Orange Is the New Black 1. Chapter 1

_There's Always Going to Be One Person;_

_A Piper Chapman and Alex Vause fanfic;_

_By emilyjasmine;_

_Disclaimer – I own nothing but the plot._

_Wow it's been such a long time since I've written anything and I know I said I was going to do a sequel to 'A Senior Year Of Unexpected Events' but I started watching Orange Is The New Black and I fell complete head over heels for Alex Vause and her relationship with Piper. If they don't end up together I will cry._

_However, this plot line came into my head and I had to write it. I really hope I'm portraying the characters as they are on the show. Some story lines will follow the show and others won't. The story will be split with the first part taking place in the prison and the second will be after the two girls have left._

_Reviews are always welcome, so without further ado, let's get on with the story._

"I'm sorry, Larry," she said and hung up the phone immediately as to not hear him cry. Last week he'd given her the ultimatum, it was to marry him as soon as possible or lose him forever. Initially she'd chosen to be with him because she loved him but when she went to tell Alex, she couldn't bring herself to tell her because she knew deep down that Alex Vause was her person. She was the person that she would always run back to and the person that she loved more than anything and anyone in the world. So in the end, when she thought about the ultimatum, she chose the latter because when it came to make decisions, Piper Chapman had always failed miserably but this time she just couldn't do the wrong thing again. She'd lost Alex once and she wasn't doing it again.

Piper sighed as she turned her back to the phones but she felt nothing for the man she had just ended it with. Bizarrely, she didn't feel sad; it was quite the opposite, she felt excited.

"Everything okay there, Dandelion?" Suzanne aka Crazy Eyes asked as she walked past Piper.

"You know what, Suzanne, for the first time in a while it is," Piper replied grinning brightly. "Have you seen Alex anywhere?"

"Vause?" Piper nodded, "She was in the library the last time I checked."

"Thanks."

Piper smiled again at Suzanne who really was a nice girl and she was fortunate that she'd forgiven her after the whole radio report. Sure, she was a little crazy sometimes but she was all heart and Piper actually did find comfort in their new, but slightly, strange friendship. However, this was not the time to think about her new found friendship with someone who until recently thought she was her wife. It was the time to find the one woman who she wanted more than anything to become her real wife one day.

Rushing around as quickly as possible without it looking like she was running, hell if Pornstache were to find her at this moment, it could ruin everything, she finally made it to the library and she began her search. She looked up and down every row but there was no sight of the chocolate locked beauty there.

"You looking for something in particular, Chapman?" Taystee asked as she'd watched the blonde check every aisle twice in the last ten minutes and finally took pity on her to help her out.

"It's more someone, actually," Piper replied running a hand through her hair. "Have you seen Alex…I mean Vause?"

Taystee nodded and smirked and placed the book she had in her hand down on the table near her and said, "She left half an hour before you turned up. She grabbed a book and said she was going to chill in her cube for a bit but she don't want disturbing. She made that clear if anyone was to ask for her whereabouts." Taystee then paused and laughed slightly as she remembered who she was talking to. "But I think she'd allow a visit from you."

"Thank you!"

Piper smiled brightly again, something the other inmates hadn't seen from the blonde ever during her time in the prison, and headed off again. Bizarrely, every person she passed looked at her strange. Perhaps it was the determined look on face, she didn't know but she knew that she did not want to find out. All that mattered to her right now was seeing Alex again and to tell her everything.

Before piper knew it, she was in Alex's room and only metres away from her cube and suddenly the feeling became too much and she couldn't move any further forward. Breathing also became a difficulty. Just seconds before she was about to run away, a familiar voice called her name and Piper knew she couldn't escape this time.

"Pipes?" Alex called smirking as usual but concern immediately took over her beautiful face and she slid her glasses further up her nose to see the blonde clearer. "Is everything okay?"

Piper said nothing but continued to stare at Alex, blown away by her beauty, flawless complexion and body as usual.

"Piper?" Alex tried again but this time she place her book down on her bed, stood up and walked over to Piper placing her hands on her cheeks. "Talk to me, kid. Are you okay?"

Alex's touch seemed to bring Piper to her senses and she leant into her touch before finally muttering, "I'm single."

Those short words brought Alex back to her senses too. She moved Piper's head so that she could see into her eyes properly. "Say that again?" She requested.

Piper leant up and took one of Alex's hands and led her into her cube. Immediately, the two sat down but neither released the other's hand.

"I said, I'm single," Piper repeated. "I ended it with Larry. He gave me an ultimatum." When Alex didn't say anything, Piper quickly continued. "He said I could either marry him while I was in here as soon as we could or that we were over and I originally accepted but I just couldn't bring myself to tell you. Instead I rang him and told him I changed my mind. He didn't like it but I knew you'd started to get your hopes up when we talked about the future and I couldn't get your hopes up and leave, well more like abandon, you again. I just couldn't do it; you're inevitable to me. I love you, Alex Vause."

Piper finally stopped talking and looked at Alex who was just staring at Piper intently and despite the usual ease that Piper could read Alex, this time it was just impossible. She couldn't tell if the brunette was happy about what she'd just revealed or saddened by it.

"Al, talk to me?" Piper asked waving a hand in front of her face but as soon as she stared, Alex blinked and reached out pulling Piper's hand away from her face and held it down on her lap. As soon as the hand was out of the way, Piper suddenly felt pressure on her lips and realised that Alex was kissing her and it was a kiss with so much passion and love that made Piper almost want to cry. However, it was shortly lived as Alex suddenly pulled back.

"Come with me," she demanded and they immediately stood up and Piper felt what it was like for Alex a few weeks ago as she was the one who was pulled to the chapel this time.

Once they were there, Alex reclaimed Piper's lips and her hands immediately went under the blonde's shirt. However, as much as she had enjoyed the dominance Alex had over her in the past, she knew it was her turn to dominate the brunette. So she grasped the other girl's hands to prevent them from going under her shirt and instead, she took this chance to pull off Alex's t-shit which was quickly followed by her bra all of which was done with as little rest from the hot make out session that had started earlier. As soon as her perfect breasts were revealed, Piper cut off their kiss and trailed wet kisses down Alex's neck as her hands alternatively squeezed her tits and tweaked her nipples.

These actions meant Alex's hands were now free and the brunette started working them down to the blondes in an attempt to puller back up to recommence kissing but Piper was stubborn and her kisses worked downwards from her neck to her chest and to the brunette's left nipple.

"Fuck, Pipes, when did you get so dominating?" Alex groaned but Piper didn't cease her work and just laughed but the vibration around her nipple only made Alex moan louder with delight. She knew that Piper would never reply but she didn't care as long as Piper kept doing that with her tongue.

Piper gave the other nipple equal attention and then continued to work lower and slipped Alex's trousers and panties down as she travelled. When they were on the floor, she wrapped her arms around Alex's body and inhaled deeply. She'd really missed this closeness between them.

"Please, Pipes," Alex cried suddenly pushing Piper's head making her remember what was going on.

She quickly lifted the other woman's left leg over her shoulder and her tongue entered her folds and she quickly began licking her way up to her clit and back down to tongue-fuck her. The noises that erupted from Alex's mouth above her drove her insane and it was what kept her going, moaning herself. She then brought her right hand up and replaced her tongue with two fingers and moved her lips to settle around the swollen clit. The rapid pace set with the finger and the complete attention on her clit sent Alex over the edge and she had to put her hand in her mouth to keep quiet as the climax reached. She shuddered over Piper and grinded her pussy into her face to ride out her orgasm.

As soon as the orgasm washed through her body, Alex sunk down on the floor and pulled Piper close to her and sealed their lips together. All Alex could taste was herself on Piper's lips but that just made her moan again.

"That was perfect," Alex murmured against the blondes lips.

"You deserved it," Piper replied and kissed Alex sloppily on her neck but the brunette quickly rearranged them so that she could strip Piper of the clothes and she showed the blonde how much she'd missed her over the years.

oOoOo

When the two women collapsed at the front of the chapel completely spent, after what felt like hours later, their breathing started to calm and voices were heard from the close by corridor. The two girls immediate sprung up and quickly redressed. Piper was just tying her last boot and Alex was quickly patting down her hair as Morello and Nichols walked in laughing like they always were.

"Would you look at that, Morello," Nichols said pointing towards where Alex and Piper were stood who we bother trying their hardest not to touch the other one. "And you said you weren't a lesbian, Chapman."

"I'm not," Piper replied but it was said too quickly and blurted rather than spoken and Nichols just raised an eyebrow at her.

"Whatever you say. Just don't fuck our girl over again." Nichols said it with humour but the clear message was understood by Piper who nodded and finally reach out to link her fingers with Alex's.

"We'll just be going," Alex murmured. "We need to talk and you two obviously came in here for a reason." She winked towards Morello who blushed as red as her lips and Piper raised her eyebrow knowingly to Nichols who just rolled her eyes.

Alex pulled on Piper's hand and led her from the room and just as they left, the obvious moan from Morello was heard.

"I'm glad they're finally sorting it out," Piper mused as she followed the brunette back to her cube knowing most of the other girls would be in the other zones having a bit of free time. Well as much as you can get in a prison.

"Yeah, sorting is clearly the right word for that situation," Alex replied and though Piper couldn't see her face, you could almost hear the eye roll in her voice.

The two made it back to the cube and sat down as they had previously. Almost immediately, Alex lifted her knees up to her chest, hugging her knees with her arms, as if protecting herself whereas Piper sat crossed legged and rested her arms on her knees.

"I realise I didn't actually say much earlier," Alex admitted looked slightly past Piper. "But I guess I made my intentions clear. I love you, Piper and I don't want to get hurt. If we do this again, you can't walk out of me. Even when your sentence is up, you have to promise me that you'll wait for me."

As if by natural reaction, Piper reached out and grasped Alex's hand in hers and started to rub her thumb over the tattooed girl's knuckles.

"I'm not going anywhere," She promised sincerely. "You're all I think about and you always have been. I love you, too. I won't leave you again. I can't leave you. I'm afraid you're stuck with me."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, kid."

Alex untangled her legs and leant forward to kiss Piper but as soon as their lips touched there was a cry of, "Inmates!" from one of the COs.

"Fuck," Piper groaned and they quickly leaned back.

"Before we continue though, there's something I have to confess," Alex said suddenly and, as if by instinct, Piper held her breath and grasped Alex's hand tighter. "I named you at my trial."


	2. Chapter 2

"_I named you at my trial."_

The sentence ran through Piper's mind so many times in a matter of minutes she lost count but the thing that surprised her most was the fact she hadn't moved. She hadn't even flinched nor had she removed her hand from Alex's but then she realised that Alex had a firm grip on hers as she didn't want her to go.

"You did what?" Piper asked slowly as she shook her head free of the shock.

"I'm so sorry," Alex replied and immediately her eyes flooded with tears. "I was going to tell you but I wanted you to like me. I wouldn't have been able to stand seeing you hate me because of what I did. No, I needed you to like me before I told you. It was such a bad thing to do and I don't expect you to forgive me right away. I am so sorry."

"Why?" Never before had Alex heard Piper sound so broken. She'd heard her sound upset, angry, infuriated and sad but never broken.

"They offered me less time the more information I gave them. I hadn't heard from you in eight years. It was as if you didn't exist." Alex then wiped her eyes quickly to stop the eyeliner from smudging. "But there was a part of me that knew I could see you again if I named you. You could have been anywhere but I knew there was always a chance that you'd get thrown into the same prison as me. I knew I couldn't survive prison but if I had you near me, I knew I could try and get through it. It had been hell but when you arrived, a pressure was released off my chest and even though I knew you hated me at that point, but seeing you..." She paused and laughed slightly and quietly, "It made my heart swell and I knew that I was still in love with you."

She finally stopped speaking and saw that Piper was just staring at her blankly but she knew Piper. She knew that she'd listened to everything but she just didn't know how to react. There was nothing more Alex could say; she just had to wait for Piper as the ball was in her court now. The seconds ticked by painfully and they soon turned into minutes but Alex just stared at Piper and clutched tightly onto her hand that still hadn't moved.

"I need some space," Piper said finally. She finally released Alex's hand and stood up. "I'm not ending this, not when I just got you back, but I need to think on my own."

Alex nodded but Piper had already stood up, left the cube and headed towards her own. She grabbed everything she needed for a shower and headed to the bathroom where fortunately there was no queue so she could head into the shower of her choice.

Whenever she was stressed, she would get a shower or a bath, they calmed her down immediately with the feel of the hot water on her skin. Though obviously with it being prison, hot water was scarce but that wasn't the reason she was getting this shower; she needed somewhere to cry where no one would hear or see her tears. As soon as the water started to pour, she gave in and let her tears flow.

She went over everything that had just happened in the last few hours. She felt at rest with the situation with Larry for now; it was over but she'd talk to him when she was out and explain everything again. She'd loved him but for her, it was always going to be Alex. It wasn't his fault; it was entirely hers. She then started to think about Alex, but then again, when did she not think of her. It had taken her so long to trust her again and to even like her again. Longer it took her to fall back in love with her.

"Oh who am I kidding?" She murmured to herself quietly. "I never fell out of love with her, even when I fucking left her."

She'd always known deep down that it was Alex who named her even though she'd stated that she hadn't; Piper always knew when Alex was lying to her. The news broke her heart and it was made worse when she realised that Larry had lied to her too. Just because she was in prison, it didn't mean people could lie to her but then again, she'd lied to everyone too. Karma really does come back to bite you. If the roles were reversed though, she knew that she'd have done the same thing and if anyone was to get less time for her name, she was glad it was Alex.

Shaking her head free of all thoughts, she turned off the shower and stepped out to see Pennsatucky and her minions stood outside her cubical. Quickly, she wrapped her arms around her bare body.

"The fuck do you want, Doggett?" Piper demanded her voice thick from the tears she had just shed and she hoped that she didn't show signs of sadness.

"You disrespected me!" Doggett spat stepping forward and brought what she was hiding behind her back forward. "That means I gotta kill you."

Piper couldn't help it but she screamed loudly when she saw the sharp blade in front of her and not a minute later, before dodgy Doggett could move further forward, Fischer stormed in closely followed by Caputo and, to Piper's complete surprise, Alex.

"What is going on here?!" Caputo demanded.

"She's got a blade!" Piper screamed pointing to Doggett who quickly dropped the makeshift knife behind her back, despite it revealing that she did have a weapon. "She was going to kill me!" On the word kill, her voice broke and Alex rushed over to Piper and pulled her into her arms.

"Doggett with me now!" Fischer commanded and she cuffed her and started to lead her off.

"No I wasn't!" Doggett cried struggling desperately to get free of Fischer's grasp. "I wasn't gonna do nothing! Lemme go. NOW!"

"Silence," Caputo yelled, "And you had better disappear before I write you up too," he demanded turning to the minions who immediately scattered. "Sort her out, Vause," Caputo suggested and headed out to make sure that Fischer was okay with Doggett.

Alex led Piper to the one of the benches and picked up her towel. She wrapped it securely around the blonde and pulled her onto her lap rubbing her back comfortingly as Piper cried onto her shoulder.

"She was going to kill me," Piper repeated quietly.

"It's okay, Pipes," Alex whispered comfortingly. "I'm not going to let her touch you or go near you again." There was a hint of possessiveness in Alex voice but Piper didn't mind, she hated the feeling of being owned but if it was Alex who owned her, it was perfectly okay.

They stayed in that position, Piper sitting on Alex's lap with her head nestled into her neck for a long time. Their previous conversation was momentarily forgotten with Alex murmuring sweet nothings into Piper's ear. It was only when they heard voices that Piper realised she was cold and needed to get dressed. The two silently started to head back to the blonde's cube and the voices were identified to be Nichols and Red's. They'd seen Pennsatucky being dragged down to the SHU and both knew the hate she had for Piper and the blonde was nowhere to be seen so obviously they'd started to worry.

"What happened?" Red asked with her thick Russian accent. Though she didn't see Piper or really Alex for that matter, her children yet, she knew that Nicky was good friends with them and therefore they were immediately in her family.

Alex shook her head and mouthed, "Later," at them. They both nodded and headed off to the shower and Alex continued to walk Piper back to her room so she could dress and sort out her hair.

Piper dressed in silence, her heartbeat had finally returned to normal but she still wasn't ready to talk to Alex properly despite knowing the other woman would be desperate to talk to her. However, the one thing annoyed her, a part from the fact that meth head had tried to kill her, was the fact that Alex was there despite the fact that Piper had said she needed space.

Alex watched the love of her life sort through everything calmly in silence though she knew exactly what she was thinking.

"I didn't follow you to the bathroom," Alex said breaking the silence between them as Piper had finally sat on her bed and looked at Alex.

"How come you were there then?" Piper asked and this time it was her who sat with her legs up against her chest, as if trying to stop Alex's words from entering her heart.

"I was on my way to the kitchen, Red wanted to see me," Alex replied shrugging, "But then I heard you scream and I wasn't exactly going to ignore it. Fortunately Fischer and Caputo were near and I told them that it was your scream and Fischer charged into the bathroom immediately and you know Caputo, he'll go wherever she goes. Though I think she crushes on you." She added as an afterthought knowing it would get a reaction out or Piper, even though she thought it was true too.

Piper chuckled slightly at that comment and felt her face flush slightly. "Don't be ridiculous," she murmured and sighed. "I'm so grateful you were there, Al, but I still need my space. I don't think I can be near you yet."

Alex nodded, she understood completely but she still didn't move. "I don't know, Pipes, I don't want to leave you on your own if the bible bashers are still plotting to kill you," Alex said reluctantly.

"Don't worry, Vause," said a voice behind them and the two looked up to see Nichols and Red walking up to them. "I'll stay with Chapman and you can talk to Red."

"If that's okay with…"

But Piper cut her girlfriend off, "It's fine. I'll see you later, Al."

Sighing, Alex stood up and followed Red, who seemed to have completely forgotten about wanting to see Alex previously; instead she questioned the brunette about what had happened with a look of terror on her face.

Nichols watched the two go but then turned once they'd left and sat on the end of Piper's bed. At first the blonde said nothing but she quickly saw the worry in the crazy haired girl's eyes and realised that she wanted to know what had happened to make her freak out so much. So Piper ended up telling her what had happened.

For once, Nichols stayed quiet and let Piper finish before she even thought about talking.

"Are you okay?" She asked quickly scanning Piper's body for any new cuts. "They didn't get you, did they?"

Piper shook her head and replied, "I screamed and Fischer and Caputo rushed in so see what was going on. I don't know what I would have happened if they weren't there. I'm so fortunate for Alex being there too." Piper shrugged making it seem like it was no big deal.

"It sickens me how much you two love each other," Nichols murmured after a few seconds. "I mean, I don't love Morello but I could, you know, if she let me."

"What about Christopher?"

"What about Larry?"

"There is no Larry," Piper muttered. "I chose Alex. Despite all the shit, she's my person, you know?"

Nichols nodded and the two girls started talking about less heavy things until it was time for dinner. The two stood and followed the rest of the Ghetto inmates to the canteen and Piper started looking for someone before she'd registered who she was looking for but she found her within seconds. Alex was sitting at a table with Morello and Big Boo but they were opposite her and Piper just knew that she wouldn't let anyone sit next to her if it wasn't her. This thought made Piper smile and she quickly joined the queue behind Nichols and the two girls made their way over to their family.

Immediately, Nichols slid onto the seat beside Morello who seemed to smile automatically when her former or current (who knows with those two) lover sat next to her. Piper took the seat beside Alex who looked up with a huge grin to see Piper. Piper took this chance to kiss Alex's cheek.

"Finally," Morello cheered at the sight before her.

"And you said you weren't a lesbian," Big Boo said and Nichols nodded at her words.

"Okay maybe I am," Piper admitted finally and Alex looked as if Christmas had come early and immediately placed her hand on Piper's thigh and squeezed.

The dinner passed without any chaos or problem and Alex stood to go finish things off in the laundry knowing that things wouldn't have been done with Pennsatucky being dragged to the SHU which Morello had informed her earlier. She also knew she needed to give Piper her space still. They may have had some contact during the meal but Piper didn't specifically talk to her but that was fine. She knew Piper though. That kiss showed her that there were no hard feelings between them and that she would be ready to talk soon.

Piper watched her love walk from the room and sighed. She didn't know where she was going and she was ready to talk. Sure, it had only been a couple of hours if that but things changed so rapidly in prison that she might not be able to tell Alex what she needed to. For all she knew, Pennsatucky's minions could kill her before they next spoke.

"She totally wants you to follow her right now," Nichols murmured to Piper as she followed the blonde's gaze.

"I don't know where's she's going," Piper muttered.

"Then rush after her, genius," Big Boo added, "And they said you went to college."

"She'll be going to the laundry room to sort out Pennsatucky's shit because the psycho is in Shu and they'll get in shit if it's not right," Morello said helpfully glaring at Nichols and Boo for being so difficult. Piper smiled gratefully and immediately stood up and sorted put her tray before rushing, not running, after Alex.

It didn't take her long to get to the laundry and by the looks of it, Alex had only just arrived as she was staring at a pile of clothes that were thrown all around the room.

"Fucking retards, I swear," she muttered under breath and began picking up all the clothes before sorting them into different piles.

Piper just stood in the shadows and watched for a few moments, relishing in the fact that Alex had her back to her so every time she bend down to pick up an item of clothing, her perfect ass would be in her view. After the fifth time, it was enough to make Piper crazy and she quickly scanned the room to see that they were alone and she walked forward to wrap her arms around Alex's waist.

The sudden touch scared Alex but then she felt the familiar sensation and knew it was her.

"Pipes," Alex whispered and turned round to see the blonde smirking smugly. "What are you doing…"

Piper cut Alex off the best way she knew how by kissing her firmly. Alex hated being cut off but this kiss was completely welcomed and she quickly returned it.

"I'm ready to talk."


	3. Chapter 3

"_I'm ready to talk."_

Those were the words that Alex had wanted to hear for the entire day but now she had, she was initially scared. However, she started to think to herself 'no one kisses you like that and then ends it' and suddenly, whatever Piper was about to say, couldn't be that bad. Right?

"You were right as per usual," Piper said stepping back slightly and taking Alex's hand in hers which always felt as if it belonged there, well there or her … but that wasn't where this conversation was meant to go but who were they kidding? Shaking her head to clear the dirty thoughts, Piper returned to the conversation at hand. "It was a bad thing to do but at least it gave us a chance to see each other again, right? I've never stopped thinking about you, even when I thought I was really happy with Larry."

"We're going to be okay?" Alex asked hopeful.

"If we go slowly," Piper replied nodding slowly, "But we need to have a serious talk about what's going to happen when we get out of here. You can't go back to drugs and I can't go back to waitressing. I'll go insane."

"You were never any good anyway," Alex muttered playfully as she lifted their hands to kiss Piper's knuckles. "I'm never going back to illegal shit. I've always been interested in books. Maybe we could open a bookstore?"

"Won't that be too boring and safe for you?"

"I don't care right now as long as I know you're going to be in my future," Alex replied honestly.

Piper smiled shyly and Alex couldn't help but find her adorable. She tightly pulled on her hand bringing piper closer to her and kissed her passionately.

"LESBIAN ACTIVITY!" Someone yelled and the two pulled back from each other immediately as if they were shocked with electricity.

They turned round to see Taylor and another of Doggett's minions at the door of the laundry. They both looked disgusted yet pleased with themselves. Taylor must have taken it upon herself to be the new one in control now that Doggett wasn't there and she wanted nothing more than to see Piper being thrown back into the SHU instead of Doggett.

"Yeah, like that was lesbian activity," Alex muttered darkly. "You probably do that with your mother."

"Don't bring my mother into this or it'll be you who's cut next time," Taylor threatened.

"You'll just end up where Doggett is now," Piper added, speaking for the first time. "Or maybe that's what you want. Don't you think she and Doggett would make a sweet couple, babe?" Piper turned round to Alex who had her natural smirk on her face and was already completely with Piper.

"Yeah, they could give us a run for money."

"You're both going to hell!" Taylor spat and she and the other girl turned and left the room.

"We'll see you there!" Alex shouted after them and as soon as they were out of sight, the two left cracked up completely and it took them a few moments to stop laughing. "Now where were we?" Alex asked seductively looking Piper completely in the eye with her arms snaking round her waist.

"As much I'd love to, babe, they'll probably have told one of the COs who will be here soon," Piper replied sadly. "That means I should get going because I'm not meant to be here. I'll see you tomorrow, babe."

"See you, kid."

Piper quickly leaned forward, pecked Alex on the cheek and squeezed her hand tightly before turning and leaving the room to head towards her cube. However, she paused at Alex's cube and entered it. She grabbed a piece of paper from her stack and took out a pen. She wrote a short note and hid it just under the blanket knowing her girlfriend would see it as she got into bed. After that was done, she returned to her own cube and settled down to sleep with a smile finally gracing her face.

oOoOo

Once Piper had left, it didn't take long for Alex to finish off the duties in the laundry room. She finished up picking up the clothes, set the washers and dryings going for the final things and folded up the dry clothes. Not long after Piper left, Bennett came in to 'check everything was getting done how it should' and Alex couldn't help but smile after he went because Piper was right. Yet she knew that if it was Bennett who had caught them, or even Pornstache for that matter really, he wouldn't have done anything. Bennett couldn't as nearly all the girls knew that he'd knocked up Daya but Pornstache would have made them continue for his own spank bank. Alex actually physically shivered at that image and almost prayed for the last set to finish. However, the prayer wouldn't have been needed, as they never were in such a place like this, because the machine beeped to indicate that it was finished.

She pulled out all the clothes, folded them and set them in piles ready for the inmates to collect tomorrow. She sighed as she left the room and turned out the lights. All she wanted to do now was find Piper and cuddle. She didn't want sex, that wasn't the reason she wanted Piper, okay so it was part of it, Piper had always been really talented with her fingers, she just loved the blonde because she was Piper. She was her person in the seven billion people on this planet, Piper was the one she was meant to be with and Alex knew that she couldn't fuck up again or let Piper fuck it up because neither of their hearts would be able to take it.

Finally reaching her cube, Alex noticed that the other half was deserted but that only made things better. Taylor mustn't have wanted to be anywhere near her but she didn't care, she didn't want to be in such a small space with someone who wanted to kill her. After changing into her pyjamas, she pulled down her blanket to see a small piece of paper just underneath. Smiling to herself, she picked it up and unfolded it and the message made her heart melt.

_Alex,_

_You're my person and I heart you so much,_

_Your Pipes x_

She took off her glasses and climbed into the bed with the note held tightly to her chest and for the first time in a long time, Alex fell asleep almost instantly with a smile gracing her lips too.

oOoOo

The next morning, Piper woke up feeling truly rested and she oddly couldn't wait to start the day. It was only as she made her way to breakfast that she remembered why. She had Alex again and with her brunette by her side, prison would be a doddle well as much as prison could be.

When she entered the canteen, she saw the usual girls, consisting of Nichols, Morello and Boo sitting together at a table. Piper waited patiently in the queue and collected her tray, even though she was still terrified that they would pass her again, before joining the girls at the table.

"Morning, Chapman," Boo greeted with a smirk, Nichols nodded in her direction and Morello smiled.

"Hey guys," Piper replied as she sat down, "Have you seen…"

"She's just entered," Nichols interrupted and nodded towards the door.

Even though she knew exactly what Alex looked like and she believed Nichols completely, Piper couldn't help but look round and saw her beloved girlfriend standing in the queue. Their eyes immediately locked and smiles were etched on their faces automatically.

"You two are just going to be so disgusting from now on," Nichols groaned as Alex sat down next to Piper after giving her a kiss on the cheek as greeting.

"Don't be jealous, Nicky," Alex replied but smirked at her friend. "Just give it time." She then glanced at Morello who blushed but quickly hid her head so that the other girls didn't see it. Piper looked at Alex for an explanation but she didn't give one, she just smiled at her and gave her a look as if to tell her that she'd tell her later.

Breakfast passed without drama and the girls broke up and headed in their separate directions to their jobs, all except Nichols and Piper who obviously both headed to their job in electric.

"I hope something's broken in the kitchen," Nichols muttered as they walked in.

"Why's that?" Piper asked as the two girls sat at their usual table awaiting instruction from the baboon.

"I really need to talk to Ma about Lorna."

Piper let out an involuntary gasp; it was the first time Piper had heard Nichols refer to someone with their first name but she wasn't surprised that it was Morello's. It was clear that the she was falling for her and soon it would be too late. Piper just hoped that Alex would fill her in with what she knew later.

Nichols' request turned out to be true as Red's dishwasher needed fixing so they offered to go. They headed down to the kitchen and Nichols immediately went over to where Red was preparing for lunch and started speaking rapidly. Knowing that she wasn't a part of the conversation, Piper headed over to the dishwasher and started her attempt to fix it. She still had little clue about how to fix things but she'd started to get better. Fortunately, the last thing she read was on dishwashers, washing machines and dryers just in case Red or Alex had a problem. She knew now not to get on the wrong side of the Russian and wanted to become one of her daughters, simply for the protection it offered. She also wanted to help Alex without getting her stuck in the dryer again. It just wasn't worth getting them into trouble.

"Nicky, I know you need to talk but I need more than two hands right now," Piper finally said after an hour after they'd entered the kitchen.

"I'll be there in a second," Nichols called back and she was true to her word. She came over and held the wires out of the way for Piper to screw the screw back into place.

"You can go back to mama now, I'll finish up."

Nichols nodded and went back to finish her conversation. It sounded like they were nearly done by the way there were pauses between the few sentences that were being said. Then finally they stepped forward together and Piper heard Red mutter, "You'll do the right thing, Nicky and I'll talk to Lorna if it comes to that."

"Thanks, Mommy," Nichols replied and smiled when she saw Piper standing with the sound of the dishwasher running perfectly. "All done? Great."

As the two walked back up to the electric room, Nichols apologised to Piper for not helping more with the machine but she did really need to talk to Red. On their way back, Nichols told Piper everything that had gone on and what Red had said.

It turned out that Nichols had finally admitted to herself that she was in love with Morello and that she'd written a letter to Christopher to tell him that she thought he should come and visit his fiancée if she still meant anything to him (obviously she'd left out her feelings). He'd written back saying that he'd been busy and would visit that weekend. Piper remembered seeing the sheer look of excitement on Morello's face when she got Christopher's letter saying he was coming to visit had been enough to make Nichols heart melt. Piper completely understood what she meant because it was just like Alex's. However, it was clear that Morello didn't know that it was Nichols who had told Christopher to come and she didn't know whether he would admit that fact to Morello or not.

"You two could give me and Alex a run for our money soon," Piper joked.

"Fuck off," Nichols replied with a bark of a laugh shoving Piper to the side. The humour vanished as soon as they stepped back into the electric room; it was not worth facing Luscheck's anger. However, he was nowhere to been seen.

"Finally back then?" One of the other girls said when they returned. "Took you long enough but there's something wrong with one of the washing machines in the laundry. No one else can be bothered to go so Luscheck said you have to go and get it sorted, Chapman."

Piper didn't need to be asked twice and turned to Nichols.

"Can you believe my luck?" She said excitedly but quietly to Nichols but the copper haired girl had a totally different idea.

"I don't trust her," Nichols replied quickly. "Everyone will surely know about you and Vause now but that's not the main thing that's worrying me. That scum is in the same crew as Doggett." Nichols looked over her shoulder and saw the smirk the girl was trying to hide. "I don't like this. If you're not back in 20 minutes, I'm coming to get you."

"It'll be fine," Piper assured her and left the room but fear started pumping through her blood more quickly the closer she got to the laundry room for good reason. When she arrived, all was not how it was meant to be.

Alex was nowhere to be seen, despite it being her working time, and all of Doggett's minions were there and shockingly, so was Doggett herself. As soon as Piper came into view, Doggett nodded and two of the minions walked to the door and acted as look out whereas Doggett started walking over to Piper. A banging was heard from a nearby drying machine and Piper saw that Alex was once again locked in the machine. However, she couldn't rush over to her because Doggett was getting closer holding something sharper than the blade. It was the missing screwdriver.


	4. Chapter 4

Terror shot straight through Piper's spine and she heard the banging on the machine get louder as Alex had seen the weapon too. Panic was all that Piper could feel. That and fear seemed to pump round her body instead of blood and she started find breathing difficult. She had the urge to scream again but no one would be able to hear her outside that room. There were no CO offices near the laundry room and the rest of the girls were meant to be at work. Besides, it would make her come across as weak and that would not be the safest thing to be in this current situation.

"How did you find that?" Piper finally demanded as she heard from Morello that Boo had it stashed in her cupboard and was using it for unspeakable things.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Came the response from Pennsatucky who started moving further forward again and immediately and automatically, Piper started backing off.

"I know where that's been and I don't think God would appreciate it if you…"

"Don't speak His name, you dirty lesbian!"

"That has been in Boo's vagina and she's masturbated with it!" Piper cried hoping it would distract the meth head but suddenly she felt something hit her back as with a quick glance, she realised it was the wall. There was nowhere left to run; Pennsatucky was getting every closer and Piper hoped that the time was ticking quickly so Nichols would come looking for her.

"Fuck that shit, I don't believe you but I don't care. I'm going to kill you with it and let your girlfriend watch you bleed to death and she can't do nothing to help you this time!"

There was nothing else Piper could do. She could lash out but it would be no good; she couldn't fight someone who had a weapon but then she started thinking. She couldn't just stand there and let it happen; Alex would never forgive her if she just took it. Then suddenly, Piper glanced at Alex who looked terrified with tears streaming down her face and Piper just knew that she needed to get rid of Pennsatucky just for Alex's sake.

"Try me," Piper growled finally and kicked out in between Doggett's legs.

Doggett bent over in agony but that didn't distract her properly. Blinded with pain, Doggett stuck the screwdriver out powerfully and Piper felt it stab into her leg. She fell immediately and Doggett was able to come round from her injury. She pulled the screw driver out of her leg and wiped the blood onto Piper's face before stamping down on her left hand that was lying awkwardly to the side after she fell over. There was an obvious crunch and the pain was instant.

"What can I do now?" Doggett muttered darkly, more to herself than anyone else.

"Kill her!" Taylor cried and Doggett smiled in agreement.

Piper took this slight distraction and used her uninjured leg, which fortunately was her stronger one, and kicked out again. This time, she kicked Doggett in the shin which made her lose her balance and fall. Everyone clearly heard the large crack as she hit her head on the wall as she fell and didn't move.

"Fuck this, I'll take over," Taylor yelled and stormed forward to retrieve the fallen screwdriver with sheer determination on her face. She leant over Piper whose vision was starting to go blurry with the pain she felt in her hand and her leg that was still pouring blood. "You're really going to get it now, Chapman!" She cried and with that said, she kicked Piper in her chest hard.

However, with her complete concentration focused solely on Piper, Taylor didn't hear the door guarding minions re-enter the room shouting out warnings because she was lining the screwdriver over Piper's jugular vein. Despite the blurry vision, Piper saw the crazy hair and the blue uniform of two COs enter the room. She didn't hear anything that next happened as another blow was hit to her chest and everything went black.

oOoOo

When Piper had left the room, Nichols still didn't feel right and she checked her watch so she could time the twenty minutes perfectly.

"It won't take twenty minutes at all," Said the same person who'd sent Piper to the laundry room. "If it all goes to plan, it'll be done within five."

At this, Nichols' lost her shit and before she knew it, she'd stood up, stormed across the room and pinned the meth head against the wall cutting off her airways with all the other girls watching but not moving.

"What's been planned?" She demanded.

"Chapman's gonna get was she deserves," The meth head breathed out and her face started to turn blue.

Immediately, Nichols dropped the girl and ran from the room. She knew she couldn't just turn up the laundry room alone; who was she against the other meth heads that would surely be there. Instead, she headed to the one of the CO offices and fortunately, Bennett was on duty who she knew he would believe what she said. Pornstache also happened to be on duty who would as always cause a problem but she really didn't have time for his shit today.

"Bennett, I think there's trouble going on in the laundry room!" Nichols cried after she'd slammed on their door and Bennett had opened it.

"How would you know," Mendez scoffed, "you're in electric?"

"It's from what someone's said in electric. Please believe me," She begged. "Seriously, I'll do a week in the SHU if it turns out I'm wrong!"

From this, Bennett at least knew she was right because no one would offer spending a week in that hell hole. Immediately, he stood and started rushing off and shockingly Mendez was on hot on his heels. He probably just wanted a reason to put someone in the SHU. Nichols quickly took off after them and she was seen by many people, Red and Morello stood out in particular but she shook her head at her Ma and her love and just followed the two COs; right now, Piper was more important than the two of them. She also didn't want to know what the two had been discussing.

"Move!" Mendez commanded when they reached the room and now he knew that there was something going on because no one should have been stood at the door. The minions turned and ran into the room, shouting their warnings but it was clear that no one was listening to them.

The two COs barged passed and Nichols followed them and got there in time to see Taylor kick Piper hard in the chest and to see Piper's eyes shut. Quickly, Bennett radioed for back up and yelled for no one to move except to Nichols.

"Get her out the machine," he said and nodded to where Alex was frantically banging. Somehow, Nichols brought a screwdriver with her and set to work on sorting out the machine. Luckily, it didn't take her that long as Piper had informed her how they'd got Alex out of the machine the previous time. The brunette launched herself out of the machine and tried to run over to Piper but Nichols held onto her tightly. It was up to the prison staff to sort it out now.

More COs turned up along with medical staff who lifted Piper up, placed her on a stretcher and started leading her to the hospital and some others turned up to take Doggett too whose head was bleeding terribly.

"You've got to let me go with her!" Alex demanded and she didn't hide the tears that were still flowing. "I can't leave Piper!"

"Vause, you can't go with her," Bennett said not unkindly. "You need to be questioned but we'll do it later, you need do to it when you're calmer. Nichols, go with her to the kitchen to get something soothing from Red." He then turned to where the minions were stood; Mendez had already taken Taylor away to be questioned. "You're all coming with me."

oOoOo

Nichols lead Alex to the kitchen where Red and Morello were stood tensely, waiting for Nichols to return and give them an explanation. As soon as Red saw Alex, she pulled up a chair for her and immediately started putting some milk on the stove to warm it up. There was nothing better for how Alex was feeling right now except for alcohol but that was clearly nowhere to be seen in the kitchen. It wasn't safe for it to be there and I wouldn't be wise to let Alex drink it and then have to go give her report later.

It took a while for Alex to calm down enough and Nichols took this time to fill Red and Morello in with the details that she knew and the usual smile that Morello had automatically was nowhere to be seen. Horror was replaced in her eyes instead of the joy that usually came from seeing Morello.

For Alex, it was horrible. She saw Nicky being able to comfort Morello who seemed terribly upset too that Piper had been attacked but it all just made her feel worse. There was nothing that she could do to protect Piper and she felt so stupid for being so idiotic. She then thought back to what happened so she could get her story straight to tell the officers and her friends.

_*flashback*_

_As always, she was sorting out the different piles of clothes to be put in the washing machine when Alex noticed something that was different. There was another girl standing in the laundry room who definitely shouldn't be there._

"_What are you doing?" Alex demanded and the girl looked up._

"_I've replaced Doggett," she replied with a shrug and Alex said nothing else. It had completely slipped her mind that they were a person short with Doggett being thrown into the SHU._

_Alex went back to her work but her mind couldn't quite keep away from thinking about Piper and what they had done the day before. There was also the fact that Piper said, well technically wrote, the fact that she hearted her. It made her heart pound excitedly every time she thought about it._

"_Vause, the machine's stopped working," the girl yelled after half an hour of working in silence, with the distraction of Piper, Alex hadn't noticed the girl glancing at her watch and smirking when she saw the time._

"_Fuck's sake," Alex muttered under breath and headed forward to see the problem but that was the first mistake and the last. She suddenly felt hands on her and she was thrown unceremoniously into the machine. She heard the door bang behind her and she swore out of irritation. She turned round to see Doggett stood proudly outside. "How the fuck did you get out?!" She asked furiously._

"_Healy let me out," she replied smugly. "Said I didn't deserve being thrown in like that and that Chapman had it coming to her."_

_Doggett said nothing else as Piper had walked into the room and suddenly, everything just seemed to get worse for Alex who could do nothing but watch her love being beaten by that scum._

_*end of flashback*_

"Vause?" Nichols asked not unkindly. She had no idea what to say to comfort her. The automatic things was 'everything's gonna be okay' but it might not. Even though she hadn't seen the full attack, Piper was going to be in trouble with just the one kick to the chest that she'd seen.

"Are you able to tell us what happened?" Red asked gently as she handed the milk to Alex.

Alex took the milk and breathed deeply. She took a sip and told them everything she could remember and the looks that she met when she'd finished were enough to make her cry again when she thought she'd just got herself under control.

"Fuck!" Nichols cried, now she definitely couldn't say that everything was going to be okay. Piper wouldn't be able to walk properly for a while, do anything with her hand, which turned out to be her left so she wasn't quite as fucked as first presumed, or probably breathe properly due to the kicks to the chest. She would have bruising and possibly a broken rib or more. "I knew I should have gone with her."

"Nicky, this isn't your fault," Alex said immediately.

"And it isn't yours," Red replied glaring at Alex. "Don't you blame yourself but don't worry," Red then paused and looked at Nichols who smiled knowing exactly what Red was about to do as she'd seen it so many time before. Red walked over to Alex and wrapped her arms around her and continued, "Mama's here."

It had been years since someone had said that to her but that didn't matter to Alex. Those were the words that had always comforted her when she was younger. It didn't matter to her now that Red wasn't her true mother; she was the only mother she could have in here. Instinctively, Alex leant her head against Red's side and welcomed the motherly hug. Nichols and Morello then stepped forward and it became a family hug.

"Now this is getting a little too soppy for my liking," Alex said finally and the others couldn't help but smile a little as it was the first Alex type thing she had said since the traumatic ordeal.

"There's the Vause we all know and love," Morello said as she patted Alex gently on her shoulder but no one could say anything else as Bennett entered the kitchen and looked straight at Alex. He didn't need to say anything as Alex knew what he was going to say. She nodded, stood up and followed him out of the room after bidding her family goodbye.

oOoOo

It was easier to tell the officers what had happened than she thought. Bennett led her into a room where Caputo and Figueroa were sat behind a desk and Bennett walked over to the other side of the room leaving one chair in the middle for Alex to sit.

"We've heard the story from the others and now it's your turn," Figueroa said and Alex took a deep breath and told them everything.

"Thank you," Caputo said finally after she'd finished. He shot a panicked look at Figueroa whose face mirrored his expression. However, before anyone could say anything else, Mendez ran into the room and announced, "Doggett's awake but Chapman isn't waking up."

_Hi guys! I just want to say how much I appreciate all your reviews and follows of this story. I haven't written in a while and I'm a bit rusty but I'm really enjoying writing for this amazing show and this ridiculously hot pairing. I'm gutted that we hardly see Alex in season 2. Thanks for reading this and don't forget to review. Emss x_


	5. Chapter 5

The days passed even slower than normal for a prison. No one could concentrate properly on what they were doing. Alex still had to work in the laundry room but the COs had moved Nicky there to help her with all the meth heads being put in the SHU for participating with Doggett and Taylor. It turned out that Taylor will be in the SHU for at least 3 months with another year added to her sentence in prison. Doggett was out of the hospital too but she'd been placed in the psychiatric ward and wasn't allowed to leave for the foreseeable future.

Every time Alex returned to her cube, there was another gift left by another inmate as everyone knew what had happened and felt sorry for the brunette but despite the large choice of chocolates and sweets that had been left, Alex had no appetite. It was usually Nicky and Boo who ate all of her food and after the visit from Christopher, Morello joined in.

The usually bubbly girl looked distressed as she returned from her resent visitation. She walked straight into Alex's cube (which had become their recent hang out as she never wanted to leave her bed and the empty bed hadn't been filled by anyone yet which gave everyone space) and straight over to the stack of food and paused over which to take. This was common as she usually tried to find the one that had the least calories but this time, she picked up the biggest bar of chocolate and immediately took a huge bite out of it.

