Okay! So I originally intended to do more in this chapter but I realized it was getting to be a bit long. So it will continue in the next one! Thanks so much to everyone still reading! -J

Chapter 4

While Emily wanted to give Olivia some time before they had a talk she also knew that they were always at risk of being sent out on a case, meaning it was better to sit down with her daughter's friend sooner rather than later. During work that day Emily had taken every opportunity she could to get JJ's opinion on the matter, wanting to make sure she was making the right choice on whatever she decided to say to the teen.

By the time the couple were heading home at the end of the day, Emily had gone over what she wanted to say in her head so many times she was beginning to worry that it was all going to sound too scripted.

"Em, I'm pretty sure you're worrying too much," JJ told her wife in the car on the way home later that day. "Honey, Olivia just needs someone who cares about her. You just need to go in there and ask her what's going on at home. Find out how we can help," she said. "Olivia trusts you. She'll open up."

"I know I just…the kid deserves so much better," Emily shook her head in frustration, pulling into their neighbourhood. "She's one of those kids who just has such a great personality. She's so bubbly and original and just…herself, but lately…."

"She's been sad," JJ finished for her, nodding in understanding. "It's like her parents have just put out her fire at this point," she said. "It's awful to see but it always seems like the longer she spends with us the more she acts like her normal self."

"Sometimes I just wish we could keep her with us forever," Emily admitted as she pulled into the driveway, putting the car in park before turning towards her wife who simply raised an eyebrow. "Obviously I know we can't," she sighed. "I mean she belongs with her family and we've got our hands full already, especially with the twins coming but I just…I know what it's like to grow up with parents who just don't give a damn. It's just not fair and I want her to feel loved."

"I know Em," JJ nodded, reaching out and taking the brunette's hand. "And you know if it came down to it, I would take Olivia in a heartbeat," she smiled. "But she should be with her family. So let's try and make that happen okay?"

"Okay," Emily agreed, smiling as she leaned in for a quick kiss before turning off the car and getting out, meeting JJ by the front door so they could walk into the house hand in hand. "Kids we're home!" She called as soon as they were inside, smiling as Henry's footsteps sounded down the hallway. "Hey Little Man," she grinned, immediately scooping the little blonde off the floor. "I missed you! Where's your sister?"

"We're in here," Alex called from the family room where she, Spencer and Olivia were sitting on the floor around the coffee table doing their homework.

"Hi girls," Emily greeted, handing Henry off to JJ, before leaning over Alex to give her a kiss. "You have a lot of work?"

"Not too much. We're just getting started on a group project though. Trying to get ahead," Alex explained. "Is it okay if Spencer stays for dinner tonight? Her parents are out and Jessie made a casserole. She said there's lots."

"Of course that's fine," Emily smiled, placing a kiss on top of Spencer's head. "You can stay as long as you like Spencer," she said before moving to greet Olivia as well. "You think I can borrow you for a little bit? I think we should have that talk."

"Oh sure," Olivia nodded, looking a little nervous as she stood up, following Emily down the hall towards the office while JJ took a seat on the couch with Henry so she could talk with Alex and Spencer. "Are you mad?" The teen blurted out as soon as Emily shut the office door behind them.

"What? Of course not!" Emily was quick to assure the teen, leading her towards the couch in the office, gesturing for her to sit down. "I'm not mad sweetheart, and neither is Jen. We're just worried about you. You wanna tell me what's been going on at home?"

"I…" Olivia looked like she was at a loss, not knowing where exactly to start. "It's like my Mom isn't even the same person anymore," she eventually sighed, her eyes watering. "She used to be so involved and so attentive. We used to spend so much time together but now…It's like there's a new guy around every week and they just keep getting worse and worse," she let a single tear fall. "They're all creeps and I hate them and my Mom just doesn't seem to even care."

"Have any of these men ever done anything to you?" Emily had to ask. "Have they ever tried to touch you?"

"No!" Olivia was quick to respond, shaking her head. "No! No, I promise," she assured Emily. "None of them really have any interest in me at all. It's like I'm not even there at all. I feel invisible," a couple more tears fell. "And I'm just really tired of being invisible."

"Oh Sweetie," Emily felt like her heart was breaking for the teen, moving over so she could put an arm around her as she placed a kiss against her temple. "You're not invisible Liv. I see you. Your friends and JJ…we all see you," she offered as much comfort as she could, rubbing a hand up and down the teen's back. "Have you ever tried talking to your Mom about any of this?"

"I don't really know how anymore," Olivia shrugged. "It's all just so messed up and I've thought about telling my dad but I…I'm afraid if I tell him then he'll try to make me go live with him and I don't want to move."

