Their kiss was gentle, soothing, and loving. Elliot brushed his lips over hers with such care that her heart felt swollen with pure love. Yes, this is what she wanted and he is who she needed. Always.
A couple hours later, Elliot pulled into Olivia's parking garage and into Olivia's guest space. He put the car into park and sighed. He turned his head and looked at the beautiful woman sleeping in the seat next to him. They had given her a dose of pain medicine at the hospital before she left which had made her incredibly drowsy.
He studied fragile line of her body, curled up in the seat with her head pressing against the window. She looked so small. She must have lost 20 pounds in the hospital and her lean muscles were easily detectable beneath her loose hospital scrubs. He slowly opened the door and quietly shut it behind him. He opened the trunk and took out the bag that Maureen had brought for her with books, a toothbrush, and other toiletries and then walked to the passenger side. Olivia had shifted and was now leaning against the headrest, still asleep. Elliot opened the door, swung her bag over his shoulder and scooped her carefully into his arms. She stirred a little and curled into the crook of Elliot's neck, allowing him to carry her close to his chest. Sighing heavily, she settled her forehead against his neck as his strong arms encircled her and held her gently.
Elliot walked to the elevator and took the two of them up to Olivia's floor. He used his key to open the apartment, shut it rather ungracefully behind him with his foot and carried her across her living room to the bedroom. Laying her down carefully, he removed her shoes and tucked the comforter around her. Olivia squirmed a little and settled into the mattress. She fell back into a deep sleep a few seconds later while Elliot gently stroked her hair out of her face.
Elliot toed his shoes off, unbuckled his belt and set it on the chair next to Olivia's bed. He slipped his jeans off and slid into the bed next to her and curled up into against her side, draping his arm gently across her chest. He could feel her heart beating against the skin of his forearm, her breath against his cheek, and the soft, adorable snore she produced every few moments letting him know that she was safe, and comfortable.
He watched the rise and fall of her chest for a few minutes and as he thought about just how close he had finally come to losing her, it became more and more difficult for Elliot to control his emotions. He was beat physically and emotionally. His muscles ached with a deep, searing exhaustion that begged for the relief of sleep but his mind was wired. So close. He had been so close to losing her and on top of that, his family was falling apart though that fact seemed to pale in comparison to the thought of losing Olivia. Kathy had little chance of success in a custody hearing. Elliot had been his main provider while Kathy "worked" all those extra hours at the hospital, though he now doubted that working was all she had been doing. Elliot knew, from all his SVU experience, that genetics always won custody battles but if Eli turned out to not be his biological child, he would still fight with all he had. He couldn't think about that possibility right now though. He was too exhausted and the thought of losing his youngest son ripped at the fabric of his being. It would destroy him if Eli was Greg's son and in turn, his anger would destroy everyone close to him. No, he couldn't let that happen. Not now that he finally had a chance with Olivia. He had to keep control but he sincerely doubted that he could.
Elliot closed his eyes and a troubled, restless sleep overtook him. His last thoughts before slipping into a deep, soul reviving slumber were of Olivia and what she would think if Eli wasn't his. She would probably be as angry as he, and that made Elliot smile.
The alarm clock's shrill scream burst through the quiet morning air of Olivia's apartment promptly at 6 a.m. Olivia groaned as Elliot untangled himself from her and threw the pillow over his head. Blindly smacking every button she could find, Olivia eventually managed to stop the shrieking but it was too late. Both detectives were reluctantly, and miserably awake.
With some difficulty caused more by stiffness instead of pain, Olivia rolled onto her side to face Elliot, who was still face-down with the pillow over his head. She rubbed the broad muscles of his back through his cotton shirt, feeling the landscape of his body trail beneath the pads of her fingers. Goosebumps broke out on her arms when Elliot moaned. He rolled onto his side to face her, eyes groggy and eyelids heavy. "Morning." Olivia said as she brought her hand up to his cheek to feel the stubble that had grown overnight.
"Mmhm." Elliot mumbled, eyes closed, the feeling of Olivia's hand on his face sending tremors through his body. "Morning."
"How did you sleep?" She asked, stifling a yawn.
"Fantastic. You?"
"Pretty good. The pain's not as bad but I'm pretty stiff."
"Yeah, me too." Elliot said, cheshire cat grin on his face. Oliva hit him.
"That's not what I meant when I said stiff, Elliot." Olivia smirked and threw and eyebrow up at him. He smiled and propped himself up on his elbows so he was at eye level to her.
"Do you know how many times I've dreamed of this?" He asked, searching her face for a reaction.
"In your dreams did you make boner jokes first thing in the morning?" She quipped back at him.
"No." Elliot ducked his head down, still smiling, and then raised it back up to look Olivia straight in the eyes. "But I did do this." He slowly pushed himself up on his hands and brought his lips gently to meet Olivia's smiling mouth. She was taken off guard and gasped, opening her lips to him. He readily accepted the invitation and slipped his tongue passed the guard of her teeth. Olivia gently ran her tongue over his, sending shockwaves through her body. She met him stroke for stroke as their mouths dueled for control and when they finally parted, both detectives were flushed and short of breath. "Wow." Olivia said, stunned. "I would be more than happy to wake up to that everyday."
"Me too." Elliot affirmed, almost shyly. "C'mon, let's get you some breakfast."
