Their Forever

A Cliché

Alex held out her hand for Piper to climb up into the carriage. The blonde's cheeks were rosy, not only from the cold, but from blushing so hard. She was smiling from ear to ear. Piper used Alex's hand for leverage as she climbed up onto the metal step. "How's this for a new york city cliche?" Alex smirked, following her into the carriage. Piper smoothed her hands over the red velvet seat before scooting down to make room for her wife. "A horse drawn carriage ride through central park in the snow?" Piper chuckled, cuddling up close as Alex took a seat. "It sounds like just about every hallmark movie i've ever seen, and I love it."

Alex nodded to the man to go ahead, and relaxed back into Piper's arms. It had definitely been quite the day for them. She wanted to do anything to distract Piper from the Polly and Larry situation. It had been years, and Piper was happily married now, but that didn't take away the pain. All Alex ever wanted to do was protect her baby from everything bad in the world. As much as Alex put on a tough front, she was absolutely a romantic. She kept her guard up for just about everyone but her girl.

Oddly enough, Piper had been Alex's first and only serious relationship. Hookups were all she knew up until that point. She'd gone on dates, sure. Most of them ended back at her apartment, with the girl getting sent home directly after. Alex had never meant to come off as a bitch. She was a sexual person, and needed to fill those needs, but she didn't want to get her heartbroken. Thanks to her father, her fear of abandonment meant that nobody was allowed to get close. There was no need to let people get to know her or ultimately they were just going to leave anyway. That was until she met Piper. Although she was well experienced in the bedroom and the BDSM scene, Piper was a first for so many things. She had never held hands with anyone else, slept next to anyone else. Somehow, Piper had her willing to risk it all always. Her tough exterior was broken down completely shortly after she met her. It shocked Alex, but she would've risked absolutely anything for her.

During their time apart, there hadn't been a day that went by without her thinking of her; mainly due to the hole it had left in her heart when Piper had left. Those were the kinds of things that Alex had spent her whole life building up walls to protect herself from. She kept her feelings private; kept her hurts and traumas hidden in the deepest parts of her mind. She guarded her heart with everything within her. She'd beat herself up for being too loose when Piper left. If she hadn't given so much of herself away, she wouldn't have gotten hurt. If Piper had been just another booty call, she could've called her and seen her any time. She knew that people brought pain, people left; love is pain.

Losing both her mother and her girlfriend all at once was absolutely devastating. Alex withdrew further. She got deeper into Kubra's scene; deeper into the business of things, deeper into the drugs. She turned to unhealthy coping skills, things to numb the pain. Still, it was always there; that memory of the blonde girl ordering a margarita in the middle of december, that feeling of her arms around her waist, that pain, and that love, and all of the memories in between. Piper was the one and only love of her life. As cliche as it sounds, it was true. Their story was like a fairytale on Alex's part; a very fucked up, very toxic fairytale at times, but a fairytale regardless.

Perhaps that was the reason that she was able to break through the tough exterior and come up with such romantic gestures, such perfect words. She had never loved anyone else the way she loved Piper. She would never lose her again.

Alex sat back in the comfortable silence and gently wrapped her arm around her wife's shoulders. They had walked through this park so many times. They'd shared many late night talks, many meals, and ended many date nights here. Something as cliche and silly as a horse drawn carraige ride changed the way Alex viewed this park. The background noise of the city faded into the distance. It was so loud all the time that you could barely hear your own thoughts; cars honking, cabs speeding, people screaming. While Piper was used to the city now, Alex wasn't. The noise was sometimes incredibly overwhelming for her; crowding every inch of her mind while she tried to focus on whatever she was doing. It took her out of the moment, out of the experience.

Silence wasn't what she was used to after prison, but sometimes the city was so chaotic that silence was what she yearned for. At least with Piper, at least in the moment, there was an overwhelming peaceful silence. Nobody yelling, no car's beeping, no bikes going by, not even children laughing. Though the subway raced underneath the road their carraige drove on, everything was still. Everything was perfect. White crystals of snow swirled through the air around them, dusting the top of everything in sight. Christmas lights hung from tree to tree and the same carols they'd heard thousands of times played through an old broken radio on the carraige.

Piper smoothed her thumb over the soft skin on her wife's hand and lifted it to her lips. "Babe?" she asked softly, tilting her head to the side. When she got no response, she pushed a lock of black hair away from her eyes and gently tucked it behind her wife's ear. "Al?" she said, planting a kiss on her cheek. "Al, baby? Whats up?"

The edges of Alex's lips turned up into a smile. She took a deep breath, and placed a hand on each of Piper's rosy pink cheeks. "I'm just thinking." she said, leaning in to kiss her. "Al, about what?" Piper asked, her eyebrows scrunching in that adorable way they did when she was curious. She placed her finger on her wife's lips and shook her head. "Tell me first."

Alex smirked and rolled her eyes playfully. "Aboooout," she began, stretching out her word as she trailed her nails gently up and down Piper's arm. "How perfect this night is, and about how perfect my wife is." Satisfied with her answer, the blonde removed her finger and leaned in to kiss her, smiling through it. "No way!" Piper mocked as she pulled away, "How weird. My wife is perfect too."

"Oh shit, who's your wife?" Alex asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "Shit, I think it's you." Piper chuckled, playfully nudging her shoulder. "We're gay?"