Thanks everyone for reading ! Look forward to hearing what you guys think (:

"So this is what a couples therapy class looks like," Elliot said as they walked into the spacious room they were led to. The secretary got all of their information before leading them down the hall to their destination. The room was filled with tables, all directed towards the front of what seemed like a classroom. There, a man they had guessed was Carlos, stood, chatting with one of his clients. A female, of course.

"I don't think I would classify this as a couple's therapy class," Olivia answered as they took a seat in the far left corner. There was no one around them, and no one within earshot. They could be themselves for another little while.

Elliot laughed. "Kathy tried getting me to go to couples therapy classes once. I refused, then she forced me into it. Luckily, I got stuck with a case on the first night and she gave up right away."

Olivia rolled her eyes but let out a laugh too. "You were stuck with me instead."

Elliot smiled as he rested his hand on top of hers, noticing Carlos looking their way. "Yeah, and now my first couple's therapy class is with you."

Olivia sighed. "One more reason for Kathy to hate me."

Elliot shook his head. "Kathy doesn't hate you."

Olivia looked at him with incredulous eyes. "Um, I think you are slightly delusional. She hates me Elliot and there's nothing you can say that will prove otherwise."

Elliot rolled his eyes as he leaned over and dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head. They had gone through this, adopted casual displays of affection any normal couple would have. It still made Olivia uneasy. "You saved her life Liv. She's not allowed to hate you."

It was Olivia's turn to roll her eyes.

"I would like to welcome you all and thank you for joining us," Carols called out from the front of the room. Olivia and Elliot let their attention shift back to the front of the room and were met with Carlos's sweet smile. "I believe we have a few new people among us this morning. I'd like to welcome William and Hayley, and also Sean and Kate."

Olivia and Elliot both plastered smiles on their faces as Elliot wrapped his arm around Olivia's shoulders. This was probably the hardest part of the investigation. Having to deal with the little things Elliot did to her heart.

"As we discussed last week, we are going to start today with reflecting on the problems in our relationship. If we go into a relationship hiding issues, they will just worsen and they will never be fixed. You need to start by making your partner aware of the issues you have relating to you relationship. Now, face your partner and tell them what you are truly reflecting about when I say issues."

Elliot chuckled as he spun Olivia's chair towards him and positioned himself so that they were facing each other. "I'll start. First of all, you snore."

Olivia gave him a good whack on the leg. "No I don't."

Elliot laughed. "Yes you do. Trust me."

"How the hell would you know that?"

Elliot rolled his eyes. "Really Kate? We share an apartment." He noticed Carlos approach so he made sure not to slip up.

"Well Sean, you have terrible anger issues. You really need to deal with those." She could feel Carlos behind her without even looking back. She knew it was time to see what they could really do.

"Maybe you're the cause of my anger issues. Ever thought of that? And you're always distracted when we talk on the phone. As if you didn't really want to be there."

Olivia scoffed. "Oh, don't even get me started about not being there. You're the one who's always on the other side of the country."

Elliot let out a chuckle as he pulled her chair closer. "I'm sorry to disappoint you hunny, but Vermont isn't on the other side of the country, it's actually not very far." Olivia rolled her eyes, not letting it show that this was actually great fun. "Oh and speaking of disappointments, we have to discuss your issue… in bed."

Olivia could see the evil gleam in Elliot's eye. If they were Elliot and Olivia at that very moment, she thought she would probably strangle him. And she would as soon as they were alone. But Elliot just stood there staring at her, waiting for a response. A comeback. About their non-existing sex life.

"My issue? My only issue is having to deal with the lack of gentleman in the man I decided to marry. You're… such a caveman."

Elliot was ready for a comeback, but he was interrupted by Carlos who had been watching them since nearly the beginning of the exercise. "Now this is what I was talking about. Couples need to be more open about what they are truly feeling. The two of you portray that perfectly. I hope it doesn't break you up though."

Olivia smiled. "There's nothing that Sean can do that will make me love him less, as tough as it may be at times."

"We've realized we can't live without each other," Elliot said as he took both of Olivia's hands in his. "We're not letting a few minor issues get in the way this time."

