Fic: Hide Beside Me (Chapter 23), GL, Olivia/Natalia
Title: Hide Beside Me (Chapter 23)
Author: DiNovia
Fandom: Guiding Light
Pairing: Olivia/Natalia
Rating: Chapter=G/Overall=NC-17
Archival: P&P, Kimly, and AUSXIP of course. Everyone else, please ask.
Spoilers: None
Summary: Phillip Spaulding has returned to Springfield with a vengeance. Olivia Spencer, afraid that Phillip will take their daughter Emma from her again, flees Springfield with the help of her assistant, Natalia Rivera. Can they stay one step ahead of Phillip? Will they ever be safe again?
Content Disclaimer: This is an AU story--based on a drabble I posted in February--that splits off from the "I can trust you with my life!" scene on 2/16/09. All canon after that does not exist in this story. Also, the Phillip Spaulding that returns in this story is still bat-shit crazy and evil. Graphic depictions of love between two consenting adult women are contained within, obviously, but not for a while.
Source Disclaimer: I do not own Guiding Light or the characters therein depicted. I do not seek to profit from this story.
A/N: I tried to remain as close to character as humanly possible but as I have only seen YouTube clips of Otalia and no full episodes, I cannot guarantee the results.
Style Note: As some of you have noticed, I am switching POVs for every chapter. Natalia, Olivia and Emma will tell their stories in their own words, first-person present tense. Any other exposition needed will happen in third-person past-tense. This will cover the urgency I need and will also allow for omniscience for exposition with multiple characters. I am very interested in knowing whether this style works how I have intended it, so let me know.
Thank You: To mightbefound and bldy_destini for beta-ing this story. Thank you also to Tiff for helping me to figure out the major plot problems I'd been having and for being on call when I forget them and need to review. ;) Thank you to djshiva for your comments and general enthusiasm for this story.
I-40 EAST BETWEEN ALBUQUERQUE, NM AND OKLAHOMA CITY, OK
EMMA SPENCER
I don't like this car either. It's too small and it's dirty and it smells like our Christmas tree that we had this year and Sophie's dog Max when he gets wet. It makes my nose crinkle up.
You're driving again and you and Mommy are quiet again, like at the Grand Canyon. I kinda feel mad about that but at least it's better than you lying to me, which you've been doing a lot.
I know the secret mission isn't about any ol' stupid ring. I don't know what the secret mission is, but I know it's not that. If you had a magic ring that could do good things, then you'd just do something to the bad man and make him go away or be nice or something. How dumb do you think I am, anyway?
And you and Mommy are being bad-weird again. You haven't been bad-weird in a long time! Not since right after I read my essay at Family Day. But Mommy keeps sneaking looks at you like she's done something bad and you keep looking at Mommy with shiny eyes and a new, sad smile. What happened on the train last night anyway? And why did we have two different hotel rooms? I woke up with Mommy hugging me and when I looked at her, she was still wearing her clothes and her makeup was all smeary. Some even got on the pillow!
But you weren't there and when Mommy woke up, I asked her where you were. She said, "We have to be careful now, baby. She can't stay with us in the same room anymore. The--the hotel employees might notice us all together and they might tell on us."
"Tell on us to who?" I asked. "The bad man? Does he have spies watching?"
Mommy shook her head. "The bad man told the police about us, Emma. They're looking for us."
"You mean, like Uncle Frank?" Uncle Frank wouldn't work with the bad man, no matter what. He wouldn't. He likes us! He says I have pretty hair and I like when he comes over and brushes it for me. He does it so soft, like he's afraid it will pull right out of my head or break or something.
"Well...Uncle Frank is probably looking for us, yes. He may have told other police departments in other cities about us. It's possible all the police are looking for us."
"All of them?" I felt like I wanted to cry; my throat hurt and it was hard for me to talk. My eyes stung and I kept blinking, trying to make the blurries go away.
She just hugged me. "I'm sorry, Jellybean," she said, her voice sad. "This is all my fault."
I didn't know what to say so I just hugged her back. That's when you knocked on the door and you had a bag from the grocery store with three yogurts and three orange juices. You were smiling that new smile at Mommy but she wasn't looking at you. She was busy with the yogurts and her voice was all funny, like when she talks to Uncle Frank. Too high and too nice. Not Mommy at all.
And now we're in this stupid car you bought, with the funny dog smell and the rips in the back of the seats, and all I can think about is how bad this is! I'm not having fun on our super secret mission anymore. I'm scared and sad and my tummy feels funny because I know there's no magic ring. But what happened? Why is the bad man after us if it's not for a ring?
