filler chapter.
let me know what you think.

When your eyes are red
And emptiness is all you know
With the darkness fed
I will be your scarecrow

.

"Hey Angela, how's he been today?"

"Olivia, hi, he's been fine, complaining of boredom but nothing unusual there" The older woman laughed as she led Olivia into the treatment room that was currently occupied by Brian and three other patients, one older man who was sound asleep in his chair, a younger girl about twenty with her boyfriend and another man around Brian's age, sat in the chair next to him, a beanie hat covering his bald head.

"Hey, there she is" Olivia smiled as Brian gestured to her and held his hand out for her to hold

"Hey babe" She said quietly before kissing him quickly on the lips

"Liv, this is Josh, Josh, this is my girl Olivia"

"Nice to meet you Olivia" Josh held is hand out and Olivia reached over and happily shook it

"Has he been bothering you?" She bumped her hip against Brian's chair "He can be a real pain in the neck sometimes" She joked and ran her hand over the top of his head.

"Nah it's good to have someone in here that I actually have something in common with, even if he is a pain in the ass"

Olivia smiled and watched the two men joke between each other for a few minutes. She sat in the chair beside her boyfriend and took a few deep breaths, exhaustion invading her body. Today was the final day of Brian's first full week of chemo, after today it would be another three weeks until he was back here.

"And here's my girl now, hey sweetheart" Olivia turned and watched as a redhead, rushed in to kiss her husband on the cheek

"Lydia, this is Brian and his girlfriend, Olivia" Josh introduced his wife to the couple before turning back to discuss her day.

"It's only a quick stop, I've got the kids outside, I need to drop Lena at dance and get back and start on dinner, I'll tell the nurse to give me a call when you're done and I'll come get you"

"I can drive him if you like?" Olivia offered "I'm waiting here for this one anyway" She joking pushed Brian's thigh and he grinned and pushed her arm. "Saves you running around after everyone"

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to be a bother"

"It's no bother seriously, I'm happy to do it" Olivia smiled at the obviously tired woman standing in front of her.

"Word of warning…" Brian began "She's not good at taking no for an answer" He and Josh both laughed

"If you're sure, that would be such a big help, and I'll definitely return the favour someday"

.

"Just up here on the left, you can't miss it, too many kids' toys in the yard" Josh laughed in the backseat as he directed Olivia towards his suburban home.

She almost gasped when she turned the corner at the sight of his beautiful home; from what she could see on the outside, it was like her dream house, large porch, big front windows and decent sized front yard. She parked the car and jumped out, grabbing Josh's bag from the backseat she began helping him out the car just as two screaming bodies flew towards them

"Daddy you're home!" A little boy, Olivia guessed around five came hurtling towards his father, with another little boy and a dog hot on his heels, stopping seconds short of them when his mother yelled at him to be careful from the porch.

"Thanks so much for this Olivia, if you ever need anything just me know" Lydia came towards them and gratefully hugged the brunette before exchanging pleasantries and phone numbers with her and Brian for a few minutes before gathering her family back into their house.

Olivia slumped her tired frame back into the car, running her hands over her face she turned to Brian who was struggling to stay awake in the front seat beside her "Hey" she whispered quietly, reaching over and gently touching her fingers down his stubbly cheek

"Hey beautiful" He smiled back and lazily leaned forward; she met him in the middle and softly pressed her lips to his.

Olivia sat back in her seat and gazed towards their house "They seem like a nice couple"

"Yeah, I met Josh for the first time on Tuesday; he's on the same treatment schedule as me. He had leukaemia as a kid, got the all clear with he was eleven. Now he's got a brain tumour, they operated, got most of it out now the chemo just mainly a precaution." Brian explained as he glanced at the home of his new friend.

"Must be rough, especially with a wife and kids" Olivia sighed

"They've been married since they were eighteen, still going strong, three kids and two dogs"

"Perfect life…" She replied quietly

"Hey, what's wrong?" Brian reached over and softly pushed a few strands of her dark silk hair behind her ear.

"Nothing" She smiled and turned to kiss his hand, not wanting to start any family related conversations just yet, she wasn't sure her heart could handle it. "Let's get you home before you fall asleep on me" She joked and turned the keys in the ignition.

"I bet you fall asleep before I do" Brian retaliated

"I damn well hope not, I'm the one driving"

.

One week down Olivia thought to herself as she sat back on the dark couch in the middle of Brian's living room. She lay her head back against the cushions and felt the heavy power of sleep take over. She had been so busy this past week between juggling Brian's appointments and her own hectic work schedule that took her all over the city every single day, driving from place to place, chasing perps through the busy streets, her days felt like they were a never ending blur of cars and perps and doctors, interrogation rooms and treatment rooms and it had only been seven days. God knows how much longer they had to deal with all of this.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah, I thought you were asleep" Olivia craned her neck and smiled as Brian walked towards the couch, his body obviously exhausted as he yawned and sank his weary frame next to hers.

"I was and then I wasn't" He gave her a sad smile and kissed the side of her head

"You should get some rest; you've had a crazy week"

"Yeah, I've got the next two off though" She smiled and leaned against him as his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"At least we know how the chemo schedule works now, hopefully it's working enough that I can get it from home and then maybe you wouldn't have to run around as much"

Olivia smiled at his statement, he was always thinking about what was easiest for her. She had called him two days ago to say she would be late picking him up, only by about half an hour due to a confrontation with a hostile witness. His reply was not to worry about it, focus on work and he'd just get a cab and meet her at home.

They argued for a good ten minutes about how stupid that idea was due to the fact that cabs are public transport and are a harbourer of germs that could affect his immune system very easily now that he had started chemotherapy.

