Hey everyone!

I just wanted so say thank you to everyone who's supporting this slow burn/slowest fic ever in life lol. No but seriously, it really means a lot to see how many people are invested. I am in awe of the response, as I truly was not expecting it when I posted that first part those weeks ago.

Anyway, I'm here with chapter 12. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, because the next one is the one that even I'm most excited to share lol.

Enjoy xo

Someone New - Twelve

The rest of the day passed in a slow blur for the Homicide unit, but for Jalen, the last few hours had also been incredibly concerning.

He was grateful for the slow day; it gave him time to finish up some paperwork which there seemed to be a neverending pile of since they'd been so busy lately. However, his concern was for Olivia. He could feel it in his gut that something was off, he just wasn't sure what.

He had texted her when he made it back to work, and she had responded to say that she was glad he made it back safely. He had responded with a message telling her that he'd enjoyed their lunch together and that he was excited for their upcoming date. No response had come after that, nor had one come in the hours since that last text. Perhaps that was what unnerved him a little. He was torn between thinking maybe she was rethinking things already, but also he was wondering if something happened and maybe she couldn't respond. He and Olivia had their thing where they would text each other with a simple 'cluster fuck'; their little code word when they were busy. However, she hadn't even texted that, so now he was just concerned.

Luckily, their lieutenant turned both him and Vincent loose around six, so Jalen immediately made his way further uptown to the 16th Precinct. When he made his way up to the Special Victims Unit squadroom, he was met with a pretty much empty bullpen apart from Fin and Bruno, who were packing up for the evening. As he made his way further into the squadroom, he noticed that Olivia's office door was closed and the lights were off.

"Nobody's home."

He looked up, only to see Fin looking at him. He stepped up to him, clearing his throat a little. Now there was confirmation that Olivia wasn't here, so where was she?

"She left about half an hour ago, said she was gonna scoop up Noah and head home." Fin continued. Jalen could see on his face that he wanted to say more, but that he wouldn't for some reason; maybe because Bruno was within earshot.

Jalen simply nodded his head, though it was clear that he was desperate to ask more. Fin gave him a smile as he clapped him on his back; "Come on, walk out with us."

Jalen nodded again as the three men exited the squadroom together. Bruno bid them goodnight as he walked ahead to his car, leaving the pair standing there on the sidewalk. Jalen turned to Fin, the question falling from his lips; "You know something, don't you?"

"Look bro, I figured it out because I know Liv too well and she can't lie at all, but you know I ain't gon say nothing to nobody; that's y'all business and you should be allowed to have that privacy to figure it all out without the higher ups being in your business and shit." Fin told him. Jalen had to give a little smile; he figured that Fin of all people would have figured things out but at least the secret of him and Olivia was safe with him.

"Appreciate that, my man," he remarked as he stood with his hands in his pockets; "Now you can tell me, is she alright?"

"Well…" Fin hesitated a little, then he began again; "Stabler popped up today, and-"

"What?!"

"She gon' kill me for telling you, but shit…yeah he popped up, and I don't know all he said to her, but whatever it was it got under her skin." Fin shook his head, anger crossing his features at the memory of their former colleague upsetting Olivia earlier in the day. "I told her not to let it get to her, but I could tell it bothered her all day. She was just real quiet, and she dipped out; said she was going to get Noah and go home."

Jalen was visibly annoyed at the idea of Elliot popping up and subsequently upsetting Olivia. He shook his head in despair; "That fucker knows just how to get her down, doesn't he?"

"He always has, and that's the damn problem," Fin grumbled; "He's always taken advantage of her, and since he's been back he just pops in when it's convenient. Olivia's been trying to keep him at arm's length but he just pushes her buttons; he knows just what buttons to push."

"He's a sorry son of a bitch, I swear…" Jalen then reached out and shook Fin's hand; "Thanks by the way man, for looking out for her. I'm gonna go to hers and check on her."

Fin nodded his head, then paused for a second before speaking; "You know, she told me she likes you, and I know you're a real solid dude. Just, whatever happens with y'all, just take care of her. She's been through too much, and just deserves to be happy."

