[Author's note: Thank you for the support guys, here is a longer chapter for ya. Enjoy.

As always: Reviews are very welcome.]

New York, May 14, 2023

After an emotional night like that, it usually gets very quiet in the apartment, which is weird to Alex because Nicky is anything but quiet.

She is loud and wild and if her roaring skills were a little better, she could have easily be confused with a lion, the hair only completes the comparison even more.

But right now Nicky wasn't being her lion self, she was an abandoned kitten. A very shivering wet kitten, that sits in the rain on a soaked chair in their balcony and refuses to come inside.

When Alex woke up this morning, she went straight to her best friend's room, checking if she was okay after last night. After Alex's explanation of her master plan, Nicky lost her shit.

"This is your master plan, Vause? We can't just go to the wedding and charm their pants off. Shit has happened. Shit that we can not just forget. Besides Poussey didn't invite them. She said it would be weird having them at the wedding, because of how things ended and because they are closer to us than to them." Nicky said, followed by a sigh and left the living room to go to her bedroom.

But Nicky wasn't in her bedroom, and after Alex checked every room, she realized it was Wednesday, the day Nicky goes to her NA meetings. After that realization, she just sat on their living room sofa. The house was so incredibly quiet, the only thing that interrupted the silence were the rain drops hitting the windows. She could feel her body starting to relax when suddenly she heard a loud cough coming from their balcony. It scared the shit out of her.

She ran to their kitchen to grab the biggest knife they've got and started walking slowly towards their balcony. When she grabbed the door handle, she saw a very soaked Nicky Nichols, and it wasn't the usual explicit image that people would have if they thought of a soaked Nicky.

Alex's heart ached for the girl knowing all too well how heart break feels. Nicky was sitting in the chair with her knees pressed up against her chest, her usual fluffy semi blond mane was now darker and lost its fluffiness, looking almost straight in the rain. Her face was buried in her hands.

She put the knife down and opened the balcony door.

"Hey..Nicky, come on. Come inside." She saw the shorter woman lift her face to reveal two puffy red eyes.

Alex decided to just step into the rain and grab her best friend so she could help her get inside but was met with resilience.

"Come on, don't fight me! You are a mess, let me help you." But unfortunately the girl made no effort to leave her spot any time soon.

Alex threw her hands in the air. "Fine, I give up."

She went back inside again, to fill the bath tub with warm bubbly water and went back to their balcony.

"I am sorry," Alex said as she grabbed Nicky, threw her over her shoulder and carried her inside.

"Let go off me, Vause! Right fucking now!" Nicky wanted to shout but lost almost all of her voice, and fighting Alex wasn't that easy if you realize that the tall girl was almost twice Nicky's height.

When Alex stood in front of the tub, she dumped Nicky's fully clothed cold body in the warm tub, roughly but gentle at the same time.

"What the fuck, Alex?" Nicky said, coughing up water and rubbing her eyes.

"Good to have you back." Alex smirked and was now sitting on the toilet with the seat down.

When Nicky got used to the temperature and her eyes stopped stinging, her mind went back to the phone conversation with Poussey she had a few hours ago that ruined her day.

"Yo Nichols, got some bad news, man. Ehm, you see, my girl T wants Chapman and Morello at the wedding. She said she misses the Litchfield days when we used to all hang out with no drama."

Nicky's mind went blank and her throat felt very dry. She couldn't believe what she was hearing, her heart beat was speeding as fuck.

"No."

"Ay Nichols, listen-"

"No, Poussey! No...please." Nicky's voice cracked, this felt like a nightmare. She didn't want to face the woman that broke her heart 5 years ago.

"I am so so sorry, man. I just-look I am only planning on marrying one time, I love my girl so much. I fought so hard for her and I wanna give her everything she wants on our special day. I know I told you and Vause that y'all didn't need to worry but Piper and Lorna will be at the wedding. They already said yes. I am sorry."

"I can't be at your wedding, I am sorry too." Nicky said, guilt and sorrow sounding very present and then hung up without a warning.

