Universe #2 Where Alex is a dude.

Alex Vause saw his name shining brightly on the marquee. This is a dream come true.

He sighed and smiled because his band really deserved to be in the spotlight after several years of composing and trying to be heard.

"Hey, Alex, man. Are you coming with us?" asked Poussey, her guitarist, a skinny, short-haired girl, with big brown eyes and a sweet smile.

"Yeah, I will, you go ahead, I'll meet you at The Dot." Alex answered happily. "I just want to be alone for a bit, I need to do some thinking." he finished, scrambling his black hair with both hands and simpering.

"Vause, you better show, man. I mean it, or there will be something involving shoe polish and genitalia." yelled Nick Nichols from across the street, his hand around the waist of his girlfriend, Lorna who was giggling stupidly.

Both Poussey and Alex laughed and kept staring at each other for a moment, before Poussey took a deep breath and said:

"Anyway, you should really come. I'll leave you to think, but don't be late." she didn't even wait for an answer before she turned around and crossed the empty street to follow their friends and bandmates.

Alex started walking down the street, hands in his black-leather jacket pockets and humming contentedly.

He kept walking the known streets of Toronto and ended up in a park, near the hockey stadium. He decided that it was a nice spot to sit down, so he did, he sat down on the grass and leaned against a big tree,took out of his bag his favorite notebook and pencil and figured that he could try to write a new song.

"There is a void... surrounding my soul... when I feel alone... I... blah blah blah" he was saying as he wrote the supposed lyrics, but he was feeling blocked and none of the things he was writing made him feel good.

"Such a waste of time" he said to himself.

The sun was going down and he could feel the cold penetrating every inch of his skin and mist kept coming out of his mouth every time he spoke, so he immediately started pretending he was smoking, putting his left hand on his mouth and taking long drags out of a nonexistent cigar.

"Hey, don't you want a real one?"

He jumped out of his skin when the shrill voice reached his ears.

His heart started beating fast but he thought that it had nothing to do with the fright he just received.

"I must seem a total loser, and now, I'm embarrassing myself even more, thank you. I should just stop talking now." He finished in a deep, sultry voice, trying to avoid eye contact and sporting crimson cheeks.

The girl kept walking towards him, laughing loudly and didn't say anything. She sat down beside Alex, both with their backs pressed on the tree.

Both kept silent and the first thing she noticed was his smell. She closed her eyes for a brief moment and inhaled deeply.

"Want one?" she said, pulling out her box of cigarettes and taking one out for herself.

"Uhm, sure, why not? Thanks." Alex said, taking one out too, and taking the lighter from her hands to light her cigarette for her.

He hadn't had a smoke before but he suddenly wanted this girl to like him, so he bravely lit his own fag and took a fairly good drag out.

His lungs were burning and his throat was screaming in pain as if he was drowning and had a million pins inserted there at the same time, he wanted to brutally cough and his eyes were watering but he made the greatest effort not to give himself away, so he naturally blew the smoke and cleared his throat as if he wanted to speak, so the girl turned her head and looked at him straight in the eye.

He was so caught up by her striking cerulean eyes and the feelings he was able to perceive that he forgot that he was supposed to say something.

"I'm Piper, by the way... and you are?" the blonde girl said, with a timid smile creeping up her delicate features.

"Alex. I'm Alex." he said, turning his head to the entrance of the hockey stadium, diverting his attention from her, trying desperately to not appear like a typical teenager with raging hormones and in need of a girlfriend.

She kept smoking at leisure and seemed to be really enjoying it. He painfully gave it four more drags and waited for it to consume itself.

"I'm freezing, Alex. Do you want to go somewhere a little less cold?" Piper said, shivering violently.

"Sorry. Yes. Let's go..." he said, standing up and offering her a hand. "Do you have any plans, Piper?" he asked shyly.

"Actually... I do."

"Oh, that's cool then, I have to go, I was supposed to -"

"BUT the gig I'm attending won't start for another two hours." she finished, putting right hand on his mouth.

Alex burst out laughing and started running through the park, yelling "Then we better hurry, come on, I'll buy you a nice hot chocolate and then you can go to your gig."

Piper scoffed and said "As if I'm going to try to catch you."

"What's that?" Alex said, returning to where Piper was standing.

"I'm not running anywhere, Alex." she said, biting her bottom lip, to prevent her from smiling.

"Oh" Alex said and grabbed her by the waist, lifted her up and carried her on his shoulder, all the way to The Dot.

"So that's how it is?" Piper asked calmly.

"Yeah, we better hurry."

Good, night, we're Downtown Sasquatch and this is called Shine.

Alex started strumming the notes in his guitar, eyes filled with passion and he seemed totally in control of his emotions.

Something about the way you shine

when the lights go out

I wanna make you mine.

Something about the way it seems

you're always here

in my dream.

He began singing along with the music and it was magical to Piper's ears. He had the perfect voice.

More like the perfect everything.

He was a tall boy, alabaster skin that contrasted perfectly with his short, straight, black hair. He wore glasses and had the perfect sultry voice that made him a total dream.

Piper had a problem.

