Time had passed too quickly for Olive and Caitlyn, and soon Olive forced herself to retire to the guest room so that they could both get some sleep. When she opened the door, Olive expected to see Vi sleeping on the bed or doing something similar. But the room was empty. Her heart sped up instinctively with anxiety.
"Vi?" she called out timidly. The door to the en-suite bathroom suddenly opened.
"Need something, cupcake?" Now leaning on the door frame was a clearly just-showered Vi, wearing only a white towel wrapped tightly around her. Her wet hair was a mess against her head. Olive wasn't sure where to look. She cleared her throat nervously, catching herself staring and quickly averting her eyes to look around the room. Vi smirked and raised an eyebrow. "What? Cat got your tongue?"
"No, I, uh...I just um, I just...you weren't in the room, so I..." Olive trailed off awkwardly, internally cursing herself.
"Mmm. I see," Vi said, her eyes trained on Olive. "Well, the bathroom is all yours now. The hot water feels great," she continued slyly as she walked past Olive into the open room. Olive could feel her face burning with an intense blush.
"Sounds, uhhhh...sounds great," she replied, failing to have a casual tone. Without another word, she shot into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Cringing at herself, she held her head in her hands and slid down to the floor against the door. Fuck.
When she could breathe again, Olive stood and forced to give herself a long shower, even though she felt bone-tired. She hadn't realized how much she needed it until she let herself stand, finally clean, under the hot water and just think. She stayed there until the water started to feel too hot, at which point she gently turned it off and finally got out. She took her time drying her body and her hair, savoring the fluffy towels and clean mirrors.
When Olive finally came out of the bathroom, she saw Vi already laying on the bed, seemingly already passed out. Something about the sight made her smile. As quietly as she could, Olive crept over to the bed and laid down on the opposite side, facing Vi. She looked so peaceful — something Olive never really saw. Without thinking, she gently reached her hand out to stroke it against Vi's face. To her shock, Vi's eyes gently opened. Olive gasped quietly and went to pull her hand away, but Vi had already grasped it in her own hand. Without a word, the magenta haired girl closed her eyes again, still holding Olive's hand in her own. Olive drifted off to sleep only moments later.
—
When Olive awoke, the first thing she noticed was how warm and comfortable she was. Moments later, she realized that was because she was gently wrapped in Vi's arms, who held her from behind and was clearly still asleep. Olive slowly began trying to get up so that she could find Caitlyn, but when she was halfway up, Vi's grip suddenly tightened and she pulled Olive back forcefully. Her muscular arms wrapped tighter around Olive so it was harder for her to get up again.
"Vi, I have to-"
"Shhh, I'm still sleeping," Vi murmured, interrupting her before she could give an excuse. Well, Olive couldn't argue with that — or at least she didn't want to. She let herself sink into Vi's body, and there they lay until they were interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Ol? Are you awake yet?" Caitlyn called. Olive sighed, knowing she needed to get up and deal with life when she wished she could just forget about it all and lay there with Vi forever.
"I'll be up in a minute!" Olive called back. Wordlessly, Vi let her go and the two of them began to get up. They needed to be ready.
The three of them ate breakfast together in Caitlyn's room, with her mainly watching Olive and Vi eat while she picked at her own food. The two of them seemed absolutely famished, Vi even more so than Olive. But it was Olive's hunger that made Caitlyn truly sad. She needed to change the subject.
"So, the next council meeting is tomorrow. Before then, you two will need to come up with a strategy to convince them about — what was his name? — Silco. I expect you'll need my help seeing as my mother is a council member."
Olive nodded and swallowed her large mouthful of food before speaking. "You're right. We won't get anywhere without a plan, or your help. But first...there's somewhere I need to go. Just for some closure," Olive said, looking at Caitlyn like she was begging that she wouldn't make her explain any further. Not right now. Thankfully, the latter nodded with silent understanding.
"Whatever you need."
As soon as they had stepped beyond the Kiramman's gate, Vi slowed to a stop and leant against a post. "So, are you going to tell me where we're going, or is it a surprise?" She smirked, clearly trying to lighten the mood.
Olive looked down nervously. "Unfortunately, it's nothing pleasant." She sighed and looked up, right into Vi's eyes. "We're going home. To my home." Vi instantly dropped her persona. Her demeanor softened.
"Oh." Her face looked heartbroken and conflicted, like she wasn't sure what to do. "If you want to go alone, I can-"
"No. I want you to come with me. Please." Olive's eyes were pleading — she couldn't do it alone. Vi nodded. Olive took a breath and continued. "Luckily, we don't have far to go. I lived right next door."
