A Home

A Home

Disclaimer: I own nothing

_**Thanks for the reviews guys. This is the third and final instalment of the one shot series. Please read other 2 first. Not sure what is going to happen with the other stories, sure I will get to them eventually. My muse has returned from holiday with all these bright ideas. I'm trying to convince her to finish one of the other stories first but she is not convinced which is totally frustrating, she just won't let these others go. We'll see. On with this one shot.**_

Olivia let herself into the apartment with a sigh of relief. It could have been later she guessed but the thing with being a Sergeant now was that she could leave the young pups to it and get some shut eye. She was getting too old to pull all nighters, a fact she refused to think about. 1.00am was definitely late enough for her.

Kicking off her shoes and hanging her coat in the hall closet she made her way into the kitchen, using the light from the oven clock and the glow of streetlights outside to locate a glass and pour herself a drink of water which she gulped down in one go. Her bladder would hate her for it in 6 hours but her dry mouth appreciated it.

From there she moved to the bathroom, going about her nightly duties and stripping out of her grimy clothes to partake in a quick 5 minute shower to wash off the grime of the day and the sleazebag they had dealt with. Once dry she hurried naked through the cold apartment into the bedroom, sighing gratefully as she slid into the warmed bed.

"Liv?" came the half asleep groan from the blonde on the other side of the bed.

"Shhh, go back to sleep, it's late" she whispered, kissing a creamy white shoulder and sighing in bliss as her lover turned over and snuggled into her.

"Hmmm, glad you're home" Alex murmured "I don't sleep well without you" and with a content sigh drifted back off to sleep.

Olivia continued to stare up at the ceiling for long minutes, her mind a whirl of activity before fatigue and the comfort of the bed and its other occupant sucked her into oblivion.

The next morning when Olivia woke Alex had already left for work. Olivia knew she should head in to work but she just couldn't, she knew she wouldn't be able to focus. Instead she did something she rarely did in her career unless forced to. She took a sick day. After hanging up from the Captain she crawled out of bed hoping a shower would clear her poor befuddled mind.

Walking over to the tallboy she opened the top draw and reached in to search for some underwear, pausing when she realised she shared an underwear drawer with Alex. Alex's on the left, hers on the right. Alex's all neatly folded while hers were thrown in hap hazardly.

Blinking she slammed the draw shut after selecting a pair and opened the second draw filled with bra's. Once again Alex's neat and folded on the left, hers on the right. Third drawer down and the pattern were repeated with socks.

Confused she turned to look at the bed, her side on the left as she faced it and closest to the door, Alex's on the right. Alex's bedside table held a book, glass of water and a lamp, all meticulously placed. Hers had Police Magazines, bottles of Advil, her badge, two bottles of water, her cell and a picture of the squad balanced precariously on it.

Shaking her head she went to the walk in closet to get some clothes to wear and was brought up short. God even in here she had her half while Alex had the other. Admittedly Alex's half encroached onto hers which was OK because Olivia didn't need a new outfit every time they went out. Still a little dumbstruck she selected a shirt and a pair of loose track pants and headed for the ensuite.

Once again she was stopped by the sight of her things and Alex's taking up the sink together. Alex's once again outnumbered hers but the sight of them together caught her breathe as the word that had been bugging her since Alex stated it last night finally took on a new meaning.

Home.

She had a home, here with Alex. Not just an apartment but a home. When had this happened?

Stunned she stripped and walked like a zombie into the shower chuckling dazedly at her shampoo and razor mixed in with Alex's hair and beauty products. Ok this was slightly scary, mainly in the fact she hadn't picked up on it previously, as she scrubbed her body under the stinging hot water.

She stubbornly pushed all thoughts aside as she went about her shower, shave and shampoo before getting out and dressing in the clothes she had selected. She kept her mind occupied as she made the bed and sorted laundry before putting a load on to wash.

She made breakfast by rote cooking herself some easy toast and making a piping hot coffee which she took into the lounge and ate in front of the TV. As she ate she looked around the room and even here she could see so many things of her own littered amongst Alex's. New York Giants and Yankee memorabilia, pictures, art work and Police awards. Most of which she last remembered seeing in her own apartment but she knew had been on display here for at least a couple of months as the room appeared familiar to her, not like it had been changed drastically.

