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She said yes.
Everything in her told her to say no, to tell Elliot that they needed to wait. But when he asked her and Noah to lunch, gazing into her eyes with an expression softer and more longing than she’d seen before, every urge to say no left her.
Even if the thought of taking the next step, whatever that was, terrified and excited her all at once, she took him up on his invitation.
And she’s nervous. She shouldn’t be since it’s just a casual lunch outing with Noah present, but she is nervous and she doesn’t know why.
“Noah, are you ready?” she calls down the hall. “Elliot will be here in a couple of minutes.”
“Ready!” Noah emerges from his room, carrying his bag for dance slung over his shoulder. He slips into his shoes and jacket, and Olivia tries to reach out to ruffle his hair, but he manages to duck away before she can and she rolls her eyes at the gesture.
She follows Noah out of the apartment, locking the door behind her before they make their way outside to wait for Elliot.
Noah stands beside her on the sidewalk, rocking back on his heels while they wait. “Mom?”
“Yeah, honey?”
“Are you and Elliot dating?”
Startled, Olivia looks down at her inquisitive son. She doesn’t answer right away and for a moment, wishes he was still young enough that she could just derail the conversation in its tracks with a distraction, but she knows he’s too observant for that now and lets out a little sigh.
“It’s not quite like that,” she explains. “Elliot and I are friends.”
For now.
“Then how come we’ve never been out with him before?”
She should have known her answer wouldn’t suffice. “It’s… complicated, honey. But Elliot’s a really good friend of mine and he wants to get to know you.”
Noah nods, and she’s relieved that he doesn’t press her for more information. “What do I talk to him about?”
“Anything you want,” she reassures him. “Tell him about school and dance and stuff you like to do.”
“Okay.” Noah nods, and Olivia looks up when she hears tires slowing down on the pavement.
Elliot stops, unlocking the door. “Hey,” he greets as the pair settle into the car. He watches as Olivia fastens her seatbelt and hears Noah do the same in the backseat.
“Hey,” she echoes, giving him a smile.
She’s wearing skinny jeans and a flowy cardigan, with her hair swept up into a loose ponytail with a few waves framing her face. It’s more casual than he’s seen her since he’s been back, even more than he remembers seeing her in their thirteen year partnership, but there’s still something natural about it, something that makes his heart skip a beat.
Elliot glances into the rear view mirror. “Hey, Noah. How’s it going?”
“Good,” Noah replies shyly. He’s a little quiet around Elliot, and Elliot can’t say he blames him. They’ve only met once, and even then they only had a moment to interact before Maureen’s boys whisked Noah away to play.
He smiles into the rearview mirror. “Glad to hear it.”
“Where are we gonna go for lunch?”
“I was thinking you could pick.”
“Really?” Noah perks up, his brow furrowing in thought for all of two seconds before he decides. “Can we get pizza?”
“Pizza sounds great to me.”
Elliot looks over at Olivia, and the look of approval she gives him tells him he’s taking steps in the right direction. She knows by his tight grip on the steering wheel that he’s as nervous as she is, because it’s the first time he’s really interacting with Noah.
When their eyes meet for a moment, he relaxes a little, loosening his grasp on the wheel. He finds a good pizza place and parks, leading the way inside after locking the car.
It doesn’t take long to get a seat, and Elliot glances over at Noah as they peruse the menu. “What do you like on your pizza?”
“Just pepperoni,” he supplies. “I like getting extra pepperoni. That’s what Mom and I always get.”
“Then we’ll get extra.” When a server comes by to take their order, Elliot places an order for a large pizza with extra pepperoni, as well as a side of breadsticks.
Pleased to see her son adjusting more quickly than she anticipated, she gives him a nod of encouragement. “Noah, why don’t you tell Elliot about school?”
“I’m in fourth grade,” Noah informs him, taking a sip of his soda. “I like school. Most of the time.”
“Yeah? You get a lot of homework?”
“Sometimes. Mom helps, though. And we read together a lot.”
