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The bedbugs were fortunately, finally fucking gone. Aaliyah had felt so much relief, having hated bugs. She and Janae hadn't talked much since their conversation outside. She honestly had just been keeping to herself mostly. As for now, Aaliyah was in electrical, sitting beside Janae. It wasn't awkward, but the energy was definitely off. Usually Aaliyah would flirt or make a comment but she didn't have anything to say today.

CO's including Mr. Caputo walk in, "Inmates, on your feet. Stand in a line." He orders.

Luschek throws his arms out, "What's going on?"

Aaliyah rolls her eyes, staying where she is, she gives Nicky a look, wondering what she and Luschek were talking about. "Drug sweep. You high?" Mr. Caputo asks Luschek. He obviously denies, "Please. High on life, maybe. Smoked a big bowl of life before I came in today." Mr. Caputo wasn't gonna buy his shit, not in the mood to fuck around. "Funny. Search his desk."

"I was just joking, but, uh...fine, go ahead." Luschek gets out of the way, CO Donaldson immediately making it a mission to search his desk thoroughly. Aaliyah leans forward on the desk, curious as to where this was leading. She notices Luschek and Nicky both sharing looks and wonders what that was about. Obviously couldn't have been about sex so it must've been about something else. Drugs, was the first thing to come to mind.

CO Donaldson appears to find something. "Found something. Looks like coke. No. It's heroin plus gum."

Aaliyah closed her eyes, praying it wasn't Nicky's. If it was, she was gonna kill her. Not literally though. "Wow. Heroin. I always knew you were a fuck-up but I never pegged you for a junkie." Caputo says towards Luschek.

Luschek scoffs. "Why do you assume it's me?"

"It's under your desk."

"Everyone has access to my desk. It doesn't mean shit." Luschek argues, then points at Nicky. "It's her! She's a fucking junkie." Aaliyah clenched her jaw, running a hand through her hair, she sighs. "Who, me?" Nicky scoffs, "It could be anyone." Lie. Aaliyah knew when Nicky lied. She picked it up a lot. Because Nicky lied to her a lot.

"You're the scumbag."

"Scumbag. Seriously? You're gonna talk to me like that? I don't even do drugs, man! I used to smoke marijuana. But it made me paranoid. And so did meth. But heroin? Fuck, no. It's her." Luschek defends, pointing the finger once again at Nicky.

"What is this? This is hearsay. You don't even have any evidence!" Nicky argues.

"Be quiet."

"It's her. I suspected her for a while." Caputo looks at Nicky and at CO Ford, coming up with a decision. "All right. Take her out, down the hill." He decides.

"What?"

"What the fuck! You can't do that! You're gonna believe that piece of shit?!" Aaliyah buts in, in disbelief. "Quiet Channing! Or you're going to the SHU." Fucking asshole. "What the fuck is happening? Mr. Caputo. What the fuck?" Aaliyah goes to move forward until she feels Janae grab her arm, shooting her a warning look. She clenched her jaw, watching as CO Donaldson cuffed Nicky.

"Aaliyah! Please you gotta help me! Mr. Caputo! Wait! Wait! Wait!" Aaliyah set her head on the table, closing her eyes, she tried her best to block Nicky's yelling out. Mr. Caputo turned to the rest of them. "We will not tolerate this! You bring drugs in here, you will suffer the consequences." He says, shooting Luschek a look.

"Tell that to your dirty fucking guards! You stupid bald bitch!" Aaliyah shouts, shrugging off Janae's hand from her arm. "Channing! I hear one more outburst from you and you're going with her," Caputo said, walking up to her with a challenging look. "Do it, I fucking dare you. Do it, you fucking pussy." She said back with a an equally challenged look.

Mr. Caputo backed away, walking out with CO Ford. Aaliyah scoffs, "Yeah go do what you're best at! Keepin' that hand down your pants! Cause you sure as hell can't run fucking prison correctly!" The doors slams shut, she shook her head. "That's what I fucking thought."

"Let this be a lesson to all of you. Drugs destroy lives! Never trust a fucking junkie!" Luschek kicks his desk, causing some to flinch.

