okay so here is another nichorello fanfic , and some chapters are gonna be pretty short and some really long and I apologize in advance for all the inconsistencies. reviews and constructive criticism are always welcomed !
set after the end of season 3.
"I know my kingdom awaits
and they've forgiven my mistakes.
I'm coming home,
I'm coming home."
-Skylar Grey / Coming Home, Part II
chapter 1: return
"And over here, we got the dinin' hall." Tiffany Doggett, or better known as Pennsatucky, vaguely gestured to the empty dining hall, where several inmates were cleaning the floor. Pennsatucky was a short, reddish-brown haired girl, with dark eyes and pale skin.
The other inmates were staring at the newbies, all of whom were dressed in bright orange and looking around frightfully. Pennsatucky didn't notice, simply carried on with the tour, pointing at things and giving explanations with a little too much detail at times.
"And over here, is where y'all will be sleepin' for the time bein', till you get assigned to the dorms." The hillbilly brought the inmates into a room and started pointing them in at random, ticking their names off on her clipboard without bothering to look through it properly.
"Alright, the previous girl used to only give the white girls soap and toothbrushes, but since I'm real nice, here's one for all of y'all." Pennsatucky tossed packets of soap bars and toothbrushes to the grateful inmates, who muttered vague words of thanks.
"And y'all..." The short brunette finally brought the last batch of newbies into a mostly-empty bunk, before her eyes widened in surprise. "Nichols?" Pennsatucky whirled around, her eyebrows raised.
"Long time no see." Nicky Nichols stood there, clad in orange, smiling crookedly at Pennsatucky. Her hair was as wavy and unkempt as ever, though it was shorter and jagged at the ends, as though she'd hacked it off herself with a blunt object. Her previously slightly chubby figure was now much thinner. Her arms were dotted with fading bruises and scars.
Her cheekbones were more prominent, due to the hollowness of her cheeks, and her dark eyes were devoid of any sort of emotion, similar to a doll's eyes, as well as their usual makeup, replaced by dark circles beneath them. Her voice was hoarse, like she hadn't had any reason to use it in a while. Either that, or she had been screaming for a long, long time, and just stopped a while ago.
"You look like shit." Pennsatucky said bluntly, handing soap bars and toothbrushes to the girls. Nicky chuckled. "Good to know." She said, dumping her things on the top bunk of a bed.
"Good that you're back, though." Pennsatucky called, throwing a grin at Nicky behind her back as she strode out. Nicky gave a small smile of surprise, climbed onto her bunk and began unpacking her stuff.
"Hey, guess who's back." Pennsatucky rasped, grinning at Morello, Boo, Chapman, and Vause. Ever since Pennsatucky and Boo had become best friends, she'd begun sitting with them during meals. Initially, all of them were uncomfortable with her, but gradually they'd gotten used to her.
"Nichols." Pennsatucky said. Seeing the looks of confusion on their faces, she continued. "Y'know, the lesbian junkie?" She prompted.
"I thought she was in max." Chapman, who was the first to recover from her shock, said in surprise, taking a sip of her drink. Piper Chapman was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl whose life was completely ruined when she was sent to prison thanks to her ex-lover, Alex Vause.
"She was, but she's back now." Pennsatucky took a bite of her mystery-meat based meatloaf.
"It sure will be good to see her again. I missed her so much." Morello said, stuffing her food into her face quickly, carrying her tray laden with her unfinished meal and skipping off. Nicky had been her closest companion, and she'd missed her so much.
Lorna Morello was a tiny 5-foot-tall Italian-American girl, with short, black forties curls that reached her shoulders, wide, dark eyes, and gentle, pretty features. Her voice was slightly accented, and she was almost always somewhat smiley, an amazing feat in this hellhole.
Morello speed-walked (O'Neill yelled at her to stop running) around the halls, asking random inmates if they'd seen Nicky. None of them even knew she was back, so it was pointless asking them. Finally, she spotted a figure in orange, with short, tangled wavy brown hair pacing around the library.
"Nicky!" Morello cried, running towards her and barreling into her thin arms, ignoring Poussey, the girl in charge of the library, who shushed her. "Lorna." Nicky breathed softly, crushing the smaller girl to her chest, holding her as tightly as she could.
Nicky released Morello for a moment, holding her shoulders and lovingly gazing at her for a moment, her eyes bright with tears and something else, before she joined her mouth to hers. Morello froze up for a moment, while the full realisation of the situation slowly processed through her brain.
Morello tensed, and Nicky stepped away, breathing heavily. "I missed you so much, kid." She caressed Morello's cheek gently, smiling lovingly, a light dancing in her dark eyes. She leaned in to kiss her again.
