it was a long night for olivia. when she got home, she made herself a coffee, put on a face mask and layed on her bed, working the jade roller on her face to clear her head.

she started watching shameless and was about to doze off to sleep before she got a call. it was from an unknown number, but she answered it anyway.

"hello?" she asked, hesitantly.

"can you meet me outside?" nate questioned
on the other end of the phone.

liv got up from her bed and looked out the window. there nate's stupid truck was, him waiting inside for her.

"what're are you, fucking michael myers? you can't just show up to people's houses and expect them to do what you want." she said.

"can you just come out to the truck?" he asked again.

liv sighed and put her hand on her temples.

"there's nothing you could say to me to make me come outside right now." she told him. even though she couldn't see him, she knew nate was either rolling his eyes or clenching his jaw.

"it has to do with your nudes."

okay. maybe there was something you could say to get liv outside.

olivia was wearing a tank top and shorts for bed, but she threw on a zip up really quick to try and cover herself from both nate and the pouring rain.

when she climbed into the truck, he looked down at her and her up at him. it was awkward between the two, and neither of them wanted to say the wrong thing. the rain outside pattered on the windows, the two barely able to see through them.

olivia looked down at the part of the dash board that was in front of nate and saw a file there; the same file he had given her that one night in the gym. the same file that forced her to make a false statement to the police.

"i remember when i gave this to you when you were practicing for cheer. you don't cheer anymore, do you?" nate asked as he picked up the file, seeing liv notice it. she shrugged, not looking away.

"sometimes."

he could tell she was uncomfortable. she looked rundown and tired, like she would rather be anywhere else but next to him.

can you blame her?

"i wanted to give this back to you and apologize...for everything." nate said, handing the file out to liv.

she didn't take it right away. she looked at it, then up at nate, then at the file again before finally taking it and making sure all of the pictures she saw before were still there.

"i don't understand." she said, staring down at the photos with a questioning look. nate nodded. he didn't think she would.

"i'm making my rounds tonight. i know it might not seem like it, olivia, but i do like you. not like, i wanna just fuck you or anything. but i admire how driven you are. and how you don't let guys affect you." he explained. still, olivia looked confused.

"what's this have to do with anything?" she asked.

"jayson told me you were high the other night. i know you're going through a lot. your parents, your exes. it, uh, made me realize you don't deserve to be tied to any of this anymore." he went on.

olivia stared at nate, then looked back down at the file she held in her hands. she felt bad, mainly because she didn't trust him. and, if this was a sincere apology like he was claiming it was, she still didn't fully believe him.

which made her question if she was the fucked up one, or if he was.

maybe both.

"you know, i've hated you for the longest time. i used to not think there was a single good thing about you. not an ounce of good in you. but..i appreciate this. maybe your not as bad as i thought you were." olivia told him. he chuckled, staring at his hands in his lap.

"if you've seen what else i've done tonight, i doubt you'd say the same." he slightly joked. liv didn't crack a smile or anything, just shrugged.

"doesn't matter. thank you for this."

she went to put her hand on the handle to let herself out, but part of her zip up fell off her arm. nate saw a small bruise there that almost looked like a hand print, like someone held her down.

"liv..." he said, stopping her. the door was open and her feet were dangling down, but she slightly turned to look and hear what else nate had to say.

he looked at the bruise and then back at olivia, wondering if he should say anything or not.

he decided not to.

"just...have a good night." nate said instead.

olivia gave him a small smile and fully jumped out of the truck. before she shut the door, she decide to ask nate something that had been on his mind.

"did you know jayson did what he did? sending that girl there to hookup with fezco?" she wondered, holding her hair above her head to stop rain from hitting her face.

nate looked a little taken back. he opened his mouth and raised his eyebrows, shut his mouth, then opened it again.

"no. i didn't." he said. liv nodded, thinking some more. she gave him another smile and walked back to finally shut the door, but nate spoke up.

"if i did, i would've stopped him. that's pretty fucked up." he added.

"thanks." liv muttered.

she shut the door. she went in her house, turned on the bathroom light and stared at her arms in the mirror. there layed a bruise on each arm, right where jayson held his hands. a bandaid covered the scrape on her knee, but it still hurt.

tears welt up in her eyes, seeing herself like that, but she didn't let them fall. she wiped them, shoved the file under her bed, and went to sleep.