A/N – So, this is my first attempt at a fan fiction and multi chapter for that matter. I ask you to bear with me.
It was a cloudy afternoon and the short brunette dragged her feet up the steps of the public library. Her breathing was uncontrollable and her eyes felt the sting, as she held back the water that threatened to escape her ducts. She swung the double doors wide open and a sigh escaped her lips more loudly than she had expected.
A familiar older woman looked over in annoyance and whispered, "Liz, I've said it before and I'll say it again..." Liz rolled her soft blue eyes, pushed back the sadness that was seconds from enveloping her, concealing it with knowing smirk.
In unison they both said, "Shhh!" Liz let's out a forced laugh, only to continue her taunting.
"You're mighty feisty for a crypt keeper librarian! Sometimes I ask myself if every newly issued library card feeds some youth into the shriveled soul of yours," she said gulping back that dry feeling that was left, after having to swallow every emotion from a while ago. With an over dramatic expression of shock, "God, you're a smart ass!" The woman said as soft as possible to the teen who was now shaking off a tattered puffy jacket. "Oh Meredith! It was a joke," she said.
As a sign of scolding appeared on the librarians face, Liz's took it as her cue to walk away.
She walked down an isle, grabbed the first book her fingers were able to get a firm grasp on. It was almost a game she played, like any book she read would help her forget how unfair life had been. Sluggishly, she approached a cubical area, plopped herself down in the furthest corner possible. There was no one there beside an Asian guy, collegiate type. There, two rows over was the usual blonde-in her 30s wearing a denim jacket over a plain white V-neck and black skinny jeans - burying herself in a white sheet of paper.
The brunette untucked the book from under her arm to see what it was. The Fault in Our Stars. "Fuck me!" She thought, as there couldn't have been a worse book-or most accurate book-than that. She smiled that kind of defeated smile as life always has a way of tugging at your arm as to remind you that you can never forget. She had lost her mother to cancer before she was able to recite the alphabet in front of prideful eyes; before she was able to use her lap to drown her tears after suffering her first heartbreak; before she was able bring home college applications and fill them out together. She was sixteen and lost her mother before she ever even knew what it meant to have one, to need one, to want one. Her father left as quickly as her mom did, but his abandonment was driven by choice, or fear.
She was all alone. That is all she had ever known.
Suddenly, all the missed opportunities of memories she'd never have, began flooding her mind. She didn't realize how loudly she began to sob until she felt the weight of a gentle hand press against her back. The voice was soft, yet full of assurance, "Its okay. Let it out. Trust me. You'll be alright, kiddo." Obedient to the unknown voice, Liz bit down on the strings of her hooded sweater and released all the pain; the sobs turned into a slight shriek, then silence, as her breathing became labored, she quivered. After minutes passed and she slowly calmed, she was momentarily distracted by the smell of vanilla scent trailing from the blonde that had been face deep in thought moments prior.
Liz turned to face the blonde and was met with ghostly blue eyes that held a glassy appearance. Her eyes were blue, the shade was desolate; as if sadness and emptiness came together to cloud them. The blonde stared back at young blue eyes- moments passed before Liz was able to regain some composure, and began, "Th-thank you fo-" she was unable to finish.
The blonde looked bewildered by this unexpected interaction and quickly got to her full length- instinct kicked in- she turned around and bolted out of the library. In her frantic escape she left a trail of scattered papers and a single white envelope only a few feet from Liz's chair. The creaking of the double doors echoed back toward Liz as the figure of the blonde had vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Liz, still in shock at the blondes action, forgetting her own sadness, raced through the last few seconds trying to grasp what had happened. "What went wrong? What did I do? Who...why..." she thought, with her mouth agape, unable to sort out her own thoughts and questions. She was quickly brought back to actuality as she saw the older librarian, Meredith, picking up some sheets left behind by the woman.
She immediately snapped to the envelope near her seat. She picked it up. It was white, or had been when it was originally purchased and filled with whatever content it had. There were smudge marks all over, some creases that time had left on the edges. Blotches caused smearing, so Liz only made out the 'P' and followed by what she deciphered as being the last name on the bottom right recipient corner. At the top left, there were only two capitalized letters. She gathered her belongings along with the blonde woman's papers and envelope and rushed out the door. The temptation to read it overcame the teen, but soon faded with the need to catch up to the blonde.
