A/N: Sorry it took so long to update, but I'm still recovering from Mariska and Pablo's amazing performance in Psycho Therapist. I think it's pretty clear that Mariska deserves every award possible.

Disclaimer: Dick Wolf owns them, but one day I will.

Olivia sat on the floor of her bedroom, her face buried in her hands, she had stopped crying but she couldn't face herself. She felt so ashamed, so pathetic. Brian's last words rang in her mind. His words filled her heart with pain. Olivia should have expected it; she had hurt Brian in so many ways.

Olivia hadn't really looked at the ring until now; she lifted her head from her hands loosening her grip on the ring. She look at it closely, the diamonds sparkled. Olivia let out a small sigh, it really was beautiful. She never suspected that Brian would propose, she didn't think far into the future. After everything with Lewis she realized not every moment was guaranteed, after those four days with Lewis she changed her outlook, she began living for the here and now and she didn't take one moment for granted. Olivia sat in the silence that filled her home for some time before she realized she needed Nick. She needed his comfort, she needed to talk to him, to explain her feelings; that she didn't only care about him, but that she loved him.

The drive to Nick's house was somewhat relaxing; Olivia had called to tell him that she was on her way. Olivia was speeding and it took her about thirty minutes to get there. Olivia walked up to the door and knocked, Nick greeted her with a warm smile.

"Liv," He said soothingly, "Come here." Nick pulled Olivia to him and held her in a long embrace. He kissed her on the forehead and motioned for her to come inside, closing the door behind her. Olivia quickly found the couch and sat down. She took a deep breath before speaking.

"Brian asked me to marry him." Olivia said incredulity; she was still in awe that he had asked her. She couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that Brian genuinely wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

"What?" Nick said back in disbelief. He joined Olivia on the couch, Nick grabbed Olivia's hand; he played with her fingers intertying them with his own. "Liv, talk to me."

"Nick, this isn't easy. I don't like to open myself up to people. I did it once before and he left me." Olivia said blankly, she felt the tears come up and blinked her eyes in an attempt to stop them.

"Who left you?" Nick asked inquisitively.

"Elliot. My old partner. He didn't even say goodbye. Twelve years and you'd think he'd at least give me that." Olivia pulled her hands from Nick's and got up heading to the kitchen. "Do you have anything stronger then wine?" She asked.

"What did you say to Brian?" Nick asked, he followed Olivia into the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniel's from underneath the sink cabinet. "This okay?" Olivia nodded handing Nick a small glass, he filled the cup generously.

"What do you think?" Olivia took a long sip. She wasn't a big drinker and the alcohol burned as it slid down her throat. She immediately felt the effects of the alcohol as it ran through her blood. "I said no."

"Did you tell him about us?" Nick inquired. Olivia took another sip of her drink.

"Yes." Olivia said as the strong smell of whisky fell off her breath.

"What did he say?"

"He couldn't believe it." Olivia finished off the glass of whiskey and made her way upstairs to Nick's bedroom. Nick followed Olivia upstairs, the bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand. He knew Olivia needed comfort and if she found solace in a bottle of whiskey, he wasn't going to stop her.

"Did you love him?" Nick asked through the opened bedroom door. He hadn't yet entered himself completely into the room. It took Olivia a moment to respond and Nick prayed that her answer would be no.

"Yes." Olivia said a tone of hurt in her voice, "I loved him." She got up from the bed and walked toward Nick grabbing the bottle of alcohol he held in his hands. Olivia took another big sip, drinking as much as she could as quickly as she could. Her throat burned, and even though she would have enjoyed drinking until she was unconscious, she couldn't hold out much longer. She swallowed one more long sip and handed the bottle back to Nick.

"Did you ever sleep with him?" Nick asked. Nick had only been Olivia's partner for three years and they had already had sex. He wondered how long she held out before she slept with Elliot.

"He had a wife and kids." Olivia trailed off. "Part of me new nothing would ever happen, but I held onto this false sense of hope that maybe one day he would realize just how madly in love I was with him."

"I'm sorry he hurt you Olivia." Nick lightly kissed Olivia on the lips. He pulled her into him; Olivia buried her head into his chest. She silently cried. "I know what it feels like to love someone and have them not love you back." Nick felt himself open up, "I love my wife," He stopped realizing he had misspoken, "my ex-wife. I always will. She gave me my daughter, the best thing that has ever happened to me. When I first held Zara in my hands, I had never held something so innocent, so pure. I thank God every day for bringing my beautiful Zara into the world." He sighed before continuing, "When Zara turned seven that's when I realized we weren't in love anymore." Nick paused again, "We had lost the spark, we were just two people that lived in a house and shared a child. That's all we shared, we didn't have the connection. The connection that you and I have." Nick lifted Olivia's head from his chest wiping away her tears, "Olivia I love you."

In that moment Olivia's heart stopped, Nick had finally told her what she desperately wanted to hear, what she had come over to tell him.

"Nick, I love you too."

A/N: I know I didn't include the confrontation between Cassidy and Nick, I'm saving that for the next chapter. Please read and review! (: