Whiskey 'n Lace

~ Chapter Eight ~

"You want me to pull a warrant out of my ass, Olivia, with no evidence to back it up. No judge is going to just hand us a warrant for this, " Rafael sighed, rubbing the back of his neck.

Olivia sighed and stretched her arms before resting them above her head. 

"I'm sorry for snapping, but I can't do anything with this Olivia, " Rafael grumbled, throwing the file on the table, moving to pour himself a drink.

"Don't take out your frustration on me."

"Olivia! That's the last thing I'm doing, " Rafael yelled.

"Open your eyes, Barba, it's exactly what you're doing."

Rafael knew he'd done it now. He'd upset her and wasn't sure how to undo it. Olivia had never used his last name solo like that, but he'd seen her use it with Amaro when he pisses her off or with Rollins when they get on each other's nerves.

"Liv, " Rafael whispered, trying to dissolve the issue with remorse.

"Don't 'Liv' me, I'm mad at you." Olivia pouted.

"Olivia, I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Olivia grumbled, standing to collect her things.

"For yelling. For taking my frustration out on you. I got ahead of myself and I'm sorry."

"Okay, " Olivia spoke plainly as she shuffled papers back into folders.

"Are you still mad at me?" Rafael tested, stopping her hands with his.

"I don't know, " Olivia sighed, "I'm tired. I haven't been sleeping well."

"Is everything okay?" Rafael questioned, motioning her to join him across his office on his couch.

"Family stuff. There's so much going on between work and home that I haven't been able to balance myself, but I'll be fine."

"Olivia, you know it's okay to talk to people, right?" Rafael questioned, passing Olivia his tumbler of amber liquid.

She sipped in the silence before breathing, "Yeah, but I don't like to push my problems onto other people. I like to keep to myself."

"You can't hold everything inside all the time, Liv, it's not healthy."

"Don't. . .please, " Olivia begged, not wanting to go down the road of everything on her plate right now.

"Olivia, " Rafael spoke, tucking a stray piece of hair behind Olivia's ear.

Olivia downed the rest of the whiskey before staring into Rafael's green eyes. He had something about him that was so rough on the outside but so sensitive and caring on the inside. Olivia did need to talk to someone because things were getting bad, but she didn't want to unload on someone she just reconnected with. 

"You can talk to me about anything, Liv, I'm here for you."

"I don't want to burden you, " Olivia sighed, lowering her head to focus on her slacks.

"Nothing you ever need to share, Olivia, would burden me. What's going on?"

Olivia sucked in a deep breath and tried to hold back the tears burning her eyes. Rafael waited patiently, not wanting to push her past her comfort zone.

"I'm having nightmares, flashbacks really, but they happen when I'm asleep, " Olivia choked out in a whisper.

"Flashbacks, of what may I ask?"

"The shooting."

"The one last year? The one that caused him to put in his papers?"

"That's the one."