*Authors note: Just a little one-shot I wrote a while ago. Finally decided to post this, just in case someone out there actually enjoys reading it. Kind of starts abruptly...but basically Olivia's sick, Natalia's hovering, Olivia gets annoyed and snaps and then immediately feels bad because she's whipped like that. Reviews are appreciated :D*
"Natalia, wait." Olivia called, halting the other woman's escape. Natalia turned around, arms crossed. The expression on her face spoke volumes. She was not happy about the way Olivia just acted. Brown eyes bore into green, and Olivia swallowed, trying to get the words out.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. I know you were just trying to help." Olivia said, frustrated at herself for being bedridden once again.
"Olivia, I know you hate being sick, but you can't keep pushing the people who want to help you away just because you feel vulnerable." Natalia sighed and crossed the room back to Olivia, sitting on the side of the bed. Reaching for the other woman's hand, she clasped it before speaking again. "You're my best friend, and when you're sick like this I get worried. I just want to help you get better. I want you to be healthy. No, I need you to be healthy, and so does Emma!"
"Hey, I'll be fine! It's just a little cold. I've survived a heart transplant for god's sake, I think I can make it through the common cold." Olivia stated and squeezed her hand, trying to reassure Natalia. "I'm sorry about snapping before. I just really thought I was done with being sick and helpless all the time. And I guess, I just… I've been on my own for such a long time that I forgot I have you now."
"That's right. You do have me now, so you need to stop trying to shut me out." Natalia said, repeating Olivia's words. "I will always be here for you, no matter what, so just deal with it already because I'm not going anywhere." Natalia said emphatically, before she paused, and then looked a little sheepish. "Figuratively speaking, because I actually have to go pick up some food from Company."
Olivia mock pouted. "Wow, not even 10 minutes and you're already tired of me? Should I be offended?" She teased, unable to keep the smile from showing on her face.
"Oh, stop it! I'll be right back, I promise. 20 minutes tops." Natalia said, laughing at Olivia's antics.
"Okay, I'm holding you to that." Olivia gave her hand one more squeeze before letting it go.
Natalia shot her another smile, and walked towards the door. She paused at the doorway and turned around to look at Olivia. "You'll be okay? Do you need me to get you anything before I go?" Natalia asked, wondering if Olivia needed another glass of water, or more blankets.
"Geez, it's 20 minutes, not 20 days. I think I'll be fine, now leave already before I throw something at you!" Olivia joked, letting out a laugh at the expression on Natalia's face.
"Okay, okay I'm leaving!" Natalia said, closing the door to Olivia's bedroom on her way out. Just before the door shut completely, she heard Olivia call out softly, "Hurry back."
Natalia poked her head back into the room and replied, "Soon. I hope you're hungry!" Giving Olivia one last smile, she once again exited the bedroom and closed the door. Natalia walked into her own room and grabbed her coat and purse. On her way to the stairs she passed by Olivia's door again and couldn't help herself. Maybe I should just check one more time to make sure she doesn't need anything.
Natalia opened the door halfway and once again stuck her head in. "Oliv-Oof!" Just as quickly she backed out and closed the door, incredulous. Natalia simply shook her head before heading out to Company. Unbelievable. Olivia actually threw a pillow at her.
Natalia walked into company and headed straight for the counter. Her plan was to get in, grab the food, thank Buzz and get out. However, on the last step of her plan she ran into a snag, in the form of Frank Cooper.
"Hey, Natalia!" He said, eyes lighting up like Christmas just came early. "Pop said you were coming in!"
Natalia smiled politely, and lifted up her bag of food in reply. "Yeah, just picking up some food. I'm actually on my way out now."
"So soon? But you just got here! Stay awhile, have a coffee with me?" He pleaded as he looked at her with that earnest, hopeful expression.
Natalia wondered if he was supposed to look endearing, because as hard as she tried not to, all she could feel was annoyance. Frank was holding her up, and at this rate she wouldn't make her twenty minute deadline. She felt a little guilty for being annoyed because really, he was just trying to be nice, so she turned him down gently.
