Nick at the door, hands clenched at his sides. His mind ran over the events of the day, his guilt becoming more and more aggressive the longer he stood there. 'What so have you forgiven your father or William Lewis?! Huh, have you forgiven them?!' he snapped at her. 'Wow.' she was a long pause as she made her way around her desk. 'I'm Sorry.' Nick shook his head, he couldn't believe that he had said that to her. What made it worse was that he was so upset he didn't even mean his half ass apology. The hurt that washed over her face as his words settled in, still haunted his mind.
He had just gotten her trust in him back, and not only did he ruin that, but he also took information she trusted him with and threw back in her face against her. "I'm such an idiot!" he said to himself softly. Nick could hear subtle movements and the hum of the TV behind the door. He shouldn't be here. He had no right to ask for her forgiveness, or to ease the pain in his chest.
Before Nick could turn around to leave his hand moved on its own accord and knocked against the door three times. He turned his back to the door quickly and began to move away, trying desperately to avoid being caught here. "Nick?" she asked, her voice alone stopped his movements. "Nick are you alright? You're dripping wet" her concern clearly evident in her voice. It griped at his heart like a vice. He turned around and saw her standing in the doorway, one hand on the door, the other supported Noah who rested snugly on her hip. Noah's head rested on Olivia's shoulder, his tiny hand covering his mouth.
Nick looked into her eyes and frowned. "I'm sorry to bother you. I was just-" she cut him off with a smile. "You're not bothering me. I was just getting ready to put Noah down." She moved away from the door leaving it open. "Come in, I'll grab you a towel to dry off." Nick hesitantly stepped inside and closed the door behind him. By the time he turned around Olivia was already coming back with a towel. "I'm just going to put Noah down, make you're self at home." He didn't respond just watched her turn around and disappear into a room.
Nick placed the towel over his head, trying to dry it enough so he wasn't dripping it all over her floor. He battled with himself on whether he should leave or stay, however the decision was made for him when Olivia walked back into the room grabbing his attention. "Here," she offered him what looked like a change of clothes, "take these. They're yours anyways." Nick looked down making a face. Olivia seemed to understand his confusion.
"They're the sweat pants and shirt you loaned me after the second time – you know when Lewis-" she trailed off as she placed the bundle of clothes into his hands, while a new wave of guilt punched him in the gut. "Thanks." He offered as he turned around and made his way into the kitchen behind the bar where he quickly stripped of his wet clothes including his boxers and placed the dry ones on.
When he turned around he saw Olivia there staring at him, her cheeks tinted pink. Despite himself he smirked, "Like what you see Sergeant?" he joked. Olivia rolled her eyes and moved into her kitchen where she grabbed his wet clothes and proceeded to throw them into the dryer. "So why are you here, other than to ruin my carpet with this water?" Olivia asked as she settled herself down on the couch. Nicks playfulness that he felt a moment ago disappeared.
Nick moved to sit besides his partner on the couch. "Liv,-" she held up her hand. "Nick I know what you're going to say and I'm not upset with you." He gave her a pointed look and she rolled her eyes. "Not anymore at least." She added. Nick shook his head. "Just let me say this Liv." He pleaded. Olivia frowned; she didn't like her partner being upset. He needed to get this off of his chest so she just nodded and allowed him to continue.
"I'm sorry. I know you say that you're not mad at me, but I don't care. You should be. What I said crossed a line Liv, and I never should've done it. I know that I hurt you and that is unacceptable. I worked so hard to earn your trust and get you to confide in me, and I just threw it back in your face when all you were trying to do is help." Olivia studied him and never broke eye contact as he spoke. When he finished Olivia finally looked away and sucked in a breath before she looked back at him.
She turned her body more to him and reached out and grabbed his hand. "Nick look at me." He did, and in the moment he lost his breath. He had never seen her look more beautiful. "Yes, you're right. What you said did hurt my feelings, but I know that you didn't mean what you said. It was my fault anyway. I overstepped." Nick squeezed her hand and shook his head. "No, I was wrong." Olivia chuckled at how serious he was.
"Alright let's just admit that we were both in the wrong and move on, okay?" She smiled and Nick begrudgingly accepted. Olivia pushed herself against the back of the coach and pressed her side into his, her head resting on his shoulder. Their hands never separated, even as she curled her legs underneath her. They sat there for a few moments in a comfortable silence. This kind of moment between them was rare and Nick knew enough to take full advantage of it. His mind trying to remember everything about it; the way her hair smelled mixed with his musty aroma, the way the heat emitted from their close proximity.
"You smell like rain." She murmured. Nick looked down to see that her head had dropped from his shoulder to his chest and her eyes were closed. Nick chuckled, "I did walk here tonight." He paused in thought. He released her hand and shifted his body, threw his arm around Olivia and pulled her closer, which she didn't object to. "Is that bad?" he waited for her to respond and when he was just about jostle her slightly she responded. "Nmm, no, it's nice." She let out a soft sigh. Nick held her close as they sat in silence some more.
Nick heard the dryer go off and shifted his head to look back over the couch. "Hey looks like my clothes are ready." When he didn't get a response he looked down at her. "Liv?" she looked peaceful, her face relaxed, her breathing slow. Nick smiled and reached over and grabbed the throw blanket off the couch. He very carefully draped it over Olivia and himself. He lowered his head and placed a kiss on top of hers. "Thank you."
A/N: So What do you all think? Nick and Olivia are by far my OTP of SVU. I have had an idea to mess with this episode for awhile. And I might even do a complete AU version of this episode. Nick was one of my favorite characters on SVU after Elliot left. I will miss him dearly. Well let me know what you think. This could be seen as strictly friendship or as friendship/romance.
