AN: So I had this started for the longest but couldn't find the motivation to write it so I decided to force it, I wanted to write something fluffy considering that most of my other fics have been more angsty. I hope you guys enjoy it. Leave a review either here or on twitter ( SpearsFan55) and let me know what you guys think. Oh, there's a brief flashback in this fic which is written in italics. Also, I'm going to aim to get a Never Say Goodbye update up soon, but with school starting back next week I have no guarantees on when it'll be up.

As usual, I own nothing. Dick Wolf & NBC own SVU and its characters and the lyrics to Everyday belong to Britney Spears (I'm surprised I've gone this long before using a Britney song).

Everybody needs, needs a place to go
God knows I have seen it's a twisting, winding road
Every day, the sun comes up again…

Brian watched as Olivia slept peacefully in his arms, her face was relaxed and her breathing was shallow and even. A smile crept onto his face as he reminisced on all of the obstacles they had overcome in the last year, from breaking up to Lewis' escape to becoming foster parents; they found a way to make their relationship grow when they both expected it to end.

He tenderly ran his thumb across her jaw, marveling in her beauty and basking in the joy he felt knowing she was finally able to sleep peacefully.

"No…no…stop!" Olivia shot up in bed, her body covered in sweat, her breaths short and ragged and tears streaming down her face. She felt Brian's body shift beside her and she instantly turned her face so he couldn't see the tears, "I'm fine, Brian. Go back to sleep"

"Liv, please, just talk to me…" He reached for her hand and he immediately regretted it when he felt entire body stiffen at the light contact. He pulled his hand back to sit at side, "you need to let me in, Babe. If we're going to make this work, you need to trust me."

"Brian, please. Leave it alone." Fresh tears streamed down her face, she knew he was right, once again, he was working overtime to make their relationship work and she was pulling away because she was afraid.

"No," Brian got up and walked to the other side of the bed and knelt down in front of Olivia, "please Liv. Let me help you…"

"It was just a nightmare Bri, I'm fine…"

Exasperated, Brian sighed loudly, "fine. You win Olivia. I'm done fighting you to let me in, you said you wanted to make this work, that you wanted to let me in, but you still won't do it. I don't know what you want me to do. I just want you to trust me enough to let me in, even if it's just a little." Brian rubbed his face and stood up and walked out of their bedroom.

Brian shut his eyes tightly and he gripped the edge of the kitchen counter as he tried to process what just happened, he knew better than to push Olivia to talk to him but he also knew that if he didn't probe a little that she'd never open up, she needed to know that he was serious about wanting her to talk to him.

"Bri…"

Brian opened his eyes and his heart broke at the sight in front of him. Olivia's eyes were red and puffy, and her shoulders were slightly slouched in defeat, "I'm sorry…" that was all it took, Olivia lost her composure, and sobs wracked her body, "I'm so sorry Bri."

Brian quickly rushed over to his girlfriend and held her tightly. He said a silent prayer when she allowed herself to be held, he felt her shoulders shake and he quickly pulled a hand up to the back of her head, as the other rested on her back. "It's okay Liv, its okay… he can't hurt you anymore, Baby." He continued to whisper words of reassurance in her ears until he felt her breathing regulate and her shoulders no longer shook beneath him. Once he was sure she had stopped crying, he loosened his grip around her and gently cupped her face, "Talk to me, Liv. Please."

Olivia inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, tears threatening to fall beneath her closed eyelids. She opened her eyes and looked at Brian, his face was soft and his eyes were pleading. He wanted to help her; he's always wanted to help her. "Okay" Olivia took a seat at the breakfast bar and Brian sat down beside her. She knew he wouldn't push her to say more than she was ready for and she reached over and took his hand in hers before she began, "The nightmares, they're so real. It's like I'm reliving everything I went through with Lewis… I can feel every time a lit cigarette touches my skin. I can feel the barrel move every time we played a round of Russian roulette. Even in death Lewis knows how to haunt me…"

Olivia explained nightmares as best as she could to Brian, giving him a slight insight into her time with Lewis, of the ways he got in her head. She looked up at him, and was moved when she saw that tears had begun to form in his eyes. Brian reached over and cupped her face between in his hands, "I'm so sorry you had to experience that, babe. I'm sorry I didn't do a better job at keeping you safe, but thank you for trusting me."

