"When I was little my mom would bring me here all the time, like to just play around in the fountain and run around on the grass. I didn't have many friends so I would pretend the kids playing around the fountain were my friends," Alex said looking off into the distance.

"Sounds dumb, I know but this was my happy place. I would pretend I was anywhere in the world doing anything I wanted and it was the best days of my childhood." Alex looked at Piper with a smile.

Piper noticed the smile from Alex and smiled back, but she knew this was hard for Alex to talk about. She could sense the tension in her body as she lay across her.

"We would come out here for hours and hours at a time and even though I would get lost in my little world of pretend I would notice my mom sitting on a bench with random people or walking around nervously, it always looked like she was doing something really important so I just stayed away from her 'til she was ready to leave. I never realized what it was she was doing until I got older…"

Piper couldn't believe this "stranger" was spilling all of her secrets to her. She felt incredibly fortunate to be here in this moment with Alex.

"…..what was she doing?" Piper asked softly.

"I walked in the house from school one day, I think I was in 4th grade, I don't know for sure…" Alex said looking down.

Looking back up and focusing on something in the distance that seemed to help her get the courage to spill all of her secrets, "…I walked in the doorway and my mom was there in the kitchen measuring out this white powder on the table. I assumed it wasn't anything back then but it caught up to me pretty fast what it was. She sold cocaine and weed from our house and from the one place that's home to my favorite memories as a child," Alex said with a sarcastic laugh as she fought back the tears.

Piper took a big breath and wrapped both arms around Alex as fast as she could.

"Yeah…"Alex said with a sarcastic smile, "my mom was a drug dealer…"

"Wow….I can't imagine how hard that was for you to see, being so young…" Piper replied, looking directly at Alex who was still looking off in the distance.

Alex, prepared for a judgmental response, had no idea Piper would be so understanding and more worried about how she felt in that situation. Alex looked back at Piper and smiled. She was so lucky to have this beautiful girl draped around her.

"I pretended for like ever that I never saw anything, I would just look the other way when I knew she was "working" or just run to my room as soon as I got home. The older I got and the more I figured out what she was doing the less I wanted to go to the park with her anymore. She caught on one day that I hadn't joined her in a while so she asked me about it. I completely lost it and exploded on her. She was crying, I was crying, it was a huge mess…." Alex said looking down again.

"….but I'm glad I did it because she thought she was good at hiding it from me. She thought I had no idea," Alex said with a small laugh.

"So you never came back to the park after that?" Piper asked, softly again. She was scared she was prying too much and didn't want to overstep her boundaries. She did want Alex to know she was concerned and wanted to hear more, though.

Alex continued her previous thought, "….so anyways after our huge fight that day I ran off to my room crying, all dramatic. A few minutes later my mom came in and apologized, crying the hardest I've ever seen her cry. She had all these excuses for why she did it." Alex shook her head.

"…I never understood her excuses until I got way older…..So anyways after she apologized she promised me from that day on anytime we came to this park it would be 'me and her' time," she said, using air quotes for emphasis.

Piper smiled and saw a little smile from Alex, too.

Alex took a big breath as if to be glad the hard part of the story was over, "so from then on anytime we came here together we played and played until we couldn't move anymore. We would come here almost every Sunday and have lunch. It's always busiest on Sundays so we found a secret spot that we called ours," Alex let out a small laugh, thinking back on all the wonderful memories she had with her mom at this very spot.

Piper smiled again, "I can't imagine how much fun that was for you, coming here with your mom and getting all of her attention to yourself for a few hours in this beautiful place."

Piper looked around and really tried to take in the beauty of where they were. It was kept in pristine condition and the grass was as green as a fresh lime. The water falling from the fountain fell in beautiful droplets that took your breath away if you looked hard enough. The laughter and love shown by everyone around the fountain might have been the most beautiful thing of it all, though. It was a magical place and Piper was grateful to be there with Alex. She still couldn't believe how close she felt with someone she had barely known for 24 hours. She didn't care though, this was an instant connection and both women felt it.

Alex looked at Piper and smiled, "Yeah….it really was the best...You're so great for listening to my super sad and dramatic story," Alex said with a small laugh and couldn't help but to kiss Pipers cheek.

