Chapter Four
They had everyone crowded around the high top tables. It was Fin and Cherie, Alex, Casey, Chester, Munch, Cragen, Pete and Dwayne. A few more of Fin's friends had shown up, along with Melinda, Huang, and few of the guys from the TARU. Everyone was drinking and laughing and having a good time, including Elliot. Olivia had moved over and was talking to Melinda and Casey, but she kept sneaking peeks over at Elliot. Every time she did, Elliot caught her eye and smiled, and she smiled back. He could tell she was pretty drunk at this point, but he had to admit that he was as well.
He heard the music start to quiet down a little, and a slow song started to play. Elliot looked over at Olivia and wondered if he should ask her to dance. He wanted to, but he also knew that if he got that close to her again, he may not be able to stop himself from kissing her. At that moment, Casey leaned over and whispered something into Olivia's ear, and she smiled and looked over at him. She dipped her head down slightly, looking at him through her long lashes. His heart stopped. The look she gave him was something he couldn't identify, and not a look that he had ever seen from her before. He gave her a small nod and she started walking over towards him. He took the beer out of her hand, set it on the table, and took her hand in his and led her to the dance floor.
When they got to the dance floor, he pulled Olivia close. Her arms snaked around his neck and he put his hands around her waist. They started moving to the music, barely moving on the dance floor. Elliot looked down at Olivia, but she had her eyes closed.
"Liv. Open your eyes." Elliot whispered.
Olivia's eyes fluttered open and looked into his. He saw tears brimming on her eyelashes as she looked at him.
"Liv. What's wrong?" said Elliot, alarmed.
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. This is perfect." She said, laying her head on his chest.
Elliot pulled her even closer, splaying his hands across the bare skin of her back. He took a deep breath, and focused on the music and the feel of Olivia in his arms. He knew they shouldn't be dancing like this; that he shouldn't be holding her like this. Especially in front of everyone in the squad. But he was lost in the feeling of having her in his arms and he couldn't think clearly. And she was letting him hold her, so clearly she wasn't worried. Of course, he knew she was a little drunk (maybe a lot?), and he was too. But so was everyone else from the squad. Maybe all rules went out the door; even if just for tonight?
He reached one hand up to stroke her shoulder. His hand went underneath the strap of her dress, caressing the skin there. He leaned over and placed a light kiss on her shoulder, feeling a jolt from her as he did so. He kept placing small kisses along her shoulder, eliciting a small moan from Olivia. The sound of her moan, low and husky, made him breathless. He kept running his hands over her bare back and then dipped a little lower, so they rested on her hips. He pulled her hips slightly toward him, and she pushed into him gently, grinding against him slightly. She swayed her hips back and forth a little, applying maddening pressure against him. He could feel himself getting hard beneath her, but was powerless to stop it. He raised his lips up to her neck and started kissing her there. Her head dropped back a little, giving him better access. As he kissed her right beneath her ear, he was rewarded with another low moan. She started moving her hands up his back, running them up and down. They were both lost in the feeling of each other's bodies, swaying slowly on the dance floor. Suddenly, Elliot heard someone say "Get a room."
He jolted his eyes open, looked over and saw Casey and Pete dancing next to them. Casey had a smirk on her face. Then she and Pete danced away from them.
"Liv." Elliot said gently. She opened her eyes. She, apparently, had not heard Casey's comment. "Liv-we can't do this here. People are watching."
Olivia looked confused and Elliot realized how drunk she really was. He felt like an idiot; like he had taken advantage of the situation.
"What?" said Olivia with a smirk on her face. "We're just dancing."
"Liv. Everyone from our squad just saw us with our hands all over each other." He stopped and pulled back from her. " You don't think they've noticed? I think it's time to go." Elliot took her hand and started to walk back over to the table.
Olivia looked at Elliot. "I don't want to go home yet. It's your birthday and the party's not over yet. I want to stay, and keep dancing." She moved back towards Elliot and wrapped her arms around his waist. She looked up at him through her eyelashes. "You don't like dancing with me?"
"Liv-I would love to keep dancing with you, but we can't…not here…in front of everyone. Everyone will already be talking." Elliot took her arm and started to steer her back towards the tables. Olivia was stumbling a little on her high heels, so Elliot supported her with his arm on hers. When they got there, Munch started to say something, but Elliot cut him off with a dark look. Munch shut his mouth.
