Disclaimer: Anything that you recognize belongs to Dick Wolf.
Awesome Beta Reader: Balseirocharmed, who added things to be untestable. :)
"So once when Kathy and I were arguing, she brought you into it." Elliot tells Olivia, filling the silence that filled the room.
Olivia glances up at her partner, who sits in front of her on a plastic chair at a table in the break room. She arches an eyebrow. "What did she say?"
"Well, she called you my office wife."
Olivia holds a hand to her mouth as she tries to muffle the laughter that is threatening to escape her plump lips. "She called me your office wife? Seriously?" She questions, biting back the urge to laugh out loud at her partner's expense.
Her partner smirks at her reaction as he nods. "Oh. I'm dead serious."
Unable to resist the urge anymore, Olivia chuckles softly as she shakes her head. "Wow. How many times?"
Elliot stares at her for a moment before he too laughs. He takes a sip of his now lukewarm coffee, and clears his throat before answering. "Counting the last argument, it was probably more then a couple times."
"Once when she was badgering me about coming home late, she said that I would rather spend my time with my office wife." Elliot takes another sip of his coffee before he continues.
"When I wouldn't talk about work, she blamed it on the fact that I can talk to my office wife." Elliot shakes his head, chuckling slightly at the memory of his wife huffing and puffing in jealousy of his partner.
"Oh, and when I got a call and told her something came up, she said that it was probably my office wife." He places the coffee cup on the desk, and looks into Olivia's eyes. "But in total? Too many to count."
Olivia laughs softly, shaking her head in amusement. "Wow." She says, and adds in as a joke, "Well, it's good to know she never reported you for bigamy." She shakes her head, taking a sip of her own coffee.
As Munch enters the break room, he hears the word bigamy as it leaves Olivia's lips. He lowers his glasses, and asks "Bigamy?"
Olivia looks over at Munch, and amusement is written all over her face as she says, "Elliot was just telling me of what Kathy used to call me in their arguments when he was married to her."
Fin, who enters behind Munch, smirks as he shakes his head. As he sits down at the table, he says "Everybody knows that Kathy considered you to be Stabler's office wife." He looks at Munch, "Makes me wonder what she considered Dani Beck as."
Munch smirks back at his partner. "What about Jo Malowe?" Munch says as he shakes his head.
Cragen decides to join the conversation between his detectives. "What did she call them, Elliot?"
Elliot feels himself fuming. "I'm not able to have that conversation with you guys." He mutters, standing and leaving the break room. Before leaving, he turns to Olivia "I'll give you a ride?"
Olivia nods, accepting the offer. "Sure."
Olivia sits on the passenger side of Elliot's car in silence as he maneuvers through traffic. She stares out the window, and can't stop herself from over-analyzing all the women that the guys brought up inside the break room that day.
She sighs softly as she remembers how Elliot once confided with her when he was drunk, and he had told her about the drunken kiss that he had shared with Dani. In the drunken state that he had been in, Elliot had begged Olivia to forgive him for his mistake; She had told him that she wasn't the one who he should be saying sorry to, and that he needed to apologize to Kathy. However she didn't get any answer to what she told him, because after his confession, he had passed out on her couch. After that, Elliot never brought up Dani, drunk or not, and she didn't mention his drunken confession to him.
As she sits there in silence while Elliot drives, the conversation that she once had with Elliot's former partner, Jo, floats into her mind and thoughts. She remembers the suggestion in the blonde's tone as she asked her if she had ever done anything with Elliot. At the time, Olivia had said that he was married. However, the way Jo laughed and shook her head at Olivia's response made it clear to her that Elliot and Jo had once had something going on. Olivia had refused to do what Jo did - become the other woman.
Although now Elliot was divorced, he had yet to make a move on her. In the silence, she had time to wonder why. Was she wrong when she assumed that they both saw each other as more than partners and best friends? She could have sworn that he had the same love in his eyes that she had in her own. She could never begin to count the several times between them where they had almost kissed, only to catch themselves before they lost themselves in the tension and feelings that floated in the air around them; and now that they could do it without moral consequences, there seemed to be less almost kisses between them.
