Olivia looked down in the dumps and Edward knew what was going on. He knew exactly as soon as he saw her what was wrong. Her brother had found himself in hot water in the GCPD and had been demoted to Arkham Asylum as a glorified prison guard. On top of that, he had gotten himself in the business of the Bruce Wayne murders and had been used as a scapegoat to cover up Dick Lovecraft's murder. Jim had long suspected that Lovecraft knew more than he was letting on, considering he was jealous of the Wayne business and appeared to have ordered for an eyewitness to be killed. Olivia had yet to meet this eyewitness who her brother was protecting.

He had taken her to Bruce Wayne's house and asked for her to be kept safe there. She was called Selina Kyle and Jim had said that Olivia would definitely not like her. Apparently she was rebellious and a bit of a know it all. Nevertheless, Olivia had urged her brother to stay out of the Wayne murder case, but she knew he wouldn't. Jim didn't stay out of things. He never stayed out of business he should. His sense of needing justice was bigger than anything.

Edward stood in the doorway of the restaurant for a few moments, looking over to Olivia as she sat at the table, her finger running around the rim of her glass of water. Pushing his glasses further onto his nose, he finally told the waitress who had come to talk to him that he was with Olivia. She guided him to the table and Olivia finally looked up and over to him as he moved to sit down across from her.

"Can I get you a drink?" the waitress asked Ed.

"Just a glass of orange juice, thank you," he said.

"Sure, I'll come take your food order in a minute," she said.

"Thank you," Ed said. He turned his attention back to Olivia and she managed a small smile in his direction. But Ed knew that nothing was okay. She was pretending. She had a look behind her eye that said that she was not okay. He bit down on his tongue for a second. "What is it?"

"I…" Olivia began, but she didn't know how to continue. Instead she placed her hand over her mouth and tried to stop herself from crying out loud. Where did she even begin? How did she even begin? She didn't know what to say to Ed. She had spent the past few weeks assuring him that everything was fine, promising him that she was okay. But it was a lie. It was all a lie. She was not fine.

"Olivia," Edward said her name, knowing that she was on the verge of some kind of breakdown. Clearly tonight was not the night to tell her anything about Kristen Kringle. Every time he tried to mention her, Olivia would go haughty and tell him that he deserved better and that he should move on. But that was easy for her to say. She had moved on. She had gone and moved on with some other guy who had taken her on fancy dates to places Ed could only dream of affording on his salary.

"Come on," Edward said and he moved to his feet. She looked to him as he moved behind her, taking her coat from the back of her chair. He held it up and Olivia stood up, letting him help her slip into it.

"Where are we going?" she asked as she sniffed.

"I know a good Chinese takeout. We can go back to mine," Ed said, "and you can tell me what it is that is going on."

Ed left a ten dollar bill on the table to cover both their drinks, not caring about the change. Olivia grabbed her satchel and slung it onto her shoulder, walking by Edward's side as he led her to his car. He had promised to give her a lift home that evening considering that she had walked from work. He held the door open for her and she slid into the seat. Closing the door, Ed wondered exactly what was going on.

…

Sitting on his sofa, Edward was amazed that Olivia did her best to pull herself together. He wondered if she knew that she had no need to do any of that. He didn't care about seeing her at her lowest. He thought that was what friends were for. He thought that they were there to see each other when they were struggling.

"He's going to get himself killed," Olivia whispered, struggling to eat any of her noodles on the plate in front of her as Ed twirled his around his fork. "Jim is going to get himself killed one day and then what do I do, Ed? What do I do without him? Every night he used to come home from the GCPD and I was…I was just thankful that he was alive. I was thankful…but now…without him there and in Arkham, I just don't know what is going through his mind. He's talking about inmates attacking people. He's talking about there not being enough guards to help."

"So this is about Jim?"

Olivia shrugged. "I guess," she said. "It's about everything."

"Everything?" Ed queried from her and she nodded her head.

"I'm not going to get Jim to stop what he is doing. He is always going to work in some type of law enforcement job and maybe one day he might be reinstated to the GCPD, but I don't want that. I want him to leave Gotham…get a normal job…"

"I don't think that is your brother, Olivia," Ed said to her and she scoffed, nodding her head.

"I know."

"But he has people looking out for him."

"He has no one at Arkham," Olivia said. "I mean, if anything ever happens to him then I don't know what I would do. It's almost like he doesn't seem to get it. We're the only family we really have left."

"Does Jim know this?" Ed asked from her. "Does he know what you feel?"

"He knows I worry," Olivia said with a shrug. "I don't think he knows how much I worry. It's not like I'm his mother, but I just need to look out for him."

"He's a good man," Ed said to her. "I mean that. He is a very nice man and I miss him at GCPD, but you need to know that he is his own person, Olivia. He will not stop because he believes in justice and fairness. He's convinced of it."

