A\N: I do not own these characters. Hi guys thanks for the reviews so far. I hope you like this chapter and please leave a review once you're done. Any advice is welcome and if you have any ideas about where you would like this to go, please private message me. :)

"When you trip over love, it is easy to get up. But when you fall in love, it is impossible to stand again."
― Albert Einstein

Chapter 3: Dawn of Desire

Amanda continued to stare at the woman who she had so longed to be with for as long as she could remember. The soft glare of the sunset sparkled through the rain drops on the window pane, illuminating both Amanda's and Olivia's faces. They continued to stare at each other. Amanda felt the rising feeling of pressure. The constant questioning had started to niggle its way back into her mind. She saw more problems with being with Olivia than she saw not being with her. And Rollins was one for taking the easier option.

"I better get changed" the younger of the two women moved away, knocking Olivia out of the way and walked swiftly to the bedroom. Rollins began to pace around the room, her head was in the wrong place, clearly if she'd just missed the opportunity to kiss the woman she'd a crush on. And she hadn't just missed an opportunity she had thrown in out the window, she had drop kicked it into the next century, an opportunity like that didn't come round every day. But the pressure of being with her was too much, could she cope with it? All the questions that the team would ask and all the other worries that would come along with a brand new relationship would be hard to cope with.

Olivia stood with her back against the kitchen counter; she could feel as the cold surface rubbed against her back. Benson shook her head, rolled her eyes and pulled her fingers through her hair. 'I've obviously screwed that one up' she thought to herself. Now if Rollins wanted to leave she really didn't blame her. This situation just queued for an evening of awkwardness.

An outsider could say that this was a typical case of unrequited love...no not unrequited but hidden. Some could say that in this case of Olivia Benson and Amanda Rollins it was not love that presently prevailed but a dose of concealed passion. This was clear as Amanda had walked back in to find Olivia sat on the couch, she had popped a DVD into the TV and a bowl of snacks had been placed on the couch next to her. Rollins had approached cautiously as if she was trying to grasp the nature or the severity of the current situation.

Benson looked up and smiled, she moved the bowl so that a cushion was free next to her. Amanda sat down next and sieved through the snack bowl, grabbing at the Hershey bar, she slipped down into a comfortable position and began to engross herself in the movie.

Two movies later and a clock chimed one as Olivia's eyes snapped open and she looked to her left. She saw Amanda sound asleep on her arm. The younger woman's left arm was stretched and delicately placed on Olivia's thigh. Olivia smiled to herself. Not once had she been so close and so involved with a woman like this before and she quite frankly loved it. But she needed her own bed; she needed a good sleep if she was actually going to feel alive later that morning and be able to cope with her feelings for Amanda. So she gently moved Amanda's head and placed it lightly onto a cushion. Rollins rolled over and shifted her body weight onto her side while Benson grabbed a blanket and draped it over her colleague. She bent down and moved closer to Rollins. She could feel the younger woman's breath on her face as she leant in and placed a kiss on Amanda's forehead. Another smile from Benson and the night between those two was finished.

BANG. CLATTER. BANG.

Rollins awoke to the sound of Olivia clanging around in the kitchen making what she presumed could only be breakfast. Her hair was a mess and her pajamas were all ruffled and misplaced. 'How long has Liv been up?' Amanda thought as she swiveled her legs around and stood up, brushing a blanket off herself as she did so. She stepped across to the window, all signs of the storm the night before had vanished and she wondered what her sister was doing back at her apartment. Or more importantly she wondered what clothes she was going to have left.

"Morning, oh sorry did I wake you?" Olivia called out as she noticed Amanda by the window, "I made breakfast." She placed a plate of pancakes onto the table, pushing aside some of the mountains of paperwork. Rollins walked over and placed herself into the seat opposite Olivia. She grabbed the syrup from the table and began to pour it onto her food. Amanda looked up at her partner, about to say something when Benson's cell phone rang.

"Benson," she answered, "Uh huh, yeah, okay I'll be there in an hour." Then she snapped her cell shut. Before Amanda could ask what the call could be about she received one on her own cell, she answered it and once finished placed it back down onto the table and took a bite of her pancakes.

