The Laws of Attraction

TITLE: The Laws of Attraction

SERIES: The L Word

AUTHOR: Dreiser

EMAIL: dreiser7@yahoo.com

YAHOO ID: dreiser7

CONTENT: F/F romance. Alice/Dana. Spoilers for Season 2.

SUMMARY: The infamous four a.m. kiss sets off a motion of events and emotions between Alice and Dana that cannot be denied, much like certain scientific laws.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but my worship of Dolly Parton. Don't laugh! Dolly is my favorite female country singer and she always will be. She rocks so very much.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, folks. This is it. The final chapter of Laws. I'm ending the fic because, well, I had planned to end it when the Gabby storyline was through as to keep the fic from getting old and dragging on and to prevent myself from losing interest in it enough that my writing became crappy as a result. But who knows about that one, right? This chapter could suck. lol. Anyway, thanks so much for reading the fic and giving me feedback on it. I'll be starting another fanfic fairly soon that's Dana focused and deals with the various evil S3 spoilers. I don't know if it will end up as a Danish romance but if you're a Dana fan, which I'm sure many of you are, look out for it, okay? Just because she's the main character and basically the whole fic is from Dana's point of view. And since this is my final chapter I've linked many songs. You have been warned.

MP3: http://www.dreiser.net/mp3/butterfly.mp3

Love Is Like A Butterfly by Dolly Parton is my random MP3 because of what I said in my disclaimer. Dolly is totally my favorite female country singer and this is absolutely one of her best songs. It's probably among the prettiest songs I've ever heard and is completely mushy and sappy but in such a good way. Sort of like this chapter, I hope. And for all those Danish fans who are grimly awaiting S3? Download this and you'll feel better I think. It's too damn pretty to not make you feel better if you ask me but hey, I worship Dolly.

http://www.dreiser.net/mp3/addicted.mp3

Addicted by Kelly Clarkson is the song that really explains how Alice sees her relationship and feelings for Gabby. It goes into that whole theory she's addicted to Gabby and she can't seem to give her up no matter how bad she is for her. And I must say now, I don't watch American Idol but I love Kelly so very much. This song is admittedly over the top and super dramatic but I love it because happens to do that so fucking well. Plus I love soap opera drama. At least I love it in the fictional world. I can do without dyke drama in my real life.

http://www.dreiser.net/mp3/words.mp3

Words by Madonna is basically Gabby's theme song I think. Mostly because, come on, what is she so good with? Words are totally Gabby's weapon and that's why this song fits her.

http://www.dreiser.net/mp3/stop.mp3

Stop In The Name of Love by The Supremes is the song that Gabby's little hand gesture comes from. If you don't know the song and the hand gesture you really should. It's Diana!

http://www.dreiser.net/mp3/realthing.mp3

The Real Thing by Gwen Stefani is the song that I hear playing during the start of the sex scene and along with Heart and Shoulder by Heather Nova this is sort of the Danish romance theme song for this fic. At least that's what I think and this is my fic. lol. Listen to this song! It's mushy and great and totally happy Danish.

Don't know what a Monchichi is? Consider yourself lucky but if you want to know what these little buggers look like check this out…

http://www.monchhichiworld.com/

The 80's were a disturbing time period for cartoons. The lines that Alice and Dana say right after Dana mentions these freakish creatures? Oh, they're lyrics from the theme song which is too disturbing. I'd link you but I couldn't find any version but the French one. If you really want to hear it, though who knows why, message me and I shall provide a link.

Robin that Lara is dating in this chapter is the same Robin that Jenny dated. I brought her in because I found Anne Ramsay incredibly butch hot in the role and, well… she's an acrobat! If you don't recall who Robin is because you're not fucking anal retentive L Word fan like I am here's a pix for you to look at…

http://www.dreiser.net/etc/robin.jpg

And here is the comic strip from The Complete Calvin and Hobbes that Lara was talking about to Robin and yes, much like Lara, this is my favorite strip in this awesome series.

http://www.dreiser.net/etc/calvin.jpg

http://www.dreiser.net/mp3/boomboomboom.mp3

The song that Howie, Rich, and Ed are singing karaoke to is Boom Boom Boom by Paul Lekakis and it was a song I first heard on the radio when I was 13 and I thought it so the most sexual scandalous thing I ever heard. I no longer think this but I still like the song quite a bit.

Hey! I told you were there were a lot of links.

The Laws of Attraction

By: Dreiser

Part Twenty Six…

All those times in the past when Alice had been so very interested in the soap opera aspect of other peoples lives were now coming back to bite her in the ass as she now found herself the subject of intense interest and gossip in the West Hollywood gay community because of the two women standing in front of her.

Because they both were in love with her, because they both wanted her, because they both were such incredible women. Alice knew people were jealous of her because of it and she couldn't blame them. Dana and Gabby were so incredible in an endless variety of ways that Alice couldn't grasp that they both could love her. Just the idea of it seemed so very unbelievable to her she couldn't even begin to contend with the mere notion of it.

Which was unfortunate because it was hardly a concept, they both were in love with her and Alice couldn't run away from that any longer. Not when she was actually confronted with it as Dana and Gabby stood before her, their eyes wide and their expressions wanting. But as fantastic as it was that they both loved her, Alice hardly considered herself lucky. Someone was going to end up hurt by the end of this and there was nothing she hated more than being a source of pain. Especially for these two women who meant so much to her.

