Truth And Deception
(Chapter Five: Promises In The Dark)
Elliot looked down at Olivia sleeping peacefully in his arms. He loved the way she felt with him. So natural, almost as if they had been together forever. He brushed a strand of her bangs to clear a place on her forehead and kissed it softly. He didn't ever want to know what it felt like to lose her. Part of him honestly didn't know if he could live with out her.
He looked up at the clock on the dresser. It was now well past three o'clock in the morning and he had been laying her in the pitch black darkness if his bedroom for hours unable to fall asleep. He was exhausted, but had way too many things on his mind for sleep to be an option. He had to find a way to help her.
Between them they had pretty much read all of the letters in the shoebox with very few clues as to who her father could be. The only real lead was the a man named David that Serena had apparently had an affair with years ago, before Olivia was even born. She had mentioned the names of a few of her close friends and Elliot had decided to try to contact some of them to find out if they knew who David might have been.
One woman, Alice Johnson, had been one of Serena's closest friends. Elliot was able to track her down and she and her husband were now residing in a little town near Los Angeles. After discussing it with Olivia, they had decided to try to fly out and talk to her in person rather than call her. Their flight was scheduled to leave around seven o'clock that morning.
Elliot smoothed his hands over Olivia's bare back and she trembled a little to his touch. He drew the blankets higher up around her shoulders and kissed her again. He could not believe that he had waited so long to be with her. He had been in love with her for years and for some reason hesitated to tell her so. He closed his eyes and tried once more to fall asleep.
A few hours later the alarm buzzed and woke them both up. He opened his eyes to see her big brown eyes staring into his. She moaned a little and smiled as she yawned.
"Good morning beautiful," Elliot said placing a soft kiss on her lips.
"Good morning," she said with a smile.
"We have along day ahead of us."
"I know. I'm not really looking forward to a six hour flight."
"It was that or a two day car trip, I thought the flight would be easier on us both."
"I guess you're right."
She climbed out of bed and stumbled to the shower as Elliot started a pot of coffee. When she got out a little while later she fixed herself a cup of coffee and gathered her bags for the trip while Elliot showered. Then they were out the door and on their way to the airport.
They had both taken the next seven days off to have some time to focus on the matter at hand. Elliot cashed in some personal days and Olivia finally took her vacation. This was not exactly the way she had ever thought she would spend it. But this was what it was going to take to find the missing pieces to the puzzle she needed so desperately to solve.
She sat in a window seat staring down at the clouds below them thinking. Wondering her what if's and wishing more than anything that she hadn't waited so long to decide to take her relationship with Elliot to the next level.
She had always been cautious before, worried that if they had ever crossed that line and things went bad they would never be able to get their friendship back. But it was funny how one diagnosis could suddenly make her realize that nothing mattered more in the world than the way she felt for him.
What if that was it and that day were her last day, the one thing she would regret more than anything was not taking a chance on the one mane she had ever really loved. Then they took their chance and it was amazing. Both the physical and the emotional part of the experience. Elliot was everything she had ever dreamed of having both in a friend and in a lover. Unfortunately her days of happiness were numbered and she was in a race against time to find her father and pray that the man had enough compassion for his own flesh and blood to save her life.
Olivia sighed as she felt Elliot's hand slip in to hers. She looked at him and smiled.
"How are you feeling?" He asked sweetly.
"I'm good," she replied with a smile.
"You should try to relax and rest a little. We wont be there for several more hours."
Olivia leaned back in her seat and leaned her head against his shoulder.
"Thank you for being her with me, El. I'm not sure I could face this alone."
He kissed her lips and smiled. "Do you think I would miss the chance to meet the man who fathered such a wonderful daughter?"
She smiled again and hugged his arm. "Well, you know we are not actually going to meet him. Just find this Alice woman and hope that she can tell us who he is. We still don't even know for sure that David is my father." Olivia paused for a moment deep in thought, as Elliot kissed her forehead.
"What baby?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking…wondering, I guess. Why would she say that the man who raped her was my father if he wasn't? I mean surely she would have known, right? If her affair with David happened after the alleged rape, then she should have known for sure. Why would she lie to me? To everyone."
"Maybe she didn't know for sure. Maybe she thought he was."
"Or maybe she was trying to hide the truth about my real father. But why?"
"I don't know. But hopefully Alice Johnson does."
