Johanna's pounding headache woke her up ruthlessly the next morning. She opened her eyes, immediately confused by her unfamiliar surroundings. She sat up too quickly, causing her head to spin. She clutched her forehead eagerly as the room slowly stopped spinning.

"Morning," Elliot called as he walked into the living room behind her, scratching his chest through his white t-shirt.

Startled, Johanna jumped a little then looked over at him; the events of the night before came rushing back to her mind but vaguely. She remembered the bar, dancing, kissing, going back to Elliot's house. Then she noticed she was on the couch and still fully clothed. She remembered Elliot stepping outside to take a phone call.

"Oh my God," she shut her eyes and hung her head. "Did I fall asleep before we...?"

Elliot laughed and nodded his head, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I am so embarrassed," she whined.

Elliot chuckled again as he stood next to the couch. "Don't be."

"I can't believe I did that, why didn't you kick my ass out?" She spat, angry with herself.

"I would never," he protested. "I'm gonna put a pot of coffee on, you want some?"

"And now you're offering me coffee?" She asked.

"Well, yeah. If your hangover is anything like mine, you won't survive the day without it," he answered as he walked into the kitchen.

"What time is it?" She questioned.

"Almost six AM," Elliot answered from the kitchen.

"Oh, God," she groaned. "Yeah, I'll take that cup of coffee."

"I put a t-shirt and some sweatpants of mine in the bathroom if you want to shower and change," he called to her. "Bathroom is down the hall to the right."

"Wow, I give you blue balls, and you give me coffee and a change of clothes?" She laughed as she walked over to the doorway of the kitchen.

"I'll even give you a ride home later if you'd quit yapping about my balls and go shower," he retorted with a smile, glancing over his shoulder at her.

Johanna smiled and walked down the hall to the bathroom. Though Elliot was always a gentleman and always so polite, she felt guilty about how well he was treating her that morning after the stunt she accidentally pulled a few hours earlier.

No one had ever treated her so well.

When Johanna walked back into the living room after her shower, she felt like a whole new person. She was clad in Elliot's navy blue NYPD sweatpants that hung off her hips loosely and one of his grey NYPD sweatshirts.

"Feel better?" Elliot asked when she plopped down on the couch next to him.

"Much," she responded.

"Here." He grabbed one of the two coffee mugs off the coffee table in front of him and handed it to her.

"Thank you," she sighed as she inhaled the delicious scent of the dark liquid in the mug. "Seriously."

"Don't mention it," he shook his head, taking a sip of his coffee.

"I'm sorry – did I mention that? I really am so embarrassed, Elliot," she admitted, using his first name, which she almost never did.

"I really don't want you to be. Shit happens," he told her.

Johanna noticed a picture frame on the coffee table in front of them. It held a picture of Elliot and four children smiling wildly. "Are those your kids?"

"Yeah," Elliot smiled, looking at the picture frame as well.

"Can I ask you something personal?" She inquired. "If you're not in the mood to share secrets before dawn, I get it. I'm just being nosey."

"Nah, go for it. It's probably better to ask me before the sun comes up," he answered honestly.

"How long have you been divorced?" She wondered.

"Almost a year," he replied.

"Has there been anyone since your wife or am I the first girl you brought home?" She continued.

"You're the first girl I brought home," he told her truthfully. "No one even got my attention in that way until I met you."

"Why did you get divorced?"

Elliot sighed. He hated talking about his divorce, but he knew she deserved to know the truth. "I was married to my job more than my wife. I spent more time with my partner and with victims than I did with my kids."

Johanna didn't respond as a signal for him to continue.

"We fought about it constantly. I tried to be home more, I really did. I love my kids more than anything, but I wasn't there as much as I should've been. One day I got home and Kathy, my ex, had packed up all her stuff and all the kids' stuff and was gone. She walked away after 15 years, just like that," he explained. "I'm pretty sure she had an affair or two before we finally split."

"I'm sorry, Elliot," Johanna expressed.

"It was my own fault," he admitted. "Everyone saw it coming, myself included. But it's better this way, you know? Kathy and I don't have to walk on eggshells all day long anymore. I mostly just miss my kids. I wish she could've stuck it out a little longer though, at least until the twins were a little older."

Johanna examined the look on Elliot's face. It was a mixture of sadness, relief, distress, and confusion. He was vulnerable, his heart was exposed, and she figured she owed it to him to do the same. To make herself vulnerable and expose her own heart back to him.

