Reality confirmed
Summary: People need to see things in order to believe. Olivia is no exception, if not even harder to convince. OneShot.
Warning: Fluff?
Set: Somewhat series-unrelated.
Disclaimer: No copyrightinFringement intended.
It was the small changes, the tiny, almost invisible ones, which finally made her accept this new outcome in their relationship.
Olivia Dunham would have sworn such changes would somehow – must somehow – show in the way they worked together, mirrored in their partnership and in the way they talked and behaved around each other. She would have sworn something that deep and true would be noticed by anyone around them. It was impossible that it affected only her – she practically floated, there was a constant glowing in her face, a new light in her eyes. She noticed every time she caught her image in a mirror. It was impossible no one else had noticed.
Instead, the world went on; kept turning slowly, and she continued working, continued living, and no one seemed to notice but her.
After two months, there still hadn´t been a questioning look from Astrid, no inquiry by Broyles or innuendos from Walter. But every time she looked at Peter – Peter Bishop, her something-like-a-partner, her colleague, her boy-friend – all these feelings came back, rushing at her like a huge tidal wave. She loved him – she wanted to be near him, touch him, feel him – she didn´t ever want him to leave. His eyes, brown and deep, watched her with a similar expression. And there was a certain possessiveness, too – something like You are mine, you belong to me alone, which made her shiver and remember the way he touched her when they were alone, the way he kissed her whenever Broyles and Astrid and Walter weren´t watching. In a weird, twisted way they were good together – like they had been searching for each other all the time and finally, finally found each other. At least it felt like that to Olivia.
(It didn´t matter he hadn´t been born in her corner of the universe. He still belonged with her.)
But still, nobody seemed to notice.
And as long as nobody noticed they were actually in a relationship, it felt like they weren´t really in one. That was what frightened her most.
Because Peter still lived in the same house as Walter, and because Walter didn´t know, they never had much time together. Because Broyles and Astrid didn´t know, they hid their relationship at work. It wasn´t as if they wouldn´t be allowed to be together – he was a civilian advisor, and she was an agent – well yeah, if they didn´t want to get in trouble in future they´d better stopped seeing each other. But the future didn´t matter much, seeing as the world was near total destruction, and not seeing each other was rather difficult for two people working together and depending on each other for results. And the last reason was the fact they just didn´t care what would happen. They didn´t actually hide it – they just never told anyone about it, and that was the way it stayed.
Until, one morning, Liv found Peter´s toothbrush and razor in her bathroom.
Embarrassingly and stupidly, she sank onto the rim of the bathtub and started crying, not knowing why and not caring to hide it. Peter, who had been preparing a breakfast – when he´d slipped out of the house, Walter had been sleeping, and it was early, he would be able to find an excuse why he hadn´t been home when his father woke up – froze for a second and then dashed into the bathroom. He found her sitting there, tears running down her face, and, interestingly, a huge, bright smile on her face. He stopped dead in the door.
"Olivia?"
It was remarkable how many different emotions and questions he was able to put into one single sound – her name. Unable to stop herself, she continued crying, while smiling up at him even more brightly.
He made a careful movement towards her, but she didn´t shrink back, so he lowered himself to the floor, so their eyes were almost at one level.
"Are you okay?"
She sniffed and brushed away tears with the sleeve of her sweater. Her eyes were shining brightly.
"Yeah, I am."
He still was concerned.
"You sure?"
Then his eyes fell on his toothbrush which she still was holding in her left hand. She could see the pieces coming together in his head.
"I´m sorry," he began slowly. "We´ve been together for two months now and I´m here so often I thought…"
"It´s fine," she interrupted him, still smiling. "It really is, don´t worry. I just… It just…"
She sighted and grabbed a piece of toilet paper to blow her nose.
"Now it feels real."
Peter needed a few seconds to understand her words. Then, a bright grin lit up on his face.
"You´re not going to freak?" He asked, teasingly. She laughed. She actually laughed.
"If "spontaneously bursting into tears" isn´t freaking out to you – no, I´m not."
He leaned forward and kissed her gently.
"Maybe you´re just freaking out a little bit," he admitted when he pulled back. The smile still was plastered to his face, but his eyes locked onto hers seriously.
"I admit I was hoping you´d notice it – but I didn´t imagine you´d react like this."
"You´re making a statement by depositing your toothbrush in my bathroom?"
"Yeah. Or something like that."
They smiled at each other.
"You got the message, I suppose?"
Olivia nodded.
"Oh yes. Quite clearly."
Her eyes started to look wet again. Peter caressed her cheek softly.
But for once, words had left him, so he leaned in again to kiss her. Olivia sighted contentedly and let her body fall against his. Which resulted in them landing in a tangled heap on the floor of her bathroom, because he lost his balance. It didn´t matter much, though.
Being together was enough.