Chapter 7

The next morning, Emily was rudely yanked from a very good dream, starring a certain beautiful blonde, by Olivia who had decided that she'd waited long enough to find out what had happened yesterday.

Olivia had gotten home a little bit before 9pm and she saw that Emily wasn't home yet. She'd tried to stay awake to wait up for her cousin but the lateness of the hour, combined with the long walk from Alex's house and the long week of school had conspired to have Olivia dead to the world before Emily made it home.

Emily had arrived just before 11pm and she'd been relieved that both her cousin and her aunt were already asleep. Emily wasn't in the mood to explain where she'd been all day. So she'd slipped into her bedroom and went right to bed.

Now, it was morning and Olivia's curiosity was killing her so she snuck into Emily's room and, seeing her cousin was still dead asleep, Olivia's lips curled into a very evil grin before she jumped onto the full sized bed and bounced Emily awake.

"Wake up Emily! Rise and shine!" Olivia said in a raised, far too cheerful voice.

Emily opened her eyes and immediately swatted Olivia away, catching the other girl in the arm. "Go away Liv, it's way too early to be awake." Emily then buried her face in her pillow again, hoping her cousin would take the hint and leave her alone.

No such luck as Olivia, having the patience of a 5 year old on Christmas morning, yanked the covers away and started whining, "C'mon Emily...wake up! I'm bored and we need to talk about yesterday! Wake up, wake up, wake up! I'm not leaving you alone until you wake up!"

Emily groaned, knowing her cousin was stubborn enough to keep annoying her until she woke up and entertained her so Emily sat up and glared at her cousin, "Fine. I'm awake, what is so goddamn important that you're waking me up at," Emily glanced at her alarm clock, "6:35? Dammit Liv, somebody better be dead or dying!" Emily was only half serious but it really was far too early to be awake on a Saturday morning.

Olivia grinned at her cousin, "not a morning person" didn''t even begin to describe her at that moment. Of course, most mornings that applied to Olivia herself but this morning was different. This morning was the morning after she'd gotten home on a Friday night before Emily.

Usually, Emily was already home and doing her homework (nerd that she sometimes was) by the time Olivia got back from Alex's. The two girls would then have something for dinner and watch movies until Olivia's mom came home from work. But last night, Olivia had beaten Emily home and her mom was already there, seemingly not even worried that Emily wasn't home yet. Of course, both Emily and Olivia had the same curfew of 11pm on weekends (which included Fridays) so technically, Emily hadn't done anything wrong but, Olivia was still surprised her mom hadn't been worried.

Flashback

Olivia walked in the front door of her house and heard the TV in the living room. Smiling to herself, Olivia crept into the other room, determined to try to scare Emily. 'Try' being the operative word because whenever she tried to scare her cousin, Emily, without turning around, would simply say "Hi Liv" before Olivia could scare her. It was frustrating and Olivia was determined to one day scare Emily. It was a matter of pride now.

So she crept up quietly, not even stopping to realize that the dark head poking up from the other side of the couch wasn't Emily's and when she was close enough, Olivia shouted, "boo!"

Serena Benson, who up until that moment had been thoroughly engrossed in the latest episode of Unwrapped on the Food Network, jumped nearly an inch off the couch when her daughter screamed.

When her heart rate had slowed a bit, Serena turned to face Olivia, who still hadn't realized it wasn't Emily because she was on the floor laughing at finally having scared her cousin.

"Olivia Marie Benson what is going on? You scared the life out of me! Get up and stop laughing." Serena finally said, when it looked like Olivia might end up wetting herself.

Olivia, hearing her mother's voice, quickly sobered up and stood up from her spot on the floor. She looked around quickly but didn't see Emily so she decided the truth was the only way she might, might avoid being grounded. "Hey mom. Sorry I thought you were Emily. I've been trying to scare her since she got here but she always hears me somehow. I really didn't mean to scare you."

Serena Benson studied her daughter for a moment, it was an extremely childish game she was playing but then she remembered that despite her daughter's maturity, she was still a child-her child. So she smiled and said, "Well...ok I forgive you but really Liv, trying to scare Emily? That girl grew up with bodyguards tracking her every move, she knows how to notice when someone is behind her. You might want to rethink this game you have going on. Besides, Emily isn't home yet."

Olivia looked surprised, "what do you mean Em's not home? I saw her drive away with JJ when she dropped me off at Alex's."

"Well, maybe Emily met someone else and decided to spend the day with them." Serena wasn't about to tell her daughter that shed seen JJ and Emily driving off together earlier. Serena was fairly certain that Emily had been invited to spend the afternoon at the blonde's house. Serena could tell that there was something between those two and she just hoped that Emily would know enough by now to take things slowly.