“Mm hmm,” Olivia confirms, the corners of her lips lifting into a fond smile. “We try to read every evening that I’m home.”
Elliot remembers it well, the rare evenings he’d be at home when his kids were young and would do their homework in the living room. “Eli has a lot of homework, but I probably wouldn’t know anything about any of it. Chemistry and algebra.”
Curious, Noah looks up at him from across the table. “What grade is Eli in?”
“Ninth,” Elliot responds as their server brings their pizza to them, setting it in the center of the table. He watches Olivia help Noah slide a slice onto his plate before she takes one herself, and then he grabs a piece. “Your mom said you like to dance.”
He nods, picking up his slice. “Uh huh. I have dance class every week. We’re doing a recital.”
“Maybe Elliot can come see it,” Olivia slips in, to his surprise (and her own, if she’s honest with herself). “It’s in May.”
“I’ll be there,” he promises, and he doesn’t miss the way she relaxes, giving him a warm smile. “What else do you like to do, Noah?”
“I like playing the Switch,” Noah replies after a bite of pizza. “And putting together Legos.”
“I loved Legos when I was a kid. I used to spend hours putting them together.”
That seems to pique Noah’s interest and any tension left in the air fades as he leans closer, grinning. “I got some new Star Wars ones that come with a lot of pieces. I even have Darth Vader!” His eyes light up as he comes up with an idea. “Maybe you can come over one day and help me put them together. Is that okay, Mom?”
The thought of Elliot Stabler hunched over her coffee table with Noah, poring over the hundreds of tiny Legos is so surreal that she almost laughs, but the idea is so domestic that she can’t bring herself to say no, and especially not when she sees the hope in both of their eyes.
“I think that would be perfectly okay,” she grants, smiling softly at both of them.
Noah’s grin widens. “When?”
“We’ll talk about it, okay?” she assures him, giving his curls an affectionate tousle that for once, he doesn’t try to duck away from.
Satisfied with that answer, Noah nods and picks up another slice of pizza. He’s quiet for a few minutes before he addresses Elliot again, this time with a serious expression on his face. “My mom said you’re really good friends.”
“We are.” Elliot’s eyes divert from Noah to Olivia, and he waits for her to give him a nod before he continues since he doesn’t know how much she’s told Noah about him. “Your mom’s my best friend, actually. We’ve known each other a long time. Over twenty years.”
“So you’re both old,” Noah finishes, a mischievous grin tugging at his lips.
“Hey, don’t pick at the guy paying for your pizza,” he counters, earning a laugh in response.
Olivia can’t hold back a fond grin as she watches the exchange, her eyes softening. “If it helps, Noah, Elliot is two years older than me.”
Noah laughs again and returns his attention to Elliot. He turns serious for another moment. “My mom said you’re not dating, but if you want to, that’s okay with me. You just have to be nice to her.”
“Noah…” Olivia interjects, inhaling sharply.
“It’s okay,” Elliot reassures her. She takes a deep breath and relaxes, trusting him to take care of the conversation. “I’m glad to hear you say that, Noah. If that happens one day, we’ll make sure to tell you. And I promise I’ll be nice to her.”
“Okay.” Content with that, Noah drops the subject, and once they’re all finished eating, Elliot takes care of the bill and they head back out to the car.
Olivia gives him the location of Noah’s dance studio, and he sets in that direction. It’s not too far from the restaurant, and when they reach it, Elliot stops at the curb.
“Got everything, Noah?” Olivia checks.
He nods and picks up the duffel bag at his feet. “Got it.”
“Okay. El, I’ll be right back.”
“Bye, Elliot!” Noah waves at him as he slips out of the backseat.
“Bye, Noah. Let me know when you wanna put together those Legos.”
“I will!” He grins, then turns away as he follows his mom into the dance studio. Elliot watches as Olivia walks Noah up the doorway. Even from the car, Elliot doesn’t miss the affection on her face as she hugs her son before letting go of him, watching until he makes it safely into the studio.
When she gets back in the car, Elliot glances over at her. “How long has Noah been dancing?”
