A/N: Thank you killmotion and Observer101 for reviewing. And thank you all the people who put this story into their story alerts. I hope you will tell me at some point whether you like it or not. Pretty please? :)


Chapter 2.

Olivia was numb. She pushed her hands deeper into her jacket's pockets, her blonde hair whipping behind her head in the wind, while she kept her gaze on the ground, deep in her thoughts. Her legs were automatically taking her to the restaurant where Peter was waiting for her, her mind left free to try to gather all the broken pieces together. For once in her life, she didn't know what to do.

She wanted to tell Peter as he deserved to know the truth. How the man who he was finally coming to love as a father, had betrayed him. Had kept this secret all these years. When finally he had settled down and made a commitment to be there for Walter and for her, the carpet was pulled from underneath him, just because Walter had to put his nose in where it didn't belong. It wasn't fair how Peter would suffer because of what Walter had done. Would he want to return to his real family? Would he want to go back? Could he go back?

And that brought her to the other side of the argument raging in her head. Why would Peter need to know? It didn't change anything as he had grown up here and he belonged to this Universe now. It wouldn't harm him in any way if he didn't know. On the opposite, if he did know it would almost certainly destroy any relationship he had with Walter. But then if she kept this from him and he found out later, as he was bound to, it would destroy his trust in her and she was sure that he would leave. And she couldn't take that. Not now.

Olivia was torn and lost. And she hated the feeling of helplessness that was welling up inside her. She was still almost desperately furious as this evening was suppose to be a happy moment in all the darkness to come and now she was once again faced with dilemma, once again the weight of decision was heavy on her as she knew Walter would never tell Peter the truth on his own.

She came to a halt in front of the restaurant door and watched all the happy people inside for a moment. She took a deep breath and grabbed hold of the door and stepped inside.

XXX

Peter sat at the bar nursing his drink. The place had been filling up slowly, but he had managed to hold on to the other chair, reserving it for Olivia. He was getting unsettled though as she was nowhere to be seen.

He went through several scenarios in his head why Olivia would be so angry at Walter and why she might want to talk to him alone, but nothing particular came to his mind. It could be about all the experiments done on her when she was a child but she had managed to get some of that out of her system earlier in Jacksonville and she wasn't one to let things fester inside her.

He was rolling his glass of whisky in his hands, mesmerised by the brown liquid sloshing about, when he felt a presence behind him. He turned and saw Olivia stepping in from the street. She was looking around, obviously looking for him so he waved at her direction catching her eye. To his relief, her eyes immediately lit up and a smile was on her face although it quickly became guarded and she seemed almost troubled.

Olivia quickly managed to pass through the crowd, coming to stand beside him.

"I was getting worried," Peter said looking at her carefully. Something wasn't right and she looked nervous and torn. Her hair was also all over the place, evidence of the strong wind outside.

Peter lifted his hand and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, making Olivia smile softly and blush a little, which he found endearingly cute. She seemed to lean towards his touch, so he turned around on the bar stool leaving Olivia to stand in between his legs and gently cupped her face, repeating what he had done previously before Olivia went to her Save the world-mode. He slowly stroked Olivia's cheek, a warm feeling spreading inside him when she leaned against his palm closing her eyes.

Olivia couldn't help herself. When Peter encircled her with his frame and reached out to caress her face, she gave in to her longing, which made her eyes to well up with tears with the knowledge of Walter's secret. She tightly shut her eyes, but couldn't help the tears seeping through her lashes.

Peter was alarmed when he saw the first tears as Olivia didn't cry easily. He acted on pure instinct.

"Come here," he whispered pulling Olivia to him, hugging her tightly and stroking her hair. He couldn't care less about the other people around them as all his attention was on Olivia. He concentrated on keeping his own anxiety and worry in check, breathing steadily and keeping his hands soothing and calm in her hair and back. There was nothing else but her.

Olivia burrowed deeply into Peter's chest, desperate to feel something solid holding onto her, anchoring her as she felt like the reality was unravelling around her. She felt almost immediately calm and her tears slowed down until they stopped altogether. Peter noticed the change as she heard his deep voice murmuring in her ear, "Let's go."

