A/N – hello readers! So Listen. I've got some good news….. Would you like to know what it is? Are you sure?
Well, it's a surprise so you'll have to find out for yourself and read this chapter. Oh, and fair warning. . . it's sad. It's sad because it has to be, but it gets better, you'll see.

Chapter 14 – Tied Up/My Little Girl

Olivia

Olivia and Leigh had been together for a couple years. They hadn't had any serious fights, hadn't taken any breaks from one another. They were happy with one another. But there was a slight, almost imperceptible change when Olivia went into the academy. Leigh was supportive, absolutely. She was completely behind Olivia on her acceptance to the academy and the time Olivia spent away from her during training. It was tough to be away from one's girlfriend during the entire work week and only have the weekends to see each other.

But the almost imperceptible change was that Leigh became more interested in every single thing Olivia did when she was in the academy. She wanted to hear every detail about what went on there, everything Olivia had to endure, the food, the physical training, the classroom work. And Olivia honestly just wanted a break from thinking about it.

Olivia thought it was strange that she was so interested in it, that she was fascinated by it. And when they saw each other on the weekends, she was insatiable. Leigh didn't even want to leave the bedroom the whole day.

One weekend towards the beginning of December, Olivia came to see her. She came in the door and Leigh met her there, pulling her in close, melding their bodies together as they kissed. Olivia certainly enjoyed the arousal that coursed through her; it had been an entire week since they had touched, after all.

But when Leigh led her into the bedroom, the feeling was different, the tone was different somehow. It felt darker, more carnal. And the way Leigh's hands were feeling up her body and the way her mouth was moving across Olivia's flushed skin was increasing her heart rate, yes, but it stirred her subconscious. The voice in her head was telling her to tread cautiously; her instincts were saying something to her.

And they told her in the academy that her instincts would be fine-tuned, that they would save her life at some point in her career, probably time and time again.

But this was Leigh, and she trusted her. So she ignored it, pushed it to the back of her mind.

Leigh reached under her bed and pulled out a box.

'I've got a surprise for you,' she said seductively, her eyes hooded, desire evident in them.

A surprise huh? This should be interesting.. What though, was what she couldn't figure out. What could be in that box?

Olivia opened the box and when she saw what was inside, she smiled nervously, a little shocked at what she saw. She wasn't expecting this.. Maybe some candles and massage oil..

Olivia thought briefly to herself that this was what her intuition was telling her. Leigh wanted to be tied up. Or wanted to tie Olivia up, to restrain her. Shit.

Inside the box, she reached down and pulled out a light scarf, colorful and vibrant. Okay. So Leigh wants to be tied up. But only with a scarf. Could be worse. Olivia breathed a quiet sigh of relief, she was really afraid it was going to be handcuffs. She wasn't ready for that. This, she could handle.

Olivia regained her composure, hiding her relief, and put on a surprised face.

'So… what do you think?' Leigh asked, her expression excited. 'You haven't said anything.'

'Well, I don't know what to think... What are we going to do with this?'

Leigh rolled her eyes at Olivia's naïveté. Olivia knew this was what she was thinking, but she was far from naïve. In fact, she thought of herself as pretty sexually progressive. What Olivia was truly worried about was WHY now does Leigh bring the scarf and want to use it? Why did she want to be tied up?

'What the hell do you think we're going to do with it?' Leigh asked huskily, moving towards Olivia slowly, taking the scarf from her in one hand and pulling Olivia close by the front of her shirt with the other.

Olivia tried to push her reservations to the back of her mind. She wasn't sure about this. Tying someone up and then taking advantage of them, it was something she would have to work on. She couldn't stop thinking about having to throw her fellow police recruits to the ground and brusquely handcuff them. She couldn't stop thinking about being thrown to the ground herself and roughed up. . . They all had to go through it, to practice and to understand what it felt like. It wasn't pleasant; it was nerve-wracking in fact, not a turn on at all. And she wasn't one to get a power trip from the tools she carried on her belt. But Leigh was sexy as hell right now, the way her eyes were dilated and burning with desire. And this was only a scarf, and it was only for fun.

But she would go along with this, to make Leigh happy, so she shook her head mentally, ridding herself of negative thoughts and pushed Leigh backwards on the bed. It would be fine, it was just for fun. It's sexy.

'So who is going to be restrained? You or me?' Olivia asked in a low, quiet voice.

Leigh smiled, baring her teeth and grabbing Olivia by the back of her neck.

'Me. Tie me to the bed and fuck me.'

Whoa.

