When he returned home that night nursing a migraine, Chelsea met him at the door with two aspirin and a kiss. "You really have to stop being so stressed, El. It's not good for you." Taking his hand, she led him to the couch, making him sit on the floor in front of her. "You're so tense, I think a good massage is just what you need." She began rubbing his shoulder as she sat behind him, relieving the tension in his muscles. "So how was the case?"

Elliot leaned back against her legs, closing his eyes. "We got DNA and matched it to a Ryan Collins, I've gotta go interview his parole officer tomorrow."

Chelsea was grateful Elliot's eyes were closed so he didn't see the expression that crossed her face. "So it's gonna be another long day tomorrow?"

Elliot nodded. "I'm sorry, but it is." He could tell by Chelsea's voice that she was disappointed. Turning to look at her, he put an arm on her knee, Chelsea pressing a kiss to his cheek, her smile returning. "Don't worry about it, Detective, I know it's your job. I knew what I was doing when I got in this." She then pushed his arm off her knee, playfully shoving his shoulder. "Now turn back around so I can finish this massage."

She went back to massaging Elliot's shoulders, not surprised at the amount of tension in his muscles. Chelsea knew his job was stressful, she knew his ex-wife Kathy was still stressing him out, and she knew Elliot stressed about his kids, whom Kathy refused to let him see. So she did her best to keep him as happy and de-stressed as possible when he was with her, because if there was one thing Chelsea hated, it was stress.

Just when they had settled into a relaxed state, the house phone rang. Elliot swore under his breath as he got up, Chelsea beating him to it and checking the caller ID. She sighed. "It's Kathy." She saw the change in Elliot's expression, the darkening of his face that any mention of Kathy always brought about. "Elliot, just don't answer it. She's probably just calling to whine about something again. Besides, the answering machine'll pick it up."

"Chelsea, you know I can't just ignore her. What if something's wrong with one of the kids?" When he picked the phone up, Chelsea sighed, knowing he'd be on the phone for at least ten minutes because Kathy would start some sort of argument. She headed into the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of wine and leaning on the counter.

"Hello?" Kathy was so loud Chelsea heard her when she replied.

"Elliot! Your child support was late again. If you keep this up, we're going back to court! You need to start worrying more about your children than your little slut!" Elliot rubbed his forehead, feeling the migraine returning. Chelsea raised an eyebrow, as if saying 'I told you so'. Turning on her heel, she stomped into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Who was that, that stupid bimbo?" "Leave Chelsea out of this, Kathy. I'll get your money to you, so do me a favor and don't call me again!" Elliot hung up, tossing the phone on the counter to go and try to make amends with Chelsea.

The door was locked when he tried the knob, Stabler leaning on the door and knocking once. "Chels? Chelsea?"

"It's 'little slut' actually!" There were tears in her voice when she responded, which was like a kick to the gut for Elliot. He hated hearing her cry, and felt even worse because Kathy had caused it.

"Just open the door, princess, please." There was a long pause before he heard the lock on the door turn, Chelsea flinging it open before she stormed back to the bed and climbed under the covers. Her back was to Elliot as he sat down on the side of the bed, the shaking of her shoulders giving away that she was silently crying.

"Chelsea, what's wrong?"

"Am I just some bimbo to you? Because apparently everyone else thinks I am. Kathy thinks I'm a golddigger, people that see us together ask if I'm waiting on a ring and a payout. Nobody thinks I'm with you because I genuinely love you." Elliot felt like someone had punched him in the gut at the amount of sadness in Chelsea's voice. He loved her beyond words, and he knew she felt the same way about him, but it had never occured to him that the jabs about the age difference affected her that much. Sure, he'd heard the occasional joke from his friends at work when they had first gotten together, he'd even heard the whispers behind their backs when they walked down the street together. But Chelsea always laughed at the remarks, always brushed them off like they didn't matter, so he was shocked to see her break down now.

He walked over to sit on the edge of the bed, reaching out to place a hand on her shoulder. She didn't turn to face him, remaining facing the wall and crying. "Chelsea, I know you love me, and that's all that matters. Who gives a damn what anyone else has to say, especially from Kathy? She doesn't know a damn thing."

The blonde just pulled the blankets farther up on her, almost completely covering herself. "Don't worry about it, it doesn't matter anyway. I'm the trophy girlfriend, always have been and always will be. It doesn't matter how I feel."

"Chels, it does matter-!" She silenced Elliot's words with a hand held up, shrugging his hand off her shoulder.

"Goodnight, Elliot. We can talk in the morning. I love you."

Resigning with a sigh, Elliot got up to strip down to his boxers, climbing into bed beside Chelsea. He pressed a kiss to her temple, then turned over so his back was to her since she refused to face him. "Goodnight, Chels, I love you too."

As he lay beside her trying to think of what he could say to ease her doubts about their relationship, Elliot began to think of all the reasons he loved her. Chelsea was beautiful, she was funny, she was the smartest woman he'd ever met. She loved sports and was always the life of the party, but then again she could never be happier than when they just spent the night at home together. She never argued or fought or caused him stress, like Kathy had done countless times over the course of their marriage. Chelsea made life good again, and for the first time in over twenty five years he was glad to come home at night because she was there.

Chelsea was his world, and everything good in his life began and ended with her.

And if it was the last thing he did, he'd find a way to fix this and remind her that she was the best thing that had ever happened to him.