“A few years. He tried baseball, but dancing is his favorite. I told him I’ll support any passion he wants to follow.”
“You’re a good mom, Liv.”
It’s not the first time she’s heard him say that, but there’s something vastly different about it now than when he said it a year ago. He’s met Noah now, the last step she’d been so hesitant to let him take. And she doesn’t need the reassurance that she’s a good mom, because she knows she is, but hearing it from him warms her heart in a way that she’s sought for years.
“He means everything to me.” She returns her gaze to him. “His class today lasts about an hour.”
Pleasantly surprised by the unspoken invitation, Elliot arches a brow. “Did you have something in mind?”
“You wanna get some coffee? My treat,” she suggests, surprising him with the invitation, but he doesn’t hesitate to accept it.
“Yeah, I could use a cup.”
“There’s a new shop around the corner. We could grab a cup, maybe go for a walk.”
“Sounds good to me.” Elliots shuts off the ignition and slips out of the car, locking it once they’re both out. He joins Olivia on the sidewalk and they head toward the coffee shop down the street. They make their way inside to order and Olivia orders two drinks, handing one to him once the barista hands the cups to her.
He glances at her own drink with amusement as they leave the shop, their footsteps falling in sync as they walk toward a nearby park.
“Is that ice in your cup?”
She chuckles, rolling her eyes a little. “It’s iced coffee, El. I know you’ve been gone a while, but you can’t convince me they don’t have iced coffee in Italy.”
He laughs, too, and takes a sip of his own coffee. “Just making conversation.”
The smile doesn’t leave her face as she lifts the cup to her lips and takes a sip, her face more relaxed than he’s seen her in months. “I missed this.”
The words leave her mouth before she has a chance to stop them, but the way his smile widens puts her at ease.
“Me too.” He knows it’s every bit his fault they went ten years without these moments, and even if there’s something different in the air between them, there’s still a familiarity he’s longed for, comfortable and natural. “Liv, I want… need you to know that when I was gone, I missed all of this. I missed you.”
He holds his breath after he speaks, silently praying that he hasn’t thrown a nail into their day. Olivia doesn’t answer him immediately, her smile fading just a little as she nurses her drink.
She lets out a sigh, but there’s no sign of anger or annoyance to it. A part of her wants to still be angry with him and lash out, but she’s known since the moment he stepped back into her life that she would forgive him.
“That… that actually means a lot, El. But we can talk about that another time. Right now, I just want to enjoy this.”
They continue walking and a relieved sigh escapes him. “We can do that.”
A cool, almost-spring breeze fans their faces. “I haven’t told you before, but Noah’s adopted.”
Elliot turns his focus to her, and the affection in her eyes makes him want to hear more. “Fin conveniently forgot to mention that.”
She snorts, mildly amused. “Of course he did. I adopted him when he was a baby. Langan helped me fast-track the adoption process.”
“Trevor Langan?”
Laughing at his surprise, she nods. “You have a lot to catch up on. More than I can tell you before Noah gets out of dance.”
“I’ll be done with this UC op in the next couple of weeks. Maybe then we’ll have more time to do these things.”
“I’d like that,” Olivia admits, her voice softening.
“Olivia, my friend,” he begins, earning a little smile, “would you like to go to dinner next weekend?”
She thinks that over, a wide smile slowly taking over her face as she looks up to meet his striking blues. “I would like that.”
At that, his grin widens. “Maybe after we could take Noah to a movie.”
“Maybe we can,” she agrees, eyes twinkling. “I think he’d like that a lot, Elliot. My friend.” She laughs at the pure ridiculousness of the exchange, and the way her smile reaches her eyes makes his heart soar.
“I’m looking forward to it.”
“I am, too.” Still smiling, she follows him back to his car and settles comfortably in the passenger seat. “Noah’s class ends in about fifteen minutes.”
“I’ll give you two a ride home.”
Her hand rests atop his, her fingers lacing with his as she gives it a squeeze. “Let’s go.”