Olivia exited the elevator at the precinct, dreading this morning. She knew she looked like hell. She thinks maybe she managed two hours of sleep, and not much of that was consecutive. Her mind kept going over and over the events of the previous night. She knew she was making a big deal out of it when she didn't really need to. It should be easy to forget about it and move on. It was just one lousy kiss. But two thoughts kept her awake all night. The first was that she didn't want to forget it. It wasn't one lousy kiss…she'd felt it down to her toes. And the second was that obviously Elliot had wanted it to happen too.

She hesitated a second before walking into the squad room, trying to collect her thoughts and make her expression neutral before she had to face Elliot. She knew he would already be at his desk. Not much of a commute when you sleep in the cribs. She took a deep breath, schooled her features, and walked into the squad room. The minute she entered, she saw Fin and Munch at their desks, and Elliot looked up from his. She kept her poker face in place.

"Hey." He said, nodding his head at her.

"Hey." She said, giving him a small smile before she hung her jacket on the coatrack and moved over to her desk. She dumped her stuff in her drawer and sat down, busying herself with the message slips on her desk.

"Benson." She heard John say her name, and she turned to look at him. He leaned towards her a little. "You should have stayed longer last night instead of going off with this character." He nodded his head towards Elliot. "Casey and I got into a drinking game with a couple of guys from homicide. Casey was kicking their asses. You should have seen her going toe-to-toe with them."

"That would have been fun to see." She said. "I wish I would have stayed." Part of her really did wish she had stayed. If she hadn't left early last night, she wouldn't be in the mess she was in right now. "I'll have to call Casey and see how she's doing today." She turned back to the paperwork on her desk, not looking up at Elliot.

She saw Elliot through her peripheral vision. He moved past her desk over to the coffeepot without stopping. She breathed a sigh of relief. However, that relief was short lived because as he passed by her desk on the way back, he stopped, leaning over and bracing both hands on her desk. She didn't have any option but to look up at him.

"Liv." He said. "Did you get my message last night?"

"Yes." She said. She looked over and saw Fin was watching her with interest. She gave him a small smile, as if to say nothing's going on here. Business as usual.

"Can we talk about it?"

Olivia shook her head. "There's nothing to talk about." She said. Her eyes flickered back to Fin and she saw he was still watching them. She let out a heavy sigh. There was always speculation about them and their relationship and it was wearing. She felt like everyone watched every little thing they did, trying to trip them up into revealing something when there was nothing to reveal.

Until now.

Her eyes flicked back up to Elliot's. He needed to drop this before everyone started whispering. "Just drop it." She said.

"But…"

"Just drop it!" She said quietly but tersely. There was no questioning her tone. She grabbed a file off her desk and stood up abruptly, knocking into him. She shot a look back over towards Fin and was pissed that he was still watching them. She looked over at Elliot and then walked quickly out of the squad room.

Elliot watched her walk out, itching to follow her. But she had made it abundantly clear that she didn't want to talk about last night and he knew there was no forcing her. She could be just as stubborn as he was and it was the reason they fought like champs. They would push each other, neither willing to give in or concede a point…until they eventually forgot what they were disagreeing about and their anger and frustration faded away.

The problem is, he had a feeling this wasn't going away. He'd spent a sleepless night thinking about that kiss…thinking about her body against his…letting it morph into one of the numerous fantasies he'd created over the years. But rather than give him pleasure like it usually did, it left him with an unforgiving hard-on and a sleepless night. Now that he'd kissed her for real, a dream wasn't going to cut it.

He let out a sound of frustration as he strode back to his desk. He sat down with a huff and rolled back up to his desk.

"You kids fighting again?" Munch asked, looking over his glasses at Elliot.

"Nah. Can't be." Said Fin. "Not those two." Fin leaned back in his chair. Stabler wasn't his favorite person, and sometimes he liked to poke the lion. "What'd you do now?"

"Butt out." Elliot growled. He wasn't in the mood.

"Wow, you must have really fucked up."

Elliot stood up, his anger flaring. "Shut the…"

Cragen walked out of his office and stood next to Elliot, effectively cutting him off. "Is there a problem here?"

Elliot looked at the Captain. He didn't say anything. He slammed his chair into his desk and stormed out of the squad room in the opposite direction Olivia had gone. He headed towards the cribs, eventually ending up in the locker room. He opened his locker, and then realized he didn't really need anything in there and slammed the door closed. He opened the door and slammed it closed again, taking satisfaction in the sound it made as it slammed shut.

