This chapter turned out to be quite epic in length but I felt like it deserved to stay untrimmed. Foundations are being laid and actions explained and I think it also sets the scene for where all of the characters are going. Hope you agree. Thank you all so much for all your wonderful reviews, thoughtful comments, continued reading. It is greatly appreciated :)

"It would've been so easy for her to just shut down. All the shit she went through, all the times people let her down, all the times life let her down, most people would have but she didn't. She kept open, kept trusting, kept caring for people even when she got nothing in return. She told me once that she fell in love too easily and she made it sound like a bad thing but it wasn't. It was what made her so real."

"Her sister seems like she's got a lot going on." Said Georgia, because as beautiful and tender as Fin's words were she found it hard to connect with the mother she had never known.

"Who Kim?" snorted Fin, shaking his head and sighing with a censorious sadness. "She's a car wreck. Always has been from what I can tell. She's like a leech that sucked every bit of life Peach built for herself right away again. Not out of spite, well, at least not always. She just didn't have the same strength her sister did I suppose."

"I ran into her in the bathroom after the funeral…" confessed Georgia, who had attended as Fin's plus one and decided not to disclose her true identity, "….getting high."

"I wish I was could pretend to be surprised."

"Fin those people aren't my family."

"No?" he asked, smiling with a gentle, open willingness to hear her. "You weren't feeling it?"

"Amanda she's the exception, not the rule. Most people don't get out the way she did. Most people from small town Georgia don't wind up being big shot detectives in New York."

"I guess not."

"I was nervous to go there because I thought maybe I'd meet her family and wish I was a part of them. I'd resent her giving me away because I didn't get to grow up in that world. I thought that place and those people might feel like home and where I belonged but they didn't."

"No?"

"There wasn't a drop of sincerity in any word that came out of her parents' mouth at that funeral."

"Yeah, yeah you got that too huh….." laughed Fin sadly, having now witnessed first-hand the totally lack of grip Amanda's parents had on reality and their own lives, "…. those two idiots couldn't raise a smile let alone two children."

"You know I studied social work in college and I didn't believe a word of anything I read on adoption. It was all theory and it seemed so idealistic. Young mothers giving up their babies to those better emotionally and financially equipped to give them a better life. I thought that coming here I'd prove it all to be some textbook cliché totally detached from emotion and reality but…." shrugging with a newfound, if a little regretful sense of peace Georgia sighed, "…. it turns out they might be onto something. Turns out my life might be a cliché in the best possible way."

"You sure you're only twenty one, kid?"

"Watching Kim Rollins shooting up in a public bathroom was like going through the looking glass. Like getting a tiny peek into the life that most likely would've been mine. She was just a scared kid but Amanda knew where the road would lead and even though it meant I never got to meet her I'm glad she did what she did."

"You're her dream come true you know? It's just goddamn brutal that she didn't get to see how good you turned out."

"And what about you?" asked Georgia, having studied enough psychology and seen enough of the world to know that there had been no period at the end of the very long sentence that had been Fin's relationship with Amanda. "You don't talk about her much."

"Humph."

"I know that things between the two of you weren't always easy."

"And how'd you know that Nancy Drew?" he smirked, before realising she was probably too young to appreciate the reference. "Nah, nah we were good. We cared a lot about each other."

"She was in love with you….." said Georgia, before adding softly, "…. wasn't she?"

"It was….." swallowing hard Fin turned away as they sat together on the gas station steps and sighed, "… complicated."

"Were you in love with her?" it was in Georgia's innate ability to read people, and between the lines of what they wouldn't or couldn't say that lead Fin to believe she would be every bit as good a detective as Amanda one day. "Or is that why you won't let yourself grieve?"

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing I said too much."

"I thought I was….." he confessed, not having said as much even to Olivia, "…. for a while but…."

"It's okay you don't have to talk about it. Especially not to me."

"I kept waiting for it to feel…I dunno... there was just always something…. she needed someone on her side, she needed someone to take care of her for a change."

"Yeah."

"And I'm not saying there wasn't an…" bashful beyond his usual self-assurance in this one matter alone Fin came as close as he ever would to coy and sighed, "… attraction. There was."

"Rachel told me about you and her mom….." chewing on her bottom lip and effectively slicing straight to the core of Fin's conflicted guilt Georgia added hesitantly, "…. was she one of the somethings?"

"Nah, nah she…" giving it up, giving up, letting go, Fin's tired brown eyes could no longer deny the tide and turning his back on Georgia he quietly dissolved, "…. just gimme a second."

