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53

After Officer Ramizer gets the okay from the EMTs to leave Lucas' house, Olivia and I get in my car and he begins to follow us out of the driveway.

Before we left Noah told us that Blake asked for him to stop by his house for something and said he had to go, quickly leaving before Olivia and I could ask him any more questions. 

Olivia and I are silent in the car except for our quiet sniffles, neither of us even turning on the radio for background noise. 

"El... what the hell happened? I thought Lucas was out of your life for good," Olivia cries, letting her face fall into her hands.

"It's a long story, but over the past couple of weeks, he has been threatening me. We planned to get a restraining order on him this weekend," I sniffle, wiping my nose off on my sleeve. 

"So did you guys just get home and your room was destroyed?"

I nod, my throat feeling painfully tight.

I suck in a deep breath, anxiety coursing through me as I remember Lucas' words. "He threatened to come to my house while I was sleeping and hurt me... in that way..." I cry, unable to hold it back anymore. 

Olivia cries harder with me when she connects the dots. "Oh my god El... I'm so sorry. From now on, you're staying at Noah's house. At least until we can get your locks changed," she tells me firmly, taking my right hand in her own. 

I nod in agreement, knowing that even if my house was suddenly bolted with a thousand locks, the mere thought of entering it or sleeping in my room makes me feel sick to my stomach.

Even if I did want to stay at my house, it isn't possible for Noah and Blake to spend every single hour of every day with me.

Bile rises in my throat when I think about how much control Lucas currently has over my life, quickly transforming from a bitter ex-boyfriend into a genuine threat. Knowing he has access to my home all this time coupled with the full-on stalking sends shivers down my spine.

As the shock of the situation begins to settle upon us, I catch Olivia's gaze. Her eyes are filled with unspoken words, and I know she wants to say something but won't. 

"Come on, ask. I know you want to," I tell her quietly. 

"Did I actually hear you guys say I love you?"

"Yes, we said it last night for the first time. I know it all kinda came out of nowhere, but he makes me so happy, Liv."

She nods slowly. "I just don't want you to get hurt... I've never seen Blake act like he did today."

While I understand her protectiveness, I also know a lot of things about Blake that she and Noah aren't aware of, and there is no way for me to tell her how wrong she is to be even slightly concerned. "I know, Liv. I love you. But trust me when I say I know Blake would never hurt me."

She smiles. "I love you too. Noah has always said that all Blake needed in his life was a really special girl, and I'm so happy it ended up being you. I don't think I'll ever understand how you guys went from hating each other to being all over each other, but I trust you."

I give her hand a little squeeze as we turn into my driveway and anxiety quickly riddles back through my veins when I remember the state of my room.

On the way inside my house, Officer Ramirez asked us a few more questions, examined the lock on my front door, and took pictures with his cellphone of a few things outside and leading into the hallway to my room.

"Alright, when we go in, please don't touch anything. If this turns into a full-blown investigation we might need to get forensics down here to see if any DNA evidence was left behind," Ramirez tells us and we nod.