Alex paced the room with a renewed fervor and Olivia watched her, wondering if she'd wear a hole in the floor. The blonde had arrived home minutes ago from an unexpected appointment with Dr. Marks and Olivia had figured something was up. So in an attempt to comfort her, she had made dinner for them all, making sure that it would be ready exactly when Alex came home.

Instead, an hour turned into two and after three ignored phone calls, Olivia began to worry. It wasn't the first time that a session with Dr. Marks had gone over, however it wasn't typically Alex's sessions that did. Most of the time they would text each other through the session anyway, just to make sure that the children were okay and that everything was still in order which only served to make the detective more concerned.

So after Ben ate and Olivia held off, food migrated to the fridge and Olivia put down the children. Now one hour turned into three and the brunette was finally able to sigh a breath a relief when she heard keys in the door.

But her relief only lasted momentarily, at least until she laid eyes on the distressed woman in front of her. She had asked her what was going on, trying to figure out what had taken so long only to find out that those three hours were used completely by Dr. Marks.

Her worry began to build when Alex started yelling at her, leaning in on her about various things such as laundry and feeding Lexie. The detective barely managed to catch half of what Alex was saying as she continued yelled frantically at a very confused Olivia.

Finally Alex stopped pacing, turning to look directly at Olivia.

"I need you to talk to me, Olivia. Me. I'm your partner, not Dr. Marks." Blue eyes were pleading without the owner knowing, various stages of hurt present.

Her words caught a very silent Olivia—up until right now at least—completely off guard. "What?"

Alex sighed in frustration as she ran her hands through her hair, huffing angrily. "You know just what I'm talking about! You've been seeing him for how long now? Three weeks? And yet you won't ever talk to me about what goes on in your sessions! I've opened up to you, Olivia. I've been courteous enough to tell you when something is wrong and we've resolved it together.

"This," She gestured between the two of them, "can't be one sided. This needs to be a give and take relationship. I trust you, Olivia. I have extended that courtesy to you but I can't keep going on like this if you won't do the same for me."

Olivia bit her lip as she listened to Alex, more intently now since this directly affected her and wasn't just another one of Alex's random rants when she was stressed out. "Alex, I…I trust you. Where did this come from?"

The blonde shook her head as she started pacing once more before stopping in front of the couch, gripping onto the back of the couch. "I asked Dr. Marks what you two talk about and his answer was 'you'. When I'm with him I talk about Claire and Adam and Ben and Lexie and you but never one specifically. So what is it? What is so wrong with me that you have to talk to him instead of me?"

"There is nothing wrong with you, Alex, I just—"

"Don't," Alex snapped as her knuckles turned white around the back of the couch. "Don't you dare lie to me. Extend me the courtesy that I have extended you and at least be honest with me!" Her body began to shake, her breathing coming out fast and unsteady.

Instead of responding, Olivia walked over to the blonde and placed her hands gently on the backs of Alex's arms. "Don't touch me," She snapped as she jerked away from the detective, still maintaining her grip around the couch.

"Alex, stop. Relax, please," Olivia requested as she returned her hands to the blonde's arms, rubbing there soothingly before placing her hands on top of clenched ones. She slipped her fingers in between Alex's before gently pulling up, prying her pale fingers off of the couch. "Relax, sweetie. Take a deep breath for me, in and out."

Olivia had to wait a few seconds before she heard the ADA inhale deeply, holding it for a moment before releasing it. "Again."

Unsteadily, Alex took in another deep breath. "I can't…my chest hurts…"

"Okay, shh, focus on your breathing. Everything is okay, Alex. There is nothing wrong with you. I know it feels like everything is spiraling out of control right now but it isn't. Everything is just fine. There's food in the fridge for you from dinner and Ben and Lexie are fast asleep."

The detective gently lifted Alex's hands off of the couch and turned her around slowly. "Hey, over here, focus on me, okay? Just look at me, Alex." Blue eyes slowly rose up to meet concerned brown orbs. "There we go, focus on your breathing now, okay? Deep breath in and hold it for a few seconds."

"I…"

"I know it hurts," Olivia interjected as she carefully placed her hands on Alex's sides before moving them to her back. She hesitantly pulled the blonde to her, pressing their bodies close together when Alex didn't fight it. She wrapped her arms loosely around a shaking frame. "Deep breath in, Alex. Deep breath out. Just like me, okay? Focus on my breathing." Olivia paused for a moment to grab onto the blonde's hand, guiding it to her chest. She placed in the center of her ribs and inhaled deeply. "Focus on the feeling of me breathing. Inhale just like me."

After a few minutes, Alex's breathing finally steadied out although the blonde was still clearly distressed. She stayed against the brunette, despite her rational brain telling her to get away from her as fast as she could; Olivia had the power to ruin her. Instead, she stayed close, satisfying every nerve ending in her body that craved the touch of someone else, something that she had been neglected of for far too long.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me," Alex murmured as she finally tried to pull away from Olivia, only to be held securely in place. She decided not to fight against the brunette and simply reveled in the feeling of being held so intimately by someone who obviously cared about her.

"You had a panic attack," Olivia whispered as she soothingly rubbed her hand up and down the blonde's back. "A pretty bad one at that. I know you've been stressed out and I'm so sorry that I contributed to what just happened but I need you to know that when I talk about you, it's not in a bad way.

"We're both new to this whole…experience and like you said, you're my partner in this. I've been having trouble trusting you because I've never trusted someone in my life before in such a manner, not even with partner at work and we've known each other for quite a few years.

"I've never relied so completely on someone else and it scares me sometimes. It scares me to think that I can have this sort of relationship with someone like you through force. I don't ever want to force anyone into something that they don't want and I know Claire and Adam didn't really give us much of a choice but I want you to have some sort of control."

"So talking to me?"

"I didn't want to put that all on you, Alex. You have enough on your plate already. You've been such a great mother for Benjie and Lexie and I know it kills you sometimes especially when Ben throws one of his tantrums and misses his parents. You've never once lashed out at him and told him to get over it like others would've. You're the parent to them that I wish I could be."

Alex finally let out a sigh that seemed to be a cross of contentment and relief. "Sometimes you're a better parent than me, Olivia. You're so patient and kind with them both, and me too. You've been my knight with diaper bags through this all and I have no clue how you manage with me yelling at you all the time and pulling shit like this."

"This isn't your fault," Olivia assured her as she finally allowed Alex to move away from her. She kept her hands around the blonde's arms, keeping her at arm's length so that she could look her in the eye. "We're both stressed, we just have different ways of coping with it. Those nights when I lock myself in my room? I'm dealing with the same inner turmoil that you are and sometimes I wish that I could just talk to you about it and I love it when you open up to me at moments like now but I don't want to push my burdens on top of yours."

Alex sighed as she closed her eyes for a moment. "We're supposed to be in this together, Liv. I want you to trust me. I want you to talk to me and open up. Tell me when you're feeling stressed out so that I can provide you with the same comfort that you provide me. I want to be partners with you in this. I want to be partners in every sense of the word."

Olivia couldn't hold back her smirk, hoping her comment would sound light-hearted and would cheer up the blonde. "Every sense of the word?"

Just as she expected, red lips broke out into a smile before a pale hand pushed her shoulder playfully. "God, you always know how to make me smile when I just want to cry."

That caused Olivia to break out in a real grin which she valiantly fought to keep under control. Without much thought, she pushed herself up on her toes, one hand grabbing onto the back of Alex's head. She pressed a firm kiss to the blonde's forehead. "That's what partners are for."