Olivia carried a small plate containing a toasted English muffin into the living room and set it down on the endtable. She rounded the sofa and smiled when she saw that in the time she had been in the kitchen, Casey had kicked the comforter to the floor and had pulled off her socks. Without the blanket covering her, Olivia was able to see for the first time that Casey was wearing blue plaid pajama pants and a white tank top; she knew that the ADA had fallen asleep the night before without changing out of her clothes, so she figured she must have changed in the middle of the night.

Sitting down on the edge of the sofa, Olivia gently ran her hand over Casey's cheek to rouse her without startling her. "Casey, wake up," she said in a whisper.

Casey groaned and mumbled something under her breath that Olivia didn't quite understand. Smirking, Olivia tried a slightly different tactic, tenderly shaking the ADA's shoulder instead. "Casey," she repeated, a little more loudly than before, "open your eyes for me."

"Mm-mm," she replied without opening her mouth. She shifted position, pressing her back further into the cushions of the sofa. "Don't feel good."

"I know you don't, but you need to try to eat something."

Casey groaned again at the very thought of eating something. "Can't."

"It'll make you feel better, settle your stomach. I promise."

Casey didn't respond. A deep sigh escaped her lips as she started slipping back into sleep. Sighing herself, Olivia once again shook Casey's shoulder. "Come on, Casey. Take a couple of bites of English muffin and then you can go back to sleep." She felt as if she were bargaining with a two-year-old. It struck her as adorable.

Casey finally opened one eye, peering at Olivia wearily. "English muffin? Isn't that a little heavy?"

"Well, it's the next best thing to toast, which is very hard to make when your hostess has no bread. Oh, and you're going to need more eggs, because I made the last two for myself."

"I do too have bread." Casey took a deep breath and sat up, rubbing her eyes and yawning before focusing her attention on the detective.

"Well, I could have made you toast with the cinnamon raisin swirl bread, but that's even heavier than the English muffin, don't you think?" Olivia teased, snatching the plate from the endtable and holding it out to Casey. "Besides, the smell of the cinnamon would have turned your stomach."

"Yeah, yeah." Casey took the plate with a grateful smile and began nibbling at one of the halves of the English muffin. Olivia watched her carefully, trying to determine if the English muffin was in fact settling Casey's stomach instead of making her more nauseous. "You're staring, Detective," Casey said, setting her breakfast back down on the plate.

"I'm just making sure that you're not going to get sick."

"I'm a big girl, Olivia. If I do feel sick, I know what to do."

Olivia smirked. She knew Casey didn't feel well, which was undoubtedly affecting her mood, but Olivia still couldn't help but tease her. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're a pain in the ass when you're sick?"

"Yes, actually, I have been told that." Casey smiled and took another small bite of her English muffin. "A few years ago, I wound up in the hospital for a couple of days with pneumonia. Mary--Judge Clark--came to sit with me and I kept telling her that I was fine and that I didn't need her babysitting me and that I wanted her to go home and leave me alone. She told me I was the worst patient she'd ever had the displeasure of being around. She wouldn't leave, though, just to spite me."

Olivia laughed. She didn't know much about the relationship between Casey and Judge Clark--everything she knew was gleaned from small snippets of conversation with the ADA--but that story fit in perfectly with what little she did know. "She means a lot to you, doesn't she?"

Casey nodded, smiling fondly. "Yeah, she does. She gave me a chance when no one else would, and I'm forever grateful for that. And I learned so much from her."

"Kind of like a second mother?" Casey just shrugged and dropped her gaze down to the plate. Olivia knew that something had changed; the air was different, colder, and Casey was unconsciously inching closer to the back of the sofa. She just couldn't hazard a guess as to why Casey was closing herself off to her. She made a move to rest her hand on the ADA's knee, but Casey flinched at the contact. "Why do you do that?" Olivia asked softly as she dropped her hand on her own leg.

"Do what?" Casey asked, feigning innocence.

"You start to open up a little and then you pull away again." Olivia took the plate from Casey's hand and set it down on the coffee table, then gently took one of Casey's hands in her own. "What's going on?"

Casey looked up at Olivia, who was surprised to see the green eyes clouded with tears. "What did you mean when you said you'd never really done this before? Why did you qualify it?"

Olivia bit her lip, sighing softly. She had been hoping Casey wouldn't have picked up on her choice of words, not because she was ashamed of her past but because she now knew exactly where this conversation was headed. "I have flirted with a woman before."

