Thank you all for reading and reviewing! Your words of support and excitement over this story are what motivated me to continue this beyond a two-shot. Stay tuned to find out what Olivia's surprises from Elliot are. As always, enjoy!
When Olivia opened her eyes, it was still dark outside. She rolled over and grabbed her phone from her bedside table. It was 4:30 in the morning and she didn't have to wake Noah up for another 2 hours yet. She noticed she had two messages, both from Elliot. One was from 3:58 and the second from 4:05.
The first message read, "Hey, Liv. Not sure if you still battle insomnia these days, but if you do, feel free to give me a call." She smiled at her phone. Second message, "Listen, if my last message woke you up, I'm sorry. I couldn't sleep and I was wondering if you had plans tonight. I know it's last minute."
She barely finishes reading the second message before her screen buzzes and lights up with a call from him.
"Good morning, El." She answers with a smile.
"Hey." He smiles into the phone. The sound of her voice comforts him instantly. "I saw you read my messages. Can't sleep either?"
"I was able to sleep some."
"I woke you up, didn't I?" He asked feeling guilty.
"No" She reassured. "I just woke up a moment ago."
"Good." He sat up on the couch then. "So."
"So." She's smiling like a fool. She's missed this; these late-night conversations with him.
"Can I interest you in a nice dinner with me tonight?" It had only been a little over a month since he had removed his wedding band, but he was itching to spend time with her again that wasn't work related.
She never expected to feel butterflies at her age, but then again, she shouldn't be surprised. This is Elliot, after all.
"If you're ready, I'm ready." She said softly.
"I'm ready." He confirmed.
"Then I'd love to go out with you, El."
"Okay then." He couldn't stop smiling.
"Okay then." She repeated back to him.
"I'll pick you up at 6?"
"It's a date." She whispered, still in disbelief.
"A date." He echoed. He took a moment to really let it sink in. He was going on a date with Olivia Benson. "You going to try to go back to sleep?"
"Probably not. You?"
"Nah. It'd just be a waste of time." He yawned then.
She let out a laugh. "You sure about that?"
He chuckled back. "Yeah, I'm only this relaxed when I'm talking to you."
"Noted. I guess I better not talk too much on our date tonight."
He laughed lightly. "Olivia." He paused to make sure she was listening. "The sound of you may relax me, but the sight of you does quite the opposite."
He swore he just heard her breath catch in the back of her throat. There was only silence on the other end of the line now though. 'Baby steps.' He thought. Maybe he'd try his hand again at flirting with her tonight.
"Liv, I'll let you get on with your day here. Thanks for talking with me. It really does help to hear your voice."
She silently thanked him for breaking the awkward silence she had created. She was not used to Elliot Stabler flirting with her outright. "Anytime, El." Her smile was back.
"I can't wait for tonight." He felt like a teenager.
"Me either." She sounded so blissful.
"I hope you have a good day." If she didn't, he'd fix that tonight, he thought.
"You too." Her eyes were closed now, waiting to hear his deep, gravelly voice once more to end the conversation.
"Hey."
"Yeah?" Her eyes opened again, surprised she didn't hear the words 'bye' or 'see you later' instead.
"I love you." He stated simply, as if they'd been exchanging those words back and forth for years.
Hearing those words from him would never get old, she thought. "I love you too."
"Bye, Liv."
"Bye." She hung up her phone, sunk deep into her pillow, and threw her arm up over her eyes. "God, I am hopelessly in love with that man." She admitted to herself and her empty bedroom.
She was applying lip gloss and checking in the mirror one last time to make sure her hair was in place when she heard a knock at her door. She turned towards Noah's room momentarily to say goodbye when she remembered that she had already dropped him off at Amanda's earlier. Amanda was kind enough to agree to hosting a sleepover with Noah and her girls. If she had to guess, Amanda knew she was going on a date tonight and knew exactly who she was going on a date with. Elliot and Fin were acting like little schoolboys, sharing plenty of secrets back and forth these days and recent weeks have proven that no secret is safe with Fin anymore.
