Liv was filling out some paperwork at her desk and getting caught up on her duties as captain. It had been slow today at the precinct after being extremely busy the last few days. As she was just about done, Kathleen called her out of the blue. After hearing what Katie wanted and getting off the phone, she ducked out of the office, heading over to Elliot's new apartment. She had helped out Bernie over the years, but it was new for her to be going to Elliot's as she had only been there briefly for a few minutes over the past few months since he moved in. She hopped in her SUV and drove to the apartment as fast as she could.

Little did she know that she wasn't really needed, but Bernie was using her selflessness to get her to talk to Elliot. Bernie convinced Kathleen to help with her plan, getting her to believe that her dad and Olivia needed to talk and have a real conversation.

When Liv got to the apartment, Kathleen let her in, leading her to the living room area where Bernie was. Looking around at Katie and Bernie, she asks, "Okay, what can I do?" Right then, Elliot walks out of his bedroom, coming to stand by Kathleen. Liv is taken back by his presence, not knowing he was home from UC. "Elliot, what are you doing here?"

"Ma called me, saying she needed me to come home asap, so here I am."

"Oh, okay." Liv looks surprised and is trying to hold herself together. She had just found out about Elliot's extracurricular activities while under and she hasn't had time to process and tell herself it was just a job.

"Anyways, what did you call me here for?" Olivia wanted to get in and get out now that she knew Elliot was here.

Bernie is the one to speak up now. "Actually, everything is fine. I just needed a way to get you here without alarming you. It has been brought to my attention that you and my son have not spoken about the important details of your relationship since he's come back to New York. I don't know what happened between you two, I don't really care. All I know is that you two need to have an uninterrupted conversation. And what better time than now, when you are both here."

Once it dawns on LIv what Bernie means, her eyes widen because she's not prepared to handle this right now.

Olivia is stunned by Bernie's forwardness. "Yeah…, I can't do this right now, so I am going to go." As she went to grab her bag and head towards the door, Kathleen and Bernie stopped her.

"I'm sorry to do this hun, but I can't let you leave. You and my son need to talk and the two of you are too stubborn to do so on your own. So, I need you to stay and have this conversation."

Olivia is irritated by the fact that this little old woman, who happens to be Elliot's mother, is forcing her to talk to someone like she's a child. She looks around the room at each family member, seeing if there is a way out of this. She realizes she's not getting out of this situation, so she gives in, setting her things back down and exhaling loudly.

Why does everyone in the Stabler family have to be so stubborn?

She looks up at Elliot, seeing he isn't thrilled about this either. "Well, I'm going to leave you to it. I'll be in the other room if you need me." Bernie leaves the living area, giving them some space, as Kathleen and Eli head out the door for soccer practice.

Kathleen mouths I'm sorry as she closes the front door behind her. Once everyone is gone, it's just Olivia and Elliot looking at each other for minutes on end, with apparent discomfort.

She won't be the first one to talk, so she goes to take a seat on the couch because they are going to be here a while at this rate. Elliot continues to follow her moment, not saying anything, just staring. He finally sighs very loudly, "So…" Liv makes eye contact with Elliot, her poker face back up, along with the wall she is rebuilding between them. "I have nothing to say to you Elliot."

"Did you get my voicemail?"

"Yes, I did."

"Oh. I should have talked to you in person before dropping that on you." Elliot looks down, not expecting Liv to be so closed off.

"You think? I don't even know what else you were going to say. For all I know, you could have said you didn't mean it." She stands up and walks into the kitchen, needing to move from one spot.

"I meant it and still mean it." He follows her, on her heels.

"Do you? Because everything you've done has shown me differently. I know about your side hoe Fruit roll-up or whatever her name is."

"That's just the job. She means nothing to me Liv."

"What about Dani or Angela? I know about it all Elliot."

"I know I haven't always been the best at expressing my thoughts and feelings, but, Liv, I do love you. Please believe me. I've had to choose other things because I had obligations and a family. I had to leave before I ruined everything and you lost your job."

"We could have figured it out. But you made the choice for me. You chose your family over the job. Over me." She's trying not to yell, but the fire deep within her soul has been lit and there's no stopping it now. "And now you're running from those who truly care about you to, I don't know, forget? It's not that easy Elliot. You can't just be someone else and leave your own problems behind to fix themselves."

"I know. I know that I need to face everything head-on. It has just been easier to run from my problems before I completely lose who I used to be."

"You are already losing yourself, in the job. You just don't see it. You think that everything is going to be waiting for you when you decide to come back. I can't promise that I'll be here. I can't wait for you anymore. It's too painful."

"Liv, please listen to me when I say it's always been you. Always, even when I couldn't choose you, I wanted to."

She's leaning against the island now, needing the support. "I'm never going to be enough for you, Elliot"

His heart cracked a little more at her admission. "Liv, you know that's not true."

"Isn't though? No matter what or when you always choose someone else. Just accept it, Elliot, you don't love me, you love the idea of me."

Elliot grabs her hands within his, making her look into his eyes. "I've always loved you. I was just too scared to admit it. To you, to myself. Liv, I love you so much it fucking hurts."

She looks away, not being able to look into his baby blues. She started walking towards the door, needing to end this conversation and get out. He knew he was losing her. She was going to leave and if she walked out that door now, he didn't know if he could ever get her back. He took the last steps to close the space between, standing right in front of her, grabbing for her hand again. Tears flowed down her cheeks, begging to be wiped away. Elliot ran his hand from her hand up her arm to her cheeks, wiping away her tears and caressing her cheekbone.

"Olivia, I love you so damn much. You have to believe that. Please don't leave like this," Elliot pleaded.

Olivia looked into his baby blue eyes staring back at her, full of tears, barely held back, waiting for them to come tumbling down. "Elliot, you say you love me and I want to believe that you do, but what if love isn't enough?"

She removed his hands from her face, walking away from him, grabbing her stuff, and made a swift exit before falling apart more.

He fell to the ground after the dam broke, finally letting go, taking this last hit against his heart, shattering into a million pieces.

Is love always enough?