Enjoy :)

Truths

His laugh was like music to her ears.

It told her he would play this game with her. It would be easier for her this way. Talking about it, about them and what they were starting without getting too deep too quickly.

Plus, flirting with him was fun. Flirting with no boundaries, no guilt. Knowing she could openly flirt and see this Elliot without having to worry about consequences was freeing.

And it felt good. It felt new and exciting but without the fear of the unknown. She knew he would never hurt her.

You see an attractive man at a bar, you approach him or he approaches you, you talk and flirt, but being a cop she was always sussing people out. Could she trust this stranger, or would he turn into an asshole?

And maybe that was part of the thrill, fear of the unknown.

But with Elliot, she knew him. She trusted him. She knew he'd never hurt her or use her. But she didn't know what it was like to have this Elliot, unrestricted and unburdened sitting across from her looking at her like he had just won the lottery.

That was the unknown. What was flirty Elliot like? What was dating Elliot like? What would sex with him be like?

Olivia felt a flip low in her belly at the thought of that last question. She was more than likely at some point in time going to know what it was to sleep with Elliot.

That was quite a thrill.

He sat back and stretched his arms out pulling up his sleeves before he placed them back on the table between them.

"This girl… well she's not a girl." He said looking down at his hands as he fidgeted in his seat. He wanted nothing more than to reach across the table and touch her again. Just because now he could. And why wouldn't he?

But instead, his eyes dropped as he picked at the label of the beer she had just sipped from, the one that reminded her of him when she was three thousand miles away from him.

"She's a woman." And he looked back up at her and finished, "A beautiful woman."

Olivia felt heat creep up her neck and she softly bit the bottom corner of her lip. She knew she was good looking. She had a slightly exotic look, caramel colored skin and a nice smile. Men had called her beautiful before. And she had always wondered what Elliot had thought of her.

His past jealousy had told her many things, but hearing the words, …a beautiful woman… slip from his lips, well, that was something all together on another level.

In the time before she met Kathy he had never described her as beautiful. Not that Kathy wasn't or not that she thought maybe Elliot didn't think of her that way but he had never really described anyone as beautiful other than his children.

"Beautiful huh…" she said chewing on her bottom lip a little. "So… you going to tell me, or do I have to keep guessing?" She said, feeling a little breathless at the real possibility it is her.

"Hmmm…" Elliot said looking around. She could tell he was thinking something over in his head and then a smile crossed his face as he looked back at her.

"How about this… let's play twenty questions." He said, his smile widening.

Liv laughed at him. He couldn't be serious about this could he? But the longer he sat across from her grinning at her like they were in high school waiting for her answer, the more she wanted to play his little game.

"Ok twenty questions… and then you will tell me?" She asked wanting to get the rules straight.

"Twenty questions… and I'll give you two guesses but I know you will only need one. But yes or no questions only." He said getting situated.

He was excited to play this game with her. Playing a game would keep things light, but he'd still get to share his truths with her. It would be a good way to gauge how much she was ready for. Gauge where she might possibly be, and in the end, share his biggest truth.

That it has always been her.

She felt so smitten with this Elliot. He was being coy and cute, and just… adorable.

Plus maybe just maybe she'd get answers to a few questions that have been lingering on her mind for years.

Always ready to match his energy, she situated herself as well, leaning towards him.

"What do I get if I win?" She asked trying to feign innocence but she knew he saw through it when she couldn't keep her lips from curving up into a slow smile.

Elliot chuckled, "The answer Liv, come on haven't you ever played this before?" He questioned.

"Hmm…" she pouted a little, and just as she was about to open her mouth to protest, her eyes met his and she felt butterflies.

The way he was looking at her made her feel like she had already won.

It was getting heavy again and Elliot knew it. He reminded himself he was going to go slow, keep it light, so he sat back a little, took a sip of his beer, and said, "Come on Liv, you know you wanna play." And then he smirked at her.

"Ok ok, I'll play." Liv said, and Elliot's reaction was instant. His smile spread and he prepared himself to answer all of her questions.

She sat there for a few seconds, flipping through the hundreds of questions she wanted to ask Elliot, and reached across the table bypassing her own bottle, taking his beer and sipping it before she decided on the first question.

Elliot felt his stomach flip a little as he watched her drink his drink. Ok so they were sharing now. Her beer was more than half full but she wanted his.

