[Thank you so very much for the reviews, the follows and the favorites. It's making me really happy that you are enjoying the story so far. Shall we continue?]
Amanda stepped into the interrogation room in anticipation. Her eyes immediately fell on the other occupant of the room; the one who asked her there.
"We got ourselves in quite a situation, didn't we?" Amanda smiled hesitantly. The smile left her lips when she realized that the woman from last night wasn't in the room. Gone were the pleasant warm smiles, their funny little jokes they shared in the privacy of Amanda's home, and the strong connection she felt towards this stranger she met the night before had disappeared. In her place stood a woman hidden behind high impenetrable walls, designed to keep everyone out, and a hard mask put in place for the purpose of hiding all emotion and reactions.
"Did you know?" Olivia inquired.
"Of course not, Olivia." Amanda scoffed at the implied accusation.
"It's Detective Benson." The brunette corrected with a pretend superiority causing Amanda to roll her eyes. She could see past that façade but she couldn't pretend that the correction didn't hurt her pride or her feelings.
"Right. No, Detective!" I didn't know. I only found out when I read the card. That's why I sent you the text." Amanda crossed her arms in front of her chest, leaning against a wall. "I don't appreciate being treated as a suspect. I really felt something between us yesterday and I don't regret any of it, but I can see that you have." Amanda concluded, staring intently at Olivia.
"I was in a bad place." Olivia stated and took a seat, resting her elbows on the table. She leaned her face forward letting her hair hide half of her face.
"So I took advantage of your emotional state? Is that what you are saying?" Amanda asked, feeling a second away from an outburst.
"Oh no no. That's not what I meant. If anything I asked you to and you did ask me if I was sure, like three four times. That was very considerate of you."Olivia explained stoically but unable to look Amanda in the eyes. "It was a lack of judgment on my part. I think it would be best if we forgot it ever happened." The brunette concluded, pushing her palms against the table and standing up.
"You can't be serious. I can't be the only one that felt there was something there."
"I am afraid you are. I am sorry." Olivia cleared her throat, crossed the room walking past Amanda. When she reached for the door handle, she stopped short and turned slightly towards the blonde still unable to look her in the eye. "And about everything I confined in you-"
Amanda lifted a hand to stop her. "Don't worry. I would never betray the trust of the woman I met on that bar." She assured her, making sure that Olivia knew she wasn't fooled by that ridiculous act. That caught Olivia's attention like Amanda intended. The brunette entered the blonde's personal space and pressed a finger against her chest. "You don't know me, Rollins. Don't pretend that you do just because of the night we shared. Are we clear?"
"Crystal." She responded, lifting her chin a bit. Olivia was clearly trying to intimidate her and for the time being Amanda would pretend that she had managed that. She quite enjoyed that little flame that appeared in Olivia's eyes when she got angry.
If Olivia wanted to pretend that there was nothing between them, who was Amanda to argue, right?
"Good." Olivia nodded with satisfaction and slammed the door behind her, making Amanda flinch in the process. She glared at the door for a good five minutes before leaving the room as well. When she returned to the Squad room, Olivia was sitting behind her desk filling her paperwork as if nothing had happened. Amanda wondered how it was so easy for the older detective to ignore her own feelings or even push them back. Maybe she should take notes if she wanted to last in this job but at the same time, Amanda couldn't handle the disappointment that followed their discussion, so when Captain Cragen asked for a detective to interview a victim at Bellevue Hospital, Amanda offered to go before anyone else had the chance. When she got the okay from the Captain, she grabbed her jacket and left without a word in dare need of fresh air.
Amanda didn't notice the pair of chocolate brown eyes that followed her exit but the Captain certainly did, which was why he sent Fin with the new detective instead of Olivia like he planned. The tension between the two was too apparent in his eyes and after working with Olivia for years, the decision to keep them apart for a few days seemed like the safest bet.
Cases opened and closed as the days went by but the relationship between the two detectives remained strictly professional, even though Olivia was especially rude and abrupt at times. Most of the Squad members believed it was because she was still mourning after her ex partner. Amanda had caught a few officers discussing it but she wasn't an idiot. She knew it wasn't all about that. Olivia was particularly harsh with her by criticizing her ideas or shooting them down entirely. Apparently, she wasn't as good at ignoring her feelings as Amanda thought. It was as if she was blaming Amanda for Elliot's departure, but that wasn't the case. For starters, Nick was the one who resumed the position of Olivia's partner and Olivia was quite friendly with him.
