A/N: I am such a sucker for hurt/comfort fics. Especially when it comes to Peter/Olivia. Excuse any grammar mistakes, it's late at night and it seems that's the only time when I get inspiration. :P This takes place during Dream Logic, and is obviously inspired by that one scene. Since I'm still not over Charlie's death, I came up with the idea for this. I'm going to shut up now so you can read.
It was going to be a long, hard day, that was for sure. And Peter was already tired. The case this time was awfully confusing, and Peter had decided to go grab a cup of coffee before joining the others in the investigation. He also wanted to go check on Olivia, who had gone back to her house to look through the files.
Olivia had seemed oddly… detached… since she had found out about Charlie. Of course, she probably had had the worst shock of all, because she was the one forced to kill the shapeshifter Charlie. And Peter was sad, although he hadn't known Charlie very well, he knew he had been a great agent, and Olivia's only and best friend. Olivia was handling it amazingly well, as Peter had expected—she always had a way of hiding how she was truly feeling. But Peter knew she couldn't keep the mask up forever, and that was the main reason he wanted to go see her.
Deciding to visit Olivia first and then get coffee, Peter altered his course towards her apartment. He soon found himself pulling up beside the apartment, and pausing to think. Is this really a good idea? he wondered. Maybe he should just leave her alone for the time being. But then his overwhelming concern for her won out, and he opened the car door and walked up to her front door. He knocked once, then twice when there was no response. His heart began to beat faster as the seconds ticked by, but soon the door clicked open and he had to force himself not to sigh in relief.
"Hey." Olivia sounded mildly surprised, as if she had contemplated the idea that he would come check on her but then decided that he probably wouldn't. She mostly sounded tired, though. And she looked it.
"Hey." he echoed.
The two stood staring at each other for a long time, until she finally turned around to allow Peter to enter. He followed her through the hallway and into her living room, where a large pile of manila folders was strewn messily across the coffee table. Olivia took a seat on the couch and picked up a file to begin looking through it. She didn't even look up as Peter walked over and sat down next to her.
"Are you okay?" That was a rhetorical question. She obviously wasn't okay, but Peter had felt the need to ask her anyway. And judging by the way she was barely speaking to him, he was only making things worse.
Suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, Peter leaned forward to stand up, until he felt a hand grab his arm.
"Wait. I'm sorry." her voice sounded even more tired and broken than she looked. She really was doing a good job at keeping her mask up.
Peter turned around and looked right into her golden green eyes, now dull with grief. He placed his other hand on top of hers.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, Olivia." he said gently, sitting back down again.
She nodded half-heartedly, but Peter knew she didn't believe him. He wished she would stop blaming herself for the things she had no control of.
Peter then began to truly take in her appearance. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her usually tight and clean pony tail was now loose and falling out. Peter guessed that she had most likely not slept, eaten, or probably even stopped working in the past 48 hours. He was starting to feel worse and worse the more he realized just how much she was hurting.
"Olivia you need to rest." he said gently, but firmly.
She raised her head and looked at him in indignation. "No, it's fine, I have coffee, and I really need to work on this—"
"No, it's not fine." he cut her off, and soon the stubborn look faded off of her face to be replaced with a quiet sadness. "Why don't you just forget about the case for a little bit?" Peter regretted the words almost as soon as he had said them. She was obviously using the case as a distraction from Charlie's death. But to his surprise, his words earned him a soft smile.
"Okay, you win." Olivia said in defeat, and placed the file back with the others on the table.
Peter smiled back at her, but then began to frown again as she tensed up completely. He followed her gaze onto the table and his heart lurched as he realized what she was staring at. It was a picture of her and Charlie. By the way her shoulders were starting to slump and her face was starting to fall, Peter realized that the pain was starting to get to her. And he just wanted it all to stop.
Without thinking, in a daze Peter reached out and grabbed her hand in a not very subtle way. He wasn't trying to impress her. He wasn't trying to be romantic. He just wanted it to stop, for all of her pain to go away. Peter had no idea why he felt this way, but he did know that he cared about Olivia. A lot.
Peter was worried that she might flinch, or pull away, or do something else, but instead she just looked at his hand in surprise for a few seconds, then looked back up at him. He offered the most comforting look he could give her, and Peter thought that he noticed a ghost of a smile on her lips. But Olivia then looked back down at the photo again, and the smile disappeared, and Peter wondered if it had even been there in the first place.
"Oh, Liv. . ." he whispered sadly. Mind numb, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close next to him. He felt awkward at first, but then she seemed to melt into his touch, and he relaxed. Peter rubbed her shoulders in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. It seemed to work, because in a matter of minutes the tension completely disappeared from Olivia's body and her breathing slowed.
Peter then realized that she had fallen asleep against him. Despite the circumstances, he smiled fondly down at her. She looked so peaceful, and without worry, which was something seldom seen from a woman like Olivia Dunham. He took in her beautiful features, a stupid grin now spreading across his face. Peter felt privileged that he was the one here, comforting her, and that she had actually fallen asleep lying at his side.
And though he realized poor Olivia would be extremely embarrassed when she awoke, he let himself live in the moment, enveloped in her sweet scent. He also remembered that they had made an appointment to meet with Dr. Nayak, but that could wait. Right now, Olivia was all that mattered.
"It's okay, Liv," he whispered. "I'll always be here for you."
A/N: *sniff* My poor, angsty babies. I hurt so much for these two cinnamon rolls! 3 And I miss them… Anyway, critique welcomed! I'm still learning ;w;