The flames sparked to life and engulfed the scraps of paper in the trash can. An invisible weight felt as if it'd been lifted off of Alex's shoulders in that moment. She vaguely saw Piper's shoulders ease as the ashes of Alex's confession burned.
That was until a hoard of screaming inmates starting running right towards them. Alex and Piper pushed themselves against the wall, staying clear of the lunacy that was no doubt about to ensue.
As if by instinct, Alex grabbed hold of Piper's hand and starting leading her, hurriedly back to their compound and towards their bunks, in the opposite direction to the madness.
Piper was tripping over her own feet, confusion creasing her brow as her eyes blew wide open, wondering just what the fuck was going on? Mr Healy was pacing down the hallway, his hand covering his face as he sighed. "Hello, Ladies." he said glumly, nodding to them both in acknowledgement.
"Yeah… Hi." Alex stammered, cautiously moving Piper along more quickly as their cubes grew closer.
Alex let go of Piper's wrist and walked into her cube, throwing herself down on her bunk. She threw her glasses off and onto the floor, before raking a hand through her hair and closing her eyes, releasing a long sigh.
The loss of contact broke Piper out of her trance, automatically following Alex. She picked up Alex's glasses, and placed them neatly on top of the book that was left half open on Alex's locker.
Without saying a word, Alex scooted closer to the wall, making room for Piper beside her on the narrow bed.
Piper took Alex's boots off, and her own, placing them at the end of the bunk, before laying down next to Alex. She propped herself up on the pillow and wrapped her arm around Alex's shoulder.
"What the fuck do you think that was about?" Piper wondered after a few moments of silence.
"Y'know I really couldn't give a shit at this point, Pipes. I'm so exhausted, I haven't slept in what feels like decades." Alex yawned, turning over so she could drape her arm over Piper's waist.
Piper's right hand sifted through Alex's hair, whilst her left hand intertwined her fingers with Alex on her stomach.
A somewhat contented sigh left Alex's lips as she rest her head in the crook of Piper's neck.
"Well, Mr. Healy saw us, so hopefully we won't be punished for any shit that goes down." the blonde mumbled, mostly to herself.
"Mhmm" Alex hummed, her eyes closing and her leg slipping between Piper's to get more comfortable.
"Shh…go to sleep now, Al." Piper whispered, "I've got you." she placed a kiss to Alex's forehead, her fingers still combing through the raven locks. A small lump formed in her throat at the thought of Alex having to go through the whole Aydin thing alone still. Her conscience reminding her of how fucking petrified Alex must've been, how she didn't even think she could've come to Piper with this, and that's what made her heart ache the most. "You're safe now." she promised, her arms wrapping around Alex, holding her closing as she let her catch up on some much-needed sleep.
Piper reached behind her gently, as not to wake Alex, so she could put on Alex's glasses and read the book that was left half open. She bent the corner of the page, to mark where Alex had read up to, and flicked back to the front to start from the beginning.
She must've fallen asleep because when she opened her eyes, her gaze landed on glistening green, her eyes taking in the slight dimples in Alex's signature smirk. She reached the green's eyes once more, just as Alex's tucked a stray strand of Piper's hair behind her ear.
"What?" Piper asked, a small smile curving her lips.
"You don't look half bad in those." she winked, laughing at the blush that crept up the blonde's neck.
Piper moved to take them off but Alex's hands stopped her.
"Hey, no… I'm just kidding. I was just remembering when you used to wear those." Alex noted, poking the lens of her glasses on Piper's face, and laughing as the blonde flinched.
"Yeah, well… they help me see better in this lighting." Piper lied, her attention turning back to the book.
"Oh, are we sharing them now?" Alex smirked, her laugh bringing an involuntary smile to Piper's face.
"What's mine is yours and what's yours is mine." she said shrugging, biting her lip to stifle the grin.
"I'm pretty sure that's just with married people, Pipes." Alex rolled her eyes, resting her head back on Piper's shoulder and looking at the page she currently had open.
