A/N: First off, thank you to everyone still following this story and for your reviews! Yes, I know it's been almost 4 months since my last update. And yes, I know I suck. I'm not sure exactly when I'll finish this story, but I will finish it, damn it. Don't give up on me.

Her head was spinning, but before she could react, Nick bolted out the door. She started after him, somewhere between a hobble and a jog, because there is no such thing as running when you're rocking three-inch high Louboutin stilettos.

I've ruined this date, and I'm about to fuck up a pair of shoes that damn near cost me a week's salary. Fantastic.

She decided that running was futile and appealed to his sense of hearing instead, "Nick, wait!" she bellowed.

He paused his rage-fueled getaway, turned around and crossed the street. He noticed that passersby slowed down to eavesdrop. This infuriated him even more. He stopped about a foot in front of her, eyes ablaze with anger.

"It's bad enough that you backed out of our date, now you want to make a scene too? You. Are. Unbelievable!" he growled.

She didn't even try to defend herself. He was right. Her partner of almost two years had scored them a table at the most exclusive Cuban restaurant in the city and had just given her the best head of her existence, and all she could muster up was a "Whoops, can we undo what just happened?"

She hung her head so low her neck started to cramp. She looked up in his direction, but averted his eyes out of embarrassment. Olivia hated being wrong, but she hated making someone else upset even more.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"Is that mouse squeak of an apology the best you can do?"

"What do you want from me, Nick? Do you want me to grovel on my knees until they're raw and bleeding?"

"No, but if you're going to apologize next time, say it like you mean it, you know? Show a little fucking sincerity," he snarled.

Something came over Olivia in that moment. Even though she knew she was at fault, Nick's tone flipped a switch inside her.

"You're saying my apology was fake? Why, because it wasn't loud enough for you? I'm sorry, maybe I should speak up so you can hear me." She drew in an exaggerated breath and yelled, "I'm sorry that I was such a bitch to you, Nick! Can you ever forgive me?"

She took a step towards him and leaned in so her lips almost brushed against his ear. "There, is that better?" she drawled. She stepped back and flashed him her signature smirk.

Detective Nicolas Amaro didn't believe in hitting a woman. After years of witnessing his father treat his mother's face like a punching bag, he vowed to never strike or even raise his hand in anger. But in that moment, he wanted to slap the smug clean off of Olivia's face. She had a lot of nerve giving him attitude—especially since she was a willing participant in tonight's "activities."

The one thing she didn't bet on was an opponent.

He was up for the challenge, not because he felt she threatened his manhood, but because her actions gutted him. He replayed a slideshow of their interactions over the past month in his mind.

The stakeout. Her admission of her feelings for him. Her near breakdown in the squad car. Their make out session. Every moment between them led up to tonight. Before Olivia's "apology," Nick chalked up their evening as one part ecstasy, one part disaster. Now he was ready to declare the entire night a mistake.

He felt like a tea kettle on the verge of screaming.

How stupid was I to think that she was starting to let me into her world. She wants to battle? Fuck it. Let's take the gloves off and go bare knuckle.

"Trying to bait me, Olivia? Has working at SVU for this long jaded you into thinking that every man you interact with is a perp? We're not in the box, Benson."

She looked up, more puzzled at his tone than outraged at his comment. Her eyes drank in Nick's appearance. If the situation wasn't so serious, she would've laughed at how insane he looked. He was literally fighting with himself to stay in control.

On the surface, he was sizzling but he kept his voice even as her last name coolly rolled off his tongue. The contradiction was amusing and unnerving to her all at once.

Olivia looked around and saw more spectators trickling in. A crowd began to form. She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment as she made eye contact with a couple of the onlookers.

This had gotten way out of hand.

Thank God Nick can keep his shit together when he's pissed or this crowd would look like a line in front of MSG.

It was time to end this battle.

"Nick, let's not draw more attention to ourselves," she motioned for him to look at the surrounding crowd. They were gawking at the two detectives as if they were watching a boxing match.

"Maybe we should walk over to the next avenue and away from our fans."

"Fine."

They made their way over to Ninth Avenue. Avoiding the crowd was not the only reason she wanted to leave; she also hoped a walk would ease some of the tension between them. However, it only seemed to fuel his anger.

"What's with you putting on a show back there?" he barked. She opened her mouth to apologize, but he cut her off, "And if you're tempted to give me an encore performance, I'll hail a cab back to Queens faster than you can blink."

"I'm sorry," she apologized (sincerely this time), "Something about your tone reminded me so much of Elliot. I just flipped into bitch mode."

"I think the real reason goes deeper than that."

He waited for her to react so he could test his theory. She kept her face blank, but he wasn't taking cues from her expressions. He was searching her eyes for the truth. Olivia's eyes always betrayed her, and he watched her emotions play out in those orbs. She was livid, but he saw fear beneath that anger, and he knew he'd struck a nerve.

"You're afraid to be happy and you sabotage your chances at every turn. Just when I think I'm nearing the end of your obstacle course, you throw up another wall for me to climb over. It's exhausting."

"Well by all means, Nick, don't let me tire you out. Maybe you should go home and rest."

"And you use sarcasm as a weapon. You're so quick to shoot me down, but you'll defend Brian 'I screw hookers on the job' Cassidy in a heartbeat." He narrowed his eyes. "Is something going on between you two?"

The vein in her forehead looked as angry as she did, and he unconsciously took a step back, half expecting her to slap him.

"So now I'm miserable and a slut?" her tone was tight, and her right temple throbbed as if it had a pulse. "You pointing out that Cassidy slept with hookers when he was UC is getting stale. We know Cassidy and Carissa were fucking. Move on—everyone else has. If I knew this was how our evening would end up, I would have never agreed to this."

"Liv, you can push my buttons all you want, but I'm not going to let you win. I'm furious right now, but not enough to walk away from this," he motions between them. "Whatever this is between the two of us. And I damn sure am not walking away from the best partnership I've had to date. You want me to run away so you can blame your misery on everything and everyone else instead of putting the blame where it belongs—on yourself."

"Don't shrink me, Nick. Just because you beat up shrinks, doesn't make you qualified to be one," she taunted and that goddamn smirk returned. She was referring to when Nick followed, and subsequently pummeled, a man he suspected of sleeping with his then wife. Turns out the guy was a psychologist who was counseling Maria for her post traumatic stress disorder in secret.

When Maria told him the truth, he felt horrible and later confided his guilt to Olivia. And now she was using his remorse as ammo. He stared at her in disgust.

Why doesn't she just spit in my face while she's at it?

She caught his glare and saw that his eyes swam with hurt. He remained silent and stewed. After what felt like an eternity, he spoke up.

"I think you had it right in the restaurant, Olivia. Tonight was a mistake." He turned on his heel and walked towards the subway. "I'm calling the captain tomorrow to take a mental health day. I've had enough of your bullshit to last me a month," he declared over his shoulder.

Her heart sank into her heels.

She could've dealt with an angry reply, in fact she was counting on it. But the pain in his eyes cut deeper than any insult he could have hurled at her.

She knew she'd have to repair the damage later.

I only hope there's something left to fix.

I'm sure I'll get flooded with not-so-nice comments, but I warned you guys this N/O story was going to be rocky. Bring on the hate reviews, lol.