Love's Unexpected Journey part 2

NC17

i own nothing and expect even less

A/N: this update talks about Olivia's rape. Not many details are given, but if this is a trigger for you please skip this update.

Natalia was working on another bottle of rum. Her thoughts were on Olivia and how far she would run. Her musings were interrupted by the buzzing of her phone-she had a new text message. Her first inclination was to just let it sit there, but she decided it might be from Rafe. She was glad she checked.

The text read that they had landed safely in Athens and then they had to go to another smaller airport to make their connection to Mykonos. They were now safely at the Cooper home. He would call or text again when he could; he was beat and going to sleep. Natalia texted back her thanks for letting her know they were safe and sent all her love. Call anytime day or night.

Natalia felt like the walls in the room closing in on her. She needed to get out of this hotel suite. The two most important people in her life were gone. Rafe was safe, but so far away. Olivia was close, but panicking somewhere. She needed fresh air or she was sure she was going to suffocate. She pulled on her jeans and a clean t-shirt. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and put on a baseball cap. She grabbed her room key, her wallet and her sunglasses. Natalia headed out to take in some much needed fresh air. The rum wasn't working anymore so maybe some exercise would help.

Natalia finally ended up at the park. She made it around the pond twice before her head started pounding. The still hung over Latina went inside the gazebo to sit and get out of the sun for a few minutes before heading back to her room at Towers. It was nice and cool and it was wonderful not having the sun glaring in her eyes, even with her sunglasses on. She must have dozed off because all of a sudden Josh Lewis was sitting next to her talking. She looked at him; it took a moment or two before she realized he was on his phone. She sat quietly for a few moments. She was just about to stand up when a light breeze blew across Josh and onto her. She got a good whiff of his cologne and then something else that was very familiar. She decided to stay and see if she could get another whiff of it and figure out what it was.

"Reva you know I'll be there for you. What time is your appointment? I went out for a run. I need to get back to the Beacon and get a shower and put a suit on. I'll be there in an hour and a half. Please stop crying, sweetie. I'm very sure Collin is too young to remember seeing a spear sticking out of Jeffery's chest. It's you I'm worried about. You know I'll be there for whatever you need. Let me hang up so I can get done here. I'll be there soon. Bye, sweetie." Josh hung up his phone and stuck it in the pocket of his running shorts.

Natalia felt horrible for Reva. She couldn't imagine coming home and finding Gus dead on the couch. She wanted to ask Josh to let Reva know that she was praying for her and Collin and to call her if there was anything at all that she could do for them. When she got closer to Josh another breeze blew through the gazebo. Immediately, she knew what the smell was. It was Olivia. Well, Olivia was a busy little bee, flitting from flower to flower. Me last night and apparently Josh Lewis this morning.

Natalia had to work very hard not allow her gut reaction, which was to scream and scratch Josh's eyes out, to happen. She was concentrating so hard that she didn't realize that Josh was talking to her until he nudged her with his hand. Olivia's scent was still on his hand and it almost over whelmed her. Fuck! Didn't he at least wash his hands before going for a run?

"Natalia are you ok? Natalia can you hear me?" Natalia looked at Josh. She was now very aware that the nasty man was now talking to her.

"Yes, I can hear you." She snapped at him. He looked very surprised at her tone.

"I'm sorry, did I do something to offend you Natalia?" She looked at him for a long moment. He didn't do anything she hadn't done. It wasn't his fault Olivia was running from her. It was her fault for pushing Olivia too fast. She pushed her jealousy down and softened her tone.

"No, I'm sorry. You didn't do anything to deserve my snapping at you. I'm just having a bad day. What were you saying to me?" Josh looked concerned. He was nothing if not a knight in shining armor for any lady in distress.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" Natalia grimaced. It sounded like he already had enough to do helping Reva and then fucking Olivia. She didn't need or want his help. She caught herself, smiled and pushed down her jealousy again.

"No thank you. I'm really ok. Rafe left yesterday for Greece with his father and Harley. I'm just being a sad sack. I'll be fine in a couple of days." Josh nodded his head. He had heard all the gossip about Gus going back to Harley. He knew how it felt to be on both sides of that story.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I've had the empty nest pain. It does get better though." Josh gave her a reassuring smile.

