A/N: An answer to a question, and a surprising change in the routine.
DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. This story belongs to Tstabler©
"What?" Fin asked, a mangled French fry in his mouth and a beer in his hand.
"Don't look at me like that," Elliot said, sipping his own beer. "It just kind of flew out of my mouth, and I…I couldn't take it back!" He shook his head and sighed. "She just pushed me away and ran into the bedroom, freaked out. She hasn't said anything about it all day, just…she's just acting like it didn't happen."
Fin swallowed, finally. He looked at Elliot and shook his head. "Man, Benson is gonna be beyond pissed at you."
He held in the scoff, the urge to tell him. "Maybe," he said.
"Casey told me you…you love her," Fin said, popping a piece of his chicken finger into his mouth. "Olivia, I mean. Not Casey. That true?"
Elliot nodded. "She's with that guy, though," he said, a smirk threatening to form. "I think I just got so…jealous…that in the heat of the moment I proposed to kind of hold on, prove that I found someone, too." He shrugged. "Doesn't matter," he said. "She didn't answer me."
"If you don't tell her today, I'm tellin' her for you," Fin said. "She's been mumblin' something about her boyfriend asking her to…" he stopped, he looked at Elliot, and he blinked only once. "I'm a blind mother fucker, ain't I?"
Elliot laughed, sipping his beer. "Maybe," he said with a grin and a shrug.
"You son of a bitch," Fin said, hitting Elliot in the arm. "Does Cragen know?"
Elliot nodded. "I told him that night, when we got back from the bar. I thought he was you, I dialed…"
"I walked in on you and…" Fin coughed, choking on his bite of burger. "So that was Olivia? And you just told me about last night, so you just asked her after…"
"I'm gonna let it go," Elliot interrupted. "But tonight, I have plans. I read this thing in Men's Health about…"
"Oh!" Fin said suddenly. "The thing about going slow, and you got the…"
"Yeah." Elliot nodded, chugged the last of his beer, and slapped a twenty down on the counter. "Hopefully, uh, that'll either make her forget all about this whole botched proposal thing or make her answer me."
Fin smirked as he, too, threw money on the bar and stood up. "Casey couldn't even think straight, so I doubt…"
"Liv's stronger than Casey," Elliot said. He got an odd look on his face and said, "A lot stronger, actually. Probably has more stamina, too."
"That move, Stabler, would make Aphrodite too weak to think," Fin laughed. "Just make sure you got a bottle of good champagne there to cool her off, then talk to her, really ask her." He slapped Elliot in the arm, and the friends headed out of the bar, back to the station, where Elliot would have to deal with Olivia ignoring him. That was hard, and painful, but it seemed he had no choice.
Olivia walked in, from a rather emotional lunch with Casey, and sat in her seat, avoiding Elliot's gaze as he stared from his desk. "What?" she asked, huffing as she searched for a pen.
Elliot flung the ballpoint in his hand over to her. "You look like you just performed open heart surgery on your cat," he said with a scoff. "What's the problem?"
"Something Casey said. Advice she gave me." She shook her head and started rambling. "Advice I didn't ask her to give me, God, can't a person just say something without the other person butting in and telling you what they think you should do? It's not like she even said anything that helped me at all, she just nodded and told me how to say what I wanna say, which I already knew, she's just so damn…"
"Liv!" Elliot shouted, looking at her with wide eyes. "So don't take her advice! Take a deep breath and forget it, okay?"
She looked at him, for the first time all day, and she sighed. Her eyes closed and she nodded. "Yeah." She opened her eyes and glanced at him. "We need to talk."
"I know we do," he said, biting the inside of his lower lip. He exhaled, then looked down, wondering where his pen went. Then he remembered, he looked up at his partner and he smiled. He loved her, but he was starting to think it wasn't enough to hold onto her.
They worked, awkwardly and uncomfortably, closing their current case and finishing their paperwork. They walked through the building in silence, through the parking lot, and got into Elliot's car. He sighed as he started it, and he ran a hand down his face. "I'm sorry, all right?" he said gruffly.