"It's okay….." hesitating a moment Georgia held out a hand, hovering it an inch above Fin's shoulder before finally setting it there and adding quietly, "… it's okay."

"She's gone…." came a gruff, mournful choke from the bear like man she could have easily believed to be unbreakable, "…. one minute she was just there, just Peach, just the same as ….. and then….."

"I know…" nodding slowly there came a realisation in Georgia that her mother's heart lay not in the state she had named her for, but in the one in which Amanda had fallen in love with this man she now sat beside. New York, not Georgia, was where Amanda had been the most alive.

"We should hit the road."

"We don't have to, not yet…" said Georgia, her hand still firmly on his shoulder, "…we can just sit here a while. If you want to, that is?"

"Peach meant the world to me…" reluctantly turning to face Amanda's daughter and finding comfort in her familiar smile Fin sighed, "… and I miss her like crazy."

"Tell me about her."

"Huh?" sniffing staunchly, his heart dragging with all that he had until that moment denied himself feeling Fin puzzled. "What d'ya wanna know?"

"I dunno, anything. When did you first meet her? What music did she like? What did you two do together? I couldn't even tell you her favourite colour….." and suddenly it mattered so much less to Fin that he define his relationship with Amanda, as Georgia casually stated, "…but you knew her better than anyone in the world."

"You have got to be kidding me?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" asked Olivia, opening a packet of raisins for Eve and instructing her not to feed them to her brother.

"Why?"

"Because he's not a big girl like you and he can't…."

"He's not a girl he's a boy….." and then staring up at her mother with such perfect, pursed lipped incredulity Eve exclaimed, "… silly Mommy!"

"Oh my God could she get any cuter?" laughed Alex, pushing her glasses up her nose and quietly wondering if she would ever have children of her own. Only, she bargained with the world, if they were as charming and emergently smart as Olivia's first born.

"Her new favourite word is 'why' and everything has to have a justification….." shooing her daughter back toward the fortress she had cajoled Sam into helping her build Olivia chuckled fondly, "…. and it's exhausting."

"Liv have you even begun to wrap your head around what moving to Chicago will mean?" asked Alex, when the children were contentedly playing once more. "Your whole life is here in New York."

"People relocate all the time for all kinds of reasons. It's really not that big of a deal."

"Okay well I beg to differ on so many….." sensing she ought to start with something tangible Alex changed her line of questioning, "…. so you don't want to be part of this new super squad then? You'd be first in line for promotion and a combined SVU and homicide unit is huge."

"Huge and supremely ineffective…." scoffed Olivia, despairing at the very notion of NYPD's proposed solution to the devastation of the 16th precinct, "…. it's the single most ridiculous idea I've ever heard, but it's not my problem anymore. They can merge Manhattan SVU with computer crimes for all I care."

"Well now that's not true for a start, you care more about SVU than anyone I know!"

"Maybe at one time but….."

"Olivia be serious. Those guys wouldn't know a rape kit from a chemistry set and you know it! I don't care what Munch says they're a bunch of hot headed, target driven Neanderthals who are used to their victims being past tense."

"It is what it is."

"There isn't a single detective in homicide who can breathe life back into victims the way you can."

"Did you invite me over just to yell at me or?" prickled Olivia, not caring in the least for the direction the conversation was taking. "I'm starting to feel like I'm on trial here Alex."

"I know you think you're doing the right thing, darling."

"I know I am."

"Do you?" challenged Alex, feeling that their friendship was strong enough for her to push and stretch the boundaries and to really confront Olivia with her decision. "Or is it the wrong thing for the right reasons?"

"Alex even if the 1-6 wasn't a building site, even if it wasn't a graveyard, I couldn't go back to that job."

"New York is your home."

"That team we built? That life we had? That moment….." shaking her head sadly Olivia met Alex's eyes and lost all power in her voice, "…. it's gone."

"I know how terribly sad you still are about everything and with damn good reason. We're all hurting. It's still raw. You're still mourning Cragen and grieving all that you lost and…."

"It's time to move on Alex."

"Move on or escape?"

"That isn't fair."

"Did I touch a nerve?" challenged the blonde, her voice so calm and gentle it betrayed her cutting accusation. One that did indeed strike a chord in Olivia that she found it hard to keep from registering on her face. "Is this really a selfless, noble gesture to allow Elliot to be near his son?"

"I…."

"Or do you just think that dealing with the pain of what happened is going to be easier in the Midwest than it is here in Manhattan?"

