AN: Okay, so, I know it's been awhile since I updated anything and so I'm forcing myself to write because I really really, want to get this story to where I know it can go. I am also planning on updating Partners and Parents for anyone who reads that; I'm just trying to think of the perfect first date because that has to be special. Please enjoy this chapter & leave your thoughts in a review!
**Part of the reason why I'm so late with this is that it took me forever to figure out Halloween costumes, pathetic, I know.
Chapter 6 – Halloween
Although Olivia had made the decision to keep her distance from Elliot, emotionally, it would be nearly impossible to stay away from him physically. Their kids were best friends, and so since Luke had started kindergarten, she had seen Elliot Stabler around twice a week, every week of the year. It had been nice, at the very beginning. Olivia had never been the type to make friends easily. In high school, she stayed to herself, mostly for fear that anyone she hung out with would eventually find out about her mother's drinking. In college, she had been married and that seemed to set her apart from her classmates and their lives, which were full of partying and all-nighters, as opposed to Olivia's, which was full of cooking dinner and romantic comedies watched alone on the couch while she waited for Jonathan to get home. Even after she had graduated and gotten a job at a pharmaceutical company (something she'd never really wanted to do), her coworkers were just that – coworkers, acquaintances, nothing more.
But Elliot Stabler had been different. He was funny. He was genuinely kind to her, always. He was also stubborn and annoying and rigid in his beliefs, but Olivia appreciated that. They worked well together, they fit. Supervising play dates at the Stabler household was enjoyable and she believed had almost as much fun as her son did on those afternoons. And when things had gotten tense between Elliot and his wife, he had confided in Olivia. It had surprised her at first, how easy it was for him to talk about it, how readily he shared his fears and their problems, but eventually, Olivia had realized that he didn't really have anyone else to talk to. He was just as professional at work as she was, and although he certainly liked the other detectives he worked with, he didn't seem comfortable going to them for advice. But Olivia and he were friends, and so their relationship was different. When he and Kathy divorced, he and Olivia grew closer.
Olivia had not confided in him in the same way when Jonathan died. She didn't know what it was, why it was so hard to talk about. She told herself that she just wanted to move on. It didn't make sense to wallow in the past. So maybe that was why she had moved out of the house Jonathan had bought, and quit the job that he had helped her get and cut the hair that he liked for her to wear long. She had cleansed her life of him, and the only things that remained the same were her and her children. That was how she had liked it. But she had to admit that the opportunity to share everything she'd kept a secret for so long had been tempting, if only for a moment. And Elliot was so…so inviting, so genuine, that he made it seem like she could tell him anything and not be judged. Whenever she was around him, the dam she had built up over the past couple of years started to crack, weaken. But only for a moment.
The feeling always passed, though. And she was always glad that she hadn't shared. She was glad, now, that she had decided to prevent their relationship from developing into anything more. She would see Elliot twice a week or however often it was, and they would be friends because they were good at being friends, but that would be all.
Unfortunately for Olivia, she and Elliot's roles in the PTA now meant that they'd have to see each other even more. That put a bit of a dent in her plan, but nevertheless, she was sure she could handle it. Almost.
The first time she sees him after Saturday is that next Wednesday, the day before Halloween. They had managed to make the calls and get the supplies necessary to put together a last-minute haunted house-harvest festival mashup, the first fundraiser of the year. Olivia, although she had been elected unwillingly, was not the type to half-ass anything, and so she planned to be a great PTA president - at least until she was able to pass the torch next year. So, on Wednesday afternoon, she shows up at the end of the school day to help set up. By 4 o'clock, most of the other volunteers have arrived and there are about 20 of them in the gym, setting up booths for games and painting signs and organizing candy for the kids. Olivia is making rounds to check everyone's progress when a muscular arm wraps around her waist and pulls her into a quick half-hug.
"Detective Stabler, reporting for duty," Elliot says as he releases Olivia, who is trying her very hardest not to blush. This is no big deal, really, it should be no big deal to be normal around Elliot. So why the hell was her stomach doing somersaults?
"You got off of work early," Olivia says, smiling slightly at Elliot. "I hope you didn't use me as an excuse to leave again." Elliot chuckles and shakes his head.
"That doesn't work anymore," he informs her. "The guys think you're too nice, and they told my captain so too. It was a slow day, and you know, I had to pick up my kids." He nods across the gym, where Luke, Lizzie, and Dickie are throwing fake spiders at each other.
