Hey guys!

I'm so sorry for taking forever to get this update out. Life has LIFE'D of course. There's been a lot going on between personal life, work life, the state of the world...blah blah. But anyway, here we are again!

Enjoy xo

Someone New - Sixteen

Jalen ended up staying over for a while as they watched a film, which they were eventually joined by Noah as well after he finished up on the game. He eventually headed home around eleven, with the promise that he'd be back early so they could hopefully grab some breakfast before going to the stadium for the baseball game. Olivia had decided that she would attend the game with them even though she didn't understand baseball, and Noah and Jalen were quite glad that she was joining them anyway so they could have a nice outing together.

Noah and Olivia were up early the next morning; it being a beautiful, bright, and humid Saturday morning in the city. They showered and dressed casually for the day; Noah in some denim shorts and of course a Yankees t-shirt and cap, while Olivia wore a simple pair of jeans with a plain white tank top underneath a short sleeved, light blue button down that she left open. Jalen arrived shortly after nine, and of course Olivia found him to be quite handsome in a pair of jeans and a Yankees t-shirt. The three of them ventured out to grab some brunch first - which they enjoyed at the diner that Olivia and Jalen had gone to a few months earlier for a breakfast date - before eventually they were headed towards the Bronx to go to Yankees stadium for the baseball game.

Thankfully parking wasn't a complete nightmare and seemed to move along, and Jalen was able to secure a fairly decent spot on the third level of the parking garage. Before long they were making their way into the stadium; Noah stuck super close to Jalen while Olivia was holding onto Jalen's arm so they wouldn't get separated in the crowd of people. Thankfully - despite the crowd - moving around was relatively easy as everyone was moving along at a decent pace as they all tried to get snacks and get to their seats before the game began.

Noah decided that he wanted a drink and snack before the game began, so the three of them made their way to the concession area that was near the section where their seats were. They joined the line of people; Noah was looking around in awe as he was excited about this whole thing, while Olivia too was looking around as she held Jalen's arm, absentmindedly rubbing her thumb up and down the tattoo on his forearm. Jalen knew that being in crowds sometimes could be tricky for Olivia, leading him to lean towards her and speak softly; "Are you okay?"

She looked up at him, biting her lip as she nodded. She then smiled a little as she responded; "I'm good, just taking it all in."

Jalen gave her a cute smile as he responded; "Say the word if you need out; I know this is a lot."

Olivia shook her head while squeezing his arm; "I promise I'm o-"

"Yo, Jalen Shaw? That you bro?"

Jalen's head immediately snapped in the direction from which the voice came as he scanned the area. He then noticed a tall, slightly older dark skinned man coming towards him with a wide smile, and he smiled as well as he recognized him - a senior detective from Narcotics named Percy James; one of Jalen's former colleagues from when he worked in the Narcotics division.

"Percy, how's it going man?" Jalen greeted in a friendly as he stepped forward to give his former colleague a handshake. Percy clapped him on the arm while still smiling.

"Good to see you man…" he remarked; "How's the two-seven treatin' ya? Better than our old unit I hope."

"A whole hell of a lot better because I can at least go home after a day or two, and not be undercover for two weeks," Jalen chuckled. "You still in?"

"Yeah, but I'm transferring out in a couple weeks; I'm tired of it all and so is my wife, and you know I gotta choose my old lady over this job."

"Hey man, you always did remind us that there was life outside of the job, so good to hear that you remembered that too…" Jalen then realized that he probably should do some introductions, leading him to continue; "Hey guys, this is Percy James, detective from my old unit; Percy, this is Olivia and this is Noah."

"It's good to meet you, man…" Percy gave Noah a friendly handshake before turning to Olivia, shaking her hand as well; "And good to meet you too, pretty lady." he then studied her for a second before speaking; "Wait a minute, I know you."

Olivia raised an eyebrow; "Do you?"

"I do, I've seen you before…" Percy thought for a second, then it dawned on him; "Captain Olivia Benson, Manhattan SVU; highest case closure rate in Manhattan."

"Oh so you do know me." Olivia laughed a little. Percy nodded his head, chuckling as well.

"Let me tell you, folks know that Manhattan SVU don't play and that their Captain runs a tight ship." Percy chuckled. He then briefly flicked his gaze to the way Olivia's hand was curled around Jalen's arm before looking back up at them. This certainly didn't go unnoticed by Olivia nor Jalen, and both of them were hoping that Percy wouldn't go running his mouth about this. The NYPD had more leaks than a broken faucet as is, but this was something that certainly didn't need to get out.

Percy stuck his hand out to Jalen again as he continued; "Well I'm gonna get on back to my son, but it's good to see you brotha."

"Good to see you too, Percy, and congratulations on getting the hell outta that unit." Jalen chuckled as he shook his hand and gave him a manly hug again. Percy clapped him on the back and thanked him, before quietly speaking;

"Secret is safe with me brotha; take care of the Captain and her son."