He swallowed at the implications of that and tried his hardest to play it cool. This might be harder than he thought.

"Ok, do I know her?" Liv asked.

She had her game face on and she was starting easy he thought.

"Yes." He answered.

Liv scanned the bar looking at the other women there. He could have any one of them. But he only wanted one.

As far as I'm concerned, there's only one girl in this bar for me…

His words echoed in her mind as she turned her gaze back to him.

"How long have you known her?" She asked.

"Yes or no questions Liv." He said reminding her of the rules.

She rolled her eyes playfully at him and rephrased her question.

"Have you known her long?" She asked already knowing the answer.

Elliot's face softened and his voice softened as well.

"Yes."

"You already said she was beautiful… so…" Liv paused to give herself a second before asking the next question. She was pretty sure she already knew the answer, but hearing him confirm it, she wasn't sure how she'd react.

"Are you attracted to her?" She asked and then took another sip of Elliot's beer.

El felt heat spread over his skin. This would be the first real truth he shared with her. Out loud. With words.

All the lingering looks, all the jealousy, all the deep cuts they shared, it was all unspoken. This answer would mean there was no going back.

"Yes."

His answer was clear. He had paused after she asked, waited for her to put their beer down, and it was absolute.

Elliot is attracted to her.

There was no going back now. Olivia felt her skin tingling and it wasn't from the alcohol. Flashes of the night her half naked body was pressed against his caused heat to pool low in her belly.

She had spent years pressing down her lust for him. She had always known her feelings for him were rooted in the purest deepest form of love. The kind of love you would let go of it meant their happiness, love you would do anything for. The kind of love only born from the rarest form of absolute trust.

The kind of love you would die for.

But there was also attraction. Want. Need. Lust.

Yearning.

She had always had to control those feelings. He wasn't hers to want. Only in her dark apartment at night when she couldn't sleep would she let herself fantasize about him.

Self preservation at its finest.

She'd catch herself from time to time looking at him, or letting herself linger close to him but the second she realized it she'd pull herself back. She'd silently chastise herself, but she wasn't perfect.

Now all bets were off.

Here he was sitting across from her looking at her with open passion in his eyes telling her he is attracted to her.

It took every ounce of her self control not to end this game and take him home.

But she took a deep breath and asked her fourth question.

"Do you think she's attracted to you?"

Elliot felt his breath quicken and he laughed quietly at her question. She was upping the stakes. His answer had clearly affected her and now she was putting them back on the same playing field.

"I…" he started, but he wasn't sure how to answer this. He thought he knew the answer, but did saying yes make him look egotistical?

"I don't know." He answered truthfully.

"Oh no El, yes or no answers only." Liv said throwing his rules back at him.

He laughed and drank from their shared beverage shaking his head in concession.

"I need more evidence to answer that question."

"More evidence huh?" Liv said eyeing him carefully.

"Yes." He answered grinning at her. "Sixteen questions left Liv."

"Have you ever fantasized about her?" She asked this time feeling a little bolder.

Elliot felt his face flush a little. He was a grown man, of course he had fantasized about her, but she was going to make him admit it in a bar full of people.

He took a breath and looked right into her.

"Yes."

She felt her mouth fill with saliva and swallowed moving right into her next question.

"Is it just sexual, or do you have feelings for her."

This was a serious question. She had moved them herself into the next level. He knew his answers would leave him open and vulnerable. But some part of her must not trust that she could be worthy of more.

He knew something in her mind made her feel like she wasn't good enough to be loved the way she deserved to be. The way he knew he could love her. Inevitably it stemmed from how she came into this world and how her mother resented her for it, but she deserved to know how amazing she was. How any man would be the luckiest man in the world to even be considered by her.

He'd never stop reminding her or showing her she deserved happiness and love. If she'd let him, he'd spend the rest of his life reminding her.

"No… and yes." He answered. He watched her carefully. He saw the glint of water in her eyes, and he knew she understood. She wasn't some fling to be had. He had feeling for her. This was more than sexual, more than interest. He loved her.

Olivia could feel perspiration on her skin. Heat was taking over her body and her heart was swelling with overwhelming emotion.

She needed just a few more questions answered before she could let herself fully be vulnerable with him. Before she could lay her last cards down.

"Have you… had these feelings for her for a long time?" She asked quietly.