"I'm not that naïve, idealistic rookie detective who thinks she can change the world anymore. Not everyone can be helped, not everyone can be saved, and nine times out of ten the good guys don't win. We didn't win, Alex. We lost…" running her index finger around the rim of her coffee mug Olivia swallowed grimly and whispered, "… we lost everything."

"The Benson I know isn't a quitter; she doesn't bail when things get tough."

"They didn't get tough they got unbearable!"

"When the hell did you get so damn cynical?"

"When did I….." gasping exasperatedly Olivia shook her head and knitted her brows, "….when a seventeen year old boy walked into Cragen's office and blew himself up: that's when I got so damn cynical!"

"You're running away Olivia!"

"Screw you!" getting up from her chair and clearing away their empty mugs and plates Olivia stalked into Alex's kitchen and began to wash them up in her sink. She wasn't really going anywhere. She wasn't really angry, just bruised.

"I'm sorry…" came a soft voice from the doorway as Alex wandered in with Sam grinning on her hip, "…. that was out of order and I apologise."

"You're fine….." came the sighing forgiveness her friend didn't even need but that she acknowledged with a smile anyway, "…. your honesty is brutal but grudgingly appreciated."

"I am going to miss you Liv….." there was a greater reality to leaving, and hit Olivia like a tonne of bricks as she saw the misty eyed sadness in Alex's eyes, "… more than you know."

"Oh Alex…." she murmured, as the blonde attorney doted on her son.

"But let's not talk about this anymore, huh baby boy? We've come to tell Mommy that her presence is required in Evie's fort haven't we…" smiling brightly and pushing aside their adult problems, for the children's fun Alex added wryly, "… she was very insistent."

"She was?" twisting her lips to a knowing smirk Olivia followed them out of the kitchen and rolled her eyes fondly, "I'm shocked; that doesn't sound like my daughter at all."

"Oh that's good, yeah, yeah right there….." throwing her head back and covering his hands with her hair as they expertly manipulated the knots her in her shoulders Olivia groaned, "…. oh sweet mother of….. you are good Stabler."

"You wanna see me make it to the TV and back?"

"No, no I do not."

"Hey!"

"Can you look me in the eye and tell me you haven't already done twice as much walking today as Donna told you was okay?" challenged Olivia, keeping a watchful eye on Elliot's rehab and being the voice of reason that reigned in his blind determination to walk again. "Right, no, I didn't think so. You can show me tomorrow."

"Yes m'am."

"Shut up and keep rubbing."

"What am I your cabana boy?"

"Hey babe, so here's a thing…" ignoring his protest she scrolled further down the page she was browsing on the laptop nestled atop her crossed legs and chewed on her lip, "… real estate in Chicago is surprisingly expensive."

"Yeah?" he asked, leaning over her shoulder from behind and kissing at her neck as he did so. "What we talking?"

"We gotta get a really great price for Cragen's house….." leaning sideways to retrieve her glass of red from the coffee table she took a long gulp and swallowed it down with her apprehension, "…. or we're gonna need to be carrying while we take the trash out."

"You gonna leave your views on civilian gun ownership behind in New York?" he teased darkly. "Look it won't come to that. We're not that desperate we have to live in the 'hood."

"No, no if we can shift the house here we'll be fine. We might also need to be armed, but we'll be fine, we will."

"You wanna try that once more with feeling?" he asked quietly, resting his chin on her shoulder and feeling suddenly unbearably sad.

"Is that me buzzing?" looking around for the source of the vibration she shoved her glass at him and lurched forward to retrieve her cell phone from the sofa arm. "Unknown number at this time of night?"

"You expecting a call?"

"No…" shrugging her shoulders Olivia held the phone to her ear and answered it, "….Stabler?"

"That will never get old….." grinned Elliot, falling back into the couch and sighing contentedly.

"Yeah, yeah I can do that…nine thirty….. sure, sure not a problem I'll be there….. okay, see you then."

"Someone interesting?" asked Elliot curiously when she had hung up.

"Yeah, yeah pretty interesting…" said Olivia with a slow, ponderous delivery, "… that was the Commissioner."

"Of?"

"Of the NFL babe; he wants me to start for the Jets next season."

"There's no need to be snarky."

"He's been speaking to the Chief of D's about me and wants to talk. He said it's urgent…." her face edged in puzzled concern Olivia looked to him and asked, "… is it okay that I said I'd meet him first thing tomorrow?"

"Sure, sure I can take the kids with me to meet the realtor."

