What You Wish For Chpt 7
Because I felt bad for not posting in a week here is another chapter for tonight! I'm trying to get this story moving along. I know where it is going and what is going to happen and I want it to get there. I have another great SVU story brewing in my head and I cant start that one until this one is finished! We left off with Olivia and Fin sorting some things out but what about Elliot? Where does he stand in all of this and what is going to happen with him and Olivia? Will she tell him what's happening? Will she give him a chance? Will he find out on his own? This is a bit of a fluffy chapter. Hope you like. Read and Review! I own nothing!
Elliot Stabler was not a man who was good at controlling his temper. There were a lot of things that would set him off; traffic, paedophiles, wife beaters, stupid questions, and adverts at a good point in a TV show, his ex-wife, and running out of beer – the list went on. But the number one thing that made him made was anything to do with his partner. Or more specifically; anything to do with his partner that 1. Did not involve him, 2. He did not agree with or 3. Involved another man. And Elliot Stabler was almost 100% positive that what was going on with his partner at the moment involved all three.
Olivia had dated men before. Elliot was not so stupid and pigheaded to believe that she had been celibate all the time he'd known her. In fact, on more than one occasion Olivia had shown up to a crime scene in beautiful dresses, her hair and makeup perfect, clearly having been torn from a date. Even then, when he'd still been married and faithful, Elliot had noticed her beauty. He'd been more than conscious of her delicate perfume, the heat of her skin, the way her hair would tickle her shoulders. Despite his apologies for calling her from her dates, he'd never once been sorry. He'd always been glad that yet another man had been ditched so that she would spend the evening with him.
He was a jealous man, he would admit that. It hadn't always been aimed towards Liv. When he and Kathy had first gotten together he had been incorrigible. Any man that so much as looked at Kathy for a moment too long would end up at the business end of his fist. He was jealous of his children's time – especially his daughters. He hated when they chose to spend it with young, no good, men than with their father. But he had always been jealous of anything related to Olivia. Even her shirts – fitting her so snugly; wrapped around her warm, soft skin. Yes, he was in deep and he knew it.
Despite his penchant for violence; his tendency to lead with his fists rather than his brain; Elliot was not a stupid man. He wouldn't be as good a detective as he was if he were stupid. He'd gotten an education. The marines taught him book smarts and street smarts. Years on the force had taught him to read people; to spot a liar. He knew by the tiny imperfections in their recounts, their excuses, their descriptions when they were being untruthful.
And all of that was what was giving him grief with Olivia Benson.
Because he knew that she was keeping something from him. And he was almost certain that it had something to do with Fin.
That day after the diner incident Olivia never came back to the squad. She had called in sick and stayed off for the rest of the day. After Fin hastily left on some errand Elliot had been left to work the case with Munch. Fin's abrupt reappearance about two hours later left them all questioning where he'd been. Fin had been tight lipped and nonchalant. Despite watching him like a hawk for the rest of the day, Elliot could not figure out what was happening, or why he had such a bad feeling. He just couldn't shake the hunch that there were too many connections between Olivia and Fin at the moment.
When Olivia had come back to work the next day Elliot had tried to act normally. He didn't want to push what he'd said in the diner, not wanting to upset her again. But Olivia seemed to have forgotten about storming out. If anything, she'd been in a great mood – as though she had finally sorted out what had been plaguing her. She'd laughed with him, smiled, brushed her hand against his arm and even brought him coffee. Elliot's head was swimming with it. He just couldn't read what was going on. Women! They were going to be the death of him.
Which was why, a week after the whole mess in the diner, he was surprised to look up from his mountain of paperwork to see Liv watching him intently, the end of her pen resting against her lip.
"Everything ok?" He asked, giving her his trademark smirk. Liv shook herself out of her reverie, her cheeks staining red at being caught staring. Elliot felt his smirk grow, enjoying the fact that she had so clearly been checking him out.
"Sure. I was just thinking." She gave him a smirk of her own before chewing on the pencil again. Elliot's eyes were drawn to her mouth, wishing he could kiss her. He shook his head, clearing those thoughts. What was he doing? He didn't even know where he stood with her right now and he was thinking about kissing her? He needed to get a grip.
"Oh yeah. And what could you be thinking about that has you completely spaced out Benson?" He leaned back in his chair, hands going behind his head. At least a little bit of casual banter would give him a break from dreaded paperwork.
"Nothing much. I was thinking I need to buy some groceries." She sniggered at his surprised look. "Not what you were expecting?"
"Well, not really. Seeing as any time I have ever been to your apartment your fridge is a barren place."
"That was only a couple of times, El!" Olivia laughed. "And besides. There was food in there."
"Leftover Chinese takeout doesn't count, Liv." Elliot smiled, pleased that she had used her nickname for him.
