After the credits rolled Elliot took the bowl of popcorn and sodas into the kitchen. He poured out the remaining contents of soda, rinsed out the cans and put them in Liv's recycle bin. That stint in Oregon made her a real friend of Mother Earth.

Once finished cleaning up in the kitchen he returned to his partner's bedroom. She was still sleeping, curled up on her side like a child. He imagined her as a kid in her little nightgown sucking her thumb in that same position.

"She must've been adorable." He whispered to himself before sitting on the opposite side of the bed from her.

He tried to resist putting her hair behind her ear as she habitually did. In the end he reached over and placed the soft brown tresses out of her face. After nearly losing her today he felt such a strong need not let her out of his sight. The doctor said her brachial artery was punctured. She could have bled out if the bus hadn't come so quickly.

Now he was just content to watch her sleeping so peacefully. If he had lost her, he would've been lost as well. End of story. So he stayed to make sure he didn't take that fact for granted.

Thankfully she hadn't kicked him out after suggesting the movie marathon. He toed his shoes off on from his side of the bed and lay down next to Liv keeping a respectable distance between them and staying above the covers. Just because she hadn't asked him to leave didn't mean she wouldn't feel weird about him being in her bed.

Before Elliot realized it, the early morning sun was warming his face through her sheer curtains. He began to panic not being able to explain himself when he realized their positioning.

During the night they had gravitated towards each other like the moon to the earth. Olivia was nestled into Elliot's side with her head laying on his shoulder. Her good arm was beneath her while the injured one lay over his chest. One of his arms encircled her waist while the other lay atop the one she had across him.

He felt her stirring and had absolutely no clue what to do so he froze and waited for her to realize he was still there. Hopefully she wouldn't be angry or annoyed with him.

When she awoke and noticed she was snuggled up next to her partner she looked up at him with questioning eyes.

"El?" She said to him in a voice raspy from newly waking. "You stayed all night?" She continued extracting herself from him and sitting up.

"Yeah sorry." He responded following suit. "Guess I fell asleep watching y…um…the movie marathon." He added trying to clean his near response up.

She may think it a bit weird if he confessed to dozing off after watching her sleeping but he couldn't just leave her. Olivia allowed him to hold her hand in the E.R. which was a feat in and of itself from Ms. "I'm Fine." And when she leaned against him on the ride home, he simply wanted more of that closeness with her.

"Well, thanks for taking such good care of me El." She said giving him a small smile. "I'm just sorry I didn't get to watch the marathon with you, those painkillers really put me out."

"It's okay." He told her swinging his legs over the bed to put his shoes on. "You didn't miss much." He added giving her a crooked smile of his own. "How's the arm?"

"Still hurts like a bitch." She responded resting her back against her headboard. "I think it's time for another dose of pain meds." She advised him scooting out of bed. "Shouldn't take 'em on an empty stomach though. I need to find some breakfast."

"I'll take care of that." He said standing up. "Why don't you take a shower and I'll get things started." He continued trying not to smile. "Blueberry pancakes sound good?"

Olivia broke into a wide grin. He knew of course that those were her favorite pancakes.

"I'd love some but I don't want you to go through any trouble." She told him. "You've done enough already, I can just eat toast."

"It's no trouble at all." He said heading to the kitchen. "I talked Cragen into giving me a rec day since it's Friday and we're caught up on paperwork."

The truth was he told their boss he was taking the day off to take care of his partner and that he'd see him on Monday. Cragen decided not to argue since he was well aware of how tight the two were and things weren't that busy. For Elliot it was like a switch had been flipped and anything that kept him from showing his partner just how much he really cared for her went right out the window. He only hoped she felt the same.

"Um, okay then." She responded. "I shouldn't be long."

Olivia managed to get her clothes off but didn't know how she was going to keep her bandage dry and shower at the same time. She would need some help so she grabbed a large bath towel and wrapped herself in it. Then she called for Elliot.

He knew she couldn't possibly be done that quickly but he rushed back to her bedroom forgetting he had the spatula in his hand. When he saw her standing in just a bath towel his mouth dropped open and the kitchen utensil hit the floor. She blushed a bit at his reaction but kept a small laugh from escaping her lips. Apparently he was a lot more appreciative of the curves she developed over the years than she was.

"I was wondering if you could tie a bag around this so it won't get wet." She asked him using her good hand to keep the towel wrapped around her. "There should be some in the drawer next to the refrigerator.