It had seemed that Percy was reading Jalen's mind, to which Jalen nodded as they pulled back. Percy shook both Olivia and Noah's hands again and expressed that it was great to meet them as well, and after a promise from Jalen to catch up soon, he was walking off towards the area where his seats were. The trio focused their attention on the moving line as they were getting closer to the front, but Jalen could tell that Olivia was a little anxious about the encounter with Percy as she was still holding his arm but rubbing her fingers against his skin while looking around. He moved his arm to wrap around her shoulders as he pulled her in and whispered to her; "Don't worry, he's harmless and won't tell."

She visibly relaxed in his embrace at those words, leading him to chuckle a little and kiss her temple.

Before long they had gotten snacks and drinks, and had made it to their seats in time really as there was still about ten minutes before the game was set to begin. Noah was sitting in between Jalen and Olivia, and he was looking around in complete awe and happiness. Olivia wanted to melt at the look on his face as she knew that he was happy to be here at this moment, but she also wanted to cry all at once as she was just so grateful to Jalen for taking the time to do this for them, specifically for Noah.

The fact that Jalen actually took an interest in the things that Noah said or did or liked - that was how Olivia truly knew that she was right to continue to pursue things with Jalen.

She just hoped this wouldn't implode.

She wanted this to work.

Though Olivia didn't understand a damn thing when it came to baseball, she certainly had enjoyed herself with Jalen and Noah. She had sneakily taken a picture of them both at one point as they wore matching facial expressions as they watched the game in awe, and Jalen truly didn't even mind when Olivia leaned over and asked a couple questions here and there. All in all, the day had been a success and finally around four in the evening, they were heading out of the stadium along with a slew of other people as the game had finally ended.

However, what Olivia hadn't noticed throughout the day is that she had been spotted - not by anyone from work, but by two girls who had known her for many years due to her partnership with their father. It was the eldest of the two that had noticed her first and after some conversation with her younger sister - who had once been the closest to Olivia out of all the children - they were able to confirm when Olivia turned her head to the side. Olivia had been none the wiser, of course; having been happily in her own world with Jalen and Noah all day anyway.

The trio eventually made it to Jalen's truck and slipped in, and of course Jalen instantly joined the influx of traffic that was trying to exit the parking garage and make it out onto the main road. He glanced in his rearview at Noah who was in the backseat, grinning happily as he looked down at his phone. He had mentioned on the way to the truck that he was planning to text the pictures from today to his half-brother since he also liked baseball.

He then looked over at Olivia, and he found himself reaching over and curling his fingers around hers which were resting on her leg. She looked up from her phone and smiled at him right away, linking her fingers with his. He smiled back as he quietly spoke; "Did you have a good time, too?"

"I actually did, and I don't even care for baseball," she giggled, her eyes sparkling in the evening sun; "Thank you for this day, honestly; he really enjoyed it and I mean…you're not bad company at all."

"Aw thanks Captain, you're too kind," he teased as he squeezed her hand; "But yeah seriously it was great. I'm really glad he enjoyed it, and you too."

Olivia couldn't help but give him that little smile while softly biting her lip. She glanced back at Noah who was still occupied by his phone, then she let out a contented sigh while looking out the window. She still hadn't let go of Jalen's hand which was now holding hers as they rested together on her leg.

There was just something so natural about all of this.

It took a little while due to the traffic, but eventually they were back at Olivia and Noah's apartment building. Of course as soon as he parked, Jalen was out of the truck to walk them both inside. He kept a light hold on Olivia's hand as they made their way inside with Noah leading the way. Olivia did stop to grab her mail from the mailbox, then they continued further into the building and to the elevator.

Before long, they had reached the apartment and were headed inside. Noah quickly turned to Jalen as he asked; "Jae, are you staying for a little while? We can play the game, well if Mom says so."

"Honey, Jalen's been with us all day after a very long work week." Olivia chimed in, especially as she didn't want Jalen to feel like he had to stay as it really had been a long week. Jalen shook his head, however, while placing his hand on Olivia's back.

"It's okay, Liv; I'm alright…" he gave her a sweet smile before turning to Noah; "Yeah dude, I can stay for a bit! Make sure it's cool with Mom and we can play something."

Noah nodded before looking at Olivia, who pretended to think for a second before responding; "Okay, but only for about an hour or so. You lose all concept of time when you're on that thing."

Noah playfully pulled a face at her before laughing as he made his way down to his room. Olivia giggled while watching him go before turning to Jalen, who was still chuckling at the playful pair.

"I know I said I was fine, which I am, but also are you okay with me hanging out a little longer? I realize I didn't exactly ask if you wanted me to go so you could chill." he told her as he brushed his fingers against her back. Olivia nodded while placing her hand on his arm.

