Disclaimer: Still not mine... though one day Mr Wolf and I may come to some arrangement.

For Dancing Phalanges, thanks for the PM!

xoxoinnocenceoxox

It was two weeks later when Elliot hung the last of his clothes in Olivia's wardrobe. The arrangements had been easy enough and the move simple. Kathy and the twins would live at his house for the summer and then further decisions would be made. With no real extra travelling time to her workplace, Kathy thought it would be worth it, just to see if she could get into a regular sleeping pattern with the twins around.

Given there was no real move involved, all Elliot needed was his clothes and some toiletries and he was right at home at Olivia's. Although, as he told Olivia when she complained about the hanging space he needed, he had no problem ditching the clothes and spending his entire time with her naked; something which she faithfully promised to ensure happened as often as possible.

"Honey, I'm home," he said, returning to find her in the kitchen. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her neck.

"All settled then?" she asked, turning in his arms and hooking her own around his neck.

"Yep, I'm all yours," he grinned kissing her.

"May I say," she started quietly, before kissing him briefly. "About bloody time! Do you know how long I have imagined this day … when you are all mine?"

"How long, Olivia?" he questioned, a twinkle in his eyes. "Weeks? Months? Years?"

"Yep," she agreed, kissing him again.

"Going to give me a timeline?" he asked. "Just how long have you been coveting my body?"

"For as long as you've wanted mine," she grinned, pressing into him.

"Oh, that long," he smiled.

He kissed her thoroughly and they consummated their new arrangement not twenty minutes later and another thirty minutes after that they went for an encore performance.

"Well," Elliot yawned and stretched on the cramped sofa. "That christens the kitchen and living room, what's say we try to make it to the bedroom next time."

"I was trying to do that, you were the one who insisted he couldn't wait," Olivia answered back.

"Well, you're the one who was undressing me when I was in the kitchen," he said by way of defence.

"Well, that's only because you kissed me so well I thought I was going to come there and then," she said, knowing it was a weak defence.

"Wow," he smirked. "You were going to come from a kiss, I must be good."

"Attitude like that, mister," she began as she disentangled her limbs from his and got up from the sofa, "won't get you far."

"It already has," he replied, jumping up and grabbing hold of her.

In one swift move he'd swept her off her feet.

"You know what I am planning on doing?" he grinned as he headed towards her bedroom.

"No, what?" she replied.

"Guess, Liv?" he said, throwing her onto the bed.

"No idea," she answered, scooting out of the way.

"Oh, no idea, hey?" he said grabbing onto her. "Let me cue you in." He kissed her deeply, as he manoeuvred his body over hers. Finally needing air, he pulled back and grinned at her. "Figured it out?"

Their first night living together had been everything Olivia had wished for, and then some. She couldn't help but smile as she busied herself in the kitchen fixing Sunday brunch for them as Elliot showered.

"You must be happy," he said, sneaking in a kiss. "You're humming."

"I am happy, very happy. You?" she asked, popping a strawberry into his mouth.

"Mmha," he nodded, biting down on the juicy fruit. Olivia stepped forward and kissed him before licking the juice from his lips.

"Mmm," she sighed, this was certainly the life she wanted; just her, him and lazy Sundays.

Curled up on the sofa a few hours later, Olivia smiled sleepily at Elliot as his fingers raked through her hair.

"Whatcha thinking?" he asked, leaning in to kiss her forehead.

"That this is perfect," she smiled.

"You know what would make it more perfect?" he asked, rubbing her nose with his.

"What?" she grinned, hooking her arm around his neck and keeping him close.

Anything Elliot was going to say was lost in the screaming match taking place outside the door.

"Are our neighbours normally like this?" he asked, testing out the 'our' concept. Olivia moved to sit up.

"No, they're not… but they're not our neighbours either," she replied moving to the door. "They're our twins…" Olivia said, emphasising the same word.

"The twins!" Elliot jumped up and was at the door before her.

Swinging open the door, Elliot yelled for them to stop. It had little effect. Dickie stormed past him and straight to Olivia.

"You tell her it is a big deal and she should have told me," he yelled into Olivia's face.

"You tell him it's my life and I can do whatever the hell I like," Lizzie yelled at Elliot.

