M2ME 16, Rated M, Earthangie
Music To My Ears :: 16/17
Rated: M
*Please note there is one more chapter after this one*:)
Alex opened her eyes to Olivia tapping her cheek gently. Before she could say a word the brunette was pressing her fingers, lightly over the drowsy girls lips. At first, Alex thought Olivia was only being playful but when her face came into focus, she realized this wasn't the case. Olivia pressed her finger to her own lips, motioning for silence.
"Matthew... is downstairs," Olivia leaned forward and whispered almost inaudibly in her ear. She felt the blonde stiffen and pressed her fingers more firmly on her mouth to make sure no sound escaped. "Stay here. Do you understand me?" She felt the blonde nod and retracted.
Alex clutched the sheet around her like a cape and watched with wide eyes as Olivia shuffled through her backpack and pulled out a small hand gun. Olivia's head snapped up as she heard a gasp escape Alex's lips. She shook her head mouthing the words, "It's okay. I won't kill him."
Alex was frozen. The brunette turned to the stairs but glanced at the silent girl. She turned back around and crept over to the blonde. "Don't worry," she promised and kissed her soft, white cheek.
Getting down on all fours, Olivia crept over to the stairwell to peek around it. Matthew was just coming around the corner from searching the first floor. They caught eyes and she stood up slowly. Keeping the gun out of sight, she stood as if to block the door frame.
"Well, we meet again," came a cocky introduction. "Our hero," he spat, suddenly angry. Olivia only starred at him. He moved to place one foot on the first of 15 steps.
"Don't even think about," she warned. He lifted his other foot and stood on the first step.
"What are you going to do about it?" He started taking the second step. "Beat me?"
"No," she pulled the gun out from hiding and held it firmly in his direction. "I'll shoot you this time."
Shocked, Matthew raised his eyebrows but didn't step down. He stood thinking about all the ways it could go down and ultimately decided that Olivia would never shoot him.
"Oh please," he said, his angry, sarcastic, tone lifting. "Would you want to go to jail for killing me?"
"Wouldn't have to," Olivia said flatly. "No one would find you."
Her calm demeanor and steady hand worried the boy at the bottom of the stairs. She seemed too conditioned for this kind of a situation and he knew it. But being a stubborn ass that he was , decided to test her and lifted his foot to take another step.
**CRACK!**
Olivia shot the wall beside his head and he froze, a look of utter surprise on his face. Alex threw her face down in the pillow on the other side of the wall, imagining the worst.
"I told you not to think about coming up these steps. It's a very bad gamble on your part..." She educated him. "I'm a very excellent shot. Now I have a number of bullets in this gun and I wasted one on scarring the shit out of you. Let me kindly remind you that it only takes one to kill you."
"You wouldn't shoot me," he said aloud, trying more to convince himself.
"You have five seconds to turn around and walk out that door and forget this afternoon ever happened. Or... I'll bury you under these floor boards. Are you smart enough to understand what I'm offering you here?" Olivia wondered. She watched the boy judge the distance between the gun and him.
"Five..." She counted off. "Four..." He remained in place. "Three..." She lifted her eyebrow.
He stepped down and turned his back to walk out the door. The brunette heard Alex stir and turned her head for a moment to steal a quick look when she heard foot steps hit the stairs like a bull. Matthew was still too far away to ever have a chance to grab the gun from her and she snapped her head back to the boy, seeing him run up the stairs.
*CRACK!*
"Ahh! OH HOLY JESUS!!" Matthew wailed and fell halfway up the stairs.
"I'm a really nice person, if you get to know me," Olivia said shrugging, totally unphased. "That's why I'm going to sit here and wait two seconds before I shoot other parts of your body. Now... You can get away if you want. Or you can stay and let me shoot you until you bleed to death, it's your choice."
Matthews grabbed his left leg where blood oozed through his jeans and slid down the stairs awkwardly. This time, he went for the screen door and actually intended to leave.
