A/N: This is the LAST chapter. Thanks for the support. Enjoy!
Olivia's POV again.
I was relieved when I came out of the doctor's office to see that Elliot Stabler was no longer in the waiting room. I juggled Noah and the baby bag and made my way out of the building. I almost had a heart attack when I bumped into someone just outside the door. I dropped the baby bag, my grip on Noah tight and secure.
"I'm sorry. I-" I looked up and saw Elliot and his son standing there.
"Sorry," he said.
My stomach exploded into undoubting knots. Eli reached down and retrieved the baby bag from the ground. He handed it to me. "Thanks," I smiled.
"Eli and I were going to stop at the café up there," Elliot gestured ahead. "You wanna join us?"
I stood staring at him for a moment. How could I explain to him that being near him would cause me a kind of pain that was all consuming? A pain that had taken me years to wade through. I couldn't afford to have coffee with him.
The silence lingered thick in the air around us.
"Yeah. Let's just forget it."
"Why, Dad?"
"Liv has some place she needs to be."
The way he said it with such arrogance made me want to do the opposite. I knew that my heart was at stake and that Noah needed me more than my own heart did, but I still allowed him to manipulate me. I could see that he was looking for a way to make me feel as if I was the one in control and it worked.
"I can spare a few minutes," I said, taking a step toward the café.
Elliot smiled to himself and the three of us made our way passed the buildings. At the café, we all picked the seat by the window and sat down. Elliot handed me a menu and I glanced at it, feeling his eyes searching my face. I tried not to react. This was the man I had loved for 12 years. A man who had been my longest relationship in life. I had attempted to move on after he left. I had tried to find a way to be myself without him and I felt I had changed in some ways, for the better. I became stronger because I was no longer relying on him for strength, and although it wasn't without its challenges, I had made progress.
Now as I sat across from him, I realised just how lost I had been without him. This man was my everything. My soulmate. I was better with him than without him.
I sighed deeply and looked up to meet his gaze.
For a moment we just locked eyes, and the memories of our past came to mind. All the times we'd fought and laughed and cried and screamed, each memory stronger than the last. I loved this man with everything I had. I had always loved him and I knew I always would.
It scared me to death.
Elliot broke eye contact and turned to his son. He pulled out his wallet and handed him some cash. "Listen, buddy, go get yourself an ice-cream. I need to speak to Olivia."
I began to tremble. What couldn't he say to me in front of his eight year old son?
I looked down at my napkin too afraid to meet his eyes again.
"Liv..." he whispered.
I kept my focus firmly on the pattern embossed on the tissue paper.
"Look at me," he said almost pleadingly.
I felt my eyes sting with tears and I looked up, blinking them away. "El... please." This was the first time in five years I felt like a measure of the person I used to be, the person I had missed.
"I know I hurt you," he said quietly, leaning across the table to take hold of my hand. I trembled more violently at his touch, at the way my heart responded to this, to him. "I know that I have made mistakes in the past, but being near you, Liv... I feel so alive."
This was the same conversation I had dreamt of for 12 years. He was admitting that his feelings for me ran deep, I could see it in his eyes. He mirrored my own feelings and emotions. I loved him so much it hurt. It was overwhelming. I wanted to run but my feet wouldn't move. I was bound to him as if by iron chains.
"Me too," I whispered.
I could tell by the way he watched me that he was hoping for that answer.
EO EO EO EO EO EO EO EO
We stood nervously in his bedroom, not more than two days later, a fistful of his shirt material in my hand and his eyes locked on mine. "I dreamt of this for years. You and me. This..."
He tensed under my touch and my hold on him loosened only slightly. I could feel the heat from his chest and I smiled as I realised for the first time, just how much my close proximity affected his physical response. He wanted me as much as I wanted him. Wholly. Completely. Deeply.
"Are you sure about this," he sighed, evidently fighting his own losing battle.
I bit my lip nervously as I played with the hem of his t-shirt, curling it under my fingers as I slowly lifted it up exposing his bare chest. Oh heavens, he was built like a Greek God. I could barely contain myself.
"I don't want to go too fast and scare..." his sentence was left unfinished as his hands ran the length of my hip. I pressed against him. Hard, and easily peeled it from his body, discarding it on the floor beneath us.
Elliot made no objections as I lay my hands flat on his upper torso, gently raking my fingers across his smooth bare chest. It felt so natural, like I had been doing it all my life. Him. Me. Us. His eyes never left mine as I snaked my arms around his neck, drawing him ever closer. I allowed a new memory and a new love envelope me in an all-consuming way.
This was love. This was real. This was us.
The life I had longed for was finally here and I knew there was no walking away from it this time.
A/N: I hope this gives everybody their happy ending. Thank you everybody for alerting and favourite-ing this story. I appreciate your support more than words can say. THANK YOU. Please leave a review, I'd love to know what you thought.