A/N-Hello, readers. I just want to give a big thanks to those who've been reviewing my other ffs. It's so nice to get feedback because it makes the small child in me feel loved and appreciated. I hope you like but if you don't I don't really mind. R/R, please and thank you.

I tried to make this sort of plain rom. with no angst but it was so hard. Angst with E/O stories go together like PB&J. I did try to keep the angst to a minimum.

Disclaimer: I neither own or claim to own SVU. I make no money off of this story and this is done strictly for the self-improvement of my writing skills.

Timeline: This story takes place after the infamous shared OJ scene in Stalked (1.06). You should probably watch that epi first or at the very least read a summary on Wiki.

Elliot Stabler just couldn't wrap his head around his new partner, Olivia Benson. Their current case involved a stalker that had shown more than a professional curiosity in her and instead of running into the protection that SVU was offering her; she was trying to be in control. Why was she being so standoffish about this whole thing? If he had a stalker reciting personal facts about him, Kathy, or any of his kids…he wouldn't hesitate to protect himself to protect his family.

She was obviously scared so what was the big deal about accepting help? When they had learned about White having a list of addresses to every place Olivia visited she had become quiet, almost as if she was trying to interrogate herself on if she had ever seen White creeping around her local haunts before. That had obviously come up with nothing because by the time he had offered to drive her home, Olivia had started doing that annoying habit she does when stressed; tapping her fingers to some inane catchy pop melody before humming and god help the person who didn't interrupt her before she started singing. And did he forget to mention she was consistently off-tune with her singing?

Sighing to himself, Elliot prepared himself to say something to stop her but she beat him to the punch, as usual. "Hey, Elliot? Could I ask you a small favor and before you say no, I'll pay you back with whatever favor you'll need in the future."

Shrugging, Elliot couldn't help but smile to himself. Olivia may have been new to being his partner but she was turning out to be like all of the others. All of his former partners had ended up needing a favor which slowly progressed into more favors. One of them had even asked Elliot to buy methamphetamines and when Elliot frowned in disapproval the guy just frowned right back and ask if he was going to do it or not. Hopefully Olivia wouldn't ask something that drastic. She was stubborn and frustrating but very nice to look at and quite goofy once you got her loosened up a bit.

"Listen, Benson. We're partners. I don't even know you that well…so, don't ask me to do any crazy shit like wrestle your pet cat from the fire escape or feed your pet turtle because I don't do that," Elliot looked up at Olivia's apartment from the comfort of the squad car before giving Olivia his infamous cop face.

Olivia smiled before laughing. "God, just stop it, Elliot. Your cop face doesn't work on me. I just…wanted to know if you would sleep with me tonight."

"Whoa there, Benson. I'm married last time I checked," Throwing his ring finger in her face, Olivia frowned.

"I didn't mean like that…I meant because this White guy really has me on edge and…well, you know, you're my partner and I didn't know where else to turn," Pulling her hand through her dark locks, Olivia sighed before looking out of the slightly fogged up window. "I know I may seem like I have everything under control and I do but that's when I can watch after myself. At night…I'm as vulnerable as any of his other victims and that scares me, Elliot.

"It's ironic really. When my mom was in one of her drunken rages or depressions, depending on the luck of the draw that day, I would always be grateful for the night to hide me from her…pain. She never once hurt me physically but emotionally I was just hanging on to hope. Hope that she would get better and stop hurting me the way she must have been hurting just looking at me every day. I would use to pray every day before school let out, 'God, let the night come quicker to protect me from whatever I did to make Mommy be mean to me.' Stupid, I know."

