Alison bids Jim goodnight and comes around the counter to meet Beth. Beth is currently slumped on the counter, chin resting on her forearms, eyes slightly closed.

"Hey, you okay?" Alison asks, touching the other woman's shoulder hesitantly.

"Yeah, just trying to keep the world from spinning…I'm good to go." Beth's feet drag a bit but they both walk out fine. After a few minutes of silence, Beth takes a deep breath in, letting it out slowly and loudly. "It's so good, to get some fresh air- ya know?" She slurs.

"Yeah, fresh air is nice. So what were you guys up to beforehand that everyone drank so much?"

"Pffffft- just bowling. They don't card at the Alley, Ali. HA!" She snorts at her own joke. "That rhymed."

They walk along a bit further and Alison is thrilled. Thrilled to be so close and alone with Beth but terrified. She's on unfamiliar territory here. Okay, speak. Uh… uh…What do I talk about? Doesn't matter. Maybe I'll just keep it light, she thinks. "So what are you hopes and dreams?" Or not.

Beth laughs. It's loud and light and it makes Alison's heart race.

"What?" The coxswain asks.

"Sorry- you sound like that girl from that movie!"

"What movie?"

"Yooooooou know, the one where she's like a…a…" Beth rubs her face, as if trying to massage out the right words. "Oh yeah, a reporter and she goes back to high school and is all like 'what are you hopes and dreams' to these douchebag popular girls and they're all like 'loooooser' but it all ends up okay with a happy ending…"

Alison thinks for a moment, "Are you talking about 'Never Been Kissed'?"

"YES! Yes! BINGO! Ooo, you're good at this, huh?" Beth nudges Alison roughly with her elbow.

"I love that movie."

"Of coooooooooooourse you do," Beth smirks.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alison says, crossing her arms.

"I just mean, it seems like your kind of movie," she says lightly.

Alison stops on the sidewalk. Beth pauses as well. She wants to remain indignant but it's hard when Beth is looking at her with that goofy smirk. "Oh and you know me so well now?"

"Maybe. I mean, I'd like to…" she says smirking again, before continuing down the sidewalk.

Alison hops to, catching up in a few steps. Was she flirting with me? Could she have been? "So I like Romantic Comedy movies, so what? They're fun and they have happy endings. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing at all," Beth shrugs.

"Well, what do you like?"

"Hmmmm?" Beth breezes, clearly feeling better by the small smile on her face.

"I said, what kinds of things do you like?"

"I like rowing," she says, eyes half closed. She stumbles for a few steps but catches herself.

"Okay, but what else?" Alison knows she's taking advantage a bit, asking questions of someone who's drunk, but her desire to be closer, to know Beth just that bit better, out weights any reservations she may have.

"I like… spearmint gum."

"Okay…"

"And, like… Motown music. My dad had about a million cassette tapes- Smokey Robinson, Supremes, Marvin Gaye, all of them…" she makes a grand gesture with her arm. "Stevie Wonder too. I like him. That's why I had to look so long for my car… I wanted to make sure I found one with a tape deck. That music… it just makes me…well, it makes me feel good. Even for just a little bit."

There's a note of sadness in her voice, and Alison's not sure how to handle that. She'd only mean to get to know Beth, not to upset her. "I'd love to hear them sometime…"

They're walking close, and their hands brush slightly as they move. Alison's about to apologize when Beth moves a bit closer, actually reaching over and intertwining their fingers. Alison can't breath for a moment. She looks down at their laced hands, then back to Beth who looks shocked herself. "Sorry- I uh, just my head's kinda spinning and- sorry."

Beth moves to pull her hand back but Alison tightens her grip instead. "No! I mean, it's fine. It's… nice."

"Nice," Beth repeats, almost like she's tasting the word, trying to decide if she likes it. Either way, Alison's happy, because Beth starts walking again, and their hands remain together like that.

