Disclaimer: Things I Own - five pairs of Nikes, a purple leotard, and a Gryffindor scarf. Things I Don't Own - Elliot Stabler, Olivia Benson, and Law and Order: SVU.

A/N: Sorry it's been so long since I updated. A lot of responsibilities caught up to me at once - school starts up again Monday. I'll try to update at least once a week. The AU really starts to take off in this chapter. Enjoy and review!

Chapter 5 – 6 Months

"Six whole months without a partner change," Munch mused, walking from the coffee machine back to his desk. "You must be pretty proud of yourself, Stabler."

"Yeah, yeah," Elliot groused, unamused.

Olivia chucked. "Dude, how often did you switch partners before?"

"No specific amount of time," Elliot clarified, looking at her over their adjoined desks. "Whenever they annoyed me."

"I annoy you all the time," Olivia pointed out skeptically.

"Not really," Elliot assured with a small smile. "Not enough to get rid of you."

"Gee, El, I'm honored."

"As you should be."

Olivia rolled her eyes and returned her attention to her paperwork. Elliot let his eyes linger for a few more moments before looking back at his desk, trying – and failing – to hide his smile. He felt like a little kid with his first crush. He had made it six months – six entire months – with Olivia as his partner. That had to mean something, right? Months going strong now, and still no goodbye. They were meant to be partners, meant for no one but each other. Elliot was still trying to convince himself that the chemistry he felt between them was strictly platonic. He wasn't doing a very good job of that.

Elliot walked into the dining room of his Queens home. His whole family was already enjoying dinner. Kathy looked up at him quickly and disapprovingly before she simply returned to her dinner without a word. Elliot sighed and sat at his usual seat at the table. "Hey," he addressed his family, "sorry I'm late. What's going on?"

Elliot's children quickly included him in the conversation, but Kathy was conspicuously quiet. When the meal ended, the kids drifted off to their rooms while Kathy and Elliot headed to the kitchen to clean up. "What's going on, Kath?" Elliot asked, confused as to why Kathy wouldn't speak to him. "I know I was late, but it's not like I-"

"Why were you late?" Kathy interrupted.

"I had to take Olivia home," he explained.

"No you didn't," Kathy scoffed. "You wanted to."

"I don't like her taking the subway at night."

"You wanted to spend more time with her," Kathy countered.

"What's the real problem here, Kath?" Elliot cut to the chase.

Kathy stopped washing the dishes and turned to face him. "The real problem is that you're spending more time with your precious partner Olivia than you are with your own family."

"That's not true."

"It's completely true."

Elliot huffed in frustration. "What do you want me to do?"

Kathy took a step toward Elliot and crossed her arms, lowering her voice so he had to listen close. "I want you to remember that you have a wife and a family at home, and stop acting like a lovestruck teenager."

"Kathy," Elliot began, but Kathy just shook her head and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Elliot to think about what he really wanted.

Olivia was licking chocolate ice cream off her spoon when her cell phone rang. She didn't bother to check the caller ID. "Benson."

"Olivia." It was Elliot.

"Let's see," Olivia said. "Either we've caught a case, or you just fought with Kathy. And by your tone, I'm guessing the latter."

"You know me too well," Elliot said with a dark laugh.

"Maybe," Olivia said. "What was it about this time?"

"You."

Olivia was shocked. Elliot and his wife were fighting about her? "What about me?"

"She thinks I'm spending too much time with you," he explained.

"We work together," Olivia said, as if Kathy's point was invalid.

"I know that. She's talking about outside of work."

Olivia didn't know what to say. "Well, I guess I understand that. I mean, our relationship is a bit more than just professional. Maybe we should cool it with the friendly stuff. Not that I don't want to be your friend, you know, you're the best friend I have, but maybe we should just keep it at the precinct, you know what I'm saying?"

She was babbling. Elliot stopped her. "I don't want to."

"Pardon?"

"I don't want to keep it professional." Elliot lowered his voice farther. He was standing on his front stoop, but he was still paranoid that Kathy would hear his conversation. "You're my best friend, too. I want to be able to spend time with you outside of work."