He knew the gravity of this answer. It was one that he knew would sting and soothe at the same time. It would hurt to know how much time they had wasted doing the right thing, but at the same time it would bring relief. Relief in knowing it's real, and she wasn't alone in feeling this way. Having feelings for his partner was wrong while he was married but he also didn't go looking for her. And she didn't try to push him into succumbing to them. They had both known but not really. Not officially.

They had both shared in their silent communication the feelings there, but never openly expressed them.

This game was giving her the answers she needed to be able to shed her armor, and he was ready to provide the safety she needed to do so.

"Yes…"

Their eyes had been locked on each other for the last few questions, both glistening with the weight of where they were going. A tear slipped out and rolled quickly down Liv's flushed cheek as she asked her last question.

"Are you in love with her?"

The words left her mouth before she could even think. She couldn't keep them anymore. All her cards were down. The answer to the question she had wonder for years was about to finally be answered. A question she never thought would ever be answered.

She needed it more than her next breath.

This would define the next moments of her life and possibly the rest of it.

Every muscle in his body was tense. Every hair on end. It took strength he didn't even know he had to keep himself on his side of the booth and not brush the tear on her cheek before bringing his lips to hers and kissing her to give her his answer.

This was it.

"Yes…"

It came out in a whisper. This was the closest he'd come to actually saying the words he had wanted to say for so long.

He wasn't sure he was capable of saying it any louder even if he tried.

It was out there.

This is real.

This is really happening.

More tears slipped down her cheeks and she sucked in a sharp breath as his name escaped her lips.

"Elliot…" she whispered back to him across the table.

"It's always been you Olivia." He said quickly as the emotions he had kept for years locked up washed over him like the ocean.

In a flash she was standing and moving taking his hand in hers and pulling him behind her.

She needed air. She needed not to be in this bar anymore. She needed to not be surround by fifty other people.

She needed to be surrounded by him, and him only. And she only wanted to share this moment with him. They were going to have a lot of firsts and she didn't want to share any of them with anyone else besides him.

He blindly let her pull him wherever she wanted to go as she pushed her way through the now full bar to the door leading them outside.

His heart was racing. He could feel the heat in her hand and he desperately wanted to see her face. He desperately wanted to do a lot more than see her face but he was feeling wound up and light headed and he knew one look into her eyes would ground him.

She was on a mission. She pulled him around the corner under a small awning. It wasn't ideal for what she was about to do, but it didn't matter. She didn't need a romantic perfect place.

She just needed him.

"Liv…" he rasped out, feeling breathless.

But before he could say anything else, she turned and pressed her body against his, wrapping her arms around his neck like she had done a month ago, but this time she brought her lips to his and closed the distance.

His body and soul had ignited. Engulfed in flames. Engulfed in her.

OliviaOliviaOlivia

His mind was exploding. Want and lust. Need. Desperate deep desire. Longing. Unbridled passion. Heat. So much heat.

And love.

She was letting him feel her love.

He took a sharp breath in through his nose and her lips parted ever so slightly letting his bottom lip slip between hers before she pulled away in need of oxygen.

He kept his eyes closed as he lowered his forehead to hers. He cataloged every feeling. The burn of his lips, the way his lungs felt like they might explode. The feeling of her arms around him, the soft skin of her hands on the nape of his neck.

The sounds of her breathing, just as ragged as his.

He couldn't keep his hands from slowly moving over her body. Softly gripping her, making sure she stayed glued to the front of him.

The heat from her body even fully clothed was scalding him. Her shape fit perfectly into his frame. She fit perfectly in his arms. Like she belonged there. Like they were both made for each other.

He needed more. More skin, more hands, more her.

"Sorry… I…" she started to say still a little breathless.

She was going to say she was sorry for just hauling him outside and throwing herself into him without warning but he quickly lifted his head to bring his eyes to hers.

"You never have to be sorry for doing that…" he said and brushed his fingers through her hair.

"Ever…" he said softly.

His fingers found home on the nape of her neck and he watched a slow smile break across her face.

Her eyes were shimmering and honied like they had been when she came back from the bathroom but times a thousand.

He could stand here forever with her.

Standing here forever with her, looking into the eyes of the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, after their first kiss seemed like heaven on earth.

Why would he ever want to leave this moment.

"Elliot…" Olivia mewed.

"Hm.." he answered too lost in her and this feeling to form words.

"Your place or mine?"