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Summary: It's Liv's birthday…

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Dick Wolf and NBC. Anything you recognize isn't mine! (:

Rating: T for language and (squee!) future E/O moments.

Olivia had barley been awake ten minutes and she already knew that her day would be outlined with petulance and coloured in with irritability. Because, as everyone knew, another birthday meant you were another year older.

She showered and got ready; all the while grumbling that birthdays should stop once you hit forty. It wasn't that she was particularly old, but she was definitely a decade older than she was when she first met Elliot.

And that, she realized, was the stem of her sour mood.

Because Elliot had been with her for a whole decade and not once, once had he wished her a happy birthday. It just wasn't something he did. To her, or anyone else, for that matter. Still, it bothered her. She wondered if he even knew the stupid date on which she was born. Would it be so hard, really, to remember that November fifteenth was a special day for her? Hell, she remembered his special day, but no matter how much she tried to get him to take a hint, he acted like his brain was thoroughly emptied. And she was seriously starting to believe it was.

Part of her, a very, very small part of her, to which she rarely paid attention, was telling her that maybe this year his eyes would fall on her desk calendar, and the maybe he'd get a clue. But the rest of her was scoffing off about how he was probably too busy reading

"A Guide To Responsible Parenting at forty-seven".

Oh, yes, she was going to be a royal bitch today…

It wasn't just that nobody wished her a good one, it was more that it made her feel even lonelier than usual. It made her realize that she really didn't have anyone who cared enough about her to keep track of those things. It made her realize how painstakingly careful she'd been not to let anyone close enough to her to develop that kind of relationship with. And how damn wrong she'd been to protect herself from heartbreak.

And, hell, now she was kind of past the age of going out and hooking up. Screw kind of, she was well past it. Plus, she didn't feel like bringing home some drunken thirty-something year old that was way to enthusiastic about getting lucky.

And what she really wanted was to bring home Elliot for her special birthday celebration. A devilish smirk plastered itself onto her face as she applied her makeup.

Her outlook on the day brightened considerably at that thought, and there were suddenly little steams of golden sunlight shining though the cracks in the thick, cotton ball storm clouds that were threatening to rain on her birthday celebration.

Of course, all that changed the moment she entered the squad room.

"Hey, Liv." Elliot was already sitting at his desk, Santa Clause mug of warm coffee resting in his left hand. Hers was already steaming on her desk, ready to be drunk. And even though Elliot had at least acknowledged her presence, he hadn't even looked up from his report.

And that just served to thoroughly piss her off.

Huffing, she slung her jacket over the back of her chair with maybe a little too much force. As she sat down, she wished she'd purchased that orange stress ball she'd seen at the store the other day. But, stress ball or no stress ball, there were still reports to be handed in, and phone calls to make.

And stress ball or no stress ball, Elliot was very damn lucky that she'd been able to contain herself. She was torn between decking him and jumping him. She froze, trying very hard to convince herself that her mind had not conjured up those thoughts.

Elliot was going about his business as usual, the same thing he did every year on her birthday. Maybe he did it purposely, she thought. Maybe he just ignored her birthday for the sake of knowingly getting her riled up, and then spent his evening laughing at her mental insecurity.

No, she corrected herself, Elliot wouldn't do that. He may have done some unintelligent things over the years, but Stabler wasn't stupid. And he wouldn't purposely do something to hurt her. No, Elliot was just…well, Elliot.

"Hey, Liv?" He called her name, and she considered ignoring him, thus letting him know she was pissed. But she decided against it. If he was going to remember her birthday, she wanted him to figure it out on his own.

"Yeah, El," She answered, adding a dash of exasperation to her tone, acting like she was in the middle of something and really didn't have time to talk to him. He smiled at her like he had some sort of inside joke, and she figured that he'd read her. Because they both knew she would do anything to get out of paperwork.

"What's the date? The sixteenth?" He had a pen ready, and her heart almost jumped into her tight throat. Would this jog his memory?

"The fifteenth," She answered in an even tone, trying not to betray how much she was feeling at the moment. In her haste to cover up any dumb expression she might be wearing, she forgot that her eyes were still fixed on him.

"Thanks." He said, his eyes darting down to his paper and then back at her and down again, like he was thoroughly confused. Or creeped out. She felt her blush rise to her cheeks, and hid her face. As soon as the embarrassment wore off, disappointment took its place. He hadn't remembered. She's told him the damn date and everything and he hadn't so much as flinched.

She chastised herself for getting her hopes up. Why would this year be any different? Unless someone had enlightened him as to what day her birthday was, he was still clueless.

"Liv?"

"What, El!" She kind of sucked at hiding her irritation that time. Elliot sat back in his seat, arms folded over his chest, smug smile and raised eyebrows; silently telling her to chill the fuck out, in a way only a Stabler could pull off.

"I just wanted to know if you were up for a drive. I've got to get something upstate, thought you might want to get away from paperwork for a bit."

She narrowed her eyes. It was a trap. She knew it. Elliot never did that kind of shit.

"What?" She blinked twice, impatiently waiting for him to explain.

He chuckled, making fun of her confusion. Then he stuck a handsome smile on his face. The kind that gave her an urge to kiss it off him. And then it turned mysterious. "I've got to get something and I'd enjoy the pleasure of your company today. Better?"

She ducked her head as, yet again; a deep red stained her cheeks. "Yeah, okay." She spoke softly, her throat tight with an emotion she couldn't quite place. "Let's go."

Elliot smiled and pulled on his jacket, and she mimicked his actions. Side by side they strode out of the precinct, both detectives with pleasant expressions plastered on their face, if only for the sake of the public.

But as natural as walking beside him was, Olivia couldn't help but think something fishy was going down. He was definitely up to something. Something she wasn't going to be let in on. Something he wanted her to be there for.

Something about her, something about today.

She totally couldn't help it when a shudder of excitement coursed through her body.