A/N: It wouldn't be fair to include myself in the side bet considering I already know what's gonna happen, huh…darn. I feel so left out.

Anyhow, glad you guys are interested. Enjoy!

Now there's gravel in our voices, Glass is shattered from the fight
In this tug of war you'll always win, Even when I'm right

Alex has just stepped out of her shower with a soft white towel wrapped around her body and blonde hair plastered to her head as she heads over to the closet in search of pajamas. Just as she has finished drying off and pulling her sleep top over her head, there is a small buzz and a flicker before the lights shut off.

"What the hell?" she murmurs quietly as she hears a loud 'fuck!' and a crash coming from another room in the apartment. Squeezing her eyes shut, Alex maneuvers her way over to the bedroom wall and continues to flick the light on and off, only for the darkness to remain.

"Is there a power outage?" Abbie's curious voice asks from the dark doorway, nearly scaring Alex half to death.

"It doesn't look like it." The blonde responds as she moves away from the window. Retrieving a flashlight from the drawer, Alex makes her way back into the lounge and over to the table where her phone is plugged in so she can call the super.

Just as she is about to pick up the device, her light catches a stack of envelopes neatly stacked to the lamp that probably isn't gonna turn on. With a frown of interest, Alex steadies her light and picks up the top envelope that looks to be still sealed and her eyes widen as she recognizes it as their electric bill. "Abigail…come here."

There is a soft patter of feet and Alex senses the presence behind her a few moments before she feels breath on her neck. She shakes her heads and shines the light closer on the sealed envelope as she holds it up. "Look at this."

"What is it?" Abbie frowns as she peers closer before she pales about ten shades and her face drops. "Oh…"

"Yeah, oh." Alex repeats tightly, slamming the envelope down on the desk as she storms away, leaving her wife standing in darkness.

"Alex, I…I'm sorry." Abbie stutters, not really sure if an apology is going to do her any good at this particular point in time.

"You're sorry?" Alex's annoyed voice rings from what sounds like the kitchen. "We're stuck here in the dark now and you're only explanation is that you're sorry?"

Dragging a hand through her hair, Abbie sighs quietly as her shoulders drop. "What do you want me to do?"

There is a clang of what sounds like a plate before Alex's aggravated grunt of annoyance is heard throughout the apartment. "How about you do something for once?" she snaps back caustically. "You forgot to pay the electric bill Abbie! There isn't any kind of excuse for that!"

"I know! I know there isn't an excuse and I know that it's completely my fault. I'm sorry. I thought I paid it and that's why I didn't think anything of it and that's why I didn't I…" Abbie trails off, sighing once again. "I'm sorry."

There is silence before Alex once again swears out of pure annoyance. "Great, and here I was thinking that I was going to warm up leftovers for us to have for dinner but the damn microwave doesn't work because the powers out. Hope you like eating cold pizza."

"That's fine…" Abbie murmurs, her voice almost childlike as she accepts the plate that is thrust into her hand. She feels her way through the darkness and eventually settles on the sofa with her wife sitting on the other end as they begin to eat in silence.

The silence is heavy and intense, only occasionally filled with Alex's incoherent mumbling and sighing that comes every now and again. Abbie actually feels like she's going to explode from guilt until the blonde actually speaks up and says something in a strangely calmer voice.

"Just once I don't want us to be here." She says, though more to herself than to the only other person in her presence.

"What do you mean?" Abbie asks curiously.

"I mean once I just want to spend an evening out on the town. I want to go walk the streets, see a musical, hell, I even want to eat at Angelo's. I pass it every day on my way to work and I think of how badly I want to eat there."

"I know how badly you want to go but we just…"

"Can't afford it, I know." Alex replies, rolling her eyes as she shakes her head. There is more tense silence between the two of them before she speaks again. "Abbie, I feel like it's time that you go out and find a real job."

Once again, there is silence before Abbie finally formulates a response. "What?" she questions, the confusion evident in her voice. "What do you mean a real job? I have a real job Alex; my art is my job."

Shaking her head, Alex chuckles mirthlessly as she drags her hands through her hair. "You and I both know that isn't getting us anywhere right now." She states flatly and a little dryly.

"Alex, listen. I know things are rough right now, but they're gonna bet better. One day when I-"

"What Abigail, 'sell a painting'?" Alex snaps as she shoots off of the couch and begins to pace back and forth in the dark. "Abbie you've been saying the same thing since we started dating. It has been the same ever since then. You've been saying the same thing but has it never occurred to you once as to why it hasn't happened yet?!"

"You just gotta believe me Alex." Abbie says, trying to calm her wife as she stands up and attempts to stop the pacing. "You gotta trust me. Somebody's gotta notice me and they will and I promise you I'll take you out to Angelo's any time you want. No, before that. As soon as we can afford it, I promise I'll take you."

"You promise you'll take me? Abbie, we can't even afford to keep the lights on right now! What makes you think that we will be able to afford something like that? We are sitting here in the dark and right now there isn't enough money in my account to cover it because I just finished paying all of our other bills not to mention I had to put gas in my car! I can't be the only person bringing money home Abbie. Not when there is two of us living here. You need to get a job. Get a job waiting tables or at a department store or something! Because this isn't working out. It could be days before we even get the lights back on and here you are talking about paintings and going to Angelo's and houses; you need to get real Abbie. Your art isn't selling which means you need to find something else to do for right now. At least something on the side so you can bring home a little money."