Olivia thought about that and the thought made her a little sick. Emily wasn't supposed to meet anyone else, she was supposed to woo JJ and vice versa. Olivia saw her grand master plan slowly crumbling as she pictured Emily with some faceless blonde who wasn't JJ.

"Yeah maybe. I'm tired mom I'm gonna go to bed early. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Liv."

"Oh, mom, the gang was talking about going to that traveling fair tomorrow, is that ok?" Olivia asked her mother, hoping she'd say ok. She wasn't too worried because her mom loved all her friends but, since she was still 17, Olivia knew she still had to ask.

Serena smiled, "that's fine Liv. Have fun. Is Emily going too?"

"Mom, I said the gang, that includes Emily so yeah."

"Good. I'm glad that you and your friends are including her in your activities. I was worried that, her being older and a new face, she might not be welcomed into your group."

Olivia gave her mom the only 'duh' face she could get away with and said, "don't worry mom. I knew the second JJ laid eyes on her that she approved. Besides, the gang doesn't know yet that Em's older."

Olivia knew that her mom knew that if JJ approved, then it was a done deal. No one in the group really ever went against the blonde. They trusted her to be a good judge of character. The fact that Emily was also Olivia's cousin helped but mostly it was JJ's approval that had sealed the deal and allowed Emily to be completely accepted by their friends.

Serena nodded, "that's good to know. Now, off to bed so you can be well rested for tomorrow."

Olivia turned to go before she turned back and asked, "wait, aren't you worried or even upset that Emily is out at this hour?"

"No, because I trust her. Besides, this town is so small and safe it's almost ridiculous."

Olivia laughed at that, it was true. Nothing really bad ever happened in their small town. It helped that everyone knew everyone else for the most part. No one could really get away with much.

"Ok mom. Good night."

"Goodnight, sweetie. Sweet dreams."

Olivia walked up the stairs to her bedroom and had gotten ready for bed but didn't go right to bed. She was determined to stay awake to interrogate Emily about her whereabouts. Olivia was dead to the world asleep within 20 minutes.

End Flashback

"Hey, Liv, if you're just gonna sit there staring into space I am going back to sleep." Emily's voice pulled Olivia back from her memory of the night before and she focused on her still sleepy cousin.

"No, no sleeping for you missy. I demand to know where you were last night and why you came home later than I did."

Emily sighed, she'd hoped that she'd have a little longer before Olivia began her interrogation. She wondered about how much she could safely reveal without Liv guessing the truth. Emily took a breath and began, "after we dropped you off, JJ invited me to her place to hang out. So I said yes. We hung out, did our homework, had dinner, hung out some more and then she drove me home. End of story."

Olivia narrowed her eyes at her cousin, trying to see if Emily was lying.

Emily held her cousins stare, knowing that while she was technically telling the truth, she was also leaving a whole lot of details out.

Finally, Olivia was satisfied that Emily was telling the truth. "Ok, well...next time call or text or something ok? I was worried about you."

"Yes mom." Emily let a little sarcasm leak into her voice, happy that Liv wasn't going to push the issue.

"Hey! Anyway, have you told JJ about wanting to try out for the school play yet?" Emily had mentioned it a few days ago after she'd met with Mrs. Hotchner. She was excited but also worried that their friends (especially JJ) would tease her for being a drama geek.

Emily smiled, "yeah I did. Didn't have much of a choice when the flyer for the auditions fell out of my folder as I was packing up my stuff."

"So? Was I right? JJ was cool with it, right?" Olivia knew that JJ loved the movie Grease and that if Emily was going to be any school play it might as well be the one based on JJ's favorite musical.

"Yeah she was cool. She even put on her Grease soundtrack CD to play and offered to help me pick a song for the audition."

Olivia couldn't stop grinning, "I knew it. I told you she'd be cool. JJ loves the movie. I bet she even has the songs memorized doesn't she?"

"Yep, and even some of the dance moves. You know, she would make an almost perfect Sandy."

Olivia frowned for a moment, "almost?"

"Yeah, I mean she'd be great in the first part of the movie where Sandy's all innocent and sweet but the ending, the slutty Sandy...I can't see her pulling that off." Emily lied, knowing that she'd give her left arm to see JJ dressed in that skin tight black outfit, singing "their" song. Emily had decided, sometime between Cook's Cliff and home, that "You're The One That I Want" was now "their song".

Olivia thought about it for a moment, trying to picture JJ in the outfit Emily was talking about and she had to admit, it was a little hard for her to picture her sweet friend playing such a role. "Well...ok I'll give you that one but, isn't that what acting is all about? Pretending to be someone or something you're not?"

"Yeah I guess...but," Emily shook her head, "never mind I'm still half asleep here. What time do we have to meet the gang for the fair?" Emily asked, trying to change the subject so she could stop thinking about JJ in that outfit from the movie.

