Chapter seventeen
Piper grumpily shelved the boxes in the other half of the room, the way she slammed them onto the shelves made no secret just how little she wanted to be locked in here with Alex.
Alex tried to ignore it, and sorted through the stock. She focused on the task at hand, not wanting to engage in conversation with Piper, not even by mistake. Not now that Piper knew how Alex really felt. Alex didn't want an apology, nor did she want to make up, she just didn't want anything. She had shut her heart off from taking over like she usually let it when Piper was involved.
Piper glanced at Alex, avoiding the topic was one thing but the way Alex was acting like Piper didn't even exist was a whole other level of plain infuriating.
Of all the ways Alex could have stepped up and told Piper she loved her, this was definitely not what Piper had in mind.
And it pissed her off. Because now it all meant that Piper was the jerk. Alex was no saint, but Piper hadn't exactly made it easy for Alex to be forthcoming. Yes Piper had professed her love for Alex, but followed it up with how much she also hated her. Then she had chosen Larry over Alex, then Alex had gotten sent to SHU for Piper...Urg, just thinking about it all left Piper with a headache. Now that Larry had publicly spoken about Piper and Alex, Alex was definitely done with Piper. Piper knew how private she was. Getting an intimate insight into the workings of Alex's mind was like drawing blood from a stone. And Piper had done it. She had drawn blood from the proverbial stone, and made a mess of it and allowed Larry to speak publicly about it.
A gnawing unease began drifting through Piper as she snuck another look at Alex, who silently sorted through the stock. She had blown it with Alex. Heck, they both had blown it in a big way. And it was over. The finality of it all made Piper feel ...scared. It sent ripples of resistance through her. She longed to resist it being over with, every cell in her body told her that this couldn't be it. Whether she wanted it to be over or not, this simply couldn't be it. Piper didn't know what she wanted, there wasn't a lot she did want. Her mind drifted back to Alex's words when they grew close when she first got to Litchfield, 'Well, I think that when you have a connection with someone, it never really goes away.'
Inevitable. Piper recalled the way she had described her feelings about them to Alex. That was what they were. Two forces of nature that were inevitable; fate, circumstance, something would somehow always toss them back together again. And it was driving her crazy. It felt magnetic. Simply standing at two opposite sides of the same room intentionally felt unnatural and wrong. They weren't made to hate each other. Piper truly believed that. But after all the damage they had caused one another, was there anything more than hate left to feel?
Alex could feel Piper's eyes on her. She purposely didn't look her way. Alex was beginning to dread even looking at Piper, she was afraid if she locked eyes with Piper for a moment too long, she'd fall all over again.
It was the fear of falling back into that toxic magnetism that kept Alex focussed on the stock. She picked up a box and stuffed it onto the shelf then began rifling through the next box. Every time she got herself tangled up in Piper, when it would end it would destroy a piece of her, and Alex feared there was very little left to destroy.
"Hold on just one minute!" A southern drawl cried in protest, Alex and Piper exchanged a concerned look. Keys jangled in the door, within moments Pennsatucky was pushed into the room by Bennett, followed closely behind by Crazy eyes.
"I'm gonna cut her up!" Crazy eyes declared. Bennett wasn't having any of it.
"How was I meant to know the bleach wasn't meant for her hair!? It did nawt say it on the bottle! It was an accident!" Pennsatucky protested.
"That's enough inmates! You either learn to get along, or you're both off to SHU."
"C'mon! The bitch poured bleach on my hair! I'm gonna be bald! And if I'm bald, then she's dead!"
"You asked for bleach and I gave you some!" Pennsatucky said.
"When I return, this store room better look fantastic!" Bennett roared, surprising the usually loud inmates. They fell silent.
Piper stared at Pennsatucky and Crazy eyes then looked to Alex, who had the expression of someone who had just stepped in a pile of crap.
"Are we in hell...?" She asked softly.
"Looks like it." Alex answered.
