#alex cabot fluff

Warnings: Language. Fluff. Reference to SVU s8 cases
Taglist:@charabs@bisexualcrowley@emilyprentisswife@detective-giggles​@natasha-danvers​@stardust-fray​@ineedafinghug​ @haruren30 @billiedeannovak​@stardust-galaxies​ @laurenhope13 @beccabarba​@imlike-so-gaydude​@mspetey​@wannabe-fic-reader​@sarcasticmami​@lawandorderimagines​@rwbyfan16​@gaylorrds​@infiniteoddball​

*

As it turned out, your suspension was much more of a ‘I’m working from home and not getting paid for it’ while you helped Alex with all the cases you’d had to dump on her (though she certainly made sure you got compensation for it) and a smattering of meetings in Donnelly’s office while you awaited the civil trial. You were honestly lucky it came up so quickly, and even more lucky when Paddy pulled out an ultrasound on the stand, Liz managing to call for a continuance to examine evidence, giving you and Stabler time to dig through and find a way to get him to drop the suit.

And to be completely honest, you didn’t mind the near month of having much less to do. You were able to catch up on a few things around the apartment that had been left in the dust over the past year. You deep cleaned the fridge, ever thankful when Alex had put in a grocery delivery for the two of you, finally able to have the time to make fresh, homemade meals every day for the both of you. You reorganized your kitchen, getting rid of all the doubles or triples of things, or things you never needed. It was a spring cleaning burst of energy to say the least.

When approximately 26 hours of Alex living out of a duffel bag had her whining you’d ordered a shelf off Amazon and despite the one day delivery, it was still sitting it its box in the bedroom. Naturally Alex’s clothes ended up tossed over it, winding up in them being wrinkled and she’d end up raiding your closet anyways. (A fact that was very noticed and called out each time by Sonya). You took the liberty of finally assembling it and unpacking the bag into it, adding a few of her things into your closet, doing a bit of a rearrangement and purge of your own belongings there as well.

Part of you was completely fine with being the stay at home partner for a while too, you had the time and energy to have dinner ready when Alex got home, something that she would be eternally grateful for, the extra caseload kicking her ass. While she’d wind down from the day you’d usually go over her notes, especially on the cases that were originally yours, making notes here and there in the margins on things she might’ve missed. You continued your marathoning of Schitt’s Creek after dinner, happy to be able to bury in each other’s arms, furthering the relaxation and upping the endorphins. It was more than safe to say that you both really enjoyed having the other one around.

Finally after the civil case had been dropped you had a meeting with Liz to lift your suspension. You were a bit worried she’d keep you on some kind of modified duty, but she’d assured you that she knew you were one of the best she had, and after this….you weren’t about to slip up like that again, at least for a while. Post meeting you were just happy you had the rest of the day off and more than welcomed lunch with Alex and Sonya to hurry to.

“So…verdict?” Sonya asked as you slid into the booth, pecking Alex’s cheek quickly.

“Suspension over, civil suit dropped. Baby Kendall’s with his Step Dad and Paddy’s pleading to custodial interference.” You replied, snagging a fry from Alex’s plate.

“Donnelly keeping you a short leash for now?” She asked. You rolled your eyes, pulling a stack of folders from your bag, dropping them onto the table.

“Brunt work?” Sonya questioned over a sip of bourbon.

“Homicide’s swamped, so I get to pick up their slack.”

“Least you don’t have to deal with live victims in the meantime.” The brunette replied. You sighed out a soft nod, at least you were back at work finally.

Conversation flowed away from your suspension and onto other work conversation as the other two batted off some ideas and strategies to you about their current cases. Sonya was sure to catch you up on the office gossip that Alex was too proud to indulge in, keeping to herself while you hadn’t been around. You all had ample time to eat and indulge in a couple of glasses of wine, the three of you free of having to be in court, it simply being an office or work from home day. Plates had just been bussed off the table when Alex’s phone pinged, you prepared to shift out of the booth to let her out but her hand reached for yours, stilling you as she softly squeezed.

“Fuck…” she muttered, swiping the screen open, her eyes darting across it.

“Work?” You questioned.

“No..it’s an email from my landlord.” She sighed heavily, dropping the phone back onto the table, “apparently there’s been more problems with the plumbing. Water’s now completely shut off and they don’t know how long it’s going to have to be off. Judging from previous experiences I’d say it’s probably time for me to start looking for a new place.”

“Well you know you’re more than welcome to stay with me as long as you need.” You squeezed her hand softly and in return she kissed the side of your head.

“Thank you.”

“Can I just state the obvious here?” The two of you looked over at Sonya, quizzical expressions on your faces prompting her to continue. “Just move in together.”

“I-oh-I mean-“ Alex stuttered over words as you let out a nervous laugh,

“Isn’t that…fast?”  Sonya laughed, rolling her eyes as she took a swig of her drink.

“You’ve been living together for almost a month already and things seem to be fine. I mean your entire relationship you’ve been at y/n’s apartment, I don’t see an issue.”

“Thereis the age old joke of lesbians moving quickly.” Alex half smirked at you, you playfully smacked at her arm.

“If you went home tonight and Alex wasn’t there, you’d be sad, and you’d have trouble sleeping.” Sonya continued, “besides, didn’t you say you’d been purging your shit? It’s like your subconscious was prepping for this.”