"I was wondering if I could ask you a favor?" Natalia tilted her head to listen to whatever he was going to ask.

"I don't know if you've heard, but Reva found her husband, Jeffery, dead in their living room yesterday. He had a spear sticking out of his chest. She had Collin with her. I'm trying to help Reva as much as I can. But I really think Olivia could use a friend right now." Natalia started to make a face. Josh put his odiferous hand back on her shoulder. Natalia kind of side stepped to remove his hand without making it look obvious. She just couldn't concentrate with Olivia's scent there. She tried to soften her face to let Josh know she wanted him to continue. Josh looked Natalia in the eyes for a moment before he started to talk again.

"I don't know if Olivia ever talked about Jeffrey with you, but they had a long and very strange history together. To top it all off, Jeffrey was Ava's father.

Natalia didn't really know Jeffery that well. She had only met him a few times when he had come to see Olivia at the Beacon. She wouldn't wish that kind of death on anyone. Well maybe Josh, if he didn't keep his hands off of Olivia. She checked her almost out of control jealousy again.

"I'll try Josh, but Olivia isn't really happy with me right now. Do you have any idea where she might be? I'm not even sure where to look." Natalia knew this could be a very bad idea, but no matter what, Olivia was her friend first and foremost.

"The last time I saw her, she was heading up to her suite. That was less than an hour ago. It would really take a lot off my mind if I knew Olivia was in good hands until Ava gets here." Natalia moved towards the stairs of the gazebo.

"I'll try my best with her, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if she goes running back to you." Josh thanked her again. Natalia headed over to the Beacon. She stopped and picked up two large bottles of vodka on her way. She didn't know about Olivia, but her headache was back, and she knew if they talked she was going to need some liquid courage.

Olivia was sitting on the couch in her suite. She had a large glass of vodka in her hand. She had just gotten off the phone with Ava. That had gone about as well as she thought it would. She wanted to be there for Ava. Olivia certainly understood how it felt to lose your father, but Jeffery was in a category all his own. At some point in the future, Olivia knew she and Ava would have to have an honest conversation about Jeffery. But now was not that time. She took a big sip of her drink.

She had spoken to Phillip before calling Ava. He offered to keep Emma for the rest of the weekend so she could focus on Ava. It turned out that Ava couldn't be there until early Monday morning. Olivia really wasn't all that upset about that; at least it gave her time to figure out her own feelings about Jeffery. Then there were her feelings for Reva and Josh and Natalia. Ugh. There were too many people in her head. Logically, the first to go would be Reva. Reva had enough people looking out for her. First in line had always been and would always be Josh. He spent his life being Reva's knight in shining armor. She decided she could put him out of her mind for the moment as well.

Natalia was the one she really wanted to put out of her mind, but just couldn't. No matter how hard she tried, questions kept circling in her brain. Why had it been so good with her? How did she make my body do the things it did? Why did her heart yearn to touch her again? What did it all mean? Was she a lesbian now? That was not what she wanted people to think she was. When did she start caring what other people thought? Be honest Olivia, lesbian is a word you don't want to call yourself. What would she do on Monday morning when she had to see Natalia at work?

It was all too much. There were no answers to her questions and just thinking about it made her think of more questions. How long ago did she notice her feelings for Natalia had become more than she was used to feeling for anyone but her girls. Was it possible to go back to just ignoring her feelings for her? No Was the reply that started whispering in the back of her brain. It was just making her head hurt even more.

She was sitting with her head in her hands when there was a knock on her door. She got up to answer it. She was hoping it was the lunch she had ordered from Company. She really didn't want to see anyone right now. She pulled open the door and was stunned to see Natalia standing there. She started to blush. It was the first time since she was a teenager that she remembered blushing.

"From the look on your face, I'm taking it that you weren't expecting me." Natalia smiled and started to move closer to Olivia. Instinctively, Olivia backed away. It gave Natalia room to enter Olivia's suite. Olivia watched her pass by and sit on the couch before she was able to get her brain to work her vocal cords.

"Um . . . no. I was expecting lunch from Company. Um . . . I'm sorry I just." Natalia cut her off before she could finish her sentence.

