Disclaimer: If you've seen them on the show, they are unfortunately not mine, though I wish they were.
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The next day, Olivia needed to get out of her house. Her mother and the boyfriend du jour, Alan, were drinking themselves into oblivion and she wanted no part in it. So Olivia pulled on a dark sweatshirt to cover the burns on her arms and trudged off to the nearby park.
It was a ten-minute walk, but Olivia had her own special place where she went whenever she needed to be alone. There was a mile-long path that led from the park to the main street. A hundred feet or so down the path, there was another path that led to a meadow. It was a large clearing with apple trees and lots of flowers blooming, and it was the most peaceful place Olivia had ever been. She would sit in the field and make weave a necklace of flowers or play with the doll she'd made out of a sock and sewed outfits for out of an old pillowcase. She would toss a ball around, climb a tree, or just sit on a bench and think. Here, she could forget about her problems for a few moments. She could ignore the constant threat of her drunken mother and the long line or sleazy, abusive boyfriends that rotated each week.
Olivia reached the meadow and climbed one of the apple trees. She leaned against one of the branches and plucked a perfect green apple from the tree. She wiped it off on her grimy sweatshirt even though this was mostly for show than for anything and took a bite.
"Hey!" called a voice from down below. "That's dirty!"
Olivia was so startled that she almost fell out of the tree and had to grab two thick branches to steady herself. She looked down at the intruder. It was Alex, clutching the hand of a woman who was her carbon copy. They had the same icy blue eyes, pale skin, blonde hair, and sharp features. "What are you doing here?" Olivia demanded.
Alex shrugged. "Mommy and I were taking a walk. What are you doing in a tree?"
Olivia rolled her eyes. "Eating an apple."
Alex looked hurt. "Hey, what's the matter?"
Olivia sighed. She was only irritable because of what her mother and the boyfriend of the week had done to her the night before, and that wasn't Alex's fault. So she shifted in the tree, making room for Alex to come sit next to her. "Nothing. You wanna come sit with me?"
The other girl looked a bit reluctant.
Olivia smirked. "You don't know how to climb a tree?"
"Of course I do!" replied Alex, sounding offended. "I'll just get dirty and Daddy won't like it."
Her mother gave her hand an encouraging squeeze. "It's okay, Lex. Go play with your friend."
Alex grabbed onto a tree branch and walked her feet up the trunk until she was high up enough to pull herself onto the branch. Within minutes, she was next to Olivia.
Her friend cocked an eyebrow. "Impressive."
Alex gave her a self-satisfied smirk. "So, what are you doing in a tree?"
Olivia shrugged and took another bite of her apple. "Getting an apple. Want one?"
The blonde girl made a face. "They're dirty."
Olivia rolled her eyes. "Okay," she said in a singsong voice.
Alex smiled and leaned back against the tree trunk. "You know, it's nice here."
"It's my special place," Olivia told her. "Or, at least, it was."
Her friend gave her an impish grin. "I can leave if you want me to."
"That's okay. We're friends. We can share it."
Alex pulled some boondoggle out of her pocket and started to stitch.
"Hey, that's cool!" said Olivia. "Can you show me how to do it?"
"Okay," agreed Alex. She pulled apart a piece of string as long as Olivia's arm and handed it to her. "Okay, so put the string like this."
The girls spent the afternoon doing gimp and eating "dirty" apples (or in Alex's case, watching Olivia eat said apples).
Around mid-afternoon, Alex's mother took her home. "I'll see you later," Olivia called after her. Alex turned and gave her friend a small wave in response.
Olivia heaved a sigh as she watched the other girl leave with her mother. She didn't want to go home just yet, but there was no point in postponing the inevitable and she knew it. When her mother regained some semblance of lucidity, she would be wondering where her daughter was, and if Olivia wasn't home she could expect to be punished.
She jumped out of the tree, burying two more apples in the pockets of her sweatshirt for later, and trudged home. She let herself in the house and tiptoed to her room, trying not to disturb her mother and Alan.
But no such luck. "Olivia!" slurred Alan from the family room. "Come here, baby."
Olivia cringed, but obediently plodded down to greet her mother and the boyfriend. "Hi," she whispered, clasping her hands to stop them from shaking.
"Hey, baby, come sit on my lap," called Alan, patting his knee.
