It was a Saturday morning when she received the text, and simply out of curiosity, Bernie had replied.

Serena had been far more hesitant - it was selfish of her but she was scared that Bernie might leave her if Alex came back in to her life. Bernie tried to reassure her, though failing as Serena dismissed her and said she was fine with it succinctly. Her words convinced neither of them - but Bernie knew that it was something that she had to do, and she knew that showing Serena it would change anything between them was more important than saying it. She knew that nothing would ever come between the two of them, no matter how deeply Serena's fears were rooted - she knew that with time she could convince her girlfriend that she wasn't going to leave her.

Wanting to stay close, Bernie suggested they meet at the hospital cafe - very few people were likely to recognise Alex, and even less were likely to make comment on it. She couldn't help but feel uncertain, but she knew that it didn't matter as long as she kept a tight hold of Serena.

"She's meeting me in five minutes so I'm gonna head downstairs now." Bernie told her girlfriend - yes, she had started using that word, but only in her own mind - before receiving an abrupt nod and leaving the office. As she made her way downstairs, she couldn't stop the inkling of worry in the back of her mind but she managed to smother her concern with thoughts of Serena as she entered the cafe. "Hello Alex."

"Bern', thanks for coming." Alex replied calmly, offering the seat across from her and smiling awkwardly. "It feels like forever, doesn't it."

"It's been barely a month, Alex." Bernie answered, unsympathetic in her tone. "What do you want from me?"

"I miss you Bern' - I know we said that this couldn't work now, that we were different people as civilians but…I just want our lives back, I want to go back to how I used to feel." Alex replied cautiously, knowing that she had been the one to instigate the initial 'break-up' if either of them. "Would you give me another chance?"

"Alex, I-" Bernie stumbled over her words, this was not what she had been expecting to hear. "You left me, you said you couldn't do it anymore so I moved on! I got on with my life, I fell out of love with you, I found happiness in a time when I was convinced it didn't exist. You can't do this, not after everything I went through to put you in the past."

"I know I hurt you, I was wrong to do that…I love you, Bern'. I never stopped, though I tried to tell myself I could. You're it, Bernie, everything I ever wanted." Alex uttered softly, tears welling in her eyes as she spoke. "If you've been as unhappy as me, it can only go up from here."

"Alex…there's someone else. I found someone, who makes me happier than I thought possible and I love her, and I won't leave that for you when she's been there through everything. We always wanted happiness for each other, more than anything else in the world…all I ever wanted was to see you happy, and I hope you feel the same about me." Bernie's words were bitter, she was slightly heartbroken to be letting go of what she had always dreamed of, despite the fact she was giving it up for something that was incomparable. Alex was a dream of a future, now she had a future and she didn't need one to dream of. "I'm in love, with a person who loves me and supports me and has been there through everything."

"What has she supported you through? We held each other after countless nights of watching our friends die, watching our friends be killed! For years, we were in our own bubble of happiness - and coming back to reality burst that, but we can be that happy again. I can make you that happy again." Alex's tone was spiteful, she couldn't help but resent this new woman for stealing away not only Bernie as she had known her, but the woman she had always dreamed she would one day become. "She doesn't know you, Bernie, not like I do."

"You don't know the first thing about her, Alex, or about me. You knew the Major - the woman who worked 24/7 and did very little else - but she knows Bernie, she met me in the real world which is where I belong now. She was there for countless nights of me missing you, of me crying about my divorce, of me being treated as a pariah because the entire hospital found out about us. She was the one who was there, and she made me feel loved when I was convinced it was impossible." Bernie finished honestly, no sense of doubt in her voice. "I won't leave her, Alex, not for you and not for anyone. I love her."

"Well, I'm pleased that you've found happiness…even if it couldn't be with me." Alex concluded, standing up to leave. "Come and find me - when she decides that she doesn't want you anymore, I'll be waiting."

Bernie narrowed her eyes, shocked by the viciousness in a woman who had once been so gentle, before stalking out of the cafe without as much as a goodbye.

The lift seemed to take forever to reach the third floor, but once it did, she could barely keep herself from running to the office. At a brisk pace, she hurried across the ward and entered the room with a mixture of anger and upset in her eyes. Serena stood to meet her, outstretching her arms as the blonde headed straight in to them and wrapped herself tightly around her girlfriend. Anger was brewing inside of her, and she was trying to remain calm - taking it out on Serena was the last thing she wanted to, Alex's words had sewn seeds of doubt in her mind and she wanted nothing more than to keep her love as close as possible.

"It's okay, shh." Serena whispered, holding Bernie tightly to her and sensing that she was close to tears. "We'll sort it out, you just need to calm down."

"She was so vicious, so cruel…I've never seen her like that." Bernie muttered, clinging tightly to Serena's back and holding her close. "It was awful."

"Love, let me make us some tea and we can sit and talk about it, okay?" Serena suggested, carefully removing herself from Bernie's tight hold and walking over the already full kettle and flicking it on. "Why don't you sit down, Bern'?"

Bernie fell back in to her chair, vacantly staring at the wall as she tried to process what had just happened. She had never expected to end like that - she had expected yelling, and insults, and finality but…Alex had never seemed so bitter in all their years of knowing one another. She was in shock more than anything else, she had known that it was over but she had never expected such a sour ending. She zoned out, too astonished to pay proper attention to her surroundings, and closed her eyes in an attempt to block out the world.

"Bern'-" Serena spoke sharply, shaking her by the shoulder softly. "Take your tea, tell me what happened."

"She wanted me back, she told me she couldn't cope without me." Bernie answered monotonously, unable to convey the vast array of emotion she was feeling. "I told her that she was in my past, that I was happy now, that I loved somebody else…and I thought she was going to be pleased for me, respectful at least. She was so cold, mean…it was- I've never seen her like that."

"I- Bernie, I'm so sorry. She's the love of your life, you- you gave her up for me? After everything, you'd really let her go…just like that?" Serena was stunned, she had never expected Bernie to pick her…she had never truly expected Bernie to have to choose. "She was everything to you- didn't you even-?"

"Of course I didn't! Serena, I love you, and I don't see myself stopping any time in the future - you're it, the endgame, the one that I want to spend the rest of my life with. She could never compare - she's in my past, you're my future." Bernie spoke honestly and despite her overwhelmed state, she prioritised Serena's feelings, knowing that she had been worried even before she had left. "Serena, this isn't about losing her - I gave her up a long time ago. It's about seeing the person that you once loved turn in to something you never expected them to be. I love you."

Serena had no way to express how she felt, instead she opened her arms once again and allowed Bernie to rest in them, showing her love through real actions rather than empty words. Holding tightly the one she loved, Bernie made a silent farewell to the Alex Dawson that she had known and loved.