"Sorry, I really can't. Olivia's sick, and I really need to get her to eat something. Maybe another time?"
His face fell immediately, and Natalia felt bad for a second. Then, he opened his mouth again and his next words erased any sympathy she had for him.
"She's taking advantage of you Natalia." Frank said quietly, and Natalia wondered if maybe she misheard him.
"Excuse me?" Natalia asked, waiting for him to repeat what he said so she can figure out if she needed to start saving for a hearing aid.
"I know she moved into the farmhouse so you could look after her, but she doesn't own you. God, this is just so typical of Olivia. You gave her Gus's heart and instead of being grateful she uses it to manipulate you, to guilt you into waiting on her hand and foot." Frank looked angry for a second, but then he blinked and his expression morphed back to blind hope with a side of dopey. "You're not her errand girl Natalia, and you can't let her selfishness stop you from living your own life. You're allowed to take some time for yourself" "– no, more than that, you deserve it! So, how 'bout it? Have that coffee with me? Queen Olivia can afford to wait a few minutes for her soup."
Natalia blinked, momentarily speechless. She cycled between three emotions, anger, disbelief and confusion. A small part of her still wondered if maybe Frank was actually speaking in another language, which just happened to make it sound like he was insulting Olivia.
Anger won out and she began her own verbal barrage, barely managing to refrain from calling him a very bad word. "You're right Frank, I'm not Olivia's errand girl. I'm her friend, who happens to care about her. I want to help her get better. That doesn't mean she's taking advantage of me. How I spend my time is my business, and contrary to what you seem to think, my life is not dependent on being in your presence. I don't sit around staring at walls waiting for you to show up before I live my life."
Natalia shifted her grip on the food, her reason for coming into Company in the first place. She should have just cooked for Olivia at home, or ordered Chinese. That way she wouldn't be having this awkward confrontation with Frank. "I don't think we should see each other for a while. I have to go now. Goodbye." With that, Natalia turned and walked away without a second glance. She rolled her eyes when she heard him call after her, "So, that's a no for coffee then?"
"That was more than 20 minutes." Olivia said immediately when Natalia walked into the room with takeout bags.
"Sorry, I got held up by Frank." Natalia replied, setting the bags down on the dresser.
"Oooh. Did he ask you out on another date?" Olivia asked, ignoring the pain she felt at the thought of Frank and Natalia progressing further in their relationship. She tried to sound genuinely interested and excited to hear the answer, but she wasn't sure she pulled it off.
"He did, actually." Natalia didn't elaborate, not wanting to get into what happened at the diner. She really hoped that Olivia wouldn't ask for details, but no such luck.
"So? Where's he taking you?" Olivia didn't really want to know, but she forced herself to ask. Natalia was her friend, and this was what friends did. She would be supportive, even if it killed her. And Olivia really believed it might. The thought of Frank being the one to make Natalia laugh, to take her out to romantic dinners, to kiss her and to love her… Olivia could feel herself getting nauseous at the thought, and purposely avoided thinking about why. She had to force herself to snap out of it, having completely missed what Natalia said. "Sorry, what?"
Natalia handed Olivia the container of tuna noodle casserole and a fork before she repeated herself. "I said, he's not taking me anywhere. I turned him down. I won't be going out with Frank anymore. I should have never gone out with him in the first place."
Olivia couldn't help feeling the small burst of joy she felt at those words, until she processed what it might mean. "Why? Did he do something?" Olivia's voice was sharp, and she could feel the anger burning through her like a fire. If Frank had hurt Natalia in some way, there would be no place for him to run or hide.
Olivia calmed and the anger left her as Natalia rushed to reassure her. "No, nothing like that! Olivia, he didn't hurt me, I promise." Natalia sat down on the bed beside her and gestured for her to eat.
Olivia shifted the noodles around with her fork. "So why'd you turn him down then? He's a good man, right?"
