Well, we've come to the end of this story and I am surprisingly emotional about letting it wrap up. I just wanted to take a minute to express how appreciative I am of all of your comments and support. I wrote this story based off of my own experience in college. And while Charlie had a happier ending than most (myself included), I still felt like it was an important story to tell. I am still in awe of how well this was received. I do hope you all will take a minute to realize that the reactions and emotions I wrote in this FanFic are real. Always believe victims and survivors.
Thank you thank you thank you for embarking upon this journey with me, and I hope you will join me for the sequel.
It was New Years Eve and Ed, Olivia, Charlie, and Noah were sitting on the floor surrounded by boxes, eating leftover Chinese food. The day after Christmas, Ed and Olivia signed a lease on the three bedroom apartment in their current building. Once that was done, they pretty easily convinced Charlie to move with them temporarily. She hadn't saved anything from her old apartment, so she decided it would make sense to stay with them until she could re-furnish Olivia's apartment and move in comfortably. Noah was elated that Charlie was coming with them, and he wasn't quite understanding that it was just temporary.
"You move with us, Tar-lie. It be good." He said, in his usual commanding way. Charlie just leaned over to poke his nose.
"It will be good, pal," Charlie said. "And I promise you that when I move out, you will have a standing sleepover invitation with me."
"Yea!" He said and did a little fist pump into the air, causing Ed and Olivia to chuckle as they polished off their sesame chicken.
"You love your Charlie, don't you sweet boy?" Olivia asked, loving to watch the two kids together. Noah just nodded enthusiastically and went to plop in Charlie's lap.
"I lub Tar-lie. She my sister now." Noah said and he leaned back into her for a cuddle. Charlie squeezed him tight and shook him a bit, causing him to giggle.
"I love my Noah too! You're my best pal." Noah just smiled happily at her and patted her cheek. Ed cleared his throat a little, and they turned to look at him.
"I thought maybe now would be a good time to give you two some good news," he said in his usual, gruff Tucker tone.
"News?" Noah asked, unsure what that statement even meant. Ed smiled softly at him and took Olivia's hand.
"We set a date for our wedding," he said and looked at Olivia with a grin. Her eyes shown with excitement as he spoke to the kids about their plans. "We've booked a wedding chapel in Hawaii for mid-March. All four of us will go for the week, if that's okay."
"Wow, Hawaii?" Charlie exclaimed. "Oh my gosh, I'm so excited!"
Noah had no clue what Hawaii was, but seeing Charlie get so excited he happily joined in the celebration.
"Noah go to Hi-Ee too!"
"I'm going to learn to surf!" Charlie exclaimed, clearly beyond pumped about this decision. Ed just laughed at her enthusiasm and nodded; she could get whatever she wanted out of this deal.
"There's just one catch," he said, trying to slow her planning. "We will get married on the third night we are there, and plan to take a mini-honeymoon on the island. So we will need you to hang out with Noah."
"Moon?" Noah asked, not entirely sure what was being talked about. Olivia tried to explain.
"After a couple gets married, they go on a honeymoon so they can celebrate. We won't be gone long, though. And you'll have fun with Charlie."
"You go to moon without Noah?" He asked, astonished that they would do such a thing. Charlie cracked up while Olivia tried to explain that they weren't actually going to the moon. Once the tyke was satisfied that no one was going to space and leaving him behind, he turned his attention back to his dinner.
"Charlie, are you sure you are okay with this plan?" Olivia asked. "We will do some stuff all together before the ceremony, so you will have a bit of freedom from him."
"Of course!" she exclaimed, putting her almost step-mother's fears at ease. "I've always wanted to go to Hawaii and hanging out with Noah will be a blast. Plus, I'm ready for you to marry my dad."
"I'm ready for her to marry your dad, too." Ed said slyly and leaned over to give Olivia a quick kiss. "More than ready."
