Chapter 18: Getting to Know You

The rest of the week went by fairly quickly. Rae and Olivia had talked everyday since the night Olivia showed up at her apartment. If they didn't talk on the phone, they'd at least exchange a text message or two throughout the day. Olivia had even come over again on Thursday after she'd left work. They decided to stay in and order pizza for dinner. When the pizza arrived Olivia tried to pay but Rae insisted it was on her. It was like pulling teeth but Olivia finally relented. Olivia took the pizza to the living room while Rae went to the kitchen to get them drinks. She wasn't sure whether it was good idea for her to drink in front of Olivia but she really wanted a beer. "You'll never know if you don't try it out" she thought. So she grabbed four beers, two for each of them, and carried them to the living room. After sitting them on the table and sitting indian style on the couch, she opened one of her beers and took a drink before gabbing a slice of pizza and taking a bite. Olivia sat across from amazed at how comfortable she was to drink in front of her knowing she was a detective.

"What?" Rae asked noticing Olivia staring at her.

"Uh, nothing. I just...I can't believe you're drinking in front of me" she said.

"Do you want me not to?" she asked. Before Olivia answered Rae reached for her beers and was getting up to take them back to the kitchen. "No, no. It's ok. It's your apartment and I'm not vice." Rae got a confused look. "Vice?" she asked. "They would most likely handle underage drinking calls" she explained. "Ah, I see. Well, I won't call them if you won't." Olivia laughed and picked up her own beer and opened it to take a drink. "So...let's play twenty questions." Rae suggested. Olivia laughed, "I'm assuming that's a game where we ask each other questions" she said inferring from the name. Rae nodded," You ask me a question; any question you want and I have to answer. Then I ask you a question and you have to answer and we keep going until we've asked twenty questions. It's kind of a get to know you game." Rae said explaining. "Ok, you go first" she said prompting Olivia to start. "Uh ok. I can ask anything?" she asked. Rae nodded nervously not sure what Olivia wanted to ask her. "Ok. What's the most embarrassing memory you have?"

"Oh my god. That would be your first question" Rae said smiling. "Ummm...ok it's kind of stupid but I went to this sleep over once. I must've been like six or seven. Anyway, we were sitting around in the dark telling ghost stories and one of the girls told the story of candyman. You know, like the movie; the guy with the bees and the hook; comes out of the bathroom mirror to kill you. Well, that story scared the shit out of me. So much so that I was afraid to go to the bathroom during the night." Olivia started laughing once she realized where this story was going. "So I just wet the bed" Olivia laughed even harder when Rae said out loud what she'd figure the end of the story would be. "It's not that funny" Rae said throwing one of the couch pillows at Olivia. "I was completely embarrassed to say the least. When I went home my dad explained that it was just a story and no such man really existed so...yeah" she finished with a light laugh. "Have you always dated women?" Rae asked boldly. "Uh, no. Not until college actually. I don't know, I guess I just never felt comfortable until then" Olivia answered. "What about you?" she returned the question. "Oh me, with my vast experience" Rae said laughing. "I've dated exactly two people and they were bother disasters. Ummm one was a girl. We started dating not long after I moved here. And the other was a guy. I started dated him about a month after I broke up with my girlfriend and that lasted for all of about ten days" she said laughing at herself. "But I've always said that I'm attracted to people, you know; personalities and talent and knowledge and kindness. More about who you are internally, less about what you have externally...if that makes any sense." Olivia nodded, "It does" she said smiling. Olivia was very impressed with Rae's mature attitude about dating. She started feeling more confident about pursuing a relationship with her. "What do want to do when you graduate?"

"I haven't really decided yet. I mean, I know I definitely want to go into medicine. I'm very, very sure about that. My specialty on the other hand, I change my mind about that everyday" she said pausing to take a drink from her beer. "I also haven't decided if I want to start classes right away or if I want to get a job or if I want to just be a complete bum and live off of parents for a while" she said jokingly. She wouldn't really have to live off of her parents but she hadn't told Olivia about her money yet and she wasn't going to; at least not tonight. "No honestly, I'd probably be bored out of my mind if I didn't work or go to school...or both. I could do both" she said. "You sound like you have a lot of ambition" Olivia said impressed. "Oh, I do" Rae replied. "Ok. Next question. Why don't you ever talk about your family? I mean, I talk about my family all the time. You haven't really said anything about yours." Olivia got noticeably uncomfortable and Rae regretted asking her the question. "I'm sorry. You don't have to answer that. I can ask you something else." she said quickly back peddling.