"No fucking way!" Dickie screamed turning to face his twin. "Not going to happen."

"Hey!" Elliot roared over the two of them. His twins had had their fair share of arguments over the year but certainly nothing like he was witnessing now. "What's going on?"

"Nothing!" Lizzie said, storming away. "He just wants to run my life."

"Dickie?" Olivia asked, grabbing his arm as he attempted to follow Lizzie. "What happened?"

"That pervert has been texting her," he began and both Olivia and Elliot interrupted.

"What?!"

"He has been texting her … telling her how sorry he is … how he wants to see her to apologise…" Dickie ranted.

"And you only know that because you took my phone. You had no right to read my messages," Lizzie yelled.

"Lizzie," Elliot said slowly, moving towards his daughter. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I wanted to handle it on my own," she replied, somewhat calmer.

"How long has this been going on?" he asked, standing in front of her and blocking her view of her brother.

"Since last Saturday," she answered. "I didn't reply to him, I figured he'd get the message."

"But you did reply … didn't you?" Dickie interrupted.

"What?" Elliot asked, spinning to face his son. "When did she reply?"

"Yesterday!" Dickie said. "She told him she'd go see him."

"You did what?" Elliot yelled, facing his daughter.

"I told him I'd go see him," Lizzie said defiantly.

"Over my dead body," Elliot retorted.

"It's my life," Lizzie said. "I haven't seen him since he hurt me and I want to tell him exactly what I think."

"It's not happening," Elliot said, shaking his head.

"Yes it is," Lizzie answered back. "You saw him. Liv hit him. I just want the chance to stand up for myself."

Elliot turned to Olivia.

"Tell her it's stupid. Tell her she's not going," he yelled, throwing his hands up.

"El, calm down," Olivia said, taking his hand as he walked past. "We're not going to get anywhere if all we do is yell."

"Calm down!" he yelled. "How the hell do you expect me to calm down? I'm gonna kill the bastard!"

"And I'll help you," Dickie chimed in.

"Arghh!" Lizzie screamed drawing the attention back to herself. "You don't get it, do you? I love the fact you want to protect me but for god's sake you've got to let me stand up for myself. It was me he assaulted, it was me he was going to rape; it's going to be me who confronts him!" She stalked over to the sofa and dropped onto it, her arms folded firmly across her chest. There would be no negotiating this point.

"That bastard's not getting anywhere near you," Dickie spat. "I couldn't stop him the first time but I'm sure as hell he's not going to do it again."

"He's in prison, Dickie, he can hardly hurt me from in there," Lizzie retorted.

"Liv, make her see sense," Dickie said exasperated. "Tell her it's not a good idea."

Olivia paused for a moment. She wouldn't tell anyone that, it struck her as a good idea. It was a brave choice for a young girl to make and Olivia could well understand her need to confront the man. She had been thinking of paying Harris a visit herself recently.

"I think…" she began slowly. "I think that if this is something Liz wants to do, we should support her."

"You can't be serious?" Dickie said before looking at his father. "She agrees, can you believe that?"
"Liv, she's fifteen … he's scum … how can you think this is the right thing?" he asked shaking his head. He was full sure she'd agree with him.

"She's also an assault victim who wants to confront the perp and put things behind her. Don't you think she's entitled?" she asked looking from father to son. "Isn't this about what Liz needs not what we think?"

Neither Elliot nor Dickie could fault Olivia's argument but it didn't mean they liked it, not in the least. Dickie threw himself into the armchair, words escaping him. Elliot headed to the kitchen. Olivia gave him a few minutes before following.

"I know it's not what you wanted me to say," she started, her hand gently resting on his back as he stood with his hands firmly pressed on the counter and his head hung down. "But Lizzie's not scared of him and she wants to speak up for herself; they're good things. She's come so far."

"Is it the same for you? Do you want to see Harris?" he asked without moving.

"No…not yet, I'm not ready," she said quietly. It was her sorrowful tone that made him turn to her.

"You think she is?" he asked, bringing his hands to rest on her shoulders.

"I think she needs to … Rowland wasn't some random perp, he lived with her for five months, I think she needs to confront him, to say her piece and then get on with things. Since he pleaded guilty there was no chance for her to be heard in court, I think she just wants the chance to be heard," she said, moving in to lean on him.

