BACK ALREADY! HERE'S AN EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT FOR YA! ENJOY, LADIES (AND GENTLEMEN?)
The following day
Olivia hears a man's voice in the distance and opens her eyes.
Her blanket is pulled over her head and she sees the morning light shinning through the pores of the fabric, but nothing else.
Olivia pulls the blanket away from her face and squints as she concentrates on the voice. She realizes that the sound is coming from her living room television, and sits up, remembering that Elliot is staying in her apartment with her.
She climbs out of the bed and heads for her bathroom. She walks into the bathroom and looks into the mirror in front of her.
Olivia combs her fingers through her hair before examining her face and neck. She sighs when she sees the dark purple bruises on her skin, covering the right side of her neck and both cheeks.
Olivia winces as she brings her hand to her cheek and glides her fingers along her bruise.
It is difficult for her to forget that she is a victim with the bruises on her body there as a constant reminder for her.
She opens the cabinet to pull her toothbrush out and shakes her head at what she sees.
Elliot had not returned his pill bottle to the medicine cabinet and even worse, Elliot had gone into Olivia's medication, leaving enough pills to last Olivia for one day.
She grabs her pill bottle and closes the cabinet, practically slamming it before walking out into the living room to see Elliot sitting on the sofa with the remote.
He turns his head toward her.
"Sorry, did I wake you?" he asks her.
"What is this?" she asks, ignoring his question and holding the pill bottle up for Elliot to see.
"Your medication," Elliot responds, keeping his tone calm.
"I know that. Why are there pills missing, Elliot?" Olivia asks him.
Elliot removes himself from the sofa and walks toward her.
"Keep calm, Liv. I'm only doing this for you. There should be enough in there to last you for today. I'll put more in there for tomorrow when the night is up," Elliot tells her.
Olivia's jaw drops and she lowers the hand holding the pill bottle to her side. She doesn't speak right away, not knowing what to say, angry that Elliot is already choosing to go to these extremes.
"Elliot... I'm not a child," Olivia tells him.
"I know you aren't," Elliot says while walking closer to her.
"Then why'd you do this? I told you that it was a mistake... I don't need you babysitting me now and hiding my own medication from me," Olivia says, nearly snapping.
"C'mon, Liv... this isn't hurting anyone. I'm only doing this to protect you," Elliot responds in a gentle tone.
Olivia shakes her head at him.
"I don't need protection from this. Elliot, I told you that it wouldn't happen again. If you don't believe me or trust me, then maybe you shouldn't be here," Olivia tells him, walking to the counter and slamming the pill bottle down.
"Olivia, you don't need to be tempted. I'm trying to make it easier for you," Elliot responds to her.
"I'm not tempted," Olivia snaps. "It was a MISTAKE. Stop treating me like an addict."
Olivia is furious. She doesn't want Elliot thinking of her as weak and she shakes her head again when she recalls the conversation they had the previous night.
"Elliot, you said you wouldn't think any less of me. I knew I shouldn't have told you a damn thing," she says to him. "I don't want this. I can't live with you watching me like this... controlling what I do."
Elliot knows that his only reason for limiting her pill dosage is to protect her, not control her. He disagrees with her in his mind, but sees that he is getting dangerously close to being asked to leave.
He can't have that. He can't leave Olivia alone knowing that she is struggling with this issue and knowing that she is still fragile and hurt.
"I'm sorry, Liv... I didn't mean to make you upset. I only try to do what's best for you," Elliot responds. "If you're telling me that it's no longer an issue for you, then I have to believe that. I trust you, Olivia."
Olivia opens her mouth to speak to Elliot, but she says nothing, shocked by how quickly he gave in. She is immediately thrown off by his apology, and had fully been expecting to argue with him.
"I'll put them back," Elliot tells her in a calm manner. "If you're telling me that it was all a mistake and that it won't happen again, then I'll put them back...okay?"
Olivia nods her head slowly.
"Good... thank you," she responds in a soft tone. "I'm sorry for snapping."
Elliot brings his hand to hers, gently grabbing it.
"It's okay. I understand why you got upset. It's over," he tells her. "I don't think any different of you. I don't want you thinking that. I meant what I said."
"Thank you," Olivia repeats as Elliot places a kiss on her forehead.
Elliot walks over to her coat closet and opens the door.
"Wh- Where are you going?" Olivia asks him.
"I'll be back. I need to go take care of a couple things," Elliot says, putting his hand through the other arm of his coat. "You need anything while I'm out?"
"No... thanks," Olivia says while she watches him.
Elliot digs his hand into his coat pocket and removes two medicine bottles. One bottle belonging to him and the other bottle labeled Tylenol, but containing Olivia's pills. Olivia guesses that the bottle was nearly empty so Elliot added her pills to it as a temporary place to keep them.