She wasn't planning on keeping Elliot a secret from everyone. She just wanted to enjoy this first date with him and wanted to be able to absorb it all and process it afterwards. Even though tomorrow was Saturday, and she was off, Fin and Amanda would have no problem texting and calling her with 10 million questions about how her night went with Elliot. Who was she kidding? They knew. She'll definitely be waking up to those 10 million questions tomorrow.
She made her way to the door not wanting to keep him waiting any longer. She checked to make sure it was him. She smiled. On the other side of the door stood her handsome date, her former partner, her long-time best friend, and if she was being completely honest with herself, the love of her life. She took a deep breath and opened her door.
As soon as she opened the door to him, his eyebrows shot up and his mouth fell slightly agape. She wore a black dress that fell off her shoulders and the length of it stopped just above her knees. Around her neck was a solitaire diamond necklace with diamond earrings to match. She had on black heels that made her eye level with him. Her hair was curled in perfect waves and whatever perfume she had on smelled amazing. Perhaps that's what was making him feel so lightheaded. She was all class and absolutely stunning.
"Wow." He said, breathlessly.
"Too much?" She asked, surprisingly feeling a little shy now that it was all sinking in that Elliot Stabler was here to pick her up and take her on a date. A date in which they weren't on the job and undercover.
"No. You look great." He recovered. "You look beautiful, Liv."
"Thanks." She said, blushing.
He offered her his arm and she happily accepted.
She locked the door behind her and allowed Elliot to escort her to the elevators. When they made it to his car, he opened the passenger side door for her to get in. He was still a gentleman, just like she remembered. They were driving in a comfortable silence when she glanced over at his profile. This wave of elation suddenly washed over her. 'This is really happening.' She thought.
He felt her eyes on him, but he never turned to look at her and he never said a word. Instead, he kept his eyes on the road and allowed his hand to fall from the steering wheel and rest in between them, palm facing up. He smiled when he felt her hand fall into his and their fingers interlock.
Once they were settled at their table with a bottle of chilled Montepulciano, Elliot catches her stare and says, "So, tell me about yourself. What do you do for a living?" He smiles his smug little smile that she's all too familiar with.
She laughs out loud, and her eyes are filled with amusement. "You think you're so funny, don't you?"
"I try." He smiles back at her as he picks up the bottle and begins to pour them each a glass of wine.
"Thank you." She says politely and picks up the glass, swirling it a little.
"You're welcome." He picks up his glass and makes the same motions before raising it in her direction. "To the first of many date nights together. Cheers!" He clinked his glass with hers.
His eyes were sparkling now, and it made her heart feel like it was pounding out of her chest. "Cheers." She smiles and waits a beat. "Does that mean I'm guaranteed a second date?"
"As long as you wear that dress again."
She was in mid-sip when he hit her with that comment, and she inhaled the sip of wine into her lungs. She started coughing and covered her mouth with her napkin. He was grinning so hard at her.
"Elliot, you cannot flirt with me like that when I'm drinking or eating something."
Despite pressing his lips together to suppress his smile, he was still shamelessly grinning at her over the fact that a simple compliment from him made her choke on her drink.
Their waitress returned to take their order. Olivia listened while Elliot ordered for both him and her. He knew exactly what she liked and what sounded good. 'So much has changed', she thought to herself. She used to never let the guy order for her, but now, she decided she was over always having to be the tough, independent woman. She has more than proven her independence over the years and now she just wants to be taken care of from time to time. As the waitress walks away, she picks up her wine glass and makes a second attempt at a sip.
"Oh my God!" She exclaims.
"What?"
"This wine!"
"You like it?" He asks with excitement evident in his eyes.
"It's incredible." She declares.
