This is only my second story and I don't know where I'm going with it. I started the first paragraph in January and walked away from it. I thought I'd revisit it and see what I could do with it. I don't own any of these characters, if I did, I would not share. I promise.

Space Between

1

Olivia POV

Olivia groaned and wiped hair out of her face before opening her eyes. She could make out light colored hair attached to the woman in bed next to her. As the mother of all hangovers kicked in, she propped herself up one one elbow to see who was next to her. When she could finally make out her bed partner's face, she almost gasped. The woman, Amber, was a beat cop who had flirted mercilessly for nearly a year.

Clothes were strewn around the room and Liv was out of bed trying desperately to get dressed without making any noise. She walked around in the dimly lit room looking for her second shoe and located it under the bed. She left the bedroom and found her jacket in the living room. She shoved her arms in the sleeve and noticed a bottle of Advil on the coffee table with a glass of water. She shrugged and took two and a large drink before leaving the apartment.

She thought back to the night before after she hailed a cab. She could remember being at a cop bar with Elliot, Fin, and Munch. She could vividly remember Elliot and Munch both leaving. Fin hung around for awhile longer. They laughed about a lot but then he asked her the one question that always stopped her in her tracks. He had asked about Alex. She never got a chance to answer before he got a call and had to leave. The question had aggravated her. She kept drinking at the bar while she thought of Alex Cabot. Amber Myers appeared later and was flirting. Liv was attracted to her but only vaguely. Through the drunken haze of her memory, she remembered Amber inviting her home.

She paid the cabbie and walked into her building. It was barely 7am on Saturday morning so nobody was out in the halls. Since she wasn't on duty until that evening, she went into the apartment, drank a glass of water and spent the day dozing off on the couch and dreaming of tall blond women.

Alex POV

Alex Cabot woke the way she did most days, feeling sore and disoriented. She raised her head stiffly and checked to see if Richard was still home. This should be the happiest time of her life. After coming home from WPP, she had met Richard and he had proposed fairly quickly. He seemed like a good choice but he wasn't what he had appeared to be. He had the perfect job, perfect hair and teeth, great personality, he had everything...including a perfectly insane temper.

Alex crawled out of bed and gingerly made her way into the bathroom. The large master bath was still imposing after living with Richard for 2 months. She stripped out of her pajamas and surveyed the damage from last night's argument. Small bruises marked her forearms and they were commonplace lately. She took notice of the healing bruises and their ugly yellowish colors that littered her back but began to cry when she saw the new dark angry bruising on her ribs and upper thighs. Her body shook with sobs and she sunk to the cold floor. Alex couldn't even remember what set him off last night. Maybe she was a little later than normal, maybe she didn't paid too much attention to the files she brought home after work.

The first time Richard hit her, they were both aggravated after a hard day at work. She listened to him rant about the idiots and bitches that worked for him. After an hour or so of the endless tirade, she got up to go to the bathroom. He growled, "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"Honey, I know you're upset but I need to be excused for a moment. When I get back, I will make you a drink."

He didn't say anything else so she left the room. After she came back into the living room, she made him a vodka tonic. He drank it in silence. Richard didn't say anything else, just went into the bedroom and showered. He spent the rest of his night in his study and Alex had known he was angry but she didn't seem to be able to help at all.

Her phone rang later in the evening. It was just a call from one of her ADAs. She spoke with Jim Steele briefly about one his cases. Before ending the call, Steele made some corny joke that made her laugh. She sat her phone down and pain in the back of her head. Richard began screaming about her cheating on him with Steele. He claimed she never giggled like that when he called. It was only one blow to her head, a slap really. That was how everything changed.

The next morning, he apologized. He swore it was the alcohol. He promised to stop having a drink on bad days. He even bought her flowers and paid for a spa weekend. She didn't believe her sweet Richard could be abusive so she forgave him. It was 3 days before his grabbed her by her arm and jerked her across a room. He didn't apologize that time and being jerked by her arm became common. He had only hit her on 3 occasions, the first time to the head. A week ago, he was angry because she worked late. He was drunk when she came home from work. He accused her of sleeping with every man at work. He accused her of sleeping with half of the DAs office. He called her a whore and used his fists on her ribs.

She stepped in the shower and let the hot water rain over her battered body. She dressed in track pants and a long sleeve T shirt. She wandered around the perfect apartment. It was much larger than her penthouse apartment. It's furnishings were more for show than anything. The art work on the walls was in good taste but it made Alex feel like she was in a museum, not a home. She walked through the kitchen and laughed because it seemed more suited for a chef, not somebody who could burn a stove down in less than an hour.

After a cup of coffee, Alex picked up her keys and made her way to her apartment. All of her furniture was sold when she entered WPP and had been replaced but barely used. Her old clothes were also sold. However, Olivia had made sure her mother received her pictures, keepsakes and other valuables. Alex had made the trip to her family home after being back from the program for only one day.

She walked around the penthouse thinking it seemed so small these days. All of the new furniture was covered. All of her towels were packed into boxes to keep out the dust. It seemed so empty and sad. Alex walked into the her former bedroom and found one of the boxes from her life before WPP. She opened it and found her old Harvard sweatshirt. She hadn't paid much attention to the boxes after she found her jewelry and personal papers.

The box in front of her held a lot more that just the sweatshirt. There was a shoebox inside of the box and she set that off to the side. She pulled out various things she had left at Olivia's apartment before she was shot. The contents were fairly random. At the bottom, she found a framed photograph she had forgotten about years ago. It was a picture of Alex and Olivia in the squadroom at the 1-6. It was just after a pretty hard case had ended in a conviction. Olivia threw her arm around Alex's shoulders and Munch snapped the picture with an evidence camera.

Alex stared at that picture for what felt like an eternity. She remembered that day well but she was flooded with so many memories of prosecuting for the 1-6. She was assaulted by memories of what life was like when she and Olivia were close friends. Tears streamed down her face as she realized she had become the one thing she never wanted to be, a victim. She sat the picture down and opened the shoebox. She smiled as she saw her old cellphone and charger. She walked across the room and plugged it in. She found a few hair ties, the money from her desk drawer she guessed, some figurines she had wanted but never bought...probably a gift from Olivia. Old birthday cards from coworkers. At the bottom of the stack of cards, there was an unopened one. She opened the envelope carefully. The card was pretty but said nothing more than Happy Birthday on the outside. She opened it and saw Olivia's familiar script.

Alex,

I doubt a birthday as a different person is much to celebrate but I'm thinking of you. I miss you friend. It's only been a few days since you left but I feel lost without you. I wish I could have went with you but I know that wasn't possible. I don't even know what to say but I want you to know I love you and miss you. I will be thinking of you everyday until I know you're home safe.

Liv

Alex put the card back into the envelope after reading it a few times. She checked her watch and realized time had gotten away from her and put everything away. As she put the box in her closet, she remembered the old phone. She picked up the old phone and turned it on. She smiled as she remembered getting her first camera phone. The phone booted up and showed a grainy color picture of her and her mother. She looked through the calls and the few texts she had received. Most were from Olivia. She read over them and tried to remember why she was so afraid to contact her old friend.

Her newer phone rang in her pocket and startled her. She fumbled for the phone and answered, "Cabot."

"Where are you?" Richard sounded angry and worried at the same time.

"I just went to my apartment to look for something. I'm leaving now."

"Just hurry up. I thought we could spend some time together today but you had to leave."

"I will be home as fast as I can. I'm sorry for not being there."

"Ok, Alex. I will see you when you decide to get here," he said before hanging up. Alex put her phone in her pocket and slowly made her way home to face another night of angry Richard.