Well I did try to talk myself out of writing this...but obviously I failed to listen. Because this is now a story. I actually didn't think I could write a story like this and I am not sure how it turned out. I don't know if anyone will like it, or whatnot, but here it is anyway. So yeah if you could read it and leave a review with feedback letting me know whether I should continue this or not, that would be great. Thanks. Also, I am working on chapter two of my new Grey's Anatomy story, but this came out instead of the rest of that. So let me know what you think of this. I don't know.
(Guess I should state that this story does not follow along with the show, although I'm sure those who have already been reading this figured that out pretty quick. And it's a bit of a crossover as I've included a few characters from another show I used to watch - those specific characters would be [obviously] Lilly Truscott and Miley Stewart. I was nervous when I decided to write an Orange is The New Black fiction, so adding characters that I usually base my stories on helped me to write this. The focus will mostly be on Lorna and Nicky, but I'm not going to ignore Miley and Lilly completely. And Suzanne [Crazy Eyes] will also be in my story - she's one of my favorites. They might be a little out of character at times, but I'll try not to do that too much. Anyway I just realized that this information might be important so here you go. I hope this clears things up, and remember to leave some feedback after reading - I appreciate it!)
Learning To Love
Marka Nichols was a dead-beat mother to her two daughters, twenty-seven year old Nicole - rather - Nicky Nichols, and twenty-three year old Lillian, or, Lilly Truscott. Both daughters were unplanned, and from two different men. Nicky's father died before she was even born and Lilly's father, Paolo Truscott, hated children and was Marka's boyfriend for many years. He tortured both of them frequently when they were young, but especially Lilly. She was a much more vulnerable child - very quiet and reserved. Nicky, on the other hand, didn't take shit from anyone. Whenever Paolo would try to touch her, she would fight him until he just gave up.
Now that the two women were young adults and could make up their own minds, they got as far away from him as possible. Nicky lived in an apartment about two miles away from where she worked, - she got a job as a bar tender at one of the local bars -, along with her sister, who she practically had to drag to the building. There was no way she was going to let the girl stay with such an evil man. Lilly refused to live with her sister, not because she didn't like living with her, but because she didn't want to be a bother. She had a crappy job, that paid even less than minimum wage (she works as a caregiver at a Nursing Home), and knew that wouldn't be enough to help pay the rent. Though she was taking courses online for college, working hard to get a Bachelor's degree in Education, so that one day she might be able to get a decent paying job.
The end of April was the worst time of the year for Lilly, finals were coming up and her boss wanted her to work all hours of the day. And she couldn't say no to it because she knew how much she needed the money. So as she walked in the door at three in the morning, instead of putting on pajamas and going to sleep - like any other person would do - she found herself making a pot of coffee and setting her laptop up on the table. She groaned in frustration as she looked at the time above the stove; she dreaded having to spend the next three hours studying. But she needed to pass these exams, she needed to keep her grades above a B average if she wanted to get into a better school.
Nicky came in, from down the hall, to get her usual glass of water and for a second just stood watching her sister. She let out a sigh while grabbing a glass from the cabinet. She brought the glass over to the sink, filling it up with cold-tap water, and then sat down at the table across from Lilly. Her young sister, who she thought worked too hard in life. "You just get home?" The redhead asked, in her deep-raspy voice, but already knew what her answer would be.
Sipping the strong coffee and looking over the screen of her laptop to stare into her sister's brown eyes, Lilly nodded. "I was supposed to be done at midnight, but they needed extra help tonight. I couldn't refuse, I need the money. These classes aren't getting any cheaper, and I'm paying this months rent myself. I owe you that, Nicky." Her older sister had always been taking care of her so the least she could do was spare her from having to spend her hard earned money on a month of rent.
"You don't owe me a thing, kid," Nicky gulped her water down, placing it in the sink, then gently embraced her sister, "You work too hard, Lilly. You don't need to pay the entire rent, you need the money for your classes. I'm not taking college courses or doing much with my money, so I can pay half the rent. You're taking classes so that you can do something better for your life and that's really damn good of you, Lil. Cause we've had a real shitty life growing up with our fucked up mother and your sickeningly evil ass father."
Making friends had never been easy for Lilly, she wasn't much of a talker and mostly kept to herself. So when she found herself -more often than not- chatting away with a coworker of hers, Lorna Morello, she was a bit surprised. The dark haired Italian woman, who spent the majority of her shifts answering calls behind the receptionist desk, always seemed to have something to say and Lilly was a great listener.
"Thank God it's Friday!" Lorna's chirpy voice, with a heavy Brooklyn accent, spoke. She and Lilly just sat down for their lunch break at a restaurant right across the street. They had done that for the past month that they've been friends. "What are your plans for the weekend, Lilly?"
