Piper was standing beside Brittany as she sat atop of the washing machine in Rachel's basement. Beside her stood Mercedes and, nearby, Tina and Mike. Not one of them said anything, too bored to even think about something to talk about, but when Finn arrived with Kurt and Blaine, Piper smiled a bit, making her way toward the two boys.

"Welcome. Kurt. Blaine." Rachel greeted, while the small group downstairs. "I wasn't expecting you guys."

"Kurt's been blackmailing me ever since he saw my browser history." Finn explained quietly, as Piper and Mercedes walked over to Kurt and Blaine to greet them with hugs. "He kind of insisted on coming."

"I'm totally off the clock right now, Rachel." Blaine said, keeping an arm around Piper as the girl smiled. "I'm not a Warbler. I'm just Blaine. I'm not even wearing my uniform."

"Yeah, and you know what? I almost didn't recognize you." Piper joked as Blaine rolled his eyes at her.

"So, this is your dads' Oscar room." Kurt said, taking a look around the room.

"Yes." Rachel nodded, proudly. "They transformed our ordinary basement for our famous annual Oscar parties."

"Is that a stage?" Blaine asked, nodding in the direction of the small stage off to the back of the room.

"I kind of like to give impromptu performances for our neighbors sometimes." Rachel shrugged as if it was obvious. Well, knowing Rachel, it probably was.

Untangling herself from Blaine then, Piper started to make her way back to Brittany who welcomed her back with a smile and opened her legs a little bit so Piper could stand in between them. Quinn watched with a grimace as Piper smiled up at Brittany, placing her hands on Brittany's thighs and humming in content when her girlfriend leaned down to press a kiss to her lips. Looking away from them, Quinn sighed when she found Sam and Santana full on making out in another couch.

Well, that was about to be a very long night.

"Hey, girlfriend." Rachel smiled as she approached a very annoyed Quinn. "Having fun?"

"Yeah." The blonde responded rather emotionless. "Awesome party."

"Hum, okay." Rachel sighed then, watching as Quinn and Piper exchanged quiet, hurtful looks with one another. Turning back to Kurt and Blaine, Rachel smiled. "Let's, hum, let's go over the rules. Everybody gets two drink tickets to keep things from getting out of hand. We are serving wine coolers today. That is our specialty drink. It's actually all we have. Brittany! Remember the rules. No sitting on anything."

At that, Brittany pouted a bit, pushing Piper forward a bit, gently, to give her space to jump off the washing machine.

"Okay. Okay, everybody." Rachel smiled, raising one of her wine coolers in the air. "Cheers!"

At that, Brittany, Piper, Tina and Mike exchanged glances and nodding at each other, they decided to put their plan from earlier in action. Grabbing Brittany by the hand, Piper approached Rachel with a small smile.

"Great party, Rachel." She said. "We gotta run."

"Yeah, dinner reservations." Tina added.

"But we haven't even played celebrity yet." Rachel protested as Mike shrugged at her. "Why is everybody leaving?"

"Because this party blows." Puck answered her question.

"I haven't even had my first sip yet." Rachel whined. "How am I supposed to write Both Sides Now if I can't even throw a party?"

"Look, if you want everyone to stay you have to let me break in your dads' liquor cabinet." Puck said, trying to convince Rachel. "No one's gonna get buzzed off two wine coolers. I'll replace it before they get home."

At that, Piper could see Rachel hesitated, but when Finn nodded at her, she relented.

"Let's party!"

***

Piper had drank only a little bit, but she was already feeling a bit dizzy. Maybe that was a sign from her body, telling her that she should've eaten something before heading to this party since drinking without any food in your stomach was never good, but when was the last time she even listened to anything her body told her? Besides, it was a good distraction. Sure she was feeling like she was about to throw up at any second, but as she laid in a sofa by herself, watching with a small smirk as Brittany — drunk out of her mind — pretty much did a strip tease in a table as Artie cheered her on despite the fact that her eyes were constantly searching for Piper instead, the girl realized that feeling like she was about to pass out was actually a lot better than dealing with any of the other emotions she had had the past few days.

