Hours later, Joe and Natalie were slumped in their chairs in the emergency response trailer. Natalie pushed away the emptied takeout boxes that had been brought in so they could finally eat and laid her head down on the table.

"I can't fucking believe Taystee just fucking threw it all away. After all of that." Natalie was still seething, even in her exhaustion. "She could have made some real changes."

"I know." Joe rubbed his reddened eyes. "I thought she was smarter than that."

Natalie sighed. "Are we allowed to go now?"

They'd lost count of the number of people who had questioned them – the police, the governor, MCC officials, the press – it had seemed never ending.

"I think so. I'm just too tired to move."

Natalie yawned and stood up, stretching. "Well, I'm going to go then. Maybe I can make it home before 1 a.m."

"You don't need to drive back to Albany at this hour when you're this exhausted." Joe chided her.

"Well, that's where I live."

"You could just stay with me."

Natalie waved her hand at him dismissively. "I'll be fine."

"After this hell we've been through… I'd kind of appreciate the company." Joe said quietly.

Natalie understood what he meant. Driving an hour and a half back to Albany after the nightmare they'd just been through wasn't appealing to her, especially knowing that she was going back to huge, empty house that had never been "home."

But, she'd never stayed with Joe either. Every time they had sex at his place, she quickly got out of his bed, got dressed, and left almost immediately. There was no hugging, no cuddling, and definitely no sleeping in the same bed.

She hated that she liked the thought of sleeping next to him.

"You haven't had enough of my company by now?" The corners of Natalie's mouth twitched.

"You can't bother me too much while you're asleep… Unless you snore." Joe teased.

"I do NOT snore." Natalie replied indignantly.

"I think we're fine then."

"Well, if you need me to come over and scare the monsters out from under your bed tonight, I guess I can do that for you."

Joe rolled his eyes. "Come on. Let's get out of this hellhole."

Natalie followed Joe outside. Their hands, unbound for hours by that point, naturally gravitated back toward each other as they walked toward the parking lot. The backs of their fingers brushed against each other's, and their hands eventually joined and laced together, and they walked hand in hand.

They both always denied being the first one to take the other's hand.

Even years later, even when their hands were adorned with wedding bands and clasped together as Natalie brought their newborn son into the world, they would never admit who had grabbed whose hand first the day they walked out of Litchfield together.

For good.

There, a nice, sappy ending because the real world sucks, and I like my endings happy. I will be continuing the other stories, but not as quickly… This one was much more lighthearted and easier to write than Emergency Contacts. Thank you for reading.