Olivia stared into his eyes and nestled the side of her face in against his shoulder.
"I love you, Olivia."
She looked at him for a moment in silence then kissed his lips.
"I love you too, Elliot."
Elliot brushed his thumb over her lips and kissed her tenderly.
"Try to get some rest, Liv."
He kissed her forehead once more as he handed her a pair of earphones.
"Okay," she said softly.
EOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEOEO
Several hours later they arrived in Los Angeles. Elliot got them checked in to the hotel and Olivia made a call to Alice Johnson and set up a time for them to meet with her the next morning to speak with her about Serena Benson's case. Alice was very polite and agreed to a brunch with them at her country club around ten o'clock the next morning. Olivia was careful not to release her last name to the woman over the phone. She wanted to get the truth from Alice and she wasn't sure that was the story she would tell if she were aware that Olivia was Serena's daughter.
That evening Elliot took her to a nice romantic dinner and dancing in a ritzy restaurant, before heading back to the hotel to unwind for the evening. They stood together on the balcony and looked out at all of the city lights around them. It looked nothing like New York. Elliot held tight to her and kissed her lips, then lead her back to the bedroom of the suite to make love and fall asleep together.
The next morning he woke up holding her. He looked down at the angel sleeping in his arms and realized how badly he wanted to wake up next to her every morning for the rest of his life. He loved her more than he had ever loved anyone in his entire life. He kissed her forehead and then her lips as her eyes opened slowly. She smiled at him.
"Good morning," she said with another smile.
"How did you sleep?"
Olivia laughed, "really well. I was wore out."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Umm hmm."
Elliot smiled a devious smile.
Olivia leaned in and kissed him as she crawled over him in the bed. She continued to kiss him seductively as he began to move his hands slowly over her body. She moaned softly at his touch as she sat up and arched her back and he slid his hands up her waist and on to her breasts.
"You are so beautiful," he whispered as she lowered herself onto him.
She pressed her lips together and moaned softly as she moved on him. Elliot closed his eyes and before long was moaning with her. She moved her hands across his chest and gently dragged her fingernails against his abdominal muscles. Elliot moved one hand to cup her ass and guide her harder in to him. They started off slow then sped up the pace. Olivia leaned over him and pressed her mouth to his as she moaned out a little louder, obviously enjoying herself.
By now they could hear the sound of the bed moving with them and she smiled and laughed a little as she stared into his eyes. A few more minutes and Elliot rolled them over so he was on top of her again. He loved looking down on to her as he made love to her. She raised her knees up under his arms and moved her hands to claw at his lower back as she moaned and gasped in reaction to his thrusts. She kissed him passionately and stared into his eyes as if silently begging him not to stop.
"Tell me what you want," he whispered to her between moans and kisses.
"That, right there…." she moaned again, getting so close. "I want you. I just want you," she gasped between the gentle tapping sounds of the headboard against the wall.
A few minutes later she laid against his chest as they both tried to catch their breath. She pressed her ear to his chest and could hear his heart pounding inside.
"Well, good morning to you too," Elliot said with a smile.
Olivia laughed.
"What time is it?" She asked turning to look at the clock across the room. "It is still dark."
Elliot glanced up at the clock. "Four thirty."
He laughed.
"What is so funny?"
"I hope we didn't wake up the people in the next room."
Olivia smiled.
"Yeah well, they had better get some sleep before I get up the energy to do that again."
"You want to do it again, huh?"
"Maybe in a few hours," she replied with a smile and kissed him.
She took a deep breath and settled in against Elliot to try to fall back to sleep for a few more hours.
"Olivia?"
"Yes?"
"I love you."
Elliot felt her smile against his chest.
"I love you, too."
He raised her chin to look in to her eyes.
"I mean I really love you. More than I have ever loved anyone."
She smiled.
"I really love you, too."
"Marry me."
"What?"
"Marry me. Be my wife. And make me the happiest man in the world."
Olivia pulled the blankets against her and sat up in the bed.
"Elliot….you can't propose just because we have had sex three times."
"Four times….what does sex have to do with it?"
"Elliot, please. I…I can't do this right now."
"Can't do what? Olivia, talk to me."
"Look me in the eye and tell me that the reason you just asked me to marry you has nothing to do with me being sick."
"I didn't propose because you are sick. Actually I didn't really propose yet."
She exhaled deeply.