Did you do something wrong? Did Mommy? That can't be right, though, because you never do anything wrong and if Mommy does, she always makes it right again. She figures out how to fix it and she does. So if you didn't do anything wrong and neither did Mommy.... Is this...my fault? Did I do something bad at school or somewhere? Are the police looking for me?
I don't feel good. I think I might barf.
"Mommy?" I say and Mommy looks back at me at the same time you look into the mirror at me.
You say, "Uh oh," and start to pull the car off the road. "Olivia, she's going to--"
Mommy already figured that out and she holds the plastic bag from the yogurts for me as I barf, whispering, "It's okay, baby. I'm right here."
I start to cry after I'm done and you've stopped the car. Mommy ties the bag up and gets out of the car to throw it away. You get out of the car, too, and open the trunk. After a few minutes, you open my door and kneel down in front of me.
"Oh, you poor thing," you say and your voice is the same voice you always use when I'm sick. You wipe my face with a wet wipe thingy and kiss my forehead. "You don't have a fever. Do you think you're just car sick, Jellybean?" you ask. Before I can answer, you look at Mommy. "Olivia, hand me that bottle of water, please." She hands it to you and her eyes are big and very, very green.
You open the water and make me rinse my mouth out, telling me to spit outside the car. When I'm done, you pull me into your arms, hugging me tightly. "I'm sorry, Emma," you whisper. "This isn't very fun, is it?"
I shake my head against your shoulder and I can feel tears start to leak out of my eyes. "I don't like the car. It smells bad!"
"Is that what made you sick?" asks Mommy. She opens the other door and sits next to me, rubbing my back.
I shake my head again.
"Then what, honey?" you ask.
More tears leak out from my eyes. So many I can't see right.
"Did--did I do something bad? Is that why the police are after us?"
"What??" Your voice is high and angry and Mommy says a bad word right after and pinches her nose for a minute.
When she opens her eyes, she's looking at me. "No, baby, you haven't done anything wrong. The police aren't after you. I promise."
Your eyes are big and round and you are staring at Mommy even though she's not looking at you. "You told her about the police, Olivia? Why on Earth would you do something like that?"
Uh oh.
Mommy looks up at you quick and her eyes are squinty and dark. I don't know if I'm supposed to be happy that she's mad at you this time and not me, but I am.
"Because she wanted to know why you weren't there this morning like you always are, Natalia," she says, her voice low. "What was I supposed to do? Lie?"
You blink and you look like you want to scream, "Yes!", but you look at me and you can't. "Well...no. I--no, Olivia. But--"
"But what? You don't think I'm doing a good job with--with--" She looks at me and doesn't finish what she was going to say. "You think I'm a horrible mother. That I--"
"No!" You try to hold Mommy's hands in yours but she won't let you. "Olivia, I didn't say that! I just--she's just a little girl.... The police--she's scared. I would be, too. I was."
Mommy looks at you for a long time and the longer she looks, the shinier her eyes get until one little tear leaks out and drips down her cheek. Instead of wiping it away, she scoots backwards out of the car and starts to walk by the rail on the side of the road, her arms crossed over her front. Is she going to walk all the way to where we're going?
You sigh and you look like you think you should go after her but then you look at me and shake your head a little. "That," you say, touching my cheek, "didn't go very well, did it?" You smile that sad new smile again and I know you're thinking of Mommy. I shake my head "no," but I don't say anything. You look out through the front of the car at Mommy, who's still walking away from us. Will she come back? Will we have to chase her?
Suddenly you get this look on your face and it's the same look you get when you're trying to figure out why the dishwasher isn't working again. You look at me and you're trying to decide what to do. I can tell.
"Emma, do you remember being on an airplane when you were little?" you ask and your voice is very low and whispery.
I'm trying to remember when my heart starts going really, really fast and--
I barf again and you move just in time so I don't do it on you.
"Okay, honey," you say to me when I finish, giving me more water to spit out. When I'm finished, you hug me tight. "It's okay, sweetie. Don't worry. I'm right here."
Tears start leaking out of my eyes again. "Natalia?" I ask.
"Yeah, Jellybean?"
"I'm scared."
You kiss my head and hold me tighter. "I know, honey. I am, too."
"I want to go home," I say, crying harder.
"Me too, Emma. More than anything."
I pull back and look at you. "Then why can't we?" I ask, getting a little mad. If we all want to go home, why can't we go?
"It's just not safe right now, honey," you say, your eyes all sad.
"When will it be safe?"
You reach up to brush some hair out of my eyes.
"I don't know, Emma. I don't know."
Now, I'm scareder. Maybe it wasn't so bad before....
