Close To Home - 21/?
Prologue Chapters 1&2
Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 5 Chapter 6
Chapter 7 Chapter 8
Chapter 9 Chapter 10
Chapter 11 Chapter 12
Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16
Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty-One
“Court will reconvene tomorrow morning at nine.” Petrovsky banged her gavel and everyone walked out of the courtroom to face yet another long evening. Once out of the courthouse, Kaitlyn looked up at her aunt and her father.
“You know… I was thinking,” she started. “I don’t think I want to be there tomorrow…”
“It’s okay sweetheart, you don’t have to be there,” Mark assured. When he moved to put a hand on her shoulder, she dodged it and moved towards Casey but regretted doing so when she saw the hurt look on his face.
Kaitlyn knew that her father was coming today. It took him a couple of weeks and a very persuasive Elliot to pull his head in but he eventually came around and put his issues aside long enough to be able to be there for his daughter. However, Casey thought it was two weeks too late and was none too pleased to see him show up and act like nothing had happened.
Casey caught her niece’s eyes. “You don’t have to be there,” she began.
“But…”
“But, hearing the verdict firsthand is different to hearing it from someone else. You get a different feeling, like a weight’s been lifted.”
“Yeah if it’s the verdict you want,” she argued.
“Even if it’s not. Alex talked you through that remember? Even if she’s found innocent, you’ve still faced her and put a label on her that will haunt her and stick with her forever. You’ve gained the upper hand.”
Kaitlyn sighed. “Can I sleep on it?” She asked quietly.
Casey smiled. “Of course.”
Kaitlyn nodded her head and eyed a taxi. She started down the steps to stop it and got in to go back to Casey’s apartment waiting for her father and aunt.
“You’ve certainly got a handle on her,” Mark said quietly as they walked down the steps of the courthouse.
Casey couldn’t let it slide. “Yeah. It happens when you stick around and support her. She learnt that she could count on me and opened up again,” she spat.
“I deserved that.”
Casey stopped and turned to face her brother abruptly. “And so much more!” She hissed. “How dare you walk out on your daughter and then show up weeks later as if nothing happened. She needed you Mark. She may not have wanted you but she needed you. To support her, to annoy and irritate her by never going away and asking if she was okay every minute of every day. To do all the things that I did because you were too self-absorbed to stick around and do it yourself!”
“Did it ever occur to you, Casey, that I was scared?”
“Yeah?” Casey asked. “So was I! I was fucking petrified; still am! So imagine what it is like for Kaitlyn and magnify that by an infinite number. This is not about us, Mark. It is about Kaitlyn. So you need to wake up and grow up other wise she will shut you out, which she is already in the middle of doing.” With nothing more to add to that, she stalked off following Kaitlyn into the waiting cab.
“You didn’t have to yell at him…” Kaitlyn mumbled.
The red head sighed. “I’m sorry, but I’m still really angry at him and I’m surprised you’re not.”
“I am.”
Mark slowly walked up to the cab and bent down, looking past Casey and at his daughter. “I’m going to head back to the hotel and freshen up. I was thinking maybe I could take you to dinner tonight?” He asked hopefully.
“I’m not really hungry.”
“You really should eat…”
“Well when I’m hungry, I’ll let you know.” Turning her gaze on to her aunt to avoid the hurt on her father’s face again, she said, “I’m exhausted. Can we go?”
Mark sighed. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning then.”
“Yeah.”
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“Do you think I was too harsh?” Kaitlyn asked when they got back into the apartment. The taxi ride was long, silent and awkward. Kaitlyn felt claustrophobic by it all and was more than relieved when the taxi came to a stop outside of Casey’s apartment.
“Weren’t you telling me how angry you were at your father?” Casey replied, slipping her shoes off and throwing her keys on the bench.
“That was you. I merely agreed…”
Casey paused and looked over at her niece. She walked over to her slowly, stopping in front of her and catching her eyes. “It’s okay to be angry.”
