A/N: I wanted to say thank you for the reviews, Favourites and Follows. They are all appreciated. I apologise. I edited this and the next chapter very late, so sorry about any errors.

Opening a few cupboards, Olivia found two wine glasses and pulled them down. Grabbing the red from the fridge and putting it on the bench, she quickly gave up on finding a bottle opener. Elliott came back into the apartment as she turned on the taps to start to wash up. He saw the bottle of wine on the bench and made his way into the lounge room. Opening a draw on the side table, Elliott brought back the bottle opener and silently opened the bottle. Hearing the distinct pop of the cork coming out of the bottle, he placed it back on the counter. Turning off the taps, Olivia went to start washing the dishes as he walked up behind her, not quite in her spare but just hovering on the border. "Leave that, Liv, I will do it late". "There are only a few things here, and then it is out of the way. "

"Ok, but let me wash, you can wipe. I don't want to be blamed for you chipping a nail". Elliott was looking at her hands and the painted nails that she seems always to have now—not remembering her having them painted before, he first noticed when they were red at Fin's non-wedding when Olivia had passed him a glass of red wine, he like the change. Placing his hand on her hips, he gave a gentle squeeze, and he lightly pushed her to stand beside him. Noticing that she was shorter than usual, looking down at her bare feet with matching black toenails. "Why are you looking at me weird". Olivia asked quietly. "It is the first time I have seen you without your shoes on, and I have only just realised how tall you are. From here, I can see straight down your top".

"Well, it would not be the first time". He was smirking at the dig. "That is true, but it is the first time I don't have to look directly away and pretend that I didn't". Looking up at Elliott smiling. "Like what you see, do you, El.' She softly replied, not knowing where their boundaries are anymore. Olivia was a bit hesitant as to how far she should take this. Outside of professional relationships, she had always been flirty and loved to banter in all her relationships. But here and now, Olivia felt blind and a little overwhelmed by where they would go—waiting to see where he would take it with his response before she continued.

Turning towards her, Elliot grabbed her hip and turned her, pushing her a step back and into the countertop. Placing his other hand around her hip, he nodded to her, so she understood he wanted her on the countertop. Reaching behind herself with her hands, Olivia jumped and lifted herself onto the counter with Elliott assisting with his hands on her hips. With Olivia sitting there, he ran his hands from her hips until they meet the top of her thigh. Moving his thumb between her closed legs only an inch away from her centre, his fingers resting over her legs. With excruciating slowness, he ran his hands from her upper thigh to her knees, where he gently pushed her legs apart, stepping between them. He could hear her breath hitch as he was running his hands over her. He felt light-headed with what it did to listen to her breath catch and his touch on her. It was heady with his heart pumping in his chest. Moving his hand back to her hips, he pulled her forward and pulling them in line with each other.

Olivia's breathing became rapid with the feel of his hands on her thighs, his strong fingers running down her legs, and when he spread them open and pulled her to himself, she didn't want it to stop there. Wrapping her long legs around him, she pulled him in even closer. They just looked at each other, breathing in each other's air. Reaching up, she cupped the back of his head, pulling him in and gently touching their lips together. Opening her mouth, running the tip of her tongue across his lower lip, she gently nipped his lip with her teeth when he responded to her by opening his mouth. She felt his smile as she moved forward and deepening the kiss, and pushed her tongue softly into his mouth.

There was no hesitation on Elliot's side. He kissed her back like they had been doing this for years. His biggest issue was trying to not grind his growing hard-on directly into her as they were flush against each other. Pulling away from her mouth, he trailed open mouth kissed down her neck and back again to just below her ear when her reflexes kicked, tightening her legs around him when he hit a spot that worked for her. He heard her moan against his ear, and it was the sexiest thing he had ever heard. Pulling back for them both to catch their breath, looking down, he was able to see that she was as affected as himself, with her nipples straining against the white t-shirt she was wearing.

"So much for setting ground rules El". They both sat there for half a minute, getting their breathing back to normal and pulling him against her with her legs still wrapped around him. "I am all good with this, but we need to talk about a few things before this goes any further. I don't want to cross a line if this isn't something that we both want".

"Liv, I am all in with this. I am not going anywhere. I thought of ever having to leave you again makes me feel physically sick". Elliott tries as a way of explaining. "Lets, do the dishes, I will pour the wine, and we can sit down and talk like adults". Raising an eyebrow at him, "Do you think we can do that without acting like hormone-crazed teens". "Fuck no, I don't, but we have managed to do it in the past. We can try to do it again".

Dropping her legs from his body, Elliott stepped back from the counter, turning and placing his hands on the sink, taking three deep breaths to try and calm his body down. "I do want to thank the person that invented grey sweat pants". Olivia said as she cleared her throat. Pushing his hands into the water, he started to clean the plates from dinner, rinsing them and putting them in the tray for Olivia to dry off. Jumping down off the countertop, she crossed behind him to grab the dish town off the front of the oven. Then went back to start to dry the dishes.

