I am totally loving all these great reviews! Thanks for the wonderful comments guys! I'm glad you're all enjoying the story =]

Hopefully this is the chapter you've all been waiting for!

I'm sorry this chapter took so much longer to put out, I've been busy, starting my summer TA job, starting my internship, I just haven't had the time to write. But it's the weekend now, and in between working my way through all the seasons of law and order SVU and one tree hill—again, I wrote this, so enjoy!

Disclaimer: maybe one day…

Olivia limped into the kitchen to find Elliot cooking pancakes on her stove.

"Smells good," she commented, slowly lowering herself onto the bar stool and watching her partner work. He looked good from behind. Olivia smirked; when did she consciously start admiring her partner's ass? She had always enjoyed his good looks, but it was usually just a subconscious musing in the back of her mind.

Elliot turned around and smiled. He noticed the way her eyes quickly flickered up to meet his eyes, and internally he grinned; she was totally checking out his ass. That was a good sign, right?

Turning back to the kitchen, he pulled out two plates and silverware, setting the dishes in front of Olivia. Filling a glass with orange juice, he placed that, too, in front of his partner.

Smiling her thanks, she lifted the glass to her mouth and took a sip.

Elliot busied himself with the pancakes, soon walking around the counter to place a full plate in front of them as he took a seat on the stool next to Olivia.

She watched as he kept piling pancakes onto her plate; laughing, she put a hand on his arm to stop him. "Elliot!" she chuckled, "what are you doing?"

Elliot looked at her and put the plate down. "Trying to fatten you up, Liv," he grinned back. "I don't know if you've noticed, but you lost weight in that hospital. You need some more meat on those bones."

Olivia had to laugh again. "Do you realize how corny you sound El?" She stopped laughing, trying to keep the wince of pain off of her face as she felt the stabbing feeling in her stomach again. "It sounds like you're going to roast me over a fire later!" She gave him a playful shove. Elliot's face fell a bit at that motion-he could feel how weak his partner was, and he was worried.

Forcing a smile back on his face, he defended his actions. "Come on, Liv, we both know that you're going to need to build up your strength again before you can come back to work." He pushed her plate towards her and handed her a fork. "That means eating, now."

Giving away to the stern commanding voice, which she would do anything not to recognize just how incredibly turned on that voice made her, she obediently took the fork and started eating, wincing as she chewed; it felt strange to be eating real food-good food-for the first time in what felt like forever.

Elliot watched her eat, trying not to give into his feelings and jump her, right there. She moaned softly. "Are you OK?" he asked worriedly.

Olivia looked at him and smiled. "Fine, El," she assured him. "It's good, thanks." He nodded. "It feels weird, you know?" Seeing his questioning look, she elaborated, "Real food, not that hospital crap." She absentmindedly started playing with her fork, twirling it between her fingers. "Everything I ate in that hell hole just came back up later. I am so glad to be out of there."

Elliot looked at her. She looked like she was caught up in the past, and he needed to draw her out of it. "You never mentioned that. I would have smuggled in food for you."

Olivia looked at him. "It's fine, El, don't worry about it." She gave him a halfhearted smile. "I'm home now."

Their eyes locked and neither could look away. Olivia felt her heart rate speed up. When had Elliot's eyes gotten so blue? It was like she was staring at the ocean, tides ebbing and flowing; she felt the pull, the drag, to her partner. It was like he had a hold over her. She had tried to leave, but was always drawn back to the man sitting next to her.

Elliot couldn't help but smile as he stared into Olivia's eyes. Those deep chocolate brown orbs, and what they were a window to, made his breathing quicken. This woman was so infuriating, so prickly, so independent. But when she was with him, looking at him, talking to him, it didn't matter; her words didn't matter, because he had a direct link to her soul, through those eyes. They held entire conversations just by a look. One glance could tell them all they needed to know, and what Elliot knew was that no matter how many times Olivia said she was fine, no matter how much she denied something, Elliot knew the truth, just by looking into her eyes.

