Hello my beautiful readers! You are looking fantastic today and I hope you are in the mood for some serious reading as this is my longest chapter so far :) Sit tight and enjoy some more O/A quality time :) As always, a great big thank you to my loyal reviewers. I get so excited to wake up to reviews (it's the first thing I do!) and to come home to them.. I love reading what you have to say! Thanks again for reading and I hope you enjoy :)

Several hours later, Olivia found herself alone and bored in her apartment. She had been discharged from the hospital with nothing seriously wrong with her, just as she had suspected. She had some swelling on her face and some light bruising on her rib cage, but other than that, she was fine. The doctor told her to take it easy for the next three to four days, so Cragen told her to go home and not bother coming in until Monday. Olivia had no idea what she would do until then. It was Thursday night and she had absolutely nothing to do until she went back to work.

She had texted Alex, who said she was relieved to hear that nothing was seriously wrong. They talked about what the doctor told her to do to help her heal faster (apply a cold compress to the ribs for ten minutes three times a day, along with rest and no strenuous activities) and what she could do to stave off boredom. Olivia was not impressed with the counselor's suggestions: watch tv, read a book, play on the internet, do crosswords (which she didn't even have!), read the paper, stare at the walls… This was going to be a long, long weekend. Luckily, Alex agreed to come over tomorrow after work, so Olivia had that to look forward to.

The detective spent the rest of the evening and the following day waiting for Alex. She tried to remember to put the cold compress on her ribs, but she wasn't faring well in that department. She had a terrible memory for things like that. Plus, the thing was cold and uncomfortable, even though she was wrapping it in a towel.

12:30 pm

Olivia groaned for the millionth time since yesterday. She was so bored. Why wasn't it five yet? She flipped through the tv channels again, hoping to find something to catch her attention. Normally, she could lose an entire day watching television, but not today. She knew Alex was coming and that was why she wasn't able to stay distracted. She settled on the movie Aliens. She enjoyed this movie, but she knew she would probably again switch channels in another five minutes. All because she couldn't keep her mind from wandering to the gorgeous, sexy… Olivia shook her head.

Alex is your friend, she reminded herself. It didn't matter how sexy she thought the woman was, especially when she wore those glasses… Olivia snapped herself back to reality again. God it was so easy to fantasize about the other woman. She had always thought Alex was hot. The woman radiated sex appeal and anyone who wasn't blind would agree that she was extremely attractive. So it wasn't hard for Olivia to start fantasizing about her because the woman was just so damn attractive, but it was getting hard now to keep those thoughts in check. Her thoughts were now going from Damn (as she checked her out) to I wonder what her lips feel like or I wonder what she'd do if I kissed her?

Her feelings were starting to change and she knew that was dangerous. She knew she should put some distance between them, but she didn't want to. She liked seeing Alex and she liked being around her. She didn't want to scare her off or ruin their friendship by distancing herself from the woman…or by letting on how she felt. She enjoyed spending time with the other woman. She liked being around her. Alex was funny, intelligent, kind, and genuinely fun to be around. That's why she'd never want to weird her out by doing anything inappropriate.

…

Olivia woke with a start. She immediately glanced at the clock. 2:51. Damn. She had slept for at least…when was the last time she had checked the clock? She couldn't remember. Her side was starting to ache. She probably shouldn't have slept on the couch. She took a deep breath and rolled gently, letting out a silent cry of pain as she twisted her hurt ribs. She sat up and took a breather before getting up and making her way to the medicine cabinet. She dumped a couple of painkillers in her hand and popped them in her mouth, swallowing them with a small chug of water. She hoped they would kick in soon so the fire in her side would stop.

Too bad they didn't get me any real drugs. Not that she would have taken them anyway, but at least she'd have had the option.

She checked herself out in the mirror. Her right cheek was definitely still swollen, but at least it didn't look terrible. She fixed her hair, spiking it back up the way she wanted it, and reapplied the make-up that had smudged earlier. She quickly brushed her teeth and then returned to her couch, easing herself down before grabbing the remote.

Now what to watch for the next two hours?

She flipped through the channels and found a marathon of Will & Grace.

"Jackpot!"

She happily clicked on the channel and settled back into the couch. She loved this show, even though she now had to suppress the urge to laugh because it burned and caused a sharp pain in her side. Regardless, it was still hilarious.

