1A/N: Since I'm having a tiny bit of writers block for Christmas Cheer at the moment, I decided to write this fluffy JO oneshot. Enjoy!
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It was a late Tuesday night, and Munch and Olivia were the only ones left in the precinct. They barely acknowledged each other's presence, however, because they were both too engrossed in their heaping piles of paperwork.
Munch was just about finished with the paperwork on their latest case when the ink in his pen began to fade. He cursed under his breath, and after looking around his desk for another pen and glancing at Olivia's desk to see if she had one, he gave up and headed for the supply closet. Reaching the dark, cave-like room that housed all the pens and pencils, (among other random do-dads,) he lifted his glasses off his head long enough to rub his left hand over his tired eyes. Unfortunately for him, in the small moment his glasses were loose in his opposite hand, he forgot about the darkness of the room and took a step forward. His shins collided with something and he went down with a short yelp, as he bent his ankle underneath him. He winced, and feeling around, realized his ankle wasn't the only thing damaged in the fall. From what he could tell with just his hands, (the dark and his bad vision combined made him borderline blind), his glasses were on the floor beside him...in at least two different pieces.
"Damn it." He muttered. Should he really call Olivia for help? And embarrass himself further? Well, He really didn't have a choice did he.
" Benson?" He called out in what he hoped was a casual manner. He knew though, that his voice probably sounded slightly strangled from a combination of annoyance and pain.
" Olivia?" ' oh, to hell with it.' he thought bitterly, 'here goes the rest of my pride.'
"LIV!"
Olivia looked up form her paperwork, startled. 'That sounded like John.' She thought, confused. Looking up, she realized he wasn't at his desk and called back, " Yeah?!"
" Oh come on Benson, don't make me explain it! Just come here!" Munch responded, frustrated. He also sounded like he was in pain, which worried Olivia. Heading towards the hallway, she realized his voice was coming from the open door of the supply closet. Rushing toward it, she reached around the door frame and flicked the light on.
' Why didn't I think of using the stupid light switch? Moron.' Thought Munch. Olivia gasped lightly, taking in the sight of him on the floor, clutching his ankle.
" What did you do?" She asked worriedly, already bending down to look at his ankle. Munch's breath caught at her closeness, and he momentarily forgot about the pain. Yet with his normal wit he replied, " uh, I fell."
"Well, gee John. I didn't know that!" Olivia surprised him by shooting his sarcasm right back at him. " I meant..." she paused and shook her head, "never mind. Where are you glasses?"
Munch gestured beside him, where the fuzzy looking remains of his once functioning pair of glasses stared back up at them pathetically.
"How do you think I fell?" He asked rhetorically.
"Ah." Olivia got up and offered her hand to Munch, " Here, grab my hand." Before Munch could make any of his typical remarks she clarified, "Come on, let me help you get up. Just, keep your weight off your ankle, it's pretty banged up." Munch obeyed. Squinting to make out the shape of her hand and using both of their weight as leverage, he was soon standing upright. He put half of his weight on Olivia, who shivered, though it wasn't one bit cold. ' now's not the time to let your feelings for him get in the way.' she chastised herself. Little did she know, Munch was thinking the same thing.
'She's just helping you! Don't get too cozy!' He reminded himself. Olivia picked up his glasses and handed them to him, and he put them in his pocket.
"Hey Liv," He said once they had reached his desk, him sitting in the chair and her using the first aid kit the squad always had handy to gently wrap up his ankle,
" We have a bit of a...dilemma here. My glasses are unusable, and I don't really have a spare with me. I can barely make out your face right now, in the light, so walking, sorry, limping," he corrected sarcastically," outside to catch a cab wouldn't be such a good idea."
Olivia thought for a second, then headed for her desk. Rummaging through the top drawer for a second she found what she was looking for. Going back to Munch's desk, she handed him a pair of glasses. He stared at her questioningly.
"Contacts," she explained, gesturing to her eyes, and Munch gave her a look that said, " really? How come you never mentioned that?" She ignored it.
"I don't know how strong your prescription is, but those might help some." Munch hesitantly put them on, and blinked in shock at how clear the room became.
"Whoa, Liv! How bad are your eyes? These are almost giving me a headache they're so strong!"
He scoffed, "and I thought I was blind."
Liv rolled her eyes, "yeah, yeah. So if we were both in a deadly situation without our prescriptions it wouldn't turn out to well, don't remind me. Can we go now?"
Munch laughed at her quick wit, which caused Olivia to giggle.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing, it's just that your laugh is hilarious." She replied. And he glared at her. Impulsively, she bent down and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Blinking in both awe in confusion he asked softly, " What was that for?"
" Nothing," She began teasingly, " You just look so cute in those girly little glasses of yours."
It was Olivia's turn to be caught of guard as he suddenly returned the kiss, more lingering and passionate then hers had been. She kissed back, and only after almost two minutes did they bother to come up for air. They both stared at each other in shock as their breathing slowly returned back to normal.
"Wow," Munch began jokingly, " maybe I should wear these more often."
Olivia laughed awkwardly, and helped him out of the chair, making sure to be careful with his injured ankle.
"Let's just get you and your clumsy butt home. I'm driving."
John pecked her on the cheek and chuckled, "yes ma'am.!"
About twenty minutes later, (hey, hopping all the way down six or seven stairs is alot harder than it looks, ) they were in the car and ready to drive off. Olivia started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. She then turned to Munch nervously, making sure to keep an eye on the road. " Hey John... about what happened back there- Munch cut her off, "Hey, don't worry! I've been waiting for something like that to happen for a while now."
Olivia looked at him questioningly, slightly shocked, "Really?...me too. I wanted to do something about it, but I didn't think you would ...have feelings for me back."
' I almost said love. I can't drop a bomb like that on him after our first kiss!' Olivia panicked in her mind.
Munch let out a humorless laugh as they pulled up to his apartment. As she helped him walk to his front door he finally decided to let his well protected feelings come out. He took a deep breath and began, "You were worried I wouldn't return your feelings? I spent the past couple years thinking you were in love with Stabler! I was waiting for you to kiss him so I could convince myself there was no way I was going to be able to kiss you! " They were both standing on his doorstep now. Staring at each other.
Munch closed his eyes for a moment and allowed himself to calm down. " And now I finally realized, I just realized that my love for you might not be one sided. So just tell me if I'm getting my hopes up too high, because my heart has been broken multiple times and-
It was his turn to be cut off. Olivia put a gentle finger to his lips, and with a single tear in her eye, a tear of happiness, for once, she said softly, "I love you too."
The unlikely couple wrapped their arms around each other at last, and as they stood kissing in the moonlight, they were still leaning on each other for support.
