Chapter Three

Meanwhile, Olivia had managed to catch up to Tom. Considering he had no idea where he was and had enough sense to know that it could be dangerous for him to wander too far alone in this strange new time he was currently trapped in, it had not been particularly hard nor had taken very long. Certainly not enough time for either of their tempers to cool, and so when she caught up to him just outside the woods across from her apartment complex, she was still quite annoyed with him to say the least.

"Tom!" She called out as soon as she saw him, her tone sharp and dangerous. "Thomas Pullings don't you dare walk away from me!" She demanded.

He paused, his back still to her as she came closer. "I have nothing more to say, Olivia, and I would like a moment alone if you please." He said, keeping his voice low and even. His tone was still cold, but inside he was torn apart. He still loved her deeply, and had thought of nothing else since the day she had supposedly died, and now to find such things out about her was painful.

Olivia however had no intention of giving him his moment alone. In fact she grabbed his arm and forced him to turn with surprising strength, her eyes narrowed in anger. "Stop it Tom." She ordered. "Stop being so overdramatic. You haven't even heard what I have to say to explain what just happened and you immediately jumped to conclusions. A conclusion by the way that is untrue! How could you possibly think I've been sleeping with other men? Do you think so little of me? Do you know what I've been going through since I came back here?" Olivia threw up her hands, angry. She had opened the floodgates and now she could not hold back her thoughts any longer. She was never one to admit weakness, and had not wanted to tell him any of this, but she could not help herself as she spoke, words tumbling on top of each other.

"Everyone told me you weren't real! Everyone told me to get on with my life, go back to how things were because you were only a dream! They all thought I was crazy. They all thought I had lost it completely and at times I even began to think so too! They sent me to psychologists to hear all this bull shit about how I was traumatized by my fall and it brought back some repressed memories from childhood or some damn thing. I tried to get over you, tried to get my life back to where I had never known you so I simply would not feel this damn emptiness, but nothing worked! Damn it Tom! You are the only person I could ever love."

Tears were falling now, and she wiped them away furiously, angry at herself for crying and telling him all this. "I thought about killing myself a while there, you know. Not to die, but to get to you. I thought… I thought maybe if I died again, I would be sent back to you. I was willing to try anything to get back. Anything." She was calmer now, and felt her anger recede as she spoke. She had not spoken of this to anyone, not even that psychologist her friends insisted she see those first couple months, those really bad months when she had been barely a shell of herself.

Olivia sighed, looking away, her hands were shaking now and she had no idea what brought this sudden confessional on, but she could not stop now that she had started. She had to finish what she wanted to say. "But then I realized that you wouldn't have wanted that. It was a miracle I was alive in the first place. I remember dying you know, back on the Surprise, something had given me a second chance to live and I knew you would not want me to throw that away, even if it meant not being with you. So, I tried to carry on, I focused everything into my studies, my vocal training, but I still could not be with any other man besides you. No one could ever replace you Tom, and I have no desire to try."

She wiped her eyes, furious with herself for saying all of that. She had not intended it at all, and suddenly she remembered she was angry with Tom and her eyes narrowed once more. "So don't you dare jump to conclusions, Tom Pullings, and don't you dare judge me." She snapped.

Tom stared at Olivia in silence, his eyes softened and he was sorry he had ever even thought of being angry with her. She was shaking slightly with her emotions, and her green eyes which he so loved were laced with unshed tears. "Oh Olivia…" He quickly pulled her to him and locked her in a protective embrace. He hated seeing her hurt in any way, and seeing her in tears was dreadful. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have… I overreacted. I just…" He stopped with a sigh, wiping her tears from her eyes gently and kissing her softly on her lips. "I do not want to lose you again, Olivia."

She gave him a small smile, capturing his hand on her cheek and kissing it. "I'm yours forever, Tom. You know that."

He returned her smile, still feeling guilty for getting so mad. "I am truly sorry I was so cold to you, Olivia." He apologized again. "I don't quite know what came over me." He admitted.

Olivia shrugged, forgiving him with a light hearted air. "You were likely surprised. People in this time behave differently than what you're used to. I understand, and know how you feel." She then snickered slightly, "Though I suppose I should assure you there is absolutely nothing going on with me and Rick Apperson. We dated once, about four years ago, and it was a mutual break-up. He does like to tease me however, both he and his roommate."