Olivia had just started another episode when she heard a knock at her door. Frowning, she looked at the clock. It was just after four. Who the hell was that?

She slowly got up from the couch and made her way to the door, looking through the peephole to see a beautiful blonde… an hour early. She happily opened the door, mouth wide in a grin.

"Alex."

"Hi. You look happy," she said as she walked in the door.

"I am. You're early."

"I know. I hope that's okay. I worked through my lunch so that I could get here earlier. I figured you'd be going stir crazy so I thought I'd come sooner."

"I'm glad you did. I've been thinking about you."

Olivia closed the door and gestured for them to move to the couch.

"Have you now?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "How are you feeling?"

The women sat down, Olivia easing herself gently.

"I'm fine. Doing well."

"You seem better than yesterday but your poor cheek is more swollen."

Olivia nodded.

"Yeah it swelled up overnight. It doesn't hurt much though."

"How about your ribs?"

"Only if I move the wrong way or laugh. Or sneeze. Or cough."

"Have you been putting ice on them like the doctor told you?"

Olivia stayed quiet, causing Alex to shake her head. The blonde got up and made her way to her purse, where she pulled out a couple of gel icepacks.

"I figured you weren't so I bought a couple of these so that I can make sure you do it right."

"I was keeping on top of it yesterday."

"And how long are you supposed to do it for?" she asked, quickly going to the kitchen to toss the gel packs in the freezer.

"Hmm?" Alex asked, when Olivia still hadn't answered her.

"Three times a day."

"And, Miss Benson, have you done it even once today?" the blonde asked, plopping down on her end of the couch.

"No ma'am."

Alex sighed.

"You're not going to get better unless you take care of yourself."

"You're here to take care of me now."

"Yeah and it's a good thing. What would you do without me?"

"Cry, probably. And then my ribs would hurt even more."

Alex chuckled and shook her head in exasperation.

"Did you eat today?"

"Uh…yes. I ate."

"What did you eat?"

Olivia slowly pointed to the bag of chips on the coffee table.

"Before you say anything, I was too sore to make anything. Chips were easy and required no effort."

Alex smiled at her.

"Are you hungry?"

"Yes. I've been waiting for you to eat."

"Do you want to order something? I'd make you something but your cupboards are pretty bare."

"Yeah don't go in there. It's embarrassing."

Alex laughed.

"Do you want to order pizza?" Olivia asked.

"Sure."

"I could go for that," she answered, grabbing the phone and dialing the number Olivia gave her. She ordered a large meat lovers with extra cheese and two cokes, which earned her a look from Olivia.

"What?" she asked, after hanging up the phone.

"Did you know that was my favourite?"

"Maybe."

"Who told you that?"

"Detective Stabler and I may have had a discussion about you earlier today. And he may have let it slip that you probably wouldn't have eaten today and that a meat lovers with extra cheese would make you drool everywhere. But please don't drool on me."

Olivia laughed and then clutched her side. "Oh," she said, grimacing. "Don't make me laugh."

Alex grinned. "Sorry."

"Why were you two discussing me?"

"He asked how you were doing."

"I'm surprised he asked you and not me."

"He said he didn't want to risk waking you in case you were napping. I think he knows we've been talking and seeing each other a lot lately," Alex said, absently picking at her nail.

"Oh yeah?"

Alex nodded but didn't meet her gaze. Olivia leaned her head over, looking to meet Alex's eyes.

"Does that bother you?"

"Does what bother me?"

"His thinking we've been seeing each other and talking a lot lately?"

"No, why would it? We have been."

"Okay. I just don't want it to bother you that's all."

"It doesn't. We aren't doing anything wrong by being friends."

Olivia nodded. Yeah…friends. She sighed inside. Too bad she would love to have more…

"People will always find a reason to talk. Detective Stabler is a nice guy. I don't believe he'd cause trouble."

"He wouldn't. None of the guys would. They've always had my back."

Alex smiled.

"If only it were that way in my career. Most people in my field are a bunch of backstabbers."

"Women can be like that."

"It's not just the women. The men are like that too. They can be worse even." Her voice got quieter. "I've just dealt with it by distancing myself from them. They think I'm a cold hearted bitch but I can't trust them to keep any confidences or trust that they won't turn on me to get ahead. So I act like I don't care and keep my space."

