Disclaimers: All characters are belong to Dick Wolf. This is just for fun, not profit.

Author's Note: Alright, my first foray into a little smut is in this chapter, although it isn't AO yet. All of my knowledge of smut writing and lesbian sex comes from reading AO fanfic, so please bear with me!

And thanks to all those who left kind reviews, especially IBME. Everything I know about sexual assault comes from SVU (and fanfic, and my nightmares/overactive imagination), and I definitely do want to treat this topic with the respect it deserves. Please let me know if I don't so I can revise and learn.

Enjoy & review!

When Olivia entered the diner, she immediately recognized the short, gray haired woman sitting at a larger table with several other churchgoers.

"Detective," Carol said, motioning to two empty seats she had saved at the table. "She decided not to come? I suppose that's understandable."

"Carol, please, it's Olivia. And she's coming. She just needed a few minutes first. I gave her 20 minutes and told her if she's not here to eat the omelette I'm ordering for her, I would go looking for her."

Carol smiled. "I'm glad. I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd wanted to get out of here."

"She's tough. I think she didn't want him to ruin her day."

Carol nodded. "She stared him down the whole time we played. Never took her eyes off him. I don't know how she followed the music."

Olivia laughed. "That's Alex. I was standing in the back for the second piece, and I saw the look. She usually saves that look for defense attorneys."

"Well, if that's what the scum of New York City are up against, I feel much safer."

"Don't we all," Olivia replied.

"I'm sorry, I'm being rude. This is my partner, Marie," Carol said, pointing to the woman next to her. Olivia kept her expression neutral, but was glad that Alex's church seemed open and accepting. "Don't be surprised, Olivia," Carol admonished. "Not all Christian churches are homophobic. Jesus's message was one of love."

"Of course," Olivia sputtered, surprised that Carol had been able to read her face. "I just don't have a lot of experience with churches, is all."

Carol continued introducing the people around the table. "This is Mark, who plays with us, and his wife, Nicole, who sings in the choir. And Stacey, and Jane, who both play with us as well."

"Nice to meet you all," Olivia said, smiling and shaking each person's hand. "I'm Olivia Benson, with the NYPD. I used to work with Alex. The music today was beautiful. I've never heard a handbell choir before." She was deliberately vague, wanting to avoid getting into the details of her job with civilians.

"She's the one who dragged Alex's ex out of church by the ear today," Carol said, laughing. "It looks like he got you good, too," she continued, pointing to a bruise that was forming on her jaw. "Did you put some ice on that?"

"This little thing? I've been hit a lot harder. And I got him a lot worse once we got outside. Resisting arrest, you know. There were witnesses." Olivia winked.

"What was he arrested for?" Mark asked. While the women in the group understood the subtext of some kind of abuse, Mark's mind went to other kinds of offenses, like drugs or bar fights.

"He violated a temporary order of protection," Olivia explained, not wanting to get into why it was filed. "It ordered him to stay at least 500 feet away from Alex at all times. Now, if he had just gone to the church, it would have been hard to arrest him for that, because he could have just claimed that he felt like going to church. But since he actually approached her and intimidated her inside the church, we're hoping they'll at least keep him overnight until we can arrest him on other charges."

Mark opened his mouth to ask a followup question, and Olivia was grateful to see the name Casey Novak light up on her caller ID.

"Excuse me, I have to take this phone call," she said. "I'll be right back… Benson." Olivia stepped outside the door to get some privacy.

"Hi Liv, it's Casey. Is Alex with you? I just tried to call her and she didn't answer."

"No, she told me she wanted 20 minutes to herself, so I'm waiting with some of her church friends at a diner across the street. She has…" Olivia looked at her watch. "8 minutes left before I go looking for her."

"OK, I'll just tell you and you can pass it along, okay? Petrovsky is holding him 24 hours. It seems as though he's having a bit of trouble finding legal representation in New York, so for now, he's exercising his right to represent himself. Didn't want some 'fleabag legal aide attorney,' as he so nicely put it. Munch and Fin got the tie to CSU, and they found skin cells and a drop of blood on it, which Warner is going to test. She thinks she'll have the results from the rape kit tomorrow, so that should be enough to indict and at least keep him a little longer. I'm not sure if a judge will hold him without bail, though, so we can't count on him being held longer than tomorrow." Casey paused.