"Oh." Was all Tom could think of to say, he frowned slightly. "Do you have many of those… those former…"

"Do I have many ex-boyfriends?" Olivia asked lightly. "Well, several to be honest. None of which were ever anything serious, if you must know, and all of which I dated long before I met you." She grinned, wrapping her arms around him. "And none of which come even close to you, Tom."

Tom could not help but smile. He could hardly hold any sort of grudge against her for very long, she had an annoying way of making him smile and forget why he was angry in the first place. "Good." He replied, kissing her once more. "It's very warm out here, shall we go back inside?"

Olivia's eyes suddenly lit up, "You're hot?"

"Yes… why?" He did not quite trust that look.

Olivia merely grabbed his hand, "Come on!" She insisted quite childishly, pulling him along after her back towards the apartment buildings. She led him to the pool quite insistently and opened the gate with a grin. "This will cool you off." She declared.

"What? What will?" Tom was still confused, watching her take off her shoes and socks and throwing them under a chair.

"This." With a grin she dove into the water quite gracefully, surfacing still grinning. "Come on Tom! The water's perfect!"

Tom hesitated, "Olivia, are you sure this is a good idea?"

Olivia splashed him, sending a spray of water that was in fact quite refreshing.

"Olivia!" Tom jumped back, amused.

Olivia merely laughed and ducked under to swim to the other side of the pool, waiting for Tom. "Hurry up!"

Tom, with a wicked grin went to remove his shoes and then his shirt so only his trousers would get wet and not all of his clothing. "I'll get you for that, Miss Corin!" He declared, jumping into the water himself. It did feel rather nice, but the water smelled odd and stung his eyes. However, he ignored it and splashed at Olivia, laughing.

While Tom, unlike many in the navy, could actually manage to swim a bit, he was no match for Olivia, who to his amazement moved more like a fish than a woman, cutting through the water with graceful, easy strokes with surprising speed. She was also apparently well versed in 'splash warfare' for Tom was getting hit with twice as many waves of water as he was sending at her.

"Wherever did you learn to swim like that?" He asked, holding up a hand in truce to wipe water from his eyes.

Olivia grinned widely, swimming over and attaching herself around his neck and leaning on his back. Tom blushed at the action, he doubted he would ever be used to how public displays of affection were in this time, and could not help wondering what someone would think if they saw them like this.

"Growing up I used to race on a swim-team." She explained, not moving from his back. "I was a sprinter until I was eighteen and left for school. There's no team here, and I don't really have time for it, but I still enjoy to swim on occasion."

"Oh really?" Tom asked, bringing his hand up to hers, which were still wrapped around his neck.

"Oh yes. There's an indoor lap pool at school I use during the winter when it's too cold to run. I'll take you sometime." She said leaning her head against his a moment. "You know, swim-team teaches children some valuable skills besides swimming."

He smiled; he had to admit he liked having her so close to him, he liked feeling her against him, her breath tickling his ear slightly. "And what skills would these be, my dear?" He asked.

Without a word Olivia suddenly pushed off the bottom on the pool, gripped his shoulders, and dunked him sideways into the water, despite his best efforts not to go under he found he was forced to do so anyway. Tom came up sputtering and gasping, having been caught completely unawares, and stared at her in shock.

Olivia merely smirked, quite proud of herself, "Like that for example."

"Olivia Corin, you will pay for that!" He immediately launched himself at her, attempting to catch her but she was far too quick, and made a game of dodging him.

Grinning from ear to ear Tom calculated a plan and purposefully let her get away several times, not realizing she was being corralled into the corner of the shallow end of the pool. Finally, when she was right where he wanted her, he advanced, prepared.

Olivia went to push off the wall but was immediately caught by Tom, who grabbed her arm, laughing, and pulled her to him, trapping her in his grip and taking advantage of the fact that he was much stronger than she was and his tall frame larger.

"Damn!" Olivia squirmed for a while, attempting to get away to no avail and Tom merely laughed, amused by her antics.

"I have you now, Miss." He teased. "Do you surrender?"

Olivia looked up at him, her eyes shining with amusement, but she sighed in mock annoyance. "Very well, sir." She replied. "What do you intend to do with your prisoner?" She asked innocently.

"Hm…" Tom leaned down and kissed her, moving his grip on her to a better position, enjoying himself thoroughly.

Olivia was also obviously enjoying herself as well, throwing herself into the kiss, completely off guard.

