* Finished one story to start another (not all that surprising, I suppose). Here's the first chapter to what I hope will continue! *
She rolled over, stretching her arms over her head as she tried to wake her tired body up. She could hear a small crack in her back and the same in her neck as she rolled it, before turning over to see the covers of the bed turned down and the person she was expecting to wake up to not there.
"Mmm." The small moan escaped her lips as she pushed herself up, some from the exhaustion she felt and some from just the thought of how she had spent her night. A small smile crept across her face thinking about it.
Olivia padded into the bathroom, grabbing what she had thrown off when there night started to cover her basically naked body.
She sighed contently. It had been years since she felt comfortable enough with someone to allow them to see her body, to see all of the scars. The marks that resembled the shapes of keys from William Lewis. The thin lines from smoldering hot coat hangers. From her rookie days she had a few scars that she had always been proud of; they showed how tough she was, that she could handle her job. But the newer damage had, for a long time, felt the exact opposite, as if they proved she wasn't meant to be protecting others when she couldn't keep herself safe in her own apartment. Now she felt as though she was shedding a layer and freeing herself from the shame that she had carried with her. A weight she almost hadn't realized she was carrying lifted every time he saw her uncovered.
Liv slid her teddy over her head and walked out of her bedroom.
"Look who finally decided to wake up."
Olivia smirked, trying her best not to laugh at him and make him think he was funnier than he already knew he was. That's what people didn't know, he was actually funny when he wasn't tackling perps or leaned over someone in interrogation.
"Maybe if we hadn't been up until one am, I wouldn't have needed all the extra rest."
He scoffed playfully. "I don't remember you complaining last night."
"Not complaining, just stating facts."
He shook his head at her, chuckling at her while simultaneously picturing the night that they had spent together. It wasn't what either of them thought was going to happen, but from the moment they admitted it to themselves, they knew it was meant to be.
She continued. "What are you making out here? I probably would still be asleep if it wasn't for the smell of bacon."
She tried to grab a piece from the plate next to the stove, but he smacked her hand away. "Go sit, I can bring it to you."
"Oh table service. I like it."
Before she sat down, Liv took a coffee mug and filled it with the steaming hot liquid. She settled into the chair at her table that gave her the best view of the man cooking her breakfast in her kitchen. He wore his pajama bottoms, but nothing on top and she could see his back and arm muscles flex slightly every time he moved and took all that she had not to tell him to forget breakfast and get back in bed with her.
"Could you stare a little harder there?" He caught her in his peripheral vision and could see the way her eyes followed his every movement.
"Probably not, but I could do a few other things."
"I'm not saying that I won't take you up on that offer, but let's eat first. Get our energy up and then we'll resume last night's activities."
"I guess you're right, I'm feeling a little tired after all that fun." She winked at him and he chuckled lightly.
He wasn't used to this side of her yet. They had spent a few nights together already and they were instantly comfortable with each other; they should be. They'd known each other for so long. But last night was the first time that he felt they both relaxed and let what was meant to be happen. It was like at first they weren't worried about each other, but about what others would say, what they would think, how they would react to knowing they were together. Last night felt like they had finally shed that feeling and they did what they wanted to do because it made them happy, whether people would understand or not.
Liv watched him stare at his plate of food, not touching it. "What are you thinking about over there?"
"How great last night was. And how it finally felt like it should."
"What do you mean like it should?"
"Just that we sort of let go of all of those things we talked about. Like other people and worrying about what we would do when someone finds out we're trying to make this work."
"I know I told you that I'm not ready for anyone to know, but I don't want that to be what you're thinking about every time we're together. We can enjoy each other without anyone else knowing. I don't want you to think that I want to hide this, okay? I just want to make sure that we are sure and that we think we can do this before everyone in our lives weigh in."
"I'm not blaming you, Liv. I understand where you're coming from. And I want you to be the one to dictate how this happening. You deserve that."
"I'm not going to dictate anything. This relationship just needs to be a two-way street where I can completely trust you."
He nodded. "I promise that I'm here to earn your trust and keep it."
The man leaned over the table and kissed her. She kissed him back, running a hand through his hair and placing her other on his toned chest. It felt exactly like she had always expected it to: comfortable, passionate, and exactly what she had been missing from all of her previous relationships.
"I could get…" But a knock on the door interrupted her sentence. "Shit. Is it already 10?"
They both looked to the clocks in the kitchen, each one on the microwave, stove, and hanging on the wall indicated that it was already a little after 10. Olivia hadn't even paid attention to how long she had stayed in bed, nor did she check when she walked out of the bedroom.
"You need to get back in the bedroom. I will come get you after she leaves."
"This feels like we're teenagers hiding from our parents."
