Setting: New York City
Year: 2012/2017
…
Alex leaves again on March 31, 2012, and Olivia only wishes she could be surprised. It's not that it doesn't hurt to watch her walk into the airport – on the contrary it hurts even more to watch her leave this time than it did all those years ago when her life was in danger; at least she didn't have a choice that time, but since then she's left and come back so many times that Olivia almost expects it now. It seems like every time things are going well for them something comes along and fucks it all up (Olivia isn't surprised by that either; that's pretty much the story of her life).
She sends Olivia pictures from the plane of rolling hills, snow-covered plains, cities that look like bright dots in a sea of darkness, all captioned the same way: "Love you. Miss you. Wish you were here." (If Olivia didn't know better, she'd think Alex was just copying and pasting the message after every picture, but…she does know better). And it isn't long before she makes an Instagram to document her travels; Olivia follows this with rapt attention, committing each and every one of Alex's smiles to memory.
The days pass in a blur; Olivia finds herself staring at her phone until the pictures come in, always relieved when Alex's name pops up on her screen, and it's nothing short of a miracle that her work doesn't suffer (but who would say, honestly, if it did? Surely not the new kids, maybe Munch or Fin but they figured out years ago what Alex means to her. Cragen would if he saw a significant issue. Elliot for sure, but it's been a year since they last spoke, and Olivia's not quite sure if she's ready for him right now).
The world keeps spinning and life gets busy and Olivia wakes up one morning and realizes Alex has been gone for nearly five years now. It hits her like a punch how quickly time has gone by, how easy it was for them to fall apart again, how it's been over a year since they last spoke. And she knows she shouldn't be surprised but she hasn't even thought about Alex in months.
It all hurts so fucking much that she's almost grateful when she gets called to a crime scene. Almost.
The hotel is one of the nicer ones downtown and their victim is a housekeeper who was found by the manager when she didn't clock out at the end of her shift. Olivia sends Rollins to get background info and she stays behind to interview guests on the floor and the management.
She's standing in the hotel bar, talking to a couple from a few rooms down, when she sees a flash of familiar blonde hair out of the corner of her eye. She quickly finishes her conversation with the couple and gives them her card, instructing them to call her if they remember anything else, and then turns to look toward the bar entrance.
"Buy you a drink, Detective?"
She'd know that voice anywhere.
Olivia turns around, her heart hammering in her chest. "10:30 in the morning is a little early for a drink, counselor."
Alex winks – Olivia thinks she might die on the spot – and flashes her a grin. "I won't tell if you don't."
"Alex, what are you doing here? When did you get back? I thought you were in" – she pauses her, trying to remember the last place Alex posted about – "Seattle?"
"I was," Alex says, downing the rest of her drink, "but I missed…the city. It was time to come home."
Olivia nods, absently playing with the corner of one of her cards. There are so many things she wants to say, questions she wants to demand answers to, but mostly she just wants to reach out, tangle her fingers in Alex's hair and kiss her senseless. But she doesn't do that; she stands there, waits for Alex to offer anything.
She doesn't have to wait long.
"I missed you. Us. I realized that time isn't slowing down for us, Liv, and I don't want to grow old without you. So I came back to tell you that I fucked up when I left again and I don't want you to forgive me for that, but I do want you to say yes when I ask you to marry me."
And even though they may fall apart time and time again, they always fall back together, and Olivia feels like maybe that's what matters most.
"Okay," she says, "I'll marry you."
I'm finally back! What a miracle! Let me tell you that it's been almost a year and SO MUCH has happened but that's a story for tumblr. So let's get back to this! This is A Story About Soulmates and I'll try to update it every week, but I need your help. Hit me up with AUs and time periods because these two are gonna fall in love all through history and in every universe.
