I know I've been MIA...but here's my attempt at trying to dabble a bit back in the fic world.

#Tuckson

Ed Tucker was nervous as he strolled into Olivia Benson's building early one Saturday morning. It was mid-June, the weather was predicted to reach a crisp eighty-four degrees, and there was not a cloud in the sky. He whistled a bit, hands in the pockets of his khaki cargo shorts as he waited for the elevator to arrive. Despite the nerves, Ed was feeling nothing but relief that he and Olivia were slowly getting their relationship back on track after a heart wrenching break. Or, heart wrenching for him at least. He still was not clear on where her head was during that time, but he refused to question it. Instead, Ed just basked in the thought that he had a second chance with Olivia and, just like before, allowed the relationship to move at a pace she was comfortable with.

Stepping off onto her floor, he made a quick right turn and stood in front of the familiar door, pausing a bit to collect his breath before knocking lightly.

"Just a sec!" he heard echo from somewhere inside of her apartment. He smiled a bit, picturing her scurrying around all of Noah's toys, likely still trying to snap her earrings in, as she made her way to the foyer.

He was right.

The door opened to reveal a slightly breathless, but still radiant Olivia Benson. And she was still working to snap an emerald stud into her left ear.

"Hi," she breathed out, opening the door and offering him a smile that nearly brought him to his knees.

"Hey there," he said.

"I'll be ready soon," she promised, lightly kissing his cheek and rubbing his upper arm, before turning and heading back towards her bedroom, calling over her shoulder. "Help yourself to coffee. I just need another five minutes."

Ed just nodded, hands back in his pockets, as he observed the apartment.

"Women," Fin said from his perch on the sofa. Ed did a double take, as he hadn't even noticed the man was there. But he let out a laugh and nodded towards the newly instated SVU Sergeant.

"We have time," he said, still moving his head around the apartment. Not much had changed, save a few newer pictures of Noah, but the one thing he did notice was the small, 4x6 silver frame that still sat on her window seal. The one that held the picture of the three of them in Paris.

She had never taken it down.

Ed's heart soared a bit as he eyed the photo, hoping deep down that this was it. That Olivia was finally letting him back in, and they were done playing around. He was determined to make it work this time, and he felt she was too, despite her continued hesitance and near shy-ness.

"Okay," she breathed out, scurrying back into the living room. Ed just grinned and looked her up and down appreciatively. She was donning coral colored shorts with a sheer, cotton white flowy blouse that rested over what he assumed was black one-piece swimsuit. A floppy straw hat hung between her fingers, causing Ed to relish in the thought of seeing her this casual. This carefree. "I'm ready…give me kisses sweet boy."

Noah abandoned his Lego construction on the coffee table and ran to his mother, clearly aware that she was going out for the day. Olivia smothered him in kisses, before wiping the light smudge of lip gloss off his cheeks.

"You be good for Fin, okay?"

"Otay, Mommy," he said quietly, playing with the tassels on her blouse. "I be good."

"And make sure Fin is good too," she said, playfully looking at her friend as he gave her a wide grin.

"We gonna tear up the town, right Noah?" Fin said playfully, high fiving him as he skipped over to him with the look of a little boy who was up to no good.

"Yep!" he said enthusiastically.

"Great," Olivia muttered, fumbling with her tan canvas bag a bit, plopping a bottle of sunscreen in before pulling her sunglasses out and placing them on her head, holding her lightly curled brown hair out of her face.

"Shall we?" Ed asked, his arm reached out so Olivia could loop hers through his elbow.

"I guess so," she said with a small smile, before blowing Noah one more kiss, shooting the now smirking Fin a stern look, and departing with Ed.

Ed's hand remained on the small of Olivia's back as he guided her down the dock at the 79th Street Boat Basin. His other hand firmly held a large cooler. Olivia had shoved a few towels into her bag and strolled along, happily leaning into the sturdy and comforting frame of Tucker.

"We are right over there," he said, nodded ahead a bit towards a modest sized sail boat lightly bobbing up and down in the water.

"It was nice of Cole to let us use this," she mused, standing on the dock while Ed held the rope and hopped on board, reaching for the cooler and her bag and stowing them away, before reaching for her hands.

"Easy does it," he said, helping her climb on and immediately reaching for her hips to steady her as she climbed down into the boat. "Good?"

