Having a bit of fun with this one and really trying to improve my writing. This takes place somewhere between season 13 and 16, my timeline is a bit wonky here but please bear with it haha. Noah, Jesse and Frannie don't exist in this fic. This is very loosely inspired by one of my own experiences a few years ago, watch your drinks kids!

8:02am

Shit.

Amanda adjusts herself slightly in the elevator, straightening the lapels on her trench coat with her free hand, the one that isn't clutching a venti Starbucks cup with her phone precariously balanced on top. She smooths down the beige material and tries to prepare herself for Olivia's inevitable moan about her timekeeping skills, or lack of, vowing not to let the detective get under her skin yet again on the topic. Despite only being 2 minutes late…well, 3 now, Amanda is painfully aware of how she's always the last one into the precinct, that no matter how good her intentions are to get there before 8 like everyone else she's always just running in as the team is getting started with something. There is a ping as the elevator signals its imminent arrival and Amanda collects her breath, before confidently striding into the room.

She is so caught up in her own little bubble trying to feel confident as she walks into the department that it takes her a second to realise that there is nobody in the department, save from a few administration staff and security on duty, trying to conceal their yawns and glaring enviously at the coffee Amanda is holding. Confidence faltering a little, she heads over to her desk and places the cup down amongst the stack of paperwork she's currently ignoring and checks her phone for messages, wondering if the team has already been called out on a case.

Absolutely nothing.

Fear is now creeping through her fingertips, but just as she begins to compose a message to Fin with shaky hands, Nick bursts through the elevator doors.

"Hey, Nick!" Amanda calls out, fear and relief flooding her voice. He turns to face her, slightly surprised at the outburst, and even more surprised that it has come from Amanda. "Hey, Amanda, what are you doing here?"

Amanda is now more confused than ever. "Uhm, I work here?" she says, frown deepening at the peculiar question, and feeling the need to sit down as the mixture of caffeine and unease cause her head to spin. What on earth is going on? Is she going crazy? Where is everyone?

Nick laughs, and indeed is looking at her like she's crazy. "No, I mean, what are you doing in this early?"

"It's 8:06am…I'm late…?"

He laughs again, and Amanda decides this is confirmation that she really is losing her mind. As Nick continues to grin, she lets out a frustrated growl, rests her elbows on her desk and plonks her head into her hands. "Arrghhh, Nick, please tell me what's going on."

Nick eyes her up for a second, before taking pity on her. "You remember the tough case we cracked yesterday?"

"Yes." When he doesn't continue, Amanda peeks out of her fingers just enough to shoot him a glare. "Go on."

"You remember how, because we worked so hard on it and we didn't finish until late, Cragen said we could come in at 9am today?"

Realisation dawns on Amanda. As she lets out a surprised "Oh!" she moves her hands away from her face, spreading them out to the side, and Nick watches in horror as they come into contact with the Starbucks cup. It is sent flying across the precinct, americano spilling out of the lid in a satisfyingly perfect arc, before landing with a thud a few metres away, right at the feet of the now-bewildered security staff.

Nick and Amanda stare at each other for a second before bursting into laughter, Amanda almost on the verge of hysterics as she retrieves the cup, zigzagging across the floor to dodge the spillages. The security man looks at Amanda warily as she stops giggling long enough to bend over the cup, and it is enough to set her off again. Nick is still sniggering as he saunters over to the paper towels in by the coffee machine and helps her mop up the mess she's made, feeling a little bit guilty for causing it in the first place and promising to buy her a replacement over lunch.

Once all the traces of Amanda's clumsiness are gone, and her and Nick have recovered from the incident, they head over to the coffee station, both now in more need than ever for a caffeine fix. As Nick leans across her to reach for the sugar, arm lightly brushing across the front of her coat, Amanda feels herself blushing a tiny amount, before reminding herself that the relationship between her and Nick is now purely platonic for a reason, having tried the friends-with-benefits route once and almost ruining their friendship in the process.