Elliot couldn't believe what he was hearing. Olivia was hardly forthcoming with details about herself, no cop ever was. It was police training 101; bury all personal details deep inside until off the clock. He personally always found it difficult to become an emotional robot for eight plus hours a day and that fault must have been one of the main reasons he was asked to work at SVU. It was always a running joke between the other divisions at the annual softball game that the detectives at SVU had some personality fault that made them more inclined to "feel the victim" and in some ways they were right. Munch has women issues, Cassidy is blissfully ignorant, and even he was inclined to having rages at perps ninety-nine point nine percent of the time. They all had faults. Olivia fit right in but…he didn't know she was hurting this much inside. All of those nights he had spent in the precinct shower masturbating to a woman who was probably sitting at home pitying herself…god, he felt like a lecher.

"Olivia. We all have problems but that's what makes us able to do this job so damn well. You can't just sit here and blame yourself for something your mother did."

Olivia whipped her head around and grabbed Elliot's shoulders so he could finally see her eyes. She was crying. Not physically, no, Olivia would never do that in front of him so soon but she was clearly crying inside. Her face was blank but her eyes told him everything that he needed to know; Olivia was taking this case hard and it was cracking her. They never tell any of the detectives that when they first join SVU, that you'll be broken down and rebuilt if you intend to succeed. Elliot had even brought it up to Munch once and he just smiled and said, "If we told them that, Elliot, we'd scare the pigeons and without pigeons no recruits and no recruits means that SVU would die a slow and painful death. I don't think the victims would appreciate that."

Elliot was thrown out of his remembrance when he felt Olivia's fingers grasping his shoulders as she felt her breathing heavily. He couldn't help but hope that she wouldn't end up crying because he was horrible with crying women. "I don't blame myself, Elliot. I just…wish things could be different between me and my mother. I just wish that I,"

"And there you go again, Benson. If you don't blame yourself why do you keep using, 'I' and 'me' when you should be using 'her' and 'she'," Elliot lifted his hands from the car wheel in a subconscious attempt to comfort her but couldn't work up the nerve at the last second. "We all have problems. I don't know how often I can repeat that until you get it."

Rolling her eyes, Olivia frowned and released her grip from Elliot's shoulders, "So how do you deal with your problems, huh?"

"I go home. I talk to Kathy and the kids. I caulk those pipes in the bathroom. I try to help Dickie with his homework. Basically, I go back to being a husband and a father. My family is my cure to…this job and all of the shit that comes with it."

"That's it? So…are you suggesting I run out and get knocked up so I can have a family of my own?"

Elliot chuckles to himself before wiping the fog off of the windows, "Olivia, all I'm suggesting is that you find something or someone to be that thing you can turn to when a case gets hard and you start remembering the pain your mother put you through. If you don't find something…it'll be hard for you to cope in this unit for very long if at all. Munch has his crazy conspiracy theories, Cassidy is an idiot, Cragen used to drink but now I think he just stares at walls to relax, and I have my band of Stablers."

Olivia smiles and starts laughing and Elliot knew she would be okay. Even Cassidy once said that laughing is the only way to cure the pain they dealt with on a daily basis…or you kill yourself. Despite his last tacked on idiotic statement, Cassidy was, unusually, right.

"But what if…the thing I want to be my saving grace so to speak is…already taken? What do I do then," Olivia said. Wait…something in Olivia's tone was familiar, if he could see her eyes it would make it easier to read what she was thinking but she had her face covered by her hair while she played with the knobs. It sounded almost like neediness but Elliot couldn't help but wonder; what would Olivia need from him that she couldn't do herself?

Noticing that Olivia was slightly squirming in her seat, Elliot thought that maybe she was cold but the way she was keeping her face hidden and the slight way she was rubbing her fingers up her pant covered legs…was she teasing him? Was she honestly trying to provoke him into a response that he would have to give, a response that he wanted so badly to give but couldn't?