When you were lying to me, I mean.
-----
TBC
Comments are love!
DiNovia
Author: DiNovia
Fandom: Guiding Light
Pairing: Olivia/Natalia
Rating: Chapter=G/Overall=NC-17
Archival: P&P, Kimly, and AUSXIP of course. Everyone else, please ask.
Spoilers: None
Summary: Phillip Spaulding has returned to Springfield with a vengeance. Olivia Spencer, afraid that Phillip will take their daughter Emma from her again, flees Springfield with the help of her assistant, Natalia Rivera. Can they stay one step ahead of Phillip? Will they ever be safe again?
Content Disclaimer: This is an AU story--based on a drabble I posted in February--that splits off from the "I can trust you with my life!" scene on 2/16/09. All canon after that does not exist in this story. Also, the Phillip Spaulding that returns in this story is still bat-shit crazy and evil. Graphic depictions of love between two consenting adult women are contained within, obviously, but not for a while.
Source Disclaimer: I do not own Guiding Light or the characters therein depicted. I do not seek to profit from this story.
A/N: I tried to remain as close to character as humanly possible but as I have only seen YouTube clips of Otalia and no full episodes, I cannot guarantee the results.
Style Note: As some of you have noticed, I am switching POVs for every chapter. Natalia, Olivia and Emma will tell their stories in their own words, first-person present tense. Any other exposition needed will happen in third-person past-tense. This will cover the urgency I need and will also allow for omniscience for exposition with multiple characters. I am very interested in knowing whether this style works how I have intended it, so let me know.
Thank You: To mightbefound and bldy_destini for beta-ing this story. Thank you also to Tiff for helping me to figure out the major plot problems I'd been having and for being on call when I forget them and need to review. ;) Thank you to djshiva for your comments and general enthusiasm for this story.
I-40 EAST BETWEEN ALBUQUERQUE, NM AND OKLAHOMA CITY, OK
EMMA SPENCER
I don't like this car either. It's too small and it's dirty and it smells like our Christmas tree that we had this year and Sophie's dog Max when he gets wet. It makes my nose crinkle up.
You're driving again and you and Mommy are quiet again, like at the Grand Canyon. I kinda feel mad about that but at least it's better than you lying to me, which you've been doing a lot.
I know the secret mission isn't about any ol' stupid ring. I don't know what the secret mission is, but I know it's not that. If you had a magic ring that could do good things, then you'd just do something to the bad man and make him go away or be nice or something. How dumb do you think I am, anyway?
And you and Mommy are being bad-weird again. You haven't been bad-weird in a long time! Not since right after I read my essay at Family Day. But Mommy keeps sneaking looks at you like she's done something bad and you keep looking at Mommy with shiny eyes and a new, sad smile. What happened on the train last night anyway? And why did we have two different hotel rooms? I woke up with Mommy hugging me and when I looked at her, she was still wearing her clothes and her makeup was all smeary. Some even got on the pillow!
But you weren't there and when Mommy woke up, I asked her where you were. She said, "We have to be careful now, baby. She can't stay with us in the same room anymore. The--the hotel employees might notice us all together and they might tell on us."
"Tell on us to who?" I asked. "The bad man? Does he have spies watching?"
Mommy shook her head. "The bad man told the police about us, Emma. They're looking for us."
"You mean, like Uncle Frank?" Uncle Frank wouldn't work with the bad man, no matter what. He wouldn't. He likes us! He says I have pretty hair and I like when he comes over and brushes it for me. He does it so soft, like he's afraid it will pull right out of my head or break or something.
"Well...Uncle Frank is probably looking for us, yes. He may have told other police departments in other cities about us. It's possible all the police are looking for us."
"All of them?" I felt like I wanted to cry; my throat hurt and it was hard for me to talk. My eyes stung and I kept blinking, trying to make the blurries go away.
She just hugged me. "I'm sorry, Jellybean," she said, her voice sad. "This is all my fault."
I didn't know what to say so I just hugged her back. That's when you knocked on the door and you had a bag from the grocery store with three yogurts and three orange juices. You were smiling that new smile at Mommy but she wasn't looking at you. She was busy with the yogurts and her voice was all funny, like when she talks to Uncle Frank. Too high and too nice. Not Mommy at all.
And now we're in this stupid car you bought, with the funny dog smell and the rips in the back of the seats, and all I can think about is how bad this is! I'm not having fun on our super secret mission anymore. I'm scared and sad and my tummy feels funny because I know there's no magic ring. But what happened? Why is the bad man after us if it's not for a ring?
