A/N: Here's Chapter 2 for ya guys. My updates will take a little longer for now on since I started school 2 days. This chapter is pretty long so I hope it makes up for it, enjoy.
Disclaimer: I own no one but Eliza.
Meeting Someone New
Chapter 2: Thanks
Elliot was driving down the road in the middle of the night. He glanced in the rear view mirror to see his niece sleeping in the back seat. She had her thump in her mouth and her head was resting on the door. Turning down the dirt road he turned on his bright lights seeing as how it was way too dark. Normally he didn't take the dirt road back home but his niece was running a fever of 101, and he wanted to get her into bed to rest.
Looking ahead of him, he saw a car pulled off the road. He pulled up behind the car and cut off the engine. Elliot looked into the back seat to make sure his niece was still asleep. Satisfied that she was, he grabbed a flashlight out of the glove compartment. Getting out of the car, he closed and locked the doors. Walking over to the car, he shined the light on the window and knocked.
Olivia was sitting in her car with her eyes closed when there was a knock on the window. She jumped and then looked out the window to see light shining through. She blinked and put her hands in front of her face to block the light from blinding her. When she saw the light move away from the window, she put her hands down and looked out the window to see a neighbor of hers. He was staring at her with an apologetic look.
Relieved to see it was just her neighbor, she opened the door and got out.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Elliot said.
"It's okay."
"So what exactly are you doing out here at this time of the night?"
"I got a flat tire." Olivia said gesturing to her tire.
Elliot flashed the light on the tire to get a closer look. "How long have you been out here?"
"About 45 minutes." Olivia shrugged her shoulders.
Elliot looked at her surprised. "You've been out here 45 minutes? How long were you planning to stay out here?"
"Um…until I got the courage to walk home." Olivia said putting her hands in her pocket.
"You would have walked? In the dark? Alone?"
"Well, I really didn't have much of a choice. It was either stay here all night or take the chance of walking home."
"I don't want you walking out here at this time of the night so I'll give you a ride." Elliot smiled.
"I was told to never ride with strangers." Olivia smirked.
"Well Ms. Olivia Benson," Elliot chuckled from the shocked look on her face. "Don't worry, I'm not a stalker or anything, you're mail just sometimes get mixed up with mines."
Olivia smiled. "Well you know my name but I don't know yours."
"Elliot Stabler." He stuck out his hand and waited for her to shake it. "Come on, let's go." He said leading the way to his black Denali. Opening the passenger door for her, he helped her into the truck.
"Thanks." She said.
"Olivia, I would like you to meet my niece Eliza." Elliot said climbing into the truck and gesturing to the sleeping child in the back.
"She's burning up." Olivia said with a frown.
"Yeah she has a fever, so I got to get her home. But first we're going to stop at the auto shop up the road."
"Ok, but I also need gas; I'm on 'E'"
Elliot chuckled. "Today is just not your day is it?" Elliot asked driving down the road.
"Not at all."
"So, why we're you out driving this late?"
"I was on my way home from a friend's house and then I stopped at the store to pick up some things." Olivia said. "Ah shit," She cursed quietly, not wanting to wake the sleeping child.
"What's wrong?" Elliot asked taking a quick glance her way.
"My ice cream is gonna melt." She mumbled.
"Olivia, it's just ice cream." Elliot laughed.
"No it's not. It's cookies and cream ice cream and I need my sugar rush." Olivia whined causing Elliot to laugh harder. "It's not funny."
"You're adorable." Elliot smiled pulling into the auto shop.
"Elliot, a kitten is adorable." Olivia laughed.
"Okay, you're beautiful." Elliot smirked winking at her.
Olivia inhaled sharply. Her stomach was doing flip flops and she was in a daze staring into his cerulean eyes.
"Olivia?" Elliot said smiling; knowing that he caught her off guard with calling her beautiful, but in his eyes it was the truth.
"Yeah?" She asked snapping out of her trance.
"Keep an eye on Eliza for me?"
"Of course." She replied smiling. Olivia watched as Elliot shut the door and walked over to the auto shop. The place was deserted and there were no cars around.
Pulling down the visor in front of her, she used the mirror to fix her hair from lying back on the seat. Upon opening it though, a picture fell on the floor. Picking it up, Olivia stared at a picture of Eliza. She had long brown hair that passed her shoulders and bluish-green eyes, with a toothy smile.
Smiling at the picture, Olivia put it back when she saw Elliot return with the tire.
Elliot went to the truck and placed it in the back before hopping in the car. "Now, let's go get some gas." Elliot said smiling and pulling off to the road.
"How did you get into the building?" Olivia spoke up.
