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The night had been going on as usual, a glass of wine, some bad tv show playing in the background and dozens of case files on the table. It was a typical night for Casey Novak. So what had happened?
How had she ended up in Alex Cabot’s apartment, tasting the bourbon on the blonde’s lips and feeling her head reeling?
The night greeted her like all the others. A cold apartment after a long day in the courtroom. Casey had changed her clothes as quickly as she could, tired of the suit’s constricting feeling. Putting on an old tank top and some basketball shorts she made her way to her kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. Not a lot, the exact amount to unwind after having heard so many grimm stories during the day.
She had walked towards her living room, sat on the floor near the coffee table and turned on the TV, a bit of white noise while she continued her work. She chose a random channel and found the latest case file from the pile.
Casey got immersed in the reading, taking notes that could help her out on the trial, as she sipped her wine. She was lost to the world, ignoring everything until one sound caught her attention.
The ringtone that she had assigned for Alex broke her focus. The redhead stood up as fast as she could and went to grab her phone from her work bag. She wasn't sure when everything changed, Casey wasn't normally so excited to talk to someone, and she had never changed the ringtone from people just so she could know when they called.
It had started slow, a coffee date after a long case and lunch while discussing a trial. That progressed to going out for drinks at the end of the week, going out to have dinner together and late night calls where they talked about whatever they wanted. And God, did Casey enjoy the calls.
They usually arranged what days they would call each other, so that's why the redhead was anxious as she made her way to the phone. It wasn't a “call night”, so something had happened.
“Alex?” She answered the call. Her only answer was the sound of someone sniffling. “Alex, are you there?” She tried again.
“Casey?” The blonde said in a sob.
The redhead’s heart stopped for a second, hating the sound of the other woman’s voice. “Hi baby, is everything alright?” She asked softly, her hand shaking as she realised what she had called the blonde.
“No,” Alex answered. “I need you, please.” Another sob escaped the blonde’s lips, and the moment Casey heard it she had made her decision.
“I’m on my way baby.” She whispered as she went looking for her keys. “Stay on the line, please.”
Alex barely made a sound to prove to Casey she would, and the redhead put on her shoes as quickly as she could, never stopping talking on the phone. She was so glad the other woman’s apartment was close to hers, running the distance between both places in record time.
“I’m outside, Alex. Open up, please.” Casey said, catching her breath. A buzzing sound let her know that the door was open, and she went up the stairs to the apartment she had been a couple of times before. Before she could even knock the door opened, and the redhead finally hung the call. “Alex?”
The blonde had never looked as dishevelled as she looked at that moment. Her hair was tied messily in a ponytail, she had sweatpants on and a similar tank top as Casey. She grabbed the redhead’s hand, guiding her inside the place and after locking the door behind them, she finally met Casey’s eyes.
“Hi,” Alex said, her voice rough from crying. “I’m sorry I made you come all the way here.” She whispered.
“Hey, stop that, you didn’t make me do anything. I was worried. What happened?”
A moment passed in silence, Alex gently grabbing Casey’s hand once again, this time to guide her to the couch and without letting it go, she started talking. “There’s a part of being shot that never goes away, you know? Yes, I can get plastic surgery to get rid of the scar, I can change addresses so I don’t walk past the place where I almost died and I can even see the guy who tried to kill me get thrown into jail. But there isn’t much I can do about my fear of loud noises.” The blonde said with a sad smile, glancing down to their hands.
Dread filled Casey, as she put two and two together. “What was the sound?”
“A car exhaust. I was walking from the subway station and it rang across the street. I froze, Casey,” her voice started to fail. The redhead started caressing the hand that held hers. “I froze in the middle of the street, and when I could finally move, I came running here. I locked everything and hid in the bathroom. It took me a while to realise that I wasn’t in any danger.”
They stayed in silence for a while, as Alex tried to calm her breathing and Casey just looked at her. “Are you feeling better?” Her whisper broke the silence. Alex shook her head. “What can I do?”
The blonde sighed, glancing back to Casey’s eyes. “May I have a hug?”
The redhead didn’t hesitate, wrapping her arms around Alex and delicately resting her chin on the woman’s head. “I’m here, baby.” She said in a hushed tone. “I’m here.”
Casey wasn’t sure how long they had been hugging, what she did realise was the fact that she became obsessed with the feeling of having Alex curled up on her arms. The blonde had changed positions after a while, draping her legs on top of Casey’s and getting as close as possible. The redhead pleaded to any god that would listen to make Alex unaware of how her heart started racing, the closeness making her face blush crimson red.
“Casey?” The blonde called out after a while.
“Yes?”
