Lawyers, Drinks, and Broken arms
-Part II -
A knock came at the door.
"Alex!"
There was no answer and Detective Olivia Benson continued to knock.
"Alex! Alex Cabot! It's 10 already."
Three more raps sounded.
"Alex! You never showed up for breakfast today."
Sighing, Olivia dialed the counselor's number again, feeling genuine worry start to bubble up in the pit of her stomach.
Alex Cabot stirred under the covers of her queen sized bed, shutting her eyes tightly to block out the sunlight.
"Mmmm…" The blonde shifted, her bulky cast an unusual weight on her arm.
Despite the shooting pain in her wrist and the tenderness of the bruises on her body, Alex felt like she had just woken up from a restful sleep, which she didn't think was possible even before WPP.
The blonde attorney had a placated smiled on her face, feeling the soft covers on her bare skin, the warmth of the sun on her body, the hands of one Casey Novak wrapped around her waist, the woman's lithe body pressed against her back.
"Alex…"
Alex smiled, feeling Casey's words tickle the bare skin on her shoulder. The warmth was comforting, Casey's presence put her at ease. It was the first time that the morning after wasn't associated with the feeling of shame or guilt.
"Someone's knocking on your door, Alex…" Casey mumbled, tightening her hold on the attorney, holding fistfuls of Alex's camisole in her hands.
"That's not my problem, Casey. It's my day off."
It was as if all the worries in her mind had floated away. She wasn't SVU's star ADA today. It was Saturday, her day off, her day to finally realize that life wasn't all about rapists, child molesters, and pedophiles. It was the first time in years that she had slept in. Usually, she would wake up at the crack of dawn to go jogging, practice her closing arguments for the week, or even just watch CNN.
She knew her life was boring, but there was nothing else she wanted to spend time doing. Until now.
Turning around, Alex stared at the woman with her red hair splayed out on her pillow. The younger prosecutor's fair skin glistened in the sunlight and she stirred as Alex changed positions.
"Casey, Thank you."
Casey's green eyes peeked out from under her heavy eyelids, meeting Alex's ice blue ones. They shared a mutual smile.
"What for, Alex?"
Alex's smile spread as she propped herself up on her right elbow, awkwardly smoothing her hair back with her hand in a cast.
"For staying, for being here." The older ADA smiled again.
"I hope your arguments in court are more elaborate than that, counselor."
"I don't know if it's appropriate to elaborate on how much I enjoyed not having sexual intercourse with you, Casey." Alex laughed, feeling silly for even thinking of saying those words.
"It's a nice break from sex crimes, Alex."
"Were you expecting me to commit some sort of crime last night?" Alex raised an eyebrow, curious about the mixed signals she was getting from the feisty redhead. She received no reply in return, but simply a wry smile from the younger girl.
Moving to throw the covers off, Alex swung her legs over the side of her bed, her long legs exposed, not so modest boyshorts clothed her lower half.
"You up for coffee? I'll make us a fresh pot." Alex grabbed her cracked glasses and her phone from the dresser beside the bed, making her way across the room.
There was a pause between them and Casey sat herself up. Alex's loaner T-shirt was loose fitting, exposing Casey's fair skin, the smooth line of her collarbone. The blonde couldn't help but have her eyes drawn to the expanse of bare skin before her. The redhead rubbed her eyes, yawning. "Stop being so nice to me, Ms. Cabot. You're almost making me regret not sleeping with you."
"I'm sure we can fix that if you really wanted to, Casey" Alex teased, raising her eyebrows suggestively.
Casey laughed, glad that she had followed Alex home last night. Sleep never came easy to her, Alex seemed to be the perfect drug for her insomnia. "Coffee sounds good, but are you going to get that door before it gets broken down? I swear that whoever it is has been there for at least ten minutes."
"Fine. I'll check it out. You can relax and enjoy the confines of my bed for a few more minutes."
In response, Casey waved Alex off, diving back beneath the covers.
Shaking her head as she scoffed, Alex put on her glasses and made her way to the kitchen. The coffee maker was up and running in seconds, permeating the air with the scent of a luscious dark roast. Rummaging through her cupboard, Alex looked for some coffee mugs. At the same time, she idly checked her phone.
Alex, are you okay?
I hope you're just running late.
Alex, I'm going to drop by your place if you don't show up in the next ten minutes.
I'm pretty sure you're home, Alex.
Answer the door.
She nearly dropped the cups when she saw the messages, the missed calls… "Oh, shit…"
"Alex! Alex, are you there? I swear I can hear you making coffee…"
Sighing and setting the mugs down beside the coffee pot, the blonde attorney couldn't help but notice a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had completely forgotten about breakfast with Olivia.
Trudging across the room and to the door of her apartment, Alex took a deep breath before she opened the door cautiously.
As the door swung open, there stood Detective Olivia Benson, a mixture of relief and not-amused on her face.
"Alex! Did I miss a memo or something? I thought we agreed to meet for nine. It's not like you to be…" The detective quickly glanced at her watch. "Nearly two hours late…"
Opening the door wider, Alex smiled sheepishly. "Well, it's a long story, Liv. I'm so sorry."
However, once the door opened enough, Olivia's eyes widened as she filled in the blanks.
"Oh my God. Your arm. What happened? Are you alright? Were you attacked?" Olivia stepped in past the threshold, reaching out and grabbing the blonde by the elbow. The brunette seemed to be inspecting the cast, aghast at the fact that a cast looked so wrong on the graceful Alex Cabot.
Alex raised an eyebrow at the comment about a potential attack. "Olivia, it wasn't anything serious. I just fell down the stairs."
