Sorry for freaking you guys out last chapter with my A/N (I had to do it). I have made it up to you with this one. I spent about 4.5 hours just reworking this chapter (in addition to the hours I spent writing it), in order to come up with this. I hope my efforts were worth it and that you like it!

Olivia woke up early Saturday morning and prepared what they'd need for their day of painting the deck. She had primed the wood earlier this week, so all that needed to be done this morning before they started to paint was to get out all the supplies.

She set everything up, smiling to herself. It was looking to be a beautiful weekend, and as the brunette laid out the paintbrushes and trays, she couldn't help getting excited. She was looking forward to spending the day with Alex and Hannah. When everything was ready, she entered the house, jogged upstairs and dropped down on Alex's bed, shaking the woman awake.

"Wake up, sleepyhead. It's time to paint!"

The blonde moaned grumpily, turning away from her and burying her head in the pillow. Alex was most decidedly not a morning person.

"Come on. That deck isn't gonna paint itself."

The brunette began poking at her sides through the blanket, laughing at Alex's angry muttering. The blonde was notoriously ticklish on her sides, a fact that Olivia often exploited.

"Stop! Go away, demon woman."

Olivia laughed.

"You wanted to paint this deck. Now, get up and start painting with me."

Alex flipped over and huffed, her hair falling around her face. Olivia smiled widely. Fuck, she was cute.

"It's," Alex glanced over at the clock in annoyance, "6:47 am. Why the hell are we painting so damn early?"

"Because we have a big job ahead of us and only two days to do it. Hop to it, soldier!"

Alex rolled her eyes.

"I'm not a soldier."

"Not with that attitude! Come on, grumpy gills. The sooner we start, the sooner we finish! You know you want to."

"I don't want to, but if I agree to get up, will you get out of my face?"

Olivia chuckled.

"Yes."

"Fine. Get out of here and I'll come down in a minute."

Olivia grinned.

"Glad you decided cooperate. There's a coffee for you on the counter. See you outside!"

The woman sounded so cheerful that Alex wanted to vomit. How could anyone be that disgustingly happy this early in the goddamn morning? She lay there for another minute before grumbling loudly and rolling out of bed.

It took her nearly fifteen minutes, but Alex finally emerged onto the deck. Olivia had already started painting, but paused when the blonde made an appearance.

"Good morning, sunshine."

"Shut up," Alex grumbled, taking a sip of her coffee. She wasn't ready to be civil until she had finished at least half the cup, so she sat on the step and watched Olivia work while she slowly drank. There was something so rewarding about doing nothing while Olivia painted.

She worked patiently, smirking to herself as she waited for Alex to initiate conversation. She had learnt early on in their relationship that she needed to wait for the blonde. If Olivia started talking too soon after she woke up, Alex would do nothing more than grunt or grumble in response. She needed quiet time to become conversational; it took a good ten to fifteen minutes and half a cup of coffee (or a full one on a bad morning) for Alex to get to that point. Eventually Olivia's patience would be rewarded, just as it was this morning, and the woman in question would speak.

"So what do you want me to do, you damn slave driver?"

Olivia chuckled.

"You can start on the floor, and I'll continue the inside of the railing if you want."

Olivia had managed to paint the inside and sides of a few posts already. Since she was kneeling on the deck, she decided to wait to paint the outside of the posts until she was on the lawn. She left Alex the floor, seeing as that was the easiest part.

"Alright."

Alex put down her empty mug and grabbed her paintbrush and tray, which Olivia had already prepared for her. She got on her knees and started where Olivia had painted the first post, making careful strokes as she worked.

"Oh, I got some kneepads from the hardware store if your knees start getting sore. They're in the bag by the door."

Alex glanced back and gave her first genuine smile of the day. Coffee worked wonders on her mood.

"Thanks," she responded before turning back around, painting in silence.

Olivia caught herself staring as Alex worked, so she cleared her throat and looked back at the post she had been painting for the last several minutes. The women worked slowly, quietly, until Alex broke the silence with a question.

"So do you think we'll have this done this weekend?"