Aaliyah slammed her hand on her desk, making Luschek look up, she walks over to his desk. She leaned down, "I'm gonna fucking kill you. Stupid fuckin' bloke." Aaliyah walks away, throwing everything off her desk, she flips off Luschek. "Lazy asshole." Aaliyah stormed out. It didn't take long for Janae to follow her out, not wanting it to look like she was choosing sides.

Aaliyah ran behind the greenhouse, dropping down onto the grass. She finally broke down. Sobs escaped her. She hadn't cried in a long time. Nicky being taken away finally fucking broke her. Kinda ironic considering how Nicky always did something that caused Aaliyah to break. It was a pattern in their relationship. Sure it wasn't healthy, but when were relationships ever healthy?

Feeling the presence of someone else, she immediately wipes her tears, trying to put back on that confident facade. She glanced to her right, seeing Janae take a seat in the grass next to her. They sat in silence, but it wasn't awkward, it was a comforting silence. "It's okay to break down." Aaliyah doesn't answer or look at her. She didn't want Janae to see her in such a vulnerable condition.

"P taught me that when I got here. I was actin' all tough and shit, tryna cover up how I scared I was." She didn't know why she was telling Aaliyah this. But there was just something about the girl that drew her in. She made her feel somewhat comfortable, and vulnerable. She made her wanna spill all her secrets. To crawl into her arms and just let go. "We all have feelings. Some of us can't always express them but, I'm tryna say, you can. You got a lot of people who care about you."

"Are you one of them?" Aaliyah raises a brow, turning to look at her. Janae let's out a scoff, "Mm-Mm, don't push it. You lucky I'm even talkin' to you after that crazy shit you said."

Aaliyah laughs meekly, "Oh don't lie. You kinda liked it." Janae rolls her eyes, not agreeing but not disagreeing. "I think you like the idea of me chasing after you. It makes you feel important. I'm glad to be of service love," she flirts. Even if it was a serious moment, she couldn't help herself. She was made to flirt. Janae laughs but barely, "I'm not gon' let you change the subject. This isn't about us. It's about you, for once."

"Wow. You're actually pushing aside your bitchyness to act to like a human being with emotions," Aaliyah jokes, getting a small nudge of offense from Janae. "Exactly. You should feel lucky." Aaliyah looks at her with a slightly ajar mouth, "well then, thank you so much my darling. I am truly so thankful for your kindness today." She says sarcastically.

Janae smiles for a few seconds before clearing her throat. "Hey uh, I never said thank you, for getting the shots off. So thanks." Wow. Was she actually apologizing? That was shocking. But then again, this whole interaction was.

Aaliyah smiles for a slight second. "No one deserves to stay in here any longer than they need to. No shots equals early release on good behavior," she shrugs. Janae looks to her with raised brow, feigning offense, "You tryna get rid of me already?" Aaliyah chuckles, shaking her head, "Definitely not. Who's gonna chase after you if you're gone?"

"I'm sure you would find a way," Janae jokes back.

They both shared a small laugh, leaning on the wall of the greenhouse. "But seriously, you needa talk, you got us. You ain't gotta act tough all the time."

"Like you do?" Fair. But even Janae could admit that she did have her breakdowns ever so often. Janae nods. She hesitantly moves her hand, placing it on Aaliyah's knee, a small smirk growing on Liyah's lips but she didn't address it, not wanting Janae to remove it. "I'm gonna see my brother today." She said, rubbing the back of her neck. It was progress. At least she was opening up more.

"Shit, really? Is he cool? Or is he an asshole?"

Aaliyah chuckled. "Nah, nah he's cool. He's actually my half brother. He's studying to become a lawyer. But hey, at least he's not a fuck up like me."

"You not a fuck up." Janae states.

"And how would you know love? You don't know anything about me." Aaliyah shot back. Maybe it was cruel to say that, but hey, technically they equally didn't know much about each other. "You don't know shit 'bout me either but you still like me. So what's the difference?" Fair point.

Silence filled the air, the sounds coming were from the inmates scrolling around outside. Aaliyah decided to break it. "You know, I'm so fucking tired of caring. I tried to care about my mother, and she left. I cared about my father, and he got cancer and may never be able to see his daughter again. I cared about Nicky, and then I almost lost her, several times. It's fucking killing me. Why do I care about her so much?" She wasn't necessarily asking anyone, mostly herself.

