Several scenes are playing out in this chapter. I absolutely wanted the last one in there to move the story along. Enjoy!

...

22.

It was bound to happen and most kids in school were surprised it hadn't happened before today. But there they were, toe to toe, neither of them budging even an inch. Nick and Elliot.

Nick had recovered from the injuries Elliot had caused him, and was just getting back to training with his team. Many kids had wondered if the Captain of the football team was going to take revenge on Elliot but Nick wasn't the one who had started this confrontation. It was Elliot again.

"I'm not paying a dime for your kid, Amaro," he hissed in the other boy's face.

"My kid?" Nick scoffed. "The way I recall it, you were banging her every chance you got. I didn't even get to finish once, remember?"

Oh yes, Elliot remembered. He would never forget what he'd seen, and interrupting Nick so he didn't even get anything out of it had been the only satisfying part of the whole ordeal for him.

"You don't have to get off to knock someone up you know. Or were you sleeping during that class again?" he sneered.

Nick inched even closer to Elliot, until they were all but nose to nose.

"In that case, how can you be so sure it's not yours, Stabler? Because nobody puts a condom on before even starting to fool around, right? Who says you didn't have one of your little swimmers come out to play early, huh?"

Elliot was slightly taken aback by Nick's remark but he recovered quickly, because he had something important to say to Nick.

"That's why I've agreed to do a paternity test. If you're a man, you'll do the same."

Both boys finally took a small step back but never broke their staring contest. After half a minute, Nick finally said,

"Fine. I'll take the test if you will. You'll see that it's not mine."

"And it's not mine either."

The two boys took another small step back from each other, and their friends stepped in to get them to back off before they'd get into a fist fight. Neither of them needed that, just a couple of weeks before their final exams. Elliot let Brian and John lead him away to their lockers, while Nick and his teammates headed towards the cafeteria. They were silent until they reached their lockers to grab their things for their first class of the day and put away their backpacks.

"So … about what Nick said …" John started hesitantly after they'd slammed their lockers closed again. Elliot glared at his friend but he knew what was coming.

"Yeah, I know," he said roughly.

"So that's true? About the precum?" Brain inquired, suddenly seeming a little nervous.

"Yes, Brian, that's true. It's possible that there's living semen in the precum. Why? Have you been having some fun with Pamela already?" John asked.

Brian looked at Elliot before looking away quickly.

"No. Of course not. She's sixteen."

Elliot huffed, not quite believing that Brian had been a complete gentleman so far now that he finally had a girl who was into him for more than one night.

"But if you just … ya know … rub up against each other. That's okay, right?" Brian asked hopefully.

Elliot tried to be happy for Brian that things were going well with him and Pam, but his mind was still replaying the brief interaction with Nick. Could he still be the father? He shook his head, willing that thought away. Kathy could say he was until she was blue in the face but he wanted proof first. He tuned out his friends when John gave Brian some sound advice about girls in general and Pamela in particular and his thoughts drifted back to Olivia. He hoped to see her again today, if only to tell her about the upcoming test at the hospital. But first they had to get to class before they'd be written up again for being late.

The three friends walked towards the classroom together to start their school day.

…

Olivia was beginning to think Beth wasn't accepting her excuses anymore. There was no way around the band-aid on her cheek and she'd told her friend that she had hit her face on the side of her nightstand while reaching for something. Beth had asked her why she'd need a band-aid for a bruise and she'd tried to brush it off by saying she just didn't want everyone to see it because it was such an ugly bruise.

It had taken her some time the night before to stop the bleeding. The cut was deep but under no circumstance was she getting any stitches in her face. It was bad enough that she had a faint scar on her forehead, but at least she could easily cover that up with her hair. She had kept a washcloth wadded up against her cheek for a long time, until her face had become completely numb. When she'd cleaned it up it hardly bled anymore, so she had put a couple of butterfly bandages over it, taping the cut shut and covered those with a bigger band-aid, in the hopes that it would stop bleeding completely overnight. She'd found some blood stains on her pillowcase in the morning and the band-aid had been soaked, but at least it was all dried-up blood now. She had cleaned her face up again and now just one band-aid sufficed to hide the cut as well as the butterfly bandages from her classmates. She thought it could pass for a bruise since the skin around the cut had discolored slightly.