Over the years, in the various attempts to win Alice back, Gabby spoke about the connection they shared. She did it enough that it sounded like a cliche to the blonde even though it really wasn't. Because they did connect and interacted on this strangely instinctual level that Alice had never experienced before meeting her. The screenwriter had this way about her, this talent to simply look at Alice and be able to read her completely.

And there was nothing that could manage to shock the snarky brunette either, she was so open minded that it reached an almost fearless level. No matter what Alice told her, be it chance thoughts on suicide in college or her theory that the stuffed gay pride bear in her room came to life and stole her socks, it never threw Gabby. She accepted it with blase ease and made Alice feel that she was perfectly normal when they both knew she wasn't.

The problem was the fact that for a large portion of the time she just simply couldn't be bothered to listen to these things. Gabby's impatience would be painfully obvious and it never failed to reinforce the insecurities Alice had carried with her since childhood.

It was different with Dana though.

While she didn't have the ability to look at Alice and know exactly what she was feeling she was able to know when something was wrong. And unlike Gabby, she asked Alice about it. Not only asked but sometimes she demanded the blonde tell her what was wrong, refusing to leave the other woman alone until she knew what it was and how she could somehow help.

What's more, the insecurity that Alice experienced over Dana wasn't something caused by anything the athlete did herself but instead by the idea of losing her. She knew that Dana loved her, there was no doubt of that in her mind.

But when it came to Gabby she felt a tidal wave of uncertainty because she was so very guarded. Alice could never tell what was going on in Gabby's head. At times she would even wonder if the screenwriter particularly liked her. But then they would touch and oh how Alice could feel it. She could feel it in the passion of her kisses, the sound of her moans, and the eager arch of her body, how much she meant to Gabby.

At the same time, she could feel that with Dana too. But it wasn't only through their physical connection that Alice experienced that feeling of total love. She felt it in the small every day things. Like how Alice would mention she wanted to try a certain kind of food and Dana would surprise her with by sneaking it into her refrigerator or if she groaned on taking off her high heels Dana would pull down on the couch and start one other expert foot massages.

Those little things were what Alice was holding onto because they were all Dana could to give her right now. She and Gabby were much more alike in the sense that they both had distinct moments of utterly direct and to the point honesty. This left Alice with very few questions when it came to Gabby because when she spoke she spoke honestly. She would never hold anything back. And while it was definitely true that Gabby didn't speak often on her emotions but when she did you knew absolutely what they were.

There had been times in her relationship with Gabby where Alice had never felt more wanted in her entire life. She had this inexplicable way about her that captivated the writer completely. How her eyes would glint, how her voice would drawl, how her lips would tug up in a slow grin. They never failed to shake Alice to her core and leave her aching with desire. That's why Alice continued to go back to Gabby time and time again.

In a strange way, Alice thought she was almost addicted to Gabby because of the way she always returned to her despite the fact she knew she would be hurt by her again. She couldn't seem to help herself once she was near Gabby and drawn into her delicious web of charm.

Odd as it sounded, Alice saw her relationship with Gabby as being similar to the one a groupie has with her favorite band. Whenever Gabby was near on one else existed and she was so happy, so fucking deliriously happy to have the screenwriter there. And when Gabby would ask her out, no matter how wary she would appear outwardly on the inside she was releasing a noise of delight that Gabby was asking her out again.

It was sad and it was pathetic and it was something Alice wished she could change but she couldn't. It has been that way since the day they met and she suspected it would always be that way. That was simply the effect the brunette had on her as a person.

But if her relationship with Gabby was an addiction then her one with Dana was the cure.

Or perhaps, to be more politically correct and accurate it was rehab. Being with Dana taught Alice everything that romantic love should be. And with earnest determination and devotion, Dana worked until the formidable chains Gabby had around her heart were untangled and ready to be pushed off completely. That last step, the one to free Alice of Gabby forever wasn't something that Dana could do herself. Only Alice had that ability and that's what caused the athlete to tremble with fear.

What if she worked long and hard for nothing? What if Alice didn't want to be free of Gabby? What if she wanted to wrap those chains around her heart like they were a blanket that warmed her and kept her safe instead of seeing them as something that would drag her down until she slowly but surely began to emotionally wither away from unbearable weight of wearing them? What if Alice decided she simply didn't want her? That she misread her emotions and really all she felt for Dana was friendship mixed in with sexual attraction? What if Dana became the friendly fuck so many accused Gabby of being?

Just the thought of that nearly killed her.

Something that Gabby didn't fail to notice and some odd part of her was jealous that Dana felt so fucking comfortable showing that. Mostly because she felt the same way but she couldn't allow herself to put those feelings on display in the same way that the athlete was currently doing. She found the very idea of it so goddamn repellant that there was no way she could actually do it. Especially with Dana there and the possibility of it getting out, her fucking sad Harlequin romance behavior here and have it being used against her somehow. Gabby knew it was paranoid to feel that way but she couldn't help it. Ever since she was a teenager she had masked her feelings behind a carefully constructed wall of bitchy asshole behavior.

Because doing that kept her safe, because it kept anyone from knowing the real Gabby Deveaux, and if no one knew the real her what the fuck did it matter what they thought about her? It wasn't her, after all. It was her Gabby fucking Deveaux persona that they hated, that they scorned, that they rejected.

But now it was gone.

She had let Alice chip away at her defenses until a fucking hole formed in that wall and the blonde could see the real Gabby Deveaux. And for the first time in her life she risked actual rejection. Not a rejection of the super bitch or the snarky asshole or the seductress supreme or any of the other things that were examples of the glorious facade that was Gabby fucking Deveaux but instead a rejection of simply Gabby.