"I don't need a good figure anymore," she said sadly when the other girls had asked her if she'd gone mad.

"Why?" Alex asked looking up from her bed. Nicky was also there but she was sat in the corner trying to hide because she didn't know how the reunion between Christopher and Lorna had gone but she could see that it hadn't gone very well.

"I'm not getting married," Lorna replied and shrugged before going over to where Nicky was sitting and looked the copper haired girl in the eye. "He told me that you'd written to him and with that and what happened to Piper, it made me realise that I don't want anything to happen to you and without me having the chance to tell you that I love you."

Nicky said nothing at first and looked over to where Alex was sitting who just smiled. That was why she had told Nicky to just wait the other day. Lorna had confessed her love for Nicky and the brunette was just waiting for Lorna to tell her. At this thought, she started to think about Piper again as she hadn't had a chance to tell her what she knew.

Boo, who was also in the room, looked up to the love birds, "This isn't the best place for your heart to heart," she said and nodded her head slightly at Alex who looked miserable. "Go to chapel, the mass will have ended by now."

The two girls nodded and left the cube. Nicky didn't particularly want to leave Alex in her emotional state but she knew the brunette would want her to go with Lorna so she couldn't fuck things up.

"At least it'll give them something to get Piper out of their mind," Alex muttered and sat up. "I'm glad they're sorting it out."

"Chapman's going to be out soon," Boo said, "I can feel it."

"You didn't see how badly she was hurt though."

oOoOo

Piper had been in hospital for almost a week when she finally woke up to see Polly sitting beside her bed. Panic stormed through body and she had no idea where she was. There was no way that Polly could be in her cube, that wasn't possible. Polly wasn't allowed there nor would she ever do something stupid enough to get arrested. The only thing Piper could see her getting arrested for was murdering Alex. However, the brunette was still in the hands of the prison guards so that couldn't be right. There was also the fact that Polly knew that Piper would murder her for killing Alex. The two of them hadn't really discussed what was going on between Alex and Piper because they hadn't seen each other and everything had happened so quickly and so recently.

It then occurred to her that she couldn't breathe properly and her chest was killing her and it hurt to move. She tried to cast her mind back to what happened but she found it rather difficult. She remembered walking into the laundry room and seeing Alex being shut in that ridiculous machine again but after that was a blur. The panic of not being able to remember scared her and despite the problems breathing, she began to hyperventilate. In an attempt to calm herself down she balled her hands into fists but cried out in pain when she saw that her left hand was wrapped in a cast.

"Piper, sweetie, calm down, it's okay," Polly assured her and rested her onto Piper's arm. She had been watching Piper intently as she woke up but the doctor had told her to say nothing until Piper did as she was probably still in shock with that had happened and where she was. However, Polly knew that Piper would freak out so she did what she could to prevent her best friend from being in pain.

"Where am I?" Piper asked as she looked round frantically but stopped when the pain wouldn't stop. "What happened?"

"You're in the hospital, Pipes, you got attacked," Polly replied and tried not to cry again.

When she'd first got the phone call saying that Piper had been attacked, she burst into tears and Pete had to take the phone off of her and talk to the person on the phone. When Pete hung up, he told Polly everything and she immediately got up and started packing her things up.

"She won't wake for a few more days," Pete had told her sadly, "There's no point going yet."

"She isn't waking up alone," Polly had replied and she went to the hospital. She, Pete, Cal and Piper's mother took turns waiting for her to wake up and Polly couldn't be happier that she was there when Piper finally woke up.

The doctor then came into the room to check on Piper and seemed happy that she'd woken up. He looked over some results and told her that had two cracked ribs with a lot of bruising, her ankle was on its way to be fully healed and fortunately nothing had been disturbed when she was stabbed and her left hand was quite damaged. Both knuckles in her middle finger, ring finger and little finger had been damaged ad it would take a while for it to get better.

"When can I leave?" Piper asked.

"We're not exactly sure at the moment," the doctor replied and sighed, "Your leg is week from the injury and it will take up to a couple of weeks before your pain subsides in your ribs. You can't go back to prison as you need to be under my care and for your own safety."

"Can I have visitors from the prison?" Piper held her breath after that question. She presumed she wouldn't be able to but she needed to tell Alex that everything was going to get better and that she'd return to her as soon as she could.

"We'll see," the doctor said but he smiled so Piper didn't take it as a complete no. The doctor then looked at Polly indicating that she should inform Piper of what happened.

When Polly first got to the hospital, she had been met with Caputo and Figueroa. Polly didn't care who they were but demanded to be allowed to see Piper. After she'd told them that she was her best friend, the two led Polly who grabbed onto Pete into a small room and told them what had happened. They explained that Doggett had some psychological problems and had decided to take revenge on Piper.

Polly understood that Piper had made enemies and she had predicted she would be simply because her temper was a bitch but she never expected that Piper would be attacked, let alone that badly. They told her the consequences for the girls but Polly didn't think it was good enough.

"I want that girl to be moved to a different prison by the time Piper is released," Polly had demanded and she was shocked to know that she would indeed be moved if that was what Polly requested. However, Caputo and Figueroa weren't very clear about what was going to happen.

Finally, when the time came for Polly to see Piper, she froze. They had been friends for years and they had seen each other in many situations, the good, the bad but this was the first time it was going to be really ugly. Polly had thought that the ugly was when Piper had left Alex all those years ago; it took her almost a month to finally stop crying and shouting and plenty of tubs of ice cream. Polly would take that all over again than see Piper after an attack.

Pete automatically took Polly's hand knowing that she would need him in a moment like this and the usually funny guy was a serious as Polly had ever seen him. Once again, she knew that she'd married the right man. They walked into Piper's room to see her attached to many machines. There was a cast on her ankle and her hand was wrapped tightly. The rest of the injury was under the covers due to them being her side. Once again, Polly started to cry and all Pete could do was hold her.

oOoOo

A week after the attack, Alex and Nicky were called into Caputo's office and were told to sit down. Alex couldn't help but cling onto Nicky's arm for support. Both of them knew this talk was going to be about Piper but they had no idea what Caputo was going to say to them. They just hoped desperately that the news would be at least slightly positive.

"Would you two say that you are the closest to Chapman in this prison?" Caputo asked them.

"I would, sir," Nicky replied as Alex couldn't get the words out. "Vause more than me but we're still good friends."

"She is awake-"

"Oh thank God," Alex gasped immediately and Nicky smiled at her.

"And she has asked for visitors from the prison," Caputo continued as if Alex hadn't interrupted. "It is not usually allowed but seeing as you two were the ones where were there that she likes and trust, you are allowed to go and help her remember what happened."

"She can't remember?" Alex asked and the little colour she had in her faces drained completely.

"I'm afraid not," Caputo replied. "I will arrange a time for when you two can go visit but for now, please return to the laundry room to finish your work."

The two took their leave and started to walk back to the laundry room talking about what they'd just heard. Alex had seen the entire fight and at no point had Piper hit her head so she couldn't think of what had caused the memory loss. All that had just made her panic more.

"It's worse than I imagined!" Alex cried when they got back to the laundry room and for once, Nicky didn't know what to say. Instead she let actions take over. She pulled Alex close to her, kissed her forehand and hugged her tightly. All Alex did was sob quietly onto her shoulder.

oOoOo

Later that night, Alex was sat with the rest of the girls at the table but as normal, she was just pushing her food around with her fork and not really eating anything. All the girls had seen this behaviour from other girls but it wasn't normal for Alex who usually loved food.

"You must eat something," Red said which was slightly ironic as she had almost starved her out for helping out Piper.

"I'm not hungry," Alex murmured in reply and continued to push round her food.

"You are," Nicky replied, "You're just sad."

"Piper wouldn't want you to put yourself in danger when she is," Lorna added.

"How would you know!?" Alex cried, suddenly standing up and throwing her tray away from her. "You don't know her like I do!"

Lorna looked gobsmacked that Alex could suddenly just erupt like that. They all knew that she had been keeping her emotions in check as no one had seen her crying about what had happened yet and none of them had left her alone because they didn't know what she would do. She quickly collected her tray and put it in its place before heading outside to the track as it was the place where Piper enjoyed.

Once she was outside, Alex checked over her shoulder and saw that none of her friends had followed her and she was glad. She loved the fact the friends she had made in here had supported throughout the week with Piper being in hospital but she felt that she was being suffocated. She wouldn't do anything crazy because she had to be there when Piper came out of hospital. There was no way she'd do something to get herself put in that place or into the SHU.

Running was never her thing so instead she walked around the track until the guards were calling her in so she was back in time for the evening count. She was back in time for the count and as soon as all of the guards had left, Nicky was the first to enter her cube but she said nothing about what had happened at dinner and just saw on the empty bed. Boo was the next to turn up and then it was Lorna. As Nicky was sitting close to the wall and Boo was sat next to her, Lorna just sat on Nicky's lap but none of them said anything; they were waiting for Alex to kick them out.

"I'm sorry for yelling," Alex said after a few minutes of silence. She was slightly annoyed that all of them had turned up in her room. However, she knew that she needed to apologise.

"It's fine," Lorna said, "We're just glad you've got it out of your system and we can go back to how it should be."

At that moment, Bennett walked over from the bubble to Alex's cube.

"Vause and Nichols with me," he commanded and the two jumped up (Lorna was unceremoniously dumped onto the bed with sitting on Nicky's lap) and they followed Bennett. "Be ready at 9:30am tomorrow outside Healy's office and you'll be taken to the hospital. You will have thirty minutes with her before you are to come back here and get on with your work. Understood?"

"Completely, sir," Nichols said and grabbed onto Alex's hand to drag her back to her cube but Alex couldn't think straight. They only thing coming to her mind at the moment was, "I get to see my girl tomorrow," and suddenly there was nothing wrong with her friends being in her room.


	6. Chapter 6

Alex and Nicky were outside Healy's office at 9:20 so they knew they weren't late. All the other girls had given them their messages of love and support that they wanted the two girls to pass on to Piper. There were so many of them, Nicky had to keep murmuring them to herself so she didn't forget them. Alex kept tapping her foot to keep herself occupied while they waited for whomever to take them to the hospital. It would be rather cruel if they sent Healy as everyone knew how much he despised Piper and vice versa. Alex looked up at the clock as saw that it was 9:29 and she automatically started to tap her foot faster and louder as if to replace the seconds.

"Will you stop before I cut off your foot!?" Nicky cried all of a sudden as the noise was just getting to her. Alex said nothing but her foot ceased immediately.

Not knowing what else to do, Alex looked back up at the clock to see that it was bang on half past and she was about to complain about the way the prison was run, again, when Bennett rushed over to them.

"I would have been earlier but they hadn't decided which one of us was going to go with you," Bennett explained even though he really didn't need to as his place was above them. "Enough of my rambling, let's go."

Bennett led the way out to the van and Alex and Nicky just followed muttering quietly. They knew that if it was any other officer they would be told to be silent but as to not get him told off, they kept it quiet. However, that changed when they got into the van; they had to be silent as that officer was not one to mess with.

Once they were in the van, Bennett told them the seriousness of Piper's injuries and that she would be in the hospital for a while. The ride to the hospital took less than they had thought so before they knew it, the van pulled to a halt outside of a building. Once they exited the van, Alex and Nicky were immediately handcuffed and led into the building. Bennett walked them into the building and took them to the room where Piper was but they didn't walk in immediately.

It was sheer agony for Alex; she was so close to her love but yet so far away. However, what she heard next made her entire year.

"Now, Vause, we all know that you and Chapman are together," Bennett started, "You're both going to be in there for half an hour as promised but Vause, you can have an extra ten minutes on your own. Just don't tell the other COs."

"Like we would," Nicky replied and Bennett nodded, undid their handcuffs and led them into the room.

"I'll be outside," Bennett said and left the room to stand outside.

Piper was asleep when they entered and she looked so peaceful yet Alex really wanted to be able to talk to her. She walked quietly up to the bed and Nicky sat in the chair beside the bed. Knowing how much it would cheer up the blonde in the bed, Alex perched on the side of the bed and leant forward to kiss Piper awake.

Piper slowly opened her eyes and blinked a couple of times before her eyes fully focused on her girlfriend.

"Alex?" She mumbled sleepily and then began to sit up but realised that she couldn't. "Give us a hand?"

Alex immediately nodded and placed her hands under Piper's armpits gently and lifted her up and started to look around but Nicky was already stood there with extra pillows in her hands to hand to Alex. The brunette smile gratefully at her friend before placing the cushions behind Piper's back.

"What are you guys doing here?" Piper asked.

"We came to see you," Alex replied.

"And to tell you what happened that night as apparently you can't remember," Nicky added.

"It's started to come back to me," Piper muttered. "I think it's more that I don't want to remember. It was horrible."

"I knew I should have come with you," Nicky said.

"They would have hurt you too."

The three of them talked for the half hour but it passed ridiculously quickly. However, the two girls were able to pass on everybody's messages and Piper was smiling despite the pain she was in. Bennett then came in and told Nicky that she needed to leave.

Piper looked confused when Nicky left with Bennett and Alex stayed.

"I get an extra ten minutes because Bennett's actually a nice guy and he knows that I've been going spare about you. It's been ridiculous," Alex explained.

"Have you missed me?" Piper asked and Alex looked at her as if she was insane.

"Of course I have. It's been crazy. I-"

Suddenly, Piper cut her off with a demanding, "Kiss me!"

Knowing it wasn't wise to argue with an injured woman, Alex complied with her wishes. She leant down from where she was still sitting on the side of Piper's bed and sealed her lips against Piper's and finally she felt like she was home. However, she knew that Piper had difficulty breathing so she made sure to cut off before it got too out of control, despite her need of wanted to be as close to Piper as she could.

"I love you," Alex said suddenly and all Piper could do was smile. "I don't know when I'll next be back but I'll ask if we can write letters. I've missed you so much and I am hoping that you'll get better as soon as possible."

"I will and I'll be back to you before you know it…" Piper was cut off with the return of Bennett who looked at Alex and nodded at her. She started to argue saying that it hadn't been 10 minutes but then realised that they must have kissed for a lot longer than she had thought.

"I have to go but you rest and make sure you get better," Alex said and leant down to kiss Piper again. "I heart you, kid. Don't forget that."

"I love you too, baby," Piper replied and smiled sadly as Alex left the room.

oOoOo

Alex and Nicky returned to the prison both sharing smiles at being able to see Piper and knowing that she wasn't dead and was awake enough to make some jokes. As promised, they headed straight to the laundry room and started back working until it was time for lunch. They finished off the last of the folding before heading up to the canteen to meet the other girls.

Yoga Jones, Boo and Sister Ingalls were already sitting together at a table and when they'd received their food, Alex and Nicky joined them. Not too long later, Morello joined and took her seat next to Nicky and automatically kissed her on the cheek.

The two had made up after the visit from Christopher and they were now official. Thinking about it though, Nicky couldn't remember if she'd told Piper and made a mental note to tell her or to tell Alex to tell her the next time they saw her. The talk between Nicky and Lorna hadn't gone smoothly and both had raised their voices a few times but they realised that, though prison was a hell hole, they both knew that they were meant to be together. They were so different that they matched each other perfectly.

However, they too would have the same problem as Piper and Alex. Nicky, like Alex, had a longer sentence than her girlfriend and knew it was going to take toll on them when Lorna got out but she had promised to write her every week and visit her every other week. It wasn't perfect but they'd figure it out.

When Red, who was the last one to join them at their table, sat down, the family meeting began. All the ladies asked Alex and Nicky how the visit had gone and they both reported that they'd passed on their messages.

"Pipes told me to tell you that the food is nothing compared to yours," Alex said to Red who smiled.

"She'd say anything to stay in my good books," Red replied but they all knew she was joking. "She just needs to make sure that she's eating properly and that she gets better soon."

"Her injuries are really bad," Nicky said sadly and told them all of the problems.

"Cracked ribs don't take that long to heal though, do they?" Lorna asked.

"She needs to take meds for around a month," Alex replied sighing. "She'll be in the hospital longer than really needed because prison is apparently a bad place to be if you're recovering from an injury." Every laughed at the sarcasm that rolled effortlessly off of Alex's tongue.

"She'll be back before we all know it," Red assured them.

They then started to talk about different things as they ate their dinner and the time seemed to tick by quickly and it was time to head back to work. All the girls said their goodbyes, though Lorna and Nicky's was much less verbal until the guards coughed in their direction, and headed back to work.

It seemed that everyone had found out that Alex and Nicky had been able to visit Piper that morning as every time someone came in to drop off their laundry, they asked to see how the blonde was doing and hoped that she would return to the prison. This seemed to confirm Nicky's idea of Piper having imaginary enemies; everyone seemed genuinely worried about Piper.

When Alex got back to her cube after work and before dinner, she decided to write down a letter that she could give to Piper. She wasn't sure yet if she could send letters to her yet, she'd have to ask Bennett if that was possible. She knew she should ask Healy but that bastard wouldn't allow it due to his hate for the blonde.

Piper had always said that Alex had a way with words as she could get Piper to do anything she wanted by one single command and she could make Piper feel anything she wanted. However, they were all said with certain emphasises that couldn't be written down. She tried with her might to write down what she wanted to say but every time she read it back, it just sounded either soppy or pathetic and she couldn't let Piper read it. It wasn't that she didn't mean anything that she'd written down, she just wouldn't be able to cope with the endless teasing Piper would give her. However, after the fifth time of screwing up yet another piece of paper, she just shut her eyes and took a deep breath. She imagined Piper before they started to fight often. Her blonde hair was flowing in the wind and her eyes shone with excitement as they entered Paris. With the image of happy Piper, Alex began to write again and this time, she did it without stopping.

oOoOo

Piper couldn't believe her luck when she felt lips on hers kissing her awake. At first she thought that she was imagining it because she constantly dreamt about being reunited with Alex but then she fully woke up and saw the brunette in all of her khaki beauty. When she saw Nicky sitting beside her it had truly made her day. They talked about a lot of random different things and she felt so blessed that all of her friends had passed on messages telling her to get better.

Nicky looked truly happy too, even when she was stuck in a room with Alex and Piper being lovey dovey as usual so Piper took it to mean that she and Lorna were official but she never got chance to ask as they kept questioning her about what it was like in hospital.

After they left, it felt horrible and there was nothing Piper could really do as she'd finished the book that she was reading the day previous. She really hoped that Polly would visit her with the pile of books that she promised to bring. Instead of staring at the ceiling hoping her best friend would turn up, she decided to nap again.

She was woken up what felt like ten minutes later but turned out to be three hours and bizarrely it was Bennett who was at her door.

"What's happened?" Piper asked frantically. Had the van crashed on the way back to the prison? Were Alex and Nicky okay?

"Nothing really," Bennett replied. "My shift is finished and Vause asked me if I could deliver a letter to you. She said she'd wash my clothes for me as I'm hopeless. Don't worry, she won't have to do it again, she just felt she needed to offer something. I hate how the prison makes people do that…sorry, I have a bad habit of rambling."

"It's okay," Piper assured him and accepted the letter that Bennett held out for her.

"Would you like me to step outside while you read it?" He asked and Piper nodded. He smiled and gave her some paper and a pen in case she wanted to write back.

Once he'd left, Piper dragged herself up into a seating position and quickly took the pain tablets that were on the table next to her and the more she read into Alex's letter, the more the pain disappeared.

_Dear my wonderful Pipes,_

_I said I would write you letters if I could and I just couldn't stop myself once I got some me time. This is the sixth version of this letter that I've written because I just couldn't find the words to say to you. But you know what I thought of to inspire me? Remember when we first went to Paris and I took you to the Eifel Tower and you cried just at the thought of it? I just remember how beautiful you looked when we were at the top and the wind blew softly through your hair and you said you'd never been happier. Seeing you today made me so happy._

_I'm so sorry that you've been put in this mess because of the idea I had to mess with Pennsatucky. However, I know that you'll get through it because you, Piper Chapman, are a fighter and you have the love of all our family behind you along with the support from your loved ones._

_You are the most important thing to me and you have been for as long as I can remember. I cannot wait to see you again and I can't wait to be there to support you and love you when you get back to me. My arms feel empty when you're not in them and I hope that I'll be able to feel you there again. I always imagine you're there before I go to sleep; you're the perfect little spoon. I hope I can see you again soon. _

_I heart you, kid,_

_Your Alex x_

When she finished the letter, Piper had to wipe away the tears that threatened to fall. She remembered that trip to Paris and she loved the Eifel Tower and everything about France but more than anything else, she loved spending time with Alex. She thought slowly about the reply but when Bennett re-entered her room fifteen minutes after he'd left it, she'd written a reply that she was content with.

"All done?" Bennett asked holding his hand out for the letter.

"Yes, thanks ever so much," Piper replied handing it over.

"It's the least I could do. My job is to stop what happened to you before it gets too bad. Get well soon, Chapman."

Piper watched him leave and smiled because she knew that Alex would be reading her love tomorrow and it was exciting. Even when the doctor came in telling her that she needed another blood test didn't stop her from smiling, despite the fact that she had a huge fear of needles. The thought of Alex would just get her through anything and everything. She just hoped she'd be out of this sodding hospital soon.

_Hey guys, just wanted to say thanks again for all the reviews, follows and favourites. You're all amazing and I love you. Don't forget to review this chapter and let me know what I can do to improve or how you think the story should go! Emss x__eyH_


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning went as normal for everyone in the prison. They woke up, headed to the shower block, got a shower and then walked sleepily to the canteen to eat whatever Red had prepared that day before they headed to work. However, for Alex it was slightly different. She did everything as normal but when she headed to work, she walked passed Bennett who wasn't usually there and he called her over.

"Vause, you left something in the van yesterday," he said and Alex had no idea what he was talking about and started to tell him that she hadn't. "You did leave something and I got it for you and left it in your bunk." After that was said, he winked at her and walked away so she couldn't ask any more questions.

She was pretty sure that it was a reply letter from Piper but she couldn't be sure and she couldn't go check until lunch as she had to work. As she got closer to the laundry room, she met up with Nicky who had been absent from breakfast as she'd been a little preoccupied with Morello in the Chapel.

After they entered the room, they got straight to work but Nicky couldn't help but notice that Alex had a slight bounce in her step.

"What are you so happy about?" Nicky asked her from the machine she was throwing the clothes into.

"I persuaded Bennett to go back to the hospital to give Piper a letter yesterday," Alex replied quietly so the other girls didn't overhear them. "And he's basically told me there's a reply in my bed." Alex then went on to tell her exactly what Bennett had said.

"He's a crafty one, that one," Nicky mused, "But I feel like he's gonna get caught soon. I mean, Daya's starting to show."

Alex agreed but they ended that conversation quickly as they knew it was the Spanish ladies' laundry day and they would be in any minute to hand in their laundry. It was also wise not to talk about them as they were already on their way to trying to take over the prison.

The morning passed without much chaos, but one of the machines broke again so they had to report it to electric to tell them and this time, Luscheck came down with the girl to make sure that the machine was actually broken. Alex was pleased that the prison was actually doing something to prevent what happened for now. She'd seen them try to change things before but they always went back to how usually was. She just hoped that Piper would be out before they went back to that.

Nicky and Alex walked to the canteen and met up with Boo and Lorna who were on their breaks and they ate their lunch together. Alex scoffed hers down as quickly as possible without being sick and headed back to her cube. She only had twenty minutes to spare before she had to be back in the laundry room but it was enough time. She stepped into her cube and pulled back the duvet to see a piece of paper folded up. Smiling brightly, she picked up the piece of paper. She tucked the cover back down and sat on top of her bed and just looked at Piper's handwriting being thankful that Doggett hadn't broken her right hand otherwise this wouldn't have been possible.

Registering the time, Alex started to read the letter and tried to take as much information from it as possible.

_My darling Alex,_

_I do remember Paris and I do remember the Eifel Tower. Everything about that country is perfect and I'd love to go back to set everything right between us once and for all. When we're out, that'll be my treat! Perhaps, this time I'll be able to make it up the Arc de Triomphe without wanting to pass out afterwards!_

_Your visit yesterday made my day, being woken by your lips is the best feeling a girl could have. It was amazing just having you there to touch and hearing Nicky's laughter again. Please tell me that she and Lorna are together now, I've never seen her looking happier in this place!_

_Please don't blame yourself for this though, you are not to blame. I had my own problems with Pennsatucky, I had this coming. Obviously I wasn't expecting it to be this bad but I'm coping because I have your love with me. Also like I said, the food is so much better than Red's and I can feel the pounds going back on (but I hope you told her that I said her food was better!)_

_You know you're the most important person to me too and I'm getting better every day. The doctor's even considering lowering my pain dosage because he thinks I'm strong enough! You know he said that as soon as I didn't need them anymore, I'll be back to you and our family in there! I pretend that you're here every time I go to sleep and I know that soon you will be. _

_I heart you more ;)_

_Forever yours,_

_Pipes x_

Alex quickly wiped her tears from her eyes and held the letter close to her heart as if to absorb the message and imprint Piper's loving words there forever. She wanted to sit there and reread the letter as much as possible but alas she couldn't. She glanced at her watch and saw that she really needed to get back to the laundry room if she didn't want to get in trouble with the COs.

Quickly standing up, Alex hid the letter back under her sheets and headed towards the laundry room. When she was part way there she saw Nicky walking towards her.

"We're meant to be going the other way," Alex said smiling at her friend. "You know you can't go visit Lorna at this time."

"I was coming to get you actually," Nicky replied shrugging. She stopped where she was walking and waited for Alex to catch up with her. "I didn't want you to get in trouble." They then turned and headed back to the laundry room together.

"That was very thoughtful," Alex joked and they went back to work.

oOoOo

Later that day, after everyone had eaten their dinner and they were given time to do whatever they pleased, within reason of course, the usual group of girls were all sat in Alex's cube. Alex was in her bed with Boo sitting further down and Yoga Jones at the very bottom of the bed. On the other bed, which was still bizarrely empty, Nicky and Lorna were sat together with Lorna's legs over Nicky's who had her arm wrapped tightly around Lorna's shoulders.

"Even when you're not in each other's company, it's obvious you're now together apparently," Alex called to them. She was looking up from her letter from Piper thinking about the reply she was going to write. She knew she should give it a few days though because it would look odd if Bennett kept going to the hospital but she could start writing it now.

"What are you talking about, Vause?" Nicky asked finally looking up from Lorna.

"Piper knows you're together," Alex replied. When the two girls looked at her strangely, Alex held up her letter from her girlfriend. "I quote: Please tell me that she (meaning you Nicky) and Lorna are together now, I've never seen her looking happier in this place."

"She's such a cutie," Lorna said happily, "And so smart. I wish I could have gone with you too; I miss Chapman."

"We all do," Alex mumbled and Boo rested her hand on Alex's leg in an attempt to cheer her up.

Yoga Jones then started talking about a past lover that she'd spent many summers with when they were younger which got subject away from Piper. It cheered the girls up immensely and they all laughed louder when she said that she was lying and just made it all up. The five of them then started making up farfetched stories about lovers in different lands. Alex just spoke about what she and Piper did when they were in all the different countries but simply changed her name each story. She actually told them many different stories and instead of being sad that Piper wasn't there to share her side of the story, she enjoyed reliving them with her friends there. However, what Alex didn't know was that the other girls knew who she was talking about.

oOoOo

The day for Piper had gone completely differently as she thought it was going to be. Polly had rang her to tell her that she was going to come visit for a few hours but that she wasn't going to bring Finn. Piper completely understood as she had previously said that she didn't want to meet her Godson until she was out of prison and being currently in the hospital didn't count. However, with so much going wrong recently, something had to go wrong this day too. Polly had planned to come alone but she rang Piper saying that her car had broken down so someone was going to come with her. Piper presumed that it would be her mother with the tone Polly used but when she stepped through the hospital room door, it was a completely different person who followed her; it was Larry.

The first few minutes were tense and awkward as Piper and Larry just looked at each other. Piper tried not to glare at him and Larry tried not to cry at the sight of Piper.

"Pol, help me up," Piper requested and her best friend came close and pulled Piper into a sitting position. She then pulled her close and hugged her but not too tightly because of the ribs.

"I'm sorry," Polly whispered into her ear. "I had no other choice, I wanted to see you and Pete's working and your mom is looking after Finn for me."

Piper didn't reply; she only shrugged. She was going to have to see Larry at some point; they had to discuss the business of her moving out when she was out of prison and to sort out their shared bank account because they weren't together anymore and she hoped they wouldn't be again.

"Piper, I'm so glad you're okay," Larry said finally when he realised that Piper hadn't yet kicked him out of the room yet but he stayed stood awkwardly by the door as if he could slip out if it got bad.

"Yeah, I never knew I could kick so hard to get someone off of me," Piper replied and sighed. "This bed's so uncomfy though."

"It has to be better than the prison one," Polly replied.

"Talking about prison, I got visitors from there yesterday!" Piper exclaimed suddenly. She hadn't had the chance to tell Polly on the phone as she only had time to tell her that she was going to visit.

"Who? How?" Polly asked but she could already tell that she was going to say Alex but was curious to who the others were as Piper had said visitors.

"They were there to tell me what happened because they were the ones there," Piper replied smiling. "Nicky was there obviously because she was the one who got the COs to come and help me and fortunately they let Alex come too. Oh my gosh, it was amazing seeing her out of that fucking machine."

Polly looked at her questioningly when Piper mentioned the machine but Piper quickly informed her of what happened to Alex the first time she was stuck in the machine and the second time that she was forced into it. As soon as Piper mentioned Alex's name, she saw Larry shudder and look upset but she didn't really care anymore.

"So are you two together then?" He asked gently. "Officially?"

"Yes and I hope more than anything that it stays that way…"

"So what was our relationship?" Larry suddenly cried desperately stepping forward to the side of Piper's bed. "Did I mean so little to you that you could just run back to her? Have you always been such a fucking lady loving lesbian and just not told me? What did I ever do wrong to you? I loved you to the best of my ability and you do this to me?"

"Larry, is this really the time?" Polly asked, immediately defending her best friend. "She's in fucking hospital after being attacked by some fucking meth head. By all means, you can yell at her for what she did with Alex, hell, I don't even understand what's going on but you can't do it now."

Piper knew this was going to happen when she saw him walk through the door. She'd been bracing herself for his sudden burst of anger as soon as she mentioned Alex. That was why she'd mentioned her so soon. She hoped that she could get everything out in the open or that Larry would leave the room and let her talk to Polly like she'd originally wanted it. She just hoped he wouldn't drive off angrily and leave Polly behind.

"It's okay, Pol," Piper murmured. "Could you leave us alone for a few minutes? I could do to talk to him."

"I'll be right outside," Polly assured her and then stood up and left the room but she made sure that she stood close enough to the door so she could hear everything that was going on.

She'd heard Piper and Larry argue many times before but never like this. There was such venom in Larry's words and so much passion in Piper's when she spoke about Alex. It reminded her of when she was with Alex the first time but yet it was slightly different. The Piper arguing currently had grown up and she knew that she was in the right.

After what seemed like forever, the room went silent and Larry stormed out of the room clutching his nose. Taking it as her cue, Polly stepped back into the room to see Piper sitting there as she'd left her. Her facial expression was blank and Polly didn't quite know what to make of it. She waved her hand in front of Piper's face.

"Earth to Piper?" Polly said and Piper blinked and looked up at her best friend.

"Where did he go?" Piper asked frantically, "I need to apologise, I hit him in the face and I think I've broken his nose. He needs help for it."

"Pipes, we're in the hospital, I'm sure he could find someone to help him," Polly reasoned and laughed at Piper. Not too harshly to hurt her feelings but enough to make her realise that she'd said something silly.

"I'd forgotten," Piper sighed, "I was just so mad. He kept questioning me if I was a lesbian. I'm not; I'm just a woman who loves another woman, that doesn't make me a lesbian. I don't care maybe I am. I told him I was sorry but it's always been Alex for me. He asked me if our life together had been a lie and when I said that it wasn't, he called me a liar and then said that Alex would never love me like he did because she was a heartless monster and I lost it and punched him."

"If only you could have done that before that scum tried to attack you," Polly murmured as she took Piper's hand to make sure she hadn't damaged it with hitting Larry. "You wouldn't be here right now."

"No one said life was fair," Piper commented, "Just be fortunate I kicked her before she stabbed me."


	8. Chapter 8

A month soon passed and the doctors were filling out Piper's release form. Due to her hand still being badly damaged, she didn't have to be handcuffed as long as she remained next to Fischer. Despite the fact that she was returning to a prison, Piper couldn't help but bounce with excitement and she was glad that she could almost walk properly on her ankle again. Within the past month, she and Alex had sent a fair few letters to each other with the help of Bennett and Fischer and Alex had been able to visit twice more. The first time she came with Lorna and the second time was Nicky again. Apparently it was meant to be Boo and Lorna the second time but Bennett let Alex come instead.

Fischer led Piper outside to the van and she was welcomed with Lorna sitting in the front seat as usual. She had her statement red lipstick and another trashy magazine in her hands.

"She's alive!" Lorna cried laughing loudly as she put down the magazine to start the engine. "Everyone's going to be so excited that you're back!"

"I'm looking forward to it," Piper replied smiling.

The ride to the prison was longer than Piper had expected but then again, she was unconscious when she was driven here so it didn't surprise her that she didn't know how long it would be. Lorna spent the entire journey telling Piper about what had happened recently and it turned out that Red was no longer in the kitchen and was a little down in the dumps and that the Spanish lot had taken over. She also gushed about her relationship with Nicky as Piper had questioned her about it and Lorna said how clever Piper was to figure it out.

Soon enough, Lorna was pulling up outside the prison and Piper was back outside the building she dreaded and loved simultaneously. She had to go through all the motions of being a new inmate with all the different checks but she was given khaki clothes to wear and was told that she'd been assigned a bunk already. She could tell that it was to do with the fact that she'd been in the hospital and not down to the SHU. She had presumed that she would have been able to go back to her own bunk but that was obviously not the case.

Bennett took over from Fischer and led her down to the Suburb dorms instead of the Ghetto where she was used to and as if by God's work himself, though obviously it was just the prison staff, her new bunkie was none other than her gorgeous girlfriend, Alex.

"I pulled some strings," Bennett said to her as they stopped. "You deserve this for the neglect we gave you." He said nothing else and left the two of them.

Alex looked up at the sound of voices near her cube and she couldn't believe her eyes. There standing before her was her Piper in all of her khaki glory. She was holding her bedding in her able hand and saw just standing at the entrance, not quite ready to move as she wanted to soak in the sight of her girlfriend.

"Why didn't you tell me you were getting out today?!" Alex cried once the shock of seeing Piper in the flesh in front of her calmed down.

"I didn't know!" Piper replied and she quickly threw all her things onto the bed and ran into Alex's open arms but the brunette remembered to still be gentle as Piper still had a little bit of bruising around her ribs even though she was out of the hospital.

They pulled back from the hug and Alex wasted no time in kissing Piper fully on the mouth, the guards being damned at that particular moment. Their kiss was only interrupted to breathe and to mutter how much they'd missed each other and how right it felt to be in each other's arms again. Both of the girls were happy that it was a Saturday and that they didn't have to go to work.

"Oh guess what," Piper said when they finally broke apart, "I've got a new job here because I can only do things with one hand. I'm in the laundry as the loader and unloader of the machines!"

"This is so amazing, finally a bit of luck!" Alex replied and quickly pulled Piper back into her arms.

"Dare I believe my eyes?!" A voice said behind them and they turned to see Nicky with Boo and Yoga Jones just behind her grinning brightly.

"Chapman's back!" Boo said before they all came into the cube as they usually did.

With the announcement, many of the inmates came in to see her and say hello, including all her friends from the Ghetto. Once Lorna was off her shift, she joined her girlfriend who was sitting on Piper's new bed (that Nicky and Boo had nicely set up for Piper) and sat on her lap. Yoga Jones had had to leave to sort out some business with yoga which left Boo sitting in the middle of the cube with a couple either side of her.

"God, I need to get myself a new wife," she muttered and glared at all her friends who looked so happy to be with the ones they loved.

"I'm sure Crazy Eyes is still available," Nicky replied and they laughed at Boo's horrified expression.

The five of them spent the following hours until dinner in Alex and Piper's cube catching Piper up on all of the drama she missed and Piper told them about what she had found out about the real world. For the entire time, Alex didn't move her arm that was wrapped around Piper's waist and at odd moments she'd lean and kiss her neck or her cheek or her hand. It was just amazing having Piper that close and to touch her.

When it was time for dinner, the five headed down to the canteen and sat with Yoga Jones and Sister Ingalls, the latter welcoming Piper on her return to the prison and wishing her a speedy recovery. They ate their tacos which were spicier that usual with the Spanish cooks but Piper enjoyed eating something different than the soup and sandwiches she got at the hospital.

Once everyone dispersed from the canteen, the majority of people headed to the rec room to watch that night's film which happened to be titanic. The others headed to different parts of the prison for quiet time and Alex took Piper's hand and led her to the chapel. Alex immediately lowered herself to the floor and pulled Piper with her so they were lying beside each other and staring in to each other's eyes. Alex leant forward and kissed Piper's eye lids, cheeks, nose and finally her lips. Piper responded the best she could until breathing became a problem.

"Babe, as much as I want to," Piper started but Alex cut her off.

"I know we can't, that's not why we're here. I just wanted somewhere quiet where we can lay together and talk. You said Larry had come to see you in the hospital with Polly but you didn't say what happened."

"He left with a bloody nose," Piper replied and shrugged hoping to get off of the topic of Larry; she didn't want to talk about him when she finally got Alex to herself again after so long. However, Piper knew Alex and her facial expressed showed one of 'I will punch you, injuries be damned, if you don't tell me'.

"Please, Pipes," Alex muttered and pulled back from their closeness to really look at her girlfriend. "I want to know even if it's insulting."

Piper sighed and took Alex's hand and kissed her knuckles before holding it close to her heart. "He started questioning the years we spent together and if our relationship was a lie. He even asked me if I'd always been a lady loving lesbian-" Alex tried to interrupt but Piper held up her injured hand, , to stop her from talking. "I said that I didn't believe in labels and that I was a woman who was in love with another woman." Alex smiled at this and Piper paused before adding the last part to what she was going to Alex at this very moment. However, it came out a little faster than she wanted because she just wanted to get it out between them. "He then said that you could never love me like he did because you're a heartless monster so I punched him in the face."

"That temper is going to get you in trouble, kid," Alex murmured and pulled their linked hands to her lips to kiss Piper's knuckles. "Thank you for sticking up for me but please don't go round punching people for me. You'll just get into more trouble."

"He was lying though, you're not a heartless monster," Piper cried. "You couldn't be further from heartless if you tried. No one has ever loved me more than you." To prove her point, Piper unlinked their hands and buried her hand in Alex's hair to pull her face to her so she could kiss her as passionately as she could and tried to put all of her love she felt to Alex in it. In return, she felt Alex's love being passed back to her.

"Don't leave me again," Alex whispered. "Whether willingly or not, you can't leave me. I love you too much."

"I promise to try not to get stabbed by a screwdriver again," Piper replied with a quiet laugh. "However, sometimes it's out of my control."

Alex laughed with her girlfriend before pulling her closer. "Shut up and kiss me!" She demanded seductively and their laughter ceased immediately.

oOoOo

What felt like hours later, footsteps were heard outside of the chapel so Alex quickly sat up and moved away from Piper just in case it was a CO. Piper couldn't move that quickly yet but she managed to heave herself up before the person entered. However, it was all in vain as it was Nicky who walked into the chapel.

"I thought I was gonna have to cover my eyes when I walked in," Nicky said chuckling to herself as she walked over to them. "I'm disappointed though, Vause, I thought you would have been in there immediately."

"I can't have sex for another two weeks," Piper sighed and then turned to Alex to say, "Sorry, baby."

"I can survive a few weeks without sex," Alex replied glaring at Nicky, "I just don't usually."

More footsteps were then heard and all three looked up and saw that it was Lorna walking in. She looked expectantly at Nicky but then glanced round and saw Piper and Alex sitting on the floor.

"And there was me thinking you were setting a surprise in here for me," Lorna said and pouted.

"We were leaving anyway," Alex said quickly and helped Piper up and took her hand. Nicky looked gratefully at them and as soon as Piper and Alex got close to the door, they heard the tell-tale sounds of the two girls getting to know each other like Alex and Piper wanted to do to each other.

Piper and Alex giggled all the way back to their cube and told jokes to each other about what Nicky was going to do to Lorna. When they were back in their cube, Alex pulled Piper over to her bunk after checking who was on guard duty.

"Be my little spoon?" Alex requested and Piper looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "I'll take that as a yes then." Piper nodded and climbed in to Alex's bed. The two snuggled close with Alex's arms wrapped tightly around Piper as if not wanting to let her go.

"I'm glad you got your mattress back," Piper murmured and hummed contently as Alex moved her hair to the side and kissed her neck with the odd nip.

"I don't even know who got it back," Alex replied quietly, "It was just here when I got back from visiting you."

Piper rolled over so she could look Alex in the eye. She didn't say much but just looked as if she was looking down to Alex's soul and she liked what she could see. There was so much love in Alex's eyes that she couldn't believe she ever let her go in the first place. Sure, it started to get dangerous but she should have realised that she was completely in love with this glorious woman to not run. However, that was in the past now and they were both prepared to look to their future together, even if it was still slightly uncertain.

"I always wonder what you see when you look at me this intently," Alex muttered and reached her hand up to push a fallen strand of hair away from Piper's face.

"I see you," Piper replied simply as if it was the most obvious answer. She then started moving her none injured arm down Alex's body. She started with her cheek, to her arm and then her hand, "I see the inevitability of us and the love you have for me."

"Well you know I heart you, kid-" Alex stopped talking and moaned quietly when Piper slipped her hand into her trousers and into her panties.

Her fingers found her buddle of nerves and she started moving them around in circular motions. Alex had always been a loud lover and now was no different but, as lenient as she was, the current guard on duty wouldn't put up with sex in the room so Piper had to lean forward and kiss Alex passionately to swallow her moans. Piper ran her fingers down Alex's folds and Alex pushed her hips forward at the sensation and Piper was able to slip her fingers home. She used two fingers to work Alex up gently before using her thumb on her clit to bring her to the edge. For a woman who was so used to being in charge and in control, it amazed Piper to see that she was able to lose control because of what she did to her. Piper kept kissing Alex as she calmed down from her climax and breathed heavily on to Piper's shoulder when she couldn't get her breath back from the kissing.

"That was amazing," Alex whispered when she was finally able to talk again.

"It was the least I could do after you've helped me so much recently," Piper replied and kissed Alex again. First it was on her forehead, then temple, her cheek and finally her lips and Alex was quickly to respond.

"I wish I could return the favour," Alex muttered sighing quietly. For Alex, sex was always about giving, she could go all night giving Piper what she craved and it pleased her if Piper was too exhausted to return the favour; it made her proud of what her skills could do to someone.

"Soon," Piper murmured as she slipped her hand out of Alex's trousers and licked her fingers clean and Alex almost came again just at the sight.

"Tease," Alex muttered but Piper just laughed and rested her now clean hand on Alex's back rubbing it in small circles.

The two spent the rest of the evening talking about different things until count and then they finally had to separate. After such a long time apart, they were able to sleep in the same building again but this time it was the same cube. Being so close but not close enough was horrific but the night's memories fluttered in front of their eyes as they headed off to sleep.

_Thanks again guys for all the support. It's amazing. Remember to keep reviewing and I'll update as quickly as I can!_


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning set a new routine for Piper and Alex. Piper was used to waking up in a hospital room to the sound of beeping and the knowing that she was all alone in that room. There would be an array of tablets on the table next to her to take along with a glass of water for her to drink. She'd pull herself up to a sitting position, though it still pained her slightly to do that and she'd take the tablets and drink the water. A few moments later, a nurse would be in with her food and she'd eat her breakfast and enjoy which ever book she had that morning. She read many different books and magazines over that month in the hospital and she was glad that Polly knew her so well to bring many different types of books that she knew Piper would enjoy and wouldn't bore her to death.

