Chapter Text
If you told Olivia, that 10 years after she believed Elliot Stabler had abandoned her, abandoned their partnership and the dwelling tension that was supposed to turn into love, that he re-appeared back on one faithful but random day in April - she would have first broken down at the sound of you saying his name, then laughed in your face.
Even more to her great shock, 3 years after he came back completely out of the blue, 3 years after his loving and compassionate wife died - the invisible barrier that had stopped them from love, that she and Elliot would be dating and sharing a apartment with her and her sweet boy, she probably would have fainted.
The love that Elliot and her have for eachother isn’t fake - it was the realest thing she had ever felt. It isn’t unrequited or a tragic emotional affair - it was real, blossoming love. Love that they fell into so easily, it felt like they had been married for 25 years.
They had shared stories of their time away from eachother, the good, the bad and the buried secrets. Olivia had told him about all the heartache, the grief of him leaving a gap in her life for 10 years that no one could fulfil. She told him about William Lewis, and Johnny D - and he sat in pure silence and waited until she was done, and then he broke down.
That night was when the realisation hit her, she couldn’t spend anymore time without Elliot Stabler in her life. He sat shaking, crying and repeatedly apologising for not being there, until she cried too.
Elliot had hugged her so tight she thought her ribs were going to give in. The hug felt warm, a warmth that she had missed for 10 long, hard years.
After that hug, he told her she loved him and kissed her long and hard. She obviously said it back, and that night - he made love to her, hard and fast, hitting every spot like they had known each-others bodies inside and out for decades. They moved in together 3 months after that.
So when BX9 came along. He stood beside her. He protected her and she didn’t protest. She kept her and her son safe and she couldn’t have been more grateful. He came back for her - and it was like nothing changed.
Life was a breeze. She had her always faithful squad by her side, and when things got too hard, she didn’t have to handle it herself. She wouldn’t go home to a cold, dark apartment and wait for her son to come home. She would come home to laughter and joy filling each room, the sound of her son and her partner enjoying each-others company, and she would sink into Elliot’s warm embrace until she felt at peace again.
Noah loved Elliot. Elliot treated Noah like a sixth child. They had boys night on a Friday where they watch whatever movie that Noah wanted. They would eat and laugh until they fell into a long slumber. Olivia would come into them asleep on the couch, head resting on one-another, a blanket draped other them and whatever movie they wanted to watch, but clearly never finished.
She would wake them up, much to their great protests, and move Noah to his room, and she would fall asleep in his warm embrace, and wake up in the morning to fresh coffee and home-made pancakes. When Noah was away, they would spend all day in bed, cosied up against each other and making warms, passionate love in the mornings and evenings.
Life was easy, something Olivia hadn’t felt since Elliot left.
So when Elliot slid a ring on her left hand, on one crisp morning in January - she didn’t even have to think about it.
See, what you have to understand about Benson and Stabler is. No matter how complicated things are, no matter how much distance is between them, they always found their way back to eachother.
Elliot and Olivia were the inevitable. Olivia needed Elliot like the stars need the night sky, and Elliot needed Olivia like the night sky needs the stars. They were never complete when they were apart. They could never be their true, happiest form without the other standing beside them. They relied on eachother in a way no one should.
So on a Saturday at the courthouse, surrounded by friends and family, Olivia said yes, and Elliot cried tears of joy when they were pronounced married. The reception consisted of cashing in bets, heartwarming but embarrassing speeches, dozens of congratulations and too many people saying, “It was well overdue!”
So til death do them apart, they would never be without one-another, they would always have eachother.
She would be Olivia Benson-Stabler forevermore.