A/N: I never thought I said this, but I hate school. I hate it for not leaving me enough time to write. I'm so sorry for the long waiting, I'm doing my best guys! Thank you all for reviewing and adding the story to faves and alerts... by the way, the fic reached the 100 alerts! yay! thank you so much and I hope that once next week had past I'll have more time to write and upload the story. Hope you like this chapter!

Alex dryly said goodbye to her guard and walked straight to her bedroom. Once she was there, the blonde threw herself over the bed and stared at the ceiling for endless minutes.

She realized how different her relationships with her new guards were from the one she had with Olivia when the brunette was her guard. With her, Alex knew she had someone she could trust next to her; and even before falling for the older woman she trusted Olivia. But that trust bond wasn't even near to what it was like with all the other guards. Alex didn't trust any of them. Sure, they were all nice people and she was sure they would protect her but she couldn't help but to feel tense when she was besides them.

Since Olivia had been shot Alex had practically stopped going out. She didn't want to spent time with her friends if someone was behind them every second; it was annoying. Every time she wanted to meet someone she would ask them to meet at her house, which was also pretty annoying. Alex wanted to go out and have some fun but what fun was it if you were being watched by some guard your father had chosen?

The image of Maura came to Alex's mind. It was true that Alex hadn't been the dearest friend those past weeks, but it wasn't like she had been on her best days either. Maura should be supportive with her instead of demanding her attention, right?

Alex sighed and closed her eyes failing at her attempt to sleep. She waited an unknown thing for a couple of minutes and then took her phone and absently went through her photo albums. Her smile appeared as she found one particular picture. It had been taken the third week Olivia had been her guard. On the photograph, the brunette was standing alone, with her gaze stuck on the horizon. Alex had caught Olivia daydreaming and she had teased her about it during long hours.

Suddenly, the blonde's smile disappeared again and she hurriedly checked the time. She silently cursed as she confirmed her guess; Olivia had left her first rehab session over two hours ago. Alex dialed the brunette's number and impatiently waited for her to pick up.

"I was wondering when you were going to call." Olivia cockily said on the other line and Alex relaxed her rushed tension.

"I'm sorry. Didn't realized what time it was. How did it go?" She asked.

"Great, truly great. Greater than what I thought it'll be." Alex heard Olivia's excitement and grinned.

"That's…. great!" She laughed. "What did they say exactly?"

"They think it's gonna be a full recovery and a quick one, I'll be fine in a little over a week."

"Oh my god, Liv! That's amazing!"

"I know. I'll finally be able to properly hold you." Alex melted with Olivia's commentary and drowned herself into her own daydreaming. In just a few days she'd say goodbye to all her guards and have Olivia next to her just like it should have always been. "Hey, are you there?" The brunette asked when Alex didn't respond.

"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking how happy I'm gonna be with you behind me all day again, I cannot stand these guys anymore." The blonde said.

"Alex, about that…" Olivia begun and the younger woman tensed up. "I don't know if I'll be your guard again."

"If you're worried about Cragen placing you somewhere else, don't worry. I just have to ask him to set you back with me and—"

"It's not that, baby." Olivia interrupted. "I don't know if I can be your guard anymore. We both know I'm way too involved."

"Shouldn't that be better? Who's gonna care more about my safety than you?" Alex's voice broke.

"Alex, I don't know. I'm scared of doing the wrong thing. If something happens, I won't be thinking straight and if you get hurt because of that I will never forgive myself."

"Can't we give it a try at least?" The blonde said. "Please, I just want to spend time with you. I can't go anywhere because I'll have a guard with me and you can't come to my house every day or my parents will start to suspect." Alex wiped a tear she didn't knew she had dropped and after a few moments of silence she continued. "I hate this." She whispered.

"I know. I hate this too, but it is only temporary. Remember that."

"Temporary?" Alex cried out. "My seventeenth birthday might be in a few weeks but I'm not finishing high school until next year! It's hard enough handling it for a weekend; how am I supposed to do it for a whole year?"

Olivia remained silent after Alex's words and the blonde followed her. The older woman sighed and rethought her decision of not being Alex's guard after her recovery. Olivia silently cursed the blonde's age and finally spoke. "I'll ask to be your guard again." She felt Alex relief's on the other line. "But if I believe I won't be able to properly protect you, please tell me you won't argue me and that you'll accept my choice of not guarding you."

"I'll do my best." Alex said with a smile on her face. "Thank you." She spoke relieved.

Olivia slightly smiled. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Alex said without even believing it herself.

"I got worried when you didn't call me as soon as I was out rehab. You asked me nearly a thousand times at what time it'll be over." Olivia spoke trying to let Alex continue relating.

"My mind was a little bit off." She told Olivia, hiding all the events that had happened that day. "When am I going to see you again?"

The blonde changed the topic and it didn't go unnoticed by the brunette. Thankfully, she'll have the chance of taking it up again later.

"So?" Irene impatiently asked her sister-in-law as soon as she arrived to the woman's house and left her guard standing behind the kitchen's door.

Liz had sensed Alex's feelings for the brunette were deeper than a simple teenage crush, but there was no way she would say that to the girl's mother without her niece's permission. Elizabeth Cabot had principles and one of them was respecting other people's lives, thoughts and choices; including her own niece. That was probably the reason why she felt so badly after she said half of the true to Irene. "So, yes, she does have a crush. But I still don't see why that matters. Let the girl have as many crushes as she wants to. She's a teenager." Liz said trying to calm Irene down.

