Alright, so I'm sorry it took me so long to update. I'm really sucky at updating things in a timely manner. Anywho, I'm having surgery this Friday so that messes with updates. So, next chapter will be whenever I feel up to it. That being said, THANK YOU to all my friggen AMAZING reviewers. Ya'all rock.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Annie, don't be shy here,
Annie, please don't cry here,
I always have to stop myself,
Cause you're beautiful.
-Safetysuit's 'Annie';

The alarm rang well before Olivia Benson was ready and with Geometry homework incomplete and three tests laying before her, she didn't want to go to school. Tossing back the covers, she began to rifle through the clothes that littered the floor of her room before settling on a worn in pair of jeans and a long sleeve blue shirt. She was tying her second shoe when her mother, still half-drunk, opened the door and yelled at her for having a dirty room, "Clean it."

"I've gotta go to school!" Olivia yelled back. She was sick and tired of everything; her mother coming home drunk, her mother taking her aggravation out on her, trying to keep up with school and keep her home life from falling apart. If her mother was ever sober for more than the rare special occasion she would see that her daughter had no friends, went to no parties, and generally kept her head down.

Instead, Olivia growled at the empty room and tried to clean up the messy floor as quickly as she possibly could. Her car was in the shop and she had to hurry if she was going to walk to school on time. Shoving her books into her school bag, she swung it over her shoulder and rushed toward the door but her mother stood, blocking her path. Serena Benson was anything besides a nice drunk and her hand connected with Olivia's cheek, "You don't speak to your mother like that."

"Some mother you are." Olivia didn't even flinch as she shouldered past her mother and out the door.

The sun was rising over New York City and the city that never sleep was humming with life. Olivia kicked a stray Mountain Dew can as she walked down the street towards her school. Teachers were long past asking her how the bruises had been inflicted and, quite frankly, she didn't care who knew anymore. She was seventeen and in less than a year, she'd be off to college somewhere far away from her mother. Olivia Benson was through with living up to insane expectations; her mother would always finds faults because Olivia was the outcome of the worst thing she'd ever experienced, she'd never make her teachers happy, and she was done with trying to make everyone else happy when she was miserable.

"Livia?" Elliot Stabler pulled up alongside her in his old beater, "What happened to your face?"

"My mother." Olivia whispered and looked up at him through pain filled eyes. Elliot nodded his head toward the passenger seat and she sprinted around the car and climbed in. She buckled herself in and tossed her bag by her feet.

Elliot's fingers brushed the hair from her face and examined the bruise, "What happened?"

"Can you just drive?" She whispered, "I don't want to go to school, Elliot."

"Good." He forced a smile, "Me either. You can come with me on my mental health day."

"Your what?"

"Mental health day, Benson, did you never watch Ferris Bueller?" Elliot teased her and she gave a small smile as she rested her head against the cool window pane. Olivia didn't bother to ask where they were going but closed her eyes as he turned on the radio and a Pearl Jam's 'Daughter' filled the car. She hummed along with the melody as the city passed them by in a blur.

"Livia," He called her name a while later, waking her from her half-sleep daze. She blinked and looked over at him, "We're here."

"Where's here?" Olivia asked as she straightened herself and wiped the sleep from her eyes as she looked around at the beach that lay before them.

"Long Beach." Elliot explained as he pulled into the free parking space and turned the engine off, "Boardwalk, ocean, white sand, and unlike Coney Island, you don't have to worry about the white fish."

"That's sick." She rolled her eyes and undid her seat belt before climbing out of the car.

"That's true." Elliot shrugged and lead the way toward the beach. Olivia kicked off her shoes as Elliot paid their cover charge, "I used to come here with my siblings when they all lived at home."

"Aw," She tilted her head to the side, "are you the baby?"

"And the resident hell raiser." He nudged his hip against hers, "What about you, Olivia Benson, enigma to all, do you have any siblings?"

"Not to my knowledge." Olivia crossed her arms over her chest, "My dad's not exactly in the picture, so I don't really know."

He nodded before dropping to the sand and looking over at her, "Pop a squat, Livvy."

"Don't call me Livvy." She scolded as she fell down beside him, "My name is Olivia. If my mother wanted people to call me Livvy that's what she would have named me."

"And now you care what your mother wants?"

She tossed a handful of the white sand at him and he glared at her, "You asked for it, Stabler."

"You're gonna pay for it, Benson." Elliot reached for her as she got up and sprinted down the nearly abandoned beach. He got up and chased her down the beach before he finally caught up with her. Hooking an arm around her waist, he picked her up and carried her several feet into the surf before dropping her unceremoniously.

"You're a jerk." She surfaced, sopping wet as she pulled him into the water beside her.

"Thanks, Livia." He stood up, wiping the salt water from his eyes, "the money I was going to buy you lunch with is now soaking wet."

"Poor baby." She shoved her brown hair back from her face and rung out her shirt as best she could while walking back toward the beach. Sand caked to the ends of her jeans as she walked back down to their spot, but she didn't even care. She had found that tiny bit of freedom she had been searching for.

"Lets walk." Elliot suggested and headed back toward the road. Olivia followed him, her shoes hooked over her pointer and middle fingers of her right hand. The early October sun beat down on them; drying their clothes and burning their skin. He glanced over her and then looked ahead, "How long has your mom been doing stuff like that?"

"All my life." She whispered as she kicked a loose stone. There was something about Elliot that just made her believe that he could understand or that he wouldn't break her confidence. She had kept the secret for so long that even telling someone that much was like a weight lifting off her shoulders.

"My dad's like that too." Elliot explained, his hands resting in his damp pockets as they meandered along, "My Ma? She's sick in the head and won't get help... so my dad takes his anger out on me and my siblings."

"My Mom..." Olivia couldn't find the words and the lump in her throat made it all the harder as they took a seat on a bench by the sidewalk, "she was raped. That's why she had me."

"Olivia..."

"No," She shook her head, "it's okay. Really, Elliot. I've made my peace with it. Some bastard raped my mother and she got pregnant with me. Once she had me, she couldn't help but see my father in me and that's why she gets mad at me. I remind her of him and the fact that he never got caught. That's my life. I'm used to it."

"That was clinical." Elliot turned and sat cross-legged to observe her, "You said that entire bit without once mentioning how you feel about it. You see, my dad? I hate his guts. I may understand why he does it and I may understand why my mother is the way she is, but that doesn't take the feelings away."

"What are you, a shrink?" Olivia rolled her eyes, "It's easier to be detached. There's no use in whining about it. What's getting all worked up going to change?"

"It might not change anything but at least you get it out of your head." Elliot offered, "Look, I don't want to piss you off.. I'm just saying that I understand... if you ever want to talk or anything."

"I appreciate that." She gave him a small smile, "Didn't you mention food?"

"Right!" He stood up and waited for her to join him as they continued on their trek, "There's a gas station down here. They have the world's crappiest pizza but they do have soda in the glass bottles. It's a win/lose."

"I'll take it."

The walk continued in silence as they entered the establishment and Olivia grew cold in the air conditioned space. They grabbed a couple of mini-pizzas and the glass bottled carbonated beverages before paying and creating a picnic on the sidewalk in front of the ice cooler that sat on the sidewalk.

"So," Elliot polished off his pizza and stretched out looking at the sky, "We successfully skipped school together, frolicked in the water, and discussed our crappy parents. Are we friends yet?"

Olivia smirked, "Well, I'll at least rethink what I said about shoving you in your locker."

"What more can I ask for?"