Prompt #15: 12 Days of Christmas
A Season of Change
~oOo~
Oregon had given Olivia a lot of time to evaluate all of the relationships in her life. Friends, family, lovers. Or the lack thereof. Elliot had unsurprisingly been the one who'd come to mind the most.
He was her best friend and partner. And with distance and silence, Olivia had finally admitted to herself that she was in love with him. She'd also come to the painful realization that he was likely never to be available.
It didn't stop her from being hopelessly in love with him.
Returning back to New York had been bittersweet. Olivia had been forced to face Elliot. A single, divorced Elliot. It had taken a few months for her to wrap her mind around the idea of his being available.
By the time December rolled around, Olivia was tired of biting her tongue. She didn't want to risk him moving on with someone else. They deserved to at least try and see if their partnership extended beyond the 1-6.
So she'd come up with a plan. It was ridiculously cliché, but she wanted to make sure he knew how she felt. They'd danced around their feelings even before they should've even had them. She didn't want to play those games again.
Day one was simple. Coffee. Her partner was the biggest coffee snob in the precinct. She'd got him the good stuff, even though it added an extra twenty minutes to her morning. She snuck it onto his desk before he arrived with a little note underneath.
Olivia tried not to watch as he slid into his seat. He glanced down at the coffee and then up at her, but she immediately looked away. "Morning."
"You know something about this?"
Olivia shrugged. "Maybe."
Elliot pulled the note out from underneath the coffee. "Maybe?"
Olivia glanced up to find him carefully folding the note and sliding it into his pocket. "Maybe."
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
Day two had been tricky until an ex-boyfriend had offered her tickets to some exhibition game. She'd immediately thought of Elliot and his son. Dickie had been surprisingly excited by the idea. This time, she'd stuck the note and tickets in his locker.
On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
The third day involved another set of negotiations—this time with his three daughters. She paid for the girls to go to dinner with Elliot. Kathleen had sent her a knowing grin but hadn't said anything specifically to her.
Maureen had mentioned their mother going on a date with a new friend. Olivia tried not to think too deeply about it. She slipped the note on the visor of the sedan, which included a time and restaurant location.
On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
"What's this?" Elliot frowned at the container she placed on his desk. She perched on the edge, reaching down to open it. "Egg rolls? We had lunch."
"Four egg rolls."
"Liv."
"Not yet." Olivia stuck a sticky note to his forehead then moved away from his desk. She was thankful when he didn't follow her. Not yet.
Despite having come to terms with her feelings, Olivia didn't want to have the conversation yet. She had plans. And maybe they weren't good ones, but she wanted to get close to Christmas before they put everything on the table.
On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
They were stuck on an early morning stakeout. It had screwed her plans for the fifth day of Christmas. She'd had to come up with something on the fly.
In between staring at an apartment building and grumbling about not getting any sleep, Olivia had slipped into the bodega down the street. She grabbed coffee and breakfast burritos. Elliot raised an eyebrow when she got back into the vehicle.
"Thought we were going to wait until Fin and Munch took over in an hour?"
"It's five in the morning." Olivia handed him a cup of coffee and one of the burritos. She'd used a sharpie in the bodega to wrap on the wrapper. "Enjoy."
Elliot shook his head. He waited a few seconds before realizing she wasn't going to say anything else. "On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…a breakfast burrito?"
"Just eat your breakfast." Olivia sipped her coffee and reconsidered many of her life choices, including freezing in a sedan at five in the morning.
"We're not going to talk about this true love stuff?"
"Not yet."
On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
The sixth day had fallen into her lap. Kathy had reached out to ask if she could cover for Elliot so he could go to the twins' recital. A recital that started at six.
Six. Sixth day.
It worked. Olivia had sent him on his way with a little note in his pocket. She knew he'd missed so many events over the years. It didn't feel like a hardship to work a little extra so he could go.
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
The seventh day wound up being another impromptu idea. They were stuck working late into the evening at the precinct, trying to piece together a puzzle of a case. Olivia had a feeling it would be an all-night affair.
A quick call to Elliot's favorite pizza place got them a large pizza cut into seven slices. It wasn't her best effort. His laughter when he realized what she'd done made it worth it.
She slipped the note across the desk. "I'll grab a couple of sodas for us."
On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
They were still stuck at the precinct the following morning. Olivia hadn't really come up with a plan for day eight. She found an open bag of candy cane Hershey Kisses in the break room with seven left.
An idea struck almost immediately. It was so cheesy. Elliot would definitely laugh at her, but it might be worth it.