"That's exactly what I'm scared of. She's a teenager. She doesn't think before acting. What if Olivia rejects her and she drowns herself into depression and hurting herself? Or worst, what if Olivia feels the same way and Alex forces her to accept it and pushes her until Olivia ends up thinking it's the right thing?"

"If Olivia feels the same way, it would be the right thing for her to accept it." Liz firmly told Irene who glared at her. "But as I told you, don't worry. It's just a crush; she'll be over it in a month." The older woman said casually.

"You better be right."

Alex sat on her desk, attempting to ignore Maura's presence a few feet away. The blonde spent the entire class with her eyes stuck on the board but her mind flying free. She could feel Maura's gaze over her, pleading her to say sorry; but there was no way Alex would be the one who'll say it first. Maura had started it, Maura should end it. That was how it should be.

As the bell announced the end of the first Tuesday period, Alex quickly grabbed her stuff and walked to her locker with her chin high. The blonde could hear her friend's foot steps behind her. She smirked and turned around before reaching her destiny. "May I help you?" She said with a distant voice.

Maura looked at Alex and analyzed her reaction. She hadn't spoken nicely to her; she didn't regret anything she had done or said. The petite girl stood silently in front of the tall one. Maura couldn't believe how far Alex's pride will take her. She knew it wasn't easy to make her apologize, everyone at school knew that. Alex Cabot wasn't the type of girl who showed her feelings, whether they were good or not. She'd express you her ideas and thoughts, but never tell you how she's doing.

Though, Maura had hoped that the blonde would swallow her pride and fear and ask her for forgiveness in order to recover their friendship. She had hoped that at least she'd be that important for Alex, but it didn't seem like.

Maura looked straight to her friend and with hurt and anger in her voice she spoke; she spoke and said the words that had been running through her head for weeks. "You know, you're not the only one here who has bad days. I've had my worst ones a few weeks ago and even though that you weren't there for me; I've been here for you when you needed me, because that's what friends do, Alex. They support each other, they care for each other, they might have millions of fights but they are always there holding each other's back. I made up excuses for you not realizing I wasn't doing okay, but you know what? I was also hurting, and I did notice you weren't okay. Why should I be the only one who gives a damn about her friend?" She told Alex and deeply breathed. "If our friendship has any value for you, I hope you'll change your attitude by tomorrow's lunch period." That said, she turned around and begun walking the well known path to her own locker.

Alex stood there in silence and without showing any emotions. What was Maura had been through? Had she truly been so focused on her own life she hadn't noticed one of her best friends' eyes red after crying? What kind of friend does that? What kind of friend am I? Alex wondered as she saw Maura disappearing in the sea of students.

Hours later, Alex found herself in a position she knew well enough at the point. She was laying over her bed, strictly staring to the ceiling and simply thinking. She couldn't stop thinking. Were her actions right or had she screwed everything up with a dear friend? Should be her the one who apologized first? Should be Maura? The young woman questioned herself during a long time until she heard a knock on her door. "Come in." She said without enthusiasm.

Irene entered and gently closed the door before sitting beside her older daughter. "What are you doing?" She motherly asked.

"Thinking." The blonde responded her.

"About?"

"Stuff." Alex replied still without showing any particular emotions.

"So you're playing the teenager's role. Okay, I'll play the mother's." Irene thought it'll be easier to make Alex open up to her with a little of humor. "It's about a girl?" She asked half joking half serious. Maybe this was her chance to discover something about her daughter's crush.

"Yes. But not in that way." Alex told her mother and changed her position so she'll be sitting on the bed instead of laying.

"In which way is it then?" The older woman remained her voice sweet as she spoke.

Alex sighed and finally looked to her mom. "Maura and I fought." She said. "And I think she's right. But it's not fair! I know I haven't been the dearest friend but it's not like I've been spending my time playing in a daisies field. I had the worst of my times! She should understand what I'm going through!" The blonde said and noticed how she had consciously omitted what Maura had told her about having a bad time also herself.

"Why don't you call her and ask her to come? I'm sure that if you two sit down and speak about this she'll understand." Irene proposed and Alex considered the idea. "You can invite her to spend the night; we already have one guest for dinner so another one won't hurt us." The older woman said and Alex looked at her confused.

"Who's coming?" She asked.

"Oh, didn't she tell you? Your father told me what the doctors said about Olivia's injure so I thought it would be nice to invite her and celebrate." Irene said and saw how her daughter's eyes opened at the mention of the brunette. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, I assumed she had called you."

Her mother spoke and Alex recognized Irene's way of speaking… Liz had used the same one the day before when she had asked about Olivia. Did her mother have her suspicions too? Worst, had her aunt betrayed her? Why was it that everyone was so interested on her relationship with Olivia? They had both been cautious at every moment, what had made their doubts appear?

"No, she didn't." Alex replied casually and looked at a pillow in front of her. "I'm gonna call Maura." She said, trying to make the Olivia topic vanish.

"Okay." Irene said with a soft smile. "I'll be in the kitchen preparing dinner, want to help me?"

"Sure." Alex responded lightly grinning before her mother disappeared.

Now the real thinking came. She didn't want to invite Maura over if Olivia was also coming. If Maura wasn't with her she would get to spend some time alone with the brunette, and considering their relationship that was precious. But she didn't want to talk with Maura at school with her guard behind her, that wasn't a nice idea either.

Sorry, Liv. Alex thought as she dialed Maura's phone and invited her to stay over.

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