Sorry! I have to break a few things before. I can fix them... I love a good, humorous, Stabler kid chat. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THOSE. You've been warned. Siblings can be vicious, and we are going to explore that a little.

Stabler Kids Group Chat

D: Seriously Kathleen? Don't tell me you did what I think you did.

M: What's going on?

L: Mom just called.

M: And?

L: She's coming back to the city with Eli… and to update hers and Dad's divorce papers.

M: Seriously? Katie? What does she have to do with anything?

D: Tell her Katie.

K: Dickie you are such an ass. If Maureen wants to know, she can call me.

M: I'll call.

D: She told Dad about Olivia's trial.

L: didn't we all decide that was a bad idea!?

M: Oh.

K: He needed to know. Olivia needed him here and it was stupid to keep it from him.

D: When did Olivia become more important than Mom and our family?

K: Damn it Dickie. Olivia isour family, and we all bailed on her. And Mom and Dad were done a long time ago.

D: So you just decided you'd help them along.

K: Whatever Dick, I was tired of lying to Dad, and if we told him in the first place Olivia wouldn't have been hurt as bad.

D: Between you Dad, I'm starting to believe Olivia is more important than our Mom…

L: Too far Dickie.

M: When's mom going to be here?

K: I'm silencing this chat. Talk to me again when you all decide to be rational.

-000-

Olivia walked into the kitchen looking for a snack. She heard a buzz on the counter and noticed Elliot had left his phone on the counter. It buzzed twice more. She was a little worried it might be important so she lit up the screen to who was texting. Kathleen.

Just wanted you to know. Mom and Eli are flying home sometime this week.

Oh and everyone hates me.

I love you. Call me when you can.

Olivia's stomach dropped and her heart pounded. She slid the phone away. She wasn't hungry anymore. She slumped on the couch. This was going to suck. The last time Kathy and El separated it was a mess, and the reality of everything hit Olivia. He was living with her. And while it was all innocent she was well aware it didn't look that way.

She didn't want to make things worse for him with living arrangement, but she surely wasn't willing to let him leave. She knew it was selfish, but maybe it was time for her to be a little selfish.

Just then she heard her bedroom door open and Elliot step into the hall. He snagged his phone off the counter before dropping onto the couch next to her. Hee immediate impulse was to withdraw. The enticing smell of his body wash was almost too much, and she had to keep repeating still married, over and over in her head.

She watched him read the messages on his phone and as expected, his face dropped with the predictable sadness and stress.

"Everything okay?" She asked, knowing it wasn't.

He rubbed his hand against the back of his head. "Yes and no. I need to call Kathleen."

He lifted himself from the couch and walked back into the kitchen. She heard him say hello and knew Kathleen had answered his call.

She tried to give him some privacy by turning on the TV, hopefully pulling her attention there instead of the kitchen conversation. It wasn't really working.

She heard Kathleen crying and Elliot reassuring her that it will be fine and he'll "talk to them". He soothed her some more, and asked if she wanted to come over for lunch the next day. The answer was yes from the sound of things. He wrapped up the call and she heard his footsteps returning to the couch.

"How's Katie," she asked, trying to be nonchalant, but knowing she was failing at it.

"Not great." He laid his head back on the couch cushions, and stared at the ceiling. "The other kids are giving her grief for telling me to come to the trial."

"Poor girl." Olivia hated that she was the cause of the animosity between the Stanler kids. "I'm sorry El, I feel…"

"Don't say you feel responsible." His eyes met hers, "No part of this is your fault."

She wanted to believe him, but the trial was an obvious catalyst for this disaster. "Don't try to make me feel better," the comment came out more angry than she intended. "If not for the trial…"

He cut her off and she could feel his tone escalating,"No Liv. My marital problems predate this trial, and…"

She cut him off this time, "I'm pretty sure a lot of your 'predated' marital problems were my fault too."

He definitely sounded angry now, "You aren't listening Olivia. This is not on you." He shook his head in frustration.

His anger boxed her into a corner, and while 'normal' Olivia would have defended her position until death, traumatized Olivia lost so much of her natural fight. The claustrophobic feeling of being backed into a metaphorical corner was more than she could bear. She knew her fight was gone and tears were likely to replace it so she stood up abruptly and left the room. She found solace in her room with the door shut tightly behind her.

-000-

Elliot stood in stunned silence. That was not the reaction he anticipated from the reassurance he tried to extend to Olivia.

He quietly shuffled to the bedroom door. He heard the sound of restrained, muffled crying coming from inside her room. He sunk to the floor, keeping his back against the wall. He brought his knees to his chest and wrapped his around them. He leaned his head back to the wall, listening to her heartbreaking cries from the other side of the door.

Olivia had been so normal with him since his return. The trauma left in the wake of William Lewis had been more of an abstract idea rather than a concrete event reverberating through every facet of her life.

He had no idea what to do right now. Normally, they would yell at each other, give some space, and come back as more rational beings. She'd never retreated from a fight, and she certainly never melted into tears. This uncharted territory felt incredibly foreign. The old Olivia would probably scream at him to leave her the hell alone, but that didn't feel right in this situation. Instinct told him to get his ass in there. Trusting that feeling, he quietly pushed the door open.

At first he didn't see her, but he caught a glimpse of her dark hair peeking out from under a pillow on the floor next to the bed.

Sniffles still shook her body as he sat next to her. He was scared to touch her when she was like this, but the night before his touch softened the trauma response. Not knowing what to do, but sure he couldn't just sit here staring at her, he went with his gut. He softly ran his fingers down her upper arm, "Liv?" He kept his voice soothing and low.

