Prompt #19: Autumn whispered to the wind, "I fall, but always rise again."— Angie Weiland-Crosby

Autumn Whispers

~oOo~

Autumn in Oregon was beautiful. Rural but beautiful. Still, it made Olivia miss New York. She'd had more than enough of the great outdoors—and the bullshit eco-terrorism case—to last a lifetime. She missed home and Elliot.

The past year or so had been tough on their partnership. It felt like they'd stumbled over one hurdle after the next. It seemed like she was constantly picking herself up off the metaphorical ground ever since Gitano.

Now, stuck in a hospital with a concussion and broken wrist, Olivia had nothing to do but think. Her cover was blown, so the FBI was done with her. As soon as she was medically cleared, she'd start the journey home.

Part of her was afraid of what waited for her. Would Elliot still be upset with her? Would the gulf between them have grown too large to cross?

The separation had given her time to face her feelings for Elliot. She hoped…she didn't really have the courage to hope for what she wanted just yet. What if she fell on her face again?

What if he broke her heart?

~oOo~

The flight to Oregon had taken forever. Elliot had ditched his temporary partner the second he'd learned Olivia was in the hospital. He just wanted to be by her side; she'd spent too much of her life suffering in silence alone.

In his mind, Beck had been nothing more than a placeholder. Elliot had turned down her flirting as gently as possible. He wasn't interested—not in her or anyone else who wasn't Olivia Benson.

Her absence had been a sobering revelation. He'd missed her to the point that it hurt. It made it impossible for him to ignore his feelings for her.

His patience was hanging on by a thread when he finally drove up to the hospital. He found a place to park and took a second to force himself to calm down. He wanted to do this right.

He had to do this right. Olivia had a tendency to bolt whenever they even tiptoed around their feelings for each other. It was the taboo subject they'd spent their entire partnership avoiding.

A nurse guided him to the room where they'd moved Olivia once they realized she was a cop. He stepped inside to find her sleeping. The room was dimly lit, but he could see her perfectly.

Elliot stopped a few feet from the bed. He couldn't help just staring at her in a silence only broken by the periodic noise outside of the room. He finally breathed in deeply before closing the distance between them. She looked tired but relatively unscathed aside from the bandaged wrists and an obvious contusion on her head. What were you thinking, Liv? We've always worked better together than apart.

"Elliot?"

His gaze shot up to hers. She was clearly still asleep but moving restlessly in whatever dream she was having. He took another step towards her and sat on the edge of the bed. His hand found hers, gently holding it. "Liv?"

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Heard my partner got into a little trouble—I thought she could use my help." Elliot tightened his hand on hers when she went to pull away. "And I missed you."

"El."

"I missed you." He shook his head, trying to pull together his thoughts. He'd had the entire journey to decide what to say, but all his planned words were gone. "I love you."

"The fuck?" Olivia muttered. She eased herself up into a seated position. "How hard did I hit my head?"

Elliot leaned in more closely. He brushed the hair out of her face, gently running his fingers across her brow. "I realized something while you were gone."

"Yeah?"

"I love you. And I don't give a fuck how it affects the job. I don't want to waste any more time pretending the feelings between us don't exist." Elliot leaned in for a second time to lightly touch his lips to hers. He kissed the slight scar on her neck, trying not to remember the terror from that day. "What do you say, Liv?"

Olivia hesitated for a moment before tilting her head until their lips met for a second time. "We have a lot to figure out."

Elliot was silent. He waited a little impatiently for her to say something else. C'mon, Liv. Stop playing with me.

"I love you." Olivia smiled when he came in for yet another kiss. "Everything else we can handle together."

"Always."

The author of this SVU - Autumn in New York story will be revealed in November