Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading and encouraging my long abandoned story. I hope you enjoy this returning chapter, please review : )
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"So." Olivia said as she weaved their way out of the city parking garage. "Lunch?"
"Hot dogs."
Olivia laughed at Alex's quick and definitive response. "Alright, any hot dogs in particular?"
"Coney Island? Might as well take advantage of our time off and stray from the downtown street food."
"To the oh-so-more-delicious Brooklyn street food?"
Alex backhanded her in the shoulder playfully. "I'm a cheap date, don't complain."
Olivia smiled and put her hand up in defense. "Grab my ipod out of my bag, put something on."
"Yes ma'am." Alex scrolled through her options before settling on a song with a strong chord progression that came through the speakers and led to…
"Oh baby baby…" Alex smiled as the voice from beside her blended with the recorded one. By the chorus, both women were belting:
My loneliness is killing me, aaand I..I must confess
I still beliieeve….When I'm not with you I lose my mind
Give me a siiiiiiign, HIT ME BABY ONE MORE TIME!
Olivia grinned at her passenger before focusing her attention back to the midday traffic (because when was there not traffic) outside, her hand coming down to inadvertently rest on top of Alex's.
There was no alarm; no lightbulb; no streamers bursting inside her. It just was. Like this was how it was always supposed to be. She wondered if Alex felt it too.
xxx
After the two had thrown away their trash and were walking back to their picnic table, Olivia groaned
"Uunnh...the rides look so fun but I'm so full."
The cars on the Cyclone rattled loudly, drowning out the sounds of children and spring as they went by.
"I don't need to be any more beat up right now anyway."
Olivia watched Alex run her fingers through her hair as she commented so nonchalantly, and wondered what was going on in that complex mind that was so hard to read. "Another day then?"
"Definitely."
xxx
"Liv, is it alright if I take a shower?" Alex asked as Olivia unlocked her apartment door.
"Of course, Al." She realized, walking inside, neither of them had showered since getting out of the hospital the day before.
Has it really only been one day? So much had happened, she thought. And she had had other things on her mind, apparently, she noted, her eyes following Alex's strides into the bathroom.
Olivia thought she might as well bathe now too, and flopped onto the bed to wait her turn, imagining Alex in the shower, and the possibility of being in there with her sometime soon.
A few daydreamy minutes later she heard the water turn off, and in a moment her gorgeous woman came back into the bedroom wrapped in a soft yellow towel.
Olivia happily watched the freshly clean Alex walk over to her somewhat tousled bag, before standing and sliding her hand across the small of her back.
"How was your shower?" she was supposed to say, as Alex jumped and spun around, the eyes that met Olivia's as full of fear as when she opened them to see her friend on her bedroom floor two nights before.
And Olivia again felt the knife inside her. He grabbed her around the waist.
"Alex, I'm sorry. It's me." She said quickly but calmly. She watched her body relax to mostly normal, having reassured the woman she loved that everything was alright. Alex sighed and turned back to her temporary wardrobe.
Olivia took a deep breath herself, in the middle of which she stated, "I'm gonna hop in the shower, too."
"Okay."
She wasn't aware that she still wasn't quite breathing until she turned the faucet and her held air flowed out with the water. As she stripped out of her clothes, Olivia cursed herself for being so stupid as to touch Alex's lower back. She wanted to return the personal physical contact that Alex had been so brave to initiate. She wanted to show her that their kiss wasn't regretted, that holding her through the night wasn't just out of duty, but desire.
She lathered up her hair and body with her cop-hardened hands and she wished they were Alex's delicate ones. She knew she couldn't be the one to make a strong move after the attack; Alex needed to start deliberately romantic contact—and indeed she had. But would she again?
Olivia walked out of the bathroom to see a beautiful blonde lying on her bed in what looked like an old favorite pair of jeans and a camisole, focused intently through her glasses on a book of crosswords that Olivia always kept in her nightstand. She paused for a moment to take in the sight, which included the bruises and scrapes covering her uncovered chest and back.
Open your eyes Olivia. A voice in her head demanded.
Elliot is right. She trusts you. She feels safe with you.
You know she wouldn't expose those marks to just anybody.
Olivia didn't think the strong ADA would willingly let anyone see so vividly how recently she was victimized.
Except you.
She walked over in her towel and sat next to Alex, who was currently holding the end of her pen in her mouth, as she often did while studying a case or pacing, planning her attack.
"How goes the puzzle?" the detective asked.
"Alright," the attorney responded, not looking up. "What's a 13 letter word for laborious?"
"Sex-crimes-unit?"
At that, Alex smiled and looked up at her friend. Olivia was happy to see it glowing inside her vibrant blue eyes.
"That's quite a stash you have in there," Alex smirked, nodding towards the bedside cabinet.
Its owner reciprocated the expression as she stood and walked to the closet. "Yeah, well, it's not like I have anyone to do it for me."
"Not for lack of offers, I'm sure" the blonde replied genuinely.
"Just not from the right person." She grabbed the outfit she had been picking out and flashed a flirty grin on her way into the bathroom to get dressed.
x
They spent the rest of the afternoon flipping through daytime television, doing crossword puzzles, reading last month's Cosmo, and generally being two workaholic women bored out of their minds at home.
At least she was bored out of her mind with Alex.
Dinnertime provided their escape, with a large local delivery The Works on the table.
"Unhh...hot dogs and now pizza" Alex groaned, despite picking up her second slice. "Here comes five pounds."
Olivia rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. You could stand to put some more meat on those bones, counselor. And you adamantly wanted hot dogs, if you'll remember."
"I plead the fifth" the attorney replied, tilting her head to catch a dangling piece of cheese in her mouth.
Olivia couldn't help but laugh.
x
After cuddling through another movie, tonight Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Alex leaned back over Olivia's lap to stretch and looked up into her loving eyes. "Can we watch the whole series?"
The brunette smiled. "Sure. That'll give us something else to do for the next few days."
They stood up and were about to pick up their greasy remnants from pizza night when Olivia was caught staring at the beautiful woman in front of her.
For reasons she could list forever and those she couldn't explain, she was in love.
"What?"
Olivia stared for another moment into blue oblivion, before taking Alex's face in her hand and pulling her into a deep kiss.
That thing about not making a strong move?
Oops.
