A/N: It's been too long.

Olivia's thankful to have had the presence of mind to change into more carnival worthy and comfortable attire. Her sneakers, jean shorts and tank are far more appropriate for the games that she and Elliot will be playing.

She waits alongside him as he gets the tickets he insisted on paying for. Just past 5pm, it felt good not to have to fight city traffic only to go a few blocks.

It's a good mixed crowd of young and young at heart, couples, families and groups of boisterous friends. The smell of funnel cake, popcorn and cotton candy float in the air and the sky isn't unlike the sweet treat with its blue, pink and purple hues.

Both look around at all there is to offer as they venture further inside the carnival grounds. The tilt-o-whirl, Ferris wheel, bumper cars and the confidence games that give you anything but due to how rigged they are, all seem like appealing options.

"So," Elliot begins. "What do you wanna do first?"

He grins as Olivia naturally points to a shooting game. After about ten minutes of play they are expectedly, hilariously and evenly matched shot for shot, point for point.

Next, she watches as he tries his hand at knocking down plastic milk bottles. It doesn't take him long to figure out to aim for the bases of the containers and chooses a small, purple dragon with fake flames coming out its mouth as his prize.

Elliot pushes it in her direction, but Olivia rejects the toy. She'll not lug the thing around as if she's on some high school date with the star pitcher.

"You're on your own with that," she tells him as they walk away from the booth.

"But I got it for you," he says, grinning.

"Then you should've let me pick," Olivia asserts. "No way I would've chosen something that…ridiculous."

"So, it's not cute?"

"Oh, it's plenty cute," she answers. "And I'd love it…if I were twelve."

Elliot lays his hand on his heart as if wounded.

"That hurt Liv."

"You'll survive," she says, smiling.

Always the competitors, they stop at a mini–Grand Prix area. Once the cars are chosen and the helmets are donned, they speed off, ignoring every other car on the track. They tie the first two times and Olivia's car stalls on the last race, making her soon-to-be former partner the winner.

"Now you know why I drive all the time," he pokes as she rejoins him at the starting area.

"Because the car goes dead?"

"Uh, no," Elliot answers. "Obviously, and it pains me to admit this, but I'm the better driver."

"I didn't bring my boots so please don't have me wading in that kind of bullshit."

"You're hilarious," he tells her, dripping sarcasm but never stops smiling.

"I know."

"So you wanna keep trying to one-up each other, which by the way I'm kicking your ass at, or call it a day?"

"You're delusional."

Olivia looks around, takes her time in answering, worries him for a little bit.

"I guess we could stay for a bit longer," she answers to his relief. "What'd you have in mind?"

"Well, there's funnel cake, hotdogs, fried twinkies and other non-nutritious foods that probably will kill us both," Elliot answers, making her laugh. "What's your poison?"

"I think a hotdog would be my safest bet," she tells him. "And maybe a beer if you can find one."

"You know at these prices—

"Don't even start, you owe me."

"Okay, okay."

He goes off to find their dinner and while Olivia is waiting, Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome from her morning run approaches with the same purple dragon under arm that Elliot chose.

"I'm lucky enough to bump into you twice in the same day," he begins. "This time is a lot less painful though," he adds smiling.

She can't help but smile back.

"It's Olivia just Olivia, right?"

"Yeah, just Olivia," she answers. "Sebastian isn't it?"

"Right, so you enjoying yourself?"

"I'm surprised to say that I am," she tells him. "Nostalgia, I guess. Reminds me of the bad decisions of my youth."

He momentarily leans closer to whisper, "I bet you could tell some stories."

Olivia laughs at the understatement.

Unbeknownst to her, Elliot watches as he pays for and picks up their snacks.

"I'm sure you have your own," she says.

"And I'd be more than happy to swap some with you," Sebastian offers. "Let's say…over dinner tonight?"

Elliot approaches them before she can answer, attempting to balance the stuffed animal in his grasp along with the hotdogs and two beers.

Olivia reaches for her hotdog and a Bud light just before he would've dropped it.

"Thanks," he tells her. "Who's this?"

"Sebastian Mariano," the man answers. "I'd shake your hand, but they seem to be full at the moment."

"Right," Her partner agrees. "I'm Elliot. Looks like you also have good aim," he adds nodding at the man's identical stuffed animal.

"Not really," Sebastian says. "But it's for charity and I was having fun so I said, 'what the hell'," he answers. "I just gotta find somebody to unload it on."

"Well don't look at me," Olivia chimes in. "This one already tried that," she adds gesturing at Elliot.

"If I can get rid of it in the next ten minutes would you like to get dinner?" He asks again.

Elliot tightens the hold on his dragon and sips his beer after the last bite of his hot dog. All while pretending to be interested in anything else, feeling every bit the third wheel.

"After I get done spoiling my appetite with all the junk I've been eating I don't think I'll have much room for real food," she answers. "But thanks for the offer."

"If you change your mind," Sebastian begins, reaching for and handing her his business card. "I'll be around."

"So, who was that?"

"Nobody really, just a guy I met on my morning walk."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," Olivia confirms. "He was just saying hello."

"And asking you out," Elliot ribs. "Already making new friends."

The air changes between them after that. His demeanor changes. He's closed off, less talkative, less joking. Olivia tries to ignore it.

"So, what do you wanna do next?" She asks.

