Author: SoThatHappened

Shaw couldn't believe it as she stormed out of the hotel. She couldn't believe that Root could be so bitchy to her. Shaw was angry, every ounce of her body buzzing and not in a good way. She couldn't tell if it was because of the way Root had been treating her, or whether it was because she had been such an idiot that she had ruined any second chance. Not that she wanted a chance... fuck it, she didn't know what she wanted. She just wanted things to go back to the way they were, if anything. But that clearly wasn't going to happen. Shaw wondered if it had been a bad idea leaving Root with Adina. She didn't want to think about the fact that Root clearly found her attractive. If they ended up fucking so what? Maybe then they'd be even and Root could move on. Past this bullshit.

Shaw didn't like being undermined, she didn't like being treated like a child who needed to be punished. But the worst part was, it wasn't either of those things that was making her feel the worst. It was the fact she could see how angry and upset Root was with her. It was those damn eyes. They were too expressive, Shaw could see everything. And that's what got to her the most.

She could tell Root wanted to forgive her, but she wasn't going to. Root wouldn't let herself be exposed like that again, Shaw knew that much.

Shaw turned around when she got to the end of the block, glancing back at the hotel, wondering if for any reason Root would be coming after her. She quickly realised she'd given Root no good reason to chase her. She hadn't given Root anything, barely even a fucking apology. Shaw stormed across the road, a car slamming it's breaks on and honking loudly at her as she stepped out in front of it.

I need a drink she thought. Or several.

*

Root didn't know what she was doing, or trying to do. She could see Shaw getting more and more worked up over the fact that Root wasn't letting up easily about what happened. And Root liked that. She wanted to keep the upper hand. She wanted to let Shaw know how she felt. But she also knew Shaw wouldn't hang around forever waiting. That wasn't Sameen. And Root didn't want to push her away accidentally.

Root was more than tempted to chase after Shaw as she stalked out of the bathroom during the lunch, she wanted to go after her and let them talk it out. But for some reason her feet stayed glued to the spot, and she let Shaw leave without another word. She was left there facing Adina. Those ridiculous blue eyes watching her. Wondering if she was okay. Root didn't get the same feeling when she looked at Adina as she did when she looked at Shaw, that feeling that started in the middle of her body and slowly spread throughout her veins, like a rush of energy. She did feel something, that was undeniable. But why did that matter. If she acted on that she'd be doing exactly what Shaw had done. And that wouldn't solve anything. Trying to pry her feelings away from work she let The Machine direct her through the lunch, staying at Adina's side.

"Are you okay Sam?" Adina asked at one point and Root almost spun around immediately thinking someone was talking to Shaw. She wasn't used to hearing her real name. She wasn't used to people asking if she was okay either.

After the lunch she contemplated finding Shaw, but instead she found herself at home, on her couch, staring at the ceiling wondering what the fuck she was doing. There were two things that she were absolutely positive about. One, she did not want to fall in love with Sameen Shaw. Two, she might be in love with Sameen Shaw.

And that alone was enough to make her want to cry. Alone. In her apartment. The daylight slowly fading into the darkness, leaving her alone in her shadows. She didn't want to feel this way, not about Shaw. She knew she made jokes, and flirted, teasing Shaw mercilessly at every opportunity. She liked Shaw, that had always been apparent. And yes, they probably were perfect for each other. No one else would ever understand their lives the way they understood each others. But she couldn't think of anything more excruciating than being in love with someone who couldn't love you back. Someone who lose interest, who would lose interest, who could never tell you with 100% certainty that they care about you with their life. She knew Shaw did care, underneath that hard exterior Root had always been optimistic there would lie something softer. But she could never been certain. And she didn't want to be in love. Love hurt, she avoided love. She avoided getting close to people, she wasn't good at it. But she felt close to Shaw.

And even if maybe being in love with Shaw wasn't going to be that much of a big deal for her, there was also that problem that Shaw broke their deal that had only been standing for two days. How could she ever trust her? Not to mention their agreement was sex only. No feelings. Certainly no relationships. Root could feel tears in her eyes as she stared into the darkness above her. The only source of light coming from the neon clock that she had in the kitchen.

Root let the tears sit in puddles in her eyes as she played with a strand of her hair. She wondered if someone like Adina would be a better option, clueless of course to what Root actually did for a living. But at least she had feelings.

Suddenly the handle on Root's front door wiggled. Root sat up and looked over at it through the darkness. Was someone trying to break in? She had a gun on the coffee table that she reached for. Something scratched the lock, she could hear someone picking it. She wondered if she was about to get robbed. There wasn't a lot here except for random computer parts...and a fuck load of weapons. Root stood up slowly and pointed her gun towards the door, praying it was only going to be one idiot that she had to take out. The door rattled and then swung open as the person successfully unpicked it after several failed attempts. Light from the hallway flooded her apartment and she could make out the silhouette of someone stumbling into her apartment banging into something as they entered, loudly. Root frowned her gun still trained at the shadow.