But Janae answered anyways. "Maybe you love her?" She suggests, moving her hand from Aaliyah's knee.

"No, that's not it. I don't fall in love. Never have. Haven't even said those three words to anyone other than my dad and my brother." Aaliyah denied, shaking he head. Janae couldn't help but be a bit taken back. The girl who was hellbent and making her fall in love with her didn't actually fall in love with anyone before? It was odd.

"I mean, this is the same woman who stole from me, from my dad, made me bail her out when she got arrested, had me fight people for her. She fucking ruined my life. She wasn't even a good girlfriend. And yet, I still care. Look where that's fucking gotten me? I'm in here now, and coincidentally, I get put in the same place as her. Now she's gone. And once again, I'm left with fucking no one. Stupid fucking mother was right." Aaliyah sucks her teeth, scoffing to herself.

"She always said I was gonna end up alone. For once she was actually fucking right."

Janae didn't know what to say. She didn't know how she could argue with those words. She didn't even know Aaliyah's mother so hell, it could've been right. How could she know? She did know, Aaliyah was crying, silently, but still. So Janae did the only thing she could.

She hugged Aaliyah.

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Alec sat down in a chair, suddenly seeing multiple people rush over toward the large window into the visitation room. He furrowed his brows in confusion, shaking his head and looking back to the table. "That's definitely him! He looks hella british right?" Janae asks towards her friends. Cindy smirks, "Mmm-hmm, that's him for sure. Damn he look good. Look at them muscles peeking through that shirt!"

Janae grimaces, shaking her head. "You lucky Liyah ain't here or she would kill you."

"Oh so we on nickname bases now?" Poussey teases with a laugh, nudging Janae. "Shut the fuck up." Janae scoffs. "Y'all shut up! There she is!" Taystee adds in, pointing to the Aaliyah walking in.

Alec stood up immediately, it was still odd to see his sister in prison clothing but hey, at least he got to see her. Aaliyah smiled, immediately hugging him tightly. He was rather tall, or well, tall as shit so he had to bend down a bit to hug her properly. He pulled away before she got a warning from her CO. "It's so good to see you. How are you doing?" He pushed her chair out to let her sit.

"I'm good, still getting used to it." Aaliyah shrugs, watching him sit down.

"You got the money I sent right?" He passed her a soda he bought from the vending machine. "Yeah, I did. How's dad doing? Any progress?" Their dad was always a sore topic but Alec had been taking care of him more since Aaliyah had been arrested. Alec sighs, shaking his head. "No, unfortunately not. But the doctors said with this new treatment, there's a better chance."

Aaliyah frowns, shrugging, "Yeah, they always say that. It's bullshit."

"I know. You hear from mum yet? She put herself on your call and visitation list." Of course she fucking did. Aaliyah rolls her eyes, "No, I haven't heard shit from her. But is that really surprising? She didn't even come to my trial. Not that I actually fucking care if she did or not." That was lie. Alec knew how much it hurt her that their mum didn't show up for the trial. She just covered it up with her hatred for her.

Alec cleared his throat, deciding to change the subject. "Do you know those girls at the window who keep staring at me?"

Aaliyah furrows her brows in confusion, looking towards the window, she laughs when she sees her friends attempt to duck down. "Yeah, those are my friends." Alec chuckled, figuring that. "It's good to hear you're making friends. They look like a fun little group."

Aaliyah chuckles, nodding. "They are. That's Cindy," she points out, Cindy smirking and winking at Alec. "That's Taystee, that's Poussey, it's French, and that's Suzanne." Aaliyah says, getting them to all wave.

"Who's the last one?" Alec asks, reffering to Janae. He could've swarn he knew her from somewhere.

"That is Janae. I'm trying to make her fall in love with me. I think it's working. I'm seeing progress every day. Haven't lost my touch." Aaliyah winks at Janae, getting two sarcastic middle fingers in response. "She looks like that girl you talked to on your old MySpace account," Alec adds.

Aaliyah couldn't help the smirk that grew on her face as she turned back to Alec. She gave him a knowing look. He laughs, "Fucking hell, Liyah. Does she know?" Aaliyah scoffs. "No, and I don't intend for her to find out. Why do you think I want her so bad? I had her once, now I have the chance to have her again, in person."