She feels like she's going to explode. Or implode. She's not sure. All there is, all that matters right now, is their hands. Together. It's different, so different than when she's held hands with guys in the past. So different and so much better. Beth's fingers are their characteristic cool to the touch, but not clammy. Not like that guy Donnie's earlier. Not like any of the other guys I know. They're smaller too, obviously, but still there's a sense of strength there and Alison can feel Beth's calluses from rowing, just at the juncture between palm and fingers.

Neither woman says anything for a while but they're approaching Beth's dorm. Alison's wonders what the taller girl is thinking and wonders if Beth can feel Alison's heartbeat throb all the way down to her fingertips. She doesn't want to let go, doesn't want this moment to end and almost feels like Beth too is hesitant to let go. But now that they're here, she does, moving to dig out her wallet from her jean's pocket and rifling through it.

"I always keep it in here…" she mumbles after a moment. "But where…" Beth starts taking everything out, piece by piece, setting it on the bench next to the door. "What the HELL?" She yawps, swaying slightly.

"May I?" Alison asks, gently taking the wallet from the frustrated woman.

Alison thumbs through it for a moment, but doesn't see the card anywhere. She hands it back to Beth, who- very methodically- starts to put the other papers and cards back into it. "Is there any place else it could be? Did you leave it somewhere? Maybe you forgot it when you last paid for something?"

"No, no, no- I think it was in there when I paid for bowling…" she says, returning the wallet to her back pocket.

"Well what about at the diner?" Alison asks hesitantly. She's hopes it's not there because she's not sure exactly how they'd get back her work right now. Jim probably closed just after they left and no matter how much of a soft spot the cook had for her, she knew he was not about to return to work at 1am.

"At the diner I…" Beth trails off. She suddenly shakes her head as if dismissing something. "No. I guess I just can't remember… Anyway, it doesn't matter. You go ahead. Get some sleep. I'm good here."

"What are you going to do though? How will you get in?"

Beth shrugs, and sits down on the bench, slumping low and sprawling her legs out. Her eyes close as she replies, "Eh, I'll just wait 'til someone comes out I guess."

"Elizabeth Childs!" Alison scolds, sitting down next to her briskly. "You will NOT be waiting out here, alone, for what could be HOURS, for someone to happen to come out. I will not allow it."

"Well, what exactly do you propose?" Beth says, not bothering to stifle her yawn. "Cause I really need some sleep…"

"I'll stay here. With you." She says it without even thinking. She says it without considering any other variables or options- not at all her style. But that seems to be the norm when she's around Beth. "I'll stay until we can get back into your dorm."

"You don't have to do that…" Beth mumbles but she's already getting herself comfortable. She folds her arms, and lets her head drop down, eyes almost.

"I'm happy to." Alison says. And she is.

Both girls lapse into a comfortable silence. The night is a bit chilly, but not unbearable yet. Alison imagines that in just a few more weeks, sitting out like this would definitely be a less comfortable option, so for now she enjoys it. Crickets chirp from a nearby bush, and just as Alison thinks Beth has nodded off, the rower stirs slightly, lolling her head back against the backrest of the bench again.

"You know," she begins, voice thick with sleep. "I usually don't drink this much…"

Beth's eyes are closed, head sprawled back and Alison can't help but trace the elegant line of her throat with her eyes. "Oh?"

"Yeah…I used to drink, like, a lot in high school… well, I used to do a lotta not-so-great things in high school…but at least I stopped that. I try not to drink so much anymore either 'cause when I do…I just… Bad things happen. It's always been like that."

There's a sadness there. A sadness Alison wasn't sure how to help with. She briefly thinks of Ramon, always telling her to stop thinking and just do something. So Alison finds Beth's hand again, carefully threading their fingers together one by one before giving a little squeeze of assurance. "Well nothing bad will happen this time. I'm here. I'll make sure of it."

Beth rolls her head slowly towards Alison, opening her eyes just a bit. A sleepy smile tugs at the corners of her lips. "You're way too good for me Ali…" Beth's eyes close again, her head drooping down. Fast asleep.

