Vauseman: Forever and Always

4th July|Part 2

(Piper's POV)

I had Cal pick us up from prison.
"Hey big sis! Hey future big sis in law! Damn Piper, you let me meet her before 10 years ago when you were secretly dating but I forgot how hot she is."
"Cal. You're married and she's MY fiancé who also happens to be a lesbian. Back off bro." I laughed at him knowing he was right.
"Cal..? How did you know Piper and I were engaged?" Alex asked smiling.
"When I went to get you painkillers and your glasses from the bathroom I also called my parents to tell them I was going to ask you to marry me and my mom picked up." I told Alex. "Our mother has a giant mouth so our whole neighbourhood probably knows." I scoff at no one in particular.
Alex just laughed and we both got into Cal's green, hippy like car, both Alex and I sat hand in hand in the back.
Cal drove us back into the city. I had forgotten the bustle of everything, the big lights, the sound of the horns and the people. The life.
Alex suddenly spoke up.
"Hey Cal, could you stop the car here please?" She asked my brother.
We were heading to my parents house because we literally had no where else to go, at least that I knew of. Cal stopped the car at a sidewalk in the middle of town at Alex's request.
"Come on Pipes." She said still holding my hand and pulling me out of the car.
"Ok.. um.. well bye Cal I guess." I said.
"Bye sis." He drove away.
Alex was practically sprinting down the sidewalk with me in tow.
"Al, babe, slow down! What's going on?" I ask.
She was practically jumping up and down.
"Babe. I need to tell you something" she says excitedly and continues, stopping and placing her hands on my shoulders and rubbing them up and down my upper arms.
"I knew I was going to prison but before I was arrested I froze my assets and transferred it all into secret accounts. I still have my money and my things Piper. I still have our apartment and I still have my car." She says as she presses the button on the wall to reveal her jet black convertible Porsche. It was only at this point I had realised we were standing in front of a garage disguised to look like an old building no one was using by graffiti and there sat Alex's Porsche. I was over the moon.
"Oh my god babe!!" I had no words I just smiled.
We got into the car but I also had my confessions.
"Well actually Al before you drive off, I have something I want to tell you myself. Remember I won that $7 million that time we were in Vegas?"
"Yeeah?" She says suspiciously.
I continued. "Well, when I won that I also put it into a safe and secret account. Larry never knew about it and I set it up in our names. I still have that $7 million babe."
She just grinned at me. She seemed proud.
"And who says we couldn't survive out of prison?" She said almost laughing.
She started the ignition, reversed and sped off downtown to our apartment which I guess in the last 6 years or so has been hers, not mine, but, it's ours again.

We got to our building and headed to the top floor. Where our apartment was. We had the penthouse after all. She turned the key in the lock and opened the door. I was pleased Alex still had our apartment but the sight of it saddened me. The last time I was here was when I had left Alex (it was her apartment originally before we fell in love) and stormed in here with my spare key, the one she had originally given to me when we got together and taken my stuff and left her and the hundreds of framed pictures we had together scattered all over the apartment. When she returned from Paris that time she was obviously upset, every photograph and memory of us had been taken down. She was watching me scan the apartment and knew exactly what I was thinking; "Pipes. When you left it really hurt me. I came back from Paris and you were here but you weren't by my side anymore and back then.. it was a mixture of emotions. Hatred, anger and confusion but what got me the most was I still loved you and couldn't bear to see us so happy together in our photographs so I took them down immediately. I nearly smashed them all by throwing them against the wall. But I didn't. As much as I hated you in that moment, they were memories that were and are important to me."

I had already started to cry, I felt my tears threaten to run down my face. I didn't care if Alex saw. I wanted her to know how sorry I was. I had left her a note on our bed back then though. It obviously didn't help because she never called. Trying to get closure I guess.

Flashback
I was storming out of the apartment with all of my belongings in 3 suitcases. One large and two small. I may have left her but I was hurting too. Drugs and power had stolen my girlfriend to the point I wasn't even sure she loved me anymore. I was fishing for information from her that could help me establish where I stood with her in Paris when I caught her on her laptop doing yet more business when I asked her to come out with me. When she didn't I knew what I was going to do even if I didn't want to. Break it off with her. So I did and here I am now.
I began to write a note to her knowing where to put it so she would read it when she got back.
'Alex. I know you probably don't want to hear from me right now but I need you to know this. Drugs and power have consumed you to the point where I don't even know if you love me anymore. Believe it or not I love you and probably will for the rest of my life. I just can't be with someone who favours money over love. Can't we have both? Or even just love? I guess not. You know where to find me if you choose the answer I hope you will, but if not, goodbye Alex.' I had written and left it on her pillow. With that, I walked out and away from the love of my life, tears streaming down my face.

She broke me out of my sad memory when she wiped away a tear that had escaped with her thumb. "Hey come on don't cry Pipes. I kept them in the hope that you would come back. And you did. We're getting married. It was a horrible time for both of us back then but we're happy now. I read the note you left on my pillow by the way. I knew you would be upset if I didn't call and believe me it nearly killed me that I didn't, it's part of the reason I turned to heroin. The reason I didn't was I worked for Kubra. Pipes, if I had left him he would've killed me then gone after you for asking me to leave. You know that if it would've been under any other circumstances I would've tracked you down and followed you in a heartbeat but I couldn't. I wasn't going to let you get killed just because we love each other. No way. Now come on. The pictures are in a box marked "LOVE MEMORIES" in the closet in the bedroom. Let's go put them all back up and make new ones." She smiled and took me by the hand and led me to the bedroom which had views of Central Park and the Empire State Building. The views from our room were breathtaking. The bed was facing the windows holding the view, the windows ran from the ceiling to the floor with electrical curtains- there was a button on the nightstands that closed them. Alex brought out the box which really was marked "LOVE MEMORIES" and I smiled. Alex was still adorable even through her pain that unfortunately I had inflicted on her. I would always hate myself for that mistake. I had hurt Alex and for that I would never forgive myself.

Our apartment was open plan besides from the bedroom and bathroom. We had a huge kitchen with black tiled floors, marble counters and white gloss cabinets with an island and mini bar and a huge living room with a 45" flat screen and huge red leather couch. The bedroom was down a corridor behind the kitchen with an ensuite and the main bathroom was opposite.

We put all of the pictures back up exactly where they had been sitting 6 years ago. Every last one. Tired we slumped down on the couch. I had forgotten how unbelievably comfortable this thing was. In the afterthought of making more memories I pulled out my cell phone and put my arm around Alex's neck, held my phone out and we took a new picture together. I called it 'getting out of prison, engaged and on the 4th July'. What a memory. Alex then pulled her phone out, grabbed my face, kissed me, reached her arm out and took a picture of this moment. She then saved it as her lock screen. I did the same with mine. We smiled at each other lovingly, kissed for a bit and decided to just cuddle. After a while I looked up at Alex who was deep in thought.