Love and Litigation - An Alex Cabot/Law and Order SVU fanfiction

Chapter 32

With pink peonies in hand, Alex walked through a sea of tombstones at Woodlawn Cemetery. It was a brisk Saturday morning, and she was thankful that she'd dressed warmly. As she reached her mother's burial site, she crouched down and wiped off the excess debris. Once tidied, she set the flowers she brought on the ground in front of the headstone. 

"Hi mom," she said softly while moving to a sitting position. "I brought you some peonies. Pink, your favorite." 

Alex crossed her legs and wrapped her arms across her knees. She watched as a nearby tree shed it's burnt orange leaves. 

"I'm sorry I haven't been by to see you in awhile. I don't really have an excuse. Just the same old 'work has been crazy' line."

She buried her head into her thighs, feeling the breeze rush across her back. It was always hard to come here, and Alex was really feeling the weight today. 

"Do you remember what I told you last time? About Luke? Well, things have been getting more serious these past few weeks." 

She absent-mindedly plucked some stray grass from the ground. 

"He said something that took me by complete surprise. He said that he's been in love with me for quite some time. Can you believe that?" 

Alex looked up at her mother's name forever etched in granite. Wishing so badly that she were here face-to-face. 

"What scares me is...I think I'm in love with him too," she uttered, tossing a stray piece of grass to the side. "He's the same man I've known for so long, but he's also evolved so much since I left. And when we're together? He makes me feel like I'm the only woman in the world." 

"And he brought me flowers!" She exclaimed, again wrapping her arms around her knees. "He treats me so well, mom. I wish you could've known him." 

As she tried to stifle the tears forming in her eyes, she stood up, kissed her hand and laid it on the tombstone. 

"I love you, mom." She whispered before walking away.

As she started her car to drive back home, her phone chimed. A text from Luke. 

'Hey babe. Can we meet somewhere? Our spot?'

Alex texted back that she was on her way and pulled out of the cemetery.
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About an hour later:
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Alex and Luke walked on the same sandy beach they'd visited just days before. He had an uneasy look in his eyes and she figured that to be the reason for his wanting to meet. She waited in silence for him to open up. 

"Guess who showed up at station yesterday?" 

She looked his way. 

"Jack Dawson." 

"Your father?"

Luke nodded. 

"Well, what did he want?" 

As they continued their march down the shoreline, Luke told her everything. 

"So he's basically holding your childhood home hostage. What are you going to do?" 

"There's nothing I can do. It's in his name. He can do what he wants with it." 

Alex took a few steps ahead of him and cut him off. 

"I mean what are you going to do, Luke?" She reiterated emphatically. "Are you going back home?" 

His eyes softened as he tenderly cradled her chin in his fingertips. Slowly, he leaned into her for a kiss. 

"This is my home, Alex. I'm right where I want to be." 

"I just don't want you to have any regrets. It's so unfair the position your father is putting you in." 

Luke led Alex by the hand, retreating back to the sand and away from the water. Together, they sat atop the tan grains as he explained further. 

"You know that long scar on my chest?" 

She knew exactly which one he was talking about. She'd noticed it every time they'd made love but hadn't yet mentioned it. 

"My father was a raging alcoholic and a violent one, at that. My brother, Jay, and I were his favorite targets when he wasn't tossing my mom around." 

Alex looked on, the empathy showing in her eyes. 

"After Jay left home, I was the main punching bag. But my mom got her fair share too. One night, he came home from playing poker with his buddies. He was three sheets to the wind and looking for a fight. I watched as he followed mama into the kitchen and started screaming at her. And I was ready for him." 

Luke's jaw began to visibly tense up as he continued to  tell the story. 

"I kept a crowbar under my bed, and I'd hidden it in the living room early that afternoon. As soon as he turned away from me, I grabbed it and thumped him across the back with it. I'll never forget that rabid look in his eyes when he turned to look at me." 

He went silent for a moment, collecting himself. 

"He slammed his fist into the picture frame on the wall. Glass went everywhere, mama screamed. Before I could jump out of the way, he picked up the biggest shard he could find and sliced me across the chest with it. I could feel the blood running through the cut on my shirt."

Alex stayed quiet, too shocked to speak. Her heart broke for him. 

"I have some good memories in that house. Mama cooking Thanksgiving dinner, my brother and I sneaking out and onto the rooftop at night to drink cheap beer." 

He trailed off, seemingly lost in the sparsity of the good memories of his youth. 

"But there's nothing there for me anymore. Mama's gone, Jay is in Dallas. It's just an empty house with nothing left to make it special." 

"I'm sorry. I hope I didn't--" 

Luke cut her off, pulling her head onto his shoulder and wrapping her into a tender hug. For the next few moments, they remained quiet in each other's embrace. As he pulled back, his lips turned up into a smile. 

"I'm sorry if that was too much information." 

"No, don't be sorry. I'm glad you told me." 

Symbolically, Alex placed her hand over the scar on his chest. 

"You know how you said you were in love with me?" 

He nodded. 

"Do you still feel that way?" 

"Even more than I did back then." He smiled. 

She slowly ran a thumb over his bottom lip, steadily holding his gaze. 

"I love you too, Luke."