After all, not only was Joanna trying to blame Harry for Piper's eating disorder in order to prove he was a bad father for whatever the reason it was that she wanted Piper's custody now, she was also always pointing out how she looked healhier and prettier when she wasn't playing around with that gay thing and telling her she could fix her, if she'd let her. Besides, Karofsky was still up her ass and Piper's last conversation with Quinn still constantly plaguing her mind, and every time she looked at her now, she was suddenly overwhelmed with a hurricane of emotions that she didn't even know how to deal with.

"Hey."

At that, Piper sighed. Speak of the devil...

Taking another sip of her drink just to feel it burn while it ran down her throat, Piper turned her head a bit so she was looking at Quinn as the blonde stood there, in front of the couch.

"Can I sit?" She asked.

"No." Piper shook her head, before taking another sip of her drink.

At that, Quinn sighed, but didn't argue. Instead, she just sat down on the floor, leaning against the couch so that her face was in the same height as Piper's as the girl laid her head against the arms of the couch. For a moment, they stayed quiet watching as everyone lived their best lives while blackout drunk but too into their own little world to care about any of it.

"You were right, you know?" Quinn spoke up suddenly, causing Piper to frown a bit. "About me not treating you right. Not giving you the love you deserve."

"What?" Piper frowned a bit, confused.

"I loved having your attention last year and I think I took it for granted." She explained further. "I shouldn't have. But I did. And I hurt you, being with all these other guys. Finn, Sam, Puck... Finn again. But then I saw you with Brittany and you look so happy together and I couldn't help but feel jealous. Because I'm selfish. I want you to myself but I couldn't find it in me the courage to admit it. I still can't."

"You know, I know it's not easy." Piper whispered, feeling her own eyes filling with the tears at the confession, but unsure of how much of it Quinn actually meant and how much of it was just the alcohol speaking. "Admitting your feelings. For anyone. But especially for someone you never thought you'd have them. And I know you're scared of what your parents would say. I mean, they kicked you out of the house once. Why wouldn't they do it again, right? But someday, you're gonna have to do it, Quinn. Someday, you're gonna have to wake up and just decide, you know what? Screw this... And face those fears and those feelings that you have."

"I'm just scared." Quinn mumbled, playing with her drink in her cup, her voice sounding so small and broken that it made Piper's heart break.

"Come here." She called gently, slowly sitting herself up on the couch and ignoring the black spots that appeared in front of her eyes as soon as she moved. She opened her arms, though, smiling a bit when Quinn got up from the floor and sat down beside Piper instead, allowing the girl to wrap her arms around her as she cried quietly. "I know you're scared, okay? And I know this is hard. But you're gonna have to do it eventually. And as much as it hurts to do it, I promise... The second you stop pretending to be something you're not and just choose to be yourself... It is the best feeling in the world."

"Really?" Quinn whispered through her tears, as Piper nodded quietly, running a hand through her hair.

"Really." She promised. "And if you feel for me what you say you do, you're gonna have to stop chasing the other guys eventually, Q. They're not gonna give you the feeling you're looking for."

"Will you?" Quinn asked then, pulling away from Piper just enough so she could take her head off of her shoulder to meet her green eyes with Piper's brown ones. "Will you give me the feeling I'm looking for?"

"I have a girlfriend, Q." Piper mumbled, unsure if she was reminding herself of that fact or Quinn.

"That's not what I asked." Quinn insisted, and, with a sigh, Piper shrugged.

"I don't know." She admitted.

"Do you love me?" Quinn asked then.

"Probably." Piper nodded.

"Do you love Brittany?"

"I... I don't know."

"Can I kiss you?"

"You're drunk."

"I know what I want."

"You're drunk and confused, Q." Piper shook her head then. "I'm not taking advantage of you like this."

"I wanna kiss you." Quinn pouted then and it literally took Piper's whole self-restraint not to gave in right there and then. "I wanna know how you taste, I wanna know... I wanna know if kissing you will make me feel as good as I think it will. Please, P... Please..."

And as Piper leaned back when Quinn leaned forward just a little bit, she could feel her grip in her cup tightening. When she looked at Quinn, she almost cried. Because, there she was, beautiful as ever and practically begging her to kiss her. And God, her lips... The lipgloss looked so good on her and Piper was sure it would taste even better. But she couldn't. Not with Quinn wasted like that and not while dating Brittany. Piper cared for her and it wouldn't be fair to her to hurt her like that because of a fantasy with Quinn Fabray that she should've let go of a long time ago.

