After a few minutes, with no words spoken, he lifted their joined hands to his mouth and gently placed the lightest of kisses on her fingers and put them back down to sit in her lap. "I am not going anywhere, Liv. I promise you that". Paying the driver, Elliott exited the cab reaching back in to take Olivia's hand after she slid across to where he had been sitting to help her leave the car.

"You being a gentleman makes me nervous, El". Elliott lightly laughed at that while also looking a little hurt. "It isn't as if I was always an asshole and never held a door for you while we worked together". Nodding her head, she silently thought about his words wondering how to reply to that for a moment. Looking directly into his blue eyes, she gave the most honest answer that she could. "I didn't mean it to come out that you were never chivalrous. I don't know how to explain it. Everything is different now. No matter the angle that we look at it now, the mystical line always there isn't anymore. However, that line was Kathy. It is your marriage to her; it is your kids for you".

"For me, that was always your marriage, Kathy, the kids. I never wanted to be without you or not to have the support that you gave me. Even now, you are still the longest relationship I have had with a man. But now I know how to live without you. I had to learn to do that. I know what it feels like to be left heartbroken and alone. I don't know if I can go through that again. I also am not prepared to let you in with the possibility that you won't be there for the long haul with Noah. I have done it once, and I don't think I could survive it for a second time". She let herself feel the emotion that came with being as honest as she could, blinking away some tears that had started to form but that she would not yet let spill.

"You are right. I was primarily always Kathy and the kids. Part of it was also me being scared of what could be. How I could have the feelings for you that I had when I had this amazing woman at home taking care of myself and the kids. The only thing Kathy wanted from me was to be home and to be present when I was there with them. All I can do is tell you as many times as it will take for you to understand how sorry I am for what I did to you. I am sorry that I cannot take it back, take the pain that I caused you away". He said in return.

"I want what this is between us to be something that will last, Liv. I want to take our time, take small steps until you can trust me again. I need to show you that I have taken time to heal from losing Kathy and everything I have not dealt with in the past. I want to do it with your help and by having you at my side. If that is even something that you want to do with me".He felt that this was the time to lay it all out in the open. Standing on the street outside her apartment as the world seems to be passing them by, just leaving them in their moment together, he felt stripped and bare before her. There is nothing else that he could say to apologise for how he had treated her. It was now up to Olivia to accept that as his truth. That he wanted to be with her and that he never wanted to leave her again.

He raised his free hand and gently slid across her cheek, leaving his fingertips tangled in her hair, lightly running his thumb across her lip. He leant forward, touching their foreheads together and took a deep breath. For the first time since the explosion, he felt that he was taking his first fresh breath of air since arriving back in New York. The way that she made him feel whole again now that they were spending time together again. It is the way that Olivia had anyway made him feel like it was just the two of them and nothing else made his heart race everything they were close.

Olivia breath hitched as his fingers ran into her hair, making her stomach instantly tighten and give her the feeling of butterflies. When he ran his thumb across her lip, it took every ounce of strength that she had to stop herself from lightly running her tongue across his thumb. With their heads pressed together, her heart rate raised rapidly, and her breathing quickened. She was sure if he looked in her eyes at that moment, he would see that your eyes had dilated from his actions. She just kept thinking does he feel this as well.

Olivia was internally willing him to make a move and touch their lips together, and when she could not take it any longer and went to close that tiny gap between them, she could hear a phone ringing. "Shit, that's me". Olivia said as she reached her hand down to her pocket to pull out her phone to see Noah face-timing her from Lucy's phone.

"Why are you not in bed Noah, it is late". She said as a greeting when she took a step back from Elliott and answered the phone to her smiling some. "We just finished the movie. I am about to head to bed now. I want to say good night to you, mom", smiling brightly at her beautiful son. She felt her chest fill with love for him. "Well, good night, sweet boy. I will talk to you tomorrow morning". She hung up the phone smiling.

