CINNAMON, janae watson

lesbians... am i right?

"A SURPRISING DEVELOPMENT in the Judy King saga..." A reporter on the news spoke, "this photo, leaked from inside Litchfield Correctional Facility, catches the Queen of Cuisine in a romantic embrace with an African-American inmate."

A few inmates that were also in the TV room started to stare at the group, most specifically at Cindy, who also decided to glare back. "Okay, y'all, so what y'all gonna do with y'all cash money?" Taystee sang in excitement.

"Yo, I'm gonna take my girl to Amsterdam." Poussey chuckled, holding hands with Brook.

"Rent a bouncy house in the shape of a frog." Suzanne said.

"I'm gonna follow D'Angelo around like them white people be following that band Phish, where they spell the word fish wrong." Taystee spoke. "What about you Watson?"

Val had felt like Janae had been a little off around her, and as much as that worried the shit out of her, she decided to not say anything and brush it off and just her being awkward. "Oh, you know." Janae clicked her tongue. "Probably spent most of it on rims." She muttered lowly.

The group went quiet for a second, all a little disappointed at her answer. Well, all except Cindy who was still sulking. Janae winked, and everyone seemed to burst into laughter. But Val was the only one confused the fuck out of her mind. "What, like, for wheels?" She knitted her eyebrows together in confusion. "What are you gonna use that for? We don't have cars."

Even though Janae didn't really want to explain to Val such a simple thing, she couldn't help but smirk a little. "Don't worry." She assured, but Val narrowed her eyes. "It was a joke, Val."

She still looked confused. "I don't get it."

"Y'all, we ain't think this through." Cindy finally spoke up again, after a whole ten minutes of being grumpy and a little sulky. But she sort of had every right to be a little pissed off.

"Man, stop cryin' about it already." Janae said, causing Cindy to glare at her confusedly.

"You was so hyped about being famous and—"

Cindy instantly cut Taystee off. "Okay, first of all, some brown puffs are famous. Not me. And two, how do you think this gonna play upstairs?" She leaned forward. It was obvious that Cindy was annoyed about this whole thing, but the group didn't really seem that bothered about it.

But, it wasn't them that got dragged into a fake media relationship with an old cooking lady. "Yo, don't even worry about it, man." Poussey reassured her. "We got Judy on her side."

"Y'all still ain't gettin' it, are you?" Cindy scoffed. "She used us. Now, she out there lookin' post-racial as shit, and I'm about to get a boot up my ass."

There was a lot of awkward silence for a couple seconds. "Lesbians... am I right?" Suzanne muttered.

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VAL LAID HER head on her pillow, her hand going up and down Janae's lower arm. "Cindy is really pissed about that Judy King thingy, isn't she?" She mumbled quietly, sort of half asleep since she had been barely able to get any sleep. Janae chuckled a little, indicating she was agreeing. "You know, I would be, too." Val spoke up again. "I really don't like that ginger bitch."

"Yeah, you've made that pretty clear." Janae rubbed the back of her neck.

For some reason, Val took her tone the complete wrong way, causing her to sit up in an instant. "Oh, sorry for trusting my gut instinct." She taunted. "I just don't trust that woman. She's sketchy." She pulled her knees up to her chest. "Too nice."

Janae raised an eyebrow. "You're complaining about someone being nice?"

Val whimpered, not able to tell whether Janae was joking or judging her. "Since when do you trust people so easily?" She questioned, a little uncomfortable. "What happened to you being stubborn, uptight and all that shit?"

"Fuck you, Val. I'm not any of that."

But she was, and the whole ten and a half months Val had known her, it was pretty fucking obvious that she was. "You ignored me for, like, two weeks once because I assumed you were gay." The blonde grinned a little, looking back and seeing how hypocritical it sort of was. "And look how that turned out."

That caused Janae to smirk a tiny bit. "I'd say it turned out pretty fuckin' well."

The way she spoke made butterflies appear in Val's stomach, a weird feeling she hadn't felt in a while. Maybe the awkwardness of a first relationship was the only thing she had really been feeling. "Are you flirting with me?" She squinted. "That's so gay."

Janae rolled her eyes. "We're gay."

Finally, the tension sort of lifted a little, and Val could finally feel more comfy with the jokes. "No, I don't think I'm that gay." She giggled. "And you aren't, either. I don't think you have ever flirted with me." Janae had only started feeling more comfortable with public affection, their hugs and make out sessions, of course to be kept in private.

She shrugged. "Maybe there is a first time for everything." The way that came out made Val's mind go in the complete wrong direction, and that hadn't even been a conversation yet.

"Can I call you baby?"

The mention of pet names made Janae grimace. "Fuck, no."

And Val wouldn't admit it, but she actually found them sort of cute. "Okay, babygirl." She teased, but Janae didn't look very impressed. "Sorry, I couldn't help it. Seriously, though... I don't trust—"

The fact Val couldn't let go of the whole, 'not trusting Judy King thing' was really starting to get on Janae's nerves, all she wanted to do was hangout with her girlfriend without any worried. "Yeah, I get it." She let out a sigh. "But you ain't gotta worry about that. Alright?"

"Fine, I guess." Val let out a really dramatic sigh, laying her head down on Janae's shoulder. It was in the moment, but it seemed like a pretty good moment to get something off her chest. "I love you." It might've been way too early to say that, they hadn't even had sex yet, and an 'I love you' should probably be after that... right?

But as soon as those words came out of her mouth, Janae sat up which caused Val to also have to. "What?"

The blonde hadn't even realised what she said, and this time there was no playing it off as Janae had very obviously heard it. And her reaction didn't help the situation whatsoever. "Shit— I..." Val stammered, feeling a lump in the back of her throat. "Fuck it, I've said it now. I'm so sorry." She whimpered.

Janae didn't want to see Val cry, or even see her a little upset. She loved the girl, of course she did. But she couldn't bring herself to say it out loud. Internalised homophobia was a fucking bitch. "No, it's cool." She shook it off.

That was disappointing. "Cool?" Val was hoping for an 'i love you' back, or at least an 'i really like you.' But it didn't seem like that was going to happen. "That's all you gotta say?" She muttered, watching Janae stand up awkwardly and brush herself off. "Seriously?"

"I'll see you at dinner, Val." Was all Janae could get out, only placing a small kiss on the smaller girl's forehead before walking out.

Well, that wasn't so bad.

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Hi!! I hope everyone likes this little chapter, I would've updated a couple days ago but I was viciously attacked by a moth and two spiders, and I twisted my ankle trying to kill them. But yeah, I hope you all really like this :)