A/N: I feel like Diane on her first date with Kurt right now, asking myself what am I doing lol Yeah, I'm posting a fic with an original character I invented who could be a possible love interest for Diane and she is a woman. Honestly I have no idea where this fic is going, becuase the first 7 chapters have been sitting on my laptop for months and I haven't even touched them. I might never finish or I will, I'd say it's up to you and how you feel about reading more, so please let me know! This fic will change povs with each chapter as well, between the two women.

Chapter One

Her desk feels more like home to her than anything else that early evening, so she doesn't plan on leaving it anytime soon. At least she has her own office, even if it's a small one. Some second year associates have this perk at Stern, Lockhart & Gardner and since she doesn't exactly have a real home anymore, it's even more of a perk that day.

She could go to Karen's, where most of her belongings are since the previous day, but she has only known Karen for two-years, it's not like she can stay with her longer than a few days. Besides Karen is his friend on the first place and she doesn't really want to have anything to do with him ever again. She shouldn't have put a man's needs in front of hers. She could be working in any New York law firm by now, close to her family and her real friends, instead she's stuck in Chicago with no one to turn to when she's in real trouble.

She hears a knock and right afterwards Diane Lockhart enters the small office. She thought she was alone, but of course the firm's only female name partner is in the office at this late hour like she usually is. She has no family to go home to, now they have another thing in common.

"It's late, Gabrielle, you should be home already," Diane says with a sympathetic look, slightly leaning against the doorframe.

Diane is the only one who always says her full name, the rest of the firm simply calls her Gaby, because it's short, practical. They never even asked if she was okay with it or not. But she likes how Diane is different from the rest of the people and she knows why she's in her office at this late hour.

"I know, I wanted to go through tomorrow's questioning again," Gabrielle replies and she's ashamed to look into Diane's eyes, not after what happened in court that day.

She second chairs one of Diane's criminal cases and the questioning of the expert witness was her task, but she blew it. She mixed up the questions, got one objection after the other from the prosecution, had to check her notes a few times and in the end she decided to stop embarrassing herself and asked for a recess. Fortunately it was already late afternoon and the judge ruled that they would continue the testimony tomorrow. She knew she can't blow it again tomorrow, she isn't even sure how come she's still alive and Diane hasn't cut her head off. She would have done it to any first or second, even third year, had they made a similar mistake in front of her eyes.

"Is everything all right? You seemed distracted in court," Diane's voice shows real concern and even after two years Gabrielle still doesn't understand how she's earned Diane Lockhart's sympathy, that only a few seem to bear among the employees.

Nevertheless she has always been grateful for the special attention Diane has given her from the very first day, almost always, because tonight she really just wants to be alone. And even though the question is meant well and she should be glad that someone's realized that something is wrong with her, and just a minute ago she wished for someone to talk to, Diane simply can't be the one. Because no matter how sympathetic Gabrielle is to her and how much Gabrielle likes Diane, she's her boss after all.

"I'm sorry, I'll make up for it tomorrow, I promise," she apologizes openly this time, because earlier in the courtroom she only apologized with her eyes and didn't dare to say the words out loud. Even though she saw that, for whatever reason, Diane wasn't angry with her, she seemed rather understanding.

"I know you will," Diane replies with a slight smile and once again Gabrielle can't help but feel grateful for the trust her boss puts in her, which she doesn't always deserve, and today is one of those days, "There's a bar on the corner, I was thinking you might want to join me for a drink, if you don't have any other plans for tonight?"

The question catches Gabrielle off guard. She's sure this is the first time Diane offers this to a junior associate and she has a hard time believing it's actually happening to her. She doesn't understand where it's coming from, apart from the occasional talks while working together they never even met outside the office before. And then tonight of all nights Diane comes up with this suggestion and she can't help suspecting that it has something to do with her unprofessional behavior in court that day.

She knows that Diane is very observant, while she can hide her own feelings so well from others. This is one of the things about her that Gabrielle wants to learn, because she isn't good at hiding things, pretending. Today of all days she wished she would be the most, but it's too late already and she realizes that it can be Diane's only reason for the invitation.

She's tempted to say no, just a little because honestly she doesn't want to talk about what happened to Diane or anyone else. She just wants to be alone, with her thoughts, with her sorrow. But she knows that she can't say no and shouldn't say no, because such an opportunity doesn't come everyday. It's an honor to be invited and it would be more than silly to decline the invitation.

"I'd love to," she replies with a short smile, probably the first that leaves her lips that day.

"I'll go grab my purse, I'll meet you at the elevators."

Diane leaves the office and Gabrielle stares at her computer screen for a short while, still stunned. Then she quickly turns it off, packs her things and leaves in a hurry. She knows that Diane Lockhart shouldn't be kept waiting.