She had nowhere else to go, nowhere else to turn. Her apartment was a crime scene, her life was a mess, and she found herself knocking on Elliot Stabler's door for refuge. She had to stay somewhere, and she'd considered hotels and even the precinct cots, but she just wanted to be near him, even if she couldn't have him.
The sexual tension brewing between the partners was so palpable that it was embarrassing. Because both of them were so frustrated, their friendship was taking hits. Every conversation turned into a fight, every quip had a jagged undertone, every look burned into her memory. And still, even with their friendship on the rocks, their partnership near ruin, she came to his house, to stay with him in the aftermath that was the Bronson case.
Kathy took the kids and went to her mother's house, a clear sign that Stabler's marriage was also on the rocks. She only found out this fact as the cab pulled up to his house. For a moment she worried about being alone with Elliot…until he texted that his cousin Evan would also be staying with him for the weekend.
Her heart beat faster as she opened the cab door, grabbed her bag and headed towards his doorstep. She was such a massive part of his world, his work world, but this was different, this was his home, the tender secret place that he retreated to when work wasn't lording over him. And she was about to invade that private world.
Oh well, it was too late to turn back now. Stabler popped the door open before she even reached it. He was coming out to get the mail. "Hey Benson," he said casually, as if she was a permanent fixture, a person who belonged on his sidewalk. "Hey," she said back with an awkward smile.
"Ready for our sleepover?" he jested, making her heart skip. She was trying so hard to push down the longing in her chest, but it kept bubbling back up every time she saw his icy blue eyes. "Yeah," she gave a nervous chuckle, "I brought my slippers and popcorn."
"Good," he said, opening the mailbox, taking its contents and shutting the lid. "Come on in."