She snapped her head toward him. "For what?"
"I didn't think…I thought you'd…forget it," he said, shaking his head. He pulled out of his spot and drove, heading to his house.
"I don't wanna forget it," she said, folding her arms. "What are you apologizing for?" She took a moment, forming her next question. "Asking me, or the way you asked?"
He rolled his eyes. "Both," he said. "Neither. I don't know." He turned down a street and onto the expressway, stepping firmer on the gas. "I just know that I can't deal with you hating me, ignoring me like this. I don't…"
"I don't hate you," she said, her voice almost meek. "I just…you scared me, El. Not because you asked, but…"
"Don't." He held up a hand and shook his head. "I got dinner waiting, and I have something to say to you, so you can tell me whatever you want to tell me later, okay? You don't hate me, that's all I needed to hear."
She sighed and looked out the window, giving into him and letting the silence fill the car again. She was so lost in her own thoughts, that she hadn't noticed the time passing. He had to practically yell at her to tell her they were home. "Sorry," she mumbled, getting out of the car.
He took a deep breath and took her hand, surprising her, and he led her up the stairs and into the house. "Close your eyes," he told her.
She shot him a dark look and begrudgingly closed her eyes. She felt him pulling her, maneuvering her through the house. She felt him pull off her jacket and he guided her down, onto the floor. She felt heat, and she smirked. She knew where they were.
"Open 'em," he whispered.
She slowly lifted her lids and saw the spread of food, on a soft blanket, in front of the fireplace in the den, a room they never used. "El, what…"
"Shh," he said, pressing a finger to her lips. "Just eat," he whispered, leaning over and kissing her forehead. He reached for a fork and jabbed at a piece of broccoli from a carton. He held it out to her and he watched her pull it off of the utensil with her mouth. He scooted closer to her and wrapped an arm around her, reaching for the carton of food with his other hand.
She was overcome with a mix of emotions. She loved him more, was confused by him more, wanted him more, and needed to run from him more. He fed her, and himself, slowly, in silence, alternating between bites of food and sweet kisses.
He kissed her lips once more, and he dropped the empty carton of food. He kept his mouth on hers as he shoved the food away. He moved like a hungry panther, climbing over her, and his fingers flicked open her shirt buttons one at a time.
She moaned, losing herself in him, wondering what had happened to the talking they should have been doing. She moved, though, allowing him to peel off the cotton shirt. She shivered when his hands returned to her chest, his palms grazing over her nipples, drawing them out through the satin of her bra and making them peak.
He heard her whimper, heard her moan, and he slid his teasing hands down her toned, tight stomach to her pants. He rolled the button between his fingers and pushed the zipper down, then slipped his hand into them. He rubbed over her panty-covered mound, creating the wetness and heat he needed her to feel.
She gripped his face, whimpering again into the heavy kiss. She bucked her hips into his working hand, then felt him move to push them off of her body. She shimmied to help him, not fighting him off at all. She eased her hands down from the side of his face to his neck. She pulled off his tie and worked the buttons of his shirt open.
He moaned, still kissing her, and tossed the shirt off, flinging it over his head. His hands slithered around her back, maneuvering the clasp of her bra open. They had to part for him to get the satiny sheath off of her body, and it gave him time to catch his breath and take in her beauty. He shook his head, amazed at how lucky he was and how unbelievable it seemed to him that they were together.
She bit her lip, looking at him, he was just staring at her. She met his eyes as they traveled up from her chest back to her face, and she saw him move closer to him again. She groaned as he crashed his lips into hers, she moved her hands to his muscular shoulders and felt them move beneath her touch. She felt his hands pulling on her underwear, and she once again lifted her hips to allow him to slide them down.
His heart was pounding, his pulse was racing, he gasped a bit when he felt one of her hands dig into his pants. He rocked his hips as she stroked him, then he growled into her mouth. A warning.
