One Heart
Summary: See ch1
Disclaimer: 13 stories, and still Dick Wolf won't give them to me!
A/N: I got a few reviews, but they all made me very happy, I would love to break 200, but I highly doubt that will happen!
On the Road
Olivia paced her apartment. She had woken up at 4:30 this morning because of nerves. She had finally decided on a comfortable pair of jeans, and a nice white v-neck sweater. Her makeup was done up a little more than she was used to, and her hair had a little more styling product than she was accustomed to putting in it. She wanted to be feminine enough for Mrs. Stabler.
She had packed her bag for the weekend, and was just waiting for Elliot to come pick her up.
When she woke up she was still worrying about what she should wear, but ever since she got out of the shower, a new thought plagued her.
'What does this all mean?' She wondered.
On the one hand, Elliot could just want Olivia to go with him so that he could have a friend. She remembered going to a lot of her girlfriend's family parties as a kid so that they would have someone to hang out with among theirrelatives. But Elliot was an adult, and his siblings would be there.
On the other hand, what if Elliot wanted to introduce Olivia to his family to get a thumbs up, or thumbs down? And if that was the case, what did that mean? Could Elliot see this relationship lasting for the long haul? And if he did, was that such a bad thing? Sure they had only been dating a few months, but Olivia had toconsider it, they'd known each other for seven years.
But what if Elliot's family didn't like her? Would he break it off? Did he really care all that much about what they thought? But if he didn't why would he bring her with him?
But still, maybe this weekend was only about not having to be alone with his family! And if that were the case, maybe he didn't see this relationship lasting for the long haul!
But wait a minute, since when did she want their relationship to last for the long haul? Did she? Sure Olivia knew that she loved Elliot, but could she really see herself married to him?
And that was the way her mind plagued her the entire time she readied herself for the trip. By the time she finally heard Elliot's familiar knock at the door she welcomed the interruption. She had more questions now than she had to begin with. She was slowly dissecting her relationship, and as she had heard on one of her favorite shows, "JAG", she knew that "by the time you finish dissecting a relationship, the damn thing's dead."
She opened the door and was welcomed by a smiling Elliot. "Morning." He greeted, kissing her lightly on the lips. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah, just lemme grab my bag." Olivia answered, opening the door so that he could come into the apartment.
"Lemme get that for you." He said cheerily as he rushed in front of her to intercept the bag.
"Well, aren't we cheery in the morning." Olivia said, eying him suspiciously.
"What, I'm just excited about this weekend." Elliot beamed as Olivia made her way to her coat closet.
"It is okay that I carry my own coat, right?" Olivia asked as a joke while she put on her coat.
"What ever makes you happy." He smiled.
"Seriously El, are you drunk?" She asked, not sure why the hell he was so happy at six o'clock on a Saturday morning. Especially when they had a good 4 hour drive ahead of them.
"Like I said, I'm just excited about this weekend." He reassured her as she locked her apartment.
"Yeah, whatever you say Stabler." She joked. She decided to leave it at that, and just leaned into Elliot in the elevator. "I didn't realize how much I needed a weekend off." She said through a yawn.
Elliot wrapped his free hand around her waist. "Yeah, I kinda take advantage of you guys covering for weekends, huh?" Elliot asked.
"No one blames you sweetie." Olivia assured him. "We all understand the importance of you seeing your kids."
"Well, I'm glad that I get to see you this weekend." He breathed into her hair.
Olivia smiled at the warm feeling he aroused in her as the elevator dinged indicating they had reached the ground floor.
She reluctantly pulled herself away from Elliot's embrace, and the two made their way to the street.
Elliot loaded her bag into the trunk of his van as Olivia climbed into the passenger seat.
"Hey kids." She smiled as she got in.
"Hey Liv." They greeted almost in monotone unison. Elliot may have been wide awake and perky, but his kids were fighting to stay awake this early. She guessed Elliot must have had a fun morning dragging three teenagers, and one college student out of bed at five in the morning, on a Saturday.
"Here we go." Elliot smiled starting the car. "Every one ready?"
He was met with the groans of four unhappy kids and one "shut up dad." Causing Elliot only to laugh at how temperamental his kids were in the morning.
Elliot drove in silence, with the exception of the hum of the radio for about half an hour. His kids were all asleep, and Olivia was absentmindedly gazing out the window.
"You still awake?" Elliot finally asked, looking over at Olivia, and breaking the silence.
"Hmm, oh, yeah." She smiled, pulling her attention away from the window and directing it at him.
"Don't get out of the city much, do ya?" Elliot asked, realizing that she had been captivated of the view since they pulled out of Queens.
"Elliot, I barely get out the precinct, let alone the city!" She chuckled.
"I'm glad you came." He smiled, placing one of his hands on her thigh.
"Me too." She answered, taking his hand in hers and bringing it to her lips to kiss it. After placing her hand and his back in her lap, she returned her gaze back to the view outside her window.
Elliot continued watching her. He was captivated with her beauty, and the way the rising sun cast a glow on her face.
After about an hour and a half had passed, Dickey finally made his presence known in the back. "Dad, I'm hungry. Can we stop, please?" He whined.
"I saw a sign for a rest stop at the next exit. How bout we stop there?" He answered, looking in the rear view mirror at his son.
"Sounds like a plan Dad!" Dickey smiled.
Elliot pulled off the road at the next exit and into the parking lot of the rest stop.
"I want tacos!" Dickey yelled as he climbed out of the van.
"I want a burger!" Lizzie echoed.
"No way, Dad, can't we just have like, normal restaurant food?" Kathleen whined.
"Just eat whatever!" Maureen said annoyed that no one could decide.
It was clear to Elliot that the two hours in a crammed car had already been too much togetherness for his kids.
"Alright kids, you have half an hour. Go eat whatever you want, buy any candy you may think you'll want later, go to the bathroom, and meet back here in that time, or you will be left behind!" He yelled over his kids.
The four scattered as soon as the words left his mouth.
"So, what are we going to eat, oh solver of arguments?" Olivia asked, snaking her arm around his waist.
"Whatever the lady wants." Elliot smiled, wrapping his arm around her neck. He loved the fact that he could be so free with their relationship out here. "That is as long as it falls under the fast food category." He added.
"I think I would love some fast food." Olivia smiled, as the two made their way to get lunch, just blissful to be together, and away from work.
TBC... Okay, I wrote this chapter at like 1 o'clock in the morning, and I don't really like it so much, but tell me what you think.
