A/N: Thank you all so much for the amazing response to this story! It makes me so happy to see and know that people are into it. I do write a lot but rarely do I share, so the love you all have given me with this story is definitely incentive to keep going. I love and appreciate all the sweet reviews and support. I checked this morning and as of now this story has 990 views. So crazy! So thank you, thank you, thank you everyone. I received a review on one of my chapters from a user asking where Elliot's wife and kids were. I did mention in brief passing somewhere in the first or second chapter that he had been "messed up" since getting a divorce from Kathy and Olivia was the only one who for him had been able to bring him out of the misery and give him hope. So they are divorced, and presumably the kids are with his ex wife by default. There may be a little bit more back story on what happened between Kathy and Elliot later now that it's established that Olivia came out to him and ended what they had, but as it stands at the moment, they're divorced and kids are with her. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! :)

Alex looked at Olivia in stunned silence for a few moments, before realizing it was probably just the alcohol in her talking.

"You love me? Liv, you're drunk. Come on. Let me help you down off this bar stool so we can go home."

Olivia stayed in her spot, not breaking her eye contact with the blonde and making no attempt to move.

"Not that drunk. And I meant what I said, I love you." Even though the brunette's words were slurred, she did seem to be aware of her surroundings, which led a part of Alex to believe, and maybe even another little part to hope, that there was truth to what she was saying.

"Okay, well whatever it is you're feeling right now, you've been drinking and I need to get you home. Let's go." She extended her hand to the older woman, helping her step down from the stool and walk out to the cab the bartender had called that was now waiting.

Helping Olivia in, she climbed inside next to her, positioning her body so she was close, but not too close for comfort and gave the driver the address to the detective's apartment. The ride there was surprisingly quiet and Alex was slightly shocked realizing that Olivia wasn't a loud boisterous drunk. The way she was at work and during interrogations led her to assume she would have been, but it was quite the contrary. Liv didn't say a word to her about her confession at the bar, or about much of anything else. By the time they reached her building, she was almost falling asleep and Alex had to gently shake her out of her half slumber.

"We're home." she smiled warmly as the detective slowly came back to reality and let herself out of the car to go around and help her out.

"I've got it. I'm okay." The drive and the fresh air going to and from the cab had sobered her up slightly and she felt steady and strong enough that she didn't need the ADA to help her up the steps.

Once inside, Olivia put her purse on the table and hung up her coat, Alex standing off to the side as she did so.

"I'm gonna draw you a bath Liv. I'll do that and you get ready. You need to sober up and relax." She surprised herself by speaking with confidence, and leaving no room for discussion. The attorney in her was definitely shining through in the moment, because she spoke with more conviction and confidence than she felt.

"Okay." Olivia said without hesitation. She didn't have the energy to argue. The alcohol had put a bit of a fog over her mind, and she couldn't deny the blonde when her brown eyes connected with those stunning crystal blue ones. Going into her bedroom after Alex had retreated to run said bath, the brunette began stripping herself of her clothes. As she did so, she felt like something inside of her shifted, a weight had been lifted. As if clinging to her clothes was the heaviness of that day and in removing them, she was removing herself from it.

She wrapped herself tightly in a towel, and headed into the bathroom. The water was still running, and Alex was moving the palm of her hand across the liquid that had already pooled in the tub, causing the liquid soap she'd previously poured in to form mass amounts of bubbles.

"Mm, it smells nice in here."

"That would be the bubble bath. You have good tastes, detective. Who'd 'a thunk?" She smiled warmly as she raised her hand out of the bath water. "Nice and warm. I'll get out of your way and leave you to it.

She stood up to pass Olivia and shut the door behind her, and almost didn't hear the one word that made her heart flutter and her palms sweat.

"Stay."

She understood Alex was trying to be polite and decent by letting her disrobe and bathe in privacy, but despite the fact that she really didn't yet have any solid proof of the blonde's feelings toward her, if there were any, something inside of he really wanted her with her. Wanted her to see her in her most private and vulnerable moments. She couldn't say that about anyone else, and as much as it scared her it also excited her.

"Are you sure?" Everything in her head was telling her staying wasn't a good idea, but everything in her heat was screaming for her to just do what the other woman wanted.

"Positive."