She almost feels at home in the squad room now, regular flirty banter flying backwards and forwards between her and Nick on a daily basis, inside jokes being shared with Fin in the spaces in between, and even finding some common ground on dark humour with Munch; only Olivia seems to be hesitant to form anything other than a working relationship with her. Amanda had been so keen to impress Olivia when she first arrived, almost overwhelmed in awe at how she could go from holding her nerve in an intense interrogation of a suspect, to showing unparalleled empathy consoling a victim. But Olivia had and still continues to hold Amanda at arm's length, never being forthcoming about how much she trusts the younger detective, rarely sending more than a 'good job' towards her, and even more seldomly looking her in the eye whilst voicing praise. Amanda had trained herself not to let any of this upset her, reminding herself that Olivia was slow to build trust with anyone, that she'd almost ruined cases countless times and relied very heavily on Fin or Nick having her back when she got herself into tight situations.

Amanda stirs her coffee and turns to lean on the edge of the table, staring at somewhere on the wall whilst she gets lost in her thoughts. Nick watches her carefully, and it isn't until the inky liquid is threatening to spill over the edge of her mug that she realises how vigorously she has been stirring, frustration at Olivia's emotional distance translating into exaggerated physical movements.

"You okay there?" Nick asks, making no attempt to hide the concern in his voice. Amanda is not one to show her more vulnerable side just like the other detective she is struggling to get through to, usually concealing it with a fierce façade, but today her mask is slipping slightly, the validation she is seeking from Olivia and the lack of it that she receives starting to bother her to a point where she can't hide it.

"I'm fine, just a bit tired. Really wishing I'd paid attention to the Lieu yesterday, instead of being so stuck in a case I forget that there's a world around me."

Nick reaches out and rests a hand on the top of Amanda's arm, thumb gently brushing the inside of her bicep. "You did really well yesterday Amanda. We wouldn't have got the perp if it wasn't for you going back over the evidence."

Amanda shrugs. "Hey, it was just a gut instinct that turned out to be right for once. Anyway, why are you in so early?" she asks, keen to change the subject away from herself. Despite her confidence with her detective skills, when it actually comes to someone complimenting her, she seems incapable of believing it and always reacts dismissively, something so ingrained in her from her earlier days.

Nick drops his arm back to his side, and stares at the wall in the same vacant manner as her. "I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep, and home feels weird when I'm by myself, so I thought I'd distract myself with work, maybe get a few things done without everyone breathing down my neck all the time."

It is now Amanda's turn to lean over with a comforting pat on the shoulder to Nick. "If you ever need anything, or want to go for a run or for a drink or anything, you let me know, okay?"

Nick flashes a smile at Amanda, and she wishes for a second that things could have worked out between them. But they were both in such different places in their lives, Nick having recently found out he had a son as well as his daughter, and Amanda was a bit of a mess, with only her wild sister sporadically turning up on her doorstep to call family.

They both head back to their respective desks, and Amanda decides that since she is here early, she may as well make herself useful and crack on with some of the seemingly never-ending paperwork from the last week of cases. Whilst she sifts through the files from yesterday's case, she leans back in her chair and waves to get Nick's attention.

"Hey, um, Nick, when Liv comes in, can we pretend that I came in early on purpose and not just because I'm an oblivious idiot?" She bites her lip at the end, knowing it's a sure-fire way to get almost anyone to give in to her pleas…well, anyone but Olivia. Sure enough, Nick chuckles 'Okay' at her and she winks back at him, before opening the folder in front of her with a sigh, taking another swig of coffee, and getting on with her work.

At 8:45am sharp, Olivia breezes into the precinct, looking unusually chirpy, trench coat flying behind her as she makes her way over to her desk. She nods at Amanda and Nick.

"Morning Amaro, Rollins…Rollins?" She stops dead in her tracks, confusion etched across her face. "You're in early."

Amanda smiles conspiratorially at Nick. "Oh, hey Liv, thought I'd just come in early and get some of this paperwork typed up into the system. How're ya doing?"

"Um…I'm good, thanks." Olivia falters a little, then appears to pull herself together. "Rollins, are you sure you're feeling okay?" She walks over to Amanda's desk, and rests the back of her palm on Amanda's forehead, as if to check her temperature.

It takes all of Amanda's power not to flinch from Olivia's touch; the gesture is so contrasting to her usual behaviour around people, especially Amanda, that she is momentarily stunned, only able to gaze up at Olivia with wide eyes. Olivia laughs and pulls away, definitely in some weird mood that even Nick is looking bemused by.

"Oh, and Amanda?"

"Y…yes?"

Olivia is now staring directly at her and the combination of the eye contact and use of her first name leaves Amanda with a weird sensation in her stomach that feels distinctly like butterflies. She swallows nervously, trying to hide whatever the heck she's feeling from Olivia, and avoiding eye contact with Nick behind, being vaguely of his suggestively raised eyebrow.

