Olivia breathed a sigh of relief when they cleared the woods and she saw the parking lot ahead. After their brief respite, catching their breath as they leaned against the rock wall, they had forged ahead. Olivia had never been happier than when she saw the break in the trees, revealing an alternate path back through the woods. She hated how thankful she felt when they slipped beneath the cover of the trees, feeling the cool air, with the ledge disappearing behind her and solid ground as far as she could see. But now that they were back where they had started, she was exhausted. All the adrenaline had left her body and the only thing she could think about was taking a cool shower and slipping into bed for a nap.

They reached the car and Elliot opened it quickly, fishing in the small cooler for two bottles of water. He watched as Olivia drained it and he did the same. She was leaning against the top of the doorframe, her arms outstretched, looking down at the ground as she stretched her body. Elliot came up behind her and rested his hand lightly on her back.

"Are you okay?"

Olivia straightened up and Elliot dropped his hand.

"I guess I underestimated how much that hike would take out of me." She said as she turned to face him. "Next time, we should get a map." She smirked at him, expecting a roll of the eyes. It didn't come and he just shifted, moving back slightly as he rested his hand on the Jeep.

"Or take the time to really read the sign." Elliot said with a laugh. He'd had extensive training in the military; he just hadn't taken the time, underestimating the challenge. "You did really awesome today. You know that, right?"

"Really awesome?" Olivia asked in a mocking tone, hearing the impact of his teenage daughters in his language. But she couldn't keep the smile off her face. Elliot was beaming at her, and she was bathing in his praise. His approval meant more to her than she would typically ever admit.

"I said what I said." Elliot chuckled again. He leaned towards her slightly. "Totally awesome."

Elliot's grin was so disarming, and Olivia looked away briefly, unable to hold his gaze. "Today was tough." She admitted. At this point, she had nothing to lose. She looked back at him, seeing his eyes were still trained on her. "I don't think I could have kept going without you." That, she knew, was an absolute fact.

"That's what we do Liv." He cocked his head slightly. "We know when to push and when to back off. That's why we work."

Olivia noticed the subtle difference between why we work, and why we work well together, and now she wondered if he was talking about the two of them as partners, or if he meant something else. She didn't have time to dwell on the question because Elliot was already moving.

"Let's head back." Elliot said, slapping the top of the Jeep. "Get you a hot shower and a nap."

EOEOEOEO

Olivia woke up to a dark room and she glanced over at the clock in alarm. She couldn't have slept long enough for it to be so dark outside, and she let out a sound of relief when she saw it was five. The sound of rain against the window dispelled her confusion.

She stretched her arms above her head, twisting her body as she tried to loosen up her muscles. As she breathed in, she realized there was a delicious smell permeating the air, and her stomach rumbled in reaction. She pulled back the covers, feeling an immediate chill in the air as she left the warm bed. Luckily, a big heavy cardigan was laying on the end of the bed, and she wrapped it around herself before running her hand through her messy hair.

When she padded out of the room and down the hall, she saw only dim lights. Music was playing very softly, so softly that she could barely hear it, and then she heard Elliot in the kitchen. She rounded the corner and saw him standing at the stove, his back to her as he stirred something on the stovetop. He hadn't heard her in her stockinged feet, and when she nudged his shoulders with hers, he startled slightly. "Smells good." She said as she leaned in, taking a large whiff of what looked like some kind of stew.

"I thought maybe I wouldn't see you until morning. Every time I checked on you, you were sleeping deeply."

Olivia had an image of Elliot standing in the doorway, watching her sleep, and the thought made her feel a little uncomfortable and more than a little curious. She wondered just how long he stood there. "You were worried about me?" She probed.

Elliot shrugged slightly as he set the wooden spoon on the counter. "Just making sure you didn't need anything." He had been wandering around the cabin as the clouds had rolled in and the wind had picked up, bored and missing her company. He had stood in the bedroom doorway longer that he would ever admit, torn between letting her sleep and waking her up. "I didn't want you to sleep the whole day away."

"So, you thought maybe the smell of this stew would wake me up?" Olivia across Elliot for the spoon. She was dying to taste a bite.

Elliot snatched the spoon from her hand playfully. "You can't have any until it's done." He teased. "And it worked, didn't it? You're up."

"I'm up and I'm hungry." Olivia put a pout on her face, but she couldn't keep it there for long. "Besides…" She knocked Elliot's hip with her own. "You told me that I did an awesome job today, so haven't I earned it?"

Elliot came as close to rolling his eyes as he could, but he smiled and handed her the spoon. He swept his arm towards the pan and took a half step back. "Madam." He said with a chuckle.

Olivia took a step closer to the stove and dipped the spoon into the deliciously thick stew, bending over slightly so she didn't drip any down her shirt. She could feel Elliot's just behind her, their bodies touching almost imperceptibly in a few places, and the thought that any sense of personal space they'd had before was completely gone.

Not that they had much to begin with. Elliot has always assumed her space was his. At first, it had seemed odd to her and she had pushed for boundaries, unaccustomed to letting anyone inside her personal bubble. But after awhile, it had seemed natural, and she realized she liked sharing her space with him.

She took a small bite of the stew, careful because it was hot, and let out a small moan as she finished off the rest. Her stomach rumbled because it wanted more, and she dipped the wooden spoon into the pot again. "This is so good." The meal fit what had become a dark, rainy day. It was perfect.

Elliot moved around her slightly, taking the spoon from her. "I said a bite." He teased.

Olivia turned her head to look at him. "I never knew you were such a good cook. I should have you cook for me always."

Elliot raised a brow, wondering if there were any insinuation there but she was looking at him innocently, so he wasn't sure. "Or, you could learn to cook." He teased, taking a bite of stew for himself.