"I want to get a tech team into the apartment later this afternoon to see if we can find any evidence of the birth control tampering. Can you and Alex meet me there so she can show the techs where to look?"

"Let me check with her and get back to you, but I'm sure she'll think that's a good idea. I'll let you know what time. Anything else?" Olivia replied.

"There's one other thing… and I think you should be the one to tell her," Casey said hesitatingly. She doubted Alex would want her to see her cry again.

"Case, what is it?"

"Liv, Warner got some preliminary results from the sheets that were taken off the bed. There were some dark pubic hairs and multiple samples of semen, which Warner assumed are Robert's. And there were some blonde pubic hairs, vaginal fluids, and blood, which she assumed are Alex's."

"Well, that's about what we expected. What aren't you telling me?"

Casey took a deep breath. "Warner also found two other, unknown samples of vaginal fluids."

"The bastard was cheating on her, too."

Casey winced. "That's what I was thinking," she agreed. "And that's probably what happened. We'll have to identify the DNA to be sure, and that will take a few days, at least, or longer if they're not in the system. But I think, given her… reading materials… that we should consider all possibilities before we go to court. I don't want to get sandbagged." She added the last sentence quickly, sensing Olivia's anger.

Olivia looked around to make sure nobody was listening and Alex wasn't walking up the sidewalk towards her, before lowering her voice. "Casey, are you asking me to ask her if she's secretly having lesbian affairs and bringing lovers home with her? Are you really asking me that?"

"Look, Liv…"

"Hold on. Since I'm 125% certain she's not having an affair, here's what we're going to do. First, we're going to ask Alex and the cleaning lady who changed the sheets, and when, and figure out what kind of timeline we're looking at, and who else may have had access to the bed. Maybe the cleaning lady is having a lesbian affair. Then, Munch and Fin are going to get a timeline from Robert on when he was home, and dump his LUDS to see who he's been calling. You should have enough evidence for that now. Then, and only then, if none of that turns anything up, I'll ask her."

Casey sighed. "You're right. I'm jumping to conclusions. There's no reason to think that it would be her. I'm sorry. I'll get the guys on that."

"Case, I get it, and if it were any other victim, I'd ask the question. But it's not any victim, it's Alex, and she's already fragile. So let's just make sure we have to ask before we do, okay?"

"Okay."

"But I'll talk to her about the other thing, and let you know what time we can meet you."

Olivia hung up, and noticed that her timer had gone off and a new text from Alex had arrived. "Leaving now. Be there in 5." She went back into the diner and ordered Alex's omelette and another cup of coffee. Just as she was finished adding the cream and sugar, Alex arrived, and slid into the seat next to her, looking slightly more relaxed and refreshed.

"Feeling better, hun?" Carol asked, reaching across the table to touch Alex's arm.

Alex smiled. It was her polite courtroom smile, not her genuine, happy smile, but her friends didn't seem to notice the difference. "A bit," she conceded. "Thanks for the coffee, Liv. Did Casey call? I saw she called me but I didn't call her back."

Olivia knew Alex wouldn't have mentioned it if it wasn't okay for her to briefly summarize the more benign details of their conversation. "I just got off the phone with her, actually. Petrovsky locked him up until tomorrow. And it seems as though he's having trouble finding adequate legal representation in New York County. I can't imagine why," Olivia said, smirking.

"Why? Because he won't hire anyone who's not the best, and Casey already told me Langan blacklisted him." Alex laughed and smiled, and this time, Olivia could tell it was genuine. "But enough about this mess. Surely we have more interesting things to discuss."

"Like Alexandra Cabot having a life and friends outside of work? And changing the topic away from work at lunch? I never thought I'd see the day," Olivia said, a hint of teasing in her voice.

"Just one of the many skills I picked up in Witsec," Alex retorted, immediately regretting that she had referenced her 'time away' in front of her church friends. They knew she had left New York for a few years and had recently returned, but she had never been forthcoming about the details of her absence. She didn't know if they had read about her death in the paper.

"So, church, handbells, having a life… what else?"

"Yoga. Cooking without setting my stove on fire. Shopping at the Gap. Even gardening. I had a garden in Wisconsin, and one in Portland. Things I don't have time do do when I'm working 80 hours a week."

