Dec 24th Daytime

Elliot leant back against his car as he waited for her to come down to him. He hadn't slept last night despite the alcohol he had consumed at the office. He had lay on his back staring at the ceiling as he thought about how the next few days would play out. He was scared, nervous and excited all at once. His thoughts were interrupted as the door to her building opened and she came out lugging a large bag behind her. He moved quickly up the steps towards her.

"Here let me get that," he said reaching for the bag his hand brushing hers as he reached for the handle.

"Thanks," she said giving him a small smile. "It's heavy, I couldn't figure out I would need for spending Christmas by the beach."

"So you brought your whole wardrobe?" he asked as he picked up the bag and carried it to the back of his jeep and put it in.

"Nope I left all my bikinis behind; figured there would be no use for them in the snow."

Elliot closed his eyes as images of Olivia in a bikini invaded his head. He shook it trying to clear it as he slammed the door closed.

"Come on, we should get going. The weather forecast wasn't too good we don't want to get stuck on the way." He opened her door for her and she stepped forward.

"Thank you," she said quietly looking up at him over the door between them.

"It's not the first time I have got the door for you."

"I know that, I meant for inviting me to join you over Christmas."

Elliot nodded. "I'm just glad you said yes," he said reaching forward and tucking a stray bit of hair behind her ear.

Olivia jumped as his cold fingers brushed her skin and his eyes stayed fixed on her.

"El….." she whispered.

"Yeah."

"We should get going," she said her eyes fixing on his.

"Yeah," he nodded, his fingers moved lightly over her skin and he dropped his hand. Olivia smiled at him and climbed into the jeep as Elliot slammed the door closed. He looked down at his hands they were shaking and not just from the cold.

He climbed into the jeep and started the engine; warm air blew into the car almost straight away. They both shrugged out of their coats and threw them on the back seat. She looked at the two cups of coffee between them and picked one up taking a sip.

"Did you get…" before she could finish Elliot reached down and picked up a bag from the bakery.

"Blueberry muffins," he smiled.

She grinned taking the bag from him as he reached forward and turned the radio up.

"Let's get out of here," he said pulling into the road as Olivia bit into the muffin.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They drove in silence for the first part of the journey, Christmas music played from the stereo breaking up the silence.

After leaving the precinct last night she had decided to walk home via the store picking up a few things for going away, before calling Casey and telling her she had accepted Elliot's offer, needing to hear from someone else that she was doing the right thing. Casey had told her to just try and enjoy it.

"Jesus El you were right about the weather" she said breaking the silence as the snow came down heavy.

"Yeah, at least it's never as heavy by the coast," he told her his eyes staying fixed on the road. "Well I hope not."

"Have you never been up here in the winter?" she asked him.

He shook his head. "Up until a few months I had only been there twice before. Kathy used to bring the kids up and I would use the excuse that I was working to stay behind. I wasn't a very good son….But then you already know that."

Olivia looked across at him and saw the frown on his face. "I don't think it's that you were a bad son El," she told him. "You were scared, confused and angry; trust me after my childhood I understand."

Elliot glanced over and smiled at her "Two peas in a pod huh."

Olivia chuckled. "I wouldn't go that far….. I'm way better looking and definitely not as grumpy."

Elliot laughed "I can't argue with that."

They fell back into a comfortable silence again as they headed out the city and along the coastal road.

"El, are you sure your Mom doesn't mind me coming with you? I mean it's your first Christmas with her for years."

"I'm sure Liv. When I mentioned to her that I was going to ask you she got herself quite excited. It seems you made quite an impression on her."

"Does Kathy know you have asked me to join you?"

She saw Elliot's hand grip the wheel a little harder. "Why? What difference would it make? I don't answer to Kathy anymore."

"It wouldn't make any difference at all. If it did then I would have asked you before I gave you an answer. I was just wondering that's all."

Elliot glanced at her then back to the road.

"Yes, she knows. I told her yesterday when I said goodbye to her and the kid's; I told her I was going to ask you to join me. That was when she told me the divorce papers had come through that morning. The she wished me a Merry Christmas and to enjoy myself as she drove away."

"Your divorce is through," she asked a little shocked. "That was….. That was quick."

Elliot shrugged. "We still had all the paperwork from last time, the only thing we had to change was the kids. The older ones can make up their own mind now so we only had Eli to add, and we agreed on joint custody soooo…"

"No need to drag it out."

"Right," he smiled.

"And you're definitely okay with this?"

