What Happens In Vegas

Tequila Kind of Night

I woke up this morning, my arms still wrapped around Olivia. I can tell she's awake.

"You alright, Liv?" I ask quietly.

"I'm fine." She says.

Of course. I don't know what I should have expected.

She rolls over, resting her head on my chest, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Thank you. For staying with me." She says, "But, I-I think you should go."

I nod my head, getting dressed quickly.

I sit on her bed, wiping the tears off her cheeks.

"I love you." I whisper softly, kissing her forehead.

"I love you too." She says, squeezing my hand. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for." I say quietly.

She rests her head in my shoulder and I rub her back.

"We'll figure it out." I say quietly.

She nods her head and I kiss her temple before leaving.

Goddamnit.

Everything about last night felt right. Her body flush against mine. Holding her in my arms while she slept. Comforting her. Falling asleep beside her. I felt right. Like I could do it every night for the rest of my life. And I know she felt it too.

••••••••••••••

A Month Later

A month had gone by and Liv and I have barely talked. We don't have dinner together anymore, there's no watching movies at each other's places. We're not even flirting like we usually do.

If she goes to get a cup of coffee she always brings one back for me and I do the same. We still have each other's backs. We're just not talking.

"Benson! Stabler!" Cragen barks.

We both walk reluctantly into his office shooting looks back and forth.

Making sure neither one of us said anything to anyone about our little sleepover. Making sure neither one of us knows what this is about.

"The Ricci case." He says. "It goes deeper than we thought. I need to fly you two out to Vegas."

"What in the hell?" Olivia asks bluntly.

I snort and Cragen glares at me.

"You're going back in." He says. "Your flight leaves in two hours."

I groan internally and Olivia frowns.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" I ask.

She nods her head.

I pull out the business card Sullivan gave me.

"Aye Sullivan." I say, "It's Detective Stabler. What do you and the boys think about an all expenses payed trip to Las Vegas?"

"Hell yeah, Boss." He says, "We'll meet you at JFK in two hours."

I convince Cragen to let me bring them, not that he had much of a choice.