Here's chapter 2.... hope y'all like it!

And many thanks for the kind reviews :)

Olivia's eyes fluttered open when she felt the car come to a complete stop. She was quite comfy and didn't really feel like moving, so she glanced out the frosted, snow-covered windows and was able to discern a neon red sign that read "Motel" and the festive banner below it, illuminated by the sign, reading, "Happy Holidays!"

She frowned. They weren't staying at a motel; they were meeting some people from the bureau at the lodge… and were Astrid and Walter? It was only her and Peter in the car now. Then she remembered that her head was resting on Peter's shoulder. He hadn't made a noise since she'd woken up, so Olivia took that to mean that he was snoozing too.

Before she had time to seriously consider the awkwardness of the situation she was in, Walter's figure illuminated with a reddish glow from the sign appeared at Peter's door. Hastily, Olivia elbowed Peter in the ribs and he woke with a start just before his father opened the car door.

"Oh good, you two are finally awake!" Walter exclaimed with enthusiasm, making both Olivia and Peter blush. Olivia thanked the high heavens that the neon sign was bright enough to hide her now very red cheeks, for it was one thing to fall asleep on Peter's shoulder, another thing for him to fall asleep as well, and a whole other thing together to have Peter's father walk in on them and make his little jokes. "Do come inside, Ast… Astrine… Astro… whatever her name is, she's getting us our rooms for the night."

"Wait a second… what?" A confused Peter asked as he and Olivia climbed out of the car. Walter looked taken aback.

"My dear boy, do you not see this weather?" the scientist asked, looking up into the white heavens and waving his hands about him. "There is simply no way for us to continue tonight without risking getting ourselves in some ghastly kind of accident, or losing our way or -,"

"We get it Walter, we get it," Peter raised his hands in an effort to make the man stop babbling.

"Then why are you still standing out in the cold, son?" The scientist's face was calm, as if he were asking the most rational question in the world. Peter just shook his head and the group headed to the motel's entrance. Olivia couldn't help but smile. Sometimes the banter between father and son was enough to brighten her day, especially some of Peter's reactions, which were no less than priceless.

Upon entering the wonderfully warm building, Olivia noticed that it wasn't a big place, maybe only housing a total of twenty or so rooms. Across the foyer, Astrid was talking to a woman behind the front desk who looked like the manager. Olivia wouldn't be surprised if the woman ran the entire place single-handedly. It was a cute set-up, with little wreaths and bells already decorating the room in preparation for Christmas and soft music playing in the background.

Peter offered to help her take her coat off, and she accepted, smiling to herself at his gentlemanliness. Walter noticed too and chortled to himself.

Peter looked indignant. "What, can't a man help a lady with her coat?"

"Why of course he can," Walter smiled and winked at Olivia before joining Astrid at the counter.

"Please pay no attention to the man that I have no choice but to call my father," Peter sighed and rolled his eyes.

"It's ok, Peter, I don't mind him," Olivia said.

"Yeah, well I do," Peter whispered into her ear, making her laugh. It would probably never stop amazing her how much easier it was laugh and relax around him.

They approached the front desk as the manager handed Astrid their room keys. "I'm very sorry about the inconvenience," the lady was saying, "we're nearly full tonight – it seems that everyone is trying to get off the roads from this storm."

"That's fine, we'll work it out some how," Astrid said and turned to the rest of the team. "Here's the thing," she began slowly, "They're pretty much full, so we got the last three rooms."

"Then I'll take one room, Astrid, you can take the other, and Peter and Walter can share the last one -," Olivia began, but was interrupted by Peter.

"Hey, um, let's think about this a moment, shall we? Because there is no way that I am sharing a room with Walter, no offense," he added quickly at his father's downcast expression, "I would like to get a full night's sleep, and there's no way that's going to happen if I'm in the same room as him, mush less either of you."

"Fine, then Astrid and I can share and you can each have your own room," Olivia tried again.

"Um, one problem with that, Agent Dunham," Astrid interjected. "I've got a ton of paper work to catch up on so I'll probably be up for a few hours, and you need to get a decent amount of sleep much more than I do."

Olivia nodded and bit her lip, knowing that Astrid was right about the sleep aspect – she was nothing short of exhausted. Who knew that something as simple as deciding rooms could be so complicated?

"If you don't mind me asking, why don't you and your husband take a room together?" the manager asked Olivia, apparently having overheard their entire conversation (not that it was all that hard not to).

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "You mean him?" She asked, pointing to Peter. "He's not my husband."

The woman looked embarrassed. "Do excuse me, I guess I just assumed that you were together… I mean, you helped her with her coat over at the door, and you two look the part and all."

Olivia took a moment to collect herself before replying. Her face felt hot, and she knew that she was blushing madly. She chanced a side-glance at Peter whose mouth was slightly open as if he wasn't sure if he should say something or not. "Please tell me you haven't been talking to my father?" Peter asked the manager in a distressed, almost begging, tone.

"No, I'm very sorry, it was a stupid assumption," the woman apologized again.

Olivia shook her head. "No worries, ma'am," she said coolly, though she knew that her face was still bright red.

