I DO NOT OWN OR MAKE ANY PROFIT OFF OF LAW AND ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT AND ITS CHARACTERS.

A/N: I love your perspectives! 3 I got some comments and messages about Kathy's conversation with Olivia and I feel like I need to give y'all my train of thought.

I have this feeling in my bones that Kathy would understand why Elliot went to Olivia's instead of going home. She is definitely hurt, but I feel like she is very concerned for him and loves him enough to let him go. I'm pretty sure there is an episode where Kathy spoke with Olivia and told her that she would never understand the bond between Elliot and Olivia.

I don't think Kathy is the devil. This is not to say that it will all be sunshine and rainbows between Kathy, Olivia, and Elliot as this story goes on. Stick around and see what goes down between them.

~~~ooOOOoo~~~

Around eleven in the evening, Olivia gives up on the idea that Elliot would wake up. She debates between sleeping on the couch or sleeping next to him again. Sleeping on the couch would allow her some breathing room and to feel more comfortable- especially after her conversation with Kathy that afternoon. The problem is if Elliot wakes up while she is on the couch. Would he freak out? Would he think she abandoned him?

Making her choice, she slips in between the blankets. She feels Elliot's body heat radiating onto her. She can't help but fall asleep to the voice of Kathy.

'We tried to make things work for Eli.'

'There's a reason he went to you.'

'He loves you.'

'Do you love him?'

~~~ooo~~~

Olivia jolts awake to her alarm clock blaring in her ear. Aggressively hitting the button to make it stop, she groans lightly. Looking to the side of her, she sees Elliot shift slightly and huff. Not wanting to wake him if he is still asleep, she slides out from under the blankets and tiptoes to her dresser drawers. "Liv…" he calls out.

She thinks, 'He's just sleep talking.'

"Liv, what time is it?" Elliot groggily asks.

'Fuck,' she thinks to herself. Turning around to face Elliot, she answers his question, "It's seven."

Propping himself up on his elbow, he yawns, "It feels like I've been sleeping for a lot longer."

"You have," Olivia closes her sock drawer and smiles softly, "It's Thursday, El. You've been sleeping for twenty-eight hours."

His jaw drops, "You're kidding."

She shakes her head and enters her bathroom, "Nope."

Elliot scrubs his hands over his face and takes a deep breath. He hops out of bed and sees his clothes neatly folded on top of the dresser. With a soft chuckle, he quickly strips out of his pajamas and slips into his clean clothes. His clothes are covered with the smell of Olivia's detergent. Inhaling sharply, his muscles relax as the scent of lavender enters his system.

Bursting through the bathroom door, she is shocked to see Elliot fully dressed. The silence filling the room is coated with a thick sense of awkwardness. Olivia is the first to speak, "You feeling hungry?"

Feeling his abdomen growl, he nods his head, "Considering I haven't eaten anything in thirty hours, I'd say yeah… I'm starving."

Leading the way through the hall, Olivia enters the kitchen, and opens her refrigerator, "For food, I have bacon, frozen waffles, toast, and some berries." She glances over at her partner who has sat at the two-person dining table. With a quick breath she continues, "For drinks, I have orange juice, milk, and water."

"I'm fine with whatever," Elliot tries not to be more of a burden than he already feels he is.

"Then you're getting frozen waffles and berries. You want butter and syrup?"

"Sure."

"What do you want to drink?"

"Whatever you're having."

"El," Olivia turns her head and glares at Elliot. She knows he is trying not to make things difficult for her. Asking once more, she deepens her tone, "What would you like to drink?"

"Orange juice," he answers blankly.

"See? That wasn't too hard was it," Olivia tries to lighten the mood.

The waffles pop up from the toaster and are plated on separate wax-coated paper plates. Olivia walks the plates over to the table. Sitting down she explains, "Cragen seeing if you can get your pension."

Elliot places his fork down and slowly lifts his head to look at Olivia, "You talked with Cragen?"

'Here it comes,' she thinks. Olivia is going to have to explain everything that happened over the twenty-eight-hour period Elliot was sleeping. "I called Cragen yesterday morning to request more time off. He hadn't heard that you quit. He wanted to talk with 1PP about getting you your job back but-"

"I can't do it, Liv. I can't go back. I don't have it in me," he quickly interrupts her.

"I told him that we talked and that you won't go back… He's working on getting you your pension."

"I quit. I can't get my pension."

"He's trying to pull some strings," she delicately says. Elliot's head lowers as he processes the mess he created. Olivia shovels the last piece of her frozen waffle in her mouth and points to Elliot's plate, "Eat up."

Following her orders, Elliot slowly eats his breakfast. Bringing his plate to the kitchen, he plants his feet next to Olivia. She shuts the running sink water off and faces him, "You don't have to clean up."

Reluctantly, he hands Olivia his dirty plate. Looking out into the living area he recognizes a certain gray beat-up duffle bag that sits by the door. Thinking out loud, he asks, "Is that my duffle bag?"

