The weekend had come and gone too soon as it usually did, and it was once again time to get Monday out of the way. Olivia was the last to enter the precinct and wasted no time to sit down and chip away at those DD5s.

The rest of the detectives watched her curiously, until Fin finally decided that it was time to speak up. He had to give her a heads up. She'd hate him for it if he didn't.

"Hey, Liv?"

"Hmm?" She responded and reluctantly looked up from her paperwork.

"We have a visitor today, and we may also be gaining another member of our squad. They're in with Murphy signing papers right now." Fin explained.

"Who's the new rookie?" She returned her focus to her paperwork once again.

Fin felt nervous all over again; how would she react? "Well, you see. . . When you say new and rook-"

Lieutenant Murphy's door swung open. It was too late. There was nothing Fin could do now, except sit back and watch the chaos unfold before him. All heads turned toward the now open door. They watched as their lieutenant stepped out into the precinct, followed by the "not so new" new guy.

Olivia dropped her pen and paper work. Her eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped just a little as she stared in astonishment. This was no rookie at all. This was her partner! Her best friend of 12 years, who she hasn't seen or heard from in 3 years! She was rendered speechless.

His focus was immediately directed toward her and he just smiled at her expression. He started to make his way over to her and set his papers on his old desk without ever breaking eye contact with her. The rest of the squad watched the scene with deep confusion. All except Fin. He knew exactly what was going on, he just didn't know how it would all play out.

She watched as the bluest eyes she's ever known approached her. She never knew what it felt like to be paralyzed, but she was pretty sure she did now. He stood right in front of her now. Somehow, way beyond her understanding, she found the ability to stand up.

Within seconds he pulled her into a desperate embrace. It had been too painfully long to wait another second. He needed contact, and he needed contact now. With one hand clenched into a fist pressing into the back of her shoulders, the other was flatly placed on her lower back and effectively further pressed her body into his.

Before she could comprehend what was happening, she wrapped her arms around his abdomen. Their necks aligned as their arms and bodies remained locked on each other.

She wasn't going to cry. She promised herself that she would absolutely not cry when this day would come . . . if it would ever come; and yet, when he finally spoke, tears rebelliously escaped her eyes.

"I've missed you so much" He choked in a whisper.

He was crying. She could hear it in his voice. She knew it was okay to cry now. If he didn't have to be strong in this moment, neither did she. She wanted to be angry. She wanted to grill him with questions until she was blue in the face, but she couldn't. She missed him too much. She missed every little thing about him, and so . . . she let all of her walls down again. Just for him. Only for him.

"I've missed you too, Elliot." She needed a moment to collect herself a little bit before she spoke again. "What are you doing here?"

"I came back to work . . . with you." He could feel her tense up at his words. When she relaxed again, he continued. "Would you want to take an early lunch with me? We could go somewhere and talk and catch up. I already explained everything to

Lieutenant Murphy, he's fine with it."

She was still lost in his first statement. She couldn't believe that this was really happening . . . Finally happening! Elliot Stabler came back. He came back to SVU. He came back to her. When his last words finally registered in her mind, she nodded against his neck.

"Okay, let's get out of here then, huh?" He said gently patting her on the back and breaking the intense embrace. She reluctantly released her hold on him, but didn't back away as he reached into his back pocket for his keys.

His hand lightly rested on the small of her back and he offered her a friendly smile as he escorted her out of the precinct. She just smiled back and continued to walk right by his side in complete sync with him like they never missed a beat.

Once they disappeared behind the elevator doors, Nick looked at Amanda with an arched eyebrow and wrinkled forehead. He turned to Murphy and asked, "Did I miss something?!"

"That," Fin paused for emphasis. "Was Elliot Stabler. You know, Liv's old partner? You touched his pen 3 years ago and she about took your head off for it?"

"Yeah, yeah! I remember all too well, trust me." Amaro recalled that terrifying moment as if it were just yesterday. "So uh, that's him?"

"That's him." Fin replied matter-of-factly.

"Do they have a past . . . like as a couple?" Amanda questioned.

"As a couple? No. Never. Elliot was always married and when he wasn't for a short period of time, they both understood that neither of them wanted to jeopardize their careers, partnership, or friendship."

"They seem incredibly close." Amanda added in disbelief.

"You have no idea." And with that, Fin walked away from the group and went back to his paper work.

When they arrived at the little diner where they had shared a light lunch and coffee together so many times before, Elliot jumped out and walked around the car to open the car door for Olivia.

As she stepped out of the car, she looked up at the part of her life that had been missing for nearly 3 years now. "Thank you." She said softly with a small half smile.

He smiled back at her and answered, "You're welcome." , before he offered her his elbow to hook arms with him.

She simply couldn't refuse with the way those ocean blue eyes were locking onto hers. She hadn't seen them in so long. She didn't want to disappoint. At this point, she knew there was no way in hell she could stay mad at those two eyes. Her heart just wouldn't allow it.

They walked into the diner arm in arm and were seated at their old usual booth a minute later. After placing their orders, Elliot leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table. His eyes never left the table top as he fiddled with the paper from his straw.

"I'm sure you're extremely angry with me, and I don't blame you one bit, but please try to understand that you were not what I was trying to run away from. I never wanted to leave you . . . I'd just really like to get through this tough part so I can get back to working on regaining your trust so we can be parters again. So we can be friends again."

"Best friends." Was her only response. He stopped fidgeting with his straw paper and looked up at her then. "I'm not angry, Elliot. At first I was shocked, then devastated, and even hurt for a while. I thought I was angry for a period of time, but somehow I understood why you left."

"You don't know how sorry I am." He looked at her with strained eyes. She could tell he was fighting back tears now.

"Hey, you don't need to apologize. I get it. I promise. I'm just glad you're back." She couldn't be more sincere with him. She wouldn't be able to handle it if she saw even the smallest tear form in his eyes.

"No, you deserve an apology. Whether it helps or not, I owe you a sincere apology."

Their food arrived and was all packaged up and ready to go. They thanked the waitress and Elliot paid. Olivia watched him and took this moment to marvel in the familiarity of the situation. It was truly as if they had never gone a single day without each other.

They walked out of the diner and back to the car. Elliot placed their containers of food in the back seat and opened the passenger door for Olivia to climb in. She turned towards the inside of the car, but was stopped by a large, warm hand on her forearm. He turned her around to face him and started . . .

"Olivia, I am so incredibly sorry for leaving you 3 years ago without saying goodbye. I'm sorry for never stopping by, or picking up a phone, or keeping in contact at all in the following years. I never meant to hurt you, but I know that I did. I was wrong, and I doubt that I will ever be able make it up to you, but I promise you that I will spend the rest of my life trying to do so. Until then, I'll just be right by your side hoping and praying for your forgiveness and trust each and every day."

She couldn't keep her control any longer. Her eyes were flooded with tears and she tried to turn her face to keep them hidden, but he caught her chin before she could. He held either side of her face and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. She grabbed ahold of his arms and tried to swallow a cry.

"I forgive you, El." She could manage nothing more before more tears started to break free and cascade down her cheeks.

El. She called him "El". In that moment, he knew for sure that everything would be okay between them again. He didn't care how long it took, as long as that much was confirmed.

"You do?" He wanted to make sure.

"I do." She responded in a shaky voice. "Hey, El?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you do just one thing for me?"

"Anything, Liv."

"Just hold me. Please."

His heart ached at her words. He instantly released her face and pulled her into him. Her arms latched around his back. His right hand found its place on her lower back, while his left hand splayed through her hair and gently pulled her head down to rest on his shoulder.

"How's this?" He asked in a soft, soothing tone.

"Perfect." She replied.