Her heart was beating heavily in her chest as she jolted upright in the bed. All she saw was pure blackness and for a moment she thought it was happening again. Her throat felt constricted and she struggled to get out a ragged breath. Beads of sweat were forming on her face as sheer panic took over.

"Liv," Brian said gently, sitting up slowly, not wanting to frighten her any further. "It's okay, Olivia," he said keeping his voice calm and level. "You're safe. You're at my apartment. It's just you and me. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He looked at her in the dark and although he could only see her outline he knew the look that would be displayed on her face. It would be similar to the one she was wearing when he found her there...

"Bri?" It came out of her mouth like a soft whisper, almost unrecognizable.

"It's me, Liv," he assured her, "I'm right here. I'm going to hold your hand now, is that okay?" Brian watched as her head bobbed into a soft yes. He reached carefully for her hand and squeezed it gently, letting her know that he was right there and that she was safe.

Several minutes had gone by and Olivia seemed alright again. Her breathing had evened out and she had since leaned her head on Brian's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said quietly, "I didn't mean to wake you up..." she averted her eyes over to the red neon numbers telling the time. 3:42. "Again."

Not wanting to get into a fight, Brian didn't comment on the matter. He had told her every night for the past few weeks that it wasn't her fault and that she shouldn't apologize. He knew it was hard on her but he wished she would just understand one thing... that it wasn't her fault.

"Do you want to try to go back to sleep?" Brian asked, "or I could make you some warm tea."

Olivia sniffled and then a lone tear escaped down her cheek. Brian felt it when it dripped onto his arm.

"Why are you crying?" he asked gently.

"I'm not," she lied, "that was just sweat."

"That's pretty gross," Brian said with a light tone to his voice. This made Olivia chuckle softly and it was the first time he had heard her laugh since the tragic event.

"How about that tea now?" Brian pushed again, knowing that Olivia wouldn't want to go back to sleep.

Brian had been seeing a therapist for the last couple of days, getting some help on how to be around Olivia. He wanted to help her in any way that he could. He talked with the therapist about things he could do to make Olivia feel more at ease and they discussed possible situations about what Olivia was feeling. He wished he could just take it all away from her. Everything that happened... she didn't deserve it. Nobody did.

Olivia followed Brian to the other side of his apartment where he went into the kitchen to start the tea and she went into the living room to sit on the couch. She crossed her legs Indian-style and rested her head in her hands. She let out a stifled yawn. She was exhausted. She could count on both hands the amount of sleep she had had in the past few weeks. It seemed like every time she closed her eyes she was back at that place...

"Do you want honey in your t-" Brian stopped mid-sentence when he walked into the room and saw that Olivia was sound asleep on the couch. He knew how tired she was and he didn't want to wake her. He carefully reached over her and pulled the afghan down to cover her up. There was no way he was going to leave her in there by herself just in case her sleep was plagued by another nightmare. He went to turn the tea pot off and then went to his bedroom to grab the comforter off of the king sized bed. He dragged it down the hallway and into the living room where he laid down on the floor next to the couch and went back to sleep.

After that night... the night it all happened, Olivia didn't want to be alone. When she was released from the hospital to go home she couldn't do it. She couldn't go back to the place where he had been. He had touched her things. He had destroyed them. He had ruined everything. She didn't have any clothes with her so the hospital loaned her some scrubs. Brian promised to take her by her apartment so she could get something a little more comfortable. When they got there she just stood outside the door.

"I can't go in there," she had said with tears pooling in her eyes.

"You don't have to," Brian said, "I'll run in and grab a couple of outfits. We can go back to my place."

Olivia nodded and waited patiently in the hallway for Brian to return.

Olivia had been staying with Brian since then and he was thankful that she had insisted on it. He didn't want her to be alone anymore than she wanted to be alone. He was feeling at fault. If he had went with her to the museum that morning then maybe she wouldn't have went into work. She never would have met that sadistic man.