So I had a chapter 7 up already, but I added some more onto the end of it. I hope that it's a bit better, but I don't know if it well be.
Suddenly Elliot moved, and I closed my eyes.
"Oh, god," he ran his hands over his face. "Liv, I…..uh… I should probably go."
"Elliot," I grabbed his hand, and he stopped, looking round at me. "It's not your fault."
"Olivia, don't try and make this better," he shook his head.
"Elliot, come on, that was a mistake on both of our parts," I said. "Please, just sit down."
I was panicking now. I didn't want him to go. I know that we had made a big mistake, but I was desperate for it not to ruin things between us. Elliot was really all I had and I couldn't stand to lose him. I loved him too much.
"No, I should," he nodded with a sigh.
The following morning, I walked into the precinct to find Elliot standing at the coffee machine. He glanced round at me as I walked in and he nodded in acknowledgement. I nodded back slightly, taking my coat off.
"Do we know what happened to Mrs Collins?" I asked him as I walked over to the coffee machine.
"Uh, yeah, Munch and Fin took over from us yesterday," Elliot nodded, avoiding my gaze, sipping his steaming hot coffee. "Apparently the wife was so disgusted by her daughter, that she held a gun to her. Husband came in, wife was away to pull the trigger, husband wrestled the gun away from her but it went off as he grabbed it from her. Novak's gonna go easy on him."
"Okay," I nodded. "So where are we going from here?"
I could sense the awkwardness. We never really interacted on a personal level too much at work, or were really close at work, but our words were never awkward and the conversation was never stilted. I hated the fact that what we had done last night, the fact that we had actually let ourselves get so close to that kind of situation, and it really hurt me. It really hurt that we had ruined part of our friendship that we couldn't get back. It hurt that he could hardly look at me.
"Well, uh… we just gotta wait till the bastard goes up in front of the Grand Jury," he sighed.
So four days later, Fraser Scott was up in front of the Grand Jury. Elliot and I sat next to each other, watching on. The man was let out on bail, set at half a million dollars. He managed to pay it – he was hardly a poor man – and we both knew that he would go right to his girlfriend, so we paid a visit to her house, but she wasn't in.
"Where do you think he is?" I asked my partner as we headed back to our car.
I didn't like this case one bit. It was a hard case. Fair enough there had been harder, and in this one, no-one had been raped or murdered, but it was still hard. I didn't know whether or not to believe the two. It seemed as if they really were in love, but that didn't mean anything. Scott could have told her what to say. He could have brainwashed her. I would bet anything on the fact that he was good at bluffing. I bet that he had told her he was in love with her and that he couldn't live without her.
"I'm thinking we should check at his place," Elliot stated simply, and I let out a soft sigh as we got into the car.
I really did hate our situation. It had been so so awkward, and I wasn't used to things between Elliot and being awkward. Ever since the day we had met, we had had this connection, and we had very quickly fallen into sync with each other. We didn't even need to speak sometimes; we were that in tune with each other, and I hated it when that all went to pot. I hated it when I couldn't look into his eyes and instantly be able to read what he was thinking.
At Scott's house, Elliot banged firmly on the door, and after a few moments, Fraser Scott came to the door.
"Oh, detectives, hiya," he nodded, seeming exhausted and worn out. "What can I do for you?"
"We just wanted to check on your…uh…Emma," I said. I didn't really know what to call the girl. Sure, she was his girlfriend, but I didn't really want to call her that, because then I'd be acknowledging the fact that they were actually that close.
"Oh, sure," he nodded, turning to the rest of the house. "Em, sweetheart, the Detectives want a word with you."
There was a paused and then a teary, fragile-looking young girl appeared. Fraser gave a sigh and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, planting a gentle kiss on the top of her head. She cuddled into him as she looked up at us. We glanced at each other, and we had the same look on our faces.
Neither of us could believe that he was actually seemingly looking after her. I knew what it was like to lose your Mother, and I knew what it was like to feel as if everything in your life was going wrong. I just didn't know what it felt like to have somebody there who was going to look after you no matter what. No matter if you were a crying mess, or if you snapped at them and got furious with them, they were going to be by your side.
I turned to look back at the two, and Elliot sighed before asking, "Emma, we've just come to ask you a few questions, would that be alright?"
"Can Fraser stay with me?" she asked, trying not to cry, her bottom lip trembling.
Watching her, my heart was breaking. I just felt so much for her. I could see that she was falling apart in her boyfriend's arms, and I actually truly did believe now that they were completely in love. I doubted very much that he would be standing by her through all of this. I reckoned that if he was just playing her, once he'd been found out he would sever all ties to her, but no. That wasn't the case here. He was still with her.
"Yeah, sure he can," I nodded, keeping my voice calm and quiet. That earned me a glare from Elliot, but I didn't care. I wasn't going to try and separate the two, not right now. The guy was waiting for his day in court, awaiting the jury's verdict, and the girl's family had been completely torn apart. I knew that we wouldn't get anywhere if we spoke to them on their own.
We headed through to the living room. The house was nice. Not huge, not too small. Just right. It was very cosy, with nice furniture and a little fake fire on the wall opposite the door. It was like the kind of house I had always dreamed of living in when I was a little girl, stuck in my room. I'd dream that I'd marry a nice, respectable, handsome man and that we'd have lots of children and live happily ever after. That dream certainly hadn't turned into reality that was sure.
