"A Year in the Life"
Summary: CO. This story follows the relationship of Casey and Olivia through a year. Each chapter is a new month.
A/N & Disclaimer: I do not own SVU, or any other things that may be referenced throughout the course of this story. MY FIRST CO!!! You knew it was coming—I just had to wait for the right idea to come along! Please review!
January
It's a slow courtship, that of co-workers. It's like one that would be found on the Discovery Channel, the way that each individual dances around the other, not wanting to seem too interested in the other, while desperately hoping that their feelings are reciprocated. There is the ever-present possibility of an office fling, a "strictly sex" relationship, but when one of the parties involved feels that they may care for their co-worker in a way that involves more than purely lust, things become complicated.
"Complicated" is a word that is often thrown around when dealing with inter-office relationships, and the last thing Casey Novak wanted was for her relationship with Olivia Benson to become "complicated". She honestly felt that the potential for a long-term relationship was there. She was certain that had they met under different circumstances, by now they would have been half way to Guam on their honeymoon. The problem was, however, that Casey had no idea if Olivia felt the same way about her, or if she was even slightly interested in other women for that matter.
January is a time of new beginnings—starting with a clean slate. The weather—especially in New York is frigid, full of snow, and overall miserable. Olivia wished that the weather would let up, but above all she wished that starting over meant that she now had the courage to go after what she really wanted. She thought it was ridiculous that she could stare down the barrel of a perp's gun and not bat an eye, but when it came to issues regarding her relationship with Casey Novak, her knees shook. She was certain that had they met under different circumstances, by now they would have been half way to Hawaii on their honeymoon. The problem was, however, that Olivia had no idea if Casey felt the same way about her, or if she was even slightly interested in other women for that matter.
Olivia decided that if there was any hope for the two women to have any kind of relationship outside of work, they should develop a platonic bond first. Her birthday was coming in a week, and she decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to get together. Tomorrow morning, she would ask Casey to dinner for Saturday night. She fell asleep thinking about all of the possible ways she could ask her without coming off as a total creep.
It was Monday morning and Casey was not a happy woman. It was January 23rd and her boss needed her to arraign a suspect in a Rape-1/Murder-2 case by the 25th. The only problem: the SVU was no where near arresting a suspect. She knew deep down that the squad was doing all that they could, but as she strode confidently into the 16th precinct that morning, she was fuming. She swore that the first person who so much as looked at her funny was going to become very well acquainted with her fist. She walked in to see Elliot and Olivia doing paperwork.
"Detectives!" she yelled quickly, "Do we have any leads on the Daubert Case?"
"Hello to you too, Casey," Elliot said dryly, "No, I'm afraid we don't."
"Well why not?" she quickly retorted.
Olivia looked up from her paperwork and said, "We've hit a dead end, Case. I'm sorry."
"Well that's not good enough! I can't do my job unless you do yours correctly!"
"We'd be able to do our job better if you were capable of getting a warrant!" Olivia yelled back at her.
Oh no, Olivia. Not you. I did NOT want to be mad at you. "Just call me when you actually have a solid lead and I'll get you the warrant, okay?" Casey said meekly and walked out of the squad room slightly hurt.
Olivia ran after her.
"Casey!" she yelled, "Wait up! Look, I'm really sorry. I guess…"
"No, Olivia, I'm sorry. I know you guys are trying, it's just my boss has really been on my back about this case. Plus, I'm PMS-ing something awful this week."
Olivia laughed. "I hear you. You're preaching to the choir."
Both women laughed. "Hey, Case? It's my birthday on Saturday and I was hoping that you'd like to go out and celebrate with me?"
Casey was shocked. "Me? Are you sure? I mean, I'd love to."
"Great," Olivia smiled, "I'll call you later this week and set up a time and place?"
"Sounds great. Talk to you then." Casey started, "Oh, and Olivia?"
"Yeah Casey?"
"Get the bastard for the Daubert case already, ok?"
"Ok, Case."
And with that Casey turned around on her heel and sauntered into the elevator with poise. It was Monday morning, and Casey was a happy woman.
The rest of the week came and went quickly. Elliot and Olivia were able to arrest a suspect in the Daubert Case, and Casey arraigned him without a problem. She loved when things worked out perfectly, although those moments were few and far between.
But tonight, she felt that it was going to be another perfect moment, as she and Olivia were going out to celebrate the detective's birthday, and although she was almost completely sure that this couldn't in any way be construed as a date, she was happy that she was just going to get to spend a little extra time with Olivia. Now if she could only figure out what to wear…
Olivia was freaking out in the bedroom of her small apartment. She could not find anything suitable to wear! She had work clothes and sweats, but not much in between. She pulled out a knee-length black dress with green trim at the bottom and smiled. Perfect she decided. She slid it over her head and smirked slightly at the way the dress hugged her chest and hips.