"I am going to take Liv home." said Elliot. Munch started to say something again, but Elliot gave him another look. "That's not what I mean. I am going to make sure she gets home safely before I go home." Elliot didn't need to add to the rumors already going around the precinct. He knew a lot of people thought they were already sleeping together and he didn't want to make the situation any worse. Especially since everyone could see how drunk Olivia was.
She started to disentangle herself from Elliot's arm and leaned on the table. "Let's have another drink!"
Elliot looked at Olivia. "Liv. You've had enough to drink. We're going."
Olivia shot him a dark look. "I am not ready to go yet Elliot. If you want to go, go ahead."
Elliot sighed. He sensed Olivia upset that he had stopped dancing with her. But honestly, what was he supposed to do? He couldn't keep dancing with her; that was only going to lead to trouble. In his current state, he knew he wouldn't be able to control himself for much longer. What he really wanted to do was pull her out of the club, get back to her place, and finish what they started on the dance floor. He sighed again heavily. He had to get himself under control. He was drunk but she was worse off than him. Despite all of her flirting and willingness to participate, he had to be the responsible one here. He didn't want any regrets between them.
"Liv" he said firmly. "You said you weren't going to fight with me on my birthday. Say goodbye. We're going."
At that moment, Casey and Pete walked off the dance floor and over to where Olivia was standing with Elliot and Munch and a few others. Casey noticed the tension between Elliot and Olivia and raised an eyebrow at Munch as if to say "What's going on NOW?"
Munch shrugged his shoulders. He knew better than to get in the middle of a 'conversation' between the two hot-headed detectives.
"Casey" said Olivia. "Come with me to the bathroom. I have to pee. "
Olivia shot Elliot a dirty look. "Do I have permission to go to the bathroom?"
Elliot shook his head. "You know what? You do whatever the hell you want to do. I know you will anyway." Elliot grabbed a beer off the table, and walked over to where Fin and the rest of the crew was standing around. Munch and Pete followed him over, leaving Casey and Olivia alone at the table.
"I swear to God" said Casey. "Five minutes ago you guys had your hands all over each other on the dance floor, and now you're fighting. It always amazes me at how quickly things escalate between you two." She leaned over to whisper in Olivia's ear. "I think you guys just need to have sex and get it over with! All this should we or shouldn't we is driving both of you crazy!"
Olivia sat down hard on the barstool. Suddenly, she was so tired. Tears started to brim in her eyes, and she tried to hold them back.
Casey came and put an arm around her. "I'm sorry Liv. I didn't mean to make you cry!"
"Case-I just don't know what to do anymore. Elliot and I have this carefully drawn out relationship. We have all of these boundaries we put in place over the past 8 years. And now, he's divorced, and I thought this was my chance. But nothing has changed over the past couple of months. So tonight, I thought I would take a little initiative. I wore this stupid dress, I was flirting, and he was flirting back. And then on the dance floor…I mean, I could tell he wanted me. And God, I want him. But then he stopped. And he seems mad. I am so confused."
Casey was in shock. She couldn't remember a time that she had seen Olivia cry like this. She put on a strong front day and day out, despite all the victims. She broke down every once in a while, but never over something personal. She wasn't quite sure how to comfort her friend.
"Liv." Casey started. "Elliot loves you. You know he does. Everyone knows he does. And everyone knows you love him too. I think there are just a lot of mixed signals…and alcohol doesn't help. Maybe you guys need to have a conversation. A real conversation without all of this chaos going on around you."
Olivia swiped at her eyes. "I'm done Casey. I think I was pretty clear about how I felt, and he backed away." She looked up and at that moment, Elliot looked over. He saw she was crying and a look of concern crossed his face. He started to move in her direction, but she saw him and got up from the stool.
"Casey, I am going to the bathroom." She moved away from the table towards the bathrooms, leaving Casey at the table.
Elliot came up to Casey as Olivia made her way across the room.
"Casey. Is Olivia all right? Why is she crying?" Elliot asked.
Casey turned to Elliot. "You are such a damn idiot." She said in a disgusted tone and walked away towards their group of friends at the next table.
