A/N: This is my first OITNB fic. I know Piper is slightly OOC but I can't get into her head just yet. S3 Piper threw me off a lot. Here's a different take on Piper's coming to prison. Oh, and I don't care for Larry much...as you'll find out. Enjoy!

Chances

"Maybe this is a bad time to say hi." A smirk played at her lips. Her eyes just as green as I remember. All I did was scream. I had been pushed to my limits and then she comes to make things worse. Finally, I fell to my knees and tried to hide from this new world I had been thrown into. "Look, if you're going to make it in here, it's best no one else sees you break down." With that, she walked away. It wasn't until after I knew she was inside that I finally spoke.

"Alex." I was flooded with guilt. I left her at the worst possible time. I was so caught up with my own issues that I never thought about what she was going through. "Alex….I'm sorry."

"You know her?" My head snapped up when I heard another woman's voice. It was Nicky. She had been caught with drugs. Heroin I think. "Chapmen right?"

"Yeah." Standing slowly, I leaned against the wall. Nicky was one of the first people I met here. Her girlfriend, Morello, was the first one I met. She was nice. Planning a wedding in prison, who knew? "It's complicated."

"It gets better once you get used to the new lifestyle you'll be living. Stick with me and Morello and we'll show you the ropes. There's a yoga lady and a nun if that helps any." I couldn't help but chuckle at Nicky's expression. "But what's your history with Alex?"

"I…we…" I had to look away. The lump in my throat grew painful. "I was an idiot. I hurt her…a lot."

Xxx

I had survived day one at Linchfield. Now it was time for orientation. When I walked into the small TV room there was only one chair left. It was next to Alex. She looked from me to the chair. Sitting quietly, I tried to stay as still as possible. I could feel the heat from Alex's skin. Her breathing was shallow but even.

"Aaaah…." My hips bucked as a hot tongue slid inside me. I had never been with a woman before Alex. "Alex….I'm about to…" One final curl of her tongue and I came apart. "Alex!" As my body collapsed on the bed, I heard a dark chuckle come from under the covers.

"Horrible isn't it?" Her green eyes shined with passion. Wiping her mouth, Alex made her way up to kiss me.

"It's the worst." I couldn't help but moan as I tasted myself on her tongue. "I want to taste what you taste like."

Alex moaned and laced her fingers in my hair….

"Chapmen!"

"What?" I snapped out of the memory and felt my cheeks flush.

"Do you have something you'd like to share with the rest of us?" The warden looked at me with irritation. It was clear she didn't want to be here.

"N-no." Alex chuckled at my facial expression. Glaring at her quickly, I turned my attention to the informational video that started to play.

Xxx

There were so many new inmates that we couldn't all be given our jobs right away, so I went to the library. I wanted to see Alex and remembered she read everything she could get her hands on. It was one of the many reasons I fell in love with her. "So, she was your drug partner?" Nicky's voice came from the other side of a bookcase.

"It's complicated."

"Damn it Vause. That's what Chapmen said. I want details." I laughed inwardly at Nicky. I was new and everyone wanted to know about me. Nicky huffed. "If it helps any, she feels bad about something when it comes to you."

My stomach dropped when I heard Nicky get up and walk away. This is what I wanted. I wanted alone time with Alex to talk. I just didn't realize it would come so soon. "You always did love to read." My voice was soft as I walked towards the older woman.

Her eyes flashed towards me. "Some things never change." Alex's voice was dry. Flipping the page, she went back to reading.

"Can we talk?" I approached with caution. I knew I had pissed her off and broke her heart so I wasn't sure what she would do. Well, besides turn me in and have me thrown in here.

"What do you want Piper?" Alex closed the book and gave me half of her attention.

"I wanted to apologize. I never should have left you when you're mother died. I've regretted that for eight years."

"Good. And when did this realization come over you? If you realized this back then, why didn't you come after me? You could've found out where and when the funeral was."

"It was a few years ago. I stumbled across one of your old t-shirts in my drawer and it brought back memories. That's when I told Larry about having a girlfriend. I told him I threw it out after that but…" My voice trailed off.

Alex's brow rose. "But what, Piper?" Her voice was stern.

"But I kept it. It's hidden in a place he'll never find it." Silence fell between us.

"You kept one of my shirts." Alex chuckled. "And that tattoo never washed off I hear."

"No. It didn't. I lied to Larry about that too. He thinks I saw it on a diving trip and liked it."

"You hate fish." It was nice hearing Alex laugh again.

"I know." I covered my face with my hands. "You were right when you said it wouldn't come off when I sweat."

"Yes but not for ten years."

Leaning my head back, I sighed. "I don't blame you if you never forgive me. I know I broke your heart."

"You did. And I should have seen it coming. Rule one: don't fall in love with a straight girl." I bit my lip at my former lover's words. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit." Alex's eyes narrowed. "What were you thinking about earlier? You zoned out but you had that look in your eyes."

I could feel Alex's eyes burning into me. "What look?"

"That turned on, 'I-want-to-jump-someone' look." A coy grin tugged at Alex's lips.

"No it wasn't." I turned away. Damn it! I thought I was hiding it.

"Yes it was. I know that look. I caused that look for two years." Alex reached and tugged my shoulder to turn me around. "Tell me or I'll let my mind wander. And you know how creative I can be." I refused to answer. "Fine. From the look in your eyes, you must have been thinking about…"

"Chapmen." Alex and I looked towards the male voice. It was Mendez or pornstache as we all called him. "Healy wants to see you."

Xxx

"You wanted to see me, Sir?" I stepped into the office and closed the door behind me.