He loosened his hold, looking down at her and gently cupped her face with both of his palms wiping away any traces of the tears. He stood up and ushered her towards one of the booths in the far corner that was still empty. It didn't escape Olivia that Peter ushered her in first and sat down next to her, practically trapping her. He wasn't going to let her go, until he figured out what was going on.

As a gentleman he was, Peter gave her some breathing space to which Olivia was grateful. He kept his gaze steady on her though, being turned to face her and he held onto her hand, reluctant to let the physical connection go. He waited patiently, drawing lazy, wide circles on her palm.

"I don't know what to do!" Olivia blurted out all of the sudden, her eyes wide and startled. Peter lifted his eyebrow at her uncharacteristic outburst, although her behaviour had been slightly off since she stepped into the bar.

"What can I do?" Peter asked sincerely as he was ready to help Olivia with anything that managed to reduce her to tears. He didn't need to know what it was. He would do anything for her.

"Oh, Peter," Olivia sighed, surprising Peter when she shuffled closer to him lowering her head against his shoulder. Peter wrapped her closely to his frame.

"I'm pretty confused here," Peter confessed after a moment when Olivia stayed silent.

Olivia felt guilty enjoying the closeness and warmth of Peter but she needed to be calm to try to find any solution to the problem at hand and Peter's presence always calmed her. She also wanted to show him that she was ready to accept his comfort and whatever else he was willingly offering. She just wasn't sure that he would still want her around after he found out the truth. And she dreaded it. She felt like Peter was the other half of her and if she lost him, she would be only a shadow. It was only recently that she had acknowledged that she needed Peter and now she was so close to losing him.

She finally lifted her head and sat up straight, still very close to Peter as if she was afraid that he would run away. When Peter looked at her in the eye, he started wondering whether he actually should run away as Olivia looked absolutely terrified but also determined.

"You glimmer," Olivia stated while looking him straight in the eye.

"Excuse me?" Peter asked confused, which was quickly followed by a look of dread.

"Are you saying that I..." his voice faltered almost in whisper and his eyes were pleading for Olivia to make him wrong.

Olivia swore at his high IQ. Of course it wouldn't take him long to connect the dots.

"You are from the Other Side, " Olivia continued for him and now it was her turn to let her fingers slide across his knuckles while looking at him, afraid what his next move would be. This was so foreign territory that she didn't have a clue what Peter would do. Hell, she wouldn't have a clue what she would do if someone landed a bomb like this in her lap!

"Walter confirmed it. He begged me not to tell you, but I couldn't, I won't, lie to you," Olivia said in a rush to a stunned Peter.

"But how..? Why..? When..?", Peter struggled to say anything as all coherent thought left him after Olivia's revelation. He looked dazed and Olivia wanted to do something for him, but she didn't know what. She got angrier with herself by the second as she didn't have a clue how to help a person who was very important to her and who needed her. And who she needed in turn.

Peter suddenly got up almost making Olivia fall against the bench as she had been leaning against his shoulder and was taken by surprise when he suddenly moved. Peter started walking towards the door making Olivia to jump up and run after him.

"Peter, where are you going?" Olivia asked him when they got outside, stopping him by standing in front of him.

Peter looked down at her and grimly said, "Walter has some explaining to do". The silent fury in his eyes finally made Olivia understand why many of his former associates had been afraid of him.

XXX

Peter burst in from the door, a dark, brewing storm ready to explode.

"Walter," he shouted while Olivia stepped in after him closing the door behind them.

Peter wasn't patient and with few long strides was in the kitchen where Walter and Astrid had been playing the Monopoly, Walter now cowing in front of Peter. Astrid had stood up and gotten out of the way as she was now standing her back against the sink, watching in panic how the angry Peter was literally lifting Walter up and dragging him to the living room and dropping him on the sofa.

Peter was standing in front of him and demanded, "Explain this to me!"

Olivia was standing close by, her expression changing from worried and anxious when looking at Peter, to cold anger when looking at Walter.

"You told him! I asked you not to tell him," Walter pitifully wailed at Olivia.

"I refuse to lie to him," Olivia calmly answered, although her eyes betrayed the chaos reigning in her head. Astrid had come to stand next to her, although she looked terrified and ready to bolt through the door.

"Tell me," Peter demanded sitting down on the coffee table in front of Walter. His voice was deceptively calm, but everyone could hear the fury under the surface.

"Tell me!"

TBC