It was the day after Dunham's encounter with Heath. Considering how uncomfortable she had been ever since Jacksonville, Peter thought it was time to invite her out for a drink. It was a good chance to patch up their friendship and take her mind off the Cortexiphan trial related issues. Going for drinks was what friends did after all.
In retrospect, it was a bad idea. He tottered up to Dunham's door and helped Dunham get the key in the door. She was far drunker than he. It was like she was trying to wash away something. He had never seen a woman drink so much scotch in his life. Even his Russian girlfriend despite her high threshold of alcohol only drank vodka shots.
"Now turn the key," he said in the same tone he would use on Walter in one of his distracted moments.
"I know," she said with as solemnity as usual. Her face was flushed and a strand of her lovely blonde hair hung in front of her face. With a few moment's concentration she opened the door and stumbled in.
For a moment he leant against the wall. Lovely blonde hair? Oh god. He really was drunk. On the bright side, she would not remember any of his actions. Ah, the beauty of alcohol. He sighed and entered.
"Dunham?"
There was no answer.
"Pssst. Olivia," he whispered.
"Peter," she whispered back from somewhere.
"Why are we whispering?" he asked.
"I don't know, you started it," she said as she came out of the kitchen with a slight smile. She was carrying another bottle of scotch. Lovely. The scotch. Not Olivia. The scotch was lovely.
"Time for another drink," she said as she sat in the arm chair.
He sat down on the couch and then sprawled out.
"Well, wasn't that nice?" he asked with his normal twinkly smile. Olivia stared at him impassively. It may have been a trick of the light but he could have sworn that her face became more impassive than ever. He decided to go for it, "Dunham, come on. What's going on?"
She stared at him for some time and then she took a deep breath as if to steady herself. She swept her hand through her hair and walked over towards the couch and sat down.
"Peter, there's something I have to clear up with you."
Peter watched her face intently. The atmosphere had suddenly got deadly serious. "Let's have it".
Olivia suddenly leant forward and kissed him. A deep, searching kiss. Before Peter could do even figure out what he should do, she broke it off.
"I need to get this out of my system," she said. "I know you said that you would not want to do anything to jeopardise our family unit. But... there are times when I want more. I need more. I know we are so different. You speak fluent Russian, Cantonese and God knows what else. You seem so fearless and protective. I must admit that when you were quarantined in the office building, it felt like a part of me died. That's simply when you might have died; if you had died, I don't know what would have happened to me. I think my heart would have stopped." Olivia stopped for a moment and looked away, an uncharacteristic blush began to rise on her cheeks. "For a moment in the bar, I thought that I could use the alcohol as an excuse and spend the night with you but my courage is failing me. I think I'm sobering up". She gave an embarrassed chuckle, "Can we forget about that kiss?"
She felt a chill go down her spine as she watched Peter's face. He did not react at all. Suddenly she felt like that scared little girl in Jacksonville. She may have jeopardised one of the relationships she cares about the most.
Peter reached out a hand and cupped her face, still staring thoughtfully at her. The next moment he was kissing her. His stubble brushed against her face as they tried to convey all that they have felt for so long. When they stopped to breathe, he said, "I suspected as much. But do you know what really confirmed it?"
She looked at him questioningly.
"I'm number three on your speed dial," he said with a cheeky smile.
Olivia burst out laughing as he pulled her into his arms.
"Я тебя люблю " he whispered.
From the little Russian she knew, she knew that it meant 'I love you'.
"I love you too, Peter Bishop," she said with a smile.