Alex's morning was slightly similar as she woke up alone in her cube, however, there wouldn't be anything waiting for her. She would stretch and pull herself out of the bed and drag her tired body down to the showers before all the girls headed there and the queue would be ridiculously long. She would be completely done with her shower when the women started to head to the showers. She'd return to her bunk, dry herself off, redress and apply a thin line of eyeliner before sitting on her bunk and reading which ever book she'd found slightly interesting in the library before breakfast started.

However, everything was now different for them as when they woke up, there was the person they loved only a matter of metres away. When they woke all those years ago when they were sharing the same bed, they would be wrapped up in each other's arms and facing each other. It was no surprise then that they both woke up facing the middle of the cube and the first thing they saw when they woke was the other person.

Piper was always the one to wake first as she'd get more sleep as Alex was usually up half of the night arranging different business ideas but obviously that wouldn't be the case in prison. So when Piper woke up, she was surprised to see that Alex was already awake and was staring at her intently.

"Fancy a shower?" Alex muttered sleepily when she noticed Piper was awake and Piper nodded.

They both stretched and crawled out of bed before grabbing their shower things. Once they were out of the dormitory, Alex walked closer to Piper and held her hand. Piper still walked with a slight limp but she'd had physiotherapy on her ankle so it was much better than it had been at first. They were the first two in the shower so they slipped into the same stall. Alex turned on the shower head as Piper started to kiss up her body.

"You said you can't have sex," Alex murmured against Piper's lips, "You can't tease me like this."

"I lied," Piper replied and slipped her hand down Alex's body and found her clit. "I didn't want Nicky to know."

"Stop talking about some other chick and fuck me," Alex almost cried and Piper did just that.

Alex came with a loud moan that made Piper have to quickly kiss her to swallow the noise. After a few moments, Alex calmed down and started kissing her way down Piper's body. She spent time just kissing around Piper's chest where the bruise had almost faded. She then kissed all the way down and slipped Piper's leg over her shoulder and did what she did best with her mouth.

oOoOo

When the shower was over and the two of them were completely spent, they headed back to the cube and just giggled about what they'd just done. Donaldson was on duty so when they went back to their cube, they stuck to their own sides to redress. They spoke quietly to each other and read quietly until it was time for breakfast.

Breakfast came and went with the usual business, but Red was nowhere to be seen in the canteen as she still didn't want to face the fact that she wasn't head chef anymore. Piper sat in her seat beside Alex and opposite Lorna and Nicky. Boo, Sister Ingalls and Yoga Jones were also seated at the table and most of them kept eating without looking up at Piper and Alex until it just got too suspicious.

"What do you guys know?" Piper asked finally. She and Alex were talking and asking the others questions but none of them replied.

"You might want to be a little quieter in the shower when someone is on the toilet," Nicky replied snickering.

At this, Piper and Alex looked up to see Sister Ingalls look away from them immediately with her face turning red. Piper also turned bright red at the statement and hid her head into Alex's shoulder. Alex laughed at her reaction and squeezed Piper's thigh where her hand had been resting for the entire breakfast.

"What can I say, my girl's talented," Alex said proudly as she nudged Piper.

"Can't have sex for two weeks my ass," Nicky scoffed.

Piper quickly changed the conversation to her working with Alex and Nicky in the laundry room so that they could all stop talking about her sex life with Alex and Sister Ingalls could eat her breakfast without having to be ashamed of telling everyone about what she had heard.

oOoOo

The day in the laundry room was one of boredom for Piper, at least in electric she could move about the prison to different areas and fix things. In the laundry room, she had to stand and throw things in a machine and then fish it a back out again not half an hour later. She couldn't fold at the best of times and with only having one hand, she was fortunate that she didn't have to. It was also extremely difficult for her to concentrate properly on what she was doing with having Alex so close to her.

"Chapman, you're meant to be pulling those out of the machine, not putting them back in," Nicky called when she spotted that Piper had putting the wet clothes back into the machine, despite the fact she had just taken them out.

Piper quickly took them back out and handed them to Nicky who was just laughing and shaking her head.

"If you can't concentrate, I'm sure Healy will allow you to change jobs," Nicky added but Piper didn't reply, she simply picked up one of the shirts and threw it at Nicky's face.

"It's not her fault I'm so hot," Alex said from where she was stood waiting for the Ghetto to bring their bags down to be washed.

"Yeah, babe, you're gorgeous," Piper replied and blew Alex a kiss. Alex laughed and winked at her while Nicky continued to shake her head at their antics.

"I hope to God Lorna and I don't get as bad as you too," She muttered but they all knew that they would when they'd known each other as long as Piper and Alex had.

Apart from the slight teasing, their morning was boring and when they headed to the canteen for their lunch, there was nothing they could really talk about. The three of them sat with Boo and Yoga Jones and ate their lunch. All of them talked about random things but they all noticed that Nicky wasn't really saying much because Lorna wasn't there. She was taking Miss Rosa to the hospital and would return later after she picked up the newbies that would be entering the prison that day.

oOoOo

After the afternoon shift had finished in the laundry room, Piper decided to head outside and get some fresh air and have a short run around the track before it was time for diner. She had told the doctor that she was a runner and he said that she would be okay to do one lap without getting tired but shouldn't do more than three. She should also build it up slowly and not rush straight into it. With that in mind, Piper only walked gently around the track and sped up to a slow jog for another before going back to walking. She didn't want to run just yet anyway, she didn't want her ankle to give way on her as it would be embarrassing if she fell in front of the other prisoners and the guards.

Alex had been reluctant to let her go onto the track but Piper had kindly reminded her that she wasn't her mother and that she could do what she wanted to do if she felt capable of doing it. However, Alex made her promise that she would go easy on herself and Piper accepted that before heading outside.

While Piper enjoyed her outside time, Alex went to the library. She was sitting in one of the back corners looking through a selection of books that Taystee had picked out for her as she knew the sort of books that she liked to read. Alex had to admit that Taystee was always at her best when she was surrounded by the books, they were a comfort to her and they were to Alex too. She could always lose herself in a book and had often wondered what her life would have been like if she'd stuck to writing instead of importing the drugs. She quickly shook off that thought as she knew that she probably would have never met Piper if she'd lived her life differently.

After a while, Alex left the library with her book choice and headed back to her cube to see if Piper had returned but it was as empty as it had been when Piper left. Placing her book into her small cupboard, Alex decided to go see if Piper was still outside because it was starting to get even colder. She walked through the hallways just as Morello was leading the newbies to where they would be staying and there was one woman in the group that instantly made Alex freeze. She was obviously wearing orange but her deep blonde hair was still the same, if not slightly longer but scruffier than it had been. Her green eyes were still a shade that you couldn't quite describe and she still looked at Alex as if she was both the most beautiful woman in the world and the worst person possible.

"I wondered if I'd be seeing you here, Vause," she called and Lorna looked to see Alex standing frozen in the middle of the hallway.

"Come with me, Casey," Lorna said and the girl followed her and was out of sight almost immediately but Alex still couldn't move.

Not too long after, Piper was walking down the corridor and spotted Alex and panicked at the fact she was staring so blankly at nothing. Piper rushed, not ran, up to her and cupped her cheek.

"Al, what's wrong?" Piper asked and started waving her hand to get Alex's attention. This brought Alex back to reality and she grabbed Piper's hand to hold as they were now the only two in the hallway.

"I saw someone," Alex replied finally. "Someone I didn't expect to see."

Piper was about to ask who when Lorna returned and cried, "What the hell was that, Vause?"

Alex didn't answer Morello but turned and led Piper down the hall knowing that Lorna would follow them. The three ended up back in Piper and Alex's cube. Unsurprisingly, as soon as Lorna walked into the dormitory, Nicky rushed over to be with her girlfriend. She started to make some lame comment before she saw the seriousness on their faces.

"What's happened?" Nicky asked confused.

"She knows one of the newbies," Lorna replied, "I don't quite understand what the deal is."

"Her name is Victoria Casey and she was high up in the same cartel as me," Alex muttered, "She was one of the first people that I worked with and taught me what to do. She got into some shit though so I became the boss' favourite and she did her best to screw me over as often as possible."

"Is she gonna cause problems?" Nicky asked but she knew that Alex was keeping something from her that was big. It was either because she didn't want Lorna to know or Piper. Though she knew it was probably Piper.

"I don't know." Alex shrugged nonchalantly but she wouldn't make eye contact with Piper which only seemed to annoy her.

The bell then rang indicating dinner time and the four of them headed off to dinner but Nicky pulled on Alex's sleeve to hold her back but she told Lorna and Piper to go ahead and get them a table before they were all taken and they had to sit with Crazy Eyes. Both girls didn't want to leave their other halves behind but knew better than to try and listen in.

Alex knew that it was probably a bad mistake to get close to someone in prison but she knew that she wouldn't be able to survive anything that happened there without Nicky's help. Alex had arrived after Nicky and she had taken Alex under her wing and helped her, they both knew it was an attempt to get into her pants but that didn't happen. Their friendship became much more important.

"You've fucked her," Nicky said bluntly when Lorna and Piper were far enough away to hear them.

"More than that," Alex replied quietly. "I cheated on her with Piper when we were first together. Piper has no idea that I was taken at that time but Victoria knows all about Piper. When we broke up, Victoria was the one who took me under her wing and we got back together but like I said, she got into some shit and Kubra then liked me more so she ended it again and has tried to fuck me over. I named her too, that's probably why she's here. She's gonna go after Piper, I can feel it."

"She won't get past us," Nicky assured Alex and Alex knew that Nicky wasn't meaning just the two of them. Boo, Red and Lorna were among the people that Nicky was meaning. Piper and Alex were firmly in their family now and no one could damage that but Alex still worried.

"We need to go or they'll get suspicious."

With that said, Alex and Nicky continued to dinner and acted as if nothing had passed. Piper wasn't stupid and knew that Alex was withholding information from her and it actually really hurt her. She had never kept anything from Alex but she was used to Alex keeping things from her but she couldn't have that now. They had nowhere to escape from each other.

oOoOo

Later that night when Piper and Alex were alone in their cube, Piper tried to bring up the topic but Alex was having none of it; she just kept changing the subject back to something pointless. However, Piper was stubborn and she wanted to know what was going on so she did what she knew best. She checked the guard station and it was actually empty so she headed into Alex's bed. Alex put down the book she was reading and automatically hugged Piper close to her before kissing her.

"You're not going to persuade me like this," Alex mumbled against her lips but that wasn't what Piper had planned.

She moved so that she was lying on top of Alex and slipped her hand into her panties and immediately felt the wetness. She slid two fingers into Alex and started pumping quickly and roughly and started biting her neck knowing it would get Alex to come quicker. Usually she did this to please Alex but this time she used it to her advantage. She knew Alex was getting close when she bit down on to Piper's shoulder to stop from screaming so Piper immediately stopped completely for a few seconds. She repeated her actions twice more and Alex looked like she was going to cry.

"Let me come and I'll tell you," Alex groaned letting her vagina take control. "I promise."

Piper heard the sincerity in her voice and put Alex out of her misery. She returned her hand and flicked her clit demanding, "Come for me, baby," and Alex did.

When Alex had fully calmed down, she looked Piper in the eye and said, "She's my ex."

_Hi guys! Another update for you which I hope you like. Just a quick warning though, I'm stupid and keep dropping my laptop so the frame is broken so I need to get it fixed. I'm not going to have my laptop for around a week maybe more. So don't worry if there isn't an update for a while. I will update again when I get it back. I'm going to go insane without it but that life. Keep the reviews coming and I'll upload when I get it back :) Emss x_


	10. Chapter 10

"_She's my ex."_

"You don't fucking say, Alex," Piper cried and sat up from where they were lying and moved to sit at the bottom of the bed so that Alex couldn't touch her. "I've seen you around girls that you've fucked before and one of your exes. I know your facial expressions like the back of my hand."

"I'm sorry," Alex muttered and sat up herself and started to move closer to Piper but the blonde put her hand up and Alex stopped moving.

"I want to know everything about her," Piper said and looked at Alex intently. "You don't have to tell me now, but I deserve to know. I'm your girlfriend and the fact that I don't know about her fucking hurts, Al. You know the names of all of my exes and everything I did with them."

"I don't know about the ones between me and Larry," Alex replied quickly.

"That's because I wasn't in a relationship until Larry." Piper shrugged, "I just fucked people and tried to compare them to you. I didn't want a relationship but Larry was persistent."

Piper was too tired for a conversation like this but she felt like it was needed. She wouldn't be able to sleep if they didn't have it. She was so angry though despite being used to Alex keeping many things from her, though a lot of it was for her safety. Keeping quiet about an ex-girlfriend wasn't exactly the best thing to do.

"We can talk about this in the morning," Alex said because she needed time to figure out how to tell Piper everything but she knew that she would do, she had to.

Piper didn't say anything as she got off Alex's bed and went to her own. She climbed under the cover and turned her back on her girlfriend and attempted to settle down to sleep.

oOoOo

The sleep that Piper craved never came so she gave in. Instead, she sat up and turned on the lamp in her cube, hoping it wouldn't wake up Alex. Once she clicked it on, she paused to see if there was any movement from Alex's bunk but she was relieved when she just saw that slight rise and fall of Alex's body to know that she was sleeping peacefully.

Piper had always had a slight problem with anger and she had a horrible temper which Alex was all too aware of. Because of that, she was confused to why Alex always kept things from her despite her knowing that she could flip at any moment and yell.

There had been the odd attempt at therapy sessions that Polly had suggested Piper to go to but she never liked the person she booked with. She'd been to four different people and had something she disliked about each of one. The first never gave her definite answers and would always ask her a question in return. The second never looked up from her notepad. The third kept asking personal questions about her sex life which disturbed her and the fourth just didn't seem to know what he was doing. However, he did suggest that if she was ever feeling angry, she could write down her feelings in a form of a letter. She never needed to address the letter nor give it to anyone, but it would help for her to vent her feelings. As sleep was evading her, she decided to finally give it a go.

There was always one person in the world that she felt that she could tell anything to and that was Alex. She knew that she could tell Polly anything but she always risked being slightly judged by her best friend and her best friend sometimes didn't have the best advice. Alex nearly always did.

_Dear Alex, _

_You currently sleep next to me and just your presence calms me. I can hear your gentle breathing and see how peaceful you are when you're asleep and it always astounds me that you always appear so deeply asleep but usually the smallest sound awakens you._

_Today an old girlfriend of yours came into the prison and you didn't have the best reaction. You also decided not tell me that she was your ex so I had to force it out of you. Yet you willingly told Nicky. I could see the words spoken between you at dinner. I understand that you may not want to tell me about her but I deserve to know everything about if we're going to work out. We've promised to not leave each other again and I never want to but you have to be open and honest with me._

_I have a few questions to ask. Was she the one you were with when we first got together? Don't be surprised that I know that you cheated on someone when we were first together. I was friends with your friends and Pamela told me about it but she didn't saw who she was. Did you get back together after I left you? I totally understand if that happened, you always need someone; it's not safe for you to be left on your own. Did she lead you to the drugs after I left? If she was then I can't be fully responsible for what I do to her. Finally, the one that I truly want to know but pains me to write, did you love her?_

_You probably won't read this letter though I crave the information to the questions. Who knows what's going to come from this, it's probably just a waste of paper and ink. Yet, I thought it would be a good idea to write everything down, just in case. It's actually helped me and I'll probably do this again._

_I love you, Alex and I worry always that I'm not good enough or exciting enough for you._

_Love,_

_Your Piper._

Piper finished writing the letter and folded it up. She placed the lid back onto the pen and put both the pen and the paper back into her cupboard before leaning up and turning off the light. She didn't look over to Alex before attempting to go back to sleep. However, if she had looked over, she would have seen that Alex had seen her writing a letter and she was anxious to know what it contained.

oOoOo

In the morning, Piper woke up feeling anything but rested but she knew that she did want Alex to read the letter; she needed to know the answers to the questions, especially the last one. Instead of waiting for Alex to wake up so they could shower together again, she quickly slipped out of bed and went to her cupboard. After retrieving the letter, she placed it on top of Alex's cupboard and addressed it to her. She then collected all of her shower things and headed to the shower.

Alex heard the movement in her cube and woke up to see Piper leaving. Sighing, Alex knew that she'd fucked up last night with the whole Victoria thing but she didn't know how to tell Piper. She sat up and looked at her cupboard to find her watch to see the time but by doing that, she saw the letter. She knew just by looking at it that it was the letter Piper was writing during the night. Immediately, she picked it up and read it at least three times. Each time she read it, she felt worse; she had essentially lied to Piper with just withholding the truth and she knew that Piper had trust issues with the relationship between her parents. It seemed that she had forgotten how much Piper knew her and it both shocked and amazed her how that was even possible. One thing she knew about Piper was that she loved to shower so she knew she wouldn't be back very soon so she took her time to write her a reply that she could read.

_Piper,_

_You're currently in the shower and as much as I wish you would have waited for me to go with you, I completely understand your wish to be alone right now. I need to also confess that I'm glad you decided to give me this letter as I saw you writing it last night and would have asked you about it anyway._

_I should have told you when we were together the first time about Victoria as we were together for almost a year until I cheated on her with you but I couldn't help myself. As soon as I saw you, I was completely head over heels. You were young, blonde and so attractive that I needed to talk to you. I kept seeing you around and then you called me and I knew that you were going to be more important to me than anyone so I got rid of Victoria. So in answer to your first question, yes, she was the one I cheated on. I should have known Pamela would have blabbed; she could never keep a secret._

_The answer to the second question is yes, we got back together after you left but no, she wasn't the one to lead me to drugs. In actual fact, it was the complete opposite, she knew me enough that I would hate myself later because I allowed myself to take drugs and she was right. I wish I hadn't taken them but I just missed you so much! She was there for me every step of the way when I was recovering. However, shortly after I was deemed clean, she had a major problem as a few of the mules she hired lost a lot of money so, with that, I became one of Kubra's favourites as it proved I was more trustworthy than she was. She left me immediately and then started to sabotage my shippings. This obviously led me to giving her name to the feds as well as yours. I'm terrified that she's going to hurt you while we're both in here to get back at me. I don't know if she knows that I turned her in. She's always disliked you because, this will answer question four too, I never loved her. She knew that I was completely in love with you and that it wasn't possible for me to love another as much as I love you. I would always talk about our time together after you left and she hates you because I left her for you in the first place._

_I'm so sorry, Piper. I wish I could say all this in person but I guess you're right; it does help to write things down from time to time. Also please never think that you're not good enough for me or that you're not exciting. You are exciting and you are so much better than I am that I don't deserve you._

_I love you too, Piper, and I never want to be without you._

_Love always,_

_Your Al._

Alex thought it better to end the letter with the name that only Piper and her mother called her just to show her vulnerability. She then folded the piece of paper up and climbed out of bed. She slipped the paper slightly under Piper's cover and then grabbed her own shower things. Obviously, she knew that there was a high chance of bumping into Piper in the bathroom but she needed to get a shower before everyone else got up and went.

When she got to the shower, she saw that Piper was stood by the sink with dripping wet hair and was brushing her teeth. She looked up and saw Alex in her reflection and smiled. Alex took this as a good sign and moved over to her and kissed her neck.

"Look under your cover," Alex whispered into her ear. She kissed Piper's neck again before heading to take her shower.

oOoOo

Piper regretted giving Alex the letter as soon as she got into the shower; it was a coward's way of expressing their feelings when they should talk about it. However, it was too late to take it back. Without Alex there, she took the time to shower and wash her body slowly so she could think about what Alex would say if she were to reply. But with the thoughts of Alex, she felt herself being turned on and didn't want to risk being caught masturbating in the shower so she shook her head of all dirty thoughts of her girlfriend and went back to washing her body.

She turned off the shower and wrapped a towel tightly around her body before going to brush her teeth. She then saw Alex's reflection in the mirror and saw the worried expression on her face. She didn't want Alex to be cautious around her, not if her ex was currently floating around, so she smiled and welcomed the kiss that Alex gave to her neck. However, she panicked again when Alex told her to look under her cover; it was obvious that she'd written a reply. Half of Piper wanted to rush out of the bathroom immediately to look at it and the other half wanted to run in the complete other direction and avoid it forever. Yet she knew that she'd need to read it eventually and her clothes were in her cube so she needed to return.

When she finally got back, she finished drying herself off and dressed. She towel dried her hair and then took a deep breath before picking up the letter. She wanted to cry when she finished the letter because it both confirmed what she wanted to know and told her that Alex didn't think she was good enough for her. There was also the added fact that this Victoria would automatically cause problems for Alex as she had done that before and they didn't know if she knew that Alex had given her up. She hoped that she was as oblivious to that as Piper was when she had first come to the prison.

However, it was nice to know that Alex had had an immediate attraction to her when they first met just as she'd had to Alex. Yes, she'd flirted with other women when she was drunk but Alex was the first woman that she could see herself being with when she was completely sober.

When she got to the end of the letter, she realised that there was nothing more she wanted to do right now than to kiss her girlfriend. She couldn't go back into the bathroom as many of the girls had got up and started going there. Instead she just had to wait. She wasn't going to write anything currently; it was time to talk face to face.

Fortunately, she didn't have long to wait as Alex soon returned from her shower but Piper didn't talk straight away. She let Alex dry off and redress in silence. When she was done she turned and looked expectantly at Piper to start the conversation, however, Piper said nothing. She grabbed Alex's hand and led her to the chapel which was quickly becoming their special place.

Due to the fact that they'd both just had showers, she didn't plan on fucking her so she sat on the floor and then lied down. She patted the space next to her once she was on the ground. Alex raised her eyebrow but mirrored Piper's position on the floor and wrapped her arm protectively around Piper.

"I love you," Piper started, "I thought it was best to start with that. I'm glad you were able to tell me about it in a letter."

"I'm glad you wrote yours," Alex replied and she couldn't help herself but lean forward and kiss Piper soundly.

"And if she does anything, we'll get through this together, right?" Piper asked and Alex could hear her fear in her voice.

"Together," Alex promised, "And with help from our friends." She kissed Piper and they kissed heavily until they had to go to breakfast and start the day. However, their day was immediately challenged when they saw Nicky, Lorna and Boo talking to Casey in the corner of the canteen. It also didn't help that their three sisters did not look happy.


	11. Chapter 11

It was normal to see some sort of problem in the canteen area as people were forever taking seats that had been claimed by a different group. It was usually a newbie who had no clue what was going on. However, when Alex and Piper walked in, there was no way that Victoria had sat in the wrong place as she wasn't even sat down. They had no idea if their three friends had cornered her or if she'd planned it.

Nicky was the first to turn round from the group as she seemed to be able to sense when Alex and Piper had walked into the room. Lorna and Boo quickly followed her glance and shook their heads but the couple were having none of it and walked straight over to their friends. However, as soon as Casey saw Alex approaching her, she quickly ran to the side and left the canteen, despite the fact she wasn't meant to leave.

"The fuck was that about?" Alex asked.

"We were warning her to stay away from you," Boo muttered in reply.

They all then joined the queue for breakfast as Boo, Lorna and Nicky had just walked straight up to Casey before collecting their breakfast.

"Yeah, I'm the only one who's allowed to fuck with your relationship," Nicky added making them all laugh.

"Then don't get offended if I fuck with yours," Piper replied and winked suggestively to Lorna who blushed. Alex didn't find it amusing and glared at Piper. The Vause glare didn't work on Piper anymore and she just kept smiling purposefully until Alex cracked. It didn't take long until the brunette was smiling as she collected her tray off of Daya.

The five friends spotted Yoga Jones sitting with Red on a table and headed over to them quickly to eat their breakfast. As usual it was made of some slop that was apparently porridge and a waffle, all to be swallowed down with a cup of water. What was wrong with having a nice cup of coffee once in a while?

Despite the slightly strange start to the day, the rest of the morning seemed to pass without much hazard or kerfuffle. Piper was able to load and unload the machines without reloading what she'd unloaded. She also managed to not stare at Alex for all of twenty minutes but that was because she somehow got washing powder stuck behind her nail and with only one capable hand, it took her twenty minutes of attempting to get it out before Alex took pity on her and helped her.

Lunch also passed without anything happening but Nicky knew that something was going to happen, she could just feel it. She felt it when Doggett, who was still in psych, was planning on attacking Piper, however, this time it was to do with Piper, Alex and Casey. Boo and Nicky had actually lied to them this morning when they'd entered the canteen to see them with Casey. It was her who had walked up to them demanding do know everything about what Alex had done in the prison and if it was her who named her. Obviously Nicky knew that it was but the other two didn't so she let them answer. She had to warn Alex but she couldn't do it if Piper was there because she didn't know if she knew.

When it got to dinner time, O'Neil came over to Piper and informed her that she would be going to the hospital in a week to have her injuries checked out and if she was okay, she'd have the bandage taken off of her hand and could potentially go back to electric. Nicky immediately asked if she could be moved back, not because she didn't like working with Alex, on the contrary, it was a blast, but she missed being able to go out on jobs during the day. O'Neil said he'd see what he could do but nothing was certain

"I can't wait to get this thing off," Piper groaned as she looked down to her wrist.

"I think it makes you look tough," Lorna said, "It shows that you're not to be messed with."

"Or that I badly punched a wall," Piper retorted with a shrug.

"I just want you to be able to have use of both your hands again," Alex whispered seductively into Piper's ear who immediately blushed at the comment.

"None of that here, ladies," Nicky said. She always managed to hear everything despite her ears being covered up by so much hair. "It's highly inappropriate."

"You can tell me what is and isn't appropriate when you learn it for yourself," Alex joked.

Lorna changed the topic telling the girls about the most recent thing she'd read in her magazine when waiting for Miss Rosa at the hospital. This took the limelight away from Piper and she took this chance to whisper more dirty thoughts of what she could do with her tongue instead of her hands to Alex who physically had to squeeze her legs together with the things Piper was saying before suddenly standing up.

"We'll see you in a bit, ladies."

Alex grabbed onto Piper's hand who was just laughing loudly at her girlfriend's reaction. Due to her holding Piper's capable hand, Alex picked up both her and Piper's trays in her other and put them in their place before dragging Piper to the chapel.

Some people had already finished their lunch and were heading to the rec room and their cubes but fortunately for Alex, the chapel was empty.

"So what were you saying?" Alex asked but she didn't give Piper chance to reply as she kissed her hard.

oOoOo

Later, the two were lying flat behind the altar completely naked and spent. Piper had clearly shown Alex what she could do with her tongue and Alex had reciprocated in her usual Alex manner making Piper come three times. Neither of them was saying anything, words weren't needed in this situation. Alex then rolled onto her side so she could look at Piper. She rested her head on her arm and used her other arm to stroke Piper's side. Piper squirmed slightly at she was ticklish.

"Al!"

Alex didn't reply, nor did she stop but she did lean over and kiss Piper soundly.

"We're going to have to get up soon," Piper groaned but Alex didn't move. "Nicky will be looking for us." At this, Alex sprang into action and quickly started throwing Piper's clothes at her.

"She's not seeing my girl naked," Alex said in explanation to Piper's raised eyebrow.

Shaking her head, Piper stood up and redressed and watched sadly as Alex did the same thing. She would never tire of seeing Alex's perfect body. Once the two were dressed, Piper held out her uninjured hand and Alex immediately took it. They started walking back to the cubes but when Piper saw that one of the phones was free, she dropped Alex's hand and told her that she needed to call Polly now that she was out of hospital; she needed to arrange for her to visit. Alex understood and continued walking back to her cube to see someone she didn't want to be there.

Sat in all her orange disappointment was Victoria. She didn't even seem bothered that she was sat in an area forbidden to her for now. Alex then looked up and saw that once again there were no guards in the room and started to think about the way that the prison was run until she remembered that Victoria was still sitting on her bed with a look of sheer determination on her face.

"What do you want, Casey?" Alex demanded, she wasn't going to be friendly.

"So now it's Casey?" she asked in return. When Alex didn't reply but continued to stare at her with crossed arms, she continued. "I want to know if you named me and why. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't named. This is my second prison. I was in one in Florida where I was staying but they randomly made me move."

"Why do you care if it was me? Someone named me too otherwise I wouldn't be here. I'll admit that I did name people, why do you think Piper is here?"

"I just want to plot my revenge on the right person. It would be unfair if it was the wrong one." Victoria shrugged and Alex felt a slight shiver run through her spine.

"You wouldn't really, all your people are inside now," Alex said quickly but hoped it wasn't too quick to create suspicion.

"I know it was you, my lawyer told me," Victoria said as she stood up. "I just wanted you to admit it but I guess you're just too weak. I'm going to have fun with this revenge idea."

Victoria was out of the cube before Alex could add anything else. Alex just couldn't move though, she knew that Casey was capable off. She had arrange a murder and made it look like a complete accident and had got off with it. She wasn't even sure if the police had made it a suspicious killing it was done that well. Sighing loudly, Alex started to move to sit down on her bed when she realised that Piper was still by the phones and Victoria would have to go past them to go back to her room.

All of a sudden, Alex went cold and she stood and stormed back into the corridor but Victoria was nowhere to be seen. However, that meant nothing so Alex quickly ran to the phones to see Piper standing by one chatting away.

"You had better come this Saturday," Piper was saying.

She had her back to Alex and was twisting her hair around her finger. However, she seemed to sense that Alex was there and turned around. Automatically she grinned brightly but it faulted when she saw the panic in Alex's eyes. Piper waited for Polly to finish what she was saying before saying she had to go and would see her on Saturday. After she hung up the phone, Piper walked quickly over to Alex and placed her hands on her cheeks to look clearly into her eyes.

"Al, baby, are you okay?" Piper asked worriedly. "Tell me what's wrong."

"I thought…" Alex started to reply before letting out a huge breath. Piper was okay, she wasn't injured so Victoria mustn't have done anything to her yet but Alex knew she'd have to be on guard for the foreseeable future because she didn't trust Victoria one bit. Alex then shook her head, "Nothing. Everything's good."

It was clear that Alex was lying because you can't go from panicking to calm within a matter of moments but Piper knew Alex and hoped she would tell her later. Perhaps she would suggest that she wrote it down in a letter to her; it seemed to work for them last time.

There was a film being shown in the rec room that was to start in a matter of moment so Piper and Alex headed to commissary to get some snacks before it started. They walked into the room and saw Nicky and Lorna sitting near the front left with two spare seats next to them. Lorna was looking round the room and when she saw the other couple, she waved them over with a welcoming smile.

"We were wondering where you'd two had got to," she said as they sat down.

"Yeah, we were a little busy," Piper replied with a side glance to Alex who winked at her.

"You don't say," Nicky murmured quietly but Alex and Piper had heard her clearly enough. They didn't reply but they laughed at her comment.

The film then started and it turned out that it was Tarzan. They had been told that it was a Disney film but they weren't quite sure which one it was. Alex hadn't seen this one before but remembered Piper talking to her about it because it had a good soundtrack. As soon as the film got going, Alex took Piper's hand and Piper automatically rested her head on her girlfriend's shoulder as they continued to watch the film in comfort of each other. However, Alex still couldn't quite shake the fear of not knowing what Victoria was going to do away from her body.

Once the film ended, all the girls headed back to their dormitories with clear instructions to not hang about in other people's cubes. It was time that everyone returned to their own beds and settled down for sleep. It was no way it was time to sleep as it was only 9pm but the guards didn't seem to care.

Piper and Alex walked down the corridor and bid goodbye to Lorna and Nicky as they walked past their cubes before entering theirs together. They got changed in silence thinking to themselves. Alex was waiting for Piper to ask her what was wrong again, surprised that she'd been able to not keep asking her throughout the film. Piper was waiting on Alex to tell her openly like she had asked them to do but it seemed that she wasn't going to get her wish.

However, Piper was tired and didn't want to get into an argument with Alex. After such a long time without vigorous sex from Alex, the evening had really worn her out. So she settled with something short and simple: "Either tell me what's going on in the morning or let me know in a letter of some sort. We promised to be honest with each other."

With that said, Piper got into bed and rolled away from where Alex was looking at her. Alex decided that she would tell Piper in the morning; it wasn't that big of a deal and she'd be able to speak it. She was sure of it. She then got into bed but faced Piper as she was the one she wanted to see at the first and last moments of the day.

oOoOo

Alex was walking out of her cube again towards the phones when she saw Piper stood there. Piper was talking to someone on the phone and seemed to not see that Alex was stood there at all. She simply sighed and shook her head before glancing down at her watch and laughing at whatever the person on the phone was saying. She then looked up and saw that Victoria heading over to her. She was coming from the suburbs dormitory and she didn't look happy. Alex called out and moved over but neither girls heard nor saw her.

Piper quickly ended the phone call as Victoria walked over to her and it was clear that Piper was terrified but started to head towards the other girl. However, it was to no avail as Victoria was on her in seconds.

"Alex is mine, Chapman," Victoria growled and shoved Piper powerfully and her weak ankle couldn't take the pressure and fell over. "I don't care if you love her or whatever, she'll come back to me. She always does when you fuck it up."

Alex screamed but still neither girl saw her and she could only watch as Piper managed to stand back up but Victoria launched herself at Piper and started attacking her again. She kicked her in the shin and punched her in the face. Piper was on the floor again but that didn't stop Victoria. She picked Piper up by her hair and repeatedly hit her head into the wall.

Again Alex screamed but this time, her eyes opened and she saw Piper's figure standing above her.

"Baby, you were dreaming, I'm okay," Piper whispered immediately. She sat at the side of Alex and stroked her sweaty forehead before leaning forward and kissing it. "Victoria's not hurting me. You were screaming out our names and begging her to stop hurting me," Piper added when she Alex looked at her in a confused manner.

"But she threatened to, sort of," Alex replied and quickly told Piper what she should have told her earlier. "I didn't want to frighten you."

"I'm glad you told me but we've said that we're going to be okay because we've got each other. We've also got our family to help us. I'm not going to get hurt, it was just a dream. I've been practising my punches," Piper joked and Alex finally smiled. "Taystee, Poussey and Black Cindy have been telling me how to defend myself." Piper leaned down and kissed Alex's head again. "Go back to sleep and I'll be here when you wake and I'll be perfectly okay. I heart you, Al."

"I heart you, too," Alex mumbled sleepily.

Piper looked up at Alex and saw that she had already gone back to sleep. She crossed back to her own bed and got back under her cover. However, despite what she had said to Alex, she was still scared to know that Victoria was plotting her revenge on Alex and Piper could almost sense that she would be involved.


	12. Chapter 12

Business continued as normal for the next few days but Alex and Piper were always on the lookout. They had informed the family of what could happen so the other girls were on their guard to make sure that Victoria got nowhere near any of them. Alex had explained everything she knew about her but she still felt like she didn't know what the girl was going to plan.

Saturday soon came around and Piper was in the line to be fully searched before she could see Polly. Alex walked Piper to the visitation rooms and she kissed her sweetly before going back to spend some time with Nicky. Once Piper was clear of all checks, she headed out to the room and saw Polly sitting in the middle glancing around the room making sure that she didn't make eye contact with anyone. Piper couldn't help but smile at her friend's antics.

"Piper!" Polly squealed when she saw her best friend heading toward her. She stood quickly and hugged Piper tightly before pulling back and looking at her. "You look better."

"I'm out of hospital that's why," Piper replied and smiled. She quickly glanced at her watch and noted the time.

Polly didn't reply at first she just looked at Piper carefully and scanned her body and facial expression. "So how's your relationship with Supercunt?"

Piper looked down at her watch and saw only a minute had passed. "It's amazing as always! She's really been looking after me after what happened."

"I'm glad but what's up?" Polly asked, "I can tell you're worried about something. You sure everything's okay with her? She's not being horrible to you again is she?"

"I just said we were great and she was never horrible to me," Piper said quickly but then paused before continuing. "It's not her, it's her ex." She then explained to her best friend about the problem there currently had with Victoria but Piper kept her head down and spoke quietly; she didn't know whose group Victoria had settled into yet. It was known that people had spies in the visitation room as Nicky had told her about it before.

"What are we going to do with you, Pipes?" Polly asked with an obvious sigh. "You said you were going to go to prison and keep your head down and you've done nothing but cause drama since you got here."

"What can I say? I attract drama. But enough about me, tell me about Finn!"

Knowing that that was all she was going to get about Piper's relationship at the moment, Polly gave in and started talking about her son. He still wasn't sleeping through the night but he was only waking up once or twice. Pete was being a real gentleman and was helping out as much as he could. He'd get up the majority of times through the night and he'd help by going to the grocery store and arranging things so that Polly could relax. Polly had been worried that he'd panic and freak when the baby came but he proved her wrong and she knew again that she'd picked the right person to marry and start a family with.

"Five minutes left," The guard called and both Polly and Piper sighed under their breaths.

"I wish these visits were longer," Polly muttered and Piper couldn't help but remember how Larry would always say that when the warning came.

"How's Larry?" Piper asked gently. She had said to Polly that she hadn't wanted to talk about Larry and that Polly should never bring him but Piper couldn't help it this time.

"Not himself as expected," Polly replied. "He started to drink more after the hospital visit but his mother yelled at him so he gave it up and put his angry thoughts into a book. I'm not meant to tell you but he's writing a twisted story about a narcissistic, rude, blonde woman called Philippa and I'm pretty sure it's based on you."

"I'm not narcissistic," Piper started to say but Polly just raised her eyebrow. "Okay maybe I am a bit, but, you know what? Good on him. He can do what he wants and if it brings him money, then it's great. Just make sure he doesn't put anything about Alex. She's got nothing to do with him."

"You really do love her," the brunette sighed.

"Yeah, it's crazy isn't it?"

"TIME!" the guard cried and so everyone in the visitation room stood up and everyone hugged their visitors.

"I'll miss you," Polly whispered into Piper's ear.

"I love you," Piper whispered in reply and Polly nodded but she was crying and found it hard to speak but Piper knew how her best friend felt. Sometimes they just didn't need words.

Piper watched as Polly walked out of the room with a backward glance to smile at Piper as she left. After the compulsory strip search, Piper headed to the track. Part of her wanted to go see Alex and tell her about the visit but the other half just wanted to get some fresh air and think about what she had been told. She decided that if Alex was in the cube then she would talk to her girlfriend about her visit. However, the bespectacled brunette was nowhere to be seen so that made up Piper's mind. She changed into her running trainers and headed to the track. Once she was there she started to think about the visit she'd had with Polly.

She had missed so much of Finn's life already and he was barely a couple of months old. Polly had told her that they would have the christening as soon as she was out because she was desperate for Piper to be the godmother no matter what happened.

However, that wasn't the thing that bugged her most. Hadn't Larry tried already tried to write about her and it backfired as it contributed to him losing her? Piper shook her head as she kept running around the track slowly. She still had to go easy because of her ankle but she would be going back to the hospital in a few days for the check up and then finally she could go back to electric with Nicky.

Yes, she loved spending time with Alex in the laundry room because they could just talk freely about different things. But she could never touch her despite being at an arm's reach. She also ate every meal with her and they bunked in the same cube! As much as she loved the brunette, and love her immensely she did, she just wanted to get a little bit of space from her from time to time.

After two laps running and three walking, Piper decided to call it a day and go for a shower; they were usually pretty empty at this time and she could get away with taking a little longer to shave her legs.

As she got to her bunk, she saw that Alex had retuned and she was lying on her bed with a book in her hand as usual.

"Hey babe," Alex muttered as she saw Piper walk in. "Come here." She put down her book and opened her arms for Piper.

Piper smiled but didn't head over to Alex immediately. First she grabbed her shower things before perching on the side of Alex's bed. Alex frown as she wanted to get her cuddle on with her girl before one of the stuck up guards came on duty.

"I'm all sweaty baby, I'm gonna get a shower," Piper said as she leant forward to kiss Alex's pout away.

"I kinda like it when you're sweaty," Alex replied seductively raising her eyebrows. "You look hot."

"Well I feel dirty so I'll see you when I'm done," Piper said as she stood up. "We can get our cuddle on later." After a final kiss, Piper walked out of the cube and towards the bathroom and she was lucky that they were all empty so she could have her pick of showers.

She stripped down, turned on the shower and stepped in. She sighed contently as the spray of water hit her muscles and it instantly calmed her down. She was so lost in the feeling of getting clean that she didn't hear someone enter the bathroom. It was only as she felt the cold of the shower curtain being moved and felt another body behind her. At first she presumed it was Alex who had decided to join her but when the hand touched her, it was smaller than she was used to.

Piper suddenly turned and was met with the deep blonde hair of Victoria in all of her naked glory.

"How about we have a little fun?" Victoria asked. "I've always wanted to fuck you to know why Alex enjoyed it so much."

"Get the fuck out!" Piper cried and wrapped her arms around her body so that Victoria couldn't see her private parts.

"I don't think you understand me," the shorter blonde said as she reached her hand out to tuck some of Piper's hair behind her ear. She then leant forward and whispered into Piper's ear, "I'm going to fuck you or I'll kill your girlfriend for fucking me over. Do you understand?"

Piper said nothing but stared in panic. If she didn't let Victoria do this she'd kill Alex. But Piper had promised to Alex that they were in this together. She couldn't cheat on her even if it was forced on her. However, Victoria took Piper's silence as confirmation so she grabbed Piper's head and pulled her down to kiss her hungrily.

When Piper didn't respond, Victoria growled into her ear, "Didn't I make myself clear? I'll kill her if you don't do this." With this said, Victoria kissed Piper again but this time, Piper unwillingly complied and let the other girl kiss her. However, unlike normal, she didn't battle for dominance; she just stood and took whatever Victoria threw at her.

Victoria then started to kiss her way down Piper's neck and bit down harshly and sucked clearly marking her and Piper knew immediately that she would have to tell Alex what had happened now as she didn't want her to think that she was cheating on her. Victoria soon left Piper's neck and trailed sloppy kisses down her chest until she reached Piper's breast. She tweaked her nipples harshly and an unwilling moan escaped Piper's mouth.

"You're going to love this so much that you'll leave her and come to me," Victoria said darkly before taking Piper's nipple into her mouth and kept tweaking the other with her other hand. Victoria sucked and bit at the nipple before giving the other the same attention. She kept her hands kneading Piper's breasts as she kissed her way down further. She dipped her tongue into Piper's belly button before reaching her destination.

After trailing her hand down Piper's side, Victoria slipped her fingers across Piper's folds and noticed that she was barely wet. She pulled Piper's leg over her shoulder and Piper leant against the wall for support and tried to make sure that her tears didn't fall. She knew that she wasn't wet despite the treatment to her nipples so she thought of Alex so that it would be less painful as Victoria would fuck her whether she was wet or not.

Victoria kept sliding her finger between Piper's folds before leaning forward and licking her clit lightly. She then felt Piper starting to get wetter and thought that she had finally given in and allowed Victoria fuck her properly. With that, Victoria immediately slipped two fingers into Piper and started to lick, suck and bite at her clit. She was as rough as possible and slipped another finger into Piper who was trying not to come at the action but her body betrayed her as Victoria sped up and used the tip of her tongue on Piper's clit.

Realising that Piper was not enjoying this how she was meant to, Victoria decided to fully commit her revenge. She kept moving her fingers roughly in Piper and then added a forth before forcing two fingers into Piper's ass which was off limits to everyone except Alex on a very special occasion. Victoria ignored Piper's cries of pain as she started to bite her way up Piper's body as she stood up. She bit and sucked the other side of Piper's neck before going back to Piper's nipples and abusing them with her tongue and teeth. This time, she wasn't working Piper up to come but Piper wasn't getting any pleasure out of this and started begging Victoria to stop as she was in so much pain. Suddenly, Victoria completely stopped. She removed her fingers but pushed Piper harshly and Piper couldn't support her weight with her still weak ankle and she fell onto the floor.

"Consider the revenge settled," Victoria hissed and left the shower, leaving Piper on the shower floor in complete shock.

oOoOo

Nicky happened to be walking back from the kitchen when she passed Victoria leaving the bathroom who was wearing a confident smirk. Immediately, Nicky knew that whatever happened in that bathroom shouldn't have done. Sure she could have fucked some random chick in the shower like she had done a number of times herself but just because of what was happening at the moment, Nicky thought it was best to go in and check anyway and she was glad she did.