"I didn't know that you kept your distance from them," Olivia responded. "You seemed friendly with some of your colleagues."

"I can be friendly, yes. But it's a fake friendly, you know? Nothing more than exchanging pleasantries. They don't know anything substantial about me. Not that I can't take any blame for it. It's my doing as well."

"Do you feel that way with us?"

"Us?"

"Yeah, us as in me and the guys. Do you feel like it's a fake friendly between us?"

Alex thought she heard a twinge of hurt in the other woman's voice.

"No. And yes. I know you guys also think that I'm cold, but I guess I never gave you a reason to think otherwise. And although the guys have been nothing but nice to me, I can't say I know anything about them, and vice versa. They're nice guys, but they feel like colleagues and nothing more. I can count on them to do their jobs and do it well, but I can't exactly call them up when I do well on a case and want to talk about it, you know? But it's been different between you and I lately."

"We don't think you're a cold person."

Alex gave her a look.

"Okay. We used to think you were, but only because you hid your emotions so well, especially when we first met you. But with time, that perception has changed, especially for Elliot and I. You come off as "cold" because you keep your guard up, but your heart shows in other ways: your passion for your job, your determination to lock up every single perp we bring you, and the way you put your job on the line to put those monsters away. We've seen the way you get upset when you lose a case and we grieve with you, even if you don't see it. I wanted to reach out to you more times than I can count after hearing that you lost a case because I know how much it affects you. I've seen it. You lash out afterwards because you're upset about what happened. If people don't dig any further to learn to actually read you, then yeah, they might think you're a cold person. But, the truth is, you're not. You're one of the most caring people I know. You're as much of a good guy as the cops who go out there and actually arrest the men perpetrating these crimes. You might even be a better person than they are because you bust your ass off to ensure they are put away for as long as they possibly can be."

Alex stayed quiet, absorbing everything the woman was saying. No one had ever said these things to her, and it was scary the way Olivia had analysed her so well. Nothing she said was wrong… she did lash out when she lost a case because she felt such horrible, soul crushing guilt at not being able to put the perp behind bars. She did keep a guard up, but she really did care about these cases as much as everyone else. She kept them all at a distance to keep herself safe.

"I'm sorry for the way we treated you before, Alex. I feel guilty knowing that we weren't as friendly to you as we could have been."

"I didn't help myself either. You guys tried at first, but I wasn't interested in being friends, so I didn't really encourage you."

"Why didn't you want to be friends?"

Alex shrugged.

"Tell me."

She paused. "I didn't trust you. I had just switched jobs because a "friend" at my previous job and I had a falling out, so she started rumours about me and I'd just had enough. I didn't want to go through that again so I chose to keep my distance. Being thought of as cold and distant is better than having people I think are my friends gossiping things about me and talking behind my back."

Olivia reached out and placed her hand on Alex's knee.

"I'm sorry you went through that, Alex. Anyone who is a true friend would never do that to you. Elliot and I haven't always gotten along and sometimes we completely disagree with something the other is doing, but we always have each other's backs. I know he'd ever do anything like that to me and I definitely would never do that to him. The same goes for you. I know you're making an effort and you're going out on a limb here, trying to be friends. I would never betray something you told me in confidence."

"Thanks. I believe you, but I think it's because I've spent years working with you. I know we haven't been overly friendly, but you've never been unfriendly either." Alex paused, a smile forming on her face. "I know you try to be nice. Like when you make me coffee when I'm in your department."

Olivia smiled.

"I like to. It's one of the few things you let me do for you."

"Well, I always thought it was sweet."

Before Olivia could answer, the buzzer went off.

"Pizza guy is here."

Alex got up and answered, buzzing the man in when he announced that he was, indeed, the pizza man. She reached into her purse and pulled out some money, opening the door and waiting for him to arrive. She paid him and then excitedly turned around to face the brunette, holding the box of pizza and two cans of coke.

"Pizza!" she said happily. "And coke."

Olivia laughed, and then made an "ooh" sound and clutched her side. Even through the pain she couldn't help thinking, you're so damn cute.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, opening the box of pizza after the blonde set it on the coffee table.