“I know that… I just… If it’s okay, why do I feel guilty for treating him the way that I did?”
“Because you have a conscience. You’re pissed at him for how he has behaved but he’s your father and you know that on some level, it’s not okay to treat him like that…”
Kaitlyn sighed. She nodded her head and slipped off into the spare bedroom, closing the door behind her, wanting to be left alone with her thoughts about the day’s events.
This had become a ritual with her niece after court let out. Usually she let her go, undisturbed. Today, Casey followed after her and knocked on the bedroom door. Once being invited in, she opened the door and walked in, sitting on the edge of the bed where her niece was laying on her back.
“Talk to me,” Casey said gently.
Kaitlyn looked up, confused. “I thought that’s what I just did?”
“I mean about how you feel after court.”
Kaitlyn raised a brow; this was new. She was torn. She wanted to open up to her aunt and let her know exactly how she felt but, at the same time, she just wanted to keep those thoughts to herself - after all, she had yet to reflect on her thoughts about today’s session in court. “I haven’t really thought about it myself yet.”
“You must have some thought and feeling though. You told us you didn’t want to be there tomorrow…”
Kaitlyn licked her lips and sat up slowly. “I’m scared,” she mumbled, unable to look Casey in the eye. “I’m scared about the verdict and I don’t want her face haunting me when it’s read out; guilty or innocent. That’s why I don’t want to be there tomorrow.”
Casey nodded her head and gave her niece a small smile. “I’ll call you tomorrow when court lets out and tell you the verdict,” she said gently. She took Kaitlyn’s hand in her own and gave it a soft squeeze. “Get some rest; it’s been a wild month.” When Kaitlyn nodded her head, Casey stood up and walked to the door.
“Casey,” Kaitlyn called out. She waited for her aunt to turn around. “Thanks… For everything…”
Casey smiled and walked back over to her niece, wrapping her arms around her for the first time in the month and a half that she had been in New York. She felt her tense. Just as she was about to let her go, she felt Kaitlyn’s arms wrap around her and return the hug, feeling her relax.
“Everything will be okay, Kaitlyn.”
She just nodded her head and slowly let Casey go. “I’ll see you in the morning, Case.”
“Yeah. Goodnight.”
“Night.”
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Olivia put the key in the lock and turned it quietly. It was three thirty in the morning and she was tired. She surprised herself when she was able to successfully turn the lock without making a sound. The celebration barely lasted when she jumped into the door, slamming it shut as she saw Kaitlyn sitting at the table with a mug of something in her hands. She cringed at the sound and checked to see if Casey’s door was shut - it was.
She quietly made her way over to the table and sat down at the opposite end, propping her foot up on the chair.
“Aren’t you supposed to be a tough New York cop?” Kaitlyn asked with a slight smirk.
“Doesn’t mean I still can’t be startled,” she replied with a smirk of her own. “Why aren’t you asleep?” She asked after a couple of beats.
Kaitlyn shrugged. “Sleep is overrated. I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” she said monotonously with a shrug of her shoulders. She took a mouthful of her coffee and stood up, walking into the kitchen. “Are you always back this late?”
Olivia smiled lightly. “Not always,” she answered.
“But a lot of the time, yes,” she concluded, coming back out and placing a mug of coffee in front of Olivia.
She nodded her head. “I’m sorry I missed the trial today…”
Kaitlyn scoffed and shook her head. “You didn’t miss much. A bunch of questions and answers; waterworks, a lot of objections… You know how it goes,” she said with a shrug.
“True.” She tapped her fingers on the mug, debating asking the question in her head - her curiosity won. “Did your dad show up?”
Kaitlyn nodded her head. “Yep,” she said slowly, not looking at Olivia. “He took a seat right next to us like everything was fine. He even grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze when she was on the stand, lying her ass off.” Venom dripped off of her words.
“Did you talk to him?”
