what happens in Maine, stays in Maine.

6.

December 26th
bradley had been thinking long and hard about this through most of the night, she hadn't slept a wink.
alex was making all the "moves" and leaving bradley to be flustered and on the verge of hyperventilating. she didn't like being weak to alex, she couldn't stand letting her older co host have all the power.
she decided to tiptoe quietly down the hall and to the room at the end of the corridor.
she knocked quietly at the door but wasn't suprised when there was no response, it was literally 5am.
she decided to try her luck and slowly turned the door handle, the door gave way and she pushed it open to be met with a room made up of shades of blue.
her eyes roamed over the room and found the bed, the covers all laying crisp over the form of alex, her back to bradley, a mop of blonde hair splayed out over the pillow.
bradley moved towards the bed,
"alex" she whispered quietly.
she smiled to herself at how peaceful alex looked, she almost didn't want to wake her up.
but her want to go on a walk and watch the sunrise was too strong,
"alex" she whispered again, laying her hand gently on alex's shoulder.
alex groaned slightly, her eyebrows twitching together.
bradley had to hold her breath a second to stop from laughing before whispering alex's name once more.
"mhhh jason not now" alex grumbled, turning further away.
bradley snorted, then gently shook the sleeping woman's shoulder.
"let me sleep" she mumbled again but bradley could tell she was starting to wake up a bit now.
alex's eyes opened, squinting as she turned her head.
"bradley?"
"hi al"
"wh-what time is it?"
"it's early" bradley whispered as alex fully turned onto her back.
"so what the fuck are you waking me up for?" alex asked as she closed her eyes again.
"i'm going for a walk...come with me"
alex opened her eyes and looked at bradley leaning over her, her eyes twinkling as she tried to hide her smirk.
"are you crazy?"
"maybe...come on"
bradley helped alex sit up in bed, giving her time to wake up.

finally after almost an hour of coaxing and complaining, alex and bradley were shutting the front door behind them and starting on their walk.
"so why the fuck are you waking me up so early"
alex asked as she crossed her arms tightly against the chill in the air.
"because why not"
alex glanced sideways at her, shaking her head as she smirked.
the sky, now a deep purple, was starting to get lighter as the first beams of sun peaked over the top of the horizon.
they found a low stone wall to sit on and sat with their legs dangling over the edge.
their walk had been mainly silent as alex wasn't a morning person, feeling grumpy she was not in the mood to talk about how crisp the air felt or how nice the birds sounded.
just as alex sighed for the millionth time, still feeling like she was half asleep, bradley remembered the flask in her pocket.
"oh i made some coffee for us"
"oh thank fuck" alex muttered as she took the cup from bradley and watched the steaming liquid pour into the plastic.
she lifted the cup up to her lips and sipped the almost scolding coffee, moaning quietly at the sensation of the warm adrenaline running down her throat and into her chest.
"thankyou" she said as bradley herself drank some from the flask.
they sat in silence as they watched the sun rising over the fields sparkling with snow.
leaning against each other as the sky turned from deep purple, to fiery red, to a sunny yellow and now a calming pale blue, dotted with low, marshmallow clouds.
"come on, i'm getting cold" alex said finally as she finished off her second cup of coffee.
they hopped off the wall and and started walking down the lane back towards the houses.