"Jesus Liv how many time do I need to tell you, I left Kathy, I realised we never should have got back together and I wanted the divorce. Yes I miss going home to the kids at night but apart from Eli they are never home now anyway. Like I said yesterday, it's time for me, it's time for me to go after what I want for a change… and I think you know what that is. I mean I kinda blurted it out at the hospital."

"El about that, do you….."

He held his hand up to stop her.

"Look let's just see how things go okay, over the next few days when we are away from work, when it's just Elliot and Olivia, not Benson and Stabler. No cases, no scum of the earth to chase down, just you, me and my not so normal Mom," he smiled.

"And what if we need to be at work to you know….work. It's not like we spend a lot of time together away from the place. What if we realise all we have is work, that there is nothing else between us, we could ruin everything and for what, a quick fumble at Christmas…Elliot!" she yelled as he pulled over and slammed the brakes on, skidding in the snow till the car came to a stop. "What the hell?" she said as Elliot unclipped his seatbelt and climbed out the car.

She watched as he moved quickly around the front of the jeep to her side in the snow. He yanked her door open.

"El, are you crazy get your ass back in the car it's freezing out there?"

Elliot shook his head as he reached across and undone her belt. He grabbed her gently by the arm and pulled her from her seat.

"You never gonna relax and just go with things, when your head is thinking of all the reasons why we won't work, so I need to give you something to go on," he looking at her as she stood shaking with the cold. "I need to…. To give you a reason to just give it a go, to give us a go, and to see what happens," he said looking into her eyes.

"El…." She said her body shaking and not just from the cold at the way he looked at her. "What are you…?"

She never got to finish as his lips covered hers. Her eyes closed as the warmth from his lips spread to hers and she felt his fingers slip over the skin of her neck and through her hair as he pulled her to him and deepened the kiss.

Her legs felt like jelly as she finally gave in and kissed him back her hands on his waist. She couldn't believe this was happening after all the years of wondering what it would be like it she was kissing her partner and he was kissing her. His lips warm and soft against hers, she couldn't stop the moan that escaped from her as his tongue lightly brushed against hers, before he pulled back from her and they both gasped for breath.

He dropped his forehead to hers as he cupped her face with both hands.

"Now will you please relax," he whispered. "And just go with it," he said as he dipped his head and kissed her lips softly once more before walking back to his side of the jeep and getting in.

Olivia stood in the fallen snow as she tried to control her breathing. She ran her tongue over her lips and tasted him a small smiled creeping over her lips.

"Oh boy," she said to herself quietly as she realised how screwed she was after just one kiss from him.

"Liv…. Get in the car you're going to freeze," said Elliot leaning across the seats. She nodded and climbed back in and buckled up.

Elliot pulled slowly back out onto the highway before glancing quickly across at her. He saw her reach up and run her fingers over her lips and he couldn't help but smile as he turned his head back to the front and concentrated on the road.

Olivia finally looked at him and saw the grin on his face.

"Stop grinning," she told him, trying not to smile herself.

"I can't," he grinned. "I mean that kiss it was… Wow. Christmas definitely came a day early for me."

Olivia couldn't help but smile. "I suppose it was alright," she told him.

"Oh no Benson that was more than just alright. You kissing Porter is an alright kiss…. Me kissing Dani was an alright… Well sort of alright kiss," Olivia looked across at him one eyebrow raised. "But that kiss, that was way more than an alright. That was a, it was a…."

"A wow kiss," she grinned.

"Yeah a wow kiss," he laughed glad that mood had stayed light.

"If you say so," she chuckled looking back out the window.

"Don't give me that Benson, I heard you moaning."

She snapped her head across to look at him. "I did not moan," she tried to deny.

"Yeah whatever," he said as she stared at him and saw that smug, cocky look on his face. "There was definitely a moan."

Olivia leant across the seats towards him as he kept his eyes on the road ahead. She knew she had moaned she hadn't been able to stop it as it escaped from her throat, but she had to stop his gloating and wipe that cocky look from his face.

She leant towards his ear her lips almost touching it. Elliot swallowed hard as he tried to concentrate on driving and not how close she was to him, the feel of her breath on his neck.

"You want to really hear me moan?" she asked him her lips brushing against his ear lobe. "Then your gonna have to do a little more with that mouth and tongue of yours Stabler than just kiss me," she whispered before moving back across to her seat, trying not to laugh as she watched Elliot squirming in his seat.

Elliot bit down hard on his bottom lip as her lips brushed against his ear as she talked. He listened to the words from her mouth and instantly felt himself getting hard as images of him exploring Olivia's naked body with his mouth and tongue invaded his head.

