Once Elliot and Olivia finally managed to make it back to safety, Olivia coughed violently and quickly rolled down her windows. She had been breathing through her mouth for far too long and desperately needed some fresh air. Elliot's stench was just too much. I mean honestly, her eyes were watering! Couldn't he smell himself? Didn't he know that he smelled like a ripe combination of vomit and piss?

Furthermore how had she not noticed how awful he smelled until just a few minutes ago? Was the sight of him really so distracting that it made her unaware of his odor? Sure, she had missed him, but had she really missed him that much?

Apparently so.

While Olivia was trying to keep herself from throwing up, Elliot couldn't help but stare at her. He just couldn't believe that his old partner was here, in the flesh. A long black winter coat was draped over her shoulders while a pair of work pants covered her legs. She had some make-up on but not a lot and her hair was different—longer. She had hardly said a word since the Biggie incident and Elliot was starting to get a little bit worried.

According to Kathleen, Olivia was going to give him a place to stay. Was she having doubts? Did she not want him around anymore? Elliot's breath hitched at that last thought. He shyly turned his attention to the passenger side window and stared out at the familiar streets.

Elliot felt envious of almost every person that he saw. They were wearing clothes, nice clothes. Clothes similar to the ones that he used to own himself.

It was autumn which meant that the leaves were changing color and the air was getting colder. People were out and about with jackets, sweaters, scarves, and beanies on; and what was he wearing?

Well he only had two outfits now and the one he had on was one of them. He was wearing a black sweatshirt, ripped jeans, and some sandals he had found at Good Will.

Elliot looked like a bum and he knew it, he hated it. But was else could he do? His divorce from Kathy had been a nasty one. Even the way she told him she wanted a divorce in the first place had been awful. He had come home from one of his favorite bars to find that all of his clothes were destroyed. A stack of divorce papers were on the kitchen table, Kathy and the twins were gone, and that was that.

Their bank accounts had been cleaned out because Kathy had taken everything. Everything? Yes, everything. All of the money that he had worked so hard for was taken from him just like that. The sad part was that Elliot couldn't even blame Kathy for hating him because he hated himself even more.

The constant guilt was crushing his very soul and right now all he needed was a friend. He needed Olivia probably more than she realized and that was why he wasn't arguing with her. He hadn't questioned where they were going or why because he trusted her. Quite frankly, he trusted her a lot more than he trusted himself right now.

Elliot took another glance at her and sighed when she wouldn't look back. Did he make her uncomfortable or something?

Fuck.

Elliot turned his attention back to the passenger side window and propped his elbow against the car door. He leaned his chin against his closed fist and chewed on the corner of his lip. He was worried; very worried. And as he kept worrying Olivia remained silent. She didn't want to be rude and tell Elliot that he smelled, but good God she couldn't take much more of this.

It was weird because Olivia wasn't usually a very squeamish person, but unlike most people she had a sensitive nose which meant if something smelled too strong it made her queasy. Right now, Elliot's smell didn't just make her queasy, oh no, it made her want to hurl and that was something she had never expected to happen. Ever.

Usually he smelled…well…sexy and manly she had never known if it was a certain cologne he wore or if it was just him, but wow what a difference! He went from hunk to skunk real fast.

"You okay there, Liv?"

Olivia bit her lip and nodded her head as she gripped the steering wheel tightly in her hands.

I'm almost home. I'm almost home. I'm almost home. I'm almost home.

"What's wrong? Do you need to pull over?"

Oh God, please stop talking.

She shook her head 'no' but her body was telling her that she probably should, especially since she kept getting all the red lights.

"Liv pull over."

Olivia wanted to pull over, but she was afraid that if she did she wouldn't be able to get back in the car. Then all of a sudden she spotted someone, someone that made her want to cry for joy and scream, "Thank you Jesus!" It was the answer to her unspoken prayers.

Perfect!

She wasted no time in pulling over and jumping out of the car, gasping for breath as she did so. She placed her hands on her knees and tried to focus on anything but that God awful smell.

She felt fine until she smelled Elliot again. Great, he was standing right next to her. Olivia held her breath and stood up straight before she grabbed his hand and made a bee-line for the wonderful, wonderful man that she had spotted just moments ago.

When they reached him, Olivia dropped Elliot's hand like a hot plate.

"Excuse me sir, can I borrow that?" she asked, motioning towards the water hose in his hands.

The man looked up in surprise, but handed it over regardless. There was no way he was going to refuse this pretty lady of anything.