Was it just him or did the heat go up in the sedan by ten degrees? It was getting hard for him to breathe properly and his palms were starting sweat. Elliot couldn't help imagining how her legs would feel stroking his thighs in a warm bedroom that smelled faintly of the sweaty sex that would have just occurred. It would probably be soft like her hands and the sheets…why the hell was he fantasizing about Olivia Benson's sheets? Why the hell was he fantasizing about her with her sitting right next to him? She would have to be an idiot not to feel his…

And, right on cue, Olivia lifted her left hand toward his thigh and practically jumped back when she felt his half-cocked member practically saluting her from its fabric covered coffin. "Oh my god, Elliot, I'm so…I should go…this is so awkward."

Before she could pull the lever to open the door, Elliot grabbed Olivia's left hand and moved it closer to his quickly hardening erection. "Olivia…don't run out on me just yet. Listen, I don't know about you but I think about you…a lot. I just can't help myself, you're just so young and…do you want me or am I just getting the wrong vibe? If I'm getting the wrong vibe than tell me now and I'll just let you go but…I don't know, I just need to here you say it. Do you want me like I want you right now?"

"Elliot. I did…I mean, I do want you. How could any girl say no to you but…I can't get in a relationship with a married man. If there is one thing I'll never do it's that."

"Then don't."

Olivia tilted her head to the side with a frown. "Don't what? I haven't done anything, Elliot. You're the one who has a friend with a mind of his own."

"Hey, don't talk about Pirate like that. He's really sensitive," Elliot gave a playful smile.

"Please tell me you didn't name your dick, Pirate. You're joking right?"

"Of course…every guy names his equipment just like women have names for their favorite shoes or their breasts. No matter how mature a man is you can bet he has a name for his equipment so I don't see the problem, Benson."

Olivia rolls her eyes before continuing. "Of course you don't…typical man. Listen, I really should be going. I don't want to spend all night cowering in fear of my stalker in a cop car. Thanks for…talking with me, Elliot. I really did appreciate it a lot."

For the second time that night, Elliot found himself grapping Olivia's left hand to stop her from exiting the car. "So is that it? You're not even going to consider?"

"Consider getting involved with you, Elliot? I think not. I told you I don't get in relationships with married men," Olivia looked down at their joined hands and he could see how visibly uncomfortable she was being even this close to Elliot. She was losing her resolve to leave. Elliot wanted to push her buttons some more and see how far he could take this no matter where it ended up. He had to know where he stands with her.

"I don't want a relationship, Benson. I just want my body to stop overreacting around you like some stallion new to the stud farm. Do you know how it feels to want someone so badly that it physically hurts being around that person?"

"Yes," Olivia gulped and Elliot decided to take it little further.

"That's what I have to deal with on a daily basis, Olivia. It's horrible being in the same room with you for several hours while interrogating a suspect and knowing that the quicker we get the information out of the guy, the quicker I can be in the shower…touching myself. Do you want to know how I do it? I lather up my dick with the soap and put my hands around it while I start rubbing and tugging away all the while wishing it was your tight pussy clenching me instead," For added measure, Elliot moved her left hand that was still intertwined in his hand to his now fully hardened erection and slowly began stroking himself with both of their hands.

Looking up, Elliot could tell he had won. Olivia was blushing and clearly finding it hard to breathe or talk in full sentences but he had to hear her say it…he had to have recognition that she wanted this, whatever this turned out to be, with him and no one else. "Benson. Do you want me to sleep with you tonight?"

A slight nod was all she could accomplish in the hopes of a reply. "Do you want me to have sex with you tonight, Benson?"

This time Olivia gave another slight nod but with an accompanying whine that nearly made Elliot cum right then and there. With that one sound, Elliot knew that he was done playing around. Letting her hand go, Elliot looked in Olivia's eyes and smiled, "Well…since we're at your place, could you lead the way?"

Once Olivia and he had gotten inside her apartment the mood quickly changed. Elliot hardly realized things with Olivia could be as awkward as they were right now. The burning need that had sparked in the squad car had cooled off to a small flame by the time they had reached her door and now, once inside her apartment, the flame had been extinguished into nothing at all.

