Olivia jolted awake and instantly groaned, her head was pounding and her back was sore. She leaned back and then felt her hand touch someone else's skin, her head whipped around quickly, her eyes widened when she noticed it was Elliot. She didn't remember him coming over the night before, she couldn't remember anything after getting home from Ian's apartment.
She sat up and looked back at Elliot who woke up when she moved, "Hey, how are you feeling?" He spoke and Olivia looked at him and then away, "Uh I don't know, did we uh?" She spoke and Elliot shook his head quickly, "No, you called me and when I got here you were well passed out. I helped you clean up and you asked me to stay. So I did." He spoke.
Olivia didn't feel uncomfortable with Elliot in her bed, she used to sleep in bed with him every night, the fact that she couldn't remember anything from the night before was what scared her. "I should, get ready. Take some Tylenol." She told him and stood up, she walked out into her kitchen and opened her medicine cabinet. She grabbed the bottle of Tylenol and grabbed a few pills and swallowed them down with a bottle of water.
She walked back to her bedroom and looked at Elliot who was now sitting up, "Go home and get ready, I'll meet you at work." She told him and then she headed off to her bathroom. She shredded the clothing she was wearing, she ran her hands over her neck as she stretched and flipped on the water and adjusted the water, she looked in the mirror and down at her body, she sighed and shook her head before stepping under the water.
Elliot was gone when she got out of the bathroom and she dropped her towel once she was in her bedroom she dropped her towel and grabbed some clothes. She put on her slacks and a long sleeved shirt before walking to her safe and grabbing her gun and badge and attaching.
She planned to spend the entire day drowning herself in coffee and pretending that her head didn't hurt as bad as it did.
***
4 days later
"Liv I need you in my office, now."
Olivia looked up from her computer, and over at Elliot who looked up to Cragen as well before she scooted her chair out and stood, making her way to his office, she stepped in and he pulled the door shut. He was quiet as he walked through the office and he pulled an object out of his drawer.
She watched with her lips parted as he pulled out a breathalyzer. "What's going on?" She spoke and Cragen walked to her, he held up the object to her. "Blow." He spoke and Olivia just laughed, "Don you can't be serious." She responded, "If you want me to handle this rather than IAB then you better blow." He spoke, he was firm. Olivia stepped forward and wrapped her lips around before she blew.
The machine beeped and Cragen looked at the meter. He didn't tell her the level and she didn't want to know. He just sat it down on his desk and looked back at Olivia who was the first to speak, "I'm not drinking at work Captain." She spoke and mov ed her eyes down to the floor. "But you're drinking enough for it to become a problem here, you can't stay awake, you go off on suspects and you're not the same. You may not be drunk, but you're still intoxicated. You get sober, you can come back. I will tell them that you are taking vacation time. I will give you two weeks Olivia, you prove to me that you can handle this. You can come back." He told her.
Olivia looked down and then back at him, "Captain, I'm going through a rough time but I'm fine, you can trust me." She told him. "Then take the time to get yourself together," He spoke but Olivia shook her head, "I can't handle 2 weeks all by myself I'll go crazy. Give me 1, I'll get it together I promise." She told him. She took off her gun and badge from her belt and put it on his desk before she exited the office.
Elliot was watching her as she walked back into the squad room but all she did was open up her drawer and grab her keys before speaking, "See you in a week."
***
Elliot watched her walk out the door and to the elevator and he was up on his feet walking back to Cragen's office just as he was putting something in his desk. He grabbed Olivia's gun and badge and put them in the desk drawer and pushed it closed. Elliot rose a brow and watched him. "What the hell is going on?" He spoke.
"Liv is going to be taking a week off of work, I advise you to let her take this time to get herself together." He spoke and Elliot just scoffed as he shook his head, "You took her badge? Tell me what the fuck is going on Captain."
"Watch your language, you sit beside her every single day, you watch her actions you know damn well why she's gone. Let it go Elliot, let her get better." He spoke before he motioned to the door. Elliot muttered something under his breath before he walked out the door, he snatched his keys from his desk before he was on his way to Olivia's apartment.
***
Olivia walked into her apartment and looked around. The place was trashed and she was disgusted with herself.
This place looked exactly like her home used to.
The bottles on the floor.
The blankets and clothes thrown everywhere.
She would keep her shit together at work and then come home and drown herself in alcohol, and she felt like this was it, that she was hitting rock bottom. She did the same when her and Elliot broke up but she also took off weeks of work, there was no time that she showed up late for work.
