Title: Slow It Down
Pairing: Alex Cabot/Olivia Benson
Rating: K+
Author's Note: These characters aren't mine. If they were, things would be different, and I wouldn't have to worry about paying for college. They belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. Do I have that right? Anyways, the only things I own are almost a dozen textbooks, a light-up Pillow Pet, and a laptop I got for my birthday.
Author's Note 2: This is just a short one-shot written to Maroon 5's "Daylight". It takes place during "Ghost".
.
Here I am waiting; I'll have to leave soon. Why am I holding on? We knew this day would come, we knew it all along. How did it come so fast?
This is our last night, but it's late and I'm trying not to sleep 'cause I know when I wake, I will have to slip away.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The clock on the wall counts the seconds as they pass by, taking the last precious hours with them.
She's asleep in your arms, curled against you; her light breathing tickles your neck. You turn your head and press your lips to her forehead. Her blond hair still smells like the shampoo you keep in the shower because it reminds you of her. You trace the scar on her right shoulder with your left hand, hating it with every fiber of your being.
"I don't hate it anymore," she says. Her voice is thick with sleep and it makes you jump.
"I didn't know you were awake," you say.
"I don't hate it, Liv," she says earnestly.
You look into her eyes, still so bright after everything she's been through. "I do," you say. "It took you from me."
A beat, and then, "Would you change it?"
"Yes." Your answer is quick, no thought needed. "Would you?"
"No." Her answer is quicker.
"Why not?"
"Justice."
"I don't give a damn about justice if sacrificing it means I get more time with you."
"You say that now, Liv, in the cover of darkness, but when the jury finds him guilty tomorrow, you'll be happy."
Here I am staring at your perfection in my arms, so beautiful. The sky is getting bright, the stars are burning out; somebody slow it down.
This is way too hard 'cause I know when the sun comes up, I will leave. This is my last glance that will soon be memory.
"Are you staying?" you ask. "Are you staying when the trial ends?"
She's quiet for so long that you think she's fallen asleep. Then she sighs. "No," she says.
Hurt, anger, and resentment resonate deep inside you. "You're going back?"
"It's safer." Her voice is barely above a whisper.
You nod and pull her closer to you. Nothing can take these moments.
.