A/N 1: I do not own anything. There! I said it.
A/N 2: Thank you guys so, so much for being amazing. This one is set in the same universe as Storm Clouds, just way before Rolivia get married and have a child. ;) Olivia is still a detective in this one. :)
This idea came to me yesterday when my head was hanging over a bowl with hot water and eucalyptus oil. Being sick when you're ringing in the new year sucks. Special thanks go to my beautiful girl Wiiii86 for entertaining me. I love you. :*
Happy (belated) New Year to all of you, my lovelies. May 2017 bring you joy and happiness. :)
xxxx
Dropped
"But I wanna go to Cabot's New Year's Eve rooftop party tonight!" Amanda Rollins whined dramatically before breaking out into a coughing fit that left her hunched over and breathless, tears having gathered in the blonde's eyes.
Olivia's eyebrows rose up, bemused, "Yeah, right. And then what?"
Walking over to her girlfriend of one and a half years, the brunette then wrapped her arms around the other woman and pulled the blonde into her, softly connecting their lips. Amanda tried to push her away, her arms flailing, "No, no, no… Liv, please! You'll get the virus, too."
Olivia smiled softly down at her love, pulling her in even more firmly, "So… I'll get the virus. Your virus is my virus, your gross is all my gross." With that, the brunette kissed her girlfriend fully once again, only breaking away when Amanda started to sniffle, "You go and blow your nose, my love, and I will do something to make you feel better in the meantime."
Smiling impishly at her brunette girlfriend, Amanda waggled her eyebrows, "Oh, really? Something to make me feel better?"
Olivia rolled her eyes and slapped the other woman's backside, "You're a smartass with a one-track mind, Rollins. I don't know why I even put up with you."
Holding her backside, the blonde grinned, "Ow! That's because you loooove me, Benson. LOOOOOVE me!" Amanda drawled out and then chuckled, "Saaay that you looove me," she continued, now singing The Cardigans' song at the top of her lungs, before more coughs shook her body to the core and she disappeared into the bedroom.
Shaking her head, Olivia made her way to her open kitchen and got a large plastic bowl from the cabinet under the sink. She had just started to boil water in a kettle when she felt strong arms wrap around her middle, Amanda rising up to the tip of her toes to be able to kiss the back of her girlfriend's neck. Feeling the brunette shudder lightly under the touch of her lips, the blonde smiled, letting her tongue dart out lightly and her hands wander to bulbous breasts, squeezing them softly before teasing nipples lightly with her thumbs.
Olivia let out a strangled sound between a sob and a groan and the blonde laughed, making her fellow detective spin around in her arms and point a finger at Amanda, "One-track mind!"
The blonde snickered, highly entertained by her girlfriend's flustered state, "So? You love it."
Chocolate brown eyes sparkled, "Well, I can't argue with that logic." With that, Olivia leaned down once again and pressed her lips to Amanda's in a soft, chaste kiss. The high-pitched whistle of the kettle broke them apart, Olivia turning back around to fill the water into the blue bowl, Amanda watching her every move. The brunette added 5 drops of eucalyptus oil, the puffs of steam coming up from the bowl becoming scented immediately.
The blonde crinkled her nose, "Oh, hell to the no. Even though this is supposed to kill my germs, you know I always think of death while doing this. I get claustrophobic with all the hot steam on my face and the towel over my head."
Olivia shot Amanda a look that said that she would not accept any arguments, "I will be there with you along the way. I won't leave your side. I promise you. But we have to do something about that cough of yours and eucalyptus oil has an expectorant effect, promotes the absorption of oxygen, and relaxes the respiratory muscles. So hell to the yes, we are going to do this."
"Jeez, did you read a medical textbook?" the blonde grumbled and exited the kitchen in search of a towel, sitting down at the counter when she had found one, resting her forehead on the cool surface with an exasperated sigh. She knew she had to do this, but that did not mean she hated it any less. Olivia meant well and Amanda knew that the eucalyptus steam would help her greatly, but she just despised it.
The blonde could hear her brunette girlfriend slide the bowl over the counter before she disappeared in the bedroom. Just a few moments later, Amanda felt Olivia slide onto the barstool to her left, the other woman's right hand going to the small of her back as she started drawing tiny circles.
Without looking up, the blonde covered her head with the towel, slowly leaning over the bowl, but quickly pulled her head back again when the hot steam hit her face, invading her nostrils, making her feel like she could not breathe.
"It's okay, Baby," Olivia coaxed, "Just breathe with me. In and out. In… and out. That's it. Relax and breathe deeply. Let the scent wash over you and relax."
Steeling herself once again for what was about to come, Amanda leaned forward for a second time this time inhaling deeply, ignoring her constricting throat and chest, as well as the ball of anxiety settling in her stomach. Instead, she listened to her girlfriend's soft voice, coaching her through the initial process of taking the first deep breaths, "That's it, Baby. Breathe with me. In… and out. In… and out." Tiny circles became languid strokes up and down Amanda's back, as the brunette got out her phone, quickly typing something into Google, and decided to tease her woman a little. She started to read, "Edward in the sunlight was shocking. I couldn't get used to it, though I'd been staring at him all afternoon. His skin, white despite the faint flush from yesterday's hunting trip, literally sparkled, like thousands of tiny diamonds were embedded in the surface."
