AN: Thanks so much for the reviews and the interest in the story! Quite a few people seem to be worried about Amy. We'll get to know her a little bit more in this chapter. And then we will see how the story unravels.

EOEOEOEO

"So…" Amy said. "Is now the time to talk some more about Elliot?"

"No, it's not time to talk about Elliot." That was a topic she needed to avoid. In her state of exhaustion, the couple of drinks she had were likely to make her reveal things she didn't want to reveal.

Olivia watched Amy shrug her shoulders and take another sip of her martini. She had a small smile on her face, as if she knew Olivia would cave in eventually. In college, Amy had been a confidante. They told each other everything. She wondered briefly if she should confide in Amy now. Maybe it would be a relief and she could help her sort out her emotions. She looked at Amy, sitting across from her with an expectant look on her face, waiting as Olivia debated with herself.

No. It had been a long time since those days…she didn't really know her now. She was going to give it a few days; get reacquainted with her more, and then she could decide. She needed to deflect the conversation back to Amy. "So, tell me what happened with Jason." Olivia felt a little badly turning the conversation back to her troublesome ex, but she hadn't gotten an update since Olivia had told her to get a restraining order.

Amy's smile faded. "There's not much to tell."

"Bullshit." Olivia responded quickly. She leaned forward. "You never had much of a poker face."

Amy shook her head. "Fine." She put her glass to her lips and then set it back down without taking a drink. "I tried to get the restraining order, like you said."

"But?" She could hear the word in Amy's statement.

"The judge didn't grant it. She said he hadn't really done anything that was threatening."

"He broke into your apartment! Went through your things!" Olivia said, outraged.

"Well, he didn't break in. He still had a key. And he didn't take anything. He left things."

Olivia remembered Amy telling her about notes and flowers he left in her apartment. One time, he'd left lingerie.

"Somehow he convinced the judge that it was just a lover's quarrel…that we were working things out."

"And a judge believed that? Even though you were in another relationship? He's stalking you for Christ's sake." She took a sip of beer and set her glass down a little too hard, spilling some of the contents. Sometimes the legal system and their lack of action when it came to these kinds of things really pissed her off. "Why didn't you change your locks?"

"I did." Amy said.

"So how did he get a key?"

"I don't know." Amy said, a worried look settling in. She took a long drink, draining the rest of her martini. "You know what? I don't want to talk about right now. We were having such a good time."

"But Amy." Olivia started, and then she saw the pleading look on her friends face and she relented. There would be more time to talk later. "OK. So, what do you want to do the next few days?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Amy smiled, and started rattling off all the things she missed about Manhattan.

"You're going to have to stay for a week." Olivia said, laughing.

"Well, I'll probably have to be here about once a month, or maybe every six weeks. We have plenty of time." Amy reached out across the table and placed her hand over Olivia's. "You're going to hang out with me, right? Like old times?"

Olivia smiled. It would be nice to have a friend in town to do things with. "Sure. It'll be fun." She pulled her hand back and grabbed her beer. "But I don't know if it will be exactly like old times. Remember that I'm a cop now."

"We didn't do anything illegal." Amy said, laughing.

Olivia cocked her head and stared at Amy.

Amy laughed again. "OK. Well…we had some pretty good times, didn't we?" Amy said with a big smile on her face, just as the waiter came up with another round of drinks.

"We didn't order those." Olivia said.

"Courtesy of the gentlemen at the bar." He pointed to two guys in suits that were standing with beers in their hands.

Olivia looked over at Amy, and saw her turn and wave. "Don't encourage them." She hissed.

"Why not?" Amy asked.

"Because we're not here to pick up guys." Olivia said. "I don't want them to come over here."

Amy shrugged. "Maybe they're nice."

"Doubtful." Olivia said. She shot the suits a look and they must have gotten the message because they turned back to the bar. One of the benefits of being a cop. For some reason, she had the look that said back away and most of the time, people understood.

"Your job has made you cynical." Amy said, a broad smile on her face as she settled back in the booth.