"You're going to pay for this you fucking bitch!" He screamed and limped out the door.
"I'm sorry? What did you say?" Olivia started to bounce down the stairs and when he saw her on the front porch, aiming at him again, he dragged himself away as fast as he was able. When she was sure he wasn't coming back she took two steps at a time and raced back up the stairs to see Alex.
She put the safety on and threw the gun in her backpack before running to the girl curled up against her pillow.
"Alex? He's gone," Olivia assured.
"You shot him! With a gun!" She shrieked. "Are you absolutely crazy?"
"I only shot him in the leg."
"Now you're really going to jail! How am I ever going to get us out of this!? They'll send you away for years!" She cried and the brunette grabbed her shoulders.
"No, Alex. They won't. We," she pointed between them, "are okay."
"And where the hell did you get a gun? Have you shot people before? Jesus!" She shook her scared little head.
"Alex, calm down," Olivia soothed, petting her hair, trying to make eye contact. "No, I've never done that before. I used to go to the shooting range with Elliot. I've never hurt anyone before... Come on, don't look at me like that," she begged as Alex's fearful eyes softened. "It's okay... Just breathe."
"Okay," Alex nodded. "I'm good," she said shaking it off and rubbing her eyes. "I just freaked out a little bit there." She sighed heavily. The room grew into a calm silence.
Both their heads snapped up when they heard a gun shot in the distance.
"Get dressed." Olivia spat in a low, frantic voice, leaping to her feet.
"You've got to be kidding meeeee," Alex whimpered in a nervous shrill.
Alex scrambled to her feet and threw on her clothes while Olivia scraped together anything she'd need to take with her. She threw her backpack over her shoulders and grabbed the blonde by the arm. They raced down the stairs, dust flying as they pounded their feet over the old wood. They headed out the back door, running together in the opposite way that Matthew had fled. They didn't even know which direction the woods would lead them but they didn't care.
The girls ran side by side, jumping over logs and running through puddles from the rainstorm. The woods dripped lazily in the humidity. They breathed hard as they moved further and further from their once perfect sanctuary. The sky was gray and the sun would be going down soon. Everything was freshly wet, muddy and the air was thick. Alex held Olivia's hand tightly as the older girl ran ahead in the tight spots, pulling her behind. In their rush they were suddenly halted by the sound of Alex's ringtone.
"Shit!" she cursed and they stopped as Alex pulled it frantically out of Olivia's bag to stop the noise. She looked at the name and answered, puzzling Olivia.
"Hello?" She answered, mostly out of breath. "Okay... Thank you. No really, thank you Uncle Joey. Yeah, I'm fine. I swear. Yeah... Love you too." She hung up the phone and switched it off.
"Come on," Olivia grabbed Alex's wrist but Alex only shook her head.
"No, we don't have to," she closed her eyes and Olivia turned from her running stance to face the blonde. "He's dead. They followed him here. Oh God..." She put her hand over her heart. "What have we done?"
"We didn't do anything. What are you talking about? Wait..." Olivia cocked her head to the side, confused and partly disturbed at her conclusion. "Was that? Did Joey?"
Alex nodded, "this is all my fault." She leaned forward and let her body drop against the brunette. She held Olivia's shirt tightly in her fists, pulling her as close as she was able.
"No. You didn't do anything wrong and you know that he came back to hurt you today. He wasn't going to stop. No one will ever mess with you again," Olivia rationalized.
"Let's get out of here before it get's too dark," Alex said turning to walk with her arm looped around Olivia's waist.
The two walked for about an hour when it became dark but they could see house lights in the distance. They eventually made their way up to the neighborhood, talking of all the times Olivia would visit and what they would do together in the city. The found themselves just on the edge of town and walked down the street to a gas station to call for a local cab to pick them up. They sat on the curb while they waited for their ride.
"Where will you go? Back to our house?" Alex asked, meaning the house in the woods.
