A/N: Yeah, yeah, I know it's a little late for a New Year's fic, but I lost this in the abyss that is my computer and found it. So we're all going to pretend like it's December 31, 2006 and read this as though 2007 hasn't happened yet. Also, I wrote this pretty fast, so if it sucks- which I'm sure it will- try to ignore that. Don't forget to review, my little time travelers. :)
Disclaimer: If Elliot and Olivia haven't done each other yet, I seriously doubt I own SVU. ;)
"I bet you five bucks Munch is going to kiss Casey when the ball drops."
"That's not fair, though. You men are…men. He probably told you he was planning on doing it."
Elliot and Olivia stood side by side leaning against the bar, each with a beer bottle in their hands, staring at Munch who was smiling at a giggling Casey. Elliot looked over at his partner and couldn't help but sweep his eyes over her body. She was wearing jeans and a sweater, but she still looked good as ever. To Elliot, Olivia could be wearing a paper bag and she'd still look as gorgeous as any woman wearing thousand dollar clothes.
Olivia tilted her head in Elliot's direction and noticed he was staring at her. With any other guy, she would've felt uncomfortable, but with Elliot she felt…embarrassed. Not a bad kind of embarrassed, but the oh-my-god-Elliot's-staring-at-me kind of embarrassed.
Elliot realized he Olivia was watching him and he cleared his throat a bit and turned his head back to Munch and Casey.
"So? You're a woman. You guys share more gossip than we do. You've got to know something." Elliot took a swig of his beer, glad he was able to remember where they left off.
Olivia swept her eyes over the officer-filled bar, when her eyes landed on Fin and Monique.
"I bet you five bucks that Monique's going to kiss Fin." She smiled smugly at Elliot as his jaw dropped a little.
"Fine. You're on." Elliot put out his hand and as soon as Olivia grasped it to shake, they both felt a shock run through their bodies. They quickly pulled their hands away.
"Sorry."
"Sorry."
"Damn carpet." Olivia smiled a little as she watched Elliot kick away the carpet beside him, brow furrowed.
The leaned back against the bar again and stood there in a comfortable silence. Elliot looked to his left where he noticed Cragen sitting by himself sipping a Perrier.
"This time of year must be hard for Cragen."
Olivia looked over at Cragen. "Why?"
"He doesn't have his wife anymore. He's got to spend every holiday without anyone, really."
"Yeah, I know how that feels." Olivia said quietly as she took another sip of her beer.
"You're telling me that Olivia Benson, female player extraordinaire, spends her holidays by herself? You've got to be kidding." Elliot said with a playful smile on his face.
"Nope, it's true," she stated with a shrug.
"Hell, if it wasn't for the free beer and the damn 1-PP-sponsored function, I'd be in my apartment right now eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's." Olivia told him nonchalantly.
"So you've never celebrated New Year's?" He asked a bit shocked at her confession.
"I've never seen the point of it, really." She shrugged again, keeping her eyes focused in front of her.
"'Never seen the point'? Liv, you've got to be kidding. New Year's is a way to celebrate a fresh start with your friends and family."
"What the hell are you, the New Year's Baby?" They both chuckled a bit.
"So you've never celebrated New Year's, not even as a kid?"
"I always spent New Year's waiting up for my mom to come in drunk, so I could put her to bed and clean up after her when she would throw up."
Elliot watched as Olivia bit her lip, reliving the memory. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Not this year." He smiled.
"Not this year." She echoed firmly, with a faint smile decorating her face.
"Olivia, wow, it's been a while." Both Elliot and Olivia turned to see Mike Logan, standing tall as always, his eyes sweeping over Olivia.
"Logan." Elliot muttered bitterly.
"Stabler." Logan spat back, just as bitterly. He brought his eyes back to Olivia.
"Can I buy you a drink, Liv?"
"Olivia. And actually, I'm going to go freshen up. I'll be back." Elliot couldn't help but smile smugly at Logan at the fact that she only let him call her Liv. Olivia put down her drink.
"Don't kill him, El." She whispered to Elliot as passed him.