Kaitlyn sighed. “Every time I opened my mouth I just seemed to snap at him.”
“The anger will subside eventually, but you have every right to be angry at him.”
“Yeah I know, Casey gave me that same speech when we got back…”
Olivia shook her head. “It’s not a speech, Kaitlyn.”
“You know what I mean. Casey’s already told me that, but it doesn’t make the guilt go away,” she said quietly.
“You have nothing to feel guilty for.”
Kaitlyn sighed. “Let’s change the subject before I slip into a total sense of déjà vu. This isn’t a conversation I’d like to revisit in less than twelve hours…”
“Putting your walls up again,” Olivia noted with a smirk. “Is that a Novak thing?”
“I’m probably the worst offender, but yes it is a Novak thing and it’s not to be taken personal. It’s just that sometimes it’s all we know how to do when we don’t know how to deal…”
“Then it comes to the foreground -”
“And you get a reenactment of what happened at the precinct the other week,” Kaitlyn finished, taking a mouthful of her coffee.
“How did Casey react to your father showing up?”
“She held it together until we got outside.” When Olivia’s eyebrows shot up in question, she elaborated as best she could. “I kind of took off down the stairs to get a taxi. Dad must have said something to set her off because when I looked behind me to see if they were there, they were still on the steps. I couldn’t hear what it was she was saying, but I could hear her voice.”
“Did you say anything to her when she got into the cab?”
Kaitlyn shook her head. “Not much. Dad followed soon after and started talking and all feeling of wanting to defend him disappeared.”
“Give it time. The anger you’re feeling will fade away; you’ll end up forgiving him.”
“Forgiven, but not forgotten though, right?” Kaitlyn asked; a quick smirk appearing on her lips before it disappeared.
“What are you two doing still awake?” A groggy voice asked. Kaitlyn jumped and lifted her head to see Casey standing in the doorway of her bedroom, arms crossed loosely over her chest.
Kaitlyn and Olivia looked at each other, each waiting for the other to speak. It was Kaitlyn who spoke first. “Couldn’t sleep. Didn’t try actually. Not tired.”
Olivia stood up and walked over to her girlfriend, wrapping her arms around her waist. “I just got home. Did we wake you?” She asked.
Casey shook her head. “No. I turned over and couldn’t feel you. Then I heard mumbles and I got up to tell Kaitlyn to turn the television down… low and behold there you were,” she said with a smirk.
Olivia chuckled and gave her a light kiss on the lips. “Go back to bed, I’ll be in soon.”
Casey nodded her head sleepily. “Night guys.” Without waiting for a response, she turned around and walked back into her bedroom, and into bed. Olivia shut the door after Casey and walked back to the table.
Kaitlyn smiled lightly; her first real smile in the month she had been in New York. “Don’t let me keep you up.”
“You’re not…”
“I’m kind of tired anyway, and you’ve got an early start tomorrow no doubt. Poor Casey’s barely seen you since she’s gone back to work and I’m not helping any by keeping you up for a deep and meaningful at,” she paused to check her watch, “a quarter past four in the morning.” At Olivia’s skeptical look, she added, “It’s okay. Get some sleep. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you at the same time, same place tomorrow morning and we can pick it up from there.”
“You’re sure? Because if you want to talk some more -”
“I’m positive. I just told you; same time same place tomorrow morning, guaranteed.”
Olivia searched Kaitlyn’s face for any signs of a lie; that somewhere inside she really wanted Olivia to stay behind to talk some more. She saw nothing. So, reluctantly, she nodded her head in agreement. “Okay. You should get some sleep too. Don’t you have to be up for court in the morning?”
“I’m not going.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not sure I could handle it.”
“You’re a strong girl. You’re more than capable to handle it,” she said with a smile. She picked up her mug and put it in the sink, walking back out and into the bedroom. “Good night Kaitlyn.”
“Good night Olivia,” she replied, letting the older woman’s first name slip out with ease.