"Here ya go," Elliot says, placing the bottles on the kitchen counter. "I should have trusted you."
Olivia nods her head again and watches Elliot as he sets them down.
Elliot embraces Olivia, wrapping his strong arms around her and placing a soft kiss on the top of her head before exiting her apartment.
Olivia stands there, staring at the medication and nearly wishing that the short argument would have gone in Elliot's favor.
Fin's car
Fin unlocks the door when he hears a knock on the passenger side window. He turns to face Elliot as Elliot opens the door and lowers himself into the seat.
"What's the problem?" Fin asks him, concerned. "What couldn't be said over the phone?"
"It's Liv," Elliot instantly admits to him. "I needed advice from another person. I don't know what to do. I can't ask the Cap'n because he'll intervene. I know Olivia too well...she'll end up shutting everybody out if she finds out that I talked to anyone."
Fin nods his head in understanding.
"What is it? Everything alright?" Fin asks him.
"She went in my Vicodin pills," Elliot tells him. "I found several of them missing."
Fin looks at him, puzzled. He wonders why Elliot would be this upset by that.
"Does she have her own?" Fin asks him. "Maybe she was just hurtin', man."
Elliot shakes his head at him.
"Not hurting in the way you think, Fin. She's been abusin' them. She's not taking them for the right reasons."
Fin stares at Elliot in shock. He is just as surprised by this as Elliot had been when he first opened the medicine cabinet and discovered that his pills had gone missing.
"Did you talk to her about it?" Fin asks him.
"Yeah... of course," Elliot responds. "She told me that it was a mistake and that it wouldn't happen again. Can I believe that? I'm just worried about her, Fin."
"If she were an addict, no, you shouldn't believe it. She would need help that you couldn't provide for her," Fin tells him.
"She's not an addict," Elliot responds. "But I don't want to wait around and do nothing while she becomes an addict. I want to stop her before something like that happens. That's why I hid the pills this morning. I didn't want her to be tempted."
Fin brings his palm to his forehead after hearing Elliot admit that. He knows Olivia well and guesses that Elliot's method didn't go over smoothly.
"Yeah? What'd she do when you did that?" Fin asks him.
"She snapped... she was angry," Elliot says, whispering. "I knew that might happen, but I didn't know what else to do."
Fin remains quiet and thinks. He knows that he would have done the same thing if he were Elliot, but he doesn't admit that.
"Man... that's tough," he says. "All you can do is watch her closely, Elliot. She's an adult. Olivia loves being independent and I can't imagine her being okay with you limiting her pills like that. Just keep your eye on her, man. She cares for you too much to abuse drugs right in front of you. She knows it hurts you."
Elliot nods his head. He had planned on watching her closely, but knows that he won't be able to remain by her side twenty-four hours of each day. Even now, when he is away from Olivia he worries.
Olivia's Apartment
Olivia sits at her kitchen counter, staring at the refrigerator, dazed.
"Do you know what I risked by going out and getting this food for you? Ungrateful bitch," she hears Grant's voice.
Even doing something as simple as sitting in the kitchen brings back painful memories.
"I'm sorry. I'm trying... I was just about to eat it," Olivia whispers weakly to him.
Grant shakes his head and slams the refrigerator door closed.
"I don't wanna hear it. It's too late for that. You always do this, Olivia... you refuse to do as I say and then you apologize," he tells her. "I'm gonna teach you... you're going to learn to do right the first time."
Olivia picks up her spoon, hoping that if Grant sees her eating that he will realize that she is making an effort.
She scoops up some mashed potatoes from the plate and brings the spoon to her mouth, forcing the food down her throat.
"What are you doing?" Grant asks in a menacing tone.
Olivia swallows and shakes her head, pleading with him.
"I'm trying. I'm sorry... I'm not hungry, but I'll eat. I'll eat it all."
Grant walks over to the table and stares down at her.
"You don't get to eat now. You let your chance go by," he tells her.
Olivia sets the spoon down with her shaky hand, bracing herself for another one of Grant's outbursts.
"I was going to eat it. You didn't give me a chance," she whispers to him.
Grant slants his eyebrow and stares down at her while Olivia looks down at her plate.
"What did you just say? Did you just accuse me of something?" he asks in a threatening tone.
Olivia shakes her head, nearly cursing under her breath as she wishes she could rewind time and take back her words.
"That's not what I meant," she says, her voice shaking.
Without warning, Grant reaches his hand down, violently pulling Olivia's hair, yanking Olivia from her seat.
"Yeah? That's not what you meant?" he says, gripping hard onto her hair and shoving her in the direction of the refrigerator.
"Sorry," Olivia says, barely audible as Grant shoves her body forward.
Grant opens the refrigerator with an intention to shove Olivia into the open door.
He follows through, grabbing her and pushing her into the shelves of the door. Olivia's body slams hard into the inside of the door and she drops to the floor, condiments falling on top of her and on the floor as she lands.
