A/N: Thank you for the suggestions everyone! A little bit of moving pains this chapter, and the next will cover the couple adjusting to living together even more (I'll try to bring in some humor!). Hope you enjoy and, as always, let me know your thoughts!

Rating: K+

Mementos

Over the next couple of weeks, Olivia continued to heal, slowly but surely. After a week spent (restlessly) at home, the detective was finally allowed to return back to the precinct part-time. While disgruntled to still be on desk duty given her limited mobility and still-present wounds, Olivia was still relieved to spend a bit of time out of the house – a sentiment shared by Alex. While the blonde had returned to the D.A.'s office a couple of days prior, she still was acutely aware of her girlfriend's impatience when she called during the day and came home during the evening. The detective was cranky to say the least, and her mood was beginning to wear thin on Alex's nerves.

It didn't make it any easier that the couple had decided to completely move in with one another over the weekend. Alex had wanted to wait until Olivia was feeling a bit better – not wanting the stress of the process to tax the brunette's body any more than was necessary. But Olivia's excitement to make things official ultimately made the attorney relinquish to the request. Over the past week, Alex had spent some time at her apartment packing her things into well-sorted boxes. Olivia had accompanied her a couple of times. While she couldn't help much, she was eager to get out of the apartment if only to keep her girlfriend company across town, curled up on the couch as Alex sorted through various home goods, knick knacks, and clothing.

While Alex had been the one to say that she wanted to move into Olivia's apartment for the time being, loving its warmth and coziness, she was coming to realize just how much of a downsize the move would be. She would maintain her lease, of course, until the end of its term; however she had decided to sublet the apartment. It wasn't so much to off-set the cost of rent than it was to make it really feel like she was moving in with Olivia even if they weren't changing apartments totally yet. The detective's lease was also set to expire over the summer, and the couple had decided to broach the topic of finding a wholly new place together closer to the date. For now, however, Alex would just integrate her things into Olivia's place – a task that was proving more difficult that she had considered.

The kitchen had been easy enough to pack. After all, the blonde seldom cooked nor enjoyed it, so she didn't have much beyond the essentials. She had offered to leave most of the items for her subleter, and she would donate them once her lease actually expired. The same was true for most of her furniture. Having only moved back to New York from the Congo a few months prior, she didn't have any large items that she was particularly attached to, although she did convince Olivia to switch out their mattresses for the attorney's customized Swedish memory foam. Beyond a couple of larger items – an expresso maker, assorted art from her travels, luggage, and some family heirlooms she had in her possession – Alex didn't have many miscellaneous things to pack, but she did have a small library's worth of books as well as a sizeable wardrobe. She had managed to divide her books into a set for the office and one for home, opting to move one of her free-standing bookshelves to the other apartment; however clothing and shoes had proved much more difficult.

Olivia chuckled from her position on Alex's bed, a People magazine propped up on her knees. "You're never going to be able to fit all of that at my place," the brunette stated in reference to the items in Alex's walk in closet. "Most people don't have more shoes than a Jimmy Choo warehouse."

Alex shot her a glare. She was already on edge from the stress of Olivia's recovery and that of moving – the latter of which she was almost entirely handling alone given the brunette's condition. Part of her knew it was silly, but making decisions about her clothing was proving to be a more emotional process than intended. Logically, she should have realized Olivia's place was much smaller than hers and wouldn't have the same amount of space for all of the articles in her considerable wardrome. But in the hecticness of it all, the blonde hadn't thought of it until she was trying to cram a walk-in closet's worth of clothing into two medium-sized luggage bags.

"You want help, babe," Olivia offered with amusement as she watched her girlfriend struggle to compress the items into one of the bags.

"No," Alex responded, trying to manage her temper. "You're not supposed to be exerting yourself."

"It's just a suitcase, Al."

"I've got it." Finally snapping the zipper shut, the blonde stood up and looked at her still largely full closet. She had placed a couple of suits to the side, not wanting them to wrinkle, and some of her shoes were already in a bin for transport, but there was still definitely too much there to pack.

"How about you get rid of that maroon dress, babe? You haven't worn that in a while."

Alex rolled her eyes. In her heart of hearts, she knew Olivia was just trying to help, but currently all of the woman's suggestions were only coming off irritating. "That's an autumn color. I won't wear it again until the Fall."

"What about your blue – "

"Olivia," Alex snapped, before calming her tone. "Sweetheart, I know you are trying to help but right now I really just need to focus."

"Fine," the brunette said, irritating now evidently in her voice. Slowly rising to her feet, she grabbed her magazine and headed towards the living room, leaving Alex and her closet to themselves.

Ultimately the attorney decided to put some of her clothing in storage for the time being, not quite intent on parting with it especially if they wound up moving into a larger apartment down the line. That Saturday, the squad – with the exception of Nick, who was spending some time with his daughter – came to help the couple with the move. Cragen, recently released from Rikers after the DA office scandal unfurled, came along as well. More quiet and solemn than usual from the experience, helping Olivia and Alex seemed to lighten the older man's mood, at least slightly. It had been a long morning of dragging boxes down to the detectives' vehicles, Olivia having insisted on not using a moving van given that Alex wasn't moving much furniture. While this was true, it did wind up meaning that they had to take more than one trip between the apartments, and the attorney's large bookshelf proved to be challenging, and ultimately they wound up having to find a U-Haul last minute to transport the piece. Throughout the whole ordeal, Alex tried to temper herself as Munch continued to complain like a small child, as she had to stop a defiant Olivia from trying to lift anything lest she pull her stitches, as Fin pulled out his back and needed to be taken home, and when Amanda dropped one of the boxes containing breakables, the sound of cracking porcelain heard by all.

