A/N: Hello again. Thanks for reading. This chapter takes place on the same day as the previous one. So it's at the beginning of 'Aurora'. And we get a bit of Olivia's back story. Enjoy! Reviews are always welcome!

Olivia peered around the corner and squinted up at the conference room. The doors were still closed. Had been for the past fifteen minutes.

How long was an Atlantis mission debrief supposed to take anyway?

Evan and his team had returned through the Gate and proceeded straight to the conference room with Dr Weir. Every minute or so, Olivia would duck around to see if they had finished. Fifteen minutes later and she was getting bored and frustrated. Her growling stomach let her know that it was also lunchtime.

She should either be working or eating. Not stalking poor Evan. The colonel's words from earlier still rang in her ears. For some reason Evan had decided to smooth the way for her by assuring Sheppard that she was safe to take off-world. Despite the fact that Evan actually had no firsthand knowledge of this.

It was a small risk on his part, but one that Olivia appreciated all the same.

Olivia decided she would have just one last look then head to the mess hall. She moved to look around the corner again and somehow ended up walking right into Evan. They would have clashed heads if it weren't for his TAC vest, which she bounced right off.

"Careful," Evan said, catching her arm quickly to stop her falling backwards.

"Ow!" Olivia clutched at her chest where she had collided with his P90. "Damn it. That's a dumb place to keep a gun."

"You're not meant to walk into it," he replied dryly and released his grip on her arm. "What are you doing lurking around corners anyway?"

"I'm not lurking. I came to see how your assignment went today. Aren't I allowed to come and welcome you back to Atlantis?"

Evan shrugged and started walking down the corridor. Olivia hurried to catch up and fell into step beside him. "You can if you want," he said, "but you're gonna send the rumour mills into overdrive. Just so you know."

"I don't really care about the Atlantis rumour mills."

They proceeded down the corridor and turned right. Olivia was practically jogging to keep up with his brisk strides. She glanced sideways at him and noticed his general dishevelment and slight scowl. "So. What's with the mood today?" she asked carefully.

He huffed and looked as if he wasn't going to answer. Then he eventually said, "I just spent five hours conducting trade negotiations with a race of people who make the Amish look adventurous. Their idea of a conference room is a table set up in the middle of a barn full of animals."

"Oh."

"And all so we can get regular supply of a hideous little domesticated bird they farm."

Olivia smiled. "Let me guess, tastes like chicken?"

"Duck, actually. They look like a cross between a rat and an owl though. And somehow they smell worse than they look. After standing knee deep in them all morning I'm pretty sure I'm going to smell like one for the rest of the week."

"I was wondering what that smell was…"

Evan rubbed his hands over his eyes tiredly. "Thank you for that. Now that we're back, I'm really just looking forward to a shower and some lunch. Speaking of lunch, shouldn't you be in the mess hall right about now?"

"I already ate," she lied, willing her stomach to stay quiet for a while longer.

"Okay. So are you planning to just follow me around all day then?" he asked, a slight hint of his usual wry amusement returning. "You're welcome to join me in the armoury, infirmary and mess hall, but the shower's probably going to be a bit of a tight squeeze."

Olivia opened her mouth then slowly closed it again. There was no safe reply to that so she just relegated the image to her growing file of inappropriate thoughts and changed topics. "Actually, I have news that might cheer you up. The colonel cleared me for off-world travel this morning."

"Congratulations. I knew it wouldn't be a problem for you."

"Thanks. He also explained that I now have to wait for you to assign me to a team."

Evan stopped walking abruptly and turned on her. "Oh no. No, no."

"It's not like that," she said quickly and raised her hands in a placatory gesture.

"Not you too, Olivia. Seriously, I can't handle it from you too."

"I'm not doing anything! Sheppard explained that there might be a bit of a wait and that's fine. I'm not hassling you about it."

Evan eyed her suspiciously. "Then you'd be the only civilian on this base who doesn't hassle me about getting off-world. All I can do is be fair about it and rotate everyone accordingly."

