The Move [A Bensler Fan Fic]

~~One~~

The first day of school was beyond amazing for Olivia. She found herself loving her new school, and the students she attended Sacred Heart of Jesus with. She especially liked Elliot Stabler, who was already her best friend. They may have just met, but he seemed to be her person already. He was helping her with homework and helping her find all of her classes. He was the only person from every school she has attended, who has helped her so much on the first day.

"So, walking home?" Elliot asked Olivia at the end of the day. He had found her locker and now stood beside it as she placed her books and binders into her bag.

"Yeah. I only live about a mile from here. I would take the subway or the bus, but it just doesn't make sense." Olivia replied. Elliot nodded as he leaned against the locker beside her's.

"Want me to walk you home? I have soccer at 4, and I can get to your house and back again before practice." Elliot offered, and Olivia turned to look at him and smiled and nodded.

"I'd like that. Uh, it's not a house." Olivia spoke, as she pulled her backpack on before shutting her locker and turning the dial a few times.

"What is it then, a trash can?" Elliot teased, and Olivia rolled her eyes as they headed towards the front door of the large and old brick building.

"I'm not Oscar the Grouch, Elliot. But it's a loft. It's small because it's only me and my Dad." Olivia sighed. Elliot opened the front door for Olivia, and she walked out before thanking him as they walked down the steps.

"Where's your Mom?" Elliot asked, and Olivia frowned as they stopped for a moment.

"She fell down the stairs in our house in Houston. She didn't make it because neither my father nor myself got to her at time. It's been just me and my Dad for about a year. Usually, we move 4 times a year, but his bosses let us stay in Houston for the year since we lost my Mom." Olivia spoke.

"I'm sorry, Liv. I didn't know." Elliot whispered. 

Usually, when Elliot asks someone where their parent is, they usually say that their mother or father left them, or their parents got a divorce. Most of the time he doesn't get the response that the parent is dead.

"Of course you didn't know, and I don't have it tattooed on my forehead. But I'm dealing with it well. I just pray that my father meant it when he said this is our forever home now. I don't think I'd be able to leave here. I already like it here too much." Olivia breathed.

"I'm glad we could make you feel welcomed... we try. But you should totally try out for sports or like Junior ROTC... just something." 

"Want me to have friends other than you?" Olivia asked as they crossed the street.

"No, I want you all to myself... but come on. You are gonna be popular. Just you being you." Elliot smiled. Olivia blushed a bit before sighing.

"Glad that I'm not the weird girl yet."

~~~

That night, Olivia and her father sat down to eat dinner together. Lance was tired from a lot of work, and Olivia was quiet because she had so much on her mind. She didn't want to tell her father how happy she was being where they were, because she didn't want him to feel bad when they moved again.

"How was work, Dad?" Olivia asked, and Lance looked up from his partially cold mac-n-cheese and shrugged.

"It was okay. I'm just getting having a hard time getting used to this. I'm used to being out in the world. Either shooting people or figuring out ways to protect innocent people during the war." Lance replied.

"You are getting older, Dad. I think it's that 50 that is really hitting you hard." Olivia teased, and Lance looked at his daughter and saw his wife's smile and sparkly eyes when he looked at his daughter.

"Dad?" Olivia asked when he didn't laugh at her joke.

"Yeah?" Lance asked.

"Why aren't you laughing? You look like you might cry... what's wrong?" Olivia asked, and Lance bit his lip before closing his eyes and speaking.

"You look like your mother. I was with her when we were 15, and you two are the spitting image of each other." Lance breathed. He pushed his bowl away from him, before standing and leaving the kitchen. He walked to his room and shut the door while Olivia finished her dinner.

She cleaned everything up before going to check on her father. She leaned her head against the door and heard her father crying inside.

"Dad, I think I'm gonna go out and explore... you just take your time and I'll see you when I get back. I love you."

"Bring your pepper spray." Lance sniffled, as he tried to sound like he wasn't crying. But he knew that his daughter had heard him. She always catches him crying.

"I will. See you later, Daddy."

~~~

Olivia walked back towards her school, and instead of just sitting on the front steps to give her father some space, she walked across to the practice field where the boy's soccer team were still doing drills. She climbed over the fence because she was too lazy to walk to the gate, and then she walked over and sat on the bleachers and watched as they practiced. She smiled when she saw Elliot running around, his face red from the effort he was putting in.

Olivia was watching Elliot, but she was focusing on hearing her father crying. She was wondering if he wanted to go back to Houston so they were closer to her mother's grave, or if he was wishing he'd get deployed so that he wouldn't have to see her every day.

This big move might have been a good thing, but it might have been a bad choice for Lance. But Olivia was happy, and she was hoping her father would be happy soon. Then he wouldn't accept the first job offer that sent him and her to the other side of the world.

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