I can't believe Piper of all people is standing ten feet away. Surely my eyes are deceiving me. I squint as I make my way towards her. She steps further into the room until we're face to face and immediately locks me in a deep embrace. She smells like honeysuckle and strawberries and I almost choke as I suck in air through my nose. I press my palms into her back, feeling warmth radiating through her thin blouse. It's the first time I've been hugged since I left Nicky at the last prison; I never want to let go.

"I'm here," she whispers against my neck.

Those words echo in my ear the same way they did the last time she uttered them. I dare not read too much into her statement in this moment; I've been burned too many times by Piper's earnest yet misleading assurances, but fuck if it doesn't feel good to be in her presence.

"How? Why?" I pull back. "I don't understand."

"That's enough, inmate," comes a voice from a guard.

I see he's directed that comment at me, so I sit in a plastic chair at one end of the table.

"It's a long story." She takes both my hands.

I'm filled with mixed emotions, but the one that wins out is elation upon seeing the woman I love despite every fucking thing we've been through, sitting a mere two feet away. "Then talk fast."

She pulls one hand away to wipe a stray tear. "I'll tell you everything, but first, how are you?"

I don't have the willpower to stop myself from reaching out to dry her cheek—it's an instinct I've perfected over the years. Her skin is so soft and warm that it's difficult not to let my fingertips linger for another few seconds. She immediately covers my hand with hers and closes her eyes.

"Why are you crying?" I ask somewhat rhetorically.

"I didn't know if this would happen," she sniffs. "Ever."

"How is this happening?" I quickly raise my shoulders. "I'm in fucking Ohio."

Piper lowers our clasped hands. "How are you doing?" she repeats, ignoring my question.

"Fine," I respond, becoming a little more agitated that she has yet to explain why she's here. "You've seen one prison you've seen them all."

"You look thinner." Concern is etched on her brow. "Alex, are you eating?"

"The food sucks, but I'm eating." I nudge my glasses. "Most of it anyway."

"Eat more."

I try for some levity. "You're not into the super thin, Iggy Pop look?"

Her face sobers. "No."

I should probably detangle our hands since we broke up the last time I saw her, but I can't force myself to release her. "Why are you here?" I don't intend for that to come out as snappish as it does.

"I made a decision," she begins. "I'm not giving up on you—on us."

"Piper, I—"

She cuts me off. "You don't get to dump me because you think it's what's best for me."

I lift my eyebrows. "It is what's best for you."

"It's not." She tosses her head from side to side. "I know we've had our ups and downs—"

"Ups and downs?" I ask incredulously. "That's putting it mildly."

"I love you, Alex." She squeezes my hands. "I love you, and that's never going to change. I tried to live without you for years, and fate brought us together."

I don't remind her that it wasn't so much fate that brought us together as it was my naming her in the drug charges.

"I tried to move on when you broke up with me last month, but I couldn't." She sniffs. "I can't…and the thing is, I don't want to."

"Piper," I say in a warning tone.

"No!" she shouts. "Stop trying to push me away!"

I ignore her plea. "What kind of life are we supposed to have if I'm behind bars in Ohio while you're trying to put your life back together in New York?"

"I don't live in New York anymore," she states.

I crinkle my forehead. "You moved?"

She nods.

"Where?"

"Here." She looks away. "Well, technically I'm homeless right now but that's beside the point."

"You moved to Ohio?" My voice is an octave higher than usual. "Why?"

"Yes, and not just because they have one of the best municipal park systems in the nation," she offers. I find it striking that we've both tried to lighten the heavy moment not five minutes into her visit. "Although that is a perk."

That earns her a heartfelt smile, reminding me of how fucking much I miss her sense of humor and obscure knowledge.

"I'm here because you're here." Piper returns to serious mode. "You were right about one thing—we can't make this work if I'm nine hours away."

I shake my head in short bursts. "I don't understand."

"I'm done walking away from you," Piper explains. "We exchanged wedding vows. I know we aren't legally married, but those words meant something to me."

I look up at the ceiling and blink back tears as I recall writing my vows for hours on end in a cramped prison cell much like the one I have now. I poured my heart into those words, meaning every single one.

"My vow was to wait for you." She rubs my knuckles. "That's what I'm going to do, but it's not going to be from hundreds of miles away. I need to see you as often as possible, Alex. I need to hear your voice; to touch you." She flips my hand over, running her index finger across my palm. I wish she could read our future.