Jalen gave a nod, taking the words to heart. He imagined that Fin had seen a lot of ins and outs and ups and downs of Olivia, and he was sure that it was hard for Fin to see all that especially as he clearly cared so deeply for Olivia and wanted her to be okay. Jalen knew that no matter what ever happened between him and Olivia, he would still look out for her. All he wanted was to make her happy.

"She really does deserve to be happy, and I hope she will just let me make her happy."

Fin hummed in agreement, then clapped him on the back before heading off to his own car. Jalen slipped into his truck and started the engine, but before pulling off, he took a chance to try and call Olivia again. The line rang and rang and rang; a few times really before the line clicked and the voicemail came on; "Hey you've reached Olivia, leave a message and I'll get back to you."

"Hey Liv it's just me, I'm headed over to yours to see you. If you're not up for company, call me back and let me know. See you soon."

He hung up then, before pulling out of the parking spot and joining the city traffic.

He needed to go check on her.

It was roughly fifteen minutes later when he reached the upper Manhattan apartment building where Olivia lived. He headed inside and took the elevator up to her floor, and before long he was standing outside her door. He knocked then stuck his hands in his pockets as he waited patiently, and before long the locks clicked and the door was tugged open. However, instead of being met with the sight of Olivia, he was met with the sight of Noah. The teenager gave him a smile, his blue eyes shining as he gave him a happy, friendly greeting of; "Hi Jae!"

"Hey dude," Jalen gave him a warm smile; "You good? Where's your Mom?"

"I'm good, and she's in the shower…" Noah stepped aside, allowing Jalen to step inside the apartment. He pushed the door shut and locked it as he continued speaking; "I'm waiting for our pizza to get here and I wish they'd hurry up, I'm hungry."

"I feel you on that, bro; I'm starving," the pair sat down on the couch, and Jalen put his suit jacket aside as he continued; "How's things going? I've barely seen you."

"I asked Mom about you the other day and she said you were really busy with work too," Noah replied as he sat cross legged on the couch; "Things are good, school is school. I'm ready for summer honestly, I'm tired of it…"

With that he began updating Jalen on various things; school, dance, extracurricular clubs; various things like that. He showed Jalen a couple videos from his dance practice, and discussed some things they had been working on in dance, talked about the upcoming dance recital that was happening in a couple weeks. Jalen was pleased to hear of the various updates in Noah's life, and told him that he was incredibly proud of him and everything that he was doing.

He had just asked him about a recent video game release that they were both tracking when suddenly their conversation was interrupted by a voice; "Noah, honey who are you talking to?"

The two guys looked up, and Olivia paused in the doorway as it became apparent to her who her son was talking to. Noah smiled and innocently responded with; "Jae came over to see us!" Meanwhile, Jalen was eyeing Olivia, taking in her appearance as she was just so incredibly beautiful; the freshly blowdried hair in a messy bun, and her the sweatpants and Sienna College t-shirt. She was so perfect in so many ways.

But Jalen could see that the slight smile didn't reach her eyes at all, and her tone was different as she greeted him with a soft; "Hey."

"Hey," he stood up then, stepping closer to her; "I'm sorry to just pop up, but I um…I was just checking on you."

Olivia gave a slight smile - again one that still didn't reach her eyes - and her response was short and soft as she responded with a quiet; "I'm fine."

Jalen knew that that was the furthest thing from the truth, but he wouldn't push it, not while Noah was within earshot.

Along that time, they were interrupted by a knock at the door, and Noah immediately raced to get it. He checked the peephole and muttered a quiet "Finally" as he opened the door, and after a quick exchange, he had locked up and was returning with a giant pizza box in his hands. "Jalen, can you stay for dinner? Please?"

"Uh…I mean if you and your Mom don't mind; I guess." Jalen responded before looking at Olivia again, as he truly wasn't sure if she wanted him to stay for dinner. She nodded her head and uttered a soft; "Yeah, that's okay." Before walking ahead behind Noah towards the dining area. Jalen was so confused by her behavior but also figured that it had to do with Elliot and whatever that was all about today, but again, he would ask her about it once Noah was out of earshot. Instead, he rolled up the sleeves on his dress shirt and followed them over to the dining area so they could all settle down to eat.