"I'm not sure. I mean, I can't stay there forever. The winter would get a bit tricky, don't you think?" She laughed lightly, scooting closer to the blonde so their shoulders were touching.
"I guess that wouldn't work. You can't go back to that dreadful house of yours. Oh I'll worry all the time," Alex's brow furrowed and she looked up at the brunette.
"I'll be strong, like you. I'll be okay," she smiled. "You know me, I can handle anything." The cab pulled up and the girls stood.
"Will you come with me to say goodbye? I mean, we're leaving in the morning but," Alex looked at the ground.
"Of course, get in there!" Olivia wasn't ready for good byes, so she tried to be playful with the blonde instead. They jumped in and Alex gave her address.
Back at the Cabot house all the lights were on and there were two BMW's in the driveway. It was much more alive then the times Olivia had seen it before. The parents worried her. She and Alex looked like train wreck's. Alex paid the driver and they stepped out and Olivia just stood there.
"God, I can't go in there," she shook her head.
"You can do anything but you can't do that?" Alex laughed. "Come on," she tugged at her.
"No way, I can't meet your parents. Look at me! I look like a street bum."
They stepped behind the hedges, out of view. Olivia touched Alex's messy hair and smiled weakly at her. Alex realized that Olivia really was saying goodbye right this minute. She felt her chest tighten and tears cascade before she could stop them.
"Stay with me tonight," she begged.
"Honey, I can't," Olivia answered sniffing. "Tonight has to be our last night in Buffalo together. We shared our bed in our place... As crappy as it is," she laughed lightly.
"Don't say that," Alex's lip quivered. "It's a beautiful place."
"You're right, it is," Olivia agreed, looking at the mansion behind her.
Alex grabbed Olivia and squeezed her tightly. "From the moment I met you... You've been protecting me. I would've been raped. I would've been beaten..." She proclaimed against the dirty, damp shirt that she had given the brunette. "Who's going to save me when you're gone?"
"You don't need me to save you from anything else," Olivia chuckled. "You get through this and you can get through anything," Olivia pressed her cheek against the blonde's head. "You haven't seen the last of me, Cabot."
"I know," she closed her eyes and cried hard. "But it will feel like forever the second you walk down this road."
"Forever will be a blink. Remember that okay? A blink."
The blonde nodded as Olivia went on to say, "You're a lot stronger than you think. Don't ever loose that... Be a soldier Alexandra, wherever you go."
"I will," she kissed both of Olivia's cheeks, then her lips.
"I will miss you every second you're gone," Olivia confessed. This was a lot harder than she imagined it would be. She had fallen so in love with Alex, so very fast it all happened before she knew it and now she was leaving. How could she tear herself away? How could she stay another second? "I have to go."
"No. Don't go yet," Alex begged.
"If not now, then when?" Olivia half smiled.
"Never."
"I'll see you again. I promise," Olivia kissed her again and took a step back, their hands the only thing left touching. Alex's grip would not loosen. "I promise. Okay?" The blonde let her hands slip from Olivia's and just when the brunette was about to turn, Alex gasped.
"Wait, I almost forgot!" Olivia watched as Alex dug in her pockets and pulled out a cloth bag that had survived the trip. "I had this made for you. I didn't know the right time to give it to you and then this afternoon happened and well, obviously I forgot."
She handed the bag to Olivia who pulled the little drawstring and dumped out the contents. A silver necklace fell into her hand. Alex reached for it and held it up. It was a silver chain with a square charm on the end.
"What does it say? It's not in English," Olivia wondered as Alex came around the back of her to clasp it on.
"Fearlessness." She answered and Olivia smiled.
Alex came back around and looked at it shining on the brunette's neck. She kissed her goodbye and with a soft thank you, Olivia turned and walked down the street. Alex stood at the gates to her house and watched the older girl leave. Her heart ached and her chest heaved as she watched the best friend she ever had, walk away. Resisting the urge to run after her was incredibly difficult and Olivia did everything in her power to not turn around. It really was the last night, they ever saw each other in Buffalo, NY.
