Enjoy The Silence

"All I ever wanted,
all I ever needed,
is here in my arms.
Words are very unnecessary,
they can only do harm."

Lacuna Coil

"When's Alex getting here?" Ed asked from the kitchen. He was working on chilling the pumpkin pies and drinks he had picked up on the way home.

"She called an hour ago and said she was leaving. She had to stop and get the turkey dinners from the diner, so she should be here soon."

Ed walked out into the living room and joined Bobby. "I got Cokes, beer, and wine. I think we're all set for our impromptu cop-Thanksgiving."

"Isn't Liv coming?"

"She's supposed to."

"What does that mean?"

Ed shrugged. "How you feeling today?"

"Bored. I'm sick of doing nothing. I did nothing for over a month at the hospital, and now I've been doing nothing for weeks at home."

"You've been getting a lot of reading done," Ed pointed out.

"Yes, but I would rather be at my desk reading case files."

"I know, Iggy...you'll be back soon." The doorbell rang and Ed went to get it. It was Olivia. "Speaking of you," he smiled. "You should have just let yourself in." She shrugged and walked past him. He followed her to his bedroom where she was discarding her coat and purse. "You okay?"

"Peachy," she snapped.

He rolled his eyes and pushed his door shut. "What?"

"Nothing. We doing dinner soon?"

"Whenever Eames gets here," he said.

"Good," she headed for the door but he caught her arm.

"What's up with you?"

"I'm tired. I've been working all week and...I'm just tired."

"This is just dinner, you aren't required to be here. Bobby and I wanted turkey and Alex had no where to go tonight-."

"We could have had turkey with Kennedy!" She blew up at him. "Her partner invited us to have dinner with them and his family! We were told to invite Bobby, and he could have brought Alex. There would have been turkey!"

"This is about that? I told you I didn't-."

"Stop! Just...stop. I get it. You don't want to go." She shook her head and picked up her coat. "And you know what? You're right, I don't have to be here. I don't want to be here. I'll be with Kennie."

"Wait, you're leaving?"

She put her coat on and looked at him. She wasn't angry, she was hurt. "Ed...do you even want to be with me?"

Ed opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He tried again, "Of course I do." He pulled her into his arms. "Baby, of course I wanna to be with you." She let him hold her for a moment, then she stepped back.

"I'm going to be with Kennie tonight. I'll see you tomorrow."

He sighed, but nodded. "Tomorrow. Everything will be better in the morning." He fingered a lock of her hair.

"It always is," she muttered. He walked her out to the front door and watched her leave. Just as he was closing the door, Alex slipped through.

"I just passed Benson, I thought she was eating with us?" She said.

"No," Ed replied.

"Ahh, well...I brought a replacement. Logan's on his way up. He had no one to have turkey with tonight."

Ed nodded. "Okay." He went to the kitchen to fix drinks for everyone. He was more than bummed that Olivia left, but what could he do? He quit believing, a long time ago, that he could control anything.

The four sat around and had a nice take-out Thanksgiving meal while watching The Wizard Of Oz.

"Y'know, this movie playing on Thanksgiving is the one reliable thing in my life," Alex observed.

Bobby nodded, "I can't recall a Thanksgiving when it hasn't been on."

"I think the Wicked Witch is highly misunderstood," Mike put in seriously.

Alex laughed. "You would."

Ed said nothing.

Once the pie's were sliced up, Ed got his coat on and put his slice in a Tupperware bowl. "I'll be back," he announced. He left the others behind as they sang along to the movie.

He stepped up to Misha's grave and plopped down. "Yea, I'll have my desert somewhere where my company is appreciated." He paused. "At least it better be." He put the pie down, not much in to mood to eat. "You women..." he shook his head, not feeling the need to finish the statement.

Olivia sat on the front stoop of Kennedy's brownstone after dinner. Kennedy had been sitting beside her quietly, but finally gave up. "Alright, Mopey, talk," she said. She bumped into Olivia's shoulder.

Olivia looked at her friend. "What?"