Olivia glanced over to see if Alex was looking at her (she wasn't, and her ass still looked fantastic in those shorts, so the brunette decided to play it safe and not look over in that direction).

"I don't see why not. We'll leave the back steps for last so that we have access to the house. Once everything is dry, then I'll do them. It should only take us this weekend to finish everything."

"I can't wait to see the finished product. It's going to be so nice to come home to the deck looking so freshly painted. I can finally stop looking at that god awful off white."

"And I can finally stop hearing about it," Olivia quipped.

Alex looked back and pointed her paintbrush threateningly.

"Listen here. I do not complain that much."

Olivia gave her a look.

"Okay, so I complain, but how else will things get done?"

"Bribery. A whole lot of bribery," Olivia responded. "I'm talking crooked politician trying to cover up an illicit affair and massive amounts of money laundering kind of bribery."

"And what kind of bribery would it take to get you to do everything I want you to do?" Alex asked, looking back at the woman.

Oh, man. You walking around in a skimpy dress. Or a bikini. Or a towel, fresh from the shower. Or lingerie. Fuck it, just show up naked and I'll do anything you want.

"Hmm?"

"Uh, you know, desserts," she said, looking away to clear her thoughts. She did like desserts. "Cinnamon rolls. Cookies. Pies. You make really good pies. Peanut butter balls. Oh! And those creamy caramel dessert bar things you made that one time. Those were so good."

"I remember," Alex said, chuckling. "You ate the whole batch yourself."

Olivia grinned.

"They were amazing. You're a wonderful baker," she said sincerely.

"Thanks," Alex responded before resuming her painting. "Maybe you'll get a thank you dessert for painting this deck then."

Olivia grinned widely in her direction.

"I'm not going to argue that," she said.

Okay, she's painting again. Stop staring at her ass.

Olivia bit her bottom lip as she watched Alex shift backward, unable to look away. There was no harm in just looking, right? She had been doing her best to keep things platonic between them, keeping her inappropriate thoughts and comments to herself, but it was difficult. Every once in a while, a comment would slip, and try as she might, she could not help herself staring at the blonde. She tried. Lord help her, she did try. She counted, she pinched her skin, she bit her cheek, all in an attempt to divert her attention. But sometimes, it didn't work. Like now, with Alex moving the way that she was, so close to-

"Hello, Cam."

Olivia only just managed to suppress her gasp. She tore her eyes away from the luscious view before her, clearing her throat as she looked at the teenager.

"Hi, Hannah."

"See something you like?" the teenager whispered, giggling.

Before the brunette could respond, Alex chimed in.

"Hey, you! I didn't expect you so early. Don't most teenagers stay in bed until noon?"

"Most teenagers don't have two screaming children in their homes," she said as she leaned against the house. "They woke me up really fucking early so I figured I might as well get up and join you guys."

"Are you hungry?" Alex asked. "Cam has toaster strudels in the freezer if you want."

"Yes, Val, please feel free to just offer those up to any hoodlum who drops by."

"Sweet! They'll taste even better knowing Cam doesn't want me to have any," the teenager responded.

The brunette playfully shoved the girl, shaking her head.

"Yeah, yeah. Alright, I'll get you my damn toaster strudels, but you owe me."

She made a move to get up, but Hannah stopped her.

"I can get it. I don't want you hiding them on me now."

Hannah went inside, leaving Olivia to chuckle as she returned to her task. She liked the girl's sass. She was fun.

Olivia dipped her paintbrush in the paint, brought it up to the post, but when she saw Alex move out of the corner of her eye, her attention was diverted once again. She stopped mid stroke, watching as the blonde stretched her arms above her head, straightening her back as she moved her neck from side to side. Olivia watched her move. She moved so smoothly, something the brunette had noticed from the very first time they had met. Her elegance, her sophistication, her class… They were all things that had attracted her from the very start. And now, the way she fluidly moved her body, Olivia was reminded of just how very female the blonde was.

When she leaned forward, bending over to grab her paintbrush, her mouth dried significantly.

Alex, having heard no movement behind her for far too long, glanced back.