I can't believe what I'm hearing; I can't believe she'd actually move to another state where, as far as I know, she doesn't know a soul, just to be with me. As a rule, Piper leaves, she doesn't return.

"I promised to make up for the pain I've caused you every single day." Those words spill out of my mouth before I have a chance to examine them.

"In small, quiet ways," she reminds me in a whispered breath.

"In small, quiet ways," I repeat. Suddenly, I'm caught up in the nostalgia of the moment when Nicky officiated our wedding and I stared into Piper's eyes, vowing to love her forever.

She tilts her head. "Tell me you don't want to give this another shot."

"We've had more shots than Aaron Burr."

"I'm not throwing away my shot." I sense she wants to crack a smile, but she remains stoic.

"Maybe when I get out of here, we can see Hamilton on Broadway."

"I'll wait to see it with you," she replies.

"It's not like you could afford those pricey tickets on an ex-con's salary." Sometimes I can't help being snarky.

She ignores my comment. "I'm committing to you, again, right here and now. I'm not walking away until I know we're in this for the long haul."

I desperately try to keep my tears at bay and don't blink for fear of one falling down my cheek. "You're fucking crazy, you know that?"

She issues a tiny smile. "I've been called worse."

"Fuck…" I glance up again to try to keep my visible signs of emotion in check. "You're also relentless."

"And stubborn," she offers.

"That, too." I take a deep breath. "I don't want you to resent me for putting your life on hold."

"My life won't be on hold," she responds. "I'm going to get a job; start taking classes; find an affordable apartment that I can decorate and call my own. The only thing I'm not going to do is date other people. You're it for me, Alex. It's always been you—only you."

"Time's up, inmates," a guard calls.

I notice Luschek's old key ring that serves as her wedding band. "You kept this old thing?"

She looks wounded. "You don't have yours?"

"Of course I do." I string my fingers through hers. "I just didn't know if you'd keep it after the way I ended things."

"You have 30 seconds," the guard announces. "Time to say your final goodbyes."

"I never took it off," she replies.

"Mine is in a safe place in my cell." I get to my feet. "I'll upgrade that piece of shit if I ever get out of here." With that statement, I realize the cat is out of the bag—not only am I confessing I want to make this work, but I'm admitting I want Piper to be my wife.

"Don't say that." She stands and wraps her arms around me. "You promised you'd get out so we could be together."

I nod. "I did make that promise."

"I'm going to write letters and visit as often as they allow." She sniffs, and it breaks my heart that she's crying again. "I put money in your commissary a week ago, but it might take a few more days to go through. You know how it goes. Call me as soon as you can."

I cradle her face in my hands, then lean in to press my lips against hers. A surge of joy and hurt courses through me. By no means is this the most romantic or passionate kiss we've ever shared, but it's the most meaningful—it's a promise that we're going to do our very best to make this work...again. I'm not naive enough to think this will be the last time we take a stab at being a couple, but God help me, I love this woman with every ounce of my being—that has never wavered even when I wished it would have.

I pull back, noticing Piper's waterworks have started again. "Stop, you're going to make me cry."

She wipes her nose with the back of her hand. "It's a little late for that."

I touch her cheek. "I don't want you to be sad."

"Time's up!" the guard yells. "Inmates, file out and sign the docket when you pass the desk."

"This is only goodbye for now." She kisses me again. "But I'll see you soon."

I step away, walking backwards until I'm ushered around the wall. Before I make the turn, I smile and cover my heart with one hand.

As I watch Alex disappear behind a cinderblock wall, I try to stop the tears from falling. Just to see her was enough to bring me to my knees, but to touch her—to hug her again—was almost as intimate as making love. Well, that's probably taking it too far, but it was something.

"Ma'am?" A guard steps up to me. "It's time to go."

I whip my head around and point. "That was my wife."

He rolls his eyes. "Mm hmm."

"We broke up, but we're going to try again," I say.

He spins around. "Lady, you got to get the hell out of here or you're going to be the one behind bars."

Maybe that wouldn't be so bad.

I hold up my hands. "I'm going; I'm going."

I walk to my rental car as my lips turn upwards. Alex and I are going to make it this time; I'm almost certain.

What I didn't share with Alex in our 15-minute visitation is how I got to Columbus and what I've already done to try to make a life here. I decide to write it in a letter mostly because I don't want our precious time together to be spent talking about logistics. I have two hours to kill before my third job interview (the first two didn't go so well), so I pull up to the public library to begin writing.