Olivia smiled as she felt her girlfriend shake with laughter, the blonde's voice muffled by the towel, "What fresh hell is this, Benson? Sparkling Edward? Like thousands of tiny diamonds? Really?"
Biting her lip, the brunette chuckled, "I just like to hear you laugh. You ready for the real one?"
Hidden away by the plushness of the green towel, Amanda nodded, so Olivia opened Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne where they had left off the last time and picked up reading, her hand on her girlfriend's back never ceasing its movement of a languid up and down, "Winnie-the-Pooh sat down at the foot of the tree, put his head between his paws and began to think. First of all he said to himself: 'That buzzing-noise means something. You don't get a buzzing-noise like that, just buzzing and buzzing, without its meaning something…'"
Feeling Amanda relax under the touch of her right hand, Olivia lovingly smiled at the other woman and proceeded with the story, reading about how Winnie-the-Pooh climbed said tree to eat the honey the bees produced. The blonde's breathing deepened and Olivia knew that she had reached her goal, getting Amanda to unwind, to calm down, to ease her fear of not being able to breathe while inhaling the steam under the towel.
xxxx
The brunette was lying on her back on the couch, the ball drop from Times Square being broadcasted on TV. Blonde hair was tickling her nose and Olivia inhaled deeply, letting her girlfriend's scent wash over her. Amanda's head was resting on the brunette's chest, her left arm and thigh draped over the other woman, her fingers softly playing with the hem of the brunette's shirt, feeling the curve of her hip and the softness of her belly.
Taylor Swift was singing about a kaleidoscope of memories and someone being trouble, dancing around the stage in a skimpy outfit, the crowd in front cheering loudly, although they were all crammed together. Olivia chuckled, "Jeez, am I glad that we are not there."
Amanda snorted, "Yeah, but we are not at Cabot's rooftop party, either. Once in a lifetime, the Ice Queen lets her money show and I get sick."
Kissing the other woman's forehead gently, the brunette tried to cheer her up, "Look at the bright side, Baby. At least we will be able to feel our feet in the morning. They won't. Theirs will have frozen off."
The blonde chuckled heartily, pushing herself up and kissing Olivia gently, thankful that her girlfriend was probably the only person in the entire world who could make her feel better at a time like this.
xxxx
Melissa Etheridge was just stepping onto the stage to start singing John Lennon's Imagine, when Olivia came back from the kitchen, two steaming mugs of tea in hand, "You ready? The ball is about to drop."
Jumping up from the sofa so quickly she was feeling dizzy, Amanda had to grab the backrest to steady herself, the brunette rushing to her side immediately, "Are you okay?"
Taking her mug of tea from her girlfriend's hand, the blonde replied, "I'm fine, Baby. I just got up too quickly. Let's go and watch some firewor–" Amanda stopped abruptly and held her forefinger in the air, her face contorting as she let out a loud sneeze. "Fireworks. Anyone injured?" the blonde kidded, making Olivia laugh as well.
"No, all limbs are still in place. And so are yours. Come on," the brunette urged, holding her hand out and pulling Amanda toward the bedroom.
xxxx
Wrapped in a couple of thick blankets, the couple were standing at the open floor-to-ceiling window in Olivia's bedroom, the brunette's right arm wrapped tightly around her girlfriend, their fingers intertwined on Amanda's belly, her left hand holding her mug filled with chamomile tea. They could hear the neighbors counting down from ten, chocolate brown eyes locked onto cerulean blue as they waited for the new year to start. When everyone around them cheered and the fireworks started to go off, they softly smiled at each other and leaned in, their lips connecting in a slow, sensual kiss.
When they parted, their foreheads and noses were touching, deep breaths being emitted in the space between them, when suddenly Olivia's mouth turned up in a huge grin.
That grin being contagious, Amanda did the same, asking, "What?"
Olivia shook with laughter, "I guess the ball has dropped. What do you think Dumbledork would say to this?"
Snorting out a laugh that ended with Amanda coughing again, the blonde tried to get herself together before wheezing out, "It's dropped."
They both laughed until they cried at their inside joke, Olivia holding her girlfriend close, both women relishing in their closeness. The blonde broke the silence, once again, "You were right by the way."
Confusion settled on the brunette detective's face, "With what?"
"Our feet would have frozen off tonight."
Chuckling once again, Olivia breathed, "I know. That's because I'm always right. And I'm awesome." Before the blonde could protest, however, the brunette quickly leaned in and kissed her, "I love you, Amanda Rollins. Happy New Year."
Tears gathered in Amanda's eyes as she smiled brightly at her woman, "I love you too, Olivia Benson. Happy New Year."
The blonde felt her girlfriend's hold on her tighten and she leaned her head back onto the other woman's shoulder, Olivia kissing her neck as they watched the fireworks going off around them, eager to find out what the new year had in store for them.
xxxx
A/N 3: Thank you for reading. The quote from Winnie-the-Pooh belongs to A. A. Milne. I researched the ball drop of 2013, but I apologize if it is not completely accurate.
As for Dumbledork… If you are a fan of Harry Potter, google 'Dumbledore + It's Dropped' and burst out laughing. Enjoy! ;) If you're not a fan of Harry Potter, I feel sorry for you. And I'm totally kidding. Or not? ;)
If there are any Twilight fans out there, I meant no disrespect. :)
Reviews are love. Happy New Year again. *mwah*