He figured it out before anyone else did; why she was acting so strange. It had started out small, coming to work in a bad mood, scoffing anytime there was a cute moment on TV. She had ignored kind gestures and avoided any unnecessary contact. It was like she was trying to disappear and it had taken nearly four days for him to figure out why.

It was her birthday.

In two days to be exact. He knew she didn't want anyone to know. By not telling them she could justify not doing anything special. It's not that no one cared; it's that no one knew.

But after mentally counting the last 28 days from when Olivia seemed to hate him for no reason, he concluded that he had a good week before he was back in hot water.

But he only had two days to drag Olivia out of her glum.

"Liv", he asked from across their adjoined desks. "What are you doing this Friday?"

She sighed. "Nothing, I guess. Probably going to sit home and catch up on some housework." She smiled lightly to hide her secret pain. "It looks like Hurricane Katrina in there."

Elliot laughed and closed the file in his hands. "Want a helping hand? Kathy has the kids this weekend and I'm going to be bored stiff."

Olivia shrugged. Though she would never admit it, she didn't want to be alone on her birthday. It didn't matter that he had forgotten; she wanted the company.

"I guess that'd be okay." She closed the file in her hands and placed it in one of her desk drawers. "I'll order a pizza."

Friday

Olivia woke up that morning more tired than when she had gone to bed. She sighed, hoping the day would be over soon. She showered quickly and readied for work. She contemplated on eating something before she left but decided against it.

She didn't have much of an appetite anyway.

There was a tiny slip of paper under her door and she would have missed it had it not been for its bright pink color.

Curious, Olivia picked up the slip and read it, a smile forming on her face as she did.

Bet you thought I had forgotten. Bet you thought no one cared. Go to where you sip your coffee. Tell me what you find over there.

She rolled her eyes and headed out of her building, down the street to her favorite coffee shop. There was a flower vendor outside the café and she couldn't help but notice the arrangement of lilies and yellow roses; her favorite flowers.

The vendor smiled at her and handed her the bouquet. "What's the special occasion?" He asked as he pulled out another pink card.

Hope you like the flowers. Hope it made you smile. After work hours, don't go home, wait a while.

Olivia smiled and rolled her eyes. She inhaled deeply and chuckled to herself at the giddy feeling that consumed her.

The walk to the precinct was unusually short, the skip in her step adding stride. She had just barely gotten to the stairs when her phone rang and her partner's voice boomed on the other end.

"Liv, you almost here?"

She smiled. "Yes, Elliot. I'm heading down the hall now."

He paused for a moment and she could tell he had something planned.

"Hurry up, okay. We've got a busy day ahead of us."

She heard the click on the other end and rolled her eyes again at the coy in his voice.

She saw the balloons and smelled the candles before she saw them. The loud unison of Happy Birthday and sounds of streamers filled the squad room as she made her way to the cake in the middle of the room.

"Happy birthday, Liv", said Elliot as he reached out for a hug.

She wrapped her arms around him and whispered a thank you into his ear. She was warmly greeted by her coworkers, at cake, too much cake, and laughed and enjoyed the company of her friends.

"How long were you planning this?" She asked when things had settled down.

"Few days." He watched her expression change to one of confusion. "You thought I had forgotten, didn't you?"

She sighed. "Okay, you caught me. But El, you didn't have to go to such great lengths. I mean, the flowers were enough."

It was his turn to be confused now. Elliot leaned forward in his chair and quirked his eyebrow at his partner. "I didn't get you those flowers, Liv." He looked over at the beautiful arrangement on her desk. "I was actually going to ask you about them."

She chuckled at his feigned innocence. Really, he was just too damn cute. "El, are you seriously going to pretend that you didn't leave me those notes or arrange for those flowers? Who else knows where I live and the code to the security door?"

Elliot narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything else. He had his own plans and he wasn't about to let anything ruin it.

"What are you doing later tonight?"

"Nothing." She smiled, remembering the note about not rushing home. "Why?"

Elliot shrugged casually and played with the pen in his hand. "Wanted to see if you were available for a birthday dinner; just the two of us."

"Does that mean I get to pick?"

He chuckled. "And I get to pay. I'm guessing you want to go to that Italian restaurant with that fruity soda and the chocolate covered everything. "

She nodded. "Sounds good."

He sighed in relief. "Good because I already made a reservation."

Olivia raised her eyebrows and smiled. "And what if I had plans?"

"I knew you didn't." She looked offended and he quickly spoke before she got the wrong idea. "I was going to help you clean tonight, remember? You were going to order pizza."

"Wow", she began, "You really planned this out."

Elliot smiled. "I did."

"I wish it was dinner now though", she said as she leaned back in her chair. "I'm starved."

As soon as the words left her lips a delivery boy walked in the squad room with a brown bag of takeaways and a pink sticky note attacked.

"Olivia Benson?"

She nodded.

"Already been paid for", he said as he placed the bag on her desk. "Enjoy."

Olivia looked across the desk at Elliot and smiled through the confusion in her eyes. "El, this is really sweet but you don't have to do all this."

He watched her eyes grow wide as she unwrapped the decadent feast from the bag.

"Chicken fettuccini, strawberry-pomegranate Italian soda, and chocolate covered strawberries?" She smiled again, trying to be polite but all the lavishing gifts were starting to make her feel uncomfortable. "Elliot, really, I appreciate this but its getting to be a little much. What did this all this cost you?"

He looked honestly hurt and she couldn't figure out why. "Liv, I really didn't do this."

She eyed the note stuck to the bag and read it carefully.

Hope this makes you happy. Hope to see you tonight. Hope you want to see me. Hope to make things right.

"Hope to see me tonight? Who else knows all my favorite foods? Who else would have them delivered from the restaurant that we were going to go to tonight?"

Elliot shrugged. "I wish I knew. Believe me, I'm trying really hard to make your birthday special and now I have to compete with this mystery douche who keeps making me look bad."

Olivia eyed him in confusion. "Making you look bad?"

Elliot scratched his jaw; a nervous habit that she recognized years ago. Clearly he had said something wrong.

"El?"

"Alright, you caught me. I kinda had a little something special prepared for you tonight. Its nothing big and I sure as hell didn't come up with teen romance notes but I was hoping you'd like it."

"El, you don't have-"

"Just, come to the restaurant", he said quickly. "I hope you don't mind eating the same food twice."

Olivia nodded, now more confused than ever. She was sure it was Elliot who had been sending her those notes. He knew the code to her apartment lobby door, he knew her favorite flowers, he knew where she got her coffee, and he knew her favorite food from her favorite restaurant.

It had to be him.

But he sure as hell was putting on a great act.

"Sure El", she began. "I'll be there."

To be continued . . .

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