"Not cynical. Smart." She said. "I don't take guys home from the bar anymore." She often thought back to some of the reckless behavior in her college days, and new she was lucky to have come through it relatively unscathed.

"You were always the smart one." Amy said.

"I wasn't the smart one. I just studied and actually did my homework." Olivia said. She was teasing Amy. Olivia used to get frustrated because it seemed Amy never did homework, and yet she got straight A's in college. It was easy for her…at least easier than it was for Olivia.

The waiter delivered two more drinks…some fruity concoction that Olivia knew she'd never drink…and pointed to a couple of other guys across the room. Olivia wanted to laugh, wondering how many more drinks they were going to get as traffic picked up in the bar.

"Two women can't sit in a bar without every guy hitting on them?" Olivia said. More of a statement than a question.

"You must not go out much." Amy said.

Olivia laughed. "I go out." She tried to defend herself but she knew she didn't really have much to argue. Most of the time, it was drinks with the squad. Or dinner with Casey.

Amy leaned forward. "Going out with the guys you work with doesn't count." She shook her head. "We're going out while I'm in town. We're going to have some fun. And get you laid."

"Jesus." Olivia said, looking around to see if anyone heard her. "I don't need your help." She did go out on dates…she did meet men. Just not usually in a bar.

Amy shook her head, but had a smile on her face. "See? This job has made you uptight. But we're going to go out and have some fun." Amy took a sip of her beer. "And speaking of fun…your friends are here."

Olivia turned her head, looking at the door that was behind her. She saw Elliot and Casey, followed by Munch and Fin. She turned back to Amy. "We're going to have to get a bigger table." They had a large booth, but it was going to be tight with six people.

"It's fine. We can squeeze in together." She raised an eyebrow. "And Elliot can squeeze in right next to me."

Olivia tried not to react. She knew that was exactly what Amy wanted her to do…to try to make a point. The girl wasn't going to give up in trying to get the inside scoop on what exactly was the nature of her relationship with Elliot, and Olivia had to give her credit for that. Even though it was a total fishing expedition. She had never said one thing to Amy that would make her believe they were anything but partners. But Amy never had understood the concept of men as friends.

"Looks like you're having a good time." Elliot said as he approached the table, looking at the martini, beer and two fruity drinks sitting untouched in the middle of the table. He looked up at Olivia, trying to gauge how much she'd had to drink. She didn't normally have more than a couple of beers or glasses of wine. She almost never drank anything harder than that. A result of an alcoholic mother and too much awareness of the risk of being drunk when you leave a bar.

"We are!" Amy said, giving the gang a broad smile. "I'm glad you guys could come." She stuck out her hand towards Casey. "I'm Amy."

Casey took her hand and introduced herself, looking between Amy and Olivia. Olivia smiled, knowing Casey was trying to size up Amy, and wondered about the friendship between this outgoing, vivacious blonde and the Olivia Benson she knew.

Olivia slid towards Elliot. "We were just moving. We need a bigger table."

Elliot took a step back as she stood up, but his arm shot out to steady her as she wobbled on her boots for a second. He turned to see Amy slide out of the other side of the booth, but she seemed steady on her feet. Of course, Lord only knew what her alcohol tolerance was. He saw Munch and Fin gather up the extra drinks and he followed Olivia to a large round high-top table, with bar stools situated around it.

Olivia slid onto one of the stools, and Amy perched herself on the stool to her right. Olivia smiled inwardly when Elliot situated himself on the stool to her left…happy he had taken what she thought of as his rightful place…right next to her. She was also happy to see Casey take the stool next to Amy, leaving Munch and Fin to sit across from them. Munch appeared to be acting normally, and she assumed he had gotten some kind of lecture from Elliot and/or Fin. Not that Munch was dangerous, or that she thought Amy would ever dream of going anywhere with him…it just sometimes made it awkward. She glanced over at Elliot and smiled.

Elliot leaned in. "How're you doing?"