Carlos looked at them curiously. "This time?"

Olivia nodded. "We broke up when we realized a long distance relationship was harder than it seemed."

"We were miserable," Elliot continued the practiced story. They had been through this before.

"Not being together made us worse than not being together together, if you get what I'm saying?"

Carlos nodded. "I believe I do."

Elliot tightened his grip around Olivia's hands. "That's when I made my company workable from a home office. I could be in Philadelphia and in Vermont at the same time, technically speaking."

"And that's what made this relationship possible."

Carlos nodded and smiled. "I see many who have failed to keep a long distance relationship strong. It's so good to see that people do still make it through."

And with that, he moved on to another group across the room.

"You think he's taken the bait?" Olivia whispered.

Elliot nodded. "Let the fun begin."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Nothing suspicious?" Whelan asked as he sat with Olivia, Elliot, Kyle and Dylan and went over the details of Olivia and Elliot's first encounter with Carlos. It had only come to an end around three, the Saturday classes being the longest ones. They also had a class on Tuesday nights and a third on Thursdays. They'd be seeing plenty of this guy for the next little while.

"Not that I could tell," Olivia said as she shook her head. "How 'bout you El?"

Elliot shook his head. "Doesn't remind me of the suspects we're used to dealing with. He's young, ambitious. He's got a great career and his wife actually made an appearance with their son during lunch just to say hello. They seemed very happy, the perfect little family if you'd ask me. No obvious motive behind what he is being accused of."

Whelan didn't get it. How could it not fit?

"It's only been one day cap," Kyle reminded him. "Let's give it a few more classes before we puzzle ourselves. And we hope he picks Olivia for his private little get together."

Elliot nodded like the others, however he didn't know if he really wanted that. The cop in him reminded him it was what they needed to get any further in the case. But the best friend Elliot was worried something would happen if they weren't able to stop him.

"You guys are off duty until Tuesday night. You are free to do whatever you please as long as you are here Tuesday afternoon before going to your next class. Spend your weekend as you wish."

They both nodded, realizing they had a full two and a half days to themselves.

"What do you feel like doing?" Elliot asked as they got into their car.

"I want to get back to the apartment, get cleaned up and maybe grab a bite to eat."

Elliot smiled. "Sounds like a plan. How about that drive to New York?"

Olivia looked at him, a smirk on her lips. "Really?"

Elliot shrugged. "Why not? Nothing guarantees we'll have another opportunity to do the trip."

Olivia nodded as they continued their drive to the apartment, the sun still bright, but not for long.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

As soon as they had gotten back to their apartment, they both headed for their showers. They really enjoyed the fact that they each had their own bathroom. It came in handy, especially on nights where they didn't feel like wasting time.

Olivia, towel wrapped around her hair, comfortably dressed in gym pants and a comfortable shirt, walked out of her room only to find Elliot already out, partially dressed in only gym pants, and pacing the floor, phone in hand. When he noticed her, he excused himself and headed back towards his room.

It wasn't the Elliot shirtless, or the Elliot hiding something from her. She had seen him shirtless before and she really didn't care who was on the phone. Probably Kathy.

No, it was the small tattoo she had never noticed before that had caught her attention.

She could only see the top of it as he walked, his back to her, on his way back to his room. It was on his right hip, on the waistline, partially covered up by his sweats. It looked like Japanese signs, writing. She couldn't believe that in the many times she had seen him shirtless she had never noticed it before.

And she couldn't figure out why she cared so much.

"Sorry about that," Elliot said as he came back out, this time pulling on a shirt over his head.

"Anything to worry about?"

Elliot shook his head. "No, it was just Lizzie, curious as to how things were going here."

Olivia smiled. She liked the Stabler kids. They were great kids, growing up a little too fast though. She hadn't gotten the chance to see them as much as she had when they were younger, not since Kathy had started to hate her, or not hate her as Elliot tried to convince her. But Olivia had always felt like the job was taking their father away a lot, and she was a part of that job. So she had always figured that Kathy and the kids had always resented her, but just that it got worse with the passing years.

"How are your bunch of kids?" she asked as she sat down on the couch.

