Hi all! Here is chapter 2! I wanted to get it up ASAP because I feel like this story needs to be told soon. I love this song so much, and I am so excited to get it out in the open! Here is chapter 2 of Hunger!

Wearing less than you wore before…

Elliot.

Elliot was standing right outside her door. It had been over a year and a half, and she was seeing him for the first time since the shooting. Since Jenna. Her breath was quickly accelerating, and Olivia had no idea what to do. She tried to calm herself. One, two, three…

Olivia placed the gun down on the door side table and unlocked the door. She opened it slowly and took in a sharp breath. He looked different. Bigger. The bags under his eyes whispered of loss of sleep. The growing muscles on his shoulders and arms told her that he spent countless hours in the gym, but why? She didn't know. She realized she'd been staring at him, having not uttered a single word to him since she opened the door.

"Hey, Elliot," was all she could muster to him. There was so much more she wanted to say, but it was on the tip of her tongue.

"Liv, hey Uh-," he took in her appearance. Only a bathrobe and I can see right through it Elliot thought to himself. Say something! You look like a-

"Elliot." Her voice brought him out of his thoughts. He had shown up here to check on her. To see her. He'd left so abruptly over a year and a half ago, and he'd sworn he would go to her to apologize. He had every intention, but Kathy and the divorce, Jenna and the shooting, IAB crawling him for the shooting, his retirement… So much had happened that he didn't realize a year had come and gone. Then, for the next six or seven months, he'd had to work up the courage to go to her because she was the one he had hurt the most. His Olivia.

"What are you doing here? And at this time of night?" Her question made him realize just how late it was. 12:36 AM. Damn, did he look stupid. She was probably in bed asleep but judging by the candlelight coming from behind her, his thoughts traveled elsewhere. How was he going to say anything to her? His foot was in his mouth he-

"Are you busy? I can come by another time," Elliot suggested as he turned to walk away, but her velvet-like voice stopped him in his tracks.

"I was just relaxing. Long day." Her voice was tired. It sure didn't match how she was feeling. He faced her once again and really noticed the tiredness that lingered in her eyes. She hadn't seen him for over a year, almost two, and here he was... his shoulders were broader. His muscles thicker. Hair thinner... She had missed him, but God! She was so mad at him for leaving, is still mad at him for leaving, for not apologizing and giving her a decent explanation... for leaving her. He could see the flashes of emotion playing on her face, and he quietly prepared himself for a fight, one that he didn't want to have right now.

"Is it alright if we talk? I wanna talk to you, Liv. There's so much I gotta say. I-" He started before she cut him off with an upholding of her hand. The look of bewilderment that passed over Elliot's features made Olivia open the door a little wider so he could make his way into her apartment. He let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and followed her gesture. Her opening the door was just exactly that... but it symbolized so much more. Opening to him, even if it was only for a little while.

"You can sit on the couch." She spoke so softly that he almost didn't hear her. He took in the cozy apartment. Her gray couch was accented by a blue throw blanket and adorned with white and blue pillows. The coffee table housed her empty holster. He looked at Olivia and found her locking her door. She picked up the gun from the door side table and walked towards him, grabbing her holster, holstering her gun and hanging it in its rightful place by the door. She's still in her bathrobe, and I can see the outline of everything. Elliot's mind was racing. He couldn't let this affect him. He had tried his best not to for 14 years. Yeah, tried.

"You wanted to talk? Talk." Olivia said as she seated herself on the other end of her couch, crossing her arms. That doesn't help anything at all Elliot thought to himself. He couldn't quit imagining her and her body, what that robe was covering-

"Liv, I wanna first preface this by saying that I wanted to do this so much sooner, but I didn't know how," Elliot started as he looked into her eyes. There's the emotions playing on her face, and he realized that he was an ass. He was an ass for coming here and speaking to her at this time of night when she should be resting. He was an ass for imagining his partner in much less than a simple bathrobe.

"You didn't know how to come to me? Elliot, we were partners for 14 years. Your separation, your divorce, Kathy's pregnancy, Oregon, Gitano, computer crimes," she'd wanted to add, but this was enough. He could read between the lines. He could understand the silent messages.

"Olivia, me and Kathy, it's over. It was over after Jenna when I realized something I should have long ago. Something that Kathy always knew, hell even Don knew." He was treading into uncharted territory now. He didn't know how he'd say it; he just needed to because she needed to know. At least, that's what I'm telling myself.

"Realized what, Elliot? That you needed to make a shot in order to protect. In order to do your job?" Olivia's voice grew. "It was a good shot! You just uprooted and left, without a word. What was that? Are you a coward now?" Her anger was bubbling, and he could see it. Not now, Liv. There's more.