Olivia flinched but did as she was told. Alan's eyes were bloodshot and unfocussed and he wasn't wearing a shirt, revealing a hairy, disgusting pot belly. He lifted up Olivia's shirt and began to rub her back, pushing hard enough that it hurt her battered skin. She winced as he ran his grimy hands over layers of bruises, some of which he himself had inflicted.
Serena Benson took another swig from a bottle of Jack Daniels. "Babe, why don't you give me some of that?" she slurred, glancing toward Alan's general direction.
"Later," he said dismissively. "You got a beautiful little girl here, Rina."
Olivia squirmed as he moved up to massaging her thin shoulder blades. She closed her eyes and tried to stay still, knowing he would smack her if she moved around too much, but it was both painful and uncomfortable. She didn't like when he touched her like this, but then, it was better than what he did to her when he came into her room at night.
Finally it was over. "Go to your room," snapped Serena, and Olivia scampered up the stairs at top speed, happy to comply.
She lay on her bed, curling her knees to her chest, but she didn't cry. She never cried. She'd learned years ago that it was better not to cry, better not to show her weakness, better not to show her fear.
She sat up when she heard a gentle rap on the window. She looked up to see Alex knocking on her window and gave her friend a small smile. She walked over the window and opened it. "Hey, Alex." She could hear crying that seemed to be coming from Alex's house, but she knew better than to say anything. She'd learned long ago that what happens at home, stays at home, and people don't appreciate it if you butt into their business.
"Hi, Olivia," said Alex with a sigh. "Um, I actually wanted to ask you if you wanted to come back-to-school shopping with us. Except if you've already gone."
Olivia hesitated. She did, but she also didn't have any money to buy new school supplies and she knew her mother wouldn't give her any. She didn't know how to explain this to Alex, though. "I already went," she lied,
Her friend's face fell. "Oh. Oh, well. That's okay."
"Thanks anyway," said Olivia politely. She felt bad that she'd lied to her friend, but she didn't see any other way out.
Olivia's eyes widened when she heard footsteps on the steps. "I've gotta go," she told Alex, slamming the window shut. She leapt back onto her bed, anxiously fingering the boondoggle that her friend had given her earlier and starting to stitch.
Her door flew open and she resisted the urge to recoil from the light and the man standing in the doorway, licking his lips as he watched her. "Hi, Alan," she said, trying to keep her voice as measured as possible.
He advanced toward her and Olivia tried not to shy away. She didn't want her mother's boyfriend to see her fear. He sat down next to her on the bed and she braced herself, preparing for his rough hands to caress her broken body.
But it didn't come. Alan just sat there, watching her, and it was making her nervous. She found herself wishing he would just get on with it, no matter how much "it" hurt.
"Olivia," said Alan quietly. "You know, what you and I do together is very special. I love you and the love we share is special too. I love your mother, but not in the same way as I love you. Sometimes that makes your mother jealous."
Olivia didn't know what to say to that. She just sat there, watching him with a wary eye, frozen in terror.
"Sometimes your mother gets angry about that. She might ask you questions about our love, and that's because she's jealous or angry, so you can't take it personally. But you have to try to make her feel better and tell her she's the only one and I love her, because otherwise she'll get more upset, and you know how she is."
Olivia inclined her head slightly, wondering where he was going with this, wondering why he was telling her now.
"So, Olivia, if anyone, anyone, whether it's a teacher, because you're starting school next week, or your mother or your friends asks you about us, what will you say?"
She got it now. "I'll say you love Mommy," she whispered. "Not me." She knew it was what he wanted her to say and so she said it, to avoid further punishment.
Alan's face relaxed. "Good. That's good, baby."
She cringed at the term of endearment. "So – so that's it?"
"Actually, Olivia, I was thinking we'd try something new today," he said with what he obviously was hoping would appear an encouraging smile.
"No, thank you," she whispered.
Alan's amicable demeanor disappeared and he gripped Olivia harshly by the shoulders. "Olivia, I want you to be a big girl now and do this for me. It'll be nice, I promise." He lifted her off the bed.
Olivia was trembling, but she tried to hide it, as Alan unbuckled his belt and stepped out of his pants. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her shallow breathing, dreading what she knew was coming next.
Alan lifted off her shirt and then pulled down the rest of her clothes and laid them on her dresser. Olivia shivered from cold and from fear as he lifted her back up onto the bed. This time, she squeezed her eyes shut and let him do what he wanted.
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