Abbie takes a shaky deep breath before she nods her head only to realize it's still pitch black, therefore Alex probably can't see her. She clears the emotion away from her throat as she nervously rubs at the back of her neck. "So…what are we going to do about the power?"

Alex sighs heavily as she lets her hands fall limply at her sides. "The only thing I can do right now. I'm going to call Kim and ask her if we can borrow some money." She explains as she moves across the lounge to retrieve her cell phone.

Abbie's eyes widen as she crosses the dark room in three quick strides and places her hand on Alex's wrist. "No. Don't do that." she says firmly as she shakes her head.

Alex frowns in complete confusion as she pulls her wrist away. "Are you out of your mind, Abbie? We are in the dark and neither of us can afford to pay for it. She's my best friend. She won't mind."

"Yeah, for you." Abbie mumbles as she groans a drags a hand through her hair. "You already know what she thinks of me, Al. You know how she feels about…us. She's always putting me down, making me seem like I'm good enough for you."

"Then you'll just have to learn to ignore it because I refuse to spend several days in the dark without power." Alex says firmly as she dials her best friend's number. Her fingers tap impatiently against the desk before she call finally connects. "Hey, I know that you said you were busy tonight, but I really need a huge favor."


A few hours later , with the apartment illuminated by the graces of candles, Abbie inwardly groans as she watches the brunette in the red dress continue to talk on her phone. She honestly wishes Alex hadn't called her. She would've been able to figure things out for them eventually. They most certainly, didn't need anyone's help, especially Kim's of all people.

"Thank you." Kim says politely, rolling her eyes as she ends the phone call and approaches the couple. "I cleared it with your provider that they can just take this payment out of my account. Everything should be all set and your lights should be on by ten tomorrow morning."

A sigh of relief escapes Alex's lips as she pulls her friend into a hug. "Thanks so much. I know you were on a date and I really hate myself for interrupting but I really didn't know what else to do."

Kim chuckles quietly as she returns the hug and then pulls away. "It's alright. That's what best friends are for, right?" she asks, sending Abbie a pointed look. "They take care of each other."

As the two women turn their backs to her, Abbie sneers in Kim's direction wishing that she could just throw the cocky brunette out of her home but she knows Alex would greatly object to that and she feels like she's upset Alex enough for the night.

"You let me know if you need anything else." Kim says, sharing another brief hug with her friend before she departs, leaving the couple alone.

"I suppose that we should go to bed." Alex says as she moves to go to the bedroom, blowing out the candles on the way out.

As she goes to settle into bed, Abbie notices how Alex is facing the opposite direction and judging by her breathing patterns, she's still awake. Slipping under the covers, Abbie wraps an arm around her wife, pulling her closer. "Alex…I'm really sorry about the light bill. I'll do everything I can to make it up to you."

"It's alright…I shouldn't have snapped at you so hard." Alex murmurs in response before she sighs and turns over. "Just once I want us to have enough to do something special; just the two of us. I want to go out somewhere special."

"We will." Abbie whispers, pulling her lover closer. "I promise."


The following day, Alex finds herself exceptionally tired as she has gone to get a cup of coffee from the break room, only to find herself falling asleep leaning against the counter as she is waiting for the coffee pot to brew the sacred liquid.

"Long night?"

Alex's eyes pop open and she immediately clutches her chest, thankful that her coffee cup is empty. The warm, humored chuckle that feels the room causes her ears to burn and she immediately recognizes the owner.

Casey smirks at the blonde's embarrassment as she further steps into the break room to get a closer look at her. "You look like you only got a few hours of sleep last night." She states with that same amused smirk as before that only serves to annoy Alex at the moment.

"Because I did." Alex grumbles in response, slinking over to the coffeepot as if glaring at it will make the machine brew faster.

"I see. Spending quality time with the wife I assume?"

"No! And even if it was, it wouldn't be any of your business."

Casey holds up her hands in surrender as she shrugs. "Hey, I was just asking." She chuckles, tilting her head as she watches Alex roll her eyes. "But something does seem to be bothering you."

Alex purses her lips tightly before a tried sigh escapes them. "If you must know, Abbie, my wife, forgot to pay out electric bill last night and we kind of got into it. Now that I think about it, it was stupid and we probably shouldn't have reacted the way that we did, but I could tell it was sitting with us for the whole night. I'm not sure either of us slept."

"I'm sorry." Casey says softly, her emerald eyes portraying her sincerity. "Is there anything I can do?"

"No, it's all taken care of but thanks for the kind offer." Alex answers, mentally wondering why a practical stranger would want to help her with her life's problems.

Seeing the mental argument going on in the blonde's head, Casey steps closer until she is sure she is just shy of the personal space boundary. "I'll tell you what. In order to take your mind off of your rough night, how about I take you to lunch?"

Frowning, Alex chuckles nervously, shaking her head as she is finally able to pour her cup of coffee. "Um, thank you for the nice offer, but you really don't have to. I'm fine."

"No, no, I want to. Just lunch, where ever you wanna go. My treat."

Alex is silent for another moment before a nervous smile graces her lips. "Um, okay. I guess that'll be alright."

"Excellent." Casey beams as she puts a hand into her jacket pocket. "You just think on it this morning and then at lunch you can let me know where you want to go."

"Okay…thank you." Alex responds, feeling that same shiver as the redhead grins at her and exits the break room. Now not only does she have to think about where she's going to lunch with Casey; she has to think about where she's going to lunch with Casey without Kim finding out.

Love you guys' theories! Keep em, comin! Leave your thoughts!