"I'm good," she said, looking into his eyes and smiling softly. Ed reached out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and it caused her to duck her eyes and try to gather herself. "I didn't realize you knew how to sail."

"You never asked, Lieutenant," he said, giving her a playful smirk, his eyes glistening as she let out a little laugh, obviously thinking back to a similar banter years ago in her squad room.

"Fair enough," she said, taking a breath and looking around. "So…now what?"

"Now," he began, leading her to a seat near the stern. "You get comfortable, and I'll get us started out to sea…"

Olivia watched appreciatively as Ed got the sails set up and flapping around in the breeze of the day. He had already abandoned his shoes and as he reached up to bolt something in place, she noticed how tone his calves were. Her eyes wandered up a bit more to how his khakis hung perfectly, and low, on his waist. He had a light blue button down over what she assumed was a typical white under shirt, and he left it unbuttoned so it moved around in the wind. The sleeves were rolled up so she could see the muscles in his arms bulge a bit, as he groaned and got the last of the equipment read to go. Casual Ed Tucker was definitely easy on the eyes, and it wasn't lost on her that she was the one getting to see him like this, despite the last few months.

"Ready?" he asked, looking down at her and grinning. She still looked a little tense, almost nervous, but her smile was as radiant as ever, so Ed worked to relax her a bit. "Thought we'd take this baby down towards the statue, maybe set up camp near Governor's Island."

"Sounds perfect," she said, reaching out her hands as if she were ready to catch him as he climbed down and moved to sit by her, starting up the little engine that would get them out of the dock. "It's all just…perfect."

Ed adjusted the sails ever so slightly before turning around and observing Olivia. She was laid back, her arms stretched out on either side of her, hat flopping in the breeze and sunglasses on her nose. Her feet were bare and propped up on the cooler as she soaked up the sun while the boat sailed smoothly around the southern tip of Manhattan.

She was exquisite.

Moving back down, one hand on the steering rod, Ed watched her out of the corner of his eyes as he navigated them towards the open spot he had picked out.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked, just wanting to hear her talk. Conversation had been limited so far, but partly because he was up and down, making sure the boat was on course. Olivia offered to help multiple times, but he gently declined. He wanted her to just relax, and now looking at her, she was finally doing just that.

"I am," she said, popping her head up and smiling at him. He couldn't see her brown orbs through the glasses, but he could imagine them perfectly. "You are doing quite nicely, Captain Tucker," she teased, nudging his shoulder a bit causing him to blush just a tad.

"Yeah, well," he shrugged. "I know a thing or two about a thing or two."

Olivia let out a heartfelt laugh, causing Ed to smile even larger.

"How is this?" he asked, maneuvering the boat just a tad, so that the bow was facing the skyline, giving them a pristine view of their city.

"I like it," she said, her voice a bit low, a bit teasing, and Ed's entire chest constricted.

"Great," he croaked out. Olivia Benson was going to be the death of him, and he was absolutely okay with that.

"So the left is port," Olivia recited, sitting with her legs crossed in front of Ed on the bow of the boat. A red and white checkered cloth was between them with a wide spread of finger foods at their disposal. They munched away happily, sipping freshly mixed white wine spritzers out of cocktail shaped Yetis, Ed occasionally teaching Olivia the terminology of boating. "And right is starboard."

"You catch on fast, Lieutenant," he said, his eyes shining and his lips in a proud smirk. "I'll make a sailor outta ya one day…"

Olivia just laughed.

"Don't get ahead of yourself there, Captain," she said, shaking her head a bit. "I'm content to just…watch you…"

Ed paused at that statement, turning his head to admire the view over the railing of the boat and breathing deeply. They stayed that way for a bit. Olivia admiring Ed's profile as he stared out over the water, before she cleared her throat a bit.

"Thank you," she said softly. "For…taking me out today. For all this…" she gestured to the spread of food and beverages before them. "It's been…really nice."

He moved his eyes to settle on hers and offered her a soft, sincere smile.

"You don't hafta thank me, Liv," he said, narrowing his glance a bit and finding a little bit of courage to dive into a deeper conversation. "I just wanted to spend time with ya...it's really all I've ever wanted…"

"I know," she allowed, but her voice had moved to a near whisper. Blinking a bit, she reached out and grabbed his hands, running her soft fingertips over his rugged knuckles. "I…you've been so…patient…"

A crack in her voice hit at the end of 'patient' causing her to pause and swallow her emotions. Ed just gripped her hands a bit tighter, offering her a moment to gather herself, but he didn't say anything.