Olivia slid out of bed carefully and walked to the bathroom to check her bandages as Elliot went to the kitchen to prepare their omelettes. Studying herself in the mirror,she realized with a sudden plummeting of her stomach, just how gaunt and tired she looked. She didn't realize she had lost quite this much weight in the hospital but she hadn't exactly been eating. Elliot had tried his best to get food in her but she just had no appetite. She vowed to try harder to put some meat back on her bones and rebuild some of the muscle she lost.
Olivia emerged from the bathroom a half an hour later, freshly showered with new bandages and her hair tied up in a messy bun. She had changed from the hospital scrubs into her favorite sweatpants and a loose tanktop. Elliot had never seen her look so relaxed and he wanted to scoop her up and take her right back to bed. Olivia noticed him watching her and decided to put a little more swing in her hips. The move backfired though and left her clutching her abdomen in pain and trying not to laugh. Elliot helped her over to the couch and leaned her back against the pillows. "I guess there will be none of that sexy sauntering that you do today." He said with a smile as he propped a pillow behind her back.
"Yeah, I suppose so." Olivia laughed, shaking her head.
Elliot walked back over to the kitchen and brought back two plates with omlettes and fruit.
"Where the hell did you find fruit?" Olivia asked.
"Not in your fridge, that's for damn sure. I went down to the bodega and they had oranges and apples that looked like they were several months old. I went with the oranges."
"Good choice." Olivia said, smiling. "Thanks, Elliot. Really. Thank you for everything. I'm not sure I would have gotten through this without you. I don't like saying this normally but I really needed someone this week and I'm so thankful it was you who stepped up to the plate. You've been amazing."
"Liv, I would do anything for you. You know that, right? You have to know that."
"El, I do. You've told me and I believe you. However, you have to promise me that you will start taking care of yourself too. This whole Kathy and Eli thing? You've got to get that figured out as soon as possible. I can only imagine how it's eating away at you. I know you're not big on talking but please, Elliot. Promise me that you'll share with me what's going on? Don't bottle this up until it's too late."
"Yeah, okay. I'll try." Elliot said, looking straight into Olivia's dark brown eyes with sincerity.
"Thanks. Now eat your food." Oliva settled back into the pillows with her plate and happily munched on the first good food she had eaten in days.
The morning passed quickly with Olivia spending her time on the couch working on the Times crossword puzzle, in pen of course, while Elliot sat on the floor at the coffee table and did paper work for their case. "I gotta tell you, El. I may pull the "sick card" more often if it means you'll do the DD-5s." Olivia grinned at him and bit the cap of her pen.
"Is that right, Ms. Benson?" Elliot smirked, crawling seductively over the rug to foot of the couch. Olivia's eyes flickered back and forth between his biceps and the feral look in his eyes. "Well, if it means you'll let me see you in tight sweatpants and tank tops, I'll have to do your paperwork more often." Olivia hit him with her newspaper as his took her arm and nibbled the inside of her wrist and kissing his way up her arm; her sharp breath intakes each time he grazed her sensitive skin with his teeth encouraging him.
Elliot slowly kissed his way up her bicep, lightly biting and sucking along the way. He stopped at her tank top strap and took it in his teeth. The air became thick and Olivia's head became fuzzy as he snapped the strap against her skin, spreading goose bumps down her arms. Her nipples pebbled under her simple black, cotton bra and her breathing became labored. Elliot soothed the red mark where the strap had hit her skin with a tender press of his lips.
As he dragged his lips along the tender skin of the top of her shoulder, Olivia wrapped her arm around the back of his head and settled deeper into the couch. She stretched out her legs and used her arms to bring him closer. Elliot continued his ministrations and Olivia gasped when he found the spot where her collarbone met her neck. He swirled his tongue there, revelling in the hoarse breath that was now coming in shorter and shorter bursts.
Lost in a haze of want and need, Olivia pulled Elliot's face back up to hers and took his bottom lip in between her teeth. She sucked gently and then soothed the bite with a searing kiss. Tongues met and lips crashed against one another as their mouths massaged and toyed with each other. They broke apart reluctantly but desperately needing air. "Liv," Elliot whispered hoarsly. "We can't. We have to stop."
"What?" Olivia breathed, incredulous but not truly understanding what he was saying as her head was still clearing from the haze of lust that had overtaken her.
"We have to stop. I don't want to get carried away." Olivia cocked an eyebrow at him. "Okay, I want to get carried away, you're right, but I want, no, I need to do this the right way with you. I can't mess this up." Elliot moved back to sit on the couch cushion beside her and looked at her sincerely.
"Elliot, you're not going to mess anything up. That's not possible." Olivia reached for his face to pull him closer but Elliot stopped her and brought her hands to his chest. He held them there, between his own and against the planes of his chest. "Olivia, please. I have to do this right. Let me take you out, let's find our way to each other without feeling pressured by bottled up emotions? I want to date you, introduce you as my girlfriend, take you out for romantic dinners and those cheesy carriage rides in Central Park. We have all the time in the world now. I'm not going anywhere and I hope that you aren't either. Let's take it slow."
Olivia was stunned. She couldn't believe that this was Elliot talking to her. Elliot, the brazen, rash, impulsive cop whom she loved and adored, had a soft and romantic side to him. If she wasn't in love before, she certainly was now. He wanted to be gentle, tender, and slow. No one she had ever been with had ever said anything along those lines to her. They always just saw her breasts and everything else like dinners, drinks, shows, etc. were a bonus. "I think I would really like that, Elliot." Olivia smiled a bright, illuminating and infectious smile. He beamed back at her and kissed her forehead in confirmation. They were going to take things slow. He was actually dating Olivia Benson. Maybe things weren't so bad after all.