It started out as harmless flirting and perhaps just a bit of shameless curiosity, how often do you get the chance to flirt with your clone anyway? At least that's what Alison told herself. Curiosity that was it, that was all it was. Except it wasn't was it? It might have been just that to begin with, but it certainly didn't stay that way. Before long they were meeting up together without Cosima, not on dates per se, but as close as they could come while still keeping this…whatever it was, a secret.
Their 'dates' certainly weren't your average date night activities, trips to the city outskirts to practice their aim (mostly Alison, though Beth always did enjoy the excuse to press up close and adjust the woman's posture though) and late night drives to nowhere at all to do nothing but talk about anything everything but the existence of clones.
They had to dance around Donnie and Paul at every turn, carefully trying to avoid suspicion when they left to meet up whenever they could. Paul's regular business trips turned out to be a godsend which made things a lot easier. Alison could tell Donnie she was staying at her mother's or Aynsley's, he didn't seem to particularly care most nights, especially if he was sat in front of another golf game. Donnie was her husband, but Alison couldn't quite bring herself to care that he wasn't the slightest bit interested in where she was, she had better things to think about.
With Donnie and Paul out of the way it meant evenings spent at Beth's place pretending they were just another normal couple, curled around each other watching movies and having dinner together. It meant long nights tangled up in Beth's bed, ignoring the world outside of the sheets, living for the feel of each other (so similar but remarkably different). Even Cosima, the only other person in their lives that would even come close to understanding being in love with your own clone, was kept in the dark about what was really going on between them. Or so they thought anyway.
Truth was, Cosima knew from the get-go that there was something going on between them. They liked to think that they could be subtle and keep their relationship hidden from all others, but neither seemed to realise how they let their guard down around Cosima. After the third time Cosima walked into a room to find Alison and Beth standing a tad too close, slightly out of breath and red in the face from embarrassment, she called them out on it.
"So when are you two just going to admit that you're sleeping together?" she said with a wide grin as they inched even further away from each other. Alison balked visibly at her words and tried -without success- to look scandalised.
"What? Cosima that's insane we're clones, we're…we're not…" Beth broke off at the amused grin still plastered to Cosima's face.
"C'mon Beth, I might not be the cop here but even I can tell how sickeningly in love the two of you are, I always could. And don't worry about it man, I mean, we're already clones right? What could possibly be weirder?"
Beth looked to Alison for a moment, both of them seemingly shocked by the revelation that Cosima had always known what was going on, and what's more, didn't really care. Cosima wasn't sure why that would be so surprising though, if there was anyone likely to be fully accepting of their rather less than conventional relationship then it would be her right?
"Just so long as I don't have to see the two of you doing any more than just kissing then it's all good. Okay? Good, now, I need a drink"
"Cosima! You know we'd never-" Cosima heard Alison begin to protest as she left the room, heading for the nearest bottle of whiskey, before she was cut off with a noise that sounded suspiciously like a somewhat muffled moan. Her demand had clearly gone right over someone's head, well never mind, at least they weren't doing it where she could see them.
It only occurred to Cosima that maybe she should be more concerned about the whole clone loving their clone thing when she'd curled herself up on Beth's couch with the best bottle of whiskey she could find. She considered the situation for a moment and then the sound of Beth laughing at something Alison said drifted in from the bedroom and she forgot why she'd ever even entertained the idea that there could possibly be anything wrong with it in the first place. Anything that could make normally so stoic and cool-headed Beth laugh like that was definitely a good thing.
Determined to block out the whispering and giggling still coming from the next room she flipped her laptop open, took a swig from the bottle and waited for the two of them to stop whatever it was they were up to and get on with the actual meeting that they were gathered for.
And really Beth, giggling? Cosima wondered as an afterthought, if someone had asked her a few hours ago if she ever thought she'd hear big tough cop Beth giggle at anything she'd have laughed them out of the room. But now, well clearly she wasn't giving Alison enough credit.