Still, she had the feeling Beth kept looking at her during class and she tried to hide her face from her friend's view with her hand, resting her forehead against her palm while taking notes.

"Please sit up straight, Miss Benson," came the stern warning from her Geography teacher and reluctantly, she dropped her arm again.

After class, she tried to hurry to their next class but Beth stopped her in the hallway.

"Olivia, wait."

"What?" she sighed, and Beth raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Olivia apologized immediately, explaining to her friend that she hadn't slept very well with all the buzz about Kathy's pregnancy and all. Beth said she understood but Olivia thought she was still looking at her a little suspiciously. They got through their other classes and met up with Pamela and Melinda at lunch. Pamela was chatting happily about Brian and it was obvious that they were a real couple now. Melinda was still very much into Ryan, but they were taking it slow for now.

"So what about you?" Olivia asked Beth, hoping to keep the attention away from herself. "Any boy you're interested in here at school?"

Beth shrugged and was suddenly very interested in the food on her plate. The other girls now encouraged her to spill as well, but Beth seemed very uncomfortable. She was a very smart girl but Olivia thought she was very pretty and not nerdy at all, even if she wanted to become a psychologist.

"I bet you could land yourself a football player if you set your mind to it," Olivia posed. "You're much prettier than those skinny blonde cheerleaders."

"I don't know," Beth said quietly. "Those guys are too immature for my taste."

"Yeah, didn't you know?" Pamela chimed in. "She's into older guys!"

"Maybe," Beth said. "So maybe I should just wait until I'm older myself. I'm not in a hurry to get a man."

"Speaking of which," Melinda said, looking over Olivia's shoulder. "How are you and Elliot doing, Olivia?"

Olivia looked behind her and felt a pang of disappointment when she didn't see Elliot, but saw Nick and his buddies shuffle to their regular table instead.

"Word has it he got into an argument with Amaro about Kathy's baby," Melinda added.

"He's assured her the baby isn't his, Mel," Beth told their friend.

"Nick seems to be just as sure it's not his either," Melinda replied.

"Maybe they're both right," Pamela said, and the other girls stared at her for a few seconds before Oliva huffed,

"You don't think she …"

"Who knows?" Pamela said, shrugging exaggeratedly. "She's a cheerleader."

They all nodded, knowing the reputation of most cheerleaders.

"I just hope it's not Ed's. It would break Kim's heart. And their friendship," Pamela mused.

They ate in silence for a few minutes and just when Olivia thought she was going to get through the day unscathed, Melinda asked her,

"So Benson, what's with the cut?"

Beth gave her a pointed look.

"What cut?"

Olivia covered the band-aid with her hand and ignored Beth's stare.

"It's just a bruise, Mel."

"No, it's not. You forget, I'm going to med school. I'm very observant."

Melinda reached for Olivia's face across the table but Olivia flinched and pulled back quickly. The other three girls all exchanged a glance and Olivia felt mortified. She didn't know what to do to get the attention away from herself. She automatically looked to her left for help, silently pleading with Beth to drop the subject. Fortunately, Beth decided to rescue her for now and told the other girl,

"Leave it alone, Mel. If Olivia doesn't want to talk about it, that's her right."

Olivia was grateful, but she was well aware that Beth wasn't going to leave it alone for long; just until it was the two of them again. She needed to decide what she was going to tell her friend.

…

Elliot was waiting for Olivia in the hallway leading to her next class. He and his friends had skipped the school lunch and had gone to the diner across the street for something to eat instead. He had no desire to run into Nick outside class again today. He didn't need more visits with Ms. Malloy and he wanted to focus on getting ready for his exams.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw Olivia approaching, but his eyes were immediately drawn to the band-aid on her cheek. He looked at her with concern in his eyes and when Olivia noticed it, she just shrugged before stopping in front of him. Beth patted her on the back and went ahead to their class.

"What happened?" he asked her softly.

He wanted to reach up and touch her face but he couldn't. Not here, where other kids or teachers could see them.

