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"Please, Alex," begged Joshua, tugging on her hand. "Come in with us."

"I can't," she whispered, but her protests were wearing thin. Her head was spinning. Olivia had been sleeping with Casey . . . she'd seen them together . . . and Joshua had told her . . . or had it all just been some misunderstanding? "I – I saw you," she stammered. "I saw you together."

Olivia still looked bemused, but she held tight to Alex's hand and said gently, "Why don't we finish this discussion inside? I'll make you a cup of tea, or a hot chocolate if you'd like that better." She managed a wry smile. "White hot chocolate with 1% milk and mini-marshmallows."

And that broke her. Alex couldn't refuse, not now. Olivia still remembered how she liked her hot chocolate. And there was her son, clutching her hand and begging her with his huge, sad eyes to stay. So what could she do? Mutely, she let Olivia lead her up to the apartment.

It hadn't changed much. The furniture was mostly the same, there were still some photographs of them on the mantel, and some new ones of Joshua. There were some pictures he'd drawn taped to the fridge and there were books strewn all over the place.

Olivia went to the kitchen and started some coffee for herself and hot chocolate for Alex and Joshua. Alex sat down on the couch and Joshua curled up against her. When the drinks were ready, Olivia gave Alex and Joshua their hot chocolate and sat down across from them, clearly wanting to come closer but unsure if she really should. They stayed like that in silence for a few minutes, calming down, before Olivia cleared her throat. "What do you mean, you saw us?"

Alex took a deep breath. "When I was coming back from Witness Protection, I came here as soon as I could. But you and Joshua and Casey were going out somewhere – holding hands – don't play with me, Olivia. Maybe not anymore, but you were in a relationship with her." She wisely decided to omit that she'd been to visit Joshua and he'd confirmed it.

Olivia shook her head, still bewildered. "She was our friend, Alex. Nothing more. She still comes over for dinner occasionally, but that's it. I promise you, I have never been in a relationship with her because I'm in love with you. The day you were supposed to come back, she did come over for an hour or so, and we went to the park. I'm so sorry if you misunderstood, honey, but we were never intimate. Never."

Alex felt the world falling away. "Never?" she echoed weakly.

"Never," Olivia assured her.

Alex's breath hitched. She believed Olivia, and then – she'd avoided her family for over a year for no reason whatsoever except for a stupid misunderstanding! She should have known that Olivia loved her and would never be with someone else. She was so stupid! "I'm sorry, Olivia," she whispered, trying to keep the tears from spilling over. "I should have known. I stayed away for such a long time because I thought – you must hate me. I'm so sorry."

And then Olivia did cross over to sit beside Alex and took the ADA's hands in her own. "I could never hate you, princess. Never. I love you. And even if you stayed away forever and never came back, nothing would ever change that. Nothing ever could."

And Alex didn't get upset with Olivia for calling her "princess," because from Olivia's lips, the term of endearment felt so, so right. "I left him," she murmured, uncertain cerulean eyes darting up to meet Olivia's chocolate ones.

"Why?" asked Olivia, a bit hesitantly. She wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know.

Alex sighed. "Joshy," she said softly. "Why don't you go play in your room for a bit? I'll be there later and you can show me your new stuffed animals. Do you still have Teddy?"

He nodded, and immediately got up and did as she'd asked, which surprised Alex for a moment, but she shrugged it off. It didn't matter why he was listening; it only mattered that he listened. Because she was about to tell Olivia something that she didn't want their son to hear.

When she heard the door to Joshua's room close, she turned back to Olivia. "He abused me," she said, quietly but clinically, with no emotion whatsoever. "And I left."

Olivia's dark orbs were full of sadness, but moreover, compassion. She squeezed Alex's hand. "You're so brave," she murmured. She paused again and ran a hand through her hair, knowing she shouldn't ask, knowing she didn't want the answer, but she couldn't quite help herself. "Why were you with him, baby? I know what you thought, but he . . ." She trailed off, unsure how to complete the thought, unsure what she even wanted to say.

Alex couldn't meet her eyes. She was so ashamed, of the way she'd treated Olivia, of the fact she'd stayed away, that she'd let herself get sucked in with Robert, and here was Olivia, being so good to her, telling her that she still loved her. "I wanted to forget," she mumbled. "I thought - I thought you were gone, for good, and I didn't know what I'd done wrong. I know that must seem hypocritical, and I guess it is." She laughed self-depracatingly, a cold laugh devoid of any real humor. "I guess I just expected you to wait for me."

"But Alex, I did. And I had no idea what I'd done wrong to make you want to go."

To her horror, Alex found tears rushing to her eyes. She furiously blinked them back and took a deep breath to calm herself. "I –" she began, but Olivia held up a hand to silence her.

"You're going to stay now, right?"

Alex took a sip of her hot chocolate. She wanted to ask if Olivia still wanted her to stay, but that would sound too needy. Alex Cabot was never needy. Instead, she just shrugged helplessly.

"Don't you want to?"

Now it was Olivia sounding insecure, and Alex hastened to assure her that she did. "I do, Liv. I do. More than anything. But it's been a long time. There's not a place here for me anymore."

Tears rushed to Olivia's eyes. "Yes, there is! There is, Alex. We love you and we want you to stay with us. We've missed you so much. I've spent years waiting for this. Please stay here. Please."

She was begging, and Alex couldn't deny her when she realized how much this meant to Olivia. She relented. "Just for tonight."

She could feel Olivia's relief and the detective pulled Alex onto her lap, kissing the crown of her head and rocking her in her arms. Alex felt a few salty droplets land on her hair, and she realized Olivia was crying. She'd made Olivia cry. And that made her feel even worse than she was already feeling.

But much as she hated to admit it, she'd been waiting for this day for years as well, for Olivia to hold her and rock her back and forth, erecting a cocoon of safety around her. She relaxed in the detective's arms, cuddling closer to her and resting her head in the crook of Olivia's neck, trying not to cry herself. She had to be strong. She was Alex Cabot and she was not weak and she did not cry.

When Olivia's tears had subsided, she lifted Alex into her arms as if she was nothing more than a child and carried her to the bedroom, which hadn't changed at all since Alex had last been here, and that comforted her. Olivia threw on a fresh t-shirt and sweats and Alex rummaged around in one of the drawers, finally coming up with one of Olivia's NYPD sweatshirts. She pulled it over her head and changed into a pair of Olivia's boy shorts, grinning at the detective as she did so.

Olivia smiled back and lay down beside Alex on the bed, taking the ADA into her arms and caressing her cheek. Alex flinched at the touch, then sighed. "Sorry," she murmured.

Olivia's eyes were full of sadness. "He hit you."

Alex nodded, sighing again as she snuggled closer to the detective.

Olivia kissed her once more. "I love you, Alex. I mean that. I know it might be hard, but we can work things out. We want you back."

Alex hesitated, but nodded. "I love you, too, Liv. I want to stay."

They'd forgotten about Joshua, and Alex was pleasantly surprised when she woke up to find a small, warm body curled up against hers.

He stirred and opened his eyes, looking up into Alex's eyes. "You're home?" he asked, a bit hesitantly.

Alex nodded, unshed tears shining in her baby blues.

"For good?"

She nodded again, and his smile lit up her world.

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