"Elliot, I don't want to be the rift in your marriage."

Elliot sighed. "I know. I'm sorry. Hey, what are you doing now?"

Olivia chuckled. "Well, let's see. I'm young, and I'm available, and it's a Friday night. So, logically, I have a date with the Lifetime Movie Network."

Elliot laughed. "No you don't. You have a date with me. Have you eaten?"

"Does ice cream count?"

"I'll bring Chinese. I'll be there soon."

"Okay. Hey, Elliot?" Olivia said, catching him before he hung up the phone.

"Yeah, Liv?"

"Don't lie to Kathy about where you're going. I'm not going to be a part of that."

Elliot sighed, resigned. "Yeah, alright."

"I'm serious. Don't come over if it's going to be a problem," she warned.

"I'm coming," Elliot said sternly. "I'll see you in a little while." He hung up the phone and sighed, turning to go inside and tell Kathy the truth about his plans tonight.

"Kath?" he called into the house.

"Bedroom," she called. He followed her voice into their bedroom. Kathy was wrapped in a white, fluffy towel, about to step into the shower. "Care to join me?" she asked with a smile.

Elliot tightly smiled back. "Uh, no, actually," he said. "I'm...actually going to head to Manhattan."

Kathy face fell. "Why?" she asked suspiciously.

Elliot didn't want to lie. "Because she's my friend."

Kathy scoffed. "That's bull, Elliot."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is. If you want to go spend time with your girlfriend instead of your wife-"

"Come on, Kathy," Elliot reasoned. "You know she's not my girlfriend."

"If you want to go spend time with her and not me," Kathy clarified, "don't come back home tonight."

Elliot sighed, and considered it for a moment. He knew Olivia said not to come over if it was going to be a problem. He decided he didn't care. "Well, goodnight, then, Kathy," he said, walking back downstairs, grabbing his coat and wallet, and heading out the door.

Elliot was carrying two paper bags full of Chinese food when Olivia opened the door to him. "There's only two of us, dude," she said as he walked into her kitchen to put the food down.

"I wanted to get a variety," Elliot said, pulling out the takeout containers. He seemed very cheerful. Too cheerful. Olivia was suspicious.

"What did Kathy say when you told her you were coming here?" she asked. Elliot hesitated. "Elliot, are you in trouble?"

He chuckled nervously. "So much trouble."

"I told you not to come over if it was going to cause a rift."

"Olivia..." Elliot was so close to confessing that he honestly didn't care if he was in trouble. He was starting to admit to himself that he was falling out of love with his wife. "It's fine," he said, avoiding the topic.

"Go home, Elliot. Fix what you did."

"I can't go home," he admitted.

"And why not?"

He smiled, knowing he was caught. "Because she told me that if I came to see you, I wasn't to come home tonight."

"Elliot..."

"I know, Liv," he sighed. "You don't want to be the cause of my marital problems. I'm sorry. I really am. But I don't want to talk about it. I want to hang out and talk with my best friend while eating Chinese food."

"You're not seventeen anymore, Elliot," Olivia reminded him. "You can't just avoid your problems. What are you going to do to fix this?"

"You know what?" Elliot asked, picking up two containers of food and walking back to the living room. "I don't know that I'm going to do anything."

Olivia followed him with more food and looked at him, confused. "Pardon?"

"I don't know that I'm going to do anything." He sat down on the couch and dug into his chicken fried rice with some chopsticks.

Olivia kept standing. "You're not going to fix your marriage."

"Nah."

"Elliot, what's gotten into your head? You were happy!"

"I thought I was happy, Liv. I got married when I was eighteen years old. I thought I was happy because I didn't know any better. But now I'm starting to think I didn't get to live my life to its full potential."

"So you're going to ruin the best thing in your life so you can 'live your life' to the fullest?" Olivia said, skeptical.

"Olivia," Elliot said, "my marriage is not the best thing in my life."

Olivia was thoroughly confused. "What are you talking about?"

Elliot shook his head. "Eat your eggroll, Olivia."

A/N: So what do you think, eh? Let me know! And keep requesting songs. If you've already suggested one, I'm already trying to fit it in. Thanks friends!