"I'm just not interested in him." Natalia's eyes darkened. "Beyond that, there were some… irreconcilable differences." She finished, not particularly keen to repeat what Frank said about Olivia. Natalia knew Olivia had a right to know about Frank's apparent low opinion of her, especially since she was still singing his praises to Natalia at every opportunity, but Natalia also knew that it would hurt her.
"Irreconcilable differences? What, is he a closet Republican?" Olivia joked, pouting when Natalia stated once again that she wasn't funny.
"So what was it? What'd he do that was so bad?" Olivia asked, curious.
Natalia bit her lip and looked into Olivia's eyes, not sure what to tell her. "He, um… He said some things. About you actually. He said some things about you that I didn't agree with."
Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Wow, Frankie really needs to work on his dating technique. Why was he talking about me right before he asked you out?"
"He didn't." Natalia bit her lip, and decided to just tell Olivia everything. "Frank was there when I walked into Company. He asked me to stay and have coffee, but I told him I couldn't, that I needed to get back to the farmhouse because you're sick. That's when he started with the crazy talk. He kept going on about how you were manipulating me and stopping me from living my life."
"Am I? Natalia, if I'm asking for too much, if you need a vacation or –" Olivia looked pensive, playing with her fork. "No! Olivia, none of what Frank said was true." Natalia immediately cut in, needing to reassure Olivia. "I think he was just jealous. He thought you were monopolizing my time and that was why I kept saying no to dates with him, when in reality, I'd rather just spend my time with you." Natalia fidgeted, playing with the corner of the bedspread. She knew Frank's skewed opinion was technically her fault, and felt ashamed, unable look into Olivia's eyes as she admitted the next part.
"Olivia, I'm sorry. I think…I think every time he'd ask, I'd end up using you as an excuse to why I couldn't go. I didn't want to hurt him, so instead of telling him I only saw him as a friend, I'd just conveniently say you needed me for something. And now he thinks it's your fault, and he's blaming you and saying all these untrue things and now you're the one getting hurt. I should have just told him the truth."
Olivia laughed. "Trust me, Frank Cooper has plenty of reasons to hate me, beyond him apparently thinking I'm some sort of massive cock-block." Natalia still looked guilty, even as she berated Olivia for her language, so Olivia grabbed her hand and squeezed. "Look Natalia, I really don't care one way or the other what Frank thinks about me. He certainly didn't have a very high opinion of me even before this, so really, nothing's changed. It's not a big deal. I've hurt him in the past; it makes sense that he's not my biggest fan. I get that you're not interested in him romantically, but he's a good guy. You don't have to write him off as a friend just because he said some bad things about me."
"Maybe. Still, I need to tell Frank the truth. He probably won't be too happy with me afterwards." Natalia sighed in frustration. "I think I need to apologize to him too, but I'm also so angry at him that I just don't want to see him for a long while."
"It'll work out." Olivia said quietly, giving Natalia's hand another squeeze.
Natalia flashed a small smile and looked down at their entwined hands, annoyed at herself for not ending things with Frank sooner. "I hope so." She sighed, wishing she'd never agreed to go out with the detective. She wasn't so oblivious that she couldn't figure out why she kept blowing Frank off to spend time with Olivia.
"Finish your food! You need to eat to get better!" She said, looking back up and giving Olivia's leg a small nudge.
"Okay, okay! I'm eating already!" Olivia laughed and picked up her fork, happy to see a smile back on Natalia's face.
Two days later, Olivia was feeling well enough to spend the day downstairs moving around instead of stuck in bed. She even managed to convince Natalia that she'd be okay to head into work for a few hours the next day. As Olivia lounged around on the couch, under strict orders to stay under the blanket so she didn't catch a chill, Olivia found herself thinking about how much she appreciated having Natalia in her life. I want this. Natalia and Emma and me, living at the farmhouse as a family. I want it to be like this forever. Olivia realized, gaze wandering over to Natalia who was doing dishes in the kitchen.
