Once again, thank you for reading and reviewing! I love hearing your thoughts and I'm always open to suggestions. I didn't plan on this date being so lengthy, but I envisioned so much for their first date. I also like to progress my stories through the characters' dialogue. Do we want to see a little less dialogue? I'm also thinking of doing some time hopping (maybe closer to Fin's wedding) after the conclusion of this date. Please let me know your thoughts! All input is greatly appreciated. As always, enjoy!

She was stuffed. The food was excellent, almost as delicious as the wine. Tonight had been perfect. She found herself wishing it didn't have to end. Her eyes finally settled back on him from across the table. He was already looking at her. "What are you thinking?" She asked.

"About how much I've enjoyed spending the evening with you. How I don't want it to end." He answered honestly.

She couldn't hide the smile that slowly spread across her face. Even after 10 years apart, even after changing the dynamic of their relationship, they were still so in sync. It was breathtaking.

"Where's my surprises?"

He laughed. "Wait right here."

He rose from their table and made his way towards the door. She watched him go and let out a peaceful sigh as she finally allowed herself to be enveloped in the pure happiness that she felt chasing her tonight.

Her mind began to wander as she watched him walk out the door. She missed being his partner so much. She'd often dreamt of the stakeouts, the undercover operations, the interrogations, him bringing her coffee before he sat down across from her at their desks, late nights spent in the squad room going through every piece of evidence with a fine-tooth comb. She was permitted to so much of his time and attention then. How could anything possibly be better than a partnership with Elliot Stabler? How could she ever find that kind of true contentment in life again?

These thoughts, of course, came long before she ever imagined she could have a romantic relationship with him. She had accepted long ago that anything more than a friendship with him just wasn't in the cards for her, no matter how much her heart secretly ached for it. Everything had unexpectedly and drastically changed though. Without question, her heart broke for Elliot and his children. She felt a desperate need to erase their devastation and mend their broken hearts. If only she could go back in time and save their wife and mother, she would gladly sacrifice this happiness if it meant she could save her for them one more time. She just loved them all so much.

"Hey" He could tell she was lost in thought.

Her eyes snapped up to his in surprise. "Hey." She answered back. "That was fast."

He smiled at her. "You okay?"

She returned a reassuring smile. "I'm more than okay." She answered softly. She really was, she decided. She was with him and she was happy and that was okay. She couldn't change what happened to the Stablers and she couldn't change the past, but she could be there for them.

He studied her a moment longer to make sure she wasn't withholding anything.

"What do you have behind your back there? Is it the keys to my new Mercedes?" She grinned at him and immediately the lightheartedness returned.

"I got you this." He said as he brought a small gift bag out from behind his back and sat it on the table.

For a moment, she just stared at the little, navy blue gift bag filled with white tissue paper and silver ribbon hanging from the handle in perfect curls. "You got me a gift and you wrapped it? What's the occasion?"

"Well, I wouldn't say I wrapped it. I put it in a bag." He tried his best to make it sound more casual than it was.

"You wrapped it." She beamed at him.

"Okay, I wrapped it." He conceded, smiling back at her. Seeing her smile like that made his stomach somersault. "Anyway…" He started. "I got you that," he directed his line of vision to the gift bag, "because you won this." He revealed his other hand that he had hiding behind his back.

Her eyes widened in genuine surprise. In his hands he held a plaque: NYPD Women in Law Enforcement- Awarded to Capt. Olivia Benson.

"My award." She stated obviously, but her eyes translated a hint of confusion. She brought her eyes up to meet his. "How did you-?"

"I told them I was your boyfriend." He stated simply.

Her eyes doubled in size now. "You what?!"

He laughed then. "I'm kidding. I flashed my badge and told them I was your partner. They asked me to extend their congratulations."

She still wore a shocked expression.

"I took your big night away from you." He begins.

"Elliot, you-"

"I just want to give you this moment." He said in a rush. "I want you to accept this award and acknowledge what a big deal this is. You've achieved yet another huge accomplishment. I want to celebrate you and make this special." He felt his nerves start to ignite at the way she was looking at him now.

She was speechless and fighting back tears.

"Okay, one second." He promised before grabbing his phone and pressing a button. A second later, "Hey man! You ready?"

"The gang's all here." Fin answered.

Elliot looked back to Olivia then. Her eyes did that 'doubling in size' thing again. He smiled and positioned his phone on the table to face her.

Looking back at her was a room filled with everyone she held near and dear to her heart: Fin, Noah, Amanda, Carisi, and Kat. "Hi, Liv!", "Hi, Mom!" She heard from the group. She couldn't hold it in any longer. The pesky tears finally broke free and raced down her cheeks.

Elliot sat down beside her in front of the camera and offered her a tissue.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"You're welcome." He rubbed her back soothingly and gave her a minute. "So." He cleared his throat. "At this time, I would like to officially present this prestigious award, NYPD Women in Law Enforcement, to the incredible Captain Olivia Benson of Manhattan's Special Victims Unit."

She locked eyes with him as she accepted her award, their hands brushing in the process. After a long moment, she peeled her eyes away from his and turned back to the phone screen.

"Congratulations!" She heard in unison from her son and her team, along with their clapping.

"I can't believe you're all here." She spoke to the group. "Noah, you were in on this?" She turned her attention to her son.

