Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own them. Dick Wolf does. Forever and ever *sigh*
The date sticks in his brain. He hates it. She leaves on July 22nd and she's gone and he's all alone. He wants her back just so she can tell him that he's not alone, because he's got a wife and five kids and all the rest.
If she was here, he'd tell her that he's getting divorced and she would laugh and say "If I had a penny for every time I've heard that," and he'd laugh and life would be easy. But it wouldn't. Life is never easy with her and she's been right all along. It's complicated. No matter what they do they always seem to fuck things up, and nothing is ever easy.
He gets a phone call on August 24th, and he thinks about being saved by the bell because Kathy was trying to pick a fight. Always.
"Olivia," it's so breathless and pitchy and they both wonder when they hell they got so vulnerable. They converse and it's awkward. He never asks when-if she's coming back and she doesn't tell. Because he's a coward and she's brought him back from the brink so many times. She won't. Not anymore.
Kathy tries to coax him into touching her, a final farewell of their life together. But he says no and she's pissed because everything is just so wrong and when Olivia was here, it was right. All right.
In October, he goes with Eli to pick out a pumpkin. It's so orange and huge and he thinks about Cinderella. He thinks about the fairy godmother and the carriage and he wants to be Olivia's prince. It's such a cliché but he doesn't care because they've never been immune to fairytales.
She comes back for Thanksgiving. He smiles and pretends and she's just alright. "Where have you been?"
"Costa Rica," she tells him and he wonders. Olivia says that the amount of sexual assaults and rapes in Jaco and Hermosa has tripled and she wanted to do something right.
He asks her to have Thanksgiving dinner with him and she's in denial and he's accepting and they're all counteracting. She uses Kathy as an excuse and he thinks it's the right time to tell her about his apartment.
They're there and she's here and he remembers that she never said goodbye. But he knows. They never say things they don't mean. "How long are you back for?"
She's muttering and he can't hear so he scoots closer to her and he listens. "For good." And then she surprises him for the umpteenth time and kisses the ever-living hell out of him.
They're grabbing and slipping and sinking and saving.
And he remembers the date, makes it stick in his brain, because he's always been a fan of the calendar.