Suddenly, as quick as a cat, Tom pulled away and pushed her under the water. Olivia gasped in shock, causing her to get much water up her nose, a most unpleasant feeling, and she came up sputtering and staring at Tom with wide eyes.

Tom merely broke into peels of laughter, quite proud of his deception. "I told you that you would pay." He teased.

Olivia had to admit he got her good, and was amused by his scheme and quite honestly impressed. However, at the moment she had water up her nose and so she coughed, trying to get the nasty feeling to go away.

Tom's expression turned from one of amusement to concern. He immediately worried that he had accidentally hurt her. After all it had been a wicked deception. "Olivia, are you all right?" He asked, putting an arm over her shoulder his eyes wide with worry and fear.

Olivia sensed this and immediately thought of her payback. She shrugged out from under his protective arm. Now faking a horrible sounding cough she gave him a cold glare as she got away from him.

"Olivia, I didn't mean it!" Tom exclaimed, upset that he had hurt her. "Honest, I was only teasing! Really Olivia, I swear I would never- MMPHF!!"

He was cut short as he followed her pleading his case for Olivia had launched herself at him, completely tackling him and knocking him clean into the pool falling with him and holding him under a minute as he struggled to come up for air again. When she finally let him up he was gasping for breath, she however seemed completely fine, and despite the fact she had been under water just as long as he had.

"How did you-?"

Olivia grinned, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him lightly. "Vocal major. I have the lung capacity of three people, dear."

"So you aren't angry with me?" He asked cautiously.

She smiled and kissed him again. "Does that answer your question?"

He grinned cheekily, "No, I'm afraid you were not clear enough in your response." He teased.

Olivia laughed, kissing him again, this time with far more passion leaving him quite breathless once again. "How's that?" She asked innocently.

"That was…. very nice." He stuttered a bit. This woman and her kisses yet again left him dumbfounded, and he blushed at how stupid his response must have sounded.

Olivia stared at him a moment then burst into laughter. "You know what Tom? It amazes me I can still reduce you to a stuttering schoolboy."

Tom laughed, mock rolling his eyes and splashed once more. "A schoolboy… really…" He muttered, attacking her with peels of water, and their war commenced once more, continuing until they were both quite hungry and ready for a noon meal.

While Olivia and Tom had been having a battle in the pool, above them in Apartment 42 another war was waging. This one was in far less good humor however as two opponents faced off while a third, innocent party sat terrified in his seat.

"Stephen! Give me that remote machine!" Jack Aubrey thundered glaring at his friend. "I was viewing the program on fire arm development!"

Stephen however did not budge. "And I am tried of that, my dear. It is my turn to choose, it is only fair." He argued, leaning around the naval Captain who was attempting to block the television from the Doctor's view.

"And I have no desire to hear them prattle on about the hatching of sea turtles, fascinating no doubt!" Jack snapped in reply.

"It is my turn."

"It is most certainly not! Change it back!" Jack argued, leaning forward to snatch the remote out of Stephen's hand.

Stephen however jumped up and bounded away with surprising speed. "No!"

Will stared at them both, wide-eyed. He had never seen them carry on in such a childish dispute. It reminded him of when Williamson would snatch away a letter or something else of Boyle's and would tease him and the two would squabble on in boyish fun. He had never imagined the Captain or Doctor behaving in such a manner, but he realized with a small smile, the Captain had once been a young midshipman too, and surely the Doctor had been a boy once, so he supposed it was quite possible for them to still behave like children at times. Particularly when they were at leisure like this.

Suddenly, a crash made Blakeney jump and look over at the two frozen men, standing mid-action with looks of horror on both their faces. Had it been appropriated Will would have burst into laughter, however, seeing as it was the Captain and Doctor Maturin he could hardly do so. In their squabbling they seemed to have managed to knock over the light, the lamp that had been standing in the corner, to the floor, and it was now in five distinct pieces.

Jack stared at Stephen, who was staring back, both had looks of embarrassment on their faces. They have been behaving like children, and now looked very much like a boy who had broken a priceless vase. Jack's first response was to apologize to Stephen, however Stephen had other ideas.

"Jack, what did you do?" He asked in horror.

"What? Me? You knocked it over Stephen!" Jack shot back.

"I'll have you know you are closer to the item than I." Stephen replied.

Jack was about to respond when young Blakeney cleared his throat.

"Yes Mr. Blakeney?" Jack asked, both adults turning their attention to the boy.

