Chapter Text
Cosima nodded her head in time to the music blaring in her ears. She chewed on her lip, inhaling and letting the bass pound in her ears. It was the only real thing that could shut her brain off for a few hours. If she just concentrated on the sounds and how they felt and what they did then the rest of the world just melted away for a while.
Alison opened the door to their dorm, frowning at the sight she was met with. Cosima’s biology papers were strewn all over her bed, her coat thrown atop the desk, shoes in random places on the floor where she’d haphazardly kicked them off.
Her frown deepened, brow furrowing as she stalked forward and ripped the headphones from Cosima’s ears.
“Hey, Jesus, what’s your deal?” Cosima asked, tugging the headphones back from Alison’s hand, stretching out on her back with a yawn.
“I do not appreciate you leaving your things everywhere,” Alison snapped, eyebrows shooting up expectantly.
“Whoa,” Cosima chuckled as she sat up, lifting her hands defensively. “Sorry man, didn’t know you were so uptight about it.”
She slipped off the bed, bending over to pick up her boots.
“Yes well I wasn’t aware of your habits up until this point,” Alison huffed, crossing her arms and sitting gingerly on the edge of her bed. With tentative swipes she started moving the papers to get more room to sit, only to have Cosima distractedly batting her hands away. “No, don’t mess ‘em up,” she mumbled, idly fitting the papers into a stack with her fingertips.
“You can’t be serious,” Alison laughed in disbelief. “There’s order to this?”
“Of course,” Cosima waved as her eyes scanned the page she was holding. She twisted her hand in a circle a few times, “I guess my mind just kinda works differently you could say.”
Playing with her ponytail, Alison tried not to look worried. “Yes, but you’re a very considerate person, Cosima. You only…get messy when you’re distracted.”
Cosima shrugged. “I’m distracted a lot.”
“Is something wrong?”
Cosima’s movements paused for a split second before she continued stacking, keeping her eyes averted from Alison. “Nah, nothing, man, I’m fine.”
“Cosima,” Alison said sternly.
She got off her bed and sat on the floor beside Cosima. Hesitantly she reached out, putting her hand on Cosima’s shoulder. “You can tell me, you know.”
Cosima shook her head the slightest bit. “Seriously it’s nothing,” and glanced quickly at her watch before going back to organizing and avoiding Alison’s stare. “Delphine was supposed to call me an hour ago and she didn’t and yeah, I dunno, worried I guess?”
Alison pressed her lips together; she understood. Sometimes when Beth was late she started thinking of worst-case scenarios.
“Worried about…her safety or…or other things?” Other people.
Cosima closed her eyes tightly shut, holding her breath for a long few moments before releasing it in a heavy exhale.
“I, uhh, I’m not sure.”
Alison blinked. “Oh.”
“Yeah…”
Licking her lips, Alison looked away, unsure of what exactly to say. How exactly to comfort.
But before she could, Cosima’s phone rang.
I wanna set it off
I wanna set it off
Both of them pretended not to notice how quickly Cosima leapt for it. “Hello? Hey! Yeah, hey,” her voice immediately softened.
“I’ll be back in a few hours,” she mouthed to Alison as she stood, nodding at something Delphine said. “Yeah, yeah, no don’t worry about it I totes feel you.”
She padded carefully across the linoleum and slipped out the door in her bare feet and sleeping robe.
…
“S I’m home,” Sarah called as she walked through the door, throwing her keys in the bowl and peeking her head into the living room.
Mrs. S was passed out on the couch, baby nestled safely against her chest, sound asleep as well. Sarah smiled at them before gently walking over, slipping her bag from her shoulder and placing it against the couch. With gentle fingers she lifted Kira from Mrs. S, cradling her in her arms and swaying a little. The baby stirred, tiny fists rubbing at her eyes.
“Sorry, monkey,” Sarah whispered, pressing a kiss to Kira’s forehead. “Just wanna give poor Siobhan a rest, yeah?”
Kira just nuzzled into her, fingers grabbing a handful of Sarah’s shirt and giving a tiny noise of content. Sarah rocked as she walked toward the kitchen; she hadn’t exactly had time to eat between her classes at community college.