Chapter 3 Chapter 4
Chapter 5 Chapter 6
Chapter 7 Chapter 8
Chapter 9 Chapter 10
Chapter 11 Chapter 12
Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16
Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty-One
“Court will reconvene tomorrow morning at nine.” Petrovsky banged her gavel and everyone walked out of the courtroom to face yet another long evening. Once out of the courthouse, Kaitlyn looked up at her aunt and her father.
“You know… I was thinking,” she started. “I don’t think I want to be there tomorrow…”
“It’s okay sweetheart, you don’t have to be there,” Mark assured. When he moved to put a hand on her shoulder, she dodged it and moved towards Casey but regretted doing so when she saw the hurt look on his face.
Kaitlyn knew that her father was coming today. It took him a couple of weeks and a very persuasive Elliot to pull his head in but he eventually came around and put his issues aside long enough to be able to be there for his daughter. However, Casey thought it was two weeks too late and was none too pleased to see him show up and act like nothing had happened.
Casey caught her niece’s eyes. “You don’t have to be there,” she began.
“But…”
“But, hearing the verdict firsthand is different to hearing it from someone else. You get a different feeling, like a weight’s been lifted.”
“Yeah if it’s the verdict you want,” she argued.
“Even if it’s not. Alex talked you through that remember? Even if she’s found innocent, you’ve still faced her and put a label on her that will haunt her and stick with her forever. You’ve gained the upper hand.”
Kaitlyn sighed. “Can I sleep on it?” She asked quietly.
Casey smiled. “Of course.”
Kaitlyn nodded her head and eyed a taxi. She started down the steps to stop it and got in to go back to Casey’s apartment waiting for her father and aunt.
“You’ve certainly got a handle on her,” Mark said quietly as they walked down the steps of the courthouse.
Casey couldn’t let it slide. “Yeah. It happens when you stick around and support her. She learnt that she could count on me and opened up again,” she spat.
“I deserved that.”
Casey stopped and turned to face her brother abruptly. “And so much more!” She hissed. “How dare you walk out on your daughter and then show up weeks later as if nothing happened. She needed you Mark. She may not have wanted you but she needed you. To support her, to annoy and irritate her by never going away and asking if she was okay every minute of every day. To do all the things that I did because you were too self-absorbed to stick around and do it yourself!”
“Did it ever occur to you, Casey, that I was scared?”
“Yeah?” Casey asked. “So was I! I was fucking petrified; still am! So imagine what it is like for Kaitlyn and magnify that by an infinite number. This is not about us, Mark. It is about Kaitlyn. So you need to wake up and grow up other wise she will shut you out, which she is already in the middle of doing.” With nothing more to add to that, she stalked off following Kaitlyn into the waiting cab.
“You didn’t have to yell at him…” Kaitlyn mumbled.
The red head sighed. “I’m sorry, but I’m still really angry at him and I’m surprised you’re not.”
“I am.”
Mark slowly walked up to the cab and bent down, looking past Casey and at his daughter. “I’m going to head back to the hotel and freshen up. I was thinking maybe I could take you to dinner tonight?” He asked hopefully.
“I’m not really hungry.”
“You really should eat…”
“Well when I’m hungry, I’ll let you know.” Turning her gaze on to her aunt to avoid the hurt on her father’s face again, she said, “I’m exhausted. Can we go?”
Mark sighed. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning then.”
“Yeah.”
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“Do you think I was too harsh?” Kaitlyn asked when they got back into the apartment. The taxi ride was long, silent and awkward. Kaitlyn felt claustrophobic by it all and was more than relieved when the taxi came to a stop outside of Casey’s apartment.
“Weren’t you telling me how angry you were at your father?” Casey replied, slipping her shoes off and throwing her keys on the bench.
“That was you. I merely agreed…”
Casey paused and looked over at her niece. She walked over to her slowly, stopping in front of her and catching her eyes. “It’s okay to be angry.”
