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"Y'all know where Liyah been at? I ain't seen her since yesterday." Cindy asks. All of them, minus Liyah and Suzanne were sat on a table outside, eating fresh corn from Red's garden. It wasn't the best idea to steal from Red's garden, but hey, they couldn't help themselves. Poussey glances at Janae who just shrugs, not really keeping tasks on Aaliyah. "Last I seen, she was kickin' it with Gonzales and Ramos," Taystee said.

"She kickin' it wit' Morticia and Wednesday? Nah, no way," Cindy denies. Taystee frowns, quick to defend herself, 
"It's true. I seen them all talkin' 'bout her modelin' photos. Which by the way, she looked great in." Janae shook her head lightly, not sure why the topic was on Aaliyah when they hadn't even heard from her in a whole day. "She'll catch up later if she really wants to see us."

Cindy nods, agreeing with her as she took another bite of corn. "Whoo! Man...this farm-to-table thing is for real, am I right?" Poussey hums. "Man, we're gonna be flossin' for, like, a straight hour after this." They all chuckle and nod in agreement with her.

Janae turned to Taystee. "Yo, what happened to your new weave? You were lookin' fresh." Honestly, if they were being real, it was not fresh at all. Danita did a horrible job on it. It would've looked way nicer if Sophia had done it. But Taystee didn't wanna be apart of all the drama going around.

Taystee scoffs lightly, waving it off. "Nah, I wasn't feelin' it."

"Yeah, what she feeling is scared that Sophia gon' hulk out on her and shit." Poussey says, she and Cindy laughing as they mimick hulk noises. "Untrue," Taystee denies. Even though it was kinda true. She didn't want Sophia to be more upset than she already was. Everyone heard about what happened to Sophia that morning. A hate crime. Courtesy of the the transphobes feeding into the rumors the Hispanics spread around.

"Yo, I don't blame you. Shit's getting ugly in the RuPaul Drag Race."

Taystee turned to Janae. "Yo, Sophia ain't a drag queen, yo. She ain't walkin' around in a costume."

"I better not hear you guys talkin' shit 'bout my girl Sophia. She hooked a sis up yesterday." They turned to see Aaliyah walk over, a bandana covering her hair. "Girl what's under that bandana?" Cindy shot back in amusement. Aaliyah grins, sitting atop the table and pulling the bandana off, showing off her new look. "Damnn! Okay. I see you." Aaliyah chuckles, ripping the bandana.

"Is this Red's corn?" Liyah asked. Janae nods, handing her some but she declines. "No thanks. I'm not 'bouta get killed in my sleep by a redheaded Russian." Janae shrugs, eating the corn instead. Hey, more for her. Aaliyah grabbed Janae's wrist, "What are you doin'?" Liyah didn't answer, instead tying the ripped bandana around her wrist like a bracelet. (john b & sarah <3)

Janae raised her brows as Aaliyah tied the other part around her own wrist.  Liyah didn't say anything, just sitting on the table listening to Taystee say she felt bad about Sophia. "This is why I do my own hair," Cindy says, taking another bite of corn.

Poussey feigned confusion, "Wait, that's hair? This whole time I thought you was wearin' Mickey Mouse ears!" They all laughed as Cindy wasn't pleased with her comment.

Aaliyah's face drops seeing Red come over. She had a smile on her face but it wasn't clear to her that it wasn't a happy one. She gasps softy, "Oh, tell me what's happening here." Aaliyah hides her face behind her hair when Cindy goes to answer. "Mmm, at the moment we enjoyin' some corn."

Janae takes a bite with a hum and Aaliyah nudges her. Red holds her hands behind her back. "Corn that doesn't belong to you."

"Oh uh-huh, 'cause it came from the garden, you see what I'm sayin', which is on community prison property that we all share. So, really, it do belong to us." Cindy takes another bite, infuriating Red. "You lazy shakhtor thief!" Red slaps the corn out of her hands. Aaliyah winces, really wishing she could just leave but it was probably too late for that. "You did nothing for this. Other people planted it, watered it, raked the weeds."

"Yeah, well, guess who else got experience growin' shit for other people to eat and gettin' none of it?" Cindy points out. Aaliyah closed her eyes, knowing where this was going.

"I know!" Janae raised her hand for a split second.

"Watson?"

"Is it our ancestors?" Aaliyah face palmed, shaking her head at their foolishness. "Oohh, correct!" Janae and Cindy high fived. "And now, we takin' back a little thing called...reparations." Aaliyah pursed her lips when Red got closer, "You sure you want to get into the ring with me?" Red challenged. "Oh, okay!" Janae and Cindy quickly get up, "What if she do?!" Janae and Cindy get up in Red's face. "You think I won't pound that spiky redhead?!"

