Title: The Morning After.
Author: Cady James.
Genre: Het.
Rating: MATURE.
Chapters: 1.
Categories: Drama, Romance.
Pairing: Olivia Benson and David Haden.
Characters: Olivia Benson, David Haden.
Summary: Chapter 3 of The Aftermath.
Author Notes: This story was not supposed to be chaptered, I changed my mind. Disclaimer: Law and Order: Special Victims Unit does not belong to me; neither do the characters. They belong to NBCUniversal and Dick Wolf, and one of the most amazing casts ever assembled on television.
The sun shone through the curtains of Olivia Benson's bedroom and onto her bed where she slept spooned up against David Haden, under the covers of her white comforter. But, while David lay peacefully, holding his love close, Olivia had a frown on her place and her slumber was anything but peaceful.
Her mind was stuck inside that cabin. She was still staring down the other end of the gun. In her mind, Winger looked much more sinister than he was in person. He was a monster bent on killing her. She was begging him not to kill her. Liv looked over behind her, where Haley had been in the bed, but there was no Haley. She was all alone with a monster and no one was around to help her. She could barely see out the window and saw no one out there. No cops, no backup. Even staring down between the cracks in the floor, she didn't see Amaro.
Winger pulled the trigger and Olivia's eyes shot open, she realized it was a dream and she was safe and alive in her own bed in her own home… and with David's arms and scent safely surrounding her. Her heart stopped racing and she moved around to face him.
David had sensed her tense body and it woke him up. One look at her face and he knew she was having a bad dream. He was about to wake her when he saw her eyes fly open. David let her take a moment to be aware of her surroundings and was about to tell her she was okay when she turned to face him.
When she faced him, David pulled Olivia closer and secured his right arm around her. He lightly kissed her forehead and nose, before she angled her face up and touched her lips to his.
"Morning," she mumbled against him.
"Morning. Had a bad dream?" he inquired.
"No, why?" she lied and closed her eyes. She didn't want him to know how last night affected her.
"Liv, sweetie, I felt your body. You were tense and unhappy. You woke up suddenly like something startled you. "You were dreaming about it, weren't you?"
She smiled and opened her eyes. "You know me too well, David." She stopped smiling. "Yeah, I was dreaming about it. It was different than what really happened. Winger was more of a monster than human. Haley wasn't there and neither was any backup. I was alone with him and I was scared."
David cuddled her closer. "He's dead now. He's never going to get you."
"I know, I know. It just scared me. Sometimes this happens after cases like this. Give it a couple days and I'll be fine."
"You handle traumatic events that well?" David asked, puzzled by her nonchalant attitude.
"I've been through enough real trauma in my life. This is nothing," Liv replied.
David moved slightly away and turned on his side to face her, propping his head up with his arm. "Like what?"
Olivia paused, and then mimicked his position. "What do you mean?"
"What trauma have you been through? I know you're private and you seem so guarded… even with me. You don't need to be. Please, let me in, Liv. Let me understand you," he pleaded.
Olivia stared at him, wondering how much to tell him or wondering if he should tell him at all. Her drunk abusive mother, her rapist father, her half-brother's troubles, her career ups and downs, her sexual assault, the nature of her relationship with her former partner, Calvin Arliss… the issues were endless. "So, where do you want me to start?"
"That much, huh?"
"Yeah."
"How about your childhood, your family?" he asked. "Fairly simple subject."
Liv made a sarcastic chuckle. "No, not really. My mother had issues… with alcohol. She liked to drink… a lot. It started when she was in college. She did stop when she was carrying me, but… that didn't last long. When she was sober, she was a great mother. But, when she drank - which was the majority of the time - she was abusive and she hated me. She alienated her own family so I never got to know my cousins or aunts and uncles."
"She didn't hate you, Liv."
Olivia moved to sit up, and wrapped the sheet around her naked body. "Yes, she did, David. She said it for years." She paused and decided since she was talking about her turbulent relationship with her mother, she might as well tell him why it was that way. "When she was in college, a man attacked and brutally raped her. She couldn't identify him and he was never found or charged. A couple months later, she found out she was pregnant. Seven months later, I was born. I was an everyday reminder of her rape. And, when she was drunk, she got mean. She called me a slut many times; she was more verbally abusive than physically. Although, she did hit me at times. When I was old enough, she told me why."