Olivia was busying herself with task of turning on the lights and showing him around her place. However, she was making it as complicated as possible by slowly going through each task and making small talk about, of all things, the wall colors. He was a man for goodness's sake. He hardly cared about the difference between languid lavender and mauve.

Olivia smiled to herself after seeing Elliot's exasperation and finally stopped their tour short.

"So," Olivia twiddled with her thumbs before finally showing Elliot to her couch. "Do you want anything to eat or drink?"

"You've got any liquor," Elliot asked.

"Umm…I guess I could check. Don't go anywhere, okay?"

While Olivia walked away Elliot couldn't help but wonder where was he supposed to go? Jump out of the window? It was almost unbearable talking to Olivia like this. The last time he had a moment this awkward was when he had slept with a woman for the first time and that was over twenty years ago. Olivia wanted him and he wanted her so what was the problem between them? Sighing to himself, Elliot couldn't help but hope they could figure whatever was going on quick because at the moment his hard-on wasn't doing so good.

When she finally returned with the drink, Elliot couldn't help but smile at the contents. "No offense, Benson but when has OJ ever been considered liquor?"

Olivia frowned. "I told you I might not have any liquor and…you're only going to be with me for a little bit so…I don't want you to get a DUI later. You know…when you leave me after…whatever happens tonight."

"Do you honestly think I'm just going to leave you alone after we," Elliot coughed slightly into his hand, unable to say the words that were on his mind before speaking again. "Do what we intend to do tonight? I wouldn't just treat you like a one-night thing, Olivia."

"But that's all I am to you, Elliot. That's all I'm ever going to be and quite frankly," Olivia sighed before sitting on the couch next to Elliot. "That's all I want you to be to me too."

"You honestly expect me to believe that bullshit, Olivia?"

"No. But it would make it a hell of a lot easier on me if you did. I'll never have you, so stop trying to pretend it'll ever happen. But…can't you just…give me this one night? I don't ever want to be in a relationship with a married man, I've told you that but can't you help me by giving me this one night of hope when I need something to turn to?"

Elliot never thought he'd hear the words but Olivia was pleading to him. They were partners but Olivia had always exuded control. Whether she was controlling a perp or controlling her emotions, everything was always right where she wanted it but not now…and it was exhilarating.

But no matter how exhilarating it felt to have Olivia needing him it just made things even more difficult and complex for his own psyche; Elliot needed Olivia just as much as she needed him but he could never be anything but an occasional fling and Elliot couldn't let himself become that. He tried to tell himself it was because they were partners and sex between them would be impossible but that wasn't the whole reason behind his apprehension.

Even now, Olivia was staring at him with those puppy dog eyes that looked nearly as conflicted as he felt. With a weak smile, Elliot tried to drink the rapidly warming orange juice but could feel his throat closing up in response. "Elliot, I want you to know something. I don't know if this is the right time to mention this but Cassidy asked me out a couple of weeks ago. And I accepted."

Looking up from his drink, Elliot tried to keep his face blank. "Cassidy? Brian Cassidy?"

"Is that a problem," Elliot's disapproving silence caused her to roll her eyes and cross her arms across her chest. "Listen, Elliot. I don't get on your case when you talk about Dickie sticking his hand in a pencil sharpener. Why can't you let me talk about my dates? Maybe they're important to me just like Dickie is important to you."

Elliot rolled his eyes right back at Olivia. "That's hardly the same scenario, Benson. I'm just saying you could do a lot better than Cassidy. But if you love him then…"

"Love him? I hardly consider one date 'love', Elliot. I just meant that I don't need you to feel like you need to have sex with me out of some kind of pity. I can and will find someone else to lean on but it's just so hard to be around someone like you. You're such a tease."

"I'm 'such a tease'," Elliot said before rolling his eyes again. "I hardly want to have sex with you out of pity, Olivia. I want you because you're the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep and I can't keep living like this. It's not fair to you, Kathy, or me."