"Quinn..." Piper whispered then. "Quinn, I..."

Right on time, Rachel yelled into the microphone.

"Let's spin the bottle!" She said, as everyone cheered. "Who wants to play spin the bottle?"

And, in that moment, Piper was sure she had never felt so grateful for Rachel Berry's existence, because, as soon as the prospect of spin the bottle came up, Brittany was quick to rush over to her girlfriend and pull her up from the couch and toward the small circle everyone was forming to play. Sending Quinn another quick glance, Piper frowned when she noticed the huge pout in her lips as she sat by herself on the couch, but when Brittany drunkenly fell into her with a giggle, Piper snapped her attention back to her girlfriend and cheered along with Mercedes as soon as Puckerman took the first spin.

***

"You don't seem drunk." Piper said, as she sat down beside Kurt by the piano Rachel had laying around and smiling a bit at the way the boy was sending daggers in Rachel and Blaine's way as they sang their duet of Don't you want me, baby? "At least, not drunk enough for this."

"I can't drink." Kurt told her. "I promised Finn I'd help him get everyone home."

"Very responsible of you." She said, as Kurt tore his eyes away from the duo before turning to look at Piper instead.

"You don't seem too bad either."

"I didn't drink too much." She admitted. "I wasn't feeling well."

"Why? Did you eat today?"

"You have to stop asking me this..." Piper mumbled as Kurt sent her a look. "I had a big breakfast."

"That was at least fifteen hours ago." He said. "You had nothing else?"

"Well, I probably had half a bottle of tequila."

"Piper..."

"I don't want to eat." She frowned. "I tried to sit down for lunch and I almost threw up my breakfast. I didn't even try later on for dinner."

"You can't live like that."

"I'm doing okay." She spat at him.

"You're gonna collapse again."

"I can take care of myself."

"Look, P... I'm just saying..."

"Kurt." She cut her friend off with a glare. "It's been a while since I've seen you, okay? I really don't want to spend this time arguing with you."

"I don't want to argue with you..." Kurt protested. "I'm just looking out for you."

"I'm not a child!" Piper yelled, as she stood up.

Sighing at that, knowing she was, most likely, very irritable with her poor eating patterns, Kurt gave in, then, reaching a hand over to Piper and pulling her back to sit down beside him again by her arm.

"Okay." He relented, even though he couldn't shake off the feeling that Piper was closer to crashing down again than anyone thought she was. "Okay, I won't touch on the subject again, I promise. Just come on, sit down."

With a huff, Piper obeyed, sitting back down beside his best friend as she calmed down, leaning her head against his shoulder as the two of them watched Blaine and Rachel perform.

"I'm sorry." She said, as Kurt just hummed, fully aware she didn't really mean to snap at him like that. "So... Nothing new with Blaine?"

"Well, he got rejected by the GAP boy and I did admit to him that I liked him, but he said he had no clue." Kurt said, as Piper giggled. "I'm trying to impress him. But apparently Rachel beat me to it."

"Come on, they're both drunk." Piper rolled her eyes then. "Judging by way Blaine was dancing on a table earlier, I'm pretty sure he won't remember anything about tonight."

"We'll see." Kurt smiled at her then. "What about you? Will you remember?"

And, at that, Piper sighed quietly, looking over at Quinn and noticing how the girl seemed to have been drowning her rejection in bottles and bottles of alcohol.

"Honestly, I wish I wouldn't." She admitted, as Kurt frowned a bit at her, confused. "I really wished I wouldn't."

***

Piper was actually very grateful she hadn't had that much to drink last night because walking with Mercedes down the hallway as the girl hung from her arm and groaned dramatically any time a small sound was heard was pretty much the funniest thing she had seen in a while.

"Oh, there's Tina." Piper said, pointing at the girl by her locker who seemed to be taking that morning as bad as Mercedes. "Let's go talk to her."

"Shh..." Mercedes mumbled as Piper giggled, noticing the furrow of her eyebrows despite her sunglasses. "Why are you yelling?"

"I need to close my locker, and it's gonna sound like a gunshot." Tina said, as soon as the two girls approached her.

Smiling at her, Piper noticed how Tina left her locker open as the three of them started to make their way down the hallway when Santana joined them all.