Taystee quickly got up to fix the situation. "All right, everybody jump back, jump back." Taystee pushes them back, "Yo, I said, jump back!" Aaliyah smiles, glad she didn't have to be the one to do it. "What the fuck?" Taystee turns to Cindy and Janae. "Now, this is not how you handle your shit with Red." She says, trying to put the fire out to this altercation.

"Man, fuck her!"

"And you got to stop using slavery every time you wanna justify some foolishness!" Taystee scolds, almost like a mother. "I'm just using it as a placeholder till I become Jewish and I can pin it on Hitler." Cindy responds. Aaliyah walks over and grabs Janae, pulling her stubborn self back over to the table. "Sit, and stay put." Janae huffs, crossing her arms.

Cindy sits down and Taystee walks back towards the table. "Listen up, all right? We are not getting into it with the white girls. We had enough of that with Vee!" Aaliyah obviously wasn't there for that but Janae did explain practically everything that happened with Vee so she kinda knew what Taystee was gettin' at. Cindy sighs, sprinkling some salt on the corn as Taystee turns around to settle things with Red.

"I apologize."

"You know what I can't do with an apology, Jefferson? I can't roast it with creamer and chili powder and serve it to the people who are coming to my dinner tomorrow night." Red says. Aaliyah pursed her lips, that did sound kinda good if she was being honest. "What else you got?"

"Parsley...and I got some onions, and I got a pantry full of saltines."

Taystee rubs her face, trying to figure out a solution. "Okay, okay, um. But nobody will care...when you introduce your new sommelier." Taystee gestures to Cindy who speaks mock French. Aaliyah frowns, seeing as she was the one who was actually fluent in French. "This is ridiculous," Red says. Aaliyah nods in agreement, "Exactly! That's not even French. I am offended." Janae chuckles under her breath, patting Aaliyah's thigh.

"Man, it could be classy. Look, I know a hooch specialist who's got a little extra that she needs to unload." Taystee says towards Washington. Aaliyah chuckles as Poussey stood up in disbelief. "Wait, you clownin' on me, right? This is her fault!"

"I know, but she has fewer marketable skills, all right?" Aaliyah laughs at Cindy's offended expression. Taystee turns back to Red. "I'm so sorry, Red. We just been eatin' crap for so long that when we ran into the corn, we just...lost our minds a little bit." Red walks over to the table, coming up with her own solution. "She can wash dishes for me," she gestures to Cindy.

"You and Watson, too. I want the kitchen spotless tonight, and I want you to do the clean-up after." Red concludes, Taystee agrees to it. "Aw, man, that's some bullshit-"

"Shut up, Cindy."

"And I'll take that hooch." Taystee nods, agreeing with that on Poussey's behalf. "And no one touches my garden again." Taystee agrees again, "Obviously." Before Red leaves, she turns towards Aaliyah, who had yet to get a chore. "Channing, you will set up the table. And you keep your little girlfriend there in check." Red says, everyone obviously knowing she was talking about Janae.

Aaliyah gasps, "Pardon? That's not fair! I had nothing to do with this! I didn't even touch the bloody corn!"

"She'll do it," Taystee agrees on her behalf and Red walks away. Aaliyah grabs the corn, using it to chuck at Taystee. "This is bullshit! What if I had plans tonight?!" Taystee gave her a blank look, "Oh yeah?" Aaliyah nods in a sassy manner. "Okay, what plans do you have that are so much more important?"

Aaliyah rubs her chin, coming up with nothing. "Exactly. Look at it like this. You can spend more time flirtin' with Watson." Taystee concludes.

"I hate you. But that actually doesn't sound half bad."

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"This was definitely worth it." Aaliyah hums, taking another bite of the food Red made. Janae rolls her eyes, wiping off the counter. The only reason Aaliyah got some is because she hadn't actually eaten any of Red's corn. "Would you kill me if I told anyone 'bout that little secret we're keepin'?" Janae suddenly asks. Aaliyah stiffens for a second, turning to look at Janae in suspicion. "Depends. Who did you tell?"

Janae sighed, rubbing her neck. "P." She confessed. Aaliyah pursed her lips for a split second before continuing to eat the food. Janae notes how unbothered she was and furrows her brows, "You ain't mad?"

Aaliyah wipes her mouth, "Darling, it's not really my place to be mad. It's technically not my secret. I'm not ashamed of a kiss. If you wanna tell anyone, go ahead, I'm not stoppin' ya. It's your choice." Aaliyah stood up, lifting Janae's chin for her to look at her. "I care about you, and I want you to like me back but I'm not gonna force you to do anything you don't wanna do. Imma let you figure your shit out." Aaliyah dropped her hand and walked to the sink, cleaning her plate and drying it.