"No, no babe you can't but we'll figure….."

"I can take care of my kids Olivia!"

"Call one of the girls?" she asked, knowing just how much he hated to lean on people but also knowing full well he was unable to go out and about with two wayward toddlers while still in his wheelchair. "Indulge me?"

"Okay."

"Thank you."

"Hey, so this meeting….." he tested lightly, as Olivia sat back down while still staring at her phone, "… you got any idea what it might be about?"

"Not a clue, honestly I don't. I mean I guess maybe they want me to be part of this new SVU/Homicide disaster they're working on but I've been very clear that I'm leaving the city."

"You think they wanna try talk you out of it? Offer you a role in the combined unit?"

"Yeah well they know where they can..."

"You never know, they might have a way to transfer you to sex crimes in Chicago."

"El we've talked about this….." in truth she had talked, and he had maintained a brooding silence so as not to further distress her in her grief, "…. I don't want to go back to work."

"Don't close a door, babe….." he asked, leaning over and kissing her cheek lightly, "….just hear them out okay?"

"I'm pretty sure there isn't anything they could say to me tomorrow that I'd be even remotely interested in hearing but I'll sit and listen."

"Ed Tucker is a self-important asshole."

She had been mistaken. There was indeed something the Commissioner could say that she was very much interesting in hearing.

"He couldn't have been more wrong in the way he handled the situation and you have my sincere apologies that there wasn't a greater show of support in your favour Detective Benson."

"Stabler."

"It would a disgrace, a travesty, a moral failure on the part of the New York Police Department and all those associated with it if we were to allow Manhanttan SVU to become a lost subsidiary, a poor relation of the homicide unit."

"Wow."

"That is my very, very strong conviction and I believe it's yours too."

"Well I….."

"You and your colleagues have built one of the best sex crimes units in this country for which I am unspeakably proud and profoundly grateful."

"Your words are truly kind but…."

"And of which I am also fiercely protective."

"That is reassuring to hear, sir." Said Olivia, choosing her words carefully so as to convey her absolute agreement but withhold any form of personal commitment.

"You don't know this but nine years ago you helped bring the rapist of a thirteen year old girl to justice. She was attacked while walking home from the bus stop one night and it nearly broke her. She was a terrified, traumatized, empty little girl and there was nothing her family, friends, or the detectives working on her case could do to help her. They tried to reach out in every possible way but to no avail. She was lost to them, to everyone. Until one Wednesday morning in April a detective they hadn't met before transferred back from a secondment with computer crimes."

"June Parker."

"She was patient, compassionate, empathetic; and so warm and loving was her demeanour that the light started to come back into the little girl's eyes."

"I remember her."

"You saved my goddaughter's life Olivia."

"I….."

"Her parents spoke with me about the proposed combining of sex crimes with homicide and they asked me, they beseeched me to do everything in my power to stop it and to do whatever it took to keep you in New York."

"You have no idea how much I wish I could…. "

"I want a new generation voice for these victims. SVU 2.0 if you like. Something that builds on the foundations Donald Cragen put in place. A unit that maintains the grace, dignity and backbone you have in the face of opposition by the likes of Lieutenant Tucker." Taking a moment, removing his spectacles and folding them slowly the Commisioner spoke with a poised determination, "One headed up by a young captain with heart and compassion, but also with the kind of courage and fortitude required to lead. Tucker called you a bleeding heart as though it was a weakness Olivia, but I have to tell you that both June and I see it as your greatest strength. As SVU's greatest strength."

"With respect, sir, I…."

"There is still healing to be done and nothing will happen overnight I'm aware of that. I also want to make it very clear on behalf of the NYPD as a whole that we do not underestimate the manpower and the resources needed for this transition, this regeneration. You have our word; you have my word that this new unit will finally receive the funding they have been so woefully denied for so many years. Their department budget will equal that of homicide and narcotics."

"You're not serious?" gulped Olivia.

"Oh I've never been more so. For start-up costs alone we have agreed….." reaching for his fountain pen and scrawling a monetary amount on a piece of paper he pushed it across the desk and gestured toward it, "… on this figure."

"But I…" suddenly, inconveniently overwhelmed with emotion Olivia stared watery eyed and choked, "… I'm moving to Chicago."

"I heard a rumour but had hoped that you might be persuaded to reconsider."

"If it wasn't for a personal situation that can't be avoided believe me I would very much like to be a part of what you're proposing but…"

"I don't want you to be a part of it Olivia. I want you to lead it. You are the only person who can combine Don Cragen's legacy with the NYPD's vision for the future. You can bring back the detectives, you can start the healing."