And goddammit she didn't like it, she didn't like taking this chance only to have it possibly bite her in the ass. What the fuck was the point of even letting that hole be created and letting Alice see who she really was? See how an asshole annoying fear was slowly eating her alive right now when it wouldn't help get her what she wanted?

The whole thing would be a fucking waste, that's what Gabby thought. A pointless expenditure of effort and for the first time in her life she would actually be heartbroken and that was the last fucking thing in the world she wanted to go through.

Wallowing dykes were what Gabby hated most in the world and there were quite a few things that she hated. But that meant the last thing she wanted to do was to turn into one but if Alice didn't choose her, if she finally let someone see the real her and it was all for nothing, well…

There wouldn't be any choice. She would have to fucking wallow. There was absolutely no question about it. Wallowing would be the only way to get her through that and she would have to give it a try despite how she would hate herself during the entire process. Although hating herself might make the wallowing more effective in some perverse way.

She was sick of this though. The waiting and the wondering and the asinine fear that was eating away at her like it was a pool of Alien acid blood leaking through the floor during Sigourney's hottest movie role and she just had to end it. This had to be over before she lost what little dignity she had left and that small piece of her precious Gabby fucking Deveaux image she worked so hard to create and perfect was still in tact.

That's why she tilted her head to one side as she folded her arms across her chest and then she lifted an eyebrow and drawled, "Who is it?"

Alice blinked for a response, shocked by the blunt question although she knew she really shouldn't be considering that was part of the reason she remained enamored with Gabby was the fearlessness she thought of earlier. The desire to get the messy painful things out there and dealt with so you could just fucking move on. And so her surprise went away in seconds and the screenwriter could see that along with the flicker of humorous affection floating in brown eyes that was aimed at her. Unfortunately for Dana, she noticed this as well. And when Alice looked at the two of them, this is what she saw…

Gabby, an easy smile on her face that expressed exactly what she wanted, a dark shine in her eyes which called out to any who witnessed it, and a confidence in her stance.

Dana, an expression filled with fear and wearing a weak but sincere smile of support, love and worry in her eyes, and a constant shifting of her weight side to side in a nervous dance.

The answer was out of her mouth before she even quite realized what she was saying. As if her heart taken control of her head and her vocal chords as a result and in tones filled with a certainty she hadn't known she possessed, Alice said, "Dana. I love Dana. I want Dana."

Of course it was Dana. It had been Dana since the moment she realized she was in love with her. The only thing that the athlete had to do was to realize that for herself and to show up, to tell Alice that she wanted her too. And here was Dana, doing precisely that, so there was really no choice to be made in Alice's mind.

It was Dana. It had always been Dana. And for Alice, it always would be Dana until the day the tennis player decided she no longer wanted her but right now, seeing the relief and the joy and the overwhelming love on the other woman's face Alice didn't think that would happen. She thought Dana would return her love for the rest of their lives and god, oh god, how unbelievably happy she was to finally see that.

While Dana was surprised and relieved, Gabby was anything but. She had known it was coming, she knew the second she saw that humorous affection shift into sympathetic concern and in that moment she knew it wasn't going to be her and she wanted it fucking over so she could get away from Alice and not see that goddamn love in her eyes and know it wasn't the kind of love she wanted from the blonde. It wasn't the love that Gabby ever thought she would experience much less long to have from another person. But she had and she did and as soon as she realized she wanted this, needed this, it was taken away before she had a chance to actually know what it really felt like. And that fucking pissed her off even though she knew it was her own dumbass fault it was happening.

She should have realized sooner, when she was dating Alice those other thirteen times and if she had she would be with the writer now. Gabby knew that without a doubt because while others thought differently, she knew Alice wasn't a flighty person when it came to relationships. Oh, she might like to pretend she was to hide the hurt when she was rejected and cheated on and lied to like she had experienced time and time again at the hands of Gabby and others but she wasn't. Alice was the type of person who fell in love and she stayed in love.

But now Alice was in love with Dana and she would stay in love with Dana and Gabby was left to fucking wallow and to drown in regrets, things that she hated with every fiber of her bitchy being. Though that definitely didn't mean she wasn't still pissed off, not only with herself but with the situation in general. And with a million irrational and annoyingly remorseful thoughts swimming through her head, Gabby muttered under her breath, "I should've fucking cried."

"Gabby?" Alice said her name in a soft and worried murmur. She moved towards the screenwriter but halted in her walk when Gabby held up her hand in the traditional Supremes 'Stop In The Name of Love' gesture that they had once declared to be the greatest of all the various choreographed Motown dance moves.

Aware that she was acting like an overdramatic dyke, Gabby shook her head and snorted derisively at herself then walked over to Alice, gently cupping her chin in her hand and lifting her head up so she could look directly into her eyes. "I was an asshole to you," she stated plainly. "And I want you to know I'm fucking sorry for it because I know that's the reason you're with her. Because she was never an asshole to you and I always was."

"Gabby," Alice whispered her name brokenly. "I'm sorry, I--"

"I was asshole and that's nothing for you to be sorry for," said Gabby dryly, lightly squeezing Alice's chin and shaking her head affectionately to and fro. Then she released her hold and pressed her hand flat against a pale cheek and leaned in close, almost resting their foreheads together as she said, "I'm pissed off but you probably made the right choice. I don't think in those fucking fairy tales I know you still secretly love and sometimes read when you can't sleep have the Princess running off with the asshole to live happily ever after in the end. Although," Gabby smirked slightly. "The Beast was sort of a dick, wasn't he?"

