A/N: So, I was watching OC 1-4 when Elliot said THE WORDS and I really wasn't paying a whole lot of attention and my daughter said "Mom, did you hear that?" So I rewound, heard it, saw the expressions and said the title of this story. Now I wanted to be totally corny and raunchy but I just couldn't do it because of the seriousness of the show, but oh my goodness…
Wait… What?!
By Katsume
T rating
I love you… I love you… I love you…
"Oh for…" Olivia flipped the covers back and rolled from the bed to her feet and began pacing.
I love you… I love you… I love you… A growl of frustration echoed through the air. She grabbed a pillow off her bed and pressed her face to it, letting out a small scream. She threw the pillow across the room and began pacing again, muttering to herself, as if having the conversation out loud would help force it out of her brain. "Twenty-two years, Elliot. Twenty-two freaking years… and now you say it? Under duress, or stress? Seriously? Well, mister… I don't want to freaking hear it now. You ran off, you left me hanging. I finally have my life together and you waltz back in and reel me back in. I don't want this drama or you or your amazing kids pulling me back in. I was free damnit, FREE!" The words pour out and she gives the bed a good thump, just because, because letting out that frustration after years of learning how to communicate and de-escalate didn't apply here and hitting something felt so good, she did it again, imagining his face or better yet, a fist right into his belly. "Take that you PRICK!"
She dropped to the mattress and put her hands to her face, suddenly glad as the tears began to fall that Noah was with Amanda because of the "intervention." She closed her eyes as the phone rang yet again. A quick peek showed Stabler across the screen, and she ignored it once more. Guilt edged into the emotional turmoil swirling through her and she viciously tamped it down. "Now you can get a taste of it you jerk." The words had no real heat and she took several deep breaths to calm herself. She lay back down and curled on her side, NOT comforting herself by curling into a fetal position, and flipping the covers back over. I love you… How could he have told her like that? All these years and a thousand words unspoken between them, but understood because they were in sync as Kathy had said. But to say the words and in front of the kids… I love you…
The phone rang again, and she rolled once more to check the screen just in case. It was pretty much as she expected, and she flopped back against the pillows and placed her arm over her eyes. Do not do it, Olivia. Do not take that hook. Everyone is warning you to stay away. You've changed and grown and you have your life. DO NOT take that bait. And yet, there it sits, hovering in her brain. I love you…
Bzzzzzzzz…bzzzzzzz… Removing her arm, she reaches out, confirms the name, and answers, unable to put him through the damage that she experienced, especially when he is already fighting with himself. "Benson," she answers.
"Thank God… thank you. Lenske, he killed Kathy. He knew she was getting in the car and triggered the explosion. He knew it was her. Why would he target Kathy?"
She sat up suddenly. "Wait…what?" This wasn't what she expected. Damnit, he had told her he loved her and now they were back on the case. It wasn't fair! She took a deep breath and focused in on his words, as he repeated them. It wasn't about her. "Give me a half hour, and I'll be back at your place."
Her mind raced in thirty different directions as she dressed then drove. And then she was there and knocking on the door. It opened, and before she could even react, he was grasping her by both arms and hauling her in the room and up against him. Wait…what? She registered the door closing but his arms around her, the smell that felt of home and comfort and safety surrounded her. EL… I love you… She couldn't think with his arms around her. He had touched her more in the last few weeks, hugged her more than she could remember. She wanted to fight it, but she sank into it instead, because despite everything or maybe because of it, he was El.