"I told you I could drop them off afterward!" Olivia says, shoving him lightly. Elliot's grin widens.
"Oh, did you? I forgot, sorry."
"You're impossible," Olivia says, rolling her eyes. Elliot chuckles again, his eyes flicking over Olivia's face. He bites down on his bottom lip slightly and Olivia's stomach does a quick herkie.
"I have some decorations from last year's precinct Halloween party in my car," Elliot says. "You wanna go help me grab them?"
"I should probably stay," Olivia says. She realizes that her reply might have been too quick as Elliot looks at her strangely. "To supervise, you know. But I'll send the boys over okay?"
"Sure," Elliot says. His eyebrows knit together a bit as Olivia hustles away, her stomach still doing backflips.
•
Elliot notices that Olivia is acting a bit strangely. She hustles to get away from him quite quickly, but he decides that this is because of the nature of their interaction on Saturday. However, he wanted to assure that he wasn't going to hold anything against her and that she didn't have a reason to be embarrassed. If anything, the experience had only reassured him of his steadily growing feelings for her, and now he felt fairly confident that he wanted to let her know what he had been feeling and to be with her if possible; to make sure that no one else got the opportunity to hurt her again, to help paint over her memories of the past, at the very least to treat her well because that was what she deserved and that was something he could give.
It takes him awhile to get the chance to approach her again. She is kneeling on the gym floor in the back corner, making touch-ups on the banner they had made to hang up outside of the school tomorrow night. Elliot heads over when he notices that she's relatively alone, kneeling down beside her with a bit of a grunt.
"It gets harder to get down on the ground every year," he says, making her look up. She offers him a small smile before looking back down at the banner, where she's outlining a ghost with black paint.
"I understand," she says, carefully dipping her brush back into the paint. She falls quiet after this, not looking back over at Elliot. He clears his throat, watching her and trying again to spark a bit of conversation.
"So, are you going to tell me what your costumes are this year?" he prods. Olivia chuckles lightly now, shaking her head slightly.
"Nope," she says. "It's always a secret."
"I know," Elliot says, huffing a little. "And it always blows my family's costumes out of the water. You could at least give me a heads up."
"Well it's not a competition," Olivia muses. Her brush hand freezes and she looks up at Elliot. "That would have been a good idea, wouldn't it? A costume competition? Ah, it's too late now, but the kids would have loved that."
"You're only saying that because you would have won," Elliot says, and Olivia laughs again. This laugh is more relaxed, and it makes him smile. "There's always next year." Olivia snorts at this.
"No way," she says, shaking her head and moving on to add details to an outline of a bat. Elliot watches as she carefully makes eyes and then small fangs. "There's no next year. We've been doing this for about two weeks and I'm already exhausted."
"You're good at it, though," Elliot says. "I mean, honestly. The planning, the getting donations, even the painting. You're a good president. And a good mom, really. I mean, come on, you work full time, you cook every night, take Luke to all those little league games in the spring and swim meets in the summer, and you have a baby at home. I mean, it's really hard trying to measure up to you."
"Oh please," Olivia says, but her cheeks are colored pink now. "I'm really not all that great. I mean, I'm trying my best, of course. I'm just trying to give my kids what they deserve."
"You do," Elliot says. Olivia glances back up briefly and smiles slightly. "You do that and more."
"Well thank you," she says. "It's nice to hear." She pauses before adding: "I did consider signing Luke up for camp this year though."
"Ah," Elliot says, chuckling. He watches her for a second, her steady hand moving across the paper. "But I wonder, if you're doing all that, when you manage to find the time to take care of yourself."
The blush on Olivia's cheeks intensifies and she shakes her head slightly, shrugging as she sets her paintbrush down and sits back to look over the banner.
"I make it work," she says, not looking back up. Elliot watches her for a moment, nerves flooding through him as he opens his mouth to take a leap of faith he'd been planning out since this weekend.
"Well, you know, if you ever wanted to just have a chance to relax a little, we could take the kids out together," he says slowly. Olivia raises her eyes to his as he continues. "I mean we could do Chuck-E-Cheese, and they could run around for a little while. We'd have two sets of eyes. I mean, what about this weekend? Are you free Saturday?"
If it's possible, Olivia's cheeks seem to darken yet another shade. She rocks backward and manages to stand, holding out her hand to help Elliot up after.
