AN: So I stuck a little tribute to Mariska and her new No More campaign (launched through her Joyful Heart foundation) in this chapter. Of course here it's used in different context but still. Thanks for reading! Keep reviewing/commenting. Enjoy!

Chapter 23: Happy Halloween

Olivia never called her back on Sunday...or Monday, or Tuesday. She thought that maybe Elliot had found out about them and insisted that she not pursue her any further. Or Olivia was afraid he'd find out so she didn't want to risk seeing or talking to her again. Either way she and Olivia were over. She went to school everyday and put on her best face so Maureen wouldn't suspect anything was wrong. Of course, she didn't have to do that with Ashley which she was really thankful for because this really sucked. However today was Halloween and she didn't want to mope around. She invited Ashley and Maureen over for a scary movie night on the condition that they didn't fight. They both agreed to the terms, so at last bell Maureen rode with Rae and Ashley followed behind them in her car to Rae's apartment. They got dressed in some of Rae's old costumes, saving their real costumes for Saturday night, and went out trick or treating. They laughed when the little kids said they were too old and shouldn't get any candy. They went back to Rae's and ordered pizza, popped popcorn, and had ice cream and spent the rest of the night having a scary movie marathon. Both Ashley and Maureen stayed the night and went to school from her place the next morning.

The rest of the week flew by. It was now Saturday and Rae still hadn't talked to Olivia. She decided she wasn't going to keep trying to get Olivia to talk to her. If she wanted to call her, she had her number. Maureen's parents had agreed to let her go out but said that she had to be home by twelve thirty. They didn't want her missing Sunday morning mass. She went home with Rae after school on Friday and stayed the night. It was seven now and they were getting dressed together before heading over to Ashley's. Ashley lived in Rae's parent's neighborhood. Since that's where all the parties were, they decided they'd leave from there. They left Ashley's around nine and walked to the furthest party first, which was about four blocks from Ashley's house. They stayed there for about an hour and a half before moving on. They went to three different parties by the time they had to take Maureen home. Rae had taken it easy on the drinks knowing she had to drive her. After they dropped Maureen off, she and Ashley met up with Scott at a bar. They had some drinks and danced. Rae was dj for the night, picking song after song on the juke box. It was three in the morning when they left the bar. Rae told Ashley and Scott to go ahead and that she would take a taxi. Ashley tried to argue but Rae insisted she go and enjoy the rest of her night. Rae called a cab and was standing outside the bar waiting for it when she heard her name. She looked up and saw Olivia walking towards her.

"What are you doing out here alone?" Olivia said concerned. She looked Rae up and down taking in her form. She looked incredibly sexy and Olivia was finding it hard to focus. Her costume fit her form perfectly, hugging her in all the right places. "Focus Olivia. You need to get her home." Araeyah noticed Olivia staring at her and she smiled because she knew she'd picked the right costume. Then she remembered that Olivia had been ignoring her for the past week and her smile faded just as quickly as it appeared. "Rae?" Olivia said snapping her out her thoughts.

"Oh. You're talking to me?" Rae said as if she didn't know Olivia meant her.

"Of course I'm talking to you. Who else would I be talking to?"

"Oh no. You couldn't possibly be talking to me" Rae said. "I mean you've been not talking to me for a week now, so...it makes more sense that you'd be talking to someone else."

"Rae. Look I'm sorry. I know you called me and I'm sorry I missed it. You shouldn't be here alone. I know you're mad at me but please just let me drive you home." Olivia sounded genuinely concerned. Rae was a little drunk and she tended to lose her filter when that happened. Sometimes Ashley would call her Simon, as in Simon Cowell, because she could be brutally honest without any regards to anyone's feelings.

