2.) Dec. 24th

By the evening on Christmas Eve Olivia Benson worked on cooking her small Christmas dinner. She was just pulling the ham out of the oven when there was a knock at the door.

"Just a second," she said.

When Olivia opened the door she took a step back with a surprised look on her face. Elliot stood there. She had not seen him in close to a year but the look on his face proved that this wasn't a social visit.

"What the hell were you thinking," Elliot said walking into her apartment. Olivia closed the door behind him.

"Nice to see you too El."

"I don't need your charity."

"First, what are you talking about? Second, why are you even here?"

Elliot pulled out a piece of paper which happened to be a receipt. He handed it to Olivia. To her it looked like any other receipt until she turned it over and saw the note. Her note.

"Don't lie and say this wasn't you. I know your hand writing."

"How is this even possible," she said in a loud enough whisper that even Elliot could hear.

"So you didn't do this on purpose?"

Olivia shook her head. "It's not like there are names on the receipts Elliot. I just thought I'd do a nice thing for someone."

"I'll find a way to pay you back."

"Elliot don't," she said.

"I'm not going to be indebted to you."

"You're not. Just accept it as a Christmas gift and we'll leave it at that."

"I don't know."

"Please," she pleaded. "If it wasn't you it would've been someone else. I guess it was just luck."

Elliot looked down unsure of what to say. When he looked up at her he saw her for what seemed like the first time. He hadn't seen Olivia in seven months since he had put in his resignation. Elliot could see a kind of sadness in her eyes that he had never seen before. He didn't realize just how much his leaving would affect her.

Elliot didn't know what he was doing, he just found himself drifting toward her. He closed the space and Olivia's eyes changed from one of sadness to one of surprise and confusion. He placed a hand on her cheek and gently leaned down to kiss her. She hesitated but then closed her eyes as he deepened the kiss she allowed herself to feel. She opened her mouth and allowed Elliot's tongue to caress hers.

Olivia had kissed a lot of men but none compared to what she was experiencing now. Nothing compared to the sensations, the feeling of this being so right it was wrong. Reluctantly Olivia stopped knowing what she was doing was wrong, that she had now become 'the other woman'.

"We can't do this," she said.

"Why not?" Elliot asked.

"What about Kathy?"

Elliot stepped back and turned around so he wouldn't face her.

"El?"

"We divorced."

Olivia was shocked. She thought that after his resignation that things would be perfect between him and Kathy.

"What happened?"

"I don't know. Guess my time off was just too much for her. She couldn't stand me being a cop and she couldn't stand me as a stay at home dad and then she couldn't stand me being a security guard at the high school. I could never make the woman happy no matter what I did so I ended it."

"How long has it been?"

"About four months."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not," he said turning to face her.

"And the kids?"

"Spending today with Kathy and I get Eli tomorrow evening. I'm sorry I got mad earlier. It wasn't fair to you."

"Hey it's okay, I probably would've been upset too." Olivia looked over to her kitchen. "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

"Are you sure, I'm not intruding am I?"

Olivia smiled. "No, never. We can just catch up and talk."

"Or more…"

Olivia knew what he was implying and she blushed a little, something she hadn't done with a man in a long time. "We'll see."

"Okay."

Elliot helped Liv set up the small dining room table. Liv then turned off the main lights leaving only a lamp light on and lit some candles. Elliot opened a glass of wine. The two of them sat and smiled at each other, talking as they ate.

Elliot knew in this moment as he reconnected with his partner that not only had he found his best friend again but he found an angel, she had always been there he had just never allowed himself to see her until now. He would never be blind to her beauty again.

Olivia couldn't deny the fact that she was thrilled Elliot had gotten a divorce from Kathy. She could not count the amount of times that she had fantasized about him but she could never do anything about it without crossing a line, one she was not willing to cross. Now there were no lines to cross. She knew by paying off Elliot's layaway items that she had given him the greatest gift ever but what Elliot did not know, yet, was that just by being her he had given her the greatest gift as well.

Now only time would tell where the rest would lead; for now this was a perfect Christmas for the both of them.

END