"I think it would probably be easier to hide this from our parents, instead of my whole squad of detectives."
"I would have to agree." He grabbed his plate and headed back to the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
Olivia walked to the door, stopping to look in the mirror in the hallway. She did her best to wipe away the mascara that was smudged under eyes and comb her fingers through her hair, making herself look as if she hadn't spent all night having sex with the man of her dreams, but also sometimes her nightmares. She did a once over and sighed at how little her efforts did to help.
"Hey Amanda." She said when she opened the door.
"Mama!" Noah hugged her legs.
"I'm not early am I?" Amanda asked, referring to the attire of her lieutenant. The silk, spaghetti strapped night gown just barely made it mid-way to Liv's knees and the blonde knew what that meant.
Liv looked down embarrassingly; she hadn't even given a single thought to what she was wearing, or the lack of clothing that she was wearing. "Oh no, no. I just uh… I slept a little later than I expected too. Stayed up too late last night."
Amanda nodded, not wanting to push her for answer. They were both adults, she knew what had happened and it wasn't her place to judge. If Olivia had someone who was making her happy, that was her business.
"Was he okay?" Liv tried to change the subject.
"He was great." Amanda smiled. "Jesse loves having him over to follow around and he plays so well with her."
"I'm glad to hear it. Next time, it's my turn to return the favor. I'd love to take Jesse and give you a night off."
"I'll have to take you up on that. Maybe next weekend?"
"Sure! We'll talk about it, but I'd be more than happy to. And I'm sure Noah would like to have her over, wouldn't you bud?"
Noah looked up at her, grinning. "Yeah!"
"Great. Well I'll let you go." Amanda had a feeling that whatever had happened last night wasn't quite over yet.
"Thanks again. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
Liv watched the blonde walk down the hall before she closed the door. She and Noah walked back into the apartment. He took his little Superman backpack off and dropped in on the floor in the living room, easily becoming distracted by one of the many toy trucks that were lined up on the floor. Every night he would "park" them so that when he got up in the morning they ready for him to play with. At first Olivia had been instant that they be put away, but she soon figured out that it wasn't a battle worth fighting over.
"You can come out now!" Liv shouted.
He opened the door just a crack and looked around playfully, pretending to make sure the coast was clear. "Are you sure?"
"Yes." She said unamused.
"Hey buddy." He ruffled Noah's hair. "Did you have fun yesterday?"
Noah looked up from his truck. "Uhuh! Amanda let me help her with dinner and Jesse showed me her toys and we went to the park."
"Wow, that sounds great."
Liv smiled at their interaction. They had a rule right now that when Noah was home, there was no overnights. He had come over for dinner, Liv would put Noah to bed after they all played together, and from there they did what they wanted. But he was always gone before Noah woke up. She wanted to adjust slowly to having a man around her little boy. Noah needed to be her priority and he needed to be completely comfortable before anyone was spending the night and starting to become a part of his daily routine. She couldn't hurt him if someone came into his world too quickly and the disappeared, like before.
"Maybe, if mama says it's okay, we could go out for lunch today?" He looked to Olivia, Noah's eyes followed.
"I think we can make that happen." Liv agreed.
A couple of hours and many, many toy truck races around the living room later, they had finally made it out of the house. The fall sun shone on them as they walked down the somewhat quiet New York City streets. Noah held his hand and skipped alongside him. Anyone who saw them would have assumed that they were a happy little family, not a woman with an adopted son who was just starting to trust a man who had changed her world years before.
"What's that big building?" Noah pointed up.
He looked down and answered him, explaining what some other building were too for the little boy.
Olivia fell back, watching them walk in front of her. She always pictured her life with a husband and child. However, at a certain point in her life the vision of her future changed without her even realizing it because she had spent too long focused on her career and focused on not getting too close to her partners. Then she had ended up with Noah, her miracle baby and the light of her life. And then there had been this man, who reentered her life at the exact moment that she needed him to, even if she hadn't known it was what she needed.
"You keeping up back there?" He looked back to her.
She pulled herself from her thoughts. "Yeah I am."
Olivia stepped up and grabbed his hand. She squeezed is in reassurance that she was there and he squeezed back.
"Thanks for this."
"For what?"
"For being here, for last night, for everything that's happened."
"You're welcome." Elliot kissed her gently.
* Alright, so some of you may have already guessed who Olivia's mystery man was, but hopefully you were still interested. I have written a few EO things before, but I never really felt like they were great or that they were what I wanted them to be. I usually stray away from them being romantically involved, however, something just made me want to write them together and to explore how they got back together and how they try to make it work with the squad, with Elliot's family, and with Olivia being a mom. Now, leave me your reviews (pretty please) and let me know if you think this is at all worth continuing. *