Chapter eight:

Settling, that's what she had done. They had spent the night drinking, Alison had even gotten Beth to laugh a bit. After not too long Beth had laid down, eventually falling asleep mid-sentence. Alison easily could have taken advantage of Beth's position, and snuggled into her arms as she lay very open on the sofa. So inviting, but Alison couldn't bring herself to do such a thing. What would Beth say when she woke? They'd held each other in their sleep before, to stop one another from their nightmares. Beth always had them, and Alison would jump to her safe from her mind, soothing away any and all problems.

Woken by the sound of vibrating, Alison entered the living room to find the source. It was Beth's phone. Shortly after it stopped vibrating against the glass table, it started again. Beth hadn't moved, completely not phased. Walking closer, Alison tapped her arm. Nothing. Kneeling over, she pushed the hair from the cops face, finally receiving a response.

"Shit."

"Shit...? Really?"

Beth's face began to stir, wrinkling before ejecting a yawn.

"What's up, Ali?"

"Morning lightweight. Your phone."

"Ah.. Definitely shit." Beth smiled sleepily before taking the phone.

"Detective Childs." Always professional. Alison backed away smiling, proceeding to make some coffee.

"No, are you kidding me? Took you assholes long enough. I'll come by in the afternoon." Although Alison only heard half of the conversation, she could tell by the way Beth was handling the call that it was her partner.

"Because I'm busy, dipshit." Definitely her partner.

Beth sighed before tossing the phone gently onto the glass table by her feet.

"I'm guessing you have work?"

"Yeah." Beth halfheartedly shrugged, walking over to the mugs Alison had gotten out, waiting patiently. "Some news though."

"Mm? Good?"

"Yeah. They caught the son of a bitch." Beth was biting her lower lip. Alison's head jerked towards Beth, eyebrows springing up.

"Are you serious?"

Beth nodded. Before she could stop her, Alison had engulfed Beth in such a relieving hug. Alison was radiating. Of course she was. Without thinking, Beth took ahold of her cheeks and kissed her. When Alison didn't pull away or react, Beth wondered if it even happened. Separating their lips, Beth opened her eyes to a very red Alison, knowing damn well that she herself was also blushing. Alison had licked her lips, about to say something, but withheld the comment. Instead, she offered a smile and brought Beth back into a hug. Slipping her arms around Alison's neck, Beth was glad to hide in the arms of someone she loved, especially after making such a fuck up of a mistake as kissing her.

"You're safe now, Beth."

"We are.." Rolling her eyes, Alison smiled and pulled away, continuing the process for their coffee.

Being observant as always, Beth noticed just how anxious and fidgety Alison was. Maybe Beth hadn't been around her nearly enough in the mornings to know what she was like, but she sensed it wasn't like this.

"Ali, I'm going to take a shower really quick."

"Alright. Do you want me to bring it to you when it's finished?"

"No, that's fine, I'll uh.. It'll only be a few minutes."

When the bathroom door closed, Alison's facade fell entirely. She shakily breathed out, nearly gasping for air again. Hands began shaking, vision being a blur. Her heart was pounding. Unholy fish sticks, Beth f-n Childs kissed her! Right on the lips! That was the last thing she had expected to happen. Ever. Golly, that meant Beth had to like her. She had too. Right? Alison pressed her fingers to her wrist and checked her pulse, trying her best to slow her breathing and contain her excitement. Taking a sip of her own coffee, she set out to prepare one for Beth. Not even five minutes passed of the water being on before Beth shut it off. Alison paced around her living room before conjuring up possibly her worst idea ever. She needed to know if Beth's kiss was just an accident, if she was overly excited and celebrating, or if she shared the same feelings.

Knocking quickly, Alison tried the handle before waiting for an answer (or time for herself to back down), much to her liking, the door was unlocked. It opened and revealed Beth standing over the bath, patting her hair dry. She had her eyes closed, clearly zoned out as she didn't hear knock, but when the door opened she felt the rush of cold, new air. Turning to see what was wrong (because only a cop would jump to that conclusion) Beth stared with a panic towards Alison. About to say something, she was cut off by Alison kissing her. Unable to speak, move, anything, Beth stood lost in the moment. God, were Alison's lips soft, so perfect.

Nope. Nope. Abort. Alison couldn't handle her nerves. She needed a shot, a glass of wine, something! Anything! Urgently. She was kissing Beth, and it wasn't going how she had planned at all. Not a single reaction from Beth. She'd messed up. Somehow. Great, it really was just a celebratory thing. Alison's face was deep red, scorching from how embarrassed she was.

"Here's your coffee Beth. I figured it couldn't wait." Leaving as fast as she could, Alison was quickly out the door.

Groaning a few curse words, Beth wasn't about to chase after her in just a towel.

"Alison?!" Beth yelled through the door. "Would you give me a moment?" She was scrambling to put her clothing back on, not caring how wet her skin had previously been. As fast as lightening, Beth was out of the bathroom, searching the apartment for Alison, only to find her sitting on her bed, looking horrified.

"Ali?" Beth was biting her lip again.

"I'm sor-" Alison paused herself, breathing in to compose herself. No. She wasn't about to apologize for kissing Beth. Much like Cosima had once said when she announced she was a lesbian, she wasn't going to apologize for her heart. "- Beth.. We're adults, we can just.. Talk about this, right? No uncomfortableness?" Please..

"Of course.." Beth pushed her wet hair from her face, dropping to her knees as she held Alison's hands. Although it was Alison's idea to talk about it, she was at a loss for words. Nothing was coming from her mouth, even as she tried to speak. When her wandering eyes looked down to Beth, everything clicked in her brain.

"I love you, Ali. I'm so damn far past liking.. Infatuated. God. I'm crushing so hard for you, it fucks me up when I walk in a room and see you, hear you. Anything."

Eyes beaming, face radiating. Alison's heart nearly couldn't take all of the excitement. No one had ever spoken to her that way (Beth's crass language wasn't even offending her), not Donnie, not her former boyfriends. Not a soul. But at her knees.

"I can't keep my mind, hands, eyes of of you. God, it's impossible. Please, say something so I don't feel like a dipshit rambling on and on.. You did kiss me, Ali. I don't see this.. Connection as a one way thing. You do the same, that or I'm the shittiest detective. Us being clones doesn't even matter, cause I don't see you as my cl-" Alison covered Beth's mouth gracefully with her hand, trying to silence the woman; not disrespectfully in any way. When Beth's muffled mumbling came to a stop they looked at one another. Lifting her up, Alison kissed her. Arms tangling around each other as they lay down against the bed kissing, Beth smirked and pulled back only to tease Alison.

"I thought you wanted to talk."

"You and your lips changed my mind." Knowing damn well that Alison was a flustered mess, Beth captured her for many more kisses.