A/N: Thank you to all those who followed/favorited and reviewed!

I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this story, but I'll try to update as soon as I can.

The sun was rising over New York City and Elliot was just walking up to his apartment. It had been three days since he had seen Olivia, and he was desperate to see her again. When he opened the door, he threw his keys on the side table and kicked off his shoes.

After a whole weekend at work, Elliot was exhausted. He stripped down to his boxers and headed straight for bed.

Two hours later he woke up to a faint knock at the door. Thinking it might be one of his kids, he rubbed the grogginess from his eyes and walked to the door.

When he looked through the peephole, he was surprised to see Olivia at the door, not one of his kids.

He opened the door quickly and said "Hey, Olivia."

"Hi," she noticed Elliot's state of undress and glanced behind him "Hi, I'm sorry is this not a good time? I can come back later.."

She turned to leave when Elliot quickly grabbed her arm and rushed out, "No, no. I'm not busy come in, come in."

He quickly ushered her through the door and led her to the couch.

"So, I'm just going to go out some clothes on, I'll be out in a sec," he said.

"Yeah, okay."

Olivia took a good look around his apartment. The last time she'd been here was just after he moved in. Back when his separation was only meant to be temporary. Back when he was still married.

But now the apartment looks much more homely and Elliot seems to be much more settled here. She stands up and walks towards the bookshelf on the other side of the living room. There are a few pictures there, some of his kids, and a few pictures of his whole family. Then she notices the last photo. A picture of her and Elliot on his birthday last year, when his kids had surprised him at the precinct.

She misses those moments. When she was able to be around Elliot without this gnawing feeling inside of her. This feeling that she wants more from him. The feeling that she felt all six weeks that she was undercover.

She found herself missing the little things about him, like his bright blue eyes and how she could practically read his thoughts from a simple glance, or the way he was so protective over her and all his loved ones. He was a natural father figure, and as much as it might infuriate her sometimes, he looks out for her.

Elliot walks out of his bedroom and notices Olivia staring at the photo of the two of them.

"I like that picture of the two of us. I don't think I ever thanked you for calling my kids down there," he said as he walked towards her.

"Do you want anything to drink?"

"A beer if you have one, thanks."

"Yeah, sure. So, how are you? Are you back in Computer Crimes or do you have some time off?"

He pulls two beers from the refrigerator and hands her one before sitting on the other side of the couch.

She takes a quick sip and replies "I had this week off to kinda get my life back together. I start back tomorrow morning."

"Ah okay."

They sit there for a couple minutes just reveling in each other's presence.

"Okay, so I came here to try to fix this thing between us, so maybe if we don't end up working together again, we can at least be friends? I just- first of all, I just want to say I'm sorry for leaving so abruptly. I know I could have left you a note or something just to let you know I was leaving, but I.."

Her voice falters a bit before continuing, "Things were already a bit shaky between us and I didn't want to make it worse."

Elliot just stared at his bottle and started "Look, yeah, I know you could have told me you were leaving again, but I mean, I didn't exactly make it too easy for you to do that. So for that, I'm sorry."

Olivia looked up and gave him a weak smile, "Thanks, El."

She glances at her watch and begins to stand up "Oh man, I'm sorry but it's getting late, I should probably get home now."

She heads towards the door and Elliot follows.

"So, will I see you around sometime?"

"Uh yeah, I hope so. I have some paperwork to drop off to Cragen this week so I'll try to catch you before I leave."

"Good, and look- about Dani.."

Olivia just shakes her head and says "No need to explain- someone had to take my place, right?"

She looks up at him and he can see the pain in her eyes.

"No one could ever take your place Olivia."

She feels her face start to warm up and tries to dismiss his comment, "Well, okay I better go. See you, Stabler."

And with that, she was gone.

When she finally hailed a cab, Elliot's words came back to her mind, No one could ever take your place, Olivia. She knows he was just trying to reassure her that she should come back to SVU, but it was nice to hear that he would still prefer her over Dani.

The next day, Olivia was back at work in Computer Crimes. Computer Crimes was a lot less stressful than SVU had been. No more calls in the middle of the night. No more gruesome rape incidents or cases that bring nightmares for weeks. She even had normal work hours now. It was nice, but she still felt incomplete. Like she was missing a piece of herself.

