Vauseman: Forever and Always

I love you

(Piper's POV)

Alex had worn me out with our recent activities so I took a quick nap, falling asleep in her arms. When I woke up, I smiled and bit my lip. I was so happy. That's when I realised, the comfort provided by my wife's arms was no longer there because she was no longer in bed.
"Alex?!" I called out.
Silence.
Confused I turned to get out of bed to find her and found a note written by her on my nightstand.
It read,
"Follow the candles xxxxxxx"
That's when I realised that Alex had laid out a trail of candles starting at our bedroom door and had lit them. People could argue with me all they liked, Alex was the sweetest, kindest, best, all the nice words to describe a person in the dictionary and she was mine. All mine. I can't believe how lucky I am.
I put my clothes back on but left my shoes in the bedroom and walking in bare feet, going to hunt down my amazing wife. As requested, I followed the candles she had laid out. She had literally laid out probably every candle known to humankind, there were no gaps, each candle was side by side running along the hallway upstairs, all the way down the stairs, through the front room, front porch, past the sliding doors and all the way down the beach to where I found her.
I stood at the sliding doors and smiled at her. Taking in how lucky I was to have someone as amazing as her, married to me. She had put so much effort into this, like she had when we officially got engaged. She had prepared a moonlit picnic under the stars on the beach, sitting under a palm tree. It came to me immediately, on our first date, Alex had prepared a picnic for me and we had eaten it underneath Brooklyn Bridge looking out at the lights of New York. This trip was our second honeymoon and anniversary gift of when we first met from Alex to me. I felt a happy tear run down my face. I loved her so much.
I started to walk away from our house and towards Alex. She hadn't realised I was there, she was waiting for me and taking in the views. The sun was setting and it was getting dark. When I got to her, I covered her eyes with my hands, bring her face up to mine, kiss her and say,
"You, are the best wife ever, you know that?" Then removed my hands from her face so she could see me.
"Am I?" She asked sadly with a hint of guilt.
"What? What do you mean? Alex have you seen all of this?! Of course you are!" I say trying to reassure her, sitting beside her and hold her hand.
"Pipes, if it wasn't for me you would never have met Kubra, would never have got sent to prison and would never have been shot. I feel awful. I just felt like I needed to somehow make it up to you. You deserve this." She said in the same tone.
I grabbed her face between my hands and made her look at me.
"Alex. If I wanted a safe life I would be married to Larry right now. If I wanted to marry someone I didn't love, I'd be married to Larry right now. You are who I want. You are who I love. I know being with you isn't easy-"
She interrupts me raising an eyebrow,
"Gee, thanks Pipes."
"Let me finish." I tell her sternly and continue,
"Who was it that told me in prison 'I don't know what's going to happen and that's the point of being with me'? Alex, you didn't know that was going to happen. We met, fell in love and met obstacles along the way okay? Stop blaming yourself, Kubra and Danielle shot me, not you. If it wasn't for you I'd probably be dead-"
"Pipes!" She interrupts again, not wanting to hear or have to imagine the prospect of my death.
"Alex. They are gone. We are finally alone and have an easy life together. Isn't that what you wanted?" I ask and reassure her.
"It is." She said and placed her forehead on mine.
"Good. Because I love you." I tell her.
She smiled, "I love you too." and leaned in to kiss me.
"Now, do you want this wine and dinner I made for us or not?" She asked and I laughed.
"Yes I do."
She popped the cork, poured the wine into our glasses and we ate.
When we had finished, we sat side by side, with legs crossed, my head resting in the crook of Alex's neck and her head resting on mine, looking out at the now rising moon. It reminded me of when Alex had carried me out onto our balcony on our wedding night and we had sat on the sun-loungers looking at the moon on the water.
I remembered what Alex had asked me during the riot in prison about wanting me to lie under the stars with her. I looked up at her and she looked down at me at my movement. I smiled,
"Lie with me under the stars."
She smiled at my reference to our prison memory.
We both lay back, holding hands and stared at the stars. This was so beautiful. Alex was so beautiful. God I was so in love.
We lay like that for around a half hour then I felt like a swim in the moonlight and hoped Alex would join me.
I stood up and pulled off my clothes and underwear. Alex sat up and leaned on her elbow, watching me with an amused smirk on her face.
"Cal's favourite cocktail?" She dirtily asked and rubbed the spot of blanket I had just left with her hand, referencing my brother's favourite cocktail 'Sex on the Beach' that he had told us was his favourite back in Hawaii before Alex and I got married.
I laughed,
"Nice try, I'm going for a swim."
I ran to the pier and when I got to the edge I looked around at Alex lustfully watching me before I dived in. I smirked and beckoned with a finger for her to follow. I watched as Alex smirked back at me and pulled her own clothes off. I turn around and dive into the ocean. I swam out a bit then I heard a splash, Alex had dived in after me.
She swam to me, pulled me into her and we made out in the ocean in the moonlight and under the stars. It was so beautifully romantic.
"I love you Mrs Vause." She says breaking our kiss.
I smile, "I love you too Mrs Vause." and kiss her again, wrapping my arms around her neck.
I felt something tingly in my lower region,
"Alex!" I screamed in surprise.
She looked at me completely confused,
"What?! That wasn't me Pipes!" She said and came closer,
"Although if you want it to be me-" she started to slide a hand down my body and that's when I noticed the beauty fish swim past us in the moonlight. Then another and another. There were so many.
"Alex look! Look at all the beauty fish around us!" I tell her in delight so she looks and smiles and pulls me even closer to her,
"They're almost as beautiful as you."
I blush and smile and she kisses me, one thing leads to another in the ocean and then our bedroom.
We were now lying in bed, dried off, kissing again. Alex broke the kiss and turned me around to spoon me. We were both tired and blissfully happy in our life together.