"Yeah," said Alice, laughing through her tears. "He was."

Letting her hand fall away, Gabby smiled at Alice one last time then turned to walk out of the apartment, pausing when she got to Dana's side. And leaning in once again, Gabby said low and humorous in the athlete's ear, "I would tell you not to hurt her but I fucking hate it when people steal each other's best lines."

And then Gabby was gone, leaving the apartment and that precious part of Alice's life and her heart that she had managed to hold onto for so long with very little pomp and circumstance. Her exit strangely quiet and dignified for someone thought to be as self absorbed and over the top as the screenwriter was often considered by many.

Alice looked sadly after Gabby, staring at the closed door, and she fought the instinctive urge to go after the other woman and provide comfort. But she didn't because she knew that wasn't what Gabby wanted and she knew that it wasn't her place. She belonged here with Dana, with the woman that she had chosen, with the woman that she loved.

Besides that, with Dana was where she wanted to be for now and for always. And turning to face the athlete, Alice felt her heart clench upon seeing the expression of unadulterated joy and overwhelming relief that she wore on her tanned features.

"You said my name," Dana breathed, her body and voice trembling as she took a slow step forward to cup Alice's cheek with a shaking hand. Dipping her head down to gaze into brown eyes, she requested hoarsely, "Please say it again."

"Dana," said Alice in a whisper, blinking back the tears and moving in closer. She wrapped her arms around the athlete and pressed her lips against the elegant line of the tennis player's neck, leaving a kiss there before she said her tones playful but still thick with emotion, "Dana Fairbanks. Miss Dana Fairbanks." Smiling at the sudden burst of jubilant laughter that the other woman released, she peered up at the brunette and her eyes twinkled mischievously as she said in a bad British accent, "Fairbanks, Dana Fairbanks."

Hugging the blonde tightly, Dana laughed through her tears and kissed the top of Alice's head. "I love you so much, Al," she murmured in a husky confession. "Thank you for choosing me."

"It wasn’t a choice, not really," Alice said, her voice muffled as she buried her face in the crook of Dana's neck and breathed in her clean scent that she had missed so much in the past days. "I hurt when I'm not with you, Dana. I hurt so much and I just don't want to go through that again." Squeezing her eyes shut, the blonde's voice cracked as she confessed, "It was always you, Dana. And for as long as you want, it's going to be you for me."

"Alice," Dana said her name reverently. Reluctantly pulling back from their embrace to hold the blonde's face tenderly in her hands, she wiped away the tears on pale features. "I'm sorry I got scared and I'm sorry that I ran away. I won't do it again," she promised fervently, resting her forehead against Alice's and looking deeply into her eyes. "I swear it."

"Is it a pinky swear?" asked Alice teasingly, though her voice reflected the tears that just couldn't seem to stop falling.

Laughing happily, Dana nodded her head and captured Alice's lips for a kiss. "It's a definite pinky swear," she murmured, lacing the pinky fingers of their left hands and meeting their lips for kiss after kiss after kiss, each one more passionate and intense than the last.

They parted with soft moans and though Alice wanted nothing more than to keep kissing Dana she knew something else had to be said. Simply to get it heard and out of the way so she could erase the anxiety written on her heart and fully embrace Dana and her love.

"Because I can't go through this again," said Alice shakily. Her brown eyes wide and haunted with such depth of emotion Dana had to stop herself from crying out at the sight. "It hurts too much, just the thought of you leaving again, giving up on us, and I don't think I could take it." Alice confessed this in a tearful rush, unable to stop all of her fears from coming out now that they were finally being said. It was like an avalanche of pain had been released and Alice was powerless to stop its descent. "I need you too much for that to keep happening." Her face hot with embarrassment and a million other emotions, Alice hid in the crook of Dana's neck. "I need you so much that sometimes it scares me," she said in a bare whisper.

"Oh Al," Dana choked the words out with a tearful cry. In a tender but nevertheless frantic movement, she cupped Alice's face in her hands so their eyes could meet. Pushing aside a stray lock of blonde hair and caressing pale skin gently, she said in an ardent promise, "I'll never do this to us again. It hurts me too, god, it hurts so much not being with you. I was just scared but I promise you, no matter how scared I get I won't leave like that again." Wrapping Alice up in her arms, sighing as she felt the writer rise up on her tip toes to move further into her embrace, Dana stroked messy blonde hair. "I swear to you that I won't leave again, I won't give up on us. Not ever again. No matter what happens."

"Good," said Alice, her voice echoing with relief, speaking so quietly that the tennis player had to strain to hear her. Snuggling into Dana, she pressed her lips to the strong line of the brunette's jaw and sighed in contentment. "That's all I needed to know." Pulling back, she smiled softly and murmured, her voice low and laced with affection, "We can get through anything as long as we're together. No matter what the problems are, as long as we're together I think things will turn out okay." Clasping Dana's hands and placing them over her heart, her eyes shining clear and bright, Alice said earnestly, "I really think that, Dana."

"I think that too," said Dana, releasing a joyful cry at the sudden rush confidence and hope, god, incredible hope about their relationship and the future that they now had together. She held Alice's face gently in her hands before moving forward for a kiss that was fast and eager and soon led to another as she parted soft lips with her tongue, smiling into each kiss that became increasingly more passionate and fantastically frantic with every moment that passed. They parted with low groans and gasps for air and Dana's voice was rough with desire, "As long as we talk like we're doing now and we don't let our fears eat us up we'll be fine, Al. Because we'll have each other to help get rid of those fears and then we won't have to be scared anymore." Tenderly stroking Alice's cheek with the pads of her thumbs, Dana continued, "We won't ever have to be scared again."