Olivia had known for a while that she had feelings beyond friendship for the beautiful brunette, but it hadn't hit her until that moment just what exactly it was she was feeling. Or maybe it had, and she just chose not to acknowledge it. Olivia didn't know why she suddenly decided to accept her feelings for Natalia in that moment. She only knew that as she laid there watching her best friend, Olivia felt such a feeling of peace and happiness settle over her that she couldn't do anything but accept that she was utterly and completely in love with Natalia Rivera.
Olivia began to mull over what she could do about this eye-opening epiphany, but before she could get too far, pounding knocks echoed through the house and she was rudely jolted out of her thoughts.
"I got it!" Natalia called, rinsing her hands off and making her way to the door. On the way she glanced at Olivia to make sure she stayed put on the couch.
Lifting the curtain to the glass, Natalia frowned when she saw Frank on the other side. It was 10 pm on a Wednesday, quite late for a social visit. She hurriedly unlocked the door and threw it open, worried that Frank might have heard some urgent news about Rafe. "Frank! What's wrong?" Natalia asked, scared that something bad had happened to her son again. Even though he was no longer in county, jail was still jail, and it was definitely a cause for concern when a police officer showed up at her house at this time of night.
"Hi Natalia!" Frank replied automatically, before he processed her question. "What do you mean?" He asked, a look of confusion on his face.
Natalia looked at him, realizing that he didn't have that sombre air of someone with bad news. "There's nothing wrong with Rafe?" She asked, just to make sure.
"Rafe? What happened with Rafe?" Frank questioned, his befuddled expression becoming more pronounced.
"Never mind." Natalia said, feeling a sense of relief that he wasn't here to deliver terrible news about her baby. But now, she was the one confused. "Why are you here?"
Frank now looked a mix of sheepish and excited. "Can I come in? I wanted to talk to you."
"Oh, yes of course." Her manners kicked in, stopping her from closing the door on him even though she could feel the exasperation that his presence brought begin to build, especially since she'd specifically requested that they stay away from each other for a while. Natalia stepped back, letting Frank step inside before she shut the door. "Do you want anything to drink?"
"No, thank you." Frank said, at the same moment Olivia walked into the kitchen.
"Frankie." Olivia greeted with a nod as she poured herself a glass of water.
Frank smiled at her, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Olivia, glad to see you're feeling better."
"Yup. I owe it all to Natalia. She's been so helpful, taking care of me the past few days while I was stuck in bed." Olivia told Frank, mischief in her eyes. She bit back a laugh when she noticed his smile turning into more of a grimace.
"Yeah, I heard about that." Frank said, struggling to remain pleasant, not happy with the reminder that Natalia had blown him off for Olivia. "Sorry, but do you think you can give Natalia and I some privacy? I wanted to talk to her about something important."
"Sure, Frank." Olivia returned his insincere smile, and turned to Natalia, the fake smile she pasted on for Frank immediately becoming real. "I'll be in the living room if you need me."
"Under the blanket!" Natalia reminded as she watched Olivia retreat into the living room, receiving a wave in acknowledgement.
Natalia heaved a mental sigh before she turned back to Frank, steeling herself for the conversation. "I thought we were going to keep our distance for a while?" She reminded, remembering every word he said about Olivia and still unhappy with him.
"Actually, that's part of why I came over. About the other day, I know you're angry and I wanted to apologize for what I said. I was just worried that you were working too hard, I didn't mean to insult you." Frank said, giving her that same earnest look he always had on. Seeing that she wasn't too impressed, he tacked on "Or Olivia," belatedly.
"Frank, she's the one you should be apologizing to in the first place, not me." Natalia sighed, hands on her hips.
"And I will! I'll apologize to Olivia later, but you definitely deserve an apology too. I shouldn't have dismissed your feelings like that. You're such a good person, of course you'll want to help out when she's sick. You're a great friend Natalia, Olivia's lucky to have you."
Natalia nodded slowly. Frank seemed sincere, and he said he would apologize to Olivia. "Okay. I forgive you, but don't forget about Olivia." Natalia said truthfully, understanding that people were flawed. After all, she had her own apologies to make to Frank for her role in all this.