Elliot pulled out a smile as he sat down beside her, but Olivia noticed it wasn't right, that it was almost forced and that there was a pain in it.

"They're good. All of them are good."

Olivia nodded, knowing that if Elliot wanted to talk about it, he would. She wouldn't push him.

"You still hungry?" he asked, looking back up at her. "If we want to make the trip tonight, we should probably get going."

Olivia nodded as she got up and pulled the towel from her hair. She put it up in a messy ponytail and tossed the towel over the back of a chair. "I say we go somewhere with a drive through. We both look like bums."

Elliot laughed. "Yeah we sort of do." He reached out for her hand. "You coming?"

Olivia looked at it curiously. "El, we're alone in the middle of our apartment. You can drop the act."

He grabbed her hand anyway with a smile and let out a chuckle. "Maybe I want to hold your hand."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "And maybe you're crazy." But she didn't fight it. It felt good to have her hand wrapped in his.

"See, not so bad huh? We're getting real good at this whole relationship thing."

Olivia chuckled. "We are, aren't we? Who would have thought?"

Elliot and Olivia made their way to the door, grabbed their stuff and were gone.

They were still hand in hand until they were in the parking garage approaching their car. They both slipped in quietly and Olivia laughed when Elliot hit his head on the edge of the car.

"Hey, you're not very nice. You should be feeling pity, not laughing."

Olivia nodded. "Okay, sure. You alright?"

Elliot smirked her way. "Yeah, my heads fine. My pride feels kind of bruised."

Olivia let out another giggle as he put the keys in the ignition and pulled out. Before they knew it, they were in a Wendy's drive through and then on the highway to New York.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Olivia asked as she picked at her salad.

Elliot nodded. "I made this trip with some friends once."

Olivia looked at him questioningly. "How long ago?"

Elliot shrugged. "I don't know. Ten, twelve years ago."

Olivia shook her head. "We are totally going to get lost."

"We are not! First you laugh when I get hurt, then you don't believe in me. I'm sorry to say, but this relationship is over."

Olivia laughed. "It'll never be over. We're to perfect for each other for it to be over."

Elliot nodded quietly and an uneasy silence settled.

Olivia felt like hitting herself. What was that? What the hell had that been? That was not what was supposed to come out of her mouth. Had she really just said that?

Elliot decided the car was too quiet. He turned on the radio and smiled at the song.

"Say, Candy and Ronnie, have you seen them yet

But they're so spaced out, B-B-B-Bennie and the Jet" Elliot sang along. He let out a laugh at the expression on Olivia's face. "Didn't know I could sing huh?"

Olivia shook her head and smirked. "I wouldn't call that singing."

Elliot shrugged. "My pride has already been damaged. How worse can it get?"

Olivia laughed as he continued to sing.

"Oh Bennie she's really keen

She's got electric boots a mohair suit"

"Come on Liv! You know you want to sing!"

Olivia rolled her eyes but couldn't help bursting out laughing. And of course joining him.

"B-B-B-Bennie and the Jets"

Most of the car ride continued like that. Laughing and singing and just having fun. They had been having so much fun, they lost all track of time.

"Holy crap!" Olivia exclaimed as she took a look at the clock. "It's ten o'clock."

Elliot didn't get it. "So? Past your bedtime?"

Olivia didn't react. "We left at six. We should be there by now."

Elliot didn't say anything. They both stayed quiet until Elliot couldn't help but laugh.

"I guess maybe I didn't know where I was going. Oups."

Olivia looked at him incredulously, but her angry stare turned into a full blown laugh and before they knew it they were both laughing until tears came to their eyes.

Elliot pulled over into the next gas station so they could calm themselves and hopefully get directions.

"I don't think we've ever laughed this much together before," Elliot commented as he started to calm down.

Olivia shook her head. "I don't think I've ever laughed that much ever."

"We've been working together for twelve years and in those twelve years I don't think we've had this much fun."

"I don't think we have," Olivia agreed. She looked over to Elliot who was looking at her with a smile.

"We really missed out all these years," Elliot said as he rested his hand on top of hers.

Olivia felt the electric shock run through her. "Yeah, we did."

