The atmosphere of the special victims unit was surprisingly calm the following Wednesday morning. No new extreme cases had come in overnight, so Elliot and Olivia decided to spend the day catching up on paperwork while things were calm.

Elliot glanced up from his file to the clock on the wall behind Olivia to check the time. Something he had been doing all morning.

"What's going on?" Olivia asked, not looking up from her file, still writing.

"What?" Elliot looked up again, but this time he was looking at his partner.

"You check the clock every ten minutes. I know it's a slow morning, but you can't be that antsy," she commented as she looked up at him.

"Am I distracting you?" He retorted, feeling a little unnerved that his partner called him out.

"No, but every time you pick your head up, I think you're going to say something to me, so I notice it," she shot back.

"I'm just not used to time going by this slowly," he sighed, easing up. That wasn't a lie. He definitely was not used to spending workdays at his desk. Time seemed to move much slower.

"Yeah," Olivia relented as she went back to writing in her file, but she wasn't convinced. She wondered if it had to do with the girl Elliot's been somewhat seeing. Or maybe something happened with his ex-wife or one of his kids. She knew he would tell her eventually, and if he hadn't told her already, it probably wasn't a big deal.

When the clock hit 11:30, Elliot stood up from his desk. "I'm going to get some coffee, you want any?"

"I'm good, thanks," Olivia replied.

Elliot made his way into the break room and shut the door softly behind him then pulled out his cell phone. He took a deep breath and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello?"

Elliot smiled when he heard the sweet voice on the other end of the phone.

"Hey, you," he said softly.

"Hey, Stabler," Johanna replied as she smiled hearing his voice as well.

"I know you're on your way to take your test, and I just wanted to wish you good luck," he told her genuinely. "You don't need luck, I know you're going to do great, but I...I just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you."

Johanna stopped walking and nearly melted into the sidewalk. She hadn't heard from him since they parted ways on the sidewalk after sharing those romantic kisses outside the bar. She didn't really expect to hear from him or anything, but he was on her mind a lot lately after their last rendezvous.

"Thank you," she responded. "I really appreciate that. That was...really sweet."

"Don't stress too hard, okay?" He reminded her.

"Okay."

"Bye," Elliot sighed.

"Bye, Stabler."

She was dazed for a moment after she hung up the phone. She remained still on the sidewalk as the rest of the world moved on, walking around her. She couldn't remember the last time someone was so genuinely nice to her for essentially no reason.

She smiled and continued walking, giddy at the thought of Elliot sitting at his desk thinking about her.

Elliot returned to his desk feeling much less fidgety than before. He hadn't talked to Johanna since he kissed her so impulsively last week, so he had been worried about their next Thursday night meeting being awkward, but after that phone call, he was no longer concerned.

"Where's your coffee?" Olivia questioned when she noticed he returned empty handed.

"Oh," Elliot totally forgot about the coffee. "I got distracted."

He wasn't sure how he was going to survive the next 34 hours until he saw Johanna again. He thought that if things go as planned, he might invite her to his house after. The sheer thought of it made his groin twitch. He mentally scolded himself for being such a male, but it had been so long since he had been intimate with anyone, he couldn't help it.

Am I just thinking with my dick?

He wasn't sure if he would be able to tell the difference between wanting a relationship with Johanna and simply wanting a one-night stand with her. It had been so long since he had been in either of those situations, a lustful one-night stand versus the early stages of a potential relationship. He knew he enjoyed her companionship, and he surely didn't spend the last two months spending time with her to just so he could sleep with her and never speak to her again – he valued her friendship so much more than that. But he wasn't sure if he was ready to attempt dating again.

Hell, he wasn't even sure if she was interested in him like that. Sure she had been flirty before, and she definitely deepened their kisses last week, but he had no idea what was going through her head.

In order to finish his paperwork and get through the day, he decided he wouldn't worry about it until he saw her the following night and he shoved his worrisome thoughts to the back of his mind.

The atmosphere in the bar was also different that Thursday night. Elliot entered the bar wearing a tight fitting long sleeve cotton shirt, untucked, and jeans. He was much more casual and comfortable than usual. Tommy, the bartender, saw his regular customer enter his bar and he motioned to the back of the room, where the redhead was waiting.

Johanna was sitting at a round booth in the back of the bar, away from the crowd. She was wearing a green dress, fairly low cut, with black tights covering her legs. She wore a blue jean jacket to the bar but shed the extra article of clothing once she sat down.

She waved to Elliot, signaling for him to join her, where she had a drink waiting for him.

He slid into the booth next to her and without missing a beat, he leaned into her ear and muttered, "You look incredible tonight."

The compliment made her stomach flutter, though she tried to keep her cool. "You don't look too bad yourself," she commented. "I like the casual look on you."

"How was your test?" Elliot wondered as he picked up his glass to begin sipping on his drink. He needed his liquid courage more than ever tonight.

"It was okay," she shrugged. "Not perfect, but hopefully I did good enough."

"When will you get the results?" He questioned.

"Few weeks," she responded, sipping her own drink.