"You'll have to tell me about what it's like to have 'hobbies' sometime," Olivia said, smiling and pulling money out of her wallet for her coffee and lunch. "But for now, I'm going to run and do some errands before we meet Casey tonight. You going to be okay?"

"I'll be alright. Thanks for coming. And for checking up on me." She blushed. "I'm just moderating a youth group debate on the death penalty this afternoon. Should be fun."

"Are you going to tell them about the time you told our perp you'd be answering the phone from the Governor's mansion to turn down his request for a reprieve?"

"Uh, no," Alex replied, laughing. "Although I am planning on bringing up the question of gender equality in capital recommendations." She looked at her friends, explaining. "A few years ago, I sought a recommendation from the capital committee on a case where a woman had killed 4 men and claimed self-defense each time. Unfortunately, the DA didn't want to make that the first capital conviction of a woman in the state of New York, so we didn't end up seeking the death penalty."

"We had a case recently where this guy was raping 11 year old girls, and Louisiana wanted to extradite him, because raping a child under 12 is a capital offense there. Ask them what they think about that."

"What happened?" Alex asked.

"Guy was an unmedicated schizophrenic who wanted to be extradited when he realized what he'd done. He'd been doing it because he'd seen his sister get raped when he was younger. I wanted to hand him over to the Feds, but Casey got him a 730 hearing and he was declared incompetent to stand trial and couldn't be extradited. He's still in Belleview."

Alex pressed into her temple and shook her head. "You sure you don't want to stick around for the debate? SVU cases are good material."

"No, and you don't need me to talk about SVU cases, either. I'm going to run some errands. Leave catching the perps to me, and I'll leave the political debates to you." Olivia stood up and put on her jacket. "It was nice to meet all of you. Have a good afternoon."

As soon as Olivia was out of sight, she pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and dialed a familiar number.

"Jenna? It's Olivia. Listen, before you say anything, you should know that there are some things I haven't told you, and I think I wasn't totally honest with you about the reasons I broke up with you. I think we should talk and figure out what to do." She held her breath, waiting for the sigh on the other end and an invitation. "Okay, I'll be there in 10 minutes."

Olivia could hear her heart pounding as she took the elevator up to Jenna's apartment and thought about what she was going to say. Alex was right. Jenna deserved to hear the whole story from her. To be given a chance to be supportive. Olivia hadn't been fair to her in the first place, focusing on fun dates and systematically avoiding all talk of the terrible things she saw at work and the darker parts of her past. She didn't need to tell Jenna everything about herself today - just enough to show that she trusted her. Enough to see that Jenna could handle some of her darkness.

Jenna opened the door and pulled her inside for a kiss, wrapping her arms around the detective under her leather jacket. Off to a good start, Olivia thought, as she kissed the shorter, younger woman back. She doesn't hate me for being indecisive.

"Hey," Olivia finally said, smiling, when they broke the kiss to breathe. "I'm happy to see you, too. And I take it that means I haven't completely fucked this up?"

Jenna laughed. "Alex told me last night not to give up hope on you yet. And we've had too much fun together these last few months to just throw it all away." She smiled seductively. "And I'm hoping, after we talk, that we can try a different kind of fun…"

Olivia gulped. That wasn't what she'd had in mind when she'd called, but her breath hitched as she thought about finally undressing the woman in front of her and putting her own insecurities to rest. It would reassure both of them, she thought, after she'd told Jenna what had happened to her.

"Let's sit down," Olivia suggested, motioning towards the couch. She left some space between her and the other woman, but pointed her knees towards her and looked into Jenna's eyes. Olivia opened her mouth, faltering, and decided to start with the easier stuff. "I'm sorry we put you on the spot last night. We're not used to going out with non-colleagues, and we tend to talk about work too much."

"Last night was fine," Jenna said. "They all seem nice. Although the conversation was a bit morbid. Bringing Alex back to the bar where she was shot and gossiping about her fiancé who raped her?"

"First of all, it was her decision to go there, and we talked about it first. We were there for moral support. She's just getting her life back after being gone for three years, and it was really hard on her. Second, Alex knows that my squad is doing everything they can to kick Robert's ass and put him in jail for a very long time."

