Here's the next chapter!! This one's a bit longer... and just a heads up this update is probably the fastest I've ever done, so the next might be a couple days. sorry! life is busy.

I'm not sure if I'm totally 100% thrilled with how this came out, but you read it and tell me what you think!

Olivia's mouth opened like she was about to say something and no sound came out. She didn't know what to say. Of course she wanted to, wanted to tell him how perfectly his timing was, or thank him for everything that he'd done for her, but she had gone temporarily mute and could only stand before him, eyes wide and mouth open slightly.

Peter, being the intelligent person that he was, and being able to read her so well, immediately recognized that something wasn't right. He saw the stress patterns in her face, the light sheen of sweat on her bare arms, shoulders, chest and forehead, and the way her big eyes looked watery and puffy. Not to mention the fact that she was staring at him with the air of one who was in a total daze.

"Olivia?" He said her name gently and took a cautious step toward her. Whatever the hell was up, he would have to play it slow and easy. "What's the matter?" Peter looked down at his shirt and decided to try another approach. "You're not starring because I've got something on my shirt, right?"

Then he smiled at her. That crooked, wry smile that she loved so much. Olivia smiled and shook her head. No, there wasn't a speck of food on his shirt, and he'd caught her starring. Peter was just being funny because… because that's what Peter did. He was the one to crack the witty jokes and loosen up the tension in a room.

Still unspeaking, Olivia stepped backwards and allowed him to come in, keeping her distance. She wanted nothing more than to feel Peter's arms around her again and his breath on her neck. But she restrained herself. She didn't want to come across as desperate… even though she was as desperate as she'd ever be. Olivia closed the door quietly behind Peter, as to not wake Rachel and Ella, and pressed her back to it.

Distance.

Peter turned around and, upon seeing her with her back to the door, being passive and, even weirder, absolutely silent, he began to grow really worried.

He tried for the quiet but more direct approach. "'Liv? You're not right. I don't know what it is, but you're really starting to scare me." He crossed the distance between them in four easy strides and came to stand right in front of her, his face just inches from hers – Peter practically had her pinned to the door. Olivia's mouth opened again like she wanted to say something but couldn't bring herself to. Her eyes were still glazed over, and she just stared at him, a certain spark in those deep green orbs that was something close to pure wonder and awe. Mimicking his actions from earlier, Peter reached up and placed a hand lightly on her cheek. The moment his hand came into contact with her skin, Olivia relaxed. Her shoulders dropped, her eyes closed and she leant into his touch like it was the only thing in the world that mattered to her. Peter's frown deepened, but it was more one of concern and understanding – whatever she was going through, Peter could make a logical guess that he'd been to that same place once or twice before. He began to stroke her cheek with his thumb and whispered her name once more.

"Olivia."

Her eyes opened slowly and looked up at him sheepishly from under her lashes. Peter offered her small smile, gazing earnestly into her face. "Hey… there's no need to be sorry, 'Livia, it's ok."

She didn't appear at all surprised that he'd been able to read her expressions and emotions flawlessly. Finally, Olivia opened her mouth and, this time, words came out. "Peter… I – I… you have no idea how much I…" she trailed off as tears welled up in her eyes. Peter waited patiently as she gathered her thoughts together. "Earlier, in the hospital, and in my vision, you… you were there."

"Yes… yes I was 'Liv."

Olivia looked flustered and blushed a deep shade of red, enough that Peter could feel the heat on his hand which was still resting soothingly on her soft skin. "You must have no idea what the hell I'm going on about…." She wiped away a tear and looked down in embarrassment.

Without another thought, Peter placed his free hand on the other side of her face, gently tipping her head up to look at him.

"Here's what I know. I know you've been through shit today and you don't deserve it. You don't deserve any of it… and I think you should have more – more than this crappy, shitty world that you have to save people from every day. You get so involved in saving and protecting everyone else that you…" he paused, wondering how to say what he wanted her to know with some degree of eloquence. "You forget about yourself, and what you need; what you want."

Peter had saved his best card for last, the honesty one, the one that could potentially be used against him some day if he played it around the wrong people, but Olivia was well worth it. He trusted her more than he'd ever trusted anyone in his whole life. Sure, he'd relied on people before, but never to this degree, and never had he felt the compulsion to take care of someone at strongly as he did for Olivia.

This time, the words that had come pouring out of Peter, straight from his soul, had an effect on Olivia. Her lower lip quivered and she threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his neck. Peter hugged her back fiercely as the thought hit him like a ton of bricks: he needed her, just as much as she needed him. It was a balance that they both worked so hard to maintain, even though neither fully understood it until now.

Olivia let silent tears roll down her cheeks and spill onto Peter's sweater. She didn't care is he saw her crying. Peter had just done a bit of soul-searching for her, something that didn't come around too often with the younger Bishop. For that, Olivia was grateful, and even more so for his open kindness. His arms around her just felt so good, like the way his hands rubbed slowly up and down her back and through her hair. It just felt so… natural. Their bodies pressed together in a gratifying embrace was something that offered her more comfort than anything had in a very long while.

She was unsure how long they remained in a companionable silence, but it was eventually broken by Peter whispering softly in her ear. "You couldn't sleep."