"To good results in a few weeks," he toasted, lifting his glass in the air.

"To good results," she agreed, clinking her glass against his.

They downed the rest of their drinks together, both needing the alcohol to relax their excited minds.

"Tommy!" Elliot called to the bartender with a smile. When he looked over, Elliot continued, "Two more please!"

"You're in an awfully good mood tonight," Johanna noticed.

"I am," he agreed, still smiling.

Eight drinks and two hours later, Elliot and Johanna were hysterically laughing in their secluded booth.

"So then," Elliot laughed. "So then I was standing like this," he held his hands out as if he was holding a gun, "and I yell, 'Hands up, you son of a bitch!' The guy turns around, and it's my boss!"

Johanna erupted into another fit of laughter. "Your first day on the job and you pull a gun on your boss?!"

He nodded his head in response, laughing at his story about his first day as a cop. "They took my gun away from me for a week!"

Another fit of giggles escaped her mouth. Elliot took a sip of his drink, watching the redhead laugh. He loved her laugh. He loved making her laugh.

Her laughter turned into a gasp quickly as her eyes widened and her mouth opened.

"What?!" Elliot asked, concerned by her sudden change in emotion.

"I LOVE this song!" Johanna exclaimed. "John Mayer!"

He hadn't even noticed the music in the background all night. He was so focused on her, it seemed like nothing else could catch his attention. Silently thanking the Manhattan for giving him the bravery to execute his next move, Elliot grabbed her hand. "Dance with me."

Without hesitation, Johanna nodded and followed him out the booth. They didn't retreat to the area in the front of the bar where others were dancing. Instead, they stayed in the back, in their own little world. Elliot placed a hand on her hip, and she placed her hand on his shoulder. His free hand grabbed her free hand, and they swayed to the music.

"Jeez," Johanna sighed as she gazed up into Elliot's grey green eyes.

"What?" He wondered, staring down at her.

"You're so good looking," she admitted freely, a sign of pure drunkenness.

Elliot felt his stomach flop excitedly. He couldn't respond. She literally made him speechless.

"I'm serious," she continued. "You're like...the sexiest guy I've ever met."

His heart was racing. "You're killing me," he replied softly with a smile.

She smirked and replied, "No, you're the one killing me."

He couldn't contain it anymore. He stopped dancing and kissed her. He dropped her hand and brought his to the side of her face, reminiscent of their last kiss. His tongue skimmed her bottom lip softly and she opened her mouth, meeting his tongue with her own.

Their kiss was driven so powerfully by lust, want, passion, and alcohol. Elliot pulled out of the kiss first, but remained close to her face. He planted a few small kisses on her lips.

"Come home with me," he whispered with his lips still on hers. She smashed her lips against his and wrapped her arms around his neck, which he took as a 'yes'. In return, he snaked his arms around her waist, resting them in the small of her back, holding her close to him.

They busted through Elliot's front door, attached at the lips. Johanna shed her jean jacket immediately and kicked off her shoes. Leaning forward to maintain the kiss, Elliot followed suit and kicked off his own shoes. His mouth flew to her neck as he stood up straight, kissing and sucking her sensitive skin, which made her knees weak. His hands flew to her hips, pulling her lower half into his hips as she tilted her head to the side, allowing him better access to her neck.

A moan escaped Johanna's lips as her fingers tugged on the button on Elliot's jeans. His dick throbbed beneath the denim fabric.

As if on cue, Elliot's cell phone began to ring.

"Son of a bitch," he groaned as he broke away from her neck. "Not again." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. It was Cragen calling.

He looked at the gorgeous redhead in front of him. "I'll get out of it, give me a second. Have a seat on the couch."

Feeling lightheaded from the intensity of the kiss or maybe the amount of alcohol she consumed, Johanna complied and sat on the couch a few feet behind her.

Furiously, Elliot stepped outside his front door to answer the phone call. "Hello?"

"Elliot, can you come in?" Don asked.

"Now?" He wondered.

"If you can," Don answered.

"Uh, I'm a little busy," Elliot cleared his throat as he adjusted himself more comfortably in his jeans. "Is it urgent that I come in now?"

"I suppose not," Don responded. Lately, Elliot jumped at any chance to go into work and keep himself busy, so the captain assumed he actually was busy if he wasn't hurrying to the station. "Just come in as soon as you can."

"Will do, Cap," Elliot responded and ended the phone call. He took a deep breath to regain his composure and went back inside his home. "Sorry about th-" he cut himself off mid sentence when he saw Johanna asleep on his couch. "Son of a..."

He scratched the back of his head, hoping she actually fell asleep and didn't suddenly change her mind about sleeping with him.

Regardless, Elliot remained a gentleman and went to his bedroom to retrieve a pillow and blanket for the girl. He picked up her head slowly and placed the pillow beneath her then draped the blanket over her body. He watched her sleep for a moment, admiring how peaceful and adorable she looked as she slept.

He retreated to his room, baffled by the fact that his intimate moment with Johanna was interrupted again due to a work call.

No wonder his wife left him.