Lilly smiled in agreement, she was happy to have the weekend off even just to spend it studying for exams. She was also grateful to have befriended such a nice coworker. Most of the women who worked there were rude and careless. "Gotta study for classes, finals are coming up here soon. What about you?" It astonished her to see how easy it was to have a conversation with someone other than her older sister. All through her childhood and adolesence trying to open her mouth and let words come out was her biggest fear.
Sipping the Pepsi in front of her, Lorna's smile grew at the thought of her busy weekend ahead with her beloved fiance. "What're ya going for?" She asked, remembering how much she enjoyed going to college and not just because she was away from home. "Well you know my fiance, Christopher, I've been tellin' you about? He and I are spending the weekend in Albany, visiting his parents and whatnot!"
"Education...I'd love to be a teacher someday," the blonde responded, though she hadn't the first clue as to what she wanted to teach. She took a sip of her soda while looking over at her friend with a smile - she enjoyed the many stories Lorna had told her about this man named Christopher. "That sounds like a nice weekend, I hope the two of you have a great trip! You'll have to tell me all about it during our lunch break on Monday."
Eight O'Clock that evening Nicky came walking in the door of her shared apartment, exhausted after a long shift at work. She opened the fridge to get herself a much needed can of Diet Coke and shook her head when she looked over at her sister, who was back to studying. "You should take a break from that...You've been studying like crazy these past couple weeks! One night of relaxing ain't gonna make you fail, Lil." Her voice firm while she gulped down the soda in her hand. Lilly could be so stubborn sometimes, Nicky thought to herself. She did envy her work ethic, but not when the girl barely had time to sleep or go out with friends.
Lilly shrugged slightly and continued to type away on her laptop. She wished she could take the time to just relax and enjoy her weekend off, especially since it was the first weekend she had off in almost a year. "I'd love to just take a break from this, Nicky. I really would! But I've got a paper due tonight, another Sunday, and three exams next week. There's no way I can fit in time to relax or anything for that matter. Which fucking sucks because I haven't had a weekend off in forever it seems like!" The anger and stress came boiling up in her as she tried to keep herself from losing it. She loathed letting out what she felt inside, never wanting to release her problems onto anyone other than herself, but dealing with long hours at work and all the stuff she had to get done for school she couldn't control that anymore.
The redhead could easily see the tension building up in her sister, reminding her of when she was being abused by her satanic father, so she walked closer to the table and closed the laptop. She looked down at Lilly with a slight sterness, and concern, "You need to take a break. You are pushing yourself too hard, Lilly, and you'll burn yourself out if you keep doing so. You are going to come with me, whether you want to or not, and meet some of the people I work with down at the bar. They're all nice people, and there's actually one who I think would make a great friend for you!" She could see the refusal in the younger woman's eyes which made her sigh, patting her head in motherly nature, "Your paper will still be here when we get back...I promise, kid. It's not like it's gonna magically jump outta your laptop and fly away." That earned a small chuckle from her sister, making her laugh as well.
When they arrived at the bar, where Nicky enjoyed working, Lilly couldn't help but tense up. She never liked bars, especially after being dragged around there all the time by her father. Any time Paolo had to look after her by himself he would go out with friends and drink until he couldn't remember that she was his daughter. That's when terrible, unforgivable things would happen to Lilly - things that she could never speak about to anyone.
Nicky noticed how her sister's normally rosy cheeks had an unusual paleness to them which caused concern to wash over her. She wrapped an arm protectively around her, giving her a gentle squeeze, "It's safe here, Lil. I know everyone who comes here and believe me, they won't touch you." She didn't know about Paolo's taking her to bars, but she did know how frightened Lilly could become around people she didn't know [mostly men] and there were plenty surrounding them.
Just seeing men around her had Lilly fearing the worst, but she tried to keep herself together. She didn't want to cause a scene or ruin the night so she silently nodded and followed her sister. Trust was something she found hard to do, but she knew she could always trust Nicky. "Okay," her voice no louder than a whisper.
"Is this your sister, Nicky?" A chestnut haired woman, with a slight southern accent, questioned, "She looks familiar...hmm, oh wait a minute! She works at the nursing home with my sister, Lorna...She's always talking about her. Small world, isn't it? Your name's Lilly, right?" She smiled kindly at the blonde, reaching over to shake her hand.
Lilly looked at her with a slow nod and confusion overtaking her as she heard that. "You're Lorna's sister? Well it's nice to meet you...uhm, Franny is it? I think that's what she said your name was." In all honesty, she couldn't imagine that this woman standing in front of her was even remotely related to her bubbly coworker. Afterall, they had two completely different accents.
