Twenty minutes later, Olivia leaned her back against the bar and sipped her mixed drink of vodka and sprite. Fin and Elliot were occupied in conversation, both with beers in front of them on the counter. Olivia stood between John and Cragen, discussing with them the Voschel case.
"That's good work Olivia. Figuring out the money," Olivia smiled as she took another sip of her drink. After twenty minutes Olivia was on her second drink when she noticed Mark walk through the front doors of the bar, looking around the room for her. She turned quickly setting her drink on the bar before walking over to him.
"Mark," she called, catching his attention, along with the attention of her colleagues.
"Hey," he said smiling as he walked toward her. She kissed him lightly as she felt his hand on her back. She kissed him again before turning around toward the guys, who were all trying not to make it obvious that they were looking at her. She laughed as she nodded at Mark to follow her to the bar. Olivia felt a little bit awkward, being that other than Elliot, none of her colleagues had ever met Mark, let alone even known about him.
"Guys, this is Mark James," she said, figuring that the best way to approach the situation was to just go for it. "Mark, Fin, John, Don my captain, and you already know Elliot," she introduced motioning to the respective people. Mark shook all of their hands before, rubbing Olivia's lower back.
"So are you two sticking around or what? What are your plans for the night?" Elliot asked.
"Uh, I don't know," Olivia said looking up at Mark. "I think we were planning on getting a bite to eat." Mark looked down at her and smiled lightly.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to stick around and have a couple drinks," he said looking back at the group. Olivia smiled as she wrapped her arm around Mark's waist.
An hour minutes later, Olivia stood off to the side of the bar and watched Mark, who was sitting next to Elliot at the bar. John and Fin were leaning against the bar on either side of them and were all engaged in conversation. Mark was smiling, joking around as though he had known them for years rather than minutes. Olivia took a sip of her drink as Cragen walked up to her.
"I should have known," he said.
"Known what?" she asked, confused.
"That you were dating someone," he told her. Olivia smiled as she glanced over at Mark.
"Yeah, he's pretty awesome," she replied. Cragen watched as Olivia looked at her boyfriend. "It's crazy you know, I've been in this unit for nine years and have dated any number of different guys. But I have never met anyone who is so supportive of what I do, and who doesn't care about my past."
"How long have you two been dating?" Cragen asked.
"Uh, I'll be nine months next week," she answered before taking a sip of her drink. "Pretty exciting for me considering I think that my longest relationship since I graduated college was maybe four months, so Mark has definitely doubled it."
"Well I'm happy for you Olivia. I sat back and watched the two of you with each other tonight, and the way that you two look at each other. Anybody can tell that you two really do love each other, and I really could not be happier," Cragen told her. Olivia smiled, touched by what her captain had told her.
Two hours later, Olivia slipped into her flannel, capris pajama pants as Mark pulled back the covers of her bedspread. She walked across her bedroom and turned off of the light before climbing into bed. She rested her head on Mark's shoulder, resting her arm on his waist as his hand rubbed her shoulder.
"I had a good time tonight," Mark said softly. "It was nice meeting everyone."
"I feel so lucky to be with you, like I don't even think that you understand," she said. "You were amazing tonight. You fit in perfectly after being thrown into that situation without warning." Mark kissed Olivia's head lightly. "It really meant a lot to me for you to meet and get along with them. I may not have five brothers and sisters and two amazing parents, but they are essentially my family and you willing to get to know them, makes me love you even more." Mark smiled as he pulled the blankets up and watched as Olivia fell asleep on his shoulder.
Elliot walked into the squad room a few months later. John and Fin were standing by the coffee station, each with a cup of coffee in their hands. Elliot took off his jacket before walking over to them.
"Olivia around?" he asked grabbing a cup off of the stack.
"Uh no," John said softly. "She called the captain this morning. Mark's mom died last night, so she won't be in today or tomorrow morning." Elliot eyes widened as he looked down at the floor.
Olivia drove through Mark's parent's neighborhood that morning. Mark had driven in the night before when his father called telling him that his mother had taken a turn for the worse. Olivia turned the car down the James' street and pulled up next to the curb. She turned off the ignition and climbed out of the car. Just as she was halfway up the walkway, Mark opened the front door and stopped when she noticed that it was Olivia walking up the walkway. She smiled softly, realizing that he was surprised to see her.
"I thought that you weren't coming until tomorrow?" he said closing the door behind him and walking down the few stairs of the porch.
"Well I wanted to be here for you, and do whatever I can to help," she said. Mark looked tired, sadness in his eyes. He kissed her cheek lightly before hugging her. She felt his arms tight around her waist, as she wrapped hers around his neck.
"I'm glad you're here," he said between sniffles. "I love you so much." Mark held Olivia in his arms for what seemed like forever. He released Olivia from his grasp, and looked at her. She leaned in and kissed him lightly. Mark took her hand in his and lead her to the house. They walked inside to a rather quiet house. Voices were heard in the kitchen, from who Olivia assumed to be Mark's brothers and sisters. Eric was coming down the stairs as Mark closed the door behind them.