"I'm so sorry, Olivia," David said as he sat up.
"It's okay. I'm okay, now. When I was a teenager, I started dating one of her students in her class. She was an English professor. I was sixteen, he was much older. We were engaged at one point because I just wanted to escape. My mother, in a drunken state, came after me with a broken shard of glass. She didn't want me to be with anybody. When she came after me, I kicked her… hard. She landed across the room and I got scared and ran," Olivia continued and a tear rolled down her cheek. "I had never hurt my mother before…," she sniffled and dried her eyes. "The engagement and relationship ended shortly after that. And my relationship with my mother was up and down after that. I understood her more and understood why she was that way. I accepted her drinking problem and knew if I tried to get her help, it wouldn't have worked. She… died over a decade ago from falling down the subway stairs outside of a bar. She was drunk."
David moved his hand to her back and massaged her softly. He wanted to speak, but didn't. He let her explain things.
"I found out who my father was about five, six years ago. I ran my DNA through this system and it came up. His named was Joe Hollister. He was a food distributor for the college. When I finally found out who he was, he was already dead. He had a family that included my half-brother Simon. And, according to Simon and Joe's widow - who had Alzheimer's when I met her - mentioned in one of her moments of lucidity, that her husband used to keep track of me when I was growing up; even tried to contact me once. There have been a couple times where I wondered if it really was rape, or if it was a drunken mistake of my mother's. I only have my mother's perspective, so that's what I go on," she continued.
"When did he die?"
"Over a decade ago… suicide," she replied. "And my relationship with my brother is… complicated. When I first met him, he was suspected of raping women. He was set up, as it turns out, but still. And he jumped bail once. I haven't seen or heard from him in a long time. The only family I have, and I have no way of contacting him."
They sat there in silence as David let Olivia calm down. He took the time and let the information sink in his head. Her relationship with her family explained some things, but still not everything.
"So, tell me something else. Maybe about when you decided to become a cop," he suggested.
Olivia lightened up. "That's easy. Not long after my mom told me she was raped. I knew how it had affected her and everything around her, and the way she had treated me. That's when I knew I wanted to help people who are victims. I was in college and then I signed up for the police academy. When I was a uni I spent more time helping and talking to the victims. Taking and passing the detectives exam, didn't deter me from that so my superiors thought it would be a good idea to transfer to the SVU. I thought it would be great, too, and accepted. That was well over a decade ago."
"I know this is a stupid question, but have you ever thought about quitting?"
"Sometimes, but something keeps me going. I don't know what it is, but it's strong enough to keep me going. As long as there are victims, I'll be here helping them and putting away the bad guys. For me, I think the only way out of this job is failing health or being killed on the job," Olivia told him.
"Well, personally, I hope neither one of those happen anytime soon."
"Me, too. I realized that last night. After I nearly got killed, I realized that I'm so lucky to be alive. After all I've been through, I am so grateful to be here and alive."
"That makes two of us," David stated and reached over to kiss her. He then glanced at the clock on her nightstand. "I'd love to continue to talk and," he stole a glance at her naked backside and put a hand on her sheet-covered thigh, "stay here in bed with you, but we need to get ready for work."
Liv turned to look at her clock, turned and buried her head in her hands and groaned. "Why?"
"We could play hooky… Call in sick and spend all day right here…," David suggested and nipped his lips at her neck.
"Sounds perfect… but probably not a good idea. They'll know about us then. A coincidence that an SVU detective and the EADA happen to be off 'sick' or something at the same time? They won't buy it," Liv stated "We need to get out of bed now."
Both paused a moment before finally getting out of bed. Olivia wrapped her bed sheet around her body and went into the bathroom. David pulled on his shorts and a t-shirt and moved to the closed bathroom door. "Liv, I'll make breakfast while you're in there, okay?"
"Okay. You can have the shower when I'm done," she replied and turned the shower on. She wanted to take a shower with him but knew that was a bad idea. So, she dropped the sheet and put it in a hamper and stepped into the shower.
David wanted to be in that shower with her. They were so sexually attracted to each other that a shower together would cause both of them being late. So, he had resigned to making breakfast for them instead.
