A.N. Wow this chapter has been in the editing phase for a LONG time, but I think it's okay now (hopefully not so lame lol) and I'm excited to share it. Happy reading :)
First class, that's what the uniform upgraded her to. They did the most to avoid the wrong side of the law. Right in the front she sat, looking away from the concerned glances of nearly every passenger who entered. Her fault for wearing the uniform on a plane.
'Okay. Elliot's right. I really miss you.'
Olivia read Alex's last text for the umpteenth time. It was the third time that day Alex mentioned missing her. She smirked and turned off her phone. Alex was cute when she let her soft side show.
She pictured Alex standing in the squad room, sneaking in those endearing texts but on the outside remaining devoid of emotion to the rest of the office. It was beautiful, the way small hints of emotion showed through her rigid professionalism, and only with certain people. Others in the office would never know Alex's warm tendencies, her passionate lovemaking, or the way concern took her eyes in their deepest moments. Two years into their relationship and coming home to a surprise of candles or a warm "just because" hug still caught her off guard. She'd never known someone who hugged her so close for so long.
Alex was the one, and undoubtedly so.
An hour and a half, that's all it took. Modern planes were a marvel. The speed in which they moved often forgotten but nothing short of miraculous.
At 6:23 in the evening she walked into the squad room feeling like an imposter.
"Liv?" Elliot stood from his desk. "What're you doing here?"
His voice made her smile and she approached him casually. "Expecting a warmer welcome from my partner." She said, that smile turning to a crooked grin.
'What the hell? I thought she had 2 months left.'
Olivia's face was the last he expected to see, and she walked into the precinct like she was on a mission. Beside their desks they hugged, both smiling over each others' shoulders. Olivia squeezed him a little more than normal. She wanted to come home.
They separated.
"How're the New Englanders treating you?"
"Good."
"They haven't tried to take you to a Red Sox game have they?"
Olivia smiled. "Yes, but I didn't go."
He squeezed her shoulder. "Good choice. I'm proud of you."
Olivia eyed the small army of little green toy soldiers covering her desk's top. "I see you've been taking care of my desk."
"It gets boring around here without someone to talk to."
Olivia smirked. "Wow, I leave for a few months and now you're confessing your feelings…"
Elliot grunted a scoff.
"Didn't think you'd miss me that much." She chuckled a little and he stepped back, sizing her.
"What's with the uniform?"
"One of their Sergeants retired this morning. I didn't have time to change after the ceremony."
Elliot eyed her for a long moment, his detective brain working. "Because you ran to the airport and hopped on the first plane to Manhattan."
She looked down with a rare and bashful smile, fiddling with the thick rim of her police hat.
"Now what would make you do that?" Elliot grinned knowingly. "Surprising a certain someone—"
"Elliot, Petrovsky denied a hold on Ramirez's bail."
They heard Alex before they saw her.
"He's already out—"
Olivia turned around and Alex slowed to a stop in the middle of the squadroom when their gazes met. "...I missed you too." Olivia said with a tender smile.
Elliot's brow lifted behind her. Olivia wasn't the type to make declarations, and certainly not in the presence of everyone in the office. Not when their jobs depended on their professionalism.
But he'd never seen this look in his partner's eyes. Olivia watched Alex as though the rest of the world didn't exist.
"What are you doing here?" Alex said with a furrowed brow. Typical Alex. It took her a second to switch out of work-mode. Elliot could see her mind spinning furiously at Olivia's surprise visit, as she stared at the detective with a quizzical look.
They were both silent but Alex made the first move, approaching slower than before, laying her coat and a tri-folded blue paper on the desk nearest to her. Olivia glanced down and swallowed the lump in her throat. The word "I" came from her mouth but nothing else. She clutched something in her coat pocket, her hand inching out ever so slightly.
Elliot's eyes went wide, and a smile stretched across his face. 'Come on partner, come on partner, come on partner', his mind said a hundred times. Fuck the consequences, this was worth it.
"This is where we met."
At Olivia's serious tone and the determination lighting her eyes, Alex gave a nervous chuckle and glanced around the room. "Liv?"
"I love you."
Alex's gaze shot wide and darted back to Olivia, her brow furrowing. "Liv." She said through clenched teeth.
"I'm sorry it took me so long to say it." Olivia pulled the little box from her pocket. "I'm going to get in a lot of trouble for this."
Alex's expression fell, herself paling at the velvet box in Olivia's hand. She froze, staring into Olivia's eyes. Her chest and shoulders heaving slightly with her deeper breaths. She knew what was coming, they all did.
The office quieted. Phones sounded to the last ring then cut off, left unanswered by awestruck cops turned away from their desks.
In front of Alex, Olivia started to kneel.
"Well Shit." Elliot said under his breath. This was really happening.
"What're you—" Alex snatched Olivia's lapel in a swift motion, trying to catch her before she made it all the way down, in a futile attempt to save their reputations. But she ripped her hand away as though the uniform scorched her. Her touching Olivia in that manner was just as bad. It confirmed everything. But that didn't matter anymore. The damage was done the moment Olivia said I love you.
The prosecutor's eyes darted around the room, anywhere but Olivia as a rosy tint flushed her cheeks and the precinct's rush came to a halt for them.
"Alex..."
Alex caught sight of the glistening diamond ring and put a hand over her mouth.
"Marry me." Direct and to the point. Olivia didn't waste time on some Shakespearean declaration of love.
