I walked hand in hand with Piper over to the table of food. Although everything had gone perfectly and much better than I had expected, I still had my doubts. It was nearly impossible to fully get over your world falling apart multiple times, and even harder to believe that it wouldn't happen again.
When I had met my dad, something died inside of me. He had broken my heart long before Piper ever had, and that was something that couldn't be fixed. All in all, I'd had a pretty shitty life, but Piper made that pain go away. And when she left me, I'd had nothing left. I would die before I'd be able to survive that pain again.
When we got to the table, everyone backed up and let us go in front of them to eat first. I slapped Nicky on the back as I passed her, and she chuckled. I got two plates and handed one to Piper, putting chicken and macaroni and cheese on mine. Piper got the same thing, and slapped some green beans onto hers.
"I know we ordered them," I said, "but those beans look worse than the ones we used to get here. No offense, Red."
Red laughed and winked, saying, "Just remember, I didn't make the food. I had nothing to do with it. By the way, that was a beautiful ceremony. Best and most heartwarming wedding I've ever been to."
Piper grinned and thanked her, and I smiled, a little relaxed. Red was anything but a liar, so everything she said was sincere. If she thought what Piper said was heartfelt, maybe it really was. I just needed to convince myself that in order not to go crazy, especially not here in front of everyone.
Piper and I headed over to the tables under the pavilion, where we had witnessed the baby-faced CO spray himself and another with pepper spray on his first day on the job. My heart sank when I remembered why we had been out there in the first place: it was when Piper, and I at the time, were planning for the panty business. But that was also what caused her to cheat on me with that Justin Bieber-looking piece of trash. I'd eat shit before I ever put my lips near hers, and I cringed just thinking of it. As much as I hated her, I still felt inferior to her since Piper had chosen her over me at one point.
I also felt uneasy because I knew they let her out of max, and she was probably lurking around somewhere just waiting to fuck up my life again.
I carefully sat down next to Nicky and Morello, tucking in my dress. Piper sat across from me, a smile on her face. She turned to Morello, and sympathetically said, "I'm sorry you couldn't stand up next to us to be the maid of honor. They didn't tell us how it was going to go. But you'll always be the maid of honor in my heart."
Morello laughed and swatted at her. "It's fine! I'm just glad I got to do your gorgeous makeup." She pinched Piper's cheek, causing a piece of green bean to fall out of her mouth. Everyone laughed, and were all too distracted to hear the one door open, but not me. I squinted, and my blood boiled when I saw her come into focus. Stella.
I abruptly stood up from the table, kicked off my heels, and started storming over to her.
"How dare you, you motherfucker-" I barely had a chance to finish my sentence when someone grabbed my arm, yanking me to a stop. It all happened so fast.
Piper flung her plate at Stella's head, and its contents exploded when it hit her smug face, chicken and beans flying everywhere.
"I thought I told you to get the fuck out. When I say things, I mean them," Piper spit through her teeth. Stella stood there speechless, surrounded by pieces of food.
"Do you see this woman right here?" Piper pointed at me. "She is the love of my life. I love her. But you? Not one bit. You were the biggest mistake I've made in my life, and I don't want to ever look at your face again. You jeopardized my future with my girlfriend, who is now my wife. And now, you made me sacrifice the delicious food that I paid for, just so I could make a point to you on how much I despise you."
Piper put her arm around my waist, and pulled me close.
"Now, I'll ask you for the second time. Please get the fuck away from me and my love before I knock your teeth in," Piper said, smiling. Before Stella could respond, a pie collided with her face. Blue chunks flew in every direction. Piper and I turned around to see Crazy Eyes standing on the table, looking like a child who had just shot some big game for the first time while hunting. I also noticed that everyone else had sat down but had all stopped eating, and were intently watching.
"Dandelion," she said. "I know you're married now, and I respect that because I love seeing you two together. So not only will I do anything to keep you both happy, but I will throw my pie for both of you!" She jumped down and took a bow, blowing us a kiss. Then, she walked closer to Stella and yelled, "Leave!"
Stella turned on her heel, nearly slipping in the mashed up pie on the ground, and sprinted into the prison, not turning back. Everyone started clapping, and I had never heard such a loud applause before. This truly was turning out to be the best day of my life.
The DJ started playing a loud hip hop song, and everyone got up and started dancing.
"Did you really mean all the things you said?" I asked Piper, only so she could hear.
"Of course, Alex," she said reassuringly. "I promise."
I smiled, the first genuine smile of the day, and kissed her, gently holding her face. "Now let's go dance."