Dinner was pretty relaxed and full of innocent conversation from Noah as he updated Olivia on a couple other school related things, and he and Jalen talked a little bit about the video game release and baseball. Jalen had continued to pick up on how quiet Olivia was being, and how she didn't really eat much, which he also remembered from a previous phone conversation was an anxiety thing - if she was too anxious, she felt sick, which messed with her appetite. Noah - who was fairly observant - had picked up on her demeanour as well but didn't say much about it. He just kept things casual and relaxed and fairly lighthearted as he did, and after dinner, he and Jalen went about clearing the table before Olivia could even object. They even loaded the dishwasher, and Noah switched it on before turning to Olivia.

"Mom, can I still go play the game with Conner for a bit? I promise I won't play too long."

Olivia nodded her head; "That's fine honey, but only for an hour and then I want you to read a little."

"Promise." Noah grinned. He then turned to Jalen as he quickly spoke; "If you're gone before I come back out, see you soon?"

"You got it, dude." Jalen responded. The two did their handshake before Noah headed off down the hall to his room with his phone in his hand of course, already texting away to his half brother. Now, Jalen and Olivia were left alone in the kitchen.

Now, Jalen could address the elephant in the room. "Liv-"

"I'm fine, you really don't have to stay," she interrupted him, though she wouldn't look at him; "I'll be okay, so you can…you can go home."

Jalen raised an eyebrow; she was definitely trying to push him away for some reason but he refused to let her. Instead, he stepped around the kitchen island and stepped closer to her; "Olivia, don't push me away."

"I'm not."

"Olivia-"

"Jalen." she instantly retorted, looking up at him as she folded her arms across her chest. Jalen leaned back against the kitchen island this time, now staring intently at her. Oh no; he was definitely not backing down from this.

"You're not pushing me away," he told her, not once breaking eye contact with her; "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, I'm fi-"

"Don't pull that I'm fine shit with me, because I know you're not," Jalen told her, it being clear that he wasn't going to back down; "Now what's going on?"

"Is this because I didn't text you or something?" Olivia tilted her head; "Jesus, I'm sorry that I'm busy."

"Hey, this isn't even about that and you know it's not, so don't even…" Jalen responded, his voice calm but firm; "So let's try this again - what did Elliot say to you?"

And when he saw the way Olivia's eyes widened slightly, he knew the walls she was trying to build up around herself were breaking down. She swallowed nervously as she responded with a quiet; "What?"

"Fin told me that he popped up."

"I swear to God, I'm gonna-"

"Don't rip him a new one, I did ask if you were okay and it came out," Jalen stepped just a little closer then, being careful however not to get into her personal space; "Now, you don't have to tell me tonight what he said, but you aren't going to push me away either. We're adults, we have a safe space to talk about things. I'm here for you, and I'm standing by you; you don't have to handle shit alone, Olivia."

Silence for a moment, and it became clear that Olivia was taking in his words but also that she was slightly taken aback by someone actually standing their ground with her. She nervously chewed her bottom lip for a few moments - another anxiety response - and suddenly she blurted out;

"What do you really want with me?"

Jalen raised an eyebrow, slight confusion etched across his features; "I'm sorry?"

Olivia knew she sounded silly, but it was as if complete irrationality had taken over in this moment as she anxiously blurted out; "Like what is it? I'm a Captain, you're a detective; is this to benefit you in the long run? Being with a Captain?"

Though his first response was to get extremely annoyed with what she was suggesting, Jalen just stared at her for a couple moments as he not only talked himself back down but also realized that this was a seed that Elliot had obviously planted into Olivia's head, and her anxiety had taken the seed and ran with it. He could even see by the look on her face - and the tears in her eyes - that she didn't even believe the things that had come out of her mouth either. She was anxious and scared, and it killed him to know this but also pissed him off to know that Elliot knew the buttons to push, the insecurities to play on.