She grabbed her pack of cigarettes and stepped into their balcony.

"I am not going to the wedding, Vause."

"Nicky, like you said last night, they won't be there and it will take your mind off of you-know-who." Alex said, choosing her words carefully.

"No, they actually will be there."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked as she got up from the seat.

"Poussey called me, she said Taystee really wanted them to attend the wedding. She says she 'misses the good ol Litchfield days when there was no drama'" Nicky said sarcastically followed by a scoff.

"No drama? Did we go to different prisons or something? Anyway scrub up, if you won't go to the actual wedding then at least attend the wedding rehearsal this afternoon."

"I don't wanna..." Nicky wined.

"Stop being such a baby, Nichols. Or atleast be the best baby ever and find some hot tits you can suck on at the rehearsel." Alex winked.

"Wow, you sure know how to convince me, where is it anyway?"

"At that tennis place, owned by Poussey's uncle. They have a huge area inside that they are gonna decorate the shit out of, it's very low key. Only family and close friends."

"Ugh...alright. Only because it's low key and because I don't want things to be weird between P and me after our phone convo."

"That's the spirit, Nichols! Now go properly clean yourself, ya filthy animal."

"I can't park anywhere, fuck man." Alex could have sworn she has been in this street like 8 times now. After the girls got ready, they decided to buy some bottles of wine at the supermarket. Then they got in Alex's car and can't find a damn parking spot.

"You are making circles, Vause. Nicky said, bobbing her head to 'Zombie' by 'The Cranberries'.

"Well maybe if you turn down the damn music, I can't even think straight, Nick please."

"You never could," Nicky mused, turning the radio off completely.

"Ah finally, a parking spot." Alex finally spotted an empty area, however there was a huge BMW parked in front of it with a lot of space in the front and in the back.

Fucking ass hole. "Nick do you think I can fit in there, it looks tight."

"With a lot of lubrication and patience, my friend." Nicky said, playing Angry Birds, not really paying attention.

"Done, who says women can't park?" Alex smiled victoriously after missing the other cars by an inch.

The first thing they saw when they approacef the address, were four huge tennis fields outside, with random people playing tennis. The inside however had a cafeteria, and restrooms and when they walked down the hall, they saw the huge auditorium.

"Hey ass holes, ain't no party without Nilex, right?" Nicky shouted, as she walked in the huge auditorium with a face palming Alex behind her who carried the bottles.

"Hey Nichols, boy have I not missed ya shit eating grinned face, son."

"Whaddup, Boo-Boo. You missed me, c'mon give daddy a hug." Nicky opened her arms wide, ready to receive the hug.

"Nahh, I'll pass" Boo said laughing.

"Come on, Carrie. You never see Nicky, give her a hug." Boo's wife, Lorelai said. Lorelai was a woman in her 40s, with medium brown hair and green eyes, Boo was a goner the first time she layed her eyes on her. Lorelai was Big Boo's parole officer, and after Boo's parole ended the two of them decided to marry in Vegas.

"CARRIE!" Nicky shouted, and then burst into laughter.

"Nichols, do you want your damn hug or not?" Boo asked annoyed by the fact that 10 years later, her real name still is hilarious to her wild haired friend.

"Yeah, yeah I will calm down." Nicky stepped forward and gave Boo a tight hug followed by a huge kiss on her forehead then proceeded to wipe her tears from her laughing session just now.

"Isn't she the cutest? Sometimes I call her Winnie the Boo, because she is my Boo bear and way sweeter than honey." Lorelai said, looking lovingly at Boo.

"Oh my god..." Nicky said seriously as she took both of Lorelai's hands. "Thank you so much for telling me this. I love you."

"Hey Vause, cool that you convinced Nicky to come to the rehearsal."

"Yeah she was in a very down mood this morning, but that sure disappeared quickly." Alex said, nodding at the direction where Nicky was doing the limbo with two random blondes, laughing and drinking.

"Anyway, look at you, you look like you are about to get married." Alex said smiling, who was now looking closely at Poussey who was rocking an Armani suit.