Once she entered the bathroom she saw that one of the showers was running but there was no one in it. Quickly heading over to it, Nicky peaked in and saw Piper sat at the bottom looking traumatised. Nicky quickly shut off the shower and crouched down in front of Piper.

"Chapman, can you hear me?" She asked gently shaking Piper's should softly.

"She raped me," Piper muttered quietly as she looked up to see Nicky before her. "I have no idea what just happened but I know she did that."

"Come on," Nicky replied and helped Piper get up off the floor. She reached for the blonde's towel and wrapped it around her. She wrung of her hair too to get the excess water out before grabbing her things and walking her back to the cubes.

"I don't want Alex to see me yet. Can you distract her?" Piper asked as she got round the corner.

Nicky looked weary but she agreed and Piper watched as Nicky walked into her and Alex's cube and left seconds later with Alex in tow who looked utterly confused. Piper was again so glad that she had Nicky in her life while she was in prison. With Alex out of the way, Piper headed to her bed and started to get dry. She tied her hair out of her way before walking to her cupboard. She knew that there was no way she wanted to say what had happened to her verbally but she knew that she needed Alex to know what had happened so she wrote everything down on a piece of paper. Once she was done, she put the pen back into her cupboard but kept the letter in her hand.

Moments later, Lorna turned up to tell her that it was dinner time and that they should walk together. Piper agreed and placed the letter under Alex's bed knowing she'd see it later before heading to the canteen with Lorna. As the two walked in, they immediately saw the usual group of Yoga Jones, Boo, Alex and Nicky all seated at the same table. Nicky looked over and smiled brightly at her girlfriend and waved them over. Alex noticed Nicky see them and looked up herself and smiled warmly at Piper. She didn't look worried so Nicky must have kept it from Alex.

Lorna and Piper sat in their seats beside Nicky and Alex respectively and automatically Alex leaned over to kiss Piper's cheek but Piper flinched. Hurt washed over Alex's face and she looked up to Lorna and Nicky who shrugged but Alex glared at Nicky knowing that she knew something but Nicky just shook her head.

The meal was quiet and the conversation wasn't bubbling like it usually was but Alex kept trying to get Piper to talk to her. Piper replied with short sentences when Alex asked about her visit with Polly and her run but when she mentioned that Piper had taken a longer shower than usual, Piper flinched again and suddenly stood up. She had barely touched her dinner but she no longer felt like eating and quickly sorted her tray and left leaving a completely confused Alex behind.

"What the fuck has happened to her?" Alex demanded once the shocked had calmed down slightly.

"She'll tell you when she's ready," Nicky replied.

"You know what's happened?" the brunette asked trying not to get angry with her sister.

"Not completely but I was the one that found her after it happened. I don't know the full story and it isn't mine to tell. She will tell you when she's ready," Nicky said calmly.

Alex finished off her dinner as quickly as she could before sorting out her tray and going back to her cube hoping that Piper was there. She was right as when she got there, Piper was lying on her bed. However, Alex wasn't expecting to see Piper's body shaking as she sobbed onto her pillow.

_Hi everyone. This chapter was difficult to write but I'm quite happy with how it turned out. I hope you all liked it and keep with the reviews. I love reading them. They always make my day. Thanks to the people who have followed and favourited too. You're all amazing. Thanks so much, Emss!_


	13. Chapter 13

Alex immediately crossed the cube and made her way to Piper's bed but something on her own bed caught her eye. It was a piece of paper folded on top of her pillow. It was addressed to her and it was written in Piper's handwriting. She knew she should try and comfort Piper but the curiosity of what was in the letter won. She read the letter and slowly she understood why Piper was so nervous around her with what Victoria had done to her. It was difficult for Alex to remain in the cube as she wanted to go find Victoria and kill her for what she had done to Piper but the blonde knew that Alex would want to do that. She'd added a PS at the bottom of the letter stating that Alex wasn't allowed to get back at Victoria; they were equal now. Though it didn't stop Alex from planning what she would to do Victoria in retaliation.

When she'd finished the letter, Alex put the paper back on her bed before crossing the cube so she could be beside Piper. She checked and saw it was Bennett on duty so she lied next to Piper on her bed and wrapped her arms tightly around her.

"I'm so sorry, baby," Alex muttered into Piper's ear. "But I can't let her get away with this."

"I don't want any more trouble," Piper replied quietly through her sobs. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"I won't. I can look after myself."

When Piper didn't reply, Alex looked down at her and realised that she'd fallen asleep due to the exhaustion from the tears and the traumatic day. Alex slowly unwrapped her arms from around her girlfriend and slowly got out of the bed gently so the blonde wouldn't be woken. She knew that Piper wasn't going to be happy with what she was about to do.

With determination, Alex stormed out of her cube and headed to the rec room where she soon found Boo and Nicky.

"Is Chapman okay?" Nicky asked.

"No, where's Casey?"Alex asked. "I'm going to fucking kill her. Be my back up?"

Boo and Nicky nodded immediately and stood.

"I heard she was gonna go for a shower around 10 minutes ago," Lorna chipped in with hearing the conversation as she was so close to the three of them. "If you go now, she'll still be there."

Alex, Nicky and Boo left the rec room and headed towards the Ghetto showers as Casey had been put in the Ghetto dorms and it was as if luck was on their side as Casey was the sole person in the shower. It seemed that no one seemed to take showers anymore.

"I'll stand guard here," Boo said nodding to the door. She would be able to prevent people getting into the bathroom. Alex and Nicky nodded and walked further in to the room. Fortunately, Casey hadn't seen nor heard them approach. Nicky was surprised that she'd be somewhere on her own after what she'd done. She should have known that Alex would want to get back at her for what she did to Piper. Then again, Casey believed they were now equal but it seemed she didn't understand just how much Alex loved her girlfriend.

Casey finally realised that she wasn't alone when she turned off the shower and turned to step out seeing Nicky and Alex waiting for her. She seemed to disregard Nicky's presence.

"Alex!" She gasped. She had truly believed that Alex wouldn't get her back. The Alex she knew would have accepted being equal.

"You're fucking sick, do you know that?" Alex questioned. Her arms were folded over her chest and her lip was turned up into a snarl. "You clearly don't understand how much Piper means to me. Your problem is with me not her."

"Yeah, but it got my point acr-"

Casey was cut off as Alex's hand swung and slapped her across the face. Before Casey fully registered what had happened, she was hit again and the crunch of her nose breaking was echoed around the room. Blood immediately started dripping from Casey's nose.

"I hate you!" Alex yelled as fury bubbled within her. She knew she was losing it when she kicked out hitting Casey between her legs and she doubled over in agony. Alex then elbowed her back and Casey crumpled to the floor.

Just as Alex was about to lash out again and kick her, Nicky put her hand on her shoulder, "That's far enough." Alex nodded knowing that her friend was right. If she went further it would be obvious that something had happened.

"If you ever go near my girlfriend again, I'll kill you!" Alex threatened and she turned to leave.

As she did, she saw Nicky step past her and kick Casey in the side. "Fuck with my family again and I'll kill you too!"

The two then left Casey on the floor. She wasn't too badly injured and if she was quick, she'd be able to reset her nose without it looking any different. If Alex knew Casey like she thought she did, she knew that she wouldn't go to the COs and lucky for Alex, she didn't.

oOoOo

Later in the evening, after she had chance to calm down and wash her hands of the blood, Alex returned to the cube and kissed Piper awake.

Piper stirred and blinked before slowly sitting up. "How long was I asleep? Is it time for count?"

Alex shook her head, "Count isn't for a couple of hours and you've been asleep for about an hour. I umm, went to the rec room and hung out with the family for a bit." It was technically true, she did go to the rec room and she was with Nicky and Boo. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I just want you to make me feel better."

Alex stood up and pulled Piper with her but then let Piper take charge. She didn't want to accidently do something that would cause Piper to flinch or change her mind. Piper took hold of Alex's hand and pulled her into the chapel and fortunately it was still empty as the majority of the prison was still at dinner. They two girls just stood there for a few seconds and stared at each other. Alex was waiting for Piper and Piper was building up the courage but then she paused to think. It was just Alex in front of her. She was the woman she loved the most in the world and would never physically hurt her.

"Love me," Piper requested and Alex stepped forward getting rid of the distance between them and gently reached to cup Piper's cheek. When Piper didn't flinch, she leant forward and kissed her, tenderly at first but Piper started to respond and Alex tried her best to make Piper forget.

oOoOo

Piper clung tightly onto Alex as she came. Her body shook with the power of her orgasm but also with sobs as she started to cry again. Alex knew to not take it personally; it was nothing to do with her. She'd never made anyone cry when in bed, or technically in a chapel as they were in, so it had to be with what had happened.

"Piper, baby, please don't cry," Alex whispered as she stroked Piper's cheek. She altered her position so that she could hold Piper tightly against her.

"I can still feel her." Piper tried to wipe her tears away but they just kept falling.

"She's never going to touch you again."

"I love you, Alex. I'm sorry that happened."

"You have nothing to apologise for and you know I love you too." Alex kissed Piper deeply and tried to put all of her feelings for Piper in the kiss and when they broke apart, the love she saw in Piper's eyes made her realise that she had felt what she wanted her to feel. "Let's go back to our cube and I'll read you a story. We haven't done that in ages."

Alex stood up and helped Piper to her feet and they quickly redressed as, now they'd stopped making love, the cold in the room started to get to them. Piper automatically took Alex's hand as they walked back to their cube. Everyone else seemed preoccupied and didn't notice them except for Lorna and Nicky of course. The two of them seemed to make it their job to look after Alex and Piper. However, Alex shook her head at them so that they would leave them alone. Piper looked up and smiled slightly at her friends but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

On the way to their cube, Alex glanced at the CO office and saw Fischer on duty. She looked preoccupied too and even if she wasn't, she'd let Alex and Piper do what they wanted because Alex was still convinced that she crushed on Piper.

Piper immediately changed into her sleeping clothes and sat on her bed. Alex looked through her small personal book selection and picked 'The Time Traveler's Wife' knowing that Piper had loved that book when she'd read it in Paris all those years ago. After walking over to Piper's side, Alex sat on the bed and crossed her legs. Piper automatically lied down resting her head on Alex's leg and listened to Alex's soothing voice as she began to read.

After a couple of chapters, Alex looked down and saw that Piper was finding it difficult to keep her eyes open. Her eyes were watering with tiredness and she kept yawning.

"Time for sleep for you," Alex said quietly. She shut the book but she couldn't get up until Piper moved her head but she wasn't planning on doing such. "Come on, babe, you're tired."

"I don't want to be separate from you."

"I'll just be over there. I won't be out of your eyesight at any time," Alex promised and finally Piper moved.

The two got into their separate beds and Piper fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow but Alex couldn't sleep as quickly as the blonde. She kept picturing what Victoria did and whether what she did was enough. She knew she could never tell Piper what she'd done; she would be furious.

oOoOo

A few days later, Piper was called to Healy's office and he told her that she was being taken to the hospital to have some checks. She didn't particularly want to go and leave Alex in the prison but Nicky promised to keep an eye on her. Neither she nor Piper had been moved back to electric yet but Piper hoped after this visit she could return.

The hospital visit was successful and the doctor deemed that she could run longer on the track but still not too much. He said that her ankle was much better and that her ribs were now fully healed. She should only take medication when it was utterly necessary. The final check was on her wrist and after a few tests, it was deemed stable. It would be stiff with lack of use but she no longer needed to wear the bandage that was on it.

The visit itself was short and before Piper knew it, she was back in the van and Lorna was driving her back to the prison. Not too long after she returned to camp, she and Nicky were sent to report to Luschek and were informed that they were back in electric permanently. There had been a slight shift in jobs so there were now plenty of people were working in the laundry room to keep Alex company.

"Casey isn't working in the laundry room is she?" Piper asked Donaldson, he was the one who told her to go to electric.

"No, she's in woodwork," he replied with confusion but he quickly shook it off; he had learnt not to question inmates too often. It usually wasn't worth his time.

Piper sighed with relief and she and Nicky started working happily. However, all that changed when Piper decided to call her brother later on in the day. Cal told her that he was going to visit her this weekend, which Piper looked forward to but he then informed his sister that their mother was going to come along with him. Piper hadn't seen her mother since she was first in hospital as she'd chosen to stop visit once she knew Piper was going be fine. Cal had come often and told her about his engagement to Neri which Piper was shocked was still ongoing and they had briefly mentioned actually getting married. When she got off the phone with her brother, she both looked forward and dreaded this coming Saturday.

When she got to dinner that evening after she and Nicky had finished for the day in electric, Piper collected her tray and sat in her seat next to Alex. Alex greeted her automatically with a kiss to her cheek and a squeeze of her thigh as she sat down. Nicky sat opposite Alex with Lorna sat next to her who started chatting to her instantly as she sat.

"My mother is coming to visit this weekend," Piper stated blandly. She didn't want to sound too miserable as Nicky would get offended because when Piper thought about it, she was actually quite pleased that her mom cared enough to actually visit her. However, she'd said in such a tone that Alex would be able to hear her complaint within it.

"I thought your brother was coming?" Lorna asked with her mouth full of potato.

"He is but my mom's coming too." Piper shrugged and started eating her own potatoes. The rest of the girls took it that she just wanted to give them the heads up if she was in a foul mood after visitation on Saturday but that she didn't want to talk about her family just now.

Nicky then started to talk about something she was attempting to get permission on in the electric shack and the limelight went out on Piper so she could just eat her meal. After dinner, she and Alex retired to their cube and sat together and continued to read the book that Alex had started a few days previous. They were almost at the end and would have to start something new but they enjoyed the story so far.

"I think it's cruel that Clare gets a younger Henry to knock her up," Piper muttered. The two were sat in their usual position with Alex sitting crossed legged and Piper resting her head against her legs.

"She did what she had to do to get the baby she craved for," Alex replied. "I totally get where she's coming from."

At this, Piper sat up immediately and looked straight at her girlfriend. "You want kids?" It was something that the two of them had never discussed. When they were together before, they were in a situation that was far too dangerous for children. They also were young, naïve and were basically kids themselves.

"One day." Alex shrugged and looked as if she was going to continue reading but Piper wasn't done with this conversation.

"I never knew you wanted them. All my mother does is complain that I won't be able to give them to her and my eggs are old."

"Honestly, Pipes." Alex turned the corner of the book down and took her girlfriend's hand in hers. "This isn't the place to be having such a serious talk. Yes, I want kids one day and I want to have them with you more than anything. However, I don't know for certain when I'm getting out of his hell hole and as much as I want you to wait for me once you're out, I know there's a possibility that you could meet someone new and then have kids with them."

"Hey, don't be silly," Piper murmured as Alex had turned her head away as she was speaking. Piper raised her hand and put her finger under Alex's chin to turn her face. When Alex looked at Piper, she saw the love in her eyes and slowly their lips met and they had barely touched when there was a cry of "Inmates!" The two had failed to see who was on guard duty before they had an intimate moment, despite it being so brief.

Alex and Piper moved away from each other and went back to their original position. Piper didn't bring up the topic of kids again for a while, nor did she mention the fact that she would be leaving this place before Alex but she knew and she knew that Alex knew that she wouldn't find anybody new. They were together forever and nothing could part them emotionally. Neither of them would be able to go through that pain again.

oOoOo

The weekend soon came round again and before Piper knew it, she was sat before her mother and her brother. She had hugged him tightly as she came in and her mother had patted her shoulder as some sort of affection but Piper had just accepted it. She was used to it from her mother by now.

"You look so much better now," her mother said as they sat down and Piper took that as a compliment as she knew she wouldn't get another one for the next month.

"I feel better too," Piper replied. "I'm just going to tell you why because you need to know…"

"We know you're back with the lesbian who put you into jail," Carol Chapman said bluntly. "I don't approve but anyone is better than Larry. He was useless."

"Come on, Mom, he wasn't that bad," Cal retorted but Piper just shook her head.

"He was that bad but I'm not with him anymore." Piper then looked to her mother. "Can you start organising an apartment for me to live in when I get out of here? I can't go back to my apartment with Larry and I don't trust him with all of my things there. I need to get them out soon. Cal, could you move them to Polly's for me?"

"They've already been moved to Uncle Martin's place," Cal revealed and Carol looked away from her daughter.

Piper then realised that her mother had already done what Piper had asked without needing to be asked. It was known that Piper and her mother didn't particularly get on very well as Piper was a daddy's girl through and through despite what he had done in the past. However, Carol knew what it was like to go through a break up when you were young as she had been involved with someone this deeply before she had got with Piper's father. She could understand the feeling of wanting to move out and have your clothes away from them. However, Carol had never been in prison but she was living with her parents at the time and needed to get her things out of the house.

Martin Krieg was Carol's brother and he spent much of his time in Spain but he had an apartment in New York that he usually rented out when he wasn't living there but seeing as Piper was his niece and wouldn't be living there currently, he said that she wouldn't need to pay rent for it until she was working again when she was out. She could live there as long as needed and he could find somewhere else. Sometimes, it did help to come from money, Piper thought.

"Thank you," Piper said honestly.

The three of them changed the subject onto Cal and Neri who had finally been introduced to the family. Carol didn't exactly approve of her job but she found her pleasant enough despite her little quirks. Piper said she couldn't wait to meet her and just hoped that she would be out of prison before they got married. Heaven forbid she missed something else important.

Before they knew it, the visitation hour was up and Piper found herself hugging her mother tightly and not wanting to let go.

"You'll be out before you know it," her mother promised her when she pulled away. "Maybe then we could start to see each other as mother and daughter again rather than people who dislike each other."

"I'd pay to see that," Cal muttered as he too hugged Piper goodbye. "Be good, Pipes and don't get into any more trouble. We love you!"

"I love you too," Piper called back and she stood and watched her family leave. She did hope that she and her mother could have a proper relationship. Hell, she knew that she'd need it if Alex was serious about having kids; there was no way Piper was going to have a bad relationship with her mom when she'd need her more than anything during the pregnancy. As Piper walked back to her cube to find Alex, she couldn't help but imagine little black haired and grey eyed kids running around with little blonde haired and blue eyed ones. When she finally made it back to the cube, she had to wipe away a small tear that fell before Alex could see it.


	14. Chapter 14

_Hi guys, just a heads up. I'm skipping a few months now because I'm getting a little bored of writing about them being in the prison and I don't have many more ideas to what could happen with them in there. The next couple of chapters are going to be in the prison but then it's going to be when Piper is out and Alex is still in with more time. Thanks and keep the reviews coming! Love ya!_

The next few months at the prison seemed to pass in a blur as it was usually the same routine every day. People would get up, shower and eat before heading to work. They'd have their breaks during the day to eat and catch up with friends before going back to work. On the weekends, some people would spend time to themselves while others had visits from family members. For Alex and Piper, they were cherishing the time they spent together and Piper was going to be released in two months. She both looked forward to leaving and dreaded it at the same time. Usually, the time in prison seemed to drag but on the odd occasion, it would speed up crazily and that was currently happening.

She had finally gotten round to speaking with Larry on the phone. She had put it off for so long but she just needed to get everything sorted before she got out of prison. He'd gone into the bank and altered their bank account and shared their money between other accounts so that they had the right amount of money. Piper was lacking as she had little income from PoPi but she knew that her mother and her father would support her financially when she got out of prison.

As she had joked with Larry, Piper actually had gotten fit while in prison and Alex loved to stare at her new abs when they made love in the chapel. They tried to do it as much as possible and Alex had started recruiting Nicky and Boo to keep look out so that they could stay together as long as possible. Whenever someone mentioned the outside world, Alex would get quiet and Piper had to take her hand to let her know that she hadn't left yet.

One night after a long session of love making, Alex was holding Piper tightly in the chapel as if not wanting to let her go.

"I'm going to miss you," Alex whispered before kissing Piper on the neck where she knew she'd get a reaction out of the blonde and she wasn't disappointed.

"I'll write to you as often as I can," Piper promised between moans as Alex continued to kiss and bite at that particular spot on her neck. "It just sucks that I can't visit you for the first few months."

"Let's not talk about that now," Alex said and captured Piper's lips in a passionate kiss preventing Piper from telling Alex that she'd been the one who had brought up the fact that Piper was leaving in the first place.

It was starting to get heated between the two when a howling was heard outside the door. The two of them jumped apart immediately and started redressing as the howling was the signal that someone was approaching the chapel. They had just put on their jackets when Sister Ingalls walked in. She looked slightly distressed and seemed to not have noticed the two on the stage yet as she seemed to be looking for something or someone.

"Is everything alright, Sister?" Piper asked making her and Alex's presences noticed.

Sister Ingalls then looked up at the stage and realisation appeared on her features but then sadness replaced it. "That Dog girl has been released from psych along with that Taylor girl from the SHU," she replied and the colour in Piper's face drained immediately. She had hoped that neither would return before she was due to be released but obviously, her last two months in prison weren't going to be a swift as she thought.

"Fuck! Oh sorry, Sister," Alex added quickly realising that she'd just sworn in front of a nun in a chapel of all places!

"No worries, dear. I said the same thing when Yoga told me what had happened. She told me that someone needed to tell you and I was told that you were in here so I decided to check." She then paused and looked at Alex and Piper intently before continuing what she was saying. "I'm glad Nichols was able to give you a heads up before I came in." Piper blushed automatically but Alex just smirked and laughed.

"We were just leaving actually," Alex lied easily holding her hand out to Piper. "Let's go."

The two bid goodbye to Sister Ingalls before heading back to their cube but when they returned, both Doggett and Taylor were sitting on their beds as if they owned the place.

"The fuck are you doing here?" Alex demanded.

"Leanne wanted her own bunk back and wanted me to share," Doggett replied as if it was completely obvious.

"Not in our bunks," Piper added. "That's mine."

"They actually let you sleep in here together?" Doggett immediately stood up with a shriek and started wiping herself down. "You've been lesbianing together in this?"

"You bet."

At this, Doggett ran from the cube and Taylor quickly followed her shouting for Doggett to come back but it was to no avail. Piper and Alex waited a few seconds before heading into their cube and in those few seconds, they heard Mendez yelling at Doggett and Taylor for running in his hallways. However, they couldn't hear the response that the meth heads gave him.

Piper and Alex then walked their own sides of the cube just in case Mendez came in to check that they weren't doing anything inappropriate together but he never came.

"We're going to have to be on our guard more now," Piper muttered as she sat on her bed. She sighed loudly before falling back with her head onto her pillow.

"Let's just hope they don't team up with Victoria," Alex replied. Alex still hadn't told Piper about what she and Nicky had done but she couldn't bring it up now as it had been too long since it had had happen. Alex sighed too but instead of sitting on her own bed, she walked over to Piper's and sat at the side of her. She started to lean down to kiss her but they were rudely interrupted.

"And there was us thinking you wanted to see the movie tonight," Said a very familiar voice. Alex turned and Piper sat up to see Nicky and Lorna standing outside their cube hand in hand, grinning at the sight before them.

"We were just heading there?" Piper laughed at her own lie and started to stand up and pulled Alex with her. "Commissary is on us today, you two grab the seats."

The four of them split up with Nicky and Lorna heading to the movie room to get the best seats they could find behind the Spanish bitches who had stolen the front seats. Fortunately, they got there before Vee and the black girls could get the next best seats. They sat on their seats and put their jackets on the back of the two chairs next to them to make it seem like people were sat there.

While they got the seats, Piper and Alex headed to commissary and started to go through what they wanted to get.

"Popcorn, popcorn and more popcorn," Piper requested and Chang handed it over.

"Can we get some…" Alex then rattled off a number of different chocolate bars that they both knew Nicky would love.

Once they had everything, they took their food to the rec room and took their seats beside their friends and the film started. It turned out that it was 'The Time Traveler's Wife' and Piper and Alex shared a smile between them as it was the first book that Alex had read to Piper in the prison. It was the book that had started their now tradition of reading a book together. They alternated who read which book as Piper wouldn't be able to say some of the raunchier parts aloud but Alex could just roll the words off her tongue effortlessly.

The titles of the film then started and the girls dug into their food. Piper gave up after half a bag of popcorn to herself and settled with taking Alex's free hand that wasn't holding onto a chocolate bar and leant her head onto Alex's shoulder. She felt Alex move slightly and felt her lips brush against her head. Piper's eyes shut at the sensation and smiled to herself before looking back up to watch the rest of the film.

When the film was over, Piper practically ran back to her and Alex's cube as she had spent the last twenty minutes of the film desperate for the toilet. Alex chuckled as Piper pulled on her hand so they could return to the cube so she could pick up her toilet roll and head to the bathroom before it got too busy with other people going there after the film. After Piper had left, an idea came into Alex's head. There was nothing more she wanted to do right now than show Piper how much she loved her but alas she couldn't because they were required to go straight to bed.

However, Alex didn't want to sleep yet so she walked straight to her cupboard and got out a small piece of paper and a pen. She wrote a short note on it and slipped it under Piper's cover knowing she would see it before she went to sleep. Alex quickly returned her paper and pen to her cupboard and sat on her own bunk before Piper returned from the bathroom and got suspicious.

"What have you done?" Piper asked as she walked back into the cube. She put her toilet paper down and turned to look at Alex intently with her eyebrow raised. Alex didn't look away but wore her signature smirk.

"Who says I've done anything?"

"You seem to forget that I know you better than anyone. I know you've done something." Piper glanced around the cube and saw that nothing was out of place so she checked under her cover and saw the piece of paper.

"Dare you to read it out loud," Alex said and Piper started to say it aloud until she registered what it said.

_There's nothing more that I want right now than your taste on my tongue._

Piper felt the immediate rush of heat that stopped at her core and she did all she could to stop herself from moaning. Though it was a sneaky tactic from her girlfriend and she was gutted that she didn't think of it herself.

However, Alex's plan seemed to backfire when Piper glance over her shoulder. Upon seeing that the guards were momentarily busy, Piper walked over to Alex and tweaked her nipple harshly before leaning down and whispering in her ear, "There's nothing more that I want right now than to be riding your fingers as I taste you."

"Fuck," Alex moaned and she quickly pulled Piper's face down so she could kiss her. The kiss was short but it was all tongue and teeth before they had to pull back in fear of getting caught. Piper laughed loudly as she pulled back and headed to her own bunk. She crawled into the bed and winked at Alex who stuck her tongue out in return. The two then spent the rest of the night pulling the funniest faces they could in attempt to make the other laugh before they fell asleep.

oOoOo

The next morning came too quickly for them and it meant another day in the hell hole. Piper and Alex walked as they normally did to the bathroom but the sight before them was one that they had never expected. Yes, they had joked about it in the past but they never thought it would be a reality. Stood by the showers, both completely naked as the day they were born, were Ramos and Gonzales despite the fact they were in the wrong bathroom. Ramos was bent forward and Gonzales was behind her. She had one hand resting on Ramos' left breast and the right was holding two fingers out and she looked ridiculously puzzled.

"I'm meant to stick these where?" Gonzales asked.

"In my pussy!" Ramos replied with a groan. She pushed her hips backwards into Gonzales to put across her point.

Both Piper and Alex knew that the other two had not seen nor heard them come in. Piper looked like she was about to step forward and announce their presence but Alex shook her head and motioned that they should leave the bathroom. Once they were outside, Piper looked at Alex questioningly.

"We're just going to do nothing?"

"We need to think about what we're going to do. We need to be united in what we're going to say," Alex explained and Piper nodded. "This is my plan..."

When Alex finished talking, Piper's eyes glinted devilishly before they headed into the bathroom again. After they'd entered the second time, the scene before them had changed. Gonzales was now the one leaning against the wall with her front completely on show and Ramos was crouched in front of her. Gonzales' leg was over Ramos' shoulder and she seemed to be quite busy.

"Would you look at that," Alex said loudly enough for the other two to hear her but no one outside the bathroom would be able to. As soon as the words left Alex's mouth, Gonzales' eyes flew open and Ramos stood up so quickly that Gonzales lost her footing and fell onto the floor.

"What are you two doing here?" Ramos cried.

"We actually had the idea you two had but we actually know what to do and don't need to ask questions," Piper replied.

Gonzales took this time to stand up but hide behind Ramos so that Alex and Piper could see her body. Ramos on the other hand didn't seem bothered that she was stood nude in front of the other two.

"Prison does crazy things to you," Gonzales said. "I don't know what came over me. Please don't tell anyone about us!"

Neither Piper nor Alex knew what was going to happen when they came up with their plan but their original idea was thrown completely away. They were going to go in and cause a scene so that people would come in and see what was going on. It was their intention to let everybody know that Gonzales and Ramos were two of the biggest hypocrites to walk to earth. However, a different idea slipped into Piper's head when Gonzales made her request.

"You don't want anyone to know?" Piper mused slowly. "Because you don't want people to know that you're lesbians?"

"We're not lesbians!" Ramos blurted but then she looked at Gonzales who looked a little rejected. "We just need company after being away from our men."

"Do you love each other?" Alex asked. "As in like Piper and I love each other?"

Gonzales and Ramos looked slowly at each other and bizarrely they both nodded slowly. "We're not ready for people to know. We're not even sure if this is completely what we want."

"Well I have an idea," Alex said and Ramos and Gonzales looked at her intently. "We won't tell anyone about what we've just witnessed or what you said if you do something for us."

Piper then turned to Alex as she had no idea what the brunette was about to say as this was against their original idea.

"We'll do anything," Gonzales promised and Ramos nodded in agreement.

"We want Casey to disappear. Do what you have to do so that she does." Piper looked at Alex shockingly. Sure, she knew she wanted to get back at Victoria for what happened but she didn't think she wanted her dead. Piper still didn't know that Alex had got back at Victoria.

"You want us to kill her?" Ramos asked slowly.

"Do what you've got to do get rid of her. You do that and we'll say nothing. If she's not gone in a week, we'll tell everyone and we'll tell Healy that you've been sabotaging our bathroom," Alex replied.

Piper looked at Alex as if she'd gone insane but then she saw the fear in her eyes. She was still scared of what Casey could do to her. Since the rape, Casey hadn't gone near Alex or any of the family because she knew that they all knew what had happened but that didn't stop Casey from sometimes going near Piper at the rare moments that she was alone. Piper had told Alex that Casey had walked past her that day but she didn't mention that she'd touch her. She knew that Alex would flip and get herself into trouble. It was easier to pretend that it didn't happen but it seemed that it didn't matter if she knew about that or not, she just wanted her gone. If Ramos and Gonzales agreed to the plan, Piper decided she would tell Alex about it after Casey was no longer a problem.

"Are you two in?" Alex asked.

"We're in."


	15. Chapter 15

It was slightly awkward once the conversation was over. Alex and Piper both wanted to shower and it would look odd if they were to leave bathroom after going in so they decided to shower anyway. They did have the same idea that Ramos and Gonzales had started but they were completely put off from the sight they had seen so they got into separate showers. Ramos and Gonzales watched them enter the separate showers and then collected their own things before running out of the bathroom.

When Piper and Alex were finished showering, they headed back to their cube and sorted themselves out before going to breakfast with Lorna and Nicky. True to their word, Alex and Piper said nothing about what they had seen in the bathroom and the four of them just ate their breakfast with Red, Yoga Jones and Sister Ingalls who joined them a few moments later. Red was close to getting her kitchen back but nothing was certain yet.

There were no problems at breakfast and the family all separated and headed to work. Lorna had to take Rosa to the hospital, Alex returned unwillingly to the laundry room and Piper and Nicky headed to the electric shack as per usual. The morning was boring for them as all they had to do was fix more lamps. However, Piper had noticed that it only took her a couple of hours to fix it now than the two days it had taken her before. As much as she hated working in electric, she had to admit that she'd learnt a fair few skills that she'd be able to use once she was out.

She tried to hide it, but Piper often found herself thinking about what was going to happen once she left that place. She's met so many people here that she knew she was going to miss, the main two being Nicky and Lorna. Then there was Alex. Once she left the prison, she was going to a halfway house for a month. All she had to do there was whatever she was told. She wasn't too sure of the job she was going to get once there. However, she was sure Cal would inform her of what it was going to be before she was out. She hoped it would be something to do with writing because that's what she missed from the outside world. Whatever happened, she knew that it would be better than being in prison.

"Where's your head today?" Nicky asked. She'd been watching Piper staring into space for the last half hour. She hadn't said anything prior as she'd been busy trying to make another hole in the wall due to boredom of constantly fixing lamps.

"On my neck?" Piper replied absentmindedly. She picked up the screwdriver and started to screw a screw back into the slot so that she would have completed fixing the lamp. Once that was done, she put the screwdriver down and looked up at Nicky. "I just keep thinking about leaving. I know that's not what I should be doing but it keeps popping up. I try not talking about it because I don't wanna upset Alex but..."

"The thought still comes," Nicky said, finishing off Piper's sentence. She paused as Luschek came over to them and decided to tell them that they'd earned a break as he was hungry and wanted lunch. Piper stood and Nicky led them outside the shack to eat. They would sometimes head down to the canteen but Piper didn't really feel up to it today. Boo would keep Alex and Lorna company.

The wind was gentle as it blew around them. They sat at the same table where they'd spent their first few weeks together.

"I want to prepare myself for what's going to happen but I don't at the same time," Piper said, continuing what she and Nicky had started talking about.

"I know. You need to call your lawyer and see what he has planned for you," Nicky replied and Piper swore. "What?"

"My lawyer is Larry's dad," Piper muttered, "He's going to hate me for what I did to Larry. He's going to get me the shittest job in retaliation."

"If he does, sue the bastard." Nicky paused and looked at Piper. "I promise to look after Alex once you've left. I don't know how long her sentence is but my guess is it'll be shorter than mine. I have two years left in this hell hole before I can get out. Lorna will be out a couple of months after you so I'll be in Alex's position."

"I'm glad she's going to have you." Piper was cut off from saying anything as Luschek called them all back into work. They all started to complain at the short break but when he threatened to report them all, they quickly shut up and returned to work.

The afternoon was painfully slow like the morning but Piper concentrated more on not letting her thoughts wonder about life after prison. Instead, she thought about what had happened that morning. She'd always known that the biggest homophobes were closeted gays that didn't want to face coming out but she would have never guessed that that was the case with those two. All that needed to happen now was for Healy to come out and say that he was dating Caputo or someone else just as ridiculous. Shaking her head of crazy thoughts, she then went back to thinking about the deal made that morning. Sure, Ramos and Gonzales could report her and Alex for saying they wanted to murder someone but that would mean that the entire prison would know that they were together and everyone would believe Alex. She never lied if she could help it.

It was about an hour before work ended when Luschek walked over to Piper and Nicky. "One of the machines is broken again in the laundry room. Go."

"You don't need to ask us twice," Nicky replied and she and Piper headed down to the laundry room. However, Piper walked slowly because it sort of felt like déjà vu but then again, Nicky was with her this time and it was Luschek who told them to go down, not another inmate.

The walk wasn't that long and the two blondes were there before they knew it. Once they entered, they saw that one of the machines was indeed broken as two girls were stood near it trying to see what the problem was. Piper automatically looked round the room and saw Alex by a different machine unloading the load that seemed to have just finished.

"Brenda's broken," One of the girls said as Piper and Nicky came into view.

"Go talk to her, I'll fix this one," Nicky told Piper as she saw her look at Alex. "I owe you."

Piper nodded and left Nicky to head over to Alex who was watching her intently.

"Did you purposefully break the machine because you missed me?" Piper teased.

"Oh darn it, you figured it out." Alex rolled her eyes as she continued to unload the machine. "Wish you were still in here though." Piper smiled warmly at the comment. She too missed the time she spent with Alex in the laundry but she was glad that they did have some time apart. However, the sweetness of the comment was revoked when Alex added, "I hate this part of the job."

Piper scoffed and shook her head then stuck her tongue out. They threw around harmless insults while Nicky continued to fix the machine.

"Chapman, gimme a hand!" Nicky called and Piper reluctantly turned and went to give Nicky a hand. She was leaning into the machine with her arms outstretched. "Shine the torch up here. I can just see the problem."

Doing as she was told, Piper picked up the fallen torch and shined it where Nicky had requested. Once the light was on it, Piper was able to see what the problem was. With a large tug, Nicky was able to pull the shirt that had gotten suck out of the side of the machine. She threw it out of the machine before going back in and fixing the back to make sure that no more shirts could get stuck in there. Well for a while at least. Knowing these machines as they all did, it'd be broken within the next month and most likely with a similar problem.

"Yes!" Nicky cheered with contentment. She loved being the one to fix something because she always had been surrounded with doubt as she grew up.

Piper couldn't help but laugh at Nicky even though she was fully aware of all her little antics when she did something that made her happy. As Nicky crawled her way out of the machine, Piper walked over to Alex. "I'll see you at dinner," she promised and touched her hand affectionately as there was nothing more they could do in front of all the people that were there. Alex nodded and then returned to her work as Piper walked over to Nicky and the two headed back to the electric shack.

oOoOo

Two days later, Piper was out on the track running slowly. She never wanted to sprint now just in case Victoria came up behind her. When she did that, Piper would sprint off as she'd saved her energy from the slow jogging. However, today was the first day that she'd not seen Victoria at all. They finished work at the same time and Piper almost always headed to the track to run before dinner. Instead of Victoria turning up, it was Gonzales who joined her on the track. Immediately, Piper slowed to a walk beside her.

"It's done," Gonzales said. "A CO should find her this evening."

Piper nodded and asked nothing else. She didn't want to know what they'd done but she was glad that she'd never have to see Victoria ever again. Gonzales continued round the track for a full lap behind going off back inside leavening Piper to her thoughts. Piper continued to run for another three laps before calling it a day and returned inside herself.

After a short walk, she was inside her cube again but Alex wasn't there. Instantly worried, Piper changed her shoes back to the prison attire and started to look for her girlfriend. She knew that work was over for her which usually meant that she'd be in her cube waiting for Piper to get back from her run so they could spend a little time together before dinner.

As she walked through the prison, Piper checked all the different rooms she thought Alex could be in before finally reaching the library. Once inside, she looked up and down the aisles and each one lacked Alex. Her heart started to pound before she got to the very last aisle and saw Alex looking intently at a shelf.

"Oh thank God," Piper muttered to herself but Alex had heard her. She turned from where she was standing and looked at Piper questioningly.

"Pipes, are you okay?" Alex asked. She moved away from the shelf and started walking over to Piper. She took one of her hands in hers and the other to cup Piper's cheek. She looked into her eyes as if searching for the answer.

"Gonzales told me that they'd done it," Piper whispered. "I just panicked that something had happened to you before it happened. You weren't in the cube and I just started thinking crazy things."

"I told you yesterday that I'd finished my book." Alex motioned to the books in front of her. "I was looking for another. I didn't know you'd be done with your run so quickly. You usually take longer." Alex shrugged as if it was no big deal and then Piper lost it. She felt the tears falling before she realised that she wanted to cry. "Why are you crying?"

Piper sniffed and wiped her tear away. She realised now that it was time to confess what Victoria did to her.

"I need to tell you something." As Piper told Alex what happened, she thought back to the first time Victoria had come up to her on the track.

_Flashback_

_Piper was running at a decent pace. She was breathing deeply but she wasn't completely out of breath. She then saw someone heading towards her even though the last time she checked, she was the only one running. As the person got closer, she realised that it was Victoria. Immediately, Piper sped up her running but because of the speed she'd been running previously, she was quickly winded and couldn't continue to run. Add to that the panic of seeing Victoria and she was surprised she didn't pass out._

"_You're hot when you run," Victoria said when she'd got close to Piper. "I like it."_

"_Get away from me!" Piper spat. _

"_No." Victoria then paused and suddenly reached out and grasped Piper's breasts in her hands. "Crazy Eyes was right, you got some nice titties." _

_Piper pushed out at Victoria and stepped back. "Don't touch me."_

"_You weren't complaining when I fucked you at first," Victoria taunted and closed the distance between them again. She reached her hand into Piper's pants and pinched Piper's ass before slipping her hand out and running off._

_End of flashback_

Alex was silent for a while after Piper revealed what had happened. The times after weren't much different to the first. She always tried to get away but could never manage it. Sometimes, Victoria would corner her when she left the track and cop a feel when she could. Piper would always try and push her off but Victoria was stronger than her and would clasp her hands so she couldn't use them.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Alex asked when she finally collected all of her thoughts.

"I didn't want you getting into trouble," Piper replied.

"I did wonder why you were reluctant when I'd touch your breasts. I'm sorry about her. If she wasn't already..." Alex was interrupted when Taystee ran up to them yelling about someone being dead.

"What's happened?" Alex asked feigning confusion and Taystee beckoned them to follow her. They were just in time to see the body being pulled through the halls of the prison.

"It's Casey. She hung herself like Tricia," Poussey said walking up to the three of them. "Bennett found her in the cupboard down from where Tricia was with a rope around her neck."

Alex had to admit that it was a clever way of getting rid of her. However, she was not expecting Bennett to walk up to her a few moments later with a note in his hand.

"This was found in Casey's pocket, it's addressed to you. I didn't read it. I thought you should first. However, I will need to see it after you're done."

Nodding, Alex took the note and slipped it into her pocket. "I'll read it after dinner and return it to your office then."

oOoOo

The note felt heavy in Alex's pocket while she ate dinner. Only she, Piper, Taystee and Poussey knew that she had the note. None of them had asked her why she hadn't opened it yet but only Piper knew that she was saving it till later.

Once dinner was over Alex stood and returned back to the cube. Unlike normal, she didn't wait for Piper to finish and join her.

"Where's she going?" Nicky asked as she watched the brunette walk away.

"There's something she needs to do on her own," Piper replied as she too watched the brunette walk.

Alex returned to her bunk and sat on her bed. Truthfully she didn't want to read the letter at all. She didn't want to know what Victoria would want to say to her. However, she took a deep breath and took the letter out of her pocket and commenced reading.

_Dear Alex,_

_I know all about everything; they told me yesterday. They gave me an ultimatum: I could either do it myself or let them take control when it would be messy. I chose the former. I don't want to live here. I'd attempted suicide when I was in Florida which is why I got sent to this place. They thought if I went somewhere where I knew someone, I would be less likely to hurt myself. How they were wrong._

_I've always been twisted, you know that and you always have been too but I loved you regardless. I know you didn't love me like I loved you. It was obvious. Why else would you run off so easily? It broke my heart seeing you and Piper together after you ended it but it also resealed when we got back together._

_I'm sorry for fucking up your shippings with Kubra but I was so angry. I was in a dark place. I got you to stop taking the drugs because I needed the drugs that you were taking. I tried to stop but I couldn't. You were so sad about Piper you didn't notice I was taking. I continued taking when I was in here. Mendez gave them to me. He stopped though and I went a little crazy. I needed something to give me a thrill. That's why I kept going after Piper. I'm sorry. I totally deserved what you did to me in the bathroom. I should have expected it._

_I know you don't want to read this and you probably never will but I wanted you to know that I chose to do this because I love you. I didn't want my end to be horrible. I wanted simple. I hope you get the life you deserve. I'll tell your mom you say hi._

_All my love,_

_Your Tori._

When Alex finished the letter, she did the thing she thought she'd never do: She cried over Victoria Casey.


	16. Chapter 16

Everyone walked on eggshells around Alex for the next week or so. She was always upset and didn't want to talk to anyone. No one seemed to understand why Victoria's death had hit her so hard. Only the family, Taystee and Poussey were aware of the letter. Piper was the only one who had read it besides Alex. As promised, Alex had given it to Bennett but when he saw her reaction to it, he simply ripped it up into shreds and told her that if it caused that reaction from her, it was far too personal for him and the other COs to read. Just before he ripped it, Alex told him about Pornstache's dealing and Bennet kept that part of the letter once it was ripped.

That night, Piper had gone to the rec room with the rest of the family to hang out and she waited there on edge for an hour hoping that Alex would come in but it didn't seem like she was going to. Piper told the family that she was going to check on Alex and asked them not to go and check on them until they returned. Nicky was reluctant to agree but Lorna persuaded her to let Piper leave.

