Chapter 10
Olivia almost jerked away in surprise at his last words, but held her spot. Thinking furiously, she said the only words she could think of. "But why wouldn't you, El? Twenty years is a long time to give up on." The fingers of her right hand unconsciously smoothed small circles on his side. The movement was a comfort to both of them.
Elliot took a deep breath and spread his fingers to lace them with Olivia's. Here goes nothing. "What if I've been remembering my young partner's heartfelt speech about soul mates? What if my heart is pulling me in another direction?" He felt another sudden intake of breath as the weight of those words hit her. He held onto her hand tightly, but he needn't have feared. Olivia's fingers then tightened around his as did her arm around his torso.
He shivered as she said quietly into his ear, "But you mocked your partner when she imparted her hard-earned wisdom to you on that subject." He hesitated as he thought how to reply and felt her begin to lean away, but he held her hand tightly to stay her movement.
"Elliot, it's okay, I'm not going anywhere. You're fine. Now answer me. You mocked that comment long ago. Why change your tune now?" Olivia squeezed his hand and brought her other arm up from around his back to rest that hand below his neck.
His brain was fried. That had to be it. Scared of the changes that seemed to be moving fast, his brain couldn't seem to engage his mouth. She didn't push him away. She was hugging him. Maybe he had just passed out and oxygen deprivation had him all muddled. He came back to the present when her right hand gently rubbed small circles on his skin at the back of his neck above the t-shirt. "Hey, you here, partner?" He could hear the grin in her voice. "You never answered me."
Elliot's brain finally caught up to the moment and he replied, "Maybe I just couldn't see the forest for the trees in that conversation, Liv." He turned his head so he could look over at her. "After all, in that same conversation you also hinted that you lost your virginity at almost seventeen. I may have been unnaturally locked onto that information for a bit. Which, in turn, made me upset with myself because as a married man, there's no way I should have been dwelling on that information. Then I couldn't stop thinking about it because I kept thinking how lucky that guy was."
Olivia grinned at the serious look on his face. "You're right, he was lucky. I sure wasn't. Decided then and there that if that's all it was supposed to be, the books sure had it all wrong."
"That's just wrong, 'Livia." A yawn caught him by surprise. "Oh God, it's early yet."
"It's the heat, the cognac and mainly all the exercise." He moved to get up but her arms tightened around him. "Stay, El. I've got one question for you." He looked over at her curiously. "Nothing is going to happen now, but if you decide to follow through with what I think your words mean, I'll be here. Okay?"
A bright, contented smile graced his face. "It's more than I think I have the right to hope for, Liv...I'm not changing my mind."
"Then before we go to sleep, I think we can get away with this." He watched her lean into him, a warm, sleepy look in her eyes before they closed and her lips grazed gently and slowly across his. His eyes watched hers open again and the most beautiful smile lit up her face. He knew it had to match the one on his. "That's it?" he teased.
She pinched his side in retaliation and smiled. "Elliot. You and I both know that if it were any more than that and we'd be making our way up to the master bedroom. And neither of us is ready for that. Now, go to sleep."
"Yeah, right. You expect me to go to sleep after...." Another yawn erupted. "Shit. That?"
Olivia giggled at him. "Somehow, I don't think it's going to be a problem," she said.
"Okay, but this is torture." Elliot moved to stand up. "As much as I'd love to fall asleep right here, Liv, let's go upstairs. I think I need another shower right now." Olivia continued to chuckle. Damn, I'm better than I thought.
She stood up when he reached a hand out to her and pulled her into a hug. Kissing her on the forehead, he said, "Go to bed. I'll put out the fire and then I'll be up."
"Okay, but there's still more to talk about in the morning before Gilson gets here. I think you know more about the kids' reaction to all this than you are letting on."
"Yeah, we'll talk at breakfast." He turned away from her but not before she saw the evidence of how that one little kiss had affected him. Life is certainly going to get very interesting. She turned and headed for the mudroom to collect their clean clothes from the dryer and then went upstairs.
Elliot turned to bank the fire for the night. Jeezus. One little kiss and this is how it affects me. She's going to eventually kill me. He finished with the fireplace, turned to flick off the lights and followed her upstairs. He stopped at the landing and glanced down at her room, wishing he could go there, but eventually deciding that his own room would be better. Our time will happen. First things first. He flipped off the hall light and entered his room.
Olivia laid on her back and stared at the ceiling, a somewhat silly grin on her face as she listened to the shower turn on down in Elliot's room. God, it'd been so tempting to drag him back to her room like some cavewoman. Not that she thought it'd have taken much dragging on her part, considering that she was pretty sure that the shower he was currently in was a cold one. But, and she sobered a bit, now was not the time. He had too many other things on his plate. They would just have to be patient and see what the future held for them. Not that she regretted that little kiss. No, that wasn't a mistake at all. Maybe a little bit premature, but, what the hell. She rolled over on to her side and buried herself under the covers. A small smile took up residence on her face as she slowly fell asleep.
At the opposite end of the hall a while later, Elliot stepped from the shower he'd purposely set for cold and toweled off before stepping into his sweats. Walking into the room from the small bathroom, he hesitated at the bed and looked towards the door. Taking a moment to think, he tossed the towel on the bed and walked down the hallway towards Olivia's room. Slowing to a stop at her open doorway, he glanced inside the darkened room. The room was warm from the small fire she had evidently started before crawling into bed. The light from the fireplace cast a warm, moving glow about the room. Seeing her bundled up under the covers, he could barely make out the top of her head, so he quietly approached the side of the bed and knelt down beside it. His hand hesitated as it moved forward slowly to gently move the cover away from her face so he could look at her. He could see the rapid movement of her eyes beneath their lids and knew that she was deeply asleep. Elliot crossed his arms on the mattress and rested his chin on them as he looked at her for a few moments, never staring hard; as a cop, he knew she'd wake immediately if her body felt anything out of order around her. A couple of minutes passed and he sighed. Taking one last look at her, he softly whispered, "I think I'm in love with you, Liv. Please give me time to work everything out." With that, he stood and walked quietly out of the room back to his own. As he walked away, he didn't see two tear-shiny dark brown eyes open or hear the quiet, "Me, too."
