olivia told herself that the day wouldn't be that bad when she saw dean, he was chatting it up with her mom when she reached them. she was a little late but wes hadn't shown up either.
she took her seat between dean and ezra, flattening her skirt with the palm of her hand as dean poured her a glass of water. "we're just waiting for you brother. heaven knows how tardy you two can be." diane took a sip of her wine, looking at her youngest.
"well maybe you're just early, time is just a social construct that puts us into a prison of the mind." olivia tapped her fingernails on the glass, watching her mother as the woman stared back at her. diane never knew what to say when olivia said things like that.
"are you high?"
"are drugs real or is the world fake and drugs help us see the truth?" ezra cleared his throat and dean took a sip of his drink, trying to hide his laugh. olivia liked getting under her mother's skin and it was easy for her. everything she says annoys her mother.
"so, mom," ezra started, trying to change the subject. "did you know olivia is at the top of her math class and she's a genius when it comes to history." ezra looked over at olivia but she was staring at her glass, the water swirling around as she made the glass sway around.
"well, her father was a know it all too." he was always her father, never diana's husband or even ezra and wes' dad. she was just like a father, it was like a verdict, like she had been declared guilty for a crime that she didn't do. the sins of the father have passed on to the daughter.
"he used to write poetry too, did you know that?" ezra took a sip of his wine, looking over at his sister who shrugged. "don't remember much about him." that was a lie, she couldn't forget him.
"wow, so you're the mini version of him." dean reached a hand over and clutched her hand in his. "she has the good and the bad, god help me when this one has to go to college." diana laughed, so did ezra and dean but olivia just plucked a piece of bread from the plate on the middle of the table. "oh are you sure you want that bread? remember, a moment on the lips is forever on the hips." olivia put the bread back down, her mother smiling at her like she was doing the right thing.
"but i'm not even sure i wanna go to college." before diana could say anything, wes walked through the doors, waving eagerly at his family and dean. diana smiled at her son, her middle child, her golden child. ezra always thought he was the favorite, but anyone with eyes could tell that wes was her pride and joy. while olivia was her father's girl, wes was hands down a mamma's boy.
"hello beautiful people," he placed a kiss on his mother's cheek and took a seat between her and ezra. olivia was preparing herself for the worst dinner imaginable when the door opened again but this time a party of four walked in.
"you guys don't have to do that." hanna marin was on crutches, her friends had offered to take her to dinner to get her mind off everything that happened, trying to make her forget about a. "we want to." aria's arm was being clutched by hanna who was struggling to stay on her feet. "and looks like we came to the right place." spencer's teasing tone makes the girls all turn their heads to where olivia, ezra, dean and diana were all staring at them.
"i don't think i've ever seen her legs before." hanna could see olivia's white boots sticking out from underneath the table. "she's so pale." spencer furrows her brows, "like a sick, victorian child." she adds shortly, making aria shove her a little. she doesn't say anything, "that's my sort of girlfriend you're talking about." aria turned to her friend who said nothing again and when she turned back, she was met with a cheery wesley fitzgerald. "hey aria."
"hey wes."
"wanna come sit down with your sorta girlfriend?" he offered, looking from her to hanna who stood at her side. "we can make room for one more." he smiled when his eyes met the blonde's. "she does," hanna answers for her, shoving her friend slightly towards the dark-haired boy stood in front of her. "come find us when you're done." emily spoke songly as she and her friends went to find another table and aria stayed behind with wes.
"the blonde is cute." he threw an arm around aria who just looked at him, before her gaze went over to the table that was already going back to their conversation. dean, ezra and diana were talking, olivia was sipping her water in silence. "she looks comfortable." aria spoke sarcastically.
"she's not a big talker when mom is around." when aria looked over at wes, he was staring over at his sister. olivia was a different person when her mom was around, and he had to prepare aria for the changes that she might see in olivia when they got to the table. "she's also in the closet with mom, and so am i. we're all very straight when diana is around." that was easier said than done.
"but she's so very loudly gay." that was true, once when they were all home for thanksgiving and while everyone else rested after dinner, wes and olivia went on their annual walk around town and came home stoned out of their minds. olivia kept telling him that she was gay, he had to keep her away from their family so she wouldn't out herself.
"not around mama bear." wes pushed aria and himself towards the table, looking around for an extra chair for aria but he has no luck so when they get to the table, he pulls olivia's seat out. "guess who stopped by." he pushes her down on oliva's lap and takes his seat. aria yelped slightly but smiled when she looked over at olivia who had no emotions on her face.
