This is Real

...Something Else Takes Its Place

"You can't be serious!"

"Completely serious."

The two girls found themselves walking off the unexpectedly large dinner they had after watching a black and white movie that they both admitted was their guilty pleasure. They were now on their way to a park, lit only by a few street lamps, and there were hardly any people around at ten in the evening. Sasha found that she was grateful for the company, even if she had originally planned to deny the offer. Shay proved to be very good company.

"I didn't think Troi was the type."

Shay shrugged, smirking at the memory, but then she sent a sidelong glance towards Sasha. "Well, really, you can't judge."

"I'm paid to kiss you, Shay. She asked to kiss you to know how it feels like."

"That makes you sound like a..." Shay trailed off, waiting for Sasha to come to the conclusion.

Sasha's eyes widened. "You did not just imply that."

"I don't know, did I?"

Sasha's mouth dropped open. She swiped a hand to slap Shay's shoulder but, Shay moved out of the way just in time, before wrapping an arm around the slightly smaller girl, laughter bubbling up her throat.

"I was just kidding, Sash." When Shay didn't get a reply, she ducked her head to see the scowl on Sasha's face. "Aww, don't be like that. You know I'm probably one of your biggest fans."

"Is that why you were defending Paily?" Sasha asked, bumping Shay away to try and dislodge the half hug, but Shay's arm was firmer than she expected.

"You're still on about that?"

"My inner Alison had scoffed at you."

Shay laughed, squeezing her shoulders affectionately before pulling away. "But come on. You can't pretend not to have been curious about kissing another girl before PLL."

Sasha shrugged. "Maybe. I did take the part, after all." She tried to seem nonchalant as she uttered her next sentence. "You're my first girl kiss, though."

Silence.

"I kinda feel a little special now."

Sasha barked out a laugh. "That was such a guy thing to say!"

"That's sexist."

"Hey." Sasha's voice had a note of warning in it. "I'm not sexist."

Shay raised her arms in that universal sign for surrender and shrugged her shoulders.

Sasha eyed her. "Although that does sound like you've kissed more girls than you would care to talk about."

"I've experimented," Shay admitted, unabashedly. "I'm a 23 year old who likes to party occasionally. The occasion has arisen more than once. A lot of times now that I'm in PLL, but I've never been one to shy away from the idea of being non-straight before I even signed up for the show."

"So you're not straight?"

Shay shrugged. "Maybe." The confidence Sasha saw in her faltered slightly. "Maybe I am." Shay tilted her head in thought as she looked curiously at Sasha. "Why all the questions? Have you thought about it?"

Sasha was silent for a few moments, and it was all the confirmation Shay needed. Silence, in this case, was more likely a yes than a no. They were settling into a swing set when Sasha spoke again. "Would it be weird if I said yes?"

"I'd feel flattered."

Sasha rolled her eyes, but she was glad talking about it with Shay wasn't going to be awkward, and the corner of her lips was already twitching up into a smile. She had thought talking about it would reduce her to a fumbling mess, but Shay was being completely chill about it, that she was more relaxed than she had ever been with the older girl. "Yeah, well then, you have reason to feel flattered."

Shay's eyebrows rose. "Really?"

"Now you're just fishing for compliments."

Shay laughed. She'd been doing that a lot that night. Usually it was Ashley who made her laugh so often, but that was borne of months of spending so much time together. This was probably the first time she'd spent a whole night with Sasha and she was realizing that they were so in tune. But Shay wasn't really surprised. She might not spend as much time with Sasha on set compared to the other three, but she had always felt comfortable with Sasha, sometimes more so.

She heard the swing set creaking and watched Sasha stand, dusting off as she did.

"Let's keep walking. I can still feel what we ate up my throat. I can't believe we ate so much." Sasha placed a hand over her still flat stomach, and Shay smiled standing up as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was near midnight when the two of them decided that they've walked off their dinner, and by then, Sasha had completely forgotten about her ex. She would have continued to forget about him had Shay not made the comment she just did just before Sasha slid into her car.

"I don't know how I was able to steal you on a Friday night, by the way. Shouldn't your boyfriend be taking you out?"

That made Sasha stiffen and look back towards Shay who had immediately known that she was treading on dangerous territory by asking the question judging by the almost instantaneous shift in the light atmosphere that had been present all night.

"I'm sorry. You don't have to answer that," Shay took back, hands frozen on the open door of her own car. They'd both driven separately to where they were since they went to the movies directly from work.

Sasha shrugged, because the question had already been asked, and she figured she needed to tell someone soon about it. She was sure her ex was spreading rumors about how it was her fault and not his. She couldn't be sure anymore. She had thought he wouldn't cheat, either. "We broke up. Hence the not so good day."

They were silent for a moment, and Sasha had already moved to get into the car but she caught movement at the corner of her eye, and she didn't even notice she'd been staring off into space untli her vision was momentarily filled with the brunette in front of her, before the same brunette had engulfed her in a hug.

She sighed into the embrace, and she let the comfort that Shay provided envelop her and the hurt she felt when she found out about him cheating wasn't so bad anymore. The hug for a few minutes, and Sasha was surprised she was the one who held on, because the second her arms loosened, Shay's arms tightened around her for a brief second before pulling away completely.

Shay studied her, eyes that had been bright all night now worried as she stared at Sasha. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Sasha shrugged, but she tried to communicate with her eyes that she appreciated the effort to want reach out to her. "Not today."

"Tomorrow, then. I'll take you out for lunch. You can't be alone the whole weekend."

Sasha smiled, although it didn't quite reach her eyes. Shay's voice brooked no argument. "I'll text you then."

"And I'll pick you up."

Shay made her way to her car again, but before she could slide in, Sasha called out to her. Sasha fidgeted with the car door for a bit before looking up at Shay with a shy smile. "Thanks for tonight."

Shay smiled, and Sasha could feel it brightening her mood considerably. "Don't thank me, yet. I'm taking it upon myself to be your weekend distraction."

Sasha laughed, shaking her head, before entering her car. Their eyes met through closed car doors, grinned to each other before they both pulled away and drove off to their apartments.

A/N: Dedication to the two lovely people who commented!! <3
may_carmen1: I was hoping it would pass off as flirting because I have zero flirting skills thank you so much :)))))
JackyLittleLiar: Thank you so much, I hope you keep reading! :)

I'm trying to feel how I want this to progress, so the chapters are short for now. Please review! :)