Elliott let out the water as she finished drying the last few items off. Pouring the wine and handing her glass to her, he made his way over to the couch, with Olivia following behind him. "I think we should discuss what this is or what each of us wants this to be before we move forward from here, as if we are in different places, then I don't want to lose the friendship that we have. I don't want to have you in my life again Liv, I hated being apart from you". She nodded in agreement with him. Elliot took the lead. "I want to be with you, Liv, would love to move forward in a relationship with you, not just a friendship. I have been in love with you longer than I should have been".

"I also should not have said I love you the night of the intervention the way that I did. I was angry, and I should not have told you that way. For that, I am sorry. I should never lift without talking to you. I owed you that after 13 years as partners. I was just so in love with you that I could not think straight. After Jenna, all I could think was, what if she had hit you and not Sister Peg? What would I have done? It became apparent to me that if I didn't walk away from you, from the job, from avoiding going home some night, I would not only lose my marriage, but I was going to lose my kids, and I didn't want that. I couldn't talk facing you and telling you I chose Kathy and the kids over you. At the time, it was the choice I felt I had to make. I am sorry you heard it from Cragen. You should have heard it from me".

"A few months after I left, I reached out to a friend in private security, and he had a job for me in Rome, so I took it. We left a few weeks later and had been in Rome since". "I don't regret re-building my relationship with Kathy and being able to spend time with Eli that I just had not been able to with the other kids. I regret cutting you out of my life and not being brave enough to contact you after some time had passed, and I had some perspective back to apologise to you. I need you to know that I am all in, every part of me, Liv. I know it will take time for us to get our footing and figure out exactly what this is, but I want to do that with you".

"Thank you, El. I appreciate you telling me that. I will not say it didn't hurt because it took a long time to get back on my feet. I accept your apology and want to move past what happened. Yes, I want to try this, but I am terrified that it will turn to shit, and you will be gone again. I have been through a lot since you left. I don't want to rehash a lot of it as it is in the past, and I have worked very hard to get past it. I think you should ready my jacket, After you have read them, you are welcome to ask questions, but I don't want to tell you everything that happened. It is just too hard".

"Call it self preservation if you want, but I will have to tell you some triggers that I have that will be relevant to you if we are going to give this a go. You cant drink Vodka, ever. He poured it down my throat, and the smell and taste can give me flashbacks. I sometimes have trouble when it is pitch black or if I am in a confined space. I leave a light on in the hallway, so I don't panic in the middle of the night. I can not be pinned down or restrained in any way. Maybe over time, that may change, but I could never relax completely with Cassidy and Tucker. That made it hard to let them in. I also have some scars. When you read what happened, you will understand, but they are mostly burns marks they have faded over the years, but they are still there".

"I want to be with you, El, and I want to move past where we are here. I want to take things slow with everything that has happened with Kathy. I don't want to overstep with you grieving for her and with the kids. I know that grief is a scale, and some days are good, and others aren't. You will need to talk to me. You can not ask for me to back off if we decide to go for this. I will give you as much space as you need, but you will have to be honest and tell me why you need it. No more going in blind. I am too old to try this again and not have it work".

"So, we are both saying we want to give this a go together, and we are going to take it slow". He quietly recapped for both of them. "That we are taking this as a fresh start with open communication". Reaching over to the coffee table, taking a sip of her wine and placing it back down again, Olivia silently nodded. "I will need a verbal response on that one, Olivia". "Yes, El, that is correct".

Olivia's phone vibrates from where she placed it on the coffee table, and there is a message from Lucy. With a photo of Noah and Lucy's mom smiling at each other and a video. Moving to sit right next to Elliott, he was about to look at the screen and hit play. Noah was dancing up a storm on the dancefloor to the delight of everyone around him. "He looks like he is a great Kid, Liv. You are doing a great job". She smiles at him, telling her as sometimes she does wonder. Elliot's phone goes off next, saying that the kids are all home safe and sound.

Olivia went to the bathroom, and when she came back, they had cuddled up on the couch and spent the last hour finishing their wine and talking about everything and anything". Do you want to stay here tonight, Liv?" Elliott asked her as she leant over him to place her empty glass on the table. "How would that go with the whole taking it slow". She asked him honestly. "I would give you something to sleep, unlike last night, and if you want, you can sleep in Eli's room. However, I would rather you slept in with me. I think we would sleep well together".

"If we are keeping this slow, then I won't tell you what else I did last night". Olivia said with a cheeky smile. "You are going to be the death of me". He graned out started to get hard at the thoughts that conjured for him. Olivia giggled at his response as he tightened his arms around here where they were lying on the couch. "I would love to stay the night. If you have a t-shirt and a spare toothbrush, that will be all that I need".