"They told me it was a surprise! I didn't want to ruin it." Noah defended himself.

"Good man." Elliot chimed in.

She flashed a quick smile at Elliot and then faced her boy again. "I love you."

"I love you, Mom." Noah reciprocated.

"Thank you all for getting together tonight on my account. It means a lot to me. I wouldn't be where I am today, accepting this award, without all of you." She turned her attention to Elliot again and gently squeezed his thigh under the table. "You too."

He did his best to conceal how her hand on his thigh was affecting him and just smiled at her.

Fin's voice brought them out of their reverie. "We'll let you two get on with your night. Congratulations again, Liv."

"Thank you." She responded dreamily.

"Thanks, man. I appreciate your help." Elliot spoke with sincerity.

"Anytime." Fin responded smiling back at them. He ended the call then.

She turned back to Elliot. "I don't deserve you."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's the other way around." He told her seriously. "Here. Open this." He handed her the navy gift bag.

She held his stare as she reached inside the bag and pulled out a little black velvet box. She looked down at the box and then back up to him. He smiled at her encouragingly and she slowly opened the box.

He heard her sharp intake of breath.

"Elliot." She whispered.

It was a solid white gold vertical bar necklace with a diamond at the bottom. On the side was engraved, "P4L".

"You know, I thought a lot about what to engrave on the side." He told her staring at the necklace now. "I decided on P4L because, well, we are partners for life, Liv." His eyes found hers again. "When I hear the word 'partner', you're the only one that comes to mind. You're the partner of a lifetime." He held his breath waiting for her reaction.

"El." She cupped his cheek. "I love it."

He leaned into her touch. They never touched like this before. He thought he'd be able to take things slow with her, but once again, he was only kidding himself. Those dark brown eyes were making his head spin. He was doubtful that he'd be able to break free from the pull this time, but somehow, he found his voice.

"I'm glad you like it." He finally spoke.

She let her hand drop from his cheek to his shoulder, and then run down his arm to hold his hand. "You know," She started. "I did have another partner after you." She watched him visibly swallow the lump in his throat. "He taught me that it was possible for me to work with other people and the world wouldn't end, no matter how much it felt like it already had." She chuckled lightly then. "He wasn't you though . . . and I made sure he knew it from day one." She watched as the smile slowly grew back across his features. "You're my one true partner, El." She squeezed his hand. "My partner for life." She whispered.

His eyes filled against his will. He swiped quickly at the tears that were about to escape and took a shaky breath. He glanced down at the necklace and then back up to her. "May I?" He asked.

She nodded.

He removed the necklace from the box, and she turned in her chair so her back was facing him. He brushed her hair to one side and watched as goosebumps surfaced across her skin. He placed the necklace around her neck and carefully clasped it together.

She turned back to face him and looked down to admire her new piece of jewelry. It hung just below her diamond solitaire necklace. It was beautiful and she loved the personalized touch he had added to it. "It's so beautiful. Thank you, El."

He smiled at her. "Just like you." He watched as she broke eye contact with him and started to blush. "I have one more thing to give you."

Her eyes jumped back up to his. "I really hope you're joking."

He let out a strong laugh. "I promise it's small. I didn't even wrap it." He reached into his pants pocket to retrieve it and held it out to her.

She eyed his offering before finding his eyes again.

"It's a key to my apartment." He explains. "My door is always open to you, Liv. Noah too. I want to see more of you both. Stop by day or night, any hour. You never have to text or call. Just . . . show up." He finishes apprehensively, trying to gauge her reaction.

"Elliot, are you sure?" Her voice was laced with emotion. Unbelievably, the sentiment of this gift rocked her harder than her new necklace she received just moments ago.

"I'm sure." He confirmed. "I talked to Eli, he's fine with it. He enjoys spending time with Noah. Plus, I don't want you to worry about me. I'm taking care of that thing." He cleared his throat then. "My PTSD. I'm talking to someone about it." He couldn't meet her eyes then. He knew it was silly, but a part of him was embarrassed to admit that he needed help. "I wanted you to be able to stop by if you were ever worried or felt like I wasn't being 100% open with you. I'm going to try to be. I'm hoping you stop by more often just because though." He smiled almost shyly at her now.

She framed his face with her hands. "I'm so glad you're talking to someone. I am so proud of you, El." He closed his eyes then, overwhelmed from hearing once again that she still cared, really cared about him. "And just for the record . . ." He heard her continue. "I will always worry about you." She released his face and rested a hand on his forearm. "Thank you for all of these incredibly thoughtful gifts." She paused. "And for tonight."

He opened his eyes again, focusing on her hand resting on his arm. "You deserve so much more than I could ever give you." He finally brought his eyes back up to meet hers.

She just shakes her head at him. "You really don't know, do you?"

She studies him for a moment, watching his eyebrows furrow in question.

"You're all I ever wanted." She admits in a whisper.

The expression on his face instantly turned into a mixture of surprise and want. She watched as his entire demeanor changed before her eyes. His ocean blue eyes drifted down to her lips before slowly making their way back up to her stare.

"You ready to get out of here?" His voice is a whole octave lower.

She swallows her nerves and nods.

He throws cash on the table without ever breaking eye contact with her. He rises from his seat and collects her award and gift bag before offering her his hand. Her hands are slightly shaking now, but she finds the confidence to place her hand in his and allow him to lead them out of the restaurant.