He greedily sucks in heavy gulps of air, and briefly imagines that he is shaking from exhaustive overexertion on all fronts. He instantly deciphers that it is not he who is shaking. Regarding the exquisite, ethereal being lying next to him, he comprehends that the unrest is a direct result of her trembling. Watching her tremble, he thinks that this may be the single most beautiful thing he has ever seen. He is entranced by the fascinating manner of her quaking muscles. The tremor in her breath as it pulsates through her lungs and staggers out is hypnotising. His gaze lingers, transfixed on her. He cannot recall when he had last seen her so unreserved and open, her emotions issuing out of her unchecked. He is wholeheartedly unprepared for what he hears next. As her breath stutters out in an erratic staccato, she begins to sound close to tears. He murmurs, "Hey," as he rests his hand on her cheek, then runs it through her disheveled hair and pulls her into a comforting, steadfast embrace. Using hushed tones, he is able to quiet her down, and only slackens his grip once she is consoled enough to breathe normally again. He kisses her forehead, and she smiles as she closes her eyes. She deftly skims her fingers down his side, tracing the outline of his ribs. When she drifts over a particularly ticklish spot he recoils, and she laughs. He chuckles softly, amused at the way her laughter causes her nose to crinkle. He reckons that she has the most endearing and infectious laugh he has ever heard, and he would do anything he could to hear her laugh every day. She explores his torso for a few moments more, before dropping her hands between them and looking down.
"What?" His earnest voice interrupts the sated tranquility.
She looks up at him and frowns, unsure of how to tactfully pose her question. She taps her fingers apprehensively against the space between their bodies, and runs a decisive circle over it with her palm.
After a handful of false starts, she finally opens her mouth assertively to ask, "Did I do okay?"
He has no idea what she's talking about, so he answers her question with one of his own, "What do you mean, 'Did I do okay'? Did you do what okay?"
She places her fingers on her lower lip, and clarifies, "Was I as good as she was?" She sucks her bottom lip into her mouth, and gently nibbles it.
"As good as..." he's about to ask her to whom she's referring when it hits him like a train steaming along at full speed. He props himself up on his arm so he is poised above her.
"Olivia," his expression is serious as he looks down at her, and his tone indicates that he is sorely vexed.
"Please, Peter," she appeals insecurely, "I just... I need to know." She lets her eyes shut for several seconds and takes a deep breath before meeting his gaze.
He softens a bit, but is still riled as he explains exasperatedly, "Olivia, I don't know how many times we're going to have to go over this before I get it through your stubborn head that the only reason I would think about her, is you. I didn't want to think about her, but every time I have thought about you, and about your understandably less than warm feelings towards me in the weeks since you came back, I inevitably thought of her. You know why that is, but what you don't seem to understand is that I have thought of you for far longer than I'll ever think of her."
Her brow creased slightly, but she let him continue his explanation.
"Yes," he affirmed to dispel her confusion, "I used to think about you all the time, Olivia, before we even knew that there was an alternate universe. It would almost literally drive me insane, and there were times when I was trying so hard to figure you out that I couldn't sleep. I still think about you; you still keep me up at night. So, it's only natural for me to dwell on what happened with her. Not a day goes by that I don't blame myself for what happened, for my own mistake, and I'm going to have to live with that for the rest of my life. But tonight, with you..." he sighed pensively, "This was the first time that I didn't have a single thought concerning her whatsoever. I wasn't thinking about her at all, because I was so engrossed in you that she never even occurred to me, not once, and I get why you felt the need to ask, and I can't lie and say that sex with her was bad, but that's all it was. It was sex. It was what she used to propagate a lie. I'm not going to go into vivid detail and give you a blow-by-blow description of what she did, because frankly, I'm tired of thinking about it and it's already starting to fade. All of that is in the past. I want to have new experiences and make new memories with you. Tonight, us, this," he motioned back and forth between them, "it wasn't just sex. It was more than that. At least for me it was, and you completely overshadowed any memory I have of her. What I felt when we," he again gesticulated with his hands, "It was like nothing I have ever experienced in my life. You make me feel things I never knew possible. I thought I'd made that clear to you tonight, and I'm at a complete loss as to how else I can prove it to you, because Olivia, I-"
He was abruptly cut off as she quickly sealed her lips over his. Placing her hand at the nape of his neck, she deepened the kiss. After they parted, their eyes remain closed for several moments.