Since the moment she saw him leaning against that tree, muttering to himself, she knew that she wanted to talk to him, he was undoubtedly handsome and he seemed mysterious, interesting and adorably dorky.

So she went and spoke to him, but she never expected him to be that funny and easy going.

She suddenly felt sad that those lyrics he wrote were meant for someone else.

The final chords were strummed and Big Boo, the bassist thanked the crowd for listening and they left the stage.

Piper didn't even wait for the other bands, she left the theater and went home.

After two more hours, the results were finally announced and Downtown Sasquatch won the contest, so that meant that they were going to record their material in the studio for free.

"Dude, this is the best thing that has ever happened to us!" Nick said ecstatic.

They were all jumping and hugging each other, but Alex was all the time watching the entrance in hope of catching Piper again, but no such luck.

"Hey, well, let's go celebrate!" Alex said "I want to get drunk!" he said happily.

"Genius, we can't buy alcohol." Poussey said, still a bit sulky. (she had been that way since she saw Alex enter The Dot with Piper).

"That's no problem, guys." Big Boo said smiling from ear to ear. "My fake ID can buy anything you want, we just need a place to crash."

The four of them turned their heads to look at Poussey.

"Oh no... not my place." Poussey said, shaking her head furiously.

"Come on man, we will behave, I promise. I'll take care of everyone." Lorna begged.

"Yeah, come on, just one night."

"Tomorrow we don't have school."

"Your parents aren't in town." They all started saying.

"Okay!"

"Yeah?!" They all asked

"Yeah, okay. We can go, but no funny business Nichols!"

"No, I swear" Nick replied. "At least until you pass out." He murmured.

"I heard that" Poussey said as they all walked to her house, laughing and joking.

Piper Typed "Downtown Sasquatch" on Facebook and searched for the band.

She found them quickly and clicked on their page.

She spent several minutes looking at their pictures and videos before she decided that it was okay to add Alex.

Alex Vause.

"It sounds nice... Alex Vause" she said out loud and opened her bedroom window to smoke.

Cigarettes helped her think properly and gave her a sense of calmness.

"Ugh, I'm pathetic, I better cancel that friend request." She thought, putting out the cigar and going to get her celphone to cancel it, but to her surprise, Alex had already accepted her friend request and had sent her a message.

"Oh my god, oh my god." Piper started freaking out before even reading the message.

"Okay, I can do this." She said as she opened it.

Alex Vause: Hey Piper! I'm so glad you added me, I was afraid I couldn't find you again.

Hey there's a party we're having as a celebration for our victory, I thought I'd ask you, if you can, come to Mortimer Ave 182.

Offline.

Alex was drinking his beer like there was no tomorrow, Nick and Lorna were long gone to God-knows-where, Poussey had invited a few other friends over and was giggling and talking animatedly with them.

Big Boo was on her quest to conquer any single girl she could, flirting and trying to impress girls, daring Alex and her friend Tiffany on stupid bets.

Everyone was happy and Alex felt like he didn't belong there. He felt alone, surrounded by dear friends and people who were nice, but he's alone.

So he went to the front porch and started writing his heart down.

The cup is not half empty as pessimists say
As far as he's sees nothings left in the cup
A whole cup full of nothing for him to indulge
Since the voice of ambition has long since been shut up

A singer, a writer, he's not dreaming now of going nowhere
He gave heed to nothing, and all that he was
Is just a tragedy

He was writing fluidly, caught up in his own world yet again, when the voice he was waiting to hear spoke:

"Do you have a song to go with those lyrics?"

Alex smiled before turning his head up to look at Piper.

"Do you have the habit of sneaking on people? Because it is awful."

Alex joked but stood up, properly watching Piper.

She was tall, thin, skinny, blonde and had a nice pair of legs that could go for days, and GOD, she was wearing skinny jeans and a T-Shirt with the logo of no other band but THE CURE, and it happened to be one of Alex's favorites and a black leather jacket, almost exactly as the one he was wearing.

"You look amazing." he blurted out.

Piper blushed, smiled and thanked him.

"Shall we go inside? I'm kinda thirsty."

"Oh, yeah, what an idiot. What can I offer you?" Alex said awkwardly.

"A beer would be fine" Piper said as they both entered the party.

Seven beers and four hours later they were again outside, but this time on the back porch, both covered in blankets, laying on the grass, watching the sky as it began to dawn, Alex felt like he was 300 years old and he knew Piper forever.

It was like they both met before, died and reincarnated only to be destined to meet again.

Piper felt the same way.

"Is it totally crazy that I feel like I've known you forever?" Piper asked him.

Alex didn't immediately answered. He had his eyes closed but he managed to smile.

"I'm falling asleep, and no, it's not crazy." he said, finally opening his eyes and turning his head to look at her.

They kept staring at each other.

Communicating.

Alex turned his body so he was on his left side, his head on his hand.

Piper mimicked the move and they still looked at each other.

"It is stupid, you know?"

"I know."

Alex said and then they found themselves kissing each other like they've done it a thousand times before.

A/N: I hope it's not too strange picturing Alex as a teenager boy.

Some things are based off Degrassi: The Next Generation, including the band name and the lyrics off the first song.

The second song is actually Poetic Tragedy, by The Used.