"Are you sure about that? I've never known you to be so clumsy. If there's anything at all that I can help you with…"
Alex knew what Olivia was thinking.
"Accidents happen, Liv."
The two women stared off, with Olivia trying to peer into Alex's soul, wondering how likely it was that Alex was hiding an abusive boyfriend or a violent date from her. After good ten seconds, the detective backed down, coming to realize that her friend was one of the strongest women she knew, and coming back from witness protection hadn't changed that.
"I guess they do, Alex. I'm just glad you're alright. You told me you were going on a date last night and when you didn't show up this morning, I just jumped to conclusions. Working at SVU doesn't really help with being positive."
"I hear you. Thanks for your concern, Liv. I really appreciate it and I'm sorry I stood you up for breakfast. It just slipped my mind after what happened last night."
The two women were still standing in the doorway. Alex was reluctant to let Olivia come in, but she could feel that the detective wanted to talk about what happened to her. She didn't forget about the snoozing coworker lying in her bed.
"I'm also doubly glad you didn't come home with some sleazebag. First dates in a bar never really go well and I know alcohol doesn't help much with decision making." Olivia grinned, hanging her thumbs through her belt holes
Alex tried hard to act normally, but her facial muscles refused to cooperate today. Her attempt at a smile ended up looking like a grimace.
Suddenly, a voice rounded the corner and wafted down the front foyer.
"Alex, you alright? Who was that at the door?"
A redheaded prosecutor followed suit, her hair tousled as she held a steaming cup of coffee in her hands. "I can't find the sug-" By the time she looked up, it was too late for her to retreat back into the kitchen.
Alex swallowed her anxiety, glancing at Casey, who stood there with her mouth open in shock, and then back to Olivia, who was in the middle of some kind of comatose moment.
"Shit." Casey swore under her breath as she walked over to Olivia. She needed to explain herself. "Olivia, I know what this looks like, but it's really not what it looks like."
Both Alex and the redhead internally winced at how those words came out. It was an admission of guilt, but...not an admission of guilt.
Olivia wasn't quite in tune with what Casey was saying, more focused on the fact that the ADA was wearing clothes that belonged to the blonde woman standing between them. Olivia only knew because Alex Cabot only owned one pair of sweatpants in her closet, and those were the ones that Casey Novak had on, the Harvard university logo emblazoned down the leg of the pants.
It wasn't hard to infer what had gone on. It wasn't a closed room murder mystery for the decorated detective.
Dishevelled hair, coffee, and Alex Cabot's clothes on Casey Novak did not mean a pajama party.
Detective Benson finally snapped out of her stupor. "Casey...What a surprise to see you here!"
"Same here, Olivia…" Casey paled, wondering if Olivia was some kind of jealous ex that Alex failed to warn her about.
At that, the pleasantries came to a halt. The awkward silence was so thick that Alex felt like she was suffocating. It was unusual to say the least for the three articulate women to be rendered speechless
She was a lawyer after all. Her specialty was convincing a jury to lock people up for an indefinite amount of time. How hard would it be to convince one of her best friends to believe that she wasn't sleeping with Casey? Well, she was sleeping with Casey, but it wasn't like she was sleeping with Casey.
Technicalities.
"Are you into women, Alex?"
If Alex were drinking coffee, she would have spit it out right that instant. In the ten years she knew Olivia Benson, the detective had never been so blunt with her.
Casey, watching the interaction between the two women, blushed. She felt a strange wave of relief overcome her as she realized that Olivia was as oblivious as she was last night.
"It's not what you think, Olivia. We were both at the hospital last night and I guess we didn't feel like being alone after."
Olivia raised a curious eyebrow.
If Casey were in the position to raise her eyebrow skeptically, she would have. Alex had played the ambiguity card, the make-your-statement-as-vague-as-possible game.
Still gripping the coffee mug, Casey shrugged. "I really don't see how you could think Alex is...like that. I slept on the couch, Liv."
"I wasn't implying anything, counselor." Olivia smirked, knowing that she had hit a nerve. The two prosecutors were on edge, playing defense. She knew there must have been something going on between the two. After all, they were all grown women here. Sharing a bed didn't automatically equate to being lesbians. Casey's statement was obviously compensating for something...
"How about we all grab some brunch. I'm really sorry about what happened, Olivia. We were at the hospital until almost 4 in the morning."
"Alex, it's not your fault and it's okay." Olivia smiled, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it. I think both of you are going to need some rest. Casey's stitches still look pretty fresh there." The detective motioned to her own head, making a gesture that made Casey's wound tingle.
Casey offered a weak smile for the concern.
"Raincheck then, Liv?" Alex pushed her glasses up, her tone hopeful.
"Of course, Alex. Anytime. You know where I work." Olivia stepped back, waving as she made her way out. "See you, Casey. Hope you two heal up enough for the work week."
Once the door shut, the two lawyers let out a breath they didn't know they were holding.
"Well, Ms. Novak, I believe that I need to work on my lying."
"I think I do too. Maybe a career as a defense attorney would help with that, Ms. Cabot."Casey chuckled, mentally berating herself for how incoherent she was today.
Alex smirked, shaking her head as she shooed Casey back into the kitchen. "Enough of that now, Ms. Novak. We're going to get to know each other over a nice brunch to make up for last night. No more talk of going to the darkside now..."
"I have no objections, Ms. Cabot." Casey was beyond elated, mildly intrigued by how comfortable she felt with the other lawyer.
A/N: As per usual, drop me a review if you liked it! Might consider finishing this if enough people want to read what's next :)
(Again, I do have commitment issues with writing, so take my words with a grain of salt :P )