"I told you I didn't want you to leave anything out!" Piper said with a big smile.

"I love getting to know more about you, tell me more…" as she put her legs on the ground and nestled back into Alex's side, putting her arms around her waist. Alex put her arm around Pipers shoulder.

"I think that's enough of my past for one evening…" Alex trailed off but Piper could tell there was definitely more to the story. She gave up on putting Alex through telling more tonight but was sure to keep it in the back of her mind for a later date.

Alex suddenly remembered the reason she brought Piper to the fountain and asked, "Did you remember your penny?" with a smile.

Piper's eyes got big and she put her hand up to cover her mouth in shock.

"You did NOT forget the one thing I asked you to bring!" Alex said jokingly, looking at the blonde with big eyes and a shocked smile.

Piper stared at Alex in silence as she raced through her brain. 'HOW could I forget?!' she thought.

She looked down and began her apology, "I am so so sorry! I can't believe I forgot..." she said, feeling like the most idiotic person in the world.

Alex didn't care at all, honestly, and remembered she brought an extra just in case but had way too much fun giving the blonde a hard time.

"I was going to have us do something really fun with the pennies but somebody didn't keep up their end of the deal…" Alex said, sarcastically.

Piper cleared her throat, "Um, I'm sorry; I believe I did in fact keep up my end of the deal if you'll remember…" Piper looked at the brunette staring at her, as if she could telepathically help the brunette remember what she was talking about.

After a few seconds it hit her, "Oh don't bring up shrimp boy! He's not allowed at our happy place," Alex scoffed.

"We have a happy place now?" Piper replied with a big grin, still staring into Alex's perfectly green eyes.

"Don't try to change the subject!"

"Ok ok, I forgot my penny and am a horrible, disgusting person. What do I need to do to make it up to you?" Piper asked, insinuating that she would do whatever it took to get back on Alex's good side.

"Well, when you put it that way…" Alex said with a tilt of her head and a raise of one of her eyebrows.

Alex stood up and smiled. She loved how much this seemed to be torturing Piper. She hated showing her cards already but knew it had to happen eventually.

Piper still sat on the bench, watching Alex's every move.

Alex turned to face Piper and as she turned she grabbed the two pennies from her back pocket. She held out her hand with both pennies in her palm.

Piper was overjoyed when she saw the pennies.

"You grabbed an extra one, for me!" she said as she jumped up and put her arms loosely around Alex's neck.

"I already have you all figured out, kid" Alex replied with a wink.

Piper kissed Alex on the lips for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.

"Remind me not to go that long without kissing you ever, again…" Piper said as she pulled back away from the brunette.

"You got it" Alex said, now her turn to kiss the blonde.

They stood by the bench for a few minutes embracing each other as tightly as they could and letting each other give in to what they wanted most in that moment.

Alex went to put her hands in Pipers hair and dropped the pennies on the ground.

"Fuck," she said with a laugh as she bent down to pick them up and put them back in her pocket.

"I thought you were more coordinated than that?" The blonde said with a grin, then started laughing.

Alex laughed and replied sarcastically, "keep it up and you'll never know just how coordinated I am," with a big, toothy smile.

"So how on earth did you forget your penny? I told you not to forget!"

"I know!" the blonde said, still frustrated at herself. She wasn't mad that she forgot, she knew Alex didn't care about that. She was worried Alex would think she didn't care enough about this night to remember to bring the one thing she asked her to bring. Which was not the case at all, in fact it was quite the opposite.

"I had one on the counter by my clutch but got distracted by my roommate's unbelievably amazing cooking skills..." Piper said, remembering just how incredible her apartment smelled a few hours ago.

Alex tilted her head and smiled, "roommate?"

"He's a he, nothing for you to worry about," staring back at the brunette.

"Ok first off all, I wasn't worried about anything…"

Piper nodded sarcastically.

"…second of all, you can't say I have nothing to worry about because 'he's a he' when you just broke up with a he..."

Alex was surprised she already felt such intense feelings for the blonde. She was good about hiding her jealousy with most people, mainly because she never felt it, but not with Piper, she couldn't help it.

