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Alicia put her arm tight around Leighton, who was already asleep next to her, her arm wrapped around her stomach and legs tangled with hers. She let out a soft breath, leaning against her pillow as she closed her eyes.
“Alicia,” Leighton mumbled, her head against Alicia’s shoulder.
Alicia opened her eyes again to look at Leighton, whose eyes were still closed, her breathing deep and steady.
“Alicia,” she said again.
She carefully brushed Leighton’s hair away from her face. “Yeah?” she said softly, wondering if she was actually awake. There was no response other than a soft groan from Leighton as she cuddled closer against Alicia. She kissed Leighton’s forehead softly then looked up towards the dark ceiling, trying to will herself to go to sleep.
After a few moments of silence in the room Leighton mumbled something Alicia couldn’t understand, she turned her head to look at her. “What was that?” she asked softly.
“No,” Leighton whined.
“No what?” Alicia asked with a grin.
“Don’t.”
“What? Don’t what?” she prompted, feeling a bit like she was trying to talk to a stubborn toddler. “What are you dreaming about, huh?”
Leighton didn’t answer, letting out a deep breath. Alicia laid still, careful not to disturb Leighton as she waited for her to say something else. “Okay, good night,” she said softly when Leighton was silent again.
“Mmhmm,” Leighton hummed. “I love you.”
“What?” Alicia asked, almost sitting up. “What did you say?” She looked at Leighton, waiting for her to talk again or, hopefully, open her eyes. She moved her hand softly through the blonde’s hair, trying to relax again her pillow again, even though she knew sleep wasn’t going to come easily.
-----
Alicia rolled over in bed, her arm falling onto the empty space next to her. She let out a soft groan and lifted her head, opening her eyes as she looked at the spot where Leighton had been.
“Morning, sleepyhead,” Leighton said from the other side of the apartment, where she was getting dressed.
“Hey,” Alicia said softly, sitting up slightly to look at the time on her phone. “What are you doing up?”
“I’ve gotta go to my dorm. I ran out of clean clothes and I’m pretty sure I should be taking my books to class, so I should probably get those too,” Leighton told her. “I didn’t mean to wake you up, I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” Alicia said with a yawn. “I just didn’t sleep great last night. Did you know you talk in your sleep?”
“I do? Is that why you couldn’t sleep? Shit, I’m sorry.”
Alicia shook her head. “I was awake anyway. You were just entertainment.”
“Does that mean I said something embarrassing?”
“No, not really,” Alicia said, picking at a spot on the blanket over her legs. “It was mostly a lot of mumbling.”
“So no deep, dark, secrets revealed?” she asked walking back over to the bed, sitting next to her to pull her shoes on. “Sucks for you.”
“Well, there was one thing that um… made me think.”
“Oh yeah? What was it? What did I say?”
Alicia paused then shook her head. “Nothing, really. Just like this riddle that I don’t think even meant anything. Something about a penguin.”
“Really? Sleeping me sounds weird. Was there anything else?”
Alicia shook her head again. “No, nothing.”
Leighton raised an eyebrow, sensing something off in Alicia’s voice but decided not to question it. “Alright. I gotta go,” she said, kissing her quickly. “Talk to you later?”
Alicia nodded, Leighton kissed her once more.
“Try to get some sleep,” Leighton told her softly before she got up. “You’ve still got a couple more hours, lucky.”
“I’ll try,” Alicia said as Leighton walked to the door. “I l…” she started to say, stopping herself. “Get back safe.”
“I will,” Leighton said, blowing her a quick kiss before leaving. Alicia groaned, her head falling back onto her pillow.
-----
Leighton walked into the Women’s Center, letting the door slam shut behind her. Alicia, Ginger, and Tova all jumped, Ginger’s hand moved towards the safe space bell.
“Ring that stupid bell, Ginger, I swear to God,” Leighton said. Ginger’s hand stopped just before hitting the bell, pulling her hand back slowly. “Can I talk to you?” she asked Alicia.
