Here's another update - I don't think the chapters are going to keep coming as quickly as they are right now, but I wanted to get this one up. Let me know what you think!
When Piper got out of the SHU she was thin, frail and mentally exhausted, but also surprised and grateful at how sane she had managed to remain. Formulating a plan to get Alex back and fantasising about the results did much to keep her mind away from being cooped up in a lonely box for weeks on end.
Yet no matter how many times she had tried to mentally prepare herself for seeing Alex again, it didn't stop a wave of nausea from surging through her body as she spotted her in the crowd of inmates that had assembled to welcome her back. She actively sought her out, of course, her eyes scanning the cheery faces for the one that had sent her world spinning so many years ago. Alex, stood at the back of the room, held her gaze for just a second, raised her eyebrows in a disinterested way and left. Piper had never tried so hard to act happy as she turned back to the other inmates.
Piper was sent to the dorms while they sorted out a new bunk assignment for her, since her old one had been given away. She was also suspended from the electrical department as the powers-that-be thought it would be a good idea to keep her away from screwdrivers. The broken hand wouldn't help with her already dubious electrical skills, either.
It was Taystee who gleefully informed her of her new job as she bounced into the dorm that Piper shared with three other inmates.
"I'm the boss of you now, Chapman! You're my library assistant", she announced.
So at least she would get to be around books. There was a silver lining to beating up a fellow convict, after all.
Working with Taystee also meant a lot more social interaction than there had ever been in electrical, the enthusiastic woman yapping away about the gossip Piper had missed out on while she was away.
"...and Leann got so mad that you were coming back and not that crazy fucker that she flipped a whole fucking domino table over and got sent straight to SHU! You should have seen her, it was scary man, she gonna be down there for a while!"
Piper was starting to zone out of the constant flow of words, staring blankly at the shelf she was meant to be placing books on. Taystee looked at her knowingly and asked, "So what you gonna do about that girl of yours, Chapman? You look like a lovesick puppy."
Piper smiled conspiratorially, coming across as a lot more confident than she felt about her plan. "I'm going to woo her."
After meeting Alex at the bar that first night, Piper had accepted her invitation to more drinks at her friend's place. She sat alone on the couch, fiddling with the label on her bottle of beer, looking around at the laughing and chatting people around her. This wasn't her crowd, Piper thought. She felt like an insecure teenager again, desperate for acceptance from the cool kids.
Alex had been dragged to the side by a tall and dark man, but didn't seem particularly focused on what he was saying as her grey eyes kept flicking back to Piper, a cocky half-grin plastered on her face.
Piper put down her beer and went out onto the balcony for some fresh air. For a few seconds she took in the city lights and the urban noises, wondering what exciting things were going on down there. She heard the doors slide open and turned to see Alex Vause, confidently striding out to join her with a self-assurance that Piper envied yet found so appealing at the same time.
Alex took a step towards her and with a mocking flourish held out a single yellow flower that she had just stolen from a vase inside.
"I didn't think you were the kind of girl to give out flowers", Piper teased while taking the extended flower and bringing it to her nose.
"I'm wooing you", Alex explained, and Piper melted a little bit inside.
"Yeah?" was all that Piper found to reply, a huge grin threatening to take over her entire face.
"Yeah," Alex confirmed, her husky voice sending waves of desire through Piper's body. Alex stepped closer until she was breathing the same air as Piper. "Is it working?"
Without even waiting for an answer, Alex leaned forward and captured Piper's lips with her own, her hands leaving a trail of sparks along Piper's spine as they came down to rest on her lower back, bringing their bodies closer together. Piper reacted with eagerness, cupping the taller woman's soft face with her hands, and throughout the delicious, magical kiss she couldn't help but wonder at the fact that this incredibly sexy and mysterious woman was kissing her, Piper Chapman, on a balcony. She was lucky enough to have stepped on the wild ride that was Alex Vause, and she couldn't wait to see where it would take her.
