A/N: Well, here it is, the last chapter of this one. I hope it's a satisfying ending. Thank you so much for all your love and support and comments it means everything.

It takes everything she's got not to lean in and kiss her, there and then, but she knows there's a security camera in the hallway, so Alex stops herself. Only barely. She gestures for Casey's office door, and the redhead nods, though she looks unsure of herself. Alex pushes the door open, holds it for her, and closes it behind them.

Casey stands there, a foot away from the door, chewing on her bottom lip. She looks so hesitant that for a moment Alex really thinks she might change her mind, tell Alex to leave. She's not sure her heart will be able to take it. There's barely any space between them, and Alex easily closes the gap, lifting her hand to Casey's face again, as she had done outside. Casey turns her face, pressing the ghost of a kiss into Alex's palm, then sighing.

"If we're going to do this," Alex murmurs, moving her other hand to cup the back of Casey's head, "you have to be certain. I can't stay here, working in the same building as you, if you change your mind again. I don't think I have it in me."

She watches the muscles in Casey's throat contract as she swallows, hard, then searches her eyes for an answer that the redhead hasn't vocalised yet. The office is dim without the lights switched on, but she feels like she can see every flicker of thought in Casey's head, every minuscule move of her features. It feels like she holds her breath for minutes at a time, before she eventually lets her hands drop from Casey's head, to her shoulders.

"It's okay," she says, even though the lump in the back of her throat, the way her voice sounds stunted, forced, proves that it isn't.

"Al—"

She shakes her head, squeezing Casey's shoulders, and then letting go. She's still sandwiched against the door, unable to leave, and Casey's body is so close to her, heat radiating off her... it's suddenly overwhelming and Alex has to close her eyes. It was stupid to think she could do this. Stupid to think that Casey might ever be willing to risk anything to be with her. Sure, she'd always been able to have any man she wanted (and a fair few women too), but it was egotistical of her to think she would be enough to sway Casey, after everything she knew about her.

Alex opens her mouth to say as much, but the words are swallowed as Casey's lips find hers in the dark. Unlike any of the times they've kissed before, this kiss is passionate, but gentle. There is no clashing of teeth, no desperation. Casey kisses her in a way that feels like she's trying to tell Alex a secret, trying to explain something she can't put into words, and after a second of surprise, standing motionless, Alex reciprocates. It isn't desperate, or needy. They don't fight for dominance like they had that drunken night in September, and it isn't lip-bruising. It's... sweet. Breathtaking in a whole other sense of the word.

Casey pulls back, her breathing heavier, and only a tiny trace of doubt still left in her eyes.

"I want to do this. I'm scared - terrified, actually - but that doesn't change the way I know I feel about you."

Alex's eyes drift again to her mouth, then back to her eyes, glistening and dark. She's known for a while that this wasn't just about getting her, admittedly stunning, colleague into bed. If it had been, she would have called it a day after she'd succeeded the first time. No, she knows it's more than that, that feelings had begun to develop even before their first encounter. But seeing it laid out in front of her, Casey admitting that it isn't just raw lust between them, assuming that's what she means... she has to admit that that is scary for her too. That isn't what Alex usually signs up for when it comes to sex.

"And how do you feel?" she asks, her voice barely audible.

Casey continues to search her eyes, frowning slightly. Her tongue swipes across her bottom lip, before she bites down on it again. The tension between them is palpable, and she's willing Casey not to back down, not now.

"I feel like I want you to kiss me," she murmurs, eventually, her voice low.

Alex leans into her, tilting her chin, and capturing her lips in a soft kiss. Casey sighs against her. It spurs her on, deepening the kiss, but staying gentle. Eventually, she pulls away, tilting her head back against the door and closing her eyes. She can feel Casey watching her, can practically see the nervous energy dancing through the redhead's body, so close to her own, though not quite touching. Casey moves backward, away from her, perching on the edge of her desk. After a moment, she sighs.

"It was naive of me to think that avoiding you was going to magically stop me from thinking about you."

Opening her eyes, Alex fights the urge to move back towards her, to kiss her again. As tempting as it is to distract her, she knows Casey needs to work through this, that they have absolutely no chance of any kind of relationship if they won't vocalise their feelings for each other. They need to be on the same page for any of this to work.

"All it did was make me miss you. I don't... I haven't been with anyone in a long time. You don't need to pretend to act surprised; I know everyone in the building thinks I'm asexual. It took a long time for me to recover from the last time somebody broke my heart."

"That's what you're scared of?" Alex says around a lump beginning to form in her throat, "you're afraid I'll break your heart?"