"Olivia," Eric said, surprised to see her. Olivia smiled softly as she noticed Eric's eyes were sullen and sad.
"Hi Eric," she said walking toward him as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "I wanted to be here and help with anything I could."
"I appreciate that," he said before kissing her cheek lightly and hugging her. "Thank you for coming."
"Promise that you will tell me if you need anything," she said as they parted, her hands still on his shoulders. He nodded and smiled lightly before heading toward the kitchen slowly.
Olivia walked into the bedroom later that night to find Mark laying on the bed. His clothes from the day were still on and he was laying on his back, staring at the ceiling.
"Can I get you anything sweetie?" she said softly as she walked further into the guest room. He smiled lightly before sitting up and swinging his legs to the side of the bed.
"I could really use a hug right about now." She smiled as she walked toward the bed and sat down next to him.
"Come here," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. After a few moments, Mark released the embrace and brought his hands up to her face, framing it in his hands.
"I love you," he said softly. Olivia smiled lightly.
"Right back at ya." Mark laid back down but moved to the center of the bed so that Olivia could lay next to him. She rested her head on his chest, and wrapped her arm around the front of his torso. They laid in silence for a couple of minutes listening to only each other breathe and voices from downstairs.
"Hey Liv?" he said softly.
"Yeah."
"What's it like?" he asked.
"What's what like?"
"Burying your mother," he finished plainly. Olivia closed her eyes. She knew that Mark's relationship with his mother was completely different that hers, but had still not told him about her mother's rape. All that she had told him was that her mother had died.
"Mark, my mother and your mother are completely different women," she said softly.
"What do you mean?" he asked confused.
"Well, my mother was an alcoholic and sometimes wasn't the best mom. But you mom was an amazing person, who loved you and your brothers and sisters and dad very much," she said, choosing her words carefully. She didn't want to bring up the fact that she was a product of a rape, because she didn't want to distract Mark from his situation.
"I don't want tomorrow to come," he practically whispered as a couple of tears rolled down his cheeks. Olivia looked up, noticing that Mark was tearing up.
"Oh, sweetie I know," she said sympathetically. She held mark tighter as he sighed, tears continuing.
The next afternoon, Olivia walked into the squad room to find Elliot sitting at his desk, working on some paperwork. Olivia set her bag on the seat of her chair before taking of off her jacket and hanging it on the back of the chair.
"Hey," he said quietly. "How's Mark?"
"He's ok. He's still at his parents finishing up some things," she said sitting down after removing her bag from her chair. "The service was this morning so I left right after it ended." Elliot nodded unsure of how to approach the situation being that it wasn't Olivia's mother that died, but she was still affected by the loss.
Olivia walked down the hall of her apartment building two months later, and stopped at her door. She unlocked the door and stopped in her tracks. Rose petals were scattered on the floor in front of the door and into the living room. She followed the trail of red and white petals into her bedroom, which was filled with vases of roses. She smiled as she walked further into the room but felt her stomach flip upside down when she looked at the bed. Written in rose petals, which stood out against her ivory bedspread, the words 'Will you marry me?" were visible. She stood still, in shock as she heard footsteps behind her. She turned quickly as Mark walked through the door of the bedroom, holding a
single red rose. He was smiling as he walked closer to her. She didn't know what to say or what to do. She was in such shock she was speechless. "Are you serious?" she managed to stutter out. Mark stayed silent and stopped in front of her. He slowly took her hand in his before getting down on his knee. Olivia's lip quivered as her eyes began to water.
"Olivia Benson," he said softly. She looked down at him as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. "Will you marry me?" He slowly pulled a black box out of his pocket and slowly lifted the lid revealing a silver band embedded with diamonds, with a single large diamond in the center. Olivia smiled as she nodded lightly. "Yes?" he asked, hoping that she was nodding her head as her answer and not because she was crying.
"Yes," she said smilling. Mark grinned as he slid the ring onto her finger. He stood up and wrapped his arms around Olivia's waist and felt her chin on the crook of his neck. She laughed as he picked her up and spun her around in the middle of her bedroom. She felt her feet touch the ground as they parted. She laughed lightly before kissing her fiancé.
Later that night Olivia laid in bed while Mark was in the bathroom. After a few minutes he walked into the bedroom and climbed into bed next to her. She rolled over onto her stomach and sat up on her elbows. "You're sure you want to marry me? I mean I have no family, I've never had anyone in my entire life who loved me, not even my mother, and certainly not my father. Why would anyone be crazy enough to want to marry someone like that?" At first Mark believed that Olivia was partly joking but then noticed the seriousness in her face.
"First of all, you have a family. They're called your colleagues, plus you have my family who loves you. And second of all, your past has nothing to do with how much I love you. I love you for what you have done for me in the past year, especially with my mom, and what you are going to do for me for the rest of my life." Olivia smiled as she leaned forward and kissed him lightly.