Prompt #38: It's their first Valentine's anniversary as a couple. Elliot and Olivia have to cook together for a Valentine's dinner with their squad. They either have fun and bond over laughing at their failed attempts at a meal or get flustered when one of them has to teach the other how to do certain steps, leading to potential intimacy.
How Things Stay The Same
Chapter 1
~oOo~
Olivia sighed deeply and ran achy fingers along her tender scalp. It was 3:17 a.m. and she had just walked in the door after a grueling 13 hours at the precinct. Despite the exhaustion, there was a dinner party to host and Elliot had somehow finessed her into learning how to cook a homemade Italian pasta dish for the event. Spaghetti alla puttanesca, she was pretty sure. Or something fancy along those lines. And completely from scratch, he'd insisted.
When she remembered the plans they'd made, she felt her heart speed up. That ridiculously talented tongue may have had something to do with how she ended up in her current predicament.
"Fuck," she grunted, and pressed her thighs together against the wood of the barstool, hoping to bring herself some momentary relief.
Thankfully, at that moment, her phone buzzed.
For a moment, panic ran a course through her veins, and she quickly rose to her feet. Please God, she thought. Don't let this be an issue with the Monet case.
After six torturous weeks, they had wrapped it up today with all but a pretty pink bow on top to present to the ADA, and she didn't think she could take one more damn bump in the road.
With slight trepidation, she reached for her cell and opened her messages. Rollins. Thank God. Quickly skimming the message, it was just the blonde confirming that the sitter for the little Carisis was still on for tonight, and that she and Sonny would be there around 6:30.
Sending back a simple "Fantastic! I can't wait to see you! *heart emoji*" in return, she flicked back to her texts. Pressing Elliot's name, she grinned at the last message he'd sent.
"Fucking Queens traffic. Bell won't let me use the lights. ️*sad emoji* I just want to get home and have you all to myself for a few hours. ? *devil emoji*"
She felt a shiver run through her. In the whirlwind of the few months they'd been partners in all senses of the word, his possessive side certainly hadn't calmed down whatsoever. Not that she was complaining. It brought her a thrill, knowing she belonged to him as much as he belonged to her.
She briefly fiddled with the compass pendant around her neck. Trying to wrap her head around how quickly time had gone by was leaving her dizzy.
He should be walking through the door any moment, she realized. Olivia quickly surveyed herself in the mirror on the living room wall. She had on a cornflower blue silk button-down, and under it, a matching lacy bra. That, however, was purely for her own enjoyment. Being in her position of power didn't leave much time for blatant femininity; this way she could still hold on to a part of herself that others may have deemed long gone.
Not to mention that she knew Elliot would go absolutely wild for it upon discovery. She grinned widely, as she popped a few of the buttons, allowing for the tiniest pop of light blue against her tan sternum.
At that moment, she thanked God, along with any other force of the universe, for the McCanns, and for Noah's relationship with his stepbrother.
But even heavier at the forefront of her mind was the fact that she wanted to jump Elliot's bones in peace tonight; without his hand over her mouth as she came.
"Get a grip, Benson," she muttered to herself. "You still have 6 hours to get through," she thought, ruefully.
Truth be told though, tonight was long overdue. Between cases and retirements and marriages and babies, time had slipped quietly by, as it was apt to do.
She missed Amanda. Elliot missed picking on the blonde. And Carisi, well, to this very moment she swears that he always made a better cop than an attorney. But she'd taken him under her wing, mother hen that she is.
Fin and Phoebe. Now there was a topic for this Valentine's Day dinner. Partners back in the day, fast forward 30 years and she's never seen him happier.
Alex — sweet, fierce and understanding Alex — and her partner Rianne. God, how much things had changed.
She hadn't realized she was crying until she felt a tear hit the back of her hand, and then another. It was then that she heard the code being punched in the door. Quickly swiping at her eyes in a futile attempt to stop the stream, she took a deep breath to steel herself.
She felt immediately at peace the moment he walked through the doorway. She let out a deep sigh as the smell of amber, scotch, dry-erase ink, and smoke filled her nostrils.