A comfortable silence engulfed the apartment as Brian and Olivia sat in the dark kitchen, "I'm sorry that I pushed you to talk, Liv…"

"No," Olivia reached across and took Brian's hand into hers, she waited until he looked at her and continued, "don't apologize. I needed it, I needed you to push me. I guess I needed to know you'd listen…." A single tear rolled down Olivia's cheek before she leaned in and kissed Brian tenderly, "thank you for listening."

"Always."

.

Brian wrapped his arms around Olivia's waist and pulled her closer to him. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and smiled as she stirred gently before slowly opening her eyes and glancing at the clock on their end table and groaning, "go back to sleep, Brian."

"Good morning to you too" he chuckled as Olivia buried her face deep into his chest.

"Noah's asleep, we should be too."

Brian shook his head in amusement, gently stroking Olivia's hair, "you and I both know Noah won't be asleep much longer…"

As if on cue the sounds of Noah stirring in his room could be heard over the monitor, Olivia looked over at a smiling Brian and groaned when he smugly uttered an "I told you so."

Olivia rolled over and threw the blankets off her body before Brian reached over and stopped her, "I'll get him."

"Are you sure?"

"I've been working longer hours than usual and I haven't spent much time with him this week and you got in late last night. You need a break, I'll get him. You go back to sleep," Brian planted a soft kiss on his girlfriend's lips before throwing his legs over the edge of the bed. He walked to the door and turned back to smile at Olivia, "I love you."

"I love you too." Olivia said yawning as she wrapped herself back in her blanket and dozed off.

.

Olivia woke up an hour later and sighed contently as the smell of coffee filled her nostrils, she threw her feet over the edge of the large bed she and Brian share and made her way to the kitchen. She quietly padded down the short hallway, smiling when she saw Brian sitting with Noah in the living room, reading him a story, "You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed. You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest. Except when you don't. Because, sometimes, you won't." Olivia stood braced against the wall, smiling as she watched the interaction between Brian and Noah, her mind wandered to the night when they broke up because they wanted different things, she wanted a family and he 'wasn't ready'.

She swiftly walked into the living room and sat on the floor beside Brian and Noah, she rested her head on Brian's shoulder as he finished his story and planted a soft kiss on Noah's head and Olivia's before getting up and putting Noah placing Noah in his booster seat at the table, "that has always been my favourite Dr. Seuss story."

"I can tell, you read it to him every chance you get. At this rate he'll be able to tell the story off the top of his head before he can sing the alphabet song," Olivia chuckled as she walked into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around Brian, "thanks for getting up with him this morning, I was exhausted."

"I know you were Liv and it was no problem," Brian placed a chaste kiss on Olivia's lips and then grabbed Noah's cereal and placed it in front of him, "I love spending time with Noah." He tousled Noah's hair slightly before reaching for the cup of coffee Olivia was handing him.

"We still on for the zoo today?"

"Of course we are. I wouldn't pass on the chance to spend a day with my favourite little man and my favourite girl. Plus it's like a hundred degrees outside, you'd have to wear shorts and we both know that there is nothing would make me miss seeing that" Brian grinned at Olivia and pulled her into him when she playfully smacked his arm. He kissed her tenderly and smiled when he felt her body melt into his. There was a time when holding her hand would make her physically flinch and he thanked his lucky stars that she had opened herself up to him again, that she felt safe with him.

.

The sun had already set when Brian pulled into the underground parking garage of their apartment; Noah was asleep in his car seat, utterly exhausted from his day at the zoo and the park and Olivia had fallen asleep in the passenger's seat drained from the heat. He pulled into their parking spot and looked over at Olivia; her face was relaxed and she had no makeup on but she still managed to take his breath away, he brushed a strand of hair from her face and called her name quietly, not wanting to startle her.

"Are we home already?" Olivia stretched as much as she could in the confined space, a small blush crept into her cheeks when she looked over and saw Brian staring at her, "what? Was I snoring?"

"You always snore." Brian laughed as Olivia shook her head in amusement. He intertwined their fingers and brought her hands to his lips, kissing her knuckles tenderly. "I love you." His words were quiet and sincere and the emotion in his voice reached not only his smile, but his eyes.

Olivia felt her heart flutter at Brian's words, no matter how many times she's heard him say it, it warned her heart knowing that after everything she put him through, he loved her unconditionally. She reached over the seat and rubbed his face, "I love you Brian, so much. Now, what do you say we get our son upstairs and start dinner?"