Alison's not sure what time it is, but pale pinks and ambers are already bleeding into the darkness on the horizon. She moves to rub her eyes but one arm seems pinned.

There's a flutter in her stomach again as she realizes her arm is in fact, pinned under one Elizabeth Childs. At some point in time in the night, Beth must have gotten cold because the rower's legs were tucked up on the bench and she's nuzzled up to Alison's side, head in the crook of Alison's neck.

Alison takes a deep breath, trying to remain calm, but instead she just gets a whiff of Beth's shampoo and that just makes Alison's head woozy. It's a clean scent- lavender and mint and refreshing. It's utterly intoxicating.

Beth must have felt Alison shift because she starts to stir awake, blinking slowly. "What?..." She looks at Alison for a moment, trying to piece things together. "Sorry- I think I drooled on you…" She sits up a bit wiping the corner of her mouth. "God.. my head…" she winces.

There's a click from behind them and the door to the dorm opens. A custodial worker exits pushing her cart full of cleaning products and begins making her way towards the next dorm.

"Wait!" Alison yelps at her, as the door clicks behind. The woman looks at Alison quizzically, stopping for a moment.

Alison hops up rushing over. "Sorry- is there any way you could open that door for us again? My friend is locked out…"

"Lo sentimos, no hablo Inglés. Y no me pagan lo suficiente para hacer frente a los problemas de los estudiantes. Tengo mucho de que preocuparse por mi cuenta." she replies, beginning to wheel away again.

"Oh, uh…" Alison's brain is still thick with sleep. She tries to remember something from the one Spanish class she took back in 5th grade, but only French words keep coming up.

"Lo siento, no quiero molestarte, pero me olvidé mi clave." Beth appears at Alison's side, and appears to know Spanish. "Era estúpido. No se repetirá. Si usted pudiera por favor, abra la puerta-estaríamos muy fantastico."

" 'Muy fantastico?" The woman chuckles. "Bueno. Sólo esta vez. La próxima vez, simplemente dormir en casa de su novia. ¿Entiendes?"

Beth blushes. "Sí. Entiendo. Mucho Gracias."

The woman just nods and swipes her card. Beth opens the door, propping it with her foot.

"Uh- Gracias!" Alison adds, but the woman is already half way to the next dorm and doesn't bother turning around. "That was very impressive Beth. I had no idea you spoke such wonderful Spanish!"

"Yeah- it wasn't that great. I studied it in high school and I'm taking a class for my requirement now, but it's not great."

"Well way better than what I could come up with, that's for sure!" She smiles. "What did she say back to you? Did she yell at you?"

If Alison didn't know better, she'd say Beth was blushing again. "Yeah, don't worry about it…She was just giving me a hard time…" Beth looks down and shuffles a bit. "Hey, thanks again for staying with me. You really didn't have to."

"Yeah, I know. I wanted to." Across from her, Beth opens her mouth to say something, but closes it again quickly. She looks slightly uncomfortable so Alison starts again, joking, "I mean, it isn't exactly what I had in mind when suggested we hang out on Sunday, but I guess it'll have to do." She smiles

Beth chuckles. "Yeah, I'm sure watching me drool on you in the wee hours of the morning was NOT what you had in mind. And last night... not one of my more stellar performances either, to be sure. I hope I wasn't too weird…"

"No. Not at all," Alison says and both girls stand still, unsure exactly how to proceed. "Hey, I should let you sleep. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow Ali." The taller girl moves inside, the door shutting heavily behind her.

Beth's headache is, in a word, ridiculous.

She had only gotten an hour or two of sleep before she woke up, her stomach queasy, nauesa bitting at her. God, I feel like such a lightweight...I used to drink double that in high school and run a 5k the next morning no problem... not that's anything to brag about…

Beth's musings are interrupted by the sound of her door opening. Beth barely has a moment to wonder how this is possible when she definitely locked it the night before, when a familiar British accent cracks the air.

