A/N: Why do these chapters turn out longer than expected?! Sheesh, anyway, as always, hope you guys enjoy!
"What."
Casey winces and carefully intertwines her fingers with JJ's, not sure of what exactly the blonde is feeling at the moment. She mentally sighs in relief when she feels J's muscles relax upon the physical contact between the two of them.
"She-she got drunk this past weekend when a few of us went out for drinks and I ended up taking her home where she rattled on and on about how much her life sucks before she confessed to being in love with me. I-I thought she was just drunk, because believe me, she was super toasted, but when I mentioned it to her at work, she confirmed that what she said was true. I-I know it's the last thing that you want to here, but I wouldn't be comfortable with myself if I kept this from you."
A smile breaks out across JJ's lips, and she slowly leans in and places a soft kiss on the corner of Casey's mouth. "Hey, it's okay. I guess I just…wasn't expecting to hear that." she explains with a small sigh. Quite as kept, in a way, she sort of did expect to hear something like this. She had assumed that Alex had some sort of feelings for Casey, but flat out in love with her never crossed Jennifer's mind.
"Are you mad?" Casey asks quietly, hanging her head low as if to already apologize.
"Why would I be mad?" JJ responds, tilting her head in the slightest bit of confusion. She's not mad per say, but she sure as hell isn't happy either. She never really did trust Alex upon first meeting her, and now she has all the more reason not to. It isn't until then that she realizes she's thinking too hard, and Casey is staring her with an expression of disbelief. "What?"
"I don't believe you…"
"Casey, I'm not mad, I promise. I just-I don't know what I'm supposed to feel."
"You don't trust me…" Casey says sadly, casting her eyes down at her hands.
Alarm crosses JJ's face and she takes both of Casey's hands in her own once more. "No, no, that is not it, at all. Of course I trust you. It's…Alex, I don't trust. She gives off this vibe. This snake in the grass kinda vibe."
"I think she gets that from a lot of people. I'm actually thoroughly surprised that she bought me baseball tickets." As soon as the words leave her mouth, Casey regrets them completely. She knows that the very last thing she should've have done is to tell her girlfriend that Alex got her baseball tickets.
JJ's eyebrows shoot into her hair line, and she feels her anger starting to well up again. "She…got you baseball tickets…" she mumbles, more of a statement, rather than a question. "She fucking got you baseball tickets."
"Jay, please don't be mad, I-I didn't know she was…you're mad aren't you. Gosh Jay, I'm sorry." Casey begs, seeing the anger brewing in her lover's eyes.
Shaking her head, JJ sighs heavily and leans over to give Casey a long kiss on the lips. "I'm sorry, we should go to sleep. And I'm not mad." she concludes softly before settling into a position to wrap her good arm around Casey. 'I just have less than forty eight hours to start from scratch in finding another fucking Christmas present.'
It's around two thirty in the morning when JJ finds herself still staring blankly at the darkened ceiling. Closing her eyes, she listens to Casey's even breathing, alerting her that the woman is definitely asleep, and probably has been for sometime. Opening her eyes again, JJ finds herself once again staring at the ceiling, completely unable to fall asleep.
Sighing, she makes her way out of bed and into the bathroom where she stares intently at her tired looking reflection. She winces when she once again becomes painfully aware of her injuries, and she quickly digs around in the medicine cabinet for her prescribed medication. Quickly downing the set amount of pills, JJ retreats from the bathroom and glances at Casey once more before she decides to head downstairs. She fumbles around in the darkness of her house for a while before she locates her cell phone. Glancing at the time once more, she realizes that it is far from an inconvenient hour, but damnit she needs someone to talk to.
The phone rings about seven times before it's picked up, followed by a muffled 'shit' from the phone falling. "Prentiss." Is the otherwise sleepy and aggravated reply.
"Emily, it's me…I'm sorry if I woke you." JJ apologizes, knowing for a fact that she did wake the brunette.
"JJ it's almost three in the morning. What do you want…" the older agent grumbles, hating being woken up in the wee hours of the morning, whether it be for work or personal situations.
"I know, it's early, and I'm sorry, I just…I can't sleep, and I really need to talk."
There is a small shuffling sound before a long drawn out sigh. "So…what do you want a bedtime story?"
JJ rolls her eyes and draws her knees up to her chest as she cradles her phone to her ear. "You're sarcasm is becoming an illness Prentiss. But seriously, I have a problem; I don't know what to get Casey for Christmas."
"I thought you got her tickets to that huge baseball game she really wanted to go to. What happened to that?"