"Good. I requested it just for us tonight. That bottle specifically." She gives him a somewhat quizzical look. "It's called Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. It's native to central Italy. It tastes its best when it reaches 20 plus years of age. That wine has been aging for 22 years. It was bottled in 1999, the year we met and became partners. The year I started falling in love with you."
She is awestruck. She looks at him with total admiration. She reaches across the table and grabs his hands. "Elliot Stabler, you are such a romantic." She teases him.
"Yeah, well, you're stuck with me and all my cheesy romance." He squeezes her hands lightly and winks at her.
"I wouldn't want it any other way." She smiles at him again.
"So, listen." He begins. "I have a couple surprises for you tonight."
She gives him a questioning look. "Surprises?"
He nods. "Don't get all worried. They're small. I didn't go out and buy you a Mercedes or anything."
She laughs a hearty laugh then. "Well for future reference, if you ever feel the need to go out and buy me a Mercedes, I won't be the one to spoil your fun."
He laughs back at her. "So, do you want your surprises before or after dinner?"
"How about after dinner when I have a full stomach and I can really appreciate them?"
"Deal." He agrees, still smiling at her. "Now, this isn't one of your surprises, but I received something in the mail the other day."
He pulls the envelope out of his jacket pocket and hands it to her.
She reads the front of the envelope, "It's addressed to Mr. Elliot Stabler and Ms. Olivia Benson." She looks up at him then.
"Open it." He encourages.
She carefully opens it still confused. It only takes 2 seconds before she realizes what it is. She looks back up at him. "An invitation to Fin and Phoebe's wedding."
He nods again.
"He has been unbelievable lately." She says more to herself than to him.
"I don't know, Liv. I think Fin is feeling so much love and happiness right now and he's just excited about life. He wants us to finally be together."
She studies him for a moment. "El." She knows he won't lie to her, but she still watches him carefully when she asks the question. "Does Fin know that you and I are on a date tonight?"
He briefly glances around the room before meeting her gaze again. "He knows I'm taking you out to dinner tonight, yes."
"Elliot." She says in a sigh.
"Come on. What's wrong with that? He's been a good friend to me. He welcomed me back with open arms, brought me up to speed, and he was the one who encouraged me to reach out to you before your award ceremony." He tried to reason with her.
"Which you didn't." She pointed out.
"Which I didn't." He acknowledged. "Liv, I don't want us to be a secret. Do you?"
"Of course not." She softened. "I just . . ." She paused for a moment to figure out how she wanted to explain this to him. "I feel like you may still be grieving and what if you decide down the road that this isn't what you expected or that you're not ready and you may never be ready to be with anyone else? It's so early, Elliot. This is date number one. I don't want them to see how happy I am and know that you're the reason why. It'll just make the looks of pity and the walking on eggshells around me that much more unbearable in the aftermath."
"Olivia, look at me." His voice was so deep.
Her eyes met his.
"I am absolutely still grieving." He made sure she was still listening before he continued. "I will grieve, and I will heal, and I will continue loving you every step of the way. As I mentioned before, I started falling in love with you long before I was ever grieving. You don't have to worry about me changing my mind on date number 2 or date number 20 or date number 200. It's not going to happen. I'm all in. Okay?"
She bites her lip and nods.
"Besides, I was planning on asking you to be my date to Fin and Phoebe's wedding anyway." He adds.
She smiles at him.
"I'll go easy on Fin. Amanda too." She gives in.
"Good." He loves this slightly less stubborn version of themselves. He takes his phone out of his pocket. "Can I get a picture of you for visual aid when I tell Fin all about that dress?" He was wearing that smug grin again.
"Elliot!" She exclaimed in astonishment.
He takes a sip of his wine before he points over her shoulder. "Here comes our food." He says with a straight face like nothing happened. He fixed his napkin on his lap and looked up at her with another self-satisfied smile.
She smiled and shook her head. This man would be the death of her. She was certain of it. As the waitress delivered their food, she began to wonder what surprises Elliot had in store for her later.