A/N: Woke up with this song in my head yesterday morning and could not get the idea out of my head. I'm sure some of you are looking for an update on my current story and I hope to have one for you this week. This story is based on the song Could it Be. I had planned it as a one shot but an epilogue will follow soon seeing as it's about halfway complete. I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

The room was dark and quiet when she first began to stir. Alex slowly shifted and groaned at the pain in her head, the next thing she noticed was how dry her mouth was. The tell-tell signs of an approaching hangover made her groan again. She turned her head to her right to see what time it was and noticed her alarm clock wasn't there. Alex was about to reach out to the bedside table when she heard it; slow, deep breathing next to her, a small snore. She closed her eyes as she felt the body shifting in the bed next to her. 'Oh God, what have I done?' she wondered 'Who have I done?!'

Her mind raced as she tried to decide what to do. The small amount of light coming through the curtains allowed her to see her work clothes scattered across the floor. Thankfully at some point she'd slipped a t-shirt on but nothing else, evident when she could see her underwear laying a few feet from the bed. She reached out carefully so as not to wake whoever was next to her and picked up her phone, just after three am. Just as she was planning her covert escape her bed partner rolled over and a familiar scent caught her attention. Alex froze where she was, the panic was beginning to rise again, yet at the same time she felt her body relax just a bit. She turned her head to the left to see Olivia sleeping peacefully next to her.

There had been times over the years she had wondered what this would be like. Not so much this she thought to herself, but she had definitely wondered what it would be like to do what they did the night before. The fog began to clear from her mind and Alex sighed at the memories of what they had done. The sighs, the touches; hands, lips and fingers, tastes and scents flooded her mind. Nothing she'd imagined could come close to the reality. She now began to wonder what this would do to their fifteen year friendship. Losing Olivia as one of her closest friends wasn't something she wanted to think about. Realizing that their friendship had already changed Alex decided to stay exactly where she was and savor the moment. Things could look a lot different in the morning light, and they may no longer be close friends. If this could be the last time she gets to spend with Olivia she was going to enjoy it. Wanting to at least try and clear the desert from her mouth she decided a quick trip to the bathroom and a sip of water from the sink couldn't hurt, she began to roll toward the edge of the bed. Just as she was about to raise up she felt a hand on her arm. Freezing in her spot she quietly turned her head and was glad to see Olivia was still asleep, but her heart leapt at the thought of the brunette reaching out for her. Deciding the water could wait she laid back down and settled on her back. Before she knew what had happened Olivia snuggled closer and draped and arm over her abdomen. Alex smiled and drifted back to sleep.

The noise of the city awakening began drifting in from below. Alex slowly opened her eyes then closed them again, definitely a hangover now. However the feel of Olivia's body snuggled against hers eased the pain in her head. She rose up just enough to see the clock on Olivia's bedside table, just after six am. Even though it was Saturday she knew the brunette's internal alarm clock would be going off soon and so would Noah's. From what Olivia had told her the little boy considered seven am sleeping late on the weekends. Alex now looked down at the woman sleeping next to her; Olivia's head resting on her chest while her left arm was across Alex's body. It didn't escape her attention that Olivia's left hand was resting in her right, their fingers laced together. While they weren't a couple, they weren't an 'us', and they'd had what she considered the best sex of her life the night before, she couldn't help but feel in that moment-cocooned together, hands joined that it was far more intimate than anything that had occurred the night before. Her head was killing her but more than that she could feel her heart as if it were about to beat out of her chest. She willed it to slow down so as not to wake Olivia. While thinking about how they would talk about this when Olivia woke Alex smiled to herself, she had absolutely no regrets.

The first thing Olivia noticed as she began to wake up was her head gently rising and falling. Her head was splitting and her mind was a little fuzzy. When she felt the body next to her the panic began set in. Noah would be in his bed, she should be alone in hers. Just as she was about to bolt from her own bed a familiar perfume caught her attention. 'No way, this has got to be a dream.' She thought. She opened her eyes just enough and glanced upwards. Sure enough, Alex Cabot was in her bed. 'Oh God! What did we do?' Based on her breathing she was pretty sure Alex was awake, but what now? Olivia decided to pretend to be asleep just a little longer as she debated what to do. As the memories of the night before came flooding back she shifted just enough to squeeze her legs together as her arousal spiked. Sure she had thought about it some over the years what it would be like between them. Hot was always the word that came to mind, but after last night that word didn't even to it justice. Alex was still here though so that had to mean something, didn't it?

Alex could tell the difference in Olivia's breathing and knew the brunette was now awake, but decided to allow her this time to think. She didn't want to rush into anything. Her mind once again drifting over what had happened and what it could mean, she knew that no matter what it was she was determined their friendship remain intact.

Knowing Noah would be awake soon Olivia decided to bite the bullet and address the blonde. She stopped short though when she felt Alex's fingers lazily brushing against her arm. Olivia was also aware of their joined hands on the other side of Alex's body. She knew this was going to be awkward but feeling the gentleness in the way Alex was touching her she thought that maybe it wasn't going to be as bad as she originally thought. With one last deep breath she regretfully let go of Alex's right hand and rose up. "Hi."

Alex instantly missed the connection between them but couldn't help the smile that broke out "Hi."

"So…um…" Olivia grinned and blushed at her lack of words.

"Yeah." Alex chuckled as she propped herself against the headboard.

"This," Olivia motioned between them "It really happened?"

"Oh yeah." Seeing the grin that broke out on Olivia's face Alex returned it with her own.

"Okay." Said Olivia as she sat up and turned to face the blonde better. "So what does it mean?"

"I don't know, what do you think it means?"

Ever the attorney Olivia thought while shaking her head "I asked you first."

