Olivia felt like utter shit. Her nose was completely blocked, her throat felt like sandpaper, her head pounded and her temperature had been 101.2 degrees when she checked it an hour before. She laid on the couch, curled up into a ball with a blanket covering her as she flipped through the channels on the television. Every single channel was playing some sort of Christmas program, from the news to the corny specials that were played over and over for the entire month of December.

She couldn't wait for the season to finally be over. Not to mention this dreaded sickness she had come down with about a few days before.

Finally, she gave up on the TV, turned it off, and flung the remote to the other side of the couch. The silence actually helped with her headache, and she sighed, snuggling deeper into the pillow as her eyes closed.

She awoke a little while later to knocking on her apartment door. Every bone in her body protested as she stood and headed for the door, stomach churning as she went.

Who is knocking on my door at 2:15 on Christmas Day?

None other than her partner, Elliot Stabler, stood in the doorway. Despite his gray knit hat and warm black coat, his cheeks were red and she could feel the cold radiating off of him. He carried a brown paper bag in his gloved hand, and his other hand was shoved into his pocket. He was the last person she expected to see on this day.

"Hey, Liv." He greeted, pulling her into an unexpected hug. "Merry Christmas!"

She knew how much he loved Christmas. It was the one time of year that he knew he was going to be with his kids, especially now that he and Kathy were separated, soon to be divorced. That was partially why she was so surprised to see him on her doorstep.

"Hey, El." She answered, closing the door behind him. "What's up, aren't you supposed to be with your kids today?"

He shrugged, shoving his hat into the pocket of his jacket as he walked over to the breakfast bar and set down the bag. "Kathy has them for the rest of the day. Besides, I wanted to see you, too. No one should be alone on Christmas."

"Unless they're contagious. I don't want to get you sick." She said, sitting down on the couch. She watched him begin pulling things out of the bag.

He shrugged, glancing at her. "Well, that's my choice. I'm not too worried."

"You should be. You can't afford to get sick."

He walked over to her, a container of what looked like soup in his hands. "If you were going to infect me, you would have done it already. I brought you a little dinner. I know it's not a Christmas ham, but it is homemade. Gatorade, too, gotta keep those electrolytes up."

"I never have Christmas ham, anyway." She said, taking the soup from her, touched at the thought he'd given her. "This is great. Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet. You haven't tried it." Elliot joked, turning back towards his bag.

She took a spoonful, and moaned as the warm liquid slid down her throat. It was absolutely delicious. "I didn't know you could cook, El. This is fantastic."

He turned towards her again, a crooked smile on his face. "Really? It's my first time making it, I got the recipe from Maureen last night. I figured I'd try it out."

"Come here and have some." She said, holding out a spoonful for him. He approached her, and took the spoon in his mouth, swallowing the soup.

"Hm. Not bad." He said, smiling. "Here, I brought a few movies. I figured something could take your mind off of how shitty you feel."

She glanced at the pile of cases in his hands, and was immediately surprised. "What's the matter, no more Christmas flicks?"

He shrugged. "I know how much you hate all that corny stuff. Why, do you want to watch one? I can run back to my place and get my Christmas collection."

"No, it's okay." She smiled, pulling out 'Groundhog Day'. "Can't go wrong with Bill Murray, huh?"

He took the disc from her. "Sounds good to me."

After turning down the lights, and slipping off his shoes, he fell onto the couch next to her, resting his arm over the back of the couch behind her. "Hey, can I have some more of that soup?"

She handed him the container, wrapped the blanket tighter around her body, and sat back, intent on the opening credits of the movie.

An hour later, she was fast asleep against Elliot's shoulder. He had been focusing intently on the movie until he heard her snore, accentuated from her clogged nose. Now, she was curled up to him, and he had to admit, it felt really good. His arm tightened around her, and his cheek rested against the top of hers as he stared at the brown paper bag that still sat on her breakfast bar.

When she wakes up, he thought. I'll give it to her then.

His eyes closed slowly, the long night of wrapping Christmas gifts and placing them under the tree finally catching up with him. he drifted off in only minutes.

When Elliot awoke, he was laying across the couch, a blanket spread over him. He heard the shower running in the bathroom. He sat up slowly, cracking his neck as he went. Outside, it was dark out and snow still fell. He sighed, and picked up the empty container, Gatorade bottle, and box of tissues on his way to the kitchen.

Olivia emerged from the shower a few minutes later, dressed in a new pair of sweatpants and long sleeved shirt. He glanced up from the sink as he washed the container, and smiled. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah, actually." She answered. "Sorry for falling asleep on you. I was just exhausted."

"I understand." Elliot answered, wiping his hands on a dish towel. "You're sick, get all the rest you need."

"Must be a pretty lousy Christmas afternoon for you, though." Olivia said. "Sitting around here, watching me sleep."

Elliot approached her, and placed his hand on her shoulder, smiling warmly. "I'm spending time with my best friend. That could never be lousy for me, Liv. Here, I got you something."

He handed her a small wrapped box. "Oh, El, you didn't have to do this."

He shrugged. "I wanted to."

Olivia opened it slowly, and gasped. A silver necklace laid in the box. It had a charm in the shape of a pair of handcuffs and a garnett, her birthstone.

"Oh my god." She whispered. "Elliot… this is beautiful."

A huge smile spread across his face. He took it, and clasped the chain around her neck. The two charms fell perfectly below her collar bone. "I'm glad you like it."

Her arms wrapped around him, and she hugged him tightly. "I love it. Thank you so much. I got you something, too. Stay here."

When she returned, she held a wrapped box in her hands.

"I thought you didn't like Christmas." He said, glancing from the box up to her eyes.

She shrugged. "I know. But you do."

He took the box, and unwrapped it. A huge smile spread across his face when he saw what was in it. A box held a pair of silver and gold tie clips with his name engraved on them. "Thanks, Liv. There are great."

He pulled her in, and gave her a tight hug. He felt her tense for a moment, but slowly, her arms wrapped around him, and they shared a hug.

Olivia sighed, relaxing into his arms. Maybe Christmas wasn't so bad, after all.

A/N: Thanks for reading!

Chapter 9 of Shattered is up, and I would love it if you guys could take a look, read and review! Thanks!