Disclaimer: Dick Wolf owns. I own the story you're reading. The song "How Strong Do You Think I Am?" is by Alexz Johnson, which is from Instant Star. Search it up on YouTube if you're interested!

A/N: Let me just say how extremely ecstatic I am to see that so many people are reading this story! Thank you everyone for the love! Here is the next chapter... I decided to put off my homework and write this out for you all. Enjoy :)

Chapter 3

It seemed like hours passed by as Elliot and Olivia stood in the squad room in a tight embrace. Olivia still couldn't believe that he was there, holding her, comforting her.

"Shh… it's okay, Liv. No need to cry anymore." He whispered. He ran his hands through her hair. He noticed that it got longer and it was wavy. He loved it. He nuzzled his head into hers, smelling the sweet scent of lavender that filled his nose completely. He always thought that she smelt nice. One of the many qualities that he loved about her, that he deeply missed.

Olivia's sobs finally faded away and the tears stopped, but she continued to hold her partner close. After a few more minutes, she pulled away. She wiped away the dry tears that formed on her cheeks and focused her attention on Elliot. She stared into his blue eyes, one of the many things she missed.

He gave her that famous Stabler smile and cupped her face into his hands, staring back into her big, brown eyes. "Hi."

"You prick!" Olivia snapped as she shoved him away. Reality finally clicked in.

"What? What's wrong?"

"You! I can't believe you!" Olivia screamed.

"Liv, keep it down." Elliot said as he tried to comfort her. Even though the squad room was empty, there were uniforms downstairs and he didn't want them to come up. He tried his best to keep Olivia calm.

"Elliot, you can't be fucking serious!" Olivia walked away, but then turned around quickly and glared at him. She was filled with fury. "You go and leave without a word to any one, turn in your papers to Cragen without a fucking good bye to me! Do you know how hard it was to hear from him that you quit? Do you know what that did to me? To find out that my partner and best friend was never coming back? To not get one fucking phone call, text message, or voicemail from you in nine months?"

"Liv," Elliot began as he grabbed her hands. She glared into his eyes and could see the sorrow, the pain that filled his blue eyes. "I know how I handled the situation wasn't the best way to do it. I just… I just didn't know what to do. I shot and killed a girl. It still kills me inside, knowing what happened."

"You did the right thing, El. You stopped someone from hurting anyone else. It was your job to."

"That's the thing, Liv. Part of me didn't do it because it was my job to. I did it because I was afraid… of what could have…" Elliot stopped and studied Olivia's face, which was now filled with confusion. "Let's finish this somewhere else."

"Wanna go to the cribs?"

"No… is it okay if we go to your place?" Olivia gave a small nod and grabbed her jacket, keys, and purse from her desk. Elliot followed behind.

Benson Residence
203 W. 89th Street Apt 4D
Friday, November 5

The drive to Olivia's apartment was a quiet one. It wasn't awkward… more like comforting. It was something that they haven't had in a while and it felt nice. Elliot turned to Olivia, who was staring out the window. He glanced down at her hands and took her left into his right. She shot her head down to their hands, linked up together. She looked over at Elliot, who was now watching the road again. She smiled softly and continued to look through the window. Elliot smiled too.

Fifteen minutes later, Elliot pulled up in front of Olivia's apartment building and turned off the engine. Olivia picked up her purse and got out the car, with Elliot following behind her. She opened the front door and the two walked in, still not saying a word. They entered the elevator and went up to Olivia's floor. The doors opened and they walked down the hall to her apartment. Olivia took out her keys and unlocked the door. She walked in and flipped the light switch on. She walked into the kitchen and threw her stuff on the counter. Elliot trailed in slowly, taking note of the apartment. It seems like she hasn't cleaned in weeks. Papers and manila folders were spread out all over the sofa and coffee table. Cups lay around the kitchen table, along with a few empty beer and wine bottles.

"Want a beer?" Olivia asked.

"Sure."

"Take a seat. Make yourself at home."

"I hope you haven't been drinking a lot." He said as he cleared the sofa from the paperwork.

"Oh no, I haven't." Olivia said as she walked over, handing Elliot his beer. She took a seat next to him on the sofa and kicked her shoes off. "Those are bottles that just started to pile up over the past few months. Never got around to cleaning."

"I see…" Elliot took a sip of his beer and looked around the apartment some more.

"Okay so, let's finish this conversation." Olivia said. She chugged half of her beer and sat the bottle on the table. "Now, tell me why you decided to show up tonight of all nights?"

Elliot gulped his beer down and sat it next to Olivia's. He positioned himself in front of the coffee table, avoiding eye contact with Olivia. "After the shooting, I couldn't face coming back."

"Yeah, I get that, El. Care to explain some more?"