"I understand that," Emily nodded. "But I really think you need to try and talk to your Mom. The only way this whole thing is going to get better is if you tell her how you feel. I'm willing to talk to her with you, if that's what you want."

Biting her lip, Olivia seemed to consider this for a moment, eventually turning back towards Emily as she nodded her head. "Okay," she said. "As long as you're there."

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Alex was happy it was Friday when she got to school the next day, looking forward to sleeping in the next day as she was kept up later than usual all week with Olivia sharing her room with her. Since their weekly slumber party was scheduled to be at Olivia's house that week, the girls decided they would stay at the Prentiss household, which both Emily and JJ were happy to allow.

"So your Mom and Olivia are going to her house tomorrow?" Spencer asked Alex as they walked the school halls together, heading towards the cafeteria where they would meet Olivia and Zoey. "They're going to talk to her Mom?"

"That's the plan," Alex nodded, pulling out her cell phone. "As long as my Moms don't get a case obviously," she added. "I haven't gotten a text yet though so maybe they'll get lucky and be home. Liv sounded kind of nervous about it last night but I think she knows it's for the best. She should be with her family."

"Yeah I guess," Spencer shrugged, not sounding all that convincing as Alex quickly turned towards her looking confused. "It just sucks that Liv has to spend her time with a Mom who doesn't seem to give a crap about her or a Dad who decided to get himself a new family. Her parents don't deserve her."

"I couldn't agree more," Alex nodded, taking Spencer's hand in hers and giving it a firm squeeze. "But Liv deserves better and in the end they're her family. She should get another chance with them even though I would much rather she stay with me and my Moms," she admitted with a laugh. "I think that thought has even crossed both my Moms' minds, though they would never suggest it."

"Oh they would totally take her if they could, I don't doubt that at all," Spencer laughed. "But it's cool that your Mom wants to help Liv out instead."

"Yeah well apparently that's what she does; she's always looking out for my friends," Alex said, thinking of everything her Mother had done for Spencer as well. "Hey do you want to go get some snacks after school with me? I don't think we have much in the house right now. Mom hasn't had any weird cravings yet," she then said, freezing as she suddenly felt eyes on her, looking around to find the same boy from earlier in the week watching them.

"Hey. What's wrong?" Spencer sounded confused as she looked around, trying to figure out what her girlfriend was doing. "Lex? What is it?"

"Sorry I just…come on," Alex shook her head, ignoring the creepy smile on the boy's face as she pulled Spencer toward the cafeteria, not wanting to talk out in the open. "Okay look back behind us quickly. Don't be too obvious about it. Do you see a boy watching us?" She said, still holding Spencer's hand tightly in hers.

"That new kid?" Spencer replied as she turned back to Alex. "What about him?"

"He's always watching us," Alex said as they got in line to get food. "The one day I walked you to class and I gave you a kiss before I left and when I turned around he was just standing there with a smirk on his face," she explained, keeping her voice low. "And then the other day when we were fighting in the library he was watching us there too. I just…it's starting to creep me out. Do you know anything about him?"

"Not really," Spencer shook her head, grabbing a sandwich and placing it on her tray. "I mean I've seen him around a bit but I've never talked to him," she continued. "I wouldn't get yourself too worked up about it though Lex. He's a guy. They have a tendency to stare at us, you know that."

"It doesn't feel the same though," Alex still sounded worried. "I mean he's just…it feels different."

"Lex, relax," Spencer replied with a lighthearted chuckle, paying the lady for her food before leading Alex towards where Olivia and Zoey were already eating. "I'm sure it's no big deal."

"Yeah…you're probably right," Alex nodded, putting a smile on her face as they reached their friends even though there was a nervous feeling in her stomach; taking one more quick glance to make sure they weren't still being watched.

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"Can we get burgers for dinner tonight?" Emily asked JJ later that night, finding the blonde sitting in the middle of the family room with Henry, playing with blocks. "Burgers and milkshakes and fries? Maybe some onion rings too?"

"Sounds like someone got their appetite back," JJ laughed, glad to see that her wife looked better than she had in the last couple weeks. "You must be feeling pretty good today."

"It's the first day I haven't felt nauseous all day in forever," Emily nodded happily. "I know it probably won't last long so I want to take advantage and I'm starving. So burgers? I can go pick some up."

"Sure that sounds good," JJ agreed, knowing Emily likely wouldn't be happy until she fulfilled her craving. "Why don't you see what the girls want and take one of them with you."

"Good idea. You want your usual?" Emily asked, receiving a nod and a smile from the blonde as she went over to give her and Henry a quick kiss before heading upstairs where Alex and her friends were hanging out in the teen's bedroom. "Hey guys," She called, knocking lightly on the doorframe. "I think we're going to pick up burgers for dinner. And a veggie burger for Zoey of course. Does that sound okay?"

