THE RETURN

Chapter 31

Just the thought of her pushing him away, had him reaching for her sides regardless of her words. Once he reached them, he gently pulled her back flush against him. Her attempt to wiggle out of his grasp only caused her to groan in pain. As his arms instinctively wrapped around her waist, his lips dropped to place a soft kiss on her shoulder. "Please don't do this," he whispered. He lifted his lips to her ear and whispered again, "Don't do this Liv. Whatever is going on in that head of yours right now, don't listen to it."

The sob that caught in her throat was enough to cause her to struggle to get a normal breath out. The ability for him to read her mind was unbelievable. Her hands enclosed over his and she leaned her body further into his. She didn't quite know how, but it was if the ridges of his body were made for her.

His lips pressed onto the sensitive spot underneath her ear and he felt her shiver in response. "Don't." Another kiss. "Listen." And another. "To." One more. "It." The last one he lightly scraped his teeth along her erogenous zone.

"El..." Just as she was about to tell him that she couldn't help it, his buzzer went off.

"Food!" Both the boys explained at once.

She couldn't help the smile that formed along her lips at their excited tone. Elliot was quick to place another kiss on her shoulder, "That will be your food my hungry woman." As he went to gently guide her forward, he said, "And don't think I didn't see that smile." When she smiled again, he asked her, "The table or the couch?"

"The table. Just a pillow for my back."

He guided her to a chair, holding her torso steady the whole time, and helped her sit. When she winced, he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and kissed her lips, "I'll get you an ibuprofen too."

Before she could even respond, he was walking away to meet the boys at the door for the delivery man. It awed her how he still knew her so well. The ability he had to calm her, was something nobody else had. She tried to take the moment to herself to push her negative thoughts about having to move back to her own apartment out of her mind. However, instead of pushing it out, she seemed to only bring it more forward. How was she supposed to explain to Noah why they had to leave? What were they going to do with the bed that Elliot purchased him? How was she supposed to get used to sleeping by herself again? Why had she grown so goddamn attached to Elliot Stabler? How did one live separately from the one they were in love with?

By the time the boys made it back to the table with the bags of food, her semi calmed state had disappeared and she was now full on panicking once again.

Like before, Elliot noticed right away. If he only knew why she freaking out, he would be able to help her better. However, all he knew was that she had conjured up something inside of her head that was making her panic on him. As much as he just wanted to pull her into his arms and reassure her that everything was okay, like he had just done, he knew that he needed to get the boys to bed before he could do that. So instead of kneeling down in front of her and telling her that everything was going to be okay, he leaned forward to kiss her on her forehead and told the boys, "Eli, plates. Noah, cups. Please." While the boys set off to retrieve their items, he went to get her a pillow and ibuprofen. When he came back, Eli was already dishing food onto plates.

"I can't pour drinks myself yet." Noah said with a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

Elliot gave the young boy a smile, "That's okay. I'll help you. Thank you for getting the cups." He was quick to situate the pillow behind Olivia's back and hand her the ibuprofen. He gave her one last reassuring smile before taking Noah to the kitchen to help him pour everyone something to drink.

She watched as he helped Noah take the lemonade out of the fridge, lift him onto the counter and guide his hands to fill the glasses. She couldn't help the tears that filled her eyes when Noah and Elliot shared a happy high five when they were completely done. He really had taken Noah in as his own, another reason for her to completely hate the fact that everyone was becoming so attached to each other. She lifted her eyes to Eli's face as he set her plate of food in front of her. "Thank you," she said quietly.