For a brief second the woman's eyes went dark, but that faded quickly as she smiled brightly. "No, no, that's her older sister. I'm Miley, her younger one. Lorna, Lorna - her mind gets fuzzy sometimes - she's too caught up in her relationship to remember how many sisters she has! I'm sure she talks your ear off about good ole' Christopher." She laughs lightly, but it's easy to tell that something isn't quite right.
Nicky watched the two talk with a smile, she knew they would get along well. She gently pat the top of her sister's head as she whispered, "I'll be right back, Lil. Gotta use the restroom, have fun with your new friend. You'll be fine, she's a good person." She gave her a comforting smile before leaving the room.
Gulping, Lilly tried to focus on the conversation she was having with the woman in front of her. Yet she couldn't shake the feeling that men were staring at her, wanting to harm her. "Sounds like they're really happy together, Lorna said that they're leaving for Albany tomorrow to visit his parents. I love listening to the great stories she tells me about the two of them!" Lorna's stories were the only things that made her get through the day at work, they were cheerful and positive something that nearly everyone else lacked there.
Miley had to nearly hold her breath to stop herself from letting out a laugh. The thought that anyone actually believed Lorna's stories cracked her up. "You really think her stories are real?" When she saw Lilly nod, and a very confused look on her face, her thoughts of laughing faded and she shook her head, "I wasn't kidding when I said that Lorna's got a fuzzy mind..."
"What are you - Huh?" Lilly's blue eyes were wide in thought, "Are you trying to say that - that she made Christopher up?" The thought made her stomach turn, she really couldn't trust anyone these days. How could she be so naive? It didn't make a damn bit of sense to her that this woman she befriended at work could possibly make up something so big. She didn't think anyone could do such a thing.
Again, for a brief second, Miley's green eyes went dark as she looked at her, sighing. "Oh no, Christopher is definitely real...but their relationship is nowhere near real. Lorna loves to dream big, so much that she actually believes her dreams are real. She believes that she and Christopher are engaged, but that couldn't be further from them truth." When she sees the shock and hurt in Lilly's eyes, she can't help but look at her with empathy, "Sorry to shock you with all that, but you shouldn't have to be pulled into her dreams as well. Lorna's a good person though, Lilly, so don't make this information stop you from being her friend. She wouldn't hurt a fly - she just doesn't always think clearly."
Lilly slowly nodded, taking in all the information but not able to process it. She found herself backing away from the woman, so much that she felt something touch her which then made her jump in fear. She could barely bring herself to look at what she backed into, and her heart started to beat faster as she stared into the eyes of an angry [drunken] man. Her face pale as a ghost and sweat dripping down her face, the blonde friskly ran out of the building and down the sidewalk. She needed to get away from the place, too many painful memories came swirling in her head. She ran for as long as she could until she found a quiet place to sit and catch her breath.
Nicky came back a few minutes later, hoping all was well. She figured the two would probably still be talking - rather Miley the one talking and Lilly listening. But when she got a closer look, seeing her sister's absence and her brunette coworker staring at the door with deep worry, she felt her heart sink. Something definitely wasn't right; she quickened her pace, looking across at the woman, "What the hell happened? Where's Lilly?!" Anger rose within her, not towards Miley or her sister, but at the fact that someone could have taken the frightened blonde.
"I think I may have told her something about my sister...that may have shocked her..." Miley shakily responded, still worried at how quick the young girl ran out of there, "I'm really sorry, Nicky! I didn't mean to upset your sister!" The chestnut woman apologized, feeling awful for what had just occurred. She didn't think Lilly would react in such a way.
The angry redhead shook her head, "It's not your fault. Lil's been through a lot of pain and torment in her life, I think she's just feeling overwhelmed right now. I gotta go find her and take her home! I'll see you at work tomorrow," She rushed out of the bar, trying to figure out where her sister could have even gone. Lilly barely left the apartment, aside from her job, so it's not like she knew the town. Nicky groaned in frustration, not knowing where to begin looking for the girl. She ran faster down the street, hoping to see her somewhere. As she continued to run she could hear a faint scream come from a hidden alley; her heart stopped.
Lilly hadn't even been sitting there for two minutes before she felt herself being gagged and a strong hand covering her eyes. She wondered if the man that she had accidently backed into followed her and was now going to kill her. Her body felt numb, tears welled in her eyes as she thought of what happened to her as a child - by her own father. Memories that still haunted her today, ones that could never be erased.
