Law & Order: Special Victims Unit fans have been waiting for a

kiss between Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and

Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) for over 20 years.

But alas, it looks like fans of the NBC crime drama will have to

wait a little bit longer, as the will-they-won’t-they couple didn’t

actually lock lips after coming very close to doing so on the Jan. 26 episode of SVU.

As was teased in the episode’s promo—which sent fans into a frenzy—Benson and Stabler shared an intimate moment after Benson asked her former partner to pick up her son Noah (Ryan Buggle).

After her son was the target of a gang attack that left her beaten and bruised, Benson tells Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. (Peter Scanavino) in the episode, “There’s nobody I trust more to bring my son home in one piece than Stabler.”

Back at Benson’s apartment, Stabler questions why she didn’t call him for help after the gang attack, to which she tells her former partner, “Because I knew that you would try to protect me.”

Choosing to be optimistic, Stabler tells her, “And what if things work out?” But between taking down a gang and worrying about her son’s safety, Benson isn’t in the place to begin a romantic relationship—especially with her close friend.

The episode ends with her turning Stabler down, stating, “Elliot, I’m not ready for this.”

But fear not “Bensler” shippers, as Meloni revealed on the Jan. 25 episode of Today that he thinks the couple will end up together…eventually.

“I think there’s a world,” the 61-year-old stated. “I used to not, but I think we’re all trying to still figure out what the exact steps are and what that endgame is.”

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.