"Dana," Alice said her name with a choked sob, leaning into the athlete's touch and sighing at the delicate caress of her hands. Closing and then opening her eyes with obvious effort, Alice reached up anxiously to cover Dana's hands with her own and her eyes wide and almost desperate, she said in hurried tones, "Then promise that you'll tell me if I start to get crazy. If I cling to you too much and you start to feel like I'm suffocating you. Because I've done it before and I know myself, Dana," said Alice brokenly, her voice wavering and holding a noiseless sob as she swallowed the lump in her throat. "I know I'll do it again and I don't want to. I never want to do that and I especially don't want to do that to you. I did to Gabby and she--"

"I'm not Gabby," Dana interrupted what Alice was saying with a dark intonation, her eyes narrowed and her features suddenly turning stormy.

Her eyes going wide in surprise at the athlete's tone of voice and her expression, Alice reeled back slightly and whispered, "I know that you aren't."

Seeing the reaction her words had, Dana's face immediately softened and looking angry with herself, she stared at her feet as she said, "I'm sorry, Al. I guess I'm still jealous of her." Releasing a scoffing noise, she muttered, "I probably always will be." Lifting her gaze, the athlete looked at Alice with an expression solemn but kind and heart tugging in its sincerity. "But I'm not Gabby and I never will be. Which is kind of why I'm here, I think," said Dana wryly, brushing aside a lock of blonde hair that fell into the blonde's eyes. She cupped Alice's cheek and murmured, "I'm not Gabby and whatever she did when you supposedly got clingy by her warped standards I will almost without a doubt not repeat, even without being told what asshole treatment she exposed you to that time around. But I do promise that I'll tell you if I feel suffocated or clung to like you're a human Monchichi and I'm a tree."

Bursting into laughter, the sound charmingly boisterous and relieved, Alice eyes sparkled with love and happiness. "Are you actually daring to compare your girlfriend to a Monchichi?" she asked in semi threatening tones, mock scowling at Dana. "I'm not sure I approve of being compared to a freakish 80's animated mutation of monkeys that like to put their thumbs in their mouths and wiggle their little feet."

"What's wrong with the Monchichi's?" asked Dana, pouting and looking aggrieved at the blonde's response. "I think they're cute."

"I told you what's wrong with them, they're freaks," said Alice, rolling her eyes. "And I," she continued as she pointed her finger at the tennis player. "Don't appreciate being compared to them. I have nothing in common with those little weirdos."

"But you are soft and cuddly and I also think you're really sweet," Dana said in deliciously low tones, hooking her thumbs into the belt loops of Alice's pants and pulling her slowly forward. Their bodies pressed wonderfully close together, Dana ducked her head down to whisper in the blonde's ear, "And I do love you, happy happy Monchichi."

"Quoting cartoon theme songs, aren't you romantic?" Alice chuckled fondly, meeting Dana's eyes as the athlete pulled back and their cheeks brushed in a deliberate motion.

Their faces only a breath apart, they were on the verge of kissing when Dana nodded her head and said solemnly, "Monchichi's are very romantic. Unlike SWAT Monkeys."

"Hey!" exclaimed Alice, pulling back slightly to wave her finger in Dana's face. "Don't you talk smack about SWAT Monkeys. They're like a million times better than the Monchichi's."

"At least Monchichi's exist," Dana pointed out, lifting an eyebrow in amusement. "Or can't you recall that your brilliant movie idea has yet to be written, much less made by Disney?"

"Ha!" Alice exclaimed in triumphant glee, bouncing on the heels of her feet and waving her finger in Dana's face again. "That's where you're wrong. SWAT Monkeys are real. Or can't you recall the newspaper article I read to you about them? Monchichi's are freakish imaginary cartoon creatures but SWAT Monkeys exist in the real world with you and I!"

"You're right," Dana groaned low in her throat, realizing that Alice was correct and the idiocy she found SWAT Monkeys very existence to be was indeed steeped in ridiculous reality.

"You bet I'm right," said Alice, grinning widely. Doing a little dance and clapping her hands together, she squeaked, "Yay me! I win! And I never win anything." Dropping back down to her normal height, she pointed her finger in Dana's face and declared, "Take that, Fairbanks! Now you know to never speak ill of the greatness that is SWAT Monkeys."

"Take that?" drawled Dana, tilting her head to one side and taking in Alice's sunny smile and playful exuberance with loving eyes and heart. She had missed seeing this so very much. Alice being her naturally sweet and silly and undeniably sexy because of all these things self. A smile spreading across her features in a sensual movement, Dana's eyes glowed with amusement and desire as she leaned forward and captured the finger pointed in her face into her mouth. Sucking on it slowly and expertly then moving further to take it all in and then pulling back until just the tip was being held by her lips. Grinning at the audible shudder of desire Alice released at this gesture and kissing the finger as she allowed it to finally leave her mouth completely, she murmured huskily, "Take what exactly?"

"Take me," Alice said the words before she could stop herself only to groan and squeeze her eyes shut when she heard Dana's instant swell of laughter. "I'm sorry, that was lame of me. Super lame of me, in fact," Alice muttered, rubbing her forehead and wondering how she could say something that nerdy during such a genuinely sexy moment.