"There's a 9mm pointed at your head" Root said softly "So I'd be very careful what your next move is."

"What?" the voice replied taking Root by surprise as she immediately recognised it. Root reached for the light.

"Shaw?" Root asked flicking the light on and immediately seeing Shaw standing in her apartment squinting at the sudden light. "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing?" Shaw asked "What are you doing?"

Shaw stared at the gun, her eyes were slightly bloodshot and her cheeks flushed a little. She was in a sweatshirt with the hood half pulled up, a frown plastered on her face.

"Are you drunk?" Root asked lowering her gun as Shaw stared at it in confusion.

"No" Shaw said swaying on the spot and Root just rolled her eyes.

"Why did you break in to my place?"

"I came through the door" Shaw said the frown still there as she pointed towards the door and Root just stared at her with an eyebrow arched.

"Yes, " Root nodded "But you picked my lock...eventually, and that's breaking in"

"I didn't break anything" Shaw said.

"Yet" Root mumbled and Shaw looked at the gun still in Root's hand.

"If you shoot me, you might break something" Shaw mumbled with a shrug and Root set it down with a sigh.

"Why are you here?" she asked and Shaw just ignored her, walking closer and squinting at Root's face. Root could smell the whiskey on her and the faint smell of smoke. It wasn't particularly sexy but for some reason Root kind of liked it.

"Are you crying?" Shaw asked looking straight into Root's eyes. Root quickly wiped away whatever remaining tears might have been lingering and shook her head.

"No" she said and Shaw collapsed down on the couch, whacking her knee against the coffee table as she went down.

"Are you going to be mean to me more?" Shaw asked and Root just stared down at her.

"No comment" Root said and Shaw rolled her eyes.

"Can I speak at you?" Shaw asked and Root tried not to smirk.

"Speak at me?" she clarified and Shaw nodded patting the spot on the couch next to her. Root perched on the edge of the coffee table so they were face to face.

"You're pretty" Shaw said suddenly and Root felt herself blushing, even though drunk Shaw complimenting her was hardly an achievement. Her cheeks still felt warm and she had to look away.

"What did you want to to say?" Root asked, she knew she couldn't keep her bitchy routine up with Shaw like this. She had never seen Shaw quite this drunk before. She wasn't entirely sure what to make of it either, she wondered if perhaps it was her fault. She couldn't think of any other reason for Shaw to get this drunk and then turn up on her doorstep.

"I'm sorry" Shaw said clearly. "I definitely did not mean to fuck Tomas"

"You didn't mean to?" Root still felt a little raw on the topic. Shaw shook her head vigorously.

"I didn't know," Shaw started "I didn't know what to make of our little friends with sex, so maybe I freaked out"

Suddenly it clicked in Root's head. "And what do you make of it now?"

Shaw stared at her with dark eyes.

"It's fine."

"Is it?" Root asked and Shaw leaned in so they were almost nose to nose.

"Mhm."

Root bit her lip so she didn't smile.

"I can't really listen to you though, because you're drunk."

"No no" Shaw said and reached out touching Root's hand without even thinking about it. Root on the other hand glanced down in surprise at the sudden touch. "It's okay, I think the same thoughts." Shaw tried to explain and Root just watched her.

"Do you want to explain more of those thoughts?" Root tried and Shaw went silent then narrowed her eyes.

"No."

"That's probably a good answer" Root said quietly "if only you'd learnt that word before Tomas came along."

"Did I hurt you?" Shaw asked in a whisper and Root found herself looking away.

"What do you think?" she replied after a moment of silence.

"I'm sorry" Shaw said. "For real."

"Why couldn't you just say that to me when you were sober?" Root asked and Shaw frowned.

"Are you kidding?" Shaw said loudly "You were like a crazy woman, shooting knives with your eyeballs and telling me to leave"

Root smirked.

"I wanted to but you were too angry to listen" Shaw said with a shrug and Root looked at her.

"I'm still angry."

"Are you?" Shaw asked and glanced over towards the kitchen, Root could see her thoughts wandering.

"Yes but I'm listening" Root said.

"Shh" Shaw said suddenly staring into Root's kitchen. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what Sam?" Root asked raising an eyebrow and Shaw looked over at her.

"I thought you said you were listening" Shaw asked. Root rolled her eyes.

"I should probably get Reese to take you home" Root said and Shaw just looked at her with a small frown.

"You could take me home" Shaw said "or I could stay here."

Root opened her mouth and then closed it again. She had been pretty ready to get back to her wallowing. And she was still angry at Shaw, she could barely count this as progress even though that's what it felt like.

"You should probably go" Root said quietly and stood up moving away from Shaw.

"You don't want me here" Shaw said and watched Root move across the room.