"I won't, don't worry. I'll talk to her soon, I promise. But not tonight, tonight I want it to be about us." Frank stated, staring at her with the same hopeful gaze he had at company.
Alarm bells went off in Natalia's head, and a sense of dread filled her as Frank continued on. "Natalia, I know that you've been really busy with everything lately, you're always working so hard and you don't even have the time to go out on dates anymore and that's just not right. We haven't spent any time together in weeks, and I miss you. You're an amazing woman, and you deserve more in life than just working. I want you to know that I'm serious about us, about this relationship, which is why…" Frank trailed off, rooting around in his pocket as he bent down on one knee.
Natalia's eyes widened in horror as she stood there. No, No, Nononono… Her mind supplied as she prepared for the oncoming train wreck. She wanted to interrupt, to stop him before the Cooper disaster train ran her over but she found herself frozen, unable to do anything but watch Frank crash and burn.
"Natalia Rivera, Will you marry me?" Frank asked, pulling out the ring, and Natalia prayed for this to just be some terrible joke he was playing on her. Much to her dismay, Frank was completely serious.
"You'll never have to work again, I can take care of you!" He added, as if that made it better. His eyes were boring into hers, so very hopeful and Natalia wondered how a detective could be so bad at reading clues.
"Frank I'm sorry but, I can't marry you." Natalia finally forced out, when she realized there would be no divine intervention to save her from this unbelievably awkward situation.
Frank's face switched to confusion, his other default expression. "But…" Suddenly, confusion fell away and he looked enlightened.
Natalia braced for impact and wondered what new ludicrous things he was about to say.
"It's Gus, isn't it? You can't marry me yet because you're not ready to move on from Gus." He looked relieved at his own reasoning. "It's okay Natalia, we don't have to get married right away! We can have a long engagement."
Natalia brought a hand up to her face, wondering if Frank had always been this dense. "I'm not saying no because of Gus." She said, wishing she was anywhere else. "I'm sorry Frank, but I'm saying no because I don't want to marry you."
Frank's brows furrowed as he tried to work through this new problem. He definitely was not expecting this. "But Natalia, we're good together, I know we are! If we got married, I could prove it to you! I'd be able to move into the farmhouse so we can see each other every day." Frank took her hand, putting the ring on her palm and closing her fingers around it. "Look, don't make a decision right now, why don't you keep the ring and just think about it for a while."
Natalia pulled her hand out of Frank's, but not before dropping the ring back in his hand. She was at her breaking point. "Frank, I'm telling you no. I don't want or need to think about it for a while because I've made my decision. I'm not going to keep the ring when I already know that I'm not going to marry you." Natalia bit her lip and figured she'd go for broke. She'd tried to let him down gently, but he just wasn't getting it. "I'm going to apologize, because I haven't been straightforward with you. All those times you asked me out, and I said I couldn't because I was busy, or because Olivia needed me to do something? I was using it as an excuse because I didn't want to hurt your feelings by telling you that I wasn't interested you in that way. So, I'm sorry Frank. I should have told you the truth. And in the interest of continuing to be honest; I really don't understand why you thought I would be receptive to this."
Natalia thought back to her actions, trying to figure out how she had given Frank the idea that she wanted to marry him. "How could you possibly think it was a good idea? I mean, we've only been on three dates, and the last time I saw you I told you I didn't want to see you."
"Is this because I didn't apologize to Olivia?" Frank questioned, still on one knee.
Natalia was at a loss for words. She almost couldn't believe she agreed to go on multiple dates with this man. No wonder people never had very good things to say about Springfield PD if this was their standard. "Frank… Please leave. My answer is no, and it's not because of anything you did or didn't do. I don't love you, and I'm not going to marry a man I don't love. I'm sorry if I gave you any reason to believe otherwise."
