Cooties

Ch.7

Olivia sat at the table right across from Elliot's, watching him intently while picking at her food. "Earth to Liv! Are you done drooling?" Casey giggled as she suddenly looked away and wiped at her mouth. "I'm just kidding." she continued laughing. It had only been a few hours, and she and Casey had already grown exceptionally close. Including the same with George and Melinda. She only shrugged and stared at him. "Looks like somebody's jealous." Casey sighed in a sing-song voice. "I'm NOT jealous!" Fin patted her shoulder. "The more you deny it baby-girl, the truer it is." Melinda arched an eyebrow. "Thats a little grammar error, isn't it?" Fin rolled his eyes and shrugged at her. Olivia smiled at her friends and continued to look at Elliot, in all his beautiful glory. He was like a god, she swore. She half-expected for a halo to appear above him.

She had asked for some alone time from her friends, and they were kind enough and did as she told them. Silently swinging on the swing, she stared at Elliot again, and smiled when he got all muddy playing soccer. A small voice spoke up at her as she turned. "Can I sit with you?" a little blonde girl asked her, seeming about her age. "Huh?....Oh, sure." The girl sat next to her and followed her stare. "Who's that cute guy?" she giggled. Olivia half-smiled and leaned her head back. "Nobody." The girl arched an eyebrow and adjusted her glasses. "Sure doesn't seem like nobody. I saw the way you were looking at him." Olivia snorted and put her hands up in an "I surrender" gesture. "Alright, alright....hes...hes my best friend. His name is Elliot." The girl only grinned. "Ahh...well whats your name? I'm Alex. Alex Cabot." She stuck out her hand, and Olivia willingly accepted it. "I'm Olivia. Olivia Benson." They continued talking while swinging on the swings.

"Hey, El!" she called as he walked into the doors. He half-smiled at her, and seemed like he was going to walk towards her. But two blondes stopped him in his tracks. "Come on, Elliot! Its time for art class! You can make clay pots with us!" Elliot groaned and sighed, and stared into Olivia's eyes and shrugged. Olivia pursed her lips and nodded and waved her hand, motioning for him to go. She sighed as she felt a small hand fall on her shoulder. "Come on, Olivia." John smiled weakly. She forced a smile as they walked over to the art room. Sitting where the teacher had told her to, she slipped on a stool next to a dark haired boy and a square jaw and broad form. She saw him glance at her with dark eyes and smile. "Hi." he sighed shyly, turning to her. She turned towards him and smiled warmly. "...Hello." she waved. He suddenly stared at the clay. "Are we making pots or mini-blobs?" To illustrate, he formed the lump of clay into a small monster. He poked his thumbs in it for eyes and picked it up. "Its the blob! Oh no!!!" He said with fake terror.

"Oh no! Not the blob!" Olivia yelled. He pushed the blob against her face. "The blob's gonna eat you!" he cried. "Noooo!" she squealed, and started giggling. Meanwhile, Elliot suddenly turned around at Olivia's giggling and saw him laughing with a tall, dark haired, chocolate eyed boy. They started playing with their clay and continued laughing. Strangely, he suddenly felt jealousy rise up in him. His fists clenched as he glared at the boy. "My names Olivia Benson." she smiled at him. "I'm Dean Porter." He stuck out the clay's limp hand and Olivia giggled and shook it. They stopped suddenly as the teacher called everyones attention and gave directions about the clay pots. Elliots jealousy only grew rapidly when Dean whispered in Olivia's ear and she playfully hit his chest and laughed softly. He wanted to badly knock that boy's lights out. Finally, he winced when a soft hand landed on his forearm. "Elliot? Are you alright?" Dani asked sweetly. He took one more angry glance at him, and then turned and forced a half-smile. "Yeah...yeah I'm fine."