Pulling Alice's hand away from her face, Dana tugged the blonde forward until their bodies were pressed together and they were barely a breath apart. "I like it when you're lame," she murmured, her voice husky and laced with affectionate familiarity and it was everything Alice ever hoped to hear from someone she was in love with when they spoke to her. Ducking her head down to meet their eyes in preparation for a kiss, Dana said earnestly, "I love you, Al." A mischievous grin quirked on her lips and she drawled, "Even if you are super lame."

"Yay me," said Alice again, though this time it was a sensual murmur instead of a happy squeak. And she thought it perfectly suited their current situation which she found to be just as sexy as the moment she had ruined earlier.

"Yay us," Dana chuckled in a guttural response, her voice laced with desire as she closed the scant space of their bodies to meet Alice's lips for a delightfully detailed kiss that left no part of their mouths unexplored.

With that kiss they both knew that all the talking was done for now. No more words were needed to be spoken, the kiss of their lips, the touch of their hands, the moans in their throats said everything that could possibly matter at this point. And there was nothing more important than this, the taste and the feel and the sound of each other. This real and tangible evidence that it was over, the terrible impasse that was the distance between them had finally been destroyed and now they had all they wanted, all they needed, to go on in this world.

One another.

In a stumbling backwards walk towards the bedroom, they continued to kiss deeply, smiling into each other, experiencing a glorious frantic need to show with every sound, look, and touch the depths of the love they felt.

"I've missed this," confessed Dana, her voice raw with need, pushing Alice against the wall of the hallway right in front of the blonde's bedroom. Her lips left a trail of hot and seeking kisses on the elegant curve of Alice's neck, sucking at her pulse point and rejoicing in the low groan that greeted her at this action. Blue eyes lifted up to lock with brown and the writer shivered at the open look of desire that Dana wore on her features. "I've missed touching you like this." Pressing into Alice, she ducked her head down to whisper in the other woman's ear as her right hand dropped down to unbutton the blonde's pants, lost in a haze of want, adoring the gasps released when she slipped her fingers inside Alice's pussy which was already wet, ready, and waiting for her. "I want to be the only one who can touch you like this, Al."

"You are," Alice gasped, arching up into Dana's touch as the athlete curved her thumb upwards to brush over her clit in a light tease. Her hands tangled into wavy brown hair and she pulled Dana away from her neck which she was continuing to nuzzle and suck. Holding the tennis player's face in her hands, feeling both disappointed and relieved when Dana stopped the slow exploration of her pussy, Alice held the brunette's chin in one hand while the other fell down to cover Dana's which remained at rest inside of her. "You are the only one," Alice said, her voice low and rough with passion. "I'm yours, Dana. Always."

Dana looked at Alice with an expression of total lust, love, and need then she kissed her long and deep, her left hand falling to wrap around the blonde's waist. With a strength that the writer didn't even know she had, Dana lifted her off the ground and Alice wrapped her legs around the athlete as she began a determined walk to the bedroom, continuing to kiss her ardently, refusing to let go of even the smallest physical connection they were sharing.

They fell forward and onto the bed, Dana releasing her hold on Alice but her fingers remaining buried inside of her as their kisses became more heated and frenzied. Dana slipping her tongue into Alice's mouth to capture the blonde's, delighting in the moans and the shivers and all of the signs that told her far better than words how much Alice needed her. The tennis player began to rock into the other woman, her fingers arching up inside of Alice's pussy before she thrust hard and deep as her thumb circled her aroused clit, playing with it.

"God, Dana," Alice gasped as their lips parted for need of air, her body instinctively moving up and into the athlete's every touch. Looking up into blue eyes that were stormy and clouded with fierce emotion, the writer pulled her down and their foreheads rested together. "I love you."

"Then show me," requested Dana, thrusting into Alice hard and knowing, loving the sudden cry of arousal that the blonde gave when she did so. "Show me how much you love me."

Seeing the flicker of vulnerability hidden behind the veil of lust, Alice nodded and slid her hand down to mimic Dana, her fingertips toying at the outside of her pussy before slipping inside for a firm thrust. The athlete groaned and her head fell forward, her forehead again resting against Alice's allowing them to see perfectly into each others eyes.

"Are you okay?" Alice whispered, her expression concerned and loving, unable to help fretting at the look on Dana's face that was somehow haunted in the happiness it revealed.

"I just missed you so much," said Dana shakily, moving her head so she wasn't staring into the blonde's eyes and burying her face in the crook of Alice's neck. "I didn't think I would be able to do this with you again. I thought I might lose you forever, Al."

"Dana," said Alice brokenly, looking like she wanted to say something more but she was stopped when Dana lifted her head to capture her mouth in a fierce kiss while her fingers resumed their steady thrusts. "Dana," she gasped when their lips separated, her body instinctively arching into the athlete's touch. "You won't ever lose me. I promise."

She felt more than heard the sob of incredible relief at this and wanting to take that feeling away, wanting Dana to feel nothing but joy at them being together again, Alice's fingers sprang to life and followed the hard thrusts that the tennis player was using on her. They moved in a frantic union, trying to get as close as possible despite the fact that they were both still fully clothed. Until Alice came with a short cry of ecstasy that was soon copied by Dana, and they were at rest, their limbs tangled together. Dana on top of Alice, face hidden in the crook of her neck, arms tucked underneath the blonde's back, sighing as the writer stroked her hair.