"I have a key."
"You work there?"
"Yes and no."
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"Well, I don't actually go there and handle the customers; I work on the finance stuff." Elliot said glancing at her, when she didn't say anything he continued. "I uh…I own the place."
Olivia's eyes widened. "You own the place?"
"Yeah, that and two other auto shops.
"How did you get into the auto shop business?" Olivia asked curious.
"Well my grandfather started the business and when he got to old he passed it down to my dad. Then when my dad got diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago he passed it down to me."
"Is your dad okay?" Olivia asked worried.
Elliot smiled at her concern. "He's fine now, he beat the cancer."
"Do you enjoy it? Running the business I mean."
"It puts bread on the table." Elliot replied glancing at her. He smiled seeing the quirk of her eyebrow. "Well not so much."
"If you don't like it, why'd you take over?"
"Well someone has to. Besides I won't be the owner much longer anyways. My older brother is working on getting his Masters in business management. He'll take over once he finishes getting his degree; he would have taken over sooner but he needed to concentrate on his studies."
"What will you do after the business is taking out of your hands?"
"I'll go back to coaching."
"What do you couch?" Olivia asked.
"I couch little league baseball."
"Really?" Olivia questioned surprised.
Elliot nodded his head. "Yup, why? I don't seem like the little league type?" Elliot laughed.
Olivia chuckled. "Not at all."
"Well what type do I seem like?" Elliot inquired curiously.
"You seem like you should be a cop or something along those lines."
Elliot took his eyes off the road for a second to glance at her. "Yeah? Why is that?"
"You seem like you could be very intimidating." Olivia offered a smile.
"Do I intimidate you Olivia?" Elliot grinned pulling into the gas station.
"Not in the least bit." Olivia smirked.
"Would you mind going to get some children's Tylenol, some orange juice, and a couple cans of chicken noodle soup for Eliza?" Elliot asked handing Olivia a twenty.
"Sure." Olivia replied as she went to get the supplies.
Once she got what she needed, Olivia headed back to the truck. "All set?" She asked Elliot, getting into the car and handing him his change.
"Yup, we're good to go." Elliot said pulling onto the street pavement. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Elliot spoke up. "So Olivia, tell me, what do you do?"
"I go to school."
"You're in college?"
"No, I'm in elementary."
"Elementary?" Elliot choked out.
Olivia laughed. "Elliot I teach 3rd graders."
"You're a teacher?"
"Yeah, I love kids."
"Have any kids of your own?"
"No."
"Married?"
"Nope."
"Boyfriend?"
"What's with all the questions?" Olivia asked smiling.
"Just curious."
"About me?"
Elliot grinned. "Yes I am, and you didn't answer my question."
"I know."
"Olivia…" Elliot pressed gently.
"No, I don't have a boyfriend. You?"
"Unfortunately no, I don't have a boyfriend?" Elliot smirked and Olivia laughed causing Elliot to laugh along with her. Her laugh was contagious.
"You know that's not what I meant."
"Well I'm not married or seeing anyone and I don't have any kids."
"What about Eliza?"
"She's my niece and yea I take care of here."
"What about her parents?" Olivia asked quietly. When Elliot didn't answer, Olivia felt as though she shouldn't have asked that. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."
"No it's ok." Elliot said with a weak smile. Clearing his throat, he continued. "About 6 years ago my sister in law went into labor about a month earlier than her due date. My brother, who was her husband, was on a business trip in North Carolina, so he couldn't be there at the time. I was the one who helped her through labor, but my brother wanted to be there. He was going to take a flight out back to New York, but because it was winter, the weather was really bad so the flight was cancelled. Since he was too stubborn to take no for an answer, he decided to drive. Well there was some black ice on the road and his car swerved on it and crashed into a pole; he died instantly." Elliot whispered, trying to hold back his tears, taking a deep breath to keep his emotions in check, he continued. "About 5 hours after he died, Eliza was born. Unfortunately her mom lost too much and she didn't make it. She wanted to name her after me since I was there to help her, but I don't think Elliot James Stabler would have worked for a girl." Elliot offered a weak grin. "So she was named Eliza Jaime Stabler. She lost both of her parents on the same day. She'll never know how great her parents were." Elliot said quietly, his tears finally falling.
"I'm sorry Elliot, but she'll know her parents, through you." Olivia said putting a hand on his shoulder for comfort. "All you have to do is tell her about them. I'm sure you're a great parent to her, and she already knows that her parents love her, even if she never got the chance to see them."
"Thanks." Elliot said smiling at her, pulling up behind her car.
"You're welcome."
