Title:
Cinema Paradiso
Author: Imaginus75
Pairing: A/O
Rating:
PG
Summary: "I told you, the blue eyed ones are the most
difficult..." A/N – thanks to Banana for the beta!
Alex
shook off the snow that had settled onto the hood of her coat as
she
entered the fourth video store of the evening. She had started
with
the store closest to her apartment but couldn't find what she
was
looking for. She didn't know what it was, but she was
determined to
find the Italian movie that she had heard so much
about that she was
willing to trudge through the falling snow from
one video store to
another just to find it.
"Cabot,
you are one crazy woman," she muttered to herself as
she
approached the foreign film section, realizing that she had
gone
farther from her apartment than she had intended.
"Are
you in the habit of talking to yourself at video stores,
Counselor?"
came a familiar voice from the other side of the movie
shelf.
"Detective!"
Alex replied, startled and slightly embarrassed. She was
so
engrossed in looking for her movie that she didn't even see
the
brunette standing across from her.
"What
are you doing in this neck of the woods?" Olivia asked,
smiling
at the blush that was creeping onto Alex's cheeks.
"I
was looking for a movie and I couldn't find it at the store near
my
place," Alex explained. "So, I went to another store,
and then another,
and now here."
"Little bit obsessed are we?" Olivia teased.
"A little," Alex admitted.
"So whatcha looking for? Maybe I can help," Olivia offered.
"Cinema
Paradiso," Alex replied. "I've never seen it, but I
heard
it's a great chic flick."
"Ah," Olivia said with recognition. "I'm afraid I have bad news for you."
"It's
already out, isn't it?" the blonde asked, her tone one
of
disappointment touched with an edge of whininess.
Olivia
nodded sympathetically. Alex let out a long sigh, ready to
embark
on her journey to the next store when she saw a smile on the
other
woman's lips.
"What?
I know it's pathetic, me running around all over just for a
movie,"
Alex began defensively and then continued a little quieter.
"It's
the weekend and I have nothing else to do."
"Tell
you what," Olivia said, her smiling growing by the second.
"If
you promise to make the popcorn, you can watch it with
me." She held up the DVD case and gave Alex a cheshire cat grin.
"You
are so on," Alex said with a grin of her own. The
women
proceeded to buy some microwave popcorn and pay for the
movie. Luckily for Alex, who was already quite cold from her trek in
the snowy January evening, Olivia's apartment was only a block away.
They walked the short walk in a comfortable silence as Olivia led
them upstairs. She let them in and hung up their coats as Alex
quickly glanced around the apartment, taking in the warm tones of the
living room.
"It's not the Hamptons... " Olivia said with a small smile.
"It's home," Alex finished for her. "It's has a very homey feel to it."
"I'll
take that as a compliment," Olivia replied with a smile as
she
headed into the kitchen with Alex in tow. "Do you want
some hot
chocolate?"
"Please," the blonde replied. "Where's your popcorn bowl?"
Olivia
reached into a cupboard and pulled out a big bowl. She handed
it
to Alex, pointed her towards the microwave and returned to
making
the hot chocolate. They passed the time with small talk about
their
culinary achievements and disasters with Olivia being the
self-taught
gourmet chef and Alex the take-out queen.
Once
the popcorn and hot chocolate were ready, they headed into the living
room and started the movie. They shared the couch with the
popcorn
bowl in between them, Olivia sitting with her feet up on the
coffee
table and Alex hugging a throw pillow. They watched the movie in
comfortable silence, with little chuckles in between the crunching
sound of popcorn.
As the movie progressed to Toto's teenage years, the popcorn was gone and the two women were more or less lying on the couch, each one resting on either end, their feet curled up on the couch between them.
On
the screen, Toto and Alfredo were talking about Elena, the girl
of
Toto's dreams.
"I
told you, the blue eyed ones are the most difficult," Alfredo
said
to the teenaged Toto.
From
her end of the couch, Alex heard a snicker. She looked over at
the
other woman and raised an eyebrow.
"Excuse me?" she asked, pretending to be offended.
"What?" Olivia asked in return, feigning innocence.
"I heard that."
"Heard what?"
"You snickered."
"I don't snicker."
"Oh, you most certainly did snicker."
"Well, you know he's right," Olivia said, finally breaking out into a smile.
"We are not the most difficult," Alex said defensively.
"Oh
yeah you are," Olivia replied. "Blue eyed ones are
born
heartbreakers and the most difficult to get over."
Alex
let the statement sink in and slowly sat up. She sat, facing
Olivia,
legs folded indian style. She asked softly. "Are you
speaking
from personal experience?"
"Me?
Nah, gotta have a heart in order to have it broken," Olivia
hid
behind the self-deprecating joke.
"You've
got the biggest heart of anyone I've ever met," Alex
said
quietly, slowly looking up to meet Olivia's eyes.