Casey frowns, her cheeks suddenly colouring, "I-no no. I know that isn't what this is... it's just supposed to be fun I didn't mean t—"

Alex moves to her, stopping her with a finger across her lips, "I can't make you a promise that I won't hurt you, I'm not willing to make a promise I can't keep. I'm not good at this. I don't date. My relationship history is... non-existent really. I am more of a one night stand kind of woman, a 'take a handsome friend as a date for a charity event because we've screwed a couple of times' kind of woman. But... what I am beginning to feel for you is way beyond carnal desire. That's not what I'm interested in."

When Casey doesn't say anything, despite Alex pulling her finger away, she continues.

"I'm not good at putting feelings into words, Casey. If I were, maybe this would be easier for you to understand. I know that sounds ludicrous. I'm supposed to be good at persuasive language. I'm not. Not when it comes to admitting how I feel. But... I missed you. I've missed you, in all capacities. So much so that it's throwing me off my work."

"Oh." Casey finally whispers, her eyebrows still knitted together.

"It was never just a drunken tryst for me. I went along with that because you weren't interested in pursuing it any further and I thought it would save face. I was - I am - too invested in our friendship to throw it away over unrequited feelings."

The look of confusion on Casey's face evens out into embarrassment, and then something else. The quick succession of expressions is almost comical. If Alex hadn't already been sure that what she feels for Casey is more than just attraction, that look solidifies it.

"I guess we've both been pretty oblivious, huh?" Casey says, eventually, looking up at her.

"For two intelligent women, we can be pretty dense," Alex agrees, although she's still not completely sure they're on the same page.

Laughing softly, Casey nods, tracing a pattern absently against her desk, "so what do we do now?"

Alex watches her, the silence between them heavy, before she slips her glasses from her face, closing them gently, leaning across Casey to put them onto her desk. Her forearm brushes against Casey's shoulder, and she shivers at the brief moment of contact. Letting go of the glasses, she rests her palm over the cold cherrywood desk top and leans into Casey, until her mouth is right next to the redhead's ear.

"Now, we make up for lost time," she murmurs, and when Casey turns her head, their lips touch in a kiss that is neither gentle, nor sweet.

When Alex wakes up, it takes her a solid ten minutes to realise a.) where she is and b.) that she isn't alone. A further ten minutes or so later, she suddenly remembers the date. December 25th. Christmas Day.

She doesn't remember what time they got in to Casey's apartment, just that it was late. They'd waited an obscenely long time for a taxi, during which the reality of what was happening between them had really sunk in. For the first time in a long time, Alex had felt genuinely content. Happy, even.

Rolling carefully onto her side, she gazes down at Casey, sprawled on the other half of the bed, one leg outside of the sheets, one arm tucked under her head, hair spilling across a dark grey pillow. She looks peaceful, despite her splayed limbs. It's a sight Alex could get used to waking up to regularly.

Sighing, she sits up, pressing a kiss to the redhead's shoulder, trailing upwards to kiss behind her ear. Much as she'd like to stay here forever, it's Christmas Day and most normal people - Casey included - have plans with their families, plans which don't involve having a relative walk in on them naked in bed with another woman.

"Mmf, no," Casey mumbles, shifting in bed so her head is facing Alex, eyes squinty but open. She smiles when she sees Alex, just slightly, before scrunching her face up, burrowing her nose into Alex's thigh.

Alex's fingers dance through Casey's messy bed hair and she laughs as Casey grumbles again, the noise vibrating against her skin.

"Come on, sleepy, it's after nine and you have places to be, remember?"

Peeking out from her hiding place, Casey grimaces, "bed warm. Alex in bed. Casey stay in bed."

Unable to stop herself from laughing out loud, Alex lifts Casey's head into her lap, kissing her forehead. "Okay, Miss Neanderthal, but I don't think your parents are going to be thrilled to find Casey in bed with Alex, no matter how warm it is."

As if she's been nudged with a warm poker, Casey immediately sits upright, leveraging herself with both hands on Alex's bare thighs. It sends a bolt of electricity through Alex, but she ignores it, watching as Casey springs out of bed, quickly gathering clothes from where they've been flung, cursing under her breath as she steps into clean underwear, searching her overflowing clothes drawers for something to wear.

"Shit," she groans as she tries to put both legs into the same jeans leg, "there's no way I'm going to make it over in time. And I should have showered."

Alex frowns, sliding out of bed and stopping Casey's crazed movements with a hand on her shoulder. Casey looks at her, wide-eyed, unable to stop her eyes from drifting over her naked body.

"Hey, it's okay. Call them. Tell them you got held up at work. They're your parents, Case, they'll understand."

Smiling wryly, Casey shakes her head, "no offence, but you don't know my folks. They'll have already sent a search party. And grandma... oh god, Grandma, I definitely should have showered I can't walk into Grandma's house reeking of sex like some horny teenager."