"I don't date," she blurted out.

"What?" Elliot asked, confused by her random comment.

"I haven't dated anyone seriously in over 5 years," she stated, almost unsure of where she was going with her statement.

"Why not?"

"I don't even know where to begin," she confessed, kicking herself for not thinking it through before she began spilling her heart out. She wasn't sure what specifics were appropriate to share at this point. "I mean, it's as cliché as it gets: I went through a lot as a kid – a lot of death and shitty experiences. I had to grow up quick, and I didn't trust anyone – I expected almost everyone around me to either die tragically or do something horrific to betray my trust – so I didn't allow myself to connect with people or get attached in any way."

Elliot listened intently, wondering where she was going with this and what he was about to hear.

"By the time I was 15, my life had settled down, gotten better, and I finally thought I was going to turn out pretty decent and normal. That normalcy lasted about 8 years. When I was 23, my world flipped upside down. To cope, I kept myself busy with grad school and work; therefore I disconnected myself and detached myself from everyone and everything else. And as a result, I haven't dated anyone seriously in five years," she explained.

"What happened?" he pushed. He felt a sudden nervousness, afraid of what he was going to find out about her.

Like Elliot, Johanna was hesitant to share her story, but after falling asleep on him and then making him share his secret, she felt she had no choice but to enlighten him.

"I had my shit together, you know? I had just gotten my undergrad degree, a great job, and I was engaged to who I thought was my soul mate," she began. "Life was perfect. Then I found out I was pregnant. It was a pretty huge hiccup in my perfect life, but it didn't seem like anything we couldn't handle. We actually were pretty excited about it after a while."

Elliot remained silent, wanting her to continue as she had done to him.

"When I was about three months along, my father had a sudden massive heart attack and died. Five days later, as a result of all the stress and distress from my father's death and funeral, I had a miscarriage," she confessed.

"Jo," Elliot sighed softly, giving her a nickname for the first time. "I'm so sorry."

"I was too. I felt horrible. I felt responsible," she paused to take a sip of her coffee. "When I came home from the doctor and told my fiancé, I expected him to cry, to be angry, to hug me and promise me that everything would be okay. But he didn't. He just looked...relieved. He tried to let me down easily, but he confessed to having an affair. He was planning to call off our engagement until I got pregnant."

Elliot's heart was in his stomach. Life wasn't fair, he knew that from his life experiences and his years of being a cop, but the beautiful girl with tears in her eyes confirmed it. He rested his hand on her thigh and gave it a comforting squeeze.

"So I moved out and started over. I applied and got into to grad school, started a new and better job, and stayed busy to cope and move on. And by the time I had moved on and felt okay again, I was so used to being by myself that I didn't know how to be with anyone else," she explained. "I mean I've dated guys here and there, but no one who lasted, no one who could put me back on my feet or make me feel normal again."

He sighed beside her. "Looks like neither one of us are really sure about what we're doing here."

"That's for sure," Johanna agreed, taking a sip of her coffee. "I really enjoy spending time with you though, and I'm clearly very attracted to you. I...I guess it scares me that you've been married before and that you have children – you're so selfless and put together. I'm not like that. I've only had to worry about myself. I've always been able to go and do whatever I want whenever I want. And I'm not really looking to change that anytime soon."

"Would it make you feel better if I told you that I'm actually thankful that you're so carefree? That you don't come with any baggage and you can do as you please?" Elliot admitted.

"Why's that?" She wondered.

"Because I haven't had that luxury for the last 15 years. Yeah, I miss my kids constantly if I'm not with them, but sometimes I enjoy being able to come home and just listen to silence. No fighting with my wife or disciplining the kids. And I really look forward to being around you because you help me feel so carefree."

Johanna was glad to hear that.

"So, what now?" She asked. "We just enjoy a carefree relationship? I'm not looking to settle down any time soon and it sounds to me like you've been settled down for too long."

"Right. So let's just take each day as it comes," Elliot suggested. "I don't want to rule anything out, because life is unpredictable, so let's just agree to have fun, and be open and honest with each other so we don't cross any lines. If something becomes too much for you, tell me. And I'll do the same."

"I like that idea," She nodded.

The two sat there in silence, relishing in the fact that the inevitable relationship talk had happened so easily and ended on such a promising note. To them, if things could always go that smoothly, they were in for a great time. Their only question now: would things always go that smoothly?