When Piper entered the cube, the sight broke her heart. Alex was lying face down on her bed with the letter grasped tightly in her hand, crying hysterically.

"Oh, Alex," Piper murmured as she headed toward her girlfriend. She perched gently on the edge of Alex's bed and reached her hand to stroke her back soothingly. Alex seemed to relax at Piper's touch and the tears slowed slightly. She turned her face so she could see Piper.

"Read it," she murmured and handed the letter over to her girlfriend. Piper took it gently and read as quickly as she could but slow enough to take in all the information.

"I had no idea she felt that deeply towards you," Piper said finally. "This is my fault. If I hadn't have gone into that stupid bar, none of this would have happened!"

At this, Alex rolled onto her side and shifted back slightly so Piper had room to lie next to her. Automatically, Piper laid beside her girlfriend and linked their hands together.

"This is not your fault," Alex said firmly. "I chose to be with you because I love you and you make me happy. Victoria didn't make me happy. I hate that this happened but it's not your fault. Nor is it mine really."

"I told them to get rid of her though." Piper snuggled closer to Alex and breathed her scent in which always seemed to relax her.

"She's not a problem for us anymore," Alex said finally and kissed Piper to reinforce the end of the conversation. Pulling back from the kiss, Piper suddenly remembered part of the letter and sat up abruptly.

"What happened in the bathroom? What haven't you told me?" Piper questioned.

Alex immediately looked guilty and sat up too. She confessed what had happened those months ago after she found out what Victoria had done. "I shouldn't have but I couldn't let her get away with it!"

"I told you not to!"

"I needed to, to protect you. I'm sorry I went behind your back but I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I didn't."

Piper sighed sadly. She was torn. She wanted to be angry at Alex for going behind her back but at the same time, she was again reminded how much Alex really did love her that she would risk her life and their friend's just to protect her.

Piper motioned that Alex should stand up and the two of them headed towards the chapel where they made love until it was time for count. As Alex had helped Piper forget about Victoria touching her, this time, Piper helped Alex to forget momentarily about the death of her. It was also forgiveness for both of them keeping information regarding Victoria secret from each other. But as Alex said, Victoria was no longer a problem.

oOoOo

As usual, it took a little time before everything settled down as it did when someone died. Alex, with the help of Piper and Nicky, was able to grieve over Victoria's death and start to join in with the life in the prison without sinking back into the darkness that death brought with it. Piper helped Alex every step of the way which made Alex truly appreciate and notice the change in Piper. The blonde had actually matured and seem to no longer run away from sad situations.

One day, around two weeks after Victoria's passing, Piper and Nicky were walking back from work when Piper remembered that she needed to call her brother to arrange his visit this coming weekend. It had been a couple of weeks since she'd seen her little brother and since she'd had a visitor in general. Polly had had trouble with Finn being poorly and when he got better, the deal with Barney's finally went through so she was busy with meetings. However, she had promised to include Piper in all the details and would inform her of what happened when she next visited.

"I'm just gonna phone my brother," Piper said to Nicky as they walked past the phones. "Tell Alex so she doesn't start to worry." Piper rolled her eyes and Nicky grinned as they both knew that Alex would automatically start to worry if Piper was more than two minutes late. She did have a point to worry though with Doggett and Taylor still on the loose in the prison. However, as of yet, they hadn't done anything.

"Okay, I'm sure I'll be able to distract her," Nicky replied with a wink.

"I'll let Lorna and Red know you said that," Piper teased. Nicky just flipped her off and walked away.

Grinning madly, Piper turned and started to dial her brother's number and as usual, he picked after a few dials.

"If it isn't my favourite sister!" Cal greeted but he didn't sound as happy as usual.

"I'm your only sister, Cal," Piper reminded him but she heard the sadness in his voice. "Are you okay?"

"I'm good, I'm good," was the reply and Piper felt as if he was saying it to convince himself that he was okay. "So this weekend..."

That was enough to get Piper's mind off of her brother's sadness. She knew that it could possibly be the fact that Neri might have broken up with him but he would have told her if that was the case but Piper shrugged it off. Cal would tell her when he was ready.

The phone call wasn't particularly long and Piper soon hung up with the promise of seeing her brother and mother this coming weekend. She was actually quite excited to see her mother for once and she didn't really know why.

After putting the phone back in its place, Piper walked to her and Alex's cube and saw the usual gang of people there. Nicky and Lorna were sat together on Piper's bed with Boo sitting at the bottom of the bed. Yoga was also there sitting at the bottom of Alex's bed and Alex was sitting at the top of her bed with a clear space being reserved for Piper. When she got there, she saw Alex's eyes light up as they always did. Alex patted the space next to her and Piper automatically sat next to her girlfriend and kissed her cheek in hello.

"Did the phone call go okay?" Alex asked.

"Yeah but something's happened and I don't know what it is," Piper replied with a sigh. "Cal sounded sad which isn't normal for him but he wouldn't talk about what it was bothering him. I guess I'll find out on Saturday."

Piper didn't have long to wait as Saturday came round sooner than later for her. After the usual checks, Piper was allowed to enter the visitation room and saw her family sitting there waiting for her. Cal spotted her first and immediately stood, opened his arms wide and hugged Piper tightly when she walked over to him. Carol also stood and hugged Piper just as tightly but with less of a scene.

"Piper, you're looking well," Carol said as the three of them sat back down.

"I'm just keeping my head down," Piper replied. It was true, sort of. "Have you had chance to tell Larry's father about the job you've been trying to set up for me?"

Piper had received a letter from her mother a few weeks earlier saying she'd found an office that specialised in taking convicts and helping them get a job despite having previously being in prison.

"He won't allow it," Carol said sadly, "but before we talk about that, there's something else we must discuss."

This worried Piper and she braced herself for the news. "As long as it's nothing to do with Grandmother I think I'll be okay."

Cal and Carol automatically looked at each other and it dawn on Piper that the news was to do with their grandmother. Nothing else would have made Cal so sad and make them look at each other.

Suddenly Piper found it hard to breathe. To her, there was no one more important to her than her grandmother even Alex. Her grandmother had been there for her whenever Piper had needed her. She was the constant Piper had had in her life. Her grandmother wasn't even that shocked when Piper revealed that she used to be (well at that point) a lesbian. She was also the one who helped Piper understand what was going on when she found out her father was cheating on her mother. A life without her grandmother was unthinkable.

"I'm so sorry, Piper," Carol muttered bringing Piper out of her thoughts.

"I'm not going to be there to say goodbye, am I?" Piper asked quietly. With the looks on her family's face, her grandmother must be seriously ill and there was no way that Piper was going to be able to be free of prison to see her. She still had just under two months left before she could leave. She knew that she'd never get Furlough, especially with her date being so soon.

"We'll say goodbye for you, don't worry," Cal promised.

"So about that job," Carol said, taking them away from the sad conversation. "I can't say too much about it at the moment but what I can say is that you'll be getting a letter soon that will explain what will happen."

Piper nodded but she didn't want to discuss work at the moment, she needed to be cheered up. "Tell me about you and Neri," she requested and the rest of the visitation hour was spent with Cal talking about Neri and Carol talking about Polly and Finn. As much as the beginning of the visit had been severely depressing, Piper managed a small smile as she hugged her family goodbye at the end.

There was so much to think about for Piper as she walked back to her cube after the strip search. She was so upset about her grandmother that she couldn't manage to cry yet. She knew she would though when she told Alex later. She could let herself cry in front of Alex, she'd done it many a time but she couldn't cry in front of anyone else of the prison.

Her thoughts also brushed upon the letter that she was going to receive. She had no clue what it would contain except some information on the job she would get. She just hoped that it would be a good job.

With all the distractions, Piper didn't see Doggett and Taylor, along with their crew, walk up to her. All of them had menacing faces with a sheer look of determination. Doggett nodded and two of the minions stormed forward and grabbed Piper by the arms and dragged her into the closest cupboard. Piper gasped at the suddenness of the situation but she was too numb to fully register what was going on. The two that had grabbed her kept her restrained and two others stood outside to keep guard. Taylor and Doggett just stood and watched.

"You won't be able to get away from us this time," Doggett said with a smirk. She'd been waiting on getting Piper alone and now she finally had, she was excited. They decided to corner her when she was alone and with no COs around and she'd finally got her wish.

"The fuck is going on?" Piper cried fully registering what was going on. She tried to free herself out of the girls' grasps on her arms but it was to no avail. It seemed Doggett had gotten stronger minions since Piper had last checked.

"It's payback time," Taylor said snidely before looking at Doggett. "Would you like to go first?"

"I don't mind if I do."

Doggett stepped forward and kicked out hitting Piper square in the stomach making Piper double over. Taylor then stepped forward and kneed upwards hitting Piper in the face. The two holding Piper then stepped back and let her fall over and Doggett and Taylor continued to kick Piper until her breathing started to slow and her struggling ceased.

"Let's just leave her to it," Doggett said, "I don't think He'd appreciate it if I gave her the killing blow. She'll be dead soon."

Taylor just nodded and the two of them, followed by the two that had grabbed Piper, started to leave the room only to be met with Bennett stood by the door. Doggett and Taylor immediately ran away only to be caught by Mendez who was starting to write them up for running before he heard Bennett's shout.

Mendez quickly ran over to Bennett who was crouched on the floor in front of her Piper. Her skin was already purple and there was blood on the floor but Bennett couldn't identify where it was coming from.

"Call for back up and go fetch inmates Vause and Nichols immediately," Bennett demanded and Mendez did just that. Bennett looked back at Piper and gently pressed on her neck to feel her pulse but it was weak.

Only moments later, Alex and Nicky turned up to the cupboard and their gasps of shock were heard.

"Piper!" Alex cried and rushed forward to sit beside her girlfriend. She placed her hand on Piper's head and pulled it back to see her hand was red. "Her head's bleeding!"

Just then the backup Bennett had asked for turned up and the medical staff rushed in. Alex was rudely shoved to the side as the medics gently put Piper onto a stretcher and took her from the room. Alex went to follow but Nicky reached out and wrapped her arms around Alex so that she couldn't follow.

When Piper was gone, Alex turned to Bennet. "What happened?!"

"I don't know," Bennett said honestly. "I'm not quite sure how it happened. I was just walking round, checking empty cupboards, for no reason really," he coughed slightly, "when I saw the usual guards outside this one and then I heard the telltale sound of someone being kicked. I was just about to call for back up when Doggett and Taylor-"

"I fucking knew it!" Nicky cried cutting Bennett off. "Where the fuck are they? I'm gonna fucking kill them for doing this to her again! Her grandmother is fucking dying!"

This was news to Alex. She had no idea that Celeste was ill. "Her grandmother's dying? When did she tell you that?"

"She didn't, I have my spies who overheard her conversation with her mother. They told me as soon as visitation was over that's why I was getting worried when she didn't turn up but I presumed she was bracing herself before she told you."

"It seems like Chapman isn't ever going to get a break, is she?" Bennett said sadly before turning and leaving the two together. He had to go and name the people involved and make sure Doggett and Taylor were put in maximum forever.

_Poor Piper! Yeah, sorry that I did this but I had to. Don't forget to keep the reviews coming guys! I love reading what you guys think of my story and what you think will happen so I can write the future chapters. Again, thanks for the favourites and follows, it does mean a lot! Emss x_


	17. Chapter 17

Cal and Carol were barely half way home when they received the call telling them about Piper. Cal immediately turned the car around and headed back to the prison. Carol stood outside as she was on the phone to Polly while Cal was inside. The usually calm, happy Cal was replaced by a infuriated one. He was already sad that his sister was in prison in the first place, add to that the fact that his grandmother was seriously ill and now there's the fact that his sister as been attacked in prison by the same people who did it last time.

"I get the fact that prison has murders in it but where the fuck is the protection here?" Cal yelled as soon as he stepped through the door. Fischer was on duty and looked up at him. She had no clue to what he was talking about.

"Mr Chapman, is everything alright?" Fischer asked leaving her desk and walking over to him.

"No, it's not; my sister has been attacked again!" At this, Fischer paled. "Has she been taken to the hospital yet?"

As Cal said that, Bennett came through the doors and walked over to Cal. "Chapman has just arrived at the hospital. Would you like to follow me?" He asked calmly and Cal nodded.

Once the two men were outside, Cal motioned that his mother should follow them and Bennet took them to a car and drove them to the hospital. They weren't allowed to see Piper as she was in theatre. Instead, they had to sit outside for a couple of hours.

About half an hour into the wait, Polly turned up at the hospital and sat next to Carol. Both women were trying hard to keep the tears in. Polly had her arm around Carol trying to comfort her in the best way she could. Cal had rang his dad but he couldn't come to the hospital as he was needed at the hospital with his mother but he passed on his love and to tell Piper he'd be there if he could.

An hour later after Polly arrived at the hospital, Cal's phone started to ring. Presuming it would be Neri, he answered it but was surprised to hear the Lichfield message being played. As it was usually Piper who rang him and as she was currently in an operation theatre, Cal could only guess who was ringing him. After he answered it, his guess was correct.

"Hi Cal, this is Alex Vause. I'm..."

"I know who you are, Alex, but I'm afraid we don't know anything yet. She's still in theatre," Cal said not unkindly. "I wish I was able to tell you what was going on but we don't know ourselves."

"Do you know when you'll know?" Alex asked panic was clearly laced into her voice.

Just as Alex asked that, the doctor came out of the room announcing that Piper was awake.

"She's awake," Cal said immediately to Alex. "I'm gonna go in and see her now and you can ring me back later. I'll tell you everything I find out."

"Thank you," Alex muttered before hanging up.

Cal then stood and followed his mother and Polly into the room and the sight before him was incredibly upsetting.

Piper was sitting up in the bed but she looked utterly exhausted. She was connected to two different machines and had a tube under her nose helping her breathe. Her skin was also dotted with bruising that was forming on her skin.

"I look a little different don't I?" Piper said in an attempt of a joke.

"Oh Pipes!" Polly cried and rushed forward going to hug Piper but Piper flinched.

"Not too fast or harsh," Piper warned. "I'm in a lot of pain!"

Polly nodded frantically before leaning back in and hugging Piper as softly as she could. When she leant back, she decided to perch on the side of Piper's bed as Carol had taken the chair next to the bed and Cal had taken the one from just outside the room and brought it up close to Piper's bed.

"What happened?" Polly asked calmly and Piper told them what she could remember.

oOoOo

After Bennett had left them, Alex and Nicky slowly made their way back to the cubes. Well, it was more Nicky dragging Alex back as she was so in shock over what had happened. She kept replaying Mendez running into the cubes looking frantically for her and Nicky.

_Flashback_

_Alex was sitting on her bed with a book in her hand as usual. Lorna and Nicky were sat on Piper's bed across from her being really cutesy with each other. More than anything, Alex wanted to be doing that with her own girlfriend but she was still in visitation. _

_A few pages later, someone she didn't know bobbed into the cube wanting to speak with Nicky. Nicky returned after a few moments with a look of sadness on her face._

"_Everything okay, baby?" Lorna asked as Nicky sat down next to her. _

"_Yeah, it's fine, honestly," Nicky replied but Alex thought nothing of it; she was used to random people popping up and talking to Nicky. The crazy haired girl was far too nosey and had a number of spies to find out what was going on in the prison without having to do the investigations for herself. Knowing this place, Nicky would have just been informed that another girl was going through withdrawal._

_Time past and Alex started to wonder where Piper had got to as visitation was surely over by now but knowing Piper, she could have gone for a run. Alex then sat up and put her book down as it dawned on her that Piper would have needed to get her running shoes to go for a run that she didn't take with her to visitation rooms as they weren't allowed in there. _

_Nicky noticed the sudden change in Alex and was about to suggest that they should go looking for Piper when Pornstache ran into the room._

"_Vause and Nichols come with me immediately!" He boomed and the two women quickly stood and followed him._

"_What's going on?" Nicky asked._

"_I don't know," Mendez said as they rushed down the corridor, "I was told to get you."_

_When the three of them got there, Alex saw Bennett leaning over a blonde haired body on the floor. Alex would recognise that hair anywhere and she immediately rushed forward with a cry of Piper's name. She quickly began searching for a pulse and was ridiculously relieved when she felt it._

_End of flashback_

"Vause, are you okay?" Nicky asked as they got closer to the cubes. Once again, Nicky didn't quite know what to say in this situation. She'd been in this prison for a while and had never seen so many bad things happen to one girl as it had to Piper.

"I'm okay," Alex replied slowly, "I just need Piper to be too."

"She's a strong one, your girl, she'll be fine." Nicky smiled at Alex but the brunette couldn't muster up smiling back.

When the two of them returned, Lorna looked like she hadn't moved from where she was still sitting on Piper's bed. Panic was etched into her brown eyes but relief replaced it when she saw Nicky and Alex walk back in. However, worry was apparent when she noticed that Piper wasn't with them.

"What's happened?" She asked when Alex and Nicky had entered the cube.

Nicky took her place next to her girlfriend and wrapped her arm around her shoulder before telling her what had happened. Tears flooded to Lorna's eyes, "It's so unfair! I can't believe that this has happened again! I knew I should have gone and waited for her during the visitation!"

"This isn't your fault, babe," Nicky said immediately and tried to calm her girlfriend down. She wrapped her arms around her more tightly and held her as Lorna cried onto her shoulder.

"I'm gonna get some air," Alex said. Nicky started to move but Alex shook her head. "I want to be alone. I'll be back before dinner."

With that, Alex picked up her book along with some paper and a pen. She headed outside to a tree she'd once sat with Piper and she leant on her book to write a letter to Piper.

_Oh Pipes,_

_What am I going to do with you? You've only gone and got yourself put back in hospital. I have no idea how serious your injuries are but I need you to get better. You're the best thing in my life and always have been. You can't leave me._

_Nicky has told me about your grandmother. Yes, she got her spies to listen to your conversation with your mother and brother. I wish she hadn't, it wasn't fair to you. I'm guessing that was how you were such an easy target for Doggett and her scum. I'm so sorry about Celeste. You never used to stop talking about how amazing she was. I feel like she was my grandmother too. I never met the woman but I'm incredibly saddened that she's poorly._

_Piper, please pull through. I'm currently sat by our tree thinking about you. If only I could call you but I don't even know if you're awake. There was so much blood! It's a good thing I'm not squeamish about that sort of thing._

_I hope that they'll let me visit you again but I'm not so sure this time as I wasn't a witness to the attack. Again, I have to thank Bennett for finding you. Although, I'm pretty sure he was looking for a place to fuck Daya._

_I love you, Pipes and I know you'll get better because you're so strong like Nicky said. I'll try and see you if I can, if not, I'll try and await your reply._

_Forever yours,_

_Al._

Alex read back through her letter before folding it up and putting it at the back of her book. She stayed outside for what felt like a good hour before she decided to head back inside. As she walked to the CO station where she hoped Bennett would be, she past Healy's office and an idea quickly came to her so she stopped and knocked.

"Come in," Healy said so Alex did just that. "Ah Vause, what can I do for you?"

"It's about Pip- Chapman, sir," Alex replied and Healy nodded.

"I heard about that."

"I wondered if I could have the number for her brother," Alex requested trying to keep the fact that she was Piper's girlfriend out of this knowing that Healy probably wouldn't allow it if she mentioned that fact. "The girls and I have been so worried and I thought that, if I could contact someone of the family to know that she was okay, the girls wouldn't be as panicked."

Again, Healy nodded and started typing on his computer to find out Piper's contact details. "Am I giving you the number of Danny Chapman or Cal Chapman?"

"Cal," Alex said. She'd momentarily forgotten that Piper had an older brother. She rarely spoke about Danny as he hadn't visited her in prison, nor had he really spoken to Piper in the last few years. Cal was the brother that Piper was closest to.

Healy noted down the number and handed it to Alex. "I hope she gets well soon too," Healy muttered quietly and Alex took this as her dismissal. She stood up quietly and headed to the phones.

Cal's phone call didn't leave her in the highest of hopes but at least she knew that Piper was awake. She had been tempted to get Polly's number but she would have never picked up the phone if she knew it was Alex. At least with Cal he'd hear her out.

When she finally got to dinner, Alex told the other girl's about her short call with Cal and Nicky actually complemented her on her brains to call Cal.

"I never would have thought to do that," Nicky said as she ate her beans.

"That's why I'm the smart one in this relationship," Lorna replied but the others at the tablet just scoffed. "Oh shush."

For the first time since everything had happened that day, Alex actually smiled.

oOoOo

Later that evening, Polly offered to take Carol home so that Cal could spend extra time with Piper. Cal had informed Polly of Alex's call and she thought that it would be best if Carol wasn't there when Alex called back.

During the afternoon, the doctor had sat the three of them down in his office while Piper had a nap. They had fixed her nose in the ambulance and the bleeding had ceased quickly after that. The wait was long due to internal bleeding which needed to be stopped as soon as possible. It wasn't quite as simple as they thought as one of the kidneys had been badly damaged with the pressure and had to be removed. She had also cut her head open but they had stitched that up too. However, the doctor did leave out one other problem that he told Piper as it wasn't a factor of the ordeal she'd gone though. She'd asked him not to tell her family as she would tell them when she was ready for them to know. It was terribly upsetting but she couldn't quite believe it yet.

Cal was now the only one in Piper's room. He was sitting in the chair beside the bed and his phone was on the nearby table on loud so that they wouldn't miss the call. Cal had told Piper about Alex's call but it was Cal who'd suggested that he stay longer so that Alex would be able to talk to Piper herself.

Around half an hour after Polly and Carol had left, Cal's phone started to shrill loudly with an unknown number. He quickly picked it up and heard the familiar warning about Lichfield prison. He agreed to the call and passed the phone to Piper.

"Hi Cal! Have you fou-"

Alex was cut off when Piper started to talk. "Last time I checked I wasn't Cal," Piper said grinning into the phone.

"I'll just step outside," Cal whispered and walked out the door.

"Piper! Baby, you're alive! How bad is it?" Alex asked with worry clearly laced in her voice.

"Quite." Piper informed Alex of all the different problems. "There's one last thing but I don't want to tell you over the phone; I'd rather it be in person. There's a fair bit of bruising but I should be able to be back to you in a week or so."

"I'm so glad. I swear though, I'm never going to let you out of my sight. Doggett and Taylor are in maximum with an extra 8 years on their sentences. They'll be here even longer than I will."

"You know you'll have to tell me how long it is before I leave," Piper said regretfully. "I've been patient but I need to know."

Alex sighed. "I promise to tell you when you're back. We can swap our news. Yours sounds serious too."

"I'm afraid it is," Piper replied.

"I've got to go, Kid," Alex said sadly. "There's a queue."

"Okay. I love you, Al."

"I love you, too." Alex then hung up and Piper sighed sadly. She missed Alex already and it hadn't even been a full day. She had no idea how she was going to cope once she left prison and had to leave Alex behind n . However, she was cheered up when her brother stepped back in and told her that a number of nurses had attempted to chat him up but for the first time, he boasted that he had a fiancée.

oOoOo

Cal left after a couple of hours but only moments after he left, Bennett turned up with a letter in his hand.

"Trust Alex," Piper muttered and Bennett smiled.

"She asked me to give you this," Bennett said. "I'll wait outside while you read it."

Piper eagerly opened the envelope and saw that there were two pieces of paper inside. One letter had been written prior to the phone call and the other was much shorter.

_Piper,_

_I'm so glad you're not dead, Kid. I don't know what I'd do if you were. It pleases me immensely that you're going to be back to me soon. _

_I love you, Pipes._

_Al_

Piper smiled brightly at the letter and started to write her own back.

_My beautiful Alex,_

_I'm sorry this happened to me again. I didn't mean to put you through so much stress again but I'll try to make sure that I'll be better from now on._

_It's okay about my grandmother, she's getting on a little but I regret that I won't be there to say goodbye. Apart from Cal, she's the only one who truly supports you and I being together so I thank her for that. Trust Nicky for spying on me though!_

_You and I both know that if it had been the other way round, I would have passed out with the amount of blood they would have been. It turns out I cut my head but I'll be okay._

_I wouldn't bother trying to come visit me, I'll be back in a week. Just keep your head down and I'll be back soon._

_I love you, Al, always will._

_Pipes._

When Bennett returned, he agreed to give Alex the letter and bid Piper a speedy recovery. Once he was gone, Piper was fully alone for the first time since receiving the news of the consequences of the fight. The dream she'd had previously started to die. She really didn't want to face telling Alex. She was tempted to put it into a letter but she knew she had to say this vocally. She just hoped she'd be able to say it without crying.

_Oh no, what's Piper's news now? You'll find out soon. Thanks again for the reviews and keep them coming! Emss x_


	18. Chapter 18

Piper was out of the hospital before she knew it and Lorna was waiting for her in the van to drive her back to the prison. Fischer was also with them as she was the guard on duty.

"What we gonna do with you?" Lorna asked when Piper was seated.

"I'm going to be on my best behaviour now," Piper replied with a smile and Lorna drove them back.

When they got to the prison, it was dinner time so they headed immediately to the canteen and Piper smiled brightly at seeing everyone. Alex, obviously, was the first one to see Piper walk through the door. Ignoring everyone around, she stood and rushed over to Piper, hugging her tightly until Piper winced.

"Not so tight," Piper groaned. "I'm still in a lot of pain but not enough to be kept at the hospital."

"Sorry, I'm just glad you're back!" Alex replied and stepped back from her girlfriend. She had to keep it together as she just wanted to kiss Piper but she couldn't in front of everyone not to mention the COs.

"I'm just gonna grab some food," Piper said and Alex watched her walk away to the back of the queue but she wasn't alone as Lorna was also getting her food.

Once they were dealt with, Lorna and Piper sat in their respective seats beside Nicky and Alex.

"Welcome back, Chapman!" Nicky greeted.

"Yeah, let's hope that you won't be going back to the hospital!" Boo added.

"I'm not going back there, don't worry." Piper laughed with the rest of them and they all discussed many things while they ate their food.

During the meal, Piper kept glancing up at Alex who offered her small smiles. They kept a small conversation running through the meal that Nicky and Lorna chipped in with on the odd occasion. When the meal was done, Piper and Alex cleared away their trays and automatically walked to the chapel. Neither of them had the intention of making love while they were there; they knew it was finally the time to discuss what they had mentioned briefly on the phone.

Alex and Piper sat on the floor with their hands linked. When a piece of hair fell into Piper's face, Alex leant forward and pushed in back. She kissed Piper's cheek as she did it making the blonde giggle slightly. To Alex, there wasn't a brighter sound than the sound of Piper's laugh.

"Would you like to say your news first or shall I go?" Alex asked slowly. She desperately wanted to keep her news from Piper and know what Piper's news was. However, she knew her wish would come true but she'd also have to say what she wanted to keep.

"Can you go first?" Piper requested.

Alex took a deep breath before launching into a long speech that she'd thought of over the week when she agreed to tell Piper. "At first they weren't sure how long to imprison me and how much to fine me. They mentioned life and I was terrified and started sprouting names. Each name took 5 years off." Alex paused and looked up at Piper, "That includes you and Victoria. I still don't know how much money I had but they took $1,000,000 from me which took another 10 years off so I'm left with 8. I've been here for 2 now. If I continue with my 'good behaviour', they'll take it down to 6. When you leave, I'll still be here for at least 4 years."

Piper breathed out a sigh of relief. She thought that Alex's sentence was much longer so she said as much.

"No, you'll be seeing me sooner than you thought," Alex said with a small smile. "Now please tell me about you? I need to know."

"They did a number of tests when I was in the hospital," Piper began. She paused as she felt tears fill her eyes. "You told me you wanted children with me, remember?" Alex nodded and held onto Piper's hand tighter. "I can't give you them."

Piper then let the tears flow. She hadn't let herself cry yet over it, nor had she cried over her grandmother's illness. Now that she was in a familiar place with her favourite person, she finally let her wall come down. Alex automatically threw her arms around Piper as she cried. She rocked Piper as she cried onto her shoulder murmuring sweet nothings into her ear all the while letting her own tears fall.

Alex comforted Piper as much as she could as she rubbed her back gently until Piper sniffed and pulled away from Alex's embrace.

"They ran a few tests and there was an abnormality," Piper muttered. "They don't know the details fully, I'll have to go to the hospital when I'm out but they basically said that I won't be able to carry children."

After the small conversation about children, Piper had tried to bring the conversation back up but Alex had been reluctant at first but as it was Piper, she soon gave in. They mentioned in passing that Piper should be the one to carry them as she was younger and there were fewer risks if she was the one to do it. So hearing this news obviously changed everything.

Piper looked up at Alex silently begging her to say something. Alex took a deep breath and held Piper's hand tightly. "You know, Pipes, the advantage of being with another woman means that they could carry the baby instead." Alex said slowly. Not quite believing that she'd said it.

"You'd do that for me? For us?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet? I'd do anything for us." Alex couldn't continue as suddenly the blonde's lips were on hers but who was she to complain? Alex kissed Piper back deeply and she couldn't help but smile into the kiss. She hadn't ever thought about having children herself. She'd always imagined it to be Piper who carried them but that couldn't happen now. She was terrified at the prospect but knew if she had Piper by her side, anything was possible. "Even if it means I have to get fat in the process," Alex added when Piper pulled back from the kiss.

"I didn't think it was possible to love someone as much as I love you right now," Piper whispered.

"Why are you whispering?" Alex asked smiling teasingly at Piper.

Piper cocked her head to the side as if to think about it. "I don't know," She replied laughing slightly. It felt good to finally laugh after being so sad. Her emotions were all over the place.

"Silly but I love you too." Alex pulled Piper closer to her and kissed her again. "Let me show you."

Alex broke back from the kiss and started to kiss down Piper's neck to the point where she knew Piper would moan when she sucked there. When Piper did moan, it was music to her ears and Alex couldn't help but smirk. She pulled on the bottom of Piper's shirt and it was gone within seconds along with Piper's bra. Alex cupped Piper's breast gently knowing that Victoria had ruined that sensation for the two of them. In order to avoid Piper panicking, Alex simply kissed the top of each breast before kissing down her stomach. She kissed each of the bruises that were scattered on Piper's stomach from the ordeal she had suffered. She also kissed along the scar on Piper's belly due to having her kidney removed. It amazed Alex how strong and brave her girlfriend was.

As she travelled down, she took Piper's trousers and panties with her. As each inch of skin was revealed, Alex kissed it until she reached Piper's cunt. She could feel how much Piper wanted this so she didn't keep her waiting. She slipped two fingers between her folds and gently started to finger her. She leant up and captured Piper's lips into a lazy kiss as she pressed the pad of her thumb against Piper's clit. Piper leant back from the kiss to moan but tried her best effort to not be too loud as she usually was. She leant back into the kiss as Alex felt the telltale sign of Piper's approaching orgasm.

"Baby," Piper moaned as she rode Alex's hand through her orgasm.

Alex kept up her movement as Piper gently came down from her high before removing her fingers. She licked Piper's juices off them before kissing Piper.

"I want to, believe me but I just can't right now," Piper muttered against Alex lips.

"This was about you, not me," Alex replied. "Come on, let's find Nicky and Lorna. They've been going spare about you too. I know Nicky doesn't always show it, but she loves you."

"Okay." Piper quickly redressed and took Alex's hand. They walked to the rec room but there were no signs of the other couple but Boo was in there with her new meat of the week.

"They're in the dorms," Boo called to Alex and Piper as if reading their minds. Alex thanked her before leading Piper to the dorms. Inside Nicky's cube, Lorna and Nicky were lying on Nicky's bed just muttering to each other.

Alex imitated knocking before saying, "Can we join you?"

Lorna and Nicky looked up and smiled. They welcomed the other couple in and they sat on Norma's bed. Nicky and Lorna sat up but kept their hands linked. They had interrupted Alex and Piper a number of times so they weren't annoyed that they'd finally had a taste of their own medicine. Though secretly they just wanted to be able to spend some time with the other couple and not have to worry about Piper being attacked again. Her enemies were now either dead or in maximum security. However, knowing Piper, she could always end up making another enemy before her time was up in the next month or so.

"Well it's clear that you two have been getting to know each other again," Nicky said to break the ice and make conversation between the four of them.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Alex replied with a wink.

"The problem is, she would," Lorna added. "That's why she asked."

The four of them laughed at Nicky's attempt of hiding her blush behind the pillow. She joking slapped Lorna who poked her in return. For the rest of the night, the four of them simply talked about different things and laughed and joked with each other until it was time for count. Piper relished these moments because when she was with these women, she felt like she wasn't in prison. They could just be a group of friends who were out for a drink in a bar.

oOoOo

The next morning, Fischer approached Piper in the canteen during breakfast. She held a letter in her hand and held it out for Piper to take. "This arrived while you were in the hospital. I kept it so I could make sure you got it. I wasn't on duty to give you it yesterday," Fischer said.

"Thanks," Piper replied and smiled warmly at Fischer and Alex swore she saw Fischer blush.

When Fischer was away, Alex looked at the letter. "You don't look surprised to receive it. Did you know you were getting it?" Alex asked.

"If it's the one I think it is, then yes," Piper replied. "I'll open it later on today."

"Aren't you curious?"

"I know what it's about." Piper put the letter in her pocket as the guards called for the end of breakfast. Instead of waiting for Alex and saying goodbye to her, Piper took her tray and walked with Nicky to work.

"Despite knowing her so well, she can always surprise me," Alex muttered quietly to herself before too going to work.

Nicky and Piper spent the morning in the kitchen fixing one of the freezers as it had broken. It was rather awkward for them with Red not being there. She had given up trying to get the kitchen back and she spent a bit more time with the other older ladies in the prison gardening. After lunch, Piper and Nicky had to go round the prison checking up on different control panels to make sure they were all functioning properly. However, as usual, a fair few were broken.

Due to the fact that everyone else was working, Nicky was able to talk to Piper freely.

"Have you spoken to your lawyer about your job yet?" Nicky asked.

"No," Piper replied as she held her hands out for the screws that Nicky were taking out of the box in front of them. "I need to read the letter that I received this morning before I do."

"Is it about your job?"

"I think so. My mother mentioned it when she visited." Piper then paused as she remembered that day. "Why did you have someone spy on my visitation with my family?"

Nicky had the dignity to look guilty. "I was curious to know if you'd spoken about what you'd be doing when you got out so that I could tell Alex if you left something out."

"I tell her everything," Piper said. She wasn't angry so to speak, more slightly annoyed.

"Except that Casey had continued going after you despite mine and Alex's message," Nicky added.

"Yeah, I heard about that." Piper put her free hand on her hip. "I know you care but you shouldn't have done that."

"It's done and she'd gone. I can honestly promise I won't do that to her again."

Piper rolled her eyes but changed the topic. "I wonder what's for dinner."

They didn't have long to wait as once they returned back to the shack, Luschek told them they could leave. Then there was an hour before dinner was served so Piper took this time to go to the track. She first went to her cube and left a note for Alex saying where she was going so her girlfriend wouldn't start to panic as she usually did.

However, she didn't go to the track to run, she went to sit by a tree and read her letter alone. All she knew was it was something to do with a job. Her mother wasn't that specific. After taking a deep breath, Piper opened the letter and began reading.

_My dear darling Piper,_

_I am ill and I will not be getting better. I also know that you won't be out of that place before I go so this is my goodbye to you. I know your brother will pass your goodbye on to me. Don't worry about that, my sweet girl._

_This letter is different from the others that we have sent. This is what I would have told you when this situation arose but I wish the circumstances were different. Alas they are not._

_What you don't know is my business that I've been in charge of during the last 40 years. It's is a publishing firm under the name of Crawley's. It was started by my father who gave it to me. It is for me to do with it however I please which is why I want to give it to you and not your father. I wouldn't trust him with it. He doesn't understand our love of books. You always wondered how I could always recommend the best books to you when you were younger and now you know._

_As I said, I am gravely ill but I have been able to speak with your lawyer and he has agreed to let my main man, Trevor Becket, train you as an apprentice while you stay in the halfway house when you are finally out of the prison. In reality, he'll be teaching you how to take over the business. You will be in charge but will be able to do whichever job in it that you wish. I know you've had small interest in editing. If only I could be there to help you instead. Perhaps I should have told you about it before. I probably would have but you never needed my help with a job._

_The last section of my letter is this: I love you, Piper, my only granddaughter. I want you to be happy and I know Alex can give you that. I've never seen you so in love then when you've spoken about her and your letters sing with happiness. I want the best for you Piper and I know you'll be able to get it with her._

_All my best for whatever happens and I'll be watching you from wherever I go. All my love,_

_Grandmother_

When Piper finished the letter, she realised that she was crying. Her future was set. She knew about that publishing company as her friend had researched it during college and she knew it was worth many dollars. She was excited at the prospect of starting that job.

Noting the time, Piper realised that the phones would be open and if she walked quickly, she'd get there before there was a huge queue and she was right. There was only the usual weeping woman in the corner so Piper could use a phone straight away, immediately calling her mother.

"Piper, I'm so glad you rang," Her mother greeted after accepting the call but there was sadness in her voice as there had been in Cal's.

"Yes, I just read Grandmother's letter," Piper began but she heard the sob from the other end of the phone, "What's happened?"

"Your grandmother passed away," Carol revealed and Piper felt her heart sink. She'd never get to tell her grandmother about her excitement. "We were about to inform your counsellor about it so you would know. About that letter-"

"It doesn't matter. I'll talk to you about it later," Piper replied trying to keep her tears at bay. "There's a queue, Mom," Piper lied, "I've got to go."

Not waiting for a reply, Piper hung up and quickly returned to her cube. She saw Alex lying on her back with a book in her hand. Disregarding the fact that Alex would be annoyed, Piper took the book out of her hand and place it on the floor after sitting beside her on the bed.

"Piper!" Alex groaned but then she saw the sadness on Piper's face. "What is it?"

"My grandmother has died."


	19. Chapter 19

"_My grandmother has died."_

Automatically, Alex opened her arms wide and Piper welcomed her girlfriend's comforting embrace.

"I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye," Piper muttered against Alex's shoulder as she started to cry quietly.

"She knows how much you loved her and I know that she loved you too," Alex replied rubbing Piper's back softly.

"How?" Piper asked. She sat back and studied Alex's face. Alex sighed and got off her bed. Piper was highly confused as Alex went to her small cupboard, went through a few pieces of paper before selecting one and bringing it back to Piper.

"She wrote to me while you were in the hospital," Alex revealed and handed Piper the letter after sitting back down next to her.

_Dear Alex,_

_We haven't met but we know and care about someone in common: My granddaughter, Piper Chapman. Through Piper, I know all about you: the good, the bad and, I'm afraid, the ugly. _

_I suppose you're wondering why I've written to you and it's because I am extremely ill though I do have enough effort to write this letter to you. I will not be getting better and I need to know that there will be someone to look after Piper and to help her when I'm gone. I know you are that person. Piper loves you ever so much which means that I automatically love you too. She's the most wonderful granddaughter and I'm so glad my son brought her into the world._

_Now, I know you and Piper have had some rough patches but all great love does. I remember hating my husband part way through our marriage, nothing seemed to be going right but one day, he bought me flowers and apologised and I remembered why I loved him and we were good again. You and Piper belong with each other. If in doubt, buy her flowers._

_I know you're currently terribly worried about Piper as she was attacked again, I was told of it yesterday, but I assure you, she will pull through. She is a Chapman, they're made of strong stuff. However, if you get a chance, I want you to intercept a letter for me and make sure that Piper receives it as it contains information about her job when she leaves where you are. I also want you to be a part of it. I know about your love of books too. However, let Piper read the letter and she'll be able to tell you all about it. Everything has been set for when you leave the prison too. It may be sooner than you think too._

_I am going to die very soon and I want you, Alex, to always be there for Piper as you already are because I love her ever so much and she's truly going to need you when I'm gone._

_I'm relying on you._

_Yours,_

_Celeste Chapman_

When Piper stopped reading the letter, she looked up at Alex. "When were you going to tell me about this?" Piper asked gently.

"When you'd received the letter she spoke about," Alex replied. "I'm guessing that's the one Fischer gave you this morning."

Piper nodded, "Yeah, I read it outside earlier." Piper reached into her pocked and brought the letter out. She unfolded it and handed it to Alex to read.

The brunette's eyes scanned the page quickly and she got more excited as she read. "Your grandmother is Celeste Crawley? Did you not know that?" Alex asked.

"No, she's just always been grandmother to me," Piper shrugged, "but I'm so excited for this opportunity! So let's forget about the bookshop idea, we're gonna run a publishing firm!"

"We?" Alex looked up at Piper to make sure she was sure about what she was saying.

"We." Piper nodded and kissed Alex firmly on her lips. She was still ridiculously upset about her grandmother's death but the fact that she'd written to Alex was phenomenal and it made Piper's heart melt. Then she remembered that she couldn't write to her grandmother and thank her. The thought brought tears to her eyes.

Alex pulled Piper onto her lap and started to rub small circles on her back soothingly. She wasn't going to rush Piper through her grieving stage but she hoped that she would be okay soon as Piper only had just over one month left at the prison now. Alex wanted to make the most of it.

oOoOo

Thankfully for everyone, the next day was Sunday which meant no work. Alex and Piper woke as usually and headed to the showers. Unfortunately for Alex, Piper wasn't in the mood and got into another shower instead of showering together as usual. Another thing that was quite unordinary happened after they'd dried themselves down. Normally they'd spend the morning reading before breakfast but Piper stood up and started walking towards the exit of the cube but turned towards where Alex was.

"I'm going to go to the service this morning," Piper said, "I want to say goodbye to Grandmother properly."

"Would you like me to accompany you?" Alex asked from where she was still sitting on her bed. She knew Piper wasn't a fan of religion, nor was she, but she didn't want her to suffer through it alone.

"No, this is something I'd like to do on my own."

Piper then left the cube and headed to the chapel leaving Alex alone but that wasn't for long. Nicky soon turned up holding a couple of chocolate bars. Lorna and Boo weren't that far behind either, both of them carrying something that could be found in commissary.

"We were looking for Chapman," Boo said in explanation as Alex just sat there with a raised eyebrow. "We wanted to help with the grief."

"She's in the chapel," Alex replied with a sigh. "She's saying goodbye to her grandmother."

"Then while she's gone, we should plan something to cheer her up," Nicky decided and told them what she had thought of.

The four of them continued to plot while they waited for Piper to return from the chapel. However, when Piper didn't return after the usual people returned to the cubes before breakfast, Alex left her friends and went in search of her girlfriend.

"I'll meet you guys in the canteen soon," Alex said to them.

Hoping for the best, she went to the chapel to see if Piper was still there. She opened the door slightly and peeked in. The service was indeed finished but there was a blonde headed woman sitting towards the front of the church with her head bowed down. Alex would know that head of hair anywhere so she walked towards her slowly and quietly and when she reached her, she heard what she was saying.

"...I also thank you for writing to Alex, you were right; she is the most important person to me, especially now that you're not here. She'll look after me. I'm glad you're no longer in pain, Grandmother and I love you."

Piper then sat up and took a deep breath before letting it out and looking up. She then stood and began to make her way out of the room when she stopped in her tracks at seeing Alex.

"I started to worry when you didn't come back with everyone else," Alex confessed. "I came to see if you were okay."

"I am actually," Piper replied and walked over to her girlfriend. She wrapped her arms around her tightly and kissed her cheek. "I feel at rest with the situation. Grandmother got to say goodbye to me and I got to say it through prayer. You know I'm not one for religion at all but this one time, it seemed like the right thing to do." Piper then glanced round the room, "Just don't tell the meth heads I said that!"

"Your secret is safe with me, kid," Alex assured her before capturing her lips in a quick kiss but it made Piper want more. "Let's go to breakfast!" Alex pulled herself out of the hug but took Piper's hand to pull her along. However, Piper wasn't having any of that; she pulled Alex's hand back and used her free hand to wrap it around Alex's neck to pull her in for another kiss. This kiss was much deeper but Piper purposely broke it off leaving Alex wanting more this time.

"Now let's go to breakfast," Piper said happily and off to breakfast they went.