Olivia turned towards Elliot with the hose in her hands and smiled. By the time Elliot realized what was happening, it was too late. All it took was a flip of a switch and bam a sudden rush of water came gushing out.

Elliot put his hands up and tried to protect his face from the freezing cold water, but it was all to no avail. Olivia grimaced when she saw that a mix of dirt and some other yellow stuff was coming off of him.

"Gah! Stop it! Olivia! Olivia! Turn this water off right now!" He yelled at her over the pounding of the water.

"I'm sorry El, but you reek!"

"What? I'm not a geek! You're the geek!"

"What? That's not what I…never mind just take your shirt off!"

"What are you crazy? It's like fifty degrees out here!"

"Elliot either take it off or I swear to God I will rip it off! Besides it will only take a few minutes. I have a blanket in the car!"

"Ah, God damn it Olivia Benson, I hate you!"

And with that, Elliot angrily peeled the wet sweatshirt off of his body and lifted his arms up so she could spray him some more. He didn't have a shirt on and Olivia still couldn't believe how big he had gotten in the past year. He must have gained at least 80 to 100 pounds.

Olivia made a gagging noise when she saw just how dirty Elliot was. Apparently he hadn't been taking very good care of himself.

Eesh she was going to make sure he showered at least three times once they got to her place.

She took a step towards him and ran her fingers through his greasy hair, not even caring that her expensive coat and boots were getting wet in the process. He didn't bother trying to fight her since he figured the less he fought the faster this nonsense would be over with. He spit out the water that kept getting in his mouth and mumbled a bunch of insults to Olivia.

She heard him, but didn't take it to heart because she was determined at this point. It didn't matter how long she had to spray him with a hose, she was going to get him as clean as humanly possible before he got back in her car.

After about twenty minutes Olivia decided that this was as good as it was going to get. She switched the hose back to its normal setting and handed it back to the nice man. He looked over at her with wide eyes and a comical expression on his face, but accepted it regardless.

She thanked him and looked over at Elliot who was now shivering. She had given him an ice cold shower, in the middle of November. He was freezing!

He was soaked and now his teeth were chattering. He had his arms wrapped around himself and water dripping down his body.

Olivia just smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

"Your welcome," she said before walking past him with a swing of her hips and her head held high.

"You suck! I hope you know that!"

Elliot looked around the unfamiliar street and pulled the blanket that Olivia had given him closer to his body. He had it draped over his head and could only imagine how ridiculous he looked. Olivia pulled into her new apartment's parking garage and turned off the engine.

She unbuckled herself then turned her body towards Elliot and gave him her full attention.

"Okay so here's the thing. You're going to live with me until I'm convinced that you can take care of yourself. That means absolutely no drinking since apparently that's become a problem for you. I don't trust you with alcohol, so stay away from it. Got it?"

Elliot looked up at her with wide blue eyes and nodded his head indicating that he did understand.

He was tired of being alone. He would be the perfect roommate if it meant having Olivia back in his life.

To be honest the fact that Elliot was so complacent right now scared the hell out of her. He was a fighter like her, or at least he used to be. Before he wouldn't take shit from anyone, but for some reason he was just rolling over and letting it happen. Was his spirit really that broken?

She quickly got over her shock and carried on.

"Good. Also, if you're going to live with me then you're going to have to get a job. Everyone else might be able to put up with your bull shit, but not me. I asked around and apparently one of my buddies from the post office is hiring. You have an interview with him on Monday so don't mess it up."

Elliot cleared his throat.

"Umm…I don't really have any clothes, especially not for a job interview."

Olivia didn't even hesitate with her response.

"That's fine. I'll loan you the money and you can pay me back when you're ready. You've got this Elliot. You've been through hell, but the time for mourning is over. Now it's time for you to get on with your life and believe me I know how hard it is. I know it hurts. But you know what else I know? You're one of the strongest men that I've ever met. You're Elliot Stabler and I know that the real you, the Elliot that I know, is still in there."

She poked the area directly above his heart before she grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly.

"You can do this El. I'm going to make sure of it."

Elliot cracked a small smile at her words and pulled her in for a hug. No one had ever said something so encouraging to him in his entire life, at least not that he could remember.

He felt her relax against him and was glad that he didn't smell too bad anymore.

"Thank you" he whispered "Thank you for everything."

Olivia closed her eyes for a moment and allowed herself to enjoy being held in another man's arms. She couldn't help but feel touched by the gesture. She and Elliot rarely ever hugged and usually when they did it was to seek some type of comfort that no one else could give them. It was a weird relationship, but it was them. She squeezed his body tightly against hers and gently rubbed his back a few times before pulling away.

