Olivia walked into the room, taking in interior of the cabin. She seemed to be in the main living area, with a comfortable looking couch and an oversized chair facing a large, field stone fireplace. There wasn't a fire burning at the moment, but she could smell smoke in the air, as if everything in the room had absorbed the smell over time. A battered desk was off to one side, with framed photos lining the edge. A shelf overflowing with books and knick-knacks was on the other side, filling in the space up to the bottom of the window. She noticed lots of windows around the room, letting in a lot of natural light. Or as much as could be expected in the woods.

When she looked straight ahead, a long hallway ended with another door. She could see a porch and the lake beyond, and she saw the glint of the metal canoe again. As her eyes swept back up the hallway, she saw open doorways on both sides and she assumed they led to the bedrooms and a bathroom.

"This is cozy." She said as she turned towards where Elliot was standing, but he wasn't there. She could see an archway into the kitchen to the right of the door, and she headed that way. She saw Elliot with his back to her, looking out at the lake. Olivia walked into the room and breezed past him, moving to the other side of the counter. There was a small table and chairs on the other side of the counter, and once again, Olivia was amazed at the number of windows and the view of the lake. The small boat that had been out on the lake earlier was closer now, and she could see two guys fishing off the side.

Her eyes swept the tall pines framing the lake on all sides. As she inspected the shoreline, she could make out other small houses amongst the trees.

"What a beautiful view." She said quietly, more to herself than Elliot.

"Hmm."

Olivia didn't know if that was a confirmation or not. She turned and saw him finishing off a sandwich. He took a swig of his beer and motioned towards her.

"Want a beer?"

Olivia narrowed her eyes. "It's 2:00 in the afternoon."

Elliot shrugged. "So."

"I'll have water, if you have one." Olivia didn't really care about the time of day, but this was going to be a difficult enough conversation. Alcohol wasn't going to help. Which made her wonder exactly how many beers he'd had already.

Elliot reached into the refrigerator, screwed the lid off a bottle of water, and stretched out his arm towards her. Olivia had to come back around the table to take it from him. She leaned her butt against the edge of the table, taking a long drink. She lowered the bottle and held it in her hands as Elliot finished his sandwich.

Olivia noticed his body language seemed relaxed…his attitude almost cavalier. As if he wasn't thrown by her intrusion into his life. What she didn't know was how real it was. Six months ago, she would have said he was just putting on an act, but now…she wasn't sure.

While she watched him eat and finish off his beer, she tried to keep her eyes trained on his face. But it was nearly impossible not to let her eyes stray, taking in the changes since she'd seen him last. The scruffy beard looked different on him, but she wasn't complaining. It seemed to suit him. It was clear that whatever he'd been doing up here had been purely physical, because even though he'd lost weight, his muscle tone was ridiculous.

She wished he would put a shirt back on, because it was distracting, and it was pissing her off. She felt tired and irritable and had bags under her eyes…ones she hadn't been able to hide with any amount of makeup…and here he was, looking like he didn't have a care in the world.

If she hadn't talked to Kathy…if she hadn't known the truth of what he'd been going through…she'd be really angry.

Olivia was tired of the awkward silence. "So…" She looked around the room and let her eyes land back on his. "How long have you been living up here?"

Elliot almost seemed disappointed in her question and have gave her a challenging look. "Why don't you ask me a question that you don't already know the answer to."

Elliot saw he had surprised her too, but honestly, hadn't expected her to make idle chit-chat. He had thought about this very scenario many times, and in every one of them, there had been anger or tears…two ends of the spectrum. He never expected this cool, controlled Olivia.

Olivia tried not to show her surprise at his comment, but she knew she probably failed. She pressed her lips together, trying to school her features. If he wanted to get right into it, then she was okay with that. She didn't need small talk. She shifted slightly on the edge of the table, sifting and discarding through numerous questions before she spoke. "Why did you let me in?"

She noticed that her question seemed to amuse him slightly, or else he had expected her to ask him something else.

Elliot raised an eyebrow. "Honestly?" He paused for a second to see if she was going to expand on her question. When she didn't, he answered her with a small shrug. "Did you expect me to slam the door in your face?"

Olivia looked away. She didn't want to tell him that it was one of the things she had worried about on the way up here. "I don't know."

"I know you think I'm an asshole…" Elliot said. "But I wouldn't do that." He saw her look up at him…he saw a hint of pain in her eyes…and it was devasting to him. He knew he had hurt her, but he was an idiot to think that maybe time had healed her somehow. Especially when it hadn't healed him. And suddenly, the air in the cabin was suffocating. He thought he could talk to her…that he would be able to have a conversation with her…but now.

That look on her face…

He wasn't ready.

"Now that you're here, let me give you a tour."