“I know that… I just… If it’s okay, why do I feel guilty for treating him the way that I did?”
“Because you have a conscience. You’re pissed at him for how he has behaved but he’s your father and you know that on some level, it’s not okay to treat him like that…”
Kaitlyn sighed. She nodded her head and slipped off into the spare bedroom, closing the door behind her, wanting to be left alone with her thoughts about the day’s events.
This had become a ritual with her niece after court let out. Usually she let her go, undisturbed. Today, Casey followed after her and knocked on the bedroom door. Once being invited in, she opened the door and walked in, sitting on the edge of the bed where her niece was laying on her back.
“Talk to me,” Casey said gently.
Kaitlyn looked up, confused. “I thought that’s what I just did?”
“I mean about how you feel after court.”
Kaitlyn raised a brow; this was new. She was torn. She wanted to open up to her aunt and let her know exactly how she felt but, at the same time, she just wanted to keep those thoughts to herself - after all, she had yet to reflect on her thoughts about today’s session in court. “I haven’t really thought about it myself yet.”
“You must have some thought and feeling though. You told us you didn’t want to be there tomorrow…”
Kaitlyn licked her lips and sat up slowly. “I’m scared,” she mumbled, unable to look Casey in the eye. “I’m scared about the verdict and I don’t want her face haunting me when it’s read out; guilty or innocent. That’s why I don’t want to be there tomorrow.”
Casey nodded her head and gave her niece a small smile. “I’ll call you tomorrow when court lets out and tell you the verdict,” she said gently. She took Kaitlyn’s hand in her own and gave it a soft squeeze. “Get some rest; it’s been a wild month.” When Kaitlyn nodded her head, Casey stood up and walked to the door.
“Casey,” Kaitlyn called out. She waited for her aunt to turn around. “Thanks… For everything…”
Casey smiled and walked back over to her niece, wrapping her arms around her for the first time in the month and a half that she had been in New York. She felt her tense. Just as she was about to let her go, she felt Kaitlyn’s arms wrap around her and return the hug, feeling her relax.
“Everything will be okay, Kaitlyn.”
She just nodded her head and slowly let Casey go. “I’ll see you in the morning, Case.”
“Yeah. Goodnight.”
“Night.”
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Olivia put the key in the lock and turned it quietly. It was three thirty in the morning and she was tired. She surprised herself when she was able to successfully turn the lock without making a sound. The celebration barely lasted when she jumped into the door, slamming it shut as she saw Kaitlyn sitting at the table with a mug of something in her hands. She cringed at the sound and checked to see if Casey’s door was shut - it was.
She quietly made her way over to the table and sat down at the opposite end, propping her foot up on the chair.
“Aren’t you supposed to be a tough New York cop?” Kaitlyn asked with a slight smirk.
“Doesn’t mean I still can’t be startled,” she replied with a smirk of her own. “Why aren’t you asleep?” She asked after a couple of beats.
Kaitlyn shrugged. “Sleep is overrated. I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” she said monotonously with a shrug of her shoulders. She took a mouthful of her coffee and stood up, walking into the kitchen. “Are you always back this late?”
Olivia smiled lightly. “Not always,” she answered.
“But a lot of the time, yes,” she concluded, coming back out and placing a mug of coffee in front of Olivia.
She nodded her head. “I’m sorry I missed the trial today…”
Kaitlyn scoffed and shook her head. “You didn’t miss much. A bunch of questions and answers; waterworks, a lot of objections… You know how it goes,” she said with a shrug.
“True.” She tapped her fingers on the mug, debating asking the question in her head - her curiosity won. “Did your dad show up?”
Kaitlyn nodded her head. “Yep,” she said slowly, not looking at Olivia. “He took a seat right next to us like everything was fine. He even grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze when she was on the stand, lying her ass off.” Venom dripped off of her words.
“Did you talk to him?”