Olivia knew him well…and that his question was many questions all in one. Was she drunk? Was she having fun? How was it going with Amy? "I'm good El. I'm having a good time"

"You know that if you want to have a few extra drinks, I've got you. You and Amy. I'll make sure you get home."

"What are you two whispering about already?" Amy asked, leaning in towards Olivia. Olivia turned to face her and Amy straightened up and swiveled her head towards Casey. "Are you going to fill me in on these two?" She asked.

Olivia was horrified…that Amy would ask her, and of what Casey might say. She had never said anything to Casey, but had heard Casey's numerous theories over the months, and warded off many questions. She saw Casey flick her eyes over towards her and then she rolled her eyes.

"I wouldn't even know where to begin."

Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. Casey had her own theories and Heaven help her if those two every got together and started theorizing together.

They server came up to the table and took drink orders, and when he had left, Olivia slid her extra beer towards Elliot. "Drink this before it gets warm."

"The guy that bought this for you might not be too happy. I don't think I'm probably his type." Elliot said with a smirk.

"Just shut up and drink the beer." Olivia said, rolling her eyes at him.

Elliot chuckled. "OK. OK." He took a sip of the beer. "But remember what I said. I got your back." He said quietly and was rewarded with a smile.

"Thanks. But that's not going to be necessary." Olivia said. She looked over at Amy, who was well into one of the fruity drinks that had been delivered to the table. "But sometimes with Amy, you never know."

Olivia heard Munch ask Amy about her job and they spent the next half an hour learning about her career and her life in Boston. Amy was asking them about their time in the NYPD, working with Olivia, and their lives in general, and Olivia almost laughed when the questions got personal. To Amy, nothing was off-limits.

Everyone was on their second round of drinks when Amy slid off her stool. "I have to go to the ladies." She tugged on Olivia's arm. "Come with me."

"I don't have to go." Olivia said.

Amy tugged at her arm again. "Just come on."

Olivia slid off her stool and looked at Elliot, seeing a smirk on his face. "Aren't we old enough that we don't have to go the bathroom in pairs?" she asked. She was pretty certain Elliot was biting back a smartass comment. But they were already moving away from the table.

Amy wrapped her arm around Olivia's waist as they walked to the restroom, and their college days all came rushing back as Amy hugged her close as they walked. She realized she really missed having a close girlfriend, and she was suddenly really happy that Amy had shown up.

"I really like your friends Olivia." Amy said, leaning her head in towards Olivia's. "They're kind of an odd bunch, but it's clear they all adore you."

"They are a good bunch of people." Olivia said. She knew they were people she probably never would have befriended under any kind of normal circumstances, but they were each fierce and loyal in their own way, dedicated to a life of service in what was probably one of the worst jobs in the NYPD.

"I especially like Elliot." Amy said. "I can see why you two get along so well."

Olivia laughed. Same old Amy. "I was about to tell you that I'm glad you're here, but…." She let the sentence trail off purposefully.

"You love me." Amy said, giving Olivia another squeeze right before they went through the door to the ladies' room.

Elliot had been turned slightly to watch as they walked to the bathroom. Part of it was his protective nature of Olivia; he wanted to make sure she wasn't wobbling on her feet or that no one bothered them along the way. But I was also really interesting watching Olivia interact with a girlfriend. It was obvious they had been very close. A thought that was confirmed when he saw Amy slip an arm around Olivia's waist.

"I bet those two wreaked a wide a path of destruction across their college campus." Munch said.

Elliot turned back towards the group at the table. "If I know Olivia, we will never know." She was pretty tight-lipped about her life before SVU. He knew about her mother and father, but there weren't a lot of details about anything else.

"Well, just from what I know of Amy up to now, I'd say we have a pretty good chance of hearing it, regardless of what Olivia wants." Casey said with a laugh. "She doesn't seem to hold anything back."

Munch wiggled his eyebrows and nodded toward the two women retreating to the bathroom. "You think the two of them ever…?"

"Knock it off John." Elliot said.

Munch held up his hands in defense. "Hey, people experiment in college."

"You have a rich fantasy life." Fin said.