"That was really good work on the case yesterday. Cragen is especially pleased. Keep it up." And with that, Olivia saunters off to her desk, seemingly unaware of the significance of what she's just said. Amanda can barely suppress the smile creeping across her face, looking down at her desk so her hair swings in front of her face in a blonde curtain, obscuring the blush she is certain that has appeared.

Her phone buzzes in front of her, and peering over, she can see (1) new iMessage from Nick on the screen.

Nick: Aw, your idol noticed you!

Raising her gaze to narrow her eyes at him, she swipes it away and responds by balling up scrap bit of paper and flinging it in his general direction. It sails past Nick, not even coming remotely close to him, and he laughs and mouths 'love you too' at her. Amanda can see Olivia watching them out the corner of her eye and she wanders if just maybe, she's a little jealous of her friendship with Nick, or if her unreadable expression is something entirely different.

"Has anyone seen Fin?"

It's almost half past 9, and Cragen is leaning on his doorframe, stack of papers clutched in one hand gesturing around the precinct. "Amanda, he's your partner, find out where he is."

"Yes chief," Amanda mutters quietly, not quietly enough to evade the ears of Nick who chokes as he hides his snickering, but Cragen is already safely back inside his office.

She fires off a message to Fin, asking if he's alright, almost immediately receiving a flurry of replies, and it becomes clear that Fin is definitely not making it into work today.

"Fin's just woken up with a fever; we're a man down today, let's hope we don't get called out on a case," she announces to nobody in particular, making her way over to Cragen's office. As she reaches his door, she can see him put the phone down on his desk, presumably just off the phone with Fin. "Hey, Rollins?"

"Lieutenant?"

"That was Fin, looks like we're going to be a man down for at least a day."

"Yeah, he just told me too." She turns to walk away, but he calls after her. "Amanda? Good work on the case yesterday."

Twice, in one day, from the two people she least expected it from? Amanda hadn't realised just how well she'd worked yesterday's case and feels a small surge of pride rise up in her chest again, but it's nothing compared to Olivia's approval.

"Oh, um, thank you Lieutenant," she replies, hiding behind her hair yet again, unaccustomed with receiving this much praise, especially for a case she hadn't actually realised was won because of her doing.

She ducks out of his office, smile now plastered across her face as she thinks partly about what Cragen has just said to her, but mainly about Olivia and how she's actually made the older detective proud for once. Cragen had once told her that he didn't regret bringing her in from Atlanta, and she begun to wonder whether Olivia would agree with that now.

The smile doesn't last long though, as another ping from her phone alerts her to something she'd completely forgotten about in the midst of the morning's drama.

"Hey, guys?" she asks the squad room, Nick and Munch instantly looking up. "You remember that concert I was meant to go to with Fin tonight?"

"That kinda uh, hipster band you were talking about all last week?" Nick asks, shooting a grin at Munch. Amanda just rolls her eyes and sighs.

"Yeah, well, anyway, Fin is no way going to make it, so I have a spare ticket if anybody wants it. Any takers?"

Nick genuinely looks a little in spite of his previous comment. "Aw, sorry Amanda, I'd love to but I'm taking Gil to see a film tonight. Munch?"

Munch shakes his head sadly. "Sorry Amanda, an old friend of mine is in town tonight and I promised him a catch-up over a drink or three. Hey, Liv, are you up for it?"

"Huh?" Olivia looks up from her desk with one of confusion, but Amanda has a sneaking suspicion that she's been listening in to their whole conversation.

"I've got a spare ticket for tonight, do you fancy joining me?"

Olivia laughs, not unkindly, but Amanda already knows her answer. "Sorry Rollins, but I have a hot date with a glass of wine and my bed. Have fun though, and don't stay out too late."

"Aw, c'mon Liv, when was the last time you went out in the evening for something that wasn't a case, had a few drinks, let your hair down a bit?

Olivia reaches up, pulls her hair tie out, and pings it across at Amanda. It misses her, but lands with a plop inside of Amanda's second mug of coffee, and Amanda decides this is a sign for her to lay off the caffeine for today for good. "Gee, thanks Liv, I didn't want to drink this anyway."