Alec chuckles, shaking his head in amusement. It wasn't shocking to him that she pursuing this. He recalled her being obsessed with this girl she was talking to on MySpace. She was a trackstar who was still in high-school, as the Americans would call it. They vented to each other a lot. He would tease her about it all the time. It was crazy actually seeing her in person.

Maybe it was fate that they finally met. Who knew?

"You look a little down today. What's up?" Alec asks, getting more serious. Aaliyah glances at Janae who gives her a look, communicating with their eyes. She sighed. "You remember Nicky right?"

"Nichols? The one who stole from you, from Dad, influenced you horribly?" Aaliyah gave a blank look. Alec never liked Nicky. He always thought she was a bad influence on Aaliyah. "Yeah I remember her. Did you kill her or something?" He joked, knowing she wouldn't actually hurt Nicky. If Aaliyah didn't hurt Nicky for stealing from their dad then he knew Aaliyah wouldn't hurt her for anything.

"No. Uh, she...she got taken to Max for drugs." Aaliyah frowned, holding up her head with her hand.

He furrowed his brows in confusion. "I'm confused. I thought you two hated each other." It was true. Before Nicky got arrested, they got into a huge fight and another one when Aaliyah came to see her in holding.

"Well I didn't tell you that we made up. She called me a while back and apologized. She's the last person here who really knew me, you know? I'm just a bit upset about it. But, Janae kinda helped me after I broke down about it so I think I'll be okay. It's just a bit upsetting." Aaliyah shrugs meekly, taking a sip of the soda.

"That's good that you have people here to help you though." Alec takes her hands in his, "But you know you can talk to me, you have my number, okay? I'll pick up no matter what." Aaliyah smiles and nods, "I know, I'll call you." Alec smiles, pressing a kiss to her hand. "Good. I wanna make sure you're okay at all times, sis."

Alec rubs his jaw, contemplating if he should bring it up because of the Nicky topic. "You haven't been using, right?"

Aaliyah shakes her head softly, still sad that it was even a situation Alec was worried about. "No, I haven't used for years, Alec. I'm clean. I'm not ever touching that shit again. You know that." Alec nods in understanding. "I know. But you know I'm gonna ask everytime. I'm just worried about you."

"You don't need to be. I can take care of myself, brother." A silence filled the air, almost like it was awkward to talk about things. And it kinda was. Prison wasn't something you could easily get adjusted to. "So how's the fiancé? How far along is she?" Aaliyah switched the subject, getting him to grow a smile when she spoke of his fiance.

"She's doing amazing. She's a few weeks along. She wanted to come but her mother dragged her to some party. But she gives her love." Alec said. Aaliyah smiles, nodding, "That's amazing. Though I feel bad about the whole mother thing. Rich people parties absolutely suck."

"Fuckin' hell isn't that the truth?"

"Visitation is closed. Vistors please make your way to the door," CO Ford announces.

Aaliyah sighs, standing up and drinking the rest of her soda. "I love you sister. Take care of yourself. I'm gonna add more money into your commissary tomorrow." She nods, wrapping her arms around him. "I love you too, Alec. Tell the fiancé I say hi."

"I will. I'll see you next week if I'm not busy with the mother in law." Alec rubs her back, kissing her head. She smiles, waving as he exited. She shoots Janae a thumbs up, telling her it went well. The others had left, having only went to see what Aaliyah's brother looked like. Mostly to see if he was hot.

Aaliyah walked out and headed towards Janae. "So what'd y'all talk about?" Janae asked, walking with Aaliyah down the halls.

"Just how hot you looked," Aaliyah flirts.

Janae rolls her eyes, shooting Aaliyah a slight glare. "You're so fucking annoying."

"Oh you love it." She did.

"Shut up."

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a/n: hahaha i had y'all. aaliyah and janae knew each other all alongggg

don't worry, janae is gonna figure it out eventually 🤭

they're opening up to each other more sjsksjsj 🥲

aaliyah letting herself be vulnerable around janae >>>
they're literally goals idc

AND INTRODUCING ALEC!! i love his character so much personally. what y'all think of him?

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