And the ghosts didn't disturb them that night anymore.

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Olivia couldn't remember the last time she had slept so soundly. And she couldn't remember the last time she felt as comfortable, as safe, as she did there, sleeping next to her partner.

And neither of them woke up all night, not until Fin's quiet, but demanding, voice snapped them awake. And it wasn't until Olivia turned her head in the direction of the voice and met her colleague's confused, but at the same time knowing look, that she realized that the rays of the morning sun were peeking through the curtains, the morning was already late, and she was lying in bed, her arm still wrapped tightly around her partner. She released her grip in a split second, bounced to sit up, leaving Elliot to sleepily rub his eyes, panic growing inside her with every passing second.

"Fin…" She started, but he raised his hands to stop her.

"You don't have to explain anything to me," he answered briefly, but Olivia brushed hastily her hair out of her face and shook her head.

"This is not what it seems. I…"

"Uh-huh?" He folded his arms, almost amusement flashing in his eyes, clearly enjoying the situation. However, Olivia's frustration grew all the time.

"No, no, it… I couldn't sleep after that door incident, and… I…"

"You accidentally ended up in your partner's bed, counting sheep?" Fin raised one eyebrow but then shook his head. "You know, it doesn't matter to me personally what you do in your free time. But honestly, I'm not surprised at all," he walked over to the kitchen cupboard, ignoring Olivia's desperate attempt to save her face, and poured a glass of water.

"No, Fin, this is not…"

"But I have to say that you didn't think this through. You were lucky that it wasn't, for example, the captain who caught you sleeping in each other's arms."

Fin's words were like someone had poured cold water on her, and she stood up, realizing how foolish they had been. How stupid she had been. She had completely forgotten about their captain's presence, forgotten that he was sleeping in the loft, only a few feet away from them, and she turned to look at her partner, eyes wide, panic rising in her chest again.

"Liv," Elliot seemed to sense her distress, sense her racing thoughts blaming her, screaming at her that if Cragen had seen them, it would mean the end of their partnership, and…

"Liv, calm down."

"Calm down?!" Her voice sounded unnaturally shrill as she looked at her partner, heart pounding in her ears. "You know what will happen if he saw us! It… He… He jumps to conclusions even though it didn't mean anything!"

Olivia wasn't sure if she was just imagining it, or if hurt flashed in her partner's eyes, but she didn't have time to dwell on it. She started striding towards the bedroom, the one where she should have slept if she hadn't been so stupid, so weak, so…

But a hand gripping her arm made her stop and turn her head. Fin was standing next to her, a warning look in his eyes, making her frown.

"What?"

"I've promised myself that I won't interfere in this, but I want to tell you one thing anyway," he sighed, his voice so low that only she could hear it. It made the panic within her settle a little, replace by an insecurity that was more receptive to the opinions of others. "I will say this only once," he continued. "I have known you two for 12 years, and with the certainty of experience I can say: don't make the same mistake as with Oregon."

"I…" Olivia tried to protest but Fin cut her off.

"I know you're scared, but don't run. Don't make this his fault," he glanced behind, Olivia followed his gaze, and saw Elliot, who had started to close the couch. "Because it takes two to tango. Don't hurt him because you are scared, don't say it didn't mean anything."

"Fin…"

"Because you and I, we both know that's not true," he finished, released his grip on her arm, and after giving him another sharp, final look, he turned and started walking towards the bathroom. Olivia stood still, the remaining panic, confusion, and uncertainty swirling inside her, and she glanced at her partner who were arranging the couch cushions.

"Don't hurt him because you are scared."

"Don't say it didn't mean anything."

"Because we both know that's not true."

She forced herself to take her eyes off of Elliot, shook her head and started to head for the bedroom.

Fin goddamnit.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

If Cragen had seen them, he didn't say a word about it. According to his own words, he had slept like a log, so soundly that he had no perception of even the night's incident of slamming doors and his angry subordinates. No, instead he looked more rested than Olivia remembered ever seeing him when he arrived at the breakfast table. Fin, Munch and Cassidy also seemed rested despite the incident, munching on their sandwiches and talking happily.

Only Elliot was sitting quietly, slightly absent, and Olivia felt the guilt burn inside her, believing she knew what was wrong with him. She had not yet managed to muster the courage required for an apology; she knew where that conversation would lead, she could already hear the difficult questions in her head, and she didn't want to go into it. Daylight was illuminating the cabin, people's happy voices filled every corner of it, far away were the darkness of the night, the mysterious sounds and the fear that seemed to squeeze the guts into a ball, and fallen asleep was also the Olivia, who had curled up next to her partner and wrapped her arms around him without a trace of worry.