"I'm actually supposed to be going out with Brian this weekend," she says slowly, her eyes running over Elliot's face quickly. He tries his hardest to mask his surprise and the way his gut wrenches slightly when she says this.
"Oh," Elliot says. "So, you're going out again then?"
"Yeah," Olivia says softly, nodding slightly. "I really just wanted to make last time up to him. I mean, our date was not supposed to end up at your place."
"Right, right," Elliot says slowly. He didn't know why he'd been so sure that "Brian and Olivia" were over, so sure that he'd have a clear path to start spending more time with Olivia. But, he guessed that Fin had been right: this had been his doing, and if they ended up together for good, it would be due to his party. "You do, um, you do like him then?"
"Yeah, of course," Olivia says. "He's a really nice guy. I mean, last time, I just let my nerves get to me, and I made such a bad impression, I was afraid he'd just never want to talk to me again."
"I'm sure you didn't," Elliot says, a bit more reserved now. Olivia has noticed this change and she wraps her arms around her waist, looking apologetic. "But alright. I'm glad that you two like each other, that's really good."
"Yeah," Olivia says, her voice quiet. Elliot nods slowly and Olivia flicks her eyes downward. "But I am busy this weekend."
"Maybe another time then," Elliot finishes a bit awkwardly. He can't stand here, just looking at her, his heartbeat increasing, his stomach quaking. Olivia nods slightly, and he exhales slowly, checking his watch. "I should really be getting the kids home. Do you mind?"
"No, of course not," Olivia says, shaking her head. "You've had a long day, I'm sure. I'll see you tomorrow."
Elliot takes a step in to give her quick hug, like he has been doing recently, but then thinks better of it and just offers a jerky nod back before turning to find Lizzie and Dickie.
"See you tomorrow."
•
Getting out of the house on Halloween is relatively easy for Elliot. Usually, he has to deal with all four kids, but it's just the twins this year. Maureen was staying with her Kathy's, and he was almost sure this was because she had wanted to go to a party without having an early curfew. Kathleen had decided to opt out of the haunted house experience and was spending the night at her friend's house. So, after Kathy drops the kids off at the station, all they have to do it go back to Elliot's to change and eat a quick dinner before heading to the school.
Olivia was a spectacular decorator. Elliot is made aware of this as soon as they step into the school. The main events are in the gym, but even the hallway leading up to it is decorated with cobwebs and spiders and the lights have been somehow dimmed to give it a sort of "spooky" vibe. He chuckles to himself as he looks around, looking down at his son, who is pouting.
"Olivia did a good job, huh?" he says. Dickie looks up at him and sighs.
"She always does a good job at this kind of stuff," he says as they head down the hallway. "Luke's costume is going to be better than mine."
"It's not a competition," Elliot says, but Dickie just sighs harder. Elliot nods at Lizzie. "And you guys' costumes are great. You're 'Men in Black' and you're twins. It's 'Twin in Black!'"
Dickie groan, lowering his shades as they turn the corner. Elliot smiles as soon as Olivia comes into his line of sight, sitting at the ticket table in front of the gym doors. Last night had been awkward, and he had rushed out as quickly as possible. After he'd gotten home, he'd told himself that he could let go of the idea of pursuing her, or that he could at least wait to see if she and Brian developed into anything serious. But a crush was a crush, and even just seeing her now made the night a little better. He runs his eyes over her red wig and baby tee featuring Spiderman. She looks fantastic, to be honest.
"Mary Jane," Elliot says as he approaches the table. Olivia smiles at him, waving at his kids quickly.
"And Aunt May," she says, nodding to Grace in her lap, who's in a white wig and green sweater. Elliot chuckles as she coos, seeming to recognize him. "Dickie and Liz, you guys look fantastic. Men in Black?"
"Twins in Black," Lizzie corrects and Olivia chuckles, nodding. Dickie nods slightly, making a half-hearted pose with his Noisy Cricket.
"So that means that Luke is…" Elliot begins, his eyebrows folding. Dickie is never going to let him hear the end of this.
"Spider-Man!" Luke announces, popping out of the gym in a spectacular costume. He pulls up his mask and grins at Dickie, who looks a little sour.
"Be careful running around in that," Olivia warns, grabbing the roll of tickets. Elliot pulls out a ten and they trade. She addresses him with this next statement, rolling her eyes. "It took me the better part of 3 months to make it."
