THE RETURN

Chapter 37

Hey Liv?" Elliot asked as he made his way into the bathroom.

"Yeah?" she was leaning over the counter to the best of her ability applying mascara to her eyelashes. When she heard his footsteps stop beside her, she made eye contact with him through the mirror.

"You sure I don't need to wear a suit?" It was now Saturday of week two of her recovery. That Monday would be a whole three weeks since she had been attacked and she was doing better than anyone thought she would be. Her bruising had almost completely disappeared, just a light shade of yellow still present along her abdomen and back. Her mobility had also increased significantly, she was able to walk around without any assistance and could even almost bend down to pick up things off the floor. Since getting out of bed was still a slight challenge for her, they had kept their lovemaking slow and gentle, with him only allowing her to be on bottom on her back.

When she spoke with Dr. Gerard on the phone, he was adamant that she would not be able to return to work until at least six weeks recovery. However, she was hopeful that her upcoming doctor's appointment on Monday would not only reward her with her stitches being removed and the ability to return to light duty, but also give Elliot the reassurance he needed to allow her to be more helpful with everything.

To celebrate a close in an important case, that Olivia had firsthand assisted them with by finding a mistake in the perp's interview that no one else had noticed, the squad had decided that they wanted to have a group dinner. Elliot and Fin had still yet to meet one on one because of the amount of work that kept stacking up on the Sergeant's desk, however both men had promised her that they would escape from the chaos of having everyone together to talk. Kathleen and Hailey were coming over to stay with the boys while they met with Fin, Amanda and Carisi at Gotham Bar and Grill.

She smiled at him and stood up straight. She had chosen a black pair of slacks and a silk burgundy long sleeve top with a neckline that was high enough to cover her collarbones. "No Elliot, you don't need to wear a suit." Her eyes dragged along his physique slowly. He had opted for a pair of black slacks and a long sleeve light blue button down dress shirt that emphasized his muscles in all the right places. "What you have on is perfect."

He waited until she successfully twisted the cap onto her tube of mascara and set it on the counter, before reaching his hands out to land on her hips. "You're sure? Because if Fin and Carisi show up in a suit and I'm not wearing one, I'm going to look more like a sorry son of a bitch than I already do."

She laughed and stepped closer to him to wrap her arms around his neck, "Trust me, the only time Fin is going to wear a suit is a police ball. You look very handsome."

He chuckled closed the distance between their lips to kiss her gently, "Because that's what Fin is going to be concerned about."

She laughed, "What you're wearing is fine. You nervous?"

"Only about the possibility of getting into a heated discussion at a fancy restaurant."

"Well, don't worry about that. Fin listens to me. He'll calm down if I tell him to."

He nodded and leaned down to kiss her once more. He took a minute to look her over. She had added a slight curl to her hair and makeup to her eyes, cheeks and lips. "You look beautiful."

Her responding smile and whispered thank you was followed by another kiss.

The buzz of the door had them pulling apart and the boys yelling, "KATHLEEN!" She followed Elliot out of the bedroom and watched him as he lifted Noah to the height of the speaker so that he could make sure it was Kathleen. Once her voice came through the speaker, he allowed Noah to push the button at the same time Eli made his way to the door to unlock and open it.