"Nicky, I..." Morello began, pulling away slowly, while Nicky's expression transformed into one of confusion. "I got married." She said, holding up her right hand, where a ring lay on her ring finger.
"Oh. Congratulations. To Christopher?" Nicky asked, pulling away, the light fading from her eyes. "No, while you were gone I met this guy Vincent." Morello explained, smiling obliviously.
"I see." Nicky forced a smile, and turned back to the bookshelves, carefully scouring them. "What about you? What happened in max?" Morello said, noticing the wounds on her body for the first time.
"Nothing I couldn't live through." Nicky answered curtly, pulling a book out and walking away. Morello scampered after her quickly, confused as to why Nicky was suddenly so cold towards her. Nicky checked the book out, and turned to leave.
"I really missed you." Morello said softly. "Me too, kid. Me too." The taller girl replied, finally meeting her gaze for the first time since she kissed her. Her eyes were empty, devoid of emotion, unlike the way they shone with life before she was carted off to max.
Oh, Nicky. What did they do to you in there? Morello thought sadly, watching the ex-junkie go, the lights of the library accenting the lines and marks etched onto her arms forever.
"It's so good to see you again, Nicky." Chapman said during breakfast the next day, embracing her tightly. "Jesus, Nichols, you look like shit." Vause laughed, smiling at her friend. Alex Vause, the Alex Vause, Piper Chapman's ex, was a tall girl with fair skin, glasses, and black hair.
"Where were you last night? I didn't see you in the bathroom." Chapman said. "I woke up to go for the 5.00." Nicky replied, patting the blonde girl's back and stepping away to get her food.
"Is it me, or does she seem different now?" Chapman asked softly, as Nicky slunk off on her own. "She does. Colder, somehow." Vause said absently, drumming her fingers on the table.
"She just got back from max, so maybe it's a big change." Morello suggested, her mouth full of bread. "Whatever it is, I hope she's alright." Vause replied, taking a sip of her drink.
Nicky returned, quietly sinking onto her seat and eating quickly without looking up, her foot incessantly tapping against the floor, even more than before. "What happened to you? Last time you wouldn't shut up and suddenly even Norma talks more than you do." Vause laughed, nudging Nicky, who smiled but didn't reply.
The girls shared a look. Nicky picked up her tray and shuffled away, ignoring the calls of 'good to see you' from various inmates. "Nicky." A voice with a heavy Russian accent stopped her.
Red stood behind her, in all her (awfully dyed) red-haired glory, wearing her special apron with her name embroidered on the top left section. "Red." Nicky breathed, dumping her tray and hugging the older woman tightly.
"It's been so long. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to see you yesterday. How are you?" Red grasped her surrogate daughter's hands as she drew back, her thumbs running over the scars on her forearms.
"What did they do to you in there?" Red asked in horror, squinting at what looked like someone's initials carved into her wrist. "Nothing. I'm fine." Nicky said, jerking her arms back.
"I really missed you, Red." She hugged her again. "I missed you too, Nicky. Please, tell me if you need anything." Red clutched Nicky's hands tightly, her thumbs running over her bony wrists.
"I will." Nicky said reassuringly. She seemed as though she wanted to hug Red again, but chose to shuffle off instead.
"She's really not okay, is she?" Vause mused, watching the entire scene. "Yeah." Chapman agreed sadly, watching their normally cheerful friend run her fingers through the jagged ends of her hair, her figure slightly hunched. Nicky used to walk arrogantly, with an aura of confidence hanging around her. Now, the way she shuffled away from the cafeteria, it almost seemed like she didn't want people to notice her. Which was rather difficult, as many people who passed her shouted greetings at her.
"God, if only Sophia was here to fix her hair." Vause chuckled. "I don't think hair is high on her list of priorities now, Alex." Chapman replied.
"Yeah. God, she really does look awful, doesn't she?" Vause sighed. "Weren't you two like best friends? I'm sure she'd talk to you about anything." Chapman said.
Vause sighed again. "She won't. Nicky's stubborn, and if she says she's fine, that's all we're getting out of her." She pushed her glasses to the top of her head. "But fuck, I think she really isn't."
"It's up to us to make her better again, isn't it?" Morello said, and Vause and Chapman nodded slowly. "Yeah. Though honestly Morello, I think she'd open up to you more." Vause said thoughtfully.
"Why?" Morello furrowed her brow in surprise. "You know why." Vause replied, getting up to leave, Chapman on her heels.
Morello did know why. How many times had Nicky put her back together when she'd fallen apart? There was no one she trusted more in the world than Nicky Nichols.
Even if it wasn't romantically, Morello knew they would always be connected in some way. And now it was up to Morello to put Nicky back together.
"I'll fix you, Nicky." She whispered, and it was a promise she hoped Nicky could feel too.