"Olivia where are you?" Alex called out as she entered her apartment. It had been almost a month since Olivia's hospital stay and so far everything seemed to be finally returning to normal. Well as normal as it could get with the two of them. Olivia had her HBOT treatment almost daily, a physical therapy appointment three times a week to help with her hand eye coordination, and she saw her behavioral therapist twice a week. Thankfully unlike last time though Olivia only had two occasions where she lost control of her temper.
"Olivia?" Alex called out as she started to wonder if one of the guys had come and taken her somewhere.
"I'm in the kitchen Alex." Olivia finally called out.
"I was wondering if…" Alex said as she walked into the kitchen and stopped "Stacia can I help you?"
"She heard I was injured again and called to see how I was doing." Olivia said as she smiled at Alex "I didn't have any appointments today after my HBOT so I invited her over."
"Invited her over?" Alex said as she almost glared at Stacia "Invited her to my house? Really?'
"Excuse me?" Olivia said as she looked at Alex.
"Look I can see that you two need to talk." Stacia said as she stood to leave "So it was great seeing you again Olivia please take care of yourself."
"Stacia please sit back down." Olivia said as she stood.
"Yes Stacia please sit back down and enjoy yourself." Alex almost growled as she spun on her heels and walked out of the kitchen.
"I will be back." Olivia said to Stacia as she stormed after Alex "Hey mind telling me what your problem is?"
"My problem?" Alex laughed "My problem...You have your ex-girlfriend in my house."
"That's right my EX." Olivia pointed out. "Who had heard I had gotten shot again and called to check on me."
"Which you promptly said come on over too." Alex said as she turned to head up the stairs "Enjoy your date."
"Jesus Alex what the hell is your problem." Olivia said as she grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back to her "I am stuck in this house all day except to go to my treatments or doctor appointments. If I need to go anywhere else someone has to rearrange their schedule to accommodate me. So suddenly some calls and instead of sitting in this house alone till you get home I have someone to talk to. And you have a problem with this?"
"Your EX Olivia you are not getting it she's your EX." Alex almost screamed as she jerked her arm away.
"That's right my EX."
"What's to stop you from going back to her?" Alex asked as she fought to keep the tears from falling.
"You." Olivia answered with a smile on her face.
"What?"
"You asked me what's to stop me from going back to her and that's you Alex."
"But…"
"But we were just talking and catching up" Stacia answered from the doorway "I swear to you Alex. I had heard through some mutual friends of ours that Olivia was back in the hospital. I called her up to see how she was doing and if she needed anything. She invited me over to talk until you got home and that's all we were doing. I was telling her about a couple of our friends who got engaged and who had separated since the last time we talked. Before you ask the last time we talked was her last hospital stay and you were there."
"You're not trying to get back with her?" Alex asked suddenly realizing what a fool she looked and sounded like.
"No, no offense Olivia."
"None taken." Olivia answered never taking her eyes off Alex.
"Why would you think I was trying to get back with her?" Stacia asked wondering what it was that Alex thought she saw when she walked into the kitchen.
"Because…" Alex started to say but stopped
"Because I don't have to be extra cautious around her. Because I don't have to worry about her having a flashback and coaching her out of it. Because she won't wake me in the middle of the night screaming. Which one Alex?" Olivia asked as she slowly moved to Alex.
"All" Alex whispered as she looked away and the tears started to flow freely down her face "I'm so sorry I didn't mean please don't be mad. Please please."
"Alex look at me please." Olivia said in a calm voice "Who do you see?"
"You."
"Come here" Olivia said as she opened her arms and waited for Alex to walk into her arms and wrapped her arms around her.
"I'll leave you two ladies alone." Stacia whispered as she walked by and headed to the door "Call me if you need anything?"
Olivia nodded in agreement as she held Alex tight against her and let her cry. It wasn't until Alex had finally stopped crying and got control over her breathing before Olivia moved them to the couch.
"Alex I thought you and Stacia had discussed everything the last time. I wasn't trying to hurt you or upset you. I was under the impression that Stacia made it clear that we were over and nothing more than friends. If I had known any different I would have never invited her here."
"I walked into the kitchen and you were smiling and I don't know what came over me."
"I think it was a little something called jealously." Olivia said as she dipped her head down so she could look Alex in the eye "So how many times did Jess cheat on you and rub it in your face?"