Busted.

"I uh, was just-"

"I know what you were just. Stop staring at my ass," detective. "We have work to do."

Olivia swallowed hard, unable to come up with a response. Thankfully, Alex let it drop there, but the blonde could not wipe the huge grin from her face. She bit her lip in an attempt to fight it, and when Hannah returned, munching on a toaster strudel, the blonde turned to the girl and pointed at Olivia, pretending to be annoyed.

"After you're done eating, you can take over for her."

"Why?" Olivia asked, affronted.

"Because someone keeps getting distracted."

Hannah grinned at Olivia.

"Got caught starin', did ya?"

The brunette grinned, unable to stop herself. She sighed dramatically, placing her paintbrush on the edge of the tray.

"It was too good to last, I guess."

Alex rolled her eyes and turned back around, resuming her work on the floor. Hannah finished off her strudels and took Olivia's place, happy to work with the women who had so quickly become her role models. She admired them, and she loved the time she got to spend with them. She was accepted here, and she didn't need to hide any part of herself. It was a welcome change in her life, and she was eternally grateful that they were so kind to her. She was eager to do something to for them to say thanks, so she had jumped at the opportunity to help them paint their deck. Plus, she really liked painting anyway.

The three chatted easily for the better part of two hours, until they heard a car pull into the driveway. Olivia immediately turned (she was now working on the outside posts around the deck), her heart racing. Her pulse quickly slowed back down when she saw Lori's familiar Mazda approach. The woman got out of the car and held her hands out as if to say "what's this?" She walked over and raised her eyebrows at the progress that had been made.

"You told me not to hurry, Val, but I guess I should have. You guys are nearly done!"

The blonde laughed.

"Hardly. We've only done that one side. We're starting up the front now, but we still have the other side and the back to do, as well as the back steps. I thought it would go more quickly than this to be honest."

"It will now that we have extra help," Hannah said.

Lori smiled and approached, asking what they wanted her to do.

"Well, you can help Cam there paint the outside of the posts. She's been trailing behind like crazy. As you can see, she's still over there on the side while we have long moved onto the front of the deck."

"Hey!" Olivia protested, smiling. "I'm doing a fantastic job here and you know it."

"Yeah, yeah."

Olivia wasn't going to say that she was trailing behind because she was touching up the spots that Hannah was missing. She wasn't upset by any means that the teenager wasn't doing a perfect job; on the contrary, she had expected that she wouldn't. After all, she was still a teenager and had probably had little to no experience painting. However, she didn't want the deck to come out looking patchy, so she had taken her time examining the sides of each post before moving on to the next. She would touch up the inside later.

Lori agreed, and the two quickly caught up to Hannah and Alex. Once they did, Alex suggested Lori come help her with the floor, so that they could catch up to Hannah (who, having gotten into a rhythm, had now made her way nearly to the end of the front deck).

"Sure," she consented, making her way over to the blonde and swapping her paintbrush for a new one.

It didn't take long for Olivia to once again trail behind, but she didn't mind. There was something soothing about working outside, especially if you were able to get lost in your own thoughts. She was happy to let the others talk amongst themselves, while she quietly worked on her own.

They took a lunch break at 12:45 when the pizza arrived, lounging out on the grass and eating heartily. After giving themselves time to digest, they got up and resumed their task, Olivia forever trailing behind, fixing up all the patchy spots she found. They worked well together, the four of them. And the conversation between the three women flowed nicely. Olivia observed them from a distance, secretly happy to note that Lori and Alex exchanged nothing more than friendly comments and stories. They hadn't flirted with each other at all. She wanted Alex to be happy, truly she did, but a part of her couldn't help feeling relieved that the blonde didn't seem to be moving on right away. If she had though, Olivia had to admit that Lori seemed to be an okay person. From what she had observed today, she was kind, funny, and hard-working, not unlike Olivia herself.

The woman in question glanced over at her, not for the first time that day. Lori kept looking over, giving her this strange sort of wondering look. Olivia could tell that she was trying to work something out, but she wasn't sure what it was. Was Lori sizing her up? Had Alex told her what had gone on between the two of them? Could she tell that Olivia was still completely head over heels for the other woman?