"someone who needs a seat." diana commented, olivia seemed to be bothered too but she didn't say anything. "she goes by aria actually." dean tried to contain his smile, his gaze moving over to where olivia and aria sat but olivia didn't seem as excited as he thought she would be. "she might need to get a chair." diana waved a waiter over and he came with a chair for aria. she took a seat between dean and olivia who were both looking at one another as if they could look through her.
"that's better." diana smiled at her only daughter, not knowing aria is holding the girl's hand under the table. it made olivia calm down, gave her a taste of comfort. "so aria, are you staying here for dinner?" ezra asked, looking at her over his sister, the sixteen-year-old shook her head, feeling like that was the right answer. "that's a shame, i'm just glad my daughter has friends." diana looked at aria like being friends with olivia was like doing something for charity. "you two need to get paid for your kindness, olivia can be so hard to be around sometimes." diana laughed and olivia laughed with her, harder. no one else laughed but wes cleared his throat to change the subject.
"so you wanna tell mom how you two know each other?" wes took a sip of his water and when his mother turned to look at him, olivia took a sip of ezra's wine. "school friends." she answered, washing down the wine with her water when she felt aria squeeze her hand softly.
"just friends?" wes teased and aria cleared her throat. "best friends." she corrected and slowly got onto her feet. olivia didn't want her to go, didn't want to lose her but she had to let go. "i should probably go but i'll see you at school." the rest of the dinner consisted of ezra and dean talking about school while olivia and wes had their own little conversations on the side. he stopped talking once, in the middle of his sentence and touched his fingers to his nose and she did the same. when her fingers came back, they were stained with blood.
"fuck," she grabbed her napkin, pinching her nose shut when the table turned to her, "language." diana noted but olivia waved her off, getting out of her seat and walking to the rest room. she found aria at the mirror, reapplying her lip gloss. "is that blood?" aria threw her things down on the counter, making room for olivia to sit down. "no, it's corn syrup." aria didn't laugh at olivia's joke, she went to get toilet paper which she used to wipe the blood away when olivia removed her napkin. "i drown in your blood, the umbilical cord in choking me." aria's words made olivia laugh.
"did you just quote me at me?" that was one of the first few lines in one of her poems, a mother's chokehold. "you're very quotable." she smiled with olivia's blood on her fingertips. "you know, your mom's very interesting."
"i love her, you know and i think she loves me too." olivia watched as aria rinsed the napkin and threw the bloody toilet paper away and by then, olivia's blood had stopped pouring. "i'm just not sure we like each other." olivia's furrowed her brows, the rest of her face remained neutral, but her frown stayed there, stuck on her face. love is a powerful thing, loving someone can be such a pure thing but that was the thing about love, it was never what you expected it to be. it could be better, but it could be worse.
"well, i think she's missing out on not knowing you." when aria turned back to olivia, she started wiping the dried blood away. "has she even had one of your chocolate chip cookies?" aria pitied anyone who hadn't tasted something olivia made. "she doesn't know i bake." she doesn't know olivia at all. "when was the last time you to spoke before she got here?"
"she called me on my birthday."
"so last year?" aria asked, the blood was gone now and she was tossing the napkin away when she stood in front of olivia who nodded, her head hurt but she pushed that to the side. she wondered why aria was still in the bathroom with her, why she didn't go back to her friends. olivia didn't deserve her. "wow, i would lose my mind if i never spoke to my mom." aria let out a small laugh, olivia followed her lead. "i actually feel bad for diana, a year without talking to you sounds like hell." olivia nodded, "yeah, i am pretty awesome." that was what olivia said, all she thought about was the therapist she had when she was fourteen who told her everything aria was telling her now, it felt like a lie then and it feels like a lie now.
"you should probably go back to your table before your friends send a search party." olivia placed a hand on top of aria's which she pulled up, placing a kiss on the back of it. "yeah. is should but are you alright out there?" aria asked before holding olivia's hand.
"yeah, don't i seem alright?" olivia was smiling but it didn't seem sincere.
"your nose was bleeding because you were talking to your mother. that doesn't seem alright." olivia laughed, she did that a lot when she didn't know what to say and then she leaned over and kissed aria. "i have to go back out there but you never have to worry about me, aria." she kissed her cheek and left the bathroom.
when aria eventually leaves the bathroom, catching a glimpse of olivia, she knew the redhead wasn't fine. she wondered why olivia didn't trust her but in olvia's head, she knew she couldn't burden aria with her problems. it would be too cruel so as aria walked past her sort of girlfriend to go to her table, both their hearts broke a little.