When she thought about it she figured Alex must have been taking items from her place and adding it here bit by bit over the past year. She should have been angry, that was definitely not in the vein of their friends with benefits agreement. Yet she wasn't angry. Nowhere near, she was in fact very humbled by what Alex had done.

Sighing she sat back and thought about the year that had passed. After the night of their physical reunion she had taken to the friends with benefits like a duck to water. For the first couple of months whenever she wanted Alex she had her. Most of the time pre arranged but often there were days, cases which just got to her and she found herself knocking on the blonde's apartment door at ungodly hours of the night. Alex, always a trooper, never complained, never said no and was eager to please. Fast, slow, hard, soft and even dominating. Olivia never let Alex come to her apartment though, all their trysts were at Alex's and Olivia never stayed until first light, making a point of it.

Olivia wasn't sure why, but she guessed probably cause she hadn't eaten all day, she suddenly changed it all by asking Alex to dinner one night. They'd gone to a favourite Indian, eating hot curry, talking about anything but the case they were currently knee deep in and just enjoying themselves. When they returned to Alex's apartment she had surprisingly let Alex lead. What had followed had been slow, tender and so raw Olivia had to bite back tears. She stayed the whole night.

For the next couple of months nights like that were intermingled with quick liaisons. Alex must have felt like she was on a sea saw with her mood swings. Finally about 6 months in she gave up all pretence that she didn't want to stay the night.

She remembered a few months ago Alex's hesitation at stating she should leave some stuff at her apartment and Olivia groaned when she suddenly realised the guts it must have taken to ask that. Alex probably thought that she would call a halt to their arrangement and walk out. She remembered now the quickly quashed look of relief and pure joy when she had agreed it would be practical.

She snorted now, very unladylike, practical her arse. She knew deep inside she had wanted that claim on Alex, maybe a reminder to her if she was getting it in her head to leave again that she had someone else to think about.

Alex never spoke of leaving, in fact she seemed to be settling in well with Casey and together their success rate on cases was in the mid 80's. Defence lawyers practically begged with them to do deals instead of going to court where they knew they would be wiped off the floor.

If Alex spoke of anything it was of her time in WitSec, which initially made her tense, but Olivia was always ultimately heartbroken by most of the stories of Alex living in fear, looking over her shoulder of taking on a new identity and forced to live a life not of her choosing. Of course there had been funny stories too, of some people she had met and wished she could get in touch with again. Olivia had encouraged her to do so but did not believe Alex had as of yet.

Olivia also learnt of Alex's pain and anger in losing her mother and not being able to go to her funeral. She also spoke of her fool decision to live the life her mother planned for her when she returned to New York, a life she hated because it did not include her or the SVU unit. Finally she could no longer pretend and returned to the 1-6.

Alex was at a loss to explain why she took off for a year's sabbatical, but could only put it down to her need to give after being privileged most of her life, also a combination of fear and frustration. Frustration that their friendship did not seem on the same level, fear that it would never be. Alex also advised she was still struggling with the exact identity of who Alexandra Cabot actually was.

Olivia knew with a sudden clarity that she didn't know who Alexandra Cabot was but she knew Alex Cabot and liked her a lot better. She wanted the Alex that couldn't boil water to cook to save her life, who dressed in track pants and NYPD shirt as soon as she got home, who drank beer with the guys, who swore at the TV when her football team was losing and screamed her name in the height of orgasm.

She no longer wanted friends with benefits, hadn't for a long time. She had to admit they had been living as partners for several months. She could barely remember the last time she was at her flat other than to pick up her mail or pick up something she needed.

God she had been blind, but she wasn't a fool and now she had finally woken up it was time to put Alex out of her misery and assure her she was in for the long haul. She knew without a doubt that Alex wanted it, now she just had to come up with some way to prove to her lover that she wanted it too.

Ideas came to her as fast as she could dial numbers and make plans. She hoped actions spoke louder than words cause God knew she was lousy at communicating. Hopefully by the end of the night Alex would know exactly what she meant to her.

