Travelin' Soldier (OITNB)

Chapter 13

It was August now, and Piper was working more and more these days. She pretended to everyone she was fine, and that she had moved on from the soldier that stole her heart thirteen months ago. The truth though, was that she never moved on, and that she still missed the raven haired girl so much. She was fine in the day, keeping herself occupied enough to not really think of Alex, but at night she lied awake wondering if she was still alive and if she was, if she was thinking of her too.

A ding at the door of the diner suggested that someone had come in, and Piper looked up to see Julie walking in, with another woman she didn't recognize. The woman had short hair that was fiery red and had an air of dominance around her, she seemed intimidating.

''Hi Pippi, this is-'' Before Julie could finish her sentence a very excited Nicky barrelled herself at the still unknown woman screaming ''RED!''.

''Well, as your lovely colleague,'' Julie glared at Nicky ''Nicky made clear, this is Red. She is the one I told you about, she will take over the diner once I retire.''

Piper swallowed, she didn't make a lot of mistakes, but even if she did, Julie wasn't very hard on her. She feared that this woman, Red, wouldn't make it all that easy on her.

Julie must've seen the look on Piper's face, because she gently grasped Piper's arm and took her with her towards her office.

''Don't worry Piper, she is a good woman. She might seem very intimidating, but she will not harm you. She is very caring and sweet, don't worry, baby.''

Tears formed in Piper's eyes. ''I know, I know, it's just..'' Piper trailed off and seemed to be looking for the right words. ''Ever since Alex just suddenly disappeared, work has been the only place I knew I still had people,'' with that Piper looked up to look Julie in the eyes ''you, Nicky, you know, just the people here, who I knew would accept me for who I am and love me all the same. And I'm just afraid that I might lose that.'' Piper lowered her gaze again. ''You know what, forget it, I'm being ridiculous, I'm sorry.'' Piper moved to get up from the chair she had been sat in across from Julie's desk.

Before Piper could get away however, Julie stood in front of her, having rushed towards the door. ''Piper, I won't disappear from your life, love, if that's what you're afraid of. I know what happened with Alex really hurt you, but I won't leave, okay? Don't worry sweetie, I wouldn't even dream of it. I love you too much for that, my girl.'' With that Julie encircled Piper in a fierce hug. Piper broke down, having not let her guard down for so long. And so she cried for everything, for Alex, for her parents fighting, for her loneliness, for all the pain she had in the passing year. After standing there for what felt like hours, Piper let go of Julie.

''I'm sorry.'' She said looking a bit sheepish.

''Don't ever apologise for having feeling, sweetie.'' Julie said with a stern look on her face. ''Every person deserves to break down every once in a while. You don't have to carry all the weight by yourself, you hear?''

Piper dutifully nodded. Piper moved to speak again, when she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

''I'm sorry for interrupting,'' Nicky said ''but there is someone looking for you.''

''Tell them I'll be right there.'' Julie said.

''No, that's fine boss lady, they're looking for Piper.'' With that she left.

''Well we better get going then.'' Julie said to Piper.

''Yeah, we better..'' Piper trailed off. She was scared, and not of Red. No, of whoever was waiting for her. She didn't have that many friends so one of her friends looking for her was impossible. Well, maybe not impossible, but highly unlikely. So she immediately went to her family. Not that they would ever voluntary step foot in the dinner, no, they would never, but that's what worried her. What if something had happened? What if there had been a car crash, and they were in the hospital? Or worse? What if –

''Pipes?'' She would recognize that raspy voice anywhere. That voice she had been missing for so long now, a voice she desperately craved to hear, to make her feel better. That voice she had heard for the first time thirteen months ago. The voice she had been dreaming about for months now.

''Wha– Al!'' Piper shrieked while Alex dropped everything she had been holding and had picked Piper up, hugging her tight.

''I thought you died..'' Piper whispered in Alex's ear.

''So did I..'' Came as the whispered response.

While putting her down, Alex kissed Piper, and somehow, everything was okay again. Everything made sense again.

So, a tragedy? In some sense, maybe. But you know, it's all about perception.

A/N

So that's it! I might write a sequel or epilogue at some point, but probably not anytime soon. The end is actually very much a last minute decision, originally I wanted to actually follow the song, and let Alex die in combat, but I've had so many messages asking me not to (on fanfiction), I changed my mind. And to be honest, killing Alex would've killed me too. So yeah, again, thank you so much for reading!

(Note for Wattpad readers, if you want to read all the original author's notes, go to fanfiction dot net and look for Travelin' Soldier, I have the same penname over there.)