When their gazes met, Olivia smiled at her and the woman gave her a small smile back before resuming painting. Neither said anything to the other. Lori resumed her conversation with the other two, and Olivia observed quietly. She didn't mind though. She enjoyed sitting back and listening. It gave her the opportunity to learn, gathering information and storing it for future reference.

By four o'clock, they had finished the two sides of the deck, as well as the front, and started working on the back. Olivia was still finishing up the posts on the side of the deck, but she could hear the women around the corner. She had remained at a distance for a better part of the day, but her attention was suddenly piqued when Hannah began teasing Alex about wearing more paint than the deck.

Olivia, curious, took a few steps to glance over at the blonde. She had a very distinct grey mark across her forehead, where she had inadvertently smeared herself with paint in an attempt to brush away errant strands of hair. She was also sporting a few patches of grey on her arms, but really, Olivia didn't find it that bad. That is, until Hannah smeared her paintbrush against the woman's hand, covering it in white paint. That mark was much less subtle than the others.

"Did you seriously just paint my hand?"

When the teen nodded, a cheeky grin plastered on her face, the blonde retaliated by swiping her fingers across Hannah's hat, leaving large grey fingermarks behind.

"Hey! My hat! I like this hat!"

The teenager dipped her fingertip in paint and brushed Alex's shoulder, starting an all-out paint war. The blonde squealed and pushed her away, laughing as Hannah threatened to paint her cheeks. Olivia decided this was a good time to move away, lest she get sucked into the mess. Normally, she liked fooling around like that, but paint was a bitch to remove. Plus, she really did want to finish this deck.

Olivia went back to the side of the house, chuckling as she heard the two laughing and squealing as they covered each other in paint. It was nice to hear their giggling, and she couldn't help laughing herself when Hannah called Alex a walking paintbrush. She heard the teenager finally call a truce a few minutes later, declaring that she didn't want to end up at school looking like she had rolled in a tub of paint.

Probably too late for that, kid. Olivia thought, walking back to the front steps to inspect them for a second time. She was just about to patch up the corner on the second step when she heard a loud, clear, and very serious "NO!" coming from the back of the house. It was unmistakably Alex's voice and it sounded terrified.

She immediately dropped the paintbrush and tray, not caring that the items spilled onto the grass. She raced to the back of the house, her heart pounding. The sound of the woman's voice made her blood run cold. A tone like that meant something was seriously wrong. She tore around the house and saw Alex standing in front of Hannah, frantically pressing at the phone in her hand.

"Did you send it?! Did you send it!" She was nearly hysterical.

The girl was clearly afraid, having no idea what was going on.

"N-No. I didn't. I swear, Val. It was a joke. I-"

The blonde was visibly shaking, petrified. When Alex finally spotted Olivia, her eyes filled with tears. The brunette had never seen her eyes so wide and terrified. It sent a flood of fear through Olivia's entire body.

"Facebook."

With one word, Olivia's entire world stopped. There was no more noise, there was no more movement. Her blood heart stopped, her breathing ceased. It was as though everything froze before the gravity of the situation crashed over her and a burst of white hot terror shot through her body. She leapt up onto the deck, scaling the steps, before snatching the phone from the blonde.

"I can't. I can't-" Alex's voice broke, and before Olivia could stop her, she bolted into the house.

The brunette looked up at the teenager, who looked so scared that it temporarily broke through Olivia's own panic. She took a deep breath and carefully approached Hannah.

"What happened?" she asked calmly. She fell into her old role from the SVU, calling on her years of experience to keep her focused as she worked to figure out what happened. She needed to know what was posted online.

"I-I .. I don't know. I just took a picture and it was a joke and-"

A picture? Fuck!

The brunette forced herself to focus on the young, petrified girl before her.

"Hey," Olivia said. "Take a deep breath. That's it. Okay. Calm yourself. It's going to be okay. Just tell me what happened."

