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EOEOEOEOEOEO
Olivia made her way back into the house, and saw the guys were still playing pool. Unbelievable. But part of her was happy as they were distracted and didn't see her pass by. She had to find a bathroom. She saw one at the end of the room, and headed straight for it. She shut the door and leaned against the sink. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and shook her head. What the hell had she done? What had she been thinking? The answer was…she hadn't. She was slightly drunk, extremely horny, and pissed at Elliot. But Jack? Oh my God…she was an idiot. She needed to get cleaned up and get the hell out of there. She pulled up her dress to use the toilet and reached for her thong. Damnit! It wasn't there. She had left it where it dropped on the patio. She groaned. Someone was going to find it out there. She dropped her head in her hands as she peed. This was something horny teenagers did, not a grown woman. Her only comfort was that no one would know they were her underwear. She groaned again because this isn't something that someone her age should even have to think about. She cleaned up as best she could, washed her hands, and straightened out her hair and dress once again. She sighed, and opened the bathroom door. The guys were still engrossed in what they were doing, and there were lots of people downstairs. She walked over the stairs, and saw Melinda coming down.
"Liv. There you are. I was looking for you." said Melinda. "Where have you been?"
"Here and there. I got some fresh air and then was watching the pool game. You know…" she trailed off.
Melinda gave her a strange look. "Are you OK?"
"Yes, why?"
"No reason. You just have a strange look on your face." Mel said.
Olivia shook her head. She could only imagine. "I'm fine. I just need to get a drink." she said. And she meant it.
"OK." said Melinda. "I'm just going to run downstairs and see what's going on and then I'll be back up."
Olivia walked over to the bar. "I'll have a vodka, straight up." she said, sitting down on the barstool. The bartender gave her the drink and she chugged it down. "Another please." she said, pushing the glass towards the bartender.
"Whoa. Better slow down." Olivia turned to see Jack walking up next to her and sliding into the seat next to her.
"No." she said. The bartender gave her the drink and she drank it down. She started to get up, but Jack grabbed her arm and pushed her back in her seat.
"Don't go."
"I can't do this. I am not…that woman." She looked around to see if anyone was in earshot. "I am not the kind of woman that has a quick fuck with some stranger." She said in a whisper.
"And yet, your underwear is in my pocket." He said with a smile.
"You son of a …." Olivia started to say when she saw Elliot out of the corner of her eye.
"Everything OK here?" he asked, putting a possessive hand on Olivia's shoulder and looking back and forth between the two of them.
"Yes." said Jack, standing up. "I was just leaving. It was nice to talk to you again Olivia."
Olivia smiled up at Jack but didn't say anything. Damn Elliot for interrupting them. As much as she wanted to get away from Jack, she wanted her underwear more.
"Liv. It's almost midnight. We're thinking about heading back to the city. You ready to go?"
Olivia sighed. She was more than ready. She nodded and started to stand up, but after those two quick drinks, she wobbled on her heels. Elliot reached out to steady her for the second time that night. After her outburst earlier, he didn't say anything. He just started walking towards the door with his hand holding her upper arm.
"I have to say goodbye to Casey and Aaron." she said, looking up at Elliot.
Elliot sighed. "Really?" He was just anxious to get out of there.
"Yes! We can't just leave." She looked around the room, and saw Munch and Fin talking to the couple. She turned in that direction and started to make her way over, Elliot in tow. When they got there, she pulled on Casey's arm, and the blonde turned towards her.
"Liv! I haven't seen you for the last hour. Where have you been hiding?" Casey said.
"I've been walking around talking to people." she said, looking over at Elliot. He seemed oblivious, more focused on getting out of there. "We're going, so I just wanted to say good-bye and thanks." She hugged Casey and Elliot leaned over and gave Casey a kiss on the cheek.
"OK. Drive safely." Casey said. "See you on Monday."
The four of them walked towards the door and they passed by Jack talking to a group of co-workers. As they passed by, Jack looked up, and winked at Olivia. Elliot caught it and looked at her.
"What's that about?" he asked.
"How the hell do I know?" she said, sounding annoyed. "You know he's an ass."
Elliot put his hand in the small of Olivia's back and kept it there as they walked out with Fin and Munch.
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
Elliot and Olivia dropped Fin and Munch off and headed back to Olivia's apartment. When they got there, Elliot walked her up to her apartment.
