I do not own these characters; I just borrow them and let my mind roam free. Thanks for all of the feedback. I'm going to keep the chapters coming for as long as you guys are interested!

"Hey, is everything alright?" drawled Amanda.

Not taking his eyes off of Olivia, Nick replied, "Uhm, actually something has come up. Where are you?"

"Your apartment," Amanda answered. "More importantly, where are you? It's late."

"On my way back, I uhm, I went for a little run. I will be back soon, give me twenty," Nick said as he ended the call.

The energy in the room had shifted from desire and want, to uncomfortable awkwardness. Nick was staring at his phone and damning its existence. Olivia was silently chastising herself for letting things almost cross the line with Nick, knowing that he was involved but with a friend nonetheless. Liv ran a nervous hand through her smooth brunette locks as she stood up to put the glasses in the sink.

"I think you should go," said Liv.

"Yeah, I uhm, I think you're right. Not that I want-"

"Just stop Nick, alright. Let's just drop all of this. It was a bad idea; I shouldn't have brought it up. I didn't think this through."

"No! I'm not just going to drop this, Liv, neither should you."

Ignoring his last statement as well as his presence, Liv emotionlessly says, "Do me a favor? Whatever it is that you plan on telling Rollins, please don't let it be on the account of anything I said tonight. I've had some wine, today has been emotional with Noah's adoption finalizing and everything else. I also don't want her to think that her friend betrayed her. So don't end whatever you have expecting an 'us', there is no 'us'."

"Liv don't-"

"Lock the door on your way out," Liv said, cutting Nick off as she headed for her bedroom door.

Slam. That was the sound that Nick heard as he stood frozen in Olivia's apartment in total disbelief. The confessions, the near kiss, then boom the call that ended it all. Nick's mind raced as he trudged back to his apartment. He never knew that Olivia had any sort of feelings toward him; he was convinced that it was one-sided. Now to hear that he could have had a shot all alone had Nick furious with himself. "Perra asustada!" screamed Nick at the top of his lungs, kicking over a trash can also while he was in full rage mode. Nick was almost home when his phone buzzed in his back pants pocket. Without looking at the caller ID he answered, "Amaro."

"Hey, it's me," coming from that familiar soft voice that he loved so much.

"Liv, hey, I was just thinking-"

"We caught a case," Liv interrupted. "I was also calling to tell you that I'm going to be your partner again until you leave. I'm preparing for the Lieutenant's exam, so I've temporarily relieved my command post to Murphy so I can have some extra time to prepare."

Shocked and excited by this news Nick cleared his throat to reply, "Ok just like old times, even better since I've decided to stay here and with SVU."

"What about your kids, Nick? Your desire to grow in the department? You're not thinking straight."

"Oh I'm thinking straight. I'm seeing things clearer for the first time since I can remember. Things fall in place when things you once thought were impossible becomes possible. Everything is going to work out; I'm going to make sure of it."

"Nick let's not get into this again, we have a case. I was just calling so you would know why I was at the scene. See you soon."

Nick took out his phone and sent a quick text to Amanda. Hey I caught a case, sorry. Let's meet for lunch later. We need to talk.

A vibration beeped a minute later with a returned message to him. Ok, be careful. Lunch sounds good, except the 'we need to talk' part. See you at noon.

Nick read the message and sighed. He knew that Amanda would be worried until they talked but he couldn't pretend like his world wasn't just shook after his talk with Liv. He always prided himself in being devotedly faithful and forthcoming, so he couldn't pursue anything with Olivia until his hands were fully untied. He would be lying if he said that he and Amanda were just a fling, he cared for her deeply but he also knew that he wasn't in love with her. Knowing it's the right thing to do wouldn't make it any easier and Nick was dreading the future talk he and Amanda would soon have.

Time flew by as Nick and Olivia examined the crime scene, jotted down witness statements and made a trip to the hospital to check on the victim. Nick tried to remain focused on the task at hand but he was easily distracted by the presence of Olivia after their night of confessions. She looked amazing to him as usual in her fitted charcoal black slacks, her half black and half almond long sleeved top that fitted her just right. She had caught him staring on more than one occasion and shot him a 'stop effing looking at me like that' look. He smirked at her facial expression even though he knew she meant business.

11:30 came faster than Nick had expected, fresh cases always had a way of consuming time and energy. Nick grabbed his phone, energy drink and keys and headed toward Olivia's new desk. "Hey I'm about to head out; you should head home and get some rest."