"You couldn't just let it be what it was?"
"What sex? You look me in the eye and tell me that the reason you slept with me didn't have anything to do with you being sick."
She stared at him speechless for a moment.
"That isn't why I did it. Is that why you did it?"
"No. Olivia, I am in love with you. I have been for years. And I am sorry if I am a fool and it took the thought of possibly losing you to make me realize that I was ready to take a chance on this relationship. I have wanted this…you, for a long time. As long as I can remember. But I was always worried I would do something to mess it up and end up losing you completely. Yes, it took the fear of losing you for me to wake up and realize that I have been consumed by this amazing love for you and I don't want to know what living with out it is like. I want to spend every night with you in my arms and wake up each morning with you in them for the rest of my life."
"Or the rest of my life? Elliot, do you realize everything that you could be giving up if we did this?"
He watched as her tears started to rise.
"Do you realize everything that I would gain? Olivia, you are the love of my life. And I am a fool for going this long with out telling you that."
She stared into his eyes as a stream of tears fell from her eyes.
"It isn't fair," she whispered.
Elliot pulled her tight against him and held her there. He kissed the top of her head and looked down at her.
"I know baby," he whispered.
"There are so many things I never got to do. I am trying not to feel sorry for myself, but it is so hard when your dreams are shattered right in front of your face. I put off getting married and having babies and everything that I wanted. And now it's too late. I would have loved to have shared all of those things with you Elliot. But now….now it wouldn't be fair to you."
"Olivia, I love you. And I never would have asked you if I didn't want you to say yes. If I didn't want to spend every second of the rest of both of our lives as husband and wife."
Elliot pulled her back down to lay beside him. She laid her head against his chest and closed her eyes as she listened to the beating of his heart. He cupped his hand against the side of her face and she thought about how wonderful it would be to wake up in his arms every morning from now on. How even one last day with him would be better than a thousand days alone. Elliot combed his fingers softly through her hair.
"I'm just so scared, El."
"I know baby. But I am going to be here, right here next to you no matter what."
Olivia raised up to look at Elliot in the eye.
"You know that this is probably going to get really bad. And that even if I do fine him there is still a chance that he wont be a match or it wont work. But if I don't find him….then I'm not going to beat this. And I don't know how much longer I have."
"I know that. But I love you. And I want to spend every second I can, just loving you."
"Elliot, this is a really big decision. Maybe more so now that it usually is."
"Olivia, your answer is not going to change anything but your name. If you don't want to do this, I understand. But I wont stop loving you. I wont leave you or stop caring. And I don't want you to say yes if it is not what you truly want in your heart. But I am asking you to give me the chance to make at least one of your dreams come true. All I am asking is one promise. You and me and the rest of our lives together. Through thick and through thin, no matter what."
She gazed in to his eyes and tried to imagine how wonderful it would be to wake up next to him every morning for the rest of her life. Even if it were only a few months, they would be incredible. She took a deep breath and smiled.
"Liv, please just consider it."
"Yes."
"Yes, you will consider it?"
"Yes, I will marry you."
Elliot looked into her eyes and smiled.
"Yes?"
"Yes," she whispered.
"We're getting married?"
"We're getting married. But Elliot, I don't want a big thing. I would kind of rather it just be you and me. I'd like to have some us time before we have to share this with the rest of the world."
"Sounds good to me."
"Wait, if we get married at the courthouse in New York everyone is going to know about it in a matter of minutes. There isn't going to be any keeping it to ourselves."
"So lets do it before we go back."
"What are you talking about?"
"I am talking about talking to Alice and getting the information we need from her. Then boarding the next flight to Las Vegas."
"Vegas?"
"It is only about an hour and a half flight from here. We could be there by this afternoon. Check in to a hotel. Have a little time to make a few arrangements and say I do by this evening. Then we would have the rest of our time off together as a little honeymoon in Vegas before we had to go back to work."
Olivia bit her bottom lip and considered it for a moment.
"I like that idea. But I don't want anything tacky. No themes and NO ELIVS."
"Okay."
"Do you really want to be married to me by this evening?"
"We could do it right now."
"No, I want a little time to plan a few things."
She laid down beside him on the bed.
Elliot laid down beside her and wrapped his arms around her.
"I cannot believe that by this time tomorrow I will be holding my wife."
Olivia smiled and kissed his lips.
"I can't wait."