AN: It's a raging Saturday night over this way. I'm going 3 for 3.
On a side note, this chapter is dedicated to a good friend of mine who is going through a hard time at the moment. I hope these updates bring a small slither of joy into your morning J. X
Olivia rolls over onto her good side, trying to get comfortable for what feels like the fifty-fifth time.
She lets out a strained breath, her upper body tingling with cream that was intended to help her sleep but now seemed to be having the reverse effect. She turns over once more, the motel mattress not as forgiving as the plushness of Jackie's spare room and her shoulder was certainly feeling it.
Hot.
Cold.
Tingling.
Insomnia.
It's been 47 minutes.
She had counted that much on the blinking clock beside her. Forty seven minutes since Elliot had clicked off the muted TV and the room had evaporated into darkness.
He hadn't moved since.
No sounds of him shifting against the sheets.
No movement from the outside streets.
The room and motel surrounds were both deathly quiet.
She was alone with her thoughts, and her thoughts only.
She blinks against the silence, figuring he had either fallen asleep immediately or was currently staring up at the ceiling listening to her rolling around like a hotdog on a grill. Either way he wasn't making an effort to join her pity party.
She flips over once more, this time attempting to position herself on her stomach, letting out a sigh when she realises it's done nothing but antagonise the ache in her shoulder.
"Liv." He hears her name come through the darkness.
Her right ear had been pressed into the mattress so she lifts her head, not quite sure she had heard correctly.
She glances over at him, only just able to make out his face illuminated by the motel lights outside.
"Try using a pillow." He whispers to her silence.
"What?" Her voice comes out semi horse.
He rolls over onto his side to face her.
"Prop up your arm and elevate it on a pillow." He explains. "It will help."
She lays down on her back, staring up at the ceiling.
"Elliot, these pillows are paper thin."
He doesn't respond.
"Have you got anything stronger in that pack?" She asks him with her eyes closed. "Sleeping tablets? Codeine? Morphine maybe?" She's only half serious but a large part of her could really stand to be drugged into a coma right now if it meant she didn't have to be left alone with her thoughts for another eight or so hours.
She hears ruffling against sheets and before she knows it his feet are hitting the floor.
She blinks up at the ceiling, figuring he is adhering to her painkiller request but gets a surprise when his frame comes into view.
She looks up at him.
"Slide over," he whispers down at her.
"Why?" She asks confused.
"Liv move over," he whispers, motioning with his head. "Trust me."
She lets out a weighted sigh, scrubbing a hand over her face, not exactly sure how he thinks the addition of his body in her bed is going to aid her ability to sleep, but with little options left she starts to move across the mattress.
She takes her pillow with her, leaving him with just a skerrick of sheet and a body length of space before she feels the mattress bow underneath his weight, her body unable to stop itself from falling into his side from gravity alone.
Her breath hitches when she comes flush up against his forearm and she watches him draw the sheet over his lower half.
He turns on his side to face her, emanating nothing but body heat.
Their eyes meet through the darkness.
They had never shared a bed together.
Not during their entire partnership.
Not in Jackie's house last night.
Not in the motel the night prior.
And they have no reason to share a bed tonight.
"Can I have a pillow?" He whispers to her face.
That's when she realizes she's hording about four of them on her side.
"Elliot," she starts. "What are you doing?"
He hadn't given her any hint of an explanation, just simply slid into bed with her like his presence was the cure for her insomnia.
All he had given her was: 'Trust me.'
And he'd been asking that a lot of her lately.
When he doesn't respond she turns, arching behind her until she is grasping a loan pillow and drawing it forward. He takes it from her hand and props it behind his head getting himself comfortable, that's when she feels his arm curl around her shoulders and usher her inward.
"Shuffle in," he whispers through the darkness as he gently nudges her forward.
She swallows, confusion emanating as she moves into his chest, her compliance surprising even her as she rests a hand on the wall of his chest.
He guides her hand further upward until it's resting against his breastbone, her heart hammering as his hand flattens on her back, her breasts pressing into his side.
Her mouth parts, moments from asking him what the hell he is doing when he speaks.
"The elevation will help you sleep."
Nevermind what the rest of his body will do..
That's the only explanation he gives for their proximity and her heart continues to hammer against his chest, unable to reconcile the fact that she is sidled up against a shirtless Elliot Stabler.
She closes her eyes, she can feel lace against his bare chest where her loose tank had slipped between their bodies. She swallows, moving her hand slightly downward to get comfortable before he stops her, grasping her wrist suddenly.
Her breath hitches.
"Not the stomach." He rasps.
She remembers then, realising she was just about to press against his wound to adjust herself.
"Sorry," she whispers through the darkness and he releases her wrist.
She waits a few beats before she moves it lower until it's resting gently on his lower abdomen beneath his wound.
Her fingers meet with the lip of his sweatpants as she rests her palm against his pelvis, blinking slowly against his neck.
She takes in a few shallow breaths, her mind reeling at their intimate positioning trying to figure out if she should adjust herself.
"I'm sorry you're in pain." He whispers, catching her somewhat off guard.
Her head slips upward and she watches him as he stares up at the ceiling. She takes in his apology, his tone sounding borderline accountable.
She returns her head to his chest as she slowly begins to smooth her thumb across the bottom of the bandage - the one covering the wound that she had caused and it's the first time she is truly comprehending that she did this to him.
"I caused the accident Elliot," she reminds him in a regret filled whisper. "This was all me.."
She feels his chest subtly rise and fall beneath her body as a plethora of imagery from that night comes to the forefront.
Just as she starts to feel unsettled his thumb swipes against her upper back, once - twice, almost as if he can sense her mind reeling.
"If you hadn't have caused that accident Liv," he whispers, a seriousness overtaking his voice. "God knows where we'd be right now."
She blinks against that thought, an unnerving silence moving between them as they both consider the alternative.
Olivia 6 feet under.
Olivia half way back to the city on foot.
Elliot back in the trailer..
She presses her eyes closed not wanting to go there and soon it's all but forgotten as he starts to run his hand further up to her shoulders until his fingers are gently fanning into her hair, causing a plethora of goosebumps to break out across her flesh.
Her mouth parts, this nurturing, soothing, sensual side of Elliot was throwing her completely through a loop.
This wasn't him.
This wasn't her.
This wasn'tthem.
"How's the shoulder feeling?" He whispers and she blinks against his chest, trying to take stock of her arm and it's the first moment she realises she's no longer feeling discomfort.
"Better," she gives him quietly, her voice cracking slightly from her positioning.
She doesn't want to move then.
Even if it's just for now, just for tonight.
She doesn't want to risk shifting her body an inch.
"Try and sleep," he whispers against the crown of her head, his hand running down the back of her neck, gently touching, soothing, massaging as her lips part beneath his touch and she releases a heavy breath.
She cannot believe this is where she is.
Here.
With him.
In the arms of a man she'd spent decades fighting.
Just for tonight, she tells herself.
Just for now.
She will allow herself to fall asleep in the arms of Elliot Stabler.
TBC
