She drifted to sleep with the scent of his cologne on the edge of her mind and the hard planes of his chest against her back, not realizing that this time it was more than a fantasy. Not realizing that he had slipped in between her sheets and was holding her with his face tucked into the nape of her neck smelling her lilac hair as she drifted into the best sleep she would have in years. No, Olivia just settled into what she thought was his imaginary presence and let her love for him carry her to sleep.

Light filtered into Olivia's Manhattan apartment early the next morning. Usually, she was up and on her way to the precinct long before the sun came up but for the first time in years, she awoke with the sun on her face. Olivia blinked a couple times, shaking the dust of sleep from her eyes and rolled from her side to her back. Feeling stiff, she surmised that she hadn't moved much all night. As she lay staring at the ceiling, she brought her hand to her forehead and sighed deeply. Inhaling, her heart began to beat wildly. Elliot's cologne was everywhere; on her sheets, on her pillow case, in her hair, on her skin. There was no mistaking it. She had spent the last several years trying to identify it and knew the scent very well. Goosebumps spread over her bare arms and legs and a warm feeling settled in her lower belly like a swarm of butterflies on a summer day. Her mind was racing. Why was he in my bed? How could I not have noticed? How long did he stay? And the question that seemed to be on repeat What the hell is going on?! She closed her eyes again and inhaled deeply and in a moment of pure want and need, rolled over and pulled the pillow next to her to her chest. She rarely allowed herself the opportunity to feel her deep desire for him. God, she loved him so much.

He was all around her and her head was spinning. She could see his rustic blue eyes staring into hers with such intensity that it made her heart leap. She lay like this for several minutes until she heard noises that sounded like the clanging of pans she hadn't used in years coming from the kitchen. Suddenly, she had a visceral need to be near him.

Olivia swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood shakily. Her legs felt like they had been replaced by sand bags, her heart pounded high in her throat and her stomach was in knots but she made her way to the door anyway. She pulled her arms in and crossed them just below her breasts in an unconsciously protective manner as she walked out into the sun drenched living room. Her black sweatpants hugged her ass and leg muscles perfectly and without a bra, her tank top didn't leave much to the imagination and she couldn't have cared less right now.

Elliot glanced up from his cooking when she walked in and brightly greeted her. "Good morning, sunshine! Omelet?"

Olivia couldn't help but laugh at him. He was standing in a pair of perfectly snug blue jeans and white undershirt happily making omelets with eggs he clearly made a special trip to the store for because she sure as hell didn't have any in the house. "Sure." She tilted her head and smiled shyly as she moved to sit on a barstool in front of her kitchen counter.

Olivia gave him a once over. He looked calm, relaxed even and God, he looked good. His chest muscles, which she wasn't sure she remembered being quite that oh-my-god looking, were clearly outlined against the thin fabric and his biceps caused the short sleeves to strain each time he moved.

"Sleep well?" Elliot asked in a feigned attempt at casual conversation. His eyes kept dipping to her breasts though he tried very hard to prevent her from noticing. She felt warm under his gaze and could feel her nipples hardening against the fabric of her tank top. The air in the apartment was becoming thinner with palpable electricity flowing between the two detectives.

"Yeah, oddly enough. I haven't slept that well in years." She grazed her bottom lip in between her teeth and moved her arms away from her chest and relaxed them in front of her on the counter. Elliot continued to cook and said nothing about his midnight excursion into her bed. Olivia decided to play coy as well just to see where this would take them. She wanted, no needed him to take the lead. These were his decisions to make, his moves to play. She was his and Olivia was slowly praying that he felt the same way. She was terrified that his foray into her bedroom last night was nothing more than his desperate need for human contact after everything that had happened with Kathy.

Elliot set Olivia's omelet down in front of her along a cup of tea and then slid onto the bar stool next to her with his own plate and cup of coffee.

"Thanks for making breakfast, El." Olivia spoke quietly, afraid to interrupt the energy in the room.

"No problem. It's the least I can do since you let me crash here again. I was thinking about sneaking into the precinct today to see where we're at on the duct tape rapist case. Wanna join me?" He had an impish grin on his face and wiggled his eye brows at her.