Rated: M
*Please note there is one more chapter after this one*:)
Alex opened her eyes to Olivia tapping her cheek gently. Before she could say a word the brunette was pressing her fingers, lightly over the drowsy girls lips. At first, Alex thought Olivia was only being playful but when her face came into focus, she realized this wasn't the case. Olivia pressed her finger to her own lips, motioning for silence.
"Matthew... is downstairs," Olivia leaned forward and whispered almost inaudibly in her ear. She felt the blonde stiffen and pressed her fingers more firmly on her mouth to make sure no sound escaped. "Stay here. Do you understand me?" She felt the blonde nod and retracted.
Alex clutched the sheet around her like a cape and watched with wide eyes as Olivia shuffled through her backpack and pulled out a small hand gun. Olivia's head snapped up as she heard a gasp escape Alex's lips. She shook her head mouthing the words, "It's okay. I won't kill him."
Alex was frozen. The brunette turned to the stairs but glanced at the silent girl. She turned back around and crept over to the blonde. "Don't worry," she promised and kissed her soft, white cheek.
Getting down on all fours, Olivia crept over to the stairwell to peek around it. Matthew was just coming around the corner from searching the first floor. They caught eyes and she stood up slowly. Keeping the gun out of sight, she stood as if to block the door frame.
"Well, we meet again," came a cocky introduction. "Our hero," he spat, suddenly angry. Olivia only starred at him. He moved to place one foot on the first of 15 steps.
"Don't even think about," she warned. He lifted his other foot and stood on the first step.
"What are you going to do about it?" He started taking the second step. "Beat me?"
"No," she pulled the gun out from hiding and held it firmly in his direction. "I'll shoot you this time."
Shocked, Matthew raised his eyebrows but didn't step down. He stood thinking about all the ways it could go down and ultimately decided that Olivia would never shoot him.
"Oh please," he said, his angry, sarcastic, tone lifting. "Would you want to go to jail for killing me?"
"Wouldn't have to," Olivia said flatly. "No one would find you."
Her calm demeanor and steady hand worried the boy at the bottom of the stairs. She seemed too conditioned for this kind of a situation and he knew it. But being a stubborn ass that he was , decided to test her and lifted his foot to take another step.
**CRACK!**
Olivia shot the wall beside his head and he froze, a look of utter surprise on his face. Alex threw her face down in the pillow on the other side of the wall, imagining the worst.
"I told you not to think about coming up these steps. It's a very bad gamble on your part..." She educated him. "I'm a very excellent shot. Now I have a number of bullets in this gun and I wasted one on scarring the shit out of you. Let me kindly remind you that it only takes one to kill you."
"You wouldn't shoot me," he said aloud, trying more to convince himself.
"You have five seconds to turn around and walk out that door and forget this afternoon ever happened. Or... I'll bury you under these floor boards. Are you smart enough to understand what I'm offering you here?" Olivia wondered. She watched the boy judge the distance between the gun and him.
"Five..." She counted off. "Four..." He remained in place. "Three..." She lifted her eyebrow.
He stepped down and turned his back to walk out the door. The brunette heard Alex stir and turned her head for a moment to steal a quick look when she heard foot steps hit the stairs like a bull. Matthew was still too far away to ever have a chance to grab the gun from her and she snapped her head back to the boy, seeing him run up the stairs.
*CRACK!*
"Ahh! OH HOLY JESUS!!" Matthew wailed and fell halfway up the stairs.
"I'm a really nice person, if you get to know me," Olivia said shrugging, totally unphased. "That's why I'm going to sit here and wait two seconds before I shoot other parts of your body. Now... You can get away if you want. Or you can stay and let me shoot you until you bleed to death, it's your choice."
Matthews grabbed his left leg where blood oozed through his jeans and slid down the stairs awkwardly. This time, he went for the screen door and actually intended to leave.
"You're going to pay for this you fucking bitch!" He screamed and limped out the door.
