Olivia barely heard the rapping on her door; she had been home a few hours, and didn't expect anybody. After looking the peephole, she unlatched all her locks and opened the door for Elliot. He seemed tired, as usual, but also relaxed, which was not usual.
"Hi. What's going on?"
"Can I come in?" Elliot peeked over Olivia's shoulder as if he were trying to see something inside. "Or is this a bad time?"
"No, I was just getting ready for an exciting night of sitting on the couch and watching a sitcom." She stepped aside to clear a path for Elliot to walk in. The blaring scent of freshly microwaved popcorn hit him almost immediately.
"So I smell."
Olivia moved past him to the kitchen, and Elliot followed.
"I won't stay long. I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for yesterday. I acted like an idiot."
"Yes, you did." Olivia said, as she opened her refrigerator. "But I think if anybody's entitled to an off-day, it's you. Forget about it."
"I guess it's been frustrating for you that I haven't been my old self. Maybe one day we'll get back to where we were. I just want you to know that I'm going to be fine."
For the first time in a long while, Olivia believed his claim that he was- or would be- fine.
Olivia found the bottle of wine she was searching for and turned back to her guest.
"The important thing is that you're here, alive and well. Old Elliot, new Elliot, I'll take any Elliot I can get. I'll never find a better partner than you. And you know, maybe we'll never get back to where we were, but that's okay, because we'll be better."
Elliot smiled and cast his gaze downward humbly at the compliment.
"I know things are going to get better. It's just going to take time. I'm lucky to have you as my partner. Thank you."
"For what?"
"For everything." Elliot continued looking at Olivia for half a beat, then said, "Well, I don't want to keep you from your big evening. I'll see you tomorrow."
Elliot started towards the door.
Olivia groaned dismissively.
"Oh, please. Just get that bag of popcorn out of the microwave and hurry up, will you? You're going to make me miss my show."
Elliot noticed for the first time that Olivia had already taken two glasses down from her cabinet. She was filling both of them as she spoke. Elliot wondered merrily what wine Olivia chose to go with heavily salted and buttered popcorn. He found the still steaming hot popcorn and the two of them retired to Olivia's couch. They settled down during the opening credits of Olivia's program, placing the bowl of popcorn between them.
Within fifteen minutes, Olivia could see Elliot's head drooping in her periphery. She clandestinely watched his eyes snap open as he pulled himself awake every few minutes, fighting the sleep that pressed down on him. Finally, Olivia turned the volume down on the television, took the barely touched bowl of popcorn off the couch and placed it on the coffee table in front of them. Finding one of her many extra throw pillows, she placed it on her lap and, without any more encouragement, Elliot gradually drifted sideways until his head rested on the pillow. Within minutes, he was completely and deeply asleep in the best rest he had known since his horrible ordeal had started.
As the light from the television danced across their contented, convivial faces, a casual observer would have had difficulty knowing whether it was Olivia's suppressed laughter at the sitcom, or something else, that made the tears silently stream down her cheeks.