"Sounds like the fairest system," Olivia said diplomatically. "I'd just like to know more about the process. Nothing sinister."

"Why am I not convinced?" He sighed and closed his eyes briefly. "I'm probably going to regret this, but I'll explain it all to you if that's what you want. I'll meet you at my office in an hour. Do you know where it is?"

"Sure." Truthfully, Olivia had no idea he even had an office, but it seemed better to just ask someone else. She was hopeless with remembering directions and Evan was already in a cranky mood.

"Good. I'll see you there."

They went their separate ways. Olivia headed straight for the mess hall to grab something to eat. She ate quickly, conscious that Evan would be showing up to have his own lunch soon. To kill more time, she went to visit with Emma and Sophie to catch them up on her morning session with Colonel Sheppard.

"You almost elbowed him in the head?" Emma demanded. "Why would you think that'd be a good way to get off-world?"

"It's not like I went there planning to do it! I learnt it so long ago that I didn't know I'd still be able to pull off the move, but it all happened quickly."

"That's simple muscle memory," Sophie said from amidst a mountain of open books. "Once you got into a rhythm your body remembered what to do. I can still perform gymnastics moves I learnt as a teenager."

Olivia could barely see the top of her friend's blonde head. She exchanged an exasperated look with Emma. "I think we should move some of these books. You might not survive if there's an avalanche."

"Oh, please don't lose my place in any of them. I'm so close to a breakthrough!" Sophie insisted once again.

Olivia glanced down at the book on the top of the pile she had just moved. The virology text was Greek to her. Not for the first time, she found herself wishing that her own work had more of an impact. If Sophie and the medical team were able to pull off this Wraith retrovirus, it would completely change the galaxy.

"How close are you to testing on a live specimen?" Olivia asked, a sudden thought hitting her.

"Quite close."

"But that means a live Wraith will have to be brought to Atlantis, right?"

Sophie nodded, looking unfazed. "Correct. It is the only way to fully test the retrovirus."

"You aren't worried about being near a Wraith? About having one in Atlantis?"

"Wraith attacked the city before you got here," Emma pointed out. "If Sophie's work can stop that from happening again then the risk posed by having one Wraith in the city will be outweighed by the benefits."

Olivia frowned and chose to leave the conversation there. She was beginning to wonder if she was the only one on Atlantis who was truly scared of the Wraith. Evan had mentioned his few encounters with them as if it had been no big deal. Now Emma and Sophie were being ludicrously blasé about the prospect of being in a room with one.

Emma suddenly snapped her fingers at Olivia. "I almost forgot to tell you! I spoke to some of the female Marines this morning and there's another girls' poker night planned for next month. You have to come with me."

"Poker night?" Olivia raised her eyebrows doubtfully. "I don't even know how to play poker, Em."

"That doesn't matter. It's more about drinking and gossiping anyway."

"It's also very rowdy," Sophie added disapprovingly. "The first one I went to gave me a headache for a week. It was awful."

Emma rolled her eyes at Olivia. "It's not that bad. No worse than a night out in a London pub. Sophie refuses to go again, so I need a new drinking buddy."

"It sounds like fun," Olivia admitted. "Count me in."

"Great!" Emma slapped her on the shoulder. "It's going to be even more fun with all the new personnel who've arrived recently."

"I'm looking forward to it. I'll ask you more about it later, but for now I should let you guys get back to work."

"Okay. We'll see you at dinner."

Olivia hesitated before leaving. She forced a casual smile. "Say, do either of you happen to know where Major Lorne's office is?"

Evan was ten minutes late. Olivia crossed her arms and slumped back against the wall. She had checked with a passer-by to make sure she was in the right place in case Emma and Sophie had been wrong. She was in fact right outside the office that Evan shared with Colonel Sheppard.

