February 18, 2022

Prompt: "I expect this from everyone else but not from you."

Elliot picked up the old cell phone he found in a box of stuff Maureen had found in the attic of their old house. The cell phone was old, but still charged up once he found a charger that actually worked.

He flicked through all the old text messages not bothering to read any of them. He'd already decided he would never go back and look at any of them; he was sure they would all be messages asking where he was and why he left. He knew some where probably messages sent in anger and hurt. Anger and hurt from the very partner he had left to save. He had chosen to leave and save her from being tainted by his screw ups. He scoffed. The words still stung even years later. But, he had chosen to leave in the end thinking that maybe, just maybe, IAB was right. Olivia deserved to further her career and not have a partner that would drag her down with him.

His scrolling was interrupted by one last notification of a missed call. He looked as the caller ID flashed Olivia Benson. He checked the date and realized the call had come come in the day he had turned the old phone off and thrown it in the very box that had been shoved away into an attic corner for the last 10 years. He considered his options and decided to press play. He braced himself for her anger, but what he didn't expect was the small, defeated voice he heard, "I expected this from everyone else but not you Elliot." He heard a choked sob before the line went dead. His heart broke at the sound of her voice and the sound of broken promises. Promises made over the 13 years they were partners. In an instant he knew he had been wrong. IAB had been wrong. He should have never left her or cut her off completely. What he said to her that night in the hospital was right, "If I had heard your voice, I wouldn't have been able to leave." Had he heard that message even after choosing not to speak with her, he would have never have left or believed any of the words IAB could throw at him. He would have gone to her and talked. He would have chosen a different path and path in this universe.

He picked up his phone and dialed the number he would never be able to forget; he let out a breath as the call was answered, "Liv!"

McWriterEO