A frown crosses JJ's features, and she involuntarily grips her phone tighter in her hand. "I did, and I thought it was a really good idea too. But, do you remember Alex Cabot?"
Emily yawns greatly and blinks several times as her sleep deprived mind tries to process JJ's words. "Mmmm, yeah. Would I like to, not really, but yeah I remember. What about her?"
"Well, she got Casey tickets to the exact same baseball game. Only, I'm more than a hundred percent sure the quality of hers is so much better than mine, simply because she has money…and a lot of it. God, even when she's over two hundred miles away, this woman still manages to get the hell on my nerves."
"Oh wow Jayje; what sucks. So…what're you gonna do? Christmas is the day after tomorrow. Well…technically tomorrow seeing as you're calling me at the dark thirty in the morning…"
JJ groans in irritation and sinks further down into the cushions of her couch. "I don't know Emily, that's why I called you. I got her those tickets because I knew that she really wanted to go, and I did everything I could to get them, but now…fuck Em, I don't know what to do."
There is silence on the other end of the line, and for the longest of times JJ actually thinks that Emily has fallen asleep on the phone, but it isn't until the brunette speaks again is she alerted that she's still awake. "Hm…I really don't know. I mean, those tickets really were a good idea since she loves baseball, but since that's how…hm…super awesome Christmas sex?"
"Em, you're being no help right now…and I was going to give her that anyway. Ugh, I'm a horrible girlfriend."
"Hey, you're not horrible. You got her something that she would really like. Someone else just got her the same thing and gave it to her first…" Emily says blandly, pausing when she receives no response. "Right, not helping. Which reminds me, why did Alex get her those tickets anyway? I heard they were literally damn near impossible to get."
JJ sighs again and her voice drops to a dark and irritated growl. "Oh they were, trust me, I know." she grumbles, mentally deciding that Emily doesn't quite need to know about Casey's revelation on her boss earlier. "And I don't know why she felt the need to buy Casey those tickets. All I do know is that she did, and I'm here with out a Christmas present for my girlfriend on Christmas Eve."
Christmas Eve; Serena Southerlyn's Apartment
"Whoa, you look…interesting." Alex says from the couch of her best friend's apartment. She looks up at Serena who is continuing to putter around her apartment finishing up last minute details.
"Interesting in a bad way?" Serena questions as she gazes into a mirror and proceeds to put on her lipstick.
Alex shakes her head quickly and tilts her head to the side. "No, no. You look amazing actually, I was just…wondering where you're going, since you're all dressed up."
Serena hums as she examines her make up one last time. "Oh, I have a date."
Alex's eyes widen and she feels like her throat has gone completely dry. If there were ever a time that she's fucked up royally, this was it. "Oh…you have a date. I see. But…what about Abbie?"
"What about Abbie?" Serena replies in question, though her question and Alex's question totally differ in meaning. "You know we aren't together anymore."
"Y-yeah, I know, but…don't you think it'd be good if you talked to her? You know, maybe try and fix things?" Alex suggests, slightly for her sake. 'Fix things so I won't have to…?'
Shaking her head, Serena drops her lipstick in her person and turns to Alex with a slightly indignant expression. "I don't have anything to say to her that hasn't already been said. If she wants to talk, then she can be a big girl and come to talk to me. Though, I doubt that I would listen. I don't have time for her whining anymore. You know, not being with her, makes me realize a lot of things that I didn't while I was with her. Like how much she whines, and how childish she tends to be almost all the time."
"But, you loved her though, right?"
"Yeah, I did, but the feeling obviously wasn't requited." Serena responds shrugging. "I don't want to talk about her anymore, you're like the millionth person that's brought up my so called relationship with her."
"Because the two of you were-are an amazing couple!" Alex exclaims, drastically throwing her hands in the air.
A cold hard gaze crosses over Serena's facial features, a trait that she's actually picked up from Alex herself. "That was before she decided to have some random fling with a stripper behind my back."
Alex snaps her mouth shut and averts her eyes to something else in the room. Her lips purse into a thin line before she slowly shakes her head. "I shouldn't have told you…" she murmurs quietly, fully realizing the extent of her damage.
"Ali, you were only being my best friend." Serena says finally, her voice softening. "But I don't want to talk about this anymore. Anyway, did you give Casey her present?"
A bashful smile crosses Alex's lips and she nods her head. "Yeah, I did. I think she really liked it, even though she was doing everything she could to avoid me. I don't think she's taking my feelings for her very well right now."