"Liv." Elliot said as she unlocked her door. "Do you care if I just crash on your couch? I'm so tired. I don't think I can drive anymore." Olivia looked over at him. It wasn't unusual to have Elliot sleep on her couch; she just wasn't sure it was such a good idea tonight.
"El. I don't know…" she started.
"Liv. I swear…" he said, holding up his hands. "I'm not trying anything here. I just want to sleep."
Olivia sighed. "Fine." She dropped her purse on the kitchen counter and walked over to the hall closet, pulling out an extra pillow and a blanket. "Here you go." She said, handing it off to him. "Good night." She said as she headed towards her bedroom.
Elliot watched her go, feeling like there was something going on that he didn't understand. But he was so tired; he just couldn't deal with it so he let her go. He pulled off his clothes and climbed onto the couch, falling asleep in just a few minutes.
EOEOEOEOEOEO
Olivia woke up late in the morning, threw on some sweats and headed out to the kitchen to make some coffee. Elliot was still sound asleep on the couch, but he woke up when he heard Olivia moving around the kitchen. He sat up and groaned.
"I could really use some of that coffee." he said, putting his head in his hands.
"Hungover?" Olivia asked.
"No. Just really tired. It was a long week." The words were barely out of his mouth when his phone started ringing. Olivia looked over at him and groaned when she recognized Cragen's ringtone.
"No." she said. "Please. No." She stared at Elliot while he answered, hearing one side of the conversation. He hung up the phone and looked over at her.
"Sorry. We have to roll. Go get dressed."
Olivia poured herself a cup of coffee and headed for the bedroom. She was back out in 15 minutes and they headed out the door with Elliot in the clothes he had worn to the party.
The rest of the day went quickly as they talked to the victim, spent time at the crime scene and interviewed witnesses. They grabbed some dinner around 8PM and then headed back to the precinct to work on the case. Finally, around midnight, they headed up to the cribs to get some sleep, both too tired to go home.
EOEOEOEOEOEOEO
The next morning, they had both showered and changed into some clean clothes at the station, and Olivia felt a little better. They ran out to get some coffee and breakfast before digging back into the case. Then they ran through the facts of the case with Fin and Munch and Cragen, trying to figure out what their next steps should be. They decided to go through some of the computer records and look for similar MO's, so Elliot and Olivia sat back down at their desks. While they were working, Casey came into the squad room.
"Good morning! How's everyone doing?" she asked.
"Fine" they all said in unison.
"I really appreciate that you all came to the party." said Casey. "I hope it wasn't a total bore."
"No, it was fun." said Elliot. "I won at least $100 playing pool!" he said with a smile.
"Nice, Stabler." said Fin.
"Half that money is mine." Said Munch.
Olivia didn't say anything, which was unusual. Casey looked over at her. "Did you have fun Liv?"
Olivia nodded. "Sure. It was nice to see Aaron and to see your parents again." She said, but not with a lot of enthusiasm. She wanted to forget that night. And she did NOT want to see Jack again. But she knew she would have to see him several times before the wedding and then of course, on the day of the wedding. She was dreading it.
"Thanks. Well, who wants to fill me in on this case?" she asked, looking at Olivia and Elliot. Elliot stood up and spent the next several minutes filling her in.
"Thanks" said Casey. "Let me know when you have an update." She said, walking out of the squad room.
As she was walking out, a messenger walked in. "A delivery for Elliot Stabler."
Elliot raised his hand from where he was sitting at his desk. "Stabler here."
The messenger walked over, had Elliot sign his log and handed him a plain, 8-1/2 x 11, brown envelope. It had his name on the front, but nothing else. He opened it up and found another, similar sized envelope inside, one end folded slightly so it would fit inside. He pulled it out and saw something written on it.
"What is it?" asked Olivia. Munch and Fin were watching too. "What does it say?"
Elliot read it out loud. It says "You can keep these for yourself or return them to Olivia." Elliot got a confused look on his face and looked over at Liv. She shook her head, having no idea what the message meant. Elliot started to open up the envelope when all of a sudden Olivia sprang out of her chair.
"Wait!" she yelled, trying to reach across the desk. But it was too late as her black thong fell out of the envelope and on to Elliot's desk.
Dun Dun Dun…