Close Calls

Summary: See ch1

Disclaimer: Not mine

A/N: sorry that i didn't update last night, let's just say that college is not nearly as much fun as I thought it would be. I actually hate it.

Awkward Situations

"Dad, Dad, do you think that I could take the bullet to school with me on Monday? I could show everyone! How cool would that be! Dad, please?" Dickie asked.

It was later in the evening on the day Elliot was discharged. He was sitting with his legs stretched out on the couch, and his upper body propped up on pillows. It was the only way he could seem to get comfortable.

Dickie had run from the computer where he had been talking to one of his friends. It was their idea for Dickie to bring the bullet into school.

"I don't know Dickie." Elliot answered. "The school has pretty strict rules when it comes to having that kind of stuff on campus."

"But Dad." He whined. "Please. It would be so cool."

"Yeah, and how cool is it gonna be when you get suspended, and you and I both have to try explaining why to your mother." Elliot argued.

"But it's not like it's a weapon." He continued to beg.

"Dickie, I said no, and that's final." Elliot ruled. "If your friends really want to see it, they can come over here or go to Mom's house." He added.

"Fine." Dickie huffed before making his way back to the computer.

"Well that went well." Olivia smiled from the kitchen. She had been watching the entire altercation. It awed her how Elliot was with his kids. Watching them interact always seemed to make her think about what it would be like if she had kids of her own; although she'd never admit it.

"Nah, he'll get over it." Elliot smiled.

Olivia entered Elliot's living room and took a seat on one of the chairs opposite the couch. "How ya feeling?" She asked.

"Better now that I'm home and with my kids." He smiled. "Still a little sore though."

"Well, just think, in no time at all you'll be back at the precinct being slowly poisoned on Munch's coffee." She joked.

"Maybe it's the meds, but I actually think I'm starting to miss that mud." Elliot laughed.

"Yeah, definitely the meds." Olivia smiled. She liked this. Liked being able to be around Elliot, and his family. She liked how he made her feel by simply sitting in the same room as her. She could be herself, and felt totally safe. These were all new feelings for Olivia; for once in her life, she was happy.

"You okay?" Elliot asked when he noticed her spacing out in her thoughts.

"What? Oh, yeah. Fine. Just thinking." She revealed.

"Bout anything good?" Elliot inquired.

"Just life." Olivia smiled. "You want anything?" She asked quickly changing the subject.

"Just you." Elliot answered, the softness in his eyes telling Olivia that he was telling the truth.

"As tempting as that sounds, you are still healing." Olivia answered, lowering her voice in case any other ears were around somewhere.

"Well, you think you could at least come over and sit with me? Maybe watch a little TV?" He asked. "I mean, you really haven't spent any time in here with me since we got to the apartment." He noted.

Olivia just shrugged her shoulders. "It's your kids weekend. I didn't want to intrude." She explained. While she felt welcome in Elliot's apartment, and the kids had seemed ecstatic when they told them that they had started seeing each other, Olivia didn't exactly know what was overstepping her boundaries.

"You're not intruding Liv." Elliot smiled pulling his blanket away a little so that Olivia could squeeze onto the couch with him. "The kids love having you around, and besides, they aren't even in the same room as me. Dickie's talking to his friends on the computer, Kathleen is on her cell phone in her room, Lizzie's probably watching TV in her room, and Maureen is working on a paper in her room. I'm starting to get lonely." He said with a forced pout.

Olivia rolled her eyes, but climbed onto the couch anyway. Elliot draped the blanket back over her, and wrapped his arm around her waist. Olivia was cautious of his chest wound, so she laid her head on the arm of the couch where Elliot's other arm was to support his head. He looked down at her and smiled.

"And just to let you know Detective, the puppy dog face doesn't work on me. The only reason I'm sitting here is because my feet were cold." She said, not being completely honest.

"Hey, I don't care what got you over here. All I care about is that you're here." He smiled.

