A/N: Keep on a readin'! (:

Hope you guys like this one so far.

The years thing- I know, it's so mixed up. I've gotten things with other years and then what I heard on the show. Who knows? I wonder if the producers even do….

Speaking of those fine people, they own SVU and the characters of SVU, not me.

Dude, no new episodes until March 3rd. I know, tragically tragic, so hopefully Dick and Neal have something good for us(:

Oh, and I have no idea what Elliot's daughter, Maureen is up to in the series. They haven't exactly involved her in a while, so I put her in med-school in this chapter.

Reviews? Thanks!

"El," she whispered to him that night, shaking his shoulder. She made him sleep on the couch, because she didn't know where they stood and needed time to think.

"Hmm," he groaned.

"Wake up."

"No," he groaned, rolling over, putting his back to her.

"Please," she said, putting her chin on his shoulder.

He smiled and rolled over to look at her.

"What is it, Liv?" He asked, rubbing the sleepies out of his eyes.

"What are we doing?" She asked looking him straight in the eye. She didn't want to cower away; it might make her look like a loser. She knew it was stupid and immature, but she didn't want to look like a fool in front of Elliot, even if they had known each other since the beginning of time.

He grabbed her and pulled her down next to him.

"Sleeping," he said into her hair.

"I'm really not sure how this is going to work."

"It's easy- close your eyes, stop talking, relax, and eventually you'll conk out."

"You know that's not what I mean, Elliot."

"I know. I'm just not talking about it right now."

"Well, when will you?" She asked looking up at him. He had his eyes closed and his head tilted down towards hers. If she wanted to, she could stretch her back about two inches and she could kiss him, easy. But she didn't. She needed to figure out where they stood.

"Tomorrow is another day."

"Don't quote Gone with the Wind at me, Elliot Stabler; I'm serious about this."

"Ha, you knew that?"

"Don't change the subject."

"How'd you know that? The only reason I knew that was Elizabeth's play."

"Elliot!"

"Fine."

"Ok," she said getting comfortable. It wasn't difficult to do so. Elliot was rock hard from years of being a cop, but he would always be like a big teddy bear.

"Where do you want to stand?" He asked finally getting serious.

"I don't know," she muttered into his chest.

"Yes you do. You just don't want to tell me."

She didn't say anything to that. She knew he was right. She wanted to be with him. Badly. She just didn't know if she could be with him.

He shook her lightly, trying to get her to answer.

She didn't know what to say and she made the mistake of looking up at him, his face inches from hers.

"I . . . . . don't know," she said, looking into those blue eyes she'd come to love. Those eyes could make her say anything.

"Liar," he said smirking. He knew from the way she kissed him back that she wanted him. He just didn't want to seem like an ass, jumping to conclusions.

Her big brown eyes just looked so confused, and he felt bad about causing that confusion, but he wasn't going to not have this conversation. He'd jumped for her, and now he wanted results from putting his neck on the line. If she turns him down, he's screwed. He'd have ruined everything- his job, his friendship. The only thing he'd have left was his kids, but he'd only gotten to see Richard, Elizabeth, Eli, and Kathleen twice since him and Kathy split up, and one of those he barely counted because it was when he was picking up divorce papers they'd started filing before Eli was born and had never finished, but now were. Maureen was busy with med school, so she was hardly ever around, which he understood, but it still sucked.

Instead of answering him she stretched up and kissed him. It was nothing like the one before- simpler and casual, as if they did this everyday. It was easy, easier than it was with anyone else, they both realized.

She pulled back, and put her head back up against his chest, her face a little squished against it. He hugged her, pressing her closer to him, which she found impossible considering her small couch. They were lying on their sides and he had to keep a good hold on her so that she could move without falling flat on her face.

"So, that's where we stand," he said, grinning in triumph. It wasn't a question, but she answered anyway.

"Looks like it," she said, before she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

It was three in the morning when Olivia's work/cell phone rang on the coffee table. Her Cragen ringtone woke him up and he knew it was hers. Without thinking about it, he reached over and answered it.

"Benson's phone. Stabler speaking," he said sleepily into the receiver. Damn it, he thought. He'd been dreaming about the time he went undercover as a smuggler and he was in the middle of Olivia saving his ass. Wow, what a dream, he thought to himself.

"What the hell are you doing at Olivia's apartment at 3 in the morning?! You know what, never mind. We've got work to do. Corner of 1st and 10. You two get dressed and be here ASAP," Cragen said, hanging up on him.

Oh, shit, Elliot though. He hadn't told Cragen where he was staying; just that he wasn't with Kathy anymore. He was going to kill him, if not both of them for him staying here, let alone the fact that they were together.

He put the phone down and started kissing her face, trying to wake her up.

"Mmmh." She had woken up, smiling, and kissing him back.

"Ugh," he groaned.

"What?" She asked against his lips.

"We can't do this right now. Cragen just called," he said back, still kissing her.

"Nooo," she groaned pulling away from him.

"You know something funny? That was my exact thoughts when you just pulled back," he said grinning, pulling back. He had a certain glint in his eyes that she had only seen earlier this evening. That's definitely not his knee! She thought.

She didn't say anything and walked off to change.