One Last Time [Vauseman Fanfic]

11: Wasted

And darling I'm drunk,
And everything that I have loved has turned to stone.
So pack your bags and come back home.

Alex had found herself very busy over the next few weeks, the new dealings with both her lawyer and Piper's mom meant that she wasn't able to linger long on the thought of her Aunt's death. Something that was probably for the best. During her spare time where she was actually alone Alex found herself writing more and often. She did not always write things that had a purpose or things with which she intended to use them but she just wrote. Sometimes she would write letters to her mom or to Piper that she kept in a box beneath her bed and other times she would write small stories, things sampled from her past or her possible future. When the words just wouldn't flow in coherent sentences Alex would write poetry, there was something about the way she could be so vague in her words whilst have them hold so much meaning that appealed to her. Her words would need analysis to decipher them, much the same way as she saw herself - to get past her walls you had to spend time and effort. Like the letters and the stories, she kept them all safely under her bed and only dared to look at them when she was sure no one would see her. They were her last bit of privacy left in here and she was determined to keep them safe.

Alex was lying on her bed, drumming her fingers on her stomach waiting for the post to arrive. She wasn't sure why she put herself through the same waiting game each week only to be left disappointed the same each week when nothing arrived for her. Alex was happy when her friends got mail, Piper still received some every other week from Polly and her father. Alex and Nicky sat together most times when everyone else was discussing what they had gotten. Nicky pretended that she didn't care that she didn't get any mail and that no one came to visit her but Alex knew it cut her deep, she knew how scary it could feel to think that you have no one out there in the real world waiting for you to get out. Alex was going to make sure someone was there for Nicky, no matter what. It was as Nicky and Alex were sitting together in the library to escape from the others cooing over pictures that Polly had sent Piper of her baby that Alex had a small epiphany.

"Hey, Nichols?" Alex prompted, "When does Lorna get out of here?"

Nicky frowned, confused at the topic of their conversation, "In a year or so."

Alex nodded, "And you have how many years left?"

"I've got 3." Nicky paused, "Fuck Vause, what's with all the weird questions?"

Alex hesitated for a moment, slightly reluctant to get Nicky's hopes up when Alex wasn't even sure whether she could pull it off let alone get it to work. "Well, it's just that I know you don't really have anyone on the outside.." Alex's voice was careful, she knew Nicky didn't like talking about her family. "And I think that maybe if you and Lorna keep strong and she waits for you that I have a chance of getting you out early."

Nicky looked at Alex and then started to laugh, really laugh. "Oh, funny Vause. I mean, weird subject for a joke sure but I can see the humour behind it."

Alex smiled, of course Nicky didn't believe that she was serious. "No, Nicky. Seriously. I think I could maybe have a chance of getting you out of here not long after Lorna."

Nicky stopped laughing and glared at Alex. "Listen to me right now Vause. You better not be fucking with me because if you are then you are seriously fucked and fucked up."

Alex held up her hands defensively, "I'm not fucking with you Nicky. Piper's mom is trying to pull some strings with the court to get me released a little earlier than my release date and I think with a bit of convincing I could get her to do the same for you."

Nicky frowned but her glare was somewhat less threatening. "Why would Piper's mom do that for me? I don't mean jack to her."

Alex shrugged and smirked, "Well. Piper's mom hardly loves me but she's willing to do anything to help her daughter keep her sanity and her smile. How's she supposed to know that you aren't contributing to that smile?" Alex knew she was right and that with a few well placed words Piper's mom would get Nicky's lawyer to go over her case and see what he could do to reduce her sentence.