Turning her head away from Elliot, Olivia tucked a strand a hair behind her ear. "Then fuck me or whatever you choose to call it to assuage your Catholic guilt and be done with it because I can't live like this anymore either, Elliot. You seemed awfully in control of your actions and thoughts in the squad car earlier so why all of this backtracking in emotional angst? You know what you want so take it. I'm hardly going to stop you. Please…just end it all ready."

"End what, Olivia? Tell me. Tell me what you want me to end."

Turning her head toward Elliot again, Olivia's face was unreadable. "This stupid attraction I have for you, Elliot. Just give me this one night of pleasure so…I won't ever have to go through a lifetime of pain wanting something I can't have."

With one firm grasp of her hands Elliot grabbed Olivia and moved her toward him so that they were inches apart. The fire was back and burning brighter than ever between the two of them and, because of the free space between them, Elliot could feel not only his own body responding but Olivia's as well. "Is this what you want, Benson?"

She moved her hands slowly up and down his shirt covered chest and made a keening sound that nearly killed Elliot's resolve to go slow with this to savor every last detail. Finally, he and Olivia were together and she felt better than he had ever imagined. He just couldn't keep his hands from her hot body and subconsciously Elliot found himself searching out for any piece of Olivia's burning flesh he could find.

Slipping his fingers under her blouse, Elliot slowly began teasing her toned stomach and smiled to himself after feeling her muscles twitch in response. With each twitch he began to slowly trek his hands up the broad expanse of her stomach and closer, closer, and closer until he had reached her silk-covered breasts. A single groan escaped his lips as he wrapped his hands around Olivia's back to unclasp her breasts from their confines.

Looking up into Olivia's eyes, Elliot needed to know that he was doing the right thing, that this was the right thing. Her own eyes were nearly shut but Olivia was clearly determined to keep them open. Did Olivia keep them open for her own benefit or did she subconsciously know about his need? He would have to ask her that later when they were less occupied.

Sliding the unused bra from her shoulders, Elliot couldn't help but be amazed at Olivia's pliancy. She clearly wanted this from the mewls and purrs he was receiving from her but never could he have imagined that she would want this enough to give him the display she was giving him.

Olivia's hair was mussed up from the pawing and clawing that he was constantly giving it, her clothes were askew and practically falling off of her, and more importantly Olivia was squirming up and down on his thighs and asking for some friction to give her the release she had been searching for. Maybe it was just his imagination or his need making him believe the impossible but he swore he could feel her wetness sliding down his thighs even though she was still clothed.

Deciding to remedy that problem and give Olivia some comfort, Elliot moved his hands from her hardening nipples and up to her face. "I want to take your pants off. Is that okay with you?"

Olivia's eyes closed as if she was thinking to herself before speaking. When she tilted her head to the side Elliot knew she must be feeling embarrassed which caused a small smile to reach his lips. "You know…if you're embarrassed we can move this to the bedroom…unless you like sleeping with men on your couch, in front of windows, with no blinds."

"If I let you into my bedroom I'd be allowing this to happen and what if…what if you hurt me, Elliot? Please, don't hurt me, Elliot," Olivia said before turning her head back to face him. "It's been awhile since I've opened myself up like this to anyone and,"

Elliot interrupted her before she could finish. "Treat you like a princess. I know because I wouldn't have it any other way, Benson. You're truly something special and I don't want to break you before the next guy comes along. And hopefully that guy won't be Cassidy."

With a smile, Olivia reached up to Elliot's face. "Elliot, before we go to my bedroom could you do one thing for me?"

"Of course."

"Could you stop calling me Benson? Olivia is fine but not Benson. It makes me feel like my mother which is a major turnoff."

"Well how about this, I give you a nickname and you give me a nickname. That way it's fair," Elliot said before flashing his trademark boyish grin.

"Elliot, this is going to be a one-time thing so there's no need for sexual pet names like Baby, Honey, or Sugar."