"Make it?" Elliot says stunned, glancing at Luke once more. He hands Dickie the tickets. "You guys can run in, I'm gonna help out here." Dickie trudges ahead a few steps and Luke, noticing his friend's depleted mood, carefully removes his mask and passes it to the blonde.
"Here, you can wear it for a little while," he says. "Come on." This makes Dickie grin and he pulls on the mask before running into the gym with his sister and Luke. Elliot smiles a little at Olivia before moving around the table to sit in the empty chair next to her.
"You could have at least given me a heads up," he says and Olivia chuckles, shaking her head. "I mean, really, this is what I was talking about. I've just been out-parented, for about the thousandth time this year."
"Oh, come on," Olivia says, shaking her head as Grace wiggles in her lap, now reaching for Elliot. She passes Grace over carefully. "See, Grace prefers you." Elliot smiles down at the baby getting comfortable in his lap, patting her back gently.
"Your costumes are all great," Elliot says, nodding at Olivia outfit and running his eyes over her once more. She smiles a bit bashfully, flicking her eyes away a bit nervously. Another couple of kids and their parents walk up and she tends to them quickly, as cheery as ever. Elliot watches as she does so, a small smile on his lips. When they walk in the gym, Olivia tucks the money into the safe, addressing Elliot.
"Well, I do love your kids' costumes, and their props," she says before looking over at Elliot, a playful glint in her eye. "You, on the other hand, got a little lazy. A cop?" Elliot glances down at his own outfit before looking back at Olivia, grinning.
"What?" he says, feigning shock. Olivia rolls her eyes and his grin widens. "Oh, you think that's what I actually do. No, you see, I'm a detective, so it's different. Easy mistake."
"Oh," Olivia says sarcastically. "I see, my mistake. I do see now that this shirt is way too tight for you to actually work in."
"No good?" Elliot asks, grinning sheepishly. He flexes one arm and although Olivia knows they're joking, her heart still leaps a little. "I was just trying to show off my best assets."
"Oh my god," Olivia says. "You're so sad." But she's giggling now, a despite herself, and this makes Elliot laugh too, then eventually, Grace starts "heehee"-ing in his lap just because everyone else is laughing, and then they're all cracking up. Elliot wipes his eyes, shaking his head.
"I think I look pretty good," he says, still chuckling softly.
"You look okay," Olivia concedes. "But that shirt doesn't show off your best assets."
"No?" Elliot says, his eyes glinting playfully. He leans in a little bit, watching Olivia. "Then tell me what my best asset really is."
"Well…" Olivia begins, but a few more families round the corner, heading to their table. It seems that a wave of people are now coming in, and Olivia and Elliot have to tend to them together, but in the back of his mind, Elliot is dying to know what Olivia had been about to say. Unfortunately, the line for tickets only grows. It takes a good amount of time for it to slow down, thirty minutes at least. As soon as it does, Elliot turns to Olivia, raising his eyebrows.
"So, you were saying?" he says. But before Olivia can respond, Renee sticks her head out of the gym, looking a bit frazzled.
"Olivia," she calls, making Olivia turn to look at her. "One of the kids went through the haunted house section and he got so scared that he started sobbing. His mom is asking for a refund."
"What?" Olivia asks, standing up. "It's a haunted house."
"I know," Renee says. "You'll come talk to her then?"
"Yeah, sure," Olivia says. She flicks her eyes at Elliot apologetically before reaching for her daughter. "Babies make you seem sympathetic, right? Can you handle everything up here?"
"Of course," Elliot says, nodding slightly, but slightly disappointed that she was being pulled away, and more than slightly upset that their conversation had been interrupted twice now. "See you in a bit."
But Olivia must get distracted because she doesn't come back to the table and somehow Elliot gets stuck there for the better part of the night. The ticket sales slowly ebb, and of course, Jeanine comes to relieve Elliot just as he gives tickets to who he's fairly confident is the last person planning to come tonight, given the event is supposed to be over at 9 and it's already 8:45.
Elliot makes his way into the gym after Jeanine settles in, looking around the large room. There must be a couple of fog machines because the room is awfully hazy. It's lit with orange and purple lights and he's pretty sure "Monster Mash" is playing, although it's hard to hear over the excited kids talking in the room. Elliot's eyes scan the room and he quickly finds his two children and Luke ducking into the crowd. Then, thankfully, he spots Olivia, standing at a game table near the tarp that the divides the other half of the gym and the haunted house.