'And
it breaks every time I look at you,' Olivia thought as she
became
lost in Alex's cerulean gaze.
"It
what?" Alex asked, her voice choked with a mix of
confusion,
disbelief and hope. She wasn't sure she had heard the
other woman
correctly.
"Huh?" Olivia asked,
breaking out of the spell the blue eyes had on
her. 'Shit, don't
tell me I just said that out loud,' she thought.
"You
said 'it breaks every time I look at you,'" Alex repeated.
"What
do you mean by that?" She could feel the
butterflies begin to stir in
her stomach as she tried to maintain
her composure and not get ahead of herself.
'Shit,
I did say it out loud,' Olivia cursed inwardly. 'Now what do I
do?
Well, she's not running for the door so that could be a good sign.
On
the other hand, she's probably confused and doesn't know what I
meant
but will run for the hills when she finds out.'
"Olivia?" Alex asked, breaking into Olivia's mental debate.
"Yeah?"
Olivia replied with the monosyllable, stalling for time
while
deciding on the best response for her slip up. 'Just tell
her the
truth,' her mind screamed at her.
Alex
simply looked at her with patience, waiting for either an
explanation
or a joke. She decided that if Olivia was going to brush
it off
with a joke, she'd drop it, for the time being. However, deep
down
in side, she was hoping for the former.
"I,
um," Olivia began, unable to look into Alex's eyes. "I said
that
it breaks every time I look at you."
Alex
tried to catch Olivia's eyes but they kept avoiding her.
She
swallowed hard and asked, "Why?"
"Because...I
have certain feelings for you and I know you don't feel
the same
way," Olivia revealed.
Alex
swallowed hard to keep her heart from jumping out of her chest.
Her
always analytical mind jumped into overdrive.
"First
of all, what kind of feelings are these 'certain feelings',"
Alex
began, "And why do you think I don't feel the same way?"
Olivia,
suddenly felt claustrophobic from the intensity of
Alex's watchful
gaze. She stood up and walked over to the window. She ran a hand
through her short hair, making some strands stand on end and wrapped
her arms around herself as if to protect her heart from the impending
rejection she knew was coming.
"I
like you Alex," she said, looking out at the falling
snow,
glittering as the illumination from the streetlights
revealed their
paths to the ground. She turned around and leaned
back against the
the window frame. She looked straight into Alex's
eyes. "I've liked you
since the first time I met you...and
lately I just can't stop thinking
about you."
Alex
just nodded her head as she let the revelation sink in. She felt
her
heart beating faster as a warmth and tingling sensation
spread
through her. She couldn't remember the last time she felt
like that.
"And look at you," Olivia said with an honest and defeated smile. "You're smart, beautiful and sexy and probably as straight as they come. So whenever I look at you and remember that I could never be with you, my heart breaks a little each time."
Alex got up and approached the brunette. She leaned against the wall as Olivia pivoted to face her with only inches between them.
"I
don't want to break your heart," the blonde said quietly,
barely
above a whisper.
Olivia
smiled wistfully and said just as quietly, "Not much either
one
of us can do about that."
Alex reached out a hand and placed it on one of Olivia's arms. She felt a jolt of electricity flow through her. She swore Olivia must have felt it too from the slight muscle twitch that she saw on Olivia's arm. She began to lean towards the detective and whispered, "Oh, I'm not so sure about that."
Before Olivia could respond, Alex's lips were on hers. They were soft and the kiss was full of confidence, reassuring Olivia of her intentions. Alex pulled away to see the shocked look on Olivia's face and couldn't help but smile a bit smugly.
"I - but - you - I thought you were..." Olivia stammered.
"No,
you assumed," Alex corrected her, still smiling. "And
wrongly, I
might add."
"Apparently so," Olivia said, smiling, having gotten over the shock of what just happened. She grew serious again and asked, "Is this for real? I mean, are you going to pinch me and tell me this was all a dream and I go back to having my heart breaking everyday?"
"No,
this isn't a dream," Alex replied. "And I'd never break
your heart,
not if I can help it."
"Don't
make promises you can't keep, Alex," Olivia said, trying to
stay
grounded and not let herself get swept up but her emotions.
Because I don't think I can get over you very easily".
"Do you know how long I've been waiting to hear you say that you want to be with me?" Alex asked her. Olivia shook her head. "From the moment you first said hello and shook my hand. Everyday, I hope that I get to see you, and when I do, I want to reach out and touch you. My body wonders what it would feel like to be touched by you. But I was always scared. I had no idea about how you felt," Alex said, pouring out her long suppressed feelings. Then she added with a little smile, "If I had, I would've been all over you on that couch tonight."
Olivia had started smiling when Alex was confessing her feelings and now her smile grew wider and more mischievous. "Well," she said giving a little nod towards the couch. "The night is still young."
-----
THE
END
-----
