A/N: See, it didn't take me long to update. Hope you guys like the story. Thanks to those who reviewed. I truly love it when I check my e-mail to see it full of reviews (again, I know exactly how sad I sound).

Olivia spent the better part of her morning avoiding Elliot. She had only spoken a handful of words to him and only when completely necessary. She could feel his eyes on her as she worked on her DD-5 and desperately wanted to run from the room and cry. Elliot noticed her hand that was holding her pen tremble under his intense gaze he was just about to ask her to join him on the roof so they could talk when ADA Casey Novak walked into the squad. Olivia looked up at her relief flooding her eyes.

"Hey Case, let's go grab lunch" Olivia stood up quickly grabbing her jacket from the back of her chair.

Casey saw the look on her friends face and shot a quick look over at her partner, he looked disappointed by Olivia's invitation to lunch but there was something else on his face that she could not place.

"OK sure. You coming Elliot?" Casey asked looking at the handsome male detective.

"He can't. He has a lot of work to do" Olivia jumped in before Elliot even had the chance to open his mouth. Olivia shot him a look that told him that he better not argue with her. He let out a frustrated sigh.

"Liv's right. I have stuff to do" He said none too convincingly.

Casey just gave him a sympathetic smile as she and Olivia made their way out of the precinct.

Casey glanced at Olivia as she pushed her food around on her plate. She had only had a few bites and was now using the age old tactic of moving her food around her plate to make it seem she was eating. They had been at the diner now for twenty minutes and all they had discussed was silly mundane things. Finally Casey had enough.

"What's up with you?"

Olivia thought about not telling Casey but the truth was she desperately wanted to talk to someone and Casey was a good friend so she bit the bullet.

"I've been sleeping with Elliot" Olivia barely managed to get out.

Casey dropped her fork with a clatter onto her plate, she was stunned. She knew that Olivia and Elliot were close but she truly did not think her friend would cross the line. Not with her partner and certainly not with a married man.

"Liv, what the hell..."



"I don't know. It's all just so fucked up"

"You have been having sex with Elliot Stabler? Your married partner?" she asked in disbelief.

Olivia looked at her gave out a small laugh. "No. I said we have been sleeping together."

"Yeah that's what I said" Casey looked at her confused at the circle they were talking in.

"No. I said we've been sleeping together. As in just sleeping. No sex, no kissing, not even any touching. Well, no intentional touching."

Casey looked at her friend like she had grown another head. She had no idea what Olivia was talking about.

"I don't get it."

"Join the club. I have been in it for two months now and I still don't know what is going on."

Olivia wiped away a few frustrated tears that had fallen onto her cheeks. Maybe talking to Casey was not such a good idea after all. If Olivia didn't understand what she and Elliot were doing how could she possible expect anyone else?

"How did this even start?"

"Remember the Fraiser case a couple of months ago? Well, it kind of messed with Elliot's head and well, after we closed the case he showed up at my apartment..." Olivia paused remembering the night so clearly in her head. How shocked she was to see him at her door at two in the morning and how even more surprised she was when he asked if he could stay the night. But that was nothing to how stunned she was when he climbed into bed with her careful to put distance between them, "I let him in and next thing I know where a sleep in my bed. We laughed about it in the morning, said that it was a one off thing. But it didn't stop Casey. It started happening to often. A few times a week. The last time was last week, in the morning I said that it couldn't happen anymore."

Olivia watched her friend closely as she digested the information she had just received. Olivia was hoping that Casey could give her some miracle advice that would make everything ok and make the dull ache in her heart stop.

"What happened to make you put an end to it?"

Olivia froze "What?"

"Well something must have happened. I mean two months, come on. You were obviously somewhat comfortable with what was going on, so for you to suddenly put a stop to things something must have happened. So tell me."

Olivia bit her bottom lip and looked down at the plate of food in front of her. She didn't want to tell Casey the truth. Not yet. Not when she still needed to sort things out in her own head. She glanced up at her friend who was staring at her with intensity.



Olivia let out a long sigh. "The last night we were together...he ah...he held my hand. The whole night, Casey. He just held my hand. I've never had that, you know. A man who wanted something so innocent from me."

Casey reached across the table and took her friends hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "He's not yours Liv. He's not yours to hold hands with" She said gently.

Olivia nodded more tears pooling in her eyes. "I know. That's why I couldn't do it anymore. Because soon hand holding won't be enough. It still hurts Case. It hurts so much."

Olivia and Casey walked back into the precinct forty-five minutes later. Olivia felt a little bit better having had the chance to speak to her friend. She was still no closer to moving on from her feelings for Elliot but she was hopeful that with time she could find someone to fill the void. Maybe even her date tonight.

"See ya Liv. Have fun with you know who tonight." Casey smirked as she walked out.

Elliot's head snapped up at Casey's comment. He knew she was referring to Olivia's date but he was holding onto a small shred of hope that she had made up a date to keep him from coming over. Hearing Casey and seeing the smirk on her face was like a child finding out there was no Santa Claus. She really was serious when she told him no more sleep over's. All hope of keeping Olivia to himself was flying out the window. A suddenly he was mad. Mad at himself but especially mad at her. She had given him false hope. She had led him to believe that she needed him just as much as he needed her. Now it was all becoming so clear, she only needed him until another man could step in and take his place in her life.

Elliot stood up from his chair and marched over to the lockers where Olivia was placing her purse away he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into Interrogation Room 1 slamming the door behind him with such force that the two-way window rattled.