Hee crying continued, but quieted to the sound of hiccups. He continued to lightly run his fingers up and down her arm. "What do you need? I'm not sure what I can do to help and I don't want to make you feel worse."

He was still met with tiny hiccups as she tightened the pillow around her head. Finally her strained voice drifted out from underneath the pillow, "Um, the pillow gives me darkness and pressure. It seems to calm my nervous system." She hiccuped again, "It uh, brings me back to here."

He understood. He'd inadvertently triggered something and her fear response was currently running the show. He stood and closed the blinds, darkening the room. He sat back down next to her. He took a deep breath, hoping he was doing the right things for her.

He slipped his strong arms underneath her, lifting her off the floor. Her arms wrapped around his neck, supporting some of her weight as he placed her on her bed. He pulled the comforter over her before he slipped under it with her.

He gathered her into his arms. She'd already curled herself into the fetal position, and he pulled her tightly into his chest. He curled into her, creating a cocoon of warmth and pressure. He felt her body slowly relax into him, her arms eventually found their way around his waist, allowing her to press her face into his chest. He snuggled her underneath his chin, and prayed to God she'd be okay. Because holding her in this way made him sure of one thing. She was it for him. He loved her, and he wasn't ever letting her go. Never again.

-000-

They slept, completely tangled up, in Olivia's bed, throughout the night. Morning light peeked around the drawn blinds when Olivia woke. She groaned. Her head pounded. How many more mornings would she wake up with the 'post crying hangover"?

She tried to move, but a certain hulk of a man still had her wrapped tightly. She sighed and decided not to fight it. He'd wake soon enough, and she had time to bask in the warmth of his touch and the sound of his heartbeat pounding in his chest. Her stomach flipped with butterflies as she remembered kissing him in the courthouse, and again in the precinct bunkroom. Her whole body warmed at the memory of their tongues tangled, and his hands all over her. She tried to shake away the thoughts, because right now his hands were enticingly close to certain areas of her body, and she knew it wasn't the time for any of that. They were both still too broken, and he was still too married.

Thankfully, before her thought train went too far, Elliot started to stir. His arms loosened their death grip on her and she was able to extricate herself from his limbs. She felt cold after leaving the warmth of his body, but she needed to remove herself before she pushed for something they both might regret.

His eyes opened, finding hers, as she slid off the bed. They were filled with concern, and she hated that she caused that. He reached for her and she could do nothing but situate herself next to him. He cupped her face, "Are you okay?" his voice was completely serious, full of a combination of concern and devotion.

She shook those butterflies away again before answering honestly, "No, but I'll get there."

He rubbed her cheek with his thumb affectionately, and then dropped his hand, "Okay," he gave a sad smile, but seemed satisfied with her honest answer.

She slid back off the bed, and realized how much of a mess she must be. She still wore yesterday's clothes, she couldn't remember the last time she washed her hair, and she was fairly sure she forgot to eat throughout most of yesterday. Her stomach growled, broadcasting her hunger.

Elliot looked at her with a sort of amused smile. "Hungry?" He lifted an eyebrow.

"Yeah." She admitted sheepishly.

He pulled himself from her bed, and stood close to her. "Why don't you shower, and get ready for the day, and I'll find us some breakfast."

She smiled at his near constant ability to read her mind. "Okay."

He impulsively kissed her cheek before leaving the room to give her some privacy. She lifted her hand to where he'd just kissed her, and her heart pounded. This living arrangement was going to test every last bit of her self-control.

-000-

Olivia showered longer than expressly necessary, but she needed to wash off all the emotional ick from the day before. She let the warm water hit her back and shoulders, releasing the pent up tension there. She tried not to focus on the scars littering her body, but they screamed at her everytime she was naked. They were no longer red angry marks, but they sill retained a pink hue. She'd religiously applied vitamin E oil, but she knew that would only help a little. Her body was marred by a psychopath and would be marred and ugly for the rest of her life. She breathed through her thoughts and tried to remove the negative ones. She had been talking about her new found body issues in therapy for months, but it was still a tender point.

She suddenly got an idea in her head that she knew would boost her self-esteem, even if it was a little stupid. She shut off the shower, grabbing a fluffy white towel on her way out. She heard her apartment door shut and knew Elliot had made it home from his breakfast hunt. She toweled off her dripping hair before wrapping the towel around her.

She grinned, knowing this was incredibly stupid, but she couldn't resist the urge for a little payback. She only hoped his response was a stupid as hers was.

She left her room in only a towel, hair still wet. She padded down the hallway to find Elliot sitting at a barstool with what looked like a box of muffins in front of him. He was distracted, scrolling through his phone while randomly popping pieces of muffin in his mouth.

She sauntered over, keeping one hand gripped to her towel, and stood beside him. It took all her self-control to suppress her giggles as she leaned around him, wet hair brushing his face and arm as she reached for a muffin, "What kind did you get?" She asked while picking up whatever flavor her hand grasped first. The water dripping on his arm made him turn and he nearly choked on the muffin piece in his mouth when he realized she was only in a towel.

His flustered expression was better than she imagined as he looked and then tried not to look, but failed miserably.

She suppressed her self-satisfied smile, and took a bite out of the muffin. He continued to gape at her, nearly open-mouthed, as he fought the 'looking vs not looking' battle. Paybacks a bitch, she thought humorously. "Thanks El," she continued to keep her voice natural, "I was seriously starving."

It seemed his brain was not capable of forming words at the moment, so she figured it was a good time for her to retreat. "I'm gonna finish this in my room," by now she couldn't hold back her grin. She turned away, and smiled as she felt his gaze checking her out all the way to her bedroom. After closing her door, she let out a light laugh. Scars or not, that man was more than a little attracted to her.