Olivia waited until they were alone in the squadroom, and even Cragen had stepped out. She walked around her desk to perch on his, placing the seven Hershey kisses in front of him. "Day eight."
"You're missing one." Elliot counted out the kisses. "I see seven."
Olivia leaned forward until their lips touched. She pulled back slightly to whisper. "Eight."
On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
The ninth day had been a gift Olivia had planned over a year ago but never given to him. It was a new service weapon—a 9mm. She'd gotten it custom-made to what she knew he preferred. It was a beautiful weapon, and it had sat in a case in her closet for over twelve months.
Since Olivia knew she'd be stuck in court all day, she left the gift in his locker along with the note. He was gone by the time she got back to the squadroom. She found the note had been folded into what loosely looked like a heart. It was resting underneath her keyboard at her desk.
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
Day ten had required extra work. Olivia had reached out to some of the families they'd worked with over the years, the ones where Elliot had connected with the young victims. She'd mentioned doing something special for her partner and asked if they'd wanted to add a note or drawing.
She'd reached out at the beginning of December. The handmade cards and little crayon drawings had trickled in until, on the ninth, she'd received ten. She decided to use that for day ten.
Placing them all into a little box, Olivia had left them on Elliot's desk with yet another sticky note on top. She'd watched from across the room as he opened them. Tears streamed down his face by the time he'd finished. He'd spread all the little artworks across his desk and simply stared down at them.
Olivia slipped out of the squad room, heading upstairs to get some air. She wasn't surprised when he joined her. "You okay?"
Elliot stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and bracketing her from the wind. "Two more days."
"I know."
"You have plans for Christmas?"
"A long nap." Olivia laughed. She tried not to lean into his embrace. They didn't touch like this, though she hoped that would change. "Being Santa's a lot of work."
"Thank you."
Olivia froze when she felt his lips brush against her temple before he pulled back. "Merry Christmas, El."
"It will be."
On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
"I can't believe you and Dad are finally doing this." Kathleen clutched a bag of decorations to her chest. She handed Olivia her keys. "Maureen sent the cookies since neither of us can bake. There are exactly eleven. Why…is there eleven?"
Olivia followed Kathleen into Elliot's apartment. It hadn't taken much to convince the girls to help decorate the place for Christmas. "He'll know."
"Oh my god. Are you doing a twelve-day Christmas thing? Holy shit. I have to tell Maureen."
Olivia resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. "We're just…."
"You're totally doing a twelve-day Christmas thing." Kathleen already had her phone out before Olivia could stop her. "I thought mom and her new boyfriend were adorable, but this is amazing. Has Dad even recognized what you're doing? I bet he's completely oblivious."
"Kathleen."
It took a little cajoling to get Kathleen off her phone. But eventually, they both were able to decorate Elliot's place. They put up a small tree, lights, and all the decorations Olivia had purchased during an ill-advised late-night shopping spree.
"Is it too much?" Olivia watched Kathleen adjust the topper on the tree one last time.
"Never." Kathleen set the box of cookies on the coffee table. "Don't forget these. We should get out of here before he comes home. Dickie just texted me that we've got about thirty minutes at most."
Olivia arranged the cookies on a plate that she'd grabbed from the kitchen. She left a note underneath it, then stepped back to admire the room. "He's going to kill me."
"Nah." Kathleen grabbed her arm, dragging Olivia out of the apartment so they could lock up. "You know he loves you, right? He'll be grumpy as shit, but he'll love it because you did it for him. No one really does stuff for Dad all that often."
On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…
Olivia had no idea how it was suddenly the twenty-fourth of December. She'd gotten stuck at the hospital with Munch. It was ten minutes until midnight when she finally got to Elliot's apartment. She raced up the stairs and banged on the door, not wanting to miss ending the twelve days. He was dripping wet and wearing just a towel around his waist when he yanked the door open. "I…"
Elliot kept a hold of his towel with one hand while reaching out with the other to grab her by the arm, dragging her into his apartment. "On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…herself?"
"I wasn't sure I'd fit under the tree." Olivia slid one arm around his neck and grasped the top of his shoulder with his other hand. "I figured something out while I was in Oregon."
"Yeah?" Elliot slowly walked them backward toward his bedroom. They both laughed when he banged into the doorframe. "What did you figure out?"
"I'm in love with my partner." Olivia barely had time to set her bag down before he dragged her down onto his bed. "And I think he's in love with me."
"He is." Elliot twisted them around so she was beneath him. "I'm going to enjoy spending all fucking night showing you how much."
The author of this SVU - Heart for the Holidays story will be revealed in January