(no subject)
Title: Full Circle
Pairing(s): A/O
Rating: PG-13
Summary: AU-ish. Olivia’s mother loses custody of her when she is young. She either dies or someone learns about the abuse. She is then moved around a few times before she comes to stay with the Cabot’s. Because she has grown up in the system, she doesn’t trust easily. Alex tries to befriend her, but Olivia pushes her away. They grow up together, but never really get to know each other and lose touch when Olivia is old enough to leave.
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Olivia sat in the kitchen forty-five minutes after the meeting with Sophie and Nathan. Because it was Saturday, they’d given each girl the opportunity to call a few of their friends to let them know what was going on and the official grounding would start on Sunday. Alex, being the more dramatic of the two, and immediately jumped on the chance to go first, and then proceeded to use up the first ¾ of the hour calling two of her friends to tell them almost every detail of what had happened. She left out the exact reason she came to Olivia’s defense, much to Olivia’s relief. She wasn’t ready for the whole school to know about her personal life. She wanted her last few months of high school to be as drama-free as possible, which, if she thought about it, didn’t make much sense since high school was nothing but drama.
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Olivia picked up the phone. She placed a five minute call to Amy, telling her she was grounded, but she would explain more at the game on Wednesday night. She then asked if Amy would mind calling George and fill him in on what was going on. As she hung up, Olivia wondered how it had been fair for Alex to spend forty-five minutes of their shared hour talking to friends she would see all week, while all of Liv’s close friends and girlfriend didn’t even go to her school. That meant she’d only be able to see them at games, at least Andy and George, and even then it was only if George had time to go before break. She would only see Amy when they played each other as Amy was on the basketball team at her own school. The odds of them playing the same night were pretty good.
Once again clearing her thoughts so she could focus on the task at hand, Olivia dialed Andy’s number and spent the rest of left over time on the phone with her. Andy understood and said she thought something like that would happen now that the Cabot’s knew what was going on. She was helpful enough to remind Olivia that she was only grounded until school got out. She would be free as soon as Christmas break started. Smiling, and feeling slightly better about the situation, Olivia told Andy good night, hung up the phone, and headed upstairs to get ready for bed. Maybe the next two weeks wouldn’t be so bad after all.
***
Olivia couldn’t have been more wrong. She was only three days into her fourteen day sentence and Olivia was going crazy. Not because she was stuck at home, that’s what she usually did during the school week anyway. Alex, on the other hand, was not used to spending her nights at home.
On a normal day, Alex would go to a friend’s house after school. There, she would do her homework and any studying she felt she needed to do. Then they would go to the mall. Alex never went to buy anything; she was more of a people watcher. She’d study them, and see if she could predict what they were going to do or at least try and guess what store they were headed for next. She was getting good at it and she was rarely ever wrong.
Now though, Alex was not allowed to practice her favorite hobby. She was stuck coming home right after school, just like Olivia. That meant that Alex was stuck going back and forth between moping around the house, or using Olivia as her subject to ‘study’ which meant she tried to stealthily follow her around in order to make predictions. During the moping sessions, the constant pouting and sighing annoyed Olivia more than she wanted to admit. She’d retreated to her room more than usual in order to avoid it.
While Alex was trying to play private investigator, Olivia focused on remaining as predictable as possible. She would sit quietly and read a book, or go about the house doing her chores. Part of her thought that if she remained uninteresting, Alex would eventually give up and find something else to occupy the rest of her sentence with. The other part, however, knew that Alex knew Olivia really wasn’t that predictable and was just waiting to see if she’d be able figure out her brunette house mate.
Several times over the last few days, Olivia thought of doing something that would shock the young blonde. She could just imagine walking down the hallway towards her room, the blonde following slowly, but closely behind. She’d turn quickly and grab hold of Alex, pinning her against the wall, gently enough not to hurt her and still enough space to get away if she so chose. She could slowly lean in and place a soft kiss on her lips, and then just walk away to the sanctuary of her bedroom, leaving the blonde to try and figure out what the hell had just happened.