"She's probably confused right now. I mean, she has a girlfriend now, and then you just come out and drunkenly tell her you're in love with her. I'd be confused to. Speaking of girlfriend-"
"Yes, I still see her as the biggest pain in my ass, and I hope she stays down there in DC so I will never have to see her again."
Serena's mouth snaps shut upon hearing Alex answer so quickly. She sighs heavily and continues to move around her apartment. "You know, I still don't think she's so bad. I mean, yeah I could see how you would because she's dating Casey, but she's really a nice person. Contrary to what you're saying, she really didn't come off as arrogant with me. In fact, I think she's kinda…quiet."
Alex raises her eyebrows and her mouth opens and closes several times as she tries to form a coherent sentence. "QUIET?! What do you mean she's 'quiet'?!"
"Well, I mean, as compared to you. I'm not saying she doesn't speak at all, I'm just saying the way she speaks…she's quiet. You're not quiet Alex."
"I CAN BE-" Alex pauses as she sees Serena's facial expression and she's yelling. "I can be quiet…"
Serena snorts humorously and shakes her head. "Not Jennifer quiet. Her quiet is a natural quiet. You're only quiet when you're mad at somebody...and that's only BEFORE you get loud. Maybe Casey likes quiet."
Alex folds her arms and sits back against the cushions of Serena's couch. Okay, so maybe she isn't exactly the quietest person in the word, but can anyone blame her? She likes to talk, hell, it's what she does for a living; talk. "So are you suggesting that I change who I am, for Casey?"
"It's a start." Serena says shrugging before she walks into kitchen leaving Alex to ponder in her own thoughts.
Those thoughts, however, are interrupted by a sudden knocking at the front door. "Alex can you get that? I'll be just a second." Serena calls out from the kitchen.
Alex rolls her eyes as she forces her self off of her comfort spot on the sofa. She makes her way over to the door and opens it, only to be met with a woman she's never seen before. The woman is thin, around Alex's height, with piercing bright green eyes, and lightly blonde hair that's pulled into a tight ponytail. She's dressed in a form fitting black dress and matching heels, all under a fashionable winter coat. Truth be told, it takes everything within Alex not to go, "oh my god I love your earrings".
"Um, hello. Is Serena here?" the woman asks, curiously eyeing the strange woman that answered the door.
Alex puts on her polite smile that she reserves for strangers and steps to the side to allow the woman in. "Yeah, she'll be right out." she says politely. As if on cue, Serena steps out of the kitchen, and a wide smile comes across the woman's lips, showing off her perfectly white teeth.
"You look gorgeous." The woman purrs, leaning in to give Serena a peck on the cheek which causes her to giggle.
"Oh stop it you." Serena gushes, playfully swatting the woman on the shoulder, flinching when Alex not-so-discretely clears her throat. "Oh right, um, this is my best friend, Alexandra Cabot. Alex, this is Doctor Lindsey Hale."
Alex extends her hand and shakes hands with the woman, wondering how the hell, or better yet, why the hell Serena is going on a date with a doctor. "Oh, so you're a doctor?" she says, feigning interest.
Lindsey flashes a smile at Serena before she looks back to Alex and nods her head. "Yes, I'm a cardiologist. I'm assuming that you work for the district attorney as well?"
"Oh, yeah. I work for the special victims unit." Alex replies, and chuckles nervously when she sees the look on the doctor's face. "Yeah, that's usually the face people make when I tell them that."
"Anyway, Lindsey and I really should be going." Serena speaks up, wanting to put an end to the stalling.
Lindsey smiles and places her hand on the small of Serena's back. "Yes, we should actually. I made reservations."
"Mmmm, I bet you did. Alex, you have a key, lock up will you?"
Alex hesitates for a moment and nods her head. "Y-yeah, I will. It was nice meeting you Doctor Hale." She calls out as the couple leaves. She swallows the thick lump of whatever in her throat and runs a shaky hand through her hair. She knows that she has a lot of damage control to do, but she isn't sure if she can control this damage.
As I was sitting here, alternating between SVU and Criminal Minds just to get a better feel of the characters as I'm writing, my sister came to her own conclusion that JJ is quieter than Alex.
'When JJ talks, I feel like she's bored sometimes, verses when Alex talks, well…I feel like I'm being scolded for sticking my hand in the cookie jar before dinner' quote, my sister.
So, her little impromptu character analysis prompted a conversation between Alex and Serena. Just thought I'd add that little side note, she'd kill me if I didn't give her credit. Anyway, leave a review?