"Sometimes that's all we have." Munch said with a laugh.

"I don't want to hear about anyone's fantasy life." Elliot said, disgust evident in his tone. "And I don't want anyone having fantasies that include my partner." Elliot said, trying to shut down the conversation. Damn Munch. Sometimes he acted like a dirty old lech, even though Elliot knew he was far from it.

"No worries man." Said Fin. "We leave that all to you."

EOEOEOEOEO

Olivia looked around the table as they came back from the bathroom, and wondered what the topic of conversation had been. Everyone had obviously shut up as they walked back.

"What did I miss?" Olivia asked as she slid onto her stool. She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"We were just wondering how the two of you became friends." Casey said, before Munch or Fin could chime in. Amy appeared to be nice, but it still seemed an unlikely friendship, based on the Olivia Benson she knew.

Amy laughed. "I wasn't happy when I first met her. She was so quiet and so serious."

Olivia smiled. "The feeling was mutual." She remembered the first few days in the dorm. She had just been through a very tumultuous year and a half with her mother, and it had been such a relief to escape to college. She just wanted to settle in, and focus on her studies. She was a loner…she had gone through most of her life without any close girlfriends. Amy was loud and outgoing, peppering Olivia with questions she didn't want to answer. Badgering her to loosen up, have a drink, go out.

"We'd been battling each other for weeks. Me pushing her to lighten up…and she was pushing me to not be so reckless. We were each figuring out who we were." Said Amy. "Or at least I was."

"And then a few weeks later…we just kind of…let go of our attitudes and started talking. We were finally listening and we learned a lot about each other. We were both struggling with different things and we helped each other out. And we learned we could trust each other." Olivia had found herself telling Amy things she'd never thought she'd tell another person, and Amy had done the same…and it created a special bond between them.

"She had my back and I had hers." Amy said. "And we were inseparable after that." She smiled broadly. "Thank God. Because there were so many times we bailed each other out."

"Now we're getting to the good stuff." Said Munch. "We've been waiting to her some good stories."

Olivia shot Amy a look, reminding her to keep her mouth shut. "We have too much dirt on each other…" Olivia said. "So those stories stay under wraps."

Amy nodded. "That's true."

"Come on. There's got to be something you can tell us." Munch said. "Who was the bigger heartbreaker?"

Olivia looked over at Elliot. Up to this point, he hadn't said much, but now he was looking back at Olivia with interest.

"Olivia." Amy said, without hesitation.

"What?! No." Olivia said. "You were the one that was always in love." Amy believed that every date or hook-up could be the one. She was a huge romantic…a big believer in love. Her parents had met in college, and that first year, she was convinced she was going to meet her future husband.

"That's my point." Amy said. "I was always trying to make it work out, and the guys would end up breaking my heart." Amy turned back towards Elliot and Munch. "She would break it off before anything could get too serious. Love 'em and leave 'em. Poor guys would be left wondering what the hell happened."

"That's such an exaggeration." Olivia said, even though Amy wasn't far off the mark. She'd certainly dated, but Amy was right. There had been very few guys that had made it past a few dates. But she didn't need her friends hearing all the details…especially Elliot. "I was there to get an education, not to find a husband."

Elliot could tell that Olivia was uncomfortable with the entire conversation. And as much as he'd love to hear a little more about Olivia when she was younger, he didn't want to hear about her love life. He pushed himself off his stool. "I'm gonna go up to the bar and get some drinks." He said. The bar had really filled up and service had really slowed down. "Liv…help me?"

Before Olivia could respond, Amy was off her stool. "I'll help you." Olivia looked back at Elliot and he just shrugged. She watched as Amy and Elliot walked up to the bar.

Casey looked over at Munch and Fin, but they were debating something. She leaned over towards Olivia. "Worried your friend is going to hit on Elliot?"

Olivia looked down at her drink quickly, realizing Casey had been watching her as she watched them. "Why would I be worried about that?" Olivia said, trying to sound nonchalant. "Elliot can do whatever he wants."