The only one left was the Olivia, who regretted what she had done. Regretted, but hated that the little voice inside her disagreed. The Olivia who didn't dare apologize for the words she had uttered in a panic. The Olivia who had hurt her partner by blurting out how "it hadn't meant anything", despite the fact that of course it had meant something.

The Olivia who regretted her actions because now she knew how much it had meant to her.

The Olivia who regretted her actions now that she knew her partner hadn't stopped her.

Maybe that was one of the reasons why she was afraid to apologize to him. She was confused. All these years, the knowledge that he wasn't interested in her as anything more than a friend had given her the strength to deny her own feelings and seal them deep inside. He had been a family man who loved his wife. He had been a newly divorced single man who had chosen her over the criminal who kidnapped the children, but at the end of the day, Dani Beck had been there. Then he'd been a new father who loved his wife again, a man who'd slept on her couch one night, whose life had fallen apart, and finally he'd told her he was seeing other women.

His feelings for her had been nothing but clear.

Until he'd let her into his bed with open arms, relaxed under her arms, and hurt had flashed in his eyes when she'd said it had been meaningless.

"Should we go for a walk in the forest after breakfast?" Cassidy asked, mouth full of bread. "I looked at the maps last night, and I noticed that there is some kind of forest path behind the cabin."

"I was actually thinking of going to the store," Cragen scratched his cheek. "But you can go if you want."

"If you don't mind, I could come with you," Fin poured the rest of the coffee down his throat. "Outdoor activities are not for me today."

Elliot shrugged instead. "I can go for a walk. Is it a long path?"

Cassidy shook his head, got up, opened one of the kitchen drawers and laid the map he took from there on the table. It looked old, despite being made in 2008, and Munch frowned.

"Are you sure the path still exists?"

"No, but that's why I thought it could be exciting," Cassidy grinned, making Olivia cross her arms.

"How much extra excitement do you need?"

Cassidy seemed to struggle for a moment, as if just remembering what had happened the previous evening and night, but Munch instead had leaned closer and was squinting at the map through his glasses.

"Am I seeing correctly, or are there some buildings at the end of the path?"

Everyone leaned over the map to take a closer look at where their colleague was pointing with his index finger, Cragen had to put on his glasses and then he nodded.

"I think so."

"What kind of house has no road at all?" Fin asked, frowning, and a bad feeling started to grow inside Olivia.

"Are we seriously going to see some damn abandoned house in the middle of the forest?"

"You scared?" Cassidy grinned, not noticing the real nervousness that caused the same heavy, oppressive feeling to spread in Olivia's chest like last night, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw her partner's expression grow serious. Cassidy patted her lightly on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll protect you."

"How noble," Fin snorted from the other side of the table as he started to collect his dirty dishes from the table with his captain, and Olivia glared at her former colleague.

"I can take care of myself, thank you very much. Your protection skills didn't really inspire confidence in me last night anyway."

The statement was meant half in jest, but Cassidy's expression darkened, and his eyes narrowed, and before Olivia could change the subject, he growled:

"Is that why you went to sleep next to Stabler?"

For a moment everyone fell silent. She saw her partner's eyes widen from the other side of the table, the words got stuck in her throat as her heart skipped a beat, and then she felt her captain's gaze bore into the back of her neck, burning, piercing.

"Is there something I should know?"

Panic was ringing alarm bells in Olivia's head, but despite that she turned, forced herself to look casual with the last of her strength and shook her head.

"It's not what Brian made it sound like, Cap. I… I couldn't sleep and left the bedroom so I wouldn't disturb Cassidy. Elliot was awake, we talked on the sofa, at some point we fell asleep. That's it."

Cragen didn't seem convinced though, he was still looking at her piercingly, appraisingly, switching his gaze to Elliot now and then, the seconds were ticking, the alarm bells in Olivia's head going off to their rhythm, she swallowed, waited, waited... But then their captain snorted, shook his head and continued on his way to the sink where he put the dishes, informed Fin that they would be leaving in 10 minutes and closed the bathroom door. The moment the lock clicked, Cassidy turned his head towards her, an apologetic look on his face, but Olivia just pursed her lips.

"I'm sorry, guys, I didn't…"

"Shut up, Cassidy," Fin growled as he walked past him. "We are at a cabin, not in prison. No need for snitches here, especially since it's none of our business."

Cassidy shut his mouth, Elliot got up from the table, and Olivia wasn't sure if she should be grateful or angry with Fin, so she pulled the map on the table closer and focused her gaze on three small black squares which looked like forgotten boxes in the middle of the forest.

And she wasn't sure if she was just imagining it when a cold draft of air swept over her and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.