Leigh knew the hotline straight to Olivia's groin. And with that, she pulled Olivia down towards her, capturing her lips in a crushing kiss.

They fought each other, lips crashing and tongues dueling, until Olivia had the upper hand. She grabbed one of Leigh's hands while simultaneously straddling her upper torso and pushing her knee down onto Leigh's other arm.

Olivia tied a knot around Leigh's hand and quickly wrapped the other end around the wooden slats of the headboard.

Leigh squirmed against her, unsuccessfully trying to buck her off. She didn't want it to be too easy. But Olivia was heavier and stronger than Leigh, especially now having gone through physical training at the academy. And she grabbed Leigh's other arm and forced it up into the remainder of the scarf, closing the knot snugly on her wrist.

Leigh was breathing heavily, and her eyes were dark, filled with lust.

Is this what you really want? Olivia wanted to ask her, but didn't. She could see it in Leigh's eyes, of course she wanted this.

…

My Little Girl

When you were in trouble that crooked little smile could melt my heart of stone
Now look at you, I've turned around you've almost grown
Sometimes you're asleep I whisper 'I Love You' in the moonlight outside your door
As I walk away, I hear you say, 'Daddy Love You More'

You're beautiful baby from the outside in
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again
Go on, take on this whole world
But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl.
{Tim McGraw – My Little Girl}

Alex

Finally! Alex walked out of Langdell Hall and towards Massachusetts Avenue and her apartment. The air was crisp and cold, and fall was in full swing. The leaves vibrant orange and yellow and red were so beautiful this time of year, at least she thought so. Some people didn't like the cold, but she didn't mind it so much. It was beautiful and that's what mattered, really.

Her last classes of the semester were done; she had just finished with both the Torts and Procedures exams. She felt good about them, really good in fact. All that studying had paid off, and she breathed a giant sigh of relief at the thought of the upcoming break. Her first semester was tough, but she could handle it. She was a Cabot after all.

'Cabot!'

A voice rang out behind her, and she heard her name being called. That voice. . . Oh boy.

'Hey! Cabot, wait up!'

Alex turned as she caught sight of the lanky brunette jogging gracefully towards her. Her long, dark hair was wild and her eyes danced with joy as she caught up to Alex. She clapped the blonde on the back, causing her to stumble forward a bit; Alex recovered quickly though and smiled, stopping on the sidewalk to talk.

'Hey Abbie. How was your test?'

Abbie Carmichael, loud and outspoken and very Texan, beamed at her.

'Oh it was great. I think I really did well. You look like you did pretty good too?' Alex nodded her head as Abbie continued in her slightly drawling, raspy voice.

'Good, good. So listen, I'm fixin' to go grab a couple beers at the Kong to celebrate the end of the semester. Wanna come?'

Alex frowned, disappointed that she had to turn down the offer. She explained to Abbie that she was expected home for the holidays today and had to get on her way here pretty quickly. Abbie shrugged her shoulders and grinned.

'Oh well. We'll have to get together for drinks or something when school starts back up, sound good?'

'Yeah. Sounds good,' Alex replied. She always felt better when Abbie was around. There was something about her, maybe just that she was from Texas, something that radiated positivity and friendliness. It was infectious.

'Alright, I gotta go get drunk. Have a great holiday and I'll see ya around!' Abbie turned on her heel and walked in the other direction.

Alex smiled and shook her head as she turned back in the direction of her block.

Her phone rang as she fumbled with her key to her apartment. She tossed her bag aside as she scrambled over to the kitchen counter to answer it. The caller ID let her know right away that it was her parent's house calling. Probably her mother to make sure she would be getting on the road soon. Virginia wanted her home for the holidays as soon as possible. Something about a big party with all the important people in the family, a celebration of her first semester of law school. Blah blah… she had to try and find a way out of it.

Her mother was indeed on the other end of the line when she answered, but her tone was not what Alex expected. No, not what she expected at all.

Alex almost dropped the phone when she heard what her mother had to say. Virginia's voice was wracked with intermittent sobs. It was unexpected, and apparently it was far worse than what they thought.

Her father had cancer.

It was bad. He had no idea what had been happening inside of him. There were no warning signs until he started losing weight over several weeks and sweating profusely at night. After two weeks of the sweating, he had had enough and Virginia accompanied him to the doctor.

She sank to the cold, tiled floor, and sat with her elbows on her knees, her head cradled in her free hand as she listened to her mother's voice without hearing any of the words. Ignoring all the details about what exactly it was that her father had, she wasn't ready for that yet. She had heard all that she needed to hear. Her father, her daddy, was sick. Very sick. And she had to get home to see him.