He sat down hard on the bench, lost in thought, when Munch came to the door of the locker room.

"Stabler." He said, just leaning into the doorway.

"I don't need any more shit from you Munch. I'm not in the mood."

"Hey. I'm just a messenger."

Elliot turned to look at him, a question in his eyes.

"Your wife's downstairs."

Elliot groaned. Perfect.

EOEOEOEOEO

Olivia walked into the squad room, purposefully not looking towards Elliot's desk. She knew he would drop it now…he hadn't followed her and that was a good sign. He got it. He understood that they would not be talking about this. She looked up and saw Kathy Stabler standing between hers and Elliot's desk, talking to John.

Well, shit.

Kathy turned when she walked in and Olivia stopped.

"Hi Olivia." Kathy said with a smile.

Olivia was surprised with the greeting and the smile. She knew that she wasn't always Kathy's favorite person. Elliot had never said anything specific, but she was almost certain that her name had come up in fights between them. It's why she had worked hard to push him to go home at a reasonable time; to make an effort at home. She hadn't wanted to come in between him and his wife.

She never wanted that.

"Hi Kathy." She said, giving her a small smile.

Kathy moved over towards her. "You guys have been so busy lately. How're you doing?"

Olivia almost disagreed with her, because actually, things had been pretty quiet. But then she remembered that Elliot had slept in the cribs last night, and she realized that she had left before him every night this week. For all she knew, he'd been sleeping there all week.

"Yeah. Um, I'm fine." She said. She didn't offer up anything else, and they stood there awkwardly for a moment.

"So, where's Elliot?" Kathy asked. But just as Olivia was about to tell her that she didn't know, Elliot walked into the squad room.

"Kathy." Elliot said as he walked up. "What are you doing here?" He looked at her and then briefly looked over at Olivia, a question in his eyes.

Olivia ignored him and sat down at her desk.

Kathy gave him a big smile. She held up a gym bag. "You've been so busy and you haven't been home so I thought I'd bring you some clean clothes. Plus, I just wanted to see you."

Elliot snagged her arm, not wanting to have this conversation in front of the squad. He didn't need everyone to hear the lies he told his wife. "Let's go upstairs."

He disappeared up the stairs with Kathy and Olivia let out a sigh through pursed lips. She scrubbed her hand over her face. This day couldn't go any slower.

Cragen came out of his office. "Liv. Got a victim over at Mercy. You and Elliot go."

Olivia stood up. "Um. Elliot's tied up. We'll go in just a few minutes." She didn't relish being alone with Elliot, but at least they would have a case they could focus on.

Fin stood up. "I'll go with ya' Liv. Munch has court anyway."

Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. Some days she really loved Fin. She nodded. "That OK Captain?"

"Fine with me." He handed the note to Fin and Olivia grabbed her jacket.

"Let's go." She hurried out of the squad room before Elliot could get back downstairs. With any luck, the case would keep them out of the squad room the rest of the day and she could avoid seeing Elliot completely. If she could just have a few days…just get through the weekend…then hopefully the awkwardness between them would pass and everything would be back to normal by Monday.

EOEOEOEO

Olivia got her wish, and they didn't finish up interviewing their victim and following up with some potential witnesses until late afternoon. Fin agreed to drop her at her apartment and she said goodbye and told him she would see him at Casey's party the following night.

She took the stairs and headed towards her apartment, and then stopped cold. Elliot was sitting on the floor outside of her door, but he stood up when he saw her. Shit. She considered turning around and just leaving him there, but he was a stubborn son of a bitch and she knew he would either follow her, or wait until she came back.

She walked towards him, setting her jaw. "What are you doing here Elliot?" There was a note of irritation in her voice.

"You've been avoiding me all day." He said, crossing his arms as he faced her.

Olivia stopped a few feet away from him. She didn't want to engage in conversation, so she simply recited the facts. "We had a rape victim. You were tied up. I took Fin."

"That's convenient. You should have waited for me."

"You were busy."

"You could have interrupted."

"Well, seems like you haven't seen your wife for a few days, so I thought I'd give you a few minutes." She put extra emphasis on the word wife. She was hoping he was feeling some of the guilt she was.

"You're my partner. You should have waited for me."

Olivia rolled her eyes. She knew that's not what this was about, but she wasn't going to challenge him on it because she didn't want to get into the real issue.