"I know how to cook." Olivia said.

Elliot chuckled. "Yeah." He said, shaking his head. It was a standing joke between them, the lack of food in her apartment and her penchant for takeout.

"I'm a very good cook." Olivia said. "I just don't like to." She looked away then, her humor gone, and she turned and walked away, going to the refrigerator for something to drink.

Elliot noted the change in her demeanor. He had been teasing her about her empty refrigerator for years, so he didn't think that was the reason for the mood shift. It had to be something else. He turned and leaned against the counter, folding his arms in front of him. "How come you don't like to cook anymore?" He saw Olivia freeze, a bottle of water in one hand and the other on the refrigerator door as it closed. She kept her back to him and stood there for a moment, and he could tell she was struggling with something.

Olivia turned slowly, keeping her eyes on the bottle in her hand. "There's no big story." She said, knowing he was imaging some horrible kitchen accident or something. "I just…" She paused. "I used to cook a lot…you know…growing up. I had to cook." There had been so many nights that her mother found solace in a bottle, her daughter's needs forgotten, and it had meant Olivia had to forage to make dinner out of what she could. When she was a little older, when she could use the stove, she'd taught herself to cook so she wouldn't go hungry. She'd try to give Serena a plate of whatever she'd concocted. Sometimes she'd smile and eat it, other nights it sat until it congealed on the plate, forgotten. On the nights she didn't want to remember, the plate would be smashed into pieces, leaving Olivia to clean it up after Serena had gone to bed. Olivia looked up at Elliot. "I just don't have a lot of great memories around family dinners or cooking." She said abruptly, suddenly jealous of the family meals around the table she imagined had been a staple when Elliot had been living at home with his wife and kids.

Elliot could see the distress in Olivia's face and knowing her past, it wasn't hard to put the pieces together. "I'm sorry." He said quietly.

"I don't need your pity." She said, straightening up.

"Liv, c'mon." He said, dropping his arms as he started walking towards her. "When have I ever pitied you?" He'd had his own troubles at home growing up. His comment was one of understanding, not pity. "I'm just sorry that we had shitty childhoods." He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Even though they were shitty in different ways and degrees, it's something else we have in common." He almost felt guilty equating the two, because he knew that he probably had no idea of what Olivia's childhood had really been like, but neither of them could deny that whatever experiences they'd had, it had shaped them into who they were today. He pulled her into his arms, and surprisingly, she didn't fight him. He wrapped his arms around her, and he felt her slide her arms around his waist and she buried her face in his chest.

Olivia loved the feel of being wrapped in Elliot's arms. The strength as he hugged her close, the firm wall of his chest, the sound of his heart beating, his warmth. It was immeasurably comforting to her. If they'd lacked personal space before, they'd reached an entirely new level on this trip and she knew she would mourn the loss of this if things suddenly reverted when they went back to the city. "I'm sorry too." She murmured. Elliot never spoke about his childhood. Ever. So this little peek into his past life seemed huge to her. "I don't know what your life was like growing up, but you turned out okay." She was rewarded with a squeeze of his arms and a kiss on top of her head, and she thought she could probably stay like this for hours.

"You too."

EOEOEOEO

Dinner was a memory, the dishes washed and put away, and the evening stretched out ahead of them. The rain was still coming down, so their plans for a bonfire in the backyard had to be postponed. Neither one of them felt like reading or playing a game. They discussed going into town, but even that didn't seem to fit their moods. Olivia looked dubiously at the television mounted on the wall. "A movie?" She suggested. As far as she knew, Elliot's TV watching focused solely on sports, and she couldn't imagine they could find a movie they could agree on, but it was the only other option on the table right now.

Elliot glanced at the TV and envisioned Olivia snuggled up next to him. "Sounds great." He said. "But you have to pick the movie." He really didn't care what they watched. It all just sounded like a perfect end to the night.

"First, let's see if this even works, or what our options are." She found the remote control, noting the TV actually looked fairly new, despite the age of the cabin. She hit start and the bluish light filled the dim room. There was a DVD player attached, looking a little worn out, and a small collection of movies, so Olivia looked through them to see if anything was of interest. She landed on one and paused, wondering what Elliot's reaction would be. She wasn't one for romantic comedies, but she had always loved this movie. She turned, holding up the DVD Case. "How about this?"

Elliot scrunched his eyes, trying to read the title. "What is it?"

"When Harry Met Sally."

"Never heard of it." Elliot said with a small shrug.

"C'mon." Olivia said in disbelief. "What do you mean you've never heard of it?" When the movie had come out, it seemed everyone had seen it.

"I've never heard of it. I don't know what else I can tell you."

"Rob Reiner. Billy Crystal. Meg Ryan."

"You listing off names doesn't mean anything." Elliot said. "What's it about?" He didn't really care what they watched.

"It's about…" Olivia paused, thinking about the story line. "It's about two people that become really good friends but secretly they…" Love each other.

"I told you I don't care what we watch." Elliot said as she paused. "Just put it in and get over here."

Olivia swallowed hard, wishing she had picked something else. She wondered if she had picked this purposefully, her subconscious at play, but she brushed it aside. It was just a movie. She opened the case and slid the disc into the player, a part of her hoping that it wouldn't work. But the DVD started playing, sound filling the room. She turned back towards Elliot and saw his left arm holding up the blanket and his right arm spread out against the back of the couch…a perfect space for her to snuggle up against him.

She took a deep breath and sat down, curling her legs to the side. She allowed herself to melt against him and he pulled the heavy quilt over their bodies. Olivia closed her eyes, even though the opening credits had started, knowing that she'd be thinking about what was going through Elliot's mind as they watched this movie unfold in front of them.