Chapter 38: Finally

The week seemed to drag on. The more Rae paid attention to the calendar, the longer the days seemed to be. She still had not talked to Olivia since her visit. She thought a couple times about calling but she just didn't know what to say. Olivia thought about calling Rae too but she didn't know what to say either. She was so confused about what Rae wanted from her. On one hand, she'd told her to never stop trying to win her back. On the other hand she was telling her to back off. She understood why Rae was upset with how she was treating her relationship with Brian but she also knew that she'd made herself very clear to Rae. She wasn't in love with Brian. Their jobs had brought them back together after thirteen years and they had fun together, that she couldn't deny. But still, she wasn't in love with him and she knew she never would be. So she tried to do what she thought Rae wanted. She tried to fight for her, to show her that she still loved her and she wasn't going anywhere. But it wasn't working. Rae had said the words that had hurt Olivia more than anything else she'd said to her in the past year: she wasn't in love with her anymore. She decided that she would just do what Rae asked and give her some space. She would respect her relationship with Brian and respect Rae's relationship with Amanda. Maybe it was time for her to accept that things between her and Rae were never going be the way they were before and move on.

Amanda was still working overtime to cover the hours she'd miss while visiting Araeyah for the weekend. She was at the precinct practically twenty four seven: eating at her desk, showering in the locker room, and sleeping in the crib. She'd missed a lot of Rae's phone calls and her replies to her text messages were always delayed. She'd be doing one thing, get a call or text, tell herself she'd call or text her back as soon as she finished one task, only to start another and forget. When she finally returned a phone call she got an ear full from her girlfriend about not returning her calls. She didn't bother making any excuses. She just apologized and talked for as long as she could before she had to get back to work. It was finally Thursday and they were all working at their desks. Amanda was working her way through a rather large stack of paperwork that was sure to take her all day to get through. If they got a new complaint to go out on there was no way she'd be able to get through all her files. She ate lunch at her desk so she could keep working then headed over to court to testify about an arrest she'd made a few weeks ago. When she got back to the precinct she went right back to her desk to her stack of paperwork. She'd made decent progress and the stack was moving from one side of her desk to another, completed and left to go. Captain Cragen came out of his office at seven thirty and saw her still sitting at her desk.

"Rollins" he said getting her attention. "You were supposed to be out of here a half hour ago".

"Yeah, I just….I'm trying to get through all these before I go" she said pointing to the stack of files she hadn't finished.

"It's just paperwork" he said, "It's not going anywhere. Finish it when you get back".

"Well, I'm….I'm almost done so I'm just gonna crank through them".

"Alright suit yourself".

"Olivia what about you?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah. I'll be heading out soon" she said taking her attention away from her computer. He nodded and went back into his office. Fin and Nick came in from taking a complaint. Nick had covered for Amanda so she could finish her paperwork and head out. They were surprised to see her still there working when they returned.

"Thought you'd be out of here by now" Fin said taking a seat across from her at his desk.

"Me too" she said tiredly. "What happened with the call?"

"College student went to a party and had too much to drink; woke up in bed with a guy she doesn't remember going home with" Fin said describing the complaint.

"She's not sure she wants to press charges" Nick said chiming in. "She knows the guy; said she likes him. She just doesn't remember how they wound up in bed together".

"We paid him a visit" Fin said leaning back in his chair. "See what he had to say for himself. Turns out he doesn't remember taking her home either. He woke up and she was in his bed".

"You believe him?" she asked.

"He seemed genuinely surprised that she's considering filing a complaint" Amaro said.

"Well, if she was drunk and doesn't remember then he took advantage of her" Olivia said jumping into the conversation. "She should press charges".

"I don't know about that" Fin said unsure.

"It's a tough one" Nick admitted. "They were both drunk and neither of them remembers anything about how they even got to his apartment let alone how they ended up in bed together. That doesn't speak to him taking advantage. I mean, if you follow that logic then he was raped too". Olivia scoffed. "Come on, Liv. You and I both know no jury is gonna convict this guy".

"Whoa, straight to a jury?" Fin asked. "The girl hasn't even decided if she wants to press charges or not. Why don't we let her have some time to decide what she wants to do instead deciding for her?"

"Did you tell her what he said?" Rollins asked. "About him not being able to remember what happened either?" They both nodded their heads.

"She said she's not surprised" Nick answered. "They were both hitting it pretty hard; party hopping then hit some bars with their friends".

"We asked around. A couple of their friends remember them leaving together around two in the morning. They all thought it was cool that they were finally getting together".

"So their attraction was mutual?"

"Yeah, they've been flirting back and forth with each other since they met in a journalism class in the spring" Nick said.

