Fix You Chapter 25

The carriage ride lasted over an hour. Amanda went around the front to pet the horses. She had always loved the big animal but had never been actually riding one before. Hopefully that day would come soon. She fed them each a carrot that Stanley gave her and felt how soft and gentle their noses were as they ate from the palm of her hand. She smiled and turned to Liv who was also smiling. "What are you grinning about?" Amanda asked suspiciously.

Liv chuckled. "You." she stated. "You are just too adorable for your own good." she kissed her temple and took a hold of her hand. Without the blonde noticing it, Liv slipped fifty bucks into Stanley's hand and gave him a warm hug. "Thank you so much, Stan. Give your wife my best, okay?"

"I will of course, detective. Enjoy the rest of your evening." again he saluted by tilting his hat, got back up and commanded the horses to move forward.

It was now almost four pm and they were both getting hungry, which according to Olivia's plan, was perfect. She could hear Amanda's belly rumble and smiled when she saw her blush. "We better feed that monster you have in there." Liv said and patted the blonde's flat belly. "Just follow me, my lady."

As Olivia was leading them towards their destination, Amanda began to feel awful familiar with her surroundings. The detective was leading her down the path to where she had once found Amanda beating the crap out of a tree. "Why are you taking me here?" she asked, a bit nervous of what was about to come.

"Patience is a virtue, my dear." the narrow trail ended and the small pond came in to view. Amanda stopped, her mouth open in awe and surprise. Just next to the water was a blanket, a picnic basket and a cooler already set up. The blonde frowned and turned towards Olivia.

"When did you... How did you... I mean, who did all of this? I've been next to you the entire time. When did you get a chance to do this?"

Olivia gently pulled her along down to the large outspread blanket and gestured for her to sit down. "I have my ways." she said and winked. The frown on Amanda's face told her that she wasn't convinced or satisfied with the answer. "John and Fin helped me organize this. They were busy little bees while we were enjoying our carriage ride." she got two glasses out, opened the cooler and found a bottle of champagne and popped the cork.

"I know that this place means something to you and I don't want to intrude or invade your privacy in a any way, but I thought it would be a perfect spot for a picnic." she held out a glass for the blonde and made a toast. "To a very beautiful, talented, amazingly stunning and accomplished woman, Amanda Rollins. I wish you a very happy and special birthday."

Amanda felt herself getting emotional and cursed herself for it. It had been a perfect day and, for once in her life, she felt truly happy and at peace. They each sipped their sparkling beverage. The lump in Amanda's throat, due to a whole range of emotions, made it hard to swallow. "Th... thank you." she rasped, "thank you so so much. I dont know what to say, I... I... I'm just... Wow!"

Liv smiled, brought her hand up and gently touched her cheek. "You don't have to say anything, sweetie. It's your day, your birthday and it is the least I can do. I'm honoured to spend it with you."

Amanda blushed at Liv's kind words. "Thank you for wanting to spend it with me." she said quietly.

Olivia kissed her flushed cheek tenderly. "Let's eat before it gets... warm." they both chuckled as Liv began to unload item after item from the cooler. There was a selection of cold meats with brown and white bread, a spring salad, another bottle of champagne, water, a mixture of fruit and berries and a chocolate mousse for dessert with whipped cream.

"Wow." Amanda stated while taking in the scene before her. "What else do you have in that cooler? A whole cow, in case we run out of meat?"

Liv laughed heartedly and got comfortable on the blanket before they dug into the goodies. "I've never had a picnic before." Amanda confessed. "It's nice."

The brunette swallowed and washed down her food with some water. "Well, we'll have to do it on a regular basis then. I'm glad you like it, sweetie." as they finished eating the sun began to set, making the water look like liquid fire. The light and colours from the sun reflected on to the pond, small ripples on the surface made the water look alive and ablaze. It was beautiful and Amanda could barely take her eyes off of it. She shivered slightly as a gentle breeze passed by and Olivia was quick to act, opening her arms and gesturing for the blonde to snuggle in for some warmth. "Come here." she said gently.

Amanda smiled shyly but scooted over, placing herself between Olivia's legs, resting her back against her front and they continued to watch the sunset. The detective kissed her temple and rubbed her hands up and down Amanda's arms, rocking them slightly from side to side. A few mintes passed and Olivia suddenly broke the silence. "Oh, I almost forgot. I have something else for you but you have to close your eyes."

Amanda looked at her suspiciously, narrowing her eyes. "What have you got up your sleeve, detective?"

Olivia grinned and wiggled her eyebrows. "You have to close your eyes or you'll never find out." Amanda did as she was told, a bit nervous about what was about to come. The older woman freed herself from the embrace and stood. "Relax, keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them."

"Yes, ma'am." Amanda said and saluted.