When they arrived in the canteen, Lorna pointed them out and Nicky started walking to the breakfast queue despite clearing having her own tray in front of her. Instead of walking straight to the queue as normal, Alex led Piper to their table.

"Sit, I'll be right back," She said before going to join Nicky in the queue.

"What's going on?" Piper asked confused.

"Just you see," Lorna replied with a bright smile as this had been her idea. She'd heard from Alex how Piper liked to be treated when she was sad and this situation called for it.

Piper waited patiently and couldn't help but laugh as after Nicky put her tray in front of her, she bowed. "Is there anything else you'd like, mi lady?" She asked putting on a false, and rather bad, English accent.

"I'm quite alright actually," Piper replied with a chuckle, "But thank you ever so much Miss Nichols."

"It's a pleasure." Nicky bowed again before taking her seat again beside Lorna as Piper fully registered what was on her plate. There was some sort of liquid on her porridge and when she tasted it, it was syrup meaning that Nicky and Alex had to have come up with a deal with the Spanish ladies to provide it as it wasn't usually seen in the canteen.

Piper looked up questioning at Nicky who just winked at tapped the side of her nose. Laughing, Piper shook her head. "I'd rather not know actually."

Alex leant over and kissed Piper on her cheek. "Anything you want today, let us know and it'll happen," Alex said.

"Within reason, obviously," Nicky added.

Piper didn't reply. She didn't quite know what to say so she just smiled gratefully and ate the rest of her breakfast attempting to add to the conversation when she could but found herself lacking.

When she'd finished her food, Piper waited patiently for Alex to finish hers. Due to the fact that she didn't say much, Piper finished her food much quicker than her girlfriend as Alex was participating in at least three conversations with the others at the table. When Alex finally finished, Piper started to stand up and go with her to take their trays away but Alex shook her head. "Allow me." Piper started to complain stating she could take her own tray but Alex had already walked off with them.

"You're not allowed to do anything today, Chapman. Okay?" Nicky said seriously. "You can go back to being Miss Independent tomorrow." Piper rolled her eyes but nodded.

Alex soon returned and held out her hand for Piper to take. Grinning automatically, Piper stood, took Alex's outstretched hand and allowed the brunette to lead her out of the canteen. They soon reached the common room and sat at a table where cards had been set out.

"Care for a game of snap?" Alex asked as they sat down.

"Snap? Really?" Piper scoffed. "Why not poker?" Piper paused and blushed slightly as she remembered the last time the two of them had played poker when they were in South America.

"If Chapman's blushing, I think this is a story that we need to hear," Nicky said after she, Lorna and Boo walked in and had sat in the spare seats around them.

"There's nothing much to tell," Alex shrugged clearly lying.

"You guys are no fun." Nicky frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. She looked at Alex with an attempt of puppy dog eyes. It was an attempt to look cute but it actually disturbed Piper enough to confess.

"Oh okay." Piper put down the cards that she had been shuffling absentmindedly since she sat down and looked at Nicky. "It was our third trip together and we were in South America. Alex had just come back from a meeting and I'd been playing cards to pass the time. Alex decided that she wanted to play a game so we decided to play strip poker as one does. I was horrible at it, Alex had only taught me how to play a few days prior. I was naked before I'd had a chance to even win but I continued to play."

"But it's not like you could have taken off any more clothes?" Lorna said in confusion.

"I was allowed to do anything I wanted to her when I next won," Alex replied, adding information to the story for the first time. Usually, she kept her and Piper's stories secret as she cherished them but she wanted to see Lorna squirm at the idea. "She lost again, obviously, so I went to the freezer and got some ice cubes. The first I rubbed around her nipple. I still don't know why she continued to play but she did so the next I inserted into her pussy." Alex paused and looked up at Piper who was looking away from them all, clearly regretting bringing it up. "After that she gave up and I carried her to our bedroom."

"I got my own back with the ice cubes though," Piper added hoping to gain back some dignity. However, both she and Alex failed to mention that Piper was already handcuffed to the bed before the ice cubes even came into play. They decided to keep that part private as they knew Nicky would get ideas and they'd alright frightened Lorna enough.

Nicky and Boo looked at Alex and Piper and seemed pretty impressed but Lorna was a different story. She looked quite scared, even more so when she saw the raised eyebrow on Nicky's face. Clearly she messy haired girl was gaining ideas. "Don't you even think about it, Nichols!"

"Just you wait," Nicky replied and winked at Lorna who just blushed.

While Nicky and Lorna were having this conversation, Piper took the time to move her chair closer to Alex's so she could whisper into her ear. "You do know I lost on purpose, right?"

"In your dreams," Alex challenged.

"Bring it," Piper said. She moved her chair back to where it was and started to deal out the cards. Nicky and Lorna were brought away from their private conversation as Boo hit them both to get their attention. Nicky started to complain but Boo just nodded at the table before them. Alex and Piper looked serious.

Despite having nothing to bet with, Alex and Piper played competitively. Nicky disappeared for a few seconds but returned a few moments later with paper. She ripped it up and gave Piper and Alex an equal amount.

"They can use them as chips," Nicky explained with a shrug as if it was obvious as Boo had looked at her as if she'd gone mad.

The three of them watched the couple avidly as Piper would bet with the paper but Alex followed just as quickly. Losing patience, Nicky stood up and stood behind Alex to see her cards. She nodded impressed and then went behind Piper to see hers. She nodded again but kept her poker face, not letting anyone guess who had the better cards.

The end of the game came and Alex laid down her cards. "Flush," she said happily. She wasn't too pleased as her cards showed the 10, 9, 8, 7 and 6 of hearts but she thought it was enough against Piper.

"Aww, baby, well done," Piper started to say and Alex's smile started to grow before it turned into an O as she gasped. "But not good enough." Piper finished and laid her cards down showing the Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10 of spades. "Royal flush!"

"What?" Alex sat there in shock as she saw Piper reveal her cards.

"I told you so," Piper said smugly. She collected in all the cards, stood up and held her hand out for Alex to take after she'd walked to her side of the table. "I want my prize."

"What prize?" Alex asked but she quickly shut up and stood up, taking Piper's hand as it dawned on her what Piper wanted. "We'll see you later, guys," Alex called over her shoulder.

"Well fuck me, that was not how I expected today to go at all," Boo said when the other two had left the room completely.

_Hi guys! So some of you guess what was wrong with Piper but don't worry, nothing bad is going to be happening for a while now except for the next chapter when it's finally time for Piper to leave. How is Alex going to cope with it? Like always, keep up with the reviews because I love reading them and again, thanks for the follows/favourites. Love you all! Emss_


	20. Chapter 20

The day finally came when Piper was finally leaving prison to go to the halfway house. Everything had been arranged as Polly had packed Piper some clothes that she would wear when she got there and Cal was on pick up duty to drive her to it. All that was left to do now was for Piper to leave but she couldn't without having her party.

The family had really gone to town in decorating the rec room so that they could celebrate Piper's leaving in style. Alex had focused all her effort into making it a day for Piper to remember and tried to forget the fact that Piper was truly leaving and she wouldn't be able to see her for at least a month. They wouldn't even be able to talk to each other on the phone. Piper wasn't allowed to go back to the prison during her stay at the halfway house and she wasn't allowed to contact anyone there either. All she was allowed was a weekly letter that would be sent.

Alex had stolen Piper for the entire morning and kept her in the chapel where they made love until they were completely exhausted. Boo and Nicky were on guarding duty as usual.

"What am I going to do without you?" Alex asked finally once she'd regained her breath. She and Piper were lying side by side with Alex's arm resting over Piper's body.

"You're going to be fine; it's only a month and there will be letters," Piper assured her and leant forward to kiss her. "We can get through it and then I'll visit you as much as I can. Before you know it, you'll be out too and we'll live together and get married and have babies."

Alex laughed softly at Piper's idealism. "You say it like that's all going to happen."

"I don't want anything different to happen." Piper then sat up, pulling Alex with her. She took both Alex's hands in hers and looked her seriously in the eye. "I don't want anyone else ever again. I love you and I want us to be together until we die. Remember my grandmother's letter though; she said that your time wasn't going to be as long as we thought it was."

"Yeah, but I haven't been told anything," Alex said sadly with a sigh. She wanted that to be true but had no idea if it was even possible. She had no idea how Celeste would have been able to pull it off anyway.

"Just wait." Piper then leant in and just as she was millimetres away from Alex's lips, a voice was heard. It was the same voice that had interrupted them many times before.

"Come along, Chapman," Nicky commanded, "You're gonna miss your own party."

Alex and Piper sighed with the former glaring evilly at Nick and the phrase 'if looks could kill' would be suitable at this moment in time.

"At least she won't be able to do that in the future," Alex grumbled to Piper under her breath.

"Please, you'll miss me," Nicky called back over her shoulder as she led the two of them out of the room. Alex and Piper looked at each other in surprise at how Nicky had even heard what Alex had said. Piper just shook her head and followed Nicky's retreating back.

When they got to the rec room, there were many banners all stating either 'goodbye', 'good luck' or 'we'll miss you'. It made Piper smile to see that she did actually have friend in this place. Poussey then turned on the radio and as if purposefully, Milkshake started to play. Alex looked at Piper devilishly and held out her hand. "Care to dance?" She asked.

"Only if we don't get in trouble," Piper replied and took the outstretched hand.

They started their dance as they had before but made sure not to make it too dirty, hell if Healy was to catch her now it would ruin her. However, that wouldn't be the case as the old homophobic idiot wasn't currently on duty.

The afternoon went on with many different songs being played and everyone dancing. For the entire time, Piper spoke to many people but Alex never let go of her hand. However, when the time came, Piper wished that she never had to let go.

A few hours into the party, Bennett came over to Piper look half sad and yet, half happy. "Chapman, it's time," he said.

Piper nodded and followed him out of the room, Alex's hand still firmly in hers. The family, Taystee, Poussey and Black Cindy all followed her to the visitation room. Piper couldn't yet see Cal but she had a feeling that he was already there waiting for her. It was confirmed when Fischer walked in carrying the clothes Piper had chosen to wear out in her hands.

"Your brother brought these for you," she said kindly and gave them to Piper. "You can change in here." She motioned to the cupboard next to where Piper stood and opened the door for her.

Piper started to walk to the cupboard and Alex automatically followed her. Fischer looked round and when she saw that no other CO was there, she stepped aside and let the two girls go into the room.

"I'm still sure that she crushes on you," Alex whispered when they were inside with the door shut.

"Well whatever it is, I'm glad she's allowed this," Piper replied just as quietly.

Alex helped her take off her khaki uniform despite it not being necessary but both savoured the feeling of being able to touch each other for the last time in a while. However, when they couldn't put it off any longer, Piper redressed into her jeans and jumper and turned to leave the room.

"Wait," Alex said softly making Piper turn around and the blonde was pulled into Alex's embrace. "I love you," Alex whispered and kissed Piper with everything she had to back up her point.

"I love you, too," Piper assured her and regretfully pulled away from the hug and opened the door.

All their friends were still there smiling sadly at her departure.

"Say your goodbyes," Fischer said, not unkindly.

Poussey, Taystee and Black Cindy told Piper that they'd miss her but they wished her look for the future. Taystee even gave her old Bunkie a hug. Next up were Gina, Norma and Red who basically said the same but Red requested that, if she had chance, to visit her shop and see if it was still running.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Boo said and hugged Piper tightly.

"Be good," Lorna said and hugged Piper too and wiped her eye trying, and failing, not to cry. "I'll see you in three months." Lorna had found out a week prior that she'd been given 6 months off her sentence for good behaviour and would be out sooner than they thought. She was ecstatic but Nicky wasn't so much.

Then it was Nicky's turn. The usually bubbly girl was quiet and despite not being one to hug anyone, she walked forward and hugged Piper tightly. "I'll look after her, don't worry," She whispered into Piper's ear and then pulled back. "We'll be seeing you," she said more loudly for everyone to hear.

Then it was finally Alex's turn. "I'll miss you every day and I'll wait for your letters. I love you," She said and pulled Piper in for a tight hug. She then kissed Piper but pulled back as she felt the tears forming at her eyes threaten to fall.

"I'll miss you all," Piper said, "But I'll come back and visit when I can." Piper then looked at Alex, "You'll be out before you know it and I'll be here waiting for you. I love you too."

"Come along then," Fischer said and she had to pull on Piper's arm firmly to get her to move. Piper looked at Alex's beautiful but sad face one last time before turning away and following Fischer.

Once she was out of the room, Piper tried to forget about them so she could have a strong mind when entering the halfway house. She had no idea what those people were going to be like but that didn't matter right now because as soon as she stepped through the door, she saw Cal waiting with a huge grin on his face.

"Piper!" He yelled and ran forward to greet her, pulling her into a huge bear hug. "It's so good to see you. You ready to go?"

"Get me out of here, Cal," Piper requested and Cal nodded. The two started to leave when Fischer called her back.

"Chapman, I mean Piper, there's something you should know," Fischer began, "I can tell you now because you're no longer a prisoner."

Piper turned and looked at Fischer, she didn't look sad so the news couldn't be too bad. "What is it?"

"It's about Vause." This made Piper stiffen immediately. "Your grandmother got in touch with the warden and the police. I don't know how she managed it but Vause only has 6 months left on her sentence before going where you're going now. Healy will tell her sometime soon. I'm not 100% sure when he's planning on telling her; you know what he's like."

"Can't I go tell her now?" Piper asked. She was just looked for an excuse to go back to Alex.

"No can do, I'm afraid. You can't go back in now that you've left," Fischer said sadly.

"But that's great news anyway, thanks Susan," Piper replied and actually smiled at the news.

"We've really gotta go now though," Cal said speaking finally.

Piper bid Fischer goodbye and left the prison. She didn't even look back at the building. For a month, she was free of that place. She just hoped that when she returned, the fact that Alex would be out of there in 6 months, would still be the case.

oOoOo

Piper arrived at the halfway house after an hour's car journey with Cal. She enjoyed the car ride with her brother immensely as he filled her in on what she had missed. She'd missed her grandmother's funeral but Cal had said a speech on her behalf. He also told her that he and Neri were planning on getting married as soon as Piper was out of the halfway house.

The house wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be. It was not very large but it was clean. It had three floors though. When she and Cal got there, Cal was a gentleman and carried her bag. They were met at the door by a tall, tanned woman at the door. She had long dark brown curly hair and she didn't seem to be much older than Piper.

"Hello, you must be Piper," She greeted and Piper nodded. "Welcome to Hallow's halfway house. I'm Denise and I'll be your supervisor while you're here. Let's go through to my office."

Piper and Cal followed her through a small hallway till they reached it. It wasn't huge but it had a computer and desk space. There were also pictures scattered around the room. Piper didn't really look at them though; she was concentrating on the computer and the fact it had internet that she'd had to live without for over a year.

"If you behave, I'll let you surf it for a few hours," Denise said jokingly as she saw Piper eyeing up the computer.

"Well I'll definitely behave now if that's my reward," Piper replied with a small chuckle.

Things turned serious after that as Denise explained what would happen while Piper was there for the month. Every day of the week, she'd wake at 8 and expected to eat breakfast before someone would pick her up for work at 8:30. Cal informed her that it would be a woman called Juliette who worked for Trevor who Piper would be working with as of Monday. Piper would work for the day and then be expected home for 5:30pm. On the weekend, they were free to do what they wanted within reason as long as they stayed in the house or in the garden. Fortunately the garden was rather huge. Visitors were allowed on weekends too.

"I'll take you on a tour of the place now," Denise said and then stood. She showed Piper through to the large living room equipped with a TV. "It gets pretty intense when someone wants to watch something that they've missed while being in prison but there haven't been any fights." She then led Piper through to the kitchen which was well equipped too. "Breakfast is free choice but dinner is cooked by our cook. At weekends, you fend for yourself." Piper nodded thanking her mother for teaching her how to cook.

Denise then led Piper and Cal up the first flight of stairs. There were three bedrooms of two on this floor and one bathroom. The next floor above was the same but Denise walked over to one of the rooms and led the brother and sister inside. Pointing to the far bed, "This is yours. You'll be sharing with Lindsay Callahan. She's lovely but a little intimidating at first." Piper couldn't help but think of a certain bespectacled brunette with a similar description. Just thinking of Alex made Piper's heart pang. "You can leave your bag in here and we'll go back downstairs.

When they got back downstairs, it was finally time for Piper to say goodbye to her brother again.

"Be good, Pipes," Cal said after he'd hugged her. "You'll be fine. Polly will be here to see you on Saturday and you'll be amazing at your new job."

It turned out that her grandmother had informed her brothers about the business after she'd written to Piper. Neither of them minded, Danny had always wanted to be a doctor and Cal had always been into art. It was only Piper who'd had been interested in writing out of the three of them.

"'Bye Cal, have a safe drive," Piper replied and she watched him leave.

When he'd gone, Piper turned round and looked at Denise expectantly. "It's an all women's place and there's a no sex policy," Denise said.

"Don't worry about that," Piper replied with a laugh. "My girlfriend is still in prison but she'll be out soon so it'll be fine. I won't be sleeping with anyone while I'm here."

Denise smiled at Piper's honesty. "I'm sure you'll have been informed about the letter service then if you're writing to someone in prison. It's once a week. It's ridiculous but that's how it is."

"If I were to write my letter today, when would it be sent?" Piper asked.

"Tomorrow but I wouldn't write it yet; you have nothing to say." Piper nodded in agreement and turned to go back upstairs and get herself settled but Denise called her back. "Dinner's at 6," she said before going to her office.

Piper walked back up to her room and took it in. It wasn't huge but it seemed it compared to the size of the cube she'd shared with Alex. Again Piper felt the sadness of being separated from her girlfriend once more and tried to busy herself with unpacking the bag of clothes that Polly had packed. It was also the first time seeing the clothes that her best friend had packed but she trusted her completely.

Unzipping the bag, Piper pulled out a couple of skirts, one black, one beige and one denim, the former two being suitable for work. She then had another pair of jeans along with black trousers, the latter also suitable for working. Piper put all those in one draw. She then had a couple of jumpers and t-shirts. There were also a couple of blouses that would be suitable for working. She put the jumpers and t-shirts in a draw and hung the blouses in the small wardrobe at her side of the room. Workout clothes were also in the bag as Polly knew that Piper liked to workout when she could. Last in the clothes department, there were three dresses that would also be suitable for working. She hung them beside the blouses.

The final things in her bag were her makeup bag that she was so relieved to see and a few pictures. There was one of her and Polly back in college, one of her and her family, one of her and Celeste, one of her and Cal that was taken just before she self surrendered and finally one of her and Alex from Barcelona. It took her by surprise that that picture was there as she knew her best friend still wasn't too pleased at the idea of them being back together.

Piper was overcome by emotions at seeing the picture that she had to sit at the bottom of her bed and just look at it. She felt tears coming to her eyes and she tried to blink them away but it was to no avail. She then started to think about how her new roommate would feel if she was to walk in and the first thing she was met with was Piper crying. However, she didn't have to wonder as her roommate just walked in.

"You must be Piper Chapman," The woman said. Piper looked up at the voice and looked. Lindsay wasn't quite as tanned as Denise and she had deep red hair with a few freckles. She was tall and slim, and by looking at her legs that were on show under her dress, she was a runner too.

"I am," Piper replied.

"I'm Lindsay." Lindsay crossed the room and shook Piper's hand.

"You must think me pathetic crying over a picture," Piper admitted with a small laugh.

Lindsay then looked at the picture over Piper's shoulder. "I don't think you're pathetic. I've cried over Alex Vause before."

_I know I say it a lot but I really am so thankful about all the love I get about this story. Your reviews make my day and give me inspiration to carry on. Please continue to review and I'll keep updating. Love you all, Emss x_


	21. Chapter 21

_I've cried over Alex Vause before._

"You know Alex?" Piper asked completely shocked. She knew that she didn't know everyone single girl Alex had slept with, partially because Alex couldn't remember half of their names, but she never expected to meet another of her exes so soon.

"Yeah, we worked together many years ago," Lindsay replied with a shrug.

"So you were arrested for drugs then?"

Lindsay then looked highly confused and shocked. "No! I had some problem with taxes and some shit. Why you mentioning drugs?"

"That's what Alex was arrested for. I presumed you were in the same cartel," Piper replied quickly. "Sorry!" She added as she realised what she'd said was quite offensive.

"No, it's okay." Lindsay sat down beside Piper on her bed. "Alex and I go quite far back. We were never together but I crushed on her badly. Like I said, we worked together in a fast food restaurant before she left to do something else and everyone knew she was gay so I thought I had a chance but she said, 'I see you as a friend' and it broke my heart, hence why I cried. How do you know her?"

Piper smiled and laughed slightly. "She's my girlfriend. Do you want the long story or the short one?"

"Why not the long one?" Lindsay suggested. "If we're going to be roomies, we should know about each other."

Piper sighed and warned, "It's a really long story,"

Lindsay then looked down at her watch and saw the time was barely five. They had to be downstairs for dinner at six. She looked up at Piper and grinned. "We got time."

oOoOo

At first, Piper thought that she shouldn't tell this stranger her love story but the more she said, the more Lindsay seemed deadly interested in what happened. She barely chipped into the story, only adding a comment like, "Yeah, that sounds like Alex," before shutting up and letting Piper continue her story. When Piper was done, she took a deep breath and looked over to the redhead for her comments.

"You were horrible to each other!" Was the first thing that she said. "But it's so obvious that you love each other. You sound perfect for each other in some twisted way." She then looked down at her watch and was gobsmacked that it was almost time for dinner. "We gotta go, dinner time."

"Okay," Piper replied. She left her photos on her bed and stood to follow Lindsay downstairs. She was terrified to meet everyone else because she knew that not all of them were going to be as nice as Lindsay seemed to be.

Lindsay seemed to sense Piper's nerves and turned round to smile at her. "Just stick with me while you're here and you'll be fine."

So that's what Piper did.

oOoOo

Before Piper knew it, it was 7 o'clock on Monday morning and it was time for her to get ready before breakfast. She didn't need to be up for another hour but she wanted to be prepared and get a shower before the other girls did. The other girls on her floor were called Shelly, Coral, Nancy and Bernadette. Shelly and Coral were in the room next to her and it was obvious that there were hooking up but everyone kept it quiet so that Denise didn't find out. Nancy was a little irritating but Bernadette was the worse. She was terrifying and Piper would swear that she was arrested for murder but when she'd mentioned it to Lindsay, the redhead just laughed and informed the blonde that Bernadette had been arrested for protesting.

Piper showered, savouring the new hot water before returning to her bedroom. She dried herself and put her hair in a towel turban before picking out a dress to wear for her first day of work. Then for the first time in well over a year, she got out her makeup bag and started to apply it. She noticed that the mascara and eyeliner were new due to the fact that her old stuff would have dried out and she noticed a new eye shadow pallet. It was the newest naked pallet by urban decay and she silently thanked Polly for her purchase knowing that it would have been her who bought it.

Just as Piper was finishing her makeup, Lindsay's alarm was going off and she was heading to the shower meaning Piper could finally blow dry her hair without waking her up. Despite it normally being a mundane task, Piper found herself totally excited at the prospect of being able to blow dry her hair. It usually dried bone straight anyway but the fact that it would be dried quickly was amazing.

When Lindsay returned back from the bathroom, she only had a towel on that left little to the imagination and Piper couldn't help but notice it but she quickly looked away and started to style her hair.

"Morning, Piper," Lindsay said happily. It surprised Piper how easily the two of them got on already. She had started to worry that all the women were going to be terrifying but she'd learnt that wasn't the case.

"Morning," Piper replied with a warm smile. "I'm gonna head down to breakfast."

"Wait two minutes and I'll come with you." Lindsay was just putting on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

"Don't you have work today?" Piper asked confused as her outfit was rather informal.

"I woke at the local gym as a fitness instructor," Lindsay replied and motioned to the door. The two then started to walk downstairs to the kitchen. "I'll be out of here in just over a month and I'll go back to running my gym in Brooklyn."

"Which one?"

"Callahan and Keels." Piper then stopped dead. Lindsay turned back to wonder what had happened to the blonde. "You okay?"

"I go there! That's the gym I've gone to for the last like 7 years! But I don't recognise you!" Piper explained and then started to move again.

"I run the pool and the kid sections. My partner, Grace, runs the others."

Piper nodded, she knew Grace well. Piper had started going to that gym after she came back to the States after her break up with Alex. She'd worked out to get over her heart ache. Grace was also the first woman that Piper slept with after her break up. It had taken her a while to build up the courage but she did eventually. Grace was a lovely person but it just wasn't right; she wasn't Alex. Piper stopped going when she found out that she was going to go to prison, she was also guilty at the fact that she was engaged and knew that Grace had some feelings for her. "I know Grace," Piper muttered. "Are you two together?"

"God no." Lindsay laughed. "Just because we're two lesbians working together, it doesn't mean we're together. She's engaged now."

At this point, the two women were in the kitchen and Lindsay had just switched on the kettle. Bernadette and Nancy were sitting at the table with tea and toast. They greeted Lindsay and Piper before going back to their food.

"Oh, I didn't know." Piper then put her own bread in the toaster and was looking in the fridge for some butter and perhaps some jam.

"I know you slept with her," Lindsay said and Piper quickly spun round.

"How?"

"Grace tells me everything." Lindsay shrugged and handed over the strawberry jam to Piper. "She told me about some blonde woman who was completely gorgeous apparently called Piper. It only clicked when you told me that you used to go there and were arrested. She told me that we could be prison buddies when I was arrested but I guess we were in different prisons."

Piper shrugged and turned back to her toast. Fortunately, Shelly and Coral entered the kitchen at that point giggling to each other. Lindsay finally looked away from Piper and started to tease the new comers about what they'd been up to that morning as Denise was either out or not up yet.

The breakfast then passed and Piper found herself checking her watch. It was almost 8:30 so she quickly went upstairs and found her black heeled boots before returning downstairs. She had no idea what her day was going to be like but hoped for the best.

When she was back downstairs, there was a knock on the door. Shelly was closest to the door, so she was the one who opened it. "Hello, I'm here to pick up Piper Chapman," said the woman at the door.

"Chapman, it's for you," Shelly called and then laughed as she realised that Piper was stood behind her making the shout unnecessary.

"Hi, let's go," Juliette said and motioned that Piper should follow her. There was no welcoming smile, it was all business.

"See you later, girl," Shelly said letting Piper past. "And good luck with that one."

As soon as she was outside, Piper felt ridiculously nervous. Juliette reeked of disapproval, annoyance and irritation. She was shorter than Piper with dark brown hair with some gray patches. She was slightly chubby but dressed in a white blouse, black skirt and a black jacket. She walked briskly to the car as it was getting closer to winter.

The car itself was a nice one being a black audi. It was a car Piper wouldn't mind having herself. She made a mental note to check her back account now that she was out. She would check it when she was at work, if she got the chance.

The two women got into the car and Juliette quickly put it into drive and set off. She wasn't the most careful of drivers and it seemed to Piper that she wanted to spend as little time with her as possible. The car journey was awkward as Juliette said nothing so Piper remained just as quiet. However, that all changed when she pulled up in front of a huge building. A valet was stood outside and greeted Juliette a good morning before taking her keys and taking the car to the car park behind the building.

"Which floor is it on?" Piper asked as a tall man walked up towards them.

"It's all of it," Juliette replied. The building had to be 20 floors high. Piper wondered if they had a different floor for each genre of book. She later learned that one floor was the canteen area, another was a gym and the very bottom was a children's area for the staff members who had children and needed the extra help to look after them. The rest of the floors were specific to the business.

The tall man was then in front of them. He looked like he was in his early fifties but like he meant business. He had an air of importance hanging round him but it all seemed to disappear when he smiled brightly at Piper. "Hello, Piper, I'm Trevor Beckett," he greeted and held out his hand which Piper shook immediately.

"It's nice to meet you," she replied.

"Thank you, Juliette," Trevor said, "Meet Piper outside her office at 5 to drive her home."

Juliette nodded and smiled, though it was clearly forced, before heading into the building.

"Shall we?" Trevor motioned for Piper to follow him into the building. He handed her a badge which Piper saw had her name on and the title of company boss but no picture as of yet. "We'll take your picture today to be put on."

Trevor led Piper up to the elevators, passing many people who all greeted Trevor. When in the elevator, Trevor pressed floor 20 which was the highest number. "It is horrible when these are out of order. It makes me glad that I stay in shape," he joked. Piper actually smiled and began to relax for the first time today.

They arrived at the top of the building and the elevator pinged before the doors opened. Trevor stepped aside and let Piper leave first but she then paused and looked around. There were only a few officers this high up.

"If you'll follow me," Trevor said politely and Piper once again started to follow him. He pointed out a few officers but they were just names to Piper though when he pointed out one room Piper almost wanted to back turn and go in. "That's where we spend out coffee breaks but it's not time for that yet," he said knowingly. If Piper was anything like her late grandmother, she would be spending a lot of time in there.

They walked for a few moments longer until there were only two offices left. The name on one read Trevor Becket and the one beside his read Piper Chapman.

"This is mine?" She asked.

"It's all yours," He replied with a bright smile. "Let's have a look inside."

He stepped past Piper and opened the door for her. In the room there was a large mahogany desk fit with a mac on top with a mouse and keyboard just underneath. There was a black notice board on the wall and a filing cabinet in the corner. There was also a large black comfortable looking chair behind the desk and Piper wasted no time in crossing the room and testing the chair.

She looked up at Trevor and saw that he was smiling at her again. For someone who came across so scary, he was ridiculously smiley. "I love it!"

"This was Celeste's office," he revealed and stepped inside. He then took a seat at the opposite side of Piper's desk.

This made Piper smile too. The fact that she was sitting in what was her grandmother's office was an amazing feeling for her.

"Let's get down to business."

oOoOo

As her grandmother had said in her letter, Trevor showed Piper how everything worked. She turned on her mac and saw all the different figures and Trevor explained them all to her. He told her which staff members she needed to look out for as they had caused a few minor problems in the past. He also explained all the different positions in the place and how it all fit together. It was a lot of information for Piper to take but she liked it immensely.

It finally came to lunch and Piper made her way down to the canteen that Trevor had shown her earlier. It was more than just a canteen as there were many different stations depending on what food you wanted and Piper immediately headed over to the burger shack. She wasn't usually a burger person but she was looking forward to real food after being locked up in prison.

When she had her food, she sat down at a table on her own and started to enjoy her food. She ignored all the people that were looking at her. She expected it as she was the new girl, granddaughter of the previous owner and ex convict. She also expected to eat her lunch alone as Trevor had told her that he had a meeting during his lunch break but she was surprised when someone came over to sit with her. He wasn't that tall and a little younger than Piper.

"You must be Piper," he said as he came over. "I'm Tyler, can I join you?"

"By all means," Piper replied and so Tyler sat down. "I'm just glad I'm not alone on the first day."

"I remember my first day and I was sat alone, I didn't think you should be left to fend for yourself after what you've been through."

Piper was sure that he didn't mean anything over it but she just put down her food and looked at him. "Excuse me?"

"I mean with your grandmother dying," he said quickly but he didn't add anything else nor did it look like he was avoiding a topic. It seemed that only Trevor and Juliette seemed to know about Piper being in prison.

"Oh, sorry. Yeah, it's been quite hard. So, what do you do here?" Piper asked.

The rest of the lunch was spent with Tyler informing Piper what he did and others did similar to him. He started as intern a few years ago after studying English Literature like Piper used to do. He then got a job and is now a go between authors and the company. He arranged meetings and organised press events and book launches.

"I'm sort of Bridget Jones before she got sacked for sleeping with the boss. I don't want to sleep with you though," He said and laughed before realising that what he said was rude. "Oh my gosh, that was so rude because you are the new boss and... Fuck."

Piper just laughed at him but it wasn't in an unkind way. "The feeling is mutual. If you'll excuse me," Piper said and stepped away from the table. She got the elevator and went up to her office deciding to write her letter to Alex so it would be sent that evening. She knew that when she got her letter, she could be aware that her sentence was shorter and Piper was so excited to be able to talk about it. However, she kept it out of this letter just in case Healy hadn't told her yet.

She had just finished her letter when Trevor knocked on her office door to tell her that he wanted to see in her in ten minutes. This gave Piper a chance to check her bank balance now that her grandmother's money had been put in and she was incredibly shocked that she now had. She technically never needed to work again but she knew she'd go insane if she didn't. At least she and Alex could still travel across the world now without the drug money. She quickly shut down the page not quite wanting to believe her eyes.

She then went and met Trevor and got her afternoon started. They got round to taking her picture for her badge. Before she knew it, Juliette was collecting her and driving her back to the halfway house. The journey was as silent as the one in the morning and Piper was happy to get away from her when they pulled up outside the house.

Once inside, she headed to Denise's office and handed her the letter with the request of it being posted soon. Denise allowed it and told Piper to get ready for dinner. Once dinner was over, Piper headed upstairs. She and Lindsay discussed how their days had gone but Piper was much more tired than she thought and fell asleep half way through their conversation. Fortunately for Piper, Lindsay didn't seem to hold grudges and just let the blonde sleep.


	22. Chapter 22

Alex had been a mess since Piper had left the prison. She constantly had a blank look on her face as if all the happiness had gone and really, it had. Piper was Alex's happiness and they were no longer together in this hell hole. Try as she might, but some nights, the swirling fog was almost too much. She had a new bunk mate that was just irritating and never shut up. She was like Soso on crack. She didn't know how she would be able to spend another 4 years in this place without Piper. However, that changed when Healy called her into his office a couple of days after Piper had left.

Knocking on the door, Alex walked into Healy's office and sat in front of his desk as she had done so many times before.

"Ah, Vause, I have some good news for you," Healy said and Alex looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Your sentence has been reduced. Don't ask me how they managed it but you're not going to be here for much longer."

"How long?" Alex asked.

"You have six months left," he replied and watched as Alex's smile broke out.

"Are you fucking with me?" It felt too good to be true.

"Not at all, you can leave now and could you sent Nichols in when you find her?" Healy requested.

Alex nodded and then rushed out of the room to find her friend. She found her hanging out just outside the laundry.

"What are you doing here?" Alex asked.

Nicky pointed to the fuse box in front of her. "I'm fixing this again." She then paused and looked at Alex. "You're happy. What's happened? Got a letter from Chapman?"

"No, I'm getting out sooner than later and Healy wants to see you," Alex replied.

"What's he wanna see me for?" Nicky asked.

"I dunno, just go!" Nicky didn't need to be asked twice so she picked her tools and left to go see what Healy wanted. Alex just made her way into the laundry room and would quiz her bushy haired friend at dinner.

oOoOo

Dinner soon came and Alex walked into the canteen and saw the usual crowd around a table. It felt so odd that Piper wasn't already sitting there at the end of the table waiting for Alex to sit next to her. That chair remained empty now but at least Alex had Nicky and Lorna to sit opposite her for the next few months.

As soon as Alex registered that Nicky was indeed sitting at the table, she quickly rushed through the queue and sat down.

"So what did Healy want?" She asked without even saying hello.

"I got less time too but only by a year," Nicky replied. "I don't get how but I'm only here for another year not another two like I thought."

"You'll be able to join me sooner rather than later then," Lorna said and she then leant over to kiss Nicky on her cheek. Nicky blushed at Lorna's show of affection and pushed her girlfriend away but Alex knew that she loved the fact that Lorna was open with who she was and with their relationship.

The three of them were then interrupted as Fischer came over to Alex and gave her a letter. "This came for you while you were with Healy," she explained before leaving.

"It's from Piper!" Alex said excitedly and she felt like this day couldn't get better. She slipped the letter into her pocket and would open it later.

The three of them changed the subject and started talking about random different things. Alex found herself barely participating because she was too excited to read the letter in her pocket. When the meal was over, Alex excused herself and went back to her cube hoping that Lovett, her new Bunkie would be somewhere completely different. She was so pathetic and seemed to want to make Alex attracted to her. She clearly wasn't used to rejection.

Alex was relieved when Lovett wasn't in the cube so Alex sat on her bed and took the letter out of her pocket.

_My darling, beautiful Alex,_

_How I miss you already! It's not been too long and all I can do is think about you, your smile and the look you give me when you see me. It's as if Christmas has come early._

_I'm currently sitting in my new office! It's huge and I have my own desk and everything. I'm the boss, it's so weird to think about. I keep meaning to look at my new bank balance but I haven't quite built up the courage to do it yet. I haven't met many people here yet though which I'm terrified to do but Trevor seems to be okay. The woman driving me to work does not like me though but I don't care._

_My new roomie is someone called Lindsay Callahan. She says you used to work together and she used to crush on you. Is that true? Turns out she runs the gym that I used to go to. She's actually quite lovely and I'm not scared to go to sleep with her in the room._

_This place is so different to prison but I'm looking forward to it being over. I just want my bed now and a TV where I can choose what I want to watch. I'm also desperate for a phone now that I've seen people with theirs. Though I'm being really inconsiderate as you can't have any of these. Jeez I'm a bad girlfriend._

_I hope your new Bunkie isn't too bad but let's hope that you'll be out before we know it._

_I love you, Alex and I cannot wait to see you again when I can finally visit._

_All my love,_

_Your Pipes._

Alex found herself blinking back tears when she finished reading the letter. She always seemed to get emotional when she read Piper's letters. When she read about being out earlier than expected, Alex knew that Piper knew she was getting out earlier than she thought. She just hoped that she would know more than Alex did at the moment.

It did amuse her that Piper's new roomie was Lindsay. Alex could remember her clearly. She was beautiful, talented, funny and not to mention really kind. Alex would have gone there quickly if it hadn't been for the fact that she's just joined the cartel and was about to go on her first flight carrying money when Lindsay finally admitted her feelings. It wasn't often that Alex was the one who admitted her feelings first. Piper had just been special.

After rereading the letter more times than Alex would like to admit, she got down to writing her reply and handing it in to be sent. She hoped that Piper would get it sooner than later. When the letter was safely in Bennett's hand to be sent, she went back to the rec room to spend some time with Nicky, Lorna and Boo. When she got there, Boo looked relieved to no longer being the third wheel.

oOoOo

Piper spent the first week of work getting to know how the business worked and what each department did to benefit the company. However, she spent the Friday in the editing department to get to know what sort of things they did in there. In the afternoon, Trevor introduced her to the top editor and it was a woman called Zoe Hargreaves. She looked about five years older than Piper with similar blonde hair. She had a warm smile so Piper automatically felt welcomed.

Trevor left the two ladies in Zoe's office as he had to get back to work. Zoe sat behind her desk and pointed to the chair opposite for Piper to sit in.

"So Trevor says you're interested in editing?" Zoe said to break the silence that erupted once Trevor had left the room.

"Yeah, it's something I always wanted to look into at some point but never got the chance," Piper replied. "One of my old professors let me read through her work for me to 'edit' so to speak and she said I did well. It made me interested in it."

"Well how about I give you some work I've been sent and we'll go through it together and see if you're cut out for editing," Zoe suggested.

"I'd like that." Piper felt like she was at an interview, when she not only had a job in the business already, but she was the top dog there. Although, saying that would probably come across as rude so she just kept quiet.

Zoe stood and walked over to one of her filing cabinets. She paused in front of it before deciding which draw to open. "I got sent one by an aspiring writer the other day," Zoe informed Piper as she was flicking through the files in the draw. "It was both good and bad simultaneously that I want you to start with it. I can't seem to find it...aha, there it is!"

Piper couldn't help but think how cute Zoe looked when she found it. However, she quickly shook the thought away because Alex's face flashed before her eyes. Piper looked away from the other woman for a second to recollect her thoughts before looking back up. Fortunately for her, Zoe didn't seem to notice anything happen. She returned back to the desk and put the folder in front of them. The name on the front took Piper by surprise.

"Larry Bloom!"

"Do you know him?" Zoe asked. "Maybe it's the wrong one to start with."

"Yeah, I know him but I don't talk to him," Piper replied. "I think it's perfect to start with him." This gave Piper the chance to see if Polly had been right about him writing a story about her.

"Then we'll start with this one," Zoe said with a shrug and opened the file. The two of them then commenced reading. Zoe gave Piper a pad of paper so she could write down her notes that they would discuss later.

As Piper read the work, she had to admit that she did like Larry's writing style, she always had. He was very descriptive but not overly and he had a good way with words. Each word seemed to be picked with deep thought to completely put across the meaning. That's probably what Zoe meant about the good things. However, the actual plot for the story was completely bizarre, which was probably the bad that was mentioned.

Polly had been right when she'd said Larry was writing about a narcissistic blonde. However, this blonde was called Philipa and was the complete doting partner to the main character called Lancelot who spent half of his time writing and the other half being a super hero!

After around two hours of looking through the work, Zoe decided to call a break.

"I'll go get us some coffee and we can go over what we've written when I'm back?" She suggested.

"Sure," Piper replied with a smile and watched her colleague leave the room.

While she was gone, Piper's thoughts started to wander. She had to admit to herself that Zoe was a really attractive woman but then Alex's face flashed up again so Piper decided to distract herself by looking around the office. There were many things pinned onto the notice board. There were posters about book signings and information about different writers who were going to be in the city at some point. Some were circled which Piper took to mean that they were going to come into the office or that Zoe was a fan of them. The last thing Piper noticed was a poster in the bottom corner. It was an LGBT poster with the date of the next pride. It was a few months away and Piper made a mental note to put it in her diary to see if Alex would be out at that point so they could go together.

With her noseying, Piper didn't hear Zoe return. "Admiring my wall?" She asked.

Piper quickly turned and tried not to look guilty, "Just having a look." She quickly walked back over to the desk and accepted the coffee.

"Let's see what you've written then," Zoe said appearing to have forgotten the previous conversation. She picked up Piper's notes and nodded along to them. "You've written almost the same as I have, except you seem to hate the character of Philipa more than I do."

"That's because she based on me," Piper replied with a shrug. When Zoe looked confused, Piper explained a little more. "Larry is my ex-fiancé. I left him for a woman and it seems he hasn't got over that fact so he's decided to write a book slagging me off."

"Well it worked! I know the feeling though." Zoe said the latter quite quietly causing Piper to look up at her. "I was engaged to this man called Jeremy Miles. I thought we were in love but one night, I went out with some friends and met this woman called Grace and all of a sudden, Jeremy just didn't matter. I didn't even think I was gay! It just didn't matter with her. I dumped Jeremy and Grace and I have been together for 3 years."

"I know what you mean, it was like that for me with Alex," Piper said. "I loved her as soon as I met her. I fucked up in the past but we recently met again and everything is almost perfect. Grace who?"

"Keels-" Piper almost chocked on her coffee but managed to keep it down. Grace Keels was the woman who ran the gym with Lindsay. She was also the woman Piper had slept with. Unlike last time, Zoe seemed to notice that something was up with Piper. "Is everything okay, Piper?"

"Oh yeah, I know Grace, that's all," Piper replied quickly and then looked at her watch. It was almost 5. "I've gotta go now, I'm meeting Juliette."

"I think she has to take someone back to a halfway house. I don't know who it is. I feel sorry for her having that job; it must be horrible. What?" Zoe asked when she saw the shocked look on Piper's face.

"You know I'm your boss, right?" Piper questioned. "I'm not some apprentice or someone looking for a job. I'm Piper fucking Chapman, the woman who's taken over Celeste as your boss. I'm the one in the halfway house because I came out of prison less than a week ago because I carried drug money. That halfway house is not bad compared. Also, your fiancé's business partner is there."

"Fuck," Zoe said, more to herself than to Piper. It hadn't clicked at all who Piper was. She just presumed she was looking around the offices to see if she could have a future in writing. Then something else seemed to click. "You're the one that fucked Grace and then left her!"

"You should be glad that I did that, you wouldn't have her otherwise!" Piper didn't mean to shout but this had just got out of control. "I'll be back on Monday and I hope we can go back to being co-workers because I had a fun afternoon. Goodbye." Without waiting for a reply, Piper turned on her heel and walked out of the office and returned to hers.