The week passed fairly quickly and next thing Olivia knew, it was Friday. She was walking out of the precinct when her cell phone began to ring.

"Benson" she answered.

"Hey"

"El, uh hey, what's up?

"Well I actually get to leave early today, and I was wondering if you had any plans for tonight."

"Oh, no I'm not doing anything. Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out or something. Maybe grab some dinner?" He asked hesitantly.

She smiled to herself, sensing his nervousness " Yeah sure, that sounds good. Where should I meet you?"

"Why don't I just pick you up? We can decide then, if that's okay?"

"Okay, so I'll see you at 6?"

"Sure thing, see you then Liv."

Olivia hung up the phone and headed towards her apartment. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't excited to see Elliot again. Especially outside of work.

When she reached her apartment she walked straight to her bedroom to change. She was pulling on her boots when there was a knock at the door.

She opened the door and greeted Elliot, "Hey, come in. Let me go grab my wallet and we can leave."

"Okay, sure thing."

Elliot looked around the apartment and noticed a picture of a dark-haired man with his arm wrapped around Olivia's shoulder, sitting on the stand next to the couch. He looked closely and figured that it was taken in Oregon, and that they both looked pretty friendly towards each other. Had she met someone in Oregon? Was she in a relationship now? He didn't even want to think about that.

Ever since Olivia left he's felt this indescribable longing for her. He's not in love with her. He doesn't even know if he wants to date her, but since she's been back he feels his stomach churning and this nervousness that he's never felt around anybody else in a long time.

Olivia finally walks out of her bedroom, "Okay all set, where were you thinking of going?"

"I was thinking of this hole in wall diner on the West side. I've eaten there a few times and it's really good."

Olivia nodded and said "Okay then."

With that they left her apartment and drove to the diner.

The car ride was silent yet comfortable and after about 15 minutes Elliot pulled up to the curb and parked. When they walked in, they slid into a booth near the back of the diner and took a look at the menus.

"So, Stabler, do you recommend anything?" Olivia asked.

"Hm.. Well I suppose it depends what you're in the mood for. The burgers here are delicious but I'm really in the mood for breakfast."

"It's almost 7 o'clock at night and you want to eat breakfast?" Olivia exclaimed.

"Yeah, I wanna do things differently tonight," Elliot said as he winked at her.

As they ordered their food Olivia asked "So, how are the kids these doing these days?"

Elliot's face lit up as he answered "Oh they're doing great! They're all doing pretty well at school, and even Dickie is keeping his grades up. Nothing to complain about"

"That's good to hear. They must get their brains from Kathy," she teased.

"Hey, now-" He started to say.

He was cut off by the waitress who delivered their food.

"Mm well this looks pretty good," said Olivia.

"See, I knew breakfast for dinner would be a good idea," Elliot responded.

When they were finished eating, Elliot insisted on paying the bill and then they walked outside.

When they reached Elliot's car, he said "So it's only 8:30, do you wanna go grab a drink or something?"

Olivia smiled and said "Yeah, sure."

"Okay, cool, there's a bar right down the street from here if you're okay walking for a few minutes."

Olivia rolled her eyes and said sarcastically "Yes, Elliot, I think I'll be okay."

They walked down the street side by side, both of them unconsciously walking closer and closer until their shoulders were brushing up against each other. When they walked into the bar, they noticed that it was pretty crowded so they found two stools to sit on.

After an hour of conversation and few beers, Elliot turned to her and said "Look, I know you didn't want to talk about this, but I'm dying to know, what did I do to make you leave?"

Olivia sighed, "Look, I- you didn't do anything wrong, it was me. I needed a change. Can we just drop this subject now?"

"Okay.. Well why don't you tell me more about Oregon? Did you meet anyone there?" Elliot asked, thinking about the picture he saw in her apartment earlier that night.

"Well, yeah of course I met people, I was infiltrating an Eco- terrorist group."

"That's not what I meant. I mean, did you meet any men there..? It's just- I saw that picture in your apartment, is he a new boyfriend or something?"

Olivia just shook her head and chuckled "Oh no, that was my handler Dean Porter. Why Elliot? You jealous?" she teased.

Suddenly feeling a little relieved, Elliot scooted a bit closer to her, "Oh no, just curious. I like to keep up on my partner's life." He quipped.

