A/N: Here is the conclusion. The end of the squad room scene onwards was written by the lovely TStabler. Thanks so much, you rock! Please read and review.
Disclaimer: Own nothing.
The work day dragged by so slowly but as soon as the clock hit five, Olivia had been out the door, headed home, before Elliot had even managed to finish saying her name.
At just after seven, there was a knock on Olivia s apartment door, snapping her out of her deep thoughts. Thinking it was the pizza delivery boy, Olivia got up off the couch and headed over to the door, grabbing her purse off the kitchen counter on the way.
"Elliot!" she gasped as soon as she opened the door. Elliot was standing there. "What are you doing here?! How did you get my home address?" she screeched in anger, folding her arms on her chest, to empathize what she was feeling. Well to try make it believable because the truth of the matter was that she still loved him despite the pain that he was actually married with children.
Elliot sighed. He should have guessed that he d get that kind of response from her. "I asked Captain Cragen for it."
"Why?!"
"Can we talk about this in your apartment instead of out here in the hall?"
"Not until you tell me why the hell you asked the captain for my home address!"
"Keep it down!" a young woman called from her apartment doorway. "I have a baby trying to sleep."
"Sorry, Abby," Olivia apologized to her twenty-four year old neighbor.
"Oh, it's you, Liv. My little Tommy is trying to sleep."
"We'll keep it down," Olivia replied.
Abby nodded. "Thanks Liv," she replied and went back into her apartment.
"Well can we continue this in your apartment now?" Elliot asked softly.
Sighing, Olivia reluctantly moved from the door, letting him in. "Shut the door you re letting out the cool air!" she scolded as she sat down on the couch.
Elliot shut the door and followed her over, sitting down beside her. "I'm sorry, Olivia."
"Did you just use me just for sex?" Olivia asked softly, hurt, trying to avoid eye contact with him.
"What?! No of course not, Olivia. I fell in love with you at first glance. You're so beautiful, Olivia. I love you."
Olivia bit her bottom lip and couldn t stop the couple wet, salty tears which fell from her eyes. "What? No you can't, Elliot," she whispered sadly.
"How come?" Elliot asked, furrowing his brow in confusion.
"Cause you're married with children, remember?"
"So? I can still love you, Olivia. And I do."
Olivia shook her head. "I think maybe you should leave," she said, turning away from him. She couldn ' look at Elliot, otherwise she'd lost it... She'd either cry or start kissing him, which would certainly lead to sex.
"No, I m not going anywhere, Olivia," he told her gently and reached out to take her hands in his but she wouldn t have a bar of it. She immediately snatched her hands back. "Olivia..."
"No," Olivia whispered sadly, shaking her head. "You really should wife and kids are waiting for you to get home, Elliot," she gently told him and sniffled.
"But Olivia..."
"No," Olivia replied, cutting him off. You really should go. "I'll see you at work in the morning."
Sighing, Elliot got up. "Okay. I ll see you tomorrow morning," he said in defeat and walked out of the apartment, making sure that door locked behind him, so that Olivia was safe.
Seeing Elliot walk out of her apartment almost felt as if he was walking out of her life despite the fact that she knew that she d be seeing him the next morning at work. She still couldn t help but cry silently to herself, looking out at the Manhattan night skyline.
*************
Walking into the squad room the next morning at eight on the dot, Elliot was actually a little surprised to see Olivia sitting at her desk working on her computer. She was doing the paperwork from their first case together, the day before.
"Morning Olivia," he greeted her as he walked past his desk.
"Morning," she grunted non-chalantly, without looking up from the computer screen.
"You still angry at me?" Elliot asked in frustration.
Olivia sighed and finally looked at him. "I'm not angry, Elliot."
"Then what is it?!"
"Let's not talk about this here," Olivia hissed, combing her fingers through her dark brown hair.
"Fine. Where?!" he asked, getting angry.
Olivia sighed, harshly, and rolled her eyes. "Do we need to do this, right now?"
"Yes!" Elliot spat. "You have no idea what kind of hole I dug myself into last night, and I need to know if I did it all for nothing!"
Olivia looked up at him, seeing the seriousness in his eyes. "Wow," she gasped, his icy stare getting to her. "Okay, uh, roof?"
"Perfect," Elliot grumbled. "If I don't like what you tell me, I can just fucking jump." He turned and walked out of the sqaudroom, followed by Olivia, who only just realized she had no bloody clue how to get to the roof. "So," he said, turning, once they hit the cool air outside, "You're not mad, then what is it?"
"I'm confused, Elliot!" Olivia yelled, taking a step forward. "We had one night, one incredible night, and I was hoping it would lead to more, but you...you're married! And now you're my partner! I've tried everything I could think of to forget that night, but I can't! Every time I close my eyes I see..."
"Yours," Elliot offered. "Every time I close my eyes, Olivia, I see yours staring back at me. I told Kathy I needed space, last night. That's why I went to your place, Olivia. I left. but when you kicked me out, too, and I had to go back, man you should have heard her scream. I can't be separated from her and staying in the house with her!"
"You left? Why? Why would you do that to your family?" Olivia cried, panic stricken. "I don't want to be the reason for..."
"You're not! God, Olivia," Elliot said, running a hand through his hair. "If I had any kind of happy relationship with my wife, do you really think I would have gone home with you from that bar?"
Olivia furrowed her brow. "Elliot..we were...drunk and..."
"Yeah, for about five minutes," Elliot said. "I sobered up the minute we walked through your bedroom door. I could have turned back, but I didn't. I chose you over her then, and I'm doing it now. It hasn't been working with Kathy for a long time, and when I met you, it was like God sending me a way out."
Olivia felt tears building up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She would not be brought to her knees for anyone, especially a man who, for the most part, was a one-night-stand gone bad. "What if you decide to go back?" she asked, sniffling.
"What?" Elliot asked, furrowing his brow.
"If we start something, really start something, which is wrong anyway due to the bylaws of the NYPD, what happens when you decide to go back to your wife when we start fucking it all up?" Olivia asked turning away from him. "Because I have a horrible track record with relationships, and you pretty much take the prize for world's biggest asshole."
Elliot chuckled. "Olivia," he whispered, stepping toward her and cupping her chin, "I promise. If we start something, really start something, there's no way in hell I could ever go back to her." He bored into her with his gaze, staring into her brown eyes. "Give me a chance to prove that to you?" he pleaded. "I've fallen to far, too fast, to have any hope of climbing up, Liv," he whispered.
"Liv?" Olivia questioned.
"You, uh, you needed a nickname, and it's what I can't do without you. *Live*, Liv," Elliot told her, brushing his thumb over her lips. "Let me prove it." Olivia, her heart slowly coming to a stop in her chest, looked into his begging eyes. She knew what he was about to do, and did nothing to stop it. He brushed his lips over hers, light as a feather, and whispered, "Please, Liv?"
"El," Olivia gasped, only getting the first syllable of his name out before his lips pressed harder into hers. This kiss meant a world of trouble was heading their way, but they didn't really care. He pulled away, needed to breathe, and looked at her, waiting for a response. "Okay," she whispered, fluttering her eyes open, "But I swear to God, Stabler, if I give you my heart and you break it, I will kill you."
Elliot chuckled and kissed her again. He ran a hand through her hair and said, "If I break yours, mine breaks right along with it, so that won't happen." He took her hand and led her back into the building, sending Heaven a thankful glance. God had given him a way out of a loveless
marriage, and a way into Olivia's heart. He just hoped he could stay there.