"Well, I let my hair down, are you happy now?" Olivia raises an eyebrow questioningly at Amanda, and Amanda feels a strange tingling sensation coursing through her body, Olivia's brown orbs boring intensely into her blue ones. This unfamiliar feeling throws her; she is more than used to feeling tense when Olivia questions her judgement, and nervous when she tries to throw in her two cents on a case; this, however, is something different, and Amanda finds it impossible to draw her gaze away from the woman at the desk across from her.

"I'd be a lot happier if I didn't have a hairband in my coffee and company this evening," Amanda shrugs, trying to appear nonchalant whilst her heart is hammering inside her chest. It's not like you're asking her on a date, she tries to tell herself and quiet her raging pulse, but it only intensifies as Olivia gets up, strolls over to her desk, perches on the edge of it and fishes out the offending hairband from the mug.

"Nice try Rollins, but I'm not cancelling date night." She lingers on the edge of the desk for a few moments longer, never ceasing the eye contact, and then promptly gets up and heads back to her desk, diving into a stack of paper and seemingly forgetting that their conversation happened at all.

Amanda desperately wants to call after her, not wanting this interaction to end, but she knows better than to push Olivia even after her surprising display of banter and decides to try her luck with charming the brunette later.

By lunch time, the squad is starting to get irritable, unaccustomed to being cooped up in the precinct for so long, although Amanda is secretly enjoying basking in the thoughts of the events of the morning. Occasionally, Olivia looks up, and Amanda flashes her best smile, only to be returned a dismissive roll of the eyes or a playful irritated sigh. Eventually, Cragen orders the team a Chinese takeaway, and when it arrives they descend on it like ravenous vultures, fighting over rice and cans of soda until they all have their favourite food and hungrily tuck in. Amanda accidentally drops a few bean sprouts on the last case she was working on and makes a face, then sees Olivia smirking to herself out of the corner of her eye and blushes furiously.

Suddenly Olivia is rooting around on the desk they're all sat around, frantically upturning all of the empty paper bags. "Has anyone seen another bag of prawn crackers? I asked Cragen for a bag." Her voice has a hint of panic in it and Amanda has to stifle a giggle.

"Here Liv, you can have mine," Amanda says, a mischievous grin creeping across her face. "If you come with me tonight," she adds, as Olivia reaches for the bag.

Olivia withdraws her hand, pursing her lips and glaring at Amanda, but there's a twinkle in her eyes that betrays her frustration with Amanda's teasing. Amanda returns the twinkle with her own, as she reaches for a cracker, biting down on it with a satisfying crunch and continuing to stare at Olivia as she finishes chewing, finally licking each of her fingers slowly and suggestively until Olivia cracks up, throwing a scrunched-up paper bag at her to stop whilst chuckling to herself. After a few minutes though, Amanda pushes the almost full bag towards Olivia, and then refuses to make eye contact for the rest of lunch. She feels a slight nudge in the foot from a pointed boot under the table, a silent thank you, and for the third time that day she feels her cheeks blooming in crimson.

Five o'clock finally rolls around and Nick and Munch waste no time in packing up, eager to escape the office and revel in the late afternoon sun that is flooding through the windows. Amanda lingers for a few moments, wanting to finish up the last case she'd started going over earlier that afternoon so that she could enjoy a guilt free weekend lounging on her sofa, watching trashy reality TV whilst working her way through a box of donuts. She is so focused on finishing up the last few sentences of her report that she doesn't notice that Olivia has resumed her position leaning on the edge of her desk, watching her with thoughtful eyes.

"Shit, Liv, you made me jump," Amanda blurts out once she realises the presence of her superior. With a hammering heart, she leans back in her chair casually. "What's up?"

Olivia regards her for a second. "Say I was to come tonight, theoretically, what would I wear?"

Amanda warily eyes her back, hesitant to believe that Olivia is seriously considering joining her tonight. "Well, it's casual, and it gets quite warm in that venue, so I was going to wear a vest and a leather jacket, or something."

Olivia processes this information. "And, theoretically, where would we meet?"

"196 Allen St."

Amanda watches Olivia carefully, who still seems to be contemplating her evening plans. With a sigh, she says softly "Hey Liv, it's okay if you don't want to come, I don't want you to feel bad if you don't. I'll be fine on my own."

Olivia reaches over and places a hand on Amanda's gently, and this mere touch is enough to send the butterflies inside Amanda fluttering erratically.

"I want to come, Amanda. See you at seven thirty."