Within an hour all of Elliot's kids had joined the couple in the living room to watch television. Happiness over took Olivia when she realized where she found herself. Here she was wrapped in the arms of the man she loved, a man who literally would have given his life for her, and around her was his family, who accepted her as soon as they had heard she would be a part of their lives.

"Hey guys." Elliot's voice finally cut into her thoughts. "I know that it's only nine o'clock, but this pain medication is wearing me out. I think I'm gonna turn in."

"That's okay Dad." Kathleen assured him.

"Yeah Daddy, we'll be fine." Maureen added.

"Okay, but please be in bed at a decent hour." He almost begged. "Lizzie, you have a game tomorrow, and Dickie, I know you have a report due Monday, so you both need sleep." He cautioned.

"Ok Dad. We'll get to bed early." Elizabeth whined.

"Thank you." Elliot replied.

Olivia reluctantly made her way off the couch. It was almost painful to lose contact with Elliot. She hadn't even realized how much she seemed to need it before.

Elliot tried to push himself up, but Olivia soon realized that that wasn't going to happen; and she knew that Elliot would never ask for help. He was as stubborn as she was.

She extended her hand to him, and he took it thankfully. She placed her other hand behind his back, and slowly helped push and pull him off the couch.

After a couple of moans of pain Elliot was standing. He gave an embarrassed smile to Olivia to let her know that he was thankful for her help.

"Night all." He said before making his way to his room.

"Night Dad." The four children said almost in unison, making Olivia laugh a little inside.

She knew that Elliot was most likely going to need some help getting into bed, but, again, knew at the same time that he would never ask. So she just silently followed him down the hall.

To mask the real reason she had followed him, and to save his pride, she asked, "So, where do you want me sleeping tonight?"

"Well… I was just assuming… I mean. I thought you'd stay… with me." He stammered. After spending the pervious night with him in his hospital bed, he had just assumed that while Olivia was taking care of him she would just sleep in his bed. "But, if you don't want to, I'll take the couch, and you can have my bed." He added. He didn't want to rush her though, so he figured that the best bet would be to let her decided where she slept.

"First of all, if anyone sleeps in your bed, it will be you." She said with a smile. "And second of all, it's not that I don't want to sleep in your bed. It's just that I wasn't sure if you wanted me to. You know, with your kids and all." Olivia explained.

"Oh, no, they'll be okay with it." He assured her. His kids were old enough now. They understood that he loved Olivia, and he was pretty sure they would be okay with her spending the night.

"And why is that? They used to strange women spending the night?" She asked with a devilish smirk.

Elliot was left speechless for a moment.

"Relax Stabler. I was jus kidding." She said with a laugh. "Now are you going to get in bed, or do you plan on sleeping standing up?"

"Well, aren't we bossy?" Elliot smiled. "You coming in now, or later?" He asked.

"I'll be in in a little bit." Olivia answered. While Elliot may have been totally comfortable with her spending the night while his kids were over, she wasn't so sure that she was.

"Okay. Night." He smiled before kissing her lips gently.

"Good night." She said back.

She walked back down the hall until she heard the bedroom door close. She then went back outside the door, and listened to make sure Elliot wouldn't be needing any help. One didn't realize how much a chest wound could get in the way of normal activity until they had one.

When she heard him grunting from inside she quietly cracked the door and peered in. She saw him struggling with his shirt. It hurt Elliot when he lifted his arms, but it appeared that Elliot had attempted to lift his shirt over his head anyway. What Olivia assumed was that when his shirt was half way off, the pain became too much. The result: Elliot was stuck with his harms half raised, being held up by the armpits of his shirt which was only half off his body. His head was somewhere in his shirt, and he was now trying to shake himself free.

Olivia had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

"You, uh, need some help there Elliot?" She asked, trying desperately to suppress her laughter.

"Don't. Say. Anything." He warned Olivia.

"I wasn't going to say a thing." She answered, still fighting fits of laugher.