"There was other stuff in there." Olivia argued, pouting slightly. Elliot resisted the urge to lean in and grab her lip.
"Beer. Some off milk. A tub of yogurt. Still not really going to win you the argument." Elliot smirked again.
"Well I guess that's why I need to go buy some groceries." Liv finished triumphantly. Elliot laughed, nodding.
"Why the sudden urge to have more than coffee and leftovers in your place?"
Olivia shrugged.
"Just wanted a change." Her expression quickly clouded over and Elliot immediately sensed that she didn't want to go into detail. He frowned slightly but decided to shrug it off. After all, it was just groceries.
"Oh well. It can't hurt. I'm sure your stomach lining will thank you for putting something other than coffee in it all the time." Elliot quickly changed the topic.
"Yeah. Actually, you could come along if you want." Liv said. Elliot had to process her words for a moment to make sure he'd heard correctly.
"Come with you grocery shopping?" He couldn't help but be a little incredulous. Was she asking him on a date? Was this her way of saying she wanted something more too? Who invited someone grocery shopping? His mind couldn't work its way around the situation.
"Yeah. I figure you'd know what's good to get. What sort of things a normal person would keep in their refrigerator."
"I guess I have some experience in these matters." Elliot teased. He could go shopping with Olivia. They could act like that was normal, he was sure of it.
"Tonight?" Olivia's eyes found his.
"I don't have any other plans. And actually, I do need to get some milk." He smiled. This might actually be fun.
The rest of the day dragged its way along. It was spent mostly at a desk completing paperwork – no officer's friend. By the end of the day Elliot was itching to do something, anything and it was a welcome relief when Olivia put down her pen for the last time and looked at him.
"You about ready to go?"
"God yes! Let's get out of here!" Elliot all but leapt out of his seat and grabbed his jacket. It was starting to get cold now and he glanced at Olivia's thin coat. "Are you going to be warm enough?" He asked, wrapping a scarf around his neck.
"I'm hot blooded. I'll be fine." Olivia shrugged into her coat. Truth be told; she'd been sweltering in the office and was relishing the idea of the cool air on her face. She'd walked to the precinct that morning. Fin had offered her a ride, having stayed the night before but she'd turned it down. The walk was always refreshing and it gave her the chance to clear her head before work each morning. She'd never had the urge to do it before, but Olivia didn't mind the change to her routine.
Following Elliot out of the precinct and to his car she smiled to herself. This was nice. Going somewhere to do a completely normal, menial task with Elliot. It seemed peaceful. So long as he didn't keep asking her prying questions. She knew he was aware that something was going on between her and Fin, even if he didn't know what. He'd been watching the two of them like a hawk for weeks and would question almost everything the two said to each other at work.
Olivia was grateful to Fin for his professionalism. He let nothing show while at the precinct. He was completely neutral and acted no differently towards her than he had before they started sleeping together. He had her back, he looked out for her, but he had always done that. But when they were outside of work he was a completely different man. Passionate, loving; always touching her, kissing her. He would hold her hand even if they were just sitting on the sofa. Olivia wasn't sure what it meant; was Fin secretly a really touchy feely guy or did he think that they were something more than they were. It hurt her to think too much about it. She didn't like to think that she was using Fin for his sperm, even if that technically was what she was doing. She knew he had feelings for her, and she definitely felt something for him but she didn't know if she was going to be able to give him what he wanted. It helped that she knew he was committed to giving her a baby. He'd made that perfectly clear. No matter what happened between them, he was all in for helping her get pregnant. She only hoped that everything else would fall into place once that happened.
Elliot pulled into a space at the grocery store and they got out. Elliot grabbed a cart and led Liv into the store.
"Right, are you after fruits and vegetables? Or long lasting products?" He asked matter of factly. Liv couldn't help but laugh.
"El, two things. One – you are way to organised at this. And two – I have been grocery shopping before so even though it's been a while, let's not act like I'm one of your kids." She chastised. El nodded, realising he was being a bit of a dick.
"Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away. But trust me; it does help to have a plan when you come in here. Otherwise you'll get stuck for hours."
"Ok." Liv looked around for a moment and felt slightly overwhelmed. What did she want to get? She wasn't really sure what had spurred the urge to go grocery shopping in the first place but something was telling her it was time to stop living primarily on take out and coffee.
"You look a little green, Liv." Elliot laughed. He was unaccustomed to seeing his partner so out of her depth.
"Where should we start?"
"How about we go through the fresh produce first. You can decide if you want something as we go past." Elliot smiled, enjoying the opportunity to do this every day task with his partner.
"Ok. I can do that."
Olivia flopped onto her sofa, exhausted. Elliot landed with a thud beside her.
"So much for your plan of attack theory." She muttered, her arm going over her eyes in exasperation.
"Hey, if you'd been able to make decisions on what you wanted we would have been out of there ten times quicker!"