She looked up into his beautiful blue eyes and smiled causing Elliot to smile back without even realizing it. He loved it when she smiled. It somehow always managed to light up a room even on the darkest of days.

"You're welcome."

"I love you Liv."

Whether he meant as a brother, friend, or hopeful lover neither of them knew, but they both decided not to dwell on it.

What happened next surprised them both as Elliot reached up and cupped her cheek with his large hand. He had never done something like this before but she was just so precious to him. She was so sweet and kind and loyal and…good.

"God, I love you," he repeated. And for once Elliot and Olivia allowed the moment between them to last a little bit longer than necessary. Neither of them pulled away or changed the subject, they just continued to gaze into each other's eyes. The heat between them started to build and if this had been a movie these two would have kissed by now.

It was a heavy moment, a tense moment. A moment where their eyes did all the talking rather than their mouths.

Olivia noticed that Elliot was gravitating closer to her and whether he was doing that on purpose or not she didn't know.

All she knew was that his lips were getting closer...

And closer...

And now they were so close she could feel his breath fanning against her lips. In that moment she was so damn thankful that Elliot was such a freak about his teeth. They were always clean, white, and shiny; even right now.

Olivia placed her own hand over Elliot's and bit her lip. She should have pulled away from him and ran, but instead all she said was:

"I know you do, El. And I love you too. Always have, always will"

Olivia's heart was racing and for once she felt hopeful—happy, something she hadn't felt in a very long time. Elliot felt the same and for some reason he secretly hoped that if anyone were to bring this woman any joy of any kind, it would be him.

Suddenly the moment was ruined when the thought of Brian popped into Olivia's head and she felt an insane amount of guilt flood her system.

What was she doing?

Olivia sighed and gently grabbed Elliot's hand before placing it back on his lap. She sat up and looked at him with a very serious expression on her face. She had to tell him, she just had to.

Elliot's brow crinkled at her sudden change in behavior. She would have never pulled away before, so why now?

"Um…look there's something that you need to know," she said.

Elliot dreaded whatever it was that she was going to tell him because he already knew that he wasn't going to like it.

Still he tried to remain casual about it. Calm, even.

"Oh? And what's that?"

"Well, it won't just be the two of us staying in my apartment. I'm uh...sort of seeing someone."

Elliot narrowed his eyes at her before quickly looking away.

"Ah," he said with a frown on his face.

Well that hadn't been the response she was expecting.

Is he…I don't know, mad or something? He can't be. Why would he be?

The truth was Elliot didn't like the idea of sharing Olivia's attention with anyone at the moment let alone some guy that he didn't know.

Huh

What surprised him the most though wasn't the fact that she was dating, it was how he was taking the news. In the past, whenever Olivia told him that she was seeing someone he didn't particularly care. At least not in a romantic way. Sure he would check the guy out to see if he liked him and would then proceed to kick said guy's ass if he didn't, but he had never really been jealous over it.

Before he would've felt happy to hear something like this, but now? Now he was angry, boiling beneath the surface and he didn't understand why.

What the hell is the matter with me?

Elliot didn't want to ruin the moment by being a jack ass so he dropped the frown and looked over at her with one giant, fake ass smile on his face. He wanted her to be happy, so if someone else made her feel that way then who was he to get in the way? He would just have to find a way to get over it, for her sake.

Elliot huffed out a small laugh and tried to contain his anger.

"Well I can't wait to meet him."

"Oh you already have," Olivia said with a chuckle before quickly getting out of the car.

"What? Nah ah! Who?"

.

.

Elliot hadn't stopped bugging her the whole way up to her apartment. The elevator wasn't working so they had been forced to take the stairs and with each new step came the same damn question.

"Liv come on who is it?"

Who do I have to kill?

"I already told you, you'll see in a minute."

"Why wait! Come on tell meeeeeee. Besides, I have to mentally prepare myself for this life changing event. If you guys live together then you must be serious. When's the wedding? Eh? Eh?"

Olivia rolled her eyes.

"Enough Elliot."

"Nah ah! Nope. Not until you answer my question. Who is this guy? What does he do for a living? Is he hot or are your babies going to be ugly as all hell."

At that last remark Olivia turned towards him and jabbed a finger in his chest.

"Shut. Up."

"Tell me and I will," Elliot said with an annoying grin on his face.

Olivia threw her hands in the air and decided to just give up.

"Alright fine, it's Cassidy. Brian Cassidy. Thanks for ruining the surprise."