"Yes. I'm putting you in electrical. You'll report there each day and work." The gray haired man looked up from his paperwork. "How are you holding up?"

"It's been a rough two days."

"I'm sure it is. But know this; you don't have to have lesbian sex with any of these women. They can be very persuasive so be alert."

"Yes Sir." If only he knew the past Alex and I had. Those two years were full of sex and drug smuggling. We were a team and a damn good one. As cliché' as it is, Alex was my drug.

"You're dismissed."

xxx

Nicky greeted me as I walked into the room. "Chapmen, You working here?"

"Yeah. Hopefully I won't get electrocuted." The officer who watched us explained that we would fix any electrical issues when they come up. Our first task was to read the manual, which was in Spanish, and fix a lamp. I prayed the pictures would be enough to go off of because I barely passed Spanish in college.

"So, did you make up with Vause?" Nicky kept her voice to a whisper.

"We talked; yes. I don't know if she forgave me or not. Why?" I started to get irritated with the lamp. Could the prison system really not afford one manual in English?

"Just curious. I could tell there's something between the two of you." I glanced towards her quickly. "What? It's true."

"Alex and I go way back. As I said, we have a complicated history."

"Roommates? Lovers? Loving roommates?" It became abundantly clear that Nicky wasn't going to let this go.

"I loved her. Can we drop it now?" Before Nicky could answer, a loud alarm rang. "What the hell is that?"

"Get on the floor."

"Why?" I did as Nicky said.

"Whenever that goes off, something has happened so we all have to hit the deck so to speak. Just wait, you get felt up if pornstache searches you."

Xxx

It was dinner time before I saw Alex again. "Hey." I watched as Alex sat across from me.

"How'd your first alarm drill go? Did you get felt up yet?" She chuckled when my nose crinkled.

"Yeah. Mendez cocked a feel. Not a fan of him." Pushing around the food in front of me, I dreaded eating. The prior meals weren't very appealing but I didn't dare say that. The cook, Red, was a scary Russian lady. Not a woman you wanted to piss off. I was convinced she had ties to the Russian mob.

"He tried that with me when I first got here."

"What happened?" I could only imagine what Alex would have done.

"She kicked his ass and got a week in the SHU." Nicky chimed in as she took a seat next to Alex. Morello sat beside me.

"I can see that." I couldn't help but laugh. "Remember that guy in that bar in Paris? He tried to feel me up and you nearly broke his arm?"

To keep herself from spitting her drink out, Alex covered her mouth. "Yes. Though it didn't help that we were all buzzed." Nicky and Morello looked dumbfounded. "But he deserved it. No one feels up my woman and gets away with it."

I knew my cheeks were pink. There was a longing to be Alex's woman again. It never really went away. But I knew I couldn't give into this inner turmoil. I was engaged to Larry. "Wow, someone's embarrassed." Nicky's voice broke through my thoughts. "Vause and Chapmen sitting in a tree…" I kicked Nicky in the shin and she jumped. "Ow. Damn woman. It was a joke." I glanced towards Alex who had a soft but knowing grin. Fuck.

xxx

It was Visitation day and Larry came to see me. "Hey Pipes." He wrapped me in a hug before placing a kiss on my cheek. Panic clinched my chest when I noticed Alex facing us a few tables away. Oh God. I could only imagine what she'd have to say about him later on. "How are things? Has anyone tried to…"

"Larry!" I noticed Alex glance my way. She still had that protectiveness in her eyes. It was comforting. "No. No one has tried to sleep with me. Geez. Things are very different, obviously, but I'm keeping my head down." I knew I couldn't tell him I was in here with Alex. That was a road I did not want to go down.

"Well, it's an all female prison so…and," he paused to glance around. "That dark headed woman with librarian glasses is pretty ho-,"

"Larry!" My voice raised a tad too much. Everyone stopped and looked at me. "Will you stop?" I rubbed my temples. "How is everyone?" Larry told me all the family gossip. "It'll be nice to see Mom. I miss strong coffee and not needing an alarm clock." I told Larry an edited version of what had happened in the past week. I left out Alex. I caught myself glancing in her direction as I spoke.

Xxx

"Is anyone here?" I walked into the laundry room with a bag of dirty clothes over my shoulder.

"We're closed." Alex's deep voice made me smile.

"Hey." I smiled softly as our eyes met. "Can I drop these off?"

"Sure." Alex wrote on a ticket and placed it on the large folding table. "Larry seems like an ass."

"Alex!" I couldn't help but wonder what she heard.

"What? You yelled at him twice. And he has that 'good-boy' look but I know he has to be a dirty fucker. Which surprises me actually….I can be a little kinky but not a dirty fucker." Alex laughed as I pinched the bridge of my nose. "What?"

"Nothing. It's nothing." Before I embarrassed myself further, I turned to walk away.

"You could never lie to me Pipes. What is it? It's something juicy I can tell."

I could feel Alex's eyes burning into me. They had a tie around me and she pulled me back. It's only been a week but I feel like I did when we were together. "He asked if someone has tried to sleep with me yet."

Alex knew there was more. "And?"

Damn. It was hard to say no to that sexy smirk and eyebrow raise. "And he proceeded to look around and said that woman with the dark hair and librarian glasses is pretty hot."

A mix of disgust and intrigue washed over Alex's face. "Ew…but he does have good taste in woman." All I could do was shake my head. "It's true. I mean, even you tapped this ass."

"Oh my God. Okay, I'm going to go." It took everything I had to stop laughing. With one final glance, I walked out of the laundry room. As I made my way back to my bunk, the realization that I was falling back in love with Alex creped its way into my head. I already knew it in my heart. I never fully fell out of love with the woman.