The reality that she had now wasted the majority of her day waiting around for Evan was not lost on her. Her work had been untouched for most of the day. The guilt associated with that was creeping in at the edges of her mind.

She'd arrived early to begin with and had been standing there waiting for almost twenty minutes now. People were starting to give her odd looks. At least everyone would assume she was just another civilian hassling the major to get sent off-world. Except that she wasn't going to do that. Not now that Evan appeared to have had such a bad day. The last thing she wanted to do was cause him any more stress.

Evan appeared around the corner, looking slightly perturbed. "Sorry, Doc. I got called back to the Gateroom."

"It's fine. Is everything all right?"

Olivia stepped aside and Evan waved his hand over the access panel. "Sheppard and his team are leaving to go and check out an Ancient warship that the city's sensors picked up."

Olivia gasped as she followed him into the office. "An Ancient ship? I'd love to get a look at that."

"You and me both."

"And you're pissed that Sheppard got that assignment and you got stuck doing trade negotiations."

"You're perceptive today."

Olivia was hoping he'd be in a better mood, but apparently he wasn't. "Well, I guess that's one of the perks of being the CO. Sheppard gets all the good missions."

The office they'd entered was neat and austere. No laptops, personal items, books or paperwork piles to be seen. The complete opposite to most of the science labs on the base. The focal point of the room was a large whiteboard that hung behind one of the desks. Very low-tech. A typical military set-up if she ever saw one.

There were two identical desks positioned opposite each other. Evan approached the one in front of the whiteboard and pushed the chair aside roughly. "Yeah, well now I'm the one who has to get the requisition forms ready for the weekly transmission to the SGC. Convenient, right?"

Olivia grimaced. When they met up at night, it was easy to forget he was second in command. But of course, the reality was he was a busy man. "Oh. Should I come back later?"

Evan's face softened. The little frown line between his eyes disappeared and he beckoned her over. "Sorry, Doc. Olivia," he amended quickly. "I'm in Major Lorne mode at the moment. You can stay. After all, I did make a point yesterday of encouraging you to ask for help."

"That you did," Olivia agreed. She walked over to join him and watched as he sat down on the desk, facing the large whiteboard.

"I won't bite," he said, patting the desk.

Olivia accepted the invitation and joined him so they were sitting shoulder to shoulder. "For the record, I like Evan a lot more than Major Lorne."

"So do I. Most of the time. It's just been a long day."

Olivia nodded sympathetically. At least he looked a little refreshed. He was wearing a crisp new uniform and his hair was slightly damp. She could smell his soap and shampoo sitting this close to him. It took all of her willpower not to turn and run her fingers through his tousled hair.

Instead, she nudged him with her shoulder and said, "On the plus side, you don't smell like a farmyard anymore."

Evan turned to her with a dimpled grin. "I should have known you'd find a silver lining for me."

Olivia smiled back. They really were sitting awfully close. Normally they were on opposite sides of the room. Now just inches away, he was overloading her senses and making her feel a little heady. She wanted to slide back but that would be an acknowledgment that something was sparking between them. Something that neither of them was supposed to want.

"Right," Evan said, his voice low and husky. He nodded towards the whiteboard. "This is it. This board has all the current teams on it and their assignments for the next two weeks are on the top half. Bottom half is the unconfirmed teams for the two weeks following that."

Olivia blinked rapidly and tried to pay attention. "Okay. Sure."

"Sheppard and I will meet with Dr Weir in a few days and we'll lock in the assignments for the rest of the month. Then I'll start all over again and go through the list of civilians and start putting them with teams and wait on the assignments to come through."

Olivia's eyes roamed the board, recognising the names of some of the scientists. Some had letters in brackets after their name. She knew the Air Force had a fondness for acronyms and she had learnt a fair few, but she didn't recognise any on the board. "Why do most of the scientists have other letters next to their names?"

"It's just shorthand between Colonel Sheppard and I," Evan said, shifting a little uncomfortably.