"You're reading my mind; this was an easy case thanks to the DNA match in CODIS. He goes back to prison and our victim can get the help that she needs to move on with her life." Olivia stood to gather things, lifted her head to look Nick directly in his dark eyes and said, "Thanks for not making me feel so awkward, although you did stare a lot, thanks."

A smirk stretched across his unshaven sexy face, "I can't help if I like what I see. Look I have something to do right now but can we have dinner tonight?"

"Uh Nick, I don't think that's a good idea. We're trying to get back to normal, remember?"

"No, no I don't remember ever agreeing to that at all. Look we're just having dinner. I will be at your place at 6:30." Before she could object he was out of the squad room's door.

"Hey, I thought you forgot about lunch," said Amanda as she got up to greet Nick with a hug and chaste kiss.

"No I didn't forget, just had some paper work to finish before I left. Uhm, you ready to order?"

"No, I'm not really hungry. I want to hear all about this talk that we need to have."

Nick reached for her water and drank as he prepared to let down someone he actually cared about, "There's no easy way to say this Amanda but I must be honest with you."

Visibly alarmed, Amanda sat up straight and asked, "Honest about what?"

"I can't be with you anymore, I know we said that we would try the long distance thing when I went to California but there's no need, I'm staying here in New York."

Confusion expressed in her bright blue eyes, "I-I don't get it, if you're staying here then why can't we be together anymore?" asked Amanda in her southern belle accent.

Regretting what he had to tell Amanda next had Nick's stomach flipping. "I love someone else and I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you, I-I feel terrible," Nick said as he dropped his head in disgust with himself.

Fighting back the tears stinging her eyes Amanda tried to make sense of what she was hearing. "But you-you pursued me. I was just trying to get my life back together when you wanted to play Mr. Hero and rescue me. You stalked me, put yourself in my life, and made me fall for you, for what? To, to tell me you love someone else? Why the hell did you even bother me you son of a bitch?"

"I never meant to hurt you; I never expected to stay in New York let alone…" Nick stopped himself for the sake of Amanda's feelings.

"You're such an asshole you know that?" Amanda asked rhetorically as she gathered her things, "Since we're being so honest are you going to tell me who she is?"

"I-I want to respect her privacy, plus I don't know if she loves me or will even have me," explained Nick.

"Wow, how long has this been going on?"

"Nothing is going on, I didn't cheat. I've had feelings for her for a while but I never thought I could be with her."

"Oh so I was just your what, warm body to occupy you while you pined for someone else?"

"No! I wouldn't aim to purposely hurt you, it's just after the party I started talking to her and things just started, ya know cli—" Nick stopped knowing he had said too much.

"What party? Noah's party?" The light bulb finally went off in Amanda's head and she knew exactly who Nick had feelings for. "Wow, I thought I was crazy, 'no' I would tell myself, 'they're just partners' 'she went through a lot with Lewis' 'he's just worried about her' and all this time you two were just laughing at the silly naïve girl from Georgia. I'm such an idiot. Well she must be a killer in bed to satisfy your insatiable appetite?"

Nick's eyes nearly popped out of his head, "Amanda stop it, I told you that I didn't cheat and I never said that it was Oli—"

"Come on cut the bs," interrupted Amanda. "You know what never mind, you both deserve each other. You both over compensate on being morally sound and have this savior complex because you're both afraid that underneath you're both monsters just like your screwed up fathers," hissed a pissed off Amanda.

"You shut the hell up, Amanda! Don't you ever compare me to my goddamned father and Liv is nothing like the monster that conceived her. You better not ever let me hear you even mention our fathers again or I swear to God, I'm gonna…" Nick paused abruptly to get himself under control.

"Mmmhmmm, see what I mean," drawled Amanda as she walked past him. Amanda stopped just before she opened the door; turned back to Nick and asked, "Did you ever love me?" Nick just kept his face buried in his hands as Amanda left saying, "Yeah, I didn't think so."

It had been a long 24 hrs for Olivia. An adoption finalized, a party, a love confession, a case opened and shut and a date on the horizon. Liv searched her closet looking for something to wear. She wanted to look nice but not overly sexy; it was just dinner but dinner with him. Nick had been on her mind all day, she put on a good face in front of the squad as well as him but inside she was melting. His sexy five o'clock shadow and messy hair had Liv losing focus multiple times throughout the day. Just when she thought she found the perfect outfit she heard a knock at the door. "He's an hour early," Liv said to herself. She opened the door and was stunned at who she found outside her door.

"H-hi, Rollins," said a breathless Olivia.

"Hey boss, you got a minute?" drawled Amanda.

Thanks again, hope you enjoy. Chapter 3? What say you?