He kept his eyes fixed on the road unable to look at her as he tried to control his breathing and the hard on he had growing his jeans and groaned quietly.

He heard her laughing across from him. "Did you just moan there Stabler?" she asked him. Elliot just shook his head.

"That was just plain evil Benson," he smiled, relieved at the relaxed feeling between them. "Just fucking evil."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Finally," said Elliot as he stopped the car as close as he could get to his Moms place, the snow was still falling heavy and it had taken them a lot longer than expected to get there.

Olivia looked out the window towards the small beachside home.

"Did you come here when you met her?" he asked her.

"Yeah, not the first time I came up, I met her at the pier then, but I dropped her off back here after she saw Kathleen. I went in and had a coffee with her she was a little shook up and worried."

"Her and Kathleen have always been close," said Elliot as he looked towards the house.

"No she was worried about you."

Elliot looked over to her.

"She was worried you would hate her even more for getting involved, that's why she made me promise that I would never tell you."

Elliot sighed and dropped his head back against the seat.

"I never hated her Liv, she's my Mom, I love her." Olivia looked over at him. "I hated how she was. I just wanted a normal Mom. I wanted her to look after me not to keep putting me in danger. I needed for her to be there for me. Not to be off chasing…."

"Snowflakes," said Olivia finishing his sentence. Elliot rolled his head to the side and looked at her.

"Yeah…..Snowflakes," he said quietly as they both looked at each other across the car. "She actually told you about that?"

Olivia nodded, "She really loves you El and she knows she pushed you away and she really regrets that."

"I know that, but I was to blame as well. As an adult I knew she couldn't help how she was and I should have listened to her a long time ago. But I'm a stubborn son of bitch and it took my daughter getting ill to realise that. If I had listened to her instead of running I would have had her in my life for the last 30 years."

"Well you both have a second chance now," she smiled. "So make the most of it."

"I will I promise," he smiled back as he reached over and took hold of her hand and squeezed it gently. "Come on, let's go in, she is probably freaking out as we are so late," he said reaching into the back and grabbing both their coats.

He climbed out and pulled his on as he walked around to Olivia's side as she got out.

"It looks so different to the summer," she said as they walked towards the small house that was decorated on the outside with white lights. "But still so beautiful."

The front door flung open and Elliot's mom stood there a huge smile on her face.

"Oh my, I have been so worried," she told them as they got closer. "I thought something had happened to you in this snow." She flung her arms around Elliot hugging him.

"We're fine Mom."

"Of course you are," she said letting him go and hugging Olivia. "It's lovely to see you again Olivia," she smiled.

"Thank you, for letting me join you both," smiled Olivia as Bernie let her go.

"We wouldn't have it any other way….. Now come on, get yourselves inside. The fire is on and I will make us some hot chocolate," she said linking her arm with Olivia's and heading into the house leaving Elliot behind.

"Don't worry," he called out. "I will get the bags… Don't worry about me," he shouted as his Mom and Olivia disappeared into the house.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I can't believe it's still snowing," he said standing just behind her and taking a drink of his beer.

"The beach looks strange covered in snow, but peaceful," she said stretching as they stood side by side looking out the large window. Bernie was in the small kitchen making supper. "I asked your Mom if she wanted a hand but she wouldn't hear of it."

"It's been a while since she had people staying over the holidays. She used to come to us every now and then but normally her and her two friends take off somewhere together, so I think she is enjoying herself doing all the cooking and baking. We are going to be rolling back to the City after eating everything she gives us," he laughed.

Olivia looked over her shoulder at Bernie as she moved around the kitchen singing Christmas songs and then to the Christmas tree its lights flickering and a small pile of presents below it.

"I erm, do you think your mom would mind if I put the couple of presents I brought under the tree?" she asked him.

"No Liv, she wouldn't mind. Why don't you do that, then I thought we could take a walk along the beach. The wind has died down now and I could do with stretching my legs for a bit."

"Yeah I would like that. Give me five minutes to freshen up and we will head out," she said turning and walking out the room and towards the bedroom she was staying in.

"Hey Mom, we are going to take a short walk," he said leaning against the counter in the kitchen.

"Well make sure you wrap up it will be cold on that beach."

"We will," he put his beer down and reached for her hand stopping her as she reached for the cake she was about to decorate. "Thank you," he said to her. "For forgiving me and for giving me the kick in the ass I needed to sort my life out. After the way I have been over the years I'm surprised you didn't tell me to go to hell."