"Evan…"

"Look, there's a lot more civilians in the city now. It gets confusing. Particularly for Sheppard. He's better with faces than names. It helps to give people harmless little designations."

"All right, what does WD stand for?"

"Walking Disaster."

Olivia narrowed her eyes. "And POW?"

"Piece Of Work."

Olivia shook her head in amazement. She wasn't sure whether to be insulted or impressed. It worked both ways though. She knew from talking to her colleagues that the civilian side was just as useless at keeping track of who was who on the military side.

"And what would you put next to my name?" she asked curtly.

Evan gave her a guilty little smile. "I wouldn't do it to you, Olivia."

"Humour me then."

"Probably KIA."

"Do I even want to know?"

"Know It All."

Olivia actually laughed. "Oh, thanks. Jeez, you two sure know how to make a girl feel special."

"Hey, I said I wouldn't put anything next to your name. Just don't tell anyone else I told you about our little codes, okay. It's in everyone's best interest that we keep this system."

"How do you figure that?"

"Well, certain teams are better paired with certain scientists. If we forget who's who, bad things might happen. Some teams can't handle a WD and others don't have the patience for KIAs."

"And what's your preference?"

"I'm a consummate professional," he replied. "I have the utmost respect for every civilian in Atlantis."

Olivia smirked. "Clearly."

"Yeah, well maybe if I wasn't hassled every day I'd be a little nicer."

"Speaking of hassling," Olivia said carefully, not wanting to ruin the current mood. "Do you think I'll be on the board next month?"

Evan cocked his head thoughtfully. "I think I can tweak a few things and get you on there."

"I wasn't suggesting you go out of your way for me."

"It's not a big deal," he insisted.

"But you've already done enough to help me get off-world."

"I have?"

"Sheppard said that you vouched for me. You guaranteed that I wasn't going to be any trouble."

"Oh, that," Evan said nonchalantly. "Well, he started interrogating me about how exactly you and I knew each other. I told him we worked at the SGC together."

"You lied to your CO?"

"Not really. We did technically both work at the SGC for a few months before I got sent to Atlantis. I just omitted the fact that we never actually met back then."

"You lied by omission then."

Evan sighed wearily. "If you insist. But Sheppard thought we were…you know. I had to come up with something to get him to drop it."

Olivia swivelled her body to face him, folding one of her legs up onto the desk. "I really appreciate what you did."

Evan shrugged, keeping his eyes trained on the whiteboard. "I know Sheppard prefers it when civilians get properly settled into Atlantis before wandering around the galaxy. He wasn't going to clear you since you've only been here a few weeks. So, I pushed things along a little for you. Not a big deal."

"It was above and beyond what someone would do for a random acquaintance. Seems to me you'd only put your reputation on the line to help a friend."

"A friend," he repeated. "Hmm. I think you may have a point there."

"So, Major, do we officially have ourselves a friendship here?"

"Sure. Seems like the next logical step I guess." He turned to look her in the eye and again Olivia was disconcerted by their closeness. "As long as the next one isn't friends with benefits."

Olivia swallowed hard. "Of course not."

"Yeah, of course not."

Olivia didn't move. She hardly dared to breathe. Evan's eyes were assessing her and she was trying desperately not to let her façade slip. She wondered suddenly if friendship with Evan would even be possible. She'd seen enough romantic comedies in her life to know that the odds were against them.

Evan slid off the desk abruptly, leaving Olivia blinking in surprise. He stepped up to the board and grabbed a marker. He tapped it against his chin as he scanned all the names along the bottom half.

"What are you doing?"

"Gotta fix this thing. It'll only take a second."

"Evan," she warned, her voice low and tense.

"Quiet while I think."

Olivia bit her lip to stop herself saying anything further. She watched as he used his finger to rub out the name Kavanagh (FPOW) and write in the name Meyers. "That's much better," he proclaimed.

"You can't do that!"

"I believe I just did."