"Yeah, I know," Olivia said, placing her plate on the coffee table before reaching for her glass of wine. "It's all just a bit of a mess at the moment. He's still upset that Barbara has gone, but he just won't even call her. He seems to think there is no hope for them getting back together."

"And have you heard from Barbara?"

"Only a text to say that she is okay," Olivia said. "I never really got on with Barbara, but she was okay. She was fine and…Jim seemed to love her. I don't know, he just doesn't seem as cut up over her as I thought he might be."

"We all deal very differently with situations," Ed reminded her and she nodded then, agreeing with him as he finished his meal. "Regardless, Olivia, your brother will be fine. I do not doubt that. He is strong."

"I'm sorry, Ed," Olivia said, flapping her arms by her side as she pulled her legs up to rest underneath her. "I've been a complete spoil sport tonight. I don't know what's wrong with me, my emotions are all over the place."

"Are you hormonal?" Ed wondered as she almost choked on her wine at that question. She almost began coughing, but she restrained herself instead, looking to the coffee table as she placed her wine down. Ed's brows furrowed. "Sorry," he said. "Judging by your response that was maybe an inappropriate question to ask. It is just that sometimes I know that females-"

"-Yeah," Olivia interrupted him. "I mean, an intimate question, but yeah, I probably am hormonal."

"Then that would make sense. I suspect that your hormone imbalance is caused by-"

"-Okay," Olivia said, holding a hand up. "That's enough of that conversation, Ed. I don't want to think about my hormones. Can we just go back to talking about something of non-importance?"

"What like?"

"I don't know," Olivia shrugged. "Work, TV, the weather, just anything."

"How is Jason?" Ed asked and Olivia groaned, tossing her head back against the sofa and closing her eyes. Ed's brows furrowed as he looked to her with intrigue, wondering what was going on. He adjusted his glasses once again. "Am I not supposed to ask about that either?"

Olivia shook her head as Ed tugged his tie down his shirt and she refilled her wine glass. "It's fine," she said, pressing the glass to her lips as her other hand tugged her red dress down her thighs and Ed couldn't help but notice how it rode up her slim legs, dangerously close to revealing more thigh than Ed had seen before. He gulped once, moving his gaze from her tight covered thighs.

"I get the feeling it isn't fine," Ed said to her.

Olivia shrugged. "He's not exactly the guy I thought he was," she said to him. "I mean, he is pleasant and he is suave, but he is almost too suave…like…too confident. He makes me feel uncomfortable."

"In what way?" he asked from her as his voice grew with concern. "Olivia, has he…has he hurt you?"

"No," Olivia said quickly, shaking her head. "No, he hasn't, but he just has too much confidence and I don't like it. He laughs at times when I say things I don't think are funny and he…well…he sort of jokes about my job. I don't know. He says it's nice to date someone who has become successful on their own, not just because of their parent's money. But that just makes me uneasy. He's used to dating all these stunning, high flying women…so why pick some teacher to date?"

"Why would he not?" Edward asked from her, taking his own sip of wine. "Olivia, I think you underestimate yourself."

Olivia smiled sadly. "Your sweet, Ed," she said to him.

"I'm honest," Ed said, uncertain of how many glasses of wine he had drank as he moved to push one leg underneath himself and turn to look at Olivia. "Seriously, Olivia, you are so kind that he is lucky to date you. You…not once have you laughed at me. You laugh with me, but never at me. You treat me with more kindness than anyone ever has done."

"You're a great guy, Ed," Olivia said to him, reaching over to touch his arm. "And I've told you millions of times before, if Kristen Kringle cannot see that then she is blind and foolish."

Edward managed a small smile then, wondering what might have happened all those weeks ago if Olivia hadn't have told him about her dating someone else. He had been on the verge of telling her that she was right and that maybe he should move on. That maybe he had found someone. But was it true? Did he truly have genuine feelings for Olivia or were they there simply because she was the first person to have been nice to him in many years? He didn't know, but whatever he was feeling wouldn't go away.

"Kristen is so concerned with that imbecile she is dating, she doesn't even pay me much attention," Edward said. "I know that I can be better for her."

"I don't even doubt it," Olivia promised him and moved to squeeze his shoulder.

"And if Jason cannot see how great you are then he does not deserve you," he informed her.

"I don't know if it is him or me," Olivia shrugged. "Maybe I wasn't ready to begin dating again. Maybe I rushed in too quickly? I mean, Jason is a good guy, but I'm just not entirely certain I am ready for this relationship. Besides, he would never dream of doing something like this."

"Like this?" Ed wondered.

"Eating a takeout and drinking wine at home," she said with a shrug. "He likes fancy dining rooms and I just like cheap wine and good takeout."

"I do not see anything wrong with that," Ed told her.

"You know," Olivia said, swirling the wine in her glass, "he asked me to pick a bottle of wine from the wine list and I had no idea what to choose. I didn't even know how to pronounce some of the names."