"No. Uh, it's ok. You're right. I haven't talked about my family at all. Ummm...my mother, Serena, was an english professor. She had problems with alcohol when I was growing up. We weren't very close during those years. We did become closer later though; when I'd become an adult. Not as close as I would have liked but close. She died some time ago" Olivia said sadly. "It's good that you had good times together before she died." Rae said softly. Olivia just smiled and nodded. "I have a half brother, Simon, from my father's side. We're not really very close. I haven't seen him in a few years. That's about it" Olivia said hoping the subject would change. "Well, what about you father? Where you close with him?" Rae inquired. "Uh, no. I didn't know him. And by the time I found him he had already died." Rae felt stupid for asking about Olivia's family. She obviously never talked about them for a reason. "Well your mom must have been really proud of you becoming a detective. I'm sure she probably had a lot to say about the kind of detective you are..." Rae said laughing. "How did you get into special victims unit anyway?" she asked. "Uh, I chose it actually" Rae was surprised to hear that. SVU didn't seem like something anyone would choose to be apart of. "Really? Why? I mean, from what I can tell it's really awful and depressing" she said. "Uh...because of my mother. She was raped when she was in college. She got pregnant with me and she decided to keep me. That's why I never knew my father. He was a rapist." Rae felt horrible. She had no idea of what to say. She felt really stupid for bringing up Olivia's family now. "Uh...I...ummm...wow Liv. I'm sure you hear sorry all the time when you tell that story so I won't say it." she said. "Anyways, I didn't do it so I don't have anything to apologize for" she joked.

Olivia laughed and Rae smiled knowing she'd successfully lightened the mood. Olivia tried to think of a question that return the light,fun mood they had before. "What is your favorite food?" Olivia asked. You can't wrong talking about food. "Oh I absolutely love my mother's Iskender Kebab" she said, her accent coming out when she pronounced the food. "What is that?" Olivia asked interested. "It's an Iranian dish. It has pita bread and onions and tomatoes, greek yogurt, parsley and a bunch of spices and seasonings. Most people use chicken but I don't eat meat so my mom makes it for me with eggplant instead. And when she really wants to spoil me she adds potato bake, it's like hash browns" she laughs. "I know it sounds like a really weird combination but it's amazing. I would offer to make it for you but I'm pretty sure that my attempt would be a disaster." Olivia smiled thinking of the relationship Rae has with her mother and how she wished she'd had the chance to really build that with her own mother before she died.

They continued playing for a while and had finished their pizza and beers. They were well past their twenty question requirement but had decided to keep going. "Ok, my turn" she said excitedly. "What is...your favorite thing to do...in bed?" Olivia couldn't believe what she had just asked her. She gave her a sideways glance. "You have to answer" Rae said reminding her of the rules. Suddenly Olivia didn't like this game anymore. "Uhh...I...I guess I...I don't know" she said. Her cheeks were hot and she knew she must have been blushing terribly. Rae smiled at how cute Olivia was when she was embarrassed. "Oh come on. There has to be something" Rae said urging Olivia to share. She bit her lip in anticipation. "I guess...ummm...using a strap-on is my favorite" Olivia said her blush subsiding as her confidence returned. "I like using a strap-on on my partner." She looked at Rae who was still biting her lip and she suddenly got aroused. She quickly looked away and cleared her throat. "Ok, my turn" she said moving along with the game. "What is your favorite color?" she asked wanting to steer clear of any topic that might cause anymore sexual tension. "Oh, that's easy. Black" Rae said matter of factly. Olivia opened her mouth to speak but Rae cut her off, "Don't say it's not a color. It is." Olivia laughed and shook her head. "Ok. maybe technically it isn't but it is to me" she said firmly.

"Your favorite breakfast cereal?" Rae asked moving things right along. "Captain Crunch" Olivia answered without hesitation. "Yes. I love Captain Crunch" Rae said happily agreeing. "Your favorite movie growing up?" Olivia asked. "Matilda" The look that came over Olivia's face told Rae that she didn't know what movie she was talking about. "You've never seen Matilda?" Rae asked mystified. Olivia shook her head no. "Ok, yeah. That is completely unacceptable" she said getting a laugh from Olivia. "Ummm we have to fix that. Like right now." She sat up on her knees and moved closer to Olivia. She leaned over her and grabbed the remote off of the side table and sat down right next to her. She found the movie on Netflix and they settled down to watch it together. By the middle of the movie, Olivia had pulled Rae into her, wrapping an arm around her as if they were sitting in a movie theatre. Rae's head slowly found a resting place on Olivia's shoulder. She didn't realize she'd fallen asleep until the movie had ended. She stroked her hair and whispered her name, waking her from her peaceful sleep. Rae moaned as she woke up and it went straight to Olivia's core.

"Sorry, I fell asleep. I've seen that movie a million times" Rae said with a little chuckle. "It's ok" Olivia said softly. She pushed Rae's hair behind her ear and looked into her eyes. "God, you're so beautiful" she whispered. Her eyes got wide as she realized she'd said it aloud. Rae smiled and looked away bashfully. "Thank you" she said softly. Olivia blushed lightly at her slip up and let her hand fall from Rae's hair. Rae leaned in slowly, bringing their faces closer together. Their lips were just inches apart when Olivia pulled back. Rae was disappointed but she had to remember their agreement. "I'm sorry. No pressure" she whispered. Olivia smiled, "It's late. I should head home" she said standing from the couch. "Ok." Rae stood and walked Olivia to the door. They said their goodbyes and Rae closed and locked the door once Olivia had disappeared down the stairs. She cleaned up the pizza boxes and beer bottles, brushed her teeth and went to bed with a huge smile on her face.