"Relax Olivia; that's not why I'm here. I was just out taking a walk in the park. I really needed to get out of that room and get some fresh air. I went into the gazebo to get out of the sun. I must have fallen asleep because all of a sudden, Josh Lewis was sitting at the end of the bench talking to Reva on his cell." Natalia saw the look of fear in Olivia's eyes. She hadn't decided yet if she was going to let Olivia know that she knew Olivia went straight from her bed to his. Natalia decided, at least for now, it was best to stay quiet on that subject.

"Josh filled me in me on what he knew about what happened to Jeffery. I told him I didn't really know Jeffrey, but I did know he was your friend and Ava's father. Josh said you could really use a friend right now. I was hoping I could be that friend. All the other stuff can wait until later; when you're not grieving over the loss of a friend." Natalia was stunned by Olivia's reaction. She wasn't sure what Olivia was going to do; start to cry, scream at her or maybe throw her out, but laughing was the last thing that would have come to mind. Natalia didn't know what to do, so she just kept quiet, waiting to see what Olivia was going to do.

"Jeffery wasn't a friend of mine. I hated Jeffrey. I only made peace with him to appease Ava. If it had been left solely up to me, and the option to kill him was taken off my plate, my next choice would have been to have never, ever seen him again." Olivia seemed to disappear into her head for a moment. The sound of someone knocking on the door startled them both.

"That has to be my lunch now." Olivia opened the door and was very pleased it was the delivery guy from Company. She paid him, took the bag and closed the door. She walked over to the little kitchenette area and set the bag down on the counter. She called out to Natalia from the kitchenette.

"It's Buzz's tuna noodle casserole. I'm sure there's enough for two. Would you like to share it with me?" Olivia knew she needed to talk to someone about her feelings. She knew she needed to figure it out before Ava got there. She also knew that Natalia was nothing if not trustworthy. That was another reason Natalia scared her to death. She really did trust her. Olivia clearly understood she needed to get all her anger issues about Jeffrey under control so she could help Ava grieve.

Natalia came into the kitchenette and started helping Olivia plate up the casserole. She stayed quiet, letting Olivia lead wherever this was going. Josh was right; Olivia most definitely needed a friend right now. Natalia knew Olivia well enough to know that when she was ready, she would let it out.

"Natalia, I need a friend right now that I can trust. I need to talk through my feelings with someone before my grieving child gets here and needs my help to get her through it. Can I trust you to be that friend? To know that what I tell you in this room goes no further than this room?" Natalia nodded her head and took the plates back into the living area. She put them down on the coffee table. Then pulled out one of the bottles of vodka from her bag. Olivia was very pleased it was a bottle of Goose. She went back to the kitchenette and grabbed a clean glass for Natalia and two forks. After, she went back out and sat down on the sofa.

Both took a fork, sat back on the sofa and started eating. Olivia knew once she started talking, the only thing she was going to want was vodka. For Natalia, it was the first food she'd had in her stomach since the day before yesterday. She really did need to eat. Natalia moaned when the first bite of food went into her mouth. It was the same sound Natalia made the first time Olivia sucked one of her very hard nipples into her mouth. The sound and the memory sent a shiver down Olivia's spine. Olivia quickly took a few more bites, poured herself a good three fingers of vodka and stood up. It was easier to concentrate when she wasn't close enough to breathe in Natalia's scent.

Natalia continued to eat. She was well aware of the effect she was having on Olivia. It made her happy to know that the effect was so great; that she had to move away. She took another fork full of casserole to cover the smile that was spreading across her face. She promised herself she wouldn't push it. She wouldn't try to seduce Olivia today. She was just here as a friend. Olivia needed a friend.

Olivia took a big pull off her drink. She put the cool glass against her forehead. She told herself to think about Jeffery. That always turned her libido off fast. Start at the beginning and tell Natalia the whole story. Get it all off your chest. "Jeffery . . . Jeffery was . . ." Natalia gave Olivia her full attention. She could see how much trouble Olivia was having trying to get her thoughts into words.

"Take your time Olivia. I have no place else to be and there is no one I'd rather be with. You can tell me anything and be sure that it's safe with me." She really wanted to take Olivia's hands, but she didn't think it would help right now. Olivia nodded her head. She knew without a doubt that Natalia was telling the truth. She pulled her pants up and decided to just tell the story from the beginning.