Alex walked through her door at the end of the day with a mixture of thankfulness and worry. She had just found out that Olivia had called in sick early this morning. Olivia never called in sick, even when she should. That had her promptly calling the detective on her cell. She had sounded harried but definitely not sick.

Despite Olivia's assurances that everything was OK Alex had advised her she was coming home now and promptly hung up, fear and uncertainty clawing at her gut. Had Olivia decided to end their relationship after a year? Alex was determined she wouldn't let it happen, she would fight for them heart body and soul.

She told herself to calm down, Olivia had showed no signs that anything was wrong and the doorman, who was very helpful on occasion letting her know the comings and goings of her lover, had not indicated Olivia had left.

She glanced at her watch which indicated it was just past 6pm, unusually early for her to be home unless she had a date with her lover.

"Liv?" she called through the apartment and frowned when there was no answer. Determined she hung up her coat and scarf before walking into the kitchen to deposit her briefcase on the dining table. No sight of Olivia here.

Moving through the apartment she found it strangely quiet and dark the deeper she walked inside, checking rooms as she went. Still no signs of Liv. Maybe she was a little sick and was sleeping. Moving quietly to their bedroom she opened the door and found the room dark, no signs of the brunette.

What intrigued her though was the soft glow spreading out from under the ensuite door. Curious she moved towards it and gently opened the door. Her jaw hit the floor and her eyes went wide with shock and wonder at seeing the room lit with candles, dozens of roses littering every available surface and a very wet, naked and gorgeous brunette sitting in a steaming bath holding a flute of Champagne.

She took in the bottle as Olivia smiled and picked it out of the ice bucket to pour her a glass, a very expensive bottle of champagne.

"Care to join me?" her lover asked and Alex didn't have to be asked twice. Thank God for her bathroom visit prior to leaving work. Stripping quickly while wondering what this was all about she climbed into the tub, hissing at the warm water scalded her skin before sitting opposite Olivia.

She accepted the flute offered to her and raised a brow while waiting for Olivia to inform her what was going on. Olivia shocked her speechless when she raised her glass and made a toast

"To us" she held out the glass and Alex held it together long enough to clink their glasses and take a sip. Then she promptly burst into tears stunning the woman opposite her "Alex?" Olivia was stumped, she thought Alex would be delighted, this wasn't the reaction she had been searching for by planning this evening.

"I thought you might be working up to telling me we're over" Alex sobbed as she placed her drink aside and hugged her knees to her chest.

"What on Earth made you think that?" Olivia asked truly confused.

"You took a sick day" Alex stated as if that explained it all but as Olivia continued to look at her confused she continued to explain "You never take a sick day unless some catastrophe has struck. I figured maybe you had enough of me"

"Oh Lex" Olivia sighed and with much co-operation from the younger woman pulled her to her so that the younger blondes back was pressed against her front. "Alex we have both done some stupid shit in all the years that we've known each other but walking out on you, I'd need my mind examined!" She sighed and pressed a kiss to silky blonde hair. "When I crawled into bed beside you last night you told me you were glad I was home" she explained.

This time it was the blondes turn to look at her lover confused and Olivia smiled gently as she continued.

"It hit me with stark clarity Alex, I never had a home before. An apartment, a base, a place to sleep but never a home" Olivia explained gently as bright blue eyes watched her closely. As Alex continued to watch her she spoke of all the other realisations she came to today, of the shared spaces, her stuff in the apartment which, she assured the blonde, she wasn't angry about.

"So you're not leaving me" Alex whispered and Olivia rolled her eyes and groaned

"You don't make it easy do you?" Olivia growled "Alex what part of I'm happy with you, I want to stay in this apartment with you and I love you don't you understand?"

Alex was glad she wasn't holding her flute as she froze in shock. Did Olivia just say...

"Aww shit, that was not how I planned to say it" her lover growled pulling Alex out of her shock and with a squeal Alex turned and launched herself at her lover, smattering kisses all over her face.

"I love you, I love you, I love you" she chanted and Olivia had to laugh. Finally her world was looking up.

_**Sorry guys I wanted to write some smut but I just can't get past this point and the Mrs finally convinced me that what I had was enough. Guess I will just have to write a smutty one shot at some stage. Well hoped you enjoyed it. Please R&R**_


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