AN: Happy New Year everyone! Hope everyone had great holidays. Here's more updates for you all. As always, please comment/review. I really appreciate knowing what you all think. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 38: No More Hiding

They were in Olivia's car driving to wherever they were having dinner in a comfortable silence. Rae was anxious to find out where they going. She continued looking out the window for a hint at their destination in the passing landscape. She couldn't think of any possibilities. She let out a frustrated sigh and sat back in her seat. Olivia let out a chuckle drawing Rae's attention.

"Can't figure out where we're going huh?" Olivia said with a smirk.

"No" Rae said. She folded her arms over her chest and pouted. Rae looked over at Olivia and debated whether she should tell her about Maureen and the feelings she suspected she had for her. "Might as well" she thought to herself. "Soooo, I think Maureen likes me, like really likes me. I don't know, it's really weird. She says she's not gay but when she found out how I felt about you she was so jealous and when she though I was getting back together with Ashley she all but flipped out." Olivia looked over at her at the mention of her getting back together with Ashley. Rae caught a glimpse of her glare, "Relax, it was before we were together and it was never going to happen. If she would've had it her way, I wouldn't have been friends with Ashley at all. Anyway, I have no idea what to do about it." Olivia wasn't sure what to do with this new information. She took a moment to think before speaking. "Well, she's your best friend. You don't want to ruin that. Just tell her you want to keep things the way they are." Rae sighed and nodded her head, "Yeah, I guess" she whispered turning back to look out of the window.

Not a minute later Olivia pulled into the circular drive in front of a restaurant. It looked beautiful on the outside, like a castle. She put the car in park and got out. The valet opened the door for Rae and helped her out of the car. Olivia tipped the man and took a number to retrieve her car later. She took Rae's hand and pulled her towards the stairs. It took a moment but she finally recognized the restaurant. It was a new restaurant called Persian Palace owned by a well to do middle eastern family, the Mahjids. The family had moved into her parents neighborhood about seven months ago and had started working on opening their own restaurant. They were great people and they reminded her mother of home. They taught Rae a lot about where they were from, where she was from. She was first generation American and had never visited where her parents were from so all she had were the stories they told. Rae had told Olivia that she wanted to come when it opened to support them. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at Olivia.

"You remembered" she whispered smiling.

"Of course I did" Olivia said. She was happy that Rae was happy about where she'd decided to take her. She leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips before turning and starting up the stairs. They reached the front doors and Olivia opened one for Rae to walk in. The place looked amazing. It was decorated in shades of white and gold. There was a winding grand staircase in the middle of the room leading to the multiple levels; four from what Rae could see. The light sound of middle eastern music filled the place along with the conversations of guests who were already enjoying their meals. Olivia walked up to the host and gave her name so they could be seated.

"Araeyah?" Rae heard her name and turned to see Amira, one of the Mahjid kids, behind her. She smiled and greeted her the same way she always greets her mother. "Salam" she said.

"You look gorgeous as always" she said taking in Rae's attire for the evening.

"Thank you" she turned and waved Olivia over. "Amira, this is Olivia, my girlfriend. Liv, this is Amira. Her parents own the place" Rae said taking Olivia's hand again. "It looks lovely" Olivia looking around.

"Thank you" she said. She looked at the two of them and thought what a stunning couple they made. The way they were dressed, she thought they must've planned on it being a romantic night. "My parents will be very pleased to know that you're here" she said smiling. "Uh, just one second." She walked over to the host and whispered something in his ear before returning over to where Rae and Olivia were waiting. "Your reservation is ready for you. Shawn will escort you up. Have a great night. I hope you enjoy everything" she said nicely. She stepped forward for a parting greeting from Rae, "Be sure to share your opinions later" she whispered. "I will." They turned and followed the host up the stairs.

They went up to the top floor which was set up in a series of private rooms. They were able to see into each one, some larger than others to suit different numbers of guests. Rae and Olivia were shown to a smaller room, set up for two. Olivia was confused; she hadn't asked for a private room.