Alex braces Casey's other shoulder, turning her so they're facing one another. She gently kisses her, and though she can tell Casey's immediate reaction is to pull away, she doesn't, eventually softening. Alex leans back.

"Get in the shower," she directs, "if your cell phone rings, I'll explain you're on your way."

Casey's eyebrows shoot up and she moves to object.

"I can do a great secretary voice when I have to; trust me."

Nodding, Casey presses a quick kiss to the corner of Alex's mouth, and scurries into the bathroom, the shower turning on almost immediately. Alex sinks into the bed with a sigh. She's not sure how they got here. 24 hours ago they weren't speaking. Now what? How can she be sure that one day in her family's presence isn't going to push Casey straight back into the closet?

Her eyes drift closed and she leans her head back against the wall, rubbing at her temples. She doesn't remember where she left her glasses, and she'd planned to spend the day going over files for her next case. Grabbing her purse from where she'd dumped it the night before, Alex rummages through it, looking for the brown leather case she keeps her glasses in. Instead, her fingers wrap around something hard and rectangular. It's only once she pulls it out of her bag that she realises what it is.

The bathroom door opens, and Casey is standing there, wrapped in a towel, but not wet. The shower is off. Alex looks up at her in confusion.

"I don't think I want to go home," Casey says, before she can question her.

"It's Christmas, Case... your parents are expecting you."

She swallows, visibly, and it's only then that she looks down at the gift wrapped box in Alex's lap. Alex follows her eyes down, and frowns, quickly moving to shove it back into her purse, but it's too late.

"I thought you said you didn't get me anything," Casey murmurs, nodding towards the box. There's no use in lying about it - her name is there on a gift tag, easily visible.

"I... it's stupid."

Casey moves towards her, lying her palm flat over Alex's where she's holding the box, "may I?"

She hands the box open. Casey slides the paper open, and as she lifts the lid off, Alex feels like all the air is sucked out of the room with it. It really is a stupid gift and she doesn't know why she'd thought it was a good idea.

"Alex..." Casey's voice is barely a breath, barely audible.

"It's too much. I know it's too much and we weren't even talking when I... but I saw it and I thought of you and I don't know wh—-"

"Stop," Casey tells her, and her eyes are wet, the muscles in her throat and jaw working overtime.

"I'm sorry."

Gingerly, Casey lifts the item out of its box, running her fingers over the pendant, staring intently at the cluster of unusual looking stones that had first drawn Alex's eyes to it. She holds the necklace out to Alex.

Fighting past the lump in her throat, Alex reaches for it, "I knew it was too much that it'd scare you away that's why—-"

"Help me put it on," Casey asks, turning her back to her. With shaking hands, Alex does as she's told, missing the fastening a couple of times before finally getting it perfect. She brushes her hands over Casey's shoulders once she's done, suddenly terrified that she isn't going to get to touch her again.

For a long moment they stand there in silence. Alex can feel her pulse thumping through her ears, intensifying with every second that passes, until, finally, Casey turns around to face her.

"I'm going to kiss you, and then I'm going to call my parents, and we're going to spend the rest of Christmas Day in bed, uninterrupted. Does that sound reasonable to you?"

Alex swallows, "I... yes."

A second later, Casey is kissing her, pushing her back against the headboard and straddling her. She's kissing her like she's never been surer about anything in her life, like she's memorising every line, every curve of Alex's body, her hands moving gently, purposefully, skimming over her breasts, down her sides, along her thighs, in a rhythm that's in sync with the movements of their mouths and tongues and teeth. If she'd thought kissing Casey before was like nothing she could ever have imagined then this... this is out of this world. This isn't like any kind of kissing Alex has done before, with Casey nuzzling at her, rubbing against her, like every inch of them needs to be connected or they might cease to exist entirely.

Eventually, they pull apart, and they're panting, the towel somewhere on the floor, Casey knelt between Alex's legs. She's so aroused, it's almost painful, a constant beat pounding through her body as she reaches again for Casey, tangling her hands in messy hair as she brushes it back from her face.

"I... I need a second to call, but I'm coming back," Casey tells her, reluctantly peeling herself away. She disappears into another room, closing the door behind her.

Alex let's herself breathe normally. She looks around the bedroom, dishevelled and messy and more lived in than any part of her own apartment, and she sighs, not even bothering to bite back her smile.

In another room, Casey wishes her parents a Merry Christmas, not bothering to give a reason for not coming home, despite their arguments. Her fingers lift to the chain around her neck. She doesn't know what she's doing, but it doesn't matter. She's happy. She's happy for the first time in as long as she can remember, and she doesn't care about anything else. She and Alex... well, they have time to figure out the rest.

FIN