Chapter 13

Study Date (Part 1)

Alex walked out of class at 12:00 sharp, exhaling as she held the straps of her backpack tightly.

"You alright?" Casey asked, walking alongside Alex and studying her intently.

"I'm… nervous." Alex kept her head low and kept walking towards their dorm, navigating through a thick sea of students.

"Why?" Casey asked, struggling to keep up with Alex's fast and long paces.

"I'm meeting Olivia at 4 today. We're sorta having a study date…" She mumbled the last part of the sentence quietly.

"Lex! That's awesome!" Casey said excitedly. "Where at?"

"The study hall," Alex replied calmly.

"Why are you so nervous then?"

"Because she also mentioned something about grabbing food," Alex stated.

"Oh…kay?" Casey questioned. "That's what people do, Alex. They get food together. And you've eaten around her before."

Alex swallowed. "Casey, my dearest friend… I have never been on a date before. A date, date. Yeah we're studying at first but… not after. I have no idea what to do."

Casey wrapped her arm around Alex's waist. "You show up, you grab food, you eat it, and you talk to her. Get to know her better and just be yourself! I promise, once you get into it your nerves will calm down."

"But… we'll be… alone." Alex muttered, feeling her heart race and her skin lose color.

Casey raised an eyebrow at Alex. "Are you afraid she'll try something?"

"No!" Alex quickly deflected. "No, not at all." She paused a few more moments. "It's not her that I'm worried about."

Casey grinned at her best friend. "You're worried about yourself?"

"Yes."

"And you feel this way because…" Casey said, willing Alex to finish her thoughts as they closed the distance to their dorm.

"She makes me feel… so crazy. So daring. So… different. So wild. So…" She whispered the next word very quietly in Casey's ear. "Horny."

Casey snorted at Alex's admission as she pressed for the elevator to take them to the 7th floor. "Honey. You've never kissed anyone yet. I highly doubt you'll be jumping her bones this early on. You do know that you can be horny and not act on it, right?"

Alex began blushing as her arms were folded. "Yes, I know that. Trust me..."

Casey raised her eyebrow at Alex as they exited the elevator.

"You'll be fine, Lex! I know you. Now come on, I need to help you get sexy."


Olivia was jamming around in her room as she nervously got ready in front of the standing mirror, half-humming half-singing the words to Sweater Weather – The Neighbourhood.

"The goosebumps start to raise, the minute that my left hand meets your waist, and then I watch your face," Olivia sang as she ran her fingers through her hair, checking that it was perfect, but not too perfect, before smoothing out her black t-shirt. Nearly satisfied with how she looked, she let out a breath as she clipped the small metal chain on the belt loops of her jeans before grabbing out a tan leather jacket from her closet and slipping it over her shoulders.

Giving herself a smirk in the mirror, she tugged and straightened out her jacket. "Damn, Benson. You clean up good," she muttered to herself as she grabbed her black boots, sitting on her bed to put them on.

Satisfied with her attire, she quickly sprayed her sandalwood cologne on as she grabbed her phone and backpack and headed downstairs.

Kathy gasped as she saw Olivia, running over to her and squealing as she looked her over. "Olivia Margaret! Look. At. You."

Olivia wore a proud grin as she did a quick spin for Kathy. Elliot, Tim, and Johnny turned from the sectional to look over at her.

Elliot, smiling widely, said, "Damn, Liv. Blondie's gonna be all over you."

Tim and Johnny smirked as they surveyed their friend and roommate. "Shit. No wonder she gets girls," Johnny groaned.

"No kidding. You look dapper, Benson," Tim agreed. "A real ladies' lady."

Olivia rolled her eyes as she continued to grin. "Thanks, guys. Know where I should take her for dinner?"

"She likes pizza, right?" Elliot asked, but quickly answered himself. "Oh, that's right. She's the crazy person that thinks pizza is better than burgers."

"Oh, yeah, take her for burgers," Tim said.