Brian smiled when a yawn escaped Olivia's lips, "how about we get our son upstairs and the two of you nap while I make dinner?"

"You're incredible, you know that?"

"Oh, I know." Brian grinned widely as he got out of the car and buckled Noah's car sear, trying his best not to wake the sleeping infant. He reached his hand out to Olivia and smiled when she gladly accepted and they entered their apartment hand-in-hand.

.

Brian pulled the chicken out of the oven and smiled when he heard Olivia's voice from around the corner, "something smells good."

"How'd you sleep?"

"Great, I'm a little worried I won't be able to fall asleep tonight."

"Well, that works out! Noah's probably going to be up all night with how long he's been out…"

"You didn't wake him?" Olivia's eyes widened as she looked at the time, Noah had been asleep for nearly 3 hours, and if he didn't wake up soon there would be no chance of him falling back asleep at a decent hour, "Brian Cassidy, I am going to kill you!"

Brian threw his hands up in mock surrender and leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on Olivia's forehead, "I was just about to go wake him up," he said, winking as he turned and walked toward Noah's bedroom.

Olivia smiled as she watched Brian walk away and her smile grew wider when she heard Brian's voice quietly and soothingly calling Noah's name. She quickly turned and began plating their dinners, opening a beer for Brian, pouring a glass of wine for herself and filling Noah's sippy-cup with apple juice.

A few minutes later Brian walked into the kitchen with Noah on his hip, pouting. Olivia reached over and took Noah from Brian's arms, "what's the matter little man?"

"Sleepy momma." Noah rubbed his eyes and buried his head into Olivia's shoulder and she gently rubbed his back and placed a soft kiss in his hair as she put him down at the table.

"I know you're tired baby but you have to eat some of your dinner before you go back to sleep."

Usually Noah was adamant about feeding himself but tonight he waited on Olivia to feed him, and it didn't take long for exhaustion to take over his tiny body again. Olivia smiled as she watched Noah's eyelids grow heavy, she picked him and gently rocked him to sleep. Once she felt his breathing even out she motioned to Brian that she'd back and quietly made her way to Noah's bedroom.

Olivia re-entered the dining room a few moments later, she sat down and smiled at Brian who was waiting for her to return so they could eat their dinner together, "you didn't have to wait for me, Bri."

"I know I didn't have to, I wanted to."

They ate the rest of their meal while engaging in small talk; they discussed their cases at work, Noah's daycare schedule for the week, and so much more. Once they finished their meals they loaded up the dishwasher before retreating to the living room.

Brian wrapped an arm loosely around Olivia and smiled to himself when she nestled her head deeper into his chest, inhaled his scent and sighed contently. He looked at Olivia, who was completely relaxed in his arms, her eyes were closed and her arms were wrapped tightly around his waist, this is what my life is supposed to be, he thought to himself. His free hand fell on his pocket and pulled the ring out.

Olivia opened her eyes when she felt Brian shift and her breath hitched when she saw the solitaire diamond ring that was being held out in front of her, "Bri?" Olivia's voice was laced with confusion but her eyes were glistening with tears and joy.

"Liv, I wanted nothing more than to make this special but I realized that 'this'" Brian motioned between them, "is special. You are special. I wanted to make it a huge deal, do something over the top and extremely romantic but laying here with you wrapped in my arms is exactly how I imagine spending the rest of my days. I want to be the one holding you when Noah brings home his first love; I want to be the one holding you when Noah leaves for college… I want to hold you until I take my last breath." Brian took Olivia's hand in his and placed a tender kiss on her knuckle, "when we decided to give this another shot you said you wanted to move on, well, so do I. I want to move on with the rest of my life and I want to move on with you. Marry Me, Olivia."

"Yes." Olivia's words were quiet and emotion filled, she beamed when Brian slipped the ring on her finger and kissed him deeply, pouring all her emotions into it.

Once apart, Brian leaned his forehead on Olivia's, "I Love you."

Olivia felt a tear roll down her cheek, she smiled when Brian brushed it away gently with him thumb, "I love you too Brian. I always will."

A little hope begins and it starts with you 'cause you get me through it.
And every day, I'm closer to the shore, I smile a little more
And because of your faith, I get closer now every day