Drops of cold sweat streamed down her forehead and neck. Even the T-shirt she slept with was wet as she opened sharply eyes. Her heart was pumping so vigorously that she could hear it in the silence.
It was dark and very early in the morning. The air was chilly as if stiffened from the cold and everything was asleep, no sound disturbed the silence in the house.
Olivia was freezing, her hands shivered uncontrollably. They instinctively searched the nearest shelf in the bedside cabinet for the anti-anxiety pills she used to hide in there.
The images from that nightmare were still in front of her eyes, flashing scenes, haunting her mind even when she was already awake. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, panic started to rise within her. Pills. There were no pills on that shelf. She quickly searched the second shelf, but there were nowhere to be found.
Olivia exhaled nervously. Used up, right when she needed them the most. She enveloped her legs with hands and tried to breathe calmer, but to no avail. Sudden nausea that weakened her whole body sure didn't help her to focus on breathing normally.
Perhaps low blood pressure, she thought. Or a disease? Poison, radiation, the cyanide she saw in Bishop's lab. The access to it was easy for everyone.
God, these thoughts had a crushing weight. They always attacked her in the most improper hours of the night. Her fingers groped in the dark feverishly to reach a small object and her hands squeezed it with hesitation.
Finally, after a long and silent battle, she dialed a series of numbers and waited.
"Peter?" Her voice came out hoarse and quiet.
"Olivia?" He responded immediately. "Is everything alright?"
"I.." Her voice cracked. She caught her forehead and closed eyes for a second."Oh God. I'm s-sorry. It's … 4 am."
"I'm coming." He said and before she could even start to object, the phone hung up.
She turned back her phone on the bedside cabinet shakily and stared at it, furrowing. Perhaps not her best decision. Just… that nightmare… How could it be so cold? The worst thing was that it felt like her chest was pressed down with something heavy and it was suffocating her. She lost track of time in that minute-for-minute battle, trembling as the sound of her front door opening and then closing reached her ears.
"Liv?" Peter found her quicker than she thought, turning on the reading light right away. "You're pale."
Olivia looked at him and in the moment she met his eyes, inconvenience and a bit of regret hit her. She was standing there only with a T-shirt on, shaking and without realizing it, scared until now. Because that nightmare was so real. All in all the situation was very uncharacteristic of her. Particularly that phone call which any other day would happen only in a moment of a most urgent demand.
He caught her head in his hands, peering into her eyes for a second. Then touched her forehead.
"Fever." He concluded.
"You didn't… have to." She inclined her head apologetically, but her voice was shaking and it gave her out.
"Yes, I did." Peter took her hand and gently pulled her into his arms, on which she had no strength to oppose. "Calm down."
Olivia silently leaned her forehead against his chest and tried to distract herself with the soft matter of his shirt. It was awkward, even stranger than she thought. Didn't feel safe to be so… weak and defenseless. What was with her all of a sudden, why the hell did she call him? She inhaled and exhaled. Inhaled and exhaled.
The pulsing of his heart was like a metronome for her own. It slowly adjusted back to normal. And that warmth, radiating from his skin humbled the constant trembling of her body.
"Can't sleep?" He asked quietly as if affected from the silence in the whole house.
"Nightmares." Olivia swallowed, her hands enveloped him in a hug.
"Me too."
"So, that's why you picked up so fast." Olivia pulled back and smiled briefly, but unexpectedly, his eyes were sad. The faint light darkened them to a metallic blue.
"Nights get me into over-thinking and bad scenarios." Peter's gaze fell to her lips for a second and then back to her filled with surprise eyes.
She was going to say something, but gave up on it, furrowing.
"Anyway." He suddenly snapped back to his previous mood and released her, backing away from her. "I suppose I have to go now."
He stood up from the bed and walked away, but although all the confusion that was going on in her head, her mind had a clear and strong demand.
"Peter." Olivia hastened to stop him, standing up and catching up with him, before he leaves the room. "Wait."
"What?" He turned back to her.
"You shouldn't go," Olivia replied quickly. "You have to stay here. I mean, don't go. Please."
"I think..." He looked away for a second. "It's probably not a good idea to leave Walter all alone. The last time I left him alone in the apartment, he had messed up the electricity and the whole staff was in a panic."
"Oh." She looked down. "Yes, of course."
"I'd be damned if I willingly go back to that walking madness." Peter suddenly laughed, making Olivia look back up again. "You got an extra blanket?
"Why?" She wrinkled, trying to understand.
"Well, it'd be kinda cold, sleeping on your sofa with no blankets." He glanced through the door, estimating.
"You can sleep…uh, here." Olivia caught her head, feeling fuzzy.
"Woah, woah." Peter gripped before she could lose balance.
"I'm so weak." She fumed lowly, to herself. Her body was trembling again.
"Unbelievable," Peter remarked and led her to the bed, helping her to lay in it slowly. "People sometimes become ill and feel weak. You positively don't consider yourself a human."
"I don't have the luxury," Olivia muttered, as he covered her with the blanket and settled next to her. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He smiled.
Olivia relaxed on the pillow, without taking her eyes off him.
"Should I turn the light off?"
"Let it on. For a while." She replied quickly.
"Got it, boss." Peter obeyed and leaned head on his hand. "So, what did you dream of?"
Olivia sunk in silence. Silence in which she didn't dare look at him in the eye. These images were so obtrusive and this feeling she got. It was so awful that if felt like branded on her mind.
"You." She smiled forcefully for a second and became serious again. "You were gone."
Peter furrowed.
"Permanently gone. But there was something very wrong about it." Olivia continued quietly, shaking her head. "And I couldn't stand not knowing. I searched and there was no answer."
She stopped, all of a sudden surprised by herself. That actually brought her a panic attack. These three sentences. A few things made her feel such strong subconscious fear. What surprised her was that losing permanently Peter was one of them.
"Don't worry. I'm perfectly fine." Peter assured her. "Except for the times when my father uses me for his experiments without my permission."
Olivia chuckled along with him. A brief silence fell once again between them, but this time, Olivia ceased it almost immediately.
"You called me Liv." She tuck her hair behind the ear absently.
"I believe I did," Peter responded. "Why?"
"I prefer it to Olivia." Came her slow reply.
She shifted closer then, almost pasting to his body and closed eyes. Peter stood for a while and watched her. But not long after that, he turned and set the reading light off.
"I prefer it too." He sighed quietly.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it. Sending much love to whoever you are. I'm glad we share the same love for these two, they're the best.