"Sameen" Root said and ran her hands through her hair as she tried to contemplate the best option. "You're drunk, you broke into my place, we're haven't exactly had a great day with each other..."

"So no angry sex?" Shaw asked with a smirk and Root just stared at her for a brief moment wondering if she was serious.

"You're too drunk to handle any of my anger" Root replied a hand still halfway through her hair on top of her head, and Shaw just quirked an eyebrow.

"I take bets" Shaw said and Root stared at her, a silence fell between them for a moment where anything could have happened. But then Root snapped out of it, she let out a sigh and looked at the wall. When she glanced back at Shaw she felt her heart melt a little. Shaw had her head back on the couch, her nose pointed towards the ceiling, hands in the pocket of her hoodie, her eyes on Root, watching her every move.

"My head is really... not good" Shaw said blinking slowly and Root just frowned.

"God, you're an asshole" Root exclaimed before throwing her hands in the air and letting out a sigh of defeat as she marched out of the room, coming back moments later with a blanket and a bucket and depositing the bucket at Shaw's feet and the blanket at one end of the couch.

"You can stay here" Root said. "But I get my bed, you're on the couch and don't disturb me unless you're dying"

"I'm dying" Shaw said immediately and Root just stared at her.

"What do you need?" Root asked and Shaw looked at her.

"Forgiveness" Shaw said and Root bit down on her tongue.

"Fuck off" she muttered turning away from Shaw to hide the entertained smile that was twitching at the corners of her mouth. She got a glass of water and bought it back to Shaw, wishing she wouldn't be so damn cute when she was drunk.

Shaw took a long sip of water and Root folded her arms.

"There's painkillers in the bathroom, if you're going to puke aim for the bucket, and if you're going to eat my food then... don't get it everywhere"

Shaw nodded and set the glass down. "Okay so... what was the first thing?"

Root rolled her eyes. "Why am I doing this" she muttered to herself.

"Do you have ice cream?" Shaw asked and Root looked at her.

"I have frozen yogurt" Root said and Shaw smiled. Root was suddenly taken back by Shaw's smile. It was so unexpected everything suddenly left her head. She didn't see Shaw smile like that every often. She smirked like there was no tomorrow and laughed when shitty things happened to people, but genuine Shaw smiles were hard to come by. And fuck, she looked so pretty. What the fuck.

"It's strawberry" were the only words that made it out of Root's mouth. Shaw lifted an eyebrow.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Strawberry is a flavour, Sam" Root said and Shaw frowned.

"Am I meant to protest against strawberry?"

"It's my favourite, that's all" Root said and quickly turned to the kitchen, but not before she saw Shaw smile again.

"You have to come here if you want it" Root said from the kitchen looking over the counter at Shaw who was still moulded into the couch. "I don't want you...ruining my upholstery"

Shaw laughed loudly. "You're upholstery? Since when do you care about that? I cum stained your couch like days ago"

Root stared at her then stabbed her spoon into the frozen yogurt.

"Get up." Root said and Shaw groaned as she lifted her head and then quickly rested it back down again.

"Can't" she mumbled and Root walked back over to her. Grabbing her by the hands and tugging her up, trying to ignore the fact their hands fit perfectly together.

"Oh my god I feel dizzy" Shaw said her arm slipping around Root's waist and gripping her hip as she got to her feet, she swayed a little but felt Root's arms around her. Root held her upright and then edged her towards the kitchen counter.

"Lean" Root instructed and pushed the yoghurt towards her. "And eat."

Shaw leaned on the counter with her elbows and hung her head, the spoon in one hand.

"This does not feel fantastic" Shaw said taking a few deep breaths.

"How much did you drink?" Root asked.

"Enough for me to think breaking into your house was a good idea" Shaw said, Root smirked a little tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. She could feel Shaw watching her still.

"You're stupidly pretty" Shaw said stuffing a spoon of frozen yoghurt into her mouth.

"You're stupidly drunk" Root replied and Shaw just looked at her.

"I"m serious."

"Me too" Root said.

"I just..." Shaw shook her head like she couldn't find the right words. "I don't- I don't get it."

"Why I'm pretty?" Root said with a slight smirk, but Shaw just looked at her.

"Why we're like this" Shaw said "With each other."

Root wanted to ask more questions, but Shaw suddenly let her spoon clatter onto the counter, the tub of yoghurt suddenly half empty.

"I need to sleep" Shaw said gripping the edge of the counter. "Or die."

Don't die Root wanted to say but she didn't know how much of this Shaw would remember in the morning. She didn't know if she would want Shaw to remember that or not.

"Come on" Root said and took Shaw by the arm and led her back to the couch, letting her get herself comfortable before she tossed the blanket over her.

"Root," Shaw said as Root turned towards her room. "I'm sorry."

"For which part?" Root asked with a small smile.

"All of it."