"Excuse me sirs, but I do believe you both knocked into it." He said, trying very hard to keep the amusement from his voice.

"Indeed." Jack said absently, staring at the problem item perplexed. "Well, Stephen, we best fix this before Miss Corin returns." He said.

"Yes. She was most unhappy when I was experimenting with her stove the other day, after all, I can't imagine she will be too pleased over this." He replied, also staring at the lamp.

Jack held back the urge to tell Stephen that it was because he had set a sheet of paper on fire and could have burned the whole place down. "Yes, well…"

However, before the two could start on their attempt at repair work on the lamp, the door to the apartment opened and a wet and laughing Miss Corin and Mr. Pullings entered in a bright mood and dripping wet, carrying their shoes.

Olivia paused, seeing Jack and Stephen standing looking guilty and staring at the corner of the living room. She turned to see what they were staring at and much to their relief, laughed quite amused. "What happened?"

"Um… well… we accidentally…. ran into it." Jack managed, exchanging a guilty look with Stephen.

"Oh." Olivia replied. "Well, I'll put it back together after I change. Cheapo Wal-Mart lamp. It falls apart at the drop of a hat." She assured the two terrified looking men. "So don't worry about it. Tom, we're dripping on the carpet, we should both change."

Tom smirked, "Of course, dear. I know how attached you are to the carpeting." He teased happily, before going off to his room to change.

Olivia smiled, amused, and went off to her own room, heading for the shower on her way. Curious, for she had seemed quite wet when she came in for some odd reason. Jack and Stephen however were so relieved she was not upset over the lamp and that it was not a valuable object they carelessly damaged that they took no note of this and sat back down on the sofa, turning their attention back to the television.

"Now, Stephen, might I trouble you for the remote….."

A/N: Yet again it took me forever to update. Sorry. Changing countries is a lot of work people! I've been way busier than I thought I'd be… but things seem to be calming down now. So hopefully you'll get the next update sooner than the amount of time this one took. If not… you can throw oranges at my head.

Anyway! Olivia has issues. Have you noticed that? Poor Tom. He's going to have to work some things out with her…. And keep her from killing Jack and Stephen as they destroy her apartment. She's not going to have a place left after awhile! I think another title for this story should be "Remote Wars!"

ArcherofDarkness: Haha Happy belated Christmas to you too! Though I don't think you should give puppy Tom too many truffles. He might get a bit too hyper. I am writing more slowly but surely! Thank you for reviewing! It encourages… or should I say bribes me to write more? More like guilt because I feel bad leaving people hanging for long periods of time. Hope you have a happy New Year!

Sten: I'm glad you enjoyed the other story. This one seems even more insane to me, but insane is fun! As for Kate and Stephen… um….

Kate: No way!

Stephen: I beg your pardon?

Kate: Sorry dude…. But no.

Stephen: Actually I agree… she is far too odd for me.

Sorry… no other relationships for the guys in store… except perhaps Blakeney… but he's young and we all know middle school aged people go through "relationships" like paper towels. Sorry anyone in middle school, but it's true for the most part! Anyway, thank you for reviewing and an early Happy New Year for you!

Lily Knotwise: How was that for Olivia and Tom fluff? It involved a pool fight! Can't get much more silly than that! Okay, actually we all know I can… but still. I'm glad you've enjoyed it thus far. There are so many funny situation ideas floating around I can hardly pick which ones I'll really do. In other words… this plotless story may go on awhile. Sorry this chapter took so long… hopefully the next will be done sooner! As always m'dear, thanks for reviewing!

Wing Pikepaw: Haha awww you made Tommy-boy cry! But he deserves it… he made Olivia cry. Basically, everyone cried. And of course Tom's confused! He's a guy. Guys are always confused when it comes to relationships aren't they? Anyway, thanks for reviewing and have a Happy New Year!

LKL: Haha well… they won't get much fresh food if Olivia's cooking. I'll write more on that later. I made her into a worse cook than me so as long as she's cooking their food has to come from cans or frozen… and even then she probably burns it. Haha I like the idea of Olivia hauling the neighbor out and beating him up, and yes that would probably shock poor Tom too… though maybe not considering in the last story she punched him, granted she was drunk but still. Anyway! Thanks for the review and have a great New Year!

Anyana: Well I've been home a week as of today and yes it's been grand thus far thanks for wishing it upon me! I'm glad you enjoy mischief because that'll probably be most of the story… which the fluff mixed in and maybe some drama because I enjoy torturing characters. Thanks for reviewing m'dear!

