The third time Elliot called her was on a Wednesday night. Olivia had been having a rough week so far, with a challenging case on her desk and a limited squad to work with. In the last few days, especially today, she had found herself yearning for her partner.

It had been two and a half months now that Elliot had left, and a month since his last phone call.

She had heard from Kathleen that he used one of his weekly calls to reach out to her, and another one to Eli. She was glad he was keeping in touch with his children, but at the same time, she wanted to hear his voice so badly. She imagined Lindstrom's voice in her head, telling her it was a normal triggering reaction to the trauma Elliot had created by leaving and that speaking with him would reassure her subconscious that he hadn't left for good this time. But Stabler was out of reach, at least from her end, and she found herself frustrated.

Now that Noah was in bed, she was about to start her nightly routine, but the Unknown Caller showed up on her phone, making her stare at the phone. Sitting down on the couch, she took a deep breath before answering.

"Benson."

"Hi."

"Hey..."

"Wow, you sound as tired as I feel." he tried to make light of it, but she wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"Hard case…" she settled for, not wanting to delve into her emotions right now.

"I'm sorry…you wanna talk about it?"

Not really wanting to get into work-related stuff at this hour, she started sharing some general information about the case. But as she went on, she realized Elliot was listening and asking questions like they used to do when working together. After a minute, she realized he was doing exactly what she had needed this week: being her partner. She felt the longing to have him back, but refrained from putting it into words.

Elliot sensed her heavy emotional state tonight, and attributed it to the hard case. But when Olivia fell into a momentary silence, he knew there was more on her mind. She let her head fall on the back of the couch with a long sigh and closed her eyes before finally asking the question that had been haunting her since he left.

"El…why did you take the assignment?"

He sounded surprised by the question.

"What do you mean? I didn't really have a choice..."

"But you could have said no. Ayanna said she offered the team to bow out, because of what had happened to Jaime days before," she pushed gently, not angry, just wanting to understand his reasons.

"There was a job, and we went to do it." He answered simply. "What are you really asking, Liv?"

"I mean…we went to Ohio, led the case together, cracked the case together. We were good…I don't know…partners again…and then you took the assignment and gave me that neckless…" She trailed off, not explicitly stating her thoughts, but he knew her better than anyone.

Elliot took a moment to choose his words carefully.

"I wasn't running away, Liv." he said firmly, trying to reassure her.

But her silence indicated she didn't entirely believe him.

"I wasn't running, I swear. Jaime's death was hard on all of us, I thought the assignment would rally us towards something concrete, help us move forward as a team. That's why we went," he explained, trying to make her see his perspective.

But he knew that wasn't the answer she was looking for.

"As for the necklace, I thought…" He paused, gathering his thoughts. "I told you how the shooting in Ohio and Jaime's death made me think about choices and life and…" He was being cautious, not wanting to overwhelm her but still addressing her concerns. "I thought maybe me leaving could give you time…" he said tentatively.

"Time to get ready?" she finished his thought, referring to their conversation from her kitchen in January.

"Time to find your path to happiness." He clarified. "Without me throwing my traumas into your life." He laughed self-depreciably, but she knew it was only a defense mechanism.

She took a moment to absorb his words.

"We all have trauma, El, I can take it." she said stubbornly.

"I know, but you shouldn't have to."

"That's what partners are for." She replied, leaving the word partners ambiguous on purpose.

Feeling the seconds ticking, Elliot felt the pressure to conclude the conversation.

"I wanted to give you the necklace to show you how much you mean to me, and how much your happiness is important to me." He admitted, vulnerably.

Olivia was taken aback by his honesty, understanding what he was trying to convey. If he had stayed after giving her that gift, with all the emotions of the few days prior, maybe he wouldn't have been able to stay away, or to give her the space she needed for this. He had been careful, since January, to let her be the lead in this whatever-this-was.

"Liv?" he prompted, sensing their time was almost up.

The look on his face in urgent care in Ohio flashed into her mind. She hadn't let herself admit it, but when he went to hug her, she knew very well that he had wanted to kiss her instead but had refrained from it. Giving her the necklace was the next best alternative for him, expressing his feelings without making her run for the hills.

"I…" she tried to form her words.

She wanted to convey to him that she wouldn't have been overwhelmed if he had stayed and hadn't taken to the assignment. That she had wanted him to stay. But her thoughts ran a few seconds too long, as she heard the click of the end of the line.

Sighing deeply, Olivia closed her eyes and whispered what she wished she would have said before the 5 minutes were up.

"You didn't have to leave…"