"If I had any choice in the matter I assure you I…."

"With respect, detective, there is always a choice. I want you to choose to help me rebuild your precinct from the ground up. Hire whoever you want. Hell fire, hire your husband for all I care! I'll challenge anyone who objects….." laying his cards boldly on the table the Commissioner added, "…. if that's what it takes to bring you on board."

"That is a very generous offer and….."

"We have a chance here."

"I appreciate that."

"With respect, you have a chance here Detective Benson."

"Stabler."

"I don't care what you call yourself it's who you are that matters to us. You have an opportunity to do what others have only dreamed of, what you yourself have only previously been able to dream of. You hold in your hands the power to not only to be the voice for victims but to amplify that voice. You could make Manhattan the best, the most effective and the most influential special victims' unit in the USA. You can lead a revolution."

"I'm a police detective not Joan of Arc!"

"You're the kind of police detective I will only find once in a career, and this is the kind of offer you will only get once in a lifetime."

"I have heard everything you've said and I am absolutely, wholehearted engaged with your cause but….." had it been five years ago she would've thrown herself, heart and soul, into his proposal but instead Olivia composedly added, "….. I need to speak with my husband."

"Of course, of course absolutely I understand that….. " and then watching her steely eyed determination and a demeanour that oozed compassionate resilience he knew he had not made a mistake in meeting with her, "… just don't take too long, okay?"

"Imma have this room."

"I-am-going-to-have Mouse….." corrected Elliot as Olivia's desire for Evie to speak correctly rang in his ears, "….what is it?"

"Mine." said Evie, with that devilish twinkle in her eye that told her Daddy she knew just exactly what he meant but she was having none of it.

"This place is awesome Dad, seriously….." nodding with a firm seal of approval Lizzie exhaled, "… wow."

"Dad it sucks so bad that mom is making you do this."

"She isn't Katie, don't say that. Don't think that. This is a choice Olivia and I are making for your brother."

"What about us though?" asked Lizzie with a pang of selfish sadness. "When are we going to get to see you if you're living in Chicago? We've only just got to know Olivia and now you're taking her a million miles away."

"Chicago is in Illinois not Indonesia and I'm not taking Olivia anywhere. We talked about it and we decided together."

"Did you though?" challenged Katie, not only able to go deeper and darker than any of her siblings but always the most able to see straight through her father to the man. "I mean you say that this is a choice you're both making but is it? Her whole life is here."

"Hey, hey that is not something it's okay for you to…."

"New York is her home! She won't know a soul in Chicago except you."

"I'm sure Mom will introduce her to Aunty Cora and all our cousins and Grandma and…."

"Oh yeah Lizzie, great, I'm sure that's just what she's always wanted. Being dragged out to the Midwest to get to know her husband's ex-in-laws!"

"Katie wind it in." Demanded Elliot, seeing his daughter's waging war and not wanting Evie and Sam to witness a fight.

"I'm just saying I don't think you've fully thought this one through is all! It makes total sense for Mom, sure it does, but that's because half her family is out there but what about Olivia? They'd hardly be likely to welcome her with open arms even if they hadn't always hated you anyway."

"Your mother's family don't hate me!" protested Elliot, suddenly feeling acutely defensive and strangely vulnerable.

"Yeah, yeah no she has a point there actually Dad…." conceded Lizzie with a smirk, "… they pretty much do, especially Aunty Cora."

"Hey, whose side are you on?"

"Did you even ask her?" asked Katie softly. Though they were so often at odds she idolised her father and, despite the pain his actions had caused her mother, she greatly respected the risk he'd taken for Olivia. He doted on her, adored her, was truly besotted with her in a way he never had been with Kathy and in the way she one day hoped a man would be with her. Olivia was so clearly the love of his life it was bitterly disappointing to her that she felt to already know the answer to her question, "Have you even asked how she really feels about this? If she even wants to move to Chicago?"

"I…."

"Dad?" challenged Lizzie, hopeful that Katie was wrong.

"I mean of course I have. We've talked about it and she's on board with the idea in fact it was her….."

"But is she on board because she wants to be or because she's afraid of what'll happen if she isn't?" said Katie with a unique ability not only to see the world in its simplest light but to then unflinchingly call a spade a spade. "She's in an impossible situation Dad."

"Katie does have a point….."