Alex froze when she saw Piper standing at the desk where inmates had to check books out, reading the spines on books piled next to her and making notes in a huge ledger. Of course Piper now worked in the one place that Alex considered her safe haven in prison.
She took a deep breath and braced herself to be as cold as possible as she stepped towards the desk to borrow the novel she had just picked out. Piper seemed to hesitate as to whether she was going to talk to her, and Alex hoped she knew better. Seeming to settle on silence for the moment, Piper took the book that Alex had unceremoniously dumped onto the desk and turned around to fiddle with the ledger. Alex sighed impatiently; apparently Piper hadn't gotten the hang of her new job yet. It wasn't rocket science.
Finally Piper handed the book back to her with a mysterious little smile that sent shivers through Alex's treacherous body. Alex scowled back, roughly grabbed the book from Piper and spun on her heels to leave.
Despite the temporary betrayal from her body, Alex felt that she had done a good job of giving Piper nothing. If she couldn't entirely avoid her – Litchfield wasn't exactly big – she could at least ignore her and make it clear that she wanted nothing to do with her.
But as she opened the book to find a single yellow flower that Piper had found by the track pressed in between its pages, she couldn't help the way her heart leapt inside her chest, or the way the corners of her mouth turned up despite herself at the memory associated with it.
She waited until she was sure she was as ready to confront Piper as she would ever be. She steeled herself and repeated encouraging words in her own head like an actress preparing to slip into a role. She was angry enough with Piper to channel her resentment into an unpleasant speech, but she wasn't sure she could stop her voice from wavering, betraying just how hurt she was and how much she still cared.
Alex stormed back into the library, and Piper's head snapped up. Alex hated herself for noticing that Piper looked at her like a puppy who knew it was probably going to get kicked but dared to hope for a cuddle instead.
"I thought I was perfectly clear." Alex had arranged her face into a mask of coldness; her low voice sounded dangerous. "I want nothing to do with you. I don't want your love, I don't want your little gestures, I don't want you to woo me. This isn't a petty lover's quarrel that you can fix by being cute. You picked him-" At this point Alex couldn't help how her voice broke and took a deep breath to try and stop her eyes from welling up. "You picked him, and you lost me forever. You can't come running back to me for comfort now that he's left you. We might be stuck in this place together but I plan on seeing you as little as possible while I patiently do my time. And when we get out we are never going to see each other again. Understood?"
Alex fixed Piper with her steely gaze for a second longer, trying to show just how much she meant those words. She turned to leave.
"No." Alex froze, and slowly turned back to face Piper.
"Excuse me?" Alex's words dripped with unpleasantness. Piper looked back at her defiantly, her head held just a little too high to be fully believable in her confidence.
"I'm going to get you back. I made a mistake, Alex. I pick you. If Larry came back to me now I would tell him this. I want *you*. I know you hate me right now, and I know you think you'll never forgive me, but we're in here for the next 5 years and so help me God I will wear you down. We've both screwed each other over and gotten it wrong several times, but you know as well as I do that we love each other, and that we could be perfect once we sort out our shit. So I *am* going to woo you. I'm going to win you back and when we get out of this place we are going to Cambodia."
Piper punctuated her speech with a little nod and turned back to the pile of books that needed sorting, unsure she would be able to stop herself from crying. Alex was, not for the first time since she met Piper Chapman, stunned speechless, and shook her head at Piper's back in disbelief before leaving the library.
Taystee, who had been leaning on a bookshelf nearby throughout the entire encounter wishing she had a bowl of popcorn to go with the show, walked up to Piper. She had stopped pretending to busy herself with books and stood with her eyes closed, one hand on her hip and the other over her mouth, trying to recover.
"Damn, girl". Taystee looked both concerned and impressed. "You two could be in one of those romantic movies you like so much."
Edit: I've added a little bit in the scene when Taystee's gossiping, for reasons that will become pretty obvious.