"Yeah that sounds good," Alex and the other girls nodded their agreement.

"Think one of you could come with me?" Emily then asked.

"I'll come," Spencer was quick to volunteer, wanting to help out and always enjoying her time spent with the older brunette. "Lex can just text me everyone's orders so we know what to get."

"Perfect, now let's go," Emily said, making the girls laugh. "I'm starving. We'll be back soon."

Alex laughed as she watched her Mother grab Spencer's hand and pull her out of the bedroom, shaking her head at the brunette's antics. "I thought Mum was bad when she was pregnant. I bet my Mom's gonna be crazy! I can't wait to see what she gets cravings for."

"I wonder if the cravings will be worse because it's twins," Zoey closed her notebooks and sat up. "Like maybe she'll want to eat even more or something."

"Maybe," Alex nodded. "So far all she's been doing is throwing up though so she must be feeling pretty good today if she wants a burger. I hope for her sake it lasts," she said, grabbing her cell phone to send their orders to Spencer just as a text came in, making the brunette freeze.

"What's wrong?" Olivia asked, noticing the strange look on her friend's face. "You okay? Lex!"

"Did one of you just send me a text?" Alex snapped out of her daze, looking from Zoey to Olivia.

"No…." Zoey sounded confused. "Why?"

"I just got a weird text…"

"What does it say?" Olivia asked when it became clear that Alex wasn't going to continue.

"I see you," Alex replied, looking worried. "Just I see you and nothing else. And it's from a blocked number."

"Okay well that's totally creepy," Olivia said, moving to sit next to Alex on the bed while Zoey nodded her agreement from where she still sat on the floor. "Do you think someone's watching us?"

"We're on the second floor Liv," Zoey pointed out. "Someone's probably just trying to be funny. I wouldn't worry too much. Why don't you text them back?"

"Yeah…yeah I'll try that," Alex nodded, sending out a quick text asking who it was and trying to calm herself down, as she couldn't help feeling a little freaked out about the whole thing.

"Maybe you should tell your Moms," Olivia suggested, seeing that Alex still looked worried. "I mean they deal with this kind of stuff right? Can't Penelope do something with this?"

"It's just one text," Alex shook her head, sending Spencer a text about dinner before dropping her phone on the bed, doing her best to put the message out of her head. "I'm not gonna tell them right now but I will if I get more," she said, looking up to find both her friends looking skeptical. "What? I will! I promise!"

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When Alex woke the next morning it was late. The time on her alarm clock flashed 11am as the teen rolled over to find Spencer still fast asleep next to her; sitting up to find Zoey now alone on her mattress on the floor, still sleeping while Olivia had likely already left to go talk to her Mom with Emily as they wanted to get an early start. Wondering if Olivia had text her, Alex grabbed her cell phone, surprised to find she had 13 missed messages waiting for her.

Thinking something was wrong; Alex quickly opened up the messages, freezing when she realized they weren't from Olivia but from an unknown number, all 13 messages saying 'I see you' in some form or another. Officially worried, Alex quietly snuck out of bed, listening for minute in the hallway until she heard noises downstairs before heading for the stairs.

"Mum," Alex called, finding JJ in the family room with Henry. "Could Penelope find out who's texting me if it's an unknown number?"

"Oh probably, I've seen her do it before," JJ replied with a chuckle, turning serious as she looked up and noticed the expression on her daughter's face. "What's wrong?"

"I'm getting these weird texts," Alex replied, handing JJ her phone and sitting down next to her on the floor, smiling when Henry immediately moved into her lap. "I got one last night but I thought maybe someone was just playing some sort of prank. I asked who it was but they never replied. They sent 13 more messages while I was sleeping," she explained. "I don't really want to freak Mom out about stuff like this while she's pregnant, but the last time I ignored messages online things really didn't end well."

"I'm glad you told me," JJ said, grabbing her own phone to send Garcia a text. "I'll deal with telling Mom, but I think it's best we try and deal with this before things get out of hand. Do you have any idea who might be sending them? Anyone been bugging you at school?"

"Well…no not really," Alex was hesitant, receiving a raised eyebrow from JJ, who obviously wasn't buying it. "I don't really know if it's anything but there's this guy…he's new and it seems like he's always watching me when I'm with Spencer," she explained. "I mean it could be nothing and maybe I'm just paranoid but I don't know…it has been kind of weird."

"Okay well let's try and find out about him and I'll get Garcia on this," JJ nodded, immediately kicking into action, hating the idea of anyone messing with her kid. "We'll get you a new number too. Okay?"

"Okay," Alex agreed just as JJ's phone began to ring. "Is that Penelope?"

"No," JJ shook her head with a sigh, recognizing the Houston number on the screen from work. "It's a case."