Homecoming (Complete)

Chapter Twelve

Alex stopped to get a new phone on the way to the site office, and then quickly placed a call to the hotel to book a room and have some of her belongings (primarily clothes) brought up out of storage into the suite—it was looking like it would be another three or four days, maybe a week, before she could move into her new apartment. She was standing on a corner waiting to cross the road while talking to the hotel concierge when she happened to catch her reflection in the glass of a bus shelter. She nearly burst out laughing, and only just managed to choke it back—the poor man on the phone had been worried that something was wrong. She reassured him as she hung up the phone, stopping to look at her reflection to try and straighten herself out a bit. She was a dishevelled mess, and her clothes looked like they'd been slept in (and she hadn't been in her clothes, nor had she slept). Alex stifled her giddy, exhaustion fuelled giggles as she continued the walk to the site. If she didn't have to meet with some suppliers this morning she would have just headed to the hotel for some sleep, a shower, and a fresh change of clothes. Even a half hour of meditation would have been welcome—it would have cleared her head—but there wasn't time.

Kate had invited Alex to stay at her place until work was done on Alex's new loft and her furniture was delivered, but Alex had graciously declined.

"I'd love to stay here with you," Alex said as she kissed Kate passionately before rolling out of bed to throw on her clothes, "but I'm afraid that if I did I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off you, and there wouldn't be a lot sleep in my foreseeable future. Sadly I have a job to do right now and I can't just be a lazy, layabout, do-nothing, sleep all day, rich girl like some people." She laughed heartily as she side-stepped the pillow Kate threw at her. "I have to run. I'm going to be late." She ducked down for one last kiss, and then had groaned as Kate pulled her shirt out of her pants and slid a hand up to her breast. "Kate! I have to go! I'll call you later." She hurriedly tucked her shirt back in, and ran out the door before Kate could do anything else to make her later than she already was going to be.

The events of the night tugged at Alex's tired mind as she walked, and she found her thoughts constantly drifting to, and lingering over, various parts. (And not just the sex. Although...her brain did seem to want to spend a fair amount of time reliving a lot of those moments too.) Right now she was replaying their last conversation—it was why she hadn't gotten any sleep at all. Alex continued her walk to the site on autopilot as her perfect memory threw all the details in front of her for further dissection.

* * *

They were lying there, legs entwined, Kate's head on her shoulder with her arm draped across Alex's ribs just below her breasts, dozing in comfortable silence, and Alex felt the happiest, and the most relaxed, she had in months. She was just drifting off to sleep when Kate spoke.

"Tell me about Beth," Kate murmured. Alex tensed and was instantly wide awake. Kate, responding to the sudden tension, pulled herself up on one elbow to look at Alex's face. "I'm sorry," she said with concern. "I didn't mean..."

"No," Alex said, consciously forcing her body to relax. "It's...it's okay. You just...caught me off guard." She tried to smile, but it felt plastic. "Beth is...I'm not sure...how...," she faded out and sighed.

"You don't have to...," Kate started.

"No," Alex cut her off gently, "it's okay. I just... It's complicated." She faded out again, then took a deep, shaky breath. "Beth and Emilia are the only things in my life that have always been completely off-limits. I don't talk about them—I've never talked about them—to keep them safe...," she seemed to turn inwards for a moment, and Kate heard her murmur under her breath, "I tried... Emilia...," and it nearly sounded like a sob.

"I'm sorry," Kate said again. "I was just curious. Bruce said you'had gone to find Beth, that you two had had a falling out years ago, and that you needed to make things right. The information on the drive only mentioned her and her mother Emilia briefly so I was curious." Kate was still up on one elbow looking down into Alex's face. She reached down to smooth Alex's hair back from her forehead then brought her hand down until it was cupping the side of Alex's face. She kissed her gently and looked into her eyes reassuringly. "You don't have to tell me anything. It's okay."