A/N: Thank you for bearing with me as my updates become a little more spaced apart! This chapter is mostly pure fluff.

Despite being absolutely exhausted, sleep doesn't find Alex. She lies on her side, watching the glowing red numbers on the clock on her end-table change, and listening to Casey's soft, rhythmic breathing from behind her. Her mind's racing, running through every possible scenario, every stranger's face that she might have seen over the past few days, that might have led her to this point. There had been a van parked opposite her apartment building the other morning, a man inside, but she'd only considered him suspicious for thirty seconds before realising she was acting paranoid. Now, however, she can't stop wondering.

She tries to rationalise the facts: they've only made contact at Casey's hotel so far. There's still a chance that they don't know where she lives. If they do know, why haven't they made a move already?

Sighing, Alex squeezes her eyes closed, trying once again to force herself to sleep. She at least doesn't have work tomorrow, which is a definite blessing. They can stay camped out in the apartment for the day, figure out a plan of action. Then again…

She rolls onto her back and looks over at Casey, peacefully sleeping with her face turned towards Alex, one hand in the gap between them, as if reaching for her. Alex can't help but watch her for a while, revelling in how soft and delicate she looks, a contrast to how she is when she's awake. She feels that same flutter in her chest, that tug that she's been trying so hard to ignore. The men she'd slept with in Wisconsin - all two of them - had been about comfort, about not being alone in a place where she constantly felt empty and hollow. She'd winced hearing 'Emily' spill from their lips during sex, or the name mumbled in their sleep. Ultimately, though, leaving them behind had not been heartbreaking.

Casey leaving, though…

Get a grip, Cabot, that's the last thing you should be worrying about.

As if to prove the point, Alex's brain darts back to running through worst case scenarios. She rolls over, flipping her pillow over. It isn't any cooler on the other side - she's already flipped it a half dozen times. Instead of resting her head on it, she draws it close to her, wrapping her arms around it in a way that she wishes she had the courage to do to the sleeping woman on the other side of her. She feels stupid, burying her face in the fabric, and rather than comforting her, she finds herself using it to muffle her groan of frustration, pressing the pillow against her face so hard that she sees stars.

She feels an arm wrap around her from behind, her grip on the pillow loosening as soft hair tickles at her shoulder blades, lips pressing at the side of her head. Casey coaxes her into dropping the pillow and rolling towards her, angry tears dissipating in Alex's eyes as she sinks into her embrace. Tossing her embarrassment aside, she lets Casey pull her close, resting her head on the redhead's chest as fingers dance gently through her hair, Casey whispering soothing words with a sleepy mouth.

"I've got you," she murmurs, her hand settling in the small of Alex's back, "I've got you, you're okay."

Eventually, Alex finally falls asleep.

Alex wakes to the soft hum of the radio in the kitchen, the smell of freshly brewed coffee reaching her immediately. She rolls over, blearily looking at the clock. It's the latest she's slept in in a long time. Then again, it was late by the time she'd fallen asleep.

Grabbing her glasses off the night stand, Alex sits up, raking her fingers through messy blonde hair, before swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. The drapes are still closed, and she can't resist peeking out to check on that van from the other morning before she goes down, relieved when a quick scan of the street reveals that it's nowhere in sight. Not that that necessarily means anything, but she can't see anyone else suspicious, either.

Slipping her robe on, she heads downstairs, smiling when she realises she can hear Casey singing along to the radio. Her voice is soft and throaty, not really carrying a proper tune, but that makes it all the more endearing to Alex, especially as she reaches the doorway, and is met with the sight of Casey cooking breakfast, her hips swaying to the music. She's wearing the same over-sized t-shirt Alex had leant her before, and a pair of pastel pink pyjama shorts Alex had forgotten she owned. Alex leans against the wooden doorway and watches her for a while, content to just enjoy the view. The Fleetwood Mac song fades into something else, and Casey stills, the moment over.

Alex clears her throat.

"Shit," Casey hisses, almost knocking over the pan she's tending to on the hot-plate as she jumps at the unexpected sound. She catches the side of the pan and winces, drawing her hand away and shaking it out.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Alex apologises, immediately rushing to her aid.

She gives the burn on her hand a quick glance, then moves to the sink, running the faucet cold and holding Casey's fingers under it. She's aware of Casey's gaze on her. After a moment she turns the faucet off, lifting Casey's hand to her mouth and pressing her lips gently against the slightly raised skin on her index finger.

"Good as new," she says, letting go.

Casey smiles at her a moment, bemused, before returning to the pan of eggs.