“Stop!” You laughed, “I had more than enough time on my hands, I marathoned that Marie Kondo show the first day of my suspension. I guess it made me reevaluate how much of my stuff actually brought me joy, or whatever.”

“Does Alex bring you joy?” Sonya smirked from across the table and you did your best to shoot her a death glare while trying not to blush too hard as you glanced up at your girlfriend.

“I-…yeah…she does…” Alex smiled, ducking her head to kiss you quickly. You thanked God that Sonya happened to be distracted with the server for the next minute, very conveniently giving the two of you a semi private moment.

“You bring me joy too.” Alex murmured, a smile etching across her lips as she kissed you again, eyes gazing in adoration when she pulled away, a breath of a laugh at the flush of your cheeks. The three of you settled up, Sonya headed back to Hogan Place while you and Alex chose the work from home option for the rest of the day.

It was a few days later that you and Alex started talking over options, her lease was already down to a month to month basis and if she found somewhere new she’d be trapped in at least a years lease. You both knew without even saying it that you didn’t want to have to wait another year before actually living together, and that it would be a waste of money paying separate rents anyways. You reassured Alex that you were more than okay with her officially being in your space, and she assured you that she wanted nothing more than to be there alongside you. She ended up paying another month of rent at her old place as you both ended up pretty busy, not leaving a lot of time for sorting through things, packing and moving into your apartment.

Once she had handed over her old set of keys and been added to your lease you popped a bottle of champagne and spent the night celebrating together. It may normally have been a big step in relationships, but everything just felt completely right, like everything was falling into place finally. You’d both spent so many years trying to figure it all out when the answer had been in front of you the entire time, you just didn’t know it.

*

It was a rare occasion for you to be awake before Alex, but she’d had one hell of a long day in court followed by an evening with the squad. You had a few cases you wanted to get a head start on and hadn’t really had much to do on Friday, leaving your Saturday morning very open while she slept in. It had been just over a month since she’d become an official part of your home, a more than welcomed part of your daily live, eager to share those quiet private moments together.

You heard the bedroom door creak open around 10:00 am, your eyes shifting their focus from your laptop screen to down the hall. The warm smile on your face was completely inevitable. Alex always looked so goddamn cute in the earlier hours of the weekends, her hair loosely pulled back, sleep still in her eyes as she padded out to the kitchen in search of coffee, soft in sleep clothes.

“Morning.” She murmured, pecking your cheek before moving to the coffee machine. You couldn’t help but follow her movements with your gaze, watching the way she graced through the kitchen, dressing her coffee before turning back to you. “What?” Her head titled at the look in your eye.

“Can…can I say something?” You asked hesitantly.

“Of course.” She took a small sip of coffee, testing the waters before sucking back a larger mouthful of caffeine.

“I..I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you.” Alex felt her cheeks warm at your words, knowing it wasn’t from her drink.

“Pretty sure?” She teased, moving beside you at the island.

“Well…” you ducked your gaze quickly before meeting her sapphire eyes, “I mean I’ve always kinda loved you, but…this…feels different.” Her hand reached out to stroke the fallen hair back behind your ear, “I’ve always loved spending time with you, but now..I love waking up to you, falling asleep beside you…I..lose my breath when you walk in the room.” Her fingers came to lace between yours, giving your hand a soft squeeze, “You make me feel more appreciated and cared for than I ever have in my life. And to be completely honest you make work hella distracting.” You laughed, pulling a snort from the blonde.

“You do have a terrible habit of staring at my hands while you’re supposed to be concentrating.”

“What can I say? My mind wanders…” Alex’s hand moved from her coffee to cup your cheek, nuzzling against your smile before kissing you softly, only pulling apart far enough to gain your gaze.

“I love you.” She pecked your lips again, “romantically” another kiss, “platonically” another kiss, “and definitely sexually.” You giggled at that one, “Sweetheart I love you more than you could ever imagine. I love every part of you, body and soul, and I alwayswill.”

“Alex…” you felt like you were an inch away from not being able to hold it together, pulling her to you for a deep kiss,  “You mean the world to me. I love you.”

Hearing the words escape your lips, the complete love radiating from Alex’s eyes back to yours as your arms were wrapped around each other made everything feel incredibly real. It was suddenly confirmed in your brain that this wasn’t some kind of crazy dream, or temporary thing that would fizzle out, that Alex would end up wanting more, or you would change your mind. It confirmed that your waiting was done, you’d kissed all your frogs, and surprisingly enough to you, you’d found your princess, the game was over, you knew who you wanted to spend your life with. You’d never expected it to be your best friend, but you were happier than you’d ever been.

And honestly, so was Alex. It had started out as some silly crush she tried to avoid, but the timing happened to be perfect. The universe certainly knew what it was doing, throwing every curve ball at the two of you right as you needed it to, to realize that you cared about each other, that you were truly meant to be together.

“Go relax.” You nodded to the couch, pecking Alex’s cheek, “I’ll make you breakfast.” She smiled, nuzzling against you for another kiss before she made her way into the living room. Tossing a bright smile over the back of the couch you couldn’t help but giggle as you pulled the eggs from the fridge, smiles rarely leaving either of your cheeks for the rest of the day.