"Nah, do Italian," Johnny suggested. "Chicks dig noodles and salads."

Olivia sighed, looking to Kathy for her input. "Why don't you take her to Nikko? Japanese might be nice. And different."

Olivia smiled as she pulled Kathy into a hug. "Perfect. I could kill for some hibachi."

Kathy squeezed onto her tightly before giving her a kiss on her cheek. She whispered, "Go get your girl."

"Hey!" Elliot called from the couch. "Benson… you better not be stealing my woman."

Olivia jokingly wrapped her arms around Kathy's neck, returning a kiss on her cheek. "Or what, Stabler? You gonna fight me?"

Tim and Johnny stared at the interaction like a couple of perverts.

Elliot pursed his lips and rolled his eyes. "You know damn well I could take you out."

"Mhm," Olivia said as she walked over to the couch to give him a kiss on the cheek too before turning to walk out of the townhouse. "Bye, guys. Don't wait up!"

"Hey, where's our kiss?!" Tim called as the door closed.


Alex looked over herself in the mirror nervously as she chewed on her lip and twiddled her thumbs together, Casey walking around her in circles with her hand on her chin.

"You're making me feel like prey, Case," Alex said nervously.

Casey held up her hand and hushed her. "Let me study you."

Alex started tapping her foot nervously as Casey circled her one more time before stopping directly in front of her, placing her arms on Alex's bare shoulders.

"You're fucking hot, Lex."

Alex smiled shyly. "You think?"

"Hell. Yes."

Alex decided to go with a short powder blue skirt with a button up sleeveless floral blouse tucked in. She let her gold necklace fall gently underneath her shirt, only leaving one of the buttons undone. She also had on a pair of powder blue sandals to match.

"Olivia is going to just eat you up!" Casey beamed.

Alex closed her eyes. "Don't… use that phrase."

Casey looked at Alex confused for a short moment before suddenly getting it and snorted in laughter. "Eww, Alex!" She playfully smacked her arm. "You ready to go?"

Alex let out a breath as she looked over herself one more time, smoothing out any prominent wrinkles in her outfit. "I'm ready."

Casey quickly sprayed her over with a sweet, warm scented perfume as she adjusted the glasses on Alex's face. "Go get her."


Alex walked into the study hall early, as was her normal. Her parents always taught her to be punctual and fashionably early. She quickly looked around to see if she could catch a glimpse of Olivia before pulling out her phone to text her.

Alex: Hey (: I'm here. Where are we meeting?

Olivia: Hi (: 6th floor stacks? I'm almost there. 5 mins

Alex swallowed as she read the text. She heard people talking about the stacks. It was usually quieter than the main floors – not a lot of people went there. Well… except for couples. Or, so she heard.

Alex: perfect (: c u soon

Alex got into the elevator and shakily pressed the button for the 6th floor, feeling herself becoming extremely anxious about being alone with Olivia.

As she stepped off the elevator, she made her way to the left past the empty desk and walked straight back to a table in the corner of the room. Sitting her bag down, she swallowed as she brought her phone back out to text both Olivia and Casey.

Alex: I'm here, Liv (: to the left and all the way back

Alex: I made it, Case. Will give you all the deets later. XOXO

She locked her phone screen as she pulled out some of her textbooks and began to study, looking up every few seconds to see if Olivia was coming.

Eventually, after minutes felt like hours, Alex heard footsteps pattering along the linoleum floor as she looked up, her heart immediately thumping against her chest.

Holy…

There she was. Olivia Benson. Strutting in her direction, backpack hanging lazily off one shoulder. Her hair was tousled in a way that just seemed perfect to Alex. She wore a proud smile on her face as she locked eyes with Alex, her boots loudly thumping against the tile. Alex took her time to rake her eyes over Olivia's tan jacket, plain black t-shirt, faded jeans with some casual rips in the thighs, and a metal chain clipped to her belt loops that lightly jingled as it made contact with her thigh.