The woman still looked uncomfortable. "Well, enjoy your stay," she half-smiled, "and happy holidays!"

"Thanks, you too," Olivia replied and headed after the group who were already making their way to the hallway behind the desk where their rooms were waiting for them.

"We're in twelve, thirteen and fourteen," Astrid announced and stopped before a group of three doors marked accordingly.

"I'll take this one!" Walter said excitedly and moved to claim room twelve.

"I'll take thirteen," Astrid offered, handing key twelve to Walter and then handing key fourteen to Olivia.

"So I guess this is our room, honey," Peter joked, gently prying the key from her hand. Olivia looked at him in shock. She hadn't actually thought that this plan would be the one that they went with, not that they had much of a choice.

"Goodnight," Astrid said quickly, trying in vain to hide her smirk, before slipping into her room.

Peter and Olivia both nodded in acknowledgment.

"Goodnight dear," Walter called after her with a small wave of his hand. "And a very goodnight to you, son, and to you too, Olivia dear," he smiled mischievously at the two of them before heading into his room, leaving Peter and Olivia standing alone in the hallway.

Hearing a thumping sound behind her, Olivia turned to see Peter leaning against the wall and banging his forehead against it repeatedly.

"Hey, Peter," Olivia said gently, pulling him away from the wall and making him face her, "Walter's just… being himself," she said, unable to think of another excuse for the mad scientist's apparent obsession with their… their… what? What was their relationship called? Olivia was puzzled for a moment and it must have shown on her face, for Peter frowned in that way that only he could when he was reading her. She was frozen for a moment, caught in his gaze, totally mesmerized by his stare.

"You really need to get some rest," he said softly, giving her a small, yet concerned smile.

"Yeah, I guess I do," Olivia nodded, catching herself before she began looking like a total idiot.

Peter unlocked the door and stepped back to let Olivia through first. She flipped on the light switch as Peter locked the door behind them. "I don't get to carry you over the threshold?" he smirked. Olivia just smiled and shot him a playful look. Smiling felt like the best way to keep things… light.

She took off her blazer and shoes and socks. Being in a car for a few solid hours had left her feeling stiff, and there was no way that she was going to be able to sleep with her jacket on. Olivia took her hair out of its high ponytail and shook her head. That felt much better. Relax, she thought desperately, this is Peter. You know Peter. You like Peter, don't go and make this awkward. Pulling down the top duvet cover on her bed (thank heavens there were two), she sighed heavily, realizing just how tired she really was, and flopped down on top of the covers.

"I take it this means that I can use the bathroom first?" Peter called, already inside the bathroom with the water running. Exhausted, Olivia closed her eyes and giggled.

"Yes you may, Peter."

A few minutes later, the noise of running water ceased and she heard the bathroom door open and close.

"Wow, you look hot."

Olivia's eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright in bed. "Come again??"

A very red-faced Peter stood across the room in nothing but his boxer shorts. "Whoa, ok, that did not come out right…" He ran a hand through his hair and looked down at the floor while Olivia continued to stare at him, her eyebrows raised, her face also quite flushed. "Let's just pretend I didn't say anything and I'll try again," Peter said with a hint of a plea in his voice. Olivia nodded slowly, wary. "What I meant to say," Peter tried again, "was that you look a little flushed and that your temperature might be up a bit." He gave her a wry smile.

Olivia was still in a state of shock and slightly stunned after Peter's little comment, but she recognized that she did feel a bit hotter than usual, even though she wasn't under any covers. Putting a hand to her forehead, which did feel rather warm, Olivia really wished that she could take her slacks off, but that would go completely and wholly against her this-isn't-gong-to-be-at-all-awkward plan. She glanced Peter's way and he caught her glance. Giving her a sideways look, he smiled and half-chuckled, "You can take your pants off, Liv, and it's not like I haven't seen it all before."

"Not all of it," she reminded him, once again feeling more comfortable now that they were back to joking.

"Touché," Peter laughed, pulling back his own covers and lying down, his arms folded behind his head as he starred fixedly up at the ceiling. "I promise I won't look."

Despite everything about him that might suggest otherwise, like his somewhat questionable past dealings, Olivia honestly and truly did trust Peter to a degree that she wasn't even sure that John had achieved. So she swiftly slipped her pants off under the blankets and Peter didn't glance her way even once, remaining true to his word.

The two of them lay in silence for a minute, both looking up at the ceiling, lost in their own thoughts.

"Well, g'night sweetheart," Peter yawned and reached over to turn off the light on the shared bedside table between the two beds.

She smiled, "Goodnight honey."

"Now you're catching on…" Peter winked and flashed her one of his radiant smiles, one that she found herself a little too eager to return, just before the light flicked out and the room fell quiet. In a matter of minutes, Olivia was fast asleep. Peter heard her breathing slow down as she drifted off and smiled to himself for reasons that even his own brilliant mind could not comprehend. He convinced himself that he was simply happy that she was getting some solid rest, for once.

Ok, the next chappie gets a little more intense/so the drama, lol.

But first, any thoughts on this one?

=)