When Liv faced a loss that would rewrite her entire life, she stepped away from her work. A year and a half later, she returns to the BAU in search of normalcy; so she can finally move on. On a new team, Liv is immediately thrown into the game of ca...
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Liv rolled over, being blinded by the morning sun. Days off of work were few and far between, and Liv woke a little confused, as if her body was so against her ever getting rest. The AC vent above the window was responsible for her swaying curtains, shielding the sun tauntingly before letting it spill through again. While she knew she should get up, she was far too comfortable under the plush of her bedding to try to shoo the rays away. Instead she let them sway, watching the way squiggles of light danced across the white of her sheets beside her.
She fell asleep every night on the left side of the bed, just like she always had. She was surprised to think that her body even allowed her to somehow roll towards the middle every night in her sleep. It had been a long time since she didn't leave room for one more.
She found question in the silence, listening to only the chirping of birds outside her window. She remembered the way the light through that window danced across his red hair, firey ginger locks of ember igniting with every catch of golden warmth.
Ben used to be the hardest to wake, and the only thing that would do it was a mug of coffee right under his nose. Liv used to loathe the time every morning that she couldn't stay until he stirred, just for the sake of bearing witness to the upmost act of peace.
And here she was now, waking up on only a schedule of her own and rolling over to the right side of the bed, because the coolness of the untouched sheets was so refreshing. Sometimes it felt like another lifetime when things were so different, sometimes it felt like just yesterday.
Had it not been for a standing appointment with Sydney, Liv was unsure she would've gotten out of bed at all. When she dragged herself out the door, she thought longingly of its satin covers.
"Glad to see you, Liv. You've been holding up okay?"
Liv sunk into the cushion of the couch, giving a half hearted yes, before saying, "Just been busy at work."
"And that's all going well? The long days aren't straining you too much?"
"I think it's been good for me, actually. It keeps me moving forward."
"Well you do seem to be moving forward." Sydney nodded with heavy agreement. "I'm going to be honest Liv, I'm very impressed you've taken such a big step as this."
Liv furrowed her brow, hesitating for a moment in silence before questioning her. "I'm sorry, what do you mean?"
Sydney naively said like she was proud, "You took off your necklace, with your wedding ring on it."
Liv's stomach sunk to her toes, and her hand flew up to grab at her neck before she could even think. But her neck was bare, and there was no chain adorning it, let alone a ring. "No, I didn't." She spoke weakly, staring at the floor as her mind ran a million places at once. She tried to remember the last time she had felt the cold metal in her hands; the last time she had twirled her fingers around it thoughtlessly. She couldn't remember.
