A/N Sorry about the delay with this. My usual excuses: work and kids. I really do plan on trying to finish this story sooner rather than later though, so thanks for sticking with it. :)

10

"Are you listening or what?"

"Huh?" she said opening her eyes startled. She had lain back, closing her eyes for just a moment as she allowed her mind to wander ever so slightly, lately finding herself inexplicably soothed by the sound of his voice.

"Well then what was I saying?" he challenged her with a skeptical look.

"Something about flying? No… a pilot?"

"If I'm boring you, I could go…."

"No! I'm sorry! I'm listening, honestly. Please tell me." She could tell he was joking around with her but she was a little embarrassed he had caught her out quite so obviously.

"Well as I was saying, this is a joke Lizzie told me. I thought it might make you chuckle."

"Go on. I promise I'm listening."

"Well there was this tour group heading off to the Caribbean and they had all just boarded their flight when an airline representative came on the speaker phone and told them that unfortunately the pilot had refused to fly the plane due to his safety concerns with the aircraft. So they were all instructed to disembark and head back to the gate to wait. So grumbling about the unpleasant start to their trip, they headed off the plane and filed back into the gate's seating area to wait. However only five minutes later the representative was back telling them they could board again as they had sorted out the problem."

"That was fast!"

"That's exactly what a nervous passenger thought! So he asked the rep whether they had been able to fix the problem or whether they had switched planes and he answered, "Oh no, we didn't get a new aircraft. We simply found a new pilot."

"Oh geez," Olivia grinned. "That's terrible!"

"I thought it was pretty funny."

"I guess a little," she admitted.

"You seem a little distracted. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," she sighed.

"Come on, what is it?"

"It's nothing really."

"Olivia!"

She stared at his mock stern expression, for a moment startled by his tone.

"When are you going to drop the tough act?"

"It's not that Elliot. It's just…. I don't know."

"Is it Brian?"

Her refusal to meet his eyes answered that question for him.

"I'm sorry. He should be here for you, Liv," he said sadly.

"I don't want to talk about it." It seemed highly inappropriate for her to be discussing her relationship problems with Elliot of all people.

"Do you want me to have a word with him?"

"What? No! God no! Don't you dare, Elliot!"

"Hey, I'm sorry. I won't."

"You'd better not, or I swear to God…"

"I promise. OK?"

She fixed him with a warning glare that she hoped would make him seriously think twice about ever making any serious attempt to interfere in that way.

He stared back at her, the indecision clear on his face just before he spoke.

"Liv. Why are you with him?"

"What?" she said, the color draining from her cheeks, her stomach beginning to churn as he asked the same question she had been wondering herself lately.

"You deserve better."

"He's a good man, Elliot. He's been there for me."

"Then where is he now?"

"He's busy with work, you know that."

"All I know is that if I was him I would want to spend every single second I could with you right now."

"Please, El," she begged, feeling the moisture beginning to pool in her eyes. His words reflected her own sentiments to a large extent, except was she really that bothered that Brian wasn't coming here? She knew without a doubt that it was in fact Elliot she looked forward to seeing every morning."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't. I'm not upset. I just don't want to talk about my relationship with Brian with you."

"It's none of my business. I get it."

"Don't be like that," she sighed. The annoyance in his tone had been subtle, but there all the same.

"Like what?" he pressed her.

"I don't want to fight with you Elliot. Please."

"I need a coffee."

"OK," she nodded, watching as he got to his feet and headed towards the door.

"I'll be right back," he added.

She nodded as she watched him leave.

He returned five minutes later, holding the cup tightly between both hands as he perched himself back down on the chair.

"Do you want to play chess?" he suggested.

She shook her head.

"I'm sorry I upset you," he said.

"I'm fine, really."

"There isn't a single day I don't regret walking away like I did Olivia."

She stared at him silently, not trusting herself to speak.

"Olivia….I…"

He paused, hitching in a deep breath and blowing the air back out slowly through his teeth.

"What?" she whispered.

"Nothing," he said shaking his head. "It doesn't matter."

The conversation had long shifted back to less emotional topics and they had not long embarked on attempting to solve a crossword puzzle together, with Elliot filling in the answers and throwing random questions at Olivia, who sat hugging her knees on the edge of the bed. Both were startled when the door opened suddenly after an abrupt knock.

"Brian!" she exclaimed, getting to her feet, feeling a bit like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, except logically she knew she was doing nothing wrong.

"Elliot!" Brian exclaimed, the surprise in his voice letting Elliot know Olivia had obviously not ended up mentioning his frequent visits. Some things never change, he thought wryly. She had never been one to divulge anything more than absolutely necessary.

"Hey, Brian," Elliot said quickly, getting to his feet and holding out his hand to his ex-colleague. "How's work?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Brian replied touchily, withdrawing his hand and glaring at Elliot.

"Erm, what I said?"

"What are you doing here, Stabler?"

"It's OK, Bri, I asked him to come," Olivia intervened quickly.

