"Since you've gone I've been lost without a trace.
I dream at night, I can only see your face.
I look around but it's you I can't replace.
I feel so cold, and I long for your embrace."
-'Every Breath You Take' by The Police
XXX
"Vause, time to go!" Bennett bellowed. Over the years he had grown more and more of a grade A-douchebag, probably because Daya moved on from him and onto Mendez as soon as she got out of prison. Alex couldn't really blame her; Mendez had a soft spot for her, and was actually pretty decent when he wanted to be. Bennett just wanted to be liked, it was nauseating, and it was even worse now that he didn't have some hot Spanish mami to keep him grounded. The more time Alex had spent trying to understand the COs, the more she pitied them. They really were some lonely fuckers.
Alex followed Bennett out of the rec room. There was nothing left for her there at Litchfield. Anyone she had ever cared for was already out, even Red was out.
"You ready to be thrown back into society?" John asked her in a blasé tone, as if he didn't really care, but knew that she would be his only conversation all day.
Alex shrugged her shoulders, not really wanting to answer him.
"You got someone on the outside?" he questioned.
Alex didn't answer. Nicky was coming to pick her up, they were moving to Vermont together, neither one of them wanting to spend another second in the state of New York.
As for Piper, Alex hadn't heard from her in over nine years. They had first kept in touch the first year that the blonde was out, but what was once three letters a week dwindled to two, and then one. Daily phone calls were soon every other day, until once a week. They soon lost all and any kind of contact to one another. It didn't surprise Alex; Piper was never really one to stick around, especially when she couldn't benefit from it.
XXX
"Ready to rock n' roll, Vause?" Nicky asked from the driver's seat of her beat up, tetanus shot inducing hunk of metal she considered a luxury. It was her baby.
Alex just assumed it was because Nicky actually bought it with her own money, and not her mother's.
She had Janis Joplin blasting through her surprisingly in good condition speakers.
"Let's just get out of here, too many fucking memories." Alex said tiredly. She never thought she would actually be able to say those words and mean them.
"You've got it." Nicky said, pulling out of park and driving away from Litchfield as fast as she could.
XXX
"Baby, come back to bed." Camille whined as she stared at her girlfriend who wasn't actually her girlfriend's bare back as she sat atop her stool and worked on her canvas.
"Cami, you know I have to work on this. The new collection's opening in two days." Piper said around a spare paint brush that she had stuck between her teeth.
"I thought you were going to paint me." Camille said.
Piper shook her head, slowly losing her patience with her fuck buddy.
"I don't paint anybody, you know that."
"You sure love to paint that green eyed woman. Who is she, Pipes?"
The shorter blonde cringed at the old nickname. She hated when Cami called her that.
"It's Piper, and we aren't going to discuss that right now, it's the middle of the night."
"Exactly why you should be in bed with me."
Piper ignored her, already off in her own world. She never slept when someone shared her bed. She rarely let them touch her unless she was feeling particularly weak.
Camille sighed heavily, giving up and rolling over to face the opposite wall that didn't hold her heart. "You never want to talk about it."
XXX
"Nicky, this is nice!"
"Well don't act so surprised, asshole!" the red head said, smacking Alex's shoulder because she couldn't reach her head.
Alex chuckled as she walked further into the house. "Seriously though Nichols how did you get this place?"
Nicky flopped onto the couch, folding her arms behind her head. "I may have dipped into my mother's savings."
Alex nodded, "Figured."
"What? After all that bitch hasn't done for me, at least she can pay for the roof over my fucking head."
"Just your head?" Alex asked.
"Yeah, did I mention, you got the dog house out back?"
The brunette rolled her eyes, "Fuck you, I'll find my room myself. It can't be that hard, it's the one without all of the Morello memorabilia."
"Too soon!" Nicky shouted from where she still lay in the living room.
"It's been five years, Nick, time to move on!"
"I'll move on as soon as you do!"
XXX
"Girl, you need to drop her." Jaimie said as she wiped the counter down.
Piper sighed, running her fingers through her disheveled hair. "But she's so hot."
Jaimie smirked, "Yeah, too hot for you, you're ice cold."
Piper winked at her, "Jaimie, why won't you just marry me already? You know too much to be able to talk to my flings."
"You only want me because I don't bat for your team."
"Hey, the Unicorns are amazing okay? We just go for hot people!"
Jaimie rolled her eyes, "Prison has changed you."
A cloud passed over the blonde's eyes before she shook it off, "You wouldn't know, you didn't meet me until I moved here nine years ago."
"Yeah, and when you first got here you wouldn't admit that you were bi."
"Hey, I only shit rainbows on a good day, it's usually just glitter. Being bisexual has changed me for the better."
"I'm still trying to figure out who turned you into Frosty."
Piper shrugged, "And you'll continue to, because they're dead to me."