The car stops at a red light, and her partner looks over at her. "You've been awfully quiet, Liv. What's wrong?" Elliot asked softly.
She shrugs, not looking at him. "Just thinking," she whispers softly.
"About?" he pries deeper.
She sighs, and looks over at him, and stares him in his eyes as she says, "Today's conversation in the break room." She then turns back towards the window, staring at the cars as they go by.
Understanding what Olivia meant, Elliot said no more, at least until he pulled up in front of Olivia's apartment.
"Thanks for the ride, El." She whispered softly as she opens the door, and prepares to get out of the car.
"Hey, Liv?" he says, catching her attention.
Once he has it, he continues. "I'm thirsty, and it's a long ride back to my place. Can I go inside your place and get something to drink?" He simply needed an excuse to go inside her apartment; he had to explain everything to her before he would go back to his place.
Inside her place, Olivia looks through the refreshments that she has in her kitchen. She pokes her head out, and says "El, I have beer. Is that good, or would you want something else?"
Elliot smiles, and nods. "Beer is fine, Liv."
Olivia hands the cold, fresh bottle of beer to Elliot, and then she sits on her couch, crossing her legs and tucking them underneath herself. She grabs the remote, and turns the television on.
As she is changing the channel, Elliot clears his throat. "Liv….Olivia, I want to tell you something that is very delicate, and-" A soft chuckle from Olivia's mouth interrupts his rant.
"I know where the babies come from, El," she jokes lightly as she can sense that whatever Elliot has to say is really serious, and she can't help but feel nervous, and so she tries to lighten the tension that fills the room by making some jokes.
"About the kiss between Dani and me-" he starts to say but Olivia cut him off.
"I don't need any explanation, El" Olivia tells him softly, smiling slightly in spite of the serious conversation.
"The day you first told about that kiss, I told you that you don't owe me an explanation because there was and still is nothing between us that is more than friendship. Even if the kiss upset me, I really don't have a reason to be upset over the fact that you kissed her and not me. I understand that I'm not what you want-" This time, Elliot cuts her off.
Elliot shakes his head, smiling at her. "You have no idea how wrong you are."
"What?" She asks softly.
"Olivia," he begins ever so gently, "You mean so much to me"
Olivia sighs, tears edging her eyes. "But you never show it" She whispers, biting her bottom lip.
Elliot shakes his head in response, wiping the unshed tears away. "Olivia" he whispers when she doesn't look at him.
Placing a finger under her chin, he levels her eyes with his. "You mean too much to me for me to-" he clears his throat. "I could never make you the other woman, Liv."
"That's why I never touched you in any intimate way when I was still married to Kathy." he scoots closer to her on the couch, "You are too special to me for me to even consider putting that kind of burden on your shoulders. Dani, Jo and whoever else never meant a fraction of what you mean to me."
Olivia could probably cry at his endearing words.
"You know…I could never stand the men you dated. Even when you found a good one, I couldn't help but wish that it was me."
"I couldn't let myself be selfish and ask you out on a date when I still married - believe me, Liv, I was tempted to do so many times - because you deserve somebody, who could give you that family that you really wanted."
"Stop, El," Olivia whispers, not sure she could listen to him pour his heart out to her for much longer.
"If you don't feel the same for me, Olivia, then look into my eyes, and tell me so. If you tell me that you don't feel the same, I'll go." He says softly.
Olivia sighs, shaking her head, not looking at him. "Please…Don't do that, El."
"Olivia Benson, look at me." He says, and when he uses her full name, she can't resist him.
She looks up, and into his blue eyes. She gasps as she can read everything from just looking into his eyes, and she is so sure that he can see the same reflected in her own eyes.
She shakes her head. "I can't, El…It would be a lie if I said I didn't feel the same."
He smiles, and leans in closer to her, and captures her plump lips with his own in a delicate kiss. When he pulls away, the love is written out in both of their eyes, which are the portals to their souls.
"Love you…" Olivia whispers as she attempts to regain her regular breathing pattern.
Elliot smiles, kissing her nose. "I love you, too." He murmurs gently.
THE END
AN: It came up to my mind and I wanted to share. Hope you like it. Reviews are welcome! :)