"You wanna go play some touch football before it gets too dark?" Robert asked, tossing the football between his hands.

"Nah, I'm waiting for Kathy to call."

"Man you are so whipped." he said as he opened the door to their dorm. "Okay, well you know where to find us if you change your mind." Elliot just waved in acknowledgment. He stared at the phone as if that was supposed to make it ring. She was late; this was not like Kathy at all. He picked up the phone and dialed her number. She had probably forgotten that it was Friday.

"Hello?" came Kathy's voice from the other side of the line.

"Kath?"

"Elliot?" she said. She sounded shocked. "What are you calling for?"

"Kath, it's Friday." he said, matter-of-factly.

"Oh my god, El. It completely slipped my mind." she said, but Elliot was not convinced.

"Kath, what's going on?"

"El, we need to talk."

"Those words never lead to anything good." he said, sadly as he sat on his bed.

"I love you." she said quietly. "But I can't do this whole long distance thing. I've met someone else and---"

"What about the baby; our baby?"

"Elliot, there was no baby, it was a false alarm." she said with a sigh. "But that whole issue got me thinking. And I don't think I'm ready to be a wife and a mother, and I can't imagine spending my whole life with one person."

"Kathy, I'm not ready for any of that either." he said, desperately.

"Elliot, I can't imagine spending my whole life with you." she said as they both got quiet. "El? El?" He still sat silently, trying not to cry and scream all at the same time. "Okay, well call me if you want to talk." she said, hanging up her phone. He sat without moving or speaking for at least an hour before deciding to go play touch football with the guys.

"El!" called Robert from across the yard as Elliot approached them. "What made you change your mind?"

"We talked." he said, simply as someone threw him the ball.

"You all right man?" Robert asked from behind him.

"Great." he said with no emotion.

"Okay." he said, skeptically. "Blue 42---Blue 42---Hike!" he shouted as the play began.

"I'm open, I'm open." some guy shouted from across the field. Elliot ran towards him as the quarterback threw the ball. He reached him as the ball hit his hands and pummeled him to the ground. "Dude, it's touch football!" the guy shouted as he jumped up.

"Elliot, are you sure you're okay?" asked Robert, coming up behind the two men.

"No." he said, quietly. "Listen, I'm just gonna go for a jog. Sorry man." he said turning to the man he had tackled.

"It's no problem." he said, honestly as he patted Elliot's back.

"I'll see you back at the dorm." Robert shouted as Elliot jogged away. His jog didn't take him very far. A short time later he stopped for a beer at the favorite hangout of Rutgers' student population. One beer turned into two, two beers into three, and two hours and five beers later he was nearly wasted as he talked to two girls from NYU.

"So what has you so down?" asked one of the girls as she sat next to him at the bar as the other went off to play pool.

"Nothing." he said, shakily.

"Now, come on, no guy drinks like that by himself, unless he is trying to drown his emotional sorrow."

"Smart chicks are so hot." he said ramblingly, setting down his empty beer bottle. "Could I have another one over here?" he shouted, waving his hand around.

"I think I'll take that as a compliment." she said, laughing a little at his drunken state. "So what's your name?"

"Elliot Stabler." he said, taking a drink from his new beer.

"Well, Elliot Stabler," she said, prying the beer from his hand. "Tell me, what has you so upset?"

"My girlfriend of," he thought about it for a long time and finally held up four fingers. "Five years, broke up with me today. And she was going to have my baby, but she was never really pregnant."

"That's so sad." said the girl, sympathetically.

"I know." he said, nodding his head.

"Listen, you seem like you need some fun." she said, taking his hand and pulling out a pen. "Here's an address, date, and time." she said, writing furiously on his hand. "There is going to be a party and you should come." she said, standing up before turning back to him. "Do you need help getting home?"

"No." he said as he began to fall off the stool.

"Well, how about I just get you a cab and make sure you get home safely, for my own sake?"

"Okay." he said, obviously not really knowing what was going on.

"Where do you live?"

"Rutgers."

"So you live on campus? What dorm?" she said as a taxi pulled up. He simply shrugged. She sighed, why did she always have to be the nice one? She nonchalantly reached into his pocket and pulled out his ID. He didn't even notice. She looked the ID over and found his hall and dorm number. She repeated the address to the driver as he made the short trip to the residence halls. "Come on Elliot." she said, pulling him to his feet and guiding him up the steps to his room.

"Oh my god." said the man who opened the door. "I was starting to get worried. It's not like El to get smashed. Thank you, Miss…"

"Olivia." she said, shaking his hand. "Olivia Benson."

"Well, thanks he'd appreciate it if he were coherent. I'll let him know you said bye."

"He won't even remember me in the morning, actually I don't think he even knows my name." she said with a shrug. "But you're welcome, Robert."

"How'd you---?"

"It was on your door."

"Oh right. Well, thanks for the help. Like I said, he's not the one who is usually out getting trashed."

"Well, he seems like he had a hard day."

"I don't know the whole story yet, but I'm guessing he did." he said as they stood in silence for a few minutes.

"Well, I need to get back and study for finals. See ya later."

"Yea, bye Olivia."

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