Natalia felt drained, as Frank finally stood up slowly. Everything about him was drooping. His hair, his head, his mouth, his shoulders, it made him look like a melting wax figure. Natalia wasn't unsympathetic; he did just have his marriage proposal shot down after all. But even so, she herded him out the door, breathing a sigh of relief when she finally closed the door and locked it.
Wandering into the living room, Natalia was surprised to note that Olivia wasn't there anymore. Frowning, she checked the clock. Her conversation with Frank only took about 15 minutes, so she didn't think Olivia would have gone to sleep already. But then, Olivia was still sick, so maybe she just got tired? Natalia went upstairs and stopped outside of Olivia's room, debating whether or not to knock on the door. On the one hand, she didn't want to disturb her if she was sleeping already. On the other, she really wanted to talk to her after the debacle downstairs with Frank. Being in Olivia's presence just always made everything better.
Try as she might, Natalia couldn't justify interrupting Olivia's rest just so she could make herself feel better. Natalia decided to leave the conversation she wanted to have with Olivia for the morning, and was just turning to walk away when she heard a muffled noise that sounded suspiciously like crying. She immediately spun herself so she was once again facing Olivia's door, and waited in silence.
Natalia resisted the urge to press her ear up against the door when nothing followed. Just as she wondered if she was going crazy, the noise came again. And this time, she definitely recognized it as a sob.
Natalia knocked on the door, concern warring with propriety. "Olivia?" She called out, wanting to go in but forcing herself to wait.
There was another beat of silence, before she heard a choked, "Go away!" coming from a clearly distressed Olivia.
Okay, screw propriety. "Olivia, I'm coming in." Natalia informed, about two seconds before she opened the door and stepped inside. She surveyed the scene, heart clenching painfully as she took it in. Olivia raised her tear-streaked face from the pillow she was buried in and glared at her with watery eyes.
"What are you doing in here? Get out!" Olivia yelled, and for a second Natalia thought she was going to throw another pillow at her.
"Yeah, because I can just leave you here like this, crying your eyes out." Natalia said, sarcasm evident as she crossed her arms and glared right back.
"I-I don't w-want you here!" Olivia managed to get out, between two shuddering breaths that melted the glare on Natalia's face into an expression of sympathy.
Natalia sighed, striding over to the bed as she had done many times in the past few days. She sat down on the edge, noting Olivia's backwards scoot at her approach.
"Why are you crying?" Natalia asked, ignoring the pang of hurt she felt at Olivia's retreat.
"You don't want to know!" Olivia replied vehemently, almost before Natalia could finish the question.
Natalia felt confused by the answer, wondering why Olivia sounded so absolutely sure that she wouldn't want to hear it. "I do! I want to know why you're upset, so just tell me because I'm not leaving until you do." She stated, determined to find out what was making her friend so miserable.
"I can't tell you!"
"You can!"
"No, I can't!" Olivia's eyes were wild, and she looked so scared that Natalia just wanted to wrap her up and hold her.
"Just tell me-"
"-I'm in love with you!" Olivia sobbed, the words ringing loudly in the room. "I'm in love with you, and you're getting married to Frank, so you should just go to sleep right now and when tomorrow morning comes we can forget I said anything."
"I'm not…" Natalia whispered, throat dry. She swallowed and tried again, louder this time. "I'm not getting married to Frank."
"But, I heard him downstairs, he proposed to you!" Olivia sniffled, wiping at her eyes.
"So? Aren't you forgetting a very important step? I'd have to say yes." Natalia reminded, raising her eyebrows.
Olivia looked at her expectantly through red rimmed eyes.
"I said no." Natalia clarified, frowning now. "Did you really think I would agree to marry Frank? After everything I told you? I mean, you even said you understood I didn't have romantic feelings for him!"
"Maybe it's me?" Natalia muttered under her breath. "Why would either of you think that I would say yes to Frank's proposal, let alone both of you? Do I seem so desperate to get married that you think I'd just say yes to anybody that asked?"