"I'm definitely okay with you staying for a while," she gestured for him to sit, which he did so while pulling her to sit beside him; "And I know I said it already, but thank you for today seriously."

"It's honestly no problem Liv, and if he wants to go again, we can go again…" He threaded his fingers through her smaller ones, his eyes never leaving hers as he continued; "I like hanging out with you and Noah, and I'd do anything for you both."

Olivia once again felt like she had to fight back an urge to cry, especially as she could see how much he meant those words. Instead she leaned in and kissed his cheek before quietly speaking; "You're amazing, you know that?"

"I mean, I've been told." he teased before tapping her nose; "You're pretty amazing too, I mean that."

Olivia just let out a cute laugh before standing up. "I'll be back; I'm gonna get comfy and also check in on Curry and Velasco since they're on duty this weekend."

"Yikes, I hate weekend duty."

"Me fucking too." Olivia grumbled. She then made her way out of the room and down the hall, passing Noah in the process as he was coming back to the living room with his PS5 in tow. Jalen jumped up to help him not drop anything, and the two knelt on the floor near the television as they began setting up the game system. They were silent for a bit before Noah spoke;

"Jae, can I ask you something?"

"Sure buddy, what's up?" Jalen wondered as he glanced at him. Noah had paused for a second, then he looked up at him with a quite serious expression as he asked;

"Do you really like my mom? Like, like her a lot?"

Jalen was slightly confused with the question, but he also figured that this was something that Noah needed to talk about as it was probably a huge change for him to have to share his mother with someone - even if he was already fine with it. He found himself instantly nodding his head, the words tumbling from his lips without any sort of hesitation; "I do like your mom; I like her a lot."

Noah nodded his head; "Good, because she really likes you too; I can tell she does. She smiles like a nerd when she talks about you and looks at you and all that so I know she likes you…" he paused for a second to untangle a wire, then he continued; "I think she liked another that other guy before but he didn't seem to like her that much, well I didn't think he did."

Jalen was curious and had an idea of who Noah was talking about, but he didn't ask outright. He simply responded with; "Oh?"

"Yeah, his name is Detective Stabler; he picked me up from my half brother's house one time, it was after my mom got hurt and sent me to Connor's for a week while she closed a case," Noah was just talking away, and Jalen kept listening as he wanted to know what Noah picked up on; "Anyway, I think she liked him kind of, but I'm not sure if he felt the same. He would talk to her kind of rude the two times he did come over, and then she finally told him to just leave her alone. And also, he wouldn't really want to hang out with me and stuff - well besides that one time he brought me home. I don't know; he seemed weird. I got a weird vibe, and I can pick up on vibes; I mean I am a cop's kid - you know?"

Jalen chuckled a little at the end comment but he didn't know what to make of the rest of the information. There was probably an arsenal of words he could use to convey his feelings towards Elliot, but obviously that wasn't very appropriate to say with Noah. Instead, he simply let out a little sigh as he looked at Noah. However, Noah beat him to the punch as he kept talking;

"Anyway, I just wanted to ask because I notice that you are never rude to my mom or mean, and she's always smiling and you smile with her too; she never tells you to leave her alone. You always come over to hang out with us, and you actually talk to me about things I like too, like my video games and stuff. So, I just figured that you liked my mom, and that you actually like and want to hang out with us."

Jalen nodded his head as he understood where Noah was coming from; he just needed some confirmation that someone wasn't going to attempt to filter into their lives and then disappear. He ruffled Noah's curls as he continued; "Oh bud, first of all, anyone that's rude to your mom is just…that's not cool, right? So I guess it's only fair that you picked up a bad vibe; that's not cool and I'm sorry you heard that."

He paused for a second to collect his thoughts, then continued;

"I like your mom very much, she's one of the coolest, smartest, most beautiful people ever. I always want to make her smile. I also like coming over to hang out with you both, because you've become one of my best friends too; I mean we have fun playing online but I love coming over to catch up with you and hear about your school stuff, and dance, or new games you're into - all of that. You and your mom have become two of the most important people in my life, and I'll do my best to make sure you're both happy and smiling. I hope you don't ever think I'm taking your mom away from you either, because I'm not; promise."

"I know you aren't, because we have to stick together and play pranks on her." Noah cheekily grinned, something that made Jalen laugh as they shared a high five. Noah laughed as well then continued; "Thanks for being my friend too, and for making my mom happy. She deserves to be happy, y'know?"

Jalen nodded in agreement. Noah was right, Olivia definitely deserved to be happy.

"You know what buddy, she sure does. She definitely deserves to be happy."

And he definitely intended to try his best to make Olivia Benson as happy as possible.

Thank you guys for being so supportive. Hopefully it won't be too long before I'm back with the next chapter. Until next time xo