Vauseman: Litchfield's Finest Love

Chapter Three: Piper

I took one last glance around the bustling room for Alex, and finally gave up looking. Sighing, I sat down next to Morello and craned my neck to see the TV, which I had guessed displayed the news, since everyone was surrounding it and cheering. That's when I saw the headline going across the bottom of the screen: "Same sex marriage ruled legal by President Obama in all 50 states."
"Oh my God," I stuttered, but my voice wasn't heard over the loud cheers. My heart did a flip, and my head felt like it was going to explode. This was the best thing that could have possibly happened.
I needed to find Alex. If she didn't know, I wanted to be the one to tell her. I turned to Morello and asked, "Have you seen Alex?"
"No," she replied, smiling. "I wish you two could have found out this news together. You're my favorite couple around here."
I loved Morello, she always brought a smile to my face. On my worst days, she would gladly cheer me up, whether she knew she was doing it or not.
"Thank you," I said gratefully. "I'm going to go look for her."
"Look for who?" a voice said. Not just any voice, but the beautiful voice that I could recognize even if I were dead.
"Al-" I whipped around, only to find there was no one behind me "-ex?"
"Down here, shnookums," she said. I looked down, and my heart stopped. There in front of me was my beautiful girlfriend, kneeling on one knee. The room went silent.
Immediately tears rushed into my eyes, the biggest smile reaching across my face. I covered my mouth, so she wouldn't see my trembling lips.
"Hear me out, Chapman," she said, laughing, "before the waterworks begin."
I nodded and laughed, rolling my eyes. Only Alex would make fun of me in a situation like this.
"Alright," she began, pushing her glasses back from her face. "Piper Chapman. We have been through hell and back together, from the bar to the drug ring, from country to country, from paradise to prison. Yes, I fucked up and landed us both here, but do I regret it? Absolutely not. Piper, I cherish every moment with you whether we're drinking martinis in a bar or crying in each other's lap in the prison chapel. Looking back, I would not have done anything differently. Because damn it, Piper, you're the love of my fucking life. I want to be with you until I die, which I hope won't be for a long time. But even if I died with you, I would go happily knowing that my world was there with me." Her voice cracked as she said, "So will you marry me?"
By now, the tears were flowing steadily down my face, and piling onto my shirt. I could barely see Alex, but I jumped into her arms as she stood up.
"Yes," I said, through my joyful tears. "I love you so fucking much, Alex."
The room exploded with applause, and all the other inmates cheered, yelling congratulations.
We hugged for a minute, before Mr. Healy yelled, "No touching, inmates!"
Alex flipped him off and kissed me, smiling the whole time.
She pulled away and smiled the most genuine smile at me, and put her glasses back on. "Thank you for saying yes," she said, only loud enough for me to hear.
I must have looked confused, because she took my hand and dragged me out of the rec room. "Come with me."
I allowed her to lead me to the chapel. She sat behind the organ, taking me down with her. It almost looked as if she was going to cry.
"Alex, what is it?"
Alex took a deep breath before she answered. "I was horrified that you would have said no."
I laughed and pulled her in for a hug, squeezing her tightly.
"Alex, I love you more than anything. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you. Why would I or anyone else for that matter say no to you? You are literally perfect in every way. Don't doubt yourself."
She smiled in relief, and gently kissed me. "So, what are we going to name our kids?" she asked, winking. Before I could respond, the door leading into the chapel opened.
"Get out of there, inmates. You're out of bounds." We stood up, and walked down the aisle, glaring at the CO as we passed him.
Once we were back in the hallway, the PA system came on. The annoying, monotonous loudspeaker voice announced, "Breakfast is now being served."
I walked hand in hand with Alex down the hall and into the cafeteria, getting dirty looks from COs and encouraging looks from inmates.
We went through the line, and as we were about to go sit down, Red stopped us. She handed us a delicious looking pancake on a dish, with a little circle of syrup on it. "For the beautiful lovers," she said, grinning. "Enjoy."
We thanked her, and went to go sit down.