Casey nodded, swallowing hard. "You flirted with her?"

The name was unspoken, but it didn't need to be said aloud. Casey wasn't one to nurse an inferiority complex, but the entire squad, Olivia included and in some ways especially, had made it quite clear on more than one occasion when Casey had first started that she was doing things the wrong way. And the wrong way meant not Alex's way. "Sometimes," Olivia replied honestly.

Casey blinked quickly and nodded, her heart dropping. "Did she flirt back?"

"It depended on her mood." Olivia took a deep breath and held it for a quick moment. "Casey, it never went further than that--"

"You don't need to explain your past to me, Olivia. It's really none of my business." Casey made herself small in the corner of the couch and searched Olivia's eyes. "But I do need to know … when you said you meant it … was it really because of me and not just because of who I replaced?"

Olivia closed her eyes and sighed quietly. She had never given much thought to just how many of the annoyed glances and rolled eyes Casey had taken to heart, but it was obvious now that she had picked up on more than Olivia thought she had. "Of course it was really because of you. Casey, it was never our intention to make you feel like you had to compete with her--"

"I don't feel like that," Casey insisted, clearing her throat. "Not anymore. Not really. I just … look, before I force myself to reevaluate my entire life up until last night, I need to know that this … whatever it is isn't just loneliness on my part or missing someone else on your part or the alcohol playing games with the both of us. I need to know that it's real, that it's not just an illusion."

"It's not an illusion, Casey. I wouldn't have said anything to you if I didn't think it was real." Olivia placed her elbow against the back of the sofa and rested her head on her hand. The pain and uncertainty on Casey's face broke Olivia's heart. She longed to just pull her into a hug, hold her, and tell her that everything was going to be okay. "Casey, I am truly sorry for anything I've done or said that has hurt you."

"You didn't," Casey replied, trying not to let her voice reveal how choked up she was.

"Don't tell me I didn't, Casey. I know I've said things that hurt you. And I'm ashamed to admit that I said some of those things intentionally to hurt you. But I promise, this is not one of those times. I'm not doing this to play with you; I really meant what I said last night. I meant it then and I mean it now."

"I-I just don't know if I can do this," Casey said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Olivia sighed in frustration but immediately softened when she looked into Casey's eyes. Damn her for having that effect on me, Olivia thought. She wanted to be angry and exasperated, and she hated the fact that she couldn't. "Do what, Casey?"

"I've never … I mean, this is all so confusing. I just … Liv, you have to understand, my entire life, I was a tomboy, in all areas except for dating. There, I was very much a girly girl. I liked boys, I liked being treated like a girl instead of one of the boys. And now …"

"Now that's all in question?"

Casey nodded, taking a deep breath in and holding it for a second. "I just need time, Olivia. I need to be able think about this without my head threatening to explode."

"That's perfectly fine," Olivia assured her. She reached out her hand to Casey's again and felt a little bit of relief when Casey extended her own hand and allowed Olivia to grip it comfortingly. "Your English muffin's cold."

Casey chuckled in nervous relief at the change in subject. "Yeah, I know. I think it was upsetting my stomach anyway. Thank you, though."

Olivia smiled. "You're welcome." Spying the remote control on the coffee table, she picked it up, turned on the television, and instantly began flipping channels. "You know, nothing's ever on during the day."

"Not unless you like to make fun of the talk shows," Casey replied, smirking. "Every once in a while, I can find a movie on some random station. Give me the remote." She tried to snatch the remote from Olivia, but the detective pulled her hand back and out of Casey's reach. "Come on, Liv, give me the remote!"

"Uh uh uh!" Olivia grinned and shot Casey a triumphant look. "You didn't say the magic word."

"Please?" Casey asked, her voice verging on a whine. "Please give me the remote control?"

Olivia looked Casey in the eye for a quick moment, then grinned and shifted away a little on the sofa. "Nope!"

"Olivia! It's my TV!"

"Yeah, but the remote's in my hand. Deal with it, Novak. You're not in control this time."

Casey pursed her lips and slouched back against the arm of the sofa, crossing her arms over her chest. "Fine. Whatever. You better pick something good."

Olivia scoffed and chuckled silently. She continued flipping channels and debated jokingly attempting to subject the ADA to a cheesy made-for-television movie, but she changed her mind after glancing over at Casey. Though the younger woman was trying to conceal it, Olivia could tell that Casey felt a lot worse than she was letting on. "It doesn't matter what I pick because I think you should go back to sleep."