She wasn't sure if she would have any luck, but Liz had to try. Once she hastily conquered the steps she saw only one way where the woman could have gone and instantly her step became more aggressive, more urgent as if she were running toward a new safe haven. She saw the denim jacket and started, "Hey! Yo, blondie, you dropped your shit!" To this, the woman turned a quick glance from her peripheral to Liz, but continued her hurried steps. Liz almost gave up, but something told her that woman needed someone to talk to, to open up to. They both did.
"Fuck! Come on, don't you know us New Yorkers live busy lives? P Chapman, you're being a real horses ass!" That. The sound of hearing her last named- Chapman- called out in such form, as if her first name didn't exist. Horse's ass. That, too, did something to Piper. It took her aback, stunned her; cemented her right in her tracks. She felt a punch in the gut as she was hit with a memory of her caged life from a few years ago.
Piper Chapman stood in front of an adolescent brunette, in the middle of New York City. Her mind suddenly groggy as she was transported elsewhere…with a different brunette.
"No. Not for a second. I loved you, I loved having sex with you," she states matter of factly. A mischievous smirk made an appearance, pausing for a moment to give Piper enough time to travel quickly through flashes of a certain brunette's soft red lips against her skin.
She regained composure as Alex continued, "And more importantly, I am not suggesting that I want you back, you Park Slope narcissist. I mean for you to come around like an actual human being. And not with some hollow bullshit apology, or that cute little sad face that might work on your fucking boyfriend." She reminded herself not falter at Alex's hint of jealousy.
"I've been waiting for you to come around, and treat me like an actual human being and realize what a fucking horse's ass you've been." In hearing Alex's admission Piper had two choices: let the warm feeling beginning to course from her cheeks throughout her being, or release all her repressed anger. Of course, she chose to unleash her well-known hot temper toward the tall brunette.
"I've been a horse's ass?" Piper asked infuriatingly. Yes, she had given Alex a hard time since she'd gotten to prison. Alex just had a way of making Piper react to an extreme. Either love, or hate, but always with the full committal of passion.
"Fuck, yeah!" Alex now more aware of what her words were doing to the blonde. Knowing how her words would get a rise out of Piper and she braced herself to what unthinkable thing her former lover would do.
Rage burned in Piper's eyes, " Fuck you! And this dryer," here she was. Piper Chapman. Piper Chapman banging and kicking a dryer. Piper Chapman under the effects of Alex Vause.
While kicking and punching she said, "This fucking shitty piece of goddamn dryer! Dryer!" unsure if her anger and aggression toward the dryer stemmed from Alex offending her, or Alex not intending on winning her back.
A husky male voice could be heard by both," So abusive," and earning a gasp from the brunette.
After moments of watching the older blonde paralyzed, staring off into the distance, Liz decided to grab her by her shoulders and shake her as she said, "Chapman, snap the fuck out of it you weirdo!"
Piper had regained a grasp of her present time and Liz was oblivious.
"Okay, maybe you're AV, is that it?" Liz asked while holding a hand to her head and squeezing her eyes shut out of frustration and confusion with the situation.
"No," Piper said, as the sudden pressure in her chest became hard to avoid at the mention of the love of her life's initials, "I'm not AV. Chapman was correct. Piper Chapman."
"Ah, you seemed too stuck up for cool initials like 'AV.' Chapman sounds like money," Liz stated with a taunting smirk toward her new older acquaintance.
"Name's Liz. I won't give you a last name because stranger danger, duh!"
Piper extends her hand out and grasp the young brunette while letting out a small chuckle.
"Ha! You ran after a stranger. You're looking to get kidnapped. Well, not that I will…because I won't. I'm not…" Piper shakes her head in an attempt to stop her rambling.
The young girl interrupted the awkward moment, "Anyway, are we friends now, or what? We both freaked the out. We're like two peas in a pod."
Piper smiles a whole hearted smile, for the first time in what seems like an eternity, pushing her shoulders back as if to rid herself of all apprehension, "Sure. Friends."
She wasn't sure why she felt this strange familiarity toward the teen. Some underlying sadness brought them together. Kismet, almost, and God knows how much Piper can use someone to talk to, even if that someone was half her age.
"So, on to an obvious question," Liz began as they walked back toward the steps of the public library.
There it is. Let me know what you think.