AN: My last update of 2014. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Chapter 37: Long Hours, Losing Touch

Rae woke up to the sound of her phone ringing beside her bed. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at her clock. It was five thirty in the morning. She groaned and reached for her phone, squinting to see the name on the caller id. It was Amanda calling but she was moving so slowly that her phone stopped ringing before she could answer it. She kept her phone in her hand and waited for her to call back. Her eyes slowly closed and she drifted back to sleep. A couple minutes later her sleep was interrupted when her phone started ringing again. She swiped her thumb across the screen to accept the call and lazily put the phone up to her ear. She didn't say anything right away. She just sleepily held the phone until Amanda finally said her name.

"Where have you been?" she said tiredly.

"What do you mean?" Amanda asked confused.

"I didn't talk to you all day yesterday" she said yawning. "I called you twice last night".

"I was working yesterday. We had a long interrogation and then we got another call" she explained. "It was just really busy. I got your message and I was going to call you back but things were hectic. I'm home now".

"It's five thirty in the morning". Amanda laughed.

"I know. I'm sorry to wake you" she said hearing how tired she sounded. "Why don't you go back to sleep and I'll call you back later?" she suggested.

"No, it's okay" she said despite another yawn. "I can talk now".

"Go back sleep, Rae" she said no longer suggesting. "I'm just home to shower and change and then I have to head back to work".

"That's ridiculous".

"Well, I'm pulling extra hours so I can have the weekend off" she said reminding her of her upcoming visit.

"Oh, right. Ok" she said softly. "Call me today, ok?"

"I will. I promise. I love you".

"I love you too". They got off the phone and Rae went back to sleep while Amanda went to shower and change her clothes before heading back to work. Rae woke up again at ten in the morning and checked her phone for a call from Amanda. She saw a text instead telling her to call when she woke up. Of course when she called Amanda didn't answer. She got up and went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, washed her face, showered, then went back to her room to get dressed. She went downstairs and had a bagel for breakfast and put on a pot of coffee before going back up to her room to pack her bag. There was a knock on her bedroom door and Dominic stuck his head in. "Do you realize that you never wait for me to invite you in? Just because you knock doesn't mean you have permission to enter" Rae said looking over her shoulder at him. "I could've been naked".

"Well, that's what I was hoping for" he joked. He came in her room and sat on the edge of her bed. "What are you doing today?"

"Ummm, I'm gonna go to the library. I have a psych paper due on Friday so I'm gonna start on that. And we have a test this week in Biochem so I'm gonna study for that too".

"Oh, can I come?" he asked.

"Uh, no. Only special people can come to the library with me" she said sarcastically. He got up from her bed and walked to the door.

"Give me ten minutes" he said as he left and went to his room. Rae took her bag and went downstairs to the kitchen. She took down her traveler's mug and made herself a cup of coffee. She packed some snacks and put them in her bag then sat on the couch and waited for Dom to come down. She checked her phone for any messages from Amanda but she didn't have any. Dominic came down, made himself a cup of coffee to take along and they left for the library together. They'd been at the library for a couple of hours when Amanda finally called her back. She went into the stairwell so she could talk without disturbing anyone.

"Hey" she said answering the phone. "I called you when I woke up" she said taking a seat on the stairs, "you didn't answer".

"Yeah, I'm sorry. We got a call as soon as I got back into the squad room. We're taking a lunch break now". She was sitting on one of the beds in the cribs for some privacy. They'd ordered Chinese and were just waiting for it to be delivered. "So….what happened with you and Olivia this weekend?" She asked carefully hoping Rae wouldn't think she was accusing her of anything.

"Why? Did she….say something?" Rae asked.

"No. She's just been….avoiding me a little bit" she said. "She'd been talking to me more especially since my sister was here. Then she visits you and now she's not talking to me about anything except work".

"I just….I kind of yelled at her" Rae admitted. "I mean, maybe not yelled but definitely a very….firm tone of voice".

"Ok. Why?"

"I just lost my temper and I said some things that…..I think really hurt her feelings" she said avoiding Amanda's question of why she'd yelled at Olivia. "It wasn't anything that didn't need to be said but I could've said it differently".

"Ok. Why did you yell at her?" she asked again.

"Not yell…firm tone of voice" she corrected.

"Ok" Amanda laughed. "Why the firm tone of voice?"

"Ummm….it was nothing really. It was just….she tried to kiss me" she said finally. There was a silence on the other end of the phone. Rae waited for Amanda to say something.

"Again?" she asked finally breaking the silence. Rae had told her about Olivia trying to kiss her when they'd taken their trip to the Jersey Shore. She told her she really had no right to be upset, reminding her that she'd done the same when she was still with Olivia. But she'd only done it once and after that she stayed within the boundaries of their friendship.

"Amanda, don't be mad" she said softly.

"I'm….no, I'm not mad. I'm…..I'm not mad" she stammered. "I think it's disrespectful and I feel like I need to have a talk with her" she said seriously.