She looked at her mess in her living room and walked over, she grabbed one of the bottles and stared at it, all she could see was the bottle, in her mothers hand and Serena yelling at her, she didn't want this to be her. She looked at the bottle before she threw it at the wall, she listened to it shatter and fell to the ground and let out a sob. Her head into her hands and she sobbed.
She looked at the shattered bottle and ran her hands over her face before she stood up again. She grabbed the two other empty bottles and carried them into her kitchen. She tossed them into the trash before she opened up her liquor cabinet. She opened the bottles and began to pour them down the sink, she didn't know what she wanted anymore.
She wanted the comfort, the feel of having someone to go home to again. But in her mind she couldn't put a face on who she was coming home to, it used to be Elliot, then she thought it would be Ian, now she didn't have a clue. She poured every single item of alcohol down the drain and then into her trash can before she heard a firm round of knocks on her door.
Tears were still falling as she walked to the door, she knew who it was. She unlocked her door before she opened it and looked at Elliot, "Go back to work." She told him. "Liv I think we should talk," Olivia rolled her eyes, "Well I don't," She went to close the door but his foot flew out and stopped her from closing it, "Elliot. I get it, you have a problem with letting me take care of myself but I am fine, and I am so damn sick of you breathing down my neck every second."
She moved out of the way just to get some space but he pushed his way inside and Olivia groaned, "Oh my fucking god Elliot! You are not my boyfriend anymore alright?! You are not my protector who has to go and check on me every five damn seconds like I'm gonna break. Elliot you are a great great guy, and you were a great boyfriend and you made me really happy but it is fucking over. You need to let me go!" She yelled and ran her hands through her hair.
"Liv, you have been drowning yourself in booze for the past week! Cragen took your badge! I have a damn reason to check in on you, I'm your partner!" He shot back at her and Olivia shook her head quickly, "Fine, you don't want to trust me whatever but I need my space get the fuck out of here." She spoke. "Olivia," He spoke and reached for her arm but she snatched it away.
"Now, El." She whispered and heard him slip out the door. She looked down at the floor before walking back in her kitchen. She dumped her wine, her beer and threw everything away before changing out her trash and then walking back to her room to sleep.
***
The next morning
Olivia rolled over in her bed and glanced at the clock, just past 7. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair, it was one of the first days in a while she woke up without a headache, she had to be thankful for something. She picked up her phone from her bedside table and unplugged it, she looked through the string of notifications that she had gotten when she was sleeping. She noticed the single text that popped up from Elliot.
Call me?
She looked at the text and smiled gently, she shouldn't have gone off on him so hard the night before but she was starting to feel a bit smothered. She just needed some space but a phone call wouldn't hurt, she dialed his number and pressed the phone up to her ear. It rang twice before she heard the low voice speak,
"Hey," Olivia smiled just at the sound of that voice, she could tell just by his tone that he was tentative, and he was worried about her. "Hey, you at work?" She spoke and grabbed the ends of her blanket and pulled it up over her body further. "Yeah, just got in a couple seconds ago. Cragen is pairing me with Fin, how are you?"
"Alright, just woke up, might go back to sleep though, since I have no reason to get up. I dumped all my alcohol last night so now, I just have to get myself together." She told him. "You wanna call me? At lunch?" She added and she could hear the smile in Elliot's voice as he responded, "I'll call you, sleep well Liv,"
"Bye Elliot."
***
Olivia blinked her eyes awake and peeked over at her phone, it was now after 10 and she decided it would be a good time to get up, she sat up and yawned, stretching her arms up and over head and then walked into her kitchen. She started a pot of coffee and switched her dishes.
By noon she had cleaned her apartment, showered, gotten dressed and done laundry, which was more than she did in an entire night sometimes. She looked at her phone and wondered when Elliot was going to call her, just about on cue her phone began to ring, she smiled and walked over, sinking down on the couch before she answered.
"Hey." She spoke into the phone and grabbed a blanket and draped it over her body. "Hey how are you?" Elliot spoke on the other end, "Good, I cleaned my apartment and did laundry, two things I haven't done in a while. Let me just be honest, sometimes I just buy new clothes so I can avoid doing laundry." She spoke, she could hear Elliot laugh on the other end and it made her smile.
"So how is Fin?" She asked as she played with the end of her blanket, "He's alright, but he's not you." He responded and Olivia just smiled. "6 more days El, I need it." She told him. She had come to terms it with it the night before, she knew that Cragen was making a good decision for her.
"6 days is a long time Liv."
"It'll be worth it I promise."
TBC :)