"All of this," she began again, her voice a bit more confident. "These last few months…well…"

"Hey," Ed interrupted, not wanting her to beat herself up any more over their recent break. She had done that enough on their past few dates, and he silently kicked himself for sending them back down that road. "What's done is done. Can't change the past. Just gotta…look at what's in front of us."

Olivia's eyes snapped to his, their fingers still intertwined, as he let out a breath and tried to help steady her emotions.

Steady.

That's exactly what Ed Tucker offered her. A steady force to lean on in an otherwise crazy and traumatizing world. A shoulder to cry on, a body to lean on, an ear to vent to, and a heart to love her. She was a fool to let him go the first time and as they both sat in the middle of the Upper New York Bay, Olivia silently committed to both Ed and herself that she was not going to run away this time. She was finally letting go, allowing herself to be happy.

Ed sensed the resolve just by watching her facial expression, and he smiled softly before taking one hand out of their entangled pile and stroking her cheek lightly along the bone.

"I've never needed more than you can give me, Olivia," he whispered.

"I know," she responded, her voice barely audible.

"Come 'ere," Ed said, moving himself so he rested against the boat's railing as Olivia crawled over to him. She allowed Ed to engulf her in his embrace as her back and head hit his firm chest, relief pouring out of her body as soon as his arms wrapped around her middle.

The couple stayed like that for what was likely an hour, enjoying the feel of being in each other's arms while watching the city that they called home glisten above the water. Ed would occasionally move to kiss her head and breath in her scent, and Olivia would run her fingers along his forearms, not once allowing him to let go of her.

And he never would.

Now that Ed had Olivia back in his arms, he wasn't letting go again. Not without a knock-down, drag out fight.

"We should bring Noah out here one day…" she murmured, her head lolling a bit as she looked around.

Ed just tightened his grip and closed his eyes. She was talking about their future.

"Absolutely," he said, kissing her head once more and allowing his lips to linger a bit. "Anything you want…"

Olivia turned a bit and craned her neck so she could look up at the man who held her, and she smiled.

"You really mean that, don't you?" she asked softly, moving a hand up to trace his lips a bit as she watched him look at her with a love and admiration she had never felt before. And instead of being scared, she just felt more secure with each passing second.

"I do," he said simply, puckering his lips so that he kissed the pads of her fingers as they moved along slowly. "I just wanna make you happy."

Olivia smiled and adjusted one more time so that she could press her lips against his, letting out a content sigh as she felt his arms grip her waist tightly. They shared a few brief, but deep kisses before Ed let out a little groan and ran one hand up her back to grip her hair lightly, positioning her so he could kiss her even more deeply.

Her hands clutching at the material of his cotton blue shirt, Olivia moaned a bit as Ed's tongue explored her mouth. She loved kissing Ed.

Eventually the need for air became dire, and they both pulled back panting, breaths mixing as they stared at each other. Ed's eyes were dazed, but he kept them locked on Olivia, their heart rates beginning to slow.

"So are ya?" he asked softly, twisting a lock of hair in his fingers.

"Am I what?" Olivia asked, having lost all coherent thought in the last few minutes.

"Are ya happy?" he asked simply, shrugging his shoulders and looking at her, laying himself out there and trusting her not to hurt him again.

"I am," she said confidently, leaning up for one more brief kiss. "I've never been happier…"

"But?" Ed prompted, remembering the last time she said that to him, and expecting there to be a few conditions. But he was pleasantly surprised with her response.

"No buts this time," she said, shaking her head. "You make me happy. You will always make me happy. I trust you. I trust us."

Ed smiled, cupping her face and nuzzling her nose, visions of taking Noah on the boat later on that summer dancing through his head. Park dates, middle of the night love making, Olivia burning toast trying to make them all breakfast, teaching Noah how to ride a bike, and maybe…one day…combining all of their stuff into one apartment. He saw his entire future in the brown eyes of the woman in front of him, and she was finally opening herself up to allowing him to give it all to her.

"Me too," he said, kissing her lips once more before sealing their day together with his deepest promise. "Always."

Well? Reviews are nice.