Disclaimer: I don't own them, but if I did . . . oh, but if I did!

Olivia gets home really wishing she was at the gym, but she's promised Alex that she would be home by 10:00 and it's 10:02, and she knows how Alex worries.

She needs to punch something, anything, and she's afraid it's going to be Alex. So when she walks in the door, she ignores Alex's smile of abject relief and her outstretched arms. She doesn't say a word. She walks straight to her bedroom, looks around for her punching bag, and can't find it. That makes her even angrier and she pulls back, then hits the wall as hard as she can. She may be strong, but the wall's stronger – she thinks. She hopes, because she knows if Alex comes in and finds her knuckles bloody, she'll just sigh and bandage them up, but if she comes in and finds a hole in the wall, Olivia will be in for it.

The wall is stronger than she is, and she's not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but when she sees her bloodied knuckles, she realizes it's a good thing. This was what she wanted, right? The pain.

And then she feels a warm pair of arms wrapped around her, holding her close, and a series of gentle kisses on her throbbing knuckles. "What's wrong, honey?" asks Alex softly.

"Go away," snaps Olivia.

"Do you really want me to?"

That comes as a surprise, but what comes as more of a surprise is the answer. She really doesn't. But protecting Alex comes first, so she replies, "I don't want to hurt you."

Alex kisses her shoulder blade. "You won't."

"You don't understand. I'm scared I'm going to hit you. I don't want to do that."

Alex kisses her again. "You're upset. I know that. So let me help you."

"You can help me by leaving me alone."

Alex regards her carefully. "If you really wanted me to leave you alone, I would. And if you really thought you were going to hurt me, you would really want me to leave you alone. But you don't and you won't. What you want is for me to hold you and never let go, and so I will, and I won't."

And as Alex takes Olivia into her arms and soothes her with calming kisses and gentle words, Olivia wonders how Alex always seems to know her better than she knows herself.

Yes, she wants the pain. But the thing she wants most is the comfort that comes after.

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