She opened the fridge with her free hand, using her knee to keep it open as she searched, producing an apple, cheese and some leftover ham. She chewed distractedly at it, watching the baby in her arm as she slept.
The front door clicked open again and she glanced up, to be met with a mess of floating curls.
“Hey,” she said, “You’re home late.”
Helena nodded slowly, pulling the Burger King baseball cap from her head and shaking her hair loose. “I picked up an extra shift today. I needed the money.”
Sarah groaned just thinking about having to go to that job tomorrow. She shook her head to rid herself of the thought. “Oi, lend me a hand yeah? Hold Kira while I make a sandwich?”
Helena hunched her shoulders, unconsciously leaning back. “I have not washed my hands.”
“Okay…?” Sarah said slowly. “Then…wash your hands and come hold her.”
“I…” Helena hesitated. “I will make your sandwich for you,” she diverted, giving Sarah a wide birth as she walked to the counter and pulled the food closer to her. “Where is…Beth?”
Shrugging, Sarah leaned her back against the fridge. “Dunno. Her car isn’t on the street. Probably tryin’ to get in her girlfriend’s pants.”
Helena’s brow furrowed. “She was wearing shorts today.”
Sarah snorted. “No, it means…” she shook her head. “Never mind.”
“Okay.” Helena pushed the finished sandwich her way. “I am going to take a shower now. Good night.”
She squeezed Sarah’s arm as she passed, walking silently down the hall, easily avoiding all the spots that creaked.
…
Alison turned the page in her textbook, putting her hand back under her chin for a prop. She sighed, tilting her head to the side and trying to genuinely care about the words on the page. Beth stuck her head in the door, biting her lip in a smirk at seeing Alison’s back to her. She padded forward slipping onto the bed and fitting her knees in the spaces on either side of Alison’s hips, flopping forward on top of her back. She covered Alison’s eyes before she could properly turn around, snickering at the huff Alison exhaled, Beth moving with the depression of her body.
“Don’t look,” she murmured.
“Yes thank you, dear,” Alison muttered, “That much I gathered.”
Beth grinned, dropping her chin to Alison’s shoulder. “I’ve got a surprise.”
Humming, Alison let her head roll to the side to rest against Beth’s, closing her eyes behind her girlfriend’s slightly sweating palms. “What kinda surprise?”
“Well that ruins the fun,” Beth said quietly. She turned her head and pressed a kiss to Alison’s temple. “Promise me you’ll keep ‘em closed?”
With a moment’s hesitation, Alison nodded minutely. Beth waited a couple of seconds before removing her hands, leaning forward to check before sitting up, shifting her weight a little on Alison’s lower back. She reached into her bag and pulled out her new police hat, slinging it on Alison’s head.
Alison’s eyes popped open, eyes looking up to see the visor blocking her vision. She tried to roll over, Beth lifting up enough to allow her the room to get onto her back. She grinned as Alison blindly sat up, gently tipping the hat up enough to see Alison’s eyes. “Hey,” she murmured, shifting her weight to better rest herself in Alison’s lap. “You like?”
Biting her lip, Alison nodded, one hand sliding up to hold Beth’s waist. “You graduate three years early from the academy or something?”
Beth snickered. “Nah,” she shook her head for emphasis. “Just uhh, trial runs. We gotta learn like our belt and stuff. We gotta give it back but I…kinda sorta wanted to see you in it.”
“Mmm, and what’s the verdict?” she asked, her free hand lifting up to adjust it better on her head. “Was it worth the theft?”
Beth tilted her head in faux thought, a smug smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “Maybe.”
Alison blushed. Beth’s eyes softened. “Awww,” she murmured, cupping Alison’s cheek, and trailing her fingers gently down her jaw. “It’s cute when you blush.”
With a humph, Alison pouted, brushing her thumb along Beth’s side. Beth tucked her forefinger under Alison’s chin, tilting it up and kissing her, forehead bumping the visor and knocking the hat off. Neither one even remembered it was gone as fingers slid in hair and grabbed hips and dug in nails.