"Doesn't matter," she said dismissively but Elliot didn't agree. Still, this wasn't the time or the place to get into it.

"My dad is setting up a blood test for me and I told Amaro to do one too," he said quickly, before she'd have to leave again.

"He agreed?" Olivia asked, slightly surprised.

"He said he would, just to prove the kid isn't his."

Olivia nodded, sucking her lower lip between her teeth.

"It's gonna be okay, Liv. I promise."

She nodded again but he wondered if she was fully convinced. If he was completely honest with himself, this talk about precum had him a little rattled too. He thought they'd been careful and he knew none of his condoms had broken. This baby just couldn't be his. It just couldn't be. Not now. Not after Kathy's betrayal and after he'd fallen in love with Olivia.

Olivia indicated that she had to leave and he didn't want her to be sad. He wrapped a hand around her wrist and when she looked up at him he whispered in her ear,

"I love you."

Her eyes widened and if he didn't know any better, he'd think they were glossing over a little. She gave him a small smile then and mouthed at him,

"Love you too."

He had to run to get to his own class on time but he felt like he had wings for just a few minutes. She'd said it right back to him! She loved him too! He couldn't remember Kathy ever saying the words back to him, but he would never forget that Olivia hadn't hesitated at all. She loved him and it gave him strength to face their circumstances head on. They were in love and nothing could change that. He didn't want anything to wreck that. He couldn't imagine life would be that cruel.

...

"So how did you really get that injury, Olivia?"

Olivia took a deep breath and breathed it out slowly. She and Beth had gone out to get a drink at the diner after school and Olivia should have known why Beth had suddenly suggested it. She had expected the girl to revisit the subject and she still hadn't decided yet what to tell her. She couldn't tell her about her mom's drinking. Nobody knew about that, not even Elliot. But she didn't want to talk about her mother's tantrums either, or the cause of it.

"Is somebody hurting you?"

Beth's new question shocked Olivia and she stared at her friend with wide eyes.

"No! Why would you even think that?" she asked, baffled.

"It's just … you have a lot of bruises, and a while ago you had these headaches …"

"Everyone gets headaches," Olivia snapped. "And I'm just clumsy, that's all."

"Right," Beth said, but it was obvious that she was having doubts about Olivia's explanation. Olivia tried for a disinterested look and sipped her soft drink, watching the traffic go by outside the diner.

"If you ever wanna talk … or need a place to stay …" Beth said hesitantly, and Olivia wanted the ground just to swallow her up whole. She didn't need this, and definitely not at the school where her mother worked.

"Beth, please," she sighed. "I'm fine."

Beth was nodding, looking away from her and Olivia knew she meant well. Beth was a real friend, and friends worried about each other. She reached out her hand and touched Beth's arm, which was resting on the small table between them.

"Thanks for caring though," she said softly and Beth smiled.

"I do care. And don't you forget that."

The girls smiled at each other and after finishing their drinks, Beth walked Olivia to the bus stop. Olivia had to admit that it felt good to have a friend like Beth in her corner. If she ever needed to confide in someone besides Elliot, she knew she could tell Beth.

…

Two days later

"Elliot."

His mother's voice sounded even more frail than usual, and her eyes were wide when she pulled him into the house after he'd come home from school. Elliot looked around but his father wasn't there. His sisters were probably upstairs so it was just him and his mother.

"What's going on, mom? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Come along dear. Sit. Please."

He did as she asked, knowing she wouldn't be able to gather her scattered thoughts if he didn't comply, meanwhile wondering what could have happened that she wanted to tell him. He was used to his mom being jumpy when she was off her medication, but his father had been making sure she went back on them, now that he was suddenly home more in the evenings. Elliot wanted to scream sometimes, because he got the feeling that his parents were getting ready to receive a grandchild in the family while he kept insisting it wasn't his baby. He would have welcomed their support with open arms if it had been, but it wasn't. It couldn't be.

"I just got a call from Mr. Malone."

"Oh?"

Elliot was surprised because his mother usually didn't answer the phone. Her medication must be starting to work again.

"Yes. Something has happened. Kathy's in the hospital."

"What?"

"She threw herself down the stairs."

…

Dun dun...

Now why would she do that?