Dear Alex,

I can't express in words how good it was to see you today. Although you looked thinner than last time, you still looked good—amazing even.

I'm sure you have a million questions about how I came to the decision to be with you. Let me rephrase that—to be wholly committed to you. I promise to be honest about everything from here on out even if it's stuff you might not want to hear.

I had the opportunity to spend time in Northampton with Zelda. She asked me to join her in some lavish farmhouse while she did some sort of consulting gig, but I couldn't. I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I used her to try to forget about you. As Richard Marx once sang, "I should've known better." And yes, I remember how much you hate Richard Marx. No matter what has happened between you and me, I could never forget you; it was an exercise in futility to even try.

I was at a crossroads not because I didn't love you—that has always been true—but because I was on the outside and you still had three years left. I sought advice in the most unlikely places, but my heart always returned to you. It's frightening how that works. You don't just have a piece of my heart, Alex, you have all of it. Every capillary, every pulsating vein, and every blood vessel belongs to you. I don't see that changing. Ever. When I fully accepted that, I decided to do whatever it took to be with you.

As you might imagine, my decision wasn't popular with my family, particularly with my father. Cal and Neri supported me more out of their "free love" mentality than a "you and Alex make a great couple" one. I don't know if anyone would agree that we make a great couple. Maybe Lorna and possibly Nicky, but I don't care. I'd already disappointed my dad, so I didn't want to flake on him and the job he gave me, so I turned in my two weeks' notice. (Remember when you asked me to go to Bali and I told you I'd have to give the restaurant notice? Your response was, "You're a fucking waitress; you don't have to give notice." I'll never forget that pivotal night that changed my life forever.)

During those two weeks, I researched what it would be like to live in Columbus. I hadn't apartment hunted since the early 2000s when I used Craigslist to find a place for me and Polly, so I didn't know exactly how to proceed with lining up a place in another state. Like I mentioned during our visit, I'm still technically homeless, but by the time you read this, hopefully I'll have a place to call my own. I applied for jobs at national chains so that if you get transferred again, I could potentially get transferred as well. I had interviews at Claim Jumper and Subway that didn't go so well, and I have one at Starbucks today. I wouldn't mind learning the art of being a barista.

I joined the Women's Prison Association and will attend monthly webinars about how I can become an advocate for higher wages and lower the cost of phone calls for incarcerated women. I've also signed up for the PEN America's Prison Writing Program and am waiting to hear if they'll allow me to volunteer at Marysville.

I'm driving a rental car for the next three days with hopes of finding a job as well as an apartment along a bus route. It's vital that I can take public transportation to see you. You might wonder where I'm getting the money to do all this. Before I went to prison, I had a few thousand dollars in my checking account, and after working for my father, I socked away another $3,000 that should get me through at least two months in Columbus.

That's all I have time to write for now, but I promise to send you a letter at least once a week. I know how slow mail can be in prison, so I hope we're able to talk on the phone soon. Like I mentioned, I wired some funds into your account, so you should have access to it any day now. Visitation at Marysville is on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and I have every intention of seeing you those two days every week. I'm hoping whatever job I land doesn't interfere with that plan.

Until I see you or we talk again, know that I love you.

Yours,

Piper

I fold the letter and stick it into my purse. When I return to the hotel later, I'll ask for an envelope and buy a stamp from the front desk. I go to the bathroom in the library to freshen up my makeup, and then I drive to Starbucks for my interview. I chose the one closest to Ohio State University, knowing that the college kids who work there might flake and need someone to cover for their shift. I have every intention of working as many hours as possible to earn money to support myself, and in some ways, to support Alex. As far as I know, she has no one to give her money to buy things in prison. I want to be that person.

I dab a little gloss on my lips, fluff my hair and then go inside. I'm surprised by how crowded it is at 3:30 on a Thursday. Then again, I'm sure it's a great hangout for college kids who want to stay caffeinated while studying.

"Hi, I'm Piper Chapman. I have an interview with Kirk Davis."

The curly haired boy with a deep voice smiles. "I'll let him know you're here."

As I wait for Mr. Davis to show up, I notice that the three employees can't be older than 21. They probably think I'm an old lady.

A man appears through a swinging door. "Piper, is it?"