She chuckled and moved her other hand toward his pants. She pushed the black fabric down and laughed as he eagerly kicked them off. She turned her head as he flattened out on top of her, she watched the flames in the fireplace flickering, casting a glow over them. She took a breath and turned back to him, realizing how amazingly perfect this all seemed.
He looked down at her and smiled, holding himself up in a half-push-up to not crush her. He nudged her legs open a bit with his knee, and he playfully swiped his knee-cap over her now-thoroughly-wet slit. He chuckled as she moaned softly, and he bent his head to kiss her. He shifted and rolled her further under him. "I love you," he whispered, pushing himself into her slowly.
She held his gaze as he drove into her. "I love you, too," she whispered. She was stunned by his gentleness, in awe of his slow but powerful movements. His thrusts hit her deep, his kisses made her melt. She let him consume her, the way he obviously wanted.
He worked hard, slow, deep. He brought her right to the brink of blessed release, then would still for a moment, bringing her back down before working her up again. He was prolonging her orgasm, making this time last as long as he could. He listened to her moaning and keening, he felt her body tremble, tighten, and roll. He knew he had to keep her going, but didn't know how much longer he could.
She bit and nipped at his lips as he let her fall away from the edge again, and she moaned, digging her fingers into the skin of his back. "Please," she whispered. "El, please…I can't…"
"Shh," he whispered, shaking his head as he invaded her mouth with his tongue once again. He thrust harder, speeding up just a bit, ensuring that his body would hit and rub her clit with every move. He was starting to wear himself out. He felt his body throb, his balls ache, and he knew he had to let her let go so he could follow. He sped up just a bit more, felt her nails dig deep into his back, and he finally felt her clenching tight.
"Oh, God, El," she moaned, ripping her lips away from his, "Don't stop. Baby, don't…oh, my God." Her back arched and she felt heat roll over her, pleasure shooting through her in rippling waves.
He smirked as he thrust, loving the way she looked when she came beneath him, for him. He dropped his head to her neck, which was still stretched back as she rode out her orgasm, and he placed soft kisses along her pulsing skin as he came, too, deep inside of her.
She struggled to catch her breath, finding it impossible to move. Every muscle had turned to absolute mush after her climax. She barely had the energy to lower her head to look at him.
He sighed and rolled over, pulling her with him, and he let her collapse on top of him.
There was silence, only soft breathing and the crackle of the flames could be heard. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "I love you."
"I love you, too, El," she said breathlessly. She moved her head a bit and said, "I still have to tell you…I wasn't scared because you asked me to ask me to marry you without thinking…"
"Then what…" he talked over her, stopped, and cleared his throat. "What was it?"
"I was scared," she answered with a sigh, "Because I knew my answer without thinking about it." She mustered up the strength to lift her body up and look down at him. "I was scared, because…yes."
"Because, yes?" he asked, furrowing his brow. "Wait, yes as in…yes?" He sat up and pulled her close, looking into her eyes. "Yes?"
She smiled at him, felt the tears threatening to form, but stopped them. "Yes," she said with a nod.
He kissed her madly, wrapping her in his arms, rolling over again. He didn't push or thrust, he just held her and kissed her, and he reached with one hand to the box beside the unopened bottle of champagne. He briefly remembered what Fin had told him. It was advice that had been taken, but not used, not needed. He pulled away from her and looked down at the box in his hands. He flipped it open and let out a hard breath, then looked into her eyes. "Yeah?"
She bit her bottom lip and said, "Yeah."
He pulled the glimmering ring out of its box, and he slipped it onto her shaky finger, then kissed each knuckle of her hand.
She watched as he moved away from her hand, and she saw the reflection of the flames flickering in the diamond on her finger. "El," she whispered, looking up at him.
"Yeah, baby?" he asked, looking down at her with a warm smile, his hands caressing her body.
She smirked and said, "Guess we really have to tell everyone else now."
A/N: A conversation with Cragen and a lawyer, Munch hears about Olivia and Elliot, and the kids react. Soon. next? Review here, or on Twitter: TMG212