"So…Sweetheart is still an option?"

Olivia grabbed the pillow from behind her and playfully hit Elliot with it before bursting into giggles. "Please don't get on my nerves, El'. That also happens to be a major turnoff."

"So my nickname is El' now? Well, I guess I'll call you 'Liv from now on. Hah, there."

"You're such a boy, you know that right? God, if only I could be attracted to someone more mature," Rolling her eyes in mock frustration, Olivia couldn't help but smile.

"Hmm…I don't know, 'Liv. There are certain parts of my anatomy that are very grown up at the moment," Elliot said with a grin. "Would you like to see how grown up they are?"

Watching Olivia's hand slowly extend itself to his erection, Elliot knew he was in trouble. He didn't mean for her to see his erection at that exact moment. If she touched him now he would most definitely explode right then and there. But he couldn't stop her from unzipping his pants and sliding her warm hand into his boxers. A moan reached his lips when Olivia not only began taking his engorged member out of the confines of his boxers but wrapped her lips around the head and began making love to him with her mouth.

This couldn't be right? Olivia doing oral on him was beyond all scope of every fantasy he had ever conjured up. Even Kathy rarely performed oral on him unless it was his birthday. Feeling the groan he had tried painstakingly to keep inside, Elliot tried to focus on the wall colors. Anything other than his struggle to keep his hips still as Olivia's mouth worked him.

His fantasies were quickly paling in comparison to the reality of the situation of feeling Olivia's lips suckling his dick like it contained the elixir of life. With each swipe of her tongue as she painstakingly slathered her tongue up and down his erection it was getting next to impossible to focus on the mundane but he had to. He had to stay out of the moment or he was going to cum and he just couldn't cum yet. It was too soon and they had hardly started yet. How was he supposed to make this enjoyable for Olivia if he came at everything she did? It had been awhile since he'd been this turned on but that was no excuse to being premature in the bedroom.

With a slight groan he tried to push her off of him before falling back onto her couch. This position did nothing to keep his resolve up. He was now staring at her brown locks as her head bobbed up and down. Elliot noticed she had no problem keeping her eyes open now, if anything her eyes were trained on his with each lick and tease that her tongue slowly tortured him with. Elliot didn't know if he was in more pain or pleasure at the moment but all he knew was that he had to make Olivia stop. "'Liv…god, you've got to stop or I'll…"

Olivia stopped pleasuring Elliot and lifted herself up. "My house my rules; why don't you sit back and enjoy the show instead of fighting it."

"Come on, 'Liv…don't be this way," Elliot groaned as Olivia reached a particularly sensitive spot while running her tongue up his erection for what felt like the hundredth time that night. "You've got to realize what I'm going through here…damn it, that feels too fucking good, 'Liv."

With a smile, Olivia resumed her task of getting Elliot off and with renewed vigor her mouth began not only searching for but abusing all of the sensitive spots his erection had. Each breath Elliot took was harder than the last. Each breath that reached his lungs felt like a gasoline fire to a dry forest and he couldn't wait until this torture was over but goddamn it felt so good he didn't want it to ever end either.

Every inch of his body was aching for her to continue; from his tense legs locked onto her thighs to his fingers clutching onto her head, each of his body parts were guiding Olivia to the right spots for her tease. Damn his body for being so damn pliant. He couldn't even tell his body to do anything that didn't revolve around his pleasured member.

Elliot almost felt like he was nearly going to explode once and for all until those soft spindly fingers wrapped around his balls and squeezed. One single squeeze was all it took to push a scream from Elliot's mouth and for him to turn into a tingling mass of flesh. If he had known that Olivia was so talented with her mouth earlier they would have done this a hell of lot sooner.

Olivia lifted herself from her prone position and smiled before taking a seat on one of Elliot's thighs while licking the remnants of his seed from her lips. "You okay? I thought you were going to black out."

