somewhere only we know ══════emily prentiss

17.next step

prechapter cw: mentions of ocd
   (as touched upon before, olivia has ocd and this    chapter shines a bit more light on that! i tried to depict ocd the best i could without stereotyping it so i hope you enjoy!!)

17. next step
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olivia's heart pounded in her chest as she yet again cleaned the spare room, lint rolling the pillows with itchy palms. the longer she stood over the bed the more things she thought about that needed fixing before her sister got her, and so she went through her checklist again. lightbulbs good, door locks good, curtains good, drawers checked. had she vacuumed the closet floor? she checked the drawers, right? her head throbbed as she closed her eyes and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her but not taking a step further from her spot. she took deeps breathes, slowly sorting through her mental mess until most of the knots had unraveled. she was fine. the room was fine. they were going to be fine. everything. was. fine.
once bit more calm she opened up the door and grabbed the sticky notes she had left on chest of drawers, leaving one on every item checked off on the list.

  "good. it's good". she whispered to herself, taking one last look around the room and leaving before tore it all apart to restart for the 5th time. she had never never quit felt comfortable with overnight guest, the change of atmosphere messing with her system, her safety net. she figured it was from the ever changing environments she lived in as a child in the system after her parents passed, at least that's what she had been told. it was tiring, constantly second guessing until it felt safe, only for everything to be the same it was to begin with. the cycle again and again, picking her skin raw thinking about it, but seeing as all her nephew had wanted for his birthday was to come see her in london, she would have to set it all aside the best she could for now. she had been so focused she didn't even realize  just how much time had pasted, checking to find she was supposed to leave for the airport 20 minutes ago. cursing herself she quickly gathered her things  and basically ran to her car. after finally finding close enough parking and checking her car over once more she made her way into the busy airport, asking around until she found her way to their gate, nails digging into her palms. soon enough she heard a screaming laugh she recognized all too well, looking up to find her nephew running straight for her—sister and lorenzo following close behind.

"danny" she sung out while dropping the bear she had hid behind her back to scoop the almost 6 year old in her arms and smothering him in kisses, his laugh ringing into her ears.

"i always knew i wasn't your favorite" ava joked, opening her arms as olivia let go of their nephew in favor of her sister, the both of them squeezing one another.

"i'm glad you guys are here. i missed you" olivia mumbled, getting a soft 'i missed you too' before pulling away to greet her brother in law

"so" she spoke out, straightening out her hair "who's hungry?"

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eventually they found themselves at a random restaurant near olivia's home, lorenzo taking danny to play at the small arcade they had towards the back as ava and olivia waited for their food, the two finally being able to truly catch up.

"so how's florida? still disgustingly humid?"

ava laughed " you ask as if it rains any less here"