Influenza

Chapter Fifteen

Disclaimer: Sadly, no. The characters in this story are not mine... at all.

A/N: To AEROSnowDuckie: Wow... I've never been asked something like that before. But, ok. Sure. That's fine with me. Can't wait to see your thoughts.

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When he woke up the next morning, it was already bright outside and he was alone in the bed. As he glanced around the room he noticed that it had been straightened up, no longer did candles litter the tables and her side of the bed had been made. Further observation showed a light under the door that led into the kitchen. Deciding to find out what she was up to, he climbed out of the bed and made his way across the living room quietly.

Pushing the door open gently he peered into the kitchen. She was at the stove, cooking it seemed. A soft smile spread across his face and he stepped further into the room, "Good morning."

She turned around at the sound of his voice, took in the grin on his face, and rolled her eyes. "Sit down," she ordered, turning back to the stove. "Breakfast is almost ready."

Elliot complied and sat down at the small table in the corner of the kitchen, "What did you make?" he questioned.

"Pancakes and scrambled eggs," she informed him, her back still turned. "There is some orange juice in the fridge, if you want some."

He wasn't very thirsty so he remained in his seat, "I didn't know that you could cook."

"I can't," she said, turning to him with a smile, "not really. Pancakes and scrambled eggs is my breakfast special. For lunch, I make a fairly good grilled ham and cheese, or chef's salad. When it comes to dinner... I can make a few things, but mostly I'll just order out or have some kind of sandwich. I never really have the time or occasion for a fancy meal." She shrugged and turned back around.

"Oh..."

"So," she questioned, turning off the stove and piling off of the eggs she had been cooking onto a paper plate. "Where are we going to go tonight?"

Elliot frowned, he hadn't really thought of a place to go. When he had asked her out the night before it had been on a whim, no thoughts necessary and all that. "Um... where do you want to go?" You could never go wrong with asking where somebody else wanted to go– unless of course, they said the ever illusive 'It doesn't matter to me.'

"I don't know," she said with a shrug, "it doesn't really matter to me..."

A smile spread across his face, of course she would say that. "Well... what would you say your favorite kind of food is."

"You don't want to know."

"Yes I do, I asked, didn't I?"

Her eyes darted around the room, "...Chinese..."

Ah. There in lied the problem. Chinese was good for take-out, but it was definitely something he wasn't in the mood for when going out on an official first-date. "Ok... so what is your second favorite food?"

"Well, how about we skip that one, too? I doubt that you want to go to the little mom and pop restaurant down the street for burgers and fries. So, what about Italian?" She grabbed a pancake from the small stack she had made, then got some eggs to go with it, before drenching both with maple syrup. Elliot watched her amused, wondering how many of her mannerisms and idiosyncracies he'd be picking up in only the next couple of days.

"Italian sounds wonderful," he told her, getting up to make his own plate. As she passed him to the table he reached out and snaked his arm around her waist, pulling her close and being careful not to jostle the plate in her right hand.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a surprised yelp, her eyes growing wide and dancing with confusion.

"God, you're beautiful," he whispered thickly before capturing her lips with his own. She protested for a few seconds before melting into the embrace and reaching slightly behind her to drop her plate on the table and free her hands. With both free she brought them around his neck and pulled him closer to her, sighing happily into the kiss. She wasn't sure what had provoked it, but she certainly wasn't going to stop him if he got the desire to kiss her.

When he finally pulled back she smiled widely, "What was that for?"

"I hadn't kissed you all day..."

"It's 10:08 in the morning."

"That's over 10 hours..." he informed her, as if she couldn't have put two and two together on her own. "Ten hours is a long time."

"You were asleep for over 9 of those hours," she reminded him, a smile playing on her lips.

"Yeah, but I was dreaming of kissing you... it wasn't as good as the real thing."

She leaned in and kissed him briefly, "I'll bet."

"So," he said, letting her out of his arms so she could sit down and he could get something to eat. "How about Giovanni's?"

"Ok," she agreed. "We'll probably have to make reservations though, it might be packed."

"It's a Monday."

"And we live in one of the biggest, if not, the biggest, tourist trap on the East Coast... maybe even in the whole US. I'm sure it will be busy."

That was true. Every resturaunt, whether it was Giovanni's or Burger King was always packed in Manhattan, even if it was in the dead of winter and freezing cold outside. Possibly even snowing. "I'll call after I take a shower."

She nodded, it didn't really matter to her when he called, just that he did. This was going to be their first date and she wanted everything to be perfect, if there even was such a thing as perfection. Oh well, she could settle for nearly perfect, if need be. "How are the kids doing?"

"They're good, Kathleen wants to make you dinner again."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and Lizzie was asking for help to figure out some kind of science fair project the other night, when out of the blue, Kathleen comments that you loved science when you were in High School. Funny, I didn't even know that. I wonder how she did... Anyway, I think Lizzie is planning on asking you for help with it. Since I'm about as useless as they come with the subject."

Olivia smiled, nodding her head, "I'd love to help her– and Kathleen asked me one night. Is there something wrong with us talking?"

"No," Elliot assured her. "The complete opposite. I'd love you guys to be able to get closer to each other. I want them to know that just because I'm going to be in a relationship doesn't mean I won't have time for them anymore."