Jaimie brushed off the hostility, moving to wipe her hands on her apron. "You really do melt when it gets hot."
Piper grabbed a pastry off of the plate that Jaimie had set out for customers and hopped off of her stool, heading towards the door. "You have my heart, now; I need to go finish that canvas."
"Break up with the poor girl!" Jaimie called out after her.
Piper rolled her eyes, "Not dating her!"
"Then stop fucking her!"
"Try telling that to her!" Piper said, holding the pastry between her teeth as she made her hands into a 'v' and hit her hips.
"Get your ass home and finish that painting!" Jaimie said, turning her back on Piper and starting a fresh brew of coffee.
XXX
"Shut it Vause, trust me, this is as good as coffee gets around here!" Nicky said as she held the door open for her.
Alex walked through into a small coffee shop, nearly beginning to drool from how good it smelled in there. It was as if they were at a coffee manufacturer.
There was an olive skinned girl sitting behind the counter, flipping through a magazine with her feet up on the chair in front of her. Her chestnut hair was tied up in a messy pony tail, her uniform consisted of a loose fitting tank top tucked into an apron that you would normally see a waitress wearing, tied around her waist.
She looked up, "Can I help you?" she asked, her voice held a sultry tone to it.
Nicky waltzed up to the counter, "Hey Jaimie, I'll just have the usual and this mutt over here will have it black."
Jaimie nodded, turning to pour the coffee.
"It smells great in here." Alex complimented the girl's back.
"Thanks, I make the blends myself." Jaimie said, turning back to set the coffees on the counter. "$5.50." she said to Nicky.
The red head handed over the money before picking up her cup and took a large sip from it.
"So Jaimie, is there anything going on this week? I'm trying to get Alex over here out and about, you know find someone to get under so she can get over someone else."
Jaimie looked Alex up and down, deciding on if she was the right choice for her friend. "There's an art opening tomorrow night, my friend is the featured artist."
Nicky looked over at Alex, "You like that shit, Vause."
Alex squinted at her, hating to be singled out.
"Well here's a flyer." Jaimie said, handing Nicky the bright yellow paper that sat in a pile next to the cash register.
Nicky thanked her, and then followed Alex out of the shop.
"So, who's the featured artist?" the brunette asked casually, she probably didn't know the name, but she was once an art enthusiast back in the day…
XXX
"Al, where are we going?" Piper asked as she allowed Alex to pull her along the sidewalks of New York City.
"It's a surprise!"
They stopped in front of a dark building that was blacked out due to it being so late.
"Alex, what are we doing?"
Alex turned around to look at her beautiful girlfriend, who was still sporting her tan from when they were in Cambodia. "I know that you studied art while in college, and I just thought that since you've given me so much by just being with me, I thought I could start paying you back."
Piper's facial expression softened from confusion to pure love. "Al, you don't have to pay me back, just knowing that you are beside me when I wake up in the morning is enough."
Alex frowned, "But sometimes I'm not there when you wake up, and I hate it. So this is the beginning of me trying to make it up to you." She pulled a key out of her pocket.
"What's that?" Piper asked impatiently, like a child.
The brunette grinned widely, "It's a key."
"Well thank you Captain, I can clearly see that it's a key, but a key to what?"
Alex shook her head, "It's a surprise."
She unlocked the door to the building before pulling the blonde in with her, locking it behind them.
They took the stairs two at a time, wanting to meet their destination faster.
Once they reached the door in question that the mysterious key belonged to, Alex looked over at Piper, smiling, before pushing the delicately cut piece of metal into the lock, turning it and opening the door.
Flicking the lights on, Alex heard a gasp behind her, signifying that Piper had finally figured out where they were.
"No way!" Piper shouted in complete awe.
Alex smirked, shutting the door and turning back to watch her girlfriend as she inspected every clean countertop and freshly bought art supplies.
"This is fucking incredible!" Piper continued.
"You're fucking incredible." Alex said, walking further into the room to stand behind the blonde who was still facing away from her.
"Seriously Al, you bought me an art studio, in fucking New York City!"
Alex shrugged, "It was nothing compared to what you give me every day."
Piper turned back to her girlfriend, a mischievous smirk on her lips, "Oh we are so christening this place, right now." She said, practically falling into the taller woman's arms, sighing against her full lips as they met in a sweet collision, beginning a dance that they were all too familiar with.
XXX
Nicky looked down at the flyer, quickly scanning the paper for a name. Her eyes widened, "Ah fuck."
"What?" Alex asked, confused.
"You're never going to believe this."
"Nicky, what the fuck are you talking about?" Alex asked, slightly alarmed in the tone her friend had taken on.
"It's fucking Chapman."
XXX
AN: Hey guys! This is the second story I will be working on for NanoWrimo. I hope you liked it. Leave a review telling me your thoughts so far, and I'll see you in the next chapter! Until next time!
-Marissa