I shower quickly, smiling as I lather Olivia's vanilla shampoo into my hair. I'll smell like her all day, and the thought makes me grin.

I get out of the shower and look around for a towel, but I can't find one. I open the door just a crack. "Liv!" I call, intending to ask her to grab me one.

Before I even know what's happening, she's standing in the doorway, staring at the scars marring my skin. It all happens so quickly, the door opening, her coming in, her hand covering her mouth: Oh my god I'm so sorry I didn't realize. Her eyes appraising my body, me wrapping my arms around myself, wanting to run but knowing I can't because I don't have any clothes, and getting past her is a feat I don't care to undertake. Alex what happened to you? She's saying something, and I see her lips moving, but I don't hear a word. She's found my secret she's found my secret oh god she's found my secret can't let her can't let her can't let her. The room starts to spin, and I feel myself falling, but Olivia's there to catch me, and she braces my fall.

She sets me down so I'm sitting up against the bathtub. "I'm going to get you a towel," she says softly, and doesn't say a word about what she's just seen, but I know this reprieve is temporary. She's too much of a detective not to want to talk about this, but I can't I can't I can't!

Don't run, she said, so I don't. I just sit against that bathtub, clutching my knees to my chest and trembling as I wait for her to return.

After what seems like an instant and an eternity all at once, Olivia comes back into the washroom with a fluffy towel, warm from the dryer. "I warmed it up for you," she says gently, handing it to me, and I want to say thank you, but the words stick in my throat and I can't say anything at all. I just wrap the towel around myself and stare at a miniscule spot on the ground.

She doesn't touch me, knowing instinctively that it will upset me further. She always just knows, intuitively, when physical contact will help and when it will hurt. "Alex," she finally says, cocking her head so she's looking right into my eyes. "Who hurt you?"

I shake my head. "It was a long time ago."

"I know." She holds my gaze steady. "But it still affects you. And I think that if you tell me, it will help. I know it's hard to talk about, but you said earlier that you trust me, and I want you to."

Without even thinking, I take her hand, and this causes my towel to slide down a bit, exposing more scars. She regards me sadly and fixes the towel so it's covering the marks, wrapping it tightly around me.

"Tell me," she repeats, not ordering, but almost pleading, and it breaks me.

"She was my girlfriend," I say slowly. "I was only fourteen. She was two years older. I was . . . questioning back then. My sexuality. Myself. She hurt me. I thought that was what . . . all this . . . was like." I drop my eyes. "I was wrong. I'm sorry."

"Sweetie, those are cigarette burns on your breasts. She did that to you?"

"She made me ugly."

"Oh, Alex. You're not ugly. You're beautiful. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you."

"I don't want your pity," I say shortly.

Olivia's eyes shine with sadness and she cups my cheek. "Oh, sweetheart, it's not pity. It's love. It hurts me to think of someone hurting you."

I can hardly dare to breathe. She's just said she loves me. Again. I still can't get used to hearing those words. She loves me.

Something flashes in her eyes, and that tough cop bravado is back, for just a moment. "Where does she live, Alex?"

"I don't know," I say. This is a lie; I know exactly where she lives, but I wouldn't want to risk Olivia exacting revenge and getting into trouble on my behalf. After all she's done for me, I can't do that to her.

She sets her jaw. "I'd hurt her."

"Don't."

She sighs. "I won't, sweetie. I won't." She holds out her arms and I melt into them, as if she can alleviate my pain if she holds me close enough to her. "I'm so, so sorry," she whispers, burying her face in my shoulder.

"You didn't hurt me."

"No. I know. But you've been suffering so much and I never helped you."

"It was fifteen years ago. I should be over it by now."

"Alex, you should know better than anyone that you never 'get over' something like this." She hugs me even more tightly. "You're so brave."

I relax against her, and she doesn't seem to notice that I'm getting her clothes wet, or that we're going to be late for work. I don't mention either of these things, choosing instead to bask in the comfort she's offering for as long as she wants to give it. No one has ever held me like this before.

No one has ever loved me like this before. I know Olivia does.

She gently rubs my back. "I'll never hurt you, Alex," she promises. "I understand why you're scared now, but you don't need to be. You're safe with me."

I chew on my lower lip and nod. "I know, Liv. You're not her. You're nothing like her."

"Tell me her name, sweetie."

I shake my head. "I can't, Liv. I'm sorry."

She sighs and tenderly strokes my hair. I flinch, just a bit, and she pulls me closer to her. "Okay. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."

I close my eyes and lean into her. Her hands are so gentle, her voice so soft, her arms so warm. I feel so safe in her embrace, and I can't believe she's really here, with me, even now, after I've told her what happened. She's so good to me.

I clear my throat so she won't hear the crack in my voice and get up from her lap, pulling my towel more tightly around me. "We have work."

Her eyes follow me out of the bathroom, but this time, she lets me go.

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