Hearing him refer to her as his partner, Olivia flinched and said "Yeah, well, I'm not your partner anymore, so you really don't have to."

She turned around and motioned for the bartender to bring her another beer.

Elliot grabbed her arm turned her towards him,"Hey, look I'm sorry, but just because we don't work together anymore doesn't mean I don't care about you anymore. I thought we were still friends."

"Yeah, I mean, I guess you're probably one of my closest friends" Olivia mumbled.

"See! So I'm allowed to know about your life right? I'm sorry for making things uncomfortable, I didn't want this night to be like this."

"It's fine. What did you want this night to be? Did you just want to fix things between us, try to convince to come back or what?" She questioned.

Feeling a little more courageous form the alcohol he said, "I just wanted to spend time with you. Is that okay? I missed you. I went from seeing you all day everyday to not seeing or hearing from you for six weeks."

A little surprised from his response Olivia cleared her throat and looked down, "Okay, yeah that's fine."

The bartender handed her her beer and Olivia immediately took a quick sip.

"So, is there anyone new in your life? Got any new girlfriends you wanna tell me about?"

"Well, I've been on a few dates, but nothing too serious," he said.

He studied her face for a minute, noticing how her eyes seemed to darken when he said that. Was that jealousy in her eyes? Why would Olivia care if I went on a date? Probably the same reason Elliot cared so much about whether or not she had a new boyfriend.

His eyes shift from her eyes to her face, and then to her lips. He's never really had the chance to look at her freely, and notice her beauty. Her silky brown hair that looks as if he could run his fingers through it all day. But the one thing he could look at all day is her smile. He rarely sees it with all the horror around them at work, but when he does, it's amazing.

He catches her eye, and she notices him staring at her. With his blood thrumming with alcohol, he starts to lean in to kiss her. She closes her eyes and he touches his lips to hers. She immediately responds and puts her arms around his neck as they begin nipping each others lips and pushing their tongues into each other's mouths. Elliot pulls her closer to him and strokes the sliver of skin between her jeans and her sweater and she begins to moan into his mouth. By now Elliot is so turned on Olivia must feel his growing arousal against her thigh.

Suddenly realizing what they are doing, Olivia quickly pulls away, and wipes her mouth.

"What- What the hell was that?" She hisses.

"I'm sorry, I guess I just got too caught up in the moment, and you look amazing tonight- well all the time," he stumbled out.

Blushing furiously, Olivia turns away and takes a deep breath.

"I think I should go."

"I'll drive you,I've pretty much sobered up and it'll save you the cab fare."

"Okay," she says slowly.

They walk out the bar and Elliot drives her home. The car ride is awkward even with the radio playing.

When they each her apartment building Elliot parks the car and says, " Hey, I'll walk you in,"

"Oh no, I'll be fine. I'll see you later El," Olivia quickly steps out of the car and walks towards her building.

Before she can get in, Elliot runs up to her and says,"Hey look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to screw everything up. I have no idea where that kiss came from and-"

Olivia cuts him off and puts her hand in his forearm,"It's fine, lets just forget about the whole thing and ill see you sometime okay? It was nice to see you again anyways."

She offers him a weak smile and turns around to walk up the steps.

"Hey!" He yells from the bottoms of the porch.

"Blink your lights, okay?"

She rolls her eyes and smiles, "Sure."

He watches her walk through the door and out of his sight and wonders how he could have messed up this night and whether or not he's ruined his relationship with Olivia.

As she climbs into bed that night, she can't get that kiss out of her mind. Sure, she's kissed plenty of men in her lifetime, but those kisses didn't even compare to Elliot's. The way his mouth fit perfectly against hers, and how he knew exactly where to touch her. It all felt too right. Why did she even pull away?

But she knew why she pulled away. She knew that Elliot was still in love with Kathy. How could she even compare to the woman who gave birth to his four children? Did he even want her like that? Or was he just so drunk and desperate that he would have kissed anyone at that point? From what she could tell, Elliot was enjoying that kiss just as much as she did.

Pulling back her blankets, she tried to put all these thoughts out of her head. Why was she so caught up on this? But deep down, she knew why. She knew why she didn't want to pull away from his kiss, and now she realized what that gnawing feeling that she felt when she was around him was.

Attraction