"You need to finish that paperwork and get out here" Fin said ending their discussion. "We've got this". Amanda smiled and got back to work on her files. She had about ten left to get through. It was nearing eight thirty when she finally finished. She took the files to the captain's office so he could give his seal of approval before they were sent over to the DA's office. She said her goodbyes and headed out, leaving the precinct behind her for the next three days. When she got home, she ordered take out for dinner then got in the shower. By the time she'd finished showering and getting changed her dinner had arrived. She sat on her couch with her dinner and laptop on the table in the front of her. She turned on her computer, opened skype and texted Rae.

Skype?

Yes please

They talked on video chat for a few of hours planning their weekend together. Rae had picked out a bunch of things they could do and wanted Amanda to pick what she wanted. She picked a few things that sounded good but she wanted to leave some room for spontaneity. Rae was trying to plan every minute of their weekend. She didn't want to waste one moment. She wouldn't be seeing Amanda again until Thanksgiving which was a month and a half away. It was a little past midnight when they finally said good night. Rae had to be in class at eight and Amanda wanted to be on the road by that same time. She joked that they'd need all of their energy. She woke up the next morning a little bit early and spent a little extra time getting ready. She wore a black top with white jeans and black heels. Her hair was curly and she put on a light layer of makeup. She went to her eight am class then went to the store to get some things for the weekend. She made it back to her apartment by nine forty and restlessly waited for Amanda to arrive. She thought about calling but she didn't want to distract her driving. She paced back and forth in the living room repeatedly checking her phone for the time and looking out the window.

Rae finally saw Amanda's truck pull up outside her apartment. She could hardly contain herself. She opened the front door and stepped out as Amanda got out of her truck and walked around to the sidewalk. Rae ran down the stairs and threw herself into Amanda's open arms. Amanda stumbled a little when Rae's body connected with hers but she kept her feet and wrapped her arms around her. Rae wrapped her arms around Amanda's neck and held on tight. It felt so good to be in Amanda's arms again. She put her face in her neck and breathed in her scent. She kissed her neck then her cheek. She loosened her grip around Amanda's neck, put her hands on either side of her face and brought their lips together in the first of many kisses they would share that weekend.

"Hey" Amanda said softly.

"Hey yourself" Rae said back with a big smile. "Finally" she whispered before kissing her again. They made their way inside and didn't waste any time going upstairs to Rae's bedroom. They barely got her bedroom door shut before they started to undress each other. It'd been a long six weeks since they'd kissed or touched one another. They had a lot of catching up to do. Three hours later they were still in bed when they heard front door open and shut and someone run up the stairs. Then they heard things falling over in the next room. Rae just assumed Dominic had forgotten something and told Amanda to ignore it. A moment later there was a knock on her door. She continued to ignore him and hoped he'd just go away.

"Rae, have you seen my badge?" he yelled through the door. "I need it for work".

"No" she yelled back. She heard him groan then more things falling over in his room. His bedroom door closed and he headed down the stairs but turned and came back up to her door.

"Just so you know, it's one forty" he yelled through her door before turning and heading out for work. Rae looked over at her clock and saw that he was right.

"Shit" she said softly.

"What? What is it?" Amanda asked confused.

"I have class. I have to go to turn in my paper".

"Oh. Right" Amanda said remembering that she'd told her that. She rolled over and laid on her back and Rae got up from the bed and started putting her clothes on.

"I'm just going to turn in my paper. I'm not gonna stay the whole time" she said as she pulled her jeans on.

"Ok". Rae slipped on her shoes and grabbed her bag before going over to the bed. She leaned down and kissed her girlfriend softly on the lips. Their kiss deepened and Amanda pulled Rae down on top of her in the bed.

"Mhnn…." Rae moaned, "Amanda" she said pulling back from their kiss. "I have to go turn in this paper". She kissed her one more time then climbed off the bed again. "I won't be long". She quickly left the bedroom and left to go turn in her paper. She made it to class just as her professor asked for the papers to be passed forward. She thanked her classmate for agreeing to share her notes with her. She stayed long enough for the attendance sheet to get to her, signed it and then left to get back to Amanda. When she got back to the apartment Amanda was in the kitchen looking in the frig. She stepped out of her shoes and walked over to the kitchen. She stood behind her and ran her hand up Amanda's legs, under her t-shirt and slid it between her legs. Amanda leaned back against her and turned her head to bring their lips together. Rae slipped her fingers into wetness and Amanda moaned into her mouth when she felt her start to rub circles around her clit. She reached around with her other hand and closed the frig. "Food was not on the agenda today" she whispered in her ear. Amanda laughed and turned to face her girlfriend.

"You get your paper turned in?" she asked between kisses.

"Mhm hum" she mumbled. "Shall we go back to bed?"