"I have had the worst hangover since Saturday, and it's Monday." Tina said.

"I've been dry-heaving all weekend." Santana said. "When my mother asked what the sound was I said that I was practicing birdcalls."

"You guys, I can't stop barfing." Mike mumbled, throwing an arm around Piper's shoulder as the girl huffed, having to pretty much carry his weight and Mercedes'.

"Please don't say barf." Tina whined.

"I caught a whiff of hair spray and went full Linda Blair in the girls' bathroom." Santana said.

"I told my mom I had the flu and she made me a traditional tea made out of panda hair." Mike said.

"Can we talk about anything else?" Piper asked then, as everyone turned to look at her before turning to look at Quinn, Artie, Brittany, Puck and Sam as they met in the middle of the hallway.

"How about some Bloody Marys, y'all?" Artie offered, showing them all a bottle as Piper frowned.

"Are you kidding me?" Mercedes scoffed. "The last thing I want to do is drink."

"It'll help your hangover." Artie argued, as Sam started to hand out some small cups. "That's what Bloody Marys are for. Hair of the dog that done bit yo' ass."

***

Despite about half of the people up on that stage being drunk, their performance of Blame it in the alcohol had been great. And as Mr. Schue clapped and smiled at them, she had assumed the teacher didn't even notice any of it.

"Well done, you guys." Mr. Schue clapped as Piper laughed when Mercedes leaned against her to stand up straight as they waited for their teacher's verdict. "I mean, you always bring it with the singing and the dancing. But what I was really impressed with today was your acting. I truly thought that some of you guys were drunk."

"We take our craft seriously." Artie said as everyone nodded, glad they hadn't been caught

"Problem is that song is great but it kind of glorifies drinking, don't you think?" Mr. Schue asked. "I mean, we're supposed to sing about the dangers of alcohol for this assembly."

"Well, good luck finding a song that does that." Mercedes said.

"Mr. Schue?" Rachel called, slurring a bit still, clearly still affected by the events of the party at her house. "First of all, that vest is very cute. You are all kinds of awesome. But second, maybe there's really no songs about the dangers of drinking because there's really none, as long as you have a proper designated driver. Have I ever told you how great you are?"

At that, Piper frowned when Rachel leaned against Mike, causing Tina to glare at her as she pulled her boyfriend away from the girl.

"Well, Rachel, yeah, driving drunk is dangerous. And have you guys ever heard of alcohol poisoning?" Mr. Schue asked. "Yeah, it kills about 400 people every year. Santana, are you... Are you crying?"

At turning to look at the girl, Piper noticed that she was, in fact, crying.

"I'm okay." She mumbled as Brittany walked over to her to pull her into a hug. "I'm okay."

"You're such a hypocrite." Quinn called out to the teacher as he widened his eyes just slightly. "You drink. Most adults do."

"I may have a beer every now and then, but I don't... I don't get drunk." Mr. Schue said.

"We're just saying this is a waste of time." Puck said. "We're totally aware of alcohol. We see adults drinking it and having fun. Every commercial during NASCAR is for beer."

"Okay. Enough, guys." Mr. Schue shook his head then, clearly tired of hearing his underaged students glorifying alcohol. "Look, tomorrow, come with your thinking caps on because we're gonna spend the entire day brainstorming ideas for songs to sing at this assembly."

***

"Quiet, please. Quiet, please, children." They could hear from backstage as Principal Figgins took the stage to announce their performance. "I would like to wish you and yours a healthy and happy Alcohol Awareness Week. Unfortunately, Kitty Dukakis could not be here because of disinterest. But Lima Police Chief Lawrence Krowley is here to show you a grisly slide show of auto accidents. Take it away, Chief."

Piper tuned out everything that happened after that when she noticed how distress Brittany seemed to be.

"You guys, I'm really nervous." She said, coming back to stand beside Piper after taking a peek at the audience outside. "Kesha's been a cultural icon for weeks, and I really want to do her music justice."

"You'll be fine, Britt." Piper encouraged quietly as Brittany just sent her an unsure look, but grabbed her hand in hers anyway.

"We haven't had enough rehearsal." She said.

"Or any at all." Sam added.

"And most of our assembly performances usually end in some kind of riot." Finn said.