AN: Gold star for Lauren! For hints on what this story is about please see her review! :)


CHAPTER 8: FRIDAY NIGHT


7:45pm

He raises the glass of scotch to his lips and takes a generous sip.

He probably shouldn't drink, not when his mind is this messed up, but after his session today - he needs it.

Huang had looked at him like he had completely lost it.

And rightly so.

It was stupid to expect anything different and he knows that it's only a matter of time before word will travel back to Cragen.

All he can hope for now is for White Olivia to show up.

Maybe they could develop a plan, speak to Cragen together, because at this point he's going to need all the backup he can get.

His phone starts to ring, the rattle on the wooden coffee table causing him to jump and his chest pounds with nerves when he sees her name lit up.

Olivia Benson.

If history was anything to go by, White Liv was due to turn up next.

"Hey," he says.

Silence.

"Is that you?"

Nothing.

Then the phone goes dead.

A few beats pass as he stares at the screen, hoping it will come back to life once more.

He is seconds from returning her call when he is interrupted by a knock on his door.

He lets out the breath he is holding, rising slowly from the couch, praying to the heavens that she is sporting white lace.

He opens the door.

"Hey," he says. "Were you just trying to call me-"

But she is moving into his apartment, just about knocking him over in the process before slamming the door shut behind her.

Her eyes are wide and she looks downright furious.

"What the hell did you say to Huang?"

Shit.

Black Olivia.

She looks as if she has been seething the entire car ride over here.

"Look Liv," he stutters, not sure how much she even knows, or how much he should be divulging.

"Start – talking."

He hasn't seen this kind of anger directed at him before and it throws him off centre.

She isn't playing.

"I don't know what you want me to say." He whispers.

Her eyes widen at that.

"How about starting with what you said to Huang."

A few beats pass before he says it.

"It's personal."

She looks away for a moment shaking her head before her eyes return to his.

"Personal?" She whispers with a humourless smile. "You want personal? How about Cragen pulling me into his office today and asking me flat out if I'm sleeping with you. You wanna tell me where the hell he got that idea?". Her brown eyes probe him for some sort of explanation but he has nothing, nothing that will make logical sense to her anyway.

He shakes his head. "Look, you wouldn't believe me even if I tried," he says simply, knowing there was no way of actually communicating with her.

"Elliot," she steps closer to him. "You grabbed me in that locker room.. you kissed me." She looks away briefly like she still can't believe it. "I said nothing to Cragen. I chalked it down to a rough day, some sort of brain snap for you. I took the high road for the sake of our partnership and then you go AWOL for two days only to come back and tell our company shrink that we're screwing?"

"Liv, that's not how it…" he shakes his head. "It wasn't like that."

"So what was it like then?" She spits.

But that's where his words stop.

Because this is futile.

There is no winning here.

"Look I think you should go."

His eyes drop to the floor.

But she steps forward, forcing his eye contact back up to hers.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what the hell you said," she rasps.

"Fuck - fine." He spits. "I told him I can't work with you anymore because we... because I.."

Silence.

"Because of what Elliot?"

"Because I have feelings for you!"

He feels all the oxygen in the room evaporate in that second.

She is staring at him, her mouth parted, her expression blindsided.

She presses her eyes closed, as if she cannot believe what she is hearing.

"Elliot, you're dealing with our jobs …" she whispers. "Our reputations. What did you think, you could just tear our partnership apart from the inside? Make up some convoluted lie just to get us separated?"

He blinks back at her.

She shakes her head, trying to gather some semblance of control.

"And what if I don't want a new partner?" Her eyes swing back to his. "Did you consider that for one second?"

He shrugs.

"You seemed pretty chummy with Fin today."

That does it.

"You know what, screw you." She starts to move past him, fury swiping at his sides as she passes and he lets her go because anymore talking will only get him into trouble.

The door slams harshly behind her and he knows.

He has well and truly fucked this up.

TBC