"Take a seat Detective," the teacher motioned to the couch and we both took a seat.
"So, Emma, how have things been since what happened with your Mom?" Elliot asked quietly, in that kind voice that I loved oh so much. The only thing that got to me was that I knew he was still unsure of all of this.
"I…" she paused. "Since Fraser got out on bail, I've been here mostly."
"And how are things here?" Elliot continued the questioning, as I was just quite content to sit and listen to his soft voice, watch him, every now and then looking into his deep, ocean blue eyes. I let out a soft sigh, without even realising I was doing it. He was the guy who made me do that. The one who made me do those little sighs.
"Good," she nodded. "You don't have to worry about me here. Fraser would never do anything to hurt me."
"Yeah," Elliot nodded. I could hear by the tone of his voice he still wasn't particularly convinced about this whole thing.
"I believe that," I suddenly said, and then froze as I realised what I'd said.
"Thank you," I heard Scott say quietly, and I nodded.
On the drive back to the precinct, everything was silent, still awkward. We were just sitting there, him concentrating on the road, me away in my own world. Even though Elliot was right beside me, I still felt as if I was a million miles away from him. I still felt lonely. I guess it was just everything going on. The case, the fact that recently things had been getting to me more than usual, the fact that lately I had really been feeling for Elliot more than normal… everything was adding up to create a lot of confusion and anger and hurt.
"Why'd do you say that back at the house?" Elliot asked all of a sudden, breaking the silence, penetrating my little world.
"Because it was the truth," I replied. "I did believe it. I do believe it."
"You didn't need to say that to them though," he shook his head. "Who knows what he's gonna make of that now. He might even get it brought up at trial. That bastard might get away with it, and it might be because of you."
"What, so if Scott gets away with this, it's all going to be my fault?! Is that what you're saying?!" I asked angrily. How dare he accuse me of sabotaging this case?!?!
"Sure as hell is!!" he shouted back. He was really angry – not just about this whole case, about everything in general, and I could tell.
"How dare you!!" I screamed. "It is not my fault if you're so much of an idiot that you can't see that the girl and the guy are in love, is it?!"
"You're calling me an idiot?!" he roared.
I knew that arguing wasn't gonna help, but it was just… it was sort of not only anger, but it was all the passion too. We both cared so much about our jobs, about this case… about each other. Sometimes I liked having it out with Elliot, because I knew that after everything was over and done with, things would still be the same. I knew that there would be no hard feelings. We could both vent our frustrations without any fall out. It was good for the both of us.
"I sure as hell am!! You know why?! Because that's the truth!!" I screamed right back at him. I wasn't going to take any of his rubbish. I wasn't going to act the innocent, fragile little woman. Not this time, no way.
"You shut the hell up!! You don't even know me, Olivia!!" he violently stamped on the brakes and the car halted, making us both fly forwards only to be restrained by the belts.
"I don't know you?!" I asked with an incredulous laugh. "You really believe that Elliot? After what we've been through with job, after all the times we've talked, you really believe I don't know you?"
I looked round at him, but he just clenched his jaw. God, this felt good. I didn't know if everybody loved this kind of thing – arguing and shouting at your best friend… at the one you loved…but I loved it. It helped get rid of any frustrations you felt and it helped you relax after it was all over and done with.
"Well, if you'd just open your eyes, Ell, you'd realise that I do," I said, lowering my voice a little. "I do know you. I can read you like a book half of the time. Don't think I don't know that you're dying inside. You might think you're hiding from everyone by keeping it all in, but I can see it. I can see all the hurt, all the pain, all the anger. And if you want to let that out with me, fine, but just don't tell me I don't know you."
He just stayed silent, jaw still clenched. I wished that he would look at me, so that I could understand what was going through his mind right then. I wanted to know if he was annoyed with me, or if he was dying to break down, or if he just totally agreed with me and didn't want to admit it.
The car fell back into silence. It was still a little awkward, with all that passion and anger floating around, but it wasn't as awkward as it had been. Sometimes Elliot Stabler just needed to have his head bawled off so that he could see. He just needed a kick up the ass, and very often, I was the one who gave him that kick. Deep down, I knew that he was grateful to me for that.
After a few minutes, Elliot said, his voice quiet and soft, "How'd you do that?"
"What?" I asked.
"Nobody else can shut me up if I'm that angry," he shook his head. "When Cragen tries he just makes me madder…. Actually, when anyone else tries, it just makes me madder. But not you. Why is that?"
"It's a gift," I said, and gave me one of those quick, half smiles.
"How'd you know all that though?" he queried. The anger in his voice had now dissipated and had been replaced by curiousness, and wonder. He sounded a lot calmer.
"It's like I said Ell, I know you, and I can read you like a book," I shrugged. It really was that simple, and I didn't see why he didn't understand it. I knew that he could read me real easily too.
He nodded and it was noiseless for a moment again before he said softly, "That's scary."
It wasn't even funny, but I laughed. Actually, properly laughed. He grinned and asked, "What are you laughing at?"
"I… uh, I actually don't know," I smiled at him, and he gave me smirk right back. I watched him for a little longer – I had been right, our argument definitely had made things a lot better. Already.
"That really is scary," he chuckled, and we drove back to the precinct both in a happier mood.
So I hope this was better. Please review for this chapter!!
GrissomzGal