"No!" Olivia said quickly, sucking in a breath. "No, you're right. I don't know why I thought…" Olivia trailed off, realizing that she'd just made a complete fool of herself. It was almost like, as soon as Olivia heard Frank pop the question, she just forgot about everything Natalia told her two days ago. All she could see was Natalia walking down the aisle towards Frank, and all she could hear were church bells. Instead of listening for Natalia's answer or even just using her brain and coming to the logical conclusion that there was no way in hell Natalia would say yes, Olivia simply shuffled upstairs like a zombie before collapsing into bed and assuming the worst.
"I think I just panicked." Olivia finished, not knowing what else to say. She felt like crying all over again, but for an entirely different purpose. She'd just realized that she'd told Natalia she loved her and ruined everything for absolutely no reason, because Natalia had turned down Frank's proposal. Natalia would surely kick her out now that she knew Olivia had inappropriate feelings for her, and worst of all, it was her own fault. "I'm such an idiot!" Olivia reprimanded herself, wanting the ground to swallow her up.
"Yeah, you are!" Natalia said, flicking Olivia lightly on the head. "I didn't even want to go out with him, let alone get married!" She added, letting out a laugh that tapered off when she realized Olivia wasn't joining in. "What's wrong now?"
"Natalia, don't worry. I'll start looking for a new place to live. Em and I will move out as soon as I find something, or if that's not fast enough, I can move us back to the Beacon first thing tomorrow."
"Wait, what? Natalia's head spun so fast that she was worried about whiplash. "You're moving out?"
Olivia continued on like Natalia hadn't even spoken. "If it's not too much to ask, maybe Emma could stay here instead of going back to the Beacon with me, just until I find some place that's more like a real home. I know she hates it at the hotel."
"No!" Natalia said loudly, wanting to shake Olivia when she gave her that hurt look. Natalia didn't shake her, but she did climb fully onto the bed in front of Olivia. Straddling her legs, she pushed at Olivia's shoulders until her back hit the headboard and she was stuck between the piece of wood and Natalia.
"Stop misunderstanding me! What I meant was no, you're not going back to the Beacon, and you're not going to look for a place that's like a real home, because the farmhouse IS your real home. Yours and mine and Emma's." Natalia said, looking into Olivia's eyes. "Why do you want to leave?"
Olivia gulped as Natalia's eyes bore into her. "I don't." She whispered, having trouble breathing with Natalia so close to her. "I thought you'd want me to leave."
"God, you really are an idiot!" Natalia said, eyes flicking up to the ceiling for a moment.
"Hey!" Olivia said, indignantly. Natalia rolled her eyes.
"Why did you think that I wanted you to leave?" Natalia questioned softly, trying to understand.
"Because…Because I told you that I'm in love with you." Olivia whispered, worried that speaking the words too loudly might spook Natalia.
Natalia lifted one eyebrow. "That's it?" Seeing the hurt expression on Olivia's face had her backtracking. "No wait, I'm not trying to make light of your declaration, because yeah, this is big, but did you really think I would make you leave because of your feelings for me? Didn't I tell you that I would always be here for you, no matter what?"
"I thought that you might be uncomfortable being around me now that you know, especially since I know you don't feel the same way." Olivia explained, feeling cautiously hopeful. It seemed like Natalia wanted her and Emma to stay at the farmhouse, but maybe it was just because Natalia didn't completely understand what Olivia had meant when she said she was in love with her.
"Olivia, I'm starting to think that you don't know anything." Natalia stated, deciding the best way to get through to Olivia's thick head was to just show her. She moved her hands from where they rested on Olivia's shoulders up to cup her cheeks, and then she leaned forward slowly while pulling Olivia towards her. Just before their lips touched, she paused. "You're an idiot." Natalia breathed out, and then she finally closed the distance, brushing her lips against Olivia's in a soft kiss. A few blissful seconds later, Natalia leaned back, a warm glow suffusing her entire body as she stared at Olivia expectantly.
"I'm an idiot." Olivia repeated dumbly.
"Yeah, but at least you're my idiot." Natalia said, smiling as she kissed her again.