"Another happy case then," she mumbled through a mouthful of food. Olivia nodded.

"Seems like it," she replied, eating her own breakfast and sipping at her coffee.

"Thanks for lettin' me stay over last night Liv, I really appreciate it. I think I'd have definitely considered murder as a way to resolve that damn clothes stealing sister of mine." Amanda smiled the southern twang of her voice made Olivia have butterflies. She really did love that voice, that accent.

Benson laughed. "That's okay, you're welcome over anytime." A silence set on the situation. "So do you kill people often?" Olivia inquired.

Rollins looked up at the other woman. "I'd rather not say, after all I am a detective." They both began to laugh. Olivia picked up their now finished plates and put them to one side.

"That's true I suppose," She giggled, "We'd better get ready if we've got a case. Otherwise Cragen might get a little angry, or Fin might get jealous you're here with me and not with your proper partner."

"Yeh." Amanda laughed again and walked back into Olivia's bedroom to find her clothes now dry and freshly ironed.

'Wow Liv must have been up and about earlier than I thought.' She presumed. Putting her clothes back on she walked back out into the kitchen and saw that Benson had quickly changed her top for a subtle blue one and had placed her jacket on the side of the chair.

The two ambled around each other for about ten minutes, grabbing at makeup and hair brushes all in attempts to make themselves even more beautiful than they thought each other were. Amanda placed a tube of mascara down onto the table as Olivia went to grab for a rose tinted lip gloss. Their hands brushed and they both felt the intensity they had felt the night before.

The early morning sun crept into the apartment, the rain from the night before had stopped and the streets of New York were free of drenched beings. Paperwork that Olivia had yet to complete lay spread across the table. The two women stood apart from each other, each looking at their hands and then back at one another. Their breathing was for the best part unstable, erratic, and uncontrollable.

"Look Rollins," Benson took a breath, "Amanda... I need to explain. Last night I didn't mean to…"

"You have nothing to explain," Rollins took three small steps forward and was within a small distance of her colleague. "I'm the one that should be explainin' some things. Some very important things Liv."

She looked up into Olivia's brown eyes, their souls were connected and she was unable to look away. As with every other person who had ever met Olivia Benson, Amanda had always loved Olivia's appearance and her all round friendly personality. With her constant tanned skin and her long brown hair that always hung perfectly around her face. But being this close and this involved with Olivia made Amanda realise how lonely the woman really was and how lonely she herself was as well.

'What am I doing?' Amanda thought, 'Am I really going to confess this feeling I have for her?'

Amanda grabbed for Olivia's hand, she held it for mere seconds before moving her hand up to the older woman's arm and then to her face. She cupped Olivia's cheek and she didn't resist. The younger of the two began smiling as Olivia nestled slightly into her palm.

"I don't care what anyone else thinks", Rollins said, clarifying it to both herself and to her partner. She leant closer, her lips parted. Olivia felt as Amanda's lips met hers, how the passion she had for the woman began to venture through her body. She deepened the kiss and her hands moved down Rollins' figure, she reached her waist and pulled her ever closer. Amanda wrapped one hand in Olivia's hair and kept the other cupped around her cheek as she continued their loving embrace. They moved across the room, both holding the other, not letting go. Olivia moved Amanda across the apartment keeping her hands on the other woman as if protecting her in some way. Oblivious to their surroundings they backed into the table knocking off papers and a glass that had been hidden under the paperwork. It smashed as it hit the floor and the two women parted and looked down at the mess below. Rollins began to bend down to pick up the small glass shards but was stopped as Olivia's hands grabbed hers, their fingers entwining. They looked at each other.

"You don't know how long I've hoped you'd do that" Olivia said, "That kiss, it was..."

"It was all the explainin' we needed to do, "Amanda smiled grabbing for her coat. "We'd better get going Liv."

Benson nodded, grabbing her own jacket, car keys and gun and the pair walked out of the apartment hand in hand.

A/N: I hope you liked it, leave me a review and let me know. If you have any ideas about where you would like this to go, please private message me. Thanks :)