"Uh, I'm sorry but I think there's been some sort of mistake. I didn't reserve a private room" she said looking at the host.

"No mistake, ma'am. This room has been extended to you and your date as a gift of thanks. The Mahjids are very happy to have you" he explained. Rae smiled and knew that Amira had arranged this. Shawn gestured for them to enter the room and take their seats. "Your server will be in shortly" he said before exiting closing the door behind him. Once he was gone, Rae laughed at how shocked Olivia looked.

"Don't be so surprised. It happens" she said. "Babe, I would never be able to afford this room for you if she hadn't..." Rae shook her head. She didn't like where Liv was going with this. "Hey" she said cutting her off. She reached across the table and took Olivia's hand. "I don't care about that. I wouldn't care if we'd have sat on the first floor by the kitchen" she said with a laugh. "It doesn't matter. I'm here with you. That's what I wanted." Olivia smiled and nodded, lifting Rae's hand in her own and kissed it. They released each other and picked up their menus. Olivia opened to the first page and saw that everything was in another language. She turned the page and still saw a different language. She turned the page again and saw yet another language. On the last page, she finally settled her eyes on a language she understood.

"Oh thank god" she said sighing a breath of relief. "I thought the whole thing was gonna be in different languages." Rae laughed. "Well, I would've helped you if it was" she said still laughing. "You understand all of this?" Rae shook her head. "Just the first page. That's Persian. The second is Arabic. I can speak a little bit but I can't read it at all. The third is Dari, which I recognize, but I can't speak or read it." she said. "Will you teach me sometime?" Rae looked at Olivia and saw that she was serious. "You wanna learn Farsi?" Olivia looked confused. "I thought you spoke Persian" she said. Rae laughed again, "I do. Farsi is the Arabic pronunciation of Parsi, ie. Persian, but it's all the same language. Arabic doesn't have the letter P so there's an F instead. Farsi is the official language of Iran, where my parents are from. There are other dialects from the different regions within Iran, Urdu and Kurdi and Baluchi and so on. There's also Parsi-e Tajik in Tajikistan and Parsi-e Dari in Afghanistan. There's many, many different languages there" she explained. Olivia nodded her understanding. "So you really wanna learn Farsi?" she asked. Olivia nodded, "Yeah, I do" she said confidently. "Ok. First lesson. The greeting..."

"Uh, wait. We're starting right now" Olivia asked flustered. Rae shrugged, "Why not? We have dinner with my mother in two days. You could impress her if you know a few things." Rae said. She was happy that Olivia wanted to learn her native language. It made her feel like she would be sticking around for a long time. "Yeah, I'm just...nervous I guess. What if I'm no good?" she asked genuinely concerned. "You'll be fine" Rae said with a reassuring smile. "How about we just decide what we're gonna have for dinner and we'll talk more about this later" Olivia nodded in agreement. Rae helped Olivia decipher some of the choices on the menu and gave her some suggestions of things to try. Once they decided, Rae ordered for both of them in Farsi. Once their waiter left the room again Rae decided to bring up what Olivia had said in the precinct bathroom earlier. "Olivia, did you really mean what you said earlier? About wanting people to know about us?"

"Yes, I did. I hated not being able to kiss you when you walked in today. I hated not being able to hold your hand when Charles was acting like a smug bastard. And I hate the way I met your mother. If we weren't trying to keep us a secret it would've never happened that way." Olivia was hoping that Rae agreed with her. She was tired of hiding. "I know it took me awhile to accept my feelings for you and then to act on them but now that we're together and we're happy I just...I want everyone to know that you're mine. And that I'm yours" she finished. She sat quietly waiting for Rae to say something. There was light knock on the glass door and the waiter entered with their food. Rae waited until he'd gone to speak again.

