A/N: So I've decided to click on the little complete button but before the story comes to an end I'd like to thank all of you who have reviewed, favorited, and added this story to story alerts. It means a lot to me and I hope you've enjoyed the journey that our Cabenmichael girls have been on. :)

July 1993

Nearly a year had passed since Alex and Olivia had last spoken to each other and Olivia was looking like a shadow of her former self. She had been voted Most Desirable Girl by her senior class just a little more than a year ago, but now she was putting little to no effort into her appearance. After she found out that Alex had thrown away the toy dinosaurs she had sent her and was having casual sex with Dana, she decided to lose herself in her new job as a radio show host. That meant shedding her former image and her caring disposition. The hair that she had once spent an hour styling each morning now hung in her face in loose waves. She had let it grow past her shoulders and then bought a box of black hair dye so she could get rid of her original color. The only make-up she would wear is a tube of burgundy lipstick and some mascara that she bought at a drugstore after she had given away all of her treasured make-up palettes. All of her "preppy" clothes were donated to charity and she charged an entire wardrobe onto the credit card her mom gave her which consisted of tank tops, ripped jeans, flannel shirts, jumpers, ripped tights, and Converse that she then wrote on with Sharpies. Her number of piercings had increased from a single nose ring to a tongue ring and a belly button ring. She altered her appearance to forget about Alex and the girl she used to be, but the more she changed herself physically the more miserable she became. She wanted to be the girl she was in high school; the one who smiled in every photo instead of flipping off the camera like she did now. She wanted a steady girlfriend instead of a slew of nameless girls that she made out with behind the smoky, hole in the wall music venue that she frequently visited with Dylan and Josh. She'd always pick out the girl that most resembled Alex and then flirt with her until her catch of the night would suggest they go somewhere a little more private. They'd begin by making out behind the venue and then end up in the girl's apartment for a couple of hours of sex that never satisfied Olivia. She tried fantasizing about Alex, but she knew it was useless. No girl could ever be Alex. They didn't taste the same way Alex did or make the same noises she made when she came. Most importantly, they didn't hold her afterward and tell her that they loved her. Instead, Olivia would slip out around 3 a.m. and head back to her apartment to spend the rest of the night listening to music or crying about Alex. No names or numbers were exchanged and Olivia would often leave without saying goodbye.

Olivia had found out what Jenny and Becky had told Alex, but explaining it to Alex was no use. Abbie had called Alex the moment she found out, but Alex insisted that whatever had happened was for the best because there was no use in being in a relationship with Olivia if she couldn't trust her. That's when Abbie brought up the dinosaurs that Olivia sent and Alex told her that she had thrown them away because she was finished living in the past.

Olivia's friends had spent weeks trying to console her, but it was no use. She went to bed every night with the image of Alex having sex with Dana. She thought about what they were doing to each other at that moment. Alex was probably telling her how beautiful she was and wishing Dana would forget her rule about not dating freshmen and just ask her to be her girlfriend. She thought about Alex touching herself while fantasizing about Dana, but it dawned on her that she probably had no need to pleasure herself because she was probably getting enough pleasure from Dana.

Olivia didn't completely isolate herself from her friends, but she wasn't as outgoing as she used to be. She hardly talked to Abbie and Serena or any of her roommates other than Dylan because Dylan understood what she was going through. She didn't want to be around happy couples because she was she felt as if they flaunted their happiness in front of her and those who didn't flaunt their happiness took pity on her and treated her differently than they had in the past.

Her co-host Josh had recently graduated so Olivia was given control of the show which had been changed last month from the Rock Block with Josh and Olivia to Livya's Lixx. Once Josh had stepped down and given her control of the show, her boss started to brainstorm with her and they decided to make the show edgy and more female friendly. Olivia wanted to play the usual bands, but mix up the playlist with some Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, and Babes In Toyland. She was looking forward to losing herself in the show for another school year and her friends and family were already getting used to the idea of losing her, which is why it was a surprise that she decided to go to Lollapalooza with her high school friends for Casey's going away celebration.

Casey had been accepted to the University of Washington at Seattle and instead of giving her a going away party, her parents bought tickets to Lollapalooza for her and her friends. She had set one aside for Olivia and told her that there was no pressure but they would love to see her.

When Olivia showed up at Casey's house, her friends hardly recognized her. They hugged her and told her that she looked great even though it was a lie. "She's so skinny now," Olivia overheard Serena say to Abbie. Connie couldn't believe she was the same girl that she had once dated and Casey couldn't believe that someone had actually out-grunged her.

"I survived the reign of Campbell," Casey said to Olivia when they were sitting alone on her bed.

"Cool," Olivia said nonchalantly, not even looking at Casey. Her mind was on Alex and whether or not she was going to show up. If she did, Olivia didn't know how she would react to seeing her again. She wondered what Alex looked like and whether or not Dana had changed her. Her mind went back to the innocence of making love to Alex and how the two of them always seemed to fit together so perfectly.

"Olivia?" Casey asked. It took a few seconds of lightly shaking her before Olivia came out of her trance.

"Yeah?"

"What's up with you?" Casey asked. "You're so…different."

"Things change, Casey," she responded, her eyes still looking away. She was trying to focus on her shoes, the pictures on the wall, anything other than her situation.

"Don't tell me this is all because of Alex," Casey said, frustrated. "I know your heart is broken, but you have to move on and focus on yourself for once."

"You don't understand."

"I don't understand? Really, Olivia?" Casey told her and Olivia noticed her voice was starting to sound angry. "You think you're the only one who had her heart broken by Alex Cabot? If I can recall this correctly, she left me for you after we were together for four years. Four years! Four years in comparison to your five months."