Amanda wanted to talk to her about that but the detective, when she didn't doubt her or shoot down her ideas, she straight up avoided her. It had become ridiculous to the point of getting on Amanda's nerves. Every time Amanda approached her, Olivia came up with an excuse to bolt. That was until Munch unknowingly presented her with the perfect opportunity to be alone with the brunette.
One thing Amanda wasn't expecting was Olivia's agreement to play the part of Amanda's life partner, but as it turned out Olivia always put her work over her pride. The information they would gather from their little act could be crucial for their case and they couldn't let that go to waste.
With that in mind, the two detectives made their way into the New York Cryogenics and approached the reception. Olivia played her part so well that Amanda felt the urge to speak up about how good of a liar she was. Instead she remained silent cursing her heart for betraying her by skipping a beat when Olivia wrapped her fingers around her hand.
Her heart was screaming at her of how good it felt to be enveloped by the other woman's warmth, which only intensified dangerously when Olivia let go of her hand and wrapped her arm around her waist. She found herself leaning closer to the other detective offering her affection freely. If anyone asked she would blame it to a successful attempt of playing her part convincingly.
When they returned to the car with the information they needed, Amanda glanced at Olivia wondering if it would be the right time for the conversation she wanted to start.
"Are you gonna stare for the rest of the drive or are you going to tell me what is bothering you, Rollins?" Olivia smirked, keeping her eyes on the road. She seemed to be in a good mood so Amanda decided to go for it. While the seconds ticked by, Amanda realized that her hesitation had rendered her speechless. "You asked me to talk multiple times by now and I kept dodging you." Now's your chance." Olivia pointed out, smirking.
"Why do you always call me Rollins?"
"That's what you wanted to talk about?" Olivia inquired, furrowing her eyebrows. "I didn't even realize I was doing it."
"Come on, Olivia. You may think that I am not a good detective but I noticed how you go to great lengths to avoid calling me Amanda. You almost said it once and you immediately corrected it." Amanda pointed out, pursing her lips. "It's as if you are afraid of my own name because it might cause a change in our strictly professional relationship."
"First of all, you are a damn good detective-"
"Your criticism for my work could have fooled me." Amanda interrupted her with a sad smile. "The amount of times you showed me that you don't trust my judgment…" she let the words drag out and interlace with her disappointment.
The older detective tightened her grip on the steering wheel uncomfortably. She knew Amanda was right, like she knew she wouldn't be able to slip out of it without a proper explanation. "Okay. You are right. I let my personal feelings affect my professionalism towards you and I am sorry. You are one of the best detectives I have ever worked with." She paused, breathing out a long sigh. "It won't be an issue again. I promise."
"What feelings? I thought there were no feelings." Amanda's eyes widened at Olivia's slip. She was right about their shared night no matter how hard Olivia denied it.
"That's what you got from everything I said?" Olivia rolled her eyes exasperated with the blonde's stubbornness.
"Well yeah. It is the reason behind your behavior, isn't it?" Amanda questioned, raising a perfect eyebrow. It was hard to keep the knowing smirk from her lips but there was nothing she could do. Being proven right was a guilty pleasure of hers.
"It's… complicated."
"Complicated." Amanda repeated disappointed and looked away. As it turned out, starting the highly anticipated discussion should have been avoided; it only resulted in a disheartened Amanda. "Got it." The blonde nodded realizing that they arrived at the precinct. She opened the door but before she had the chance to get out, a hand around her wrist stopped her.
"Amanda, don't take this the wrong way." Olivia muttered. For a moment the blonde stared back into the warm eyes of the woman she had met that night. She was there; close enough to touch, to hug, but still out of reach, and even though Amanda wanted to get mad and lash out, she couldn't; not while those eyes stared back begging her to understand.
With a deep sigh she covered the other woman's hand and smiled. "It's okay. I understand. Just promise me that you will drop the 'senior detective with a grudge' act. It's getting old."
"I promise." Olivia squeezed her hand with a relieved smile. If only Amanda knew that this particular smile was gonna come back and bite her in the ass…
"Good. I'll go give the news to Munch while you park. See you upstairs?" Amanda offered and waited for the brunette's nod before closing the door behind her and making her way inside.
They were going to be okay, right?