"She looked really funny, you know, her hair and she was all covered in paint. So when she wasn't looking, as a joke, I took a picture. And then I said-" the girl's voice broke, but she tried not to cry. She forced down the knot in her throat before continuing. "I said that I was going to send it to my friend Lisa so that we could laugh at her. At Val. But then she like… she went hysterical and grabbed my phone and started yelling. I didn't… I didn't mean to upset her."

Olivia pulled the girl into her arms, rubbing her back as she tried to soothe her. She suddenly glanced around, a thought coming to her. Where had Lori gone?

Olivia shook her head. It didn't matter at this second. She needed to get to the bottom of whether or not the photo got sent. She gently pulled away from the now sobbing girl and forced her to look into her eyes.

"I know that you're confused and you're scared. I'm sorry, sweetheart. I need to know the truth, but I promise, you won't be in trouble. However, it's extremely important that you're honest with me. Did you send it to Lisa?" she forced her voice to remain calm, even, unthreatening. Her stomach was in knots, she was sweating, and she was scared out of her mind. If this photo went online, even for a second, there was no guarantee that Velez's people wouldn't see it. Their cover would be blown, and they'd have to leave immediately.

The girl vehemently shook her head.

"No! I only managed to take the picture before Val grabbed my phone. I didn't even open the app."

"So nothing was sent? You're sure?"

"Yes!" she said desperately.

"Okay, sweetie. Okay. Can you do me a favour?" she handed the girl her phone. "Can you please delete the picture?"

She watched as the girl shakily took her phone and fumbled with it for a few seconds before she was able to access the photo and delete it.

"Do you have any others of us?"

The girl shook her head.

"Okay. I know you're scared, Hannah. I know you don't know what's going on, but I want you to know that you're not in trouble. Val yelled earlier because she got very scared. To be honest, you scared the shit out of me too. We owe you an explanation, and if you aren't too shaken up, maybe you could stick around and we can talk after?"

Hannah had stopped crying, but she wasn't sure that she wanted to stay either. She had never seen Val react like that. It had shaken her badly.

"You don't have to stay, sweetie. You can go home. But I would really like it if you stayed so that we can talk."

Olivia kept her voice calm, clamping down on the tidal wave of emotions crashing inside of her. She desperately wanted to get to Alex, but she had to settle the teenager first. When the girl tentatively nodded, agreeing to stay, Olivia felt relieved.

"Okay. Come on," she said, wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulders and leading the way into the house. She brought her to the living room, not caring if they got paint on the floors or the furniture. She would deal with that later. "Can you just sit here for a bit? I'm going to go upstairs and talk to Val. I think she started a panic attack and if I don't calm her down soon, she'll lose herself in it."

"Okay," she said quietly, sitting down on the couch. The teenager didn't know how she had done it, but the brunette managed to bring her from 100 back down to 10 (she wasn't quite back to 0 yet). She was still scared, confused, but she felt oddly safe. Her own mother wasn't even able to do that. She decided to trust that things would be explained to her, so she sat back onto the couch, quietly waiting for the women to tell her what was going on.

Satisfied that Hannah was okay, at least for the time being, Olivia turned and sprinted up the stairs. I'm coming, Alex. I'm coming. It'll be okay. She rushed right past the woman's room and beelined for the bathroom, yanking Alex's face cloth from the side of the sink and quickly running it under cold water. She would need this.

She then bolted back to the bedroom, where she found a desperate Lori trying in vain to calm Alex. Olivia growled inside. Get away from her. The woman was doing nothing but aggravating Alex's situation by telling her to "just calm down". That was not what Alex needed. That would only agitate the blonde more because when she was worked up like this, Alex didn't know how to relax.

Most people didn't know that the blonde suffered from anxiety attacks. It was a secret Alex kept very closely guarded, and one that Olivia had only discovered by accident when she had walked in on Alex having one. Once she had managed to calm down, they had had a lengthy talk about it. They discussed how Olivia could help calm Alex should she ever need to. The brunette had only had to do so a couple of times in the past, since Alex so rarely had these attacks, but she knew she could put a stop to this one. After all, Alex wasn't curled up in the fetal position yet. The blonde had told her that at that point, there was really no reaching her.

