Through Thick and Thin

1. Coney Island

June 25th, 1984

Olivia Benson was having the time of her life. Being with her three best friends, Alex Cabot, Casey Novak and Melinda Warner at Coney Island, they were having a blast. Riding all the rides, eating all of the fried junk food they could get their hands on and relaxing on the beach, life couldn't be better.

Or so Olivia thought.

As they laid out on their beach towels enjoying the hot summer sun, they were talking about their plans after their senior year.

"Well, you guys know I applied to be a medical examiner and I don't wanna jinx anything but I think I got in," Melinda said with a wide grin spread across her face.

"That's awesome, Mel!" Olivia said excitedly.

"Congrats, girl!" Alex and Casey exclaimed at the same time.

"What about you guys?" Melinda asked the other girls.

"Casey and I applied for law school and we're pretty confident that we're gonna get in," Alex said as she high-fived Casey.

"You guys know I've always wanted to be a cop so I applied for the academy and I should be hearing soon if I got in," Olivia said as she tried to hide her excitement. She didn't want to get her hopes up and have them be crushed.

They all gave her reassuring smiles. "I'm sure you'll get in, Liv," they all said as they relaxed into their towels and watched the waves crash against the sand.

All of a sudden, a group of guys walked by and the girls went silent. They looked to be about their age, seventeen, and were wearing bathing shorts, no shirts. The girls stayed silent as they watched the boys play frisbee and when the frisbee landed right by Olivia's side, the tallest boy walked over. He had close cropped, almost black hair and muscles. Damn, Olivia thought to herself.

"Sorry about that," he said to Olivia as he bent down to pick up the frisbee.

"No problem," Olivia said with a smile.

"Elliot Stabler," the boy said as he reached down to shake her hand.

"Olivia Benson. Nice to meet you," she said as she pulled herself up to her feet using his hand for leverage. They both smiled and sparks flew immediately.

"Nice to meet you, too. Do you guys wanna come play frisbee with us?" Elliot asked as he pointed over to his friends who were trying not to stare at the rest of the girls.

Olivia looked at the girls and when they nodded and smiled, she laughed and said, "Sounds like fun."

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They played a few rounds of frisbee then decided to eat at the restaurant at the end of the pier. They got a large booth for eight people and it seemed that everyone hit it off, not just Elliot and Olivia. Alex hit it off with Trevor Langan, Melinda with Fin Tutuola and Casey with Mike Sandoval.

"So, what brought you guys out to Coney Island?" Olivia asked as she stole a fry from Elliot's plate and he gave her a playful glare and took a bite from her burger in return.

"All of our dad's are in the Marines and they got relocated from Virginia to Manhattan so we'll be going to Manhattan Prep this year," Fin replied as he and Melinda were already cuddled up together in the corner of the booth.

"That's our school," Casey said as Mike wrapped his arm around her and grabbed a fry off the plate of food they were sharing.

"Well, how 'bout that," Trevor said to Alex as they also shared a plate of food and a strawberry shake. Alex smiled in return and cuddled into him.