Did you do something wrong? Did Mommy? That can't be right, though, because you never do anything wrong and if Mommy does, she always makes it right again. She figures out how to fix it and she does. So if you didn't do anything wrong and neither did Mommy.... Is this...my fault? Did I do something bad at school or somewhere? Are the police looking for me?
I don't feel good. I think I might barf.
"Mommy?" I say and Mommy looks back at me at the same time you look into the mirror at me.
You say, "Uh oh," and start to pull the car off the road. "Olivia, she's going to--"
Mommy already figured that out and she holds the plastic bag from the yogurts for me as I barf, whispering, "It's okay, baby. I'm right here."
I start to cry after I'm done and you've stopped the car. Mommy ties the bag up and gets out of the car to throw it away. You get out of the car, too, and open the trunk. After a few minutes, you open my door and kneel down in front of me.
"Oh, you poor thing," you say and your voice is the same voice you always use when I'm sick. You wipe my face with a wet wipe thingy and kiss my forehead. "You don't have a fever. Do you think you're just car sick, Jellybean?" you ask. Before I can answer, you look at Mommy. "Olivia, hand me that bottle of water, please." She hands it to you and her eyes are big and very, very green.
You open the water and make me rinse my mouth out, telling me to spit outside the car. When I'm done, you pull me into your arms, hugging me tightly. "I'm sorry, Emma," you whisper. "This isn't very fun, is it?"
I shake my head against your shoulder and I can feel tears start to leak out of my eyes. "I don't like the car. It smells bad!"
"Is that what made you sick?" asks Mommy. She opens the other door and sits next to me, rubbing my back.
I shake my head again.
"Then what, honey?" you ask.
More tears leak out from my eyes. So many I can't see right.
"Did--did I do something bad? Is that why the police are after us?"
"What??" Your voice is high and angry and Mommy says a bad word right after and pinches her nose for a minute.
When she opens her eyes, she's looking at me. "No, baby, you haven't done anything wrong. The police aren't after you. I promise."
Your eyes are big and round and you are staring at Mommy even though she's not looking at you. "You told her about the police, Olivia? Why on Earth would you do something like that?"
Uh oh.
Mommy looks up at you quick and her eyes are squinty and dark. I don't know if I'm supposed to be happy that she's mad at you this time and not me, but I am.
"Because she wanted to know why you weren't there this morning like you always are, Natalia," she says, her voice low. "What was I supposed to do? Lie?"
You blink and you look like you want to scream, "Yes!", but you look at me and you can't. "Well...no. I--no, Olivia. But--"
"But what? You don't think I'm doing a good job with--with--" She looks at me and doesn't finish what she was going to say. "You think I'm a horrible mother. That I--"
"No!" You try to hold Mommy's hands in yours but she won't let you. "Olivia, I didn't say that! I just--she's just a little girl.... The police--she's scared. I would be, too. I was."
Mommy looks at you for a long time and the longer she looks, the shinier her eyes get until one little tear leaks out and drips down her cheek. Instead of wiping it away, she scoots backwards out of the car and starts to walk by the rail on the side of the road, her arms crossed over her front. Is she going to walk all the way to where we're going?
You sigh and you look like you think you should go after her but then you look at me and shake your head a little. "That," you say, touching my cheek, "didn't go very well, did it?" You smile that sad new smile again and I know you're thinking of Mommy. I shake my head "no," but I don't say anything. You look out through the front of the car at Mommy, who's still walking away from us. Will she come back? Will we have to chase her?
Suddenly you get this look on your face and it's the same look you get when you're trying to figure out why the dishwasher isn't working again. You look at me and you're trying to decide what to do. I can tell.
"Emma, do you remember being on an airplane when you were little?" you ask and your voice is very low and whispery.
I'm trying to remember when my heart starts going really, really fast and--
I barf again and you move just in time so I don't do it on you.
"Okay, honey," you say to me when I finish, giving me more water to spit out. When I'm finished, you hug me tight. "It's okay, sweetie. Don't worry. I'm right here."
Tears start leaking out of my eyes again. "Natalia?" I ask.
"Yeah, Jellybean?"
"I'm scared."
You kiss my head and hold me tighter. "I know, honey. I am, too."
"I want to go home," I say, crying harder.
"Me too, Emma. More than anything."
I pull back and look at you. "Then why can't we?" I ask, getting a little mad. If we all want to go home, why can't we go?
"It's just not safe right now, honey," you say, your eyes all sad.
"When will it be safe?"
You reach up to brush some hair out of my eyes.
"I don't know, Emma. I don't know."
Now, I'm scareder. Maybe it wasn't so bad before....
When you were lying to me, I mean.
-----
TBC
Comments are love!
DiNovia