So, before she became lost in her own head, Olivia bypassed Lori and made quick strides to the blonde, forcing her to sit on the edge of the bed. She kneeled before her and pulled Alex forward so that she was bent in half. She spoke to her the entire time, telling her that she wasn't alone, that she was okay, that they would get through this. She knew that Alex was scared, petrified, and when these attacks came on, she could work herself into a hysterical fit.

Olivia placed the cool cloth on the back of her neck, both as a distraction and a way to cool down Alex's overheated body.

"Listen to me. Listen to the sound of my voice. You can fight this. Remember to breathe," she grabbed Alex's hand and placed it on her (Olivia's) chest, just above her sternum. She began taking deep breaths. "Take a deep breath. Hey, honey. Hey. Listen. Take a deep breath. That's it. Now, exhale slowly. Good. Now in again. Focus on your breathing and listen to me. You are okay. You are safe. Are you listening?" she asked gently. "I looked at her phone. I looked at it. It didn't get sent, okay? Nothing was sent. You're safe. You're okay. Breathe out, baby. You're okay. Take another breath. There is nothing to worry about, okay? Nothing. I swear to you, you are safe. Absolutely nothing was sent."

Lori watched as Cam talked to Val. She was stunned. The blonde had not responded to her in the least. In fact, she seemed to be oblivious to her presence at all, pacing back and forth, wavering between hyperventilation and short uneven breaths. Nothing she was saying seemed to help, seemed to reach her, and Val was slowly spiralling out of control. Lori had been at a loss of what to do. She had no idea what was going on, and she had no idea how to calm the other woman. Then out of nowhere Cam walked in, looking like she knew exactly what to do, and… she did. She had obviously done this before. Val was responding to her. She had started to breathe almost normally. She was shaking less, her eyes fought to focus. It was like watching someone struggling to see through a storm.

"Baby, you're okay. Focus on me, on my breathing. You're safe."

Wait.

Did Cam just call her "baby"?

The scene before her became uncomfortably intimate as she sensed a shift in the room's atmosphere. As Val calmed down, she reached out to the other woman, falling into her lap and clinging to her. Lori now understood why the blonde had rejected her the other day. Val had insisted that the brunette was just her roommate, but as she watched Cam gather the woman in her arms, rocking her and stroking her back, it was painfully clear that there was more to this than just a living arrangement.

Suddenly feeling like she was infringing on an immensely private moment, Lori excused herself and quietly closed the door behind her. The women didn't budge, hardly noticing her swift exit.

When they were alone, Olivia held Alex tighter.

"You're safe, Al," she whispered in her ear. "You're okay. I promise."

Alex, upon hearing her real name, dissolved into tears. The brunette had succeeded in pulling her from a full-blown anxiety attack, but the emotions overwhelming her finally exploded, and she shook from the strength of her sobs. She had been petrified. They could have found her. They could have shot her. They could have killed her. Or worse, they could have found Olivia. They could have killed Olivia. Or Hannah. Oh God.

Alex clutched her tighter, letting out another loud sob as a fresh wave of anguish washed over her.

"It's okay, baby. I know."

Olivia held her close, rocking her gently. She whispered soothingly in her ear, kissing her temple, rubbing her back as she worked to calm the petrified woman in her arms.

"It could have been really bad, sweetheart. It could have, but it's not. I know you were scared. I know," she repeated, as Alex nodded and cried harder against her. "I know, baby. I was really scared too. Hell, I haven't felt that kind of fear in a long, long time. But it's okay now. You have nothing to fear. I spoke to her, and she promises the picture never left her phone, okay? It never left her phone. And it has been deleted. I made sure of it. I watched her remove it, so it's gone for good. You're safe now, Al. I swear to God you're safe."

Alex continued clutching her, holding on for dear life as Olivia rocked her. She didn't stop rocking her, rubbing her back, or murmuring soothing things in her ear until Alex finally, finally started to calm down.

"You're okay, sweetheart. Everything is alright," she said softly, as she noticed the blonde started to come around. "You're safe now, okay? I promise. Everything is okay."

