Chapter Text
The following morning Elliot had been gone before she had woken, the sweats he had worn the night before folded neatly on the chair, one dirty glass left in the sink, a note scribbled in his atrocious handwriting left on the counter.
Thanks for last night.
That was the only thing he had ‘said’ to her since he had crawled into bed with her last night, the two of them both drifting off to sleep with their hands linked and pressed against his chest.
She would be lying if she said that it hadn’t felt right having him there, because it did.
But then going almost another twenty four hours without hearing from him, that had torn her up inside.
She knew that something must be going on with his case, that he must be on the verge of something big, because nothing else would explain his behavior from last night.
So she had let it go and had chosen to act like the silence didn’t bother her one bit.
Except, it did, especially when she was laying awake in bed the following night, staring up at the ceiling as she let out a huff.
She hadn’t meant to grab her cell phone and press the call button next to his name.
But once she realized what she was doing it was too late to turn back.
“Hey.” He was whispering, for what reason she wasn’t sure, but at least he answered.
“Hey.” She found herself closing her eyes as she simply listened to him breathe.
At least she knew he was alive.
“You okay?” Oh Elliot, always concerned for her.
“Yeah.” At least, as okay as she could be. “Are you?”
“Not really.” She let out a soft sigh as she stared at the clock on the bedside table.
“Come over?” It was almost midnight, but she didn’t care.
It’s not like it was the first time.
“I can’t.” Her heart sinking at his response was not what she expected.
She needed to be stronger than this.
She couldn’t let herself depend on this man.
“Oh.” She tried not to sound too disappointed, but she knew that she had failed.
“It’s just… it’s work, Liv.” He sounded defeated and she wondered why.
“Do you need to talk?” The likely answer would be ‘no’, but she still figured it was worth asking.
“No, I’m good.” She didn’t believe him, not one bit. “I’m okay, Liv, just… I think I may have gotten a break in Kathy’s case, that’s all.”
“Anything I can help with?” Not that it was her business to get involved, not anymore, but for him, well for him she would move mountains.
“Nah, not right now anyway.” Well, at least the offer was out there. “I should get going. And you should sleep.”
“Okay.” She whispered her response and she didn’t miss the little sigh that he let out on the other end. “Good luck.”
And then she was hanging up on him, not really caring what he thought.
--
Which is why when her phone buzzed a few hours later, waking from her sleep, she let out a huff when she saw his name on the screen.
I know it’s late. Just wanted to make sure you’re okay. Just… call me when you can.
She had done this hadn’t she?
She had opened this can of worms and now it was her chaos to control.
Except this was Elliot Stabler they were talking about here, and there was no controlling that kind of chaos.
So she decided not to text him back, flipping the phone over before flopping back against her pillow with a huff.
God she hated that she let him do this to her.
Ten years, ten fucking years without him, and now she all of sudden couldn’t seem to get him off her mind.