Disclaimer: I do not own For The People. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
*
Allison Adams was surprised when she came home to find her best friend and roommate already there. No one worked harder than Sandra Bell, which meant her tiny friend was always the first to arrive at work, and the last to leave. Except today, apparently. Amazingly that wasn't the only thing surprising about this, and certainly not the most worrying thing about it.
No, there was also a nearly empty wine bottle on the coffee table, a half full glass in Sandra's hand which she finished off the second she saw it was Allison. Surprisingly, and most worrying, of all was the packed bags besides her, which Allison noticed immediately but tried to ignore them for now and just greet her friend casually.
"Bad day, huh?" Allison questioned with a forced smile. Then when her friend ignored her and poured another glass of wine, emptying the bottle, Allison cautiously approached while she continued talking, "Did you lose? Did Seth win? Cause he can be a little smug when he does, but you shouldn't take that personally."
As Sandra continued to ignore her in favour of slowly finishing off that bottle of wine, which no doubt ensured that her friend was completely wasted due to her small frame and the fact she didn't heavily drink on the daily, Allison dropped her stuff off in her own room before cautiously poking her head into Sandra's room.
Sure enough the previously messy room was devoid of anything but furniture, proving those bags were packed and ready to go, which was the last thing that Allison wanted, but it Sandra was so determined to leave she wasn't going to do it without giving Allison an explanation of why. She just wasn't, Allison was determined of that. So she marched back to the living room, where Sandra had finished the last of the wine, and then Allison folded her arms and got her friends attention.
"Sandra!" Allison snapped, "What do you think you're doing? What is this? What happened?"
"Stupid Seth happened." Sandra grumbled.
"So you did lose?" Allison frowned, not truly believing that was what caused this.
"No, I won." Sandra admitted.
"So what then?" Allison pushed, "Why do you want to move out?"
"I don't want to move out." Sandra said quickly.
"Then why the bags?" Allison pointed out.
There was a brief pause, then Sandra admitted, "They're... in case you want me to move out."
"Why would I ever want that?" Allison laughed, "You're my best friend. I love having you here."
"You may not feel that way in a few seconds." Sandra grumbled.
"Why?" Allison asked again.
There was another brief pause, then Sandra admitted hesitantly, "This whole, going head to head with Seth thing, made me realise something. A few things, actually. It made me realise I was treating him unfairly. That I had already decided that no one was good enough for you before I even met him, and I was looking for any little excuse to hate him when you guys were together.
That ever since you guys broke up, and before then even, I was defending your honour, when you didn't need it. And if that's all I realised, it would be fine. But I realised why I was doing those things, and... and it wasn't just because I was being an overprotective best friend..."
Yet another brief pause and then Allison asked, "Then why?"
This time there was a long pause, before Sandra finally found the courage to admit, "Because I... I was jealous of him. And not just because he had someone amazing, and I wished I had someone like that... but... because he had you."
Another long pause, and then Allison finished for her, "And you wished you had me?"
Sandra nodded, tears beginning to slide down her face, "I know, right? The queer girl falling for her straight best friend? What a fucking cliché. I promised myself I'd never be that girl, and I thought it was okay, because we work so well as friends, but now I just can't stop thinking about it, and I just can't keep it to myself. It would be unfair on you. So if you want me to go, I'll go. I just wanted to say, I'm sorry."
"Hey, hey, hey." Allison soothed, quickly sitting down next to Sandra on the couch and pulling her into a tight hug, "It's okay. You're okay. We're okay. I promise."
"You don't hate me?" Sandra asked cautiously.
"No." Allison laughed, pulling back, "I could never hate you. And honestly, I'm kind of flattered. But also kind of confused. I thought you were dating Kate Littlejohn?"
Sandra blushed as she admitted, "That's purely a sex thing. Really, really amazing sex. I can't say enough good things about the sex. But she kind of warned me she was seeing someone else now, and while they weren't exclusive yet, they were getting there, so that may be over now. And even if it isn't, this isn't the same."
"Because you love me?" Allison grinned.
"I wouldn't say love." Sandra quickly protested, "Love is way too strong. It's more like a stupid unrequited crush, which now I'm aware of, I just can't stop thinking about."
"Well..." Allison raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Who said it's unrequited?"
Sandra was shocked into yet another brief pause, before pointing out, "Erm, the fact you're not gay?"
"Neither are you." Allison pointed out playfully.
"Fine." Sandra rolled her eyes, "The fact that unlike me you've never even hinted at having an interest in women."
"That doesn't mean I haven't been curious." Allison pointed out.
"You have?" Sandra asked softly, and then when Allison nodded she frowned, "And you didn't tell me?"
Allison shrugged, "I didn't want things to be awkward."
"Why would things be awkward?" Sandra frowned, before realisation hit, "Unless... you were curious about me."
"And now things are awkward?" Allison laughed.
There was a brief pause and then Sandra admitted, "I kind of like this awkward."
"Me too." Allison smiled softly.
Sandra returned the smile, and then frowned, "But, you knew I was bi. How could you possibly think I wouldn't want you?"
"Because you didn't want to ruin our friendship?" Allison offered.
"Oh, that." Sandra blushed, feeling a little deflated, "Is that how you feel now?"
"I don't know." Allison admitted, "You mean so much to me, and I don't want to lose you... but..."
Yet another long pause, then Sandra offered, "We could, you know, kiss. And if we don't feel anything, we drop it. But if we do... well, we'll see."
Another brief pause, then Allison checked, "How drunk are you?"
"Not drunk enough to not know what I'm doing, or that I'd forget this later." Sandra said softly, "Not that I think I ever could. Forget it, I mean."
That was hard to believe given Sandra had just finished an entire bottle of wine, but Allison knew first-hand how these kinds of things could be very sobering, and her friend showed no signs of being out of it, although that could be her own desire clouding her judgement? On the other hand, maybe it was better if Sandra was drunk for this? Hell, maybe they should both be drunk?