Alex took a shaky breath and slowly nodded. When she went completely limp against her, Olivia stopped rocking, but continued rubbing her back. Alex sniffed and weakly wiped at her eyes, but made no move to leave her embrace.

The brunette continued to hold her quietly until Alex gave a shaky sigh.

"I was so- I was so scared," she hiccoughed.

"I know, baby. I was really scared too."

Alex remained quiet, a final few tears running down her cheeks.

"It could have been so bad," she said softly. "We could have been found out."

"I know, sweetheart, but we weren't," Olivia reassured her. "We won't be found. It's okay."

As the words finally started to sink in, Alex closed her eyes, willing herself to stop shaking. They sat in silence for several minutes before the blonde blinked her eyes open, her head remaining against Olivia's shoulder.

"I'm so embarrassed," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I know, sweetie. But you shouldn't be. I completely understand. We'll fix this and then you'll have nothing to be embarrassed about. We'll explain to Hannah-"

"Oh God, Hannah! Is she okay?" Alex asked, jerking up. "Hannah-"

"Is fine," Olivia said calmly, noting the woman's voice one again becoming laced with panic. She tightened her hold on Alex's back, keeping her firmly on her lap. "I spoke to her downstairs before coming to see you. She's okay. A little confused, but okay."

"What are we going to tell her?" she asked, burying her face once again in Olivia's neck. She felt safe here, protected. She knew that the brunette would take care of her, take care of everything. She was safe to hide in her arms while Olivia took care of the things that, right now, scared Alex too much to face.

"I think… I think we have to tell her part of the truth," she said, rubbing the blonde's back when she felt her tense up. "Or at least a really twisted version of the truth. She needs to know that she can't be taking pictures of us. Ever."

"How can we tell her anything?" she asked, tilting her head to speak. "She can't know."

"We can tell her a lie that's kind of the truth," Olivia explained. She paused before continuing. "I had thought of this before… that we might need to tell her something one day. You know, in case something like this happened. I came up with a plan."

"You did?"

Olivia nodded.

"I wanted to be prepared."

"What did you think of?"

"I came up with a story- with the idea to explain that you had a stalker back in Maine. I thought that might be a plausible lie that would help us explain something if ever we ever needed to. Like this, for example. We can explain to her that we are hiding because of him. We'll stress how dangerous the situation could become if your picture were posted on the internet and how important it is that you stay safely hidden. We could tell her you panicked because you thought he might find you if your picture had gone online, and that's why you reacted the way that you did."

Alex paused to reflect on it.

"That could work," she admitted. "It would answer enough of the questions without creating too many others."

"Yeah. And we will keep it simple."

"Okay," she said. She took a deep breath, held it for a second, and then let it out. She felt much better. "Thank you. So much." She pulled away and looked into Olivia's eyes. She found the loving, caring woman she had fallen in love with staring right back at her. "You've saved me in more ways than you know, Olivia. You're my anchor. You keep me sane. You make me feel safe. You're the one person I know I can always go to when I'm scared, when I have a problem. I know you will always protect me.

I am so thankful that you came with me. I know it has been very trying, and I know it hasn't been so… that is hasn't been easy to deal with, but I couldn't have done this without you. I need you. I've always needed you. Thank you for saving me again, today, from myself. I'm so grateful you're here with me."

Olivia swallowed the ball of emotions in her throat. Alex's blue eyes never lied, and right now, they were so full of emotion, of truth, that Olivia felt it radiate right into her. She reached up and cupped Alex's cheek, stroking the smooth skin there. The blonde closed her eyes and leaned into the comforting touch. It had been so long, too long, since Olivia had allowed them to share such an intimate moment.

They sat there, in silence, before Alex finally broke it.

"We need to get to Hannah," Alex said, regretfully pulling away from the woman's soothing touch. If she hadn't pulled away then, she wasn't sure she ever would.

Olivia nodded, swallowing her disappointment. They had plenty of time to talk later. She got up and reached out her hand, pulling the blonde onto shaky feet. After gaining her balance, Alex followed her downstairs and into the living room. She met Hannah's gaze, giving the girl a shy smile. The girl gave a very small smile back. She was obviously still distressed.