"You missed it? Aha, no. No, not it. I called you everyday. Sometimes multiple times a day." Olivia could hear the anger in her voice. "I'm guessing you "missed" all my text messages too. And my voicemails. God, that must have been a really hard case you were working on" she said sarcastically. "Oh no, wait. It couldn't have been that because Maureen's dad had the day off last Saturday. She also told me that your captain let you all go early on Sunday because it was slow day. Nice of all those criminals to take the day off and give you guys a break. They must've went to church or something. So you wouldn't have been working on a big case, right?" Rae asked the question but didn't let Olivia answer her. "Maybe you just need a new phone." She looked at her phone and pushed a button. A moment later Olivia's phone started ringing. "Oh, well damn." she said shrugging her shoulder. "Looks like it's not that either." She was being a bit of a bitch but she wanted to get her point across to Liv of how pissed she was. "You know, I called you on Sunday when you were still at work but you were away from your desk so Elliot answered your phone." She wanted to test her theory that Elliot had something to do with why she had stopped talking to her. "I talked to him and he said he would tell you that I called. Did he? Did he tell you that I called? " Olivia looked down at the ground which told Rae all she needed to know. "So that's what this is about? That's why you stopped talking to me? You found out that I talked to Elliot and he...what? Asked a lot of questions that you really didn't want to answer?"

"Rae, listen..." Olivia really wanted to get a word in and explain and apologize but Rae wouldn't let her.

"No. Don't. You're a coward Olivia. You're running away from this, from us, because you're afraid of what people will think of you. It's funny because I was trying to be understanding. I was willing to wait for you to figure out what you really want but...this isn't really about what you want is it? I mean because we already know what you want." Rae closed the space between them and looked up at her. "You are letting other people dictate what you do in your life. I get it; you're a detective, you love your job, and this, us, looks bad, but come on. I'm sure you could have come up with something to tell him about why I was calling but you didn't. Your jealousy and insecurities are a little unattractive but I could get over that. But you...you're a coward and I don't wanna be with you anymore. Not if that's who you are" Rae's words felt like a knife if her heart. "Is that who you are?" Rae asked hoping that Olivia would say something, anything, to win her back. Olivia just stood there silently and all of Rae's hopes were dashed. She turned and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Olivia yelled after her. "Away from you." She didn't even bother to turn around so Liv could hear her clearly. Suddenly Olivia appeared in front of her, blocking her path. "Move" she said trying to force her way past the woman but she wouldn't allow it. "No. It's late and you don't even have a jacket. You'll freeze. You are letting me drive you home."

"I don't need you to drive me home. I called a taxi. I'll be fine." Rae tried to get past again but Olivia was too strong for her. She looked up and saw how serious Olivia was and she knew she was fighting a losing battle. "Fine." They walked to Olivia's car in silence. Olivia tried to open the door for her but she pushed her hand away and opened it herself. She got in and slammed the door before putting on her seatbelt and staring out the window. Olivia got in the car and started driving to Rae's apartment building. After a few minutes of agonizing silence, Olivia finally spoke.

"You're right. I got scared. I was nervous when you tried to kiss me. I just...I didn't" Olivia was searching for the right words. She was hoping that whatever she came up with would make Rae change her mind and want her again.

"You just...didn't want to kiss me" Rae said still looking out the window.

"That's not true. I did want to. God, I...I've wanted to kiss you since the first time I laid eyes on you. But then I remember that you're eighteen years old and still in high school and you're my partner's daughters' best friend and I...I start to second guess myself. Question if this is really the right thing. And then I called you and you were going out with someone else and you called her babe..." Rae looked over at Olivia for the first time since they'd been in the car. She could tell that the idea of her being with someone else really hurt Olivia. She was about to say something, to explain, but she saw that Oliva wasn't finished talking so she decided to remain quiet and let her finish. "I thought you'd moved on...that you'd had enough of waiting for me. Then Elliot told me you called and he started asking me why I had your number and why were you calling me and I just...I panicked. I didn't want him or anyone else finding out and judging me so I decided I couldn't talk to you or see you anymore. I threw myself into work to make it easier to ignore you. The only reason I'm out tonight is because my captain ordered me to go home. And even then I didn't want to go home because I didn't spend another night home alone. Then I walked out of the bar and saw you standing there. I was glad because I wanted to see you so badly but I was also nervous because I knew you'd be upset with me." She was quiet for a moment.