"I want everyone to know too but...I don't know. I guess I'm just nervous about what people will say. Honestly, I'm just nervous about what Elliot will say." she said softly. "I just really don't want to make things hard for you, you know, at work. And then I don't want to ruin my friendship with Maureen either. What if he doesn't want her to talk to me anymore. I mean, what if he thinks that because I'm with you that Maureen will, I don't know, want older men, or older women. Ugh...is that stupid?" she asked. "That's really stupid" she said answering her own question. Olivia laughed at how much Rae was over thinking this. That was usually her job. "It's just...you know that saying..."If you want to know someone, look at who they hang out with"." Olivia nodded and took Rae's hand. "It's not stupid. It's not stupid at all. But honey, waiting until you graduate high school to tell people isn't going to change anything. You'll still be eighteen and Elliot will still see you as a kid. I'll be fine at work and you said already that both you and Maureen agreed not to let this come between you. I doubt anything her father says will change that." Rae knew she was right. Not much would change in a month when she graduated so there was really no point in waiting. Maybe it was just time for them to face the music. "Ok" Rae said simply. "Ok?" Olivia wanted to be clear what her "ok" was referring to. "No more hiding" she clarified. Olivia smiled and got up from her seat. She walked over to Rae's chair and pulled her to her feet, bringing their lips together. They shared a kiss that was both sweet and passionate. After a moment, they released each other and returned to their seats to eat. The food was delicious and the wine was fantastic. They shared across the table, each tasting the other's dinner. Olivia loved all the different flavors of Iranian cuisine. Suddenly she couldn't wait for Thanksgiving at Rae's parents house. They talked and laughed and danced to the light music that filled the room. After a few hours, Olivia reluctantly asked for the check. A few minutes later, instead of their waiter coming back with the check, Mr. and Mrs. Mahjid entered the room.

"Araeyah, we're so happy you came" Mr. Mahjid said greeting her with a handshake. "And you miss. Thank you for coming" he said turning to Olivia extending his hand. Rae greeted Mrs. Mahjid in the same way she had with Roshan earlier. Olivia settled for just a handshake.

"Oh please, the pleasure was all ours. Your restaurant is fantastic" Olivia said smiling. " It's so beautiful. The food was wonderful and the music is great" she continued showering them with compliments. They beamed with pride in their establishment. "She's right" Rae said chiming in. "It's everything you said it'd be and much, much more. Tabrik migoyam" she said with a smile. "Mamnoon. Shoma kheyli mehrban hastid" Mrs. Mahjid said placing her hand over her heart with gratitude. "We are so happy to have you that your evening is on us, yeh?" she said.

"Oh, no please", Olivia said quickly objecting, "you really don't have to do that." It made her a little self-conscious to get handouts all the time because she was with Rae. Rae sensed how uncomfortable it made Olivia for their entire evening to be free. "Well no, but we want to" Mr. Mahjid said. "You will not pay. This is not up for discussion" he said firmly. Olivia was about to continue arguing but she stopped when she felt Rae's hand on her back. "Thank you" she said softly. They said their goodbyes to the Mahjids and left a tip on the table for their server before exiting the room and making their way out of the restaurant. Olivia gave her number to the valet and they waited silently for the car. When it arrived, she opened the door for Rae and shut it once she was inside. She tipped the valet and walked over to the driver's side, getting in and pulling away from the restaurant.