Olivia paused. This conversation was definitely not going the way she'd wanted it to. If Jenna had trouble understanding why Alex would need to visit the place where she'd been shot, or why she'd want to talk about what had happened to her… Maybe Casey had been right after all. Maybe there was a subconscious reason she hadn't discussed anything serious with Jenna.

"Jenna, listen. I have had a lot of fun with you these last few months. And I hope we can keep having fun together. But if we're going to be in a relationship, I need you to know now that it's not all fun with me." She looked for Jenna's reaction, but her face remained neutral. "I work really tough cases. I get personally involved. I'm affected when children are hurt. I get called out in the middle of the night to talk to rape victims, and I hold their hand while they tell me about the worst thing that's ever happened to them. I've been shielding you from it so far, because I know you're not used to dealing with the same things I am. And I need to know you're going to be able to handle me when I've been chasing a child molester for 72 hours with no sleep and I come home crying because we were too late to save his last victim."

Jenna nodded slowly, looking serious. "I can try, Olivia, but you're going to have to give me time to get used to the idea."

"Of course. I just feel like we hardly ever talk about anything serious, and I want to make sure we can talk about difficult things before we take the next step. Because sometimes, I need to talk about what happens at work and cry or be angry about my cases."

"I understand," Jenna said. Olivia was quiet, and Jenna, assuming she was done with her serious talk, leaned over and pulled her into a hot kiss, pushing her tongue into Olivia's mouth and grazing her fingertips down Olivia's side until she cupped her breast. Olivia was surprised by Jenna's forwardness, but took it as a good sign that she hadn't flinched at the intimate touch.

She ended the kiss and pulled back, cupping her hand on Jenna's cheek and looking her in the eye. "There's one more thing I have to tell you about." She took a deep breath, and tried to keep her voice steady. "A few months ago, during a case I was working, I was sexually assaulted. A man tried to force himself into my mouth. My partner got there just in time to stop him." She couldn't read Jenna's expression.

"Okay," Jenna offered, unsure of what to say. Olivia knew not everyone had her skills at putting people at ease, but she wished Jenna would offer a bit of reassurance.

"I'm just saying I may need to take it a bit slow. I haven't been intimate with anyone since," Olivia explained, blushing and looking down at her hands on her lap.

Jenna leaned in with another deep kiss, and started running her hands up and down Olivia's back and sides. "Well I guess it's a good thing that I'm not a man," she explained.

"I guess so," Olivia said, glad Jenna wasn't making a big deal of her assault. She was getting very turned on, and it felt so good to finally be in a position where she wanted to have sex.

"Jenna," she said, her breath speeding up. "I've only got a few hours. I can't stay over tonight because I have to go pick up some things at Alex's old apartment with Casey. I have to leave at 5:30."

Jenna kept kissing her. "It's okay. I can't wait anymore."

Olivia pushed Jenna back onto the couch and tugged at the collar of her shirt, putting her mouth on Jenna's pulse point and swirling her tongue down her collarbone. Jenna gasped. Olivia quickly unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it off, dropping it on the floor, and slid a right hand under Jenna's bra to kneed her breast.

Jenna pulled her up and walked backwards to the bedroom, where Olivia removed her bra and laid her down on the bed. She opened her mouth and started kissing all over Jenna's responsive body, pausing to tease each nipple with her tongue and to lick under her navel as she undid the button on Jenna's jeans, and pulled off her pants and her panties.

She looked up at Jenna's face for approval before spreading Jenna's legs and kissing the inside of her thighs and behind her knees.

Olivia took a deep breath before she continued. I can do this, she thought, sticking out her tongue. This is nothing like what he did to me. I'm good at this. I'm in control here.

She touched a finger to Jenna's entrance, spreading around the moisture before swirling her tongue around Jenna's clit, and latching on with her mouth. Normally, she would draw it out, teasing her lover and bringing her to the edge over and over before letting her climax, but today, she just wanted to prove to herself that she still had it in her. She had barely registered how nervous she was until she was kissing her way down Jenna's body, and though she didn't want to stop, she also knew she wasn't emotionally ready for extended lovemaking.

Besides, she thought, I'll have plenty of time ease Jenna in to lesbian sex and multiple orgasms. I'm sure for her first time she'll be happy even if I don't take too long.

Olivia pushed two fingers into Jenna, curling them forward as she sucked hard on Jenna's clit. Jenna arched her back, crying out Olivia's name, and Olivia slowed her fingers and rubbed her thumb over the sensitive spot until Jenna's breathing slowed.