So she pulled herself together, she knew that she had to be strong for him. God knows he was her rock when she was growing up, defending her so many times from her mother. What a turn-around for her mood. She had been so excited to get home and see her family, and now she dreaded it. Dreaded seeing her father in a hospital bed, sick and weak. Clothes and shoes flew into her suitcase, and she tossed some underwear and toiletries haphazardly towards it, not really thinking about what she was doing.

….

The hospital smelled like hospitals usually do: like sanitizer masking the smell of death. It was something you had to get your mind around. That people came here to get better. That the smell was of people getting better, not dying. She couldn't keep the morbid thoughts from her mind, though. How can you when someone you know and love has cancer?

She stopped at the nurse's desk and asked where Franklin Cabot's room was. When the nurse pointed her in the right direction, she made her way down the hall, dreading what was waiting for her.

When she turned at the room number the nurse had told her, she saw her mother seated in an armchair next to the bed, holding her father's hand. Alex gasped imperceptibly when she saw him. She hadn't been home since she left initially for school. It had been four months and the difference was unbelievable in how he looked. He caught sight of her as she stood in the doorway, and his eyes brightened visibly from across the room.

'Alexandra, get in here,' he said quietly, gently from his bed. She had to work to keep the sad expression off her face and the tears out of her eyes as she made her way to the chair opposite her mother's. He was so different. Gaunt and pale, he was thin and looked like he was wasting away in front of her. Her mother smiled sadly at her.

She sat down and took his other hand; he sat up a little bit in bed and winced at the movement. Oh no, she thought. He's in pain.

Her father was the type to get right down to business. No bullshit. That was something she loved so much about him. One of many things. He hated skirting around the truth or the facts. He had things to get done and he rarely hesitated. He was one of the reasons she was so driven; he was so self-sufficient and successful. She always wanted to be just like him, patient and kind and smart. Always wanted to show him how good she could be.

So she asked him, fighting to keep her voice steady, 'So what do you have exactly, Daddy?'

He looked over at Virginia, looking a bit like he was asking for her permission to tell Alex.

'Daddy,' she said, squeezing his hand, bringing his attention back to herself. 'Tell me.'

'Hodgkin's lymphoma. Stage four.' He spoke quietly still, but his blue eyes were the same, vibrant and clear as ever.

'That doesn't sound good,' she joked. He snorted a bit at this, wincing again at the movement.

Okay, no jokes, she thought. 'And what is stage four?'

'It has. . spread to more than one organ, my liver and my bone marrow, as well as my lymph nodes. It's an immune system cancer, and usually there's a good chance they can stop it if they catch it in the early stages.'

'So, I'm guessing stage four is not an early stage?'

He shook his head, squeezing her hand. She tried to blink back her tears but several streamed down her face, hot and unwanted.

'Daddy,' her voice came out choked, and she knew what she wanted to say, but the words wouldn't come out.

Don't leave me.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .

Olivia

Leigh grabbed her hand as they stood in line for sandwiches at the deli on 72nd street. Her hazel eyes glistened mischievously as she kissed the knuckles on Olivia's hand. Olivia smiled and pushed a strand of hair behind Leigh's ear with her other hand. Her weekend was flying by so far, and her afternoon spent with Leigh put a satisfied smile on her face. She thought now that had no reason to be hesitant about the scarf. It turned out to be one of the most erotic things she had ever experienced. She brushed away the warning signs and flags shot up by her subconscious.

Olivia looked away from Leigh and up towards the board above the counter, trying to decide what she wanted when something caught her eye. A flash of blonde hair flitted out of her peripheral vision off to her right. She did a double take as she looked over and saw who the blonde hair belonged to. Of course she would be here right now. Good timing, Liv. It was Alex's neighborhood after all. Why did I bring Leigh here of all places?

Alex stood by the refrigerated drinks, her hand on the handle to one of the glass doors, staring, frozen, right at Olivia. Her face was almost comical, her mouth stuck in an 'O'. It had, after all, been almost three years since they had seen each other. But what Olivia noticed right away was that her face was anything but comical, it was tearstained and red, her eyes were bloodshot. She had definitely been crying. She was staring now at Olivia's entwined hand and then up at Leigh who was still studying the board.

'Hey, get me a pastrami sandwich, no mustard. I'll be right back,' Olivia said quietly to Leigh, letting go of her hand and turning towards the refrigerators.

Leigh's eyebrows furrowed, and she asked, 'Where are you going?'

'I'll be right back.' Leigh frowned and watched as Olivia approached the blonde.