When Nicky finally made it to where the scream came from, rage surged through her as she witnessed what was about to be done to her sister - her baby sister. She came charging at them, wanting to kill all three of them with her bare hands. "Get the fuck off my sister! She is not a fucking toy that you dip-shits can play with!" She seethes, walking closer, trying to figure out a way to grab her sister and pull her away from them. "Get your filthy fucking hands off her right fucking now! I will kill all three of you evil assholes with my bare hands if you don't take your hands off of her within the next second..."
Hearing her sister's voice brings a little relief to Lilly, but she can still feel her body shaking in fear. She can't see what's going on but she can feel it and hear it. "Nnnnicky," Her muffled cry for help as she tries so desperately to get out from the men's strong hold on her. "Hhhhelp!" She didn't think her sister could hear her, but she hoped that she could.
"I'm here, Lil. I'm here - I'm not leaving until you're safe and right here with me. It's all gonna be okay, my sweet baby sister; I won't let them hurt you, just listen to my voice baby. You're okay; you're going to be okay!" Her rage and anger softens immediately when she speaks to Lilly, trying hard to bring her comfort even though the situation is anything but okay. She continues to walk closer, her fists shaking with anger. She looks the men dead in the eye, "Give me my sister, now. Whatever you want, you tell me and I'll give it to you. But you fucking leave Lilly the hell outta it!"
The man, who's hand is covering Lilly's eyes, rolls his eyes as he harshly tosses the girl into Nicky's arms. "Where the fuck are those drugs you told us you had, Nichols? Huh? You said you had a whole stash of it layin' round' your apartment, so where is it?" He looks at her angrily, clenching his hand in a fist.
The minute she felt her sister in her arms, she held her tight while stroking her hair over and over to hopefully help calm her down. "Shhh, it's okay now, Lil. You're safe with me, kid; I will never ever let anything like this happen to you again," Nicky warmly whispered to the frightened woman. Then she looked over at the man, in complete rage as she shook her head, "Jesus Christ! You fucking scared the shit outta my sister for stupid ass drugs?! Really? Are you that evil of a human? No don't answer that - You are! All three of you are that fucking evil." She flipped him the finger as she started walking away, holding Lilly close, "Oh and I stopped using a while ago, flushed that nasty ass shit down the toilet! But even if I did still have it, you three dicks on legs would be the last ones I'd ever sell to. Not after how fucking traumatized you made this sweet, innocent girl."
Nicky knew the minute she saw what was happening to Lilly that she would be having nightmares for a long while. But that didn't stop her from feeling her heart break when she woke up in the middle of the night to her sister's tearful pleas and terrified screaming. She quickly rushed into her room and lay beside her, scooping her into a soothing embrace, "Lilly - Lilly, it's okay," she whispered gently into her ear, running her hand up and down her back knowing that always seemed to calm her. "Shh, shh. Everything is okay now, you're safe with me. Relax, Lil, relax. You need to calm down, kid - you're only gonna feel worse if you keep gettin' yourself worked up. I know it hurts and you're scared, but I promise you that everything will be fine. I'll take care of you, Lil, and I will not let anything like this happen again." She gently laid Lilly against her, something she's done since they were children, and pressed a motherly kiss to her forehead.
Lilly woke up in a panic the next morning, memories of last night tormenting her mind and the stress of the papers she had to finish made her feel even worse. She hurriedly jumped out of her bed and ran to her laptop, which had still been sitting at the table. She slid the screen back and felt nauseous when she saw that her work had been erased. She hit her head on the table in frustration, and felt tears come pouring down her face. "Why can't anything ever go right for me?!" She questioned, her voice raw and hoarse from all the crying she'd done in her sleep.
The redhead, who Lilly hadn't realized was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee, walked over to her and pulled her into her arms, "What happened, Lilly?" She asked softly, rocking her distraught sister soothingly. "Tell me what's the matter, I'm here - I'll help you, whatever the problem is. Something happen to the laptop?"
"The piece of shit fucking erased my paper - the stupid paper I spent hours on!" Lilly cried angrily, slamming her fist on the table. There was no way she could even think about writing that paper again in just a day - Nor was she going to be making the Dean's list this time. "I'm gonna fucking fail, Nicky. All the money I've worked for to pay for these stupid classes and it's all for nothing."
The anger and pain clearly coming out of Lilly really tore at the red-haired, older sister. She hated to see or hear her hurting, something that has gone on for the majority of their lives. "No, Lilly...it's not all for nothing! You're going to pass, I know you are. You're such a bright and intelligent person, you'll make it. It's gonna work out, baby, I promise it will. And if you need help with anything, tell me. I'm free all day - I can help you with your papers and studying. Don't throw all that way just because the shitty ass laptop deleted it. Besides, I might be able to get it back for you." She hugged Lilly from behind, hoping to soothe away her anger, "Calm down - everything will be fine, kid. I know it will."