"More times than I care to admit." Alex said as she looked away in shame "Said that if I was half a woman and could please her she wouldn't have to look anywhere else. She even even…"
"Even what?" Olivia probed
"She tied me to a chair one time and forced me to watch her with another woman." Alex cried as she pulled her knees up to her chest and began to rock "Told me to take notes maybe I could learn to please her and she wouldn't have to fake it with me anymore. I had to watch all night and when the woman left in the morning she untied me and said show me what you learned. I tried to remember I did I really did but apparently I made a wrong move and she hit me. Said that's why she had to have other women. Because the only thing I was good for was a hard fuck. That was why she could only have sex with me with a strap on."
"She used it on you that day?" Olivia asked as calmly as she could as her jaw flexed in anger.
"I couldn't even tell you for how long. It hurt so bad too. I begged her to stop let me have a break and she just laughed. Laughed said a slut like me should be able to take it for hours. She was so mad that she struck me several times. Told me I would have to pay for it later. I better get one of the guys at work to loosen me up because next time she wasn't stopping till she was satisfied or she was tired."
"When did she rape you again?"
"Actually I got a reprieve for about a week or two. She was too occupied with her new girl. It was wonderful coming home and finding them having sex on my couch or in what was supposed to be our bed. Then when the woman would leave she would tell me how much better she was than me. How she knew how to go down on a woman and make them come. How she would get so wet for her. How she didn't cry and beg her to stop if she used a toy on her instead she actually enjoyed it."
"What set her back off?" Olivia asked not really wanting to know the answer but needing to know.
"I came home one day and she proceeded to tell me how they fucked on the couch. How she rode her and came over and over again. Then to make her happy, which apparently she really liked, the woman got on her knees and cleaned her off. Jess told me that watching her service her like that made her come harder than ever before. Then she licked her clean. I was so mad I told her if she liked it so much she should go to her fuck her daily. She reminded me after she knocked me into the wall that sluts like me got fucked real women like her got made love to. Then she forced me over the arm of the couch and demonstrated the difference for me."
"Alex you do know that what she did to you was rape right?" Olivia asked knowing that sometimes women who suffered years of sexual abuse often couldn't tell a difference.
"Do you know I tried to be like the other woman one time? Tried to do what she did for her." Alex laughed as she finally looked up at Olivia "She laughed and smacked me. Said she should have known better you can't turn a ho into a housewife."
"Coming home and finding Stacia in your kitchen brought all that back to you." Olivia finally said after what seemed like an eternity in silence.
"Its not like I don't deserve it." Alex said shrugging her shoulders.
"No woman deserves to be treated like that. Alex I know it will take you a while but I need you to realize that I'm not her. I'm not here to degrade you or abuse you in way shape or form. What I do want to do is love you, honor you, and respect you the way you deserve. I promise you Alex Stacia was strictly here as a friend and nothing more."
"I'm really sorry I acted the way I did with her and I don't blame you that you're mad." Alex said as she stood up from the couch "I will…"
"Stop that sentence right there" Olivia said interrupting Alex and carefully turning her around so not to scare her any more than what she already was "You have nothing to make up to me and I understand why you acted like you did. I only wish you had told me sooner."
"Why so you'd know how weak and pathetic I was."
"No, so I'd know exactly how strong you are and what a survivor you are. And also so I would have avoided this and not caused you this pain. From here on out I will let you know if I have someone over or go and meet someone for lunch that isn't the guys ok."
"Why so I can control you like she controlled me. I don't want that Olivia. I can't survive that a second time."
"Then tell me how you want to do this."
"I want to go upstairs and take a hot shower." Alex said as she made her way to the steps "Then when I am done I want to crawl in my bed and cry myself to sleep."
"Ok" Olivia whispered feeling more defeated than she had in a long time. Absolutely hating the fact that there was nothing she could do to help Alex at that moment.
"I want to do all that in your arms please." Alex pleaded with Olivia stopping halfway up the stairs to look at her.
"Then in my arms you will be" Olivia said smiling "Go on up and take your shower. The pizza I ordered should be here any minute. After your shower we will eat dinner in your bed and then you can curl up in my arms and cry yourself to sleep. When you wake up in the middle of the night with a nightmare you can crawl back into my arms and cry yourself asleep again."
"Thank you." Alex choked out as she headed back up the stairs.
"You're welcome and Alex." Olivia said stopping her in her tracks.
"Yes?" Alex asked too scared to face Olivia.
"You can do that every night until you don't have to cry yourself to sleep anymore. When you don't have the need to cry yourself to sleep anymore then you can just curl up in my arms and fall asleep with a smile on your face."
A/N: I love how when I sit down and write with a plan of how I want the story to go one way it ends up another. Much like this chapter did. As I like to put it I have to go on the track the train takes off on. I must say after reading the chapter again and hoping I caught all the mistakes that Jess is one piece of work. As if we needed another reason to hate the woman even more.