"Liv, I'm sorry. I came here to say that. I'm sorry that I had to make decisions that would hurt. I'm sorry that I uprooted and left and couldn't even talk to you because had I done that-" He stopped himself. Here it is he thought. She will surely hate me now.

"Don't do this, Elliot. Don't try and make excuses for your leaving. You left me, and you couldn't even give me the decency of knowing. I had to find out from Cragen, and you wouldn't even talk to me after that. You became a ghost. And the Olivia that you left behind is a ghost, too." The pain in her words was enough to bring tears to Elliot's eyes. He wanted to reach across the couch and take her hands into his, but he couldn't. He shouldn't. Her eyes reflected the aching he'd left behind in her. He couldn't bear to hold her gaze.

"Liv, I have reasons for my leaving, but you? You were never one of them. I knew that if I had seen you or spoken to you, I wouldn't have been able to walk away. I wouldn't have been able to realize that…" Elliot knew what he was about to say would either pave the way for him and Olivia to finally be something or it would be the demise that was left in the bombshell of Jenna, Gitano, Oregon…

Her eyes watered. The tears pooling in her eyes told him that she couldn't do this. She has to know Elliot thought to himself. Hell, he knew. He'd known for years that he needed her, craved her. He'd wanted to analyze every part of Olivia Benson, and he meant every part. Heart, mind, soul, body. He didn't come looking for a quick fuck. Only an apology and an explanation were his reasons for this visit. But she's sitting here, right in front of me… Wearing less than I've ever seen-

"Realize what, exactly? Elliot, you are-were- the most important person in my life, and in a time where I desperately needed you, you just left. What else did you have to realize?" The crack in her voice was the breaking of the dam that held back her tears. She'd sworn she wouldn't cry but fuck, it was hard to do when he'd had the bright idea to show up to her apartment in the middle of the night when she hadn't had any sleep for over two days. Not even a quick doze.

He'd wanted to tell her, right then. Right now. But her tears matched his, and he couldn't let this go. Not now. Not ever. He quickly slid across the couch and encompassed her in his arms. Her body shook within them, and he was damn sure his body mimicked the same. She held onto him like he'd slip away once more, and he was going to make fucking sure he didn't. Never again would he leave her. She was his drug, and he was addicted.

The sobs that left her body broke something inside of Elliot that he didn't realize. His hands cradled her face between the and pulled it to face his. Her eyes were wet with grief and pain, and he was positive his own eyes carried the same weight.

"Olivia," he started. I'll never be able to say it his mind taunted him. And those words were ready to slip. All he'd have to do is speak them. Once spoken, they couldn't be taken back, and he knew that it would either make them or break them. The latter was already in play. His leaving set that in motion. And he'd wanted nothing more than to go to her, comfort her… even love her.

"El," she whispered. It was such a soft, broken whisper. Her tears kept spilling, and his thumbs caught them and swiped at them, desperate to keep them from falling. She placed her hands on his, and his were still cradling her face ever so gently. Like she'd break if he let go.

"Olivia, every time, every damn day, on the job… Away from the job… You were on my mind. My mind was so consumed with you when it should've been Kathy, and I never felt guilty. You are the most important person to me, Liv, and I wanted to do right… by you. You didn't deserve my leaving, but my staying would've only held you back. I knew what I wanted when you hit the ground from Gitano. I knew what I wanted when you ran away to Computer Crimes. I knew what I wanted when you came back. And I thought you knew it too, Liv. Then you ran again. Halfway across the continent. To Oregon, and I never knew that my heart could be so broken. I didn't even feel that way when Kathy and I separated, and I'd signed the papers. You were back by then, and that was when I knew, I fucking knew, Liv… I loved you. And I still do, even if you can't and don't love me back."

He'd said it, and it'd terrorized him. He was sure that she could feel his pulse rapidly intensifying. Her hands froze and her eyes glassed over once more. She shook her head, and he dropped his hands from her face, still holding hers. She's not letting go, and I'll take that over anything.

Elliot. Her mind was in shock, and she was about to break all over again.

Fucking Elliot.

That's Chapter 2 of Hunger. So basically, I am cutting from the beginning of the song to the Pre-Chorus. If you wanted to know the lyrics that followed from the beginning, here they are:

Shoes sitting by the door, you never put them up.
We would stay in my house for days,
Spilling breakfast on pillowcases.
Your stuff don't taste the same now that you're gone.

I understand that this is moving slow, but I am swamped with all kinds of things right now. Just please bear with me. Next chapter will get into the rawness of their emotions and how much this has affected them. It sure affected me when he left, and his returning had me sobbing.

Let's talk about Tia….

First of all, I was very upset, but maybe, JUST MAYBE, this will be the season that Liv and El will jump off their high horses and admit that they love each other, or at least, take a step in that direction.