"I'm sorry? What did you say?" Olivia started to bounce down the stairs and when he saw her on the front porch, aiming at him again, he dragged himself away as fast as he was able. When she was sure he wasn't coming back she took two steps at a time and raced back up the stairs to see Alex.
She put the safety on and threw the gun in her backpack before running to the girl curled up against her pillow.
"Alex? He's gone," Olivia assured.
"You shot him! With a gun!" She shrieked. "Are you absolutely crazy?"
"I only shot him in the leg."
"Now you're really going to jail! How am I ever going to get us out of this!? They'll send you away for years!" She cried and the brunette grabbed her shoulders.
"No, Alex. They won't. We," she pointed between them, "are okay."
"And where the hell did you get a gun? Have you shot people before? Jesus!" She shook her scared little head.
"Alex, calm down," Olivia soothed, petting her hair, trying to make eye contact. "No, I've never done that before. I used to go to the shooting range with Elliot. I've never hurt anyone before... Come on, don't look at me like that," she begged as Alex's fearful eyes softened. "It's okay... Just breathe."
"Okay," Alex nodded. "I'm good," she said shaking it off and rubbing her eyes. "I just freaked out a little bit there." She sighed heavily. The room grew into a calm silence.
Both their heads snapped up when they heard a gun shot in the distance.
"Get dressed." Olivia spat in a low, frantic voice, leaping to her feet.
"You've got to be kidding meeeee," Alex whimpered in a nervous shrill.
Alex scrambled to her feet and threw on her clothes while Olivia scraped together anything she'd need to take with her. She threw her backpack over her shoulders and grabbed the blonde by the arm. They raced down the stairs, dust flying as they pounded their feet over the old wood. They headed out the back door, running together in the opposite way that Matthew had fled. They didn't even know which direction the woods would lead them but they didn't care.
The girls ran side by side, jumping over logs and running through puddles from the rainstorm. The woods dripped lazily in the humidity. They breathed hard as they moved further and further from their once perfect sanctuary. The sky was gray and the sun would be going down soon. Everything was freshly wet, muddy and the air was thick. Alex held Olivia's hand tightly as the older girl ran ahead in the tight spots, pulling her behind. In their rush they were suddenly halted by the sound of Alex's ringtone.
"Shit!" she cursed and they stopped as Alex pulled it frantically out of Olivia's bag to stop the noise. She looked at the name and answered, puzzling Olivia.
"Hello?" She answered, mostly out of breath. "Okay... Thank you. No really, thank you Uncle Joey. Yeah, I'm fine. I swear. Yeah... Love you too." She hung up the phone and switched it off.
"Come on," Olivia grabbed Alex's wrist but Alex only shook her head.
"No, we don't have to," she closed her eyes and Olivia turned from her running stance to face the blonde. "He's dead. They followed him here. Oh God..." She put her hand over her heart. "What have we done?"
"We didn't do anything. What are you talking about? Wait..." Olivia cocked her head to the side, confused and partly disturbed at her conclusion. "Was that? Did Joey?"
Alex nodded, "this is all my fault." She leaned forward and let her body drop against the brunette. She held Olivia's shirt tightly in her fists, pulling her as close as she was able.
"No. You didn't do anything wrong and you know that he came back to hurt you today. He wasn't going to stop. No one will ever mess with you again," Olivia rationalized.
"Let's get out of here before it get's too dark," Alex said turning to walk with her arm looped around Olivia's waist.
The two walked for about an hour when it became dark but they could see house lights in the distance. They eventually made their way up to the neighborhood, talking of all the times Olivia would visit and what they would do together in the city. The found themselves just on the edge of town and walked down the street to a gas station to call for a local cab to pick them up. They sat on the curb while they waited for their ride.
"Where will you go? Back to our house?" Alex asked, meaning the house in the woods.
"I'm not sure. I mean, I can't stay there forever. The winter would get a bit tricky, don't you think?" She laughed lightly, scooting closer to the blonde so their shoulders were touching.