"Ay, I know how to look good, and I love having more wardrobe choices than just khakis and sweats. But you know who looks really good today, that lady approaching us right now." Poussey said licking her lips, and pointing at her fiancee who sported a panicked look on her face as she approached the two women.

"Holy crap, Alex I did not expect you and Nichols to be here today." Taystee said, who was looking very worried now.

"Good to see you too, T. You sure know how to make your guests feel welcome." Alex laughed, taking another sip of her wine.

"No I didn't mean that- Alex, she is here."

Alex didn't need to ask what her friend meant by "she". She started to look around her, scanning every blonde. "This isn't one of your fucking pranks, right? Because that's not funny."

"Do you think I would joke about this? I am so sorry, Alex. But this can be a good thing, right?"

"No this is a very bad thing and I need to get Nicky and get outta here." Alex gave her glass of wine go Poussey who just had an apologetic look in her eyes. "It's fine, have a good rehearsal."

Alex was trying to found a certain curly haired woman but she couldn't find her. There were too many people, and the auditorium was too big. She felt relieved when she saw one familiar face, eating steak at one of the tables with her wife.

"Hey Boo, have you seen Nick?"

"Yeah, the fucker went to the restroom with two hot blondes."

Nicky was never the subtle type so when the two blonde women asked Nicky what she wanted to do after Limbo, she replied with "I wanna do...the both of you." To which the women each held one of Nicky's hands and led her to the restroom.

"But I really need fresh air, Pipes."

"Just one more song, Lorn. Honestly, whoever brought the wine, did a fucking good job, I mean this is my favorite wine ever. Lucky me-e." Piper sang dragging Lorna to the self made dance floor, again. After the first thirty seconds she fell disastrously.

"Alright, hun that's enough. Let's get you home." The short woman supported the weight of the blonde as they slowly made their way to the exit.

"But the rehearsal..."

"Believe me they will be relieved, you are a mess." Lorna said, struggling to support the taller girl.

"Nicky- oh God, alright." Alex said laughing at the sight that immediately met her eyes as she barged in the ladies room.

She saw her best friend kissing one blonde's neck while she crept her eager hand underneath the other blonde's dress.

"Huh," Nicky lazily replied, breaking physical contact with both of the now pouting women.

"They're here," Alex replied in a serious tone.

"Fuck!" Nicky quickly pecked both of the mouths in front of her, apologized and left the ladies room with Alex as fast as they could.

"I wanna rest, Lorna. I wanna sleep. I am sleepy. Let me sleep right here, against this net." Piper dropped her body in front of the tennis net, closing her eyes ,gaining disapproval sounds from the tennis players that were using that field.

"Oh Piper, please cooperate with me. People are playing Tennis on this field and the other fields around us. I am sorry, boys." Lorna tried with all the power she had in her tiny body to try to pick up a very stubborn and drunk Piper but to no avail.

"Look at the drunk blonde in front of that net. Is she sleeping?" Nicky said, furrowing her brows. Must have gotten really fucked up.

"Yeah and the tiny brunette who tries to pick up her drunk ass friend while apologizing." Poor girl.

"Is that-Dude I think that's Chapman!" Nicky said, stepping closer to the duo and now recognizing the brunette too. "Fuck, and that's-"

"Morello." Alex's mind was racing, should they help them? Or just go home and pretend like nothing happened. She didn't have time to think much because Nicky, who was now walking towards them, seem to have already made a decision.

"Lorna!"

The Italian girl's heart was racing now, she knew that voice so well. The way it sounded when she called her name, whenever she saw the girl or scared the girl or made love to the girl. But where did it come from? When she finally did spot the woman she has shared oh so many memories with, she felt light headed.

"Nicky.." The short woman whispered.

"Hey, look out!" A man from the other field shouted.

"Wha-," Lorna's sentence got abruptly cut off by a tennis ball that hit her between her perfectly arched eye brow and her hairline. The hit knocked her out and a crowd was being formed in a perfect circle surrounding the two unconscious women.