Olivia opened her towel and let it fall to the floor, and Alex's breath caught in her throat. She had the most beautiful body Alex had ever seen. From her beautiful full breasts to her curvacious hips to her toned legs, the ADA thought she was nothing short of perfection. There had been many times she'd lain awake at night, or daydreamed about seeing the body in front of her in full, but never had she expected it to be like this. It exceeded her highest expectations, and left her with very little moisture in her mouth.

As Olivia stepped into the bath, her nakedness was replaced by the modesty the bubbles provided. She sank down into the tub, closing her eyes in comfortable silence until Alex spoke.

"You're beautiful."

She blushed at the compliment. Not many people had told her that in her life, but even without opening her eyes, she knew that Alex was being sincere.

"Thank you." she said softly, "That's sweet."

"It's the truth." Minutes ticked by, before she found her voice again and asked the question that had been in her head since Liv had disrobed in front of her. "Why did you want me in here with you?"

The older woman thought a moment, in some ways trying to form an answer herself. Alex thought she'd fallen asleep, until she opened her eyes and they locked with her gaze. "To talk. I want to know you."

Alex smiled to herself at the older woman's confession. "What would you like to know, detective?"

"Whatever you'd like to tell." She wanted to soak in any piece of information the blonde was willing to give her. Sitting in more of an upright position in the water, she motioned for Alex to sit on the side of the tub. The younger woman rose from her position on the lid of the toilet, and obliged her request.

"Well, you probably know the back story attached to my name. People aren't quiet or in the dark about the fact my family has money."

"Does that ever bother you? That the first thing people know or hear about you is that you're from a well-to-do family?"

"All the time. I'm really not like any of them. I don't get along with too much of my family and it's sad. They all throw the Cabot name around like it's golden, but me, I don't care. Money doesn't sustain me emotionally. There's more importantly things to me than status and wealth, even than my job. Since Raye-Anne died I'm realizing even though I'm not as bad as they are with letting work and money consume them, I was still walking around sleeping."

She saw pain cross her face and it made her sad. Even with just this brief bit of information about her, she could tell Alexandra Cabot was a beautiful person. She had a feeling the hard ass she played in court was just a front.

"What do you mean?"

"I loved my daughter, and she loved me. We were friends, but I didn't listen to her. I was married to my job. I didn't spend enough time sitting down to dinner, just the two of us and asking about her day. I wasn't there every night, helping with homework. I put a lot of cases in the forefront of my life, and victims I didn't even know made me lose my focus on the one who was probably feeling just as much a victim at home. I didn't take enough weekends off to do what she wanted and needed to do. She was so independent, that I forgot to see that she still needed me. There's no concrete reason I can think of as to why she killed herself, but it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth knowing that because I wasn't there making anything better I was part of the problem and I will always blame myself for that. I'll blame myself for the fact I didn't do enough, and I lost my heart and soul for reasons I'll never completely understand."

The bus pulled up to her stop and she walked the few steps to the front door of the house, letting herself inside. Having had to have used her key to get in, she realized that her Mom was probably working late again and finding the house empty she knew her realization was correct. She walked through to the kitchen and scanned her eyes over the contents of the fridge and then the freezer. Pulling out a single serving container of ice cream, she grabbed a spoon and sat, savouring the coolness of the treat in her mouth for a few minutes before swallowing. She just wanted to forget the events of today. Actually, she realized now that she said that almost every day. Not the type of person who wanted to be seen being vulnerable or weak, and not wanting to wallow in her own self pity, she decided that she was going to run a bath, and sit there until all of her negativity and sadness was washed from her.

The bath was soothing, in the sense that it made her mind relax and lulled her to sleep. In her dreams however, she was reminded of a part of her life she wanted to erase from her psyche.

"She's such a stuck up little bitch."

"Pfft, I know right?! What the hell was up with eyeing up Trevor today? Everyone knows that Sara likes him, and you don't mess with Sara. She gets what she wants."

"She's probably sleeping with him, and the rest of the team too."

"HAHA. She's too ugly. I'm sure he wouldn't touch her with a ten foot pole."

"True, can you imagine if he knocked her up?!"

"I would pity that poor kid. And him too for being stuck with her."

"I know. She thinks she knows everything."

"Her family has money you know. She probably gets everything she wants. That's why she acts so much better than everyone. And the teachers favor her, I swear."

"I hear that."

"I invited her to that party last weekend right? And she asks for the address, so I give it to her, but it wasn't the right one. She believed me and showed up and nobody was there. Tasha said the look on her face when she got there was fucking hilarious. As if we were gonna ask her to come."