She walked over to him, studying the knot he had gotten himself into. "I think I have an idea." She said, still smiling at his struggling. He looked like a fly caught in a web. "First, stop fighting the damn thing. It's only a shirt, and the more you struggle the worse it's getting." She cautioned.

When Elliot was finally still she helped him walk to the side of his bed, and told him to stay put. Then she climbed on to the bed, and stood so that she was now taller than her partner.

"Now, just hold still for a sec." She instructed as she grabbed the sleeves in her hands, and proceeded to pull the fabric over his head. "There. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" She asked with a cocky grin.

It was a good thing she had spoken before she took in the sight of Elliot without his shirt on. She had seem him without his shirt on once or twice before at work, but every time she seemed to get all dizzy, and tongue tied.

She couldn't help it. His muscles were brilliantly sculpted. It was enough to make any woman weak in the knees.

"Hey, how was I supposed to know that a chest wound would hurt when I raised my arms above my head?" He asked, trying to defend his pride, and pulling Olivia's attention back to his face.

He had noticed her reaction to his body, and decided that it was enough to restore most of the pride he had just lost.

"El, if you need help, you just have to ask me." Olivia said compassionately as she sat down on the bed, and looked up at him with loving eyes. "That's why I'm here."

"I know." Elliot sighed. He just hated having to ask anyone for help, even Olivia. But, he knew that she was right, and there would be things that he would need her for.

"Now, is there anything else that you even think you may need help with before I go back into the living room?" She asked.

Elliot was silent for a moment. There was something that he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to do by himself, but just the thought of having to ask her to do it for him made him blush.

"What?" Olivia asked when she noticed his cheeks flush.

"I…" Elliot began. "I don't know if I'm going to be able to bend down to… to change my… my pants." He finally said under his breath.

"Oh. Okay." Olivia said quietly. If taking off this man's shirt had the reaction it did on her, she was a little nervous to see what would happen if she took off his pants, but knew that she really had no choice. He had to change his cloths, and she was there to help.

"Um, I guess you should, just stand there." She said quietly. She was suddenly the one who was flushed.

Although Elliot was a little worried about what his own reaction would be, he was taking joy in watching his partner squirm.

"You, uh, you think you can untie them?" Olivia asked, referring to the drawstring on the sweats he was wearing.

"Sure." Elliot smiled. He could tell she was slightly embarrassed. He did as he was told, and awaited further instruction.

"Okay, um, I guess I'll just…" Olivia said, trailing off. She wasn't really talking to Elliot anymore. Part of her was talking to herself so she would stay focused on the task at hand. She was here to help Elliot into bed, nothing more. And the other part of her was just talking to avoid awkward silence.

Elliot shivered when she placed her hands on the waist band of his sweats. He had to think of cold showers when she gently pulled them off his waist and slid them until they fell to the floor on their own.

"Okay, now just step out of them." She said, swallowing hard, and trying to avert her eyes from his boxers.

She scooped them up, threw them in the hamper, and hurried back to help him into a new pair that he had retrieved from one of his drawers.

Olivia placed them on the floor, and instructed Elliot to step into one leg, and then the other. She carefully pulled them back to his waist.

"There. All changed." She said quietly.

"Uh, thanks." Elliot said, trying to control his breathing. Olivia was still just inches from his body. He had never wanted someone as much as he wanted Olivia right now, but knew that in his state, that would be impossible.

"Any time." Olivia answered. "You, uh, need any help getting into bed?" She asked, trying to think about anything else than the sight of Elliot in his boxers.

"I might." Elliot confessed.

"Okay, come on then." Olivia smiled.

Elliot made his way over to his bed, and attempted to bend down to pull the covers back, but soon discovered that he wasn't able to do that either. He just looked at Olivia.

She smiled, and stepped in front of him to pull the covers down. She helped Elliot lower himself into the bed, and get comfortable.

When he was alright, she pulled the covers over him, and kissed him gently on the lips. "I love you Stabler." She whispered before turning to leave.

"Love you too Benson." Elliot answered as she shut off the lights and returned to the living room to get a cold drink.

TBC... Review

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