'Shit! I meant to move that,' Olivia thinks to herself as she shuts the water off once more. She leads him into the living room where Elliot sits on the couch and Olivia on the armchair. With a sigh, she explains, "Kathy called yesterday morning." Not knowing what to say, Elliot stays quiet and allows her to continue her explanation, "She was really worried about you."

He rolls his eyes and scoffs, "I'm sure she was."

"She was," she confirms her original statement, "Elliot, she didn't know about the shooting." Olivia reaches her hand out and places it on his knee in a show of support, "Kathy told me what she texted you." Olivia could see pain hit him instantly. His eyes were encased in a thick layer of tears. Not wanting to show weakness, he lowers his head. Slowly rising from her chair and keeping her hand on his knee, Olivia takes a seat next to Elliot on the couch, "Why didn't you tell me?"

His voice cracks, "Tell you what? That my marriage is falling apart- again?"

"I could have done something, El," Olivia softly whispers.

As he swings his head up to face her, Olivia sees a single stream of tears flowing down his cheek. He bluntly asks, "There's nothing you could've done to save us, Liv. Our marriage was a lost cause."

"That's not true and you know it."

"It's true. Even with Eli… Kathy never fully trusted me."

"Kathy loves you-"

"And I love her, but that doesn't mean we didn't grow apart," moving his eyes from hers to the duffle bag, he sighs, "I really tried, Liv." Olivia sees him crack. His solid foundation is failing him. Elliot throws his head in his hands and weeps, "I tried and it wasn't enough."

Olivia moves her hand from his knee and wraps her arms around the side of him. Pulling him in closer to her, she repeatedly whispers, "It'll be okay. It's going to be okay, El. Everything will be okay."

~~~ooo~~~

Somehow, Elliot fell asleep. Even after a full day of sleeping, he is still exhausted. Olivia let him be on the couch. Throwing a soft blanket over him, she tucks him in tightly. With nothing to do, she sits back down on the armchair catching up on some reading.

Completely enthralled by her book, Olivia doesn't notice how fast time has gone by. The stove clock reads '7:09,' but the microwave clock reads, '7:16.' She hates how her microwave clock moves faster than all the other clocks in her apartment. Placing her book lightly on the coffee table, she slowly rises from the chair. Keeping an eye on Elliot, she watches his chest rise and fall as he takes deep breaths. Entering her kitchen she hears her partner call out, "Liv!" Turning around she sees that he is still asleep. "Liv! Liv, Get down!" he screams as he shoots up into a sitting position, "OLIVIA!"

She rushes over to his side and pulls him into a tight embrace, "I'm right here, El. I'm okay… You're okay…"

Elliot pulls back from the embrace and stares into her eyes, "You died."

Olivia raises her hand and cups his stubbled jaw, "I'm right here." She can see Elliot process his thoughts. He leans back into the couch cushion and sighs heavily. Olivia suggests, "Have you thought about talking with someone?"

Elliot's eyes widen slowly and his tone becomes more defensive, "You think I need a shrink? You think I'm crazy?"

Not expecting such a visceral reaction, Olivia sits back and softly states, "I never said you were crazy."

"But you're thinking it."

"Elliot all I did was ask if you've thought about talking with someone?"

"Talking with a shrink comes with the connotation that I'm crazy."

"You're not crazy, Elliot. You're going through something that-"

"I'm not seeing a shrink."

"I can't force you to see someone. I was just asking if you thought about it."

"By you asking, that means that you think something is wrong with me. Do you think something is wrong with me, Liv? Do you think I need help?"

"It's not about what I think."

"Do you think I need help?!"

"Yes!" she raises her voice to match his. Her answer stuns him into silence. She takes the opportunity to further explain, "Elliot, you came to my apartment in the middle of the night covered in blood. You were in shock. You slept for twenty-eight hours and you keep having nightmares. So if you were to ask me, no, you're not crazy, but yes, you do need help." Sitting in silence he just stares. She recognizes how fixed his eyes are on her, he is dissociating. Olivia states, "Say something."

Elliot nods slowly and opens his mouth to speak. With a heavy breath, he begins to stand from her couch. Reaching for his duffle bag, he turns to face his partner, "I can't."

"Can't what?" Olivia stands to be level with him.

"I just can't," Elliot shuffles towards the door, "Thank you for letting me crash here. I promise I won't bother you anymore."

"Where are you going?" she jumps in between Elliot and the door.

Elliot sighs, "Get out of my way."

"Where are you going?" she repeats.

"I don't know!" he hollers in her face and swings the door open causing her to fall. Without looking back he slams the door and rushes down the stairs.

The fall knocking the wind out of her causes a delay in Olivia getting to her feet. Once she can steadily stand, she opens the door and runs down the stairs in an attempt to catch up to her partner.

She is too late. He is long gone.

~~~ooOOOoo~~~

A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. It took me a good amount of time trying to get the dialogue to feel just right.