"Ok, so just bear with me. Jeffrey was from my past, so you need to know some of that. I was born and raised on the island of San Cristobal. My father died when I was ten; my sister was eleven and our baby brother Sam was just two. Now, the summer I turned sixteen, I heard about a big party at the palace. My family was not anywhere near the social class that would have ever gotten invited to these kinds of parties. For some reason, I got it in my head that I had to go to this party. My life would be ruined if I didn't go." A sad smile came to her face. The truth turned out to be quite the opposite.

"While my mother thought I was asleep in bed, I snuck out of my bedroom window and headed to the palace. I was only sixteen, but I looked much older. I was easily able to flirt my way in. This was the first time I had ever been inside the palace. It was truly a sight to behold. Everything seemed to sparkle. It was more beautiful than any place I had seen before." Natalia could see that Olivia was in the palace reliving that moment. Natalia felt a strange sense of foreboding, but she quietly waited for Olivia to continue.

"I hadn't been there very long when a handsome young man came over to me and asked me to dance. I felt like Cinderella. We danced through several songs. He was very charming and so sweet. When we finally stopped, the young man very gallantly brought me over to a chair so I could sit and wait for him while he went to get us something to drink. It seemed like in no time he was back with the drinks. It was some sort of fruit punch. I downed the whole cup and he went to get me another. It must have been full of alcohol because a short time later, I started to feel funny. He sweetly offered to take me someplace quiet and private to rest. It seemed like a very good idea at the time. It was getting hard for me to hold my eyes open. He took me down a long hallway with doors on both sides. At one point, he had to pick me up and carry me. That is the last thing I remembered till waking up a few hours later." Olivia paused to take a large swallow of her vodka.

"When I woke up, I was all alone on a large bed in a huge bedroom. My dress was torn, my panties were missing and there was blood on the sheets." Natalia didn't even think to hesitate; she shot up off the couch and took Olivia into her arms. That little bit of human kindness caused Olivia to start crying.

Natalia gently guided them to the couch and sat them down. She held Olivia in her arms and let her cry. She knew when Olivia was ready, she would continue. This story was bad enough; she didn't want to push her.

Olivia was amazed at how safe she felt in Natalia's arms. This little sprig of a woman made Olivia freaking Spencer feel safe. She didn't know why and at this moment in time she didn't really care why. Her arms were strong and her skin was soft and she smelled of soap and Natalia. She gathered her emotions so she could continue her tale.

"I immediately knew what had happened-what he did to me. I just couldn't actually remember it happening or even remember what his name was. I was completely humiliated by the whole situation. I quickly started gathering up my stuff. I noticed that my purse was open when I went to grab it. He had stuffed in the equivalent of about five hundred dollars into my purse. Now on top of everything else, he was treating me like a common whore." Natalia just tightened her arms around Olivia and whispered how much she loved her and that she was here for whatever Olivia needed.

"You don't still feel like that do you? You know that he drugged you. Then raped you; to make himself feel like he didn't rape you, he left the money right? You didn't ask for the money did you?" Natalia hadn't planned on saying that; it just came out. Olivia didn't answer her. She just continued on with her story.

"I wanted to throw the bills in his face or tear them up and leave the pieces all over the bed, but we never had enough money at home. I had never seen that much money at one time before. To my mother's shame, I kept it. I ran out of the palace and all the way home. It was just starting to get light out as I climbed back in through my bedroom window. I went into the bathroom and took as hot a shower as I could, trying to get his smell off of me. I got into my pajamas and went to sleep. I didn't tell a living soul what happened. It was my fault; I shouldn't have been there." Natalia had tears running down her cheeks as she shook her head no.

"That's how I felt then. Now I know better. But the story isn't over. The nightmare didn't end that night. Three months later, I had to stop pretending everything was fine. It wasn't even close to fine. It would never be fine again. I had to tell my mother what happened that hellish night because I was sure I was pregnant and I needed her signature to have the pregnancy stopped." Olivia unwrapped herself from Natalia and filled her glass with vodka. She took two very large swallows. This was the hardest part of the entire nightmare to live through again. That horrible young man had no idea what he put in motion.