Back in his room, Elliot sat down on the bed and sighed heavily. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, and he'd need to speak to Cragen about his offer of staying with him. Not that he wouldn't have preferred to stay with Olivia, but he wasn't about to besmirch her name so obviously through what was going to become a spectacle within the precinct. The farther he could keep her away from it, the better for the future. He looked over at the clock for the time and saw the phone sitting next to it. Grinning evilly, he reached behind the phone and disconnected the cord. As much as he loved his partner, she could answer the phone in the morning since he had this morning. Swinging his legs around, he slid under the covers and got comfortable. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he let himself relax and mentally replayed the earlier conversation downstairs. By the time he got to their kiss, he was sound asleep.
The annoying sound just wouldn't go away. One long, thin arm reached out and felt around for the stupid contraption that was pissing her off. Snagging the receiver, she dragged it back under the covers.
"'ello?" she said in a voice still laden with sleep.
"Detective Benson? It's Chief Gilson."
Coming awake immediately, she pushed the covers down and rolled to her back. Rubbing her hand across her eyes, she said, "I'm sorry, Chief. What is it about the area that makes you sleep so soundly up here? At home, the phone going off one time would have me awake immediately."
Gilson chuckled. "I think it's because you're relaxed, Detective. How long has it been since you've had a vacation?"
"Oh God, don't ask. I don't think I could tell you," she groaned.
"That's why you're sleeping so deeply. Your body has realized that it can relax. You'll have to come back here when you can have a real vacation. Just let me know and I'll put you in contact with my sister."
Olivia grinned. "To be honest, Chief, Elliot was right when he said I'd have to be dragged out of here kicking and screaming. I want to box up the master bath, the downstairs fireplace, and the kitchen and take them home with me."
Gilson laughed cheerfully. "I'll pass that along to Ginny. Glad we could make our screw up so pleasant for you and Detective Stabler. I hope his troubles were solved."
"For the moment, Chief." They were silent for a moment.
"Reason I was calling was to let you know that I can pick the two of you up around eleven to get you back over here to the station. DA Robeson arrived back late last night, so I think we can get everything solved and get the three of you on the road back south."
Olivia looked over at the clock and saw that it was nearly half past nine. "That'll be fine, Chief. They've managed to clear the roads?"
"Not that you'd be able to tell looking out your windows, but yes, the main highways are salted and open. Just take it easy. I'd say your six hour drive is going to be closer to eight, but you should make pretty decent time."
"Thanks, Chief. We'll see you at eleven."
"Not a problem, Detective. See you then." With that, Gilson and Olivia both hung up.
Squinting a bit and thinking, Olivia rose from the bed and padded down the hallway to Elliot's room. Looking in the doorway, she saw him stretched out on his stomach in bed with the covers bunched at his waist, inadvertently showing off the smooth skin and muscles of his back. Swallowing tightly at the sight before her, she walked quietly over to the bedside table. Following a hunch, she reached behind the phone and ended up with an unplugged phone cable in her hand. That bastard, she thought evilly. I'll fix his wagon. Glancing around her, she spotted her ammunition. Picking up the two throw pillows off the armchair she turned around and stood a step away from the bed. Pulling back her right arm, she took aim and flung the pillow at Elliot's head. She quickly sent the second one sailing towards him.
"What the he—" he shouted in surprise as he awoke immediately and rolled over believing that some enemy had invaded the room as he was bombarded. Rubbing his eyes, he looked up to see his sleep-rumpled partner with a hand over her mouth trying to stifle the giggles that were trying to escape.
"What the hell was that for, Liv?" he demanded as laid back against the pillows.
She simply raised her left hand which held the unplugged phone cable. Managing to stop laughing, she said, "For this, you bastard. You unplugged your phone last night."
He grinned and raised his arms to nonchalantly place his hands under his head. He watched her eyes widen slightly in what he hoped was satisfaction. "Of course, I did, Liv. It was your turn to grab the phone. You've been sleeping like a rock up here, so I decided it was you Gilson would get to talk to this morning."
Her eyes snapping back to his face from their previous journey, she said, "That was mean, Elliot. It's about 9:30 again, so get up and dressed. Gilson's going to be here around eleven. Oh, and as much as I love that scruffy mug of yours? Shave." She turned and headed towards the door. She needed to get out of there quick, before her body betrayed her and made her attack him.
"Hey! Don't I get a morning kiss?" he asked mischievously as he sat up. He watched her stop and turn slowly to face him. He could see the slightly nervous look in her eye and the way her tongue snuck out to lick her lips.
"Elliot," she said quietly. "Not that I don't want to desperately; but if we did, do you honestly think we'd leave this room?" She watched him think that through.
"Probably not," he sighed.
Olivia grinned. "There's no 'probably' about it, El. We wouldn't. Now get cleaned up and dressed. I'm going to find something for breakfast before I get dressed." She turned around again and walked out the door.
Elliot rose and headed into the bathroom for a quick shower. Well, he thought. At least we were both on the same wavelength.