"Hey," Olivia said calmly, sitting next to her. "I'm sorry it took so long."

"Don't be," she said softly. She glanced over at the blonde. "Are you okay?"

Alex nodded and walked towards her. She scooted Olivia over, sitting down and pulling Hannah into an embrace.

"I'm sorry, Hannah. I didn't mean to yell at you. I just got really, really scared. So I reacted. I wasn't angry with you. I'm still not. I just… I reacted out of fear and I'm sorry that I scared you."

Alex squeezed her close before pulling away slightly and looking into the girl's eyes.

"Are you okay?"

She received a nod in response.

"I'm sorry, Val. I really am. I didn't mean to upset you."

The blonde shook her head, moving back a little more to see her better. She stopped when she felt Olivia's reassuring presence behind her. She settled her back against Olivia's front, taking comfort in the woman's warm strength.

"You didn't. The situation did. It wasn't your fault because you didn't know," Alex hesitated. She looked back at Olivia, who nodded encouragingly as she placed a hand at her waist.

"You should tell her," she encouraged.

Alex turned back towards Hannah and gave a shaky sigh.

"I got scared because if you had posted that online, someone could have seen it. Someone… dangerous. I had a stalker," she started, pausing over the word. She hated lying to Hannah, but she had no choice. "I had a stalker and he was very, very dangerous. He came close to killing me before I finally got away. We've had to move because of him and now I have to be careful. I have to maintain a low profile, which means I can't be seen online, in the papers, on tv. If he ever found out where we were…" Alex trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

Hannah stared at her, horrified.

"He was that bad?"

"Yes," Olivia said gravely. "We can't have our pictures taken because we need to make sure that we aren't ever seen by him or by his people. We have to be very careful. That's why Val reacted the way that she did. She thought about what would happen if he found her."

"Oh, God. I'm sorry," the teenager stated, guilt overwhelming her. "I didn't know. I didn't-"

"I know, sweetheart," Alex interjected. "You didn't know. No one is upset with you and you did nothing wrong. I shouldn't have lashed out at you the way that I did though and I'm sorry. I was scared. That's the only reason I yelled at you like that. I did it because I was scared. I'm sorry that you now have that memory of me."

Hannah shook her head.

"Don't be sorry about that. I completely understand now. It makes sense. I won't take any more pictures of you and I definitely won't mention you online or anything."

"I appreciate that."

"Is there anything else I should do? You know, to make sure you stay safe."

"No. This isn't your problem and besides, Cam is here to make sure nothing happens. She's scarier than anything else."

Olivia gave a stern nod.

"Damn right," she answered, her grip on Alex's waist tightening protectively.

Her response made Hannah smile. The women sat there in silence, the heaviness of what had transpired weighing down on their shoulders.

"What happened to Lori?" Alex asked, suddenly realising that the woman was no longer present.

"She left while you guys were upstairs. She said that you could text her later if you wanted to, when you were feeling better."

Alex shifted to look at Olivia.

"Do you think…?"

"Yeah. I think you need to."

Hannah frowned.

"What?"

Olivia looked over at the teenager.

"Talk to Lori. She needs to give her an explanation too."

"Ah, right."

"I guess I'll text her and see if she's available tomorrow. We should probably talk soon."

"Probably," the brunette agreed. "Why don't the kid and I go and clean up outside while you do that, then we can heat up some pizza and watch movies until it's way too late?"

"I have a name you know."

"Yeah, yeah, kid. You'll do as you're told," Olivia responded, her voice teasing.

The teenager smiled and rolled her eyes. She was glad that things were starting to lighten up, at least a little.

"Okay. I'll get the food ready too," Alex responded.

"Thanks," Olivia said, leaning over and kissing her temple. "You're sure you're okay?" she asked gently, grabbing her hand.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

Olivia searched her eyes, and when she was satisfied at what she saw, she gave Alex's hand a loving squeeze before getting up to make her way outside.