The Beast's Rage

Again

Olivia woke up first. Her face was still against Elliot's chest; their legs were intertwined with one another's.

She moved her hand so it rested against his chest and breathed out deeply as she recalled the events of last night. Lifting her left hand, she stared at the ring he had given her and replayed his proposal in her head, smiling to herself as she did.

While she was caught up in her thoughts, reliving the entire night with not one regret, she heard Elliot take a deep breath and continue with his soft snores as he slept with his arm wrapped around her. Keeping her close to him.

And then his phone began to ring from the floor. The sound muffled since it was still in his pants pocket. Carefully, she got up and found it before answering it.

"Hello?" she yawned and grabbed a robe to cover her still naked body.

"Hi, Liv!" Kathleen answered enthusiastically when she heard her voice for what seemed to be the first time forever.

"Hi, Kathleen. Is everything okay?" Liv smiled and walked out of the bedroom so she wouldn't wake Elliot up.

"Yes, everything's great. I was calling to see if you and Daddy were going to come over for dinner since he had plans yesterday. He said he would tell me today if you guys were actually coming or not." Kathleen explained happily.

"Of course we can come. He's still sleep right now. What time did you want us to come?" Liv asked while trying to hold back another yawn.

"You guys can come whenever you want. The food should be ready at like 6 or 6:30."

"Okay. I'll tell Elliot and he'll text you before we come."

"Okay." Kathleen paused. "It is so good to hear your voice again Olivia. We've missed you so much."

"I missed you guys too." Liv smiled when she heard Kathleen say that. Recalling all the times they had spent together as a family. "I can't wait to see you guys again."

"I can't either. Okay okay, go lay back down, you sound tired. I'll see you guys later."

"Okay, see you later." Liv smiled bigger.

"Bye, Liv. Love you." Kathleen said and hung up.

Kathleen and Elliot still kept in touch quite often, especially when Kathleen worried about Olivia. And because of that she knew that she struggled with saying really emotional things and showing affection at times. Elliot wouldn't go into detail about the 'why', but he did let her know, and that was enough for Kathleen. So, instead of saying it and making Liv feel uncomfortable or forced to say 'I love you' back, she waited until the end so she could hang up after saying it.

She wanted to make sure that Olivia still knew her and her siblings thought of her and missed her. Even if she couldn't give back the same amount of affection to them like she used to.

Olivia held the phone in her hand and stared at the now dark screen after Kathleen hung up. Quickly wiping away the few tears that built up in her eyes, she smiled softly and made her way back to the bedroom. Setting down the phone before climbing back in bed with Elliot. He seemed to notice her presence immediately and lazily opened his eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked in his sleepy voice as he rubbed his eyes.

"Nothing." she smiled and cuddled back into his side, letting his arm pull her closer. "Kathleen called. She wants us over for dinner."

"Oh shit, I forgot to ask you if you wanted to go." he rubbed his eyes again and looked at her. "What did you tell her?"

"I told her we'd come and that you'd text her before we got there." Olivia said and laid her head on his chest.