"Don't want to," Casey replied quietly. "I was having strange dreams."

"Just now? You were having weird dreams last night, too."

Casey looked over at Olivia sharply. "How did you know that?"

"You talk in your sleep, Counselor," Olivia informed her with a teasing smile. "I got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and heard you muttering about tap dancing and homeruns. I haven't a clue as to how the two are related, but I still found it rather amusing."

"Gee, thanks." Casey rolled her eyes to hide her embarrassment and ran her fingers through her hair. "Though, I did have this one dream that would make a really cool ghost story if I could fill in the holes in the dream logic. It was about a diamond ring that was haunted by a ghost named Hannah."

"You like stories like that?" Olivia asked, somewhat surprised. Casey never really struck her as a horror story fan.

"Not in the slightest. Well, I used to when I was younger, but I deal with enough disturbing crap at work that I'd rather not deal with more disturbing crap during my down-time. Which is what makes the dream so odd." Casey sighed and turned her attention to the television. Olivia was still flipping channels. "Wait, stop," Casey said suddenly, putting her hand on top of Olivia's.

Olivia gasped at the contact, Casey's hand feeling warm against her own, and stopped on the channel Casey had asked her to. After seeing what was on, she swiftly flipped past it. "Casey, no way in hell am I sitting through The Waltons."

"Nostalgia!" Casey exclaimed. "Pure nostalgia. I grew up with that show! I mean, it ended before I can really remember watching it first-run, but I watched it in reruns for years."

"I remember making fun of the kids who watched that show." Olivia glanced over at Casey and smirked.

"You're also a little bit older than me," Casey replied, unmoved by Olivia's teasing. "The Waltons was cool when I was little."

"I can't imagine The Waltons being cool at all, regardless of the year."

Casey once again ignored the detective's teasing. "My dad used to sit in the big easy chair while we watched The Waltons. Sometimes I'd squeeze in next to him and sometimes I'd sit on his lap. He'd tell me every week that I was a long-lost Walton child because my hair was the same color as Elizabeth's. It was long back then, too, just like Elizabeth's, and he would twirl the end of my ponytail around his finger before gently tugging at it and telling me he loved me."

Olivia looked up at Casey, who had a faraway look in her eyes. Olivia was surprised at the revelation but she didn't want to say anything to startle Casey out of the memory. Insights into Casey's childhood were few and far between and Olivia was afraid that the slightest noise would cause her to lose this one forever.

But there was nothing else forthcoming from Casey. She let the memory hang in the air for a quick moment longer, then changed the subject. "You've been through the channels twice now. There's nothing on."

"You're right." Olivia clicked off the TV and set the remote control down on the coffee table. "Do you want to watch a movie or something?"

Casey shrugged. "I don't have much, and what I do have is ridiculously cheesy. So unless you want to watch, say, The Wizard of Oz …"

"Okay, let's forget about movies for a while," Olivia teased.

Casey smirked and leaned her head back against the sofa. "Olivia, when you were making breakfast, you didn't by any chance see if I had any ginger ale, did you?"

"You don't," Olivia replied apologetically, though why she felt sorry for Casey's own lack of beverage, she wasn't sure. "There's a carton of half-and-half, a half-empty gallon of milk, and a bottle of Sprite that hasn't been opened. Why? Is your stomach upset?"

"A little," she said with a nod.

"There's a grocery around the corner, right?" Olivia asked. Casey nodded again. "Tell you what. I'll go get you some ginger ale and some saltines, and I'll bring back a movie or two for us to watch. That sound good?"

"Sounds perfect," Casey said, smiling a thank you. She glanced out the window and frowned. Though it had been extremely sunny when she had first awoken, it was now dark and dreary. "Go fast, though. It looks like the sky's going to open up and it's just going to pour buckets."

Olivia looked out the window at the rapidly darkening sky and grinned widely. "I know just the movies now."

"Nothing scary, Olivia," Casey warned.

"They won't be too scary, I promise." Olivia gave Casey a mischievous smirk and headed for the front door. "Don't go anywhere."

Casey shot Olivia a frightened look, more nervous about being subjected to horror movies than anything else, but gave a relenting sigh. "It's not like I can go anywhere."

"Good. I'll be right back." Without another word, Olivia left the apartment, taking care to close the door quietly behind herself.