11

olivia was swerving out of people's way on the ride back to her house after maddy's party. when she was almost half way home, however, her phone started ringing. it came in through the car's speaker form her phone being plugged in, making it easier to talk while driving.

"rue?" liv asked, answering and reading the contact name. on the other line, she heard heavy breathing.

"rue? what the fuck?" olivia pushed, starting to get nervous. she pulled her car off onto the side of the road, being invested in the conversation and wanting to make sure rue was alright.

olivia was a little high, but this interaction was quickly sobering her up.

"you're-you're at lexi's, right? for maddy's birthday?" rue asked. olivia sighed, happy to hear her voice. even if rue did sound panicked, she was talking somewhat clearly.

"everyone slept over, but i left. i didn't want them to notice i was high." she explained. rue nodded on the other line.

"well, can you turn around and meet me there?" she asked.

"i already started driving home and i-"

"god, olivia. will you please just turn the fucking car around and meet me at the fucking house? please?" rue asked some more, having a short fuse. olivia rolled her eyes and pulled her car off of the side of the road, already starting to turn around.

"okay. fine." she said.

"and don't tell anyone i called you." rue added on. olivia let out a loud sigh.

"you're lucky i love you, bennett." she shook her head. rue slowed down from running on the other line and nodded.

"yeah. yeah, i love you, too. see you soon." she said, not waiting for a reply and hanging up the phone.

it took a little while to get back, but liv got to cassie and lexi's house at the perfect time. half of the lights were off and half of them were on. olivia quietly crept where suze, maddy, kat, and cassie were sitting. she didn't see bb.

"liv? why're you back?" maddy asked, noticing the girl. everyone turned to look, and olivia struggled to come up with an excuse to be back so quickly.

"um, yeah. i, uh, didn't want to miss the party." she said, putting her hands up.

just then, they heard rue come into the house where olivia had just came back in. everyone walked out, eager to see what rue was doing there after hearing her voice.

especially liv.

"hey, rue!" maddy said, walking out first and pulling rue in for a hug. rue looked over maddy's shoulder and stared at olivia, liv giving rue a "what the fuck?" look after seeing how disheveled she was.

suze walked down the steps with a smile on her face as the rest of the girls greeted her.

"oh, my god. hey, rue. oh jeez. are you feeling okay?" suze asked. rue nodded.

"yeah." she said.

"you look terrible. i mean, really terrible." suze went on.

"yeah. i think i just have, like, a cold or something." rue tried. olivia didn't buy it.

"well, don't get me sick. i have a compromised immune system. but, otherwise, are you doin' okay? how's your mom? i was thinking about her the other day." suze said.

"yeah. she's good." rue nodded, yawning.

olivia looked down and noticed rue pressing her legs together, almost as if she was trying not to piss herself.

"and how's your sister?"

"yeah. good."

"you staying clean?"

"uh-huh."

"rue..." olivia said, confused, trying to butt in the conversation. rue looked over at olivia, but suze just kept going.

"yeah? bein' a good girl?"

"mm-hm."

"rue..." olivia said again. she was cut off by suze for a second time.

"how long have you been clean for?"

"uh, since the summertime."

"now, are you in aa or are you in na?"

lexi looked over at olivia and saw her staring at rue's pants, which got her staring at rue's pants as well. she couldn't help but notice rue's odd and out of the ordinary stance.

"rue. do you have to pee?" olivia asked, being the one to cut suze off this time. rue gave olivia a grateful look.

"yes! yes. suze, can i use your bathroom please?" rue asked. suze nodded, haulting her blabbering.

"absolutely." she said.

"thank you so much." rue thanked her, walking up the stairs.

"knock yourself out, sweetheart. it's nice to see you. you look great." suze continued, walking further down the steps. when she got close enough to lexi, she gave her a look.

"she's not doin' good." she said. all she earned was a dirty look from olivia, who was standing in between maddy and bb.

the door opened again, and olivia was surprised to see leslie standing in the doorway. based on the look on her face, it hasn't been a good night in the bennett house.

"leslie? leslie. hi, hi. come in." lexi said, opening the door further and moving out of the way. leslie gave her a thankful smile, and looked over at suze.

"suze. i hate to barge in like this, but is rue here?" she asked, visibly worried. suze nodded.

"she's upstairs in the bathroom. said she had to pee." suze said. leslie let out a sigh of relief. she then made eye contact with olivia, and leslie walked over and grabbed her hand.

"olivia jackson. jules and your friend elliot...they told me everything." leslie explained.

olivia let out a stressed sigh. if jules told leslie, then that meant that elliot told jules rue was on drugs.

it also meant elliot told jules liv was doing drugs, too.

which was not good.

"what do you-" olivia tried to ask, but leslie cut her off.

"i know rue relapsed and she's doing drugs." she said. olivia nodded, still trying to read leslie's expression to see if she knew about olivia or not.

if she did, she didn't say anything.

"rue relapsed?" lexi asked, taking a step forward. leslie removed her hand from olivia's and looked at everyone in the room, nodding.

just then, rue walked down the steps.

