Thanks so much for the reviews! They give me all the motivation!
I fear finals are coming up, so I'll most likely be even slower with the updates. I apologize in advance :(
Professional distance meant barely any contact at all, Peter soon learned.
She seemed to be working perfectly without him. He refused to let that sting. When he offered to go with her to question a suspect, she had professionally declined his invitation. When he told her the new information he learned, she professionally listened. When he stood a little too close to her, she professionally inched away.
He found himself in an unfortunate situation. It wasn't like this a few days ago! Sitting at his lab table, his elbows propped up on it, he stared at her. Olivia was talking to Astrid, about what he didn't know. But she was smiling, shaking her head in a playful way. He could practically see the relief of getting rid of him float around her. If he blinked, he would think this was what she wanted all along. Like she just got sucked into the playful flirting and the longing glances with him.
But he didn't blink. And thus saw the way her eyes glanced downward when Astrid looked away. Saw the way a shadow crossed her face, and her eyebrows knitted together. Saw the pain, confusion, and regret etched so clearly in her face. And as soon as it was there, it was gone. And she was looking back up at Astrid, a joke tumbling from her mouth as she laughed. Peter just wanted to make it all right for her.
Difficult, since he was the problem.
"What did you do?"
Good question. What did he do? Obviously, he kissed her. But, she kissed him back, so why was he getting all the blame? Why did she have to make this so fucking difficult? They were reasonable adults. Was this how it always happened? He wouldn't know, never being in this predicament before.
"Hmm?" Peter turned to look at Charlie, who had walked up and threw a file under his nose.
"To her," Charlie clarified, nodding to Olivia. Peter turned back to watch her.
As if she could hear them, she glanced up. For a moment their eyes met. He gave her the best smile he could, not sure what he should be trying to convey. Longing? Sadness? Relief? But it worked, and she gave him the slightest smile back. He hoped it was because she couldn't resist, rather she felt she should. She looked to Charlie with the same smile, and then looked back to Astrid.
"I don't know," Peter answered after realizing he hadn't replied.
"I haven't seen her like this since right before she started dating John." Peter felt his chest tighten at the mention of her and John together. Not because he was jealous, even though he was, but because he knew how much that man had hurt her.
"I don't understand," Peter answered, pulling the file closer to him and flipping it opened. He began to shift through the papers, not really seeing them.
"The victim showed signs of a heroin in her system upon her... death," Charlie answered, gesturing towards the file in Peter's hand. Peter didn't explain he understood this, just not what he was referring to about Liv.
"Addict?" he inquired.
"Possibly." Peter closed the file and handed it back to Charlie. "Either way, it's something to go on," Charlie explained. "I thought you could throw the idea around with Liv. She's convinced it has nothing to do with the matter, which I admit, is unlike her. Usually she's following anything she gets."
Peter looked up at the man. He was staring at Peter, hopeful. Obviously, he believed Peter and her had some sort of connection. As if he could convince her to do something Charlie, her friend whom she's known longer, couldn't.
"Yeah, sure. No problem." He said it so nonchalant, even though he was more than hopeful. This could help him talk to Olivia. Start off with professional chatter, then worm his point into the conversation. He didn't notice Charlie had walked away, instead propping his elbows up on the table and gazing at Liv, thinking of how to start the conversation and what to say.
--
The timing was perfect, he had to admit. Walter had just left with Astrid, who had promised him she'd get him some caramel caribou ice cream. Charlie was at the bureau. Peter was standing at his project he was building for Walter so he could play his old music. He was standing perfectly, so whenever he looked up he could see Olivia.
She had set up on the floor a few yards away. Sitting down on her knees, she stared evenly at the photos and papers. She had been complaining about needing some sort of cork-board at the lab, but her request had been ignored by more urgent things. So, until she brought up the issue again, she would lay everything out on the floor, staring at it and rearranging it. Usually it was in her 'office', but on occasion like today she would do out in the open.
There was a comfortable silence as they both worked. The only sound being the noise of his tinkering, and her papers scraping the ground. Even though their relationship was in turmoil, he was completely content with the moment.
Until the fan turned on. Peter had set it up a couple weeks ago after growing sick with the heat of the lab. He set an auto-timer on it to turn it on at the hottest points. Like right now, with the heat of all the electrical equipment mugging the air.
As soon as it hummed to life, Peter could hear her papers swishing up, blowing out of the set up. "Damn it," she cursed, catching the papers.
He dropped the small screwdriver that was in his hand and quickly moved to the fan. Hitting the switch, he turned to face her. She had a handful of papers in her hand, a frown on her face. Sensing his gaze, she looked up at him and gave him a half smile. Taking that as an invitation, he walked over to her, kneeling down to pick up a photo that had blown out of her reach.
"Thanks," she said, taking it from him.
"You know," he started, "there's an easier way to do this."
"There's always an easier way to do everything." She began to place the papers and photos down like she had them before.
He hesitated for a moment before sitting down completely, criss-cross. She glanced up at him, but further ignored him as she finished. "Charlie's convinced there's more to the addiction theory." He reached out and picked up the photo of the girl. She was in her early twenties, soft blonde hair pinned up in a messy ponytail. A small smile as she looked at the camera, the soft glow of the sun lighting up her gentle features. They had taken the photo from the family, who wept and urged them to find the killer of their little girl. She looked pretty; innocent in a way. He couldn't see her as an addict to anything.
"And he told you to talk to me," she assumed, taking the photo from him. She sighed, staring at it. "So you think the heroin caused all her blood vessels to just... erupt?"
"No. But," he gestured to the photo, "girls like her don't do heroin. She was class president in high school. She was studying to be a vet. She was going to save stray dogs and fuzzy kittens." He cocked an eyebrow.
"She didn't deserve die," Olivia stated and Peter nodded.
"Who does?" He sighed.
"The people who did this to her." She looked up at him, and he wanted to kiss her so badly when he saw all the determination in her eyes. But she back looked down, and he realized it probably wasn't the best idea. "So, the killer injected her with heroin? But... why?"
"Guess we need to figure that out." He gazed at her, leaning back on his palms. She nodded absently, staring at the photo as she bit her lower lip. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes as he let it out slowly. "Listen... Liv..."
"Hmm?" He opened his eyes to look at her. She was rearranging some pictures, seemingly ignoring his presence. But he knew she was very alert and aware of him.
"I'm not sorry."
Tilting her head up to look at him, she raised her eyebrows. "For what?"
"I'm not sorry for kissing you," he explained. She let out a breath he hadn't realized she had been holding. But, she didn't look irritated, or angry at him for bringing it up. She looked calm, almost understanding. Slowly, she set the paper she had in her hands down, but not looking back at him. "I don't care if everything's different between us. I really wanted to kiss you, and I did, and I don't regret that. So bring on the awkwardness and uncomfortable situations. Let's have it."
She sighed, and he sat up straight, pulling his hands to rest on his knees. Running a hand through her hair, she slowly brought her eyes up to look at him. They were soft, maybe relieved. His heartbeat jumped up, and he impatiently waited for her to say something. "Peter... I'm-"
But before she could say anything else, the lab door bursted open. She turned to look at it as Astrid and Walter came in, but he didn't take his eyes off of her.
"Peter! Olivia! We brought you back some. Peter, I got you sherbet, I know it's your favorite." Walter held up the small bag excitedly, a smile on his face. He was so unaware of how angry Peter was with him right now.
"That's great, Walter." Olivia had gathered up all the pictures, standing up and making her way to them, leaving Peter sitting alone and impatient on the floor. "Fucking fantastic," he muttered to himself.