Quickly grabbing her bag, Olivia looked at Elliot one more time before walking over to Dean. "Hey, are you stalking me?" he smiled as she shrugged. "Maybe....no." They laughed again as she stared into his eyes. "She's cute." he thought to himself with a smile. "What?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. He shrugged and grinned again. "Nothing. Nothing at all." Saying goodbye to him as he left, she turned and saw Casey, Alex, and Melinda staring expectantly at her. "Well...?" Alex smiled, looking at her. She got her to be introduced with Casey and Melinda, and they clicked immediately. "Well what?" Olivia sighed, adjusting the bag on her shoulder. "Dean's really cute, Olivia. You know what we're talking about." Melinda smiled. Olivia's jaw dropped. "Oh guys no! I don't like him like that....hes nice but hes just a friend." Alex put a hand up. "Thats right! Because you LOVE Elliot!" she whispered softly.

Casey and Melinda burst into laughter as Olivia's cheeks turned red and she tried to hide her smile. "Well...he's kinda cute..." She sighed, turning. And then only to herself, she admitted that she thought he was gorgeous. She said goodbye to her friends as she walked out of the classroom, and soon, a cerulean-eyed little boy was walking beside her. But not at all did he look happy. At least, his eyes told her that much. He pursed his lips and played with his hands as they walked out of the building. "So uhh....whos the guy you were talking to?" She turned her head towards him. "His names Dean....hes really nice..." She only shrugged and waited for Elliot's response. "......Do you like him?" Her eyes widened as she her brow furrowed. "Why do you care?" He was silent for a minute. "Well, do you like him?" he asked with a bit of anger in his voice. "I don't think thats any of your business of who I do and don't like." She walked ahead of him, but he grabbed her arm. "Well, it might as well be, since everything else about you is my business. Tell me, do you have any bruises lately?"

Olivia's eyes widened and then tears pooled in her eyes as she pulled out of his grasp and glared at him. "I hate you." Elliot bit his lip and mentally slapped himself for saying that to her. He chased after her. "Wait, Liv I-" She suddenly turned on him. "You know what? I may have an abusive mother, but it doesn't give you the right to bash it down on me like that. Not when you have a father that does the same thing." By then, tears were streaming down her face and she bolted off. He started to run after her until Dani got in front of him. "Hey, El. What's wrong?" He sighed and turned, scrubbing his face with his hand. "I yelled at Olivia..." Dani gave a fake sad look. "Aww...don't worry Elliot. I'll talk to her." He looked up. "You will?" His face lit up a bit. "Of course. Its just what people do for eachother." She quickly hugged him and ran off, making sure that she indeed give a talk to her.

Olivia sniffled and let tears fall to the ground as she leaned against a tree. "Hey. Olivia, right?" Dani forced out an evil smile as she ran up to Olivia. She nodded and turned towards her. "Did Elliot send you over here?" The blonde had to hide her devilish smile as she came up with a juicy lie. "Actually, I came over here to see if you were okay. Elliot doesn't care about you." She looked up and felt as if she'd been punched. "He doesn't?" Dani squinted. "Of course not. You see, he feels sorry for you. Don't know why, but he does. He doesn't like you, and he never has. Besides, I think you should just leave him alone. He has a lot to deal with, and he doesn't need another burden on his back." Olivia winced at how she emphasized burden. Then she forced back tears at the memory of Elliot saying she would never be a burden...especially to him. Choking a sob, she looked up at Dani again. "Alright, I understand." She finally sighed and walked away, leaving Dani to give a smug grin. Walking over to Elliot, he smiled. "Did you tell her I'm sorry?" She shrugged and swallowed her joy. "I told her alright...."

*ducks flying computer monitors* All those in favor of killing Dani and dumping her body in the Hudson, say I! I'm sure we'd get some help from the adult Olivia. Hehe. Yeah, I know she ruins everything. And see how I put Dean in there too? And I know, I'm horrible! Flames are accepted for a campfire where Elliot and Olivia can snuggle! ^^

Hugs and Thunder,

Babybel