A/N: "In marriage, each partner is to be an encourager rather than a critic, a forgiver rather than a collector of hurts, an enabler rather than a reformer." ~H. Norman Wright and Gary J. Oliver

DISCLAIMER: SVU and characters belong to Dick Wolf. Tstabler © own this story.

"Will you calm down?" Melinda asked, laughing at Olivia's nervous expression. "Your future stepkids agreed to watch my not-so-easy-to-handle son so we could take you out to say goodbye to your single life in style."

Casey held up her glass and said, "And to celebrate the book finally being thrown at your partner's funny uncle. Five years for every victim, that's...um...that's...a lot of years." She took a swig of her drink.

"I appreciate that," Olivia yelled over the loud music, laughing at Casey's drunken state. "I just don't understand why it had to be here!"

Casey laughed and rested her hand on Olivia's shoulder. "Because this way everyone wins. You get the hot men in here to buy you a thousand drinks, Alex can flirt with them when you turn them down to make that fucker, Trevor, jealous, and Mel and I can enjoy the, uh, entertainment."

Olivia averted her eyes from the gyrating naked man on the stage less than two feet in front of her. "I meant, why this particular strip club. I can see him from here, ya know. It's not exactly comforting!"

Alex, slamming into the booth beside her, said, "Because we know you didn't want to be too far away from him tonight. This place is pulling double duty for you. Just, uh, keep your eyes on this side of the stage. That girl's boobs could knock your eyes out."

Olivia let out a hard laugh. "Oh, trust me, my eyes are staying far away from the stage all together." She lifted the straw of her drink to her lips, catching Elliot's eyes from the other side of the dual-poled surface. She chuckled as he rolled his eyes at her, completely ignoring the woman who was mercilessly trying to get his attention.

Elliot winked at Olivia, sipping his beer, trying to tell her she was the only one on his mind.

Fin slapped him in the shoulder. "Man, I did not pay ninety bucks for you to ignore...uh...honey, what's your name?" he yelled to the naked woman twirling around the pole.

"That's it," the redhead said, bending over in his face. "Honey," she said with a wink.

"You are not gonna sit there and ignore Honey all night," Fin said to Elliot, though his eyes were somewhere else, stuck to Honey. "You're gonna see Benson naked for the rest of your life, you should, uh, take a last look at what you're missin'."

Elliot chuckled. "You know how I feel about strip clubs, man. I think it's great that you found this place, out of respect for me and Liv wanting to be together tonight, but honestly, I've looked at Honey, here, and trust me, Liv looks better naked."

Honey turned her head, almost offended. "Maybe she should get up here and dance, then."

Elliot narrowed his eyes, looking right into the redhead's, not letting them drop anywhere else. "No, thank you," he said. "If she's dancing for me at all, it's alone, not in front of these...people." He sent a glace to Olivia, seeing her engrossed in some type of hysterical conversation.

Honey, curious and not one to be turned down, turned her head, following Elliot's eyes. "The brunette?" She smirked. "You do have good taste, she is...beautiful."

Trevor, half-drunk, slapped Elliot on the shoulder. "Yeah, she is. Ya know, I coulda had that."

Elliot glared at him. "You are only here because you and Alex are trying to work things out. Don't make me hurt you."

Trevor cleared his throat. "Just saying," he said, leaning back. "She's beautiful."

Honey smirked, looking back at Elliot. "So you're the bachelor, tonight? I'm guessing that's the lucky bachelorette."

Elliot sipped his beer, still staring at Olivia, and nodded. "She is," he said, his eyes taking on a dreamy look.

Honey twirled around the pole again, her music ending, and she shot Elliot a warning look, walking off the stage, grabbing a robe, and heading straight for Olivia.

"What's she doing?" Elliot asked, concerned, leaning forward.

Fin shook his head, engrossed in the new girl that had taken Honey's spot, and mumbled, "Don't know, don't care."

Ryan, next to Fin, tilted his head. "Nice tattoo," he said, smirking.

Elliot, though, had his eyes on the stripper talking to Olivia, they seemed to be having a serious chat, and something the woman said made Olivia look at Elliot, there was a bit of fire in her eyes.