"How dare you come here after what you did!" Brian continued, ignoring Olivia and fixing on Elliot. "Where the hell do you get off?"

"Look man, Liv and I have talked. We're good."

"Oh are you now. Well, I don't want you around her. You hurt her bad and she deserves better than that."

"You're right, she does," Elliot said pointedly, feeling his own anger rise now.

"Guys, please."

Elliot turned and caught Olivia's eye, seeing the silent plea there immediately.

"Look I'll come back later," he said, nodding to her, letting her know that she didn't have to worry."

"You don't have to go," she said.

"Don't let me stop you," Brian said with a smirk, standing back so that Elliot could pass.

"I'll catch you later Liv," Elliot said ignoring Brian and slipping out the door.

"What's the matter with you?" Olivia demanded angrily once Elliot had gone.

"What do you mean, what's the matter with me? I can't believe you forgave that jerk after what he did to you."

"We've talked. It's complicated. But surely it's my decision who I choose to have as my friends?"

"Oh so I'm supposed to be fine with you and him spending time alone together while I am working. I'm doing this for you as much as me, Olivia. You know that right?"

"I could have smallpox, Brian! Don't you get it? I could die from this!"

"You're not going to die, Olivia. You know that. In a few days, you'll be out of here and everything will be back to normal."

Exasperated, Olivia turned around and smacked her fist down hard on the bed.

"You have to be positive. Come on. Everything is going to be fine. You'll see."

"What if I don't want to be positive?"

"What is the matter with you? This is his doing, isn't it? He turns up here out of the blue and obviously it's upset you."

"Elliot isn't actually the one upsetting me right now!" she retorted, feeling the anger build exponentially. Right now he was getting on her nerves more than he ever had before.

"I'm going to find him and tell him not to come back here," Brian continued, not seeming to even hear Olivia's previous comment.

"Brian! Stop!" she cried, exasperated. "I want Elliot here. It's you I don't want!"

"What?" he said, completely taken aback as the words hit, yet he was unable to completely process them. He realized he had obviously overstepped the mark somewhere, but he was genuinely confused. Was she really this angry with him for not visiting more often? He had thought she had understood his work situation though.

"Please go."

"Olivia. I'm sorry. I know you're angry. I should have visited more often. How about I promise I try and get here more from now on."

"Just go, please," she repeated, her tone no longer angry, but instead resigned. This was it. She couldn't do this with him any more. She couldn't keep on lying to herself or to Brian. It had taken Elliot's return to finally get her to accept that she and Brian weren't meant to be. They never had been.

"What are you saying?" he asked, now completely crestfallen as the real meaning behind her words slowly hit home.

"I'm saying I want to break up with you Brian," she said slowly but deliberately.

"You don't mean that…"

"I do. I'm really sorry. I've been thinking about it for a while. It's just with everything that happened over the last few months, it made things so much more complicated… I'm really sorry Brian. This is my fault. Maybe I'm broken or something, but I just can't do this anymore."

"Please Liv, don't make any decisions now. Let's talk after you get out of here. Things will be different then. You'll see. Things can go back to how they were."

"No, they can't."

"It's him, isn't it?"

"No!" she said firmly.

"It must be. I can see it in your eyes. Shit. You're in love with him aren't you?"

"Bri, please just go."

"You won't even deny it."

"I don't know what I feel. All I know is I can't do this with you any more."

"You know he'll just end up hurting you right? We had something good, me and you. If he hadn't come back…"

"It's nothing to do with Elliot. It's me. It's me and you. This isn't going anywhere. It never was."

"Then why did you move in with me?"

"It seemed right at the time."

"I can't believe you're doing this to me, now, of all times."

"I'm truly sorry Brian."

"We need to talk about this properly."

"I'll contact you about collecting my things."

"So this is it? You're really breaking up with me? This isn't just a silly fight?"

"I'm breaking up with you," she sighed.

"Fine. Well have a nice life, Olivia!"

"Don't be like that Brian, please. I still care about you. I always will."

"Sure," he said skeptically and then he left.

"Now isn't a good time, Elliot."

"I saw him leave just now. I was worried about you."

"I'm fine."

"You're upset."

"We broke up."

"Oh."

"Yes oh."

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't be."

"Is this in any way my fault? If so, I'm really sorry."

"It was inevitable," she sighed. "I loved him. I mean I think I did anyway. It just wasn't… I don't know."

"I do," he said soberly, approaching the window.

"He didn't take it too well."

"Come here."

"What?"

"Come to the window, Olivia."

"Why?"

"Just come will you?"

She tentatively stepped closer.

He placed his hand against the glass. "I can't hug you right now," he said. This is the closest thing, right? Place your hand against mine."

He watched the indecision cross her face as she self-consciously raised her own hand to the glass mirroring his own, so that it looked as though they were touching. Tears began to roll down her cheeks as they maintained the pose. Then she leaned forward placing her forehead against the glass, breaking eye contact with him.

"I love you, Olivia," he mouthed silently, certain that she couldn't hear him, but every part of him wishing she could feel it anyway.