Olivia allowed the subject change, suddenly excited about the fair, "Um...we're all meeting up at the school by 10am. Hey, by the way, have you told anyone that your birthday is coming up?"

Emily's 18th birthday was in two weeks and Olivia was fairly certain that none of their friends knew yet.

Emily bit her lip, "Um...no I haven't."

"Why not? It's almost here!"

"Liv, so far you're the only one who knows I'm older than you guys. I mean the rest of you just turned 17 this year and I'm turning 18. I just don't want them to treat me differently. Or thinking that I'm some idiot who got held back a year."

Olivia sighed and wrapped her arm around her cousin's shoulders, "Oh Em, they're not going to care that you're older. And they definitely won't think you're an idiot. I mean, come on you're in all of JJ's classes, which happen to be all AP classes. The gang will want to celebrate your birthday. It's kind of a tradition with us. Birthdays are all about presents, a party and celebrating with your friends. So either you tell them or I will. Besides, JJ is turning 18 in February so you won't be the only 18 year old in the group for long."

Emily thought about that. She knew Olivia made sense. Her age wouldn't matter and their friends would want to at least have a party. "Well...I-ok I'll tell them today at the fair ok?"

"Deal."

"So, um...JJ's birthday is in February? When in February?" Emily asked, fishing for the information so that she could start planning what she would do to help her...girlfriend...celebrate turning 18.

Olivia grinned, hoping that Emily's interest meant that she was finally seeing that there could be something there between her and JJ. "The second, JJ's a groundhog baby. We all love to tease her about seeing her shadow on her birthday and other equally lame jokes that she puts up with because we're her friends and we don't say it to be mean."

Emily just nodded, filing away the information for future reference. There was a moment of silence in the room before Olivia thought to ask, "speaking of birthdays...what do you want for yours?"

Olivia figured now was as good a time as any to get some ideas for gifts (both for herself and maybe to pass along to JJ as a sort of...hint for her blond friend).

'Jennifer, naked and covered in whipped cream', was Emily's first thought and she had to make a conscious effort not to say it out loud. Instead she thought about it for a moment and said, "you know me Liv, I like anything. It's the thought that counts more."

Olivia nodded, a little put out that Emily wasn't going to offer any hints but knowing that her cousin was stubborn enough to keep her mouth shut if Olivia pushed any more.

"Fine. But don't get all upset if you get something you don't like." With that Olivia left the room to go get ready for the fair.

Emily just grinned as she let herself flop back onto the bed. Emily's thoughts soon turned to JJ and how they'd be seeing each other again soon. Emily frowned as she remembered that she would have to control her natural impulses around JJ. Emily was a very tactile person. Whenever she was in a relationship she loved to maintain physical contact. PDA's were very abundant in her past relationships. Emily had never been afraid to stake her claim in public on whatever girl she was dating.

But now, because this was new and Jennifer had asked, Emily was going to have to curb her affectionate tendencies. Emily knew there was very little the beautiful blond could ask of her that Emily wouldn't readily give. Emily sighed as she got out of bed to begin getting ready, she knew that today was going to be tough. Even now, Emily could remember the feel of Jennifer's lips against her own and the softness of her skin and all she wanted to do was hold JJ close and never let her go. Knowing that she was going to have to spend the day pretending there was nothing more than friendship between her and JJ was going to be the worst form of torture.

Just before Emily's mood could dip too far down, her cell phone beeped an incoming text. Emily reached for it and smiled when she saw it was from JJ.

{Hi Em, missing u. hope u slept well baby...c u soon! 3 Jennifer}

Emily was glad that Olivia wasn't in the room and she smiled even bigger as she read the message. It was just such a sweet thing for JJ to do and Emily immediately hit the reply button and began typing out her response.

{Hi Jennifer...slept ok but would've been better w/u. cant wait to c u. xoxo 3 Em}

Emily hit the send button then began to get ready for the day, smiling the whole time. She may not get to hold her girlfriend's hand today but she was determined that sometime tonight, she'd be alone with JJ and they'd do more than just hold hands.

TBC...

AN: Sorry this took a bit to get up but life got in the way for a bit. Next chapter might not be up until after July 4th so savor this one and lemme know what you think.

As for the scenes involving the auditions for Grease...I'm not sure if they will be featured but the play will be a major plot point so fret not. Also, brush up your SVU knowledge because (having exhausted all the CM characters I can) there will be some minor SVU characters making some cameos and guest appearances a little later on. That's all the spoilers I am giving. Enjoy the holiday (if you live in the States) or just enjoy the weekend!

~Acathla

PS. If anyone knows of any recognizable CM characters that I haven't already used, drop a line and make a suggestion. (please don't ask me to bring back Will, and Mick Rawson is off limits too...sorry but I don't like him)