"Mhm hum" Amanda mumbled back. Rae took her by the hand and they went back upstairs to pick up where they left off before she'd left. After hours of making love and talking and more making love they emerged from the bedroom at seven thirty. They decided to spend their first night together in the apartment. They ordered in and lounged in the living room watching tv. Dominic came home from work at ten and saw them sitting on the couch. He joked that he was disappointed. He'd expected them to see them in their underwear or making out or something sexy. Rae laughed because she was used to his jokes by now but Amanda was a little put off by him. Rae assured her that he was a good guy and a good roommate and she had nothing to worry about. They finished watching the movie that was on tv then went back upstairs to Rae's room. As if they hadn't done enough all day long, they stripped out of their clothes and got back in bed for another round. Araeyah tried to keep it down because Dom was home and their walls were paper thin. They finally fell asleep just after two in the morning. It felt so good to fall asleep next to each other again; wrapped up in each other. Their first day together had been perfect. Rae hoped the rest of the weekend would be just as perfect.

Rae woke up the next morning at nine thirty and got out of bed, careful not wake Amanda. She went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth then went downstairs to make breakfast. She made banana nut pancakes with veggie bacon and sausage. Dominic came downstairs with a grin on his face and a sideways glance in her direction. He moved around her to make himself a cup of coffee from the pot she'd already made. He went over and sat down at the table, still grinning and staring. She tried to ignore his staring and went on making breakfast. After a few more minutes of him staring at her, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Why are you staring at me?" she said looking back at him.

"Just using my imagination" he said taking a sip of his coffee.

"For what?" she asked confused.

"To picture what it is that she could possibly do to get the kinda of noises out of you that I heard last night". Rae stopped in her tracks and looked over at him. He just kept his stupid grin on his face.

"How do you know I was the one making noise?" she asked with a grin of her own.

"Huh…I guess I don't" he said. "More scenarios for me to imagine". Rae shook her head and rolled her eyes as she turned her attention back to the stove. She finished cooking breakfast and made a plate for herself and Amanda then made them both a cup of coffee. She settled the plates on one side then took both of the mugs by the handles in her other hand and carefully carried them upstairs. She was glad that she'd left the door cracked otherwise she would've had the hardest time getting in her room. She went in and shut the door with her foot then went over and set their coffee down on the table. She took a seat on the edge of the bed and nudged Amanda with her elbow. She groaned and turned over but she didn't wake up. Rae nudged her a little harder and when she still didn't get up she kept nudging her until she opened her eyes and sat up. She kissed her good morning then handed her a plate. They ate their breakfast and drank their coffee in bed then showered, got dressed and left the apartment for the day.

Araeyah showed Amanda around campus and some of her favorite places she'd found in New Haven since moving there. They had lunch at her favorite café then went to see a movie. After the movie they went to some shops and Amanda got some gifts for Nick, Liv, Fin, Munch, the Captain and even their new ADA Rafael Barba. She told Rae about him and she said he sounded like someone she'd get along with. Amanda reminded her that there weren't many people she didn't get along with. They went for a walk through the park then went out to dinner. They made it back to Rae's apartment by nine thirty. Dom was getting ready to go out to a party and asked if they wanted to go. Rae left it up to Amanda and she was up for going out. They changed their clothes, met Dominic downstairs and headed out. They went to a party off campus first then carpooled with some friends to a bar just outside of New Haven. They had some drinks, talked and laughed with friends. Everyone loved Amanda. Rae loved her the most. She was so happy that Amanda was able to come this weekend and that nothing was getting in the way of their time together. Rae and Amanda made it back to the apartment just before one in the morning. Dominic met a girl and went with her back to her place so they had the apartment to themselves again and they put it to good use. Rae was as loud as she wanted to be. She didn't have to worry about Dominic and she didn't really care about the neighbors. They made love all night then fell asleep in each other's arm.

They spent their last day together in the park. They brought food and some games and had a picnic. The weather was nice but it was the beginning of October so it was starting to get cold out. They stayed until Rae couldn't stand the chill anymore. They went back to the apartment and spent the rest of the day in Rae's room. They cuddled up in her bed and watched movies online. Amanda wanted to order Chinese for dinner but Rae told her that the Chinese in New Haven wasn't as good as in New York so they ordered pizza instead. At eight o'clock, Amanda packed her bag and Rae walked her out to her truck. They both wished she could stay a little longer but it was a two hour drive back to the city and she had to work in the morning. After standing outside at her truck for twenty minutes, they shared their final kiss and said their last goodbye. Rae finally let her get in the truck and walked back to her front door. She gave her one last wave and watched as Amanda drove away. She went inside and locked the door then went up to her room to do homework. She stayed up even after she finished to wait for Amanda to call. Her phone rang at ten fifteen and it was Amanda calling to say she'd made it home safe. They talked for a few minutes before getting off the phone so they could both shower and get some sleep. Rae was happy with the time they'd gotten to spend together over the weekend. She couldn't wait to be able to see her again.