With a smirk on her face, Olivia came out of her thoughts and realized she had an audience. Without being obvious, she looked up like she was checking the time, and saw Alex sitting in the arm chair, pretending to read a book. Obviously the moping session had ended, Olivia thought to herself. She read for a little while longer until she heard the chime from the clock, indicating that it was time for her to leave for her game.
She ran up the stairs to grab her athletic bag. On her way back down, she could hear Sophie calling to her from the kitchen.
“Olivia!”
Olivia stopped and sighed before changing directions and going to the kitchen. “Yeah, Sophie?” she said as she walked through the doors.
“I just wanted to say good luck, and remind you that win or lose tonight, you need to come straight home. We’re visiting a couple colleges this weekend.”
Olivia smiled. “Thanks, Sophie, and I remember. It’s all Nathan’s been talking about all week. He can’t wait for me to see Cornell.”
At this Sophie laughed. “Yes, he is very fond of his Alma Mater,” she said. “Have you given any thought to where you want to go next fall?”
“Yeah, some,” Olivia responded. “But I want to see the campuses and talk to some of the faculty before I make a decision,” she explained.
“That’s probably a good idea,” Sophie said. “It’s not easy to pick a school when all you’ve got are the facts and figures college representatives send to you. Visiting the campus, and getting a feeling for the student life there is sometimes all you need to make your choice.”
“I hope so,” Olivia said. Sophie offered her a sympathetic smile. “Is there anything else you needed?” she asked, changing the subject. “I’m just about to leave for my game.”
“No, there was nothing else,” Sophie said. “But that does remind me. I think you should take Alex with you. It’s only fair since you get to go out of the house during your punishment, and it’s to the same event so it’s fair.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Olivia responded. She left the kitchen and found Alex still sitting in the same chair as before. “Get ready to go,” she announced, purposefully startling the blond. “Your mom said your coming to the game with me, that it’s only fair since I get to leave the house.”
At the explanation, the glare that had fixed itself upon the young girls face transformed into a look of confusion, then to a smile. She ran upstairs and made it halfway before she turned back. “Do you think she’d let Ricky give me a ride home?”
“I have no idea. You’ll have to take that up with her,” Olivia responded. “Either way though, I’m walking out the door in five minutes. If you’re not ready, it’s your loss.” She hoped Sophie would not allow Alex to ride with her boyfriend. Not only would it be unfair since there was no guarantee Olivia would be seeing Andy tonight, but she never hid the fact that she did not like Ricky. Not only was he dating her crush, but there was something about the boy that kept Olivia alert.
Four minutes and thirty seconds later, Alex came back to the living room as her mother came out of the kitchen to see the girls off. Quickly, the younger girl asked her mother if it would be acceptable for her boyfriend to give her a ride home. Sophie agreed as long as she got home at the same time as Olivia. Alex gave an excited shout, hugged her mother and walked out the front door. Rolling her eyes and heaving an exasperated sigh, Olivia followed.
Once in the car and on the road, Alex turned to Olivia, a look of mischief in her eyes.
“Whatever you’re planning, Cabot, keep me out of it,” Olivia told her.
“Oh, don’t worry Olivia,” Alex replied. “It’s nothing that you’ll get into trouble for. Besides, you owe me Benson.”
“Owe you?!” Olivia exclaimed. “How do I owe you Alex? I never asked for you to talk your parents out of a week of my grounding and into a week of your own.”
“You didn’t ask me no, but I did it anyway,” Alex said. “So to show your appreciation, you should cover for me.”
“Are you kidding me?” Olivia asked. “Wait. Cover for you? What exactly are you planning on doing?”
“Well, not really cover for me,” Alex said. “More like don’t tell on me.”
“Alex,” Olivia said in what Alex liked to call the ‘cop’ voice.
“I’m meeting Ricky at the game and he’s going to take me out to dinner, but we’ll be home right about the same time you will be,” Alex explained quickly. She hated how that tone of voice made her feel guilty.
Right away, Olivia didn’t like that idea, but Alex did have a point. She owed it to her to keep her mouth shut, but she would have to tell Cabots what happened if Alex was late. “Ok, Alex. But I’m not covering for you if you not home in time.”
By this time the girls had made it to the high school. “Don’t worry about, Olivia,” Alex said as she opened up the car door. “I’ll be home in time. Good luck at your game.”
