making amends and passing tests

✧

It had been a day or so since Eddie and everyone else left for Texas to fight the wildfires that were rapidly spreading in the Southern state. Eddie decided to take Liv up on her offer and let Christopher stay with her while he was away.

Olivia wouldn't lie, she was having a bit of anxiety being away from her boyfriend and knowing he was heading headfirst into danger and she wasn't there with him. But the time apart would do them some good, they honestly hadn't spent much time away from one another since the start of the pandemic and while he was away, she decided to focus on some tasks.

The first task she decided to check off her list was the conversation she desperately needed to have with Tyler.

Since Tyler was working remotely he suggested they meet up at a cafe where he was doing some work. He was typing up some documents when Olivia walked into the establishment and headed for the empty seat across from him.

He slipped off his headphones and smiled as she slid into the seat. "Hey, Liv."

"Hey. Uh, thanks for meeting me here."

He hummed and typed a few more things on his laptop before closing the lid shut to give Olivia his full attention. "Well, you did say this was super urgent."

"Because it is."

"Would it have anything to do with yours and Eddie's relationship?" Taking a glimpse at the shocked look on her face, he laughed and shamelessly nodded. "Yeah, I knew all about it."

"And you never thought to bring it up?" She asked.

"I was waiting for you to tell me and you took a lot longer than I expected."

Olivia was speechless, she wasn't sure how long he had known or how long even he chose to keep it to himself. Honestly, it wasn't even the way she meant for things to happen or for the situation to unravel the way it did.

"I know why you kept it from me," Tyler continued. "I don't blame you. I mean, my track record when it comes to you and other men isn't exactly great. But I'm not mad at you nor do I feel any ill will toward you because you're in a relationship with someone else."

"This isn't how the conversation was supposed to go," Olivia breathlessly chuckled. "You know I'll always care about you, right? Our lives have been so intertwined for years and just because I'm in a relationship doesn't mean we have to throw that away. With boundaries, of course."

"Of course," Tyler agreed. "I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that I've moved on because that's not true. I love you and will probably always have some type of love for you but you've moved on and it's time for me to move on too. The only thing we should be focusing on is our son and how our relationships may or may not affect him."

Olivia chose to disregard his comments pertaining to his love for her. Right now, their focus was on the child they share and that's about all. "I agree. Kai should and always will be our priority."

A playful smirk came across the lawyer's face as he stared at his ex-girlfriend. "Got any cute friends for me?"

"Well, I have one friend and you hate him. And unless your taste has drastically changed...then I would assume you're not interested in Buck."

"Yeah, not a fan of that guy."

Olivia briefly checked her phone and sighed. "Okay, I have to pick up Elisa and take her to the DMV, she is taking her driver's test today."

"Wow, driver's test," Tyler looked dumbfounded. "I feel like she was just a kid."

"The years have flown by pretty fast," Olivia agreed. "I'll see you later, Ty."

"See you later, Liv."

✶❤︎✶❤︎

When Olivia picked Elisa up from the house, straight away she could tell the teenager was nervous as hell about her driver's test, and honestly, she couldn't blame her.

The pandemic didn't just ruin her school experience but it also shut down the DMV for a while so everything was being constantly delayed once the place reopened. Elisa originally planned to get her driver's license toward the end of the summer but then the pandemic hit and her plans were postponed.

"Okay, do you remember everything I taught you?" Olivia questioned her younger sister.

"You mean everything Eddie taught me," Elisa countered. "You've taught me a lot but driving on the actual road was not one of them. Scaredy cat."

She wasn't entirely wrong, Olivia helped with her permit test and all of the other logistical factors that contribute to receiving a driver's license. But when it came to hopping on the open road and actually putting that knowledge to use, Liv was no help and that was where Eddie stepped in.

He ended up helping Elisa out since one, he was a lot more patient and levelheaded, and two, he didn't freak out every time the teenager put her foot on the gas.

"Yeah, I don't know what we would've done without him," Olivia murmured as she shut off the engine and passed over her keys. "Okay, go in there and make me proud. I'll be outside waiting."

"Pray I don't crash and burn."

"You won't!"