Slowly and gently, he raised one hand to wipe some syrup off of the corner of Olivia's mouth. He was taking a huge risk, seeing as how she was awake now, and would definitely remember this. But he decided not to be afraid anymore; this was the time to take risks, and he didn't want to live without knowing any longer.

Olivia's eyes widened as she felt Elliot lightly brush her lip.

He smiled. "Syrup," he said quietly as an explanation.

She nodded, lips parting slightly as Elliot's hand moved to cup her cheek softly. He repositioned himself so that he was closer. He couldn't believe that she wasn't running away; she seemed to shocked right now to do anything.

His head was telling him to take what small prizes he could get right now and not to push it. But his heart was telling him to go for it, to leave all fear behind, make that leap, and just hope that Olivia would be jumping right beside him.

Moving slowly, giving her time to object if she wanted, he leaned in and down, pulling her face up to meet his, cupping the back of her neck gently. Timidly, his lips brushed over hers. It was nothing like the raw passionate kiss he had always imagined, but it seemed more right this way. Small and chaste, a perfect first kiss.

Olivia watched him move closer, as she tried to restart her brain. Then when their lips met, all hope was lost. She couldn't think, she couldn't breathe; she had wanted this for so long, but she had never thought that he would feel the same. They had been best friends for almost twelve years; she had stood by his side as he and Kathy went through a messy divorce, and she had stood by his side as they got back together, trying to make things work for the sake of the unexpected child Kathy had been carrying. She had watched as he had tried to convince the world how happy he was with his family, and she had watched, again, as he and Kathy finally admitted that a baby wasn't a good enough reason to stay married. She knew how much family meant to him, and she knew how much he loved his children. And she had been relieved when he had finally admitted that he didn't love his wife anymore.

Olivia closed her eyes and just enjoyed the feel of him on her. This was becoming officially her favorite moment of her entire life.

Elliot drew back and opened his eyes. He watched as Olivia opened hers. Her expression still hadn't changed, and Elliot was a little worried. Maybe he shouldn't have done that. Feeling embarrassed now, he pulled back further and looked down.

Slowly the minutes passed, with Olivia still sitting in shock, brain still not working, and Elliot looking down at his hands, trying to imagine what his partner was thinking, and wishing that he had listened to his head.

A full five minutes later, Elliot looked up and straight ahead, avoiding Olivia's eyes, not willing to see the awkward condescending let-down expression he was sure would be there. He got up and started to head for the door.

"I'm uh…" he stuttered as he walked away. "I'm just gonna-"

"I need you too."

Elliot stopped in his tracks. He stared at the door, gut clenching. It was quiet, but he had heard her. It rang a bell in his mind, he would never forget the rambling speech he had given at her bedside in that hospital. But she had been in a coma. How had she-?

"You heard me?" he asked just as quietly, slowly turning around to face his partner. He needed to look at her now, as afraid as he had been to do so just a few minutes ago, he needed to be able to see the expression in her eyes.

They were shining. Glistening. There were tears there, refusing to fall, but a smile on her face that made him believe they were good tears, not bad. There was something else too, a strange look that Elliot couldn't decipher.

Olivia painfully got off of the stool and walked to her partner. Stopping in front of him, she took a hold of his hand, squeezing gently. Rising up on her toes, she softly kissed his cheek. Pulling back, she smiled. "Of course I did," she replied.

Elliot just stared. She had heard him confess his love for her, yet she wasn't running. She had said she needed him. Did that mean-?

Olivia watched the gears turning, and she could guess what he was thinking. Although she thought he looked adorable when he was confused and thinking, she decided to ease his fears. She leaned up again, this time grazing her lips across his, just as gently as he had done earlier. Pulling back again, she took her free hand and moved it up to brush across his cheek and down to the back of his neck.

And then, in an almost whisper, "For the record, I love you too."

Sorry it's so short, I was going to keep going, but I think this is a good place to stop. And I know how I'm going to start the next chapter, so hopefully it won't take as long for the next update.

Please guys, reviews totally make my day!