"Hey dandelion," Crazy eyes said politely, a hint of sadness in her eyes.
"Hi." Piper managed nervously.
"This aint hell, because I'm here and my destiny is heaven." Pennsatucky proudly announced.
Alex felt something die inside as she stared at Pennsatucky.
"If there's a god, kill me now." Alex muttered.
Pennsatucky smirked as Crazy eyes touched her head and winced. Unfortunately for the wiry inmate, Crazy eyes spotted the smirk. Within seconds Crazy eyes had Pennsatucky pinned down on the ground and was trying to strangle her. Alex and Piper ran to her aid.
"Stop it! Break it up!" Piper shouted, while Alex pulled Crazy eyes off Pennsatucky.
"Pennsatucky, you stay in that corner and sort through the shelves!" Piper ordered.
"She said it was an accident." Alex explained to Crazy Eyes.
"She also said the drugs were yours." Crazy eyes answered. On hearing this, Piper glanced at Alex. She felt like a prick, she should have trusted Alex more.
"Yeah well, she says a lot of things. She's stupid, look at her..." Alex and Crazy eyes looked at Pennsatucky, who gave Piper a look of protest, Piper gave her a warning look.
"But I don't think she's stupid enough to start a fight she'll lose. Are you?" Alex turned to Pennsatucky.
"Naw...naw, I'm not that stupid." Pennsatucky answered, her eyes obediently on the ground.
"Then it's settled. The sooner you get the store room sorted, the sooner he'll let you both out." Piper added, then walked over to Alex. She cast a sheepish look at Pennsatucky and Crazy eyes, who were now slogging away at their given jobs.
"What're you doing?"
"You have the keys?" Piper whispered, Alex handed them to Piper. Piper took the keys then led Alex by the hand and as quietly as possible, she unlocked the door. Alex's eyes widened in surprise, "Don't be a pussy." Piper said, Alex glanced back at the blissfully unaware inmates they were leaving behind. Once outside, Piper locked the door.
"Come on..." Piper instructed, Alex followed her closely behind.
"Where're we going?"
"We're taking solace in the house of God." Piper quipped. Alex frowned as they entered the chapel, it was empty.
"They've made it off limits while they wait for an electrician."
Piper sat on a pew, with her knees up and her back pressed against the arm. Alex headed up to the confessional booth, "where you going?" Piper asked.
Alex emerged with a brown paper bag, and gave Piper a wink, "if we're gonna get in trouble, we may as well earn it."
"Tell me that's wine..." Piper said desperately. Alex grinned at the excitement in Piper's eyes.
"Close. We have whiskey."
"urgh, gross."
"But it does the job. So man up." Alex announced, pouring the whiskey into the small tin lid she offered it to Piper. Piper scoffed, batting her hand aside. She took the bottle and drank from it. Alex laughed. Piper offered her the bottle, Alex took a swig then shut her eyes. She took in a deep, relaxing breath. Piper couldn't help but smile as she watched Alex let her guard down and blow off some steam. Alex opened her eyes, and caught Piper smiling at her.
"What?" the inmate asked.
"Nothing...It's nice to make you smile."
"For once..." Alex muttered sarcastically, Piper gave her an offended look, then playfully hit her arm.
"I mean it." Piper said, Alex kept her eyes on the ground. Piper gently touched her hand, Alex pulled it away and took another swig. Piper managed to catch her eye, Alex steeled herself, allowing herself to hold Piper's gaze.
"Alex, I really mean it."
And just like that, their eyes locked alongside their hearts. Alex felt herself falling for Piper again. She didn't dare speak, afraid of what was happening. She offered Piper the bottle again. Piper took a swig this time, wincing as the taste of whiskey assaulted her taste buds.
"This is nice." Alex managed, doing her best not to let herself fall any deeper into her feelings for Piper.
"Here's to us." Piper held up the bottle. Alex clinked the lid against the bottle.
"To us..." Alex said with that playful glint in her eye that Piper had longed to see for weeks now.