Partners In Our Own Crime| BEING EDITED

3.Tragedy

Olivia sat up, eyes wide, sweat trickling down her forehead and tears rolling down her cheeks.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"He's gone..liv..." She shook her head in disbelief, her mouth slightly parted, heart racing.

No.

"No, no, no," she repeated, screaming as she placed a hand over her chest, trying to still it.

"Liv please calm-" she heard Jordan's voice crack, her stopping him mid sentence.

"This can't be true, Jordan tell me this isn't true, tell me it isn't true," she begged, her eyes shutting tightly. Sobs left her lips, her body starting to tremble.

"I'm so sorry, Olivia..." the phone dropped from her hands, sobs turning into screams, her hands still trembling. She couldn't believe this...her dad was gone.

And on the other end of the call Jordan let the fresh tears fall, holding the phone to his forehead.

He shook his head.

He wanted to say something, something that would comfort her, but even he knew that wouldn't be enough.

"He's not gone... he's not gone.... " bringing her knees to her chest, she craddled herself, silent tears burning her cheeks.

"Don't leave..." her voice broke a little.

Finally she rose to her feet, pacing the floor, running her fingers through her hair.

She tried to fill her head with all the ways Jordan could be mistaken. But she couldn't think of any. He was gone. For good.

Her heart was breaking, little by little, piece by piece.

The image of his sweet smile made her drop to her knees, her sobs now whimpers of pain, her face buried in her hands.

That smile she'd never see again.

It haunted her.

10:00 am

Olivia sat on her bedroom floor looking straight ahead, her knees inches apart from her chest. That was how she sat for hours, and it was beginning to make her legs sore, but still she hadn't cared.

Her eyes were damped from crying all night, and her face was dull.

As much as she wanted this to all be a lie, a dream of some sort, anything but reality, it wasn't, and there was nothing she could do about it. Her phone was ringing off the hook with calls from Jordan, Sasha and Nick.

Jordan had informed them about the news, and had wanted them to check on her, but that plan had failed, so Nick and Sasha had to take a different approach.

"Olivia!" The chant of her name got closer to her bedroom.

Olivia had given both Sasha and Nick a key to her apartment awhile back, just so they wouldn't have a problem getting inside in case there was an emergency. But obviously they used it for other purposes as well.

Their eyes dropped when they entered the bedroom, seeing their best friend sitting on the ground with an lifeless expression on her face.

"Come here," her voice soft, Sasha kneeled down beside Olivia, pulling her close. It had taken all of two seconds for Olivia to break down again.

Nick placed his bag on the ground, joining in on the hug, them trying to comfort her in the best way they knew how, and that was all she needed at the moment.

Back in L.A.

Spencer's fist went straight for the wall, anger rushing over him as the light tears rolled down his cheeks. He'd just heard the news about Billy and it was like he'd just took a shot to the heart. He'd been there, he'd seen Billy's progress, he'd seen how good he was doing before passing.

So how could this be?

Then a thought hit him—no, more of a memory. A memory he hadn't gave a thought to in three years. Olivia. In his mind he'd put her in the past, she was a memory, a distant stranger he used to know.

But right now...he could only think of how she could be hurting. The pain she could be taking in.

Yes, Billy was like a father to him, but he could only imagine how she must be feeling actually losing her father, her own flesh and blood.

Dropping to the floor, his body shook. His voice cracking, he let out shaky sobs. All the while his wife was walking through the door, hearing the heartbreaking sounds coming from her living room.

"Babe," she strode towards the living place, high corcern for her husband, "babe what's wrong?" As she entered the dim space, her eyes narrowed, her tone frantic.

He didn't say a word. Just sobbed.

Seeing that he was in no position to talk she just kneeled down beside him, wrapping her arms around him.

"He's gone," he cried, gripping on tighter, burying his face in her chest.

She gave a look of sorrow, "I am so sorry, baby."

***

As Sasha entered the living room, a cup of soup in hand, Olivia sat on the couch, facing ahead, face dull. When Sasha tried to feed her, all Olivia did was turn her head away.

"Liv, you've got to eat," Sasha's voice had been soft, and comforting when she took a seat next to Olivia, placing a hand to her shoulder.

"No," Olivia croaked, sounding as if she'd been crying for days.

"Fine," Sasha whispered, placing the cup of soup on the coffee table.

"When are you leaving for LA?" Sasha inquired.

Olivia's eyes stayed on the ground as she spoke, "I'm not."

Sasha whipped her head toward her friend, eyes narrowed and brows furrowed, "what do you mean you're not?"

Olivia turned to her for the first time since she'd been there, "Sash, my father has already died, going back will only bring back memories of not only him, but people that I've been trying to erase from my memory for three years now."

Sasha could only think of one name that matched that reason.

Spencer.

Sasha kept her eyes on Olivia, her voice steady to try and persuade her, "think of your mother Olivia, your brother. You can't let something that happened three years ago stop you from being there for your family."

A tear fell from Olivia's eye, her bowing her head, "I can't see him again, not now."

Over the three years they'd been apart, Olivia had tried her best not to think of him, to block him from her mind. She'd loved him, and he'd broke her...as simple as that, and she didn't want to spend her time thinking of a man who'd done that to her. She wasn't necessarily angry at him, but she was thrilled at him either. She'd come to peace with the situation and she wanted to keep it that way.

But either way, she'd have to go, whether she denied it or not. Her family was more important. And if she wanted to forget about him, then going back to L.A. wouldn't change that. The decision to avoid him was up to her, and it would remain.

So, if she wanted Spencer James out of her life, he would stay out of her life.

She knew she'd have to face her past someday.

And now was that time.
***

I didn't really like this chapter when I first wrote it, but now I think it came out alright. I see y'all's comments, and I can assure you that the Spencer and Liv reunion is coming, just a few more chapters! Love you all <3

Excuse any mistakes.

_

Okayyy last future me note. So I believe that the prior chapters are all pretty much re-written, and from here on I'll just be fixing things up.

This was my first book back from the "break" I had,
Which was about maybe...five to six months ago, so things definitely had to be changed. But from here everything is the same, just being polished.

Enjoy my loves!