A Waiting Game

Everybody Knows

"I'm not putting up with you, I can't imagine what your going through right now, I'm just glad I get to be here next to you." I say tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Your too good to me." She says softly.

"What are you thinking?" She asks.

"What?" I ask, "I'm not thinking about anything..."

"I know that face El..." She says softly. "Your thinking about something."

"I was thinking about the timing of when we got together." I say, still stuck in my thoughts.

"What about it?" She says, sitting up.

"It was right after Gitano..." I say.

"What does that have to do with it?" She asks, shifting, to lay on me.

"I didn't think you were ever going to talk to me again, let alone transfer back to SVU, and when you did, for the first couple months, I was just so happy to have you anywhere near me again that I didn't say anything." I say.

"That was when I realized that I loved you." She says, "Well I already knew that I loved you, but I didn't realize how much until Gitano."

Olivia's POV

"Then why'd you leave?" He asks quietly.

"I left because I thought I couldn't work with you anymore, I didn't think you loved me like I loved you, and I knew that if we were in a situation like that again I'd choose you in a heartbeat over any victim or any other cop, I thought it'd be better if I left, better for me if I didn't have to work side by side with someone who didn't love me the same way I loved them." I say softly, placing my hand on his chest.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you Liv..." He says softly, "You didn't deserve that..."

"Why did you yell at me?" I ask quietly.

"I was pissed off at myself for loving you, for not telling you, and for picking you over Ryan..." He says sadly.

"Hey," I say looking up at him, "That wasn't your fault.

"That doesn't mean I can't feel bad about it." He says.

"I know..." I say softly.

"I'm still mad at myself for not telling you sooner..." He says.

"Had it been up to me, I probably never would have told you." I say quietly.

"Really?" He says surprised.

"I didn't think you loved me El, and I wouldn't have wanted to lose my best friend." I say.

"I almost couldn't believe you didn't know..." He says. "Do you remember the Montgomery case?"

"Of course I remember the Montgomery case, that case was brutal, I almost had a nervous breakdown." I say with a chuckle.

"I walked you up the cribs after we almost got shot and you were wearing that black v-neck shirt, that I love by the way, and Munch said he wished you were into him because he'd be all over you, and then Finn slapped him on the back of the head and told him to have some respect--" He says before I interrupt.

"What is the point to this story?" I ask laughing.

"I'm getting to the point," He says laughing, "He's said 'Elliot and Olivia are in love, and the only people that don't know Elliot and Olivia are in love, are Elliot and Olivia, that's pretty hard to compete with' and I already knew that I loved you but I didn't think you loved me, and that's when I stopped to think that maybe there was a chance."