What had started as a good afternoon had turned into one that was mighty irritating. She thought that Zoe was a lovely person but it turned out she was just a judgemental bitch. The car journey again was silent but Piper wasn't bothered. She now knew that Juliette had been complaining about it but Piper didn't seem to care. Sure, she could sack Juliette if she wanted to but for now, she just wanted to get this month over and done with so she could move into her own apartment and finally go visit Alex.

When she returned to the halfway house, Piper headed to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water before going upstairs to change so she could go for a run in the garden before dinner. However, her plans changed when Denise walked into the kitchen holding a white envelope.

"A letter arrived for you today," she said with a smile and handed the letter to Piper. Piper recognised the handwriting immediately.

"Thank you," she said to Denise before taking her water and going upstairs.

She got to her room and saw that Lindsay wasn't back yet so she lied on her bed and took the letter out of the envelope and started to read.

_My beautiful Piper,_

_I miss you too, so incredibly much. I didn't think it would hit me as hard as it has but I've got Nicky and Lorna so I'm okay._

_You are the boss and you deserve it baby. I'm so proud just thinking about you sitting there and running the place. Just ignore the woman driving you, just think of her as a chauffeur and isn't important to you._

_I do remember Lindsay. She was lovely but um, I don't want to get into it in a letter. I'll tell you when I next see you. I promise. Although, don't lose sleep over it. It's really not important._

_I'm so glad it's different to prison. I hated the fact you were locked up, stupid me. Never think of yourself as a bad girlfriend though; you are not, you're just living both of our lives right now. I want you to have a phone too so I could call you. We can do this though, Pipes, because I got some great news and I know you know what it is._

_I get out in 6 months! I'm all yours in 7! I have to go where you are now but I'll be out so much sooner than we thought and it's all down to your grandmother. No one knows how she did it but she did. I love her even more despite not knowing her. Nicky also has less time._

_My new Bunkie is like Soso on crack, I'm not even kidding. I might set her up with Boo; she seems like the right type._

_I love you too and I can't wait to see you either, kid. It'll be amazing. _

_Forever yours,_

_Al_

Piper reread the letter many times and she was still reading it when Lindsay walked through the door announcing that dinner was ready.

"Alex wrote you back?" She asked as the two of them made their way downstairs.

"Yeah, and she mentioned you," Piper replied.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah but I don't know the story. She'll tell me when I see her."

"Then we'll have to keep in touch because I'm curious."

When Piper first came to the halfway house, she thought that she'd avoid everyone there and stay in her room but she had actually a found a friend in Lindsay already. She looked up at Lindsay and smiled. "You're on."


	23. Chapter 23

When Piper woke the next morning, she was ridiculously relieved that it was Saturday. Not only did she not have work, and therefore didn't need to have an awkward, silent car journey with Juliette, Polly was coming to visit her. She hadn't seen Polly since being in hospital the last time as she'd been busy taking over Popi. Although Piper was happy that she had a new job, she was sad that she'd no longer be working with her friend.

Polly was due to arrive at 11 o' clock and when Piper woke up, it was only nine so she decided to get a quick run in before she showered and made herself look presentable. Polly wouldn't let Piper look sloppy now that she had proper shampoo and makeup. The run was relaxing because the house had a huge garden with a grassy area the size of a football pitch. Piper ran round it for an hour before heading back inside.

She had just finished her breakfast when the doorbell rang. Standing up, Piper headed to the door to answer it but it wasn't Polly who was stood behind it; it was Grace.

"Piper!" Grace gasped when she saw the blonde.

"Hey, Grace," Piper replied and for the first time in a couple of years, she truly looked at Grace. She'd seen her out and about in New York but not up close and personal. She was still slim with a toned body. Her skin was still pale and her hair was still dark brown but it was shorter. The only addition was the ring on her finger. "Come in." Piper stepped to the side to let Grace into the house. "I'll just fetch Lindsay."

"Wait first," Grace requested before Piper could head upstairs. "Zoe told me what happened between the two of you. She wasn't happy that I'd had my heart broken because it made me more reluctant to start another relationship. That's why she flipped on you."

"I'm so sorry about what happened between us, I didn't mean to get your hopes up. I guess it got worse when I continued to go to your gym, huh?"

"Yeah, it was hard enough getting over you in general but then you were sauntering around the place completely sweaty and with barely any clothes on. It was almost as if you were flaunting yourself at me." Grace smiled to show that she wasn't annoyed by it, at least not any more. "Also, Zoe was out most of last week and didn't know that you were the new boss."

"I'm still in shock that I am the boss," Piper revealed and sighed. "I love working there though and I hope that Zoe and I can work together well. I want to be in that department but she has to remember that, though she is the boss of editing, I'm her boss at the end of the day."

"I'll let her know."

Grace then headed into the lounge area, clearly she had been there before and Piper went upstairs to find Lindsay. However, she met the redhead as she was half way up the second staircase.

"Yeah, I know I'm late!" Lindsay said as she rushed past Piper barely registering who she was talking to. Piper hoped that Grace wouldn't say anything about what Zoe had said but she knew that she was Lindsay's best friend so she'd probably tell her anyway.

Piper decided to wait in her room before Polly arrived as it was pointless walking all the way back downstairs when she was almost up. She glanced at her watch and saw that she still had ten minutes to wait before Polly was due to arrive. While waiting, she chose to read over Alex's letter again. She hadn't written back yet because she would surely want to add more before it was sent on Monday. She felt like she might as well wait until Monday before writing the letter.

Glancing back down at her watch, Piper thought it was best to return downstairs so she was there for when Polly arrived. Her best friend would be on edge as it was going to a place where the convicts had been let out. Piper hadn't spoken to Polly to let her know that the halfway house wasn't as scary as they had presumed.

Just as Piper stepped off the bottom step, the doorbell rang again and as she was closest to the door, it was she who opened it again. However, this time, it was the familiar face that she wanted to see.

"Piper!" Polly cried as soon as the door was opened.

"Oh my God, Polly!" The two then rushed forward throwing their arms around them as they went and hugged each other tightly. They could now hug as long as they wanted without a guard yelling at them for it being too long.

"Oh, Pipes, I've missed you!" Polly said as they broke apart.

"I've missed you too," Piper replied. "Come on, I'll get you a drink."

Polly then followed Piper into the kitchen and the blonde got them both a bottle of water each. Piper then sat at the breakfast bar in the kitchen as she didn't want to be in the same room as Lindsay and Grace and it was also too cold to spend a lot of time outside.

"So what's it like here?" Polly asked after taking a sip of her water and joining Piper at the breakfast bar.

"Not as bad as you think," Piper answered. "My room isn't huge but the bed is heaven compared to the one in prison. Yet, I'm so close to just being away from surveillance that I just can't wait for everything to be over."

"Just hold on," Polly said reassuringly squeezing Piper's knee, "You only have 3 weeks left before you're in your uncle's apartment where you'll have constant internet and a phone and everything. I'll even set you up before you're out."

"Oh, Pol." Sometimes, Piper didn't realise how amazing her best friend was. She'd taken her for granted for years but she now knew that she truly was the best friend that a girl could have. "Thanks for everything."

"Don't get soppy, you'd do the same for me."

Piper nodded in agreement and then asked about PoPi. Polly then informed her that she'd decided to give it up and she was going to go back into nursing. She didn't fully enjoy it but she wanted to do something she was comfortable with. Finn was almost one now and Polly trusted the nanny that she'd hired so she felt comfortable going back to work.

With the mention of Finn, Piper suddenly felt sad like she'd never done before when talking about her soon-to-be godson. Polly immediately picked up on that fact and looked at Piper.

"Pipes? What are you keeping from me?" Polly asked gently.

"I was told I can't have kids," Piper replied quietly. "I found out when I was at the hospital last time but they told me that they didn't know the details and couldn't run a full test because that wasn't the reason why I was in the hospital at that point. I'm to go again when I'm out of this place."

"Want me to come with you?"

"If you wouldn't mind."

Piper then started to change the subject but that was put on hold when Polly's phone started to ring. Piper immediately went quiet in case it was Finn's nanny saying that Finn was poorly. However, Polly barely looked at her phone before she started to smile and handed her phone to Piper. "It's for you."

Confused, Piper took the phone off of her best friend and clicked to answer it. However, when she heard the voice informing her that an inmate from Litchfield was ringing her, she couldn't her smile.

She quickly accepted the called and put the phone to her ear. "Alex, baby?"

"Who else would it be?" Came the raspy voice that she was so completely in love with. "Can you believe that Holly and I are finally getting along?"

"I'd believe it more if you said her name right," Piper replied with a laugh. She looked up at Polly who just rolled her eyes. "I got your letter! You were right; I did know that you were getting out early. Fischer told me just after I left."

"I knew it! I can't believe I'll be out of here in six months and we'll be fully reunited in less than seven!"

They spoke for a few minutes with Alex catching Piper up on what had happened in the prison recently with Nicky also getting out sooner and Alex had successfully hooked her new Bunkie, Lovett up with Boo. Boo was actually rather happy with a new partner but it was now Alex who was the lone wolf in the prison.

Piper then told Alex about her week at work but she left out the conversation with Zoe. She didn't want to say it over the phone, however, it wasn't ridiculously important in general.

"Listen, kid, I've gotta go," Alex said reluctantly after their fifteen minute phone call. "I love you."

"I love you too, Al. Bye!"

Alex then hung up and Piper handed the phone back to Polly. "Are you going to explain to me how that came to be?" Piper asked. The last time she knew, Polly still wasn't pleased about her relationship with her previous ex.

"It was when she called Cal when you were in the hospital," Polly replied. "I made me truly realise that she did love you and that she wasn't just looking for a fuck while you were in prison together. I still don't like what she did to you or the fact that she was awful to me when we first met but I'm willing to forgive her because, for the most part, she did look after you in there when I couldn't."

"That still doesn't explain how she got your number."

"I went to visit her last weekend after you'd left. She wrote to me asking if I would. I was reluctant at first." Polly then paused to laugh at something. "The look on Bell's face when I walked in and said that I was visiting her was hilarious. Clearly she'd overheard my dislike of her. Anyway, I went and she asked if she could call me when I came to visit you so you'd be able to talk to each other. She misses you and loves you so I'm not going to be the bitchy best friend who stands in the way of true love."

"You're the best!" Piper said and jumped off her stool to hug Polly tightly. Realising the time, Piper decided to cook something up for them because it was getting close to 1pm and they were getting pretty hungry. Piper cooked her specialty of pasta bolognaise and the two of them stayed in the kitchen a little longer to eat it.

The two best friends then decided to move into the lounge because you can only sit on tall buffets for so long before your butt goes numb. Luckily for Piper, Lindsay and Grace were no longer in the room and all the other girls weren't in there.

Piper told Polly more about being in the halfway house. She said that there were six bedrooms but one of them was Denise's so the house could fit ten women in but at the moment, there were only the six of them that were on Piper's floor. Piper told Polly a brief description about each of the girls but she went into a little bit more detail about Lindsay. She told her that she knew Alex and used to crush on her. Polly didn't find that surprising; she was as straight as they come but she could at least admit that Alex was an attractive woman.

Finally it seemed that it was the time for Polly to leave. It was getting close to four and Polly needed to get home to let the nanny off as she'd been there a long time.

"You'll be out before you know it!" Polly said as she hugged Piper tightly. "I'll be back in two weeks as Cal's coming this weekend with Neri!"

"I'm both excited and terrified to meet her," Piper replied with a laugh.

"She's great. Bye, Pipes."

"Bye."

Polly reluctantly left the house but she waved as she stepped through the door. Piper watched through the window as her best friend drove away. Strangely, Piper felt as if a little part of her had left with Polly. She realised as she walked upstairs that Polly was also a way to contact her girlfriend and with Polly leaving, that contact with Alex also disappeared.

When Piper got upstairs, she noticed that Lindsay was in her room reading a book. The book was lowered when Piper walked into the room and Piper realised that Lindsay had been told what had happened between Zoe and Piper.

"Grace is really sorry about Zoe, you know," Lindsay said. "Zoe can be a pain but she's good at her job."

Piper realised that Grace maybe thought that Piper may sack Zoe for being rude to her. "I know and I look forward to working with her. It's just the fact that she slagged off this place. I get the fact that it has negative connotations but she shouldn't have been so rude. I mean, her fiancé's best friend is here!"

"Zoe didn't know that," Lindsay said slowly. She wasn't annoyed that Piper had slipped out the truth, she and Grace should have told Zoe but then again, being outed wasn't fun. "She just thought I'd gone away on an extended trip. Technically Grace should have been arrested too because it was about the company but I took the blame because she's getting married and I didn't wanna fuck it up for her."

"You're a really good friend," Piper replied. "I would probably do that for Polly too but fortunately, that situation has never and will never arise."

"Everything is out in the open now, I thank you."

Piper didn't know whether or not to feel guilty but she went with not feeling it. It wasn't her fault that Zoe didn't know all of the facts. She would just have to talk to the blonde when she was back at work on Monday.

oOoOo

Monday soon came around and it was completely different from the first week from the offset as Juliette actually spoke to her in the car!

"So Zoe said to me that she let slip that I'd been complaining about this," Juliette said. She kept her eyes on the road and didn't even glance to the side to see Piper's reaction. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have."

"You know I didn't kill anyone, right?" Piper asked. "And I didn't attempt to or hurt anyone. I simply got on a plane with a bag of drug money. It was illegal but I didn't really do anything that bad. Your judgement wasn't necessary."

"Oh, I wasn't aware of what you'd done. I was just told the basics of you went to prison and were now in a halfway house," Juliette replied. She at least had the decency to look guilty. "Like I said, I'm sorry."

Piper didn't bother replying as there was nothing to be said. She didn't care what Juliette thought really, she was just an employee, or as Alex had called it, her chauffeur. When the two arrived at work, Piper left Juliette's company quickly and headed to her office. Again, there was something unusual as Zoe was standing outside her office when obviously, that had never been the case before.

"Zoe, can I help you?" Piper asked as she approached her office.

"I wanted to apologise and thank you," Zoe replied.

Piper nodded and walked past her, opening her office door and entering it. "Come inside."

oOoOo

By lunch, Piper was exhausted. She'd spent part of her morning with Zoe with the other woman apologising about what had happened on the Friday. Piper forgave her easily saying that what was done was done because she just wanted to forget about it and continue working with Zoe because she truly wanted to learn about editing and she liked the woman's company. The reason why Piper only spent part of her morning with Zoe was because Larry was coming in to discuss his book idea with her and Piper didn't want to be there. She'd had to make Zoe promise not to mention that Piper was even working there let alone looked as his work.

So when lunch came, Piper welcomed it. She went to the canteen as usual and decided today on getting pizza instead of the burgers she'd been leaning towards the previous week. She usually spent her lunch alone but she didn't mind. She actually preferred it as her lunch with Tyler the last week had actually put her off getting to know some of the lower staff.

What she hadn't expected when sitting down in the canteen was to see Larry again. It hadn't occurred to her that he could stay and eat lunch before going back home after his meeting. He'd actually want to eat something as a pick-me-up because she knew his meeting wasn't going to go well. She was just leaving when she saw him and she tried to walk away before he could register that it was her but she should have known that wouldn't be the case. The two of them had been together for six years so he'd obviously be able to recognise her anywhere.

"Piper!" He called and rushed over to her. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"I work here," she replied and shrugged. "My grandmother was the big boss so I work here now."

"Oh, I was just with the main editor; I'm writing a book," he said answering the question that Piper hadn't asked as she already knew the answer. "What job are you doing?"

"Just this and that." There was no way that Piper was going to tell him that she was the big boss.

"Well now you're out, do you fancy getting a drink some time?" He asked.

"I can't, I'm in the halfway house. I have a curfew." _I also don't want to_, she added in her head.

"Well when you're out of there then. I miss you, Pipes, I want to give us another go, come on," Larry almost pleaded. "I know you want it too."

At this, Piper scoffed. She didn't mean to but it just came out. "I don't want to give us another go and I don't miss you either. I'm sorry, Larry. Just because I'm out of prison doesn't mean that Alex and I aren't together anymore."

"She's not going to be out for ages though, come on! She won't mind, it'll just be me getting even." Piper realised that this moment that she had no idea who this man was in front of her. Gone was the funny, kind man she fell in love with. He was replaced by a jealous, pathetic man.

"Fuck you, Larry," Piper cried finally getting angry. "We're never getting back together and I'm going to go upstairs and tell Zoe to burn your work. Crawley's isn't having anything to do with you!"

"Oh yeah? Like you can go to the senior editor and get her to do that," Larry taunted. "You just do 'this and that'!"

"I lied, I'm the boss here and whatever I say goes. Goodbye, Larry and get out!" Piper stormed off and left her ex standing her looking both impressed and angry. However, she didn't care. As soon as she got to her office, she called down to tell security to remove him and to never let him back in. She emailed Zoe to destroy his book and Piper got rid of his records on the computer.


	24. Chapter 24

Almost three weeks later, Piper was in her room in the halfway house going through her draws and taking the clothes out. She was packing all of her belongings back into the bag that she'd brought with her as it was finally time for her to leave. Lindsay watched her with sad eyes. Piper knew that she was both jealous that she wasn't leaving and sad at the fact that Piper was leaving as the two of them had gotten quite close.

After Piper had had the run in with Larry those few weeks ago, she'd spent that evening crying on her bed. Lindsay had come in to see Piper crying and did her best to comfort the blonde she barely knew. Piper found herself telling Lindsay everything between her and Larry. Lindsay didn't judge and just kept rubbing Piper's back until the blonde had stopped crying.

"Have you got everything?" Lindsay asked from where she was sitting on her bed watching Piper.

"Yeah, I think so," Piper replied. "If I've left anything, you can have it!"

Lindsay laughed and the two of them headed downstairs. The rest of the girls were there to bid Piper goodbye as Cal was stood in the kitchen with Neri. When Neri had come with Cal the other week, she and Piper had gotten on like a house on fire, just swapping the crazy stories they had about Cal. Despite his initial reluctance to let the two of them meet, he was glad they had as Piper told him how happy she was to see her baby brother so happy himself.

"Ready, Pipes?" Cal asked as Piper walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah!"

"Thank you for abiding by all the rules here," Denise said to Piper. "And good luck and don't come back!" She laughed at her own joke but she truly meant it. She didn't want Piper to be back as someone staying there. As well as she got on with most of the people who stayed there, Denise never wanted to them to return.

All the girls said their goodbyes and then went back to doing whatever they were doing before until it was just Neri, Cal, Piper and Lindsay in the hallway.

"I'll write to you and we'll get together when you're out. Yeah?" Piper said to Lindsay.

"Of course," Lindsay replied and she hugged Piper tightly.

"It won't be long!" Piper whispered into Lindsay's ear as they hugged. She then pulled back and followed her brother and soon-to-be sister in law out of the house and to their car.

Once in the car, Piper finally relaxed. She no longer had a curfew and no one was watching her at points during the day. She would be able to catch the subway to work and not see Juliette on a morning again. She would also be able to have her own phone that Alex could call whenever she wanted and she would finally be able to visit Alex and see her again. It had been a long month in that aspect as she just wanted to see her girlfriend.

Before Piper knew, Cal pulled up to their uncle's apartment that was now Piper's. Cal took her bag and swapped it with a set of keys. One for the front door of the building, one for the door to her actual apartment which was on the first floor and the last was for the balcony off the master bedroom. Piper took the keys off of her brother and opened the doors.

When she was inside, she saw that it was still furnished but it was modern. The door opened into a large hallway and the first door to the left was the living room. It wasn't too cluttered though with 2 leather sofas and chair in the living room. There was a huge TV in the far corner and a bookshelf filled with all of her books that was close to the entrance. It was now that Piper started to see the similarity in taste that she had with her uncle. The walls were also a pale yellow which complemented the brown furniture.

"You go get familiar with the apartment again and I'll put the kettle on!" Cal suggested so Piper did just that.

The living room had a couple of doors coming off it. Cal walked through one which clearly led to the kitchen and Neri stepped through another and Piper assumed that was the toilet as she said she needed it in the car. Piper then headed out of the living room, going back to the hall where there were a number of doors. Piper went through the first and saw that it was the office. There was a large desk that had recent mac computer on the centre and a set of draws. Piper peeked in them but they were empty, she wasn't quite sure what she'd fill them with but she knew she'd find something eventually.

After the office, the next room was a bedroom with a single bed and Piper knew that she'd be persuading Polly to let her look after Finn and that he'd be able to stay over when Polly and Pete needed an evening to themselves. Next to the spare room, there was the main bathroom with a bath, shower and sink before Piper went into the last room which she was happy to see was the master bedroom.

It was fit with a large king sized bed and an en suite that had both a bath and a shower. It was also stocked with her favourite products with shampoo, conditioner, moisturiser and body wash etc. It was also fit with bath mats, shower curtain and towels. Piper went back into the room. There was a large wardrobe that was already full of Piper's clothes and a chest of draws that was also full. Piper realised that when Alex was finally out, she'd have to buy another wardrobe or just move apartments. She knew it would be the latter as the pair of them were used to having a walk in wardrobe. With Piper's money, she knew that buying an apartment wouldn't be a problem.

The last thing she looked at was the view from the balcony. She opened the doors with the key in her hand before stepping out. The view was lovely and she couldn't wait to see how it looked in the dark when all the lights were on.

She'd just stepped back inside when Cal called her saying the drinks were ready so she went back through the apartment and into the kitchen. There were also cookies on the table and Piper realised that the fridge and freezer must be stocked too.

"So who moved me in?" Piper asked as she sipped on her coffee and picked up a cookie.

"It was all of us," Neri replied. "Polly and Carol went food shopping and bathroom shopping because they know what you like and Cal, your dad and I unpacked all of the clothes."

"Dad helped?"

"Yeah and he'll be here later tonight. He says that he's gonna be here at six and he's taking you out to dinner," Cal said and Piper was both happy and terrified. She couldn't wait to see her dad but she was annoyed that he'd never visited her in prison.

oOoOo

Cal and Neri had left after they'd drank their drinks which was about four in the afternoon. It gave her two hours before her father would be at her apartment. Not too sure what to do, Piper decided to take a shower because she loved them. She could finally just relax with the warm spray and use the familiar products that she loved. She used the time to think about Alex and the excitement built up as she'd be able to see her in less than a week.

When the shower was over, Piper dried herself down and moisturised before getting dressed in a knee length pale blue dress that her father would approve of. She dried and straightened her hair before applying a thin layer of makeup. Glancing up at the clock, she saw that she still had just under an hour to wait before Bill turned up so Piper decided to write to her girlfriend. Piper had received Alex's last letter just before she left the halfway house so she decided to reread it before she wrote back.

_Dear my perfect Piper,_

_You get to leave soon which means that you can visit me in a week! I don't think I've ever been so excited for visitation. Usually it's just one of my cousins who sees me once a month._

_I'm so glad that you're enjoying work especially in the editing department. As for what I'm going to do there once I'm out, I have no idea. I feel like I'm more of a reader than a publisher or editor but I'm sure I'll figure it out at some point._

_Life here is getting interesting. Nicky and Lorna are going through a small rough patch with Lorna leaving soon. Just watching it is heartbreaking because it's so obvious that they love each other. You'll support Lorna when she's out right? I'll do my best to help Nicky when Lorna's gone._

_I can't wait to see you, Pipes and I love you._

_Ever yours,_

_Al_

Piper always seemed to tear up at Alex's letters and she was too sure why but guessed it was to do with the fact that Alex always said that she loved her. Those three words were seldom said when they were first together. Even though Alex had been the first one to utter those three words between them, she rarely said them first afterwards. After they started to fight, it became 'you know I love you, right?' and Piper would say that she knew and that she loved Alex too. Yet now it was different; Alex was always saying she loved Piper and Piper would never hesitate to return the love because it was there and even deeper than it had been before.

Piper read the letter as she walked from her room to the office where she presumed there would be paper and she was correct. The desk had a three draws either side. Again, she wasn't sure what she'd fill all of them with as the bottom ones on either side were empty but Piper presumed that she'd hide food in there. Cal was known to ransack her cupboards when he came to visit.

In the top left draw there was a stack of paper along with a couple of empty notepads and in the top left there was a selection of stationary. In the middle draw on the left was an array of envelopes. Piper was again filled with happiness that her family had done this for her because the envelopes wouldn't have been put there by her uncle who didn't do anything that contained paper, preferring to text, call or email whoever he needed.

With the paper and pen, Piper began to write her letter.

_My amazing Alex!_

_I'm sat in my new office room in my apartment so it's official that I'm completely out of prison and won't be going back! Well I will to visit you but that's different. I can't wait to see you this weekend. I wish I could come sooner but I couldn't make it today. I'm currently writing this letter while waiting for my dad to pick me up to take me to dinner. I'm both excited to see him and nervous. I have no idea how it's going to be. _

_The apartment it amazing but when you're out, we'll go apartment shopping and find one that suits us. There isn't enough room in the bedroom for all of our clothes, there's just enough to fit mine!_

_I'll be there every step of the way when we're at work and I'm sure you'll find something you want to do. If not, then I've got enough to support us forever. _

_Of course I'll be there to look after Lorna when she's out! If I remember correctly, I can let her stay with me until she finds a place to go. There's a spare room here. Tell her about that for me and I'll contact her lawyer if that's needed. It's horrible to hear that she and Nicky are having a rough patch. Knock their heads together. That should sort them out. It'd also be amusing to watch. You know they like their drama. They'll be fine!_

_I cannot wait to see you either. I've already called to say that I'm visiting this weekend. I can't wait to see Bell's face when I walk back in. I'll give you my new number when I get it. I'm itching to get my hands on a phone simply so I can answer your calls whenever. The bonus of being the boss means I can do that and they can't complain!_

_It won't be long til Saturday, my love and I'll see you then._

_I love you too,_

_Your Pipes_

Piper had just finished her letter when there was a knock on her door. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was ten minutes to six. It didn't surprise her that her father was early though. Standing up, she made her way to the door with her heart beating rapidly but it died down immediately when she opened the door to see her dad.

"Daddy!" She cried and ran forward to hug him. Bill Chapman opened his arms wide and accepted the hug from his daughter with a slight laugh.

"Oh, Pipes, I've missed you!" He said when Piper pulled back. "I've bought you some things for your return." He then bent over and picked up a bag that he'd placed on the floor when he'd realised that Piper would hug him.

"Dad, you didn't need to!" Piper shook her head but then stepped to the side to let her father in. "Follow me."

Piper led her father into the lounge and sat down. Bill passed over the bag which Piper opened and looked into immediate and gasped at what she saw. Everything was from apple and she saw that her father had bought her a new iPad, mac book and the new iPhone.

"Your mother said that Polly was going to set up your phone but I'd already bought it and done it," Bill revealed as Piper opened the box to get at the phone. "I put in all of your old contacts except for the dickhead."

"Dickhead?" Piper asked. She could guess who it was but wasn't fully sure.

"Larry Bloom of course." Bill looked down at his watch and stood back up. "We've got to go or we'll lose our reservations."

Piper stood and followed her father out of the apartment locking up behind her before walking to her dad's car that was parked just outside. Bill opened the door for Piper before going round to his side and getting into the driver's seat. Once their belts were on, Bill started the ignition and drove to the restaurant.

As they got closer to the restaurant, Piper realised it was the one where she used to go when her dad took her out for their rare father-daughter meals out. They didn't happen often but Piper always loved them.

Once they were inside, Bill gave his name and they were led to a table in the back. Before Piper could even decide what she wanted to drink, her dad had already asked for a pint of coke and a bottle of house red.

"I don't think that's too wise," Piper said once the waiter had gone.

"Why?" Bill asked.

"I've not drank if over a year and I'm a lightweight as it is," Piper replied with a small laugh.

"I'm sure they'll let us take the bottle with us when we're finished."

For the rest of the night, they spoke about family, though little was said about her mother, and about work. Bill was still a lawyer and her mother was still a stay at home wife. Piper thought that her dad would be jealous about her taking over her grandmother's company but he actually seemed really happy that she got it. They even talked about Alex. Not too much but she was mentioned a little.

The only thing they didn't speak about was Piper's sentence. Her father had seemed to completely forget about the fact that her father had never visited her in prison. He'd even told her that he missed her. So just as they were finishing their desert, Piper thought it was best to mention it because she thought it was better to get it out before it was too late.

"Daddy, why did you never visit me?" Piper asked quietly.

Bill didn't reply at first, he just finished his cheesecake but then he looked up from it and looked Piper in the eye. "I didn't want to see you like that. You're my baby girl and I love you. It was horrible to even think about you being in there with those sort of people, excluding your Alex and the friends you made obviously. I thought if I didn't see you then it wasn't real. I'm sorry, Piper, but that's the honest truth."

"I believe you," Piper said and sighed. "I thought it would be something like that. I love you too though, Daddy."

Bill then paid the bill and drove Piper home. "Thanks for tonight and thanks for the gifts. I don't know what I'd do without you," Piper said as she got out of the car.

Piper reached out and hugged her father. "I love you, Piper and I'll be there for you no matter what now," Bill promised and he turned to leave.

Piper let her dad go before going back inside her apartment. She decided that she'd sort out her new phone with a glass of wine as she'd only drank one glass when she was at the restaurant so she still had the bottle. However, when she turned on her phone, which she'd left on charge before going out, she remembered that her dad had already set it all up for her. She then realised that she no longer had to wait to find out her new number so she looked it up on the phone and added it as a PS on end of the letter to Alex which she would post on her way to work on Monday knowing it was too late to post now and post men didn't work on Sundays.

When that was done, she decided she'd ring Polly who as normal, answered after two rings.

"Hello?" Piper chuckled quietly at the cautious tone of her best friend. She hadn't thought that Polly wouldn't have this number.

"Hey, Pol, it's Piper! My dad hooked me up!"

For the rest of that night, Piper chatted along with Polly and the two decided that Polly was going to be coming over tomorrow and she was bringing Finn with her. Piper couldn't wait to finally meet him so she was able to go to sleep happy.

_Hey guys. Thank you all so much for the continued support. It amazes me that you all love my story. I really love writing it. I can't believe it's well pass 100 reviews now. That's just amazing. I have no idea how long it's going to be but that's the best part about it. There will be things that I write that you don't like but I hope other things make up for it. As always, keep the reviews, follows and favourite coming and I'll update as often as I can. Thanks again, Emss x_


	25. Chapter 25

After waking up and showering, Piper spent her morning cleaning the already spotless apartment and made a list of all the things that she still needed. At the moment, she craved photo frames so she could put the photos up that she had. She especially wanted a picture of Alex that she could put by the side of her bed so that she was the first and last thing she saw on a day.

The reason for Piper's obsessive cleaning was because she wanted to make a good impression on Finn despite the fact that he was still really only a baby. She'd already missed so much of his life and she definitely didn't want it to be over yet if something went wrong today.

Glancing up at the clock, she realised that Polly would be over soon so she put on the kettle and waited for her to arrive. Moments later, there was a knock on the apartment door. Piper almost ran to her door before opening it wide and, by doing so, she revealed her best friend who was holding the cutest looking little boy ever.

"Polly! Come on in," Piper said in greeting.

"Shush, not too loud," Polly cautioned. "I don't want him to wake up just yet."

"Sorry," Piper whispered and stepped aside so Polly could enter the apartment. "Want a coffee?"

"I'd love one!"

Polly followed Piper into the kitchen but Piper couldn't help but keep turning round to see the sleeping baby. He was the perfect combination of Polly and Pete with Polly's dark hair and Pete's nose. Obviously she couldn't see his eyes as they were shut.

Piper reboiled the kettle and sorted out her and Polly's coffees to their preferred tastes, remembering to add a little vanilla shot into Polly's. Once the coffees were done, Piper brought her attention back to the little boy in front of her.

"Can I hold him?" Piper asked.

"Sure, it'll give my arms a rest," Polly replied and she told Piper how to hold her hands before she gave her the little boy. After a few minutes, Piper started to sway slightly side to side and murmured quietly to the little boy. "You're such a natural at this. It took me ages to be fully relaxed with him."

"I've always been the more maternal one between us," Piper said without looking away from Finn who was starting to wake up.

Usually, Finn would start fussing to go back to his parents when he woke in someone else's arms but that was not the case here at all. He just blinked a few times and looked up at Piper. He reached out one of his hands and wrapped it in Piper's hair that had fallen from behind her ear. He didn't pull on it either, he just held it.

"I know." Polly then took her phone out of her pocket and snapped a quick picture of the two of them. "Talking about babies, have you booked your appointment at the doctors yet?"

"No, it wasn't on the top of my to do list actually. I'll do it when I have a break tomorrow."

The two best friends then took their coffees and the baby through to the living room and started to talk about work and a number of different things including how Piper was settling in to her new apartment so far.

Polly eventually took Finn back when he started to get fussy but when he wouldn't calm down, the two of them decided to call it a day and ad agreed to meet up again soon.

After that, Piper was once again left alone. She supposed the only thing prison had one up on as the fact that people were never alone if they didn't want to be. With not knowing what else to do, she sat in her living room and spent the entire afternoon binge watching the L Word on Netflix.

oOoOo

The next morning, Piper woke up at 8 due to the fact that she now lived closer to her work and would be getting the subway there instead of being picked up by Juliette who she hoped she'd never have to see again. The work place was big enough for them to never bump into each other and Piper was thankful that Juliette's office was a few floors lower than hers.

With having more time in the morning, Piper showered slowly and spent a while getting ready. She didn't need to take such a long time putting her makeup on and doing her hair but if she had plenty of time, she'd take her time with those tasks.

Once those tasks were out of the way and she got dressed into a pale pink blouse and black skirt, she headed to the kitchen to make her breakfast of cereal washed down with orange juice before grabbing her bag, phone, keys and her letter.

The walk to the subway was only short, even with having to make the slight detour to the closest post box to send her letter to Alex, so she got to work sooner rather than later and didn't need to spend much time in the autumn air.

Piper had been working at Crawley's for a month now and she still barely knew any of the staff as she usually kept to her office but she's had to take part in a few meetings. She found the majority of the work rather tedious and wished that she didn't have to come in all of the time. The truth was that it actually wasn't necessary for her to be in the office every week day but she just had nothing else to do. However, she knew that everything would be ridiculously different in six months when Alex was released. She'd actually already started planning where she wanted to go when she was out. At the top of her list was Paris because that place held such negative memories for the both of them that she craved desperately to right her wrongs. She could only do that by going back.

Finally she was brought out of her thoughts when someone called her name.

Piper looked up at the sound of her name and saw Zoe standing by the door. Whenever Piper thought about Alex, her thoughts were so filled up and she was so distracted she paid no attention to what was going on around her. She'd been in her office for half an hour and still not turned on her computer or gone for her morning coffee. Because of that, Zoe had gotten a little worried that her boss hadn't come into work so she'd knocked and peeked into Piper's office.

"Good morning, Zoe!" Piper said with a slight shake of her head. She quickly turned on her computer to fake actually doing some work. "Can I help you?"

"I was just checking that you were in," Zoe replied. "I didn't see you for our morning coffee!"

Despite the slightly rocky start, Zoe and Piper had actually quickly become good friends as they found that they had similar things in common. For one, they both grew up in Connecticut and had both attended Smiths University studying English. Zoe's office was on the same floor as Piper's so they bumped into regularly in the small kitchen. The two had subconsciously made it a habit to get their morning coffee at the same time.

"Sorry, I think I've left my head back at my apartment. How about I make it up to you and buy you lunch?" Piper suggested.

"Perfect." Zoe then started to leave but turned back around as she remembered something. "Larry Bloom rang again this morning requesting that I still work with him. Is it time to involve the police for harassment?"

"Are you able to block his number?" Piper asked. She'd been true to her word when she was told Larry about cutting off his connection at Crawley's because she didn't want him near her or anything to do with her. He hadn't quite understood that though. "Ask one of the techies if they know what to do."

"Right, I'll see you at 12 for lunch then." Zoe smiled before leaving the office.

Now that the computer was finally switched on and running, Piper checked her emails and her agenda for the day. She had the usual emails informing her about deadlines but there was one that she wasn't expecting. She almost deleted it immediately because it was from . Piper didn't know how long she sat there staring at it before she finally clicked on it. The email wasn't long but it was honest.

_Piper,_

_I'm sorry for everything I've done in the past because that was stupid. I'm stupid but I was so upset that you chose to go back to her but I get it now. I've started going to therapy after our disagreement at your work place. My therapist said that if I love you, I've got to let you go and be happy. You are happy with Alex. I realise that now but I was just so madly in love with you that I was blinded to that fact._

_We were together for six years though, that's the only thing that bothers me. I don't want to go from friends, to lovers, to fiancés to just nothing. I don't want to not have you in my life completely. I completely respect your wish of not getting back together; I've come to terms with that and realise that I don't want that either. I just miss the easy friendship and the playful banter we had. _

_Finally, please don't let you company throw away my story. I get that it isn't the best but I need the help to finally get my name out there as a writer. You know how much I love it. I need this book, Piper. I'm asking for your help as the boss of a publishing firm and as hopefully, a friend._

_Larry._

_P.S I got your email form one of the lower staff called Tyler. Don't sack him for it. I lied so that I could get it._

Piper released a deep sigh when she finished the email. She was happy that Larry had decided to get therapy because he needed it. It also made her happy that he finally accepted her and Alex being a couple and that he no longer wanted to get back together with her. She actually sort of felt the same. She didn't know if she could just cut him out of life after he'd been there for the last six years. It had been so painful for her getting rid of Alex that she didn't know if she could do that with someone again. There was no way that they would be friends again immediately but she didn't think it was a bad thing if they were in the same building as each other.

She decided that she wouldn't make her decision until after she'd spoken to Zoe about it. She'd had a slightly similar problem when she ended her relationship before getting with Grace. So with that decision made, she saved the email into her 'deal with this later' folder and looked at her agenda. She had a meeting set in the afternoon with the editing department and was actually glad that she had lunch plans with Zoe so she could be briefed on what was going to happen in that meeting.

Deciding that there was nothing else better to do, she finally rang up the doctors and booked an appointment for the following week. She wanted to discuss things with Alex before anything happened. With the call out of the way, Piper started to do some paper work that she'd been putting off since the previous week.

Lunch finally came around but Piper was still working through the paper work and hadn't noticed the time. It was only when Zoe knocked on the door and peeked into the room again that Piper paused from her work.

"Piper, it's 12:20? Are you standing me up?" Zoe asked laughing.

"Fuck, sorry," Piper replied quickly as she glanced at her watch and saw that she was indeed 20 minutes late.

"It's okay, I'll just pick something more expensive for lunch," Zoe replied, still laughing slightly. Piper could also have sworn that she saw the older woman wink at her.

Piper stood up from behind her desk and grabbed her purse before walking towards the door. "Let's go!"

As they walk to the canteen, Piper thought it best to tell Zoe about the email she received and Zoe nodded saying that she received something similar from Jeremy. "I think it's a pride thing for guys. I mean, it's gotta be a little embarrassing if they lose their woman to another woman. It's not quite as bad if it was another man because they could compare dicks and stuff but they can't do that with a woman."

Piper hadn't thought about it like that because she didn't really see people as being men and women, she just saw the person and felt the attraction for the person they were, not for the body part.

"As for letting him back here, that's up to you. Though I personally wouldn't want to work with him with what he did to you. I'd pass it on to one of my junior members."

Shrugging, Piper said, "I suppose. What do you want to eat?" They were now in the middle of all the different stalls and Piper was eyeing the pizza stall again because they had a Hawaiian pizza that was just to die for.

Zoe's eyes hadn't left Piper's face since she went into her office and she clearly saw that the blonde was wanting pizza. "Seeing as you're drooling over pizza, I'll have a ham and mushroom one."

"Okay, I'll get the food and drinks and you grab us a table," Piper said and she'd already walked over to the counter before Zoe could reply.

Zoe had no idea what it was about the blonde that had her so captivated; she was nothing like Grace or Jeremy but that seemed to be the case with her. For one, both of her previous exes had been brunettes and Piper was a blonde, never before had Zoe been attracted to a blonde. There was just something about Piper that she couldn't put her finger on and that thought scared her.

Piper wasn't at the counter for long as all she had to do was order their pizzas and drinks. She then realised that she hadn't asked what drink the other blondes wanted so she went with her instinct and got two ice teas. While she was away from the other woman, Piper started to analyse the situation. First things first, Zoe was a very talented, funny and beautiful woman. She'd done nothing but make Piper feel at ease since starting to work there and she was immediately sorry when they had their mishap and had apologised multiple times since. Piper also enjoyed spending time with her because they clicked.

However, the both of them had to not let what could possibly happen, happen. First off, Zoe was engaged! Not only that, but Piper was, well used to be, friends with her fiancé and had previously slept with her too. Then there was Alex. Alex loved Piper immensely and Piper could never betray that again because she knew Alex wouldn't be able to cope with it.

Piper was taken out of her thoughts as she had just reached the table where Zoe was sitting but it was clear that the other woman was thinking about something similar as she was sat with her deep thinking face on that Piper had seen when they were working on someone's book together.

"Earth to Zoe!" Piper said jokingly as she sat down opposite her. She handed he her pizza and drink before tucking into her own.

"Sorry, I just got thinking," Zoe replied. "Thanks for the tea, it's my favourite!"

"My instinct was right then," Piper said. "What's happening in today's meeting then?" Piper thought it was best to change the topic to something work related so the two of them could stop thinking about bad things.

oOoOo

When lunch was over, Piper and Zoe headed to the meeting room. The meeting fortunately wasn't long and Piper soon found herself back in her office, swamped with paper work and a huge headache from constant working. She decided then to pick up her phone and text Polly.

**From Piper to Polly: I have a huge problem! Coffee at mine tonight?**

Piper wasn't expecting Polly to reply quickly as the brunette was now back at work and she wasn't allowed to have her phone on her at the hospital. However, Piper seemed to get lucky as Polly must have been on a break and therefore able to text her back quickly.

**From Polly to Piper: Of course, I'll be there at seven. Need Pete to be home to look after Finn!**

If it was any other problem, Piper would have said to bring the baby but she felt like she would be shouting so it wouldn't be wise for the baby to be in the room. It also gave her a chance to tell Polly about Larry's email.

oOoOo

Polly and Piper were sat on Piper's sofa. Piper had lit candles to try and calm her down and there was soft music playing in the background but nothing was helping her. She'd just filed Polly in on both the Larry situation and the Zoe situation.

"Trust you Pipes, you've been out of prison for a month and you're already causing problems," Polly said and sighed. "For the situation with Larry, I think you and Alex need to discuss it before you do anything. She has a right to know if you're going to continue having your ex in your life. I agree with you though, you were great friends before you got together. You might be able to get that back but I don't know." Polly then took a long drink out of her coffee before putting on the table. "As for this Zoe situation, you need to talk to her. Lay your feelings out and then agree that nothing can happen and that you should just remain friends and colleagues. From what you've said, you're great friends already but she's almost married and you're practically married."

"What?" Piper asked suddenly interrupting Polly's monologue. "Alex and I aren't practically married."

"Not in that sense but you don't ever plan on breaking up or being without each other," Polly replied as if it was obvious. "You're even thinking about kids, hence practically married. Anyway, don't do anything with this Zoe because you've broken Alex's heart once before, you cannot do it again!"

"I hate it when you're right," Piper said and sighed. "Talking about kids though, my appointment's next week."

"I'll be there."

_Hey guys, thanks again for everything. Just wanted to say good luck to all the UK A level students whose exam results come out tomorrow. I'm so terrified for mine! Reviews will really help cheer me up if I don't get what I need. Thank you, Emss x_


	26. Chapter 26

Polly had given Piper a lot to think about the night before so Piper decided to set the ball rolling. She needed to talk to Zoe but she didn't want it to be when they were at work. So when Piper got to work in the morning, she remembered to go get her morning coffee so that Zoe wouldn't take it upon herself to come see her in her office.

When Piper entered the mini kitchen, she saw Zoe stood in the corner humming to herself. Piper found the sight rather adorable and was tempted to record it to show at the next staff meeting. She eventually decided against it and greeted the other woman professionally. "Good morning, Zoe!"

