"Thanks for the shampoo Nicky," I started to walk away from her bunk when I felt a hand grab my right arm.

I turned to see who it was, most people didn't mess with me here since I was part of Red's family so I figured it was just another one of them. The hand was still on my arm as I turned around. To my relief it was just Norma, she handed me a note with something scrawled down in black ink. I nodded my head at Norma and she nodded back at me. The note read;

Hannah,

Meet me in the kitchen after dinner tonight. We have more to discuss about what you and Alex have been doing in more depth. She will receive a note as well. As always make sure to discard of this discretely!

Mother Russia

I balled the note up and shoved it into my waistband. Tonight I had cleanup in the kitchen after dinner so I would be safe to stay and talk, but if Alex got caught in the kitchen we would all be screwed. I made my way to my bunk to grab my shower caddy, but I was interrupted by Marshals. She had only been here for a few months and had yard duty so I barely saw her except for at count. Apparently I had been nice to her on the first week here so now she tried to be inside my ass everytime she was anywhere near me. Nicky told me I should screw her and then break her heart, but she was the kind of person that you couldn't shake after a one and done. So I dealt with her, but right now I had places I needed to be before dinner.

Marshals dragged me into my bunk, attempting to pin me against the wall since the guards were between shifts. I was much stronger and pinned her hands behind her back pushing her against the wall so her hands were in the small of her back and her chest was pressed against mine.

"You know if you started to grind your hips this would be like my junior prom night," Marshals started rubbing her pelvis against my upper thigh but this wasn't turning me on. It was making me angry.

"Marshals you need to leave me the fuck alone or I'm going to hurt you," she stopped grinding her pelvis against me and her body relaxed against my grip.

"I thought you liked me…" The look on her face was certainly not lying, I could see the genuine confusion in her eyes.

"I do like you but I don't 'like' you. Okay?"

"Yeah, I'll leave you be."

I let go of her wrists and pulled my body back from the wall to let her away. The embarrassment was written across her forehead, but not a lot of the other inmates had seen our little episode there. I gathered my shower caddy into my hand and slid the new shampoo Nicky had given me into one of the empty slots. Time to get rid of the letter and maybe put an end to my greasy ass hair.

00000

"You're totally wrong! Johnny Depp is the only actor who could ever do Captain Jack any justice!" I threw a few pieces of popcorn at Dani for saying that Robert Downey Junior could have done better.

"I mean of course Johnny did a phenomenal job, but RDJ is a better actor."

"Oh you are on!" I threw the pillow I was sitting on at Dani, she ducked just in time for it to slam right into my Sweeney Todd poster.

"Looks like you don't like Johnny that much after all," Dani threw her hands up into a victory kind of celebration and laid back against my pillows.

We had eaten almost an entire pizza and two bags of popcorn in the last six hours. Now we were watching Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and arguing over who would be a better captain Jack. Dani was lying in my bed on top of my comforter and I was reclining in my brown leather swivel chair.

After my prank we had laid on the floor for ten minutes just waiting to see who would move first, I eventually gave in. Knowing that I couldn't physically lay there like that without trying to feel her and kiss her.

"I'm gonna go change," Dani climbed out of my bed and walked towards the door, bending over to grab her bag from the floor before exiting, giving me a perfect view. When I heard the bathroom door shut I jumped up and ran over to my closet door to grab some pj's. I rummaged through my top drawer until I came across a pair of loose boxer shorts and one of my old paint shirts. Stripping quickly so I wouldn't get caught naked by Dani was almost like a game, I didn't want her to see me and yet I really did. I threw my dirty clothes into the hallway hamper. I jumped into my bed and slid under the comforter, not realizing my glasses were still on. I took the black frames off my face and tossed them lightly at my desk, they landed without breaking and that's all I cared about. When I finally got comfortable in the bed I heard the bathroom door open, knowing the blonde was about to walk into my room in pj's excited me. She walked into the room and dropped her bag on the floor next to the doorway.

"Close the door," I said, "The cold air will get out into the rest of the house and Phyllis will kill me."

Dani obliged and slowly closed the door behind her. The small lamp that sat on my desk lit up the room to where I could still see all of Dani. Her hair was still pulled back into a long ponytail, but now she wore a pair of short shorts and a grey spaghetti strap tank top. I let out a small gasp, but it was inaudible to Dani.

