"Where is she?" Olivia asked as she ran into the hospital ward.
"Calm down, babe," Emma told her, rubbing soothing circles on Olivia's back. "Look, Cassandra's over there,"
The two girls walked up to Olivia's younger sister, who was slumped in the chair outside the room. Olivia assumed that was the room her mother was in.
"Casey," Olivia ran up to her sister.
"Olivia, oh my god," Cassandra stood up to greet her sister, giving her a right hug. "Cass,"
Emma smiled warmly as Olivia's sister acknowledged her presence. "Hi, Cassandra. Is your mother alright?"
"She's been better," Cassandra shook her head solemnly. "But the doctor said her condition's stable,"
Olivia heaved a sigh of relief. "Do you know what happened?"
"I'm not sure what all the details of the situation are. From what I've heard, it was a hit and run case. Mum was on the way home from the grocery store...god, if I hadn't been so adamant on having pasta for dinner-"
"Hey," Emma placed a hand on Cassandra's shoulder, cutting her off. The younger girl looked at her in surprised, but Emma felt her shoulders slump as she calmed down. "It's not your fault. What matters is that she's fine now,"
Olivia nodded and smiled at the way her girlfriend was handling the situation. She didn't know what she'd do without her.
"Thank you," Cassandra told Emma gratefully. "I'm just glad someone saw her and called an ambulance before it got worse,"
"Does dad know about this?"
"Of course," Cassandra chuckled lightly. "I called him right after I rang you,"
"You called me first?" Olivia raised an eyebrow in shock. "Why?"
Cassandra scoffed. "Come on, Liv," she looked at her older sister in amusement. "I know how much she means to you. No matter what's happened in the last few years...I hope you know she cares for you too,"
"We all miss you," Mike, the girls' father, said as he walked up to them.
"Dad," Cassandra immediately engulfed him in a hug, the same way she did with Olivia minutes ago.
"How is she?"
"She's fine. Stable, the doctor said," Cassandra filled him in on the situation at hand.
As she did so, Olivia and Emma stood by them awkwardly, just soaking in the scene before them.
"You okay?" Emma whispered and made an attempt to hold Olivia's hand.
Olivia brushed her aside. "Yeah, I'm fine," she tilted her head at her father and looked down at her girlfriend's hand. "I'm sorry babe, not now,"
Oh, but how badly did she want to hold that hand. How badly she wished she could hug her girlfriend and have Emma comfort her in a peaceful silence.
Alas, now probably wasn't the best time.
"Sorry," Emma replied. "Habit,"
Olivia laughed softly and snuck a quick glance at the brunette. "Thanks,"
"What for?"
"For comforting me when we first got here. For telling my sister it's not her fault this happened. For being here,"
"It's my pleasure, my love. Always," Emma nodded. It was weird, not being able to just hold the raven-haired girl in her arms. But at least they were here, together.
"So, who's this?" Mike asked as he wrapped up the conversation with the younger Jauregui.
"Dad," Olivia spoke cautiously. "This is Emma,"
"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Jauregui. I'm Olivia's friend. We were finishing up a project when Cassandra called, so I thought I'd accompany your daughter here. I hope you don't mind,"
Emma held her hand out for Mr. Jauregui to shake.
Olivia looked at her girlfriend in awe. The way Emma spoke to her father was so smooth, so fluent. She wasn't necessarily lying; they had spent the day doing a project, but not when Cassandra had called.
Emma was simply...giving her dad the half-truth.
"Not at all," Mike took Emma's hand and shook it promptly. A sign of respect in his books. "As a matter of fact, thank you," he nodded.
Emma beamed. "Not a problem at all. It was the least I could do,"
Cassandra stood next to Olivia and looked at the two figures before them. "She's really something, huh?"
"Oh yeah," Olivia nodded in agreement. "If only mum and dad thought so too,"
"Dad sure seems to like her," Cassandra said, looking at the way their father spoke to Emma.
"Well, of course," Olivia agreed with that much.
"That's because she's 'just a friend'," she said, using air quotes. "He wouldn't feel the same if he knew she was my girlfriend,"
"You'd be surprised," Cassandra counted as Olivia looked at her incredulously.
"What are you talking about?"
"Well..." Cassandra spoke slowly, as if pondering whether or not she should continue with what she had initially wanted to say.
"And what are you two girls talking about?" Mike approached the sisters, seemingly having ended his conversation with Emma, who stood behind him with a slight twinkle in her eyes.
"Nothing!" Olivia was quick to jump in. She didn't want her father to question them, for she wasn't sure if she'd accidentally spill any information she would later come to regret.
Mike gave her a weird look, but shrugged. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right mija?"
Could she really, though? The last time a conversation like this took place was the day her parents found out about her sexual orientation. And that didn't end very well.
"Yeah," she lied, smiling as she spoke. "I know, dad. Thanks,"
And just like that, they're conversation came to an end. Olivia wanted so badly to run into her father's arms and feel the warm embrace she used to receive every single day.
Fuck, seeing her family in one place really made her realise how much she actually missed spending time with them.
If they were more accepting of her...maybe she could.
But how would she tell them?
"I'm going to get a drink," Emma said, making a move to the hospital's canteen. "You guys want anything?"
Both Mike and Cassandra wanted coffee. Seeing as how picky they were with their caffeine, Olivia decided to follow Emma and place their orders instead.
Besides, it gave her a chance to finally spend some alone time with her girlfriend.
"You're lucky dad only likes his coffee done in a certain way," Cassandra joked as the girls walked past her.
"Shut up," Olivia nudged her sister playfully, causing Emma to giggle.
•••
"How are you feeling?" Emma asked Olivia as they got in line.
"Better because you're here," Olivia smiled warmly. She really did love this girl.
"I'm glad," Emma sighed in relief, placing a hand on the back of her girlfriend's neck. "And I'm happy your mother's going to be okay,"
"So am I," the raven-haired girl replied honestly. "As much as my relationship with my family has deteriorated over the years, they still mean a lot to me,"
"I can see that. Speaking of family," Emma grabbed a tray from the counter. "I spoke to your dad- oh, I'll have an espresso, please,"
Olivia giggled and proceeded to place an order for coffee, not just for her father and sister, but for herself too.
"Go on," she urged.
"Right. I uh, spoke to your dad about...well, you"
Olivia raised an eyebrow when she heard what Emma had to say. "What about, exactly?"
"He asked me...if we were together. I didn't know what to say without outing you...again,"
Olivia should've seen this coming. It wasn't everyday she saw her family. And when she did, she had a girl with her. She supposed anyone would've put two and two together...and started assuming things.
"What did you say?" she asked curiously.
"I told him no, of course. I don't want to say anything that would put you in harm's way. Besides, he's your father. It wasn't my place to say anything you weren't ready to share,"
"I love you," was all Olivia could say. She didn't know how else she could ever thank a girl like Emma.
The brunette seemed to understand her in ways even she didn't. That really was something.
"Are you ever going to tell them? About us?"
Olivia thought about this for a moment. She paid for their drinks - and snacks, Emma was hungry - before answering.
"I want to," she said, staring into Emma's beautiful brown orbs. "But I don't know how,"
"You'll figure it out," Emma promised. "And I'll be here until you do. Every step of the way,"