Olivia spent the next few days trying to wrap her head around the fact that the two women she'd been involved with were now together. When Alex got back to SVU, Olivia had tried to pursue her again. Alex had avoided. At the time, Olivia didn't understand why. Now she knew. Alex was with someone else. Never in a million years did Olivia expect Alex and Casey to be together. They were too different. Then again, she and Alex were very different. But just like magnets, opposites attract.
Olivia sat on a bench in Central Park overlooking the Reservoir. She had been there for twenty minutes, waiting. She was starting to think she got stood up. For some reason, she had called Casey and asked her to meet her here. This was the spot that they usually met and talked when Olivia needed to talk on neutral territory.
She took another drink of her coffee and watched the water. In her head she heard Casey's voice telling her the same thing Casey told her almost every time they talked. "Think of it metaphorically," she'd say. "You represent the water." She'd pick up a rock. "This rock is the event." She'd throw the rock out into the water. "When the rock hits the water, the water churns and reacts to this event. But if you sit here long enough the water will go back to normal. Sure the rock is still down there, but it's not affecting the surface anymore. The people that walk by aren't going to realize that the water is different, but it is. It's never the same."
Olivia smiled, thinking about it. Casey was right. After she sorted everything out, Olivia's life usually went back to some sort of normalcy. Maybe she just needed to hear Casey tell her that. She needed to watch Casey throw rocks into the water and tell her that her life would be okay again.
"Olivia," Casey said as she sat down next to Olivia.
"I was starting to think you weren't going to come," Olivia said.
Casey smiled. "Why wouldn't I come? You really think that just because I'm your ex and dating another one of your ex's that I'll just leave you hanging? You should know me better than that."
"So you and Alex are dating?" Olivia asked.
"I thought she told you," Casey said. "If I'd have known she didn't tell you, I wouldn't have gone to the bar that night."
"I was just surprised, that's all," Olivia replied.
"Now, I know you didn't call me here to talk to me about showing up in your bar," Casey said. "If that was all you wanted to talk about, you'd have come to my apartment. So spill, what's going on?"
Olivia looked out at the water. She had known exactly what she was going to say, until Casey sat down. That's usually the way things worked. She'd had the words all worked out and it would be easy to say. But when she was confronted by those green eyes, she lost her words. She knew she could talk to Casey without worry or fear, but her natural instincts took over and she shut down. So she stared at the water, hoping the words would just appear out of them. The lady of the lake would appear out of the deep blue water and just hand her the words.
Casey slid her hand into Olivia's. "Take your time."
Olivia lifted Casey's hand to her lips. She kissed the back of her hand. "Thank you." She looked into Casey's eyes. "You remember Sealview?"
Casey nodded. She remembered the case. She knew something about Olivia changed after she came back from being undercover in that prison. She just didn't pressure Olivia to tell her. They were starting to separate and Casey hadn't wanted confront Olivia because she knew Olivia would only shut down and shut her out.
"Something happened," Olivia said, "something bad."
"Olivia?" Casey said, quietly.
The sound of her name was all it took for Olivia to spill everything. How Casey had this power over her she didn't know, but as she spoke she didn't care. She just knew it was easy to tell Casey what had happened and what it caused. She told Casey how she felt every second from the time she realized what was going to happen until Fin got there. She told Casey about the emotions she felt and the thoughts that went through her mind. She wasn't even sure if she was making sense, but she just kept talking. When she was done she apologized. "I should have told you sooner. I'm sorry I didn't."
Casey took Olivia's face in her hands. "You have nothing to be sorry for. How many times did we sit on this very bench and talk about things you hadn't ever talked about? I don't care if you tell me about something that happened yesterday or twenty years ago. All you have to do is talk, Olivia."
Olivia hugged Casey. "Promise me you won't tell Alex."
Casey looked Olivia in the eyes. "I've never told anyone about these things, so what makes you think I'd tell Alex?"
"Because you're with her," Olivia said.
"Sleeping with someone doesn't give me the right to talk about someone else's personal life," Casey said. "If I told anyone about what you tell me, it's probably my shrink."
"You see a shrink?" Olivia asked a slight smirk on her face.
"Well, after you breaking my heart, I had to talk to someone," Casey said, with a smile. She got up. "Come on, I'll buy you some warm coffee."
Olivia got up and went with Casey to a diner they frequented while they were together.