Still, everything was eventually moved, and afterwards the couple ordered pizza and beer to thank their friends, spending their first official evening together at home with Munch, Cragen, and Amanda laughing and enjoying light-hearted conversation. After the stress all of them had been in over the past month, it was well-needed. When their company left, Olivia went to take a shower while Alex tidied up from dinner before beginning to unpack. Opening the box that Amanda had dropped, she sighed when she saw the broken pieces of one of her favorite knick knacks – a small, hand-painted jar from the Congo. "Hey Liv?" she called out.

"Yeah babe?" Olivia replied through the noise of the shower water.

"Do you have any Krazy Glue or something? I want to fix what broke earlier when the box fell."

"Ummm… there might be some in the medicine cabinet. Oh wait, maybe the junk drawer?"

"I'll check there," Alex replied, placing the broken pieces on the table before walking into the kitchen area. She pulled open the spare drawer, brow furrowed as she began to sift through the mess of objects inside. Alex made a mental note to pick up some small sorting boxes from the Container Store as she dug around towards the front, sighing when she pulled out a dried up glue stick. Figuring that maybe she might find luck towards the back, the attorney gently pulled out the drawer and placed it on the counter, moving various objects aside in her pursuit. She didn't find any Krazy Glue, but what she did come across was all the more significant.

A couple of moments into her search, the blonde's fingertips brushed up against something velvet and, hardly thinking, the woman pulled out what turned out to be a small ring box. Gasping when she recognized what the object likely contained, Alex stood their frozen, staring at her discovery. She was so captivated that she didn't notice a towel-clad Olivia walking into the room with bandage materials in hand. When the detective saw what exactly had her girlfriend's fervent attention, she felt her heart-rate speed up with nervousness. "It's um… it's not what you're thinking," she tried, causing Alex to look up at her, the blonde's own eyes wide with shock. Olivia sighed. "Well, it is and it isn't." Placing the bandages down on the countertop, she walked over and gently took the ring box from Alex's hand.

As she did so, Alex noticed the layer of dust that had been removed by her fingertips. She looked up at Olivia curiously. "How long has that been in there?"

Olivia sighed heavily, trying to calm the anxiety in her stomach and the emotions that seeing the ring box brought back to the surface. "Ummm… 9 years," she practically whispered.

The realization of the meaning of Olivia's statement hit the blonde with an almost physical force, and she unconsciously raised her hands to cover her mouth, cerulean blue eyes filling with tears.

"Oh shit, Alex, I'm sorry," Olivia began, placing the ring box on the counter and moving to comfort her girlfriend. "I know, I shouldn't have kept it – "

"No," Alex managed to interrupt, causing the brunette to wince. "No, I mean, no you shouldn't have gotten rid of it."

"What?"

Alex reached up to caress the side of Olivia's face with her knuckles, comforting the brunette and allowing herself a moment to take in the incredible woman in front of her. "You kept it… all of these years. Even when we weren't together."

The detective swallowed the lump in her throat as she recalled that past – her plans for proposing to the blonde on their anniversary, losing Alex only weeks later, their time spent apart… "I wasn't – I couldn't let go of it."

Alex couldn't help but let out a small sob as she smiled back at the brunette, the woman that she loved more than words could say. Olivia's words had been true of course, and their meaning went far deeper. Not being able to give up the ring was not being able to give up on Alex… on a chance at their life together. It was in that moment that Alex really realized how her love for Olivia – even in their times apart – had not only never diminished, but that that hope was entirely mutual.

The blonde was quiet for a moment, clearly debating something in her head. After a moment, she finally spoke, request quiet and timid. "Can I – can I see it?"

"Of course," Olivia responded almost shyly. Opening the latch of the box, she lifted the lid to reveal the white-gold ring, the sapphire center stone glimmering slightly as the light hit it.

"It's so beautiful, Olivia," the blonde complimented, truly awe-stuck.

The detective reached down and grabbed one of the emotional blonde's hands, giving it a comforting squeeze. "It reminded me of your eyes," she explained, her own brown orbs glistening as she gave her girlfriend a small smile.

"When were you – "

"Our anniversary."

Alex let out a small sob. Less than a month prior to their second anniversary, she would be standing in an isolated field in New Jersey telling her almost-fiancée that while she was alive, she was being whisked away to Witness Protection. The unspoken knowledge being that she might never come back. They didn't even kiss goodbye.

"Baby," Olivia soothed, wiping some of the tears from Alex's cheek with her thumb as her own tears began to fall. "It doesn't matter now. We're here, together. You and me," she affirmed, sighing into Alex's embrace as the taller woman hugged her. "I didn't even think – I'm sorry to catch you off-guard. I can take care of the ring. Maybe eventually get a new one…"

Olivia felt Alex shake her head. The younger woman pulled back. "No," she instructed, closing Olivia's finger around the ring box. "You are going to hide this somewhere where I won't come across it again until the day you get down on one knee. Understood, Detective?" she asked, the most genuine of smiles on her face.

"You've got it, Counselor."