"Hey Childs, thought you might be a bit under the weather. Brought you a bit of a pick me up…"

Beth props herself up on elbows to see Sarah Manning, in her room, holding two to-go coffee cups in her hands. She sits up fully, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and taking the coffee offered in Sarah's outstretched hand.

"Well," Beth starts, taking a sip. "It's the least you could do since you stole my fucking dorm key card from me at the diner last night…."

Sarah grins and sits backwards on Beth's chair, resting her forearms on the backrest. "Ooo, look at you. A regular Sherlock Holmes…"

"Pfffft, please. I didn't have to be a detective to figure this one out. Especially with your criminal element taken into account..."

"Hey- I was trying to use my criminal element to help you with Pinky, doesn't that count for something good? Speaking of which, how'd it go? I must say, I was hopin' to find you were at her dorm this morning but whatever…"

"How'd it go? I made an ass out of myself- that's how it went! I keep remembering more things, the stupid things I said… oh and then I held her hand- UGH!" Beth rakes her hands down her face. "And she just LET me. Said it was 'nice'! God, I was so wasted she felt like she had to take pity on me. I'm just glad I didn't vomit on her. Actually, no, maybe I should have vomited on her. That would have capped off the evening nicely…"

"That's…unbelievable…" Sarah mumbles.

"I know right? I-"

"-It's unbelievable that I gave you one of my BEST moves- the 'I forgot my key card' and all you got out of it was some fucking hand-holding? And 'ere I thought you had some game Childs…." She leans back against the corner of the desk behind her, taking another sip from her coffee. "Did she really jus' leave you alone, in front of your dorm? 'Cause that's cold."

"No. She stayed outside with me until I got in this morning…" In front of her, Sarah began grinning again. "What? That means nothing..."

"Look," Sarah sighs, leaning forward again. "I don't know what your problem is or why you don't see this, but it seems so clear that this girl likes you. And ever since she appeared, you seem like 5 billion times happier than I've seen you in like forever- so it's pretty clear you like her too. I don't know if you're like a masochist or what, but the problem is most definitely not her. It's you."

Sarah finishes her coffee, tossing the cup with flurish into the wastebasket beside her. "I love ya Childs, but get your shit together for Christ's sake, ya?"

Sarah stands and moves towards the door, placing Beth's key card on her desk as she goes. "Oh and check your email- Coach S sent us out something about a big scrimmage next weekend. It's with those wankers at St. Augustine so I'm sure she's going to kill us at practice tomorrow. Get some rest." Sarah exits the room before Beth can say anything further.

Beth sets her coffee down on the floor next to the bed and stares into space, trying to absorb Sarah's words. Maybe she's right. Maybe I really am the problem. Beth doesn't have long to consider this though, before there's a rather unpleasant roll in her stomach. She makes a mad dash towards the bathroom down the hall. As little as her roommate Jennifer is around, Beth is pretty sure she's not going to want to come back to find Beth's vomit on her bedspread.

Alison had flopped directly into bed, shoes and all when she got in that morning. For the first time ever she was too tired to complete her usual night time routine. So she was more than a little disoriented when she awoke, fully clothed, to the smell of pizza. She opened her eyes slowly, and saw that yes- she was not imagining things- her roommate did indeed have a fresh and hot pizza, in box, splayed out on her desk.

"Well good morning!" Cosima said, chipper as ever. "Or should I say good afternoon?"

"Cos…?" Alison sits up, rubbing her eyes.

"I took the liberty of ordering us something to eat. Pizza is nature's most perfect food and also happens to be one of my favorite hangover cures…"

"I'm sure you'll hardly believe it, but I didn't even have anything to drink…"

Cosima takes large bite. "Well," she says, "That makes one of us. But lucky for you, pizza is also an excellent meal to share a conversation over. And judging by the…" she scrolls through her phone beside her, "-14 texts I got, I'd say you were looking to talk…"

Alison flops back dramatically on her bed. "I have no idea where to begin…"

"Pizza." Cosmia says. "Begin by eating some pizza. Then we'll talk."