"I don't want him anywhere near her, Liv. I can't bear the thought that he'd even be breathing the same air as her," Elliot said, leaning his forehead on hers.

"Why don't you take her yourself?" she asked. "You'll be there and you can see for yourself just how well she's doing."

"Liv, if I see him I am going to kill him," he growled as Liz came to the door.

"That won't help matters, dad," she said, interrupting them. Olivia dropped her arm and tugged Lizzie over to them before wrapping her in an embrace.

"Dad, I don't want to upset you," she began snuggling into him. "But this is something I need to do."

Elliot kissed her head as Olivia cupped his face.

"You really want to do this, Liz?" he asked, resigned to the fact it was going to happen regardless of how much it pained him.

"Yeah, I do," she said, hugging him tightly.

"Okay, I'll take you," he sighed. "When do you want to go?"

"Now," Lizzie replied, more than ready to get it over and done with.

It was at this time Dickie came in and wasn't at all happy with the arrangements being made. Lizzie tried to explain once more but it fell on deaf ears as he stormed out, the resounding echo of the bedroom door slamming shut bounced around the kitchen. Elliot went to follow him but Olivia stopped him.

"Why don't you two get going and I'll see to Dickie?" she said, squeezing his arm.

Five minutes after Elliot and Lizzie left, Olivia called Don and apprised him of the situation. She wasn't sure what she expected from him just that she had an overwhelming desire for him to know. With the phone call concluded she stood on the other side of Dickie's door, praying she could get him to understand what his sister was doing.

Olivia had knocked twice before getting an annoyed, "What?"

"Hey Dickie, it's me. Can I come in?" she asked through the wood.

"It's your place, do whatever you want," he grumbled.

Slowly she opened the door and watched as he turned his back to her, taking a deep breath she moved to sit on the edge of his bed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, gently rubbing his arm. He shrugged and muttered something she couldn't quite understand. "Want to repeat that?"

"I said" he began with frustrated annoyance. "There's nothing to talk about!"

"Can I talk about it then?" Olivia countered, knowing she was dealing with a younger version of Elliot.

"Whatever," he grunted.

Taking a deep breath, Olivia wondered if there was anything she could say to make things better for him. Sure there wasn't, she began anyway.

"I'm guessing you're pretty mad at Lizzie and me and your dad," she started, "because we didn't stop her from seeing Steve. And I can understand that … but I'm thinking there's something else going on here too, isn't there?"

A disinterested grunt was all she got in reply.

"I'm thinking that it has more to do with you than Lizzie," she continued, deciding just to push ahead. "I think that Lizzie got help after Steve assaulted her and learned to deal with things and she's ready to put it all behind her but not you. But you're still having bad dreams and flashbacks and can't bear to think of her in the same room as him ever again. Am I anywhere close?"

"How did you know?" he asked without turning around. "About the dreams and flashbacks?"

"I know the signs … I still have them," she said quietly. "I close my eyes sometimes and I'm back in Sealview …"

Dickie rolled over before sitting up to face her.

"So if you still have them why the hell would you think Lizzie seeing that prick is a good idea?" he said quietly.

"Because Lizzie wants to and it's about her not me and not you," Olivia explained, taking hold of his hand. "Do you get that?"

"Yeah, but I still think it's a mistake," he said, staring at their hands.

"Nothing is going to happen to her, your dad will be there," she reassured him.

"Well, that's something I guess," he said, swinging his feet onto the floor before standing up. "At least dad can protect her, I was fucking useless," he muttered before heading out to the bathroom.

For a long while, Olivia sat on the bed contemplating Dickie's last words. It was then she realised the focus had been on Lizzie since the assault and no one realised just how affected he had been by the whole thing. After the initial trauma of his sister being attacked in her own bed, Dickie's needs had been all but forgotten, but now Olivia realised just how traumatised and guilt ridden he still was.

xoxoinnocenceoxox

I appreciate those who have 'favourited' the story, currently 70, and those who have alerted it, currently 114. However, the reviews for the last two chapters have decreased greatly, the last chapter being the least read and reviewed. So, I'm thinking this story has run it's course ... For those people who have stuck with it, I appreciate your commitment greatly. There are 2 chapters to go (already written) and then the epilogue and then it will be finished.