A/N: Sometimes, new beginnings of certain things lead to the very abrupt ends of some others.

DISCLAIMER: Dick Wolf owns SVU and all related characters. TStabler owns the following story.

The sunlight was just beginning to peek through the branches of the trees, pinks and golds winking at her as she stared out into space from her place on the wooden balcony. She leaned forward, her arms resting on the rail, and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She let out a soft moan, wondering why air never smelled so fresh back home, why her lungs and mind had never been so clear.

She lifted her lids again, her eyes roving over the rolling green hills, and part of her silently prayed that the days here wouldn't pass so quickly, that whatever it was they had to do here took its sweet time getting done.

She felt him behind her, but she didn't dare turn to look at him. It would ruin the moment.

"It's beautiful here," he said, lifting a ceramic coffee mug to his lips.

She hummed and nodded. "Very," she said.

He laughed, bringing the mug down, holding it in both of his hands. He leaned over the balcony railing, standing far too close to her. "Almost romantic."

"Almost." Her tone was low, reality had somehow snuck back in and smacked her in the face. She cleared her throat and straightened up. "Well, at least you have a great new place to take your wife."

He chuckled. "No," he said, his tongue rolling around in his mouth. "No, you know things with her are..." he stopped. He smiled at her and his heart gave a slight lurch at what he saw staring back at him. He pushed the thought away, deciding it was just his imagination, and he looked back out over the rail. "Liv, this...this place needs to stay just what it is. Ours." He turned his head just slightly, watching her tense and blush out of the corners of his eyes. "I didn't mean...I just...ya know. Us. Ours."

"Whatever," she scoffed, turning away from him and heading back into the cabin. "We should get dressed. We have to meet our tour group at seven for..."

"Horseback riding," he finished for her. "Silly question, but...why do they always send us on these wild goose chases? I mean, granted, we..."

"Because," she interrupted. "I'm the only woman in the unit, no one with half a brain would believe I married Munch, and Fin...is he really the kind of guy you can see taking his wife to a cabin on a mountain to do yoga and meditate after dinner?"

He laughed again, a hearty chuckle. "No, no he's not. At all." He sighed and looked at her. "We get the job done, right?"

"For some reason," she said, "People never question us. They always believe we're married." She looked at him, tried to smile, then moved past him, out of the living room and into her bedroom.

He put his mug down on the carved-wood coffee table and followed her. He had something to tell her, but now wasn't the time, and it was certainly not the place. He'd have to wait, but as he looked at her, he bit his lip. "Hey, uh, not that I'm...I mean, I'm not...but why are we staying in separate rooms?"

She turned with wide eyes. "Elliot!"

"I'm serious, Liv!" he protested. "We're supposed to be on a romantic getaway, and this punkass we're out here to catch likes to rifle through the cabins. If he sees your stuff in a different room, then the odds that he's coming after us are..."

"Fine!" she hissed, rolling her eyes. She grabbed her as-yet-unpacked suitcase, bolted out of her room and kicked the door to his open. She dropped her luggage in the corner and folded her arms as she looked at him again. "I'll unpack later. Happy?"

He narrowed his eyes. "What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing," she spat, shoving a hand into her suitcase. She grabbed a pair of jeans, a sweater, and a bra. "I'm fine. I'm always fine, don't you know that?"

"Don't lie to me," he said sternly, but with a soft look in his eyes. He reached out to grab her arms, but she pulled away from him. Hurt, he shook his head. "What's going on, Liv?" He tried again and grabbed both of her elbows. "Talk to me."

She blinked, relaxing into his touch. "El, I'm just..." she paused. She sighed. "I'm fine. I didn't sleep well, that's all."

"More of a reason to sleep in the bed with me," he teased with a wink and a smile. "I'll keep the big, bad nightmares away." He slid a hand from her arm, upward, under her chin, and he wiggled his fingers.

"Oh, hey. No, none of that," she said quickly, swatting at his hand and backing up, her eyes wide.

He folded his arms and grinned. "Someone's ticklish," he chuckled. He took a step toward her, she back up faster. "I'm not gonna..."

"Back," she warned, thwacking him away with her bra. "El, stop it!" She swatted at him again, but he grabbed the silk and pulled hard, yanking her flush to him.

"Hi, there." He smiled the smile he knew she couldn't resist. "What'd you dream about, Liv?"

She looked into his eyes, the answer formed in her throat, materialized on her tongue, but she couldn't choke it out. "Nothing...it's...it's fine, El. I'm fine."

He nodded, smiled again, then lightly kissed her forehead. "Go get dressed." he winked once more. "Baby," he said, only half-joking.

"Yeah," she said, pulling away from him. She felt her skin singe where his lips had touched, and she wondered why he did it, why he kissed her as she headed into the bathroom. She closed the door behind her, and started to change out of her pajamas and into her clothes.

It had only been one night, and already she felt herself losing resolve. Dreaming about him in a room two doors away was one thing, but now she'd be lying right beside him when she whispered his name, when she moaned it softly, when she nuzzled into her pillow imagining it was him.

She sighed as she pulled on her jeans and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Maybe wishing for the case to take its time was a bad idea.

A/N: Horseback riding? What's the worst that could happen?