Meanwhile, Casey had picked out a royal blue evening dress which complimented her strawberry blonde hair perfectly. She applied her makeup carefully, and headed out the door. She and Olivia had decided that it would be best for Casey to take a cab to Olivia's apartment where they would have some dinner, and from there they would walk a few blocks to a club.
The cab ride to Olivia's was torture. Casey could hardly contain her excitement as she quickly paid the cab driver, hopped out of the cab, and walked up to Olivia's stoop. She found Olivia's name on the tenant list and pressed the call button.
"Hello." Olivia's voice answered.
"Hey it's me. Unlock the door! It's freezing out here!"
"Haha, ok Case. Opening it up now."
Casey heard the click of the door and bolted inside. She practically ran up the stairs to Olivia's 5th floor apartment.
Olivia opened the door before Casey could even knock.
"Hey! Come on in!" she said warmly.
"Thanks! Happy Birthday!" Casey said as she leaned in to give her friend a quick peck on the cheek. "Here! I got you a present!" she said as she pushed the small box and envelope forward towards Olivia.
"Thanks, Case! I'll open it in a sec, but first, let me take your coat. What would you like to drink? I opened some wine for dinner."
"That sounds great, thanks Liv. You didn't have to cook on your birthday, you know."
"I know," Olivia said without turning around, as she continued to pour Casey some of the wine "I didn't. I had it delivered from the Italian place down the street." She spun around and for the first time saw Casey without her coat. Wow. She thought. Is this woman trying to kill me?
Casey laughed at Olivia's confession about the dinner and responded, "It doesn't matter to me! I'll eat anything!"
The two women comfortably sat and ate their dinner, talking about their pasts and their jobs…nothing out of the ordinary. Before long, they had completely devoured their dinner and decided that it was time to head out to the club.
"Hey Liv, where's the bathroom? I need to reapply my makeup."
"Down that hallway, second door on the left." She said with the smile.
While Casey was freshening up in the bathroom, Olivia noticed the gift that she hadn't yet opened. She tentatively picked up the small package with the card attached and started opening it…
Casey looked at herself in the mirror. Aside from her now-smeared lipstick, she was pleased with her appearance. She was glad she decided to dress up—Olivia certainly did. She absent-mindedly thought about how amazing Olivia looked while she smoothly put on more lipstick at played with her hair slightly.
When Olivia opened the card, she was shocked at what she read:
Dear Olivia,
Happy Birthday! Thanks so much for inviting me tonight. It means a lot to me. I like you a lot, Liv. I mean like really like you, and I feel like such a 12-year-old writing it in a note like this, but for some reason you make me nervous (that's not necessarily a bad thing).
I have no idea if you feel the same way about me, and if you don't, please disregard this note as poor judgment on my part and never think about it again. But, if you do feel the same way (even just a little bit), then maybe you'd be willing to give thie whole dating thing a try?
Again, Happy Birthday! And best wishes for a happy year to come.
Love,
Casey
Olivia was speechless as she opened the tiny box. It contained a beautiful pair of gold hoop earrings. She put them on immediately.
It was then that Casey emerged from the bathroom. She noticed that Olivia was not only wearing the earrings, but that her eyes were slightly glassy, as if she was going to cry.
"Olivia," Casey started meekly, "I'm sorry if it was too forward or rude or unprofessional. It's what I've been thinking about for awhile and…"
Casey was cut short by Olivia's mouth gently pressing against hers. It was a chaste kiss, one that could be considered innocent. Olivia slowly pulled away and smiled. Casey smiled right back at her.
"You still feel like going out?" Olivia said, "We could just hang out here—watch a movie, make some popcorn, you know the usual girl stuff."
"That sounds like a plan, Detective," Casey said strongly, "But I believe that I have some other activities in mind that most certainly do not fall under 'normal girl stuff'."
"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, won't we?" Olivia said with a wink, "But Case, I don't want to mess this up by moving too fast. So as much as it kills me, why don't we hold off on the sex for awhile?"
"Whatever you say, Liv."
And so the two women settled down on Olivia's couch, and eventually fell asleep in each other's arms.
A/N: so that's the month of January. Next up: February! Valentine's Day—and you know what that means—I might be inclined to give some smut a try. ONLY IF YOU REVIEW THOUGH, PEOPLE!