Both men watched Olivia's retreating back, Logan's eyes further south than Elliot's, and waited until she entered the ladies room before turning back to face each other again.
"What do you want, Logan?"
"Excuse me?"
Elliot sighed impatiently. "What do you want from Olivia?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Stabler."
"That's crap and you and I both know it. There's more to it than just offering her a drink. If you're here because you're trying to 'get some', don't you even think for a second that I'm going to let you hurt her. I know how you are with women. You switch women like most people switch shirts. So there's no way in hell I'm going to let you do that to her."
Logan simply smiled. "You're right, Stabler. I wasn't here to just offer Olivia a drink. I was here for you." Logan took a step toward Elliot.
Elliot's face when from confusion and curiosity to shock and discomfort in a fraction of a second. "Oh, uh, Mike, you're a nice guy and all, but I don't, I don't, um, go-"
"No, Stabler! Geez, even if I was gay I wouldn't go after you. Listen, I'm just here to tell you that Olivia is an amazing woman."
Elliot raised an eyebrow. "I know that already."
"Well I hope you know that if you don't go after her soon, someone else will." Logan told him.
"Wait, what do you mean 'go after her'?"
"Don't play stupid, Stabler. Everyone sees the way you look at her. We all know there's something going on there. Just stop being a cop for two seconds and go after her. 'Cause the minute she finds someone else, you're going to hate yourself for it."
Elliot looked at Logan curiously. "When did you start caring so much?"
"I don't, not about you anyway."
"Yo, Mike, there's a bottle of vodka over here with your name on it!" A cop yelled at Logan.
"Alright, I'll be there," he turned back to Elliot. "Stabler, remember what I said." He turned to walk off.
"Logan." He turned to face Elliot. "Thanks."
He nodded and walked away. Pushing himself up onto a barstool, Elliot faced the bartender and asked for another beer.
"You scared him off, thanks."
Elliot chuckled and watched as Olivia sat down next to him. "It's what best friends are for, right?"
She laughed and as their eyes were about to lock, someone turned up the T.V. and told everyone to quiet down.
"This is it everyone, 2007's here in 5…" Dick Clark's muffled yell over the screams in Times Square echoed throughout the mumbling in the bar.
"Olivia's an amazing woman…" Elliot gazed at her as she leaned back, watching the T.V., bottle of beer in hand.
"4…"
"Everyone sees the way you look at her…" Elliot knew that he felt something more than just best friends and partners for Olivia. He knew it was something big, but he thought he was good at concealing it. Never did he think that everyone else knew.
"3…"
"Just stop being a cop for two seconds and go after her…" He blinked and watched as she pressed the beer bottle to her lips. He knew it was cliché, but at that moment, he would've given anything to be that beer bottle.
"2…"
"'Cause the minute she finds someone else, you're going to hate yourself for it…" Elliot knew that was probably true. Any and every time Olivia was about to leave the precinct to go on a date, Elliot would grill her with questions about the guy, trying to seem as though he didn't care.
"1…"
Elliot looked over Olivia's head and saw Logan nodding at him.
"Happy New Year!" Was heard all throughout the bar.
"Look, you owe me five." Olivia smiled nodded her head in front of them where Fin and Monique were kissing.
"Ah, yes, but look over there." Elliot nodded her head to Olivia's right where Munch and Casey were also kissing.
"I guess we're even then, huh?" She smiled.
"Yeah." He whispered.
The pair looked up at the T.V. propped up in the corner of the bar where images of couples kissing were flashing on the screen.
Elliot turned his head to face Olivia, whose face was tilted up toward the T.V. He leaned forward, softly placing his hand on her cheek, and slowly lowered his lips onto hers. They sat together on the barstools, tongues dueling gently for control, for a minute or so. When the need for oxygen became too much, they both pulled away, Elliot's hand still resting on Olivia's cheek and Olivia's hand resting on Elliot's thigh.
"You weren't betting on that were you?" Elliot whispered, smiling. She smiled broadly. As they were leaning in for another kiss, multiple loud chants of "You owe me fifty!" were heard throughout the bar.
Elliot and Olivia both smiled and ignored the calls. Elliot knew that this really was going to be a happy new year.