DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY CHARACTERS THAT ARE PORTRAYED IN THIS STORY...DICK WOLF DOES. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.


Love Happens

Chapter 3

Olivia could sense Elliot's eyes burning into her visage. Ever since she returned from her seemingly random thinking-spree, he had been watching her like a hawk. She had hoped that by some unlikely fluke, he would just come to terms with the fact that although uncommon, she did take days off from work now and then. Unfortunately for her, this was not the case. Sometimes, Olivia wondered why he cared so much.

She wondered while she was staring at her ceiling late at night.

She wondered while she begrudgingly got out of bed to answer her door.

She wondered while she negligently unlocked the entrance.

"Elliot…"

It was the first time she had said his name all week.

"Hi. Can I come in?" He questioned as he walked through the doorway.

"Sure, seeing as how you're already inside." She said along with a chuckle.

"Sorry, it's just… I wanted… needed to tell you something."

He seemed anxious and excited at the same time.

"Well what is it?"

Elliot paced back and forth through her small living room as Olivia waited patiently for him to say whatever he 'needed' to say. After a couple dozen seconds, he sat down. However, this progress was short-lived when he decided to stand up again. It seemed as if Elliot was silently contemplating if he should say something or not due to the fact that his mouth opened and then shut a few times.

She had no idea whether this news was going to be good or bad. While Olivia waited for his response, she attempted to come up with some sort of plausible reason for his sudden arrival. She thought that maybe he came to notify her of some sort of confession. Whatever it was, it had to be completely unrelated to work; something about his facial expressions gave it away.

This was something that Olivia and Elliot were good at. They could easily spend hours on end in the same confined space stuck in their own worlds, outwardly oblivious to each other's presence.

Reality brought them both back.

"Stabler." Elliot mumbled instinctively into the device.

He gazed at Olivia as he spoke.

"Yeah, Kath. Dickie's dropping them off now."

"You too. I'll come by around nine."

He slammed the phone shut and shoved it back into his denim pocket.

"Elliot." She repeated for the second time that night.

Olivia inaudibly wondered why there was no "I love you" or "Honey" fastened somewhere onto that conversation. She was going to ask, but then decided against a personal interrogation; that definitely wasn't what he needed.

"I came here to tell you that… Kathy and I… we're done. It's over Liv."

"Oh. That's… I'm so sorry Elliot."

"I'm not."

Olivia shot him a truly puzzled look.

"I tried to fight it for so long. I tried to avoid the inevitable. Now I can't even remember why… I mean… the love had been gone for God knows how long. I guess it just took me a while to realize it."

Elliot had returned to pacing back and forth at that point.

"Well, Uh… I had no idea you felt that way. I just assumed you were in it for the long run."

He didn't quite know how to respond to this.

"Did you sign the papers?"

"Yeah. A couple months ago, actually. They weren't filed until a couple days ago though."

Although she tried to hide it, the sadness was entirely evident throughout her features.

"Liv… I wanted to tell you… so bad. I just couldn't find the right time, you know?"

"Sure. Yeah, that makes sense." She had originally intended to sound sincere, although it came out in a more sarcastic manner.

"I'm serious, Liv."

Then, Elliot did something that she never expected. Olivia dreamed about it every night for as long as she could remember. She had an endless amount of fantasies regarding this very action. It was the kind of thing that if you vividly imagined it happening enough times, you might just think that the event did, indeed occur.

He kissed her.