Kathy Stabler walked into the precinct relatively unnoticed just in time to see her husband drag his partner roughly out and into a small room by her arm. She quickly looked around to see if anyone had noticed satisfied that there were no curious looks her way she followed her husband and the woman she had come to secretly despise. Kathy had always been envious of her husband's relationship with his partner they had a connection that she just did not get. She learnt early on in their partnership not to bring up Olivia or act insecure about his relationship with her as it always turned into an all out war in their home. She watched closely behind the window, noticing the intercom to her left she turned it on to a low setting so not to be heard by anyone walking by. She did not feel any guilt at what she was doing, she was running on fear that here worst nightmare was true.

"Fuck Elliot! That hurt" Olivia cried rubbing her hand over where he had grabbed her knowing she would be bruised in the morning.



"Why are you doing this?" He paced around the small room like a caged animal.

Olivia could feel the anger seep from him and fill the room like toxic gas. She started for the door to leave but he was on her before she even made it half way there, grabbing her and pushing her up against the wall. Olivia let out a gasp as her back came into contact with the cold wall behind her.

"Elliot stop. Stop it now" She whispered. She was afraid that someone would walk in and see what was going on, there would be no way they could explain their way out of this.

"Answer me." He leaned in impossible close to her.

Olivia took in a shaky breath and shook her head. "No Elliot. You can't treat me like this."

Elliot pushed himself away from her and stalked across to the other side of the room. "I can't treat you like this? How about the way you treat me, huh? You are fucking with my head Olivia. You let me into your bed only to kick me out once you got bored. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It's why you have such a huge turnover of men in your life."

Olivia could put up with a lot of shit from him but he crossed the line when he brought up her past relationships. She stormed over to him put her hand up and slapped him as hard as she could across his cheek feeling a slight sense of satisfaction as her red handprint appeared on his cheek.

"You. Fucking. Bastard. How dare you. You're calling me a whore? I'm not the married man sleeping in a bed with another woman. Don't you dare question my morals Elliot Stabler. I have more morals then you. I'm the one who put an end to us. Me. You would be quiet happy to sleep with me leaving your poor little wife none the wiser."

Elliot felt the bile rise in his throat. He hated that she was right. He could have carried on their little thing for years quiet happily and Kathy would never have known. He sat down at the table placing his head in his hands shame consuming him. Olivia wasn't the whore, he was. Everything she said was true. Olivia saw the way he slumped into the chair and her heart immediately went out to him. As mad as she was that he had called her the one thing she found most degrading to a woman he was still her best friend and the man she loved. She walked over to him and placed her hand tentatively on his shoulder giving it a soft squeeze he flinched under her touch causing Olivia to jerk her hand away. He looked at her tears swimming in his sea blue eyes.

"Oh El. Please don't make this hard" She sat down in the chair next to his taking both his big hands in her small delicate ones. She rubbed her thumbs soothingly over the tops of his hands.

"I'm so sorry Livvy. I'm so sorry"

Olivia wiped a hand across his cheek where one tear had landed. She slowly dragged her hand from his cheek and down to his lip swiping her thumb over his bottom lip becoming completely absorbed by the feel of him under her hand. She had never touched him like this and it felt so utterly intimate.

"I wish you were mine" she said quietly in trance like state her hand still roaming over his face. Elliot reached out and took her hand away from his face but not before placing a small kiss in the palm of her hand.



"So do I Liv"

Olivia snapped out of her stupor and quickly jumped up and away from him; Elliot was startled by her sudden movement. He stood up to face her but she put her hands out in front of her preventing him from moving any closer.

"No El. I meant what I said. We can't keep turning to each other. You have to let me go" she pleaded.

"What if I can't?"

"Then we can't work together anymore. I don't want to work with anyone but you El so don't make me ask for a partner change."

Elliot knew she was not giving him an empty threat; she had left him once before when they had become to close, he would not risk her walking away again.

He nodded his understanding. "I promise to stay away for the time being Liv. Just long enough for me to sort my personal life out."

"Don't do it El. Don't walk away from your family because of me."

"When Kathy left me you're the one who told me that people don't walk away from families they walk away from marriages. That's what I'm going to do. I'm not walking away from my children only my marriage."

Olivia just shrugged her shoulders in defeat. She didn't know what she thought anymore. She didn't want to be the cause of his children not having their father at home but she also knew that his heart wasn't in his marriage anymore.

"You do what you feel is right for you and your children Elliot. Don't make it about me or about us."

Elliot knew that she was feeling guilty about the failure of his marriage but the truth was it was doomed from the moment he agreed to move back home. Since the moment Kathy had told him she was pregnant he had almost been on auto pilot of what a good husband should do. But all the effort in the world could not breathe life into his dead marriage. He had wanted it to work for his children; he had always believed that children deserved to have two loving parents, it was only in the past two months that he realised that the two parents didn't need to be married to have a happy child.

Kathy felt her world start to spin unbelievable out of control. She had just heard of her husband's affair with his long term partner and that he had intentions of leaving her. She knew that their marriage was rocky but she never believed he would be the one to walk out on her. She wiped away the tears and quickly fled the precinct. By the time she made it home her sadness and turned to full blown fury. Tonight, she thought, just wait until he gets home.

A/N: Things are only just starting, there will be plenty more drama to come. Reviews, gotta love 'em.