She crawled up Jenna's body and pulled her in close, wiping her fingers on the sheets and kissing Jenna deeply.

"That was incredible," Jenna murmured. "Nobody's ever… I've never felt like that before."

"It was my pleasure," Olivia whispered back, smiling. "And there's plenty more where that came from. Welcome to sleeping with a woman."

After Jenna recovered, she pushed Olivia onto her back, and began removing her clothes and kissing her way down her body. Olivia's eyes widened as Jenna pushed her thighs apart, and she willed herself not to flash back to the almost daily invasive pat-downs and cavity searches she had endured at the women's prison.

Calm down, Benson, this is consensual sex, not a cavity search, she pep-talked.

"Jenna, you don't have to, you know… not right away," she tried to reassure her new, inexperienced lover.

"Oh, but I want to," Jenna murmured against her nipple. "I've been doing my homework."

Olivia gasped and closed her eyes as she felt a finger teasing her entrance and circling her clit. She reached for a hand, and tangled her fingers in Jenna's hair, willing herself to relax, and trying to stay grounded, connected to the present moment.

She opened her eyes and sat up suddenly, pulling Jenna's mouth away from her body by her hair. "Jenna, I think I'm not as ready for this as I thought," Olivia choked out, tears forming in her eyes.

Jenna put a hand on her chest, gently trying to push Olivia back down towards the bed. "Shh," she whispered. "Sure you are. It'll be okay. Just relax and let go," she soothed.

Olivia allowed herself to be pushed back down, and she closed her eyes, willing her body to relax as Jenna kissed her way back down her body and went back to what she had been doing. Jenna is gentle. She's not going to hurt me. It'll be okay.

The more Olivia felt the pressure building between her legs, the more she tried to reassure herself that it was okay. Her breath quickened as her internal battle raged. It'll be over soon. Her eyes snapped open and she shifted suddenly, dislodging a confused Jenna. "Stop. Please, I need you to stop," Olivia said, tears forming in her eyes as she quickly made her way to the edge of the bed and tried to cover herself and get dressed. "I'm sorry. I'm not ready for this. I'm so sorry."

A look of hurt, then of anger flashed across Jenna's face, and Olivia understood. She hadn't truly wanted it, she had been trying to purge Harris's assault from her body by replacing it with her own: forcing herself to submit to something that she desperately wanted to enjoy but that had gave her little pleasure. She had wanted to prove she still had it, that she still liked it, that she was still desirable. She had wanted to prove that she hadn't thought of Jenna only as a fun distraction, but as a serious, fulfilling relationship.

Somewhere along the line, she realized that Jenna had been so focused on trying to give her physical pleasure that she had completely neglected her lover's emotional state. She hadn't offered any support or understanding when Olivia had talked about the perils of her job, or pressed for more information about the assault. Jenna had treated their serious talk as an obstacle to sex, something that had to be gotten out of the way before they could get naked together for the first time.

And once she had begun touching Olivia, Jenna had been oblivious to her lover's distress. Jenna hadn't taken her fears or her hesitations seriously; she hadn't tried to put her at ease or initiated a conversation about her limits or her triggers, or sought to reassure her. These were things Olivia would have done if her own partner had been an assault victim. Olivia knew she couldn't expect everyone to be as sensitive to victims as she was, and she knew she could have started the difficult conversations herself, but she realized, suddenly, in the middle of sex, that Jenna herself was the reason she hadn't talked about the assault before.

Olivia hadn't intended to have sex with Jenna if she hadn't planned on continuing the relationship. But Jenna wanted fun, not emotional and difficult. And Olivia couldn't expose herself, make herself physically vulnerable to someone who at best, was oblivious to, and at worse, willfully ignored her emotional vulnerability.

Jenna looked crestfallen as she sat, naked, on the edge of her bed. "I know I haven't done this before, and I'm sorry if it wasn't good, but…"

Olivia interrupted her, not wanting to be cruel. "Jenna, look at me. This isn't about you, and it doesn't mean your skills are lacking. It's about me, and my assault, and the fact that I've been trying to force myself to be ready for a physical relationship when clearly, I'm not. I'm not what you need right now, and I think I need to be alone right now, to heal. It wasn't fair of me to do this to you, and I'm sorry, but I really have to go. Please know I didn't mean for it to turn out like this."