"Yes." I stretch out my arm to shake his hand. "Piper Chapman."

"Nice to meet you, come on back."

I follow him to what appears to be the supply/break room.

He gestures to a stool. "I noticed on your resume that you served time."

"I did." I can't hide that from an employer, but I did my research enough to know that Starbucks hires ex-convicts. "I made a stupid mistake once and got caught."

"That won't disqualify you for a job here." He glances at the application I submitted online. "But I need to know about your customer service experience."

We spend the next 15 minutes chatting about my work history, and he seems mildly impressed at the few waitressing gigs I've had over the years.

"We're looking for someone who can start immediately," Kirk states. "When could you begin if we offer you the job?"

"Tomorrow," I reply enthusiastically. "And I can work just about any shift, though if possible, I'd like to avoid Tuesday and Thursday afternoons."

He scribbles something down. "I'll make a note of it, but I can't promise anything since you'd be the most recent hire."

"I understand."

"Thanks for coming in." He pushes out his stool. "I have to talk with our district manager, but I should be in touch later this evening."

"Sounds good." I shake his hand again. "Thanks for your time."

That went better than my interviews yesterday. I notice a bounce in my step as I head to my car to check out my first apartment. With any luck, it'll be one and done.

It's hard to fathom that Piper moved here to be closer to me. While I've known her to be impulsive, I wouldn't have guessed that move. She was too self-absorbed in her younger years to have packed up her belongings and relocated to be with me. Traveling around the world was different. She had no expenses and was treated like a queen. All she had to do was keep me company; the rest of the time, she could sunbathe, shop and dine at the finest restaurants in the world. That is, of course, until my world came crashing down.

I wish I didn't still think about her walking away in Paris, but it's etched in my mind like the brand on her skin. I wince at the pain of Red fixing that brand with a hot iron. I've never seen someone in as much pain as Piper that day. The memory hurts me to the core. I haven't dwelled on Piper leaving in a long time, and I don't intend to dwell on it now. She's said time and again that she intends to stay, and this time, I believe her. We've been through too much to doubt her intentions, and the fact that she moved to Ohio just to be with me speaks volumes.

"I fixed the lamp in the CO's office." I return the tools to the shed. "Anything else before I clock out?"

Officer Creighton looks up from whatever he's reading. "No." And immediately returns to it.

I grab my jacket from the back of a chair, then head out the door.

A voice I can't quite place calls across the lawn. "Vause, is that you?"

I squint as I try to see her through the fog. "Boo?"

"Yeah!" She jogs up to the tall fence separating us. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

I walk up to her. "I could ask the same about you."

"A few of us were transferred here," she replies. "Anita, Yoga Jones, Gina, Norma, Leanne, Angie, Janae…"

"What?" I smile. "Why haven't I seen any of you?"

"This place is twice the size of Litchfield," Boo responds. "Apparently there are three units all with their own facilities—cafeteria, laundry, bathrooms...The only thing we share is the yard."

I shake my head. "I had no idea."

"Inmate, you're out of bounds!" a guard yells.

"I'd love to see everyone," I say as we walk along the fence towards the prison. "When do you have time out here?"

"Every morning from 9 to 9:30 and in the evenings right before dinner."

"I'll see if I can take an electrical job during those hours."

"Pick up the pace, inmate," the same guard yells.

Boo smiles. "It's good to see you, Vause."

"You, too." I head inside with a smile.

I wouldn't consider any of the people Boo mentioned friends, but we went through some serious shit together at Litchfield. It would be nice to be with them. After a little time passes, maybe I can ask to be reassigned to their unit.

I stand in line for dinner and search for anyone I might recognize, but the only people I know are the two other inmates assigned to electrical who've yet to speak to me plus Teeny and Lakeisha. There's also the woman who is inevitably right in front of me every morning to take a shower, but I don't know her name. I'd give anything to sit with people I know. I'd give anything to have dinner with Piper, but not behind bars.

Author's Note: While I aim to make every scene vivid, there are three scenes in this story that I had to nail, and the first one happens at the start of this chapter with Piper's first visit to Marysville. I must have tweaked it ten times, and it finally feels good enough to post. Unlike my other 30 stories where I sometimes take liberties of writing Alex/Piper a bit out of character, there will be none of that here since this story is canonical. I hope you find throughout this story that you could see the scenes playing out on Netflix. Thank you for the reviews so far—they keep me coming back.