"Turn off the desk lamp too."

Dani walked over to my desk and clicked the lamp off.

"So do you want the bed tonight?" I asked.

"If you don't mind…"

"Of course not, I'll make a bed on the floor for me," I started to get up but Dani stopped me.

"You can still sleep in the bed Hannah. I won't hurt you."

I felt a flash of heat run through my body and the butterflies returned to my stomach.

"Okay…. Do you want to continue the movie then?"

"No, I'm actually pretty tired."

"Okay," I patted the bed, "Come lie down."

For the first time I watched Dani's face flash to a shade of red, her footsteps weren't as controlled as normal and she was biting her lip. Dani was nervous. She walked up to the bed and lay down under the covers. I turned the T.V. off and sat the remote on the window sill above my head. I pushed myself against the wall, trying to give Dani her space, but she flipped onto her side so she was facing me. She put her right hand on my hip and pulled me to her until she had her head resting against my chest, "Your heartbeat is erratic, calm down. I'm not doing anything." Dani's voice put me at ease. She grabbed my left hand in her right and placed it on her hip. Nuzzling her head into my chest, she could still feel how tense I was.

"Just relax against me, okay?"

"Okay," I tried to let me body relax and it took that as a request. My nose was buried in her hair, I could smell her shampoo and perfume, it made me feel safe. The way Dani was laying against me gave me a piece of mind I hadn't had in years. I hadn't had a proper night's sleep in five years and most nights I woke up screaming from a nightmare. When I was young Phyllis would come and lay with me until I fell back asleep, but now she would wake me up with a cup of coffee and a talk about what I dreamt of. The way Dani was touching me reminded me of the nights Phyllis would come and sleep with me, but other than the safety part there was something else that made me love the way Dani touched me. I was really falling hard for her, I could feel it, but I didn't know how Dani felt and I planned on finding out.

00000

Sunlight was peeking through my bedroom window and the smell of french roast filled my nostrils. Phyllis must have gotten home earlier than normal last night, since I normally made the coffee on Sunday mornings. I glanced over at the alarm clock. 9:37.

Dani's head was still lying against my chest, but she was much closer to my body than last night. Her right hand was resting on my ribs and her left was curled against her chest. Her legs were intertwined with mine. My left arm was wrapped around her waist, I must have pulled her closer to me last night. Our lower abdomens were pushed together. It felt so right, the way we lie there wrapped around each other. I watched her sleep for a few minutes, studied the way her chest moved while she breathed, the way she would nuzzle her head against my chest. I knew I had to get out of bed before Phyllis came to wake me up, and find Dani and I wrapped up. It was hard to move at first because I was afraid to wake her up. Eventually I was able to slip from her grasp, she stirred a bit, but didn't wake up.

I slipped the robe that hung on the back of my door onto my arms and tiptoed out of my bedroom. The bathroom door was open so I walked in and checked my hair in the mirror then brushed my teeth. I made my way down the steps towards the kitchen. My barefeet slapped against the cool hardwood floor, so Phyllis heard me coming in.

"Coffee's still hot," she didn't lift her head from her newspaper.

"Where's Mark?" I walked past the breakfast bar where Phyllis sat towards the coffee pot.

"He already left. You're coffee cup is in the strainer."

I reached into the strainer next to the sink and grabbed my favorite coffee cup. It was a gift from the drama club to me. It said 'Stage Managers run on caffeine and the power of 20 men.'

"But it's Sunday," I poured the coffee into the mug and walked back over to the breakfast bar to sit across from Phyllis.

"He just started taking up Sundays so he has Wednesdays free for cards down at the Yard House," Phyllis sat down her newspaper to look at me, "How'd you sleep?"

"Better than I have in a long time," I blew the steam off the top of my mug and sipped the black coffee.

"I wonder why?" Phyllis smirked at me. Her blue eyes had something hidden behind them.

"I don't know," I started to get nervous.

"Does it have anything to do with you and Dani sleeping together last night?"

"We didn't sleep together Phyllis," my face turned a shade of pink.

"I meant you two actually sleeping with each other," Phyllis could see the embarrassment written across my face. She reached her hands across the bar and took mine. "Hannah, I'm not worried about you two having sex."