Olivia walked over to Alex, who had closed the refrigerator and held a bottled juice in her hand. She shuffled her feet nervously, fidgeting with the bottle, looking down. She looked like she was about to start crying.

'Alex,' Olivia said as she approached her. 'God, Alex. . . What's wrong?'

Alex smiled sadly and looked up into Olivia's eyes. Brown eyes met blue and Alex felt a shiver run through her body, something that hadn't happened to her for three years.

Apparently Olivia felt it too, because she cleared her throat and shook her head slightly before she stepped closer to Alex, putting a hand on her shoulder. Alex's eyes were filled with tears, and she looked about ready to sit down and cry.

'Alex,' she said again, trying to resist the urge to pull the blonde into her arms to comfort her. 'Tell me what's wrong.'

Alex reached up and wiped her eyes, doing nothing to staunch the flow of tears.

'It's my Dad, Liv. He's . . . he's dying.'

Her voice broke as the words came out of her mouth. And Olivia didn't care that Leigh was walking over towards the two of them now with a tray laden with sandwiches and chips. She didn't care that Leigh certainly by now knew exactly who this mystery blonde was. Alex and her father were so close, and she needed comfort right now. So she pulled Alex into her arms and hugged her, letting Alex cry on her shoulder. They fit perfectly together, still. Olivia pushed that thought immediately from her mind and focused on making sure Alex was alright.

'Do you want to sit with us? Get something to eat?' Olivia asked as Alex pulled away from her and sniffed loudly.

Alex shook her head, wiping the tears with her arm now.

'No, I've got to get back the apartment. Mother needs a fresh change of clothes at the hospital and . . . '

Her voice broke off, the tears were threatening to fall again so she stopped speaking and looked down at her feet.

'Okay. Well, are you home for the break?'

Alex nodded her head. She had to get out of here. It was too hard to be around Olivia right now. How easy would it be to just fall into her arms, to grab on to her and not let go. But Olivia was here with someone else. Her feelings were all mixed up. It was too much.

'Alright, well, be careful going home, okay?'

Nodding her head again, she made her way to the counter to pay for her juice and then pushed open the deli's door and walked out onto the street.

Olivia resisted the urge to follow Alex and make sure she made it home; she turned back to Leigh who eyed her suspiciously as she walked over to their table. She sat down and Leigh's mouth was pressed into a thin line.

'Was that Alex?' she asked, ignoring her food and concentrating on Olivia.

'Yes, it was.'

Having been dating for almost two years, they had had the previous relationship conversation. And Alex had been a sensitive subject. They were together for several years and Olivia told Leigh about how Alex was her first love. She didn't want secrets between them, so she answered any questions Leigh had about their relationship. But Leigh was jealous of Olivia's relationship with her, seeing as how Alex was the one who broke up with Olivia. She worried quite often that Olivia still had feelings for her. Olivia constantly assured her that no, she was over Alex, and she was very much in love with Leigh now.

'What was wrong with her?'

'Her father is dying, she said. I don't know, she didn't say much else.'

Leigh looked down. 'Oh,' she said. 'That's terrible.'

'Yes, it is,' said Olivia. 'She's very close with her father. He was the mediator a lot of times between her and her mother when they fought.'

'You sound like you still care for her.'

Olivia wasn't sure if this was a question or a statement, but she answered the only way she knew how, with the truth.

'Of course I still care for her. She was my best friend for three years. And now she's going through something awful.'

Olivia wanted to go on and say that Alex probably needed her, that her mother wouldn't comfort her like she deserved to be comforted. But she kept her mouth shut, knowing that it was too much, that it would set Leigh off on a jealous tirade. It didn't make sense to Olivia why Leigh couldn't leave the subject alone sometimes.

Every now and then Leigh brought Alex up, and she couldn't understand why Leigh was so insecure that she didn't believe that Olivia no longer had feelings for Alex. She guessed it was simply because Alex was her first and they had been together for so long, but she didn't know if Leigh's feelings of insecurity and jealousy were normal.

'Are you going to see her again?' Leigh asked quietly.

Olivia sighed, not wanting to get into a fight right now, not when her mind was preoccupied with other things.

'I don't know. She probably needs a friend right now. So I might go see her and see if she needs to talk.'

An unsure look passed across Leigh's face, but she put on a smile that didn't reach her eyes and nodded her head. Olivia was not asking for permission; she was telling Leigh what she planned to do.

A/N – This was an interesting chapter for me. . . ideas just kept popping out, and so here it is. Hope you enjoyed. Let me know what you think.