"You'd like that wouldn't you? Having my unconscious body to play and tease with," Elliot lifted himself up to see Olivia's face before continuing. "You're such a minx."

"A minx? Well, I'm superly flattered that you think so highly of my talents in the bedroom but I would hardly play with your body while unconscious. It's no fun. Now…I don't know about you El' but I want to have my seven minutes in heaven also so if you could…speed up Pirate's recovery time?"

"That's all the women ever want. What about the man, Olivia? What do I get?"

With a fake sigh of exasperation, Olivia stood up from Elliot's thigh and began walking toward a hallway that led to her bedroom. He was tempted to follow but his brain was still trying to recover after her oral ministrations. "If you don't hurry up I'm going to make use of my mechanical friends, El'."

For the first time in a long time, Elliot felt really good. Not just physically but emotionally as well as he felt himself smiling against the soft linens of Olivia's bed. What time was it? It was still dark outside so it couldn't be that early. 3:15 AM. Despite having the feeling like he had just conquered the universe he still couldn't help but feel something…not guilt, that wasn't the right word. More like he had dropped one of his responsibilities somewhere.

God, he just couldn't believe he had gotten this lucky to sleep with Olivia Benson. She wasn't just a catch she was the catch of all catches. Looking over at her sleeping body, Elliot couldn't help but smile. Expecting to see her naked olive skinned back, Elliot was taken aback when he saw her back covered in a tank top. Peeking out of the tank top however were the various battle scars of scratches and bites that he had given her when he had spent several hours showing her his various talents. Elliot couldn't help but be marveled at his handiwork and with a slight twist of his body he saw that his clothes and gun were carefully folded on her dresser. He must have been really out of it to not feel her get out of bed to put on a tank top and spend minutes folding his clothes. If he got lucky again maybe he would be able to see her naked one more time before leaving to go back to his house…and then he suddenly remembered what had been nagging his subconscious.

Kathy.

She was going to be so utterly pissed when he got home and she would most definitely figure out where he'd been and who he had been with. But maybe he could sneak in and take a shower without her waking up. Better yet, he could just shower and change at the precinct and get a couple of hours sleep back in the cribs. Kathy would just think he was doing another all-nighter for a case. She would never question that…well; he hoped that she wouldn't anyway.

As he carefully moved Olivia's prone arm that she had slung across his stomach he proceeded to get up from the paradise of sheets and warm flesh. Elliot knew even the slightest sound would awaken Olivia and he tried to stay as quiet as possible as a result. Honestly, he just didn't want to deal with the looks and the discussion that would occur if he woke her up. As much as he would have loved seeing her give lustful eyes at him one more time, Elliot knew it was time to go.

Before grabbing his clothes of her dresser Elliot leaned down to give Olivia one last farewell kiss hoping that would assuage his guilt but if anything it increased ten-fold. He had to get out of here and fast before he did something he regretted.

Even while writing a note to Olivia, Elliot couldn't help but wonder what exactly was the action he would end up regretting? Sleeping with Olivia and loving every minute of it or leaving Olivia when he said he would protect her from her stalker so he could deal with his wife? Finishing the note with his signature Elliot set it down on Olivia's desk next to her own gun and frowned. All he knew was what he felt which made it even harder for him to leave. But he had to, no matter how hard it was. Elliot had responsibilities that no attraction could ever get rid of.

4:42 AM. The phone rings and wakes Olivia up from her sleep. "Elliot? Elliot…isn't here. God, I don't know whether I should be angrier at myself or him…"

Grabbing the phone, Olivia answered it. "Benson."

"Hi, Olivia," Hearing White, the stalker's voice, on the other end of the line she sighed to herself. The moment between Elliot and her had passed. She had dealt with her attraction and Elliot had dealt with his. He had responsibilities just as she did and no matter what happened between them she would always have this one night to turn to for comfort or solace but now, now it was time to get back to work.