Elliot sighed deeply and continued. "When I saw Jenna come in with that gun, my heart instantly stopped when she began shooting. I was scared of who and what she was shooting at. When I saw Sister Peg fall, I got more scared. I saw you rush over to her. Then I saw Jenna… I—I was afraid that she would—would shoot you. I didn't know what else to do but shoot her. Olivia, when I saw her looking in your direction, I panicked." He turned his body to face Olivia. He picked up his head and their eyes met. "I—I couldn't bare to think about what would happen if she shot you. I would have lost my mind. So I shot her… and she died."

"Elliot…" Olivia said quietly. She reached her hand out to touch his arm. He instantly shot his hand up and took her hand into his. He began rubbing his thumb over the backside of her hand.

"Liv, I chose you over the job again. At the same time, I did my job and stopped a gunman from shooting anyone else."

"I—I understand, El. I know it was a hard decision for you to make…"

"I know you do… you always do." He chuckled. "When I made the decision to leave, it was the hardest fucking thing I did. Not being able to see you everyday, not being able to talk to you or hear you laugh, it killed me and it definitely wasn't easy. I just couldn't be here though, Liv. The fact that the girl died haunted me in my sleep and it still does to this day sometimes. I thought if I left it would be easier to deal with. Although the shooting is now behind me and I've healed from that, being away from you has been very hard. Not coming back to this job to see you has been very hard."

Olivia could feel her eyes fill up with tears again as she listened to her partner. Even though she had an idea of where this conversation was going, she still sat back and listened.

"I know that nine months is long and I know that I hurt you deeply, Olivia. I know that this had to make you crazy. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you. You have to believe me when I say that… I did not want to hurt you in any way."

"I know, El." She said quietly, holding back the tears.

"I care about you too much to intentionally hurt you."

"I know."

"So do you forgive me?" Elliot asked. He moved closer to Olivia, studying her eyes.

"I already forgave you, Elliot. A long time ago…" she said, tears falling one by one.

"Thank you, Liv." He kissed her hand and pulled her in for a hug. Olivia started crying again. Her cheeks felt moister than occasionally. She turned her head to see Elliot crying as well. She reached over to wipe his tears away, giving him a warm smile. He returned the smile with a kiss on her forehead. A few more tears continued to fall from their eyes, but the wetness didn't bother them at all. Their foreheads touched and started to relax.

"I wish I wasn't crying so damn much." Olivia laughed.

"Same here. I don't remember ever being this sensitive about shit before."

Olivia turned her head so she was resting on Elliot's shoulder. She moved her legs around to rest them on top of his. "You know there's a lot more we need to talk about, Elliot."

"Yep, I know. But for now, I say we forget about it and just catch up." Elliot wrapped his arms around Olivia, and then locked his hands with hers. He loved the feeling of having her close. It just felt… right, complete.

Olivia turned so she was now curled up in his lap, his arms around her, and hands interlocked with each other. "I'm very happy you came back." She mumbled.

"Me too… I would have done something crazy if I waited any longer to see you."

They cuddled for what seems like forever, but it was an hour later. They sat there in silence enjoying each other's company. Olivia was exhausted from her long day at work, and from crying multiple times, but she stayed awake as Elliot held her.

Elliot's phone began to buzz in his pocket. "I gotta get that." Olivia quickly moved to the sofa cushion as he took his phone out of his pocket. He looked at the screen and saw that Kathy was calling. He clicked the side button to ignore the call, and then turned his phone off. Once it was completely off, he shoved it back in his pocket and motioned Olivia to come back and sit.

"Who was that?"

"Just Kathy. I'm in no mood to talk to her right now." Elliot wrapped his arms around Olivia again. She looked at him with a questioning look, but didn't ask about it. He'll talk about it when he feels ready to. They took position in the comfortable spot they were once in before, but something instantly came to Elliot's mind. "Oh yeah…" he raised his legs up to reach into the opposite pocket, balancing Olivia on the other side. He pulled a gold chain from out his pocket and held it in front of Olivia.

"I think you forgot this at the station." He said with a smile.

"Oh yeah… thanks for getting it. Put it on for me?" Elliot smiled as Olivia moved her hair up, giving him access to put the necklace on. He quickly put it on, fixing the medallion so it lay on her chest. Olivia let go of her hair and he watched it fall down gracefully. He started to play with her hair, running his fingers through her wavy locks. His hands then moved to her shoulders, massaging them lightly.

Olivia let out a soft moan as she squirmed around to get comfy. Elliot kissed her hair, then moved to her neck and began to plant kisses all over. Olivia turned around so she was face to face with Elliot and just stared into his eyes. Next thing she knew, he started to move in closer to her. Seconds later, their lips were just centimeters apart. She could feel his breath on her and it drove her mad. Elliot felt the same way as he took in the lavender scent from her.