"Well, we might as well be married. We argue like an old married couple…" Piper commented giggling, "and anyways we both love…" she stopped talking and instead cleared her throat, fixing the glasses on her face and scrunching her eyes to lake it look like she was intently reading, secretly hoping that Alex wouldn't question what she was about to say next.
Alex's brow raised and her smirk appeared as she turned to look up at Piper, "We both love…?" she poked Piper's side, waiting for the blonde to finish what she was about to say.
"Nothing." Piper said, trying to keep her voice even, her eyes locked on the page in front of her.
Alex scoffed and Piper glanced down at her from the corner of her eye, her brow raised questioningly. "Well, that's just not true. You love tequila, puppies, rainbows…" Alex started laughing from Piper's eye roll.
"Firstly, I do not love tequila… tequila loves me." she corrected, making Alex laugh even harder, hiding her face against Piper's shoulder. "Secondly, who doesn't love puppies? and Thirdly, rainbows are so overrated." she was smiling now, tucking Alex's hair behind her ear before turning her attention to the book in her hands.
"What do I love then?" Alex tested her, chewing her lip as she judged the blonde's answers.
Piper laid the book flat on her lap before turning her full attention to Alex.
"You love travelling, comfy boots, rainy days where you can sleep in. You secretly love the fact that girls seem to swarm to you at any bar." Piper smirked as Alex rolled her eyes, "You love burgers and vanilla milkshakes… but above all else, most importantly, you love your Mom." Piper's smile faded as she mentioned Alex's mother. She frantically searched the green gaze to see if she'd put her foot in her mouth or not, but was pleasantly surprised to find Alex's lips curve in a small genuine smile.
They lay staring at each other, conversing silently with only their eyes. It was so easy to forget all the shit they'd been through to get here when it was just them two alone and together.
"Not bad, Kid." Alex joked after a few quiet minutes.
Piper fist pumped the air, rousing a laugh out of Alex. "Score!" she grinned.
"You missed one thing though." Alex's voice was quiet now, her eyes trained on a fraying thread on Piper's shoulder.
"Pfft… I doubt it." she said confidently.
"No really, you did." Alex chewed her lip as Piper's smile faltered.
"And what's that?" she asked, genuine curiosity in her eyes as she tried to read Alex's mind.
Instead of answering, she poked Piper's side.
"Ahh, Alex! No seriously, you know I'm ticklish… please stop!" she flinched away from Alex's grasp, unable to help herself from laughing along.
Alex stopped and pulled Piper back to where she could rest her head on her shoulder.
Piper's arm wrapped around Alex's shoulder, hugging her close again.
"But seriously, Al… what did I miss?" she asked wonderingly.
Alex looked up at her and her heart melted at the sight of Piper's head tilted slightly in confusion. Her bottom lip jutting out in a little pout too from not knowing the final thing on Alex's list of things she loves.
"It's you, dumbass!" she said it so quickly, it took Piper a minute to catch up.
"Wait, what? Me?" her mind was trying to process Alex's words.
"Yes. You." Alex spoke the words so softly, Piper's pulse stuttered.
Alex felt Piper's heartbeat skip underneath her hand and couldn't help the shit-eating grin that spread on her face.
"I love you too." the blonde lifted Alex's chin so she could kiss her properly.
They lay innocently tangled with one another on Alex's bunk until the other inmates returned to their cubes and it was time for the routine count before lights out.
Once everyone was asleep and they all got the "shit from today will be dealt with properly tomorrow" talk, Piper sneaked out of her bunk and ran over to Alex's, snuggling in behind her.
"What're you doing you could get caught?" Alex mumbled sleepily, but still wrapping Piper's arm around her waist, and interlacing their fingers.
"I'll take the shot." Piper smiled, pressing her lips lightly to the back of Alex's neck.
"You're crazy, y'know that?" she whispered, turning her head to peek behind at the blonde.
"You love it." she whispered back, hugging herself closer to Alex, hiding her face in the crook of her neck.
"Mmm, I do." Alex agreed, falling into a deep sleep in the arms of Piper Chapman.