There are now two steps between them after the phone call. They were looking at each other to try and assess how they both felt about what happened. "You should head in for the night". Elliott said, trying to break the tension between them. "I will. I just want to ask you something".

"What's that" he askes, looking at her lips and not her eye. At least it was her lips and not her breasts, he thinks, and he shoots his eyes back up her face. "If that didn't happen just then, were you going to make your move and kiss me?". She can see his surprise at her direct question. "No, I wanted to but just didn't think I should'. She makes a noise resembling "Hmmm", taking the two steps between them placing her lips softly on his, she could feel the instant spark from the contact. It was light, the softest of caresses. He didn't try to deepen the kiss. It was the definition of an innocent kiss. However, the desire it sparked in both of them was intense.

Olivia felt like her body was on fire and could not believe that she had taken the steps toward his and done it in the first place. She could feel it from the sweet touch of their lips to the thought that it initially sparked in her of what those lips could do elsewhere. Time seemed to freeze, but it must have only been seconds before she pulled away from him. "I better head in, goodnight El".

He didn't know what to say. His head was spinning. "Liv, you just kissed me". It was stating the obvious, but he didn't know what to say. Smiling at him, "I did the night, El". That was the last thing she said to him as she grabbed her keys from her bag and headed into the building. Elliott watched her make her way to the elevators, pressing the button and waited for the. As they opened, Olivia turned to him and smiled as she walked into the open elevator.

Her head was racing, screaming at her. You just kidded Stabler. The only thing with it was she wished he had deepened it that he would have taken her mouth as if it was the last thing on earth that he was going to taste. The elevator dinged at her floor, and she made her way to the apartment. Opening it and stepping through, she leant back against it to try and get her breath back to where it should be. Moving her hand to her lips, she slowly ran her fingers across them. Olivia knows that the next thing that needed to happen was making her way into a cold shower to calm herself down. With her breathing returned to where it should be, Olivia walked to the kitchen to pour a last glass of wine for the night.

Opening the fridge to grab the bottle, there was a knock on her front door. Walking to it, she didn't need to look through the peephole to know who it was. "How did you get in here," she asked. "I followed your neighbour in. They really should be more careful about who they let in" the smirk on his face said it all. He would have waited all night to get through the door.

"I just …I really …". He kept starting but didn't know how to say what he wanted to. He gave up quickly, reaching his right hand forward, grazing her cheek as he had downstairs, tangling his fingers in her hair, only this time there was no hesitation, just pure want and need as he closed the space between them, touching their lips in what started as a searing kiss. His tongue ran across her lower lip, taking her by surprise. Her breath caught in her throat, parting her lips as she took in more air. Taking that as an offer to move forward, he ran his tongue over her lip again and gently nipped on it as well.

Not being one to hold back, Olivia moved closer to him, deepening the kiss by opening her mouth wider and angling her head more. She ran her tongue between his open lips making contact with him for the first time. Should could taste the slightest hit of beer, enjoyed the scotch still on him, but there was something that was uniquely him there as well. It was overwhelming tasting him, mixed with the proximity of his aftershave and soap that gave him the smell that made her think of him as home. With the final space between them closed, their bodies were flush against each other.

His left hand made its way to her waist, pulling her into him as they continued to kiss. Taking all the self-control, he had to try to not dry hump her in her doorway. They both pulled away, panting as if they had just chased a perp down for the last five minutes. "Sorry, I just could not leave it as it was on the street. I need you to know that I want this as much as I hope you do. I couldn't leave it as it was. Ok, I will head out now, good night Liv".He turned, then leaving her at her from the door as he walked back to her elevator.

She turned into the apartment and closing the door. Olivia knows she would either need that cold should or to finish herself off, or maybe both. Olivia heard her phone alert telling her there was a text message. Walking to her bag that she had placed on the kitchen bench earlier and taking out her phone, there was a message.

El: Our first kiss was sweet, but holy shit, the second one was fucking amazing, Liv. Sweet dreams, I know mine will be.