He found himself stepping closer to her, directly into her space until he was resting his hands on the counter on either side of her, seemingly caging her in. He gazed down at her, his voice low as he whispered; "Olivia, look at me."

It took a minute, but Olivia eventually took a breath before looking up at him. When her eyes locked with his, Jalen could see that she had relaxed a little even though her arms were still folded.

"First of all, I don't know what the arrogant fuck's problem is but get him out of your head. He has no place there; he's just a piece of shit that wants everyone to be miserable like he is…" he began, then he took another moment before continuing;

"Olivia let me tell you something and I want you to hear me - when we're working together, I respect you as a Captain; I respect your authority. Outside of that realm, however, when we're just hanging out or talking or whatever, I don't give a damn about your rank or mine. So no, there's no ulterior motive here; I just care about you, I care about Olivia."

Olivia sniffled a little, but it was clear that she was relaxing as Jalen continued;

"Olivia, you are perhaps one of the most beautiful, smartest, most wonderful women I have ever met. When we met and started bonding over sushi and smoothies, I didn't know that it would lead to you becoming one of my closest friends and confidants, and I damn sure didn't know it was going to lead to this between us. I'm so damn glad it has led us to this, though, because I like you a lot Olivia, and it takes a lot for me to feel that way about someone but I do - I have some very strong, very real feelings for you. I want to be there for you and support you. And not just you, but Noah too man like that's my dude - I care about him just as much as I care about you. I just want to make sure both of you are happy and safe - if you'll let me."

He then moved his hands to rest on her waist, and he didn't look away from her as he continued;

"You are amazing, okay, but you've gone through so much on your own and had people just take and take and take from you. You deserve better than that, and I want to give you better - I want to give you the world; if you'll just let me. So get him out of your head, get all those insecurities out of there; I want this and I want you, because I care about you."

It seemed that the walls had finally broken, as Olivia found herself instantly wrapping her arms around him for a much needed hug. Jalen slipped his arms further around her and hugged her as tight as possible, almost as if he were shielding her from harm. He heard her sniffle a little, and he absentmindedly found himself pressing a quick kiss to her forehead as he just held her.

It took a moment or two before they pulled back, and this time she was finally smiling a little. He reached up and wiped a tear away with his thumb, and she simply looked at him as she quietly responded with; "I'm really sorry, seriously I am. He really does know exactly what buttons to push and I tried so hard not to let him, but just…shit he said…I just felt insecure and anxious and then just…I don't know, I guess doubting myself and this, which was wrong. I'm really sorry, and I'm sorry for trying to push you away. I'm the queen of self-sabotage."

"You have absolutely nothing to feel insecure about, because I mean it when I say I want you," He tapped her nose then, and playfully responded with; "And okay well the queen of self-sabotage is no more, because I'm not letting it happen. You're stuck with me in your life."

Olivia grinned at him, a genuine smile as she replied with; "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"I mean I would hope not, because I really want to take you out so I kind of need you to be okay with being stuck with me," He smirked as he then grabbed her hand and tugged her along; "Come on woman, we're going to watch something boring and forget about this day."

"Who said I wanted to watch something with you?"

Jalen glanced at her, only to chuckle at the cheeky smirk on her lips. Yep, the playful side of her was back and he liked it. "Watch it, Benson."

"Ooh, I'm so scared of you."

Jalen just rolled his eyes as they sat down on the couch together, but he couldn't help but smile as her laughter was music to his ears.

The two of them actually ended up moving on from the emotions of the evening as they settled on the couch together, watching some random cult-related documentary; something that Olivia found oddly fascinating while Jalen questioned how the hell she could watch this stuff. It really was a short while later that Noah returned to the living room, having had an hour on the game and now with his Kindle in hand as he wanted to show Jalen some book that he was reading. They talked about that and of course shared book recommendations; Olivia had to roll her eyes but smile as she loved how they truly loved the same things, even the love for fantasy and sci-fi books.

She truly loved how much Jalen cared about the both of them.