Casey leaned back and smiled. "Uh-huh."

Olivia ignored Casey and the smug look on her face, and glanced back over at the bar. She had been pretty clear with Amy, so she wasn't really worried. Well…maybe she was a little worried. Amy was her friend, but Olivia reminded herself again that she didn't know her that well any more.

She saw that they were standing at the bar facing each other, so she could see their profiles. Elliot was leaning against the bar on his left arm and Amy was talking. Her demeanor was animated, and she could see Elliot smile. Olivia wondered what they were talking about.

"Liv, I'm pretty disappointed that you shut your friend down." Munch said. "I was waiting for some good stories."

Olivia turned her attention back to Munch and Fin. "Why are you so interested?" She furrowed her brow.

"Because you always seem too good to be true…there's got to be some dirt in your past."

"You show me yours and I'll show you mine." Olivia said. She put up a hand. "Wait. Forget I said that."

"Thank you." Casey said with a small laugh. She finished the last of her drink. "What's holding up Stabler?"

Olivia looked back towards the bar, but now Elliot and Amy had their backs to them. They were both leaning against the bar, and were shoulder to shoulder. She could tell they were still talking…and she felt a small stab of jealousy. "How long can it take to get a drink?" She could hear the annoyance in her own voice.

Casey followed Olivia's gaze. "Sorry."

Olivia shook her head. "For what?" She tried to sound like it wasn't bothering her, but she couldn't stop staring at the two of them huddled so closely together at the bar.

"What do you suppose they're talking about?" Casey said, choosing not to expand on her apology. Olivia obviously wanted to pretend that it didn't bother her.

Olivia pursed her lips together. "Who knows. It's none of my business."

Casey slid over and sat on the stool Amy had been sitting on. She leaned over towards her friend. "Are you jealous?" she whispered.

Olivia looked at her sharply. "Of course not!" She glanced up towards the bar, and saw Amy had her hand resting on Elliot's arm. She looked away quickly and lifted her beer to her lips, draining half the glass.

"Liv."

Olivia could hear the disbelief in her voice. "I've told you a dozen times Case. Elliot is my partner…nothing more."

Casey rolled her eyes. "Whatever gets you through the day." She sighed and opened her mouth to say something else, but closed it again. She'd tried to have this conversation with Olivia any number of times. Tonight was not the night. She slid off her barstool. "I'm going to get going. I have court in the morning."

Olivia gave her a small smile. "See you later." Fin and Munch said they're goodbyes and Casey left. Olivia watched her walk out, and felt bad about cutting her off. But she forgot about it as she saw Elliot and Amy turn away from the bar and head back to the table, each holding three drinks and laughing as they tried to make it back without spilling. They slid them on the table and Amy rolled her eyes.

"That has to be the slowest bartender in the world." She said. She walked up to Olivia and put her arms around her from behind. "Miss us?"

Olivia nodded as Amy slid onto the stool Elliot had been sitting on. "Yeah, it took a long time." Olivia said, her tone neutral.

"Yeah. But it gave me a chance to talk to Elliot." She smiled. "I really like him. He's funny and sarcastic. And sexy as hell."

Olivia turned towards her friend. She tried to bite her tongue, but she and Amy had always been honest with each other. "I thought I told you Elliot was off limits."

Amy smiled…a small, mischievous smile. "Thought you didn't have any feelings for your partner." She teased.

"I don't. I just don't want my friends dating my partner." She said. Olivia reached out and grabbed one of the fresh beers sitting in the middle of the table.

"For God's sake Olivia. Anyone with eyes can see how that man looks at you." She leaned in towards Olivia. "Like he wants to devour you." She whispered.

"You're crazy." Olivia said.

"And you were jealous." Amy said, talking a sip of her drink.

"I was not!"

"Come on Olivia. I know you." Amy said. "And I'm not letting you get away with that shit. Your other friends may let that slide, but not me."

Olivia was suddenly worried about what Amy and Elliot had been talking about. "What did you say to him?" She tried to keep the alarm out of her voice.

"That's for me to know…"