Olivia turned back around and continued walking up the stairs. Elliot didn't follow her lead at first, but after a minute or two she could hear a booming round of laughter coming from behind her.

Elliot was going to give her a hard time, she just knew it.

Olivia decided to ignore him and keep walking, but eventually she could hear his fat ass running to catch up with her. He was panting by the time he reached her which made her laugh. Elliot used to brag about how he could run four miles in forty minutes without stopping or slowing down, but now he couldn't even jog up one flight of stairs!

"Wait!" he gasped through both his laughter and lack of oxygen. "Is this…a…joke? You can't…be…serious!" he stopped and raised his arms above his head. He was trying to steady his breathing. "Olivia! Gah! Can you wait for five minutes? I'm so tired."

Olivia paused and turned around to look at him.

"Tired? Or fat?"

Elliot lowered his arms and glared at her.

"What? I'm not fat. I'm perfectly healthy."

"Oh please, your boobs are bigger than mine!"

"You're crazy, they are not."

Olivia shook her head and looked down at him like he was the saddest creature on the face of the earth.

"Sure keep living in denial," she said as she continued walking up the stairs.

Elliot frowned and looked down at his man boobs. He cupped them in his hands and squeezed.

His eyes widened.

He gulped.

And then looked down at the rest of himself.

I can't see my own dick, he realized, holy shit when the hell did that happen!

He then reached behind himself and cupped his ass with his hands. It used to be tight and firm, but now it was like squeezing two giant water balloons.

How had he missed this? How had he not seen himself getting bigger? The body he had once took pride in was gone. His abs were gone, his "happy trail" was gone, his biceps were gone, his ass was deflated and sad, and…

Oh my God! If I keep this shit up I'm going to end up on My 600 lb. Life!

.

.

By the time they reached Olivia's apartment, Elliot had become awfully quiet. Too quiet.

Olivia turned to Elliot and gently bumped his shoulder with her fist.

"You okay?"

Elliot sighed and shook his head.

"No, but I will be."

"Hey, if you want I can help you lose weight. I've gained at least twenty pounds myself. Maybe this is something we can do together?"

Elliot looked over at Olivia and smiled, feeling grateful.

"Ha! Thanks."

And with that Olivia opened the door and stepped inside to find Brian sitting on the couch sipping a cold beer.

"Hey honey, did you get my text?"

Before Olivia could answer, Elliot answered for her.

"No sugar muffin I didn't."

Brian practically choked on the beer he was drinking before he checked the label to make sure it wasn't expired or something. He then slowly looked up to find that Olivia had a guilty look on her face while Elliot the douche bag had a wicked grin.

Brian's jaw clenched and he stood up in a fit of fury. Olivia took a moment to admire the suit that he had on. He always looked sexy when he dressed up like that, every man did. Then again the angry look he was directing at her kind of killed it.

He pointed an accusatory finger at her.

"What the fuck is he doing here?"

Olivia put her hands out in front of her as she tried to calm him down.

"Bri. Bri. Honey? Breathe, okay? I can explain."

Brian couldn't believe it. He just couldn't! I mean honestly, Elliot had just up and disappeared! He had his time with her and he blew it, so now it was Brian's turn. He couldn't believe that she would just…let him back into her life. After everything that happened? Everything?! Elliot was taking advantage of her, Brian could just tell so why couldn't she?

It's because she's Olivia, that's why.

She was too damn selfless to turn her back on someone, even someone who turned their own back on her.

"Oh really, can you? Go ahead then! I can't wait to hear this."

Olivia sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. She looked over at Elliot with a pleading look on her face.

He got the hint.

"Liv, where's the bathroom? I could really use a shower."

Olivia pointed to the door that was next to her bedroom.

"Over there. There's a cabinet next to it with some clean towels in it, feel free to use whichever one."

Elliot nodded and thanked her then quickly made himself scarce. He may not have liked it, but he knew that these two needed some privacy.

From the moment Elliot turned on Olivia's shower, he could hear them arguing. He couldn't understand them though which was incredibly disappointing because he really wanted to know what they were saying about him.

All he knew was that by the time he got out of the shower, Brian was gone and Olivia was sitting on the couch. Elliot wrapped a towel around his waist and joined her.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," she said as she continued to stare aimlessly at the blank TV.

"You sure?"

"Yup," she said popping the p at the end.

Elliot nodded his head and stood up so that he could put some clothes on.

"Okay. Well...if you change your mind..."

"Thanks"

"No, Olivia. Thank you."

A/N: Thoughts?

Thanks for reading.