OMG, thank you for all your awesome reviews, was I really leaving you with a cliffhanger? Oh my, I had no idea…. Hihi…

This chapter was kind of tricky to write, I hope it measure up to all your expectations… :)

/mli

Chapter 14

"I can't see a single alligator or snake here, I'm actually really disappointed" Alex flashed Piper a real smile as they walked on to the boat jetty. The lake was relatively small and the water totally still. Alex could see a few houses far across the water. They both were wearing jeans shorts. Alex had on a black tank top and Piper a white blouse.

The jetty had a small stair that went down and into the water. The two women stopped just in front of it, standing side by side, looking out at the beautiful lake. The sun had started to set but it was still really hot.

Alex kicked off her shoes and sat down, dipping her feet in the cool water. She moaned aloud at the feeling. "Ah, that's nice. Thanks for bringing me here, Piper. I thought I've seen my share of pretty lakes but this… this is something else."

Piper untied her shoes as well, and sat down next to Alex.

"I wanted you to see it." She smiled, splashing her feet in the water. "My friends and I used to ride our bikes out here all the time when we were kids, but now I don't go as often as I would like. Tom and I used to sit on that cliff" She pointed at a big rock on the other side of the lake. "And we'd argue which one of us would be the best FBI agent, play games, one time we'd stolen cigarettes from my mom and we biked here, as fast as we could, and tried to smoke them. I never really got the hang of it, and when we got home I was grounded for two weeks. I never did find out how she could have possibly known. But moms just do"

"I guess so" Alex chuckled.

"My father and I used to go hiking all the time when I was young" Piper turned to look at the woman next to her. Trying to act casual but inside she was smiling. In the almost three weeks she'd known Alex, this was only the second time she'd ever spoken of anything out of her past. And again it was about her father. She wasn't sure she should reply, she might scare this rare openness away but she took the risk.

"He sounds like a really good dad"

Alex smiled, "He was. He taught me everything I needed to know about living outside, in the woods. Once, when I was about 13 years old, he took me to Lake Michigan. And we stayed for about two weeks. With only a tent to sleep in. We didn't see another person in all that time, it was great." Piper saw something come alive in Alex's eyes as she spoke of her father, she'd never looked so… calm before.

Piper guessed, by the way Alex talked about him that he may not still be alive, or that something had happened to him, she wanted to ask her about it but didn't want to take that spark in Alex's eyes away.

"Did he teach you how to fish?" She chose a safer question for now.

"Yeah, he did, do you know how to? Maybe we could go sometime?" She looked at Piper with hope written all over her face.

"Well, of course we can go, but I have to warn you, I have been known to toss that hook into someone's head…. It's got something to do with my coordination I think…. It's… nonexistent, I think is the word I'm looking for. "

Alex nudged her shoulder. "I'll teach you, you'll catch some big fish in no time".

"Great, it's a date!" Piper nudged her right back.

The sun was still up, the sunlight reflecting over the still surface of the lake.

"So, you've been wanting to take me up here?" Alex raised a perfect eyebrow, knowing she was pushing her luck, but she had to try.

"Yeah, of course, I wanted you to see this." Piper felt Alex's eyes on her. She felt her cheeks flush as she thought about the double meaning of that question "Yes, I'd really like to take you right here and now…if that's all right with you?"

"And I also wanted to do this" Piper suddenly got this serious expression on her face, turned to look Alex square in the eye, then she started to lean towards Alex, like in slow motion.

The raven haired woman suddenly had trouble breathing.

Piper moved her hand so that it was on top of Alex's, which was gripping the wooden board beneath her now, with such force that her knuckles had started to whiten.

Piper glanced down at the other woman's lips with a longing stare. Alex saw this and involuntary darted her tongue out and wet said lips. Piper swallowed, "I can't take this anymore…"

As Piper got closer, Alex closed her eyes, waiting for the kiss she'd been dreaming about since Piper handed her that can of soup. But the lips she expected to feel never arrived. Instead she felt a push and suddenly she was in the water. Coming up, gasping for air.

Seeing two feet dangling just above her head she looked up.

"You did not just push me into the fucking water!" she exclaimed, trying to sound angrier than she really was.

Piper had this innocent expression on her face. "Who, me? No, I would never do such a thing". A smug grin, like that of a Cheshire cat, slowly spread across her face. She couldn't contain herself anymore and burst out laughing. Alex, who tried to give the blonde her angriest stare, wasn't far behind and joined in. She swam so that she was right beneath Piper and grabbed her foot, pulling her down.

"Noooo, please don't!"

"Are you kiddin' me, do you really think I won't do it after what you just did?!" piper tried to hold onto the jetty, but Alex was stronger and soon the blonde came tumbling into the water.

"Are you happy now?" She asked sternly as she reappeared above the surface.

"Yes, very." Alex was still laughing. "You started this, you're cooking me dinner tonight" She said, than turned around and swam away from Piper.

"Well, that's only fair, but you know how bad my cooking is, do you really want to risk it?" Piper tried, swimming after her.

After one atrocious dinner, which none of them could finish, Alex made them pancakes. Piper gave her a sheepish look as she placed the platter, full of pancakes, on the table out on the porch.

"Thanks, I'm sooo hungry… sorry 'bout dinner… but it's really your fault you know. Before you moved in here I could stand my own cooking. But now when I know what real food should taste like, I can never go back. You've ruined me." She cast an accusingly at Alex who just shook her head at all the nonsense. "So, I'm thinking that you're just gonna have to stay, since it really is all your fault."

Alex smiled. She'd love to stay. Of course she couldn't say it, but it warmed her heart to hear Piper say the words.

"Yeah, ok then. Since it is my fault, I see there's nothing else to do really." She sat down next to the blonde on the porch swing. They ate in silence. Both their hairs were still wet after Piper's little stunt. Alex was plotting her revenge. She had some ideas and they all ended with Piper naked. She probably should think of another plan.

But what had happened before, right before Piper pushed her in? Was it all in her head or was Piper looking at her lips, leaning in closer… "It really felt as though she was going to kiss me, right? She's driving me crazy…."

The night was humid and warm; the crickets were putting on a serenade. The two women sat side by side on that porch swing. After having finished their pancakes, Piper had released the sprint and they were swinging softly back and forth, lulling them to comfortable tiredness.

Piper's eyes were closed; she was slowly drifting off. "I had a really nice day, today…. Thank you" She lazily placed her hand on top of Alex's, again, and soon her head fell onto Alex's shoulder. After a couple of seconds the raven haired woman could hear soft snoring coming from the blonde. She had fallen asleep. Alex carefully draped a thin blanket over both of them and smiled contently. She was right where she was supposed to be.

So, how did I do? No cliffhanger this time... ;)