Alicia nodded and got off the couch, leading Leighton into the other room, out of ear shot from the others.
“I’ve texted you like a million times today, you never responded. Not to sound too much like my roommates, but I thought you were dead,” Leighton told her. “I don’t know what the hell happened between this morning and now to explain why you’ve been avoiding me, so I’m hoping you can fill me in.”
“Nothing happened,” Alicia told her truthfully. “Not today.”
“Not today,” she repeated. “So this is about some other day? Can you fill me in here?” she prompted with a shrug, shaking her head.
“It’s about last night.”
Leighton sighed. “I fucking knew it. I said something, I knew it,” she muttered. “Look, I’m sorry for whatever it was. I was asleep. I didn’t mean it.”
Alicia let out a quick laugh, shaking her head as she looked down.
“Okay, this isn’t fair. You can’t be mad at me if you won’t at least tell me so I can apologize and explain…”
Alicia closed her eyes, still shaking her head. “You said you love me,” she said quickly.
“Oh,” Leighton muttered. “Well, that isn’t…” she trailed off, shaking her head. “I mean, it’s not… I… I never said that to anyone before really so…”
“Yeah,” Alicia said, nodding. “I just um… look, I’m not asking you say it. Whenever you’re ready. Honestly, I kind of wanted to pretend I didn’t hear it so that you really mean it when you say it for the first time. Obviously, that didn’t work.”
Leighton looked down, opening her mouth then closing it again. “What if…” she started then swallowed hard. “What if I did? What if I meant it? What would you say?”
“Are you sure you want to know?”
Leighton closed her eyes, trying to mentally prepare herself for Alicia to tell her she didn’t love her. She was probably going to break up with her. There was a reason she had avoided her all day, it was obvious…
“I would have said I love you too,” Alicia said, interrupting her thoughts.
Leighton opened her eyes to look at her. “Really?”
“Yeah,” Alicia said with a smile. “That’s why I couldn’t talk to you. I was afraid if I saw you, I would just blurt it out. I almost said it when you were leaving this morning.”
Leighton bit her lip, smiling. “Can you uh… can you say it again?”
Alicia laughed softly. “I love you.” She smiled at Leighton’s wide smile. “This is the part where you say it back,” she teased. “You don’t have to, obviously, but the scary part’s over, you already know how I feel.”
“Okay.” Leighton nodded and cleared her throat. “I um… I love you too.” She grinned. “I love you. Wow, that’s actually really easy to say.”
“Good, I’m glad.” She put one arm around Leighton. “Come here,” she said softly, tugging her closer and leaning up to kiss her.
-----
Alicia looked over her shoulder as she pulled on a tank top, to where Leighton was already in bed, typing on her phone. She smiled as she looked at her until Leighton glanced up then lowered her phone.
“What?”
Alicia shook her head. “I just don’t think I’m ever gonna get used to seeing you in my bed.”
Leighton raised her eyebrow as she put her phone onto the bedside table. “I’m pretty sure I spend more time here than I do in my own bed.”
“I don’t mind,” Alicia told her as she walked over to the bed, climbing onto it then crawling over top of Leighton, leaning her forehead against hers.
“I love you,” Leighton whispered.
Alicia laughed softly. “You like saying that.”
Leighton frowned, shaking her head as she pulled back a bit. “Is that bad?”
“No,” Alicia told her, pushing herself up a bit to look at her as she shook her head. “No, of course not.” She brushed a strand of hair away from Leighton’s face. “As long as you mean it.”
“I do,” Leighton assured her softly.
“Good,” Alicia whispered, kissing her softly. “Cause I love you too.”
They laid like that for a moment before Leighton shook her head. “Okay, I love you, but I’m not sleeping with you on top of me,” she told her, pushing her onto her own side of the bed.
Alicia laughed softly as she landing on her normal spot, smiling as Leighton curled against her. She put her arms around her in what had become their normal sleeping position.
“Good night,” Leighton said, kissing Alicia’s cheek softly.
“Night, baby,” Alicia whispered, returning the kiss to Leighton’s forehead.