Just as she turned around, it was sudden, and it happened fast. Janae pressed her lips against Liyah's. Liyah kissed back without hesitation, pulling her arms to wrap around Janae's waist. Janae pressed her against the sink, deepening the kiss. Running out of breath, they pulled away, Aaliyah smiles at her. "You just kissed me...again. Are you messin' with me?"

Janae chuckles, shaking her head, she slowly backed away. "I'm still..like, hella confused, you know?"

Aaliyah took her hand, "follow me." Aaliyah pulled her back to their bunks, going to hers as it was empty. Everyone was mostly heading down to movie night so they'd be empty. Aaliyah pats her bed, "Talk to me. What are you confused about?"

Janae sat down, letting Aaliyah pull her closer. She had never felt so safe in someone's arms. "What's confusin' you love?" Janae lays her head on Liyah's shoulder. "You remember that girl I told you about on MySpace?" Aaliyah nods, rubbing her shoulder in a comforting manner. "She was the only person I could really talk to you, you know? You kinda remind me of her actually."

"And, you remember how I told you my dad wouldn't let me date guys?" Aaliyah nods, gently urging the girl to go on. "I-I didn't really like guys. I mean, I dated one, but I just did it to piss off my dad. The whole time, I actually kinda liked that girl on MySpace. I think it was more than like. I think I was in love with her the whole time. But I was scared, cause I didn't know what that meant. And I was scared my dad would find out, so I stopped talking to her."

Aaliyah smiles to herself, glad she finally knew why Janae cut her off. It was just because she was scared. Aaliyah thought it was something else much worse. Though, hearing that Janae was in love with her, was scary. Janae turned to look at Liyah, "I don't know why, but everytime I'm with you, I get that same feeling I felt when I talked to her. But, I'm scared."

Aaliyah furrowed her brows softly, "What are you scared of?"

Janae scoots away, confusing Aaliyah even more. "I don't wanna be a project to you."

Aaliyah frowned. "You're not a project to me. Why would you think that?" Janae huffs, "Don't play dumb. You came to prison looking for fun, not a relationship. I don't wanna be some little prison project to keep you company until you leave." Aaliyah pursed her lips. She felt bad Janae thought that way. The last thing she ever wanted to do was upset her, or make her feel like she wasn't the most important person in the world to her.

Aaliyah took Janae's hands in her own. "Listen to me. You're right. I did come to prison looking for nothing serious." Janae looked down sadly, until Aaliyah using her finger to lift her chin. "But then I laid my eyes on you. And ever since, you have been the only thing on my mind. I have never been so infatuated with someone until I met you. The last thing I ever wanted was to make you feel like you weren't important. Cause you are, to me. I really, really fuckin' fancy you. And I really want to be with you."

Janae smiled, leaning her head on Aaliyah's chest. "I wanna be with you too." She mumbled.

Aaliyah hums, "Pardon me? I couldn't hear you."

Janae pulls away, looking at Aaliyah in annoying. "Don't push it."

Aaliyah looks around, pointing to herself, "Are you speaking to me? I couldn't quite hear you. I think you need to speak louder." Janae laughs, pulling Aaliyah back in for a kiss. It was shorter but definitely sweet. "Does that answer your question?" Aaliyah squints, leaning in closer, "I think you need to answer it again. Just to be sure."

Janae pushes Aaliyah down, climbing on top of her, she connects their lips again. Aaliyah smiles into the kiss, flipping them around. "No offense, but I'm a top." She states. Janae blinks, "We're gonna have to figure that out then, cause I kinda enjoy having control over you." She smiles cheerily.

Aaliyah laughs lightly, leaning down to peck her lips. "You're lovely, but you won't be winning this argument. I do not bottom." Aaliyah climbs off, grabbing her gray jacket to be warm for movie night. Janae stands up, grabbing some candy from Aaliyah's stash. "Now that we're official, I get free stuff. This is an arrangement I can get behind." Aaliyah  chuckles, tossing Janae her tank top to be more comfortable.

Aaliyah grabs Janae's hand, pulling her forward, she pressed her forehead against hers. "Kiss me again."

Janae smiles softly, cupping Aaliyah's jaw, she pulls her back in.

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a/n: this was a fun chapter

JALIYAH IS OFFICIAL BAES 🤭🤞

i couldn't keep them apart any longer, i had to give in so my bad if it feels rushed

i can't wait till janae finds out its been aaliyah all along 😍

janae basically admit that she's in love with aaliyah

i love the (fell in love twice) trope >>

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