As they walked up to the gate that preceded Olive's once-home, it became clear that the neighborhood had been dedicated enough to their own looks to keep the house looking normal from the outside. But from what Cait had told her, nobody had actually bought the house or moved it. Not that anyone would want to, after what happened. Vi grabbed Olive's hand in silent understanding and squeezed it. Olive looked at her, and Vi gave a small smile of encouragement. With a deep breath, Olive raised her free hand and pushed open the familiar gate. Her home was smaller and less grand than the Kiramman's, but it still held the stature and upper-class expectations of Piltover. The front door opened easily in Olive's hand, and when she saw what had become of her home for the first time, she had to fight the urge to simply crumple to the ground and sob. All that came out was a harrowed gasp.
"Ol, if it's too much, we can always leave," Vi soothed, but Olive shook her head.
"No. I need to know. I need to see," she said, swallowing back the emotion that threatened to overcome her. She took her time taking everything in, from the wrecked overturned furniture to the decorations and memorabilia smashed on the floor. Traveling up the stairs, she could still see clearly the marks left by enforcers' boots as they had trampled through her home. She peered down the hall, and noticed something strange. The self portraits that her parents had forced her to sit for each year of her life lay untouched. They must have been deemed unimportant from their high, secured place on the wall. Vi seemed entranced as she gazed at them.
"These are...all you. Your entire life, right here," she murmured, transfixed. The more she looked at them, the more Vi noticed one specific detail. Each year, Olive's hair grew longer, sometimes unrestrained, sometimes confined in a braid or long ponytail. In what was clearly the most recent portrait, her hair was a loose, thick wave that almost floated around her being. Vi stared at this for a few moments, then turned and gazed at Olive's now cropped hair. It barely reached past her chin, and a lot of the time it was mostly tied up or pulled back. Vi contemplated this, wondering why she had left this behind with her own life. Olive noticed this and cleared her throat.
"I do miss it, sometimes. The hair. Living the kind of life where I can maintain something like that. But after I left, I...it was too much. Instead of being something I could appreciate, it was always in the way, always dirty or hard to manage. It was the last thing I had to leave behind." Olive had to force herself to turn away from her portrait. From the smiling girl that sat straight and clean. "It's just hair, anyways," she said, turning away and heading towards her bedroom. Her final destination. Vi wanted to stop her, to say something, but she wasn't sure what to say. What to do. Silently, she followed Olive.
Surprisingly, Olive's room was just as she left it. Destroyed, of course, but at least it was her own doing. Her clothes haphazardly pulled out of her wardrobe and thrown wherever if she couldn't bring it. Other belongings searched through and abandoned before she could have second thoughts. Her bed, dusty and messed about from her urgent bolting from her sleep. But there was one thing actually untouched. Her piano. Olive beelined for the grand instrument, sliding onto the bench like she always had. Her fingers ghosted over the keys, pressing random ones and watching the fingerprints she left in the dust. She could feel Vi standing adjacent to her, watching, but her focus stayed on the piano. Even her favorite piece was still open on the music stand.
"Through everything, this was something my mother and I could always have. Together," she said, talking to Vi without turning. "One of us would play, and the other would sing. Sometimes we would do both." A smile danced across her face as memories played in her mind. With a stretch of her fingers, Olive allowed muscle memory to kick in — and she began to play. The piano was slightly out of tune from being neglected for an entire year, but she didn't care. She let herself be lost in the music, forgetting her own trials and misery. The mistakes she had made and the mystery she had yet to solve. As the song came to an end, her finger lingered on the last key, letting it fade out as long as it could. Olive stood slowly and turned back towards Vi, but as soon as her hands left the keys she dissolved into wracking sobs, crumpling to the ground like a piece of paper. Her hand reached out to the piano to hold herself instinctively, but all that resulted was a slamming of a discordant mash of keys. Vi moved quickly and caught her as she fell before she was able to hit the cold ground. Olive sank into her arms as her sobs continued, unrelenting. She didn't feel the way Vi's jaw clenched, or how she resisted her hands tightening to enraged fists behind Olive's back.
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After what felt like forever, I finally got this chapter done! I am insanely busy right now so updates might be less set in stone from here on out, sorry! I hope everyone likes this chapter - it's a little more emotional but I really enjoy it. Don't forget to vote and comment! :)