Before he had the door fully shut behind him, Elliot found himself being propelled back against the solid piece of oak.
"Oof," he gasped as she knocked the wind out of him. Slightly startled, he looked down with wide eyes at his partner and instinctually wrapped his arms around her waist, one hand splayed on her back, cradling her. Olivia's head fit perfectly into the crook of his neck, and she relished the solid expanse of his shoulders under her fingertips.
"Liv?" he murmured into her hair, bringing one hand up to tap her hip once, then twice.
She nodded into him. Their own code.
"I just…missed you, El," she sniffled once, trying to reel in the remnants of her nostalgic tears.
"I missed you, baby." He dropped a kiss to the crown of her head.
Satisfied that she wasn't hurt or upset, he trailed his hand from her lower back down to the curve of her ass and gave a not-so-gentle squeeze.
Having its intended effect, Olivia squealed and jerked back slightly, just enough that he could now access her lips. Sealing her mouth with his own, he let out a groan as her tongue ran over his lower lip, and then into his mouth, trailing the contours. He felt his dick twitch and grunted into her mouth. "Mmmf."
She pulled back a hair's breadth away from his lips, one eyebrow raised, panting heavily.
"Fuck, Liv. As much as I want to take you up against this door right now, you know we have to get ready for tonight." But he couldn't resist placing another kiss on her pouty lips.
Taking that moment of opportunity, Olivia snaked her hand down between them, until she was cupping the bulge in his jeans.
Elliot hissed, and let out a ragged, "Christ." But he couldn't help himself from rutting up into her hand once, just to get a little taste of later.
The captain relented and placed a chaste kiss on his lips.
"Later, baby," she breathed, stepping back.
Elliot let himself look at her — really look at her — for the first time since walking in the door. Ethereal was the only word that came to mind.
Olivia chuckled nervously under his gaze, shifting on her feet. "What is it?"
"You, Liv. Just you." His answer was simple, and he acted like that short phrase should answer all her questions. And, in a way, it did.
She flushed under his intense stare. "I love you, Elliot," she murmured, stepping forward to close the space between them once more. She swore she could see the words — out of her mouth before she could think — physically hit Elliot in the heart.
Opting for an optimal blow, and because she didn't feel her simple statement encompassed enough, she placed a hand on his chest, and a few fingers over his lips to stop him. "I am in love with you, El. Utterly, soul-shakingly, in love with you." Her voice was shaky, and she couldn't help the few tears that rolled down her cheek.
His eyes widened, softened, turned a stormy shade of blue, and filled with tears all at once.
Grasping his love by the shoulders, he pulled her against his chest. Cradling her, he whispered, "I love you, Olivia. I think I've loved you, and only you, my entire life. I just didn't know it was you specifically, until 26 years ago."
It wasn't the first time it had been said. Technically he said it first a few years ago. She winced as Kathleen's gaze of shock and awe popped into her mind. The way Eli — precious, naive Eli — had shrunk back into the couch. The way her own blood had run frigid, her breath sucked into the abyss of longing and desperation.
But that man, that broken man — deep in grief, denial, and longing — was gone. All that remained was the ionic bond that had kept them together all those years ago, the same one that carried them through a decade apart.
But when he said it now, it felt absolutely unreserved, blatant, purposeful, and all-encompassing.
They both chose to look past the cliché of confessions of love on Valentine's Day — their first as a couple. Still, the irony wasn't lost on them and Olivia let out a rough laugh.
She choked on the mass of feelings in her chest and let out a small cry against him. His hold on her tightened.
"Elliot," she simply said, in the faintest of whispers.
"I know, baby," he murmured, his lips ghosting the top of her head once, and then again.
He held her, embraced the scent of jasmine wafting from her skin; the way her body would tremble, yet also still, at his touch. The power exchanged between both of them, unexplainable.
Dinner can wait another five minutes. Hell, as far as they were concerned, it could wait forever.
The author of this SVU - Love Lead You Home story will be revealed in March