the whole time they'd been in maine jennifer kept joking to max about being on the look for black ice, the "invisible ice".
bradley just assumed it was some inside joke from a film or whatever, that is until it caught her partner by suprise and took her down.
there was a gasp, and a blur as alex's foot skidded out from beneath her.
bradley, who luckily had fast reflexes from growing up with unpredictable parents, flew her arms out and grasped onto alex's arm.
alex returned the grip just as tightly as bradley pulled her up to standing.
they looked at each other as bradley cackled loudly, the racious sound echoing all around.
alex also joined in laughing, although less heartily as she let her heart rate drop down to normal.
they stood there, on the empty road, clutching each other's arms, laughing for what felt like hours.
as their laughter died down and they regained their breath alex watched as the smaller woman's eyes flicked down ever so quickly to her lips.
out of habit and self consciousness alex let her tongue dart out to wet them, realising how dry they had become from the cold.
time felt like it was slowing down as she watched her co host lean forward slowly, the space between them disappearing like sand running through an hourglass.
alex's eyes dropped down to the smaller woman's lips...her smile dropped off her face.
reality hit harder then a car driving into a wall at 70mph.
she pulled her body back, her face flushing red with embarrassment.
"what are you doing?" she asked.
all happiness was sucked out of the moment as bradley stepped back.
"i- i thought th- tha"
bradley watched as alexs temper starting to bubble, her jaw clenched, eyes glaring.
good old 2019 alex levy.
"you have a girlfriend" alex muttered finally.
alex looked around quickly, making sure there was no one hiding in a bush with a camera, no one's curtains twitching as they watched the esteemed host of their morning news show about to kiss her (taken) lesbian co host.
alex turned swiftly and started walking fast, leaving bradley behind.
how could she have been so stupid? alex thought to herself.
this whole week all she'd been doing was joking around, those moments she'd shared with bradley, she'd been leading her on and fucking around...and for what?
to ruin a relationship?
for a bit of revenge?
alex bit forcefully down on her lip as her eyes started to prickle with the first sting of tears.
"you know you're such a fucking bitch alex" she heard the shout behind her of bradley who had finally found her voice and gotten over the shock of being rejected by the woman who had been seemingly coming onto her all week.
the words cut sharply through her body but she let her cold alter ego take over, the one she'd crafted and perfected for the world of tms, she didn't turn around but heard herself laugh loudly, mirthlessly, almost hysterically.
she closed her eyes as she remembered bradley's girlfriend back home in montana, the girl that hadn't always been bradley's girl...

flashback
her eyes fluttered open as she felt the motion of someone slipping out of her bed.
she looked at the clock on the side and read 6:32am.
she rolled over and watched as the smaller woman crept around the bed, wearing nothing but a thin sheet as she retrieved her clothes that were thrown around haphazardly in last nights passion.
"and where do you think you're creeping off too?" she finally asked, watching as the woman stood up straight suddenly as if she'd been caught stealing.
"laura...i didn't mean to wake you" the woman moved and sat on the edge of the bed.
"alexandra...get back in bed"
laura watched smugly as she saw alex draw in a sharp breath, she was the only person who called her alexandra, she loved the effect it had on alex as she almost saw the jolt of electricity run through her veins.
"i can't i need to go, i have work"
"no you don't"
"i need to get that research done, charlie really wants it"
"well chuck will just have to wait a couple of hours" laura smirked mischievously as she ran her hand up alexs bare arm.
alex smirked as she let herself imagine what their day would look like without one of them having to sneak off in the morning.
"i really need to go" she finally whispered "i'm new at this job remember i cant just start slacking straight away...why don't you come and see me later on" alex suggested, quickly carrying on as laura goes to say no, "you can just say that you've been sent from yda to help out with...work?"
laura raised her eyebrow at alex, making her laugh slightly before shaking her head. "you know i can't do that alexandra...it would be a lot easier if you just came and worked at yda with me"
"but i have a job at uba laura, and we're wasting a lot of time right now, i really need to go"
she stood up, still clutching the only parts of her clothes she could find.
alex leant over and her lips met laura's.
what was supposed to be a quick peck goodbye soon started to drag out as neither of them truly wanted to seperate.
"ok i really need to go now" she said as she stood up, licking her lips, tasting the faint taste of a cigarette laura had before sleeping.
just as alex turned around to finally leave the room, she felt a warm but strong grip on her arm.
the raven haired beauty pulled her onto the bed quickly, making alex laugh as her girlfriend quickly rolled on top of her to stop her from being able to jump up and escape.
their lips met fiercely and passionately as all plans of doing reasearch for charlie black was erased from alexs mind.

end flashback

alex came out of her reverie just as she arrived at the driveway to her sisters house.
her cheeks were wet as tears continues to roll down them as the memories, long ago buried, decided to resurface.
she remembered the multiple times she'd taken these same steps, the same tears tracking down her face, just to be swept into her sisters warm embrace.
however as she walked through the front door and was met with her sister coming down the stairs, the last thing she wanted to do was tell her anything that had just occurred down the road.
"alex?" jen asked confused as her sister quickly looked down to try and hide her blotchy face.
alex tried to walk past her but she held an arm out to try and block her.
"what's happened?"
"nothing" she heard her sister reply, her voice choked as she ran up the stairs like a teenager that had just been dumped for the first time.
jennifer's head turned and her confusion doubled as she was now met with bradley walking through the door, a slightly shocked expression on her face as they both stared at each other.
the sound of a door slamming shut upstairs was all that was heard between them.