"You want the truth?" it was a stupid question, but Alex found herself wanting to stall.

"Under oath." Olivia grinned.

"Okay, well…it was amazing." A blush spreading across her face and neck, but she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Olivia was blushing as well. "You're one of my closest friends Olivia and I never want to lose that, but I would be lying if I said I'd never thought about us in this way."

Olivia was still nervous as could be but hearing Alex say the same thing she'd been thinking since waking up eased some of her nervousness. "I've had similar thoughts as well."

"So…"

"I…" meeting Alex's gaze she saw a mixture of fear and hope there. "You're one of my closest friends too Alex, one of the few people I trust more than anything. I'm afraid of us losing that."

"So am I, but I don't plan on allowing that to happen. Do you?" Olivia shook her head no. "Okay, so, does that mean we want to give this a shot?"

Olivia looked down at their hands that had slowly crept closer together, almost touching. The thought of giving this, whatever this was, a shot was so tempting but she was scared too. "This could end so badly Alex."

Alex nodded her head back and forth then grinned, almost mischievously "Then again I might just change your name."

Olivia's eyes widened at the boldness of the statement but couldn't help her smile.

They sat quietly for a minute, both lost in their thoughts, when a few mumblings were heard through the baby monitor. Olivia looked over for a moment trying to gauge if Noah was awake or not. Sensing he was still asleep she turned to face the blonde "I have Noah to consider now."

Alex nodded "You have to consider Noah."

"I've already started the adoption process, we're a package deal."

"My eyes are wide open going into this." she knew exactly what she was getting herself into.

"So where do we go from here?"

At that Alex smiled "Well, I think we should start by me asking you if you would like to go out on a date."

"A date huh?" she smiled.

"Well, we've already got the drinks at the bar and drunken sex out of the way." Alex laughed.

Olivia was laughing as well "Alex Cabot just asked me out." she still couldn't quite believe it.

"What?" Alex's eyes went wide and she leaned in a bit "You didn't think this was gonna be a 'wham-bam-thank you ma'am' deal did you?"

Olivia chuckled "I was hoping it wouldn't."

The air between them was beginning to shift slightly when fate intervened.

"Mama!"

Both laughed. "Sorry." Olivia said as she jumped up and made a run for the bathroom, knowing if she didn't she wasn't sure when her next opportunity would be.

As she brushed her teeth she stepped back into the bedroom just in time to see Alex pulling on her underwear and gathering her clothes from the floor. "You're not leaving, are you?"

"Uh…"

"I mean if you need to I understand, but if you'd like to stay and join Noah and me for breakfast you're more than welcome."

Alex's face brightened "Are you sure? I mean with Noah…I don't want to make it weird."

Olivia rinsed quickly and stepped back into the room while laughing "He's a year old Alex, not a teenager. He doesn't have a clue why you're here. Plus he knows you already so he'll be fine."

"Alright then, I'd love to join the Bensons for breakfast."

Olivia pulled on a pair of pajama pants "There's an extra toothbrush in the cabinet, help yourself to whatever you need, there are towels in the closet if you want to shower." She reached out and gently squeezed the blonde's hand before leaving the room.

Less than ten minutes later, having opted for skipping the shower and just washing her face and brushing her teeth, Alex walked down the hall of the apartment. She smiled at the sight that greeted her. Olivia was in the kitchen preparing pancakes while talking to Noah who was leaning on the coffee table in the living room watching a cartoon. "Anything I can do to help?"

"Nope." Olivia turned with a smile "Almost done." She walked over to the counter and leaned across it. "Noah?" she waited till she had her son's attention "We have a guest for breakfast this morning."

Even though he knew Alex he was still a little wary.

"Good morning Noah!" Alex said brightly.

"Hi." He then picked up his sippy cup of milk and turned back to his cartoon.

"Guess he's still waking up?"

"Hey, you got a 'hi' out of him, not bad at all. Some mornings I don't even get 'Mama'."

They sat at the bar, Noah in his highchair between them, eating pancakes. While both women still felt some awkwardness between them, there was excitement as well at where it could go. After helping clean up, Alex amazed at the mess Noah was capable of making, she changed into the sweats Olivia had offered her instead of her work clothes.

"I hate you have to leave." Olivia said as they stood near the door.

"So do I, but I have a date to plan." Alex grinned. "So, tonight still good?"

Olivia nodded "I text Lucy and she's free."

"Pick you up at seven?"

Olivia nodded again. "Last night was great." She blushed.

Alex was aware of her own blush as she smiled. "That it was."

"Listen Alex, I want to do this right. We don't know what this is yet, if there's even gonna be anything. I just want to make sure we do it right. I…" she knew what she wanted to say, she just didn't know how to say it.

"I agree Liv." seeing the surprised reaction she was receiving she grinned "You forget I can read you like a book. I think we need to take it slow and see what's gonna happen. I mean, as much as I'd love to have a repeat of last night, I think it's best if we wait."

Olivia released the breath she didn't know she was holding. She simply nodded, relieved they were both on the same page.

Alex looked over at the little boy now playing with his toys. "Bye Noah!"

He looked up and waved, barely whispering "Bye-bye."

"So, see you at seven?"

"I'll be waiting." Olivia smiled.

Alex reached out and gently squeezed Olivia's hand and placed a light kiss to her cheek "I can't wait." She turned and left the apartment, leaving a slightly dazed Olivia staring after her.

Finally shaking out of her stupor Olivia walked over and took a seat on the couch, Noah brining over his truck for her to play with. She started to laugh causing him to giggle along with her "Mama has gotten herself into it this time baby boy." Noah simply nodded in agreement causing the brunette to laugh even more. She had no idea what she was getting into, but she couldn't wait to find out.