smiled knowingly at the fact her friend was in her element having the audiences full attention. She continued to smile as her eyes scanned the room until they fell upon a certain blonde, a certain blonde who was staring directly at her. Never one to back down she held her gaze until the blue eyes before her fell, first to her desk and then back up to Nicky. Alex took in the new slight red tinge now adorning the blondes cheeks.

'Great' Piper thought to herself,internally admonishing herself for getting caught staring, also aware of the fact her cheeks now burned a little.

When she next dared to glance over to where Alex had been stood she was disappointed to see an empty space.

"Did your mom never teach you it's rude to stare?"

Pipers breath hitched at the husky whisper close to her ear, she was aware of the faint smell of jasmine and cherry blossom and then it was gone.

She swung her head around only to see Alex now stood at the back of the room smirk on her lips firing her a wink. If Piper had thought her cheeks were burning before, they were practically on fire now, she fixed her eyes firmly on her desk wishing the ground would swallow her whole.

"You ok there? You look a little flushed", Larry said with concern for his new friend.

Piper just smiled back at him weakly.

"How you doing kid? Having fun?"

" yes , settling in well, thank you" Piper commended herself on managing to string together a coherent sentence. "Listen I wanted to say thank you, you know, for the other day, here this should cover the shopping", Piper tried thrusting a crumpled $20 towards Alex.

"don't be daft, think of it as a gift from me to you" Alex countered

" but, I..." Pipers words felt like damp blotting paper in her mouth. Throwing her a lifeline Alex said " tell you what, I'll let you buy me a drink sometime" before Piper could answer Alex once again flashed her a sweet smile and was gone.

"you know her?" Polly enquired,

"kind of"

"she seems nice"

"yes, yes she does"