She kissed Jenna softly on the cheek, grabbed her coat and walked as fast as she could, out of the apartment and down 78th Street towards Central Park. Olivia took the long way to her thinking spot, a secluded rock overlooking a stream where she went to think about difficult cases, and when she finally sat down, she pulled her knees up to her chest and cried.

After her first round of crying, she sent a text message to Casey. You were right about Jenna. It's over.

Olivia touched her forehead to her knees and rocked herself back and forth.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting there when she felt a presence beside her, and then an arm around her back.

"Casey," she said, wiping her tears on her sleeve and lifting up her head.

"Liv, I'm so sorry. What happened?"

"I called her, to talk. Tell her about Sealview. Then we tried to, but I couldn't… I mean, I could, but I freaked out when she did, and she didn't even notice. And then she thought I was upset because she wasn't good, and I had to explain that that wasn't it, and that it's me who's fucked up."

"Liv, it's not your fault." Casey murmured, rubbing her back.

"It's my fault for getting into bed with her when I should have known I wasn't ready. But it's been 9 fucking months. I should be ready. I wasn't even raped."

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Olivia. You came really close to being raped, and I can't imagine how scary it must have been for you in that basement. You can't put a timeline on your recovery, or say that it 'should only' be so long because it wasn't something worse. You know that. You tell women that every single day."

"I know, Casey. She just… If it had been me, I would have made damn well sure she was okay, and comfortable, and that everything I did was okay before I did it, and she didn't even have the courtesy to…"

"Shh, Liv, it's okay. I know you would have. But not everyone is as compassionate as you are, and not everyone can deal with other people's problems. I'm sorry."

"I think I wanted a distraction. I dated someone who was fun and carefree because I wanted to be fun and carefree instead of hurt and lonely and screwed up."

"I dated someone like that after I broke up with Charlie," Casey said quietly. "It was fun. We did things together, went to museums, the park. We didn't fight. The sex was good. Lasted almost a year. At some point I realized we didn't fight because we didn't have anything to fight for. And he knew about Charlie, but I could never talk to him about him, or about our tough cases. I broke it off a few months after I'd started with SVU and I couldn't deal with not talking about how much some of our cases upset me. And he couldn't deal with me not wanting to have sex sometimes because of something horrible I'd dealt with in court."

Olivia nodded. "That's the worst part about this job sometimes, is that nobody gets it. I told her about that today too, that I'd shielded her from it so far but sometimes I'd need support during tough cases, and she brushed me off."

"I think there's a place for short, fun, distracting relationships with no emotional depth. Mine helped me heal, a little, and yours probably did too. We just both need something more than that, and neither of us has found it yet."

"Thanks, Casey. You didn't have to come down here, you know."

"You're welcome. And I know I didn't have to come down here, but I thought you could use a friend. And I'm guessing you texted me and not Alex because she's had enough shit dumped on her this weekend, am I right?"

Olivia smiled. "You know me too well." She looked at her watch. "That, and she's probably just finishing up her church youth group death penalty debate right about now. She said she'd be done around 4." Casey raised an eyebrow. "Don't ask."

"I called her before I came over here."

"Case, I didn't want her to have to deal with this, and Robert, and the search of her apartment… it's too much for one person in one weekend."

"I know that, but you know as well as I do that she'd be able to read it on your face as soon as she saw you. I figured that this way, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." Casey pulled a plastic grocery bag out of her purse and opened it to show Olivia the contents and pulling out a DVD.

Casey continued. "We're going to walk over to meet Alex on her way out of the church now. On the way back to your apartment, we're going to stop and get a pizza for you two for dinner. Then, Alex is going to give me her keys and door codes and some clues on where to look for stuff so I can get into the apartment with Liz and CSU to do the search. Liz thinks it'll be better if you two aren't there anyway, so he can't claim conflict later. Meanwhile, you and Alex are going to eat your dinner, have some popcorn and some Milkduds, and watch The Dead Poets Society or some other movie with no violence and no romance, and try to relax. I'll call to let you know what we find in the apartment, okay?"

Olivia felt tears welling up in her eyes again. "Casey… thank you," she said softly, as they got up off the rock to head back.