Free In Litchfield - Nicky Nichols x female oc (OITNB)

Chapter Sixteen

Author's Note: Sorry everyone, but I have tennis elbow and it hurts to write too much. Until my elbow gets better the updates might be kind of random. I won't give up on this story though!

Somehow, the air smelled better up the hill. It was fresher, and even happier.

As soon as they had let her out of the van and uncuffed her wrists, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, not even noticing the van drive away, hardly not running her over.

She didn't have long to enjoy her freedom before she heard the door swing open and light footsteps rushing over to her.

"Lacey!" She heard an Italian accent screech excitedly.

Lacey hardly opened her eyes before she felt Lorna's arms wrap tightly around her, almost squeezing the air out of her. She leaned into Lorna's hug for a second, before realizing the shorter woman had no intention of letting go. She lightly nudged her away, but Lorna wouldn't budge.

"C'mon Lorna, give her a break already."

Lacey glanced up, a bright smile lighting up her face when her eyes landed on Nicky.

Nicky was standing a couple feet away, her arms crossed and one of Lacey's favorite smirks resting on her face.

Lorna took a step back, letting Lacey wrap Nicky into a short hug. When she pulled away, she took a couple steps away, making sure there was plenty of space between them.

She saw Nicky glance down at the space between them, noting the distance Lacey had put between them. Her smirk never faltered, but eyes dimmed.

"Good to see you again, Locke," Nicky said casually.

Lacey couldn't remember the last time Nicky had called her by her last name. She was pretty sure Nicky had stopped calling her that within a day of her arrival at Litchfield.

Even though Nicky's tone was playful, Lacey realized that her use of Lacey's last name was definitely purposeful.

She smiled and nodded at Nicky, but they stared at each other a couple seconds longer, both trying to figure out what the other was thinking.

Lorna seemed to notice something was up as well, but only paused for a few seconds before talking again. "Lacey, we thought you had been sent to MAX for good and that we'd never see you again," Lorna said hurriedly. She stopped to take a breath, and then said, "But then Johnson got sent to SHU, and then came back and told us she had heard you were in there."

Lacey grinned fondly, "I'm surprised I wasn't sent to MAX too Lorna."

Lorna smiled sweetly back and took a step towards her, linking their arms. "They didn't even move someone into your bed, so Nicky and I were able to stop people from taking anything. I think Boo might've managed to sneak a couple things past us though, sorry about that," Lorna explained, pulling Lacey towards the entrance while Nicky trailed silently behind them.

"Did you manage to save my notebooks?" she asked. She didn't care what Boo had taken, all she cared about were her notebooks, especially the ones with sketches of Tanner.

"Of course, Nicky was extra territorial about those," Lorna said, holding the door open for Lacey and rolling her eyes.

Lacey glanced back at Nicky, raising her eyebrows slightly in surprise. She did not think Nicky actually realized how much her drawings meant to her enough to protect them while she was gone, and she made sure to remember to thank her later.

Nicky only gave her small smile back in return before glancing back down at the ground.

Lorna continued talking as she dragged Lacey down the hallway, but Lacey was too delighted to be back to listen.