Love

"And what's that?" Cragen asked, obviously confused.

"Elliot and Olivia made up," Munch stated, not really wanting to get into detail about the situation.

"So? That's a good thing. It's what we wanted. What's the problem, Munch?"

"Um, they made up a little too much," he said purposefully being cryptic.

"Oh, well I guess we should have expected this. Just tell them to get back here. We'll sort it out when they're both home and safe."

"Okay, and how exactly do you expect me to do that?"

"Just tell them that we need them for a case or something. I don't care how, but you have to get them back here."

"Okay. Hopefully we'll be back in the morning."

"Thanks, Munch," Cragen stated, before hanging up the phone.

Munch hung up his cell, before heading down to the bar in the lobby of the hotel, planning on keeping his promise to stay out of the room until 11. He honestly did not want to walk in on them, but he had the distinct feeling that he should stay away longer than 11 regardless of the fact that they would need to know that all of them would have to go back to New York.

After a few drinks, he was still reluctant to go back to the room, he caught a cab to the airport, hoping to secure three tickets for a flight tomorrow.

Meanwhile, after Munch had left, Elliot and Olivia, rather than taking their relationship to the next level, had decided to talk things through first.

"Why did you say those things to me?" she asked, after Munch had left, always direct and to the point.

"I was angry. I wasn't thinking."

"That's not an excuse, Elliot. You have to have a reason. I was angry, but what did I say that hurt you?" she asked, wanting an answer, but dreading the reply.

"I didn't mean to," he said, avoiding the answer, but knowing it couldn't last. She looked at him, a soft anger present in her eyes. "Whenever someone attacks me, verbally, I lash out. Try and cause them as much pain as possible before they can cause me any."

"But Elliot, I never said anything to hurt you," she stated softly.

"You could have," he replied, defensive and angry.

"You know me. Have I ever hurt you in an argument?" she asked, forgetting about Rebecca Hendrix.

"Yes," he replied without hesitation, wanting to defend himself yet again, "Rebecca Hendrix."

"Oh, the rebound comment. I was jealous, Elliot. I had kept everything to myself for so long and I could handle you with Kathy, because you were married, but then you started to move on. And you moved on with someone that wasn't me. I just got jealous and let it out. I really didn't mean that, and besides that, you replied in form also."

"I didn't know you were jealous. I mean, I only found out you loved me about 10 minutes ago, so how did you expect me to know you wanted me to move on with you? You always did such a good job of hiding everything. I mean, you get me to open up about my dying marriage and I get hardly anything out of you about your mother. And it never occurred to me. I always thought you were open with me, and then we had that argument and I found that after all you had told me, I really didn't know you as well as I thought, but you really did know me."

"What? You expect me to tell the man I love all about my hurtful past. About how I hate myself, how I doubt myself, how I used to think of suicide daily just so I could stop causing my mother and others pain. You really want to know all that?"

"No! I mean, yes. I mean, I don't know?" he stated, exasperated, "I want to know about you. I want you to be completely honest with me. That's all I want Liv, that's all I've ever wanted from you."

"If all you've ever wanted from me is to be open, then why did you kiss me. If you don't love me, why do something like that, something which will only cause me more pain?" she asked, "If you really cared about me, you wouldn't do that."

"I want you to come home."

"So you want me to come home so you can hurt me more?" she said, aware that they were about to launch another huge argument.

"No. I want you to come back so that you can heal. You can start to mend. That's it, Liv."

"So you don't want a relationship with me. All you want is friendship?" she asked, trying to keep the emotion out of her voice.

"I love you Liv. I want to be your friend. I don't want to hurt you."

"Elliot, I can't do this. Either I'm more than your friend or I'm nothing. I can't keep doing this to myself. I have to put myself first, just once."

"I'm sorry, Olivia," he said softly, kissing her gently on the forehead before exiting the room, leaving Olivia with tears streaming down her face for her once again broken heart.

Munch arrived back at the hotel in time to see Elliot leaving. Not knowing what had happened, but sensing that it wasn't good, he raced up the stairs and burst into the room. Not seeing Olivia, he panicked before realizing that as her possessions were present, she had not run again.

Behind the closed bathroom door, he heard the sounds of someone sobbing. Quietly, he opened the door and embraced Olivia. She returned the embrace tightly, soaking his shirt in tears.

"What happened?" he asked gently.

"He did it again. You said he wouldn't but he did. He hurt me again," she sobbed.

"Oh," he said, still comforting her, "Come on, go have a rest, and we'll leave in the morning."

"No, I can't go back. Not anymore."

"Please, Liv. We need you, and regardless of what Elliot says, he needs you also."

"Well, he's not going to. I'll keep in contact with you guys as long as Elliot doesn't know."

"Okay, we'll talk in the morning,"

"No, we'll talk now."

"Liv, I don't think there is much to say. We all want you to come home, but no one but you can make the choice whether or not to do so."

"I don't know what to do, Munch," she said softly.

"You try to move on, Liv. You try to forget what you felt for him. You find someone else that you can love."

"I don't know how to do that. How do you move on when the person you're trying to move on from is sitting right across from you. How do you do that then?"

"I don't know Liv. Come back to New York and we can talk about this. Maybe you can transfer out, maybe Elliot can transfer out. I don't know, just come back, please."

"I'll try, okay. I'll come back, but if it gets too hard, I'm leaving."

Munch nodded and led her back to the bedroom, where he once again, tucked her in bed. Seating himself on the couch, he fell asleep, not aware of Olivia staying awake lost in her own thoughts.