"Do they know?" Olivia questioned. How much had he told them? She hadn't even been sure of their status until the night before.

"Just that I won't be moping around and mourning the loss of my marriage. I think that Kathleen suspects something more though. The twins don't, as far as I know, and Maureen paretically told me that you and I should be a couple." He smiled lightly, "I have a feeling all four of them would be open to the idea."

"Really?"

He nodded, "Really."

A smile spread across her face and she took a bite of her pancakes. So his kids didn't blame her for their parents failed marriage and they would actually like the idea of her dating their father? That was odd and comforting at the same time. Maybe Elliot was right, maybe they were going to be just fine.

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Olivia shivered as another gust of chilly air brushed against her exposed skin. After being forced to park a block away from the restaurant they had, in turn, been forced to walk that block in the fifteen degree weather. She had brought a jacket to cover her bare arms, but from her knees down was uncovered and very cold. Elliot picked up on her discomfort and they began walking quicker to the restaurant. Once inside she slipped off her jacket, revealing her thick strapped black dress with a curved neckline. They let the front desk know that Elliot Stabler was here for his reservations and a minute or so later they were being seated.

"...So..." Elliot said, after the waitress had brought them their drinks. "This is nice."

She smiled in reply, "Yeah. It's definitely different."

"In a good way though, right?"

"In a good way," she assure him with a soft chuckle. "In a very good way."

Their waitress came back and took their orders, Elliot getting Shrimp Scampi and Olivia getting Chicken Alfredo. After that the woman left and they were once again left alone to talk. "How are we going to... you know, tell everybody at work?"

"I didn't know we were planning on doing so," Elliot replied with a shrug. "But, I guess the best thing is always honesty."

"What if Cragen splits us up?"

He shook his head, "Cragen knows how great we are together– he also knows that if he split us up we wouldn't be nearly as good as we are now." Giving her a reassuring smile he continued, "The last thing that you have to worry about is us not being partners, I promise."

She nodded, her unease slipping away, "They all think this has been going on for years, you know?"

Eliot sighed, "Yeah, I know. But they don't matter."

A smile tugged at the corners of her lips and she reached across the table, taking his hand into hers and giving it a brief squeeze. "So... what is this between us? Is it serious? You know, title worthy?" She tilted her head to one side and continued, "Do I call you my boyfriend now? Or... are we just experimenting to see where things lead?"

"I'd like to think of you as my girlfriend– but if you need some extra time before we get into that kind of relationship, I'm fine with it."

Olivia shook her head, "If you want to call me your girlfriend, I have nothing wrong with that."

A few minutes later their food was brought to t he table and the two began their dinner. After half an hour of talking about the job (or at least the less gruesome part) and his kids, they left the restaurant, headed back to her place. The drive home was relatively quiet, and when he reached her apartment complex he pulled into a open space and turned off the car.

"So..."

"That was nice."

He grinned, "Yeah... I think that we've already established that."

She looked up at her apartment, "...Do you want to come up? Have a cup of coffee or something?"

"I don't think I should," he told her with a brief smile. "I want to take things slow..."

"I wasn't suggesting that we–"

"I know," he said, cutting her sentence short. "I just don't really trust myself– alone with you like that..."

"We've been alone together before," she reminded him.

"Yeah, and it was really hard for me to contain myself... you remember."

Olivia's mind traveled back to months before, when the two of them had been sick with the flu and taking care of each other the best they could. His kiss alone had been enough to get her to throw away all of her rules and give in to temptation and she could only imagine what more could do now that most of those previous rules no longer applied. "Maybe you're right..." she sighed, looking back up at her apartment. "I should probably get inside before it starts to snow."

"Yeah," he said with a sigh of his own. "But first..." suddenly his hand grabbed her arm gently and he tugged at it, turning her around enough so that he could catch her lips with his. She moaned into the embrace, everything that had happened while they were sick crashing down and bouncing around her in mind. Those were not the thoughts to be having while she was kissing him, especially if they wanted to take things slowly. He was going to learn how to not catch her off guard like that, because his plan was quickly crumbling.

She pulled away, gasping for air and fighting the shiver, that had nothing to do with the weather, that was traveling down her spine. "...Wow..." she breathed, regaining her composure. "Don't do that again– at least not for awhile."

He grinned, understanding why she had said so. "Sorry."

"Oh... you really don't need to be."

"You should get inside..."

"Yeah."

But she didn't move out of the car.

"Am I inside yet?"

He shook his head with a grin, "Nope."

"Shit." she cursed, a grin of her own tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"Goodnight, Olivia."

She leaned forward and very briefly brushed her lips against his, "'Night, El."

With that she did finally leave the car, heading for the door that led into her building without looking back. Both knew that wouldn't be the smartest thing to do, so Elliot wasn't concerned. When he was sure that she was inside he turned his key in the ignition and took off down the road, headed for his apartment and a very cold shower.

XXXX

A/N: You guys are lucky this chapter is out right now, because it was a butt to write and I was almost ready to quit for the night and just finish it tomorrow. But, it is 11:16 PM and I am finally done with this chapter. Ugh. I hate it when I get writers block! Anyway, let me know what you think.
Woot! I broke 200 reviews for this story (and at only 14 chapters!) You guys who have reviewed are awesome, thank you so much:) :)