"What an idiot. That actually happened? I heard, but I wasn't sure."

"Oh it happened."

The girls left the bathroom, their laughter bouncing off the wall as they went. When she was sure no one else was in there, she moved from her spot on the toilet opening the stall door, and splashing water over her face when she reached the sink. The words she had heard stung, but she'd become so accustomed to it, she'd learned not to cry. At least not at school. She did have friends, but despite the fact a select few cared about her, and just about everybody knew who she was, nobody was around long enough or often enough for her inner turmoil to really subside. Home was a different story and sometimes not all that much better than school. Her Mom worked a lot. After school, being left to her own thoughts made her crazy. She loved her Mom, and even though on some level she knew she cared deeply for her, she couldn't help but question it sometimes. Her mom wasn't neglectful, or a bad person, she would never think that. Raye-Anne pretty much had to want for nothing and was well taken care of. Her mother told her she loved her all of the time. They laughed together, had some good moments, but when it came down to it she wondered if her Mom's job and the victims she dealt with there, were more important than her. The moments she had with her were usually great, but were few and far between and during the gaps of those times, Raye often felt as if she barely had any connection to her.

Many people if they heard her situation would say just talk to her. Tell her what's been going on. But she couldn't do that. She may have been well known at school, she pasted a smile on her face and did what she could for everyone. Got the grades, planned the future, but she was stuck in herself and could never open up. She couldn't burden her mother with everything inside of her when she knew she had her own burdens. Even if they had money, being a single parent wasn't easy. Even though she always said differently, Raye knew that her mom wished her father hadn't died in that accident. Sometimes, she wished it too. Maybe then her whole life would be different. Maybe Daddy would have understood her.

The conversation in the tiny bathroom had gone from Raye Anne, to Alex's life, to Olivia's, to nothing in particular, and back again. Olivia had offered her hand to the blonde sitting by her head on the side of the tub more than once when she'd gotten emotional, and she was now still holding it, even though she didn't seem to need it.

"Water's getting cold."

"Is it?" The blonde dipped her free hand in halfway, as if to test the older woman's statement. "Oh yeah, it is. You should get out. We don't want you getting sick, detective."

Olivia smiled. "I don't wanna move."

"You'll be saying that even more if you get sick and can't get out of bed. Come on. I'll help you." She stood up from her position on the edge of the bath, turning to face the brunette and gave a hand, pulling her to her feet and assisting her in stepping out. Grabbing a fresh towel from the towel rack on the wall, she wrapped it tightly around Olivia, the tips of her fingers tingling as they made brief contact with her skin.

Wordlessly, Olivia let Alex wrap her in the dry towel, her mind wandering to what else she'd like to have her do if she could. Leaving the bathroom she headed for her bedroom to change into comfy clothes, and was slightly disapointed when the blonde didn't follow. As if reading her mind, she spoke.

"I'm just outside the door. Tell me when you're finished."

The statement caused emotion to well up inside her and her throat constricted. As much as she wanted Alex to see her at her best and worst, to give her everything and hope that that was enough, the fact that she was willing to wait while she dressed and respected her enough not to overstep boundaries, made her fall for her even more.

She finished changing and crawled into bed under the covers, pulling them up to her chin.

"Done." she called out, and the ADA entered her room, smiling when she saw Olivia all bundled up in the blankets.

"Lay with me?"

"Sure." She made her way to the opposite side of Olivia and layed down, snuggling her body close to her under the covers. She turned so she was looking her in the eyes, and felt Olivia run her fingers through her hair.

"I may have been drinking, but I meant every word when I told you that I love you."

She teared up. "I know you did. But Liv, listen.."

Olivia pulled back slightly. "You're not gay. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything."

"No, it's not that." she pulled her back closer. "I'm gay. I'm not out, but I am gay. I just... with Raye-Anne and everything that happened, I'm not the same person I used to be. I'm broken, Olivia. I'm not ready for all of this yet. The feelings I have for you and how they overwhelm me. A relationship, any of it. It's all just too much for me."

"Oh."

"But.. I don't want to lose something great. I need you. I want you and I need you. I need you to wait for me. Can you do that?"

A single tear escaped Olivia's eye and made its way down her cheek as she pulled the blonde to her and kissed her chastely on the lips.

"Yes baby, I'd wait for you forever."

A/N: This chapter didn't flow from me quite so freely as the others have, but I did get it out and I'm going with it. I hope you all liked it.