Zoe span round from where she was standing to see who was stood there and she automatically grinned at seeing Piper. "Morning, boss!"

Piper decided then to put her plan in action while there was only the two of them. "Do you wanna go out for a drink after work tonight?" Piper asked. "So we can de-stress."

"Sure that'd be great," Zoe answered without even pausing to think about it, "I know a great place near here."

"Meet me outside my office when you're done for the day," Piper replied. Piper then changed the subject asking how one of Zoe's apprentices was dealing with the new rules they'd set in the meeting yesterday while she made her coffee before going to her office.

With that out of the way, Piper headed to her office and started to fill out the last of the paper work that she hadn't finished the day before. It was tedious work and she was sure she could get someone to do it for her but it gave something to do to pass the time and she was able to learn about the business more this way.

During the morning, she kept her thoughts on her work and not on her colleagues, including one in particular. She even decided to take an early lunch and eat it in her own office so that she didn't have to see anyone that day. However, that soon changed when there was a knock on her door part way though the afternoon.

"Come in," Piper called and Trevor walked in. "Hello Trevor, how can I help?"

Trevor walked further into the office and motioned for someone to follow him in. Piper had no idea who the other gentleman was. He was older than Trevor and balding desperately.

"Piper, this is Edgar Cummings," Trevor said indicating the man stood next to him. "He says he is the lawyer of one of your friends, a Miss Lorna Morello, and he'd like to discuss some things with you regarding her."

Piper gathered that Alex had received her letter saying that she would let Lorna stay at her apartment once she was out of prison as she didn't need to go to a halfway house like Piper had.

"Hello," Piper said and stood up to shake Edgar's hand. "I'd be happy to discuss Lorna with you."

"I'll leave you to it," Trevor said and quietly backed out of the office.

Piper didn't know what this meeting was going to entail, she also wished he'd rang and spoken to her on the phone to set this up instead of just dropping in like this. She hadn't had time to fully research the pros and cons of having Lorna to live with her.

"Let's just get this done quickly," Edgar started. "I know you're a very busy woman Miss Chapman." He laid the files he had on the table and picked up the top one. "Miss Morello will be released in just under two months now and she originally registered to go back to living with her family. However, she has recently rang me to change it so that she is living with you. That's perfectly fine as you're not on probation or living in a halfway house. The only problem is what job is she going to once she is out. Clearly she can't go back to what she was doing before prison."

"She can work here," Piper said quickly. "She'd be perfect in the PR department. She's confident and she can never shut up. She'll be perfect."

"Are you sure, you don't want to fill your work place up with criminals?" Edgar asked.

"Ex-criminals," Piper corrected him. "As one myself, I do not mind. My girlfriend will be working here when she is out and if our friend, Nicky, wants to work here then she can. I will help my friends out here because they helped me so much when I was arrested. I'll even pick Lorna up from the prison." Heaven knows Lorna did her fair share of driving Piper around while she was in prison. Piper then made a mental note to buy herself a car at some point soon so she'd be able to do that.

"Then I guess everything is in order," Edgar said as it was clear that Piper wasn't going to change her mind about it. "Here's the paperwork." He gave Piper a few different pieces of Paper and told her where she needed to sign. He took half of them and left Piper with the other half. "Thank you, Miss Chapman and have a good day."

Edgar saw himself out of the office and Piper sighed with relief once he was gone. She had barely started writing again when there was another knock on her door. "Come in!" Piper almost shouted but managed to calm her voice just enough. Heaven forbid if it was one of the apprentices who were simply doing a small job for their boss; it would scare them to death. Fortunately it was only Zoe. She was wearing her coat and had he bag in her hand.

"You ready to go?" She asked.

Piper looked at her watch and saw that it was five. She hadn't realised how long she'd been working before Edgar came, or how long the meeting with Edgar had actually gone on for.

"I'm not actually," Piper replied. "I've got at least two more documents to read through before I can go. I got interrupted."

"Come on, do them tomorrow," Zoe said. "I'll buy the first two rounds!"

That was an offer that Piper couldn't refuse. She quickly saved what she was working on and left a note on her desk where she was up to. She stood and grabbed all of her things together before following Zoe out of the door and out of the building.

When they were out of the building, Piper followed Zoe for a couple of blocks before she was led to a modern bar. The place wasn't tacky at all and when they stepped it, it certainly wasn't empty.

"Hey Zoe!" The barmaid called when the two stepped in. "What can I get you?"

"I'll have a margarita," She replied and looked at Piper.

"I'll have the same actually," Piper said and slightly cringed as the two blondes had yet another thing in common.

The barmaid made their drinks quickly and Zoe paid before the two of them found a small booth to sit in where it was a little quieter so they could talk.

"I wouldn't have pegged you as a margarita drinker," Zoe murmured after they sat down.

Piper took a drink before she replied. She coughed slightly as it was much stronger than she remembered and knew that her next drink would have to be a soft one so she didn't end up on the floor. Alex had always teased her about being a lightweight and when you added the fact that Piper hadn't had a lot of alcohol in a while, it seemed that there could be trouble.

"It's my drink," Piper replied.

"Really?" Zoe asked and Piper realised that she must have registered why Piper coughed.

"You really need to stop forgetting I was in prison for over a year." Piper laughed at Zoe's guilty face. "I've had less than a bottle of wine and a little bit of hooch in just over a year. Lemme get used to it again."

"I'm sorry; you just really don't seem like the girl who's come out of prison. You seem too pure somehow."

Piper couldn't help but laugh at that because she knew she was anything but. She was also starting to feel a little light headed already and she'd only drank half of her glass so far.

The two decided to talk about work but it was how Zoe had started working there and had climbed up the ladder to become the chief editor.

"I started as an apprentice years ago and was a natural. I love what I do and it showed in my work. I was able to help the writers and give them advice and reason with them. I could always back up why I'd taken out a part or adapted parts. I've never been the one for the limelight, I've just want to help."

Piper then excused herself to go to the bathroom. Throughout the conversation she'd slowly made her way through her glass and was starting to feel her head go a little cloudy but she was okay. She reasoned with herself that she would just get Zoe to buy her lemonade or something. However, when Piper returned, she saw that Zoe had ordered two more margaritas so it was rude to ask for something else, right? Piper didn't care and started to drink her drink. It also didn't help that she was drinking on an empty stomach.

"So what's the real reason you wanted to go for a drink with me tonight?" Zoe asked. She wasn't affected by the alcohol at all but she knew that Piper was and she was going to use it to get the answers that she wanted from her boss.

"Because we needed to talk where nosey ears can't hear," Piper replied. "I don't know what this is," she motioned between them, "and I don't like where it's going. I'm in a relationship and you're engaged. We shouldn't be doing this."

"But we are," Zoe said simply. "You can feel the attraction as well. Why don't we just give into it?" As Zoe said it, she slipped closer to where Piper was sitting and placed her hand on Piper's thigh.

Piper tried to take control of the situation but the alcohol wasn't allowing that. Piper felt like she needed a drink and, forgetting that her margarita wasn't lemonade as she momentarily thought it was, she took a huge drink. She immediately regretted it as soon as it hit the back of the throat.

"I can't!" Piper cried and attempted to pull away.

"Pipes," that was a new one for Zoe, she hadn't called her it before but she liked how it rolled off her tongue. "Just let go."

Zoe moved her hand slightly further up Piper's leg and placed her other on Piper's neck. Subconsciously Piper leant in and finally gave in to her letting Zoe finally kiss her. As soon as Zoe's lips were on hers, Piper felt herself kissing back even though she wasn't meant to and she definitely wasn't supposed to enjoy it! However, it all came to a crashing end when Piper's phone started to buzz in her pocket.

Suddenly Piper was brought back to reality and she quickly pulled back from Zoe. She took her phone out of pocket and felt even worse.

"Ignore it," Zoe requested.

"I can't, I'm sorry, I have to take this. I'll be right back," Piper said before rushing out of the bar so she could hear the person on the phone.

She quickly accepted the called and put it to her ear. "Hello!"

"Hey, baby! Welcome back to the world of phones," Alex said on the other end of the line.

"Thanks," Piper replied. "Did Lorna tell you that I saw her lawyer today? It's official that we're going to be living together. Only for a little though. She should be gone before you're out because that'd be super awkward if she was still living with me when you're out because we'll be fucking all the time." Piper knew that she was rambling on and she also knew that Alex knew that it was a sign that she'd had alcohol.

"Pipes, are you drunk?" Alex asked. She didn't care about Lorna right now just because she knew how Piper got when she was drunk. She became incredibly flirty. The amount of times she'd had to drag Piper away from strangers in bars when they were together was unreal.

"I've only had two margaritas, I'm perfectly okay!"

"Isn't it a little cold for a margarita?" Alex laughed quietly as she could almost hear Piper's eye roll. "I'm kidding. I don't like you being drunk when I'm not there. I know what you're like."

Piper felt even guiltier now but tired not to let it show in her voice. "I'm just out with a work friend. It's fine but I'm gonna go because it's fucking freezing. Call me tomorrow and I'll be seeing you on Saturday. I can't fucking wait!"

"I can't either. Thanks for helping Lorna, she really appreciates it. I love you, Piper."

"I love you too, babe. Bye!" Piper then hung up and put her phone into her pocket before returning inside.

When she got to the table, she saw that there was another round and another person sitting at the table. Just to make Piper feel even worse, Grace was sitting where she was minutes ago.

"Hey, did the phone call go okay?" Zoe asked. She was sitting in the same place and Grace had her hand on her leg as if to show that Zoe was with her.

"Um no, I've gotta go," Piper lied. "It was my brother. His power is out and wants to know if he can come over so I need to get home."

"Have a safe journey," Grace said. "I'm sorry you can't stay."

"It's fine, I'll see you tomorrow, Zoe and it was nice to see you again, Grace."

Piper then ran out of the club and walked to the closest substation and going home. It was late and she wasn't in the mood to cook so she ordered a Chinese and sat in front of her TV eating her feelings and trying not to remember the kiss.

oOoOo

The next morning, Piper decided to go for a run before work to clear her head as she was slightly hung over. With that she mistimed timed her run and ended up being an hour late for work; she'd forgotten to allow the time to shower after it. It wasn't like her boss was going to yell at her for being late.

Once she was at work and had put everything in her office, she remembered that she needed to go speak to the head of the PR office and tell her about Lorna. It also gave her a reason to not be in her office for Zoe to go find her. She headed out her office and got into the elevator to go down to the publicity offices to go speak with Gretchen.

Piper got to her office and knocked before being told to go in.

"Hey, Piper! How can I help?" Gretchen asked.

"My friend is coming out of prison in two months and her lawyer came to see me yesterday asking if I could give her a job," Piper replied. "She's not the brightest bulb but I believe she can learn. She's ridiculously friendly and kind and she can talk for America."

"So you said she'll be working in my department," Gretchen said nodding. "That's fine. When she's out, let her come in and I'll interview her. However, if she isn't up to par, she'll have to go."

"That's understandable," Piper said. "Thanks so much. I'll email you all the details when they come through."

Gretchen nodded and went back to her work. Piper took this as a dismissal and left the office. She walked back to the elevator slowly and pressed the button to call it. It soon arrived and she stepped in. She pressed her floor number and the doors began to shut but an arm caught it at last minute. Automatically Piper began to ask what floor when she saw that it was Zoe. Zoe's office was on her floor so it wasn't necessary.

Tension was obvious between them. It was a mixture of awkward and sexual. Piper was just thankful that there was no one else in there with them to notice it.

Neither of them said anything for the short ride. It was only as the doors opened and Piper quickly left it that Zoe broke the silence. "Piper, can we talk?"

"I don't think that's wise," Piper said and turned to walk to her office but Zoe wasn't taking that as an answer and grabbed onto Piper's hand.

"Please?"

Sighing, Piper nodded and led the two of them to her office. Piper perched on the end of her desk and waited for Zoe to say something but she suddenly seemed to lose her nerve so Piper started. "It wasn't my brother on the phone, it was my girlfriend."

"I thought so," Zoe replied. She was stood near the door in case she needed a quick getaway. "Listen, Piper, I am so sorry about last night. I know I shouldn't have got you drunk but I needed to know if you did return my messed up feelings and that I wasn't just imagining it."

"You weren't." When Piper said that, Zoe decided that it was okay to move further into the room. She perched next to Piper but looked at the floor. Piper then decided to try and lighten up the situation. "You know, my friend Nicky would love all of this. 'Dyke drama' as she calls it is her favourite thing."

Zoe laughed at that. "I'm so pathetic. I'm 40! I shouldn't be getting into this sort of thing," Zoe said with a sigh.

"I guess I'm just too cute to resist," Piper joked with a wink. "I want to be friends, Zoe, we have so much in common but at the end of the day, I'm in love with Alex and I always will be. She's my person you know? I don't know if Grace is yours, I hope she is, but I definitely know that Alex is mine."

Zoe was quiet for a few minutes before speaking again. "Grace is my person, I think. I do really want to marry her, she's just been a little distant at the moment and it was nice getting someone new to look at."

"Well now I'm old news and we're friends so it's all good," Piper said and she stood to go behind her desk.

"Okay, friend," Zoe said laughing. "Can I ask for one more favour and we can forget this ever happened?" Piper looked up and slowly nodded. "Can I kiss you one more time?"

"I don't think that is the most sensible thing to do," Piper decided taking a seat behind her desk. "So I'm going to say no to it. Right, time to go back to work; I'm not paying you to flirt with the boss."

"Aye, aye, captain," Zoe replied with a mock salute.

Zoe then left the office with a smile that Piper returned. She would have to tell Alex about it soon but she couldn't do it this Saturday. She regretted what she felt for Zoe but she knew that it was all over now. Finally, Piper sat down at her desk and finished the paperwork that she'd been working on since Monday.

_Hi guys! I hope you don't hate me! As always thanks for the reviews and remember to keep them coming. Thanks also for wishing me luck with results. It must have worked as I succeeded in passing all of my exams and I'll be starting university at the end of September! With that being said, I hope that I get this story finished before then so that I can keep with the somewhat regular updates. Thanks again everyone and don't forget to tell me what you think might happen in a review. Love you all, Emss :) x_


	27. Chapter 27

Alex had been counting down the days until Piper could finally visit her. Prison was lonely without her as Lorna and Nicky had got over whatever it was between them and were spending as much time together as they could before Lorna left. Alex couldn't even complain about it to Boo as she was usually off with Lovett who had become the new Mrs Boo. This left Alex rather alone and she found herself in the corner of the library just spending time with the books for the first couple of weeks while Piper was in the halfway house.

She craved for Saturdays when she could call Cal or Polly so she could spend fifteen minutes talking to Piper. She knew that none of the COs actually checked what people were saying apart from Fischer but she knew that Fischer wouldn't tell anyone.

The week that Piper was moving into her own apartment, a new inmate joined the prison and had been taken into the family and she was friends with Nicky on the outside. She was called Elise Russet and like many girls had before, she'd taken a fancy to Alex. Nicky had told her that she was unavailable but that didn't stop her. She was originally working with Nicky in electric but somehow she got herself moved to working in the laundry room with Alex.

Alex found that she didn't mind working in laundry when all the meth heads had been taken out of it but now that Russet was working with her, she was starting to get irritated by it again. When Alex finished a load, she'd look up and see that Russet was looking at her again.

"Russet, will you do your fucking work?" Alex asked.

"Sorry, I just get distracted by your beauty," Russet replied with a wink but she did start folding the clothes up that had just been taken out of the dryer.

Alex rolled her eyes and sighed at Russet's comment trying not to let it go to her head. With Piper not being there, she was missing the intimacy and sex that they had together. She was also never complemented. So when Russet would say things like that, Alex had to control herself because she couldn't do anything because of Piper.

When Alex received Piper's letter that contained Piper's phone number, she all but ran to Healy's office to add it to her calling list. When he finally allowed it, there was a long line at the phones and she was told that she couldn't join it as phoning time would end before she would be able to use it. Incredibly annoyed, Alex went to find Lorna to pass on the good news.

"Oh my gosh, really?" Lorna had asked when Alex told her what Piper said.

"Yeah, read it for yourself." Alex gave Lorna the letter so she could read it. Lorna then rushed off to Healy so that he could contact Lorna's lawyer to set the ball rolling.

That evening, Alex made sure that she was stood by the phones so that she could use it first which she was able to do. She was finally able to ring Piper's number and have her answer the phone without needed to talk to Polly or Cal first. Despite it being the evening and Piper could be eating her evening meal, Alex thought that Piper would pick up her phone much quicker than she had. It was almost at the last ring when Piper finally picked it up. Alex could hear the background noise of people talking and laughing when Piper started to ramble on, it was easy to figured out that Piper was at a bar and had had a few drinks.

When Piper cut the call short, Alex was hurt. She let Piper go but couldn't help feeling upset that her excuse had been because it was cold. Something had happened but she wasn't sure what it was.

In her moment of sadness, Russet happened to walk past Alex and as usual, she flashed her a wink. Clearly not thinking straight, Alex called her back, grabbed her hand and led her to the chapel.

oOoOo

It was Thursday lunch time and Piper realised that she had no way of actually getting to the prison this coming Saturday as she still hadn't sorted out a car for herself. She had a place to park it by her apartment so that wasn't the problem and she also had money for many cars. Her problem was that she knew nothing about cars. She'd always just driven whatever her dad had given her in the past but he'd taken her car away after she'd been arrested as she didn't need it.

With that thought, she rang her dad and told him her dilemma.

"I sold your car, I'm afraid, Pipes," Bill said. "I haven't had the time to get you a new one to replace it. When do you need one for?"

"This Saturday," Piper replied. "I'm going to visit Alex."

"Leave it with me, Pipes and you'll have a car outside you're apartment before the end of the day," Bill said. "I'll get them to post the keys and I'll fill out all the forms."

"Thanks Daddy!"

Bill then hung up the phone and Piper couldn't help but laugh at the situation. Deciding she was hungry, she grabbed her purse and went to the canteen. She spotted Zoe sitting with a few others from the editing department and one she'd got her lunch, which today was a Greek salad and a bottle of water, she joined them.

Zoe smiled as Piper sat next to her. It was no longer awkward between them and they'd easily gone back into the being the easy friends they were before.

"Hey, Piper," Zoe greeted. "What you grinning at?"

"My dad's buying me a car today," Piper replied, still quite dazed at the idea of it all. "He just said to leave it with him and I'll have a car outside my apartment when I get home."

"I wish my dad did that for me," said Veronica. She was Zoe's second in command in the editing department. "I've had to buy every car I've ever had."

"My dad's just making up for all the mistakes he's done in the past," Piper said.

The rest of their lunch was spent talking about all the different cars they'd had between them and which car Piper would love to have waiting for her. She said that she didn't really mind as long as it was safe and black.

The lunch hour soon ended and the group headed to the elevators to go back to work. Everyone bar Piper and Zoe got out at floor which was where the main editing officers were and Piper and Zoe remained until they were at floor 20.

"Are you looking forward to seeing Alex this weekend?" Zoe asked when they got out.

"Yes and no," Piper replied. "The idea of going back to that place is horrible but I just want to see Alex." Piper's phone then started to ring and after taking out of her pocket, Piper say that it was Litchfield calling. "Speak of the devil," Piper muttered and accepted the call. She walked towards her office waving goodbye to Zoe as she walked.

"Piper?" Alex asked as Piper hadn't actually greeted Alex yet.

"Yeah, hey baby! I was just talking about you," Piper replied.

"You were?"

"Yeah, my co-worker asked me if I was excited to see you this weekend and I am. My dad's even getting a car so I can drive to see you!" Piper said excitedly. "I really can't wait to see you, baby!"

"I can't wait to see you either," Alex said quietly.

"Al, what's happened?" Piper asked. Usually Alex was so bubbly when they were on the phone but she seemed somewhat nervous today.

"Nothing's happened, just really missing you."

"I miss you too baby, but it's less than 48 hours now until we're reunited. I'll even try and sneak a kiss!" Piper finally smiled when she heard Alex laugh at that.

"I hope you do."

They continued to speak about different things until Alex said that she had to get back to work. Piper sighed sadly but agreed that she also had things to do.

"I love you, Al, and I'll see you Saturday," Piper said.

"Bye, kid," Alex replied and hung up.

Piper took note that she didn't return her love. Maybe Piper was just reading too much into it. Perhaps Alex was just annoyed at the brief call the other day when Piper was drunk. Whatever it was, she hoped it passed soon.

oOoOo

It was Friday and work had just ended for the day. Alex was sitting in her cube reading a book as she had been doing the past week as she was avoiding everyone, especially Russet after what had happened on Tuesday. Obviously she couldn't avoid her when they were working but Alex had been stern with her saying that it could and would never happen again and that she was caught at a moment of weakness. This meant that she'd only seen Nicky when they were at meal times.

Alex had threated Russet that she wasn't allowed to tell anyone what had happened but when Nicky stormed up to Alex in her cube; she could tell that that hadn't been the case.

"Alexandra Vause, are you fucking insane?" Nicky demanded as she entered the cube and sat next to Alex on her bed.

"Sure, Nic, come on in," Alex replied sarcastically.

"Don't joke with me, Alex, why the fuck did you fuck Elise?" Nicky asked quietly not wanting anyone to overhear. "You have Piper waiting for you!"

"I know I have Piper thank you very much," Alex said. "She barely spoke to me the other day though so I was angry. She was drunk!"

"She's allowed to be." Nicky sighed. She'd seen this happen so many times before. She seen people get together in the prison and then one would be released. One would cheat and then they'd break up. There had only been two situations that had been different. One couple had actually managed it and they both stayed faithful and were now married. The other situation was Mercy and Tricia and we all know how that ended. She hoped that she and Lorna would be like the previous couple. "She's out and can do whatever she wants. Though knowing Chapman, she'll have only had two drinks tops."

"She was still drinking with someone else. You don't know how she gets when she's drunk, Nicky. She'll make out with anyone! You don't understand, she is such a lightweight but she drinks as much as everyone. She used to have a bad problem with drinking. That's why I don't like her being drunk."

"I doubt she'd do that, she fucking loves you. I doubt she'll have drank that much if she does have a problem with it." Nicky then paused before asking, "Are you going to tell her?"

"I can't, she'll hate me and walk out of visitation," Alex replied and sighed. "I'll tell her when I'm out and we can talk about it then. I promise. Also, she doesn't believe that it's a problem either."

"You're an idiot," was all Nicky said. She then stood from the bed and looked at Alex. "Come on, let's go to dinner."

oOoOo

Saturday finally came and Piper literally jumped out of bed with happiness. She jumped into the shower and sang along loudly to the radio to set her morning going. Once done with the shower, she got dressed and went to eat her breakfast. She spilt half of her cereal over the side of her bowl as her hands were shaking with excitement. When her breakfast was eaten and the bowl was in the dishwasher, she headed back to her room to sort out her hair and makeup. Despite the fact she was going to a prison, she wanted to look her best for Alex because she deserved it after what Piper had done.

When everything was ready, she grabbed all her keys, including the key to her new black Nissan Qashqai. It was much bigger than what she originally wanted but once she'd driven it to the store, she fell in love with it.

This was the first time driving to the prison and she was ridiculously nervous. She kept the radio on loud to try and drown out her thoughts but it didn't help. Alex could read her too well and she felt like it wasn't going to go the way they had imagined reuniting for the first time was going to be. Piper tried to stay calm and pretend that there had been nothing more between her and Zoe. The best bet was probably not to mention her but she'd told Alex about her new friendship with the chief editor.

Piper soon pulled into the familiar car park and parked up her car. She wasn't allowed her phone so she put it under her chair in the car and only took her purse and ID with her. Jumping out of the car, she took a deep breath and headed into the prison.

The familiarity washed through Piper but this time she wasn't surrendering herself; she was a visitor. When she was through the door, she was glad to see that it was Fischer who was on duty. Piper quickly walked up to the desk and smiled brightly at her.

"Hello, Piper, you must be here to see Vause," Fischer said as Piper approached.

"You're right," Piper replied and showed her the ID despite not needing it at Fischer knew who she was.

"You can go through."

Piper took another deep breath and stepped through the metal detector before heading into the visitation room. She felt her heart stop when she saw Alex sitting at the back table of the room with her eyes fixed on the door. Her beautiful face broke into a huge smile when her eyes met Piper's and she stood up. There were a few people in the visitation room that Piper knew but she completely ignored them as she headed to the back of the room.

When she was finally in touching distance, she threw her arms around Alex and breathed her in. She still smelt the same. Knowing not to push her luck, Piper pulled back from the hug and sat down on the visitor's side of the table. It was such a strange feeling sitting at this side.

"Hi," Piper said finally.

"Hey," Alex replied smiling. "It's so fucking good to see you. You look amazing."

"As do you." Alex scoffed at this but didn't say anything. "How are you, really?"

"I'm good, even better now you're here. How's work?" Alex asked. She wanted to keep the sole focus on Piper which was the complete opposite to what Piper wanted.

"Boring actually. All I seem to do is paper work."

"You have friends though now right? You said you were getting drinks with one the other night." Alex tried her hardest to keep the jealousy out of her voice. She wasn't sure if he had or not. However, she did emphasis on the getting drinks.

"Oh yeah, Zoe. She's the head of editing so we spend a fair bit of time together." Piper shrugged it off as if it wasn't such a big deal and hoped that Alex would accept that. Fortunately she did. "Also, I didn't drink that much, I've told you, I don't have a problem with alcohol."

"I'm glad there's someone you can talk to at work. I've told you enough times that you do but I'll leave it for now. You said that you've got Lorna hooked up?"

Piper then went on to explain what she had planned for Lorna was out and she advised Alex to inform the other brunette that she should try and research it while she had a little time before she was out. Piper would fully help her when she was out and give her tips that would work well with Gretchen. As it seemed with everything, Piper had told Zoe about the Lorna situation and she told Piper what Gretchen usually looked for in candidates so she could prep Lorna properly.

In return, Alex told Piper about how the family were doing, specifically Lorna, Boo and Nicky. Piper was happy to know that Nicky and Lorna had sorted out their differences and that they were now really happy together again before they had to be separated for nine months. Alex also told her more about Lovett and Boo which Piper couldn't quite imagine because she didn't know Lovett.

"So about Lindsay?" Piper asked. "She wanted me to find out so I could tell her."

"There isn't much to tell," Alex said honestly. "We worked together and she was hot but we were really good friends so I didn't want to fuck that up. I'd also just been so see my dad and met Fahri so I was all set up to do my first run. Lindsay told me how she felt as I had just handed in my notice so I told her I saw her as a friend. End of." Alex shrugged. "I would probably have been different if I hadn't joined the cartel but if I hadn't, I wouldn't have met you."

"Well I'm glad that was the case. You're out of it now so it's all good." Piper then paused as if to think about something. "Don't get with her now you're not with the cartel though."

"Like that's gonna fucking happen." Alex laughed and Piper blushed.

"There are some things I need to discuss with you," Piper said turning the conversation serious again. She didn't know which to start with so she decided to get the worst one out of the way. "I saw Larry at work and we ended up yelling and then he emailed me saying he goes to therapy and wants to be friends. Polly and Zoe said I should talk to you about it before I do anything."

"Why was he at your work?" Alex asked clearly not happy with this information

"He's writing a book. He was seeing Zoe about it as she was his editor. I cancelled his contract with the company after our argument."

"I personally don't want him anywhere near you again," Alex said. "If you want to let him work with your company, give him to a low member. Or wait until I'm out and I'll work with him. He'll never come back then."

"Not funny. He needs the book. He is a good writer, he just has bad story ideas."

Even though Alex didn't want to be talking about her, it didn't mean she didn't want to talk about freaking Larry. So instead she changed the subject.

"What else do you need to talk to me about?" Alex asked.

"I have my appointment on Monday about the kid situation," Piper muttered quietly so people didn't hear. "I want you to ring me on Monday evening so I can tell you how it goes."

"I'll ring you, don't worry. I want to know as well as you do."

Piper was about to reply when the guard on duty yelled, "Time!" so she couldn't say what she wanted to.

The two then stood up and hugged again, Piper held onto Alex tightly because she didn't want to let go. "I love you!" She whispered into Alex's ear.

"I love you, too," Alex replied and looked over Piper's head to see if any of the guards were looking but then she changed her mind and didn't care if they were or not before leaning down and kissing Piper quickly but lovingly. "I'll call you on Monday. Let's hope that it's not the worst." Piper then started to walk away but Alex pulled her back as she'd made a snap decision. "I need to tell you something before you leave."

"I have to go," Piper said sadly and started to walk away again but Alex caught her hand again pulling her back.

"I slept with someone."


	28. Chapter 28

"_I slept with someone."_

When Piper got home from the prison visit, Alex's confession was still at the forefront of her mind. She hadn't replied to it and just walked away without turning round. She knew that if she had, she wouldn't be able to leave and she didn't know what her reaction would have been. She thought that perhaps she would have slapped Alex but now she'll never know. Now she was home, she was again by herself and she really wasn't in the mood to be alone. She wanted to call Polly to tell her what had happened but she couldn't because she and Pete had taken Finn to her parent's. She also debated calling Cal but he wasn't very supportive. Instead, Piper picked up her phone and texted Zoe.

**From Piper to Zoe: I need cheering up. Want to come over for a drink?**

Piper threw her phone on the table and opened up a bottle of wine she had in the fridge. It didn't matter if Zoe was going to come over or not, she was planning on drinking anyway. She started to realise that perhaps she did have a problem with drinking but it was only when she was stressed or sad so in this situation, she allowed herself to drink. In the process of opening the bottle and searching the cupboards for a wine glass, she almost forgot about sending the text until her phone chimed indicating that she had a reply.

**From Zoe to Piper: Sure, I'll be over in 20.**

Twenty minutes was a fair bit of time, so Piper got another glass out of the cupboard and went into her room. She changed out of the jeans and jumper she had put on for the prison visit and instead put on a comfortable dress. She walked through her apartment and lit some of her candles and set a playlist on her iPad to start playing. Heading back into the kitchen, she poured out the wine and took a couple of large drinks of hers letting the alcohol soothe her, draining the glass as she did it. She refilled her glass and soon enough, there was a knock on the apartment door.

Piper took another slightly smaller sip of her wine before walking to the door to let Zoe in.

"Hey Pipes!" Zoe greeted and held up a bottle of wine she brought with her. She then looked at Piper and saw that she was clearly upset about something. Stepping into the apartment quickly, Zoe placed the bottle and her keys on a nearby table and shut the door behind her before holding Piper's face. "Piper, what happened?"

"She's slept with someone," Piper cried and she finally let the tears start to fall. "It's only been a month and she slept with someone else!"

"Oh, Piper!" Zoe then wrapped her arms around the other blonde hugging her tightly. "Come on, let's drink our feelings away!"

Piper pulled back from the hug and realised that the other blonde wasn't as bubbly as she usually was. Subconsciously, Piper glanced at Zoe's left hand as she was taking off her shoes and saw that there was no longer a ring there.

"Zoe, where's your ring?" Piper asked after they'd walked into the living room.

"We're not getting married anymore. She ended it," Zoe replied sadly.

"It's not because of our kiss, is it?" Piper didn't think she could feel any more guilt in one day if that was the case.

Zoe shook her head. "She picked up Lindsay from the halfway house this afternoon and they've realised that they're meant to be together or some shit. She doesn't know about the kiss. I didn't bother telling her."

Piper then thought back to the conversations she'd had with Lindsay about Grace, she truly thought that there were no feelings there but it seemed she was wrong. She did make a mental note that she needed to write to the redhead to tell her what Alex had said but somehow she wasn't sure if she would anymore.

"I'm so sorry," Piper muttered.

"It's fine, I've spent the day watching Grace pack up her things and leave." Zoe shrugged and picked up the other glass and took a deep drink out of it.

Just then, the Backstreet Boys started to play and Zoe immediately put down her glass. "This is my song!" She yelled and started to dance around Piper's living room.

Piper couldn't help but laugh at her. After she took yet another drink of her wine, she joined Zoe and the two of them danced like idiots around the room to the next few songs.

A bottle and a half of wine later, with Piper drinking a higher percentage than Zoe had, the two were sat on the sofas chatting utter rubbish about things they'd done in the past. Piper had told Zoe about the pranks she and Cal used to pull on each other including the usual whipped cream and feather trick. However, it had backfired as Cal just ate all the cream in his sleep and didn't even remember the attack in the morning. Zoe returned the stories including one where she and her friends had put her younger brother's hand in warm water but that also backfired as he's just turned over and didn't wake up.

They soon changed topic onto the college years and that soon changed to drunken nights and obviously the experimental phase that everyone gets at college except for Piper it seemed.

"My first girl was someone called Cambia," Zoe said with a smile. "She was from LA and we were off our heads and fucked in her room and her roommate walked in towards the end. Her face was hilarious. The next person was Grace. What was your first time with a woman?"

"My first time was with Alex." Piper sighed. "I don't want to talk about her right now though."

Zoe nodded in understanding and carried on talking about Cambia to take Piper's mind off Alex. Piper found herself caught up in Zoe's beauty again. She turned towards the small coffee table beside the sofa and split the last of Zoe's bottle of wine between their two glasses before picked hers up and drinking it.

Piper's head was even cloudier than it had been in the club but she ignored it and just looked at Zoe. Zoe sensed Piper's eyes and she slowly put her glass down and then took Piper's glass out of her hand, placing it beside hers on the table. She moved so that she was closer to the other blonde. Both of them could feel their pulses speed up but neither noticed it once Zoe pressed her lips against Piper's. Piper immediately responded and the rest of the night passed as a blur.

oOoOo

Piper woke up in the morning naked in her bed with a pounding head. She then looked to her left and saw the equally naked sleeping form of Zoe. However, the hang over was much worse than she was used to with having not had one is so long that she immediately got out of bed, threw on a t-shirt and some shorts before heading to the kitchen to drink a large glass of water. She filled up another glass and took it into her room and put it next to Zoe, who slept obliviously to what was going on. Piper didn't want to be there when Zoe woke up as she didn't want to face the consequences so she decided to head out for a run.

After quietly changing into her running gear, Piper tied up her hair and left the apartment. Piper wanted the clean air to help her head and she needed to get away from Zoe and her apartment. She knew things were going to be so much more awkward now and Piper felt horrible. She was so upset that Alex had slept with someone else and now Piper had done the same thing. She knew that she'd have to confess what she had done just like Alex had. Though Piper was surprised her girlfriend had even told her at all. Alex was the one who kept everything to herself but this time she didn't. Piper should have confessed then and there that she'd kissed Zoe but now it was much worse. It wasn't like she could just call Alex and tell her. She had to wait until Alex called her tomorrow but would she even do that now?

Piper ran for around forty minutes until she was tired and realised that she hadn't brought a bottle of water with her. Regretfully, she returned to her apartment, hoping that Zoe had already left. However, that wasn't the case.

Upon entering the apartment, the smell of cooking bacon was prominent along with the sound of the kettle going. Piper took off her trainers, stopped her music on her phone and slowly walked into the kitchen. Zoe was stood by the cooker wearing the dress she had on the night before. She was cooking the bacon and purposefully keeping her back turned away from Piper knowing she was back.

"Zoe, I'm sorry," Piper said finally breaking the silence.

Zoe turned round quickly. "No, I'm sorry. I took advantage of your sadness to help get over mine," She replied. "I kissed you, the fault is entirely mine."

"I do remember being the one who pulled you to the bedroom though," Piper reminded her.

"I didn't complain though." She paused. "You're going to fire me aren't you?"

"No!" Piper cried, but a little too loudly as they both winced. "I'm not sacking you because we slept together. You're my best editor." Piper then paused to think for a few minutes. "You should take this coming week off and I'll take the week after off so we can be apart for a while. Then after two weeks, we can return back to being how we used to be."

"I have major meetings coming up this week," Zoe admitted. "Why don't we swap? I don't have to be in really the week after; I have one meeting that I can bring forward."

"Do whatever's best for you," Piper murmured and Zoe realised it was definitely time for her to leave.

"I've outstayed my welcome by hours," She said as she turned the bacon off and stepped away from the cooker. "The food is a sorry and I'm gonna go. I'll see you in a few weeks then."

"You will."

Piper walked Zoe to the door as she'd put all of her things by the door ready. Zoe leaned in for a hug but rethought it and pulled back. She didn't say anything else but left the house leaving Piper alone again. Feeling completely horrible, Piper decided to go back to the kitchen and eat the bacon anyway; it would be rude not to.

oOoOo

Later on in the afternoon, Piper was sat in her office after emailing Trevor that she wouldn't be in the next week as she had some things to sort out. Obviously it was a complete lie but he didn't need to know the details. It wasn't like he was her boss.

Piper had literally just clicked send when her phone started to ring. She picked it up from where it was next to her and saw that it was Litchfield ringing. She was extremely cautious when she picked it up because she didn't quite know what to say to Alex yet. However, that turned out to not be a problem because it was Nicky on the other end.

"Hello?" Piper greeted after she accepted the call.

"Let's cut to the chase, Chapman," Nicky said. "Alex fucked up but all she's done since is mope around this place. She's not talking to anyone and she's barely eaten anything since visitation yesterday. She's sorry and completely regrets it. You know that, right?"

"Of course I know that, Nicky," Piper replied quickly. "If I were to tell you something, will you promise to keep it to yourself until I speak to Alex tomorrow?"

"You've fucked someone else now haven't you?" Nicky asked but it was more a statement of fact rather than a question.

"Yes," Piper muttered quietly. "So now I'm even more of a fuck up than I was before. Don't tell her! I'll tell her tomorrow."

"So now you're even," Nicky replied with a sigh, before admitting, "I've told Lorna she can fuck who ever she likes when she's out. It'll only bother me if she makes love with someone else." Nicky paused for a second before asking, "Would you class it as making love between you and them?"

"Never, it was a drunken fuck!"

"Then there's no problem. Alex's was a 'I miss my girlfriend and I'm lonely so I'm gonna fuck the girl who won't leave me alone' fuck. You don't know her so I'm not gonna say her name. I think it's best that you don't tell Alex the name of your person or she'll kill them. You guys love each other, that much is obvious so you'll figure it out."

"What would we do without you, Nicky?" Piper asked honestly and she heard Nicky laugh. Piper then paused to think before asking, "Actually can you tell her for me? Then I'll know if she doesn't want me to go and visit this Saturday if she doesn't ring me tomorrow."

"You really want me to?" Nicky asked.

"I trust you."

"Okay, I'll do it. I'll do it now so I don't lose my nerve," Nicky decided. "I'll talk to you later."

Nicky then hung up and Piper just had to sit and wait. She knew she should tell Alex herself but this way, Nicky would be able to tell Piper Alex's exact reaction which Piper wouldn't be able to see if she said it on the phone.

Piper looked around the office sadly before she realised that she really didn't want to be alone again, so she text Polly who loyally turned up only five minutes later. As soon as the brunette was through the door, Piper burst into tears on her shoulder. Polly led her through to the living room and just sat on the sofa as Piper cried on her, she didn't ask what the problem was, just letting Piper cry.

oOoOo

When Nicky hung up the phone, she walked straight to Alex's cube. Obviously, she was sat there reading yet another book but she was in the company of Boo, Lovett and Lorna who she was clearly ignoring.

"Hey baby," Lorna said as Nicky walked in. She automatically stood and went to hug Nicky in greeting.

Nicky accepted the hug and kissed Lorna's cheek before turning to Alex. "Vause, we need to talk."

"I'm busy," Alex replied without looking away from her book. "Hey!" She yelled when Nicky picked the book out of her hands.

"We really need to talk!" Nicky repeated and left the cube.

As she presumed, Alex was quickly beside her. "What's going on?" Nicky said nothing but led Alex into the chapel because they needed the privacy. "Nic, I thought you were over me?" Alex taunted with her signature raised eyebrow.

Deciding it was best to just blurt it out, Nicky just went for it. "I just got off the phone with Chapman and she's fucked someone else too so now you're even."

Alex wasn't usually lost for words but this time she was. Her face went blank and she slipped to the floor. Her eyes didn't move and she didn't blink. However, her breathing did start to get faster as the shock really got to her. She never thought that Piper would actually be that cruel.

Nicky was also quite shocked at Alex's reaction. She waited for her to come round but she never did. So because of what she'd been previously taught, the only thing Nicky could do was to slap Alex round the face which was what she did. Alex then started to blink and move again.

"Ouch," she murmured but then shook her head to regain her thoughts. "I guess I didn't think she could do that."

"She was drunk."

"I told you she had a problem. Who was it?" Alex asked. She knew it wouldn't have been Polly because she was married and saw Piper as her sister. Alex thought that it could possibly be her new pal Zoe but Piper wasn't stupid enough to sleep with her staff, was she? No, she wasn't so Alex tried to think who it could be but she was coming up blank.

"I don't know, she didn't say because I told her not to tell me," Nicky replied. "I didn't tell her that it was Elise you slept with either. I think it's best that you don't tell and start a fresh. She wanted me to tell you so that you'd know before you called her tomorrow."

"Fuck tomorrow, I'm going to ring her now." Alex started to stand up and Nicky let her.

"If you end it with her, I swear I'm going to kill you," Nicky warned and Alex knew that she wasn't joking around. She knew that she wouldn't be able to put up with her if she ended things with Piper because she'd be forever moping. She also knew that Piper and Alex belonged together and neither would be happy if they didn't have the other one.

"The thought didn't even cross my mind," Alex replied. "I promise. I love Piper, I'm not going to let her go again."

Alex didn't wait for Nicky's reply as she knew she needed to get to the phones before they closed.

Luck seemed to be on Alex's side as there was one phone empty and no queue when she got there. There also wasn't a CO there who could listen in so she just waltzed straight up to the phone and dialled Piper's number. She had to wait for a few moments before Piper answered.

"Hello?" Piper muttered quietly, her voice was thick with tears.

"Piper! Are you crying?" Alex asked softly. The anger she felt just disappeared with hearing the tears in Piper's voice.

"Umm, yeah actually," Piper replied regretfully. "I'm guessing Nicky told you?"

"Yeah, I just left her. Listen, Pipes-"

"No, you listen. I shouldn't have done it at all," Piper said cutting Alex off. "I am so sorry! I was just alone and drunk and sad and everything just went out of my head and we fucked. I woke up this morning feeling as if I'd just left Paris again. I'm so fucking sorry. I guess you're right, I do have a problem with alcohol."

"I started this, Pipes, I should be the one that's sorry. That bitch just kept flirting and you cut me off and I was sad and angry. I think you need to stop drinking so much though."

"Can we forget it happened?" Piper asked slowly. "It'll never happen again because I truly don't want to lose you."

Alex was silent for a while that Piper thought she'd hung up but she eventually spoke again. "I want to forget it too, Piper, but what if it happens again?"

"Maybe we should adopt Nicky and Lorna's rule. If it's a fuck, it doesn't count. I know I'll never do it again but I know you're going to be lonely there. I have Polly to keep my company here but you don't. What do you think?"

Alex paused to think. She hadn't known that Nicky and Lorna had planned to do that at all but she guessed it made sense. Nicky and Lorna are going to be apart for longer than she and Piper so they'd have to put up longer with the loneliness.

"Okay but from now on, we don't tell the other if we do it," Alex said slowly. "Then when I'm out, we'll tell the other how many and that'll be the end. We'll then start our life together on a fresh leaf and-"

"We'll get married and have babies?"

Alex laughed at Piper's optimism again. "Of course." As Alex said this, Fischer started walking up to her saying that it was the end of phone time. "It's Piper, 5 more minutes please?" Alex asked her taking the phone away from her. Fischer looked over her shoulder and saw no one there she nodded. Alex put the phone back to her ear. "Listen, Pipes, I've gotta go. I'll ring you after your appointment tomorrow, I wish you the best of luck! And I know my track record is shit but I really do love you."

"I love you, too, Al. Talk to you tomorrow!"

"Bye!"

Alex hung up the phone and smiled at Fischer in thanks before walking back to her cube. When she returned, everyone was still there and Nicky looked up at her questioningly.

"Everything okay?" She asked.

"I'd say it's as perfect as it could be."


End file.