Edward rolled his eyes and smirked. "Some of these places are so pretentious. Honestly, I'd have just laughed with you in that situation."

"Exactly," Olivia said, "but I don't feel like Jason would have. I feel more like he would have laughed at me. That's why I don't feel like he is the right one. At least I can say I tried, right? I tried and it didn't work out."

"So what are you going to do?" he asked from her.

"Just ask to meet him for coffee and tell him it isn't working out," Olivia shrugged. "Nothing else I can do really."

"So…it's over?" Ed asked and Olivia sensed a nervousness to his tone as he sipped on his wine. She arched a brow and shrugged, uncertain of what more she should say to him or what he was getting at.

"It's over," Olivia confirmed. "I just need to tell Jason that."

Edward nodded and coughed into his fist. "You'll find someone much better for you."

"Just as you will," Olivia said. "I'm convinced that Kristen Kringle doesn't deserve you. I just wish that you would see that too."

"Maybe," Ed said and Olivia wondered what was happening. She had no idea what was going on. She felt an awkward silence take over them as she moved to her feet and reached for her wine glass and the empty bottle of wine.

"I should call a cab and go home," Olivia said, feeling a rush of blood to her head as she took her empty glass to the sink and placed the bottle in the recycling. Ed stood up too and watched her move, hands going into his pant's pockets.

"You don't have to go just yet," he said to her. "I made this chocolate pudding yesterday and-"

"-Jim will be home from Arkham and I don't want him wondering where I am," Olivia interrupted, making the excuse up as she looked to Ed and reached for her dark red coat she had draped over his dining chair. "Anyway, thank you for tonight, Ed. You didn't need to-"

"-Are you running away?" Ed interrupted her and she looked to him with wide eyes, wondering what was going through his mind.

"What?" she wondered from him.

"Olivia, I know that we are friends, but sometimes-"

"-No," Olivia said, cutting him off from his sentence. "Ed, please don't."

"So you have felt it too?" Edward wondered from her. "Olivia, I know that this might seem strange and it might seem rushed and even I am questioning it right now, but I need to know if it is just me or if it is both of us."

Olivia said nothing then, moving into her coat. "We're both slightly tipsy," she said. "We wouldn't be discussing this if we were sober."

"And doesn't that tell you something?" he asked from her. "That we're both too scared to admit it without alcohol which, honestly, I find so very ridiculous because we are both adults."

"It's telling me that we're not thinking coherently," Olivia said. "Listen, Ed, I adore you as a friend and, yeah, maybe I have thought about you as something else. Isn't that natural? I mean, our minds wander and we think about different things, but I like you too much as a friend. I don't want to risk what we have right now for something that might not even work or might be a mistake."

"But you have thought about it?" Edward asked from her. "Olivia, you're not the only one. The things you say about me…how you make me feel normal when everyone else has made me feel anything but…you're different, Olivia and I wondered if it was simply because you are different why I think I might have feelings for you, but I haven't been able to shake them."

Olivia said nothing then, wondering how it was coming to this. How could it be coming to this so quickly? They had known each other a matter of months. Was that long enough for them to feel this way?

"We're drunk," Olivia said, shrugging her shoulders. "We're just drunk and that's why we are saying this. We'll talk tomorrow and everything will be okay. We'll be how we should be…friends…"

"Olivia," Edward protested as he saw her slip into her heeled boots, zipping them up.

"Ed, we are friends-"

"-Stop it," Ed urged from her, holding a hand up and sinking to sit down on the end of his bed. "Olivia, I get it. If you're trying to humour me by pretending to feel the same then don't. I don't want that. I just want you to be honest so if you are pretending then just tell me."

"No," Olivia said, sounding appalled as she moved to sit down next to him on the bed. "Ed, I am not saying this to humour you. I am being honest. I am telling the truth."

"Then what is it?" Ed wondered from her.

Olivia smiled sadly. "I'm scared, Ed," she admitted to him with a shrug. "It's not that Jason isn't right…well…it is that…but it's everything else too. I'm scared about falling for someone again, even though I know the chances are no one will ever be like him."

"And as I've said, Olivia, you can't live in fear all of the time," Edward said to her. "But I don't know where we go from here."

"We go forwards," Olivia said. "We go to sleep and we give it time to think coherently. We need to do that, okay?"

"Okay," Edward agreed with her.

"Good," Olivia said, her head still spinning as she patted his hand. "I'll go and wait for a cab and I'll call you tomorrow."

Moving to her feet, Olivia moved a hand to brush over Ed's cheek, the motion soft and tender before she pulled back and left the apartment. Ed let her go, the smell of her perfume lingering in his nostrils as she closed the door behind her and rushed away. He stared at the door and tugged his hands through his hair, wondering what they were going to do next.

….

A/N: Do let me know what you think!