"To say my mother didn't take it well would be the understatement of the century. She didn't care that he raped me. In her mind, it was all my fault. If I hadn't been where I didn't belong, none of this would have happened. She told me I needed to get down on my knees and pray for forgiveness. When I defiantly looked her in the eyes and told her I was pregnant, I could see the vein on the side of her head start to pulse. When I pushed on and told her I wanted an abortion and I needed her to sign the papers for me, I thought she was going to explode. She reached out and backhanded me across the face. My nose started to bleed and I went down on my knees in pain." Olivia quieted for a few moments. Natalia could see in her eyes that Olivia was back in that living room reliving that night. She rubbed Olivia's arm to encourage her to continue the story and not dwell wherever she was.

"Now my mother dropped to her knees and started to pray. She was beseeching God to save me from my evil, sinful ways. She was going on and on, crying and begging God to remove my sins. Then all of a sudden, she just stopped. She got very quiet. I opened my eyes to find out what she was doing. She was looking straight at me. She had the strangest look on her face. I asked her if she was alright. She turned her head from the right to the left, then back towards me. We made eye contact for a moment, then she closed her eyes and fell forward onto the floor." Natalia couldn't stop the tears from streaming down her face. This whole story explained so much about why Olivia acted the way she did.

"As hard as I tried, I couldn't get her to wake up. I called the police hysterically crying. They sent help. The paramedics were very nice. They told me she was gone. We were all orphans now. That left all the responsibility of raising our eight year old baby brother on me and my sister. By the time we were able to bury our mother and everything else settled down, it was too late to have the abortion." Olivia was getting very weary from reliving all of this. She would have to dig very deep to get this next part out. She never told anyone this part, but something inside her was telling her that Natalia needed to know and that she would somehow understand. Up until this very moment, the only person that knew how she felt about being pregnant was her sister Marissa and poor Marissa had died many years ago.

"Natalia, I hated every single thing about having that baby growing inside of me. I couldn't wait to get it out. I gave the baby up for adoption without ever seeing her." Olivia dropped her head and didn't want to look at Natalia. She was sure when she heard the next part of the story, Natalia would see the real Olivia Spencer. It might change how Natalia felt about her.

"I spent the next twenty years working very hard to forget any of it ever happened. I never told anyone that I had been raped or that I had been pregnant or that I had given the baby away." Olivia was remembering that horrible moment when she realized just who Ava was. Natalia knew immediately that she would have felt the same way.

"It was a complete and utter shock when I found out Ava Peralta was the baby I had given up. I was not at all happy knowing who she was at first. There was a lot of deep seeded anger that we both needed to work through. I'm ashamed to say that I did some real damage to her, even before I knew who she was. She was my assistant at the Beacon. I thought she had tried to hurt Emma. Ava was babysitting when Emma drank some perfume. Emma ended up in a coma and I almost lost her. After that, I tried to kill Ava on more than one occasion." Olivia was sure Natalia would get up and leave after that piece of information. Olivia looked up expecting to see shock or contamination in Natalia's eyes. She didn't see that at all. What she saw a mother's anger and understanding.

My bad behavior continued even after I found out. I stopped trying to kill her, but I still wanted her to leave town. It took some time before we started to try to build a relationship with one another." Olivia paused to take a sip from her glass.

I was trying to makeup for some of my behavior with Ava, and I made the huge mistake. I allowed Ava to disregard the fact that Jeffery had raped me, so that she could feel better about her conception." Natalia poured more vodka in both their glasses. It was finally sinking in; that young man that had drugged and raped Olivia was Jeffrey O'Neil. Ava wasn't the love child of two randy teenagers; she was the result of rape. Olivia was so much stronger than Natalia could ever hope to be.

"I'm very torn right now. I'm sad for my daughter. Her father and Collin's father is dead. I'm even sad for Reva losing her husband. But deep down inside me, the sixteen year old girl that still lives inside me, is jumping for joy. The big bad wolf is finally dead." Olivia was drained of all energy. She moved towards the couch and almost collapsed on top of Natalia. Natalia took Olivia into her arms and just held on tight. She was trying to give Olivia all the strength she could.

Natalia was caressing Olivia's back. She was trying to soothe her friend's raw nerves. It seemed to be working. Shortly after Natalia was sure Olivia had fallen asleep, she relaxed enough to follow her friend into slumber.

TBC