(no subject)
Liz liked Ikea. She never really understood why. She just kind of liked to go in and wander a bit sometimes and look at all the nifty things that she would buy if she had a reason to care about what her apartment looked like.
She wandered over to the kitchen section, figuring that maybe she could purchase a whisk to pretend that she was actually indulging. It could get shoved into the random crap drawer in her kitchen with all the other things she bought here and never used. Microwave meals didn’t exactly require anything more exciting than a fork.
She was just heading past an aisle when she did a double take, her eyes going wide at the sight of the tall blonde at the end. She darted to one side of the aisle and peeked awkwardly from around the shelves, watching Gretchen’s brow furrow as she gazed over the items.
She thought for a moment and straightened up to her full height-all five feet four inches-and entered the aisle, scanning over the shelves, pretending to be looking very intently for something while actually sneaking glances at Gretchen out of the corner of her eye as she inched her way closer.
The blonde glanced up and Liz stared very intently at a strainer.
“Liz?!”
Liz turned to look at her, smiling. “Oh! Gretchen! Hi!”
“Hi.” Gretchen smiled. “Long time no see.”
“Yeah… been a while.” Liz grinned, gazing over the woman in front of her and trying hard not to admit that she looked casually sexy in her sweater and blue jeans. “You look great!”
“Thank you! So do you.”
“Thanks!” Liz smiled dumbly, not sure what else to say. She wasn’t even sure why she’d approached Gretchen. She really should have just avoided her.
“Well…” Gretchen said after another awkward moment. “What brings you here?”
“Oh.” Liz shrugged. “I was just looking for a… blender. Yeah. Mine broke.”
Gretchen raised an eyebrow. “You were looking at the strainers.”
“Oh… Right… Yeah. My strainer broke too.” She laughed awkwardly.
“Right…”
“Yeah.” Liz snatched the strainer from the shelf. “Well I guess this is the one I want so…” She started backing up a little. “It was nice seeing you again and… good luck finding whatever it is you need to find.”
“Yeah. You too.” Gretchen’s brow was furrowed and Liz was sure the other woman thought she was completely insane.
She nodded a little before turning and heading back up the aisle, trying not to walk too fast.
“How do you break a strainer?” Liz muttered to herself as she ducked a few aisles over and set the strainer on a bottom shelf.
She groaned softly, feeling stupid and leaned back against the shelves, shutting her eyes, thinking she should probably leave while she still had some of her dignity.
“Excuse me.” A woman’s voice said.
Liz slowly opened her eyes, finding herself gazing at a leggy brunette.
“Sorry. I need to get to the spoons.” She said.
“What?” Liz asked.
“Behind you…” The brunette motioned.
“Oh.” Liz’s cheeks flushed slightly and she ducked out of the way, shuffling her feet against the floor as she walked back up the aisle.
“Baby, did you find them yet?” Liz heard the voice ask behind her. She whirled around as the brunette spoke.
“No. I can’t decide what to get.”
“They’re just spoons.” Gretchen said. “Grab something so we can get out of here.” She finally seemed to realize they were being watched because her gaze flicked up to Liz.
“Hello again.” Liz said dumbly, giving a small wave.
The brunette looked over at her, then at Gretchen. “You two know each other?”
Gretchen shrugged. “Acquaintances.”
Liz wasn’t sure why that stung. “Yeah… uhm… friend of a friend.” She added lamely. “Just know her from around… you know.”
The brunette frowned at Gretchen.
Gretchen sighed. “Not like that.” She motioned a little. “Liz, this is my girlfriend Sarah. Sarah, this is Liz. She works for Jack.”
“Hi.” Liz said, noting that Sarah still didn’t look too pleased.
“Hello.” Sarah turned back to the shelf and snatched a spoon at random. “This one’s good. Let’s go, Baby.” She grinned and kissed Gretchen’s cheek.
“Alright…” Gretchen said as Sarah latched onto her hand and practically dragged her back up the aisle. “Good to see you, Liz. Take care.”
“Yeah.” Liz sighed, forcing a smile. “Yeah… you too.”
-----
Two weeks later, Liz found herself drawn back to Ikea again after a particularly long day at work. She still hadn’t indulged in that whisk and she thought maybe she’d buy it and a nice measuring cup to go with it.
She was perusing the shelves when she heard the voice beside her.
“Hello again.” Gretchen said.
Liz looked up quickly. “Hi.”
“Break another strainer?” The blonde smirked.
Liz laughed. “No… No, my strainer is perfectly fine.”
“Good to hear.” Gretchen grinned. “Have a mission this time or were you planning to stalk me again?”
The brunette felt herself blushing. “I-I wasn’t… I didn’t mean…” She sighed. “I’m wandering.” She mumbled.
Gretchen laughed. “Relax, I’m teasing. I’m wandering too. I needed to get out of the apartment. Sarah’s in a mood again.” She rolled her eyes.
“Oh. Right. Spoon girl. You’re still with her?”
Gretchen raised an eyebrow. “I am.”
“Well… that’s awesome.” Liz managed a smile.
“Uh huh…” Gretchen gave her a long look and Liz shifted nervously under the scrutiny. She realized the blue eyes were just as deep and piercing as they had been before. She was startled to find herself thinking that they were even… stunning.
“Well…” The blonde spoke up, snapping Liz from her daze. “Shall we wander together?”
Liz shrugged, trying not to show how much the idea truly appealed to her. “Sure. Why not?”
Gretchen nodded and they headed slowly down the aisle.
“I don’t know what I love so much about this place,” Gretchen said after a moment. “But something about it relaxes me.”
Liz laughed softly. “Me too. I think it’s because you can buy yourself a ton of things you don’t actually need while at the same time, you’re still able to pretend you can actually use it.”