As Olivia was getting Noah down for the night, Ed took the opportunity to sit next to Charlie on the sofa and try to catch up on what all had happened that day. She had gone to meet with Trevor Langan earlier, and despite multiple offers for company, she insisted she wanted to go on her own. He reluctantly backed off, with some coaxing from Olivia, but he had been on edge most of the day waiting for a chance to talk to her.
"How did it go earlier with Trevor?" He asked, waisting no time getting down to business. Charlie kept her eyes locked on the hot wheels car she was turning over in her hands as she began to answer.
"Good, I guess," she began. "He seems to think I have a pretty solid case. Was very confident. I would have to give a statement on record, so there's that."
"Do you think you'd be up for it?" Ed asked cautiously, wanting to offer some support but also not wanting to upset her.
"I don't know," she replied honestly. "A year ago, hell even a few months ago, I would say no. I wouldn't be able to handle it. But now? I don't know. It's hard to say. I know I'm not alone. I'd have you and Olivia and Trevor behind me. And that goes a long way."
"Charlie, you have an army of people behind you now. Of course Olivia and I are right there with you. Langan. Barba. Amanda. Finn. Carisi. Your boss has been incredibly understanding throughout this. You have so much support behind you, sweetheart."
"Yeah," she said softly, still playing with the car almost out of nervous habit. "It's just, that whole system has destroyed my life. And I want them to know that, ya know? I want them to feel bad about it. And I want them to suffer, just a little bit."
"If I had my way, I'd crucify that school and police department," Tucker said with a low, angry voice. "Everything that they did was just wrong."
"Did you know this happens other places, too?" Charlie asked and finally looked up at her father. "Trevor showed me cases from other colleges. It's just infuriating. How can they turn their backs on us like that?"
"When power and money is involved, it makes people do terrible things," Ed admitted softly. "But you can take some of that power back now, if you want."
"I think I want to do it," Charlie said and reached for Ed's hand. "I'll text Trevor and let him know to proceed, but he said it could take a couple of years to get everything settled."
"Yeah, sometimes these things take time," Ed said and pulled her in for a hug. "I'm proud of you, Charlie. So incredibly proud of you."
Charlie wrapped her arms around her dad and closed her eyes as she rested against his chest.
"I wasn't able to fight back before, but now I can. And that's because of you."
"I'm too tired to do anything but lay here," Ed groaned after he and Olivia finally collapsed into bed around 2am. The entire apartment was packed and ready for movers to arrive about 8am. Noah, still not convinced Charlie was coming with them, was happily curled up in bed with her and they were both out cold. Now Olivia was chuckling at Ed's whining, and decided to tease him a bit.
"What happened to ringing in the new year with sex?" She asked in a joking manner, knowing she wasn't up to it either. But he had made such a big deal about their first encounter of the new year, that she couldn't leave it alone. But all she heard in response was a grunt.
"Yeah, well, I'm not as young as I used to be," he grumbled, but managed to pull Olivia into his chest and kiss her head. "Despite our lack of New Year's sex, you know I love you right?"
Olivia propped her chin on his chest and looked into his eyes.
"Of course I know that. You show me each and every day," she said softly and kissed his chin. "I love you too."
"We've been through a lot together, even before this year," he said, still gazing at his soon to be wife.
"Mhm," she agreed.
"Do you still resent me for the past?" This was a subject they had spoken about at length in the beginning of their relationship, but it still worried him a good bit that she harbored some negative feelings about how he treated her unit in the past.
"Ed, we've been over this," she said confidently. "You were just doing your job, and I was just doing mine. No one could have predicted that we would fall so in love with each other, but it just goes to show you how much people can change and grow as life goes on. I love that about our story."
"Life hasn't been easy for either of us, has it?" He said, as he ran his fingers through her hair.
"No, it hasn't," Olivia admitted, still with her chin propped on his chest so she could see his face through the city light shining in the window. "And we will still have challenges. But I wouldn't want to face tomorrow with anyone but you."
"And you'll never have to," he assured her before pulling her up for a kiss. He pulled away and rested his forehead against hers, while stroking her cheek. "It may have taken more time and work than most families, but here we are. We've come together."
The End