"What? Hmm, maybe the fact that you came to dinner alone tonight and you've been all quiet?"

"He didn't want to spend the holiday with me."

Kennedy looped her arm through Olivia's. "Now I find that very hard to believe." Olivia didn't respond. Kennedy sighed. "Why are you with him?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Why are you with him? I get that you like him and he makes you happy, but what about the times he makes you sad like this?"

"You don't understand it."

"No I don't. I mean, I see the plus sides. He's extremely hot, you guys have fun, and he's a cop too, so he understands your workaholic ways. From the few times I've seen you two together, I see the heat. I'll bet anything that the sex is great."

"Kennie!"

"Oh like you expect any less from me?" She grinned, then got serious. "But what I don't get, is why you think it will work?"

"I don't know that it will."

"Liv, I just don't want you getting hurt, okay? You really like this guy, I can see it...but if he doesn't feel the same way..."

"He does. He may not act like it sometimes, but I feel it. When we're together...he doesn't talk about that stuff, and he doesn't need to. I feel it."

"Yea well take it from me, sweetie, you don't talk about things and someday it will blow up," Kennedy said quietly.

"I'll talk to him."

"Good. I just want you happy finally."

"I am...I am happy."

The next day, Ed was sitting around with the new ADA, Rubirosa, waiting to testify. His cell rang and they both looked at it. "I'll be quick," he told her.

"We're on in 5," she told him.

He nodded and went down the hall to pick up his call. "Hey Liv."

"Hey." No one spoke for a minute.

"How was dinner?" He asked.

"Would of been better if you were there," she said.

"I could say the same...Bobby wants you to come over for movie night tonight."

"And you?"

"Yes, I want you there."

"Okay...but Ed...we need to talk this weekend."

Ed closed his eyes and knocked his forehead into the wall and rested there a moment. "We do?"

"Don't we?"

"No. We just talked," he said. "I'd say we're good." He heard her sigh.

"Green," Rubirosa called.

"Baby, I gotta run. Just come over tonight, okay?"

"Fine, but I'm picking the movie."

Olivia let herself into the boys' apartment while calling out to them, "Anyone home?"

"Living room!" Bobby called back to her.

"Come on," she said to Elliott, who she had brought along.

"You sure it's okay?"

"Yea." She shut the door behind them and headed for the living room. Bobby was in the Lazy Boy with his legs propped up. "How are you?" She asked, giving him a hair ruffling.

"Good. You ran off last night."

"I did. Sorry." She motioned Elliott to the couch. "Sit," she told her partner. He nodded and sat. "He okay?" She asked Bobby. Bobby nodded as Ed came down the hall and into the room.

"Hey Li-Elliott, hi." He stopped and looked at the guest.

"Hey...she made me," Elliott quickly stated.

"I invited him," she told Ed quietly.

"It's cool. What movie did you bring?"

"Both Mummy movies," she answered. He nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Okay, you two go talk and have a moment," Bobby told them. "Before we all die from the awkwardness."

"Thank you," Elliott piped in.

The two went off to Ed's room and shut the door. He pulled her close and kissed her. "Hi," he said again.

"Hi."

"We good?"

"We're good."

"You just saying that?" He asked.

"Isn't that what I'm supposed to say?"

He rubbed her arms and went for the door. "You didn't get any pie last night, you want some?

There was no "talk" that weekend, after all. In fact, Thanksgiving was pushed under the carpet and they all went on. The following weeks were fast and busy with lots of work and little time spent between Ed and Olivia. They were averaging seeing each other at least every couple of days, even if only for a couple hours.

Either way, they didn't spend a lot of time together over the weeks after Thanksgiving, so it was easy to push it away. Bobby was also busy with his Physical Therapy, as he was getting stronger and moving around a lot more. Everything had fallen into a steady flow. Ed was enjoying it, because it meant he didn't have to deal with the bigger issues. He was too busy to stop and think. He did visit Misha when he could, of course. He would always make time for that. But he was able to get away from all his thoughts that screwed things up...and for that, he was thankful.