Elliot stood outside of Olivia's apartment. He had been standing here for five minutes now and he wasn't sure what he was waiting for. No, he knew what he was waiting for. He was waiting for her to come out and run into his arms. But that wasn't going to happen unless she knew how he felt. He needed to make sure she wouldn't run again. He sunk to sit on the steps outside her building. He had been sitting there for a few minutes when Olivia came running down the steps. Elliot jumped up and grabbed her arm. She screamed.
"Jesus Christ Elliot! Don't do that to me!" She scowled and smacked his shoulder. Elliot grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry Liv, I needed to talk to you. Why didn't you come over this morning?" He had missed her. Even though she had run out on him yesterday morning, he had really thought she would be back.
Olivia looked at the ground. "I just got back in. Fin and Munch picked up a rape/assault last night and I was helping out. I only came home to change and shower. I'm heading back now. I was going to call." She forced a smile and asked him how he was feeling.
"I'm fine Liv. I want to know why you left yesterday. Liv, I know what I said that night and I don't know if what I said scared you or what, but you have to know that I mean it. Every single word. Liv this is not easy for me to say." Elliot was cut off when Olivia held up her hand to silence him. Elliot could practically see her walls being built up.
"Elliot, I have to go to work. You didn't say anything the other night and I left yesterday because I had to get to work, which is where I need to be now. I'll talk to you later, okay?" She looked into his eyes and Elliot knew he was going to have to break down her walls.
Olivia hurried into the station and practically threw her things on her desk. Fin looked over at her,
"Lover's quarrel? Stabler hasn't stopped calling all morning." He adopted a tone he thought sounded like Elliot Stabler. "'Is Liv in yet? Call me when she gets there. Are you sure she's not there? I need to talk to her. Fin, goddamn it just tell me if she's there.'" He and Munch shared a laugh, but Olivia wasn't laughing.
"I don't know what you're talking about and don't you have a case you should be investigating? There are more important things to be thinking about than Stabler." Olivia violently flipped open a case file and didn't say another word. Fin and Munch shared a look and buried their noses in case files.
Six hours later Olivia stumbled into her apartment with a sense of satisfaction. The three detectives had collared the perp with a full confession. It was an airtight case. On the flip side Olivia felt guilty that she had screened every single one of Elliot's calls. She unlocked her front door and almost screamed when she saw Elliot sitting on her couch.
"ELLIOT STABLER! This is the second time you've scared me out of my mind today! Do you plan on making this a habit?" She sunk to the arm chair next to the couch.
Elliot knew it was wrong to sit in her apartment waiting for her, but there was no other way she was going to talk to him otherwise. Eventually he was going to be back at work and what was she going to do then, request a new partner? Not if he could help it. He leaned toward her, trying to be careful of his healing wound.
"Liv, you have to talk to me. I need to know why you're so afraid. I want to help you. I'm coming back to work soon; we're going to have to work together again. Our 97 % closure rate might be in jeopardy." He smiled at her, hoping to get her smiling back. It worked, sort of. She cracked a half smile.
"El, I'm sorry I yelled at you. I just wasn't expecting you to be sitting in my living room when I got home." She kicked off her boots and tucked her feet under her. She and Elliot looked at each other for a minute before she spoke.
"I'm scared." She whispered. "I'm terrified that I'm going to get in too deep and you're going to leave or I'm going to mess it up." She bit her thumbnail and wouldn't meet Elliot's eyes. He reached over to take her hand, but she pulled back.
"El, I want to let you in. Being your partner over the years has been the best experience of my life and I…I don't want you to leave it, but I also know that I really need you in my life." Olivia sighed and waited for Elliot to leave. When he didn't, Olivia looked up into his face and saw his eyes.
God, his eyes really did it for her. She saw the emotion in them and almost cried. It took so much to expose herself like this and she hated the thought of being rejected. She was almost certain Elliot would let her down gently, or would he?
A/N: Wow! two chapters in one day. I'm really impressed with myself. jkjk All of your reviews make me want to write more and when I get a new review I'm so excited. So please keep reviewing if you want more chapters =)