Olivia watched as Alex got out of the car. Not even making it a point to be seen at the game, she got into her boyfriends white camero and they sped off. She didn’t have the chance to worry about it though because she had a game to play.
****
“What do you mean she just left?” Amy asked from her position right next to Olivia right before the tip off.
“Just what I said,” Olivia responded quietly. “I’ll tell you more after the game.”
That was the last opportunity the girls had to actually talk. Aside from good natured ribbing, nothing more was said on the subject. When the final buzzer sounded both girls went to their respective locker rooms for the after game talk with they’re teams. Afterwards, Olivia didn’t even take the time to change. She threw her clothes in her bag, put her warm ups on over her uniform, and ran back out to the gym to meet up with Amy.
“Why did she just leave?” Amy asked as she came out of her own locker room. Olivia noted that she didn’t take the time to change out of her uniform either.
“She said Ricky was taking her out tonight,” Olivia explained.
“Aren’t you guys still grounded?”
“Yeah we are, until Saturday.”
“Why is that fair then?” Amy asked. “Yes you get to see me tonight, but that’s school related. Besides, Andy couldn’t make it because her parents volunteered her to babysit. Why should she get to see her boyfriend when you can’t see your girlfriend?”
“She said I owed her,” Olivia explained.
“OWED HER?!” Amy shouted. “You didn’t ask her to get you out of your second weeks grounding.”
“That’s what I said,” Olivia replied.
“So what are you going to do?” Amy asked.
“I’m going to go home and hope that she’s already there, or at least gets there when I do.”
“Good luck, Liv,” Amy said. “I gotta get home though. You wanna come over Saturday night?”
“Yeah. I’ll ask Sophie tonight, and I’ll call you Saturday to let you know.” Olivia said. She gave her slightly shorter friend a hug and walked out of the gym, heading toward her car.
All the way home she couldn’t help but worry about Alex and whether or not she’d be home in time. As she pulled into the driveway though, she realized she didn’t have to worry about it. Ricky’s white Camero was parked on the street just to the side of the house. She gave a sigh of relief and got out of the car.
She noticed that the top to the car was down and saw both occupants were still sitting inside. Olivia couldn’t help but feel jealous that it wasn’t her in that car with Alex. Reminding herself that that was never going to happen, Olivia continued on her way inside. She stopped dead in her tracks when she heard Alex repeatedly saying no with a growing sense of urgency.
Dropping her bag, Olivia ran back to the parked car, finally seeing that both teenagers were in the back seat, Ricky practically on top of Alex. With her anger rising, Olivia grabs hold of the boy and pulls him off the young blonde and out of the car. “I believe the lady said no, asshole,” she said through gritted teeth. She became even angrier when she saw that Ricky’s zipper was already halfway down.
With the weight of her now ex-boyfriend gone, Alex quickly scrambled out of the car and starts to fix her clothing.
“Who the hell are you?” Ricky asked.
Olivia grabbed onto his collar and got right in his face. “You’re worst nightmare unless you get the fuck outta here right now,” she said darkly. She threw him to the ground and watched as he rushed to his car and sped away. She looked over at Alex, who was looking very unsure of herself. Slowly she approached the other girl. “Are you alright?” Olivia asked in a much softer voice.
“I’m fine,” Alex replied, clearly not wanting to talk about it.
Olivia gave her a nod and started to walk back to the house. She stopped when she heard Alex speaking. “Olivia, why did you just help me?” Slowly, Olivia turned and gave Alex a look that clearly said “are you serious” which prompted Alex to continue. “I mean, I’ve never been very nice to you, yet you saved me from something I can only imagine how horrible it would be.”
Olivia took a deep breath before she replied. “Because, despite how we feel about each other, no one deserves to have that happen to them, Alex. No one.”
Confused by the absolute conviction in Olivia’s voice, Alex can’t help but think there is more to the brunettes passed than she’s been told. She also had a feeling that it must be something that Olivia doesn’t want known. She decided to leave it alone for now, but one day, maybe, she’d ask about it.
“We’d better get inside before you’re parents start to wonder where we are,” Olivia said. The two girls went inside, both silently agreeing not to mention the event that had just transpired.