Chapter 1- EPOV

It had been a long day, Olivia and I had been following dead ends all day. We were both exhausted, so we decided to call it a day and head to the local bar.

"Hey, want to get a drink?" I asked.

"Sure. I suppose we can finish up the case tomorrow." answered Olivia, climbing into the passenger seat of my car. I knew I should be going home to my wife and kids, but things were getting tough around the house. Kathy and I had been fighting constantly for that past couple months. What I needed right now was to relax with a friend.

Olivia Benson was my partner and my best friend. We had been partners for 10 years, longer then any other people in SVU. Although I was still married to Kathy, I loved Olivia. However, I couldn't tell her because of my family, I was afraid of what it would do to my children. I had four children with Kathy, Maureen who was 16, Kathleen was 13, and Dickie and Lizzie were 9.

The drive to the bar was quick, once inside the bar Olivia and I sat down in a booth and ordered a couple of beers. I didn't know how long we had been drinking, but the next thing I knew we had 10 bottles on the table. Olivia and I were getting ready to leave the bar when she asked me, "Elliot, do you want to come back to my apartment?"

I didn't know what to say. It was already 2am, I decided it was to late to go home. I would just tell Kathy that I was working on a case all night. "Sure Liv, I'll come. I think we should take a cab though."

Once inside Olivia's apartment, it was as though we read each others mind. She leaned into me and kissed me. As suddenly at she started she pulled away. I didn't let her, I put my hands on either side of her face and pulled her into slowly made our way to her bedroom. I don't even remember what happened next. The next thing I remember is waking up in Olivia's bedroom naked.

"ELIOT! GET OUT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE? IN MY BED?" she cried.

"I uh, I'm sorry. I don't remember. We were walking into the bar and th-"

"Eliot, just get out. Let's just forget this ever happened. You are MARRIED, go home. Nothing can come of this." She walked into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. I knew I should get out, so I quickly put my clothes on and walked out of her apartment.

When I arrived home Kathy was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for me. Once she laid eyes on me she began interrogating me, "ELLIOT STABLER, where the hell have you been? I tried calling you, you didn't answer, I called Olivia and she didn't answer either. You had me worried sick! WHERE WERE YOU?"

"I was at work. We caught a case that had us staking out. I'm sorry I didn't call, I wanted to, but I couldn't without the perp knowing we were there. Kathy, I have to go back to work. I'm sorry, can we talk about this when I get home tonight."

"Sure Elliot. We'll talk about it later..like we always do." She said beginning to prepare breakfast for the kids. I walked towards Kathy, gave her a kiss and then walked upstairs to change for work.