"I'm sorry," Dana mumbled into Alice's skin and the blonde felt the heat of the blush she knew was forming. "That wasn't very happy was it?" The athlete nuzzled further into Alice, breathing in the scent of her chocolate shampoo and sighing. Sounding angry at herself, she said again, "I'm sorry, Al. That probably wasn't what you were wanting for make up sex, was it?"

"Hey," said Alice in a tender murmur, cupping Dana's cheek and bringing the tennis player's head up so she could look into her eyes. Seeing the tiny lines of worry on the other woman's brow, she smiled sweetly and smoothed them out with a gentle touch of her thumb. "I'm with you and that's all it takes for me to be happy, Dane. Besides," she drawled in naughty tones, her eyes twinkling playfully. "Who says we're done? I plan on keeping you trapped in here for another few hours at the very least. Maybe until you pass out from exhaustion."

"You'll make me pass out?" exclaimed Dana, playfully offended. "Aren't you forgetting which one of us is the professional athlete and which one runs all incorrectly and like a girl? There's no way you could make me pass out first. I would win that contest, hands down."

"Is that so?" asked Alice, looking entirely amused.

"That's totally so," said Dana huffily, nodding her head and sitting back on her legs. The blonde followed suit and once she did, Dana removed her shirt with flourish, tossing it across the room and gesturing for Alice to do the same. "Come on," she drawled and the writer noticed she was getting the same determined look she had during any of her tennis matches. "Lets do this."

"Lets do this?" Alice echoed, laughing exuberantly and crawling towards Dana who flushed a dark red hue at her words. Holding the athlete's face in her hands, Alice leaned in and rubbed their noses as she murmured, "Don't be embarrassed. I love it when you're competitive and forceful, Dane. I think it's fucking sexy as hell."

"I'm glad," breathed Dana, her eyes alight with love and affection. Slipping her hands underneath Alice's shirt, she trailed them upwards in a delicate caress and pulled the shirt up and over the writer's head before tossing it aside. Ducking her head to begin a trail of downward kisses, the brunette pushed Alice back onto the bed and slid down her body, easily removing her shoes, socks, and pants with a tug and a pull. Straddling the blonde's waist, she grinned into the kiss Alice initiated as she sat up, and Dana soon deepened it to slowly suck on her girlfriend's tongue, unsnapping Alice's bra, pushing the silken material down and off her body as they continued to kiss. "I love you so much, Al."

"I love you too," said Alice, her voice thick with desire and a happiness Dana knew couldn't possibly be faked and it made her just as happy to know that. To know she could make Alice feel this way, that she could make her feel this much joy, this much excitement, and god, this much desire, groaning as the blonde took charge, pushing her back on the bed and making short work of her clothing, leaving her naked in seconds. The only piece of clothing was left was Alice's underwear and reaching down to hold Dana's hand, she pressed it against the smooth surface of her black panties and leaned down to say in a husky whisper into Dana's ear, "I think I need to get these off. What do you think?"

"I think we both need to get off," drawled Dana, smirking when Alice burst into delighted laughter and whapped her shoulder lightly, declaring her to be dirty. "I thought you were the dirty girl in our relationship," said Dana innocently, looking up into Alice's eyes as she helped push the panties off the blonde's body, tossing them aside when they had finally been removed and they were at last skin on skin and were deliciously pressed up against each other.

"I'm pretty sure we can both be dirty girls," Alice murmured, capturing Dana's lips a slow kiss, smiling into it. "There aren't any rules against it as far as I'm aware."

"Yay," chuckled Dana, groaning as Alice pushed her back onto the bed and traveled down to capture the nipple of her right breast in her lips, licking, kissing, and tugging on it only to switch to the left. Then her attention trailed downwards and Dana shivered and groaned at what she knew was coming when the blonde gently pushed her legs apart and lowered her head down for the first slow lick to her pussy. Sucking on her clit soft then hard and god, if Dana was right, spelling out her name on it with her tongue before it slipped deep inside of her pussy, exploring further than it ever had before. The athlete's hips bucked up and she moaned Alice's name, hands tangling in messy blonde hair and encouraging her on. No one had ever made her feel like this before and she felt herself crying because she had almost lost it. She had almost lost Alice because of her own fears and insecurities and if she had lost Alice, she was almost entirely sure she would have never felt like this again. That no one besides Alice could bring out this in her and she couldn't quite explain how relieved, how happy, how perfect she felt as that worry was now gone. Now that she knew Alice loved her and Alice wanted her in the same way she did. Forever and for always. Her hips lifted up off the bed and she released a keening moan as she came long and hard as the blonde sucked relentlessly on her clit and coming to a rest on the bed, she felt Alice travel up her body, hands loving and reassuring, wrapping her up in a tender embrace. Resting her face into the crown of messy blonde hair, Dana let her shivering body come to a rest then she murmured, "Al?"

Pulling back to look at Dana and wearing a small and worried frown on her features, Alice replied, "What is it, Dane?"

"Your turn," Dana drawled, a huge smile forming on her features and a playful sparkle appearing in blue eyes as she quickly switched their positions and kissed Alice long and hard, causing the blonde to moan into her mouth and tremble into her touch.

And several hours later, when they both fell victim to exhaustion, falling asleep curled in one another's arms in a glorious tangle of long limbs, it happened to them together. Which was a wonderfully appropriate and perfect ending to their reunion.

---

Writing had never been a bullshit form of cheap therapy for Gabby simply because she heard other writers say that so often that it felt like a fucking cliche and made her almost ashamed to call herself a writer. And that's why she never really felt the impulse to try it herself.