Olivia's eyebrows knit together, completely taken aback by the complete 180. "What?" she spit it out before she even realized it.

"Let me show you around." He came around the counter. "I'm just going to grab a clean shirt. Be right back."

Olivia watched him breeze past her as he went through a second archway that led into the hallway she had seen. He wasn't giving her an opportunity to object. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she replayed the conversation they'd just had. The way Elliot's voice had softened…and his quick back-peddling. He had been bold in challenging her on her initial question but had clearly decided he wasn't ready for the conversation that followed.

This wasn't going anything like she had thought it would, but she knew she really hadn't known what to expect. She knew she could resist…she could hit him with the hard questions…but a part of her wasn't ready either. Despite her bravado the day before, or on the drive up here, she wasn't ready either. The thought of this being the last time she saw him was almost unbearable. She looked at her watch.

It was still early.

There was plenty of time. She had a room in town; she didn't have to drive all the way back to the city. She would see where this lead. Take things slowly.

Olivia hadn't moved since Elliot had left the room, but she pushed herself off the table and set down her water when she heard the floorboards creak. Then Elliot was there, stretching his arms up to rest against the arch overhead. She noticed he had put on another t-shirt, but it rode up, showing a sliver of his stomach and she was distracted by it.

Elliot could see that Olivia was lost in thought as he studied her profile from his place in the hallway. He wondered what was on her mind right now. Then the floorboard squeaked as he shifted his weight, and she looked up at him. His heard was beating like a triphammer in his chest, but he was working like hell to keep his cool and detached demeanor. He couldn't let her know how much she was affecting him…especially when he had to let her go.

"Ready for your tour?" He asked, trying to sound nonchalant. Elliot watched as her lips parted slightly, as if she was going to protest, but then she let out a breathy sigh and nodded.

Elliot dropped his arms and made a motion for her to follow him. He didn't really spend any time showing her the inside of the small cabin, except to point out that it had two bedrooms and a bathroom. He told her that it belonged to his friend Jack, a buddy from his Marine days. Apparently, they had stayed in touch, which surprised Olivia, because she didn't recall every hearing much about Elliot's Marine days or any friends. But Jack had recently accepted a six-month gig doing some training at a base camp in Maryland and had offered Elliot his place to stay.

Olivia's ears perked up, as this would have been the perfect opportunity to bring up his departure, but he kept rambling on about how the cabin had been in Jack's family for decades, being built by Jack's grandfather. Olivia let him ramble on as she followed him out onto the porch that faced the lake.

She saw that she had been correct in thinking that the porch wrapped around the entire cabin. To her left, she saw two very comfortable looking rocking chairs with a small table in between, and a small table and chairs off in the corner to the right. She could see the kitchen through the windows, and she saw how carefully the cabin had been built. If her sense of direction was right, the sun would set over the lake, and she imagined it would be absolutely stunning.

Elliot had made his way down the stairs and was looking back at her. She followed him down and listened as he walked her around the property. He seemed to take pride in it and the work he was doing…the wood cutting and roof repair and other projects.

Olivia trailed behind him as they cae around the other side of the cabin and headed back down towards the lake. There was a wooden frame with a swing that would hold two people near the water, and a small sandy beach that led to the water. A long wooden dock jutted out, but there wasn't a boat tied to it. The canoe lay upside-down on the other side of the dock, and Elliot pointed to it.

"I take the canoe out almost every morning when I wake up." He looked back at her, where she was standing in the grass. "It's so quiet that time of day."

Olivia sat down in the grass, propped her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs. It seemed that Elliot had fallen into a different kind of lifestyle up here, and then it had given him some measure of relief from the demons that had tortured him. It made her wonder about her own agenda, and whether or not she had it within herself to drag him back into the fight.

Elliot sat down to her right, leaving a few feet of grass between them. He looked out at the lake, waiting for her to say something, but she was silent. He risked a glance over at her, but she was staring in the same way he was. He knew he was being unfair in his distraction, but he had felt the need to share the beauty of this place with her. "Every night…I sit on the porch and watch the sunset." He said quietly. "And I'd wonder…" He took a deep breath. "I'd wonder what you're doing at that very moment."

Olivia's breath caught in her chest. She hadn't expected that.

Elliot could tell that he had caught her off-guard. "Olivia…"

Olivia could hear that same softness in his voice, but she didn't turn to look at him. She couldn't.

"Despite what you may think…" His admission lay heavy on his tongue. He hadn't meant to tell her any of this, but he couldn't seem to help himself. She was here. She had shown up. By all accounts, she should have written him off…told him to fuck off. But she had stayed.