Kaitlyn sighed. “Every time I opened my mouth I just seemed to snap at him.”
“The anger will subside eventually, but you have every right to be angry at him.”
“Yeah I know, Casey gave me that same speech when we got back…”
Olivia shook her head. “It’s not a speech, Kaitlyn.”
“You know what I mean. Casey’s already told me that, but it doesn’t make the guilt go away,” she said quietly.
“You have nothing to feel guilty for.”
Kaitlyn sighed. “Let’s change the subject before I slip into a total sense of déjà vu. This isn’t a conversation I’d like to revisit in less than twelve hours…”
“Putting your walls up again,” Olivia noted with a smirk. “Is that a Novak thing?”
“I’m probably the worst offender, but yes it is a Novak thing and it’s not to be taken personal. It’s just that sometimes it’s all we know how to do when we don’t know how to deal…”
“Then it comes to the foreground -”
“And you get a reenactment of what happened at the precinct the other week,” Kaitlyn finished, taking a mouthful of her coffee.
“How did Casey react to your father showing up?”
“She held it together until we got outside.” When Olivia’s eyebrows shot up in question, she elaborated as best she could. “I kind of took off down the stairs to get a taxi. Dad must have said something to set her off because when I looked behind me to see if they were there, they were still on the steps. I couldn’t hear what it was she was saying, but I could hear her voice.”
“Did you say anything to her when she got into the cab?”
Kaitlyn shook her head. “Not much. Dad followed soon after and started talking and all feeling of wanting to defend him disappeared.”
“Give it time. The anger you’re feeling will fade away; you’ll end up forgiving him.”
“Forgiven, but not forgotten though, right?” Kaitlyn asked; a quick smirk appearing on her lips before it disappeared.
“What are you two doing still awake?” A groggy voice asked. Kaitlyn jumped and lifted her head to see Casey standing in the doorway of her bedroom, arms crossed loosely over her chest.
Kaitlyn and Olivia looked at each other, each waiting for the other to speak. It was Kaitlyn who spoke first. “Couldn’t sleep. Didn’t try actually. Not tired.”
Olivia stood up and walked over to her girlfriend, wrapping her arms around her waist. “I just got home. Did we wake you?” She asked.
Casey shook her head. “No. I turned over and couldn’t feel you. Then I heard mumbles and I got up to tell Kaitlyn to turn the television down… low and behold there you were,” she said with a smirk.
Olivia chuckled and gave her a light kiss on the lips. “Go back to bed, I’ll be in soon.”
Casey nodded her head sleepily. “Night guys.” Without waiting for a response, she turned around and walked back into her bedroom, and into bed. Olivia shut the door after Casey and walked back to the table.
Kaitlyn smiled lightly; her first real smile in the month she had been in New York. “Don’t let me keep you up.”
“You’re not…”
“I’m kind of tired anyway, and you’ve got an early start tomorrow no doubt. Poor Casey’s barely seen you since she’s gone back to work and I’m not helping any by keeping you up for a deep and meaningful at,” she paused to check her watch, “a quarter past four in the morning.” At Olivia’s skeptical look, she added, “It’s okay. Get some sleep. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you at the same time, same place tomorrow morning and we can pick it up from there.”
“You’re sure? Because if you want to talk some more -”
“I’m positive. I just told you; same time same place tomorrow morning, guaranteed.”
Olivia searched Kaitlyn’s face for any signs of a lie; that somewhere inside she really wanted Olivia to stay behind to talk some more. She saw nothing. So, reluctantly, she nodded her head in agreement. “Okay. You should get some sleep too. Don’t you have to be up for court in the morning?”
“I’m not going.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not sure I could handle it.”
“You’re a strong girl. You’re more than capable to handle it,” she said with a smile. She picked up her mug and put it in the sink, walking back out and into the bedroom. “Good night Kaitlyn.”
“Good night Olivia,” she replied, letting the older woman’s first name slip out with ease.