Another update!

Enjoy

"God, she looks amazing" Mendez sighed. His eyes were firmly fixed on the pregnant Latino girl who was slowly tidying her cube. Mendez had been back at work for a week or two and his return had caused quite the scandal amongst the prisoners and guards alike. But a change had seemed to come over the man. Sure, he still strutted around the prison shouting at the inmates like they were dogs, but there seemed to be something different. He was… fairer? The thought was ludicrous but it was as if he was no longer looking for excuses. His attention was elsewhere.

Bennett, sat with his feet up on the bubbles desk, was pretty sure where his colleagues attention was focused these days and he was far from happy about it. The entire plan had backfired and the bastard was still here, staring through the glass at his pregnant girlfriend.

"You know, I'm gonna give that baby everything" the taller man lifted his hand and stroked it across his moustache, shaking his head slightly and smiling. "It's gonna be great Bennett. I've always wanted a kid, you know." Swinging round, Mendez brought his face a lot closer to Bennetts and met his eyes. "Can you imagine me as a Dada?" Bennett, unsure of what to do, paused for a second before he simply shook his head and tried to pull back and away from the breath he could feel on his face. Mendez straightened up again, hands in pockets, and bounced on the balls of his feet.

"I'm gonna be a great dad. That'll kid will have everything it wants."

Bennett listened to the man rambling. He could feel the anger growing in his stomach, the insides twisting and contracting with hatred. This was not how it was supposed to happen. He was not supposed to be here. He was supposed to never be able to lay eyes on Daya again, let alone be back working and leering at her through the office window.

"I've got her something" he grinned, pulling out a napkin with what appeared to be some form of cake in it. "It's Tres Leches cake." The look on his face was so incredibly proud, but all it got in return was a blank look from Bennett.

"What's that?"

"It's some Latino shit, man. I googled what food they like and this came up on the Wikipedia page. I got my mum to bake it. She's gonna love it". Bennett looked at the man that had once scared the hell out of him and wondered what the hell had happened. Since he found out Daya was pregnant, Mendez had sporadically slipped in little bits and pieces for her that he thought she might like and it was driving Bennett insane. It was him that should be looking after Daya. Him who shouldn't be able to keep his eyes off her. Him who should have googled what food she likes.

"I'm gonna go give it to her. Wish me luck, man" Mendez grinned, slapping the younger guard hard on the back and making his way out of the bubble before Bennett had a chance to reply. Instead, he watched as Mendez made his way over to Dayas cube and began to talk to her. Daya looked up from the stack of pencils she was sorting and listened to what the man had to say. With her eyes shifting around as she was clearly handed the cake, Bennett could feel the smug smile come over his face as she shook her head and appeared to tell Mendez she either didn't want or like it. He hoped both. But as he continued watching, the smile slipped from his lips as Daya smiled and laughed at something the bastard had said. The hate churned in his stomach again and the guard slipped his hand into his pocket where, ever since he had been handed it, the throwing star had sat peacefully.

x-x-x-x

Piper, with her towel thrown over her arm and shampoo in her hand, made her way out of her block and towards the bathroom. It was around five and she hoped that the bathroom would be as close to empty as it would get. On her way, she passed Morello and Lily who were deep in conversation. Lornas painted lips were fixed in a giant smile and Piper had heard her laughter before she had even turned the corner. Morello saw Piper before Lily did and threw a wave her way.

"Hey, Piper". At her name, Lily turned and her face broke into a huge grin.

"Hey, Chapman!" she called to her. Piper gave the girl a small smile and a slight wave of her hand as she continued on her way. The smile dropped from her face as soon as she was past the new woman but was soon replaced with a genuine one as she saw she was the only one to have chosen now to take a shower. Knowing that the peace and quiet probably wouldn't last long, she stripped off her prison clothes and threw herself under the semi-warm water. Okay, so it wasn't the most relaxing of showers and the water wasn't anywhere near hot enough for her liking, but Piper had learned to take what she could in Litchfield. As she was rubbing the prison shampoo into her hair, the dulcet tones of Nicky Nichols filled her ears.

"You're a fucking idiot, Boo. Do you know how hard it is to get a hold of good hooch and you just fucking fall over with it in your hands? Jesus fucking Christ" she ranted, but there was the tone of humour that was never far from Nickys voice.

"Alright, Nichols. It was an accident. Don't let it ruin your stay in this delightful place" Boo joked.

"God. You know, I nearly did? I almost let you ruin all my dreams and take away from this experience. I always dreamed of being locked up with you. I really fucked up my life just so I could be stuck here and have you throw shit over me in place that smells like farts."

"You're welcome"

Piper let out a small snort of laughter which was covered by the spray of water. Pausing, she leant her head against the shower separation, listening to the two women banter. She was sure that she heard Nicky land a swift slap on Boos shoulder and she could just see the pair frowning at each other between jabs as Nicky washed off some of Pousseys finest Hooch. The pair never failed to entertain Piper.

"So you're really out of the newbie game this time around?" Boo asked, turning the conversation.

"Yeah for now. You're welcome to have all those fine pussies to yourself".

"There's a couple of them which have your name all over them, Nichols. And what's a competition if I have noone to compete against anymore?" Boo grumbled, pulling her best puppydog eyes, no doubt.

"You never know. You might find 'the one' and have yourself a new prison wife. Me setting myself out the game is giving you the chance to try before you buy. And we all know that if they'd have tried the Nichols way, they wouldn't look twice at you". Piper rolled her eye. She had figured that Nicky wasn't 'off women' as she claimed to be. Nicky without a woman was like a bird without feathers. It just didn't work. Instead she was, what? Sleeping with only one of the Litchfield women? Stranger things had happened, she supposed. Aliens…Ghosts…Tim Burton.

"So you think you've got 'the one' then?" Boo scoffed. "Too much fucking trouble, that one"

"Yeah well her hard work makes up for that, if you know what I mean". By the burst of laughter from Boo, Nicky had done one of her crude and outrageous hand signals which Piper was becoming far too familiar with for her liking. The woman had a mind like an absolute gutter.

"It must be fucking special for you to even look at her. I've heard she's an animal in bed but is that really worth it? You're gonna be ripped apart when this shit hits the fan" Boo warned.

"Believe me, Boo," Piper could just imagine Nicky putting her hand on Boos shoulder and looking at her with those big eyes "it is. You've never had orgasms like the one she hands out to me" Nicky sniffed. "Anyway, it's not my fucking problem." The pair were clearly making their way out of the bathroom having finished washing the drink off of Nicky and Piper started to turn back to her shower, catching the last couple of words the women said as they left. "I'm not the one with the ex here with me. She's a big girl. If she wants to tell Chapman, she fucking well will."

Piper must have been in the shower too long. The water falling over her skin felt as if it had suddenly turned from lukewarm to freezing cold.

For the thousandth time, Piper found herself asking herself what the fuck had happened to her happy place.

x-x-x-x

Sorry guys…