Shellshocked, the prosecutor, who was never short on a comeback, struggled for her words. "Have you lost your fucking mind?" Alex said blinking through watering eyes and a quivering lip. "Get up."
Olivia stood, a little confused, but two hands took her coat and Alex pulled her close, as though she wanted nothing more than to escape the world in Olivia's grasp.
"So?" Olivia asked and Alex nodded readily.
Her words were caught, wadded and tangled up in that thick lump in her throat.
To hell with everyone else. All she wanted was Olivia.
Alex kissed her before Olivia could put the ring on her finger. Just long enough to convey her acceptance, even if she wanted more; she wouldn't turn their moment into fodder for others to drool over.
Proposals, she never understood the grandiosity of them, how people bawled and carried on. But a relentless surge of emotion overwhelmed her as she tried to blink back the tears threatening to break her resolve.
She pulled away from the kiss but her hands stayed pressed to Olivia's cheeks. She softly smiled along with Olivia, who took a hand from her face and slipped the ring onto Alex's finger.
"Finally!" Someone shouted and claps started around the room, rushing the two women back to reality.
Alex hugged Olivia and smiled into her shoulder. To smell her again, to feel her warmth, was a blessing.
They stayed pressed together for a while longer then Olivia pulled away, wiping tears from her own cheeks.
"You're staying right?" Alex spoke only between them, but Olivia didn't answer the question immediately.
"Please tell me you are." Alex pushed.
"Just the weekend."
A shutter click sounded and they looked to where Elliot stood with the digital camera he pulled out of his desk. "You'll thank me one day." Elliot said and Fin stepped beside him with a smile directed at them.
"'bout time."
Alex wiped her eyes before more tears could fall and hooked an arm around Olivia's neck, poking a finger into the detective's chest. "You are so lucky I don't have to be in court."
Engaged.
Alex touched the ring on her finger, caressed it as they meandered down the hall in the D.A.'s Office. They walked a little closer but kept quiet—Alex couldn't trust her words, not with her emotion threatening to burst every time she looked at the ring on her finger.
No one in the D.A.'s Office should have suspected anything different between them. It was just the SVU detective visiting the SVU attorney, right? But rumors from the precinct travelled and spread like wildfire. Someone likely got on the phone or instant messaged a coworker right after they left. Now, walking the same halls to her office with Olivia in tow felt very different.
Her coworkers eyed them, some turning over shoulders to witness the out-ed couple, likely envisioning raunchy thoughts of what they'd do behind her closed office door. Coworkers probably thought they'd rip all their clothes off as soon as the lock clicked, and they wouldn't be entirely wrong. Her and Olivia had been down that road before, lying on the couch in her office with little on, then later trying to smooth out their rumpled clothes.
Alex cleared her throat and unlocked the door. She wanted Olivia in her arms but she could wait—
No. She couldn't.
The door closed behind them and Alex pulled Olivia into a kiss as soon as they were in the privacy of her office. Olivia tensed, surprised by the sudden turn of the moment, but a second later she pulled Alex to her, all her need pouring into her enveloping embrace. It'd only been a few months apart but felt so much longer.
Alex pulled from the kiss and pressed her hands to Olivia's face. "What were you thinking?" She softly scolded Olivia and took the detective's coat in her fists, then kissed her the moment Olivia tried to speak.
"I can't tell you if you keep kissing me."
Alex felt her eyes start to water again and growled a little. She couldn't turn it off, suddenly feeling as whimsical as a damsel from a Valentine's day jewelry commercial. She hugged Olivia tightly, clinging.
"I was thinking that…I love you, and…"
Her tears fell at Olivia's soft admission.
"That you're the best thing I have."
Alex pulled away and placed a hand against Olivia's cheek. "I love you too…but your timing…"
Olivia looked down with a tight smile.
"Well…" Alex wiped her eyes and moved to her desk. "If you wanted to rock the boat, you certainly did. I say an hour before Donnelly calls, maybe less-"
*Riiiing*
"Or not." Alex picked up the phone on her desk and hesitated a second before she spoke. "Cabot."
"I hear congratulations are in order."
Alex sucked her teeth at Donnelly's less than enthused voice. "Figured it get to you sooner than later."
"I assume you've got the detective with you."
Alex glanced to Olivia. "Yup." She said almost timidly, left with no choice but to tell the truth.
"My office in an hour, both of you. Try to keep your clothes on until then."
Alex tightly smiled. "I'm sure we can act like adults Liz."
"Great to hear."
The phone call ended mutually and Alex set the phone down softly, herself in thought as the consequences of their "display" caught up to her.
"How pissed is she?"
"She wants to see both of us." Alex approached Olivia. "She also thinks we're a couple of horny teenagers who can't keep their clothes on for an hour."
Olivia looked down. "Sorry."
"Don't be. This is worth it." Alex took Olivia's coat and went for another kiss but stopped short. "How did you know?"
"Know what?"
"That I'd say yes."
"I didn't." Olivia softly smiled. "But what's life without trying, right?"
Alex's smile turned mischievous and she looked down Olivia's shirt, taking Olivia's belt into her hands. "Have I ever told you how good you look in uniform?"
"No, I don't think you have."
Alex bit her lip. "How long will it take you to get this back on?"
"I'm pretty fast."
Alex loosened Olivia's tie. "She said an hour…I'd say we've got at least 40 minutes." Alex leaned in. "Let's make it count."