If I move in any closer,

They continued to stare at each other. They could feel each other breathing harder and harder as the tension between them grew bigger and bigger.

If you let go and give yourself away,

"Elli—" Olivia was interrupted instantly as Elliot crashed his lips onto hers. Her lips felt very soft and tasted so sweet. He was dying for more.

She must have read his mind because she cupped his face into her hands and deepened the kiss. She could feel his tongue fighting to gain access, so she granted it with her own. For the first time, she tasted him as they kissed passionately. She had to admit that this was better than any of the fantasies she had. The fact that he was really there kissing her was enough to take her overboard. His hands began to wander around her body, moving to places that they have never been before. She moaned softly, he returning the moan with a grunt of his own.

And if we let this happen to us,

He turned her around, laying her on the sofa with him on top. He continued to kiss her as she started to move her hands around his body. She could feel the bugle increasing through his pants and it made her want him even more. However, there was something that was stopping her from continuing on—his left ring finger.

"Elliot, wait…" she mumbled under his lips. He stopped and looked at her.

"What's wrong, Liv?"

"We can't do this," she said sitting up. "This isn't right. I can't—I can't…"

"Liv, honey, what's wrong?" he asked taking her hand.

"You're married, El. I can't be the other woman. I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing I ruined your marriage."

"Oh Olivia, you're not the other woman. There's no way I would treat you like that."

"But what about Kathy?" she asked looking into his eyes. Oh, those blue eyes.

"Liv, our marriage has been over for a while. We only stuck with it because of Eli. We've been arguing so much lately and the fights are just getting worse. I stayed home to take care of my children, some how making up for the time that I lost. You know she actually yelled at me earlier about giving you my Semper Fidelis medal? The bitch is crazy."

"But Elliot…"

"I'm actually surprised that you didn't notice."

Olivia raised an eyebrow as she looked at him with a questioning look. "Didn't notice what?"

Elliot raised his left hand and she gasped. The one finger that was once occupied is now naked. "Your ring… it's gone…" she said quietly.

"Yeah… I took it off about seven months ago. She tried to convince me to go to marriage counseling to work out our 'differences', but I told her no matter what she said that ring wasn't going back on my finger. Now and then we had are moments where things was fine and all in place. Other times, we were fighting. I'm sick and tired of fighting. I just want to be happy. I finally realized within the past nine months that the only thing that made me happy was being around you."

Olivia stared at him in awe. She didn't know what to say. Everything was happening so fast that her brain was still having trouble processing the events that occurred.

"I love you so much, Olivia Benson. I always have. Ever since the first day I met you. I knew there was something special about you. I knew that one day something great would come out of our partnership. And it did. I just hope that you feel the—" Elliot was interrupted by a long, sweet kiss that Olivia planted on his lips.

Seconds later, she pulled away and smiled. "I love you too, Elliot Stabler. More than you can imagine, for as long as I can remember. I wish I had told you earlier. Maybe things would have happened earlier."

"All that matters now is the present and what we mean to each other now."

Olivia smiled and gave Elliot another passionate kiss. Five minutes later, she pulled away, breathless. "Just to make sure, I didn't ruin your marriage, right?"

"No." Elliot laughed. "Oh God no, Liv. Trust me, you just helped me realize what my marriage was—a complete waste of time. Kathy and I ran out of patience and energy to continue with it. It was only a matter of time till we finally ended it."

"Good. So Stabler, why don't you tell me how much you love me?" she said seductively.

"Tell you?" he said with that famous Stabler smirk. "I think showing you how much I love you will be a little more effective than telling you."

He picked up Olivia and cradled her in his arms. He ran to her bedroom, closing the door behind him with his leg. She giggled as he growled in her ear. He has never heard her giggle before and it was the most beautiful thing ever. She gently laid her on the bed and began kissing her. She deepened the kiss, using her tongue to gain access into his mouth. He gladly accepted as they tongue wrestled each other. They started to take their clothes off, lips never leaving each other, except for when they took their shirts off.

Everything will change.

Once the task was done, they cuddled together, naked body parts touching each other. They stayed like that for about a half hour, kissing and holding each other close together. Moments later, he got on top of her and kissed her once more before taking their relationship to the next level. Elliot and Olivia spent the rest of the night making love multiple times, finally feeling the happiest they have been in such a long time.

A/N: So what will happen now with Elliot and Olivia? What else could happen to enhance or ruin this loving moment? Why did Kathy call Elliot? How does Elliot's children feel about their parents' marital status? Will Munch come up with a new conspiracy? Stay tuned.