Advantage

Chapter 1

She was drunk and dancing within some friends of Fin's. He watched her for a minute, seeing a side of her he'd never seen before. She was laughing...and he watched her, rarely seeing her unguarded like this before. He liked to think that maybe she'd been this carefree at some point in her life, or that she could have been if the circumstances of her life had been different.

He had seen her a little tipsy...maybe even flirting with drunkenness, but only in a few circumstances. Her need for control meant those times were few and far between. And when she did throw caution to the wind, it was only because she knew Elliot had her back.

But not this time. This time, Elliot was the last person she wanted to see.

Which is what scared the hell out of him. She had purposefully gone to Fin's party without him and had obviously wasted no time getting drunk. And while she trusted Fin nearly as much as him...it was totally uncharacteristic of her.

"Hey man." Fin walked up to where he was standing in the foyer, hidden from view from most of the partygoers. He had his hands up, palms open. "You have to go." He nodded towards the door at Elliot's back.

Elliot held his ground. "You invited me to the party."

"Well, now you're uninvited. Liv doesn't want you here."

"She said that?"

"As a matter of fact...she did."

Elliot shook his head. He knew she had been pissed today when they argued...when she had turned her back on him and left the squad room. But that's what they did. They fought and raged and then went to their respective corners. They cooled off, licked their wounds, and then got over it. They didn't bring it up or rehash it. They put it in the past and moved forward, forgiving each other for their biting comments and nasty jabs.

But deep down, he knew today had been different. He had crossed the line. He had seen it on her face as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Her body language changed, and he had watched as a look of pain flash across her face. Then...in an eerily calm voice...she told him to fuck off. And then she turned and left.

He should have gone after her. He should have apologized. But he hadn't, hoping that she would cool down if he gave her some time and space. Pretending that it wasn't different than the millions of other times they'd fought.

He'd made a mistake.

"You really think you can just show up here like nothing happened?" Fin had been in the squad room today. "You're an asshole and she's tired of your shit. She's blowing off some steam."

"She's drunk."

"Damn straight." Fin said, crossing his arms in front of him.

Elliot knew Fin would pick Olivia over him every day, but he needed to talk Fin into letting him stay.

"I just..." He needed to choose his next few words carefully. "I'll stay away from her. I won't even talk to her. I just want to make sure she's OK."

"You saying you don't think I'm watching out for her?" Fin was almost as fiercely protective of Olivia as he was. They all were. "Everyone here knows she's off-limits."

"Fin." Elliot could hear the pleading in his voice, hoping he would relent. He looked over Fin's shoulder and he could see Olivia was still dancing with the same guy, whose arm was looped loosely around her waist and drifting way too close to her ass for his liking. "If she's off limits, why does that guy have his hand on her ass?"

Fin didn't even turn around, which pissed Elliot off. He stood there with his lips pressed together, glaring at Elliot. "I'm done talking to you. Get the fuck out."