Over a half-hour later, Olivia finally came out of the bathroom, wearing a bathrobe and slightly damp hair. She dumped the bed sheet on the bed and began searching through her closet for an outfit to wear.
David came into the bedroom. "Breakfast is ready on the counter. Eat and enjoy," she said, stealing a kiss from her before heading into the bathroom and closing the door.
Liv smiled. He really was too perfect. As she scanned her closet for something to wear, she wondered what she had done in her life to deserve David. Between them, it was almost instant attraction. She remembered when she first met him in Cragen's office. She and Nick Amaro walked in because Cragen wanted them to meet someone. They came in and he turned around. Most of her feelings were of wariness. Somebody new that she really didn't want to deal with, nor did she trust. And yet, there was a small part of her, deep down, that made time stop for a second when she looked into his eyes.
This was a whole new feeling for her. When the pair had had drinks, she could feel something was happening. She knew she wanted to spend more time with him that night but he had to do the grand jury thing the next day and needed sleep. After the case was over, she had asked him to dinner and she had enjoyed every minute with him. Both of them had wanted more time but David had a meeting in the morning so they shared an intimate kiss goodnight.
He seemed to always show up somewhere unexpected. She go do a little shopping, at the little store down the street from her home, after work and he'd be there. Or a big case, that had nothing to do with the SVU, would appear on TV and she'd see his face.
When David had shown up at that lecture where she had spoken about rape and sexual assault, Olivia spotted him and her heart skipped a beat. She had to go back to work and it didn't really take a lot of convincing on his part to make her stay to listen to him.
After the hostage situation with her and Eddie Sandow had ended, David had met Liv outside of the apartment and she let him lead her out of the chaos. After that, she had agreed to go out with him.
They had dinner at the restaurant where they had first had drinks. It was quiet, private and romantic. He had driven her home and kissed her goodnight. A week and three dates later, they had decided to do something other than dinner and drinks. David had opted for a late-night walk in the park but that was too public for Olivia, so she decided on a movie.
He had waited at the theatre for her and they walked in together. It was nice. Only music filled the room and Liv noticed other couples starting to make out. David had leaned into her and whispered if that was giving her any ideas. She smiled but got nervous. He had to reassure her that it was dark and nobody they knew was there watching them. Liv decided it was okay and moved to get more comfortable and they had made out through much of the movie.
It was that night that they had decided to spend the night together for the first time. And the whole entire weekend. It was nice spending all day in bed with someone and waking up with someone in the morning. They had spent all Sunday inside, barely getting dressed and just watching TV and movies, reading the Sunday papers, eating breakfast in bed, letting music play and relaxing in silence. Then came another night and they spent it in hours of passion.
Sadly, it had ended early Monday morning when Liv's phone went off. Another crime to investigate. It took a little bit of effort for both of them to get out of bed and into the shower. That shower had made Olivia arrive a little late to the crime scene. They had gotten in the shower and decided it was an appropriate time to continue their passion. She had hoped Nick Amaro wouldn't notice anything different about her when she got the scene. Also sadly, that was not meant to be.
"Earth to Olivia Benson?" a voice called out. Liv broke out of her daydream and realized she was sitting, still in her robe, on her bed clutching a shirt in her hand and David was sitting next to her in a towel. She smiled up at him. "Now, where's your head?"
"Thinking about you; about us. I was thinking how lucky I am to have you in my life. And, our entire relationship so far," she explained.
"Like what?"
"Like, how I felt the first time we met in Cragen's office. Most of me didn't want you around. I didn't trust you. But, at the same time, I was so attracted to you. I've never felt like this before."
"I know what you mean. I walk in there to do a job and work with you guys on a case, like I have a thousand times before with other people, and then there was you. Initial feelings of distrust and then… something happened."
"We were made for each other, weren't we?" Liv asked.
"Dear God, I hope so," David answered in his sexy voice that she loved. She giggled and dropped the shirt and pulled him into a kiss that caused both of them to fall back on the bed.
Olivia hoped they would stay like this: happy and slightly in love. She knew she didn't want to break up with him… ever, if possible.
David felt as though this was the woman he had been waiting for. She was so different from his ex-wife and he knew he was falling for Olivia every single moment he was with her. This relationship had to work. Only time would tell.