"It might be the right thing for Eli to have his parents close by but having you and Olivia rock up in the middle of her fresh start isn't the right thing for mom. And I might not know her all that well but I've overheard stuff over the years and I'm pretty sure that for someone with no family of her own moving away from everything she's ever known isn't the right thing for Olivia."

"Damn, when did you two get so smart?"

"We've always been this smart we just call you out on your shit more often these days."

"Well I guess I deserve it…." smiled Elliot with an accepting nod, "…. and you make some pretty good points girls."

"So guys! Are we ready to sign off on everything? I've spoken to the office and we're ready to go live with the online listing….." breezing in from the driveway where she had been jabbering into her Blackberry for the past half hour the realtor thrust a pen and clipboard in Elliot's direction, "… just as soon as you autograph on the dotted line Mr Stabler."

"Actually you know what….." looking between Lizzie and Kathleen and then into the bedroom Evie had claimed Elliot replied, "….would it be okay if we held off? Just for 24 hours?"

"I thought you and your wife were looking for a quick sale?"

"Just another 24 hours?" not wanting to engage in their personal matters with a stranger Elliot stood firm but flashed her a blue eyed smile, "Please?"

"Of course, of course I'll put a hold on everything until I get the green light."

"Now?"

"Not quite yet baby, just let me finish mixing in this flour first and then you can put the chocolate chips in. You want some white ones in there or just the brown?" asked Olivia, stirring at their cookie mixture as Eve sat cross legged on the counter top and held her bag of chocolate chunks with eager anticipation.

"Now, momma?" her little eyes were so excited, so engaged, she was hanging off her momma's every word. It was one of those intoxicating moments that made being her mother what Olivia knew she was born to do.

"Yes sweet girl, go ahead and put them in….." she cooed, shaking her head and taking a second to just adore Eve and block everything else out, "…. you want a turn at mixing?"

"Oh yes please!" her whole little body tensed, almost going into spasm with the sheer thrill of the notion. Bolting two sets of fingers around Olivia's hand as it gripped the spoon she began to move it around in the already quite challengingly solid mixture. "Oof! Momma it's tricky!"

"It is pretty tricky, isn't it baby girl?" laughing warmly, openly, in the truly most relaxed version of herself Olivia kissed Eve's head and threw a little muscle behind their joined effort.

"Hey, babe can I grab you a second?"

"Will you sit down Elliot!" cried Olivia, starling Eve a little with how quickly she scooped her off the countertop and back onto a chair.

"Momma!"

"Sorry baby, did I make you jump?" she laughed, reassuring Eve and settling her into a task before wandering over to Elliot who was lolling on his crutches and taking more and more steps on his own two feet.

"I'm stronger than ever don't worry about me….." he smiled, pursing his lips for a kiss before pouting when one wasn't forthcoming, "….hey, hey gimme some sugar!"

"Excuse me?" arching an eyebrow Olivia shot him a warning look.

"You have flour on your face."

"We're baking."

"I can see that….." smiled Elliot, watching Eve think no one was watching her pick chocolate chips back out of the cookie mix and eat them, "… although I think your lovely assistant over there is eating your batter."

"Evie!"

"Is so yummy, Momma."

"I promised you can lick the spoon after we're done but not before….." admonished Olivia with a kindly tone that held little real scolding, "…. keep mixing, good girl."

"Come back Mommy!"

"Is it urgent?" winced Olivia, finally giving in to a kiss, "Only I've been promising her we'd bake for weeks and she's been so good not nagging."

"Sure, sure I can wait."

"Yeah?" she tested, sensing that there was something in his tensed shoulders that suggested otherwise. "Or if you can make it quick?"

"Okay so I'm gonna ask you a question and you're gonna answer me honestly. No bullshit, no pandering, no saying what you think I want to hear okay?"

"I'm not sure I like where this is….."

"Liv? Please?" he asked simply, finding her eyes and centring them both on what she now understood was going to be a bigger question than what movie they watched that evening.

"Okay." She nodded slowly, searching his face and wondering what she was walking into.

"Do you want to move to Chicago?" he asked, with such complete openness and earnest sincerity on his face she couldn't react quickly enough not to answer the question in her silence.

"I….." she floundered, opening and closing her mouth but never quite managing to form words.

"You wanna have a conversation babe?" propping himself up on one crutch and freeing a hand to reach out and grab one of hers he waited patiently for her to answer truthfully.

"Yeah….." she confessed, giving his hand and squeeze and nodding slowly, "… yeah I do."

"Okay, okay then when you're done baking…" he replid, with a tender smile, "… we'll talk."