Evan rejoined her on the desk and she just stared at him, a little stupefied. She knew Kavanagh by reputation only. Apparently, he had only just returned to the expedition and he didn't seem like the kind of person who would appreciate being overlooked.

"Isn't he going to be angry at you?"

"Oh yeah."

"But Evan-"

He shook his head firmly and held up a hand. "You let me deal with Kavanagh. You just worry about getting ready to go off-world in two weeks. I've put you with Stackhouse. He'll keep you safe, but he won't coddle you."

"Hang on, I don't want you ending up with any more stress because of me."

"Olivia, you're single-handedly responsible for decreasing my stress levels. The time we spend together has helped me a lot. Even when you just sit there and listen, I end up feeling a thousand times better by the time I return to my quarters."

A proud warmth spread through Olivia's body. "I'm glad I can help you. I don't really expect anything in return though."

"Look, a little quid pro quo never hurt anyone. Except maybe Kavanagh in this case, but I couldn't care less about him. As long as you're happy, I'm happy."

"I'm very happy, Evan. Thank you."

Olivia almost hugged him, but thought better of it at the last second. That'd be tempting fate. She didn't want to add any fuel to the fire that was smouldering in her belly. His hand was planted on the desk between them so Olivia settled for putting her own hand over the top of his. But even that turned out to be far too intimate.

Evan glanced down in surprise. He turned his hand over so that her smaller one fitted snugly into his palm. "Wait, do friends hold hands?"

"Sure. It's a very platonic thing to do," Olivia said, a little unconvincingly. Images of what those capable hands could do to her flooded her mind and she took a few extra breaths.

"Your hands are really soft," he commented.

He closed his fingers around hers and stroked her skin in tiny circles. It was suddenly warm in the room and the air felt really thick. Stupid. Why had she thought she could touch his hand in the first place?

Olivia opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by a knock from the doorway. Their hands snapped apart at the same time. Olivia froze. They'd become lost in their own little world and had forgotten that the office door had been open the entire time.

"Damn it," Evan muttered under his breath. He peered around her head to see who had interrupted. "Lieutenant?"

"Sorry, sir. I didn't realise you were in here with someone."

Olivia turned to see a young man in uniform standing at attention in the doorway. She recognised him as Lt Reed from Evan's team. He was fighting hard to subdue a smirk that was tugging at the corners of his mouth.

In the blink of an eye, Evan was back in Major Lorne mode. He jumped off the desk and crossed the room, leaving Olivia feeling a little bereft.

"What's the problem, Lieutenant?"

"I just came to collect the new roster for security detail. I can come back later. I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

The lieutenant's eyes were flicking back and forth between Evan and Olivia. She was certain that from his vantage point he hadn't been able to see their entwined hands, but it still must have looked odd to find his team leader sitting on his desk beside a random woman.

"You weren't interrupting anything," Evan said sharply. "This is Dr Meyers. She's going off-world soon for the first time since arriving here. I'm showing her the ropes."

"Of course, sir. Nice to meet you, ma'am," he said, turning and giving Olivia a small nod.

"Likewise, Lieutenant." Olivia slid off the table and rubbed her hands together enthusiastically. "Well, thank you again, Major Lorne. You've been very helpful."

"Anytime, Doctor," Evan replied stiffly. "If you have any other questions let me know."

"I will."

Olivia gave both men a parting smile then ducked quickly out of the room. In the corridor, she paused briefly to look down at her hand. It was shaking slightly.

She couldn't remember the last time a man made her heart race like that.

There was a storm coming. Distant lightning lit up the horizon, making the water glow briefly. A strong wind was racing around the city. Olivia stood in the midst of it, captivated by the howling noise the wind made as it whirled around the many towers and sculpted spires.

Her hair was whipping around her head in a curly frenzy. The icy sting of the wind made her cheeks turn pink and she wrapped her arms around herself to preserve a little body heat. She'd come out on the balcony just to get some fresh air and had been standing there for nearly five minutes.

