Title: Amazing
Disclaimer: I do not own SVU or these characters (darn it!) nor am I making any money off them (darn it!). No infringement intended.
Fandom: Law and Order: SVU
Pairing: Alex/Olivia
Rating: PG-13 / T
Summary: Alex is not sure what kind of reception she'll get when she gets home. Just an innocent little bit of fluffy fluff.

Amazing

Alex stood outside the door to the apartment, her hand on the doorknob. She knew she had really pissed off the squad today and that included the member of the squad that was currently on the other side of the door. Alex had spent the afternoon replaying the scene, the argument, in her head and reviewing her stance.

And she concluded that she had been right. They had been wrong. She was sure of it.

But what she wasn't sure of is whether the squad...whether Olivia...would have reached that same conclusion. Knowing how stubborn Olivia could be sometimes, knowing how personally she took things, Alex had to conclude that the answer was unfortunately, 'probably not'.

So she had no idea what kind of reception she'd get now that she was standing outside this door. But, there was little sense in delaying it any longer. With a deep breath, she turned the handle and entered the apartment....

...and she was greeted with silence, but also unexpectedly with wonderful smells. With a frown she called out, "Olivia?"

Olivia came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. Then throwing the towel back into the kitchen, she turned back to face the blonde but didn't say a word, her face an unreadable mask.

Alex tried not to fidget. "Hi," she said quietly, returning Olivia's gaze, but not challengingly.

Olivia was quiet for several more seconds before responding, still giving nothing away, "Hi."

The awkward silence stretched until Alex broke it, addressing the aroma coming from the kitchen rather than the elephant in the room, "It smells great in here. What are you making?"

A fleeting confusion passed over Olivia's face at that as that wasn't what she had expected Alex to say or ask. But she recovered quickly and responded, "Lasagna. I just took it out of the oven."

Alex frowned, "When did you have time to make lasagna?"

Olivia crossed her arms, "Well, someone really pissed us off at work today. Pissed *me* off at work today. And after that, it was obvious everyone was tired and annoyed and needed a break. So, Cap'n sent El and me home early. It wasn't a suggestion."

Alex nodded slowly, reading Olivia's hostile and closed body language but mildly confused by the small smile that seemed to be tugging at the corner of Olivia's lip. It gave her a glimmer of hope. But she continued to gingerly avoid the heart of the matter. "I see. So you came home and made lasagna?"

Olivia, arms still crossed, leaned on the wall at the kitchen entrance and crossed one leg over the other. Despite herself and the situation, Alex couldn't keep the notion of how sexy Olivia was from popping into her head. Her mind was snapped back to the present, however, when Olivia spoke, "Well, first I went for a run to blow off some steam and to think about some things. Then I came back here and decided to make dinner. And then," Olivia paused to take a deep breath, "While it was baking I ran down to the bodega and picked those up." Olivia inclined her head toward the dining room table.

Alex looked in the direction Olivia indicated and her confusion deepened when she saw the bouquet of flowers lying there. Looking back at Olivia she asked, "Flowers?"

Olivia just nodded.

Alex looked back at the flowers. And when she then looked back at Olivia, a small and rueful smile had found its way to the detective's face.

Alex, with an internal sigh of relief, hoped the expression, the flowers meant what she thought they meant. But she had to be sure, "And....who are the flowers for?"

Olivia straightened herself, pushing off the wall, uncrossed her arms and walked over to stand in front of Alex, "The same person dinner is for."

"Oh, yeah?" Alex swallowed hard, Olivia's proximity always got her heart beating a little faster.

Olivia reached up and moved a piece of hair off Alex's forehead, "Yeah. You see, this person who pissed me off at work?" Olivia paused and looked Alex in the eye. After Alex raised her eyebrows in a sign that Olivia should continue, Olivia took a hold of Alex's hands in her own and looking at their joined hands rather than Alex's eyes continued, "It turns out, she was right. I know that now. Actually, I think I knew it at the time, which only pissed me off more, of course," Olivia chuckled a little to herself as she said this, then concluded, "And, and I guess I just wanted her to know that I know. And... and that I'm sorry."

Olivia's quiet confession and apology was greeted by silence. And when that silence stretched into several long seconds, Olivia nervously shifted her gaze up to Alex's face.

And what she saw, what she saw made all the nervousness and any uncertainties disappear.

Alex's eyes were bright, her lips pulled in between her teeth, obviously trying to keep several unshed tears at bay. Olivia smiled tenderly and released one of Alex's hands in order to bring her hand up to cradle Alex's jaw, trying to express her sincerity through her actions and her eyes.

Alex brought her own hand up to place it over Olivia's. Finally she spoke, trying to find the right way to express how she felt in that moment, "Have I ever told you how amazing you are?"

Olivia let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, knowing by Alex's statement she was being forgiven and relieved in that knowledge. She leaned in and placed a light kiss on Alex's lips; and then another. In acceptance of the forgiveness and in gratitude of the same. She lightly wrapped her arms around the waist of the blonde facing her, pulling their hips together but leaning back to keep their upper bodies separated. She then cocked her head to the side and looked up, as if contemplating Alex's last question, as if trying to remember whether Alex had ever said such a thing or not. Finally she looked back at Alex. "No, I don't think so," she said with a teasing smile, though they both knew that wasn't exactly true.

"Never?" Alex asked, pretending to be astonished, happy they could let the afternoon's anger and the evening's tension slip away and be replaced with playfulness.

Olivia continued the game, "Nope, not once."

Alex dipped her head and kissed Olivia's neck, "Not a, 'wow, this tastes amazing' after taking a bite of something you've cooked?"

Olivia resisted Alex's words as well as her wandering lips, "Nope."

Alex kissed the bottom of Olivia's chin, her tongue flicking out for a quick taste, "Never a, 'you're an amazing detective'?"

Olivia laughed and squirmed at the ticklish feeling of Alex's tongue, "Never," she continued to play along.

Alex kissed Olivia's jaw and the side of her mouth, lowering her voice, "How about, 'you're amazingly beautiful'?" she whispered, the mood shifting.

Olivia, feeling the mood shift, swallowed hard before simply shaking her head.

Alex left a trail of kisses across Olivia's cheek to her ear and whispered into it, her tone still playful but also undeniably enticing, "And never an 'oh my god that was amazing' as I lay panting next to you in your bed?"

Olivia started breathing more heavily, but kept playing, shaking her head again.

Alex pulled out of Olivia's embrace so she could reach down and grab each of Olivia's hands in her own. She started walking backwards, down the hall towards the bedroom, smiling and eyes twinkling, "Well, how about we see if we can rectify that."

With a smile of her own, Olivia happily followed. The lasagna could wait.