"Please... " is all she can say as she wraps her arms around her head and curls her body.
She is weak and the strong medication that is flowing through her veins isn't helping in her defense.
"She's been through so much, Elliot" Fin tells him. "It's almost expected for her to slip up and do something like this."
Elliot nods his head as he listens to Fin speak.
"You know her better than anyone. Just keep your eye on her. You'll know when she's high and when she's not... if it becomes a problem...if you see that nothing's changing, then you know what to do," Fin continues. "Get her help. Until then, just do your best. You can't force her to do anything. Be her support... that's really all you can do without getting others involved."
"Please," Grant mocks her.
Olivia continues to lay on the floor. The buzz she had been feeling only moments ago is gone. The pain is too unbearable.
"Get up!" Grant yells, kicking her in the side.
Olivia remains on the floor and begins sobbing.
"I-I can't," she tells him.
She knows that she is too dizzy to stand and also knows that once up, Grant will only knock her back down to the floor.
Even though Grant is unpredictable most times, she at least knows that much.
"NOW!" Grant yells.
Grant kicks her again, but watches his contact.
He plans on keeping Olivia for a long time, and doesn't want her breaking any bones. That will only cause more problems for him.
"I'm sick of you," he says while reaching his hand into the refrigerator and shoving whatever he can off the middle shelf and onto Olivia.
Olivia cries out loudly as the glass container of relish comes crashing down on her hand.
She sits up, pushing her back to the wall and she brings her arms up to avoid being hit in the face by Grant.
"It won't happen again," she sobs. "I'll eat faster next time. Please, Grant... stop."
Grant grabs onto her hair again, forcing her to stand to her feet. He brings his hand out and smacks her across the face. The impact causes Olivia's head to jerk and the side of her face slams into the wall.
"Is this going to happen again?" Grant asks her in a cruel tone.
"No," Olivia says quietly, her body trembling as she holds onto her face. "No, it won't. N- never again."
Grant grabs her wrist and pulls her behind him, walking over to the table.
He forces her down into her seat before banging his fist on the table, causing the plate and spoon to bounce.
"Eat!" he yells.
Olivia immediately grabs the spoon and scoops up more mashed potatoes.
She has even less of an appetite than she did before, but knows that Grant doesn't care about that.
She forces the mashed potatoes into her mouth and feels Grant's eyes on her as he stands over her.
"You're gonna learn," he repeats, crossing his arms over his chest as he watches her force the food into her mouth.
He can see her hands trembling and recognizes the fear he causes.
"I'm sorry, Olivia," he tells her.
Olivia is already used to Grant's roller coaster of emotions and nods her head after his apology.
"Don't you have anything to say?" Grant asks her.
Olivia swallows before weakly staring up at him.
"I- I'm sorry too," Olivia whispers.
Grant takes the spoon from her hand and places it on the table.
"You don't have to eat this," he tells her.
Olivia knows that it isn't about the food and his efforts to go out and buy it. It is about the control. No matter what they are doing, Grant will find some way to accuse Olivia of doing wrong and teach her a lesson.
Grant had set the plate down and it had only taken seconds for him to explode. Olivia had not been hungry, but had been determined to eat the food before Grant's tirade.
The beating had been short, but the abuse continues as Grant's eyes remain on Olivia.
She wonders what his next move will be. Grant had gone from complaining about Olivia's wasting of food to beating her to taking the spoon away from her and giving her the option not to eat it. Olivia can't stand his inconsistency. It makes it difficult for Olivia to know what to do because Grant's rules always change.
Grant reaches into his pants pocket and Olivia hears a rattling noise coming from his hand as he shakes what he is holding.
She stares up at him and sees him holding a bottle of pills.
"Want more?" he asks her.
Olivia nods her head. She knows that more pills mean that she will be more numb to the abuses and less aware of her surroundings.
The more pills in her system, the more spaced out she becomes.
She doesn't know if Grant wants sex next or just to talk, but figures she better prepare herself either way.
She holds her palm out and Grant drops the bottle into her hand.
Olivia jumps when she hears the door open. Elliot walks in, taking her away from her flashback.
He walks over to the counter and tries not to be obvious as he looks down at the medication to see if she had touched it.
He watches her closely and sees that she is uneasy, her eyes slightly wet with tears.
"You okay?" he asks, tossing his coat onto the chair.
Olivia releases a heavy breath, not realizing that she had been holding it in.
"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking about some things," Olivia responds in between each breath.
Elliot walks over to her and rubs her back.
"Wanna talk about it?" he asks.
He's not surprised when Olivia shakes her head 'no'.
MERRY CHRISTMAS/ HAPPY HOLIDAYS! PLEASE GIVE ME A PRESENT BY REVIEWING! THANKS! Here or on twitter (iSpyMH)