"I've thought about you every day." He could see the way she clenched her teeth together to bite back emotion; it hadn't been his intention to make her cry. But she still refused to look at him, and there was a part of him that was glad. If she looked at him now, he wasn't sure he'd be able to speak. "I didn't know if you'd ever show up here…and God help me…part of me hoped you wouldn't, but part of me hoped you would…" He sighed. He reached out, itching to touch her, but he withdrew his hand as she looked over at him.

Olivia swiped at the tears that spilled over her lashes as she looked over at Elliot. "It shouldn't have been up to me!" She pushed herself off the ground, wiping the last remnants of moisture from beneath her eyes. She could feel all the anger and hurt simmering beneath the surface, especially now that Elliot seemed to be laying the responsibility of their future at her feet. "But when you wouldn't take my calls or answer my texts, you didn't leave me much of a choice."

Elliot stood up quickly. "You had a choice." He said. "You could have just gone on with your life and not looked back."

The vehemence in his voice made her pause. She thought about the unanswered calls and texts. Maybe she'd been wrong to show up here…

Her eyes connected with his and she saw the misery etched in his face. She took a few steps backwards. "Maybe I made a mistake." She said, her voice cracking with emotion. "I shouldn't have come here." She took a few steps to the right…she needed to get out of here. Elliot hadn't slammed the door in her face, but he clearly didn't want her here.

Elliot took a step towards her and she took two steps backwards. "No. I didn't…" He swiped a hand across his chin. "This isn't coming out right. You don't understand what I'm trying to say."

"You said I should move on with my life." Olivia said. She turned her back to him, staring out at the lake.

"Liv." He placed his hands lightly on her shoulders.

"Don't call me that." She huffed out, shrugging his hands off her. She glanced back at him. "You don't get to call me that." She headed down towards the lake, needing a moment to collect herself. If Elliot was smart, he wouldn't follow her.

Olivia walked down to the end of the dock and wrapped her arms around herself. Sometime in the past twenty minutes, the wind had kicked up and the sky had clouded over slightly. She shivered as the next gust of wind kicked up, and she wrapped her sweater around her more tightly. She could feel Elliot's eyes on her, but she was glad he hadn't followed her down here.

This whole encounter had left her confused. From his attitude when he'd opened the door to his honesty when he'd told her he thought about her every day…they were two sides of him. And then…telling her that she should have moved on with her life and not looked back.

What was that?

Was he telling her that it's what he wanted her to do? Or was he trying to tell her something else.

You don't understand what I'm trying to say.

She wanted to scream into the wind. Why couldn't she and Elliot have a conversation like normal people did? Why couldn't she just get the answers she came up here for instead of having to read between the lines or trying to decipher the meaning behind everything he said? Why couldn't she just tell him what she'd come up here to say?

Maybe it was because they were never meant to say any of those things.

Another gust of wind blew, and Olivia felt a smattering of raindrops on her face.

"Olivia!"

She turned and saw Elliot standing on the grass, just moments from stepping on to the dock. She stared at him for a moment…just taking in every part of him…committing it to memory. She was going to leave now, bury all the things she'd wanted to say, have one more good cry and then she'd move on.

Bur for now, she'd take this moment.

She could feel the rain coming down now. It was still light, but she knew that in another few minutes, she'd be soaked. She headed down the dock, slowly at first, and she saw Elliot watching her closely. He held her eyes until she was close enough to hear him.

"A storm blew in. Let's get inside." He said, turning towards the house and motioning for her to follow him. He rushed up the stairs and made it beneath the overhang, but when he turned around, Olivia was nowhere to be seen. He looked around the yard, wondering where she'd gone, but he realized she must have slipped around the side of the house. He ran towards the front door and flung it open and could see Olivia was halfway across the expansive yard. He pushed open the door and rushed out onto the front porch. "Olivia!"

She didn't slow down, and he jumped off the porch onto the grass. He didn't want her driving in this storm.

"Olivia!" He ran as quickly as possible, sliding in the wet grass. The rain was really coming down now, and Olivia was near the tree line now. He pushed ahead and caught up with her just as she reached the trees. "Wait!" He grabbed her arm, slowing her down, and then he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her flush against his body.

"Let me go." Olivia said angrily. She struggled against him, barely able to believe the way he was manhandling her.

"No." Elliot said.

"Elliot!" She continued to fight against him, but he wrapped his other arm around her and held her even more tightly against him. "Let me go."

"Shhh." Elliot was whispering into her ear, and confusion swarmed her body.

"Please. Just let me go." She said angrily, even though the fight was leaving her.

"No." Elliot said. He felt her resistance lessening. "Not yet. Not like this."

"I shouldn't have come." Olivia said, completely lax as he held her against him. "It was a mistake."

"You're wrong." Elliot said. "If anyone made a mistake, it was me." He squeezed his arms more tightly around her. "It was my mistake…thinking I could ever let you go."