"Hmm, and risk the wrath of Cragen? Absolutely." Olivia had a mischievous glint in her eye and happily pushed back from the counter and slid off the stool.

Taking her plate over to the sink, she noticed that she had left the folder from her OBGYN on the counter. Praying that Elliot hadn't noticed it already, she slipped the folder on top of the refrigerator while casually offering to drive them to the precinct.

As Elliot cleaned the kitchen, Olivia slipped into her bathroom for a quick shower. As soon as the door shut behind her, he dropped the plates he was holding into the sink and leaned against the counter. Elliot felt like he couldn't get enough air into his lungs. He had absolutely no idea what he was doing sleeping in his partner's bed and staying to make her breakfast on a Sunday morning. He felt so dishonest when he evaluated the past few hours against his strong Catholic morals but he just couldn't bring himself to leave. There was no question that his marriage was done. If he was lucky, the next time he would see Kathy would be at the custody hearing and then minimally thereafter. If he was really lucky, Olivia would let him hang around more often.

The slow dissolution of his marriage had taken a tremendous toll on Elliot. He had pushed his heart aside a painful amount of times to shelter his kids from his mom's insecurities or a destructive divorce that obviously was inevitable anyway. He felt robbed of precious time with Olivia. He felt like he had wasted so much time but had he really? Would Olivia even remotely consider him as more than her partner and friend? He really had no idea. He felt the chemistry, the electricity, the change in the air when she walked in to a room or looked into his eyes and God help him if she accidentally brushed up against him. Anymore, the moment her skin touched his, his stomach turned flip flops and his breath caught in his throat.

Elliot sighed heavily and ran his hands down his face. He turned back to the sink and finished washing their breakfast plates as he listened to the sounds of the running shower. He tried to keep his mind off of Olivia's smooth, tanned skin underneath the hot water; tried to not picture beads of moisture sliding down her stomach or her fingers grazing the soap bubbles that had formed on her breasts; and he especially tried to keep his mind off of her unbelievable legs but good lord, he was struggling.

Elliot finished cleaning the kitchen, sat down on the couch and clicked on the television. Reaching into the gym bag on the floor, he pulled out a long sleeve t-shirt and slipped it on over his undershirt. The blue of the fabric drew attention to his eyes immediately and when Olivia walked out of her bedroom, they were the first thing she noticed.

Wearing tight fitting jeans and a beige sweater that complemented her skin amazingly, Olivia sauntered over to the couch while pulling her hair up in to a loose pony tail as she walked. Staring into his eyes, she smiled a shy smile grabbed her coat and tilted her head towards the doorway. "Let's get outta here."

Elliot jumped up from the couch and grasped Olivia's coat from her hands. He held it out for her to shrug into and as she did, he let his fingers travel down the nape of her neck. Olivia's skin immediately prickled with goose bumps and her breath caught in her throat. He moved his fingers torturously slowly down the collar of her pea coat, his knuckles brushing the sensitive skin of the side of her neck as he went. She stood frozen for a brief moment as Elliot moved his hands away and ever so slowly smoothed the jacket sleeves over her arms. Then, he reached passed her, close enough for her to feel the heat of his breath against her cheek and opened the door for her. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and walked through the door into the hallway. As he closed and locked it, she brought her hand up to her neck. The path that his knuckles had made was still hot against her skin and she traced it with the pads of her fingers. He turned to her and smiled his trademark Stabler grin and placed his hand on the small of her back as they walked towards the stairs that led out of her building.

She drove them to the precinct, happy for something to take her mind off the heat that had spread from her neck to her lower belly. Elliot seemed just as affected because he did nothing but stare out of the passenger window at the city he had seen a thousand times before. As Olivia pulled into her usual parking spot, Elliot's cell phone rang.

Elliot quickly pulled his phone out of the pocket of his jeans and slid out of the car.

"Hey Munch, what's up?" Elliot answered, quickly.

"Get Olivia and get to the precinct right now. Our duct tape rapist has made another move. We think we've got him."

"We're here. Be up in 2 minutes." Elliot, all business now, locked eyes with Olivia. "C'mon. We've got a break in the case."

With that, Olivia and Elliot hurried in sync into the 1-6.