"I guess that wouldn't work. You can't go back to that dreadful house of yours. Oh I'll worry all the time," Alex's brow furrowed and she looked up at the brunette.
"I'll be strong, like you. I'll be okay," she smiled. "You know me, I can handle anything." The cab pulled up and the girls stood.
"Will you come with me to say goodbye? I mean, we're leaving in the morning but," Alex looked at the ground.
"Of course, get in there!" Olivia wasn't ready for good byes, so she tried to be playful with the blonde instead. They jumped in and Alex gave her address.
Back at the Cabot house all the lights were on and there were two BMW's in the driveway. It was much more alive then the times Olivia had seen it before. The parents worried her. She and Alex looked like train wreck's. Alex paid the driver and they stepped out and Olivia just stood there.
"God, I can't go in there," she shook her head.
"You can do anything but you can't do that?" Alex laughed. "Come on," she tugged at her.
"No way, I can't meet your parents. Look at me! I look like a street bum."
They stepped behind the hedges, out of view. Olivia touched Alex's messy hair and smiled weakly at her. Alex realized that Olivia really was saying goodbye right this minute. She felt her chest tighten and tears cascade before she could stop them.
"Stay with me tonight," she begged.
"Honey, I can't," Olivia answered sniffing. "Tonight has to be our last night in Buffalo together. We shared our bed in our place... As crappy as it is," she laughed lightly.
"Don't say that," Alex's lip quivered. "It's a beautiful place."
"You're right, it is," Olivia agreed, looking at the mansion behind her.
Alex grabbed Olivia and squeezed her tightly. "From the moment I met you... You've been protecting me. I would've been raped. I would've been beaten..." She proclaimed against the dirty, damp shirt that she had given the brunette. "Who's going to save me when you're gone?"
"You don't need me to save you from anything else," Olivia chuckled. "You get through this and you can get through anything," Olivia pressed her cheek against the blonde's head. "You haven't seen the last of me, Cabot."
"I know," she closed her eyes and cried hard. "But it will feel like forever the second you walk down this road."
"Forever will be a blink. Remember that okay? A blink."
The blonde nodded as Olivia went on to say, "You're a lot stronger than you think. Don't ever loose that... Be a soldier Alexandra, wherever you go."
"I will," she kissed both of Olivia's cheeks, then her lips.
"I will miss you every second you're gone," Olivia confessed. This was a lot harder than she imagined it would be. She had fallen so in love with Alex, so very fast it all happened before she knew it and now she was leaving. How could she tear herself away? How could she stay another second? "I have to go."
"No. Don't go yet," Alex begged.
"If not now, then when?" Olivia half smiled.
"Never."
"I'll see you again. I promise," Olivia kissed her again and took a step back, their hands the only thing left touching. Alex's grip would not loosen. "I promise. Okay?" The blonde let her hands slip from Olivia's and just when the brunette was about to turn, Alex gasped.
"Wait, I almost forgot!" Olivia watched as Alex dug in her pockets and pulled out a cloth bag that had survived the trip. "I had this made for you. I didn't know the right time to give it to you and then this afternoon happened and well, obviously I forgot."
She handed the bag to Olivia who pulled the little drawstring and dumped out the contents. A silver necklace fell into her hand. Alex reached for it and held it up. It was a silver chain with a square charm on the end.
"What does it say? It's not in English," Olivia wondered as Alex came around the back of her to clasp it on.
"Fearlessness." She answered and Olivia smiled.
Alex came back around and looked at it shining on the brunette's neck. She kissed her goodbye and with a soft thank you, Olivia turned and walked down the street. Alex stood at the gates to her house and watched the older girl leave. Her heart ached and her chest heaved as she watched the best friend she ever had, walk away. Resisting the urge to run after her was incredibly difficult and Olivia did everything in her power to not turn around. It really was the last night, they ever saw each other in Buffalo, NY.