Elliot gave her one last smile before opening the door and getting out. "I'm going to go see if I can find a map or someone who knows where the hell we are and how we get to New York."

Olivia nodded and laughed. "Okay. I'll be right here."

"You want anything?" he then asked.

"No, that's alright."

As soon as Elliot was out of sight, Olivia fell back in her chair. What was going on? How had they gone from… she didn't even know how to describe how their relationship had changed over the past few days. She didn't understand why either, why had it gotten so comfortable all of a sudden? It was almost as if they were Kate and Sean all the time now.

Oh, Kathy would not like her after this one.

And what was up with all the little things? The holding hands, the need for him to touch her… She knew she felt it, but she kept that hidden, not wanting to make things awkward between them. But Elliot? He didn't seem to care that this was making things personal. He seemed to find it all but awkward. And he was the one who was married!

Olivia didn't know what to do. She couldn't ignore it. And she had to admit, she liked it. But what happened when Elliot realized that it was all a mistake and it made her heart break again, into tiny little pieces? She had built a wall around her for a reason, and she was letting Elliot in. But was that a mistake in itself?

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The rest of the ride had been fairly quiet, other than the radio playing softly now in the background. They would chat for a few minutes, then just sit silently for another few, until the chatting minutes became shorter and the silent ones longer.

They weren't saying much at all by the time they reached New York. It was close to midnight when they passed in front of the precinct and both Olivia and Elliot noticed that the lights were on in their squad room's window.

"Want to go see what's going on?" Elliot asked.

Olivia nodded. "Sure. It's not like I have anything else to do for the weekend."

He pulled into a vacant spot and both headed into the precinct. When they reached their floor, they were almost glad to note that it was Finn and John, along with the two new guys, that were there. This would give them some people to chat with.

"Olivia, Elliot!" Finn exclaimed when he noticed them come through the doorway. "What are the two of you doing here, this time of night?"

Elliot smiled. "We got the weekend off. There's not much to do until we find some dirt on our investigation, and we can't work on anything else or it'll blow our cover. So we decided we'd take a drive and see what was going on down here."

"You guys drove here?" John asked, a little surprised.

Olivia laughed. "Yeah, and we would have been her much earlier if it hadn't of been for the fact that I believed in Elliot's navigational skills and let him convince me he knew where he was going."

Elliot rolled his eyes. "We got here, didn't we?" He smiled to Olivia, who smiled back.

"Yeah, I guess we did."

The others just looked at them, a little suspicious about the way they seemed so much closer…

"Are you guys Olivia and Elliot right now, or Kate and Sean, because if I were to guess, I'd say Olivia and Elliot were long gone," Finn said and John nodded in agreement.

"What do you mean by that?" Olivia asked, a little confused.

"Well… it's just… the two of you seem closer, closer than usual and it just isn't what we're used to seeing with you two."

Olivia laughed as she took a seat beside Finn's desk. "Well when you spend nearly six hours with someone in a car, you come to get to know each other better and you become closer."

The others nodded, not completely convinced. Just then, Cragen came out of his office.

"Elliot, Olivia! Surprise seeing the two of you here."

They both smiled. "We figured we might as well drop by while we were here for the weekend. Anything we can help with?"

Cragen shrugged. "I don't think we'll be needing too much of your help. Ian and Charles have been doing great and besides, you guys aren't really in your district right now, technically speaking."

Olivia and Elliot rolled their eyes, but nodded.

"Elliot, could I speak to you?"

Elliot looked to Cragen, then to Olivia and back to Cragen. "Sure cap. About what?"

Cragen looked around and noticed everyone was looking at them, waiting for an answer. "Why don't we go into my office?"

Elliot gave him a curious stare, but followed him anyway.

"What's up?" he asked, not too sure about this.

"Um, Kathy was by earlier. She didn't know how to get in touch with you, so she must have figured you'd be by here sooner or later," Cragen started. He left out the fact that Kathy had figured he'd be by the precinct, but not at home. He hadn't asked any questions then, and he wouldn't now, because he knew it was none of his business. But he had a pretty good idea of what was going on. "She left this here for you. Told me to give it to you as soon as possible."