"No more laughing or you're going to pull something."

"I can't help it, you're so damn cute."

The blonde, surprised at the comment, blushed and looked down at the pizza. Olivia, mortified that the comment slipped out, looked down and grabbed a piece of pizza to distract herself. At least Alex didn't get angry or look upset with her.

The women sat back and took their first few bites in silence.

"This is so good. I was hungrier than I thought," Olivia said, trying to break the silence.

Alex nodded in agreement.

"You know a lot of good take out places."

"Well when you eat out as much as I do, you get to know the best places."

"You never make yourself anything?"

Olivia shrugged. "I make frozen pizza, chicken fingers… I can make toast or cereal. Most of the time, I just don't have the time or the energy to make real food so I kind of just eat whatever."

"Don't you get sick of eating those things?"

"Oh yeah. Elliot and Kathy are really good about inviting me over for supper though. I hardly ever eat home cooked meals so it's nice to eat something that doesn't come from a box once in a while."

"I can imagine. Next time you come over, I'll make you something that doesn't come from a box."

Olivia gave a small chuckle, grabbing another slice of pizza.

"Okay. I'll bring the movies."

"Deal."

They sat in silence for a minute before Alex started talking again.

"So how is your side?"

"It's okay. It's kind of sore though."

"Well, those icepacks will be cold by now. I'll go get one."

"I can grab it."

"Alright, well while you struggle to get up, I'll go get the icepack and come back."

Olivia pouted at her, making Alex laugh. The blonde went to the freezer and grabbed an icepack, returning and then handing it to Olivia. The woman placed it against her ribs, over her sweater, and sighed contently.

"Feel better?"

"Yeah, it does. Thanks."

"No problem."

Alex grabbed her slice of pizza again and resumed eating.

"So what are you doing this weekend?"

"I'll probably start getting ready for the trial. We're going to have to prepare as well because you're going to need to testify about what happened in that room. Has Captain Cragen had you write out your report?"

Olivia nodded.

"I did it Thursday night while it was still fresh in my memory."

"Good. You'll need to reread it so you can make sure you have your facts straight."

"I know. This isn't my first picnic, you know," she said, smiling.

Alex smiled back. "Alright, detective."

"What about you? How much work do you have left to do?"

"Enough. I need to reread my notes but I did most of my research this week. Now I have to put it all in order and get everything organised. I'll probably be at it most of the weekend."

"Did you bring your notes with you?"

"Yes, actually."

"Well, if you want, you can work on them here. I don't mind if you work."

"Oh yeah? And what will you do in the meantime, detective?"

"Watch tv." Olivia responded. "I like your company," she admitted.

"Then I'd be happy to stay," she responded. "Are you finished eating?"

"For now."

"Do you want me to leave it out in case you want to pick at it later?"

"No, I can get up and grab some after."

"Okay," Alex answered, bringing the pizza into the kitchen. She grabbed a dishcloth and wiped down the coffee table before grabbing her files from her purse.

"Is it going to bother you if I nap?"

"No. Are you tired?"

"No, but my body feels a little sore and I'm wondering if I'll fall asleep if I lay down."

"Are you going to be okay to sleep on the couch?"

"I'll be fine."

"Okay."

Alex curled up in the corner, placing her notes on the coffee table and on her lap. She grabbed her pen, put on her glasses, and started pouring over her notes while Olivia gently stretched out and laid on one of the couch cushions. She grabbed the ice pack and turned on the tv, keeping the sound low so that Alex could concentrate.

"It's not going to bother me if you want to turn it up."

"No, it's okay. I'll probably fall asleep. If you get bored though, you don't have to stay."

"I won't get bored."

Olivia smiled at her.

"Good."

She turned to watch Alex a few minutes later, admiring the way the woman concentrated so hard on the pages before her. She loved watching her. Alex always got right into her work, losing herself in it. Sometimes Olivia would walk by the woman's office and say hello, but the blonde didn't even notice because she was so absorbed in her work. It was adorable the way Alex would stare at a page, frowning, chewing on the end of her pen, deep in thought. It was those times Olivia would like nothing more than to approach her, kiss her firmly on the lips, tell her just how sexy she looked, and confess everything she felt for her.

However, seeing as she couldn't do that, she sighed internally and looked over at the tv.