Thank you for all your kind words on this fic so far! I'm really glad you guys seem interested! Enjoy this chapter!

MBRB'xoxo

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Nicky soon seemed to grow bored with Piper. Making no excuses, she got up off of Pipers bed and lifted a hand in a mock salute.

"Well it's been lovely and all but I'm gonna shoot" she said, turning on her heels and leaving the cube. Piper couldn't help a small smile to herself. She had been worried that Nicky would be cold to her after the way they had parted but the girl that she had been talking to was the same old zany ass Nicky that she knew. But now that her company had departed, she wasn't really sure what to do with herself. She supposed she could take a shower but she didn't really fancy it. Besides, it was nearly dinner.

The thought of the canteen hall filled her with dread. She wasn't prepared for the endless stares and speculation that was bound to ricochet around the hall as she entered. But there was no way to avoid it and at some point everyone was going to know that Piper Chapman was back. After thinking about it for a while, she decided that it would be best to slip into the hall whilst it was busy and try and be as inconspicuous as possible. Not that that usually helped those that were returning from SHU, but it was worth a shot. Better that then make and entrance and come in alone after everyone had already settled.

Joining the stream of inmates that were making their way down the packed hallways to the canteen, Piper tried to keep her head down, focusing only on the thought of food that didn't need to have the mould removed to be edible. Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by a slap on the back that nearly knocked her off her feet.

"Chapman! Good to see you back!" The cheerful face of Big Boo was before her Piper was about to reply but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

"It's nice to have you back, honey". The comforting voice of Sophia joined Boos and Piper looked at the two of them as they turned and walked away, joining the queue for food. She was struck by their lack of questions. With little else to talk about, she was sure that they would have want to have known what had gone down between herself and Pennsatucky. Maybe they already knew? Or maybe they didn't know that anything had happened between the women at all. But in that case, wouldn't they have wanted to know where she had been all this time? Piper didn't know what was going on, but something was very off. As she joined the queue, absolutely no attention was paid to her. No one gave her a second glance, no one asked her where she had been or why, even the bible freaks were happily ignoring her. Something was wrong.

As she was brought out of her thoughts by her tray being handed to her, Piper realised that there was more food in front of her then there should have been. Looking up questioningly, she noticed Red stood off to the side with her arms crossed, watching Piper closely. Cocking an eyebrow and indicating her tray slightly, Piper silently asked why. To her surprise, Red just gave her half a smile in return and waved her away, telling her to go and eat.

Turning, Piper made her way over to where Nicky was sat with her old crowd. Morello was deep in conversation with Yoga Jones and Sister Ingles. Nicky was sat next to Alex and was cracking some god awful joke that had Alex laughing through her full mouth. Piper stopped for a second and watched the scene. It was nice to see Alex laughing so carefreely after not seeing her for so long. And even before they had parted, Alex seldom let loose and had fun. Piper supposed that was all down to her really. She hadn't exactly been kind with her emotions.

Not knowing exactly where to sit, Piper took the seat opposite Nicky and looked down at her tray in silence.

"Alright, Chapman?" Nicky asked. Piper nodded and began to eat. Morello finished talking to the Sister and looked over to Piper with a wide smile.

"Chapman. Good to see you back. How'you doing?" she asked, shoving lasagne in her mouth. Piper nodded and gave a 'so-so' kind of shrug.

"I suppose it'll take time to readjust, but you'll get there" Sister Ingles said with one of her warm smiles.

"That's what Yoga Jones said" Piper told her. Jones nodded and smiled back. The peaceful woman worried about Piper. She was always getting into trouble but it never seemed to be her fault. She hoped that she would be able to find a new path soon and avoid any complications throughout the rest of her stay. There was a moment of silence over the table as no one really knew what to say. But it didn't last long. Alex quickly stood up from her seat and grabbed up her tray a little too quickly.

"I'm gonna get back to work" was all she offered as she threw the rest of her food in the bin, tossed her tray down and exited the canteen. The table seemed pretty shocked at her swift exit but didn't mention it, instead they continued to eat like nothing had happened which set Piper on edge. Leaning over to Nicky, Piper quietly asked;

"Was it something I did?" Nicky shook her head and shrugged, chewing down on a mouthful of food without any form of grace.

"Nahh. She's just a moody bitch. Don't worry about her" Nicky told her. Piper nodded, not quite satisfied with the answer but going back to her food none-the-less. "And anyway. She probably just doesn't want to see you". Nicky was still focused on her food as Piper looked up quickly. Her nonchalance was unsettling.

"What?"

"She's still super fucking pissed at you" Nicky shrugged again and took a huge bite of the stale bread provided with their meal. Piper was dumbfounded. Looking down the table at the others who had obviously been listening in, she didn't realise her mouth was hanging open slightly. All the women looked at her with 'what can we say?' expressions and Morello shrugged slightly. It seemed common knowledge that Alex was not in the best of moods with Piper and it made her wonder what had been said or gone on in the time that she had been away. Suddenly losing her appetite, Piper excused herself and began to leave the table in a daze. She had hoped that Alexs annoyance would have mellowed in the months that she had been away, but apparently not.

Her thoughts were rudely interrupted by a body impacting full force with her own. The tray in Pipers hand was thrown to the floor, as was the tray of the other woman in front of her. Shocked, Piper let out a loud gasp and looked down at her front where the lasagne of the other girl now nicely decorated her uniform. Looking up, her arms spread out wide and her mouth hanging open, Piper looked into the face of Pennsatucky.

"Fuck" was the first thing Pennstucky said, eyes wide. Reaching up to pull her hood down, she looked up into Pipers face. "Shit, that weren't s'posed to happen. Look, mm sorry" she said, her hands up in front of her and her bodyweight being shifted from side to side in her nervous little way. Piper didn't know what to say. So Pennsatucky was back too. There was a line of stiches running from the corner of her eye to the side of her nose, cutting right across her cheek and her nose was definitely out of shape, but she was alive. And she was here. And she was alive and here apologising for running into Piper.

What the fuck.

"Look, I can wash that for you. I'm not working today but I can clean that. I'll clean that for you" she offered. Piper, still not knowing what the hell was going on, shook her head.

"Whadya do, Tiffany?" Leann asked her friend as she made her way over to what happened. Spotting the mess on the front of Pipers uniform, she looked between the two women and frowned. "What happened?". Pennsatucky punched Leann in the arm and narrowed her eyes at her friend.

"It was an accident, Leann! I didn mean to!" turning back to Piper again, Doggett raised her hands again, palms facing Piper. "I'm sorry, kay? I didn mean to." Clearly her speech hadn't improved since Piper had last seen her. Swaying on her feet a couple times more, Pennsatuckys eyes flicked over to the table Piper had just been sat at. Specifically to the seat that Alex had been sat at minutes before. Looking back to Piper and without saying anything else, Pennsatucky grabbed Leann by the arm and pulled her away, leaving her tray abandoned on the floor.

Piper looked over the mess on her front. She didn't have a change of clothes yet and these ones were completely unwearable.

Shit.

She was going to have to go and see Alex.

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Let me know what you think if you have a moment! Next chapter coming soon and I can promise lots of Alex goodness!

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