"Uh, you know I'm kind of tired," he begins, heading for the car. "We should call it a night," he adds. "Maybe you can catch up with him and—

"Wait," she interrupts, momentarily grasping his left bicep to stop his forward movement. "What happened to staying a little longer?"

"Nothing just…getting older I guess," he explains. "It hit me all the sudden how tired I am."

"All the sudden…right," Olivia tells him, moving once again but faster.

"What?"

"You Elliot, you're "what", you always do this."

"Do what?" He asks, matching her stride for stride.

They make it to the car in minutes.

"Don't play dumb you know what I'm talking about," she asserts as he uses the key fob to unlock the doors. "This whole attitude you now have," she adds, sitting in the passenger seat as he powers down the windows. "Someone else with an XY chromosome comes along and suddenly we're not having a good time. Why is that?"

"I told you, I'm tired," he asserts, starting the car.

"That's bullshit and you know it, but you know what? I don't wanna talk about it anymore. If you're done then I'm done," she tells him. "Let's go."

The ride home is uncomfortably quiet.

Olivia avoids eye contact, scrolls through her phone responding to text messages and personal emails. She can feel Elliot's eyes on her from time to time. They've never pointedly talked about his jealousy, obvious though it's always been and knows putting it out there has thrown him.

But there's no reason to tiptoe around it any longer. Their partnership is over and he's returning to the city tomorrow.

Once they arrive at the house, Olivia storms inside and into the kitchen with Elliot on her heels. She grabs a beer out of the fridge, pulls an opener from a drawer and heads for the back patio.

"Stop following me."

She plops down on a lounger, pops the beer and takes a long sip.

"We need to talk," Elliot says, sitting on the adjacent chair facing her. "You obviously have something on your mind so why don't you just tell me what it is."

"I told you what it is," she snaps. "You and I both know what it is. You're jealous."

"Jealous?"

"You heard me," she contends. "You say you're getting old and I know hearing is the first to go but I'm pretty sure your ears still work."

"They do, I heard what you said."

"And what? You don't think it's true?"

"I have no reason to be jealous of some guy you just met on a walk this morning," he asserts, turning to stretch out on the lounger.

"It's not just him Elliot and you know it," she counters with. "Any man that's so much as flirted with me the last five years is instantly on your shit list," she adds. "You didn't like Ash and you didn't like Porter."

"Ash roped you in to his little party and didn't tell me and Porter turned out to be the piece of shit I knew he was," he points out. "So, if you're not happy with your love life that's not my fault."

"I'm not saying anything is your fault Elliot," she says, calming. "We spend up to sixteen hours a day together sometimes and that doesn't leave room for much else," Olivia adds. "But don't pretend our partnership is perfectly normal. That's on both of us."

"What are you saying?"

Exhausted from the conversation and the long day, she takes a deep breath before exhaling.

"I'm saying it took two. Just like it took two people to decimate your marriage it took two to create…shit, whatever's happening here," she continues. "I don't even know what the hell to call this," she says standing.

Olivia removes her shoes and walks a few feet out into the sand.

"And it's not just what's been going on for the last two days," she goes on. "It's what's been happening for however many years. I can't even say when it started but you know what I'm talking about."

"I don't—

"Don't you dare," she says, facing him as he gets up. "Don't pretend this is one-sided or that I've suddenly lost my mind because you know—

"— Of course I do!" Elliot yells, surprising her. "I know but what was I supposed to do about it? What were we supposed to do? I was married. We were partners. There were no…good options," he adds. "We tried working without each other. Took breaks. Stopped being partners. And what happened? We couldn't stay apart."

"I remember."

"So what is this? What are you asking me to do? What are you asking me period?"

"I don't know," she says, returning to stand at the loungers. "I don't know but I just…I want you to stop doing just enough to make me wonder about us. If you're not gonna say anything, do anything, pursue anything with me then…just stop, okay," she says, stepping closer. "Because there's no reason you couldn't have said something long before now," she points out. "When you want something, you doggedly pursue it. I've seen it."

"And you think you're the something I should've doggedly pursued?"

"Yes!" She yells, shocking them both when she pushes him. "For every time you turned someone else away," she pushes him again. "For every time you were happy that I had to cancel a date," she continues as he's backed into the sand. "For every time you couldn't take your eyes off me dressed as a prostitute for an undercover, things could've been different," she adds. "Every time Elliot. Every. Fucking. Time," she hurls with one last big push.

He falls into the sand behind him, taking her down on the descent. Olivia lands on top, chest heaving, inches from his face, bracing herself above him. His eyes are a darkened blue, intensity swirling in the depths.

"I'm not the only one that could've said something," he rasps. "Done…something."

Olivia feels herself getting warmer. Between the way he's looking at her and their intimate proximity, she's struggling.

"You think it was easy for me?" He asks. "Knowing one touch or kiss could change things?"

"That's not what I—

"Then do it Liv," Elliot challenges. "If leaving SVU is definite and you think it would've been so fucking easy to change our relationship then do it."

He eyes her lips before meeting Olivia's disbelieving stare. To bring home his point he reaches up to put his left hand on her back. The warmth of his palm through the flimsy tank has her lowering her body an inch further. When he reaches his hand up to caress his thumb over her bottom lip, she closes her eyes trying to regain control.

It doesn't work.

"One kiss Olivia," he urges. "Let's see how easy it would've been for you to stop," he adds, caressing the apple of her cheek.

End A/N: Feel free to review.