Olivia waited around thirty minutes outside of the DMV building since they were only allowing people who were in need of services inside of the building. When Elisa came into view, the teenager had a wide grin on her face and flashed her older sister a thumbs up before heading straight into the building, presumably to process paperwork and snap a photo for her license.

The moment Elisa exited the building she was waving the temporary license in her sister's face and jumping for joy. Honestly, it was the happiest that Olivia had seen her younger sister in a few months since she hadn't had much to be too happy about.

Olivia grinned and wrapped an arm around her sister. "Since you passed your test, you can drive to pick up the boys. Kai's at his grandmother's and Christopher is at his Tia Pepa's house."

"Gladly."

"I will do my best to not be a backseat driver."

Elisa, on the other hand, didn't seem too convinced as she rapidly walked to the car. "We'll see about that."

✶❤︎✶❤︎

It was nighttime when Elisa walked down the dark hallway of her sister's condo, she turned her head to the left and saw Christopher and Kai somewhere underneath their makeshift fort that they convinced her to help make earlier in the day. Then she wandered further into the residence to see her sister in the kitchen with the stove light on as she scrolled away on her laptop.

"What're you doing awake, Liv?"

Olivia felt her heart drop into her stomach at the sound of her sister's voice. "Jesus Christ, Elisa. You can't just scare me like that. I almost peed myself."

"Ew. I don't want to hear about your weak bladder." The seventeen-year-old ventured around the kitchen, yanked the freezer door open, and tore open a popsicle. "Why are you awake?"

"Couldn't sleep and that fort isn't very comfortable."

Silence encompassed the room, in the period, Elisa got up to grab another popsicle before joining her sister once again. But then the silence got to be too much for the teenager and she couldn't help but question her sister once more.

"What are you doing on your laptop, Liv?" The teenager asked the question like a needy child, vying for attention from their mother.

"I'm just online shopping. Now stop bothering me or I won't let you borrow these really cute shoes I'm ordering."

"You need a hobby," Elisa snorted. "How was your talk with Tyler the other day? I never asked."

"It was fine," Olivia shrugged. "He told me that he knew all along that Eddie and I were dating but he seemed completely fine about it. He did say that he still loved me but I can't blame him. I'd be in love with me too if I were him."

She crinkled up the wrapper from her popsicle and tossed it at her sister. "You're so unserious, Olivia."

Olivia let out a quiet giggle before taking a peek at the time. "It's pretty late. We should try and get some sleep."

Elisa nodded in agreement and the two sisters got up from the dining table to exit the kitchen when keys began to jingle and the door handle began to shake. Olivia shoved her younger sister behind her and looked around for something that looked remotely like a weapon but rather than being met with a stranger, Eddie walked in.

Olivia almost let out an embarrassing shriek until she remembered their children were still sound asleep in the living room. Instead, she surged forward and immediately wrapped her arms around her boyfriend.

"I missed you."

Elisa smiled at her older sister and Eddie before taking it as her chance to quietly slip out of the room to give the two some space.

"I missed you too, hermosa," Eddie quietly spoke as he took in the scene before his eyes. He got messages from his girlfriend updating him on everything that was going on back in Los Angeles but with stopping the fires and the exhausting drive back home, it didn't quite sink in. "You guys built a fort?"

"Elisa did most of the work. Why didn't you tell me you were on your way home?"

"I didn't think you'd be up. It's late."

"How was Texas? You saw your parents, right? Did everything go okay? Oh, I have so much to catch you up on..."

Eddie shut his eyes and it felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, it wasn't until Olivia rubbed her hand against his bicep that he snapped out of his daze. A soft smile found its way on the corner of his lips once he opened his eyes, Olivia came back into view, and he pressed a kiss to her forehead just to savor the moment a bit longer.

"I will tell you all about Texas later but right now, I'm just happy to be home."

"I'm happy you're home too."

——————————

authors note

- a filler chapter to bridge the crossover episode!

- Tyler's reaction👀 not what was expected but it was the growth that was needed! I think it was important to showcase his maturity in order to understand how much time has truly passed between the whole pandemic months and whatnot

- hope you all liked the chapter!

ps: if you're reading this after I've republished this part, i completely scrapped the storyline about olivia wanting a relationship with her grandparents. there wasn't much feedback from it and as I was writing a few more chapters, I realized it didn't fit in with the progression of the story either!