"I don't mind doing this Bri"

"I know, but you're exhausted, there's no way you can keep this up the whole time"

"I'll be fine, you just worry about getting better and I'll worry about me"

"No you won't; you'll worry about work and me and the victims…Liv, you always worry about everybody else but yourself." He gently pulled her closer

"Bri, I'm fine, I'm just tired that's all, come on, we both need some sleep"

She pulled away from his embrace and stood tall on her feet, stretching her arms into the air she grinned as she watched Brian's eyes drift from her face to the sliver of skin of her stomach that was showing between her pants and her now risen shirt.

"You've still got that appetite I see" She grinned and pulled her shirt down

"I'll always have that appetite for you" Brian pushed himself up from the couch and wrapped his arms tight around his girlfriend's waist "I'm just too damn tired to do anything about it" He smiled before kissing her soundly on the lips.

"Well lucky for you I am too so move your ass and get into bed" Olivia dropped her hands from his shoulders and gently smacked his ass through his blue pyjama pants and carefully manoeuvred him back into the bedroom.

"Yes Madam" He fake saluted and made his way into the bedroom, collapsing heavily on the mound of pillows and bedcovers, he lay watching as Olivia stripped off in front of him and pulled on one of his t-shirts over her panties.

"I feel better already" He grinned as she kneeled in front of him on the mattress. He reached for her body as she lay down on her side facing him; her fingers traced the stubble along his lower face and chin.

"Thank you for being here"

"Thank you for giving up fighting me on it" Olivia whispered and kissed his mouth, her thumb gently rubbing back and forth across his cheek as he pulled her body to his, barely an inch of space between them.

.

"Liv…" Brian mumbled as he reached for her side of the bed, his hand colliding with the mattress.

"Liv!"

He clambered out of bed, ignoring the light-headedness he felt and stumbled into the living room, the apartment was empty; he noticed her shoes that she kicked off by the door last night were gone, as were her jacket and keys. He checked his phone, no calls or messages.

As his heart pounded with worry in his chest he heard the rustle of bags and the jangle of keys and a light grunt coming from Olivia as she pushed the door open with her shoulder, juggling three grocery bags and her purse.

"Hey, you're awake" She smiled and dumped the bags on the counter.

"What's the matter?" Olivia watched his face turn white, confusion spread throughout his solid features as he gazed between the front door and the hallway leading to the bedroom.

"You…Hi" He replied

"Brian…you okay?" She quickly moved towards him and pressed her hand against his forehead "No temperature, the doctor said confusion was a big side effect of the chemo…" She quietly muttered to herself as she got him sat down on the couch.

"Hi" He smiled

"Are you drunk?" Olivia laughed and kissed his lips

"I wish I was" He rolled his eyes and dropped his head into his hands, his elbows resting on his knees.

"Hey, it'll get better" She kissed the top of his head "I went and got groceries, because you have nothing in this left apartment" She changed the subject and moved back into the kitchen and began unpacking the stuff she had bought.

She kept turning to look at Brian, he sat completely still on the middle of the couch, still in the t-shirt and pyjama pants he'd slept in the night before. She quickly finished what she was doing and made two cups of tea and sat down by his side.

"How are you feeling?" She asked quietly, setting both mugs on the coffee table

"I dunno" He shrugged "I woke up and had no idea where I was, it was odd"

"The doctor said you'd be confused for the first few days, just while your body reacts to the medication, he said it's not uncommon and it'll happen a lot"

"I don't like it."

"I know"

"No Liv, I really don't like it. I don't like not knowing what's going on, where I am, what I'm doing, it's terrifying. I woke up and you weren't there and I wondered for a second if you were ever there to begin with or if I dreamt it."

"Bri…" Olivia felt the tears prick behind her dark eyes as she reached for him, wrapping her arms and his bicep.

"It was only for a second but god it was horrible"

"I'm not going anywhere" She insisted, pressing her lips to the side of his head "And if I do, I'll always come back."

.

Three days later and Brian was still struggling with his continued confusion. It happened mainly after waking up from a sleep, it didn't help that he was suffering badly with fatigue. Or if he happened to zone out for a second and came back, he wouldn't be fully aware of what was happening.

"Maybe we could call Josh? Ask him about it, I mean he's been going through chemo longer than you have and he went through it as a kid, maybe he could give you some advice or something?" Olivia suggested as they sat cuddled on the couch, a random thriller movie playing on the TV, neither of them really playing attention.

"Yeah, you got their number right?"

"Yeah, Lydia and I exchanged numbers when we dropped Josh off, I'll give her a call in the morning and see if we can meet up with them at some point, maybe have them over here for lunch or something?"

Brian chuckled and kissed her head "Okay, domestic goddess"

"Hey, I'm growing up fast" She laughed and buried herself in his arms, casually inhaling his scent.

Olivia turned her head up and watched him yawn once again and rub his tired eyes "Maybe you should go lie down for a while?" She suggested

"Nah, I'm okay"

"Bri, that's about the twentieth time you've yawned in ten minutes, please, go and get some sleep"

"Liv, I'm fine"

"Bri…"

"Leave it, just…leave it" He groaned.

"What's the matter?" She asked, her voice timid, she reached for his head and gently scratched his scalp.

"Nothing, I just don't want to sleep that's all"

"Well you're gonna have to, you can't keep fighting it, you're not gonna get any better if you're constantly tired all the time" Olivia argued

"I just don't like the feeling I get when I wake up" Brian quietly admitted, unable to look his girlfriend in the face

"I have no idea what's going on and I hate it, I get so confused and freak myself out, it's only for a minute or two but fucking hell Liv, it's terrifying."

.

thoughts? continue or not?

lyrics: Bleeding Out - Imagine Dragons

twitter: ahoycinderella