Authors Note: Hello everyone! This is my first story that I have A) ever written and B) published, so please go easy on me in the reviews. I do not usually ship E/O but this story came to me one day and it had to be written. It was inspired by a gif set I made on tumblr. I should probably add that this chapter is just a background chapter and Olivia will make her appearance in chapter 2. Keep in mind, this is just fanfiction and it does not necessarily follow the show so this story will be slightly AU.

Also, it should be said that I do not own SVU or any of its characters (unless I made them up, in which case I do own them). All credit belongs to Dick Wolf and NBC. So without further adu I give you, The Story Of Us.


Chapter 1: Goodbye

It was the week before Christmas. The snow was falling gently towards the already covered ground, the streetlights lighting a perfect path down the empty sidewalk. A Christmas tree could be seen through every window.

Admittedly, it was not the ideal time to drop such a huge bomb like this to his family but it was the last chance Dickie Stabler would have to tell his parents. He had informed his sisters of his decision to leave two weeks ago, making them promise to keep quiet until he could tell his parents himself. He thought he owed them that much.

The Stablers' were gathered around the dinner table. Maureen had come home for the holidays bringing her fiancé, Steve, with her and was paying no mind to the rest of her family. Kathleen was spending the entire meal on her phone planning a get away to Aspen with her friend, Shelly, before their Winter Break was over. Elizabeth seemed to be the only one who was paying attention to Dickie.

"Mom. Dad." Dickie said quietly, not wanting to interrupt anyone in particular.

"Not now Dickie" his father shot back. "Kathy, I'm telling you. I cannot take off of work to take Eli to the zoo. I know this is important to him but the holidays are our busiest time at work. You should know that!"

"Oh that's right! I forgot. I'm your mistress. You are more devoted to your job than you are to this family. I have never asked you for anything! You can't give your son one day of your undivided attention? For Christ's sake Elliot! He is almost three years old and he hardly knows you!"

Raising his voice a little, Dickie tried again to get everyone's attention. "Guys. I have an announcement to make."

"That's nice, Dickie" Kathy said, not even listening to what Dickie was trying to say. She was consumed in her argument with her husband and she was not about to lose this one. "If you don't start paying attention to me and to this family I swear I'll leave you, Elliot. I will do it this time. I've threatened to do it before but I will go through with it this time."

"Kathy, you are overreacting. It isn't that I don't want to take Eli, it's that I cannot physically make it happen. Cap has me and Olivia pulling a double that day."

"Oooh Ooolivia!" Kathy said, rolling her eyes. "Ha! I knew that's what this was about. You just want to spend more time with your work wife than your real wife. You remember? The one who gave birth to the five children you claim to love more than anything in the world? Tell me this. What is her favorite color Elliot? Hmm? Answer me."

Her favorite color is blue like the ocean. Her favorite smell is orange blossom because it reminds her of spring. Her favorite number is sixteen because we met at the sixteenth precinct. Her favorite flower is the peony and her blood type is A positive. She loves early mornings, her coffee black, and the sound of laughter emanating from children. She orders Chinese takeout three times and week from the same Chinese restaurant that is half way across town simply because the delivery boy is nice to her. But worst of all is she doesn't believe she is beautiful even though she is the most beautiful woman in the world.

"Blue Kathy. It's blue. Her favorite color is blue. What does that have to do with Eli?"

"What is my favorite color? Do you know that one? Hmm?" For a moment Elliot's mind went blank. He could not for the life of him remember what his wife's favorite color is. They had been married for almost thirty years and he could not answer this simple question.

"Your favorite color is yellow, your favorite number is five and your favorite flowers are lilies. I remember because I bought you five yellow lilies on your birthday last year."

"NO Elliot. It isn't! I hate yellow! My favorite color is blue, like your eyes. My favorite number is seventeen for when we got married and my favorite flower is the hydrangea. You can't even answer that simple question."

Growing more and more frustrated, Dickie spoke up one last time. "MOM. DAD. LISTEN TO ME. I decided to enlist in the Marines. I leave for basic next week. And after that I'm applying with NYPD." If anyone cares, he mumbles to himself.