"Don't….do that" Rae said firmly. "Please, don't do that. I already feel bad for saying what I said. I know I really hurt her feelings Amanda. You don't need to talk to her. She doesn't need to feel any worse".

"Ok, ok" she said stopping her rant. "I won't say anything".

"Thank you".

"So what'd you say that hurt her feelings so much?"

"I….I told her that she's disrespectful and she's turned into a liar and a cheater and...that's why I'm not in love with her anymore" she said hesitantly. There was another bout of silence on the other end of the phone.

"That's….yeah, that's harsh". Rae laughed softly. "I guess I can't upset with her for still being in love with you. You're so hard not to love".

"Awww, you flatter me" she said smiling. "I can't wait to see you this weekend" she said softly.

"Counting down the days". Fin stuck his head in and told her their food was there. She nodded and he left her to finish her phone call.

"There's not gonna be a last minute case or anything that gets in the way, right?" Rae asked.

"Not a chance" Amanda said confidently.

"Ok. Go on. Enjoy your lunch" she said starting to end their call. "Call me tonight?"

"No matter how late" Amanda said. Rae smiled.

"I love you" she whispered into the phone.

"I love you too". They said their goodbyes and got off the phone. Amanda went back out into the squad room to get her lunch and discuss their new case. Araeyah stood up and turned to see Dominic behind her.

"Oh my god" she said clutching her chest. He burst out laughing but she didn't find it at all funny. "You scared the crap out of me. Make some noise next time". He just kept laughing at her. She playfully shoved him and walked past him back into the library. He got control of his laughing and jogged to catch up with her.

"Let's take a break" he whispered. "I'm hungry". They got back to their table and Rae retook her seat.

"That why you should've eaten breakfast this morning" she whispered opening her book back to the page she was reading.

"I couldn't. You were rushing me" he whispered back. She scoffed.

"No, I wasn't". She thought about offering him some of her snacks but she hadn't brought much and it wasn't a full meal. "If you want lunch why don't you go to the café and get something?" she said pointing in the direction of the café that was at the front of the library.

"You don't want anything?" he asked getting up from the table. She shook her head.

"No. I had breakfast". He got his wallet from his bag, took both of their coffee cups and headed for the café. He came back ten minutes later with a sandwich, a bag of chips and their traveler's mugs refilled with coffee. He retook his seat and gave Rae her coffee. She thanked him and continued working on her psych paper. Amanda was driving up on Friday morning. She had two classes that day: one at eight in the morning, before Amanda would be there, and another at two in the afternoon. She was going just to turn in her paper and then leaving. She'd already coordinated with one of her classmates to get the notes she'd be missing out on. Dominic had class until one and then work so they'd have the apartment all to themselves, something she was really grateful for. She put a good dent in her paper before moving on to studying for biochemistry. She and Dominic found an open private room so they could talk and quiz each other. They stayed at the library for a couple more hours before leaving and going out to a late lunch. When they returned home, Dominic went upstairs to his room for a nap. Rae went upstairs, got her homework for her other classes, and brought it downstairs to the living room to work on it in front of the tv.

Rae was into her homework, listening to the tv for background noise and had lost track of the time. She didn't see what time it was until her phone started ringing. It was nearing ten o'clock and it was Amanda calling. She had a break from their case and thought she'd call while she had the chance. She told Rae a little about the case, a rape victim being framed for murder by her rapist, but Rae didn't want to hear about it. She thought it was horrible and depressing and it wasn't something she wanted to think about. They talked about what they could do on her visit besides stay in bed all weekend. They were on the phone twenty minutes before Amanda had to get back to work. She finished her homework by ten forty five and went up to her room. She took off her jeans and changed into a t shirt before climbing into bed. Just as she was drifting off to sleep there was a knock on her bedroom door.

"What?" she yelled. Dominic came in and turned her light on. She covered her eyes with her hands and groaned.

"Did you finish the pre-lab for tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yes".

"Can I….copy?" he asked hesitantly. Rae sat up on her elbows and looked at him.

"No" she said after some thought.

"Aw come on Rae" he said going over and kneeling on her bed.

"No" she repeated. "Do your own homework?"

"Come on. Just this once? I have a ten page English paper I have to finish by tomorrow. It's already eleven and I wanna get at least a couple hours of sleep tonight". He kneeled on her bed and waited for her to answer. "Come on Rae please" he said bouncing on her bed.

"Alright, fine" she said giving in. "Get off my bed". He climbed down and went over to her study desk, grabbed her lab book and left her room, shutting off the light and closing the door on his way out. She settled down comfortably and drifted off to sleep not realizing that it was first night she'd gone to bed without talking to Olivia in over a month. Her alarm woke her a six thirty the next morning. She got up and went straight to the bathroom to shower and banged on Dominic's door on her way back into her room. She heard him stumble out of bed and into the bathroom. She got dressed, packed her backpack, grabbed her phone and keys, and went down to the kitchen for breakfast. She made two bagels with cream cheese, one for herself and one for Dominic, and put on a pot of coffee. She went over to the stairs and yelled for Dominic to bring her lab book down with him when he came downstairs. She went back to the kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee. She took her coffee and bagel to the table and pulled out her laptop. She pulled up skype and dialed Amanda but she didn't pick up. She shutdown her computer and returned it to her bag then finished her bagel. She took her plate to the sink, made a cup of coffee to go then sat back down at the table to finish the cup she'd already made. Dominic came downstairs at seven fifteen. He walked over to the kitchen and handed Rae her lab book before going over and taking his traveler's mug from the cabinet.