"Whatever Elliot." She took another step towards him. "Now if you don't mind…" she motioned towards her door and pulled out her keys.

Elliot took a step towards her. "Liv."

Olivia shook her head. "No." She didn't know what he was going to say but she didn't want to hear it.

"I just want to talk to you." He said.

"Since when do we ever talk about anything?" she asked angrily. They had carefully avoided any real discussions about anything personal for years; keeping everything under wraps. Now was not the time to start. She pushed past him, trying to get to her door. "Go home Elliot. To your wife."

Elliot came up behind her and placed a hand on either side of her, bracing himself against the doorframe as Olivia tried to get the keys into the lock. His proximity unnerved her and she dropped her keys.

"Damn it!" She dropped her head, her hands on the door, trying to calm her nerves. He wasn't touching her…but she knew if she moved even an inch, he would be. She could feel his warm breath against her hair and she just needed him to back away from her. Her mind and her body were warring with each other. She wanted to melt back into his body…she wanted him to kiss her again…she wanted him to touch her. She let out a long slow breath.

"What do you want Elliot?" she said quietly, the fight in her gone. If she pushed her now, she'd fold.

"I just wanted to talk to you." He said quietly. "I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you last night." He stood up, backing away from her slightly and she let out the breath she'd been holding. She turned around, still looking at the floor. She didn't want to meet his eyes…not yet. She saw he was still very close, and she backed up against the door before looking up at him. When her eyes finally met his, her breath hitched slightly at the intensity she saw there.

She wanted to ask him why he had, but she was afraid of where that conversation would go. She didn't want to him to ask her why she had kissed him back.

He took a step towards her again, and now there was only a foot between them, and Olivia put her hand up to stop him in place. He looked back and forth between her eyes, trying to gauge her emotion right now. "Olivia. I don't regret it."

Olivia furrowed her brow and shook her head slightly. "Elliot." She whispered. "I told you I don't want to talk about this. It happened. It shouldn't have." Her eyes moved to his mouth and she felt a pang; she just wanted to grab him and kiss him. She clenched her hands at her sides, trying to focus on what he was saying.

"You know it was only a matter of time before one of us gave in." he said, drawing her attention back to the conversation.

She shook her head. "No. It was a mistake."

"Liv." He said. He took a step closer and reached for her cheek placing a hand there and caressing her cheek lightly.

She closed her eyes. "No." she whispered but she knew he didn't hear her as he leaned in, placing his lips against hers. He slipped his hand behind her head, tilting his head and opening her mouth with his. He pushed her body up against the door with his, but didn't press into her. His other hand fell to her waist as he kissed her gently…slowly. He sighed against her mouth, reveling in the way she tasted and the softness of her lips. He slid his hand up her side, splaying his hand against her ribcage.

Olivia reached up, snaking her hands around his neck, running one hand up the back of his neck and into his short hair. She teased his lips with her tongue and Elliot moaned quietly, meeting her tongue with his. He kissed her more passionately now, her head knocking against her door. He pressed his body into hers slightly and her breath caught in her throat.

Her eyes flew open and she pushed Elliot hard against his shoulders, forcing him to take a step back.

"Stop." She gasped. She held out her arm. "Just stop." She shook her head, not quite believing this had happened again…that she let this happen again. What was wrong with her?

Elliot closed the distance between them again and stared into her eyes intently. "Let me come in." he said, his voice thick.

Olivia looked at him with an incredulous look on her face. "Have you lost your mind?" she whispered. Her mind was reeling right now. Fighting with her body. If she listened to her body right now, she'd throw open the door and drag him into her apartment. But she couldn't let that happen…she didn't know what the hell he was thinking, but he had a wife…a family. And she had to protect that. Protect him. He didn't know what he was doing.

"Olivia." He reached for her again. And then almost as if he had read her mind, he said. "I know exactly what I'm doing." That was a lie but he knew he was done. His control around her was gone and he wanted her. Badly.

She slapped his hand away and then pushed him away with both hands on his shoulders. "Screw you Elliot. I can't believe you." She scooped up her keys. "We could have just forgotten about last night but no…" She was angry now. At him and at herself. She had a lot to say but mostly she just wanted to escape. To get away from him because she didn't completely trust herself. She turned and tried to get her keys in the lock. She needed to get inside.

"You kissed me back. You want this too." He said, his voice calm.

She turned around and looked at him as she opened the door. "Go home Elliot."