Casey has been driving for hours. She hates driving long distances. It's after dark now and the darkness always makes her nervous when driving.
Why did she agree to go to this conference in Boston? Knowing she was required to drive the whole way?
The answer is the blonde in the passenger seat next to her.
Casey steals a glance at Alex, who is asleep with her head resting against the window. She looks so angelic when she's asleep; it makes Casey smile.
They have been dating a little over three months but have known each other for years. Alex absolutely adores Casey; she showers her with gifts and flowers constantly. Casey is the envy of the DA's office; always getting something new and exciting delivered to her office even though Alex is literally just down the hall.
It's always the same act. Alex will saunter into Casey's office and ask who her admirer is. Casey always sneers and says "some chic down the hall." Alex always smiles back and replies, "she has good taste" with a wink.
So of course when Alex pouted and begged Casey to drive, Casey completely melted into a puddle at Alex's feet and agreed. How could she not?
A five hour long conference seems dreadful. But a free weekend with Alex is anything but dreadful. The pros outweigh the cons easily.
Casey starts to feel a hint of burning and nausea in her stomach. She shifts in her seat, willing it away. She doesn't get car sick. Maybe the tacos they had for dinner aren't agreeing with her. She tries to put it out of her mind and focus on driving.
She wishes Alex were awake to talk to her. It would make this drive much more tolerable. She selfishly wants to wake her.
After a few minutes, the nausea becomes worse and Casey knows she has to pull over. She pulls the car off to the shoulder, and quickly exits the car, leaving the door open so she can have some light.
She leans down and empties the contents of her stomach into the ditch. When she finished she expects to feel better; but she doesn't. The burning and sick feeling is still there.
Casey takes a moment to catch her breath. She is suddenly startled by Alex's voice. "Casey? What's going on?"
Casey walks back to the car, smiling lightly at Alex. She sits back in the driver's seat. "I had to stop. I was sick."
"Are you okay?" Alex immediately asks, worry etched across her beautiful face. "I can drive for a bit if you're not feeling good."
Casey knows she should let her. It's just a matter of time before she has to stop again. But she knows Alex is even more afraid of night driving than she is. She can get through it.
"I'm okay to drive. But thanks."
Alex stays awake now. She fiddles with the radio and checks her phone before turning to look at Casey.
Casey is feeling really bad now. She feels cold, the shakes setting in. She swallows her nausea but again has to pull over. And this time Alex gets out of the car and rubs Casey's back as she gets sick.
"I'm sorry," Casey says, out of breath once again.
"Don't be sorry, sweetie. You can't help that you're sick." Alex drapes her arm around Casey's shoulders and walks her back to the car. This time she forces her into the passenger seat and Casey is too weak to argue with her.
Alex starts driving, and she instinctively reaches out and intertwines her fingers with Casey's. Casey smiles weakly back at her.
"We'll get a room for the night so you can rest," Alex says. "The next place we find."
Casey's shivers get worse, and she hugs herself to try and suppress them. A room sounds nice. A nice warm bed, a bathroom, and Alex taking care of her sounds like heaven.
They find a little motel a few miles away. Not the kind of place Alex would ever consider even pulling into let alone sleeping at. But Casey needs to rest, so she tells her to stay in the car and locks it before going to the office to check in.
Alex quickly pays for the room, gets the key and goes back to the car. She cringes; she can't remember the last time she stayed somewhere that gave keys instead of key cards.
Casey is out of the car throwing up again when Alex gets there, and her heart drops. Poor girl.
Alex slides her arm around Casey and Casey leans against her chest once she's finished. "Alex, I don't feel good," she whines.
"I know, baby. I got us a room. Let's get you inside and into bed. You'll feel better soon."
They go inside the room and Alex quickly goes to check the bathroom out. It's small and not overly nicely but at least it's clean.
"I'll start a shower for you so you can get cleaned up," Alex offers.
Casey is already sitting on the bed, and she grabs Alex's hand to keep her from leaving. "No. I just want to go to bed. I feel awful."
Alex's heart hurts. She smiles at her girlfriend and gives her a kiss on the cheek. She pulls back the blankets and Casey crawls into bed, pulling the blankets around her like a cocoon.
Alex wants to go get their bags and bring them in, but she knows there's more important tasks right now.