He walks over, and Olivia smiles a bit when she sees him, but then her eyebrows shoot up in concern.
"I abandoned you," she says, her voice a little louder than usual so Elliot can hear her. He moves to stand closer to her, rolling his eyes playfully.
"You did," he says, before offering a sly smile. "It's alright though. Where's Grace?"
"Renee and some of the other moms wanted a chance to play with her," Olivia says, nodding at the dance floor. Elliot follows her gaze and grins as he sees Grace and another baby bobbing to the music in the center of the floor. "She's currently showing them all of best dance moves."
"She looks great out there," Elliot muses. He glances back at Olivia, who's watching her daughter with one of those proud smiles that only come from mothers. This makes him smile at her, wondering how she can look so amazing under Halloween colored lights. It takes him a second to remember why he had gone looking for her but when he remembers, he nudges her gently. "Can I steal you for a second?"
"Sure," Olivia says, motioning to the empty gallon bag sitting on her table. "I'm out of candy anyway."
"Great," Elliot says, shocking himself and Olivia as he grabs Olivia's hand, leading her into the back corner of the gym, and ducking under one of the sheets that had been hung up in the corner. Moving had given them a bit more privacy, and it was easier to hear, but there wasn't much space in this corner, so they had to stand close, facing each other. It's a bit dim and so it's hard to tell, but Elliot thinks Olivia might have been blushing. "Alright, finally."
"Finally?" Olivia asks a bit timidly. She had planned to distance herself from Elliot, and now she was standing not more than two inches away from him, her heart beating rapidly. She's close enough to smell his aftershave, and the smell takes her back to Saturday morning; to being half awake with his arm draped around her and she has to swallow to bring herself back.
Elliot only smiles.
"My best asset?" he reminds. Olivia lets out a bit of a nervous laugh and nods her head slightly. Talking will help ease her nerves and the moment will pass. She knows it'll pass.
"Oh," she says, shaking her head slightly. "Well, these aren't my words."
"No?" Elliot encourages.
"But, I've been told by a certain PTA chairperson that your best asset is your 'tight little bum.'"
Olivia says this slyly, her eyes glinting in the dim light. Elliot lets out a throaty chuckle and she giggles back.
"Honestly?" he asks and Olivia nods, trying, but failing, to pull a straight face.
"I promise," she says with a giggle. "She said it in a phone conference, after saying that she was so glad that you were vice-president. You're lucky she's married, otherwise, I'm sure she'd go after you."
"Huh," Elliot says, pretending to think about this. "She's not so bad herself. Maybe I can steal her away."
"Shut up," Olivia chides, slapping Elliot's chest lightly. It's very firm.
"Kidding," Elliot says, breaking out into a grin. He looks at Olivia, his gaze intense. Olivia thinks goosebumps pop up all over her forearms at this moment. "I'm not interested in Jeanine."
"No?" Olivia says, raising her eyebrows.
"No," Elliot confirms. He continues looking at her and something makes the casual air fall away. They've gotten closer, somehow, Olivia's body brushing against Elliot's. "Not Jeanine."
"Well good," Olivia breathes. "I don't know if I could be friends with a homewrecker."
This catches Elliot off guard and breaks a bit of the tension. He laughs and Olivia chuckles as well. She rolls her eyes at him a bit and begins to back away and step out from the sheet, but Elliot grasps her hand again, pulling her back carefully and making her freeze.
"Wait," he says. "What do you think my best asset is?"
Olivia is about to come back with another witty joke, but his thumb strokes the back of her hand and she's temporarily stunned. Her words freeze in her throat and suddenly all of her thoughts fly out of her head. She forgets Jonathan and Brian and the risk and the decision she'd made and her fear. All she can do is look at Elliot's blue eyes, and his mouth, upturned in a half-grin, and his well-defined chest, almost pressing against hers.
Elliot feels the moment too. His mind is reeling, and it feels like he's noticing for the first time all over again that Olivia can be very cute and very enticing and that her humor is irresistible. He stops caring about Brian for just a second, stops worrying as his brain is hijacked by Olivia and that damn red wig.
Elliot leans in slightly just as the lights flick back on. And then just like that, the trance is broken, and Olivia is giggling nervously and stepping out from under the sheets with him, saying that they should start cleaning up. But Elliot doesn't even hear her instructions because he's too busy kicking himself for not moving just a little faster.
Almost.