"Shit," he said, standing. He chugged the rest of his beer and slammed the bottle down. "I have to go save my marriage now, stupid redheaded..." he stopped, seeing Olivia standing, heading for him.

He met her half way and said, frantic, "Whatever she said, don't buy it. You were watching me, I wasn't even looking..."

She kissed him, shutting him up, then looked around, making sure their friends were watching the strippers. "Come with me," she said, biting her lip. She pulled his hand, leading him to the back of the club, through a curtain Honey had told her about.

"What...uh...did you buy me a lap dance?" he asked, confused.

She pushed him down into the cushy couch, and she smirked. "Buy? No. Not exactly." She looked into his eyes, a forceful look on her face, and she said, "Your little friend out there told me what you wanted."

He cleared his throat. "She's hardly a friend, and I already told you..."

She put a finger over his lips, silencing him, and winked. "We both came here for a reason," she said, standing up straight and turning her back to him. "Didn't we?"

He raised both eyebrows and a smirk slowly spread across his face. He leaned back, nodding. "We did," he said.

"You said you'd rather have me dance for you, though," she said, slowly moving her hips to the low beat of the music from the room beyond the curtain. "Right?"

He ran a hand down his face and cleared his throat, humming affirmatively. His eyes widened when he saw her fingers moving, sliding the zipper of her dress down, still swaying to the music.

She was keeping her eyes on his, letting the material drop. She smirked at the expression on his face, turned and danced over to him. "Living up to your fantasy?"

He nodded slowly, licking his lips. "Is this one of those things where I'm not allowed to touch you?"

"Depends," she said with chuckle, swirling her hips, moving her hands through her hair. "You touch me, I stop dancing." She leaned over him, bent far over and let her hair fall into his face before straightening up and straddling him. "If that's okay with you..."

He kissed her, grunting as his hands wound in her hair. "Fine by me," he whispered, trailing kisses down her neck. "You gave me enough of a show, I want the encore."

She laughed, rolling her hips into him. "How badly do you want it?" she purred, licking up his neck.

He groaned, growled a bit, and slipped his fingers under the back strap of her bra. "How badly do you wanna give it to me?"

She raised an eyebrow, pulled his hands away from her back, and slipped off of his lap. "I'll give you anything you want, on one condition." She toyed with the elastic on her silk panties, smirking. "Dance for me," she said, raising an eyebrow.

He laughed and shook his head, getting off of the couch. He tugged on his collar buttons and looked into her eyes. "Only because you asked so nicely."

She grinned, watching him, as he watched her, and slowly stripped, knowing this was much better entertainment than anything going on beyond the curtain. She also knew this meant she owed Honey one hell of a tip.

"Where the hell were you?" Alex asked, handing Olivia a fruity, colorful drink as she sat down.

Olivia sipped the drink, smirking, and said, "I had to talk to Elliot."

Melinda narrowed her eyes and sat back. "For an hour? And how much talking were you doing?" she asked, moving the curls of Olivia's hair a bit. "That's a good one."

Olivia pulled her hair back and smacked Melinda's hand, giving her a glare. "Like Fin never gave you a hickey," she scoffed.

Casey chuckled. "Last hickey I got was in ninth grade, and it was only because he had braces, the metal did more damage than he thought."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Really? I'm sorry."

The girls laughed, and the mood seemed to be lighter. For some reason Olivia was able to let loose a bit. She let the guys around them buy her drinks, had some laughs, and even joined in the girls rating of the dancers.

Elliot, too, had a much better time after laying his claim to his woman, ensuring that she knew she was the only one for him. He turned to Fin, smirking, and said, "Thanks for this, man."

Fin nodded. "Anytime," he nodded. "Ya know, I did ask Munch and Cragen to..."

"Lena would kick Munch's ass," Elliot laughed. "And we both know why Cragen isn't here." He sent another glance toward Olivia, sighing.

Everyone was accepting, happy for them, except Cragen. He had just ignored it all. Elliot sipped his beer and glanced up at the stripper, thinking for a moment that she wasn't any older than Maureen, and he closed his eyes.

In a week, his relationship with Olivia would be impossible for anyone to ignore.

A/N: Munch and Lena piss off Olivia, Cragen has a conversation with Elliot, and the family flies in for the wedding, bringing some drama along with them. Review here, or on Twitter: TMG212