"It isn't my fault they had so many options. I wanted to make sure I was getting the best product." Olivia argued. She knew she'd ben pedantic in the supermarket but she couldn't help it. She'd wanted to read the labels on jars and make sure that the food she was buying was indeed better than the takeout she'd been living off. It was just such an out of character activity for her to go grocery shopping that once she'd started she'd found she'd really enjoyed the experience. She'd liked walking up and down the aisles with Elliot, telling jokes, laughing, arguing over what to buy. It had seemed normal. It had seemed like something she'd wanted for a long time and thought she'd never get to have.
"I guess we have to put it all away now."
"We? That's your job Liv! I pushed the cart!" Elliot laughed. Liv hit his arm and stood.
"Would you like a drink?" She moved towards the kitchen where there were bags of groceries on the floor and bench. "I now have more than beer and coffee to offer you."
Elliot laughed again and stood. He moved to the kitchen area and started to unpack the bags.
"I'm good for now. Let's get these frozen things into the freezer before they melt."
They set about the arduous task of unpacking everything. Elliot was overwhelmed with just how much Liv had bought. All kinds of things and he wondered if she would actually get around to eating them. It was hard for him to imagine her cooking. It had always been a running joke at the squad that the only thing Olivia Benson couldn't do was cook. An idea stuck him.
"You want me to teach you to make something?" It was out of the blue and the offer surprised both of them. Elliot didn't know why he did it, except that he wasn't ready to leave and he was enjoying the domesticity of the situation. He would happily share a life with Olivia if this was what it would be like.
"Like what?" Olivia sounded sceptical.
"Something easy. You may have all this food now, but you have to know what to do with it if it's going to be any use to you."
Olivia frowned, thinking it over before finally nodding. Elliot smirked. This could be fun.
In the end he taught her how to make spaghetti and meatballs. It was simple, quick and always a good meal. He had the sneaking suspicion that Olivia knew more about cooking than she let on and was simply indulging him in teaching her but it had been fun and they'd made a wonderful mess of the kitchen. But the meal tasted amazing and the conversation was flowing easily and Elliot was happy just to be there.
"This is nice," Liv admitted as she sipped at her wine. It was as though she'd been reading his thoughts. Elliot nodded readily.
"Yeah, it is. I've enjoyed tonight, Liv."
"Me too. It's easy. Being like this. When we aren't trying to kill each other we get along pretty well, Stabler." She joked. Elliot nodded and took her plate, taking them to the kitchen. Olivia followed with the glasses and put them in the sink.
"Thanks for having me over," Elliot smiled, his hand reaching out of its own volition and tucking a tendril of hair behind her ear.
Olivia knew that he was going to kiss her. She could see it in his eyes. The way his hand lingered on her cheek for a moment before he leant in. She froze. She didn't know what to do. She'd dreamt of this moment for years.
Elliot's eyes held hers for a moment before his lips touched hers. He felt Liv tense; her whole body going stiff. He almost pulled back, almost, until he felt her soften fractionally against him. He moved his lips, enticing her to kiss him back and that was when he felt her melt against him. His hands tangled gently in her hair, cradling her head as he kissed her gently. Liv kissed him back, her tongue meeting his in a gentle dance. He tasted of spaghetti and red wine and she wanted to taste more. Moaning into the kiss her hands grasped his shoulders.
Elliot didn't want to push his luck and pulled back after several moments. They both caught their breath for a minute, gazing into each other's eyes.
"I should probably get going," Elliot admitted begrudgingly. He didn't really want to leave, but he didn't want to push things and he wanted to leave on a good note before Liv had the chance to talk herself out of what had just happened.
"Wait, Elliot." Liv started but Elliot was already grabbing his coat and heading towards the door.
"Can I take you out tomorrow night, Liv?" He was asking as he turned to look at her. Liv didn't know what to say. She needed to tell him. He needed to know before things got too serious.
"El,"
"Just say yes, Liv. I'll take you to a movie, dinner. It will be fun." He gave her his charm smile.
"El…" Liv tried again, the words still evading her.
"I'm going to take that as a yes. I'll swing by and pick you up in the morning." He gave her a grin and turned to leave. Liv realised she had to say something and now.
"I'm sleeping with Fin!" She blurted.
Elliot turned back to her in slow motion and Olivia saw the shock registering on his face.
What had she done?
Duh duh dahn! Couldn't help myself! I will brace myself for your rage! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! So now Elliot knows, what's going to happen? I'm sure there were better ways that Liv could have told him – maybe even ways that included an explanation as to why she was sleeping with Fin. But we all know there would be no drama without drama so let the drama roll! Please tell me what you think! A LOT of people are saying they want this to be Olivia and Fin so if that's the feedback I keep getting that might be where I will go with it. Let me know your preference
Fic xoxoxo