"I was going to surprise you with breakfast in bed, but I guess that idea's shot now," Casey grumbles, scraping at the eggs that are firmly stuck to the bottom of the pan with a spatula, "you like eggs, right?"

"Love 'em," Alex says, absently, moving to sit down at the breakfast bar.

"Good. There's bacon too, and toast. And the coffee's fresh," she glances over her shoulder, "did you sleep okay?"

Pouring herself a cup of coffee from the pot, Alex shrugs her shoulders, "not really. I'm sorry for…"

"Hey, it's okay," Casey leans across, placing a gentle hand on Alex's arm, before returning to the breakfast.

Within minutes, a plate of food is sitting in front of Alex, along with a second cup of coffee. Casey hesitantly takes the seat opposite her, suddenly seeming awkward. She watches Alex eat, but barely touches her own plate, instead leaving her hands fidgeting in her lap. After a while, the silence becomes too much, and Alex has to say something.

"Casey…" she starts, putting down her fork.

"I've been thinking and I think I should call my dad. He's military and he knows people in this town. He can call in a favour, get us a list of recent employees at the hotel and—"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Alex interrupts, then quickly backtracks when she sees the look on Casey's face, "I just don't think snooping around is going to help anything. Anyway, I overreacted. It was food. That could have been a… coincidence or a practical joke."

"We both know that wasn't unintentional, Alex! Don't play this off as if it was nothing, you were so terrified that you cried yourself to sleep last night."

Alex's jaw stiffens, a lump forming in the back of her throat, and she automatically becomes defensive.

Casey continues: "if you think it's nothing, then fine. I'll go back to my hotel as soon as we're done here."

"No!" Alex blurts, embarrassed by her own lack of control in this situation, "no, I don't want you to go back there."

"So you do think it's dangerous?"

She relents, pinching the bridge of her nose and sighing, "yes, but I think it's more dangerous for us to play detective and try to figure this thing out for ourselves. I'd rather we just… laid low here for a couple of days. If nothing happens, then we can assume it's an isolated incident."

Casey doesn't look so sure, picking up her fork and finally, slowly, eating a mouthful of eggs. She lays the fork down again, licks her lips. Alex watches her, unable to drag her eyes away.

"Okay," Casey finally says.

"Okay?"

She nods, "okay, I'll stay here, I won't call anyone."

"Thank you," Alex says, feeling strangely calm about everything. They return to eating, and it's comforting, quietly sharing this moment with somebody else. No, not with somebody else, with Casey, she thinks, looking over at the redhead. Even drinking coffee, her hair mussed and loose around her shoulders, her face without a scrap of make-up, she looks beautiful, and Alex is overwhelmed by how much she wants to kiss her, again.

She doesn't, though.

"I'm sorry I ruined your vacation," she says, instead.

Casey looks up at her, surprise evident in her eyes as she dismisses her, "you didn't. I'd still be in my hotel room, avoiding the outside world and mulling over case files if I hadn't bumped into you," she smiles softly, "I don't know how to vacation."

Alex laughs at this, "oh, me either. I don't think I took a single vacation in the four years I worked for SVU."

"That surprises me," Casey says, raising an eyebrow, "I always pictured you sipping cocktails in the Bahamas or something. Going for spa days."

Laughing, Alex shakes her head. She'd taken maybe one vacation day, and that had been for a funeral. Anything else had been work related - conferences or charity events she couldn't possibly miss. Her mind had always been on the work. In that way, Casey and her aren't so dissimilar. It's what made leaving, going into a mundane, unimportant job, all the more hard.

Casey starts to clear their plates, despite hers still having half her meal on it, Alex watching her as she moves around the kitchen as though she belongs there, as though this isn't only her second time visiting the apartment. The sight of somebody else moving through a space Alex has never shared makes her feel warm, unexpectedly contented.

"Still, I'm sorry that you're going to be stuck here with me rather than out enjoying the sun," she apologises again, unable to take her eyes off Casey.

Casey turns to look at her, her lips turning up into a soft smirk, "I'm sure we can find something else to enjoy doing whilst we're 'stuck here'."

"Oh really?" Alex asks, lifting her coffee cup to her lips, playing innocent, "what did you have in mind?"

Plucking the cup out of her hands, Casey places it on the counter, before settling herself onto the edge of the table, leaning down to capture Alex's lips in a soft kiss that quickly grows deeper. Alex tangles her fingers in her hair, trying to draw her closer, but as quickly as the kiss has begun, it's over, and Casey jumps down, heading back to the sink.

"Well, for starters, you can help me with these dishes."