"….he's gay; does that ease your mind?" Piper said, rubbing the back of Alex's arm.

Alex wanted to smile but did a great job of hiding it. Instead she looked deep into Piper's eyes then looked off at the fountain and remembered, again, why she brought her here.

"Can't wait to meet him and try out his amazing cooking skills," Alex said and gave Piper a quick peck on the cheek.

"Come with me," Alex said, grabbing one of Piper's hands and pointing towards the fountain.

Piper gave way to the force from Alex and didn't mind at all. She loved having her lead her around, it made her feel protected. Something she never felt with her ex.

Alex walked up to the fountain, still holding Pipers hand. It was after sunset now and most of the people had gone home. Alex looked up at the beautiful nighttime sky and took a big breath, breathing in the crisp air of the city.

She looked at Piper and smiled, "You wanted to know a little more about me…"

"I want to know everything, Al" Piper said with a straight face.

Alex kept her gaze on Piper, "So when me and my mom would come here we never left without throwing a penny in and making a wish. It sounds so cheesy but it was one of the only structured things I had in my life when I was a kid. I always knew when it was time to leave because my mom would walk up to me and hand me a penny. We'd walk up to it together but make our wishes separately, one at a time, giving the other one time to really think about their wish and do the best one they could come up with," Alex laughed.

Piper, catching on to what was about to happen, was amazed, yet again, at how honest and open this woman was being with her. Nobody had ever trusted Piper like this and she could feel herself developing real feelings for this unbelievably gorgeous, inside and out, brunette.

"So I thought we could do that tonight, together…" Alex looked deep into Piper's blue eyes and could feel the attraction between them. It was more than a spark, something only to be described as magic.

"There's nowhere I'd rather be tonight than right here, with you…"

Piper didn't even realize how special those words were to Alex.

"Before you came along the only person I brought here was Nicky. I just stayed away for so long and never wanted anybody to know about my special place with my mom, you know?" Alex could feel herself getting emotional again. Not only because she was talking about this delicate subject but also because she was telling it to someone that she cared deeply about. 'The real deal shit,' she thought back on the wise words from her best friend and smiled.

Piper couldn't believe the words coming from Alex's lips. She definitely felt not worthy of being there, sharing that moment with Alex. 'What an extraordinarily beautiful human being,' she thought.

Alex wiped the bottom of her eyes before any tears fell further down her face. Piper saw this and pulled herself closer to Alex in a tight hug, both women staring intently at the enormous fountain next to them.

"I can't believe you wanted to bring me here," Piper said after a few silent moments.

"You're pretty special, kid" Alex replied with a grin but meant every word.

"So how do we figure out who goes first?" Piper asked, trying to make Alex smile.

"Ladies first," Alex said, grabbing a penny from her back pocket.

"I'm pretty sure you're a lady too, unless you have another deep, dark secret you want to tell me tonight…" Piper said, playfully.

Alex laughed hard at that one.

"You are more lady than I'll ever be, babe" handing the penny to the blonde.

"Are you sure? I mean this is your thing, are you sure you don't want to go first?"

"Go ahead, its' fine," and kissed Piper on her forehead.

"Okay, if you're sure?"

"One-hundred percent sure," Alex replied with a smile.

"So I just walk up to it, throw it in and then make a wish?"

"Have you never done a wish at a fountain before? You have it all wrong; maybe I do need to go first!" Alex said jokingly.

Piper glared at Alex with a grin.

"No take backs," she said with a sideways smile.

Alex stood directly behind Piper, put her arms around her waist and grabbed her hand with the penny in it. She motioned towards the fountain as she talked as if showing Piper how to swing a bat or a golf club for the first time.

"So you just walk up, hold the penny in your right hand, think of the most important thing in the world that you want right now, don't say it out loud! Turn around away from the fountain and throw the penny over your right shoulder. Easy peasy," she said and kissed Piper's neck as she finished explaining the directions. 'I'll never get tired of kissing her,' Alex thought.

"I can't watch as I throw the penny in? What if I miss?"

Alex laughed, "You won't miss!"