Chuckling, Olivia made her way to a nearby tree to retrieve the surprise she had told Fin to hide there. The thing she held in her hand would probably be an emotional thing for Amanda. She was taking a big risk by giving her this gift and she didn't know how the blonde was going to react. It could go both ways. She could totally flip out or accept it as it was. It could either make or break and Olivia just hoped for the first option.

She made her way back, relieved to see that her eyes were still closed, stopped right in front of her and took a deep breath, hoping for the best. "You can open them now." she whispered.

Amanda's eyes fluttered open and she instantly gasped at what Olivia held in her hands. A black, shiny, full bodied, Tanglewood guitar was resting in her hands, a big red bow was tied to the fret board and a capo was positioned on the first fret, ready to play. Her heart began to beat wildly and her breathing picked up. All kinds of emotions swept over her and she didn't know if that was good or bad. She hadn't played in so long and since her last experience with a guitar had been an awful one, she didn't know if she could even touch it. Another part of her wanted to rip the instrument from the detective's hands and play to her hearts content, she just didn't know which feeling outweighed the other.

Olivia felt like the time stood still. She could feel her own heart beat rapidly as she witnessed all the different emotions creeping over Amanda's face, her blue eyes never leaving the guitar. Now Olivia felt foolish. What had she done? She should've known better than to bring up bad memories and emotions. It was probably too soon for Amanda to face her fears and demons, especially in this way.

She was just about to turn, thinking that Amanda probably wanted nothing more to do with her, when she heard a soft voice. "Wait."

Olivia got down to her knees in front of the blonde, the guitar resting in her lap. "I'm so sorry, Amanda. I... I should've known that it would be too much too soon. I'm sorry, I..."

"No." the blonde suddenly interrupted. "It... it's okay. I... I'm just... I... I didn't expect this. I'm just a bit... overwhelmed that's all." she shakily stated and rubbed her sweaty palms over her jeans clad thighs. "I... I don't know what to say... or feel for that matter. I'm just a bit shocked."

Olivia placed the guitar next to her on the blanket, took Amanda's trembling hands in her own and looked her straight in the eye. "Don't let him win, Amanda. Don't let him have this hold on you. He turned something you loved into something ugly and I'm here to turn it all back to the way it should be. Don't let the bad memories win over the good ones, because if you do, then you'll only prevent yourself from creating new ones, and sweetie, I want you to have good memories. You've gone through too much pain and heartache to last a lifetime and I don't want that to stop you from living the life that you want. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere, sweetheart. I want to see you happy."

Amanda felt silent tears rolling down her cheeks. She went to wipe them away but Olivia beat her to it. "I just want to see you happy, baby. That's all I want." she whispered softly.

After hearing those words, coming from the person she had grown so attached to, all the negative and bad emotions seemed to slowly drift away and she tured her gaze towards the stringed instrument lying just next to her. She reached for it, caressed it's smooth surface, like a lover's caress, feeling the coolness of the wood against her palm. She untied the ribbon, positioned the instrument perfectly and softly strummed a G chord to see if it was tuned. Of course it was. Liv had probably seen to that as well.

The sound was full and rich. She could feel the vibrations under her fingertips as she continued to strum another chord, loving the way the sound passed through the hollow body, creating a perfect harmony of notes before she began to sing.

You breathed infinity into my world

And time was lost up in a cloud and in a whirl.

We dug a hole in the cool grey earth and lay there for the night.

Then you said, "wait for me we'll fly the wind,

We'll grow old and you'll be stronger without him" but oh,

Now my world is at your feet. I was lost and I was found,

But I was alive and now I've drowned.

So now I will be waiting for the world to hear my song

So they can tell me I was wrong...

But they weren't there beneath your stare,

And they weren't stripped 'till they were bare of

Any bindings from the world outside that room.

And they weren't taken by the hand

And led through fields of naked land

Where any pre-conceived ideas were blown away...

So I couldn't say "no".

You sighed and I was lost in you, weeks could've past for all I knew.

You were there blanket of the over-world and so I couldn't say,

I wouldn't say "no". But they all said, "you're too young to even know,

Just don't let it grow and you'll be stronger without him"

But oh, now, my world is at your feet. I was lost and I was found,

But I was alive and now I've drowned.

So now I will be waiting for the world to hear my song

So they can tell me I was wrong...

But they weren't there beneath your stare,

And they weren't stripped 'till they were bare

Of any bindings from the world outside that room.

And they weren't taken by the hand and led through fields

Of naked land where any pre-conceived ideas were blown away...

But they weren't there beneath your stare,

And they weren't stripped 'till they were bare

Of any bindings from the world outside that room.

And they weren't taken by the hand and led through fields

Of naked land where any pre-conceived ideas were blown away...

So I couldn't say "no".

(Missy Higgins, They Weren't There.)

The End.