A/N: I felt like adding a nice Noah-Elliot bonding moment. Enjoy the chapter.

I DO NOT OWN LAW AND ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, LAW AND ORDER: ORGANIZED CRIME OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS.

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Elliot makes himself comfortable on the couch, eventually falling asleep.

Waking up abruptly, he is squished. A small bundle of warmth exclaims, "Elliot!"

"Noah!" Elliot matches the boy's energy.

"You stayed over!"

"I did!"

"Are you staying all day, too?"

"I don't know, bud."

"Did you have to help my mom again?"

"Yeah, I did," Elliot gives short and concise answers. Sitting up on the couch Elliot stretches out his arms and yawns. Elliot asks, "Whatcha thinking for breakfast?"

"Normally my mom makes pancakes with berries, but she isn't awake yet. I was just gonna get cereal and then watch some TV."

"Well, I happen to be the King of breakfast."

"The King of breakfast?"

"Mhmm," Elliot makes his way to the kitchen area and rifles through the pantries. Pulling out the pancake mix, he sees Noah sitting at the counter. Elliot leans against the counter and makes direct eye contact with the boy, "How would you feel about chocolate chips instead of berries?"

"Really?" Noah asks excitedly.

"Really," Elliot goes to the cabinet with the sugar and pulls out a bag of chocolate chips.

As he turns the knob on the stovetop, Noah blurts, "Do you like my mom?"

Elliot replies with a smile, "Of course I like your mom, Noah."

"Do you like like her?" Noah asks more bluntly than before.

Elliot is stunned. He answers honestly, but is respectful of Olivia's privacy, "That's a complicated question."

Noah continues, "She's really happy when you're around." Elliot is speechless. The curly-haired boy bounces off his chair to stand next to Elliot at the stove, "I think she like likes you."

"Does she now?" Elliot grins as he flips a pancake over with a spatula.

"She looks at you differently," Noah sprinkles some more chocolate chips into the batter, "It's different from when she looks at anybody else." Before Elliot can respond, Noah states, "I want her to be happy."

"Noah?" a woman's voice can be heard from around the corner.

"Mom!" Noah runs up to Olivia as she turns towards the kitchen. Wrapping his arms around her he exclaims, "Elliot's making pancakes!"

"Elliot-" Olivia looks up from her embrace with her son and makes direct eye contact with the burly man standing over her stove. Olivia shuffles closer to the countertop and whispers, "You were supposed to leave last night…"

Elliot opens his mouth to talk but is cut off by the excited boy, "We put chocolate chips in it, instead of berries!"

"I hope that's okay…" Elliot flips the very last pancake onto the plate.

Olivia takes a deep breath as she processes her current situation. Smiling and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, she softly speaks up, "It's okay, Elliot. Thank you for making breakfast."

Elliot smiles as he brings the plate of pancakes to the counter where three place settings are placed. Olivia sits on the end with Noah in the middle and Elliot on the other end. With a mouthful of pancakes, Noah laughs, "You really are the King of breakfast! These are delicious!"

Olivia warns, "Don't talk with your mouthful, Noah. That's gross."

Swallowing the mouthful, he looks at Olivia, "Can Elliot always make our pancakes."

Olivia glances at Elliot who nearly chokes on his food. Smiling at her son, she dabs the corner of her mouth with a napkin, "You'd have to ask Elliot."

Noah swivels his body to face Elliot and pleads, "Please, Elliot. Pllleeeeaaassseeee."

"I'll have to talk with your mom, about that, bud," Elliot chuckles and wipes his mouth with his napkin.

"You two talk about it," Noah gets up and places his dish in the sink, "Thank you for breakfast." Skipping down the hall he enters his room with the intent of eavesdropping on the adult's conversation.

Elliot reaches out to clean up Olivia's plate, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Olivia looks up in confusion.

"I should have left last night. I can see how this crossed some boundaries. I'll just clean up and go-"

"Elliot, it's okay… I just- I wasn't expecting to see you're bright and cheery face in my kitchen this morning."

"It's still-"

"If anybody should apologize, it should be me."

Elliot stops dead in his tracks. Placing the plates in the sink he turns around slowly to meet her gaze, "Why are you apologizing?"

"Last night… I was hostile. You asked a question and I should have been honest…" Olivia steps around the counter and moves closer to him.

"It's okay, Liv. Obviously, it brought up some things-"

"I'll tell you- one day. I just… I don't know if I'm ready for you to look at me differently. Look at me with… pity…"

"Olivia…"

"Elliot-"

"You could never say or do anything that would make me feel any different about you…"

Olivia sighs sharply, "That's not true…" Olivia rests her hands on his shoulders and looks deeply into his bright blue eyes, "I wish it was… But it's not…"

Elliot places his hands on her hips, and as much as he wants to place them lower, he resists. Longingly looking into her chocolate eyes he quietly repeats, "One day…"

Olivia nods slowly, "One day…" Ready to turn around and clean the dishes, Olivia quietly mumbles, "I care for you too, Elliot…"

Elliot freezes in shock. Expecting Olivia to continue speaking, he stays silent. Realizing that she has nothing more to say he croaks, "Liv…" Pushing her hair back behind her ear, he so desperately wants to kiss her. Olivia raises her hands to cup his face. Leaning into each other they both become more breathy. Elliot slightly pulls back and whispers, "Not like this…" Quickly looking at him, she furrows her brow. Elliot softly explains, "This isn't how I want it to happen. I can't kiss you in your kitchen. Not like this…"

Olivia rests her forehead on his and lets a breath out. She knows he is right. Olivia asks quietly, "How about dinner?"

"Sounds lovely," Elliot moves his hands to rest on her shoulders. He pulls her in and lightly presses a kiss against the top of her head, "I would love that, Liv."

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A/N: Hope you enjoyed!