It was getting a little late considering it was a weeknight, so Jalen figured he better head off since of course Noah was going to read before settling down for the night and of course he and Olivia had work in the morning. As he stood up with his blazer in hand, Noah captured his attention when he asked; "Oh Jae, do you want to come to my dance recital in a couple weeks?"

Olivia immediately looked at Jalen as she silently panicked, wondering if this was a little too much too soon. Jalen, however, immediately smiled while nodding his head; "Sure, dude; I'd love to. If I don't end up getting stuck with a case or something, I'm down."

Noah nodded his head while giving him a fist bump; "Sweet, I'll make sure I get a ticket for you too!"

"Sounds like a plan," Jalen remarked; "And while we're making plans, I have season tickets for the Yankees and there's a game that weekend, so do you wanna go?"

"Yeah, that would be fun!" Noah's whole face lit up with excitement in an instant. He and Jalen once again shared their handshake, then Jalen looked up only to see that Olivia was staring at them both in absolute wonder.

"Don't be jealous of our bro plans, Liv." he teased, giving her a wink which caused her to giggle as she rolled her eyes. Noah let out a laugh as he eyed them both, then he quickly said goodnight to Jalen before heading off to his room to read. Olivia walked Jalen to the door, only to place her hand lightly on his arm before speaking.

"Don't feel pressured about the dance recital or the game; I promise I'll cover for you."

Jalen simply smirked as he playfully grabbed her arm and pulled her as close to him as possible, causing her to laugh as she had her own hand resting on his arm. "Liv, I'd love nothing more than to support Noah at his dance recital, and I absolutely want to take him to a baseball game - okay? I'd like it if you actually went to the game with us too."

"I absolutely hate baseball, so how about I think about it?"

"Deal…" Jalen smirked, then pulled her in for a hug. His hand moved to her lower back, though he found himself panicking internally and instantly stopping himself from sliding his hand lower to grab her hip like he wanted to. Instead, he held her a little tighter and pressed a light kiss to her forehead before whispering; "We still on for Saturday?"

"Absolutely," Olivia responded as she pulled back. She stared at him for a few moments, rubbing her fingers against his bicep as she whispered; "Text me when you get home?"

"I will, and you better answer." He teased. He then tapped her nose before continuing; "Goodnight Liv."

"Goodnight Jae."

He gazed at her for a few moments before slipping out of the apartment, and she stood at the door to make sure he got to the elevator safely before slipping back into her apartment. She locked up before making her way further through the apartment and down the hall, trying to stop herself from tingling as she thought about Jalen's arms around her. She could even smell his cologne on her shirt, and that made her head spin in the best way.

She slipped into Noah's room, only to find him curled up with his kindle as he read his book. He looked up, and he smiled at her; "I'm already reading the book Jae recommended; six pages in and it's great already."

"Well I'm very glad to hear that," Olivia pulled the covers over him some more; "Don't stay up too late reading, okay?"

"I won't, promise…" there was a pause, then; "Mom, can I ask you something?"

Olivia switched on his starry light projector before turning to him; "What's up?"

Noah eyed her for a second before proceeding with his question; "Do you like Jalen?"

Olivia was a little taken aback by the question, but she simply responded with; "Of course I do, he's my friend."

Noah raised an eyebrow as he laughed; "Mom, I mean do you like him, like him?"

Olivia almost instantly felt her cheeks heat up; she should've known that this was what her son was playing at. She started laughing as she shook her head "Goodnight Noah..."

"You didn't deny it," Noah smirked at her, taking in the fact that she was blushing; "I wouldn't mind if you guys started dating, just saying."

"How about you mind your teenage business, yeah?" she teased before ruffling his curls; "Goodnight mister, I love you."

"I love you too!" He then playfully made kissing noises, something that made Olivia laugh as she playfully threw a stuffed toy at him before leaving the room, closing the door behind her. She then returned to the living room, where she flopped down onto the couch, the smile still present on her face.

Her mind was swimming with thoughts of Jalen Shaw, and she truly could not wait until their first date on Saturday night.

*sigh* I need a Jalen Shaw in my life, truly. lol I hope you guys enjoyed this update. Until next time xo