But then she had to fucking fall in love and to make it worse she had to fucking fall in love with a woman who wasn't in love with her and goddamn if that wasn't the biggest cliche of all time.

And suddenly trying to write as a bullshit form of cheap therapy didn't sound quite so fucking pathetic as it did before. Well, at least it wasn't as pathetic as falling in love with a woman who didn't love her. Thus Gabby found herself sitting in front of her iBook typing minute after minute, hour after hour, day after day, until her friends who normally knew when the fuck to leave her the hell alone stopped by her apartment to check on her just because nothing had been seen or heard about Gabby for over two months and they were beginning to get a little bit worried. Or as close to the emotion of worry as they actually could get.

They didn't stay for long though, soon as they walked in and saw Gabby's hair which looked similar to a crazed rats nest and the fact she was wearing jogging pants and a t-shirt they came to the conclusion she was beyond their help. Especially once she started talking about how her writing had become her outlet and she was starting to get the asshole emotion of being in love with Alice out of her system through it.

Though she was mildly disappointed her friends wouldn't stay long enough to look over her screenplay, Gabby was more than happy to get back to work. She was almost finished with the first draft and once it was completed she had to make some very personal deliveries planned for handing out the finished product.

The least important of which was to her agent.

Exactly three weeks, four days, sixteen hours, twenty one minutes and forty seconds later Gabby knocked on the door to Lara's apartment to complete one of those deliveries. When the door opened she wasn't greeted by Lara or one of her overprotective friends but instead a wavy haired blonde who was handsome and somehow vaguely familiar to Gabby.

"Hey," the blonde said, smiling leaning on the door frame. "You here to see Lara?"

"Yeah," said Gabby, feeling somewhat uneasy and not entirely sure why. Maybe it was because within seconds of meeting this woman she knew that first she was clearly involved with Lara romantically and secondly she was most likely just as disgustingly sweet and nice as the redhead. Except for Alice, she always felt uncomfortable around people she could clearly peg as good. They tended to make her feel more like an asshole than usual and thus far she was starting to get that feeling around the blonde. "I need to give her something."

"She's in the bedroom tidying up, I'll go get her," said the blonde, heading that way only to pause in her walk and clap her hands together lightly. "My manners have completely left the building. I'm Robin and you are…?"

"Gabby," replied Gabby, wondering if she was going to see the dark look of anger or jealousy or any of the other myriad of emotions she caused in women. But Robin just grinned and turned to head down the hallway, calling out to Lara that her friend Gabby was here. Moments after she did this, the chef came walking down the hall a worried look on her features and Gabby smiled softly at her. "I'm not dead," she said dryly. "Nor attempting suicide. I'm sure my friends have been gossiping up a storm although," Gabby drawled and tilted her head to one side. "But I'm sure you haven't heard anything like that. You've never been one for lurking in the scene, even while we were dating, were you?"

"I've heard some. People talk at The Planet and I heard from Alice everything that happened," Lara began faintly and she hovered in front of Gabby for a few seconds looking like she wanted to wrap the other woman up in a hug but deciding against it due to the brunette's body language. "I'm so glad you're all right."

"I'm Gabby Deveaux, of course I'm all right," said Gabby in a humorous lilt. She locked gazes with Robin who wore the same calm and easy expression since the moment Gabby met her. Turning back to the redhead, she said, "Your friends must be happy about your new girl. She seems to be more your type than I was. Then again," Gabby snorted and shoved her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. "I'm starting to wonder if I'm anybody's fucking type."

"Gabby," said Lara softly, reaching out to touch the brunette but her hand fell away as Gabby stepped back from her and instead thrust a neatly typed screenplay at her. Looking down at it, her eyes traced the title page and she found herself reading the title out loud. "A Grimm Tale: Lessons in Lesbian Love From A Reformed Bitch."

"I'm not really reformed. I'm still a huge fucking bitch," said Gabby sardonically, lifting an eyebrow in an expression of droll humor. "I just thought it made the title pop a little bit more. Plus it fits my fake sad ass persona in the screenplay, you know?"

"What is this?" asked Lara carefully, not sure what to make of the screenplay or the fact that Gabby was giving it to her.

"My therapy, pathetic as it is," Gabby replied, flicking her gaze over to Robin and watching as the blonde simply dipped her head in a tiny nod of acceptance then disappeared back into Lara's bedroom to give them privacy. In that moment, Gabby knew she didn’t need to spend anymore time worrying about the chef or the status of her love life. Lara had finally managed to find someone who loved and cared for her above all others. Which was really the only thing Gabby had ever wanted for the redhead. She was so fucking good and genuine and kind and everything wonderful in this world that it ripped apart that tiny ass human piece of her heart to know Lara got hurt as much as she did. "When Alice picked the jock, even though I knew it was coming, I finally got why women went as crazy as they did when I pulled all my shit on them. I decided to fucking write it down, you know? All the crap I did, what happened with us and then me and Alice with her tennis player, I wrote it down and somehow it fucking ended up being this disaster of a screenplay." Gabby released a noise of disdain and said, "My agent thinks this shit has legs but I'm doubting it. The fucking whole thing is self indulgent narcissistic romantic drivel. But I figured the least I could do is to give you and Alice copies of it because you're both the reason I wrote the damn thing. Not that I blame you for my crap writing."

Looking down at the screenplay and tracing the title gently, Lara lifted her head and smiled. "Thank you," she murmured, making another move to touch Gabby and this time the brunette didn't back away from the friendly gesture. Wrapping the screenwriter up in a hug, Lara stroked Gabby's back and whis