She slips her shoes off and crawls into bed with her girl. Casey immeaditely turns to face her, and Alex wraps both arms around her, pulling her close so Casey is resting with her head on Alex's chest. Alex kisses Casey, and she immediately raises her head and looks at the blonde.
"I taste like vomit. And you'll probably get sick too," Casey says.
Alex pulls her back down so she's resting on her chest again. She strokes her silky red hair and Casey sighs contently. "So I get sick. Small price to pay to make my baby feel better."
Casey is starting to fall asleep, her breathing even and relaxed. Alex smiles at her ability to be able to calm the redhead during practically any circumstance. Even though Casey is now asleep, she does not stop stroking her hair.
Alex loves Casey; this much she knows. Has known for a long time. But she doesn't throw the L word around easily and wants to make certain that Casey feels the same before using it.
Alex somehow drifts off to sleep as well, and is awakened some hours later by movement in the bed. She's slow to wake, not realizing where she is at first. She blinks into the darkness with a foggy sleep brain, her surroundings slowly coming back to her.
She reaches out for Casey and frowns when she doesn't find her. And then she hears her getting sick in the bathroom and immeaditely jumps out of bed and rushes into the bathroom.
Casey is on her knees leaning over the toilet, and Alex grabs her hair and holds it back. She plants a kiss to her hot sweaty neck and begins to rub circles into her back.
"It's okay, baby," she says soothingly. "You'll be okay."
Casey finishes and slumps against the wall, breathing heavily. "This sucks. I can't remember the last time I was this sick. My stomach hurts so bad."
"Want me to take you to the ER? They can give you a shot to make you stop throwing up." Alex tucks a stray strand of Casey's hair behind her ear and brushes her cheek. Casey is burning up with fever.
"No; I don't want to go anywhere. I just want to be with you."
Those words warm Alex's heart and she takes her girl back to bed. She makes sure she is tucked in and grabs the garbage pail from the bathroom and places it next to Casey's side of the bed. Then she gets into bed herself, and Casey immeaditely moves to her. She clings to her like a baby koala bear, her body radiating heat from her fever.
"I can find a pharmacy and get you something," Alex offers, resuming the stroking of Casey's hair.
"No. I don't want you to go."
Alex wishes she could do more. Casey groans slightly and shifts her position on Alex. "My stomach hurts so bad Alex."
Alex squeezes her. "Think about something else. Focus on me. Remember our first date? How ridiculous I was?" Alex smiles.
Casey laughs a little at the memory. "You were definitely over the top. But so sweet, and I knew you did it just for me."
Alex smiles again, thinking about that night. She had arranged a candlelit dinner on the roof of her apartment building. She hired a small team of caterers to set it up and serve the food. She remembers standing there giving orders on where to put everything, wanting it to be perfect for Casey. She made a trail of rose petals leading to the table. And it paid off; Casey had loved it.
Casey had told her that no one ever did anything so romantic for her. Alex had watched as Casey got tears in her eyes and told her how beautiful everything looked, including her.
Alex had wanted everything to be perfect but it was windier than she expected and halfway through their dinner it had started to rain. Alex was so angry; how dare the weather Gods conspire against her that way? Rain had not been in the forecast. Alex felt terrible, but Casey had been more than understanding and still claimed it was the best night she ever had.
"It was so beautiful, and so were you," Casey muses, lost in the memory.
"Were? So I'm not beautiful now?" Alex teases.
"Yes. You are, Alex. Everything about you is beautiful. Including and especially your heart. You have given me more in the past few months than I have ever known in my life. I don't know how or why I deserve you. You make me feel like I'm actually worth something. Like I'm not going through life alone, that I have someone to come home to and vent to. I feel...whole."
Alex closes her eyes and when she opens them again tears are running down her cheeks. She knows those words were from Casey's heart and she can no longer hold back on what she needs to say. "I love you, Casey."
Casey snuggles down closer to Alex and says the most beautiful words Alex has ever heard. "I love you too."
Alex starts to cry; not because she's sad, but because she has never been happier. Those words spoken to her were true and not said out of obligation. She squeezes her arms around the love of her life, vowing to never let her go. Casey was hers now, and she belonged to Casey.
And all it took was a trip neither of them wanted to go on and a bout of the stomach flu.