"oh, fuck. it won't ever fucking end." she groaned, sitting down on one of the stairs. leslie shook her head.

"this can't make you feel good, rue. living like this. lying to the people you love. being mean to the people you love. this can't make you feel good about yourself." she tried. rue shook her head.

"i don't care." she said.

olivia started to feel a little guilty. here rue was, a drug addict, relapsing and falling apart in front of her.

and she didn't do anything to stop it but join in.

"just fucking leave me alone. please." rue mumbled. leslie took a step forward.

"i know you're in pain."

"you have no fucking idea, mom." rue agreed.

olivia quickly wiped a tear from her cheek, happy no one noticed. she really did love rue. she didn't want to see her the way she saw her right now.

but, more importantly, she didn't want to be in rue's position in the future.

"let's get back into the car and let me take you to the hospital." leslie tried, continuing to slowly step closer. rue shook her head.

"i can't get clean. i can't do that shit forever." she went on.

olivia noticed cassie shrug.

"you don't have to. just...take it one day at a time." cassie smiled, suze nodding. she looked back at maddy and olivia, who both nodded their heads as well. maddy more than liv, but liv knew cassie was trying her best to be supportive.

but cassie regretted that immedietly when she saw the look on rue's face.

"hey, cass?" she asked.

"yeah?"

"i have a quick question for you." rue commented. cassie kept smiling.

"what?" she asked.

"how long have you been fucking nate jacobs?"

olivia's mouth fell open, and she slapped her hand over her face to cover it. cassie started to nervously laugh, and maddy looked back at kat and olivia in shock.

"wh-what, what, what are you talking about?" she asked.

"how long have you been fucking nate?" rue repeated.

"i'm not. what? i'm not." cass continued to nervously laugh, and all she could think was deny, deny, deny.

"what are you talking about?" maddy asked, speaking up for the first time.

"oh, i just-i, i saw her get in his truck, and then kiss him and drive off. that was like, what, like, uh, like a month ago?" rue confessed, looking
back over at cassie.

liv let out a small, astonished laugh and took a step back.

"are you kidding me?" maddy asked, staring at cassie. kat shook her head.

"cass, that's like, really bad." she said. liv nodded.

"yeah..." she added, slowly.

cassie started to cry and laugh at the same time, and when she didn't say anything, maddy understood.

"you're fucking nate? are you kidding me?" she asked again.

"no, i...i don't even know why she would say that." cassie laughed, pointing over at rue.

"you're lying." maddy said.

"yeah, can we just table this conversation?" suze suggested. lexi and olivia looked at each other with wide eyes.

"no, no. you expect me to stand there next to my best friend who's been lying to me about fucking my ex boyfriend? i'm literally gonna get violent!" maddy yelled, getting angrier and angrier by the second. kat grabbed maddy's hands and suze shook her head. liv took another step back.

"no. there is no need to get violent, okay? because we are having an intervention! stop it!" suze explained, talking sternly to the girls.

olivia looked over at leslie, who was talking to rue by the steps. she didn't know whether she should go over there or stay where she was. her attention was diverted back to maddy when she spoke up again.

"oh, you're crying? you're fucking crying? you fucking bitch. you're the one who's hurt?" maddy asked, walking to stand in front of cassie. kat tried to stop her, but olivia didn't. she just stood behind maddy and watched.

she didn't like cheaters, and even though maddy and nate weren't together, cassie still betrayed her best friend.

"you're the most self centered, idiotic person i have ever fucking met! you fuck my ex and you're fucking crying? are you fucking kidding me?" maddy went on, pointing her finger in cassie's face. leslie turned around, frustrated.

"i'm sorry, i'm sorry. but i don't give a shit who's fucking who, okay? if you're gonna keep talking about it, get out of the room." she said, sternly. maddy brought her hands together and stood next to cassie, trying to calm herself down. olivia raised her eyebrows at lexi.

"oh, period. you tell em." she said, nodding her head.

"liv, stop. what're you, fucking high?" kat asked, nudging olivia in the side. she gave kat a dirty look and shook her head, eyes wide.

"absolutely. you're being an animal." suze agreed, no one noticing the interaction between olivia and kat.

"i don't even know why you're believing her! she's a drug addict." cassie said, looking over at rue. olivia gave her a dirty look.

"shut the fuck up. don't talk about her like that." she said. even if it was true, cassie was the last person who should be talking shit right now.

"how long have you been fucking him? be honest." maddy pushed, wanting answers.

"maddy, let's just do it later." kat tried.

"kat, shut the fuck up! how long have you been fucking him?" maddy yelled.

when cassie didn't say anything, she looked over at rue.

"rue? when was this?" she asked, ignoring leslie trying to persuade rue to get into the car.

"right after new years." rue said. maddy's eyes got wider and she turned back to cassie.

"oh! you dumb fucking bitch! i'm gonna fuck you..don't fucking run away from me! you stupid fucking bitch!" she screamed, chasing after cassie up the stairs.

"beat her ass up!" olivia laughed, pointing her hand in the air and cheering maddy on. she was going to chase after them, but rue grabbed liv's hand and pulled her out of the house.

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