Chapter 18
The next morning Elliot got up early because he had to go to work. He tried to be quiet but of course Liv woke up.
"Good morning. I am sorry that I woke you. Just go back to sleep." he said while kissing her cheek gently.
"Good morning. What time is it? I could come with you. I really don't need a day off." El started to smile.
"You stay in bed for once! Come on, enjoy your day off. Lie in bed all day and relax."
"I wanted to go to the precinct anyway. I wanna know what's going on with Miller and who his lawyer is." Elliot shook his head. "You're such a workaholic!"
"Well, I like my job and I am not going to stay at home because of some bruises."
"Some bruises? Liv, only because the doctor let you go home, doesn't mean it's nothing. Your whole body must hurt like hell and look at your neck, that's not nothing!" he said upset with a worried look on his face. Liv took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes.
"I don't say it's nothing but I am able to go to work. I can be on desk duty until further notice."
"Of course you would be on desk duty. I won't discuss this any longer because you will go there anyway but let me tell you this, I think you're crazy."
"Noted." she said while getting up and hugging him. He couldn't help but smile although he was a lil' bit angry with her. He needed her to take better care of herself.
"Just promise me to take it easy, okay?"
"Promise, sir." she said teasingly while biting his earlobe.
She could feel his reaction and she enjoyed it, so she continued. She started to kiss his neck and her hand wandered down his stomach. But he suddenly grabbed her hand to stop her.
"I am going to be late. Believe me it isn't easy for me to stop you." Liv pouted.
"Nope, not this face. Stop it! For real Liv, I have to go." She stepped away from him.
"Fine. You're free to go, party pooper."
He started to laugh.
"Wow, we are really mature today, huh." She started to laugh too.
"Alright, see you later at the precinct." she said while kissing his cheek. He pulled her closer and kissed her.
"A kiss on the cheek, pff. Like that's enough for me." he said grinning. "See you later." he said while leaving the room.
2 hours later Liv entered the precinct. She tried to hide the bruises on her face with some makeup and she wore a scarf to hide the dark strangulation marks around her neck. She still looked like she had been in an accident but it looked less serious.
"Olivia! What are you doing here?" captain Cragen asked.
"Good morning captain. I am fine, so I thought I'll come by to see how things are going." The captain shook his head.
"You really shouldn't be here. You are off from work for at least the rest of the week!"
"I know, but I can work! I'll just do some paperwork." He shook his head.
"Olivia, you have to stay at home for at least one day. He is under arrest and we have enough to keep him there."
"I know. Who's his lawyer and did he say something about me or why he planned all this?"
"This is not your case anymore, Olivia. Go home."
"Captain, I can't just go home. I need answers. Let me talk to him."
"No! You won't give him the satisfaction of seeing you like this. Seeing what he has done to you. All he asked for the whole night was to talk to you. He didn't even ask for a lawyer."
"What? Why did no one tell me? Let me talk to him, I'll get a confession!"
"We don't need one. He attacked you in front of other detectives and officers and we have the pictures and the other stuff from his apartment. He will be convicted with or without a confession. I want you to go home now."
"Fine. I'll just get a few things from my desk." she said angrily.
"Hey. What's wrong?" El asked.
Liv walked past him and opened her desk drawer.
"Liv?"
"I just can't believe that he doesn't allow me to talk to him. He didn't even ask for a lawyer so far, all he wants is to talk to me. God. This isn't fair. He attacked me, if anyone should be allowed to talk to him, it's me. I can make him confess…"
"Calm down. We don't need a confession and I know you want answers but I think it's better not to talk to him. He will use it against us somehow. He had planned this for way too long, he wants something. I don't know what he wants to do while you talk to him but I am pretty sure it's better if we don't give him the chance to do anything." She didn't say anything. She was way too furious right now. He grabbed her arm and pulled her with him.
"El, what the heck?"
"I need to talk to you in private."
As soon as they were in a room alone, he asked, "What is going on?"
She took a deep breath and hugged him.
"I don't know. I just.." she stopped and hugged him harder. He kissed her head and said, "You don't like that he took control of everything and you want it back, but I think you already did that yesterday. You made it possible for us to arrest him. He never had the control."
"I know and I don't think that's it but maybe it is. I just, well I don't want to stop working on a case until it's finished and it doesn't feel like it's finished for me. But that's my problem and I'll be fine."