No sooner than the words left his mouth the room went quiet. Even the ticking from the wall clock seemed to become silent.

"That is great son!" Elliot exclaimed. Elliot never had a problem with his son following in his footsteps. In fact, he was proud that his son wanted to be like him. Some of the fondest conversations he had with his son revolved around Dickie wanted to know all about his father's time in the Marines. Kathy on the other hand, was mortified by the news. She refused to allow her son to cause his future wife as much pain and loneliness as Elliot had caused her. The late nights and unexpected calls, the abandoned family dinners, the ruined family holidays. No. She was never going to let her son do that to someone else. But more than that, she knew that the chances of Dickie ever coming home after he enlisted were slim to none. Even if he did make it home, every day he spent on the job would be another day closer to his imminent death. She would never forgive herself if she allowed this and her son died.

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After dinner, the family dispersed into their respective rooms. Elliot sat down at the base of his bed to remove his socks and shoes. In typical Kathy fashion, she tried to avoid the continuation of their argument by making a move. She crawled onto the bed, placing herself behind Elliot, and began to sensually stroke his muscular arms.

"I love you, Elliot. I'm sorry about earlier. I know you love me but sometimes it's nice to be reminded. Make love to me, baby. Show me how much you love me" she whispered into his ear.

She continued her rub down of her husband's back, slowly inching her hands towards his toned stomach, leaving a trail of sweet kisses along his neck. Before she could reach her destination, Elliot grabbed her hands and ripped them away, throwing them with such strength that Kathy fell back.

"Stop it! This, what you're trying to do, is not going to make me forgive and forget. I'm tired of you always acting like what I do for a living is so evil. This house, this family, you would have NONE of it without me. I gave up my whole life for you! I had big plans for my life Kathy, and I gave them all up because I wanted to do the honorable thing after I got you pregnant. And Dickie! He is a grown kid. This is his life and he can do whatever he wants to do with it."

"But it's not what is best for him Elliot," Kathy shot back.

"What's best for him? WHAT'S BEST FOR HIM? Kathy, this is his life. He is going to do this with or without our permission but I'd rather, if God forbid anything ever did happen to him, that he knew his parents were proud of him and believed in him and supported him."

That was the last time Elliot ever let Kathy touch him. Not so much as even a kiss. When they lay in bed at night a pillow separated them, that was when he wasn't sleeping on the sofa. After a month more of strain and heartache between the formerly blissful couple, he decided it was time to leave his wife and his job once and for all to try and find the happiness he felt he finally deserved.

He had hoped it would never come down to divorce. His parents had split when he was young. It was tough on his mother and he knew his divorce was going to be tough on his own children. Maureen had always resented her father so she was glad he was leaving and quite frankly she was too old to care. Kathleen and Dickie loved their father more than anything in the world and were devastated to see him go. Elizabeth was neutral about the whole thing, knowing it was the right thing for their family. And little Elliot Jr. He was too young to know what was going on and for Elliot, this is the one that hurt the most. As the man got in his car for the last time, he could hear little Eli screaming at the top of his lungs for his daddy. He couldn't stand it so he ran back and grabbed Eli out of his now ex-wife's arms.

"Eli, son. Everything is going to be all right. I love you and I promise to always love you. Just because I'm not living at home doesn't mean I won't get to see you. You can come visit me anytime. We'll go to the park and have ice cream and we'll play games just like we do now. You have to be strong for me, okay?

His son nodded as Elliot reluctantly handed him back to Kathy. He placed several kisses into the palm of the toddlers' hands.

"When you find yourself missing me, hold your hand to your heart and we will be together in spirit, always."

Elliot made his way to the car. As soon as he got in, he put on his seatbelt, started the ignition, and backed out of the driveway. As he drove away, he looked in his rearview mirror and saw the faces of the five best things that had ever happened to him.

His children.


To be continued! Up next: After 2 years of not speaking to her, Elliot finally gets up the nerve to call Olivia.

Thank you for reading! Don't forget to review, but please be nice!