Moving On

Walking up the steps to the house he used to share with his wife and kids, Elliot sighed. The case he and his partner just closed hit him hard. A man had murdered his wife and children to cover up the fact that he was having an affair. Who could do that to the people they love? He thought. He shook the thoughts away and quietly entered the house, needing to see his children.

After walking into each individual room and kissing his children goodnight, he turned and saw Kathy sitting up in bed wearing a lace nightie.

"Stay." She requested.

He smiled slightly and shook his head. "I don't think that's a good idea, Kathy." He said, trying to let her down gently.

"Why not?" She asked, annoyance in her voice as she folded her arms.

He sat at the edge of the bed he used to share with her and sighed. "Kathy, we've grown apart, you know that. I love you, I always will, but not the way I used to. I love you for giving me my children and I love you as a friend but that's it. And I know you're not in love with me anymore either and that's okay. We both know it's been over for a long time now." He took her hand and squeezed gently.

"I know. I just can't imagine not being married to you anymore. We've been married for sixteen years, El, that's almost half of our lives. I don't know what I'm gonna do without you." She sniffled and wiped her eyes.

He smiled softly and sighed lightly. "Just because we're getting divorced doesn't mean we're not gonna be in each other's lives anymore, Kath. We have kids. We'll always be in each other's lives."

She smiled, nodded and pulled him in for a hug. Once they pulled apart, he left the house and started driving to his apartment but he changed his mind. He made a U-turn and drove to Olivia's apartment.

He parked, found his way up to her apartment and knocked on the door. When she didn't answer, he knocked again. Still no answer. He pulled out the key she gave him for emergencies and opened the door.

His heart broke when he saw her lying on the couch with a blanket draped over her, the TV on, tissues everywhere and tear streaks running down her cheeks. She hadn't noticed him come in but when he cleaned up the tissues and turned the TV off, she finally saw him.

"How'd you get in here?" She asked.

He wiggled the key in front of her and smiled softly as he sat next to her on the couch. "I know you gave it to me for emergencies but when you didn't answer the door, I had to see that you were okay." He said, concern written on his face.

She sat up and wiped her eyes with another tissue as she sighed heavily. "Well, since I'm not okay, I can't imagine how you're feeling." She said as her lip quivered.

He sat back on the couch and shook his head, biting his lip. "I'm not okay, either, Liv." He said as he felt the tears coming and turned his face so she wouldn't see him cry.

She reached over and gently turned his chin so he was facing her again. She saw the tears rolling down his cheeks and wiped them away with a tissue. Before she could say anything, he spoke again. "When I went over to the house to see the kids, Kathy actually tried to get me into bed." He said with a chuckle and a shake of his head. "I couldn't believe it," he continued. "She's got some nerve."

Having a feeling that he was talking about more than just the divorce, she prodded gently. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"She's pregnant." He said with a grim chuckle. "But it's not mine," he continued. "I haven't touched her in almost two years."

Olivia looked at him with wide eyes and dropped her hand from his cheek in shock. "What?" She asked, not being able to think of anything else to say.

"Yeah." He said, nodding. "I'm not surprised, though," he continued. "We really only stayed together for the kids. We didn't wanna upset them during school so when summer started, we told them we were getting divorced."

"I'm so sorry, El." She said as she grabbed his hand gently.

"It's okay, Liv. I think we both knew we weren't gonna grow old together. Anyway," he said, taking a deep breath. "Wanna watch a movie and relax? Get our minds off of that case?" He asked.

She nodded and smiled. "Okay," she said. "I'll go make the popcorn and get some soda."

He chuckled softly and watched her get up as he cleaned up a little bit more then finally settled into the couch.

She came back with the popcorn and two glasses of soda, put it all on the coffee table then put their favorite movie on; We're the Millers. She sat next to him and as the movie played, she got closer and closer to him. When their favorite part came on, where the man kisses the woman, Elliot looked down at Olivia.

She's so beautiful, he thought. Just tell her how you feel.

She could feel him staring at her so she looked up at him and asked, "What's wrong, El?"

He shook his head and said, "Nothing's wrong. But I have to tell you something."

Her eyebrows furrowed as she got nervous. "What?" She asked.

He took a deep breath. "I... I love you, Liv. I've been in love with you for a long time now. I knew you would kick my ass if I tried to make a move on you while I was still married and I would never do that to you. You mean too much to me for me to treat you like some fling. I love you too much to do that." He said, looking deeply into her eyes.

She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't believe he was saying all of this. Finally she thought. She realized she hadn't said anything for a few minutes so she cleared her throat.

"I love you, too." She finally said. "I can't believe this is happening." She continued with a disbelieving and nervous laugh.

He laughed nervously, too and said, "Well, now there's only one thing left to do."

"What?" She asked as she tilted her head, confused.

Elliot smiled. "One, two, three." He said as he leaned in and kissed her softly.

If anyone asked, it was the best kiss either one of them had ever experienced. They expected it to be good but this was...indescribable. They pulled away when neither of them could breathe and rested their foreheads together as they caught their breath.

"Wow." They said together, then laughed.

"That was..." Elliot said, trailing off.

"Amazing." Olivia said softly.

"Yeah." Elliot said, smiling. He kissed her again then they faced the TV. "I guess we missed the end of the movie." He said with a chuckle.

She laughed and agreed then took the movie out and switched to a different channel on the TV. She put the bowl in the sink since they finished the popcorn then sat next to Elliot again. He put the blanket over them then snuggled her into him, wrapping his arms around her, as they laid down on the couch.

"I love you." He whispered as he kissed her lips again softly and closed his eyes.

"I love you, too, El." He replied as she closed her eyes as well and they fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms.

***You'll understand the "one, two, three" if you've seen the movie ;)