Olivia had considered not going to the reading room. After the awkwardness of Evan's office, she thought she had better be more aware of her personal space in future. She couldn't even touch his hand without immediately thinking about sex. There was no way she could let herself get that close to him again.

In the end, she had remembered how sincere he had seemed when he told her how much he appreciated their late-night talks. So, she had taken her dog-eared copy of Great Expectations to the room and settled in to read. If he showed up, then he showed up. She wasn't going to be the one to deny him his new outlet.

Thunder rumbled across the sky, adding to the cacophony of the wind. There was a smell of rain in the air.

"Have you lost your mind?"

Olivia looked over her shoulder and gave Evan a wild little smile. "Can't you hear that? That's the wind rushing through the city. Doesn't it sound eerie? Almost like a wild animal howling."

"Yeah, you have lost it." He took her firmly by the shoulders and steered her back inside. "You're going to get swept off the balcony. Or struck by lightning."

"You don't like storms?"

"Not particularly."

Olivia rubbed her hands vigorously over her face to get a little feeling back in her cheeks. "When I was a kid I'd sit by the kitchen window and watch storms pass over my house. I used to count the seconds between the lightning and the thunder. Didn't you ever do that as a kid?"

Evan gave her a dubious sideways glance as they walked back down the corridor towards their room. "The more I get to know you, the stranger I think you are."

"Shut up. It's not strange to like storms."

"It's strange to stand out in the middle of one though. You have to admit that."

Olivia shrugged and entered the room first. She went straight to her usual armchair. "I just went to get some fresh air. Been in here for a few hours already."

"Yeah, I would have come earlier but I only just got off duty. Managed to get the damn requisitions processed though."

Evan kicked off his shoes and flopped down noisily on the long couch across from her. He lay on his back along the length of it, hands joined underneath his head.

"Tired?" Olivia asked.

"A little. It's been a long one."

"Tell me about it." Olivia winced as she kicked off her own shoes and sat crossed legged. Her muscles had begun to ache now that she had been sitting still. It felt like a lifetime ago that she had met up with Sheppard in the gym. Her body quickly reminded her that it had only been that morning.

"You should have a proper stretch before you go to bed," Even said without looking at her.

Olivia shook her head in disbelief. She still had no idea how he managed to do that. He had been staring at the ceiling the whole time yet he somehow noticed that her underused muscles were giving her trouble. "Yeah? Well it looks like you should be in bed right now. What are you doing here? Other than bossing me around, I mean."

"Even though I'm tired I don't think I'll be able to sleep yet."

"What's wrong?"

Olivia recognised the slight frown and the narrowing of Evan's eyes. He was rearranging his thoughts before he answered. She waited patiently and tried not to get too anxious. He finally turned on his side to look at her, propping himself up on his elbow.

"First of all, I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I wasn't snooping. I had to do it."

Olivia's heart sank. It didn't sound good. "Had to do what? What are you talking about, Evan?"

"I had to go into your personnel record to add in your new travel clearance."

"And?"

"And I read your file. Not on purpose or anything. If you don't want to tell me things that's fine."

Oh. Definitely not good.

"Neither of us has talked about personal things," Olivia pointed out. "I figured that was how things were going to be between us."

Evan nodded in agreement. "I know it goes both ways. I haven't exactly been an open book. But we're friends now, right?"

He had her there. No point trying to be evasive since he clearly already knew about her past. She didn't know precisely what her file said, but she could guess at the salient points. There were chapters of her life that she had happily left behind and now Evan wanted to dredge them up to satisfy his own curiosity.

Olivia chose not to say anything. She simply made a hand gesture that suggested he should go on.

"You got your degree from Yale, huh."

"Yes. But I hardly think that's what's keeping you awake."

"You're an only child. Born and raised in Connecticut."

Olivia mentally braced herself for what she knew was coming. "Are you going to recount my entire life story back to me?"