"I'll be right back. I'm gonna go fix up your car. Stay here and lock the doors." Elliot said getting out of the car and leaving the keys in the ignition so the headlights could provide him light.
Olivia watched as Elliot started with removing her old tire and then placing on the new one. Hearing a whimper, she turned around to see Eliza the cause of the noise. Taking off her seatbelt, she got in the back seat. "Shh, it's ok sweetheart." Olivia said trying to sooth the child in her sleep. Eliza only whimpered more and turned over so her head was on Olivia's lap. One of Eliza's hands was clinging to Olivia and the other was digging in her ear.
"Uncle El!" She whined in her sleep.
"It's ok Eliza." Olivia said softly rubbing the child's back, which seemed to calm her down.
Seeing Elliot return the car, Olivia unlocked the doors and waited for him to put up his thing and then get in the car. "Hey, your car is all set." Elliot said and then furrowed his brow in confusion. "What are you doing back there?"
"She was whimpering, so I thought I'd try and calm her down." Olivia said. "Hey El, I think she got an ear affection; she keeps digging in her ear."
Elliot sighed. "I don't have any sweet oil for it, and most of the stores that sell it are closed."
"It's ok; I have some at my house." Olivia smiled gently.
Elliot nodded his head in gratitude. "Your car should have enough gas to get you back home, that way you can just get some gas the next time you go out since it's already late." Elliot said staring at the clock that read 12:39.
"Thanks." Olivia said extracting herself from Eliza and stumbling out of the back seat.
"Careful." Elliot said catching Olivia before she could fall face flat on the cement.
"Thanks…again." Olivia forced a smile putting some distance between them. He was too attractive and she enjoyed his touch too much. And then there were his eyes! His eyes were so blue that it was like swimming in the ocean. Olivia averted her gaze down to where his hand was gently grasping her arm. His fingers were long in length. They looked strong, but they were gentle on her arm. She could see the veins that went though his arm, along with the hairs that stuck out of his skin. Her gaze then settled on his chest and shoulders. They were so broad and the shirt that he was wearing showed off his muscles perfectly. This creature in front of her, was 100 percent male and it sent shivers down her spine.
"Olivia? Are you ok?" Elliot questioned seeing her shiver.
"Uh huh." She mumbled.
"You sure?" Elliot asked, trickling his hand down her arm.
"Mmmhmmm." Olivia hummed, trying to hold back her moan.
Elliot smiled. "Olivia, is there a reason why you won't look at me?"
"No." Olivia said keeping her gaze on his chest.
Reaching his hand, he lifted her chin with his forefinger to force her to look at him. "Really?" He asked taking a step closer.
Olivia only stared at him, not sure what to say. When no words came to voice, she did the only thing she could think of. She kissed him. When he didn't respond, she pulled back to see the shock expression on his face. Horrified of what she just did, she went to walk away.
"Olivia." Elliot said seeing her body tremble.
"I got to go." She whispered walking away and getting into her car. "Shit." She cursed when she realized she left her keys in Elliot's car. Reaching into her glove compartment, she was glad the she kept a spare key for her car. Starting the car she pulled on the dirt road and drove home.
Pulling up into an empty slot in the parking slot, she got out of her car. Looking around, Olivia didn't see Elliot's truck in sight yet so she figured that he had got caught at the light. Walking down the sidewalk, she sighed realizing that she needed her keys to get though the front of the apartment complex and then the key to her apartment. Seeing someone on their way out of the apartment building Olivia was relieved. She watched as they stepped out of the doors, and right before the door closed she stepped her foot through and then slipped in. Taking the elevator up to her floor, Olivia stood in front of her door. Sighing, she waited knowing that Elliot would be up any minute since he lived three doors down. Hearing the dink of the elevator, Olivia looked up to see Elliot carrying Eliza in one hand and the items from the gas station in the other.
"Could you open my door for me?" Elliot asked quietly not wanting to scare her.
Nodding her head, she took the keys from him and unlocked his door for him.
As he placed down the items he reached into his pocket and pulled out Olivia's keys. "Here's your keys."
"Thanks." Olivia said then walked away before he could say anything. 5 minutes layer she returned to his apartment and knocked on his door. Once he opened the door she handed him the sweet oil. "Here, only place about two drops in her ear."
"Thanks." Elliot said.
"Your welcome." Olivia replied and then walked away.
"Olivia." Elliot said wanting to talk to her.
"Goodnight Elliot." Olivia said and Elliot kept quiet knowing she didn't want to talk. He waited until she was safely in her apartment before he closed his door and went to take care of his niece.
A/N: Hope you liked, please review!