"You've clearly never seen me throw a ball before…"

"You'll be fine babe, just concentrate"

Alex kissed her cheek and backed up a few steps, giving the blonde her own space.

Piper looked back at Alex, missing her embrace already. She turned back to face the fountain and took a big breath. Stepping closer to the fountain she began her thought process. 'Soooo I'm just supposed to think of the most important thing in the world that I want….before last night I would have wished for Alex but clearly fate was working with me on that one. Ughhhh I don't know, money? Happiness? Health?' Piper's mind raced for what seemed like an eternity until it hit her. She wished for the simplest thing she could think of and it couldn't have been more perfect. She said it in her mind a few times, just to make sure the fountain god's heard her, and then turned her back to the fountain, facing Alex now.

When her eyes met Alex's they both smiled, faintly.

She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate as hard as she could, and threw the penny high into the air over her right shoulder. She quickly jerked back around to make sure it made it into the fountain.

"See! I told you," Alex blurted out as she walked back up towards Piper.

Piper smiled widely as she felt Alex grab her waist again.

"How was it?" she whispered in her ear, both women facing the fountain.

"Extraordinarily calming," Piper said as she turned to face Alex.

Alex smiled and kissed the blonde. Then kissed her again, and again. This moment was so special to both women and they loved sharing it with each other.

"Your turn," Piper said as she tried to catch her breath.

Alex didn't want to but she let go of Piper and walked around her to be closer to the fountain. Piper stepped back and watched as Alex shared this special moment with her.

Alex walked up to the fountain and bent down to put her empty left hand into the water. She closed her eyes and swirled her hand around, feeling the cool liquid against her skin.

Piper crossed her arms and watched the movements of the woman she craved to touch.

Standing back up, Alex pulled her hand out of the water and shook it off. She stood there facing the fountain, eyes closed, for several minutes. She let the cool breeze crawl over her as she thought about her wish. When she finally turned around her eyes were still closed.

Piper, seeing Alex's eyes closed, realized in that moment how much she loved looking into her perfectly exquisite green eyes.

Alex tightened her right hand with the penny, took a deep breath, and flawlessly threw the penny over her shoulder into the fountain.

Piper was directly in front of Alex in an instant and Alex, feeling her close, opened her eyes and smiled.

"How was it?" Piper asked softly, copying Alex's question to her just a few moments earlier.

"Extraordinarily calming," Alex said with a smile.

Piper smiled and felt beyond happy to be able to stare into Alex's eyes again.

Piper kissed Alex on her cheek, "thank you so much for sharing this with me. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it," she said.

Alex was blown away by how much Piper seemed to enjoy this night as much as she did.

The two women stayed at the park for a few more hours, talking, laughing and stealing kisses. After a while they made their way to a bench and sat down, still in a close embrace, holding each other as tightly as they could. It didn't matter what time it was to them, they both lost track of it and neither one seemed to care.

After a while of just sitting there and not talking, Alex looked down to see Piper, who had nestled her head onto Alex's shoulder, had fallen asleep. Alex smiled and let her sleep for a few more minutes. After a while she looked down at her watch and it was a little after midnight. Realizing it probably wasn't the best idea for them to sit on a bench all night in the city, Alex leaned down and kissed Piper on her temple a few times. Piper groaned and moved around, pulling herself closer to Alex's body.

"I think we should leave, Pipes, it's getting late and you're falling asleep,"

"I'm not falling asleep, you are!" Piper snapped with a smile as she sat up and wiped her eyes.

"Hah, you were snoring about 30 seconds ago…"

"I don't snore!"

Alex laughed with a tilt of her head.

"Tell that to the squirrels that lost sleep because they woke up to you snoring!" Alex said jokingly.

Piper scoffed but still kept her smile.

"Come on, let's go," Alex stood up and reached her arm out for Piper to grab onto.

Piper groaned again but stood up, too.

"Where are we going?" Piper asked, yawning.

"Let's go have our first sleep over…" Alex said with a wink.

Piper smiled and found Alex's hand with hers, letting Alex lead the way yet again.

Hope you guys are enjoying it so far! This is my last update for about a week or so since we fly out tomorrow morning. Thanks so much for the love! Yall are the best xoxo