“I'm sorry for making you come here. You must be tired.”
“Stop that.” Casey took hold of Alex’s chin, gently moving the blonde's head so they could see each other. “You didn't make me do anything, Alex. You called scared, that's all that you did. You should never apologise for calling me when you need me, okay baby?”
If Alex noticed the nickname she didn't show it, instead moving closer to the redhead, leaving a soft kiss on the corner of her lips. “Can I at least offer you something to drink? You ran here, you must be thirsty.”
“If you don't mind, I would like a glass of water. But if you don't feel better yet, I can go get it myself, Alex.”
“Don’t you dare, Novak.” A hint of a smile appeared on Alex’s face. “I’ll go for it, I’ll grab something for me also, so sit here and look pretty like always.” The blonde got up too fast to see the consequence of that last part on Casey’s face, turning it red in a second.
The red-head sat trying to calm down her heart before her friend came back, but the perfume that Alex wore didn’t leave with her, instead staying behind with the woman, making her dizzy.
“Here we go! One water for you and something stronger for me, God knows I need it.” The blonde’s voice snapped Casey from her thoughts.
“Thanks Lex,” she whispered as she grabbed the glass being offered to her.
“No problem dear, it’s the least I can do after forcing you to run just to calm me down.” It was the older woman’s turn to blush while her gaze dropped to the bourbon glass she had on her hands, and her gaze stayed focused on anything but the redhead as she took a sip.
“Stop that, you didn’t force me to do anything.” Casey took a deep breath before leaving the glass on the coffee table. She brought one of her hands shakily to Alex, grasping the woman’s chin and gently making the blonde look at her. “I was worried, but I wouldn’t have run for anyone else, Lex. Hell if it had been Elliot calling I would have considered it twice before answering,” the other woman smiled shily. “You called, I came, there isn’t more than that.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
Alex grabbed the hand on her chin, intertwining their fingers while leaving her own glass on the table. “Why did you do it? Why do it for me?”
The blonde’s heart raced as she heard the hitch on the red-head’s breath. There weren’t many moments in Cabot's life where she prayed, but in that moment she prayed to any deity listening for her to be right about the reason, her heart couldn’t take it if she was wrong.
“You know, after you left SVU the group had a hard time adjusting to the change of ADA.” Casey’s voice shook slightly. “I kept hearing about how great Alex Cabot was, and how I would never be like her. I hated you for a bit, it was as if your ghost haunted me. So when your trial happened and I finally met you in person, I was so ready to hate you. I had prepared myself to be objective in the court but let myself be angry at you for leaving them on the dirt and making me pick up the pieces.”
The woman took a moment and Alex, seeing the difficulty the red-head had talking, started caressing the back of the hand she held with her thumb.
“I was so ready to hate you, but then I met you. And you changed everything. You were exactly how the group described you, and I couldn’t bring myself to hate you. You stood in front of me and it felt like everything I knew shifted. After you left again your ghost stopped haunting me, but it was replaced by your perfume. God I found myself thinking you came back every time I even got a whiff of a hint of the same perfume you used those days. I thought I was going crazy. And when you came back once again I didn’t know what to do.”
Casey’s free hand picked up the water, taking a swing before setting it down once again.
“I wasn’t sure what it all meant, I had never felt like this with anyone. But when we started to talk more and hang out I realised what it was. I don’t know if it was love at first sight or what, but I know that from the first moment you etched yourself on my heart and haven’t left it, and I don’t want you to leave it. I fell in love with you, Alexandra. And I don’t know what to do with myself when you are near. That’s why I ran here, you needed me and I would rather die than let you down.”
Alex smiled, blinding Casey for a second before dropping the hand she was holding. The blonde’s hands found its way towards red hair and quickly brought Casey’s face closer to hers. “You love me?”
The younger woman nodded and with that Alex brought their lips closer. “Alex?” Casey whispered, before the blonde closed the gap between them.
It felt like an explosion went off on their bodies, as if everything they went through, every bad and good thing they lived had brought them to that exact moment. A giggle escaped Alex’s lips the moment they separated, before kissing the red-head once again. “You don’t know how happy this makes me, Casey. I’ve been in love with you for longer than I can say. I wanted to tell you so long ago, but I was terrified you wouldn’t feel the same.” The blonde’s hands cupped the other woman’s face. “You are one of the best things that have ever happened to me, and I would be so proud to call you my partner, if you would let me.” She said the last part quietly, almost scared of the answer.
“That means I would get to call you my girlfriend?” Casey smiled smugly.
“I would prefer partner, but yes. That’s what it means.”
“I would be honoured to call you my partner, Lex.” She answered before kissing her girlfriend again.