Strong [A Barson Fan Fic]

- 7 -

Olivia was confused when she woke up in a strange room the next morning. The room was still dark, so she had to slowly move to the window and open the blinds before looking around. She still didn't really remember too much of last night, but she was so tired and overwhelmed that she wasn't surprised that last night was a blur.

"Olivia?" Rafael's soft voice questioned from outside the door. Olivia turned around quickly before walking to the door. She opened it slowly and bit her lip when she saw him standing there.

"Hi... what am I doing here?" Olivia asked weakly, since not a single thing was coming back to her.

"You slept over here last night because you had a rough day."

"Shit... the stuff from Danny's parents... yeah. I'm sorry for crashing here. You must have wanted to sleep in your bed." Olivia sighed softly, as she looked down at the pajamas she was wearing.

"I slept on the sofa... It's decently comfy. Are you doing okay?"

"I guess... so I'm going to go get changed and then I'll leave. Thanks for taking care of me last night. I bet that I'm exhausting."

"Do you remember kissing me last night?" Rafael asked, and Olivia's eyes went wide.

"I don't... I'm sorry... I bet you have some-"

"I'm single... and I'm taking you to see my boss today. Don't forget. Breakfast is almost ready too." Rafael spoke before quickly walking towards the kitchen as his face grew bright red.

///

Rafael gave Olivia a tour of the offices before taking her back to his desk while they waited for his boss to show up. Olivia sat and anxiously shook her leg as she played with the frayed ends of her shirt sleeve.

"Okay... so can we talk about the kiss?" Rafael asked, after coming out of his boss' office after dropping some files off.

"Rafael, I'm sorry for kissing you. I don't want to make you uncomfortable and feel like being around me is a mistake... I'm a huge mess lately, and I hate to think that I might take you down with me."

"I'm not sorry that you kissed me."

"Really?" Olivia asked, and Rafael nodded slowly.

"I liked the kiss. I haven't been kissed in awhile, and even if I stopped you... it's only because I care about you and I don't want to hurt you more than you already are hurt." Rafael breathed.

"I have a lot of baggage... like, a lot. You know that because we are sitting here waiting to talk to your boss because I'm fighting to keep my baby. How can that be attractive or make you want to kiss me?" Olivia sighed. Rafael didn't get to respond before his boss walked down the hall and towards them.

"Ah, this must be Miss Benson."

"Yes, sir. Olivia."

"Adam Bently. Please, follow me and Rafael into my office and we can talk."

///

Adam led Olivia through everything that he was planning on doing to help her keep her child. Starting with getting a restraining order against the Mounts. He told her that there was no reason that they had to keep bothering her, especially since she still had twenty-five weeks before the baby would even be born.

He then told her that he could ask Danny to sign his rights away and then his parents wouldn't be able to use him to get the baby. He told her that no matter how much money the Mounts may have, that they wouldn't be getting the baby easily. Unless they can prove that Olivia was an unfit mother.

Hearing all of this stuff soothed Olivia's fears, and it made her feel better that she found out that she wouldn't be charged. Adam kept saying that he owed Rafael a favor, and this was it. 

"Aren't you busy today?" Olivia asked, after she and Rafael got out of their cars and headed towards her building. He said that he'd follow her back and made sure she was okay before heading back to work.

"I am always busy... but Adam knows that I'll be back soon. He trusts me with his life."

"Thank you so much for helping me. But tell Adam that if he changes his mind, I'd understand. He isn't making anything from this, and it makes me feel bad." Olivia frowned.

"Adam does a probono case at least once a year. Probably twice this year since it's still so early into the year." Rafael spoke. He followed Olivia into her building, and once she got her mail, he followed her upstairs.

"Welcome." Olivia spoke, as she quietly unlocked her apartment door and let Rafael in.

"This is nice, Liv. I kinda expected you to live in a studio or something."

"When I was looking for apartments, I knew that I had to have enough space in case something happened... I applied for a one bedroom, but was offered this one because it became empty after I applied. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, and an actual kitchen."

"Do you have anything for the baby yet?" Rafael asked, as Olivia hung her jacket up.

"I kinda feel embarrassed..." Olivia breathed quietly.

"Embarrassed?" Rafael asked, before feeling as Olivia grabbed his hand before leading him to a door that was closed.

"I already got a crib and some clothes... not a lot but the crib was on sale and then I saw some really cute clothes... I just pray that I don't lose the baby because then this will all haunt me." Olivia breathed.

She opened the door and let Rafael in. He smiled as he looked at the crib and the small stack of clothes that sat inside of it.

As he walked over and looked through the clothes, he knew that Olivia would be raising her baby. That she'd be an amazing mother and would do absolutely anything for her child. He also knew that he wanted to be along for the ride. Even if it was just being her friend. He knew that they could both use a friend.

"Your kid is incredibly lucky, Olivia." Rafael spoke, as he turned and looked at Olivia.

"Do you really think so?"

"Yeah, I do... if you need help at all then I'm your man." Rafael smiled.

"You are too good to be true."