Cragen passed him the manila envelope. "She said something about you knowing what to do with it better than she did."

Elliot took the envelope into his hands and held it in his grip very tightly. He let out a breath and Cragen could tell this was something he was more content with than upset. Maybe he had jumped to conclusions…

"Thank you Cragen," Elliot said as he went to leave.

"Elliot?"

Elliot turned back to face his captain. "Yeah?"

"If… if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here."

Elliot nodded. "I know."

And with that he made his exit.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Olivia looked up from the notes on the investigation Finn, John, Ian, and Charles were working on when she heard Cragen's office door opened. Cragen's expression was as steady as usual. Elliot's was unreadable. She was almost afraid of what had gone on in there.

"El, you ready to head?" she asked. That's when she noticed the envelope he was holding close to him.

"Yeah… I'm… we should get going."

Olivia nodded as she said her goodbyes and promised to drop by again before they went back to Philadelphia. Elliot stayed quiet, but waved slowly as they walked out.

When they reached the car, Olivia evaluated Elliot and his state then opted to take the keys from his hands. "I'm driving. You are in no shape to drive."

Elliot didn't argue. He went over to the passenger side as Olivia slipped into the driver's side.

"Where to?" Olivia asked once she had the car into drive. She figured he would say home, but she asked anyway.

Elliot didn't answer right away. He just looked up towards Olivia before finally answering. "I… I don't know."

Olivia didn't understand. "What's wrong El?"

Elliot shook himself out of his daze. "Kathy… Kathy and the kids, they're probably asleep and coming in this late will probably get Kathy mad and I can't handle a mad Kathy right now because she's going to ask about work and then I'll have to lie because if I tell the truth she'll be even more mad, but she'll know I'm lying so –"

"Breathe El," Olivia instructed as Elliot took a deep breath.

"I… Liv, I don't want to be a bother or anything… but do you think maybe… I could…"

"I've got a half decently comfortable pull out couch. It's yours."

Elliot nodded. "Thanks. You're a great friend you know."

Olivia nodded too. "I know."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Elliot watched Olivia as she pulled out the bed and started spreading the clean sheets across it. It was nearing one in the morning, and Elliot realized he hadn't been this tired in a long time. He felt drained. But that didn't stop him from feeling the need to help Olivia out.

"Here, let me help," he said as he grabbed the other side of the sheet.

"You don't need to –"

"Olivia," he used her full name, "you've done enough for me. Let me help you."

Olivia smiled a sad smile at her best friend. "Okay then."

They made the bed in silence, not knowing what to say to the other. Olivia thought about how much of a contrast it was from just a few hours before in the car. Things had been great and now… But Olivia could see that Elliot was hurting. So she didn't say anything.

"Goodnight El," she said, when they had finished up making the bed. She was about to turn away when Elliot caught her hand.

"Liv," he said as he spun her around. He pulled her into his arms and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I… there's no way to thank you. You… you're the best friend… no you're more than a best friend. You're amazing Liv."

Olivia had trouble finding words. She was torn between fighting it and letting it be. And although she figured Elliot needed her to let it be, she needed to be the sensible one and fight it. So she pulled away.

"Elliot, you're married… and Kathy's going to hate me even more because you're staying here. Don't make it worse than it has to be."

Elliot shook his head. "It… it doesn't matter what Kathy thinks anymore Liv…" he took her hands in his and motioned towards the envelop he had left with his jacket. "They're… they're divorce papers. Signed. They just need to be brought to a judge, and have our lawyers fight over them… then it's just me. No more Kathy."

Olivia looked into Elliot's eyes. "I'm so sorry El… I didn't know things were…"

Elliot shook his head. "I… I didn't know either. But things can change. But I'm going to be okay."

Olivia nodded slowly. "You sure El?"

Elliot nodded. "I… it'll be okay. If I had of thought it would have been better staying around, I wouldn't have filed for divorce."

This caught Olivia of guard. She had thought it had been Kathy, not Elliot, who would file for divorce. For Elliot to file for divorce, something must have happened. Something big. What… what had happened?

So, Elliot is divorced and hugging Olivia and wanting to touch her... Good sign, right? (;

.Enjoy!