Gretchen laughed. “You might be onto something. I usually try and find uses for whatever I buy though.”
“Do you cook a lot?”
Gretchen shrugged, not looking at her as she spoke. “I took those cooking classes we’d signed up for. It kind of got me into it.”
“Oh.” Liz said quietly.
Gretchen sighed and they kept walking in silence.
“I lied.” Liz finally blurted.
“What?” Gretchen looked at her, brow furrowed and they stopped in the middle of the aisle.
Liz barreled through her words. “When you asked me if anyone had ever made that assumption about me before. People have. Loads of times. More than I’d care to admit to. I ignored it. I suck at anything having to do with relationships. I thought it was me. I didn’t think it was men. And then I saw you with spoon girl and she’s beautiful and I’m awkward and I thought that’s why I was jealous but here you are again and here I am again.”
Gretchen stared at her for a long moment. “What?” She finally asked again.
Liz breathed deeply. “I think I’m ready to make a big life change.”
Gretchen blinked a couple of times before sighing. “I think I should go.”
“Why?”
“I’m with Sarah. We’ve been together for over a year now. It’s good.”
“Just good?”
“Liz…”
“Sorry.”
Gretchen sighed again. “Goodbye, Liz.”
Liz sighed. “Bye.”
Gretchen gazed at her for a moment, but Liz refused to meet the bright blue eyes. The blonde turned and walked up the aisle and before Liz could say anything else, she was gone.
Liz left without the whisk and the measuring cup. Instead she went home and wondered what the hell just happened.
-----
Ikea, the store that had once been her personal heaven, was now the one store she avoided like the plague. It was depressing. She hadn’t bought anything new for her kitchen in almost three months. She clicked through their online store, feeling like an addict on withdrawal. Maybe she’d just make a few more clicks. If she got packages delivered, people would think she was actually popular for once… except that the name would be on the packages and that spoiled all the fun.
She groaned, x-ing out of the browser. She couldn’t avoid Ikea forever. Eventually she’d actually need something from there and she’d be forced to go in. But she snorted at that. No one technically needed anything from Ikea. It was all just so shiny and new that it masqueraded nicely as necessity.
Before she had time to think, she was in her car on the way to Ikea. She got out and hurried inside. Just a little look around, no harm in that.
She wandered around, absorbing the atmosphere. Maybe she’d reward herself for staying away. She’d get the whisk and the measuring cup and a mixing bowl and then she’d stop at the store and buy brownie mix and make brownies that would go straight to her thighs.
But her thoughts were cut short when she stopped at the end of an aisle. There, at the opposite end, was the tall blonde she’d been trying to avoid.
“Are you kidding me?” She muttered, ducking into another aisle. “How often does one person really need to come to Ikea, anyway?” And then she thought about that and took a moment to feel stupid before debating her next move.
She could leave and pretend she’d never seen her, just go straight home and forget this moment had ever happened. Or… She could carry on with what she was doing and still pretend it hadn’t happened and if she ran into her, she ran into her.
“Liz…” Or that.
Liz turned to look at her. “Hi.” She said. “Fancy seeing you here.” She forced a laugh.
“Yeah…” Gretchen said.
Liz swallowed hard, her mouth getting ahead of her brain. “Well… I should go… I uhm… have a date. I was just going to get… him… a present.” She grabbed a random box off the shelf, starting to back up. “It was great seeing you again.” She turned to hurry up the aisle.
“Liz, wait!”
Liz stopped mid-step and turned awkwardly. “Yeah?” She put a false cheery smile on her lips.
“I broke up with Sarah.”
Liz stared at her, smile gone. “When?”
“A month ago.”
“Why?”
“Because ‘good’ wasn’t ‘good enough.’”
Liz swallowed hard. “That’s… uhm… that’s too bad.”
“Mm.” Gretchen nodded.
Liz shifted awkwardly as a silence fell before finally blurting. “I’m still ready to make that big life change.”
Gretchen smiled slowly. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
------
(one year later)
“Why do we keep coming here?” Liz asked as she and Gretchen entered Ikea. “I think we own everything in here by now.”
Gretchen laughed, wrapping an arm around her and kissing the top of her head. “Oh no. There’s always something new to buy.”
Liz slid her arm around the blonde’s waist. “I’m glad you cook. I can come here and buy lots of things and then give them to you as presents. And then you can make me lots of really yummy food.”
Gretchen chuckled. “How thoughtful of you, Baby.”
Liz grinned, cuddling into her side as they walked. “I know. I’m a very giving person.”
Gretchen laughed again, holding her close. “Come on,” she said, leading her down an aisle. “I need to check out the strainers. I think ours is broken.”
“You’ll never let me live that down, will you?” Liz pouted.
“Not a chance.” Gretchen smirked. She stopped in front of the strainers and turned to Liz. “This is where we first met… again, I mean.”
Liz’s brow furrowed. “It is…”
Gretchen smiled softly. “I’ll never let you forget it because that’s the moment I realized I still had feelings for you. You keep life interesting, Liz Lemon, and I know you always will. Which is why,” she lowered herself to one knee and pulled a jewelry box out of her pocket. “I want you to marry me,” she opened the box, revealing a diamond ring.
Liz gasped softly before her brow furrowed again. “Is that legal?”
Gretchen chuckled. “Ever the romantic, aren’t you, Liz?”
Liz blushed. “Sorry.” She bit her lip. “As long as I can wear a dress and walk down an aisle… and eat my weight in wedding cake… I will marry you.”
Gretchen laughed. “I think those can be arranged.” She took the ring out, sliding it on to Liz’s finger before standing.
Liz beamed and threw her arms around her kissing her deeply.