"I'm sorry," Olivia mumbled.

"What?"

"I'm sorry!" she shouted as she stood up on Casey's bed.

"You can sit down now," Casey said and started laughing.

Olivia let herself drop down on Casey's bed and held her knees up to her chin.

"How did you do it?" she asked Casey.

"Do what?"

"Get over her," Olivia said softly. "I just can't do it."

"You never really get over Alex," Casey teased. "But there's a support group that I joined. We meet every Sunday. It's for girls who have had their hearts ripped out of their chest by Alex Cabot."

"But you got over her so fast," Olivia reminded her.

"Having a gorgeous and limbercheerleader seduce me was a big help. In retrospect, I'm glad Alex broke up with me because Connie is…"

"Oh, you don't have to tell me, I know what that girl can do," Olivia said, finally showing signs of her former self. "I'm happy for you two."

"Thanks, so am I. It's just going to suck when I'm in Seattle and she's in Pennsylvania, but we'll make it work."

"Is Alex coming after all?"

"She asked about you," Casey admitted. "I told her you were coming."

"And?" Olivia asked, her voice sounding more perky than usual.

"She said she might drop by."

"Drop by? Drop by?" Olivia asked, frustrated. "This is Lollapalooza, you don't just drop by. So we're supposed to just wait here, wondering if she's going to show up? And even if she does show up, she'll probably bring Dana."

"Liv, chill. She's not with Dana. She stopped seeing her in October."

"And you guys didn't tell me?"

"You weren't talking to anybody, Olivia!" Casey reminded her.

"But this whole time, I thought she was having sex with Dana and it turns out she wasn't," Olivia said as she rocked back and forth with her knees clutched to her chest. "I've been torturing myself when I could have just…"

"Could have what?" Casey asked. "It's not in your hands; it's in Alex's. If she wants to see you, she'll see you."

The girls caught up for another hour before Casey suggested that they should load up their cars and get ready to head over to the hotel near the venue. Olivia wanted to wait for Alex, but her friends told her that it was no use. Alex had been expected to arrive half an hour ago and it wasn't like her to be late, so that must have meant she wasn't coming.

"We'll just sell the other ticket," Casey said nonchalantly.

"But it's Alex's," Olivia insisted.

"When is Alex ever late?" Abbie asked. "She isn't coming, Liv, but you still have us."

Olivia felt the tears start to form, but she didn't want her friends to see her cry over Alex even though they knew it's what she did on a regular basis.

"You're right," Olivia said, trying to change the subject. "I have the four of you and tomorrow I'm going to Lollapalooza."

"Where we will rock out to Alice In Chains and Rage Against the Machine," Casey said excitedly.

"And Babes In Toyland," Olivia added.

"Which we wouldn't have even known about if not for Tiffany," Abbie reminded her. "How a 7th grader is cooler than us is way beyond me."

"Everyone is cooler than you," Connie teased.

The banter between Abbie and Connie continued for another five minutes and Olivia enjoyed every second of it. She felt as if they were in high school again and she was still trying to convince Connie to tolerate Abbie. Then she looked around and remembered that someone was missing.

"She'll come around eventually," Abbie said as she held Olivia.

They had stalled for as long as they could before they grabbed their bags from the living room and loaded up the two cars they were taking. Olivia had just tossed her bag into the trunk of Serena's car when an all too familiar red Mercedes pulled up near Casey's house.

"Alex!" Olivia shouted. Her friends tried to control her, but she easily escaped Abbie and Casey's grip and ran to Alex.

"Liv!" Alex said excitedly and made her way over to her. When they met up on the grass in Casey's front yard, Alex jumped onto Olivia and tackled her to the ground. "Baby, is it really you?"

Olivia examined Alex's babydoll dress and sorority cardigan. Her glasses were now replaced by contact lenses and she was wearing more make-up than she had before. The awkward girl she had once known had been replaced by an alluring young woman, but she knew deep down she'd always be her Alex.

"You look so…different," Alex and Olivia said in unison.

"I missed you so much," Alex told her. "I've been thinking about you nonstop. I just didn't call you because I was just so ashamed of how I acted in the fall. I know you didn't cheat on me, Olivia. I know Jenny made that up, but I was so focused on what could be happening instead of what was actually happening."

"Save it," Olivia said, pressing a finger to Alex's lips. "We can talk about it later. Right now, I just want to take in the moment."

"Those two are so pathetic," Abbie said to the other girls as Alex and Olivia were making out on the grass. "The plan worked perfectly. They fell right into our little trap."

"What trap?" Connie asked.

"We set this whole thing up," Casey told her girlfriend. "They're both too stubborn to do it themselves, so we decided to intervene. We told Olivia Alex was coming because they only way she'd show up is if there was a possibility she could see Alex. We told Alex Olivia wouldn't be here because if she knew Olivia was coming, there's no way in Hell she'd show her face here. But we told Olivia that Alex knew she was coming so she wouldn't give up hope."

"We've been screwing with their heads for the past two weeks," Abbie said.

"See, Lollapalooza is a powerful thing," Casey began. "It brings people together. Case in point, those two who are now groping each other on my front yard."

"Come on, you two!" Connie shouted. "It's time to go."

"No," Serena insisted. "I wanna watch."

"Why?" Abbie asked. "This is kid's stuff compared to what we do in our apartment and what I'm going to do to you tonight in our hotel room."

"One thing's for sure," Serena began. "Alex is getting some of Livya's Lixx tonight."

The End :)