"Phyllis," my voice was slightly whiney.

"Hannah I know you, take this slow. You two will be cute together."

"I don't even know if she likes me like that."

"Trust me not everyone would lay like that with someone they just wanted to be friends with."

"I hope you're right."

00000

"All I'm saying is that maybe we should all protest about getting tampons instead of maxi pads," Lorna said between mouthfuls of mashed potatoes.

"You know we have this conversation at the very least twice a week so could you just shut the fuck up and eat your goddamn potatoes?" Nicky looked pissed as she told off Lorna.

"I think you two should start banging again," Alex offered, "I'm sick of your dumb arguments."

"You know that I have to save myself for Vinnie when I get out Alex."

"That's not what you were saying last week in the fucking showers," Nicky picked up her tray and stormed out of the cafeteria.

Lorna grabbed her tray and walked away from the table, leaving Alex, Piper, and I alone.

"She's right about the tampons you know," Piper said.

Alex picked a pea up from her tray and tossed it at Piper's face, "No more talk about tampons Pipes."

Piper picked up the pea and tossed it into her mouth, winking at her girlfriend. It felt really good to see these two getting along, they hadn't been at each others throats in a while.

"Hannah?" Piper said my name.

"Yeah?"

"You've been really quiet lately, is everything alright?" The concern in Piper's voice was prominent.

"We had our meeting with Red last night," Alex interjected, but that wasn't what was wrong with me.

"How'd it go?"

"It went well, we are getting closer."

"I'm so glad to hear that,"Piper and Alex held hands over the table.

"But still, are you okay Hannah?" Piper still held onto Alex's hands but she turned her attention to me.

"I uh… I got bad news over the phone today," I kept my voice low and stared down at my hands. There was still a plate full of slop sitting in front of me, but I had no intentions of touching it.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'd hate to be a bother," I grabbed my tray from the table and threw it in a trash can on my way out of the cafeteria. Piper and Alex looked at each other over the table and decided to follow me. Knowing full well that I only acted like this when there was something truly wrong. I pushed past other girls on my way to the yard, I wanted to feel the cool autumn air against my skin, to help me think a little bit. The blonde and brunette were following me, I would tell them what was going on, but not in there with so many other people. Finally I made it to the doors leading outside, we had an hour before count so I knew we would have time to talk. The air hit my face as soon as I opened the door, I tried to pull as much of it into my lungs as I could. It felt amazing.

"Hannah!" Alex shouted. Her and Piper had caught up with me.

"Not here," I started walking toward the picnic tables on the other side of the yard. I greedily sucked in the air that surrounded me, trying to placate the feeling in my brain. Sitting down at the bench was a relief, finally somewhere I could talk to these two in private. They sat down across from me, still looking worried.

"Okay, seriously what's going on with you," Piper asked.

"My cousin Eddie and I talked over the phone today."

"And?"

"My… well, you know about my aunt Phyllis?"

"The aunt who took care of you?" Alex offered.

"Yeah."

"What about her?" Piper asked.

"Her surgery didn't come out as planned and now they don't know if she's gonna make it or not…" I fought back my tears, didn't want to cry in front of these two.

"Was it a post op infection?" Piper asked, reaching across the table to hold my hand. I slid my hand back towards my body, Piper pulled her hand back and looked at me with sad eyes. In the 4 years I'd been here, I hadn't let another person really touch me. I was still in love with Dani, she was the only part of my past I kept a secret from my friends here. Not even Nicky knew about it.

"No, they put her under and she never woke back up," still trying so hard to hold in my tears.

"How long has it been?"

"Going on eight days now…" my voice trailed off. I could feel both of them staring at me, Piper trying hard not to reach out and hold me.

"Did you ask about furlough?"

"I'll never get it, Healy hates me."

"Yeah Pipes, you're the only person to get furlough here ever."

"So?"

"Because Healy likes you."

Piper looked back at me, "Since Healy 'likes' me so much, I'll take you to him. We'll talk with him together. Okay."

I took a minute to think about it, worse case scenario I didn't get it and I wouldn't see Phyllis if she died. Best case scenario I would get to see her, even if it was in that hospital bed.

"Yeah, sure. Okay."