"Hurry up. Don't wanna be late" she said as she put her lab book in her bag and closed the zipper. He nodded his head and quickly ate his bagel while he made himself coffee to take with him. Rae finished her coffee and put her mug in the sink. Dominic sat his plate on top of hers in the sink and put the lid on his coffee cup. They both grabbed their things and headed out of the apartment to walk to campus together. Lab went quickly then they split up to go to the rest of their classes. When she was done with class for the day, Rae went to the library to work on her psych paper. At five o'clock she got a text from Taylor, her course information supervisor, asking if she was available to lead a tutoring session for a brief calculus class. The scheduled tutor had canceled earlier that day and he needed a replacement. He sent her the place and time and she said she could do it. She worked on her paper for another hour before leaving the library to head over to the six thirty tutoring session. Amanda called her at seven. She answered and told her she was working and that she'd call her back when she got home. The tutoring session went until eight thirty. She took the campus shuttle and got off at the closest stop, a couple blocks away. She made it in the door by eight forty five to find Dominic already home. He was sitting in the living room with four other people having a study group. He offered her some of the pizza they'd ordered so she took a couple slices and went up to her room to let them study. She texted Amanda to tell her she was home and that she could call whenever she was free. She didn't have much homework due the next day so she worked on things that were due later in the week. She didn't want anything getting in the way of her time with Amanda that weekend.

When she was finished with her homework, she changed into shorts and a t shirt and lounged in her room watching movies on Netflix. She went downstairs to get a bowl of ice cream. Dom was still having his study group so she tried to be as quiet as possible. She could feel Dominic and his friends staring at her but she just went on getting her ice cream. She grabbed her bowl and got a spoon from the drawer then turned to go back upstairs. Dom and his friends quickly looked away trying to hide that they'd just been staring at her. She smiled to herself as she went up the stairs back into her room. Her phone was ringing when she got back and she hurried over to answer. It was Ashley calling to complain about Scott. They were fighting over their new roommate, a cute blonde named Alice. She felt like he was always flirting with her but he said she was just being jealous. Rae listened to her rant but really couldn't give an opinion about anything because she wasn't there to see what was going on. She didn't think that Scott would ever cheat on Ashley but she'd thought the same about Olivia with her. She just couldn't trust her judgement on these things anymore. She did, however, know Ashley and she knew how needy she could be. Scott giving the least bit of attention to another could make her jealous. The phone beeped and she checked the id to see Amanda was calling. She told Ashley that she'd call her back and clicked over to talk to her girlfriend. They talked for a while then Rae said she needed to call Ashley back before she did something stupid like break up with Scott. They said their goodbyes and Rae hung up with Amanda and called Ashley back. She continued where she left off with her rant and Rae finally told her to stop being paranoid.

"I've seen him looking at her, Araeyah" she said annoyed.

"Yeah, well his eyes work Ashley". She shut down her laptop and put it on the stand next to her bed. "Just because he looks at her doesn't mean he's flirting".

"It means he thinks she's hot and I don't like it". Rae laughed.

"Just because he's with you doesn't mean he stops thinking other girls are attractive".

"You're totally taking his side" she said angrily.

"I'm not taking anyone's side. I'm just saying…."

"That I'm a needy, jealous girlfriend and I'm overreacting" Ashley said finishing her sentence.

"I didn't say that you were needy or jealous but yes, I do think you are overeating".

"I can't believe you're taking his side".

"I said I'm not taking a side" she argued.

"Yes you are".

"No, I'm not".

"Yes, you are" she repeated.

"Ok, fine. I am. Happy" she said giving up arguing with her. "I'm going to go to bed now. Good night Ashley". She didn't wait for her to say anything else. She just hung up the phone. She wasn't really tired but she didn't want to watch anything else on Netflix and she could still hear Dominic downstairs with his study group. She thought about calling Amanda back but when they got off the phone she'd said she was going to bed. She'd been working a lot of hours so she'd be able to take the whole weekend off to come visit her. She didn't want to disturb her sleep. The next person she thought of was Simone. It'd been almost a week since she'd talked to her but she looked at her clock and saw it was almost eleven thirty. She knew Simone went to bed early on school nights so she called Maureen instead. She didn't answer. The last person she could think of was Olivia. She finally realized that she hadn't talked to her the night before. She dialed her number but just stared at her phone, not hitting send. She thought about what to say to her, if she should apologize and how to apologize if she did. She just canceled the call, set her alarm and put her phone on the night stand. She got under the covers and laid down to go to sleep.