"No, I couldn't," Olivia mumbled into his shoulder, her eyes closed and her breath coming in slow, deep heaves.

"You must be exhausted by now, 'Liv," he replied softly, running a hand through her silky blonde hair. He began to pull away slowly, afraid that she might fall asleep on his shoulder. "C'mon, you should get into bed."

Olivia held him tighter. Letting go wasn't something that she wanted to happen any time soon. Now that she had him at her side, Olivia was almost addicted to his touch. It had calmed her like nothing else could or would… but she did need her sleep. And, truth be told, she was beginning to fall asleep on Peter, even though she was still standing up.

That's when the second crazy idea of the night popped into her head. It made sense to her exhausted, not totally put together mind, but it was kind of… strange. And how to ask Peter?

After another moment of silently swaying on the spot, Olivia allowed Peter to pull away from her slightly, his arms still around her waist. She took a deep breath. God, she hoped he wouldn't take this the wrong way.

"Peter?"

"Yes?"

Olivia bit her lip. "Would… would you mind staying? With me?"

Peter's expression changed and, before she even bothered to wait and see what he would say, she launched into a run-on excuse. "God, no, I mean, wow that sounds terrible, I know how it sounds and it's not what you think, I swear, I'm not asking you that," she glanced up into his eyes, ashamed as hell.

However, Peter's expression made her doubts and fears vanish into thin air. He was smiling, if slightly amused by her fretting, but he pressed her closer to him and very quietly murmured, "I'd be happy to, sweetheart." Peter smiled, and Olivia automatically smiled back. "But," he began again, "I can't guarantee that you'll be able to restrain yourself. I'm a very persuasive man."

At this, Olivia burst into hysterical giggles and clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle them. Peter shrugged and gazed at her with a mock-serious expression. "You've been warned, Dunham, that's all I'm gonna say."

"Good, or else you'll wake up Rachel…" Olivia stopped mid-sentence, realizing that it hadn't been more than a week or so since Peter had called asking for the younger of the two Dunham sisters. Needless to say, it was a touchy topic; at least it was for her.

Peter seemed unaffected and lowered his voice again, whispering, "I think it would be a little hard to explain the full story to her in detail without disclosing any… confidential information. And besides," he added with a wink, "she might get jealous."

Olivia loved Peter's witty, almost flirty remarks, especially when the flirtier ones were in her favor, but she truly was afraid that Rachel, or worse, Ella would wake up if they made too much noise.

"Um, this way," she spoke softly and led Peter into her bedroom, and he followed after her obediently. She starred at her bed and made a face. It was still a tangle of sheets and blankets that had either been twisted into piles or hanging half off the edge of the bed.

Peter raised his eyebrows. "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you couldn't sleep." He began pulling blankets off the bed to untangle them, fluff up the pillows and Olivia stood there watching him for one stupefied moment before lending him a hand.

When the bed was looking somewhat decent, Peter came to stand beside Olivia. In the darkness, his eyes shone with a fire all their own. His hands gently come to rest on her bare shoulders, and then on her waist, sending an involuntary shiver down Olivia's back.

"You first," he said gently, the playful spark still in his eyes, but somehow, this was more intimate.

Damn him and his persuasiveness.

Olivia lay down slowly, cautiously, her pulse beginning to quicken. Peter joined her momentarily after removing his shirt. "No promises, 'Liv, remember?" he smiled and she returned it nervously, a deep blush creeping up her neck. He crawled onto the bed and propped himself up on one elbow beside her, almost on top of her. Olivia could feel the heat building up inside her; she was panting again, but not from anger… it was something quite different. Peter leaned over her and Olivia couldn't help but utter a small sigh as he lowered himself against her, slipping his arm underneath her and pulling her into an embrace.

"Goodnight, Olivia…" he whispered, his lips brushing her jaw bone and lingering for a moment. "Get some sleep, ok?"

Olivia just nodded. It was all she could do in this situation. Peter was on top of her, kissing her, holding her… shirtless… and she found that she liked the idea one hell of a lot more than she should.

Suddenly, Peter tightened his grip on her and, without warning, rolled her over so that she ended up on her side, front to front with Peter. His warmth seeped though her thin tank top and sweats, heating her up even more. Peter's arms still cradled her back, rubbing small circles along her spine. His nose was almost brushing against hers – they were so close.

"Thank you, Peter."

"You're welcome, 'Liv."

"Goodnight…"

Olivia closed her eyes and felt his legs entwine with hers. She grinned and snuggled closer to Peter, resting her head against his bare chest and touching his smooth shoulder with delicate fingers. Peter positioned his head on top of hers, his lips brushing her temple and coming to rest there as a strong but gentle hand gently fingered the little wisps of hair away from her earlobe.

"Peter…"

The small, pleasing murmur escaped Olivia's lips just before she fell asleep. Finally, her mind and body would let her rest, because some subconscious part of her knew that she would only be satisfied with Peter Bishop's warmth at her side.

Any thoughts? I'd love to hear 'em! and i have a pretty good idea of where this is going now...

Reviews still play a role in how fast the chappies come, cuz reviews are love :)