Rae realized that they had entered her parking lot. Olivia pulled into a spot marked for guests and put the car in park. Rae took off her seatbelt and turned to face Olivia who did the same. They look each other directly in the eyes. "I know I screwed up. I know I can be jealous and insecure and...you're right; I was being a coward. I was running away. I was...I was too afraid to stick it out. But that's not who I am. At least that's not who I want to be. I want to be someone better for you. I know I haven't done anything to deserve it but I'd like to have one more chance."

Rae thought for a moment about what Olivia was asking. "If I call or text you, you answer me. And if you can't answer right then, you call me back the first chance you get. No more of this disappearing act, no more running away, and no more making assumptions about what I'm doing or who I'm with. If you want to know something, ask me; if you're feeling jealous, tell me; if you feel insecure about something, talk to me. This can't happen again, Olivia." Rae wanted to be clear about what she wanted if they were going to try again. "It won't" Olivia said.

"You promise?" Olivia smiled and shook her head. "I promise." Olivia waited quietly for Rae to say what she wanted to hear. "Ok, one more chance...but if you go back on your word then I swe..."

"I won't. I promise I won't", Olivia said wasn't any hint of insecurity in her voice but she'd heard Olivia speak like this to her before. She didn't want to get her hopes up just yet.

They sat in silence for a minute. Rae noticed that Olivia couldn't keep her eyes from wandering over her body. She mentally pat herself on the back for picking this costume and thanked the universe for allowing her and Olivia to run into each other tonight. She shifted in her seat, bringing one leg up slightly underneath her and letting the other continue to rest on the floor. This new position caused her dress to ride further up her thighs. Olivia tried to pull her eyes away but to no avail. Rae decided to make her move. She sat up on her knees and leaned across the center console finding Olivia's lips with her own. She caught her off guard which was what she was counting on. Olivia was tense at first and thought about pushing Rae away. Then she felt her tongue swipe across her bottom lip and she unraveled. She grabbed her by the back of the head pulled her deeper into the kiss, opening her mouth and allowing her tongue to enter. Rae moved herself across the divider so that she was straddling Olivia's lap.

Their kiss was fluid, a perfect combination of lust and passion. Their lips molded perfectly together; their tongues danced in perfect rhythm. There was no battle for dominance, just the perfect amount of give and take. Rae broke away from Olivia's lip and began trailing kisses across her cheek and then down her neck. Her hands ran up and down the length of her sides, her left hand finding rest on her hip and her right hand palming her breast through her shirt. She found Olivia's pulse point and sucked on it lightly, causing Olivia to moan underneath her. "Moan number two", she thought to herself. Her hands continued to roam as she brought her lips back to Olivia and they began another kiss. Olivia grabbed Rae's hands as felt her fingers start to nip at the skin under her shirt. She broke their kiss and pushed Rae off of her. Rae pulled her dress down, fixed her hair, and settled back into the passenger seat. Olivia was obviously thinking about something and she wanted to know what it was.

"You promised" Rae said referring to their earlier conversation. Olivia knew that Rae wanted to know what it was she was thinking so hard about. "I...ugh" Olivia put her face in her hands and shook her head, mentally chastising herself. "Hey", Rae said taking her hands away from her face and forcing her to look at her, "just talk to me."

"I just...I don't wanna rush this. I don't want us to move too fast" As much as Olivia wanted Rae, she didn't want her to do anything she wasn't ready for.

"Olivia, we've been dancing around our feelings for each other for a month now. We're not rushing." Olivia didn't say anything more. Rae realized that she was going to have to take charge. She reached over and turned the car off and took the keys out of the ignition. "What are you doing?" Olivia asked looking confused.

"I want to you to come upstairs with me." Rae said. Her eyes looked darker than normal. Olivia forced herself to look away. "I don't think that's a good idea." She knew that if she went upstairs there was no way she'd be leaving any time soon. "Why not?"

"Because if we go up to your apartment we'll just end up in bed"

she thought to herself. She knew that's what Rae wanted. "Uh...I just don't."

"Fine. Then...walk me to my door" Rae was going to get Olivia to go upstairs with her one way or another. "You know, just to make sure I'm safe." She still had Olivia's keys and she had no plans to give them back. Olivia didn't say anything. She just opened her door and proceeded to get out of the car. Rae smiled as she did the same.