A/n: I've been thinking about writing the next chapter all week since I've last updated, so here it is!
"Liv! Wait…" Olivia heard his deep voice call after her. She sighed and stood still for a moment before turning around.
All she wanted for years after him leaving was to hear him say Liv. She melted a little each time she heard her nickname said from him over the years. He was the one to always calm her down with starting a sentence of Liv. She craved hearing his voice, seeing his face, feeling his presence around her.
Olivia eventually turned around and she was face to face with the one man that she wanted to be face to face for so long. She looked into his baby blues and felt all of the feelings she had for him all those years ago, resurface. She felt warm and dizzy. She wasn't sure if it was from the whiskeys she had polished off, or if it was all in her head and she was overacting. She pushed those feelings back down and wanted to scream while doing it.
"Liv…" Elliot sighed looking into her big brown eyes.
Elliot knew he fucked up, big time. He wanted to reach out so many times, and he always talked himself out of it. He always thought it was a bad idea, and that she wouldn't talk to him. He knew that he broke her heart. He knew that there was no way that she was even going to hear him out.
In this moment, all he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and hug her for the lifetime he owed her. Hug her for the length of time that he was absent in her life. Hug her until he felt like they could heal together. But he refrained, afraid of what she might do if he touched her.
He took in her beauty. He was always mesmerized by those eyes, the way her hair always perfectly fell against her shoulders, the laugh lines around her mouth, the lines that furrowed on her forehead when she was deeply invested in a case. She aged gracefully, and so beautifully. He missed hearing that laugh, that look when she was invested, the scent of that vanilla shampoo floating through the squad room. He had missed out on so many years of memories that they could've built together… And for what? Because he went into hiding after the shooting? Because he was a fucking coward for not being able to call her after leaving her?
Olivia made the first move. She placed her hand on his arm and closed her eyes and he instantly pulled her into him and held her tight and close to his body and felt her sobbing against his chest.
"Shh…" He whispered quietly and stroked the back of her head and closed his own eyes. "I'm so sorry… For everything… Liv… I-I.. Don't know what to say." He whispered again and felt her pull away and wipe her cheeks.
Olivia shook her head and made eye contact with him again. "Can we please get away from this bar?" She asked softly and he nodded and followed her moves.
They walked in silence, but still so in synch, to another bar a couple blocks down. It was quiet still when they sat across from each other, neither of them sure what to say still.
Elliot studied her again, trying to get a read of what she was thinking, what she was really feeling. He knew that it was going to be a shock just showing up unannounced, and he knew that she wasn't going to take it lightly. He knew that his arrival may send her into a downward spiral, and he hoped that it wouldn't. He hoped that with him being face to face with her would allow them to process everything, together.
Olivia made the move again; she took his hands into her owned and squeezed them for a moment and gave him a half smile. "I've really missed you, El.." She sighed and looked at him. "But why… Are you here? Out of all days?" She sighed and pulled her hands away and twiddled her own fingers under the table.
Elliot frowned when she pulled her hands away and continued to look at her. He wasn't sure what to say. He wanted to tell her that he saw her. He saw her in Paris. Out of all fucking places. The one place that he never thought she would be. The one time that he wasn't thinking of her, until he fucking saw her.
"Can I get you guys a drink?" The bar tender cut in and Elliot was relieved for half a second.
"Whiskey." They both said at the same time, that earned a small laugh from the both of them. The bartender nodded and headed back behind the bar and poured them glasses and placed them on their table and walked away.
"I was coming into town for a case." Elliot finally spoke.
Olivia was taken back and raised her eyebrow. "A case?" She asked confused. "I thought you quit the force? Where are you? A case?" She asked again trying to wrap her head around the words that just came out of his mouth.
Elliot took a long sip of his drink and nodded. "I uh.. Have been overseas.. Working Organized Crime. I was sent here on a case that we're almost finished through… It's uh.. Been a long time.. Since I've obviously been back to New York.." He stopped for a moment to confirm that she was still looking for more answers. "I quit SVU after…. The shooting.. And stayed low for a while. I tried to work on my marriage… That didn't work out. I was contacted by OC a year later of being off the radar and was asked if I could work this. I didn't expect it to ever land me back here."
Olivia tried to process everything that he had just said, but it felt like his words went in one ear and out the other. She finished her drink and ordered another and rubbed her face. "I can't believe this.." Olivia sighed and looked at him. "All of this time… you could have… Called me?" Olivia asked, and immediately regretted those words.
Elliot shook his head, "Liv.. Please.." He sighed. "Please believe me when I say I wanted to… I tried to so many times… And I backed out every time. I was an asshole for leaving you without a word."
Olivia laughed and rolled her eyes. "You think?" She hissed
"I deserve that." Elliot frowned and grabbed her hand again. "I have missed you every day that we weren't talking, seeing each other, laughing with each other."
Olivia sighed and pulled her hand away. She wanted nothing more than to hold that hand, forever.
"I saw you.. And Tu… Ed." Elliot spit out.
Olivia's eyes were wide at this point. "Excuse me?"