Chapter 14

About 2 weeks later..

"What are you doing here?" she asked smiling.

"I missed you." he said smiling too.

"It's been like three hours since we last saw each other." she said laughing.

"Well, why should I sit in my apartment, eating dinner alone when I can do it here with you?" he said, winking at her. "So can I come in, or what?"

She moved away from the door to let him in.

"Thank you."

"Shut up." she said.

"I like your outfit by the way." he said with a smirk on his face. She looked him straight in the eyes while letting the towel drop.

"I was just about to get changed, if you wanna help me…" With that she walked towards her bedroom door, naked! El smiled mischievously and followed her.

"I mean I don't want to complain but the food is still hot and if we start this now it will …" He stopped talking at the look of her lying naked on the bed waiting for him.

"Well, who cares about the food!" he said and started to undress himself. Liv smiled and started to kiss him passionately.

A while later both of them lay in bed breathing heavily. "That was amazing!" Elliot said exhaustedly.

Liv turned her head to face him. She smiled and said, "I'm starving. Let's get the food."

"Well, fine. I didn't want you to tell me that you liked it too. No problem. The food is way more important!" he said, playfully hurt.

"Stop the whining and get your ass in the kitchen!" Liv commanded. El smiled and got up. He loved it that she was so confident and good at repartee. She knew how to spice things up between them.

"Hey! Did you steal my shirt?" he asked while entering the kitchen topless. She turned around and leered at him.

"Guilty as charged, detective!" He grabbed the shirt and pulled her closer, looked her deep in the eyes and said, "I am sorry, miss, but you have to give it back or I have to arrest you!" His voice was deep and serious.

"Well, as much as I like the thought of you putting your handcuffs on me, I will be a good girl and give you back to you." She pulled it over her head and handed it over. Now she stood naked in front of him once again.

"Stop looking at me like this. You won't get any of this." she pointed at her body, "Until I get something of this." she pointed at the food." He started to laugh.

"Can you please get dressed then because I won't be able to concentrate on the food with this" now he pointed at her body, "in front of me."

"Fine! But you took the shirt from me, mister. I get dressed and you get some plates. Okay?"

A few minutes later she came back fully dressed. El waited for her at the table with steaming hot chinese food on the plates.

"Thank you. It looks delicious and I am sooo hungry."

"You're welcome." he said smiling.

They didn't talk much while eating because they were both starving. After they were finished, Liv stood up to take the plates into the kitchen. El stopped her. "Sit down. I am doing the dishes."

She looked at him surprised.

"Don't you know the rules? The one who cooked doesn't have to do the dishes. And bringing the food is like cooking. So it's my turn now." He looked at her seriously.

"After what you did earlier, I don't think I can ever repay you." He winked at her with a mischievous smile and she started to laugh.

"If you say so." She gave him her plate and walked over to the couch.

Fifteen minutes later El was finished. He asked Liv if she had wine here but she didn't answer. He walked over to the couch and found her fast asleep. He thought about lying down next to her but tomorrow was sunday, which meant family day. Kathy has asked him to pick her and the kids up at 8 am. They were driving to her parents farm. He wanted to lie down next to Olivia so badly but he would only wake her now and again later when he had to drive home. He wrote her a note and left her apartment.

Liv woke up in the middle of the night. She was confused and needed a moment to realize where she was. She looked at the clock and saw that it was 1.15am. She looked for El but the only thing she found was a note from him.

"Sorry. I had to go and didn't want to wake you. We decided to take the girls to the farm of Kathy's parents. I'll call you tomorrow.

Ps. You don't know how hard it was to go. Would've loved to stay the night."

She had to smile at the last two sentences. Right, tomorrow was sunday, which meant family day. She would love to have him here right now but she understood why he had to go. So she got up and went to bed alone.