Olivia stood in front of Alex, smiling as she set her backpack on an empty chair before putting her hands in her pockets.

"Hey," Olivia said with a smile.

Alex, pleading with herself to say anything, stood up and immediately held her hands behind her back. She shyly smiled at Olivia, giving a timid "Hey" back in response.

Olivia took a moment to look over Alex's outfit, her smile growing wider with every inch surveyed.

"You look… holy shit, great," Olivia said, swaying a little in her stance.

Alex casually bit her lip. "Thank you. You also look… hot as hell." She immediately blushed after saying it.

Olivia gave a tiny chuckle, noticing the blush immediately. "And thank you, Alex."

There was a fleeting moment of silence between them before Olivia said, "Can I hug you?"

Alex brought her hands up to her face nervously as she smiled, before opening her arms and leaning towards Olivia.

Olivia immediately wrapped her arms around Alex's thin waist, holding her tightly as she closed her eyes to take in the smell of her perfume.

Alex wrapped her arms around Olivia's shoulders, holding her tightly against her as she too took in the smell of Olivia's cologne. It smelled just like the one she was wearing the day she met her.

They both reluctantly pulled away after a few seconds, sitting down to start studying. As Olivia opened her backpack, she pulled out two Red Bulls, sliding one to Alex.

Alex smiled at the gesture. "Thank you, Olivia."

"You're welcome, Alex. What're we studying today?"

"Political Science. Pretty cool stuff!" For a moment, Olivia thought she was being sarcastic until she started passionately explaining what she was currently learning about politics.

"And, how about you?" Alex asked finally, looking down at Olivia's textbooks.

"Quantitative Reasoning and Criminal Law. Also pretty cool stuff!" Now, it was Olivia's turn to go into depths about her study material. Alex, having such a closely related major, and, being a lover of learning, listened intently as Olivia explained some of the things she was studying.

"Amazing stuff. I almost want to take these courses myself," Alex beamed.

Olivia smiled as she took a drink of her Red Bull, casually scooting her chair closer to Alex's. "You should if you can. I really love this stuff."

Alex reciprocated the gesture, moving her chair closer to Olivia's. "I think I might, then." She smiled at Olivia before the two fell silent and began slowly reading their material and working on assignments.

After about an hour, Alex was deep into scribbling her third page of notes. Olivia, no longer reading her book, was watching Alex intently as she jotted down fast words, her eyes flicking back and forth between the book and paper over the top of her glasses.

A few silent moments later, Olivia inched her hand closer to where Alex's was resting on the table. Then slowly, ever so slowly, did she close the final distance between their hands, quickly intertwining her fingers with Alex's.

Alex stopped mid-sentence, looking up from her notebook to catch Olivia's eyes as she began to smile, holding Olivia's hand tighter.

The two stayed like this for quite some time before Olivia released her hold on Alex's hand so she could lean back against the chair and yawn and stretch.

"I'm getting pretty hungry," Olivia said.

"Me too," Alex replied, closing her book. "Where do you want to eat?"

Olivia smiled. "I know just the place."

Alex smiled in return. "Oh, you already picked it out?"

"Of course! I did ask you, on a date, remember?" Olivia gave her normal smirk.

"I suppose you did," Alex said, smiling and eyeing Olivia's smirk. "So, where are you taking me?"

"Nikko. It's a nice Japanese place that has pretty good hibachi! Have you had Japanese cuisine before?" She asked, trying to impress Alex.

"Yes, many times! I love Japanese cuisine!"

"Sweet! You ready to go?" Olivia asked, grabbing her backpack and slinging it on her shoulder.

"Absolutely," Alex replied with a smile, also standing up and placing her backpack over both of her shoulders.

"Great," Olivia said, holding her hand out for Alex to take. Alex quickly obliged, putting her head down and smiling as she held onto Olivia's hand for dear life. "Let's go, cutie."