They made it back to Olivia's apartment around eleven fifteen. Rae could tell that Olivia was still upset about what happened at the restaurant but she didn't want to dwell on that. She wanted to end this night just as perfectly as it had begun. They walked into the bedroom and Olivia sat down on the bed and took off her shoes. Rae took off her heels before walking over and kneeling down in front of her. She looked into her eyes and leaned in kissing her softly on the lips. She kissed her again, more firmly this time. She ran her tongue along her lips asking for entry. Olivia parted lips granting Rae's request. Their kiss grew more and more passionate with each passing second until the need for oxygen caused it to end. Rae stood up in front and reached back, releasing her hair from the clip, allowing it to cascade around her face and down her shoulders. She tossed the clip on the bedside table before reaching back and slowly unzipping her dress, letting it fall around her feet. She stood in front of Olivia in a black lace bra and underwear. Olivia's breath quivered as she took in Rae's perfect form. She reached up and placed her hands on Rae's hips pulling her forward into her. She parted her legs so that she could stand between them and placed kisses on her flat stomach allowing her hands to travel up and down her body. Rae found Olivia's hair with her fingers and caressed her soft locks. She backed away and pulled Olivia up with her, finding the zipper of her dress and pulling it down. She slid the straps off of her shoulder and the garment fell to the floor in the same manner her own had. They each divested the other of their undergarments before climbing into bed and getting under the covers. They rekindled their kiss and continued to explore each others' bodies with their hands.

Olivia got on top of Rae and settled between her legs. She kissed down her jaw line and nipped at her favorite spot behind Rae's ear causing her to moan aloud. She continued down her neck and chest, stopping at her breasts. She swirled her tongue around her nipple then took it into her mouth and sucked. She paid the same attention to her other breast before continuing down her body. She settled between her legs and licked and nibbled at her thighs. She felt Rae's hand in her hair and her hips lift off the bed. She smiled and placed one last kiss on her inner thigh. She ran her tongue up the length of Rae's folds, swirling her tongue around her clit before taking it into her mouth and lightly sucking. "Mhnmm" Rae moaned at the feeling of Olivia's mouth on her. The things that her tongue could do drove Rae crazy. She gasped when she felt Olivia increased pressure and speed of her tongue. Rae's breathing became increasing uneven, her breaths short and shallow. "Ungh...mhnmm...huh." Her moans became louder and more frequent. Olivia found Rae's opening with her tongue and entered her, darting her tongue quickly in and out. "Oh god" she heard her whimper. Rae's hand tightened its grip around her hair and she grinded into her face. She moved her tongue back to her clit and sucked. "Shit! Oh god Liv!" Rae yelled, arching her back and pressing her head further back into the pillow. Olivia spread her lips, exposing her pearl and surrounded it with her lips and sucked. "Fuck! Liv...yess! Oh god, don't stop. I'm...shit...Liv...please" Rae didn't know why she was saying please. She couldn't think clearly. Olivia had the ability to do that, and much more, to her. With Rae egging her on, Olivia continued her movements with her tongue, swirling and nibbling and sucking. She latched onto Rae's clit again and suck as hard as she could. Rae's back arched off the bed and she came in Olivia's mouth, screaming her name. Olivia didn't let up, causing Rae to topple over the edge coming again before she'd come down from her first orgasm. They made love all night long, bringing each other to climax again and again. When their bodies finally gave way to exhaustion, they fell asleep, limbs tangled up in each other.

Olivia's alarm went off at seven thirty and she got up from bed, careful not wake Araeyah. She went into the bathroom and got in the shower. There was a knock at the door, rousing Rae from her peaceful sleep. She looked over and saw that Olivia was gone from the bed. She lifted up on elbows and looked around the room, still a little dazed with sleep. She heard the shower running and remembered that Olivia had to be at work at eight thirty. The knocking at the door continued so she forced herself to get out of the bed. She went over to the dresser and pulled out her favorite t-shirt of Olivia's: a grey nypd shirt that was a couple sizes too big for her. The knocking persisted so threw the shirt over her head and hurried out of the bedroom. She went to the door and opened it and was greeted by a blonde standing there with two coffees. She looked Rae up and down seemingly confused by her presence. They stood there, staring each down, neither willing to be the first to blink. Rae wasn't worried. She was already on the inside and blondie was waiting to be let in.

Persian-English Translations

Tabrik migoyam- Congratulations

Mamnoon. Shoma kheyli mehrban hastid- Thank you. You are very kind.