Liv woke up early. She didn't really sleep well. She missed cuddling up against El at night, which was crazy. She slept alone for years and didn't have a problem with it. And now, after a few days in the same bed she already missed him at night? She wasn't sure if she liked that change. Okay, she was pretty sure that she didn't like it. She was never the dependent type and she wouldn't start being one now. She got up, stripped the bed and washed it. El's scent had to go. She only missed him because her bed smelled like him! Right!? Damn it! What was going on with her? She put clean sheets on the bed and took a shower. While the hot water was running over her skin she realized that she was overreacting. Wanting someone close doesn't mean that you are dependent, you just feel good with them. Elliot made her feel good. So why was this bad?

She knew she had to calm down a bit. She turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. Maybe a little bit of dependence isn't too bad. It means that you have someone you can count on. She smiled to herself. The thought of not being alone all the time anymore was nice. Someone really cared for her. A warm feeling spread inside her body and she couldn't stop smiling. She was falling in love. With Elliot. Her best friend. Her partner.

The doubts grew bigger again. How could she let herself get into this? He was all she had.

"Okay, calm down." she said to herself. "He is still here. Nothing bad has happened yet, quite the contrary. You feel good with him. Let yourself enjoy it and don't ruin it before it even started!" She shook her head and walked back to her bedroom. While she got dressed she realized she didn't have anything edible in the fridge. She had to go shopping before she could eat breakfast. She got dressed annoyed by herself. She should've bought something yesterday.

Suddenly the doorbell rang. She looked at the clock. It was 8.30 in the morning on a sunday, who was on the door? She walked to the intercom, "Hello?".

"Good morning. It's me again." Elliot said happily. Liv was more than surprised.

"What are you doing here?" she said skeptically.

"Not the reaction I hoped for but fine. I have pancakes, let me in?" he said, playfully hurt. She pressed the door opener and wondered what he was doing here.

"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to be harsh, I just didn't expect you at all. I thought you were on the way to the farm of your parents- in- law?" she said questioningly.

"Kathy called me this morning and said that Lola wasn't feeling good, so we canceled the trip and I thought about your empty fridge and wanted to surprise you with some pancakes." he said smiling. She looked at him amorously.

"Thank you. That's really thoughtful of you. I was just about to go get something to eat." She moved away to let him inside.

"Is Lola fine? What's up with her?" she asked worriedly.

"Ya, she's good. I think she's just exhausted from last week and Kath said she didn't sleep much last night, so maybe she just needs some rest. Don't worry."

"Okay, good." They sat down at the table and started to eat.

"These pancakes are delicious." Liv said. "I am really thankful that you feed me but you know that I am able to take care of myself, right?" she said smiling.

"Maybe I need you around me and the food is just an excuse to get inside your apartment." he said scratching his chin. Liv started to laugh.

"I am serious, El. I need you to understand that."

"Liv, relax. I know that you are an independent, strong woman who can take care of herself pretty well. But I want to take care of you too, that doesn't mean you can't do it alone or that I think you can't do it. It means that I need to feel like you need me a bit too, okay?"

"I guess so." she said, a bit embarrassed.

She knew she overreacted but she couldn't help it. She really wasn't used to all of this and she had trouble accepting it without feeling like losing herself a bit.

After they finished eating she got up to throw away their food containers and paper cups. El wanted to say something but she just looked at him with a look that said "Don't you dare help me throw away these things." He put his hands up in the air to show her that he won't do anything.

She smiled while she walked over to the kitchen. He was so cute and understanding.

Suddenly she felt his arms around her body from behind. "I have missed you last night." he whispered in her ear while nibbling on her earlobe gently. A shiver ran down her spine. She leaned into his touch and said, "I have missed you too." She could feel his smile against her neck.

"You make me really happy, you know that right?" he said in a serious tone. She turned around and looked him in the eyes.

"I am scared like crazy and I know I am acting weird sometimes but I really do feel good about us. You make me happy too and I feel so good around you. It scares me that I miss you at night already but I try my best not to freak out. I really feel like this "thing" between us is something real. You know?" He took her face with both of his hands.

"Of course I do know what you mean and you don't know how happy it makes me that you told me this. I want to know how you feel, I need to know it. I know that you are scared and I get it. I really do! But I promise you, you won't lose yourself in this relationship, I wouldn't let that happen. Okay?"

"Okay." she whispered and then they kissed each other with so much love until they had to pull away to breathe.