TheMusingFit: Haha remote fights! And you know they would so do that too. They'll fight over whether they watch the history channel shows on guns or the discovery channel on nature and things. And heaven help Jack if Stephen sees something on Darwin and the Galapagos… Thanks for the encouragement! Happy New Year!

Calliope-Elven-Agent: Yes, tommy is jealous! But he's just going to have to get over it won't he? And don't worry m'dear I won't get explicit. I can write those types of scenes worth a darn. IF they do anything (and that's still an "if" because I have conflicting ideas at the moment…) it'll be implied and not graphic. You know… next morning type of thing maybe… I don't even know yet myself but I promise I will not get graphic for I know not everyone can read that or wants to read that. And I understand your position. I was there myself when I lived at home… heck when I'm at home my mom still reads over my shoulder. Anyway! Thanks for reviewing! And have a happy happy New Year!

Miss Flossy: Haha go Mowett! Tom deserved that! He needs to calm down and take a deep breath. Haha just wait until her classes start up and she starts hanging around her fellow students more… haha particularly her fellow male students. And um… you might want to tell Charlie not to call Olivia a slut anymore… she doesn't like that unless it's one of her friends calling her that…

Olivia: That little…

Me: Olivia language!

Olivia: She called me a slut! Just because she never got it on before Tom came around doesn't mean-

Me: Olivia I don't think we want to hear this.

Olivia: Experience does count for something you know.

Me: Olivia Corin! Your ancestors are spinning in their graves!

Anyway, yes them seeing Master and Commander on the movie channel would be very odd. Haha though I'd like to see what they make of the Horatio Hornblower movies…. Thank you for reviewing m'dear and can't wait to read your next update! Happy New Year!

Sarah: Hehe I'm glad you've enjoyed it so much! Of course I had to drag the others along for the ride! Comic relief from the drama! I was originally going to have Killick come too… but that's just too much for me! I have to get them to all fit in her car you know! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and sorry to keep you waiting. Happy New Year!

Serena: Haha I'm glad you enjoyed chapter two and hope you enjoyed chapter three! Yes, Tommy was upset and made Olivia upset but now they seem better. Thanks for reviewing m'dear and Happy New Year!

Eldarwen999: Haha oooh Jerry Springer… haha I'd love to see the guys watch that! This was more Olivia blew up and said a bunch of junk and made Tom feel bad. She's good at that. However, they've yet to resolve any real problems… mwahahahaha! Hope you enjoyed and Happy New Year!

Sleepwalking Dreamer: Yay! I always love your reviews! And don't worry about not reviewing the first chapter dear, I understand Hell Week… trust me. As long as you forgive my posts being neglected during my Hell Week (um… Hell Weeks? There's always more than one!) I'll forgive you too :-P Anyway, I'm glad you think I kept them in somewhat character thus far. I can't help but have Aubrey and Maturin fighting over the remote, and let's face it, all guys have a six-year-old in them somewhere! They now get to release their inner child! As for what they watch there are so many options! I think fun with the TV is going to be a running theme in this story. As for "Sex and the City" I've never seen it so they don't get to watch that. However, my older sister does have seasons one through eight of "Friends" on DVD so I may have to steal one, watch it, and think of character reactions…. Mwahahahaha. The movie the "Patriot" would be good because all the British characters are evil. Hehe. Anyway, TV is worth hours of entertainment for them! Too many possibilities aahhhhh!!! Haha as for Tom and Olivia's 19th century versus 21st century culture clash I don't think we've seen the end of it. Olivia's quite the partier with a lot of close friends…. guy friends… and well, Tom seems to me as the jealous type. Poor guy. I don't know why I picture him as the jealous type. Maybe I'm a little off on that? But I just see him as giving death glares to any boy that dares to tease around with Olivia and heaven help them if they get a little fresh or give her a hug! Anyway, this has gotten long. As always m'dear, thanks for the lovely email review and hope you have a Happy New Year!

Yay reviewers! You guys all rock my socks! Keep them coming! I need the moral support right now! I'm needy! Hehe! If you review I will share in my chocolate stash! See? (points at insane amount of chocolate in the corner) I have a supply! And Tom will deliver it to you!

Pullings: I will?

Me: You will. Or I'll get in my death scene writing mode again.

Pullings: (puts on hat) Where do I go first?

Hehe so review please! And have a Happy happy New Year!