Elliot recovered quickly picking up the spatula in the process.

"Uh, yeah sure." He said trying to keep his eyes above her neck. "I'll be right back."

He returned quickly and Olivia held out her bicep so Elliot could help her. He gently wrapped the bag around her arm before making tighter knots above and below her injury. When he finished he had to resist the urge to kiss it as he did when fixing his children's boo boos.

The tender way he treated her wasn't lost on Olivia. She was beginning to wonder why he was being so sweet. They were standing only inches apart and he was seemingly staring right into her.

"El." She said waking him from his reverie. "Everything okay?"

Elliot shook his head and smiled. "Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine." He said backing away and heading out of her bedroom. "Pancakes will be ready by the time you're done."

He was out and back into the kitchen before she had a chance to so much as give him an okay. So, she continued getting showered and changed. It was a bit of a challenge but she managed. Who knew it was so difficult shampooing and blow drying your hair with one hand?

She wasn't going anywhere today so she opted for a t-shirt and some jeans. More than likely she'd end up sleeping half the day away anyway with those pain meds in her system. If Elliot wasn't still there she would've opted for another set of pajamas.

Olivia entered the kitchen to find a list of menu items that rivaled IHOP. Her eyes widened in shock as her mouth watered immediately.

"Hmmm. What smells so good?" She said eying all the food. "I know I didn't have all this in my kitchen."

"You had the stuff for pancakes but I went to the corner store for the rest." He informed her. "I've never cooked for you so I thought why not."

Olivia's small kitchen table was filled with pancakes, eggs, turkey bacon, fresh fruit and orange juice.

"Why not indeed." She said smiling. "I don't know who you are or what you've done with my partner but I'm gonna have to keep you around for awhile." She added sitting down.

"I hope so." He mumbled under his breath. "You want me to make you some tea?"

"No, no. I'm good thank you." She said putting butter on her short stack. "You've done enough why don't you sit down and help me eat all this."

"Okay." He told her and sat down to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

They chatted happily as they filled their stomachs. He told her about Eli's latest new words and she shared with him Simon's upcoming nuptials and how she was roped into being a bridesmaid. The two didn't once discuss a victim, a perp, a motive, an M.O, autopsy or DNA results. They just sat and enjoyed each other's company.

Once they were done Elliot cleaned off the table and loaded the dishwasher. Olivia almost forgot the pain in her arm until she tried to help causing her to wince.

"Liv no." He said taking the last of the dishes from her. "Let me."

"You've already done plenty El." Olivia tried to tell him. But the look on her face told him how much pain she was in. "I just wanted to help."

When he turned from putting the last dish in the machine he noticed that her bandage was seeping.

"You're bleeding." He told her gingerly taking her the hand of her good arm and leading her into the living room. "I'll get your meds and change your bandage."

After he gave her the medication and changed her bandage he laid her back onto the sofa, put the remote within her reach and covered her with a throw. It didn't take long for the effects of the drugs to kick in taking her pain away but making her drowsy.

"El." She began with a yawn while he propped pillows up behind her. "Why are you being so nice to me?"

He frowned a bit before asking his own question. "I'm not always nice to you?"

"Well…no you aren't." She informed him getting comfortable. "But it's okay." She added with a crooked grin. "I'm not always nice to you either."

"Okay so why do you ask?" He says sweeping the hair out of her face again.

"You just seem to be taking extra special care of me and I just wondered." She continued with her eyes getting heavier.

"I almost lost you yesterday Liv." He said leaning closer to her. "I couldn't take that."

"So it's the almost dying that does it for you Stabler?" She said smiling. "You are one sick man."

He laughed and shook his head. The drugs apparently had no effect on her morbid sense of humor.

"That's not the only reason." He mumbled thinking she hadn't heard because she closed her eyes.

"Well what's the other reason?" She asked behind closed lids.

He leaned in and whispered into her ear. "Don't you know I love you Olivia Benson."

She nodded and turned onto her good side to curl up. Elliot thought it was safe to say so since she probably wouldn't remember. He placed a warm moist kiss on her cheek then got his suit jacket and left a note saying he'd be back later for lunch. He hailed a cab and smiled to himself all the way home.

As soon as the door was closed Olivia realized what her partner had just said and her eyes popped open.

"Wait, what?" She said to her empty apartment.