Evan gave her an apologetic look then got to the point. "You've been married twice."

"Yes. And divorced twice," she added helpfully.

"I guess I was a little surprised. But if you don't want to talk about it that's fine. I won't pry."

Olivia surveyed his face. His blue eyes were wide and earnest. He was obviously interested, but she knew he wouldn't bring it up ever again if she made a point of telling him to back off.

"It's fine. Believe me, being only thirty-two and already having two divorces under your belt sets you up for a lot of questions when people find out."

"Don't worry. There aren't any real details in the file. Just the dates of the marriages and divorces."

"I was pretty young and dumb the first time around. Only twenty-one. Then at twenty-seven I was older but still pretty dumb it turns out."

"So the first marriage didn't work out because you were both too young?"

"I was too young." A distracting blush crept up Olivia's neck. She didn't normally get embarrassed when talking about her first husband. But right now she was dreading Evan's reaction.

"You married an older man," he guessed.

"Sixteen years older."

Evan let out a surprised laugh then spotted her scowl. "Sorry. But sixteen years! Right. Sorry. I shouldn't have reacted like that. Sixteen years, really?"

"You did better than most people. I usually get a disgusted look. But it wasn't like that. He was only thirty-eight. Much older than me, but not really an old man. The age gap never made much of a difference to me."

"So is that what you're into? Older men?"

"Not particularly. Gerard just happened to be older than me."

Evan laughed again. "Seriously? Gerard?"

"Yes, Gerard. He was an English professor at Yale."

"Jesus! You married your teacher? Olivia!"

"He wasn't my teacher," she said hastily, a full-blown blush now making her face burn. "I didn't take English. I used to sneak into his classes just to listen to him talk. We didn't get married till after I had graduated and it only lasted a year."

"Wow. It turns out you're full of surprises, Dr Meyers."

Olivia smiled a little proudly. "Well, at least no one can ever say I've led a boring life."

"So what brought on the divorce if it wasn't the huge age gap?"

"I idealised him too much. I was too young to know any better. When we dated he would quote Chaucer or Shakespeare in bed and I would swoon like an idiot."

Evan's eyebrows shot up. "That's your idea of foreplay?"

"Not anymore! I told you, I was too young to know any better. But of course, the romance didn't last through the marriage. I eventually realised he was just a man. Not the suave, Renaissance hero I had my heart set on. I lost interest pretty quickly after that. I ended up kind of breaking his heart by filing for divorce."

"Ah."

"Yeah. He didn't really see it coming. I felt bad about it for ages, but I eventually forgave myself. I happen to know that he's happily married now, " Olivia added.

Even let out a long breath and rolled onto his back again. Olivia was glad not to have his eyes boring a hole through her anymore. He stared up at the ceiling, hands folded on his stomach.

"Thanks for telling me all of that. I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to talk about it."

"That's all you're getting tonight. Disastrous marriage number two can wait for another time."

"Wait, let me guess. Uh, husband number two was much younger than you? His name was Antonio and he was an Italian poet. Am I close?"

Olivia grunted and stood up. "All right. Since you're just going to be annoying now, I'm going to bed."

"A heroic lion tamer named Frederick? He couldn't tear himself away from the circus life for you?"

Olivia collected her book and resisted the urge to throw it across the room at him. "I'm glad you're finding this funny. I won't tell you anything personal ever again if you keep it up."

"Sorry."

"No you're not," she said airily and made for the door.

"Your shoes," Evan said, his eyes still focused on the ceiling.

Olivia looked down at her pink socks then back over at her forgotten shoes. "Stop doing that!"

"It's called peripheral vision, Olivia."

She slid back over and pulled on her shoes. "You better get your own ass to bed before you end up falling asleep right there."

"Whatever you say, Doc."

Olivia thought about dragging him with her but when she looked up from tying her laces, his eyes were already closed. She noticed the serene smile on his face and knew that she wouldn't wake him up for all the money in the world.