When we got over to the area where everyone was dancing, Milkshake started to play. Immediately we looked at each other, and laughed hysterically as we began to dance. Piper grinded on me as we both moved to the beat, and for the first time, I actually felt happy. I realized that she did love me, and that she did choose me for good, and nothing in the world felt better than that.
When the song was over, everyone went back to the tables to have cake. Red carried it over and placed it in between Piper and me, and handed us forks since we weren't allowed to have knives. I grinned as I put the fork down on the table, while Piper looked at me warily with hers still in her hand. I stuck my hand into the cake, and shoved a giant handful into her mouth. She could barely swallow it because she was laughing so hard. Piper's laugh was contagious, and soon I was in stitches, too, gasping for air.
By the time she finished the giant mouthful, I was doubled over laughing and she was smirking.
"Your turn, Al," she said, fisting my mouth with an enormous piece of cake. I coughed half of it up on her, and it went all over her dress.
"It went in my bra!" Piper screeched.
I grinned, making cake fall into mine as well. "Well, that gives me an excuse to go in there and get it then," I said seductively.
"Oooooh, girl!" Cindy yelled, causing everyone else to bust out laughing.
I went over to Piper and bent down, getting every last piece of cake off of her.
"'That's lesbian activity!'" Nicky said, mocking Mr. Healy.
"Damn right it is," I said, kissing Piper. I sat back down, satisfied.
Nicky stood up, and walked to the head of the table with a glass of soda in her hand.
"Attention ladies!" she called out. "Time for our toast, with soda of course. Classy Litchfield. But anyway. Alex, Piper, you two are ultimate relationship goals. I envy the feelings that you share for each other, and I hope one day I find someone that is as good for me as you are for each other. I'm shit at speeches, especially toasts because I've never had to do one, since all my friends ended up in prison or dead, so I'll keep it short. I wish you both the best of luck, and I hope you have lots of great sex on your honeymoon. Cheers!"
"Cheers!" everyone chimed as they all clinked their glasses together. I chuckled and punched Nicky as she sat down next to me.
"By the way, where are you going for your honeymoon?" she asked.
I looked at Piper inquiringly, and raised my eyebrows.
"Where should we go, Pipes?"
She thought about it for a minute, and then shrugged her shoulders. "Anywhere that you'd like, love muffin."
"How about Paris?" I suggested. I was still loaded with money from my former drug smuggling days, so the cost would be nothing. Plus, it was one of my favorite cities.
"Sure!" Piper agreed excitedly.
"Nice," Nicky said. "Have fun, send us some postcards."
"Anything for you," I said, laughing.
We all sat and talked until it got dark out, and the lightning bugs were illuminating the prison yard. I reached across the table and held Piper's hand, enjoying myself more than I had thought that I would. And it felt so damn good.
At last, it was time to go home. I never thought that I'd be sad about leaving prison, but my heart was heavy as we packed up our things and began to say our goodbyes. You really get used to seeing the same people every day and living with them, and you develop a connection that is hard to explain. Those people become a part of you, and when you're taken away from them, it's like a piece of you is missing.
We were just about to leave when Tricia came over to us.
"Hey," she said. "Congratulations. I wish you both the best of luck." She paused. "Can I ask you a favor?"
"Sure," I said. "What's up?"
Tricia looked around nervously, and reached in her shirt, pulling out a bag of drugs and shoving them into my hand. "Please get rid of these. I don't want to die from them. I know withdrawal is gonna suck, but I'd rather go through that than die. I still owe a lot of people money, and I plan on giving it all back."
I stuffed them into my bra, and hugged Tricia, patting her on the back. She really had a heart of gold.
"Of course," I said. "I'm proud of you, Tricia. Good luck, I know you can do it. Please keep in touch with us, we'll both want to know how you're doing."
Tricia gave a small smile as she thanked me again, and hugged Piper goodbye.
Piper and I said our final goodbyes to everyone, and turned around to go inside. We were bombarded with rice as we went through the doors. We laughed, holding hands and running through the halls, leaving the past behind us.
We slowed down when we got to the main lobby, and said goodbye to Officer Maxwell. She raised her eyebrows at me, and I nodded, smiling. She flashed a smile and congratulated us once again as we headed out the doors, now a married couple.
"Pipes," I said. "I love you so fucking much."
She hugged me, and whispered, "I love you more." We stood together in each other's arms for a while, and eventually got into the car. I put the key in the ignition, and slowly drove home, enjoying the quiet drive with my beautiful wife.
When we got inside, I said, "Pack your bags. We're leaving tonight."
Piper smiled happily, and ran upstairs, leaving me alone downstairs. Finally, I realized that everything was going to be okay.