Bernie turned towards him and smiled. "I would never tell you to go to hell. You will always be my little boy, and I will always be here to kick you in the ass," she told him. "I just want you to be happy Elliot and you weren't stuck in your marriage, you were being suffocated. You needed to break free and live your life before it's too late," she said as Olivia came out her room. They watched her as she placed some presents under the tree.

"That's what I'm planning on doing," he told his mom. "Finally going after what will make me happy."

"You want to come with us for a walk Bernie?" Olivia asked her. She had been scolded by Bernie for calling her Mrs Stabler when she had arrived much to Elliot's amusement.

"No thank you dear. I'm going to decorate this cake and then make some snacks for later. I forgot to mention that I have Margy and Vera popping around later to join us for a few drinks and games. Its a little tradition we have," she smiled at them as they both pulled on their coats. "And they can't wait to meet the both of you. Now go …. Get out from under my feet whilst I get everything ready."

"We won't be too long," Elliot told her as they walked out the back door.

"Games with Margy and Vera," chuckled Olivia and Elliot just shook his head.

"She never mentioned it I swear," he laughed as they headed down onto the beach, the snow crunching under their feet. It was just starting to get dark.

"I'm starting to think this is the only reason you asked me to join you, to save you from Margy and Vera."

Elliot smiled as they got close to the water where the snow stopped and the sand started.

"Let's head towards the pier," he said looking down the beach. "It's not too far we could stop for a hot chocolate if the café is still open."

"Sounds good to me," she said as they turned and followed the shoreline. "It's so peaceful out here," she said. "Even the waves sound a little quieter; it's funny how it does that when it snows. Everything is just so much more beautiful and relaxing."

"Yeah it is," he said quietly as he looked across at her. "I'm really glad you said yes to joining me," he said. "I really thought I had blown it when you said you no at first."

"I just panicked," she admitted. "I was still in shock about everything you said at the hospital."

"I didn't mean to just blurt it out like that. I had it all planned in my head on what to say to you and my mouth just ran away, I couldn't stop myself."

They were silent for a while as they walked. "Did you mean everything you said?"

"Every word of it," he smiled and Olivia just nodded. "And just for the record, I was going to ask you to spend Christmas with me before I even decided to come up here with my Mom."

"So why wait till the last minute to ask me."

"So you didn't have time to think too much about it and back out."

"You know me so well," she said giving a little smile.

"Yeah….. And I'm hoping to learn a lot more," he said as they got to the steps leading up to the pier.

"Like what? We already know almost all there is to know about each other."

"Work stuff Liv or the bad things that have happened to us. I want to learn more of the personal stuff; I want to learn about the real you."

Elliot moved behind her at the bottom of the steps and put his hands on her hips to stop her from climbing them and leant in from behind her.

"I'm hoping to learn how you sound when you moan as I use my mouth on tongue on you," he said his lips brushing her ear and sending chills down her spine. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath as she tried to calm herself down at his words.

"Well you might have to wait a while," she told him without turning around.

"Yeah and why is that?"

"Well, we won't have much time alone if we are playing games with your Mom, Vera and Margy," she told him walking up the steps as Elliot watched her from below, his eyes resting on her ass in the tight jeans she was wearing. He shook his head as he followed her up.

As they neared the top of the steps the both heard people singing. Olivia stopped and waited for Elliot to catch her looking at were the singing was coming from. Along the pier by the café was a choir stood next to a large Christmas tree.

Olivia grinned at Elliot as he stood beside. "Come on," she said grabbing his hand and dragging him towards the singers and the crowd of people watching them. They stood to the side as the listened to the carols being sung. Elliot smiled as Olivia joined in, watching her as her face lit up, her cheeks glowing red with the cold.

He let go of her hand and moved it around her waist pulling her to him slightly.

"You are so beautiful," he told her. She stopped singing and slowly turned her head to look at him.

"El."

"I have wanted to tell you that so many times, as we sat across from each other" he smiled as he reached up and tucked a stray bit of hair that had fallen over her face back inside her hat. "But never could now there is nothing and no one to stop me."

Olivia reached up and ran her fingers lightly over his cheek as she looked into his eyes.

"So are you," she said her voice just above a whisper before she leant in and kissed his lips softly, before pulling back and biting on her bottom lip shyly. Elliot smiled down at her.

"You want to go and get some hot chocolate for walking back with?" he asked her. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her again but didn't want to rush things; he needed her to come to come to him as well.

"Sounds good to me."

Elliot reached for her hand again and led her into the café.

Part 2 of Christmas Eve will be uploaded later. I got a bit carried away and the Chapter ran away from me.

Part 2 will also be moved to an M rating. Let the naughtiness commence.