"I know you will be." he said lovingly.
She looked him in the eyes and kissed him. It was a short but loving kiss.
"Okay, I need to go now. The captain wants me out of here."
Back in the squad room they were pretty surprised to see Sarah.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Liv asked.
"Shouldn't you be at school?" El asked almost simultaneously.
Sarah stared at Liv worriedly.
"Oh my god. What happened to you?"
"Oh, nothing serious. Don't worry. It looks worse than it is. So why aren't you at school?" Liv asked, smiling.
"I only had two periods today." she said, still looking pretty unsure of what to think of Liv's injuries.
"I wanted to check on you guys and ask if both or one of you has time for coffee or something like that."
"Coincidentally, I have time." Liv said, with a smile. "I am not wanted here." she added with a smile in El's direction. Sarah looked at them confused.
"Okay? You can tell me more about it while drinking coffee. I wanted to talk to you anyway."
"Great. As long as you two have a good time. I'll be here working." El said playfully annoyed.
Liv looked at him with a look that said, 'Seriously?'.
He started to laugh and put his hands in the air to show her that he was sorry.
"Okay. Do you need more time or can we go now?" Sarah asked.
"No. I'll just grab my stuff and we are ready to go." She walked over to her desk and grabbed her stuff.
"Keep me posted on everything connected to Miller." she said to El.
"I promise."
"Where do you want to go?" Liv asked Sarah.
"I don't know. There is this cute lil' coffee shop, me and my friends go to sometimes but if it's okay, I would like to go to your apartment. It's more private and cosy there."
"Sounds good." Liv said, smiling.
They walked to the parking lot.
"That's mine." Liv said.
"Is it a new one?" Sarah asked.
"No it's a rental, mine is in the car repair shop."
"So you did have an accident?" Sarah asked worriedly.
"Yes, kinda. You wanna pick up something to eat on the way to my apartment?" Liv said, trying to change the subject.
"Sure, but you can't fool me. I know that you are trying to change the subject. Does it have something to do with the phone call from yesterday? Are you really okay?"
"Sometimes I really wished you wouldn't be so smart. Yes, to everything you said, but we have arrested him so let's talk about something fun." she said winking at Sarah. "In your text you said you wanted to tell me something. It's about Lauren, right?"
"That's mean. You know I have to tell you now, because you are the only one I can talk to about it, but I wanna know more about this accident and everything that has happened yesterday, after I told you my news." Liv didn't know what to tell her, because she couldn't just tell this young girl what really happened. At this age you shouldn't have to deal with things like that, with people like Miller.
"So, after you told me that Lauren likes me back, it was like, I don't know how to say it but, well I felt free and light. So I asked her if she wanted to go to the game with me this weekend. I mean, it's at our school and everyone will be there, so it isn't a date or something but I am still so freaking excited. She seemed to be really pleased that I asked her, like only her and I didn't say, 'Do you wanna hang out at the game with me and the others?' it was more like 'Do you wanna go to the game with me.' so you know, there's a difference. I mean.. "
"Sarah, stop for a second." Liv said laughing. "You got a bit lost I think."
"Sorry." Sarah said, a bit embarrassed.
"So, what you are trying to say is that you asked her out and she said yes!" Liv said encouragingly. A huge smile lit up Sarah's face.
"Yes."
"That's amazing, honey." Liv said, with a smile. She parked the car in front of a bakery and turned to face Sarah. "I am so happy for you."
"Thank you, Liv. I don't know what I would do without you." Sarah said while hugging her. Liv blinked back tears. She still couldn't help herself, but El's kids blew her mind. She just couldn't believe that they accepted her like this, she felt like she was a family member and she never felt like this before. It was always her and her mom, and their relationship was more than complicated.
"Nothing to thank for honey. I am glad that I could help."
"No, really Liv. Thank you. I was so afraid and confused and you just made it feel so normal and easy. I know who I am now and you made it easier to accept and be proud of it. Thank you." Sarah said with tears in her eyes.
"Oh my god. Stop crying, hon. If you cry, I'll cry too." Sarah started to laugh and Liv did too. It was just like in one of those movies, where everyone is like, 'Why are they crying?'
"Let's go inside, we need some sugar now." Liv said with a wink.
