When they finally got to her apartment, Olivia had to fight the urge to fall to the ground and kiss the floor. There were no words to express how happy she was to be home.
"What would you like for breakfast?" Peter asked as he headed off towards her kitchen.
"Peter, you don't have to make me something to eat. I'm not helpless," She grinned, trailing behind him.
"I know, but I want to. I could make those blueberry pancakes of Walter's that you love." Peter was enjoying taking care of her, and didn't want to stop. Olivia was so independent and headstrong—it was rare he ever got to do nice things for her.
As soon as he said 'blueberry pancakes' her stomach betrayed her and growled loudly. It then occurred to her that she hadn't eaten in over a day.
"Alright, just this once."
Peter smiled and began to pull out various ingredients and cooking utensils. Olivia sat at her table and watched him maneuver his way around her kitchen as if this was his apartment instead of hers. She wasn't surprised though; they'd spent many long nights in her home going over case files, discussing endless Fringe events, and just hanging out.
Olivia's thoughts were interrupted by Peter's cell phone ringing. By the look on his face, she could tell it was Walter.
"Walter," Peter answered.
"Peter! It's me, Walter, your father. Where are you? I went into your room to have you taste my new strawberry milkshake and you were gone!"
"Sorry Walter, I'm having breakfast with Olivia." Peter was relieved that his father hadn't noticed he'd been gone all night as well.
"Having breakfast? Is that a euphemism for fornication?"
"No, Walter." Peter felt his cheeks redden. "I'll be home soon, alright? Please don't use the stove, and no science experiments in the bathroom!"
"I am not a child Peter. But please hurry back because I'm hungry and craving fish sticks."
Peter couldn't help but smile. "See you soon, Walter."
When he hung up the phone, he looked back at Olivia who was watching him intently with a crooked grin on her face. Damn, she was beautiful.
"Did Walter embarrass you?" She questioned mischievously.
"Why do you ask that?"
"You were blushing while you were talking to him."
Peter felt his face heat again. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Olivia laughed and stood up from her chair. She'd never seen him look so mortified. "Your face is redder than a tomato! You have to tell me what he said to make you blush like this!"
"It's nothing," Peter assured as nonchalantly as he could.
Olivia jumped up to sit on the counter next to the stove and stared him down. "Tell me," she insisted.
Now Peter was amused. "There's nothing to tell," He asserted casually.
Olivia narrowed her eyes at him. "20 questions."
Peter grinned mischievously and flipped a pancake. Now this would be interesting. "Alright, go."
"Was it something about your childhood?"
"Nope."
"Did it have to do with him being naked?" Olivia held back a giggle.
"No, thank God."
"Anything to do with food?"
"Surprisingly, no."
Olivia had only asked 3 questions and she was already stumped. The only things Walter ever talked about were food and Peter, so if it didn't have to do those two things or with him being naked, what could it have been?
Suddenly, a sly smile crossed her face.
"It had something to do with you and I being together right now, didn't it?" She inquired impishly, her conjecture more of a statement than a question. The only other time she'd ever seen Peter's cheeks turn pink was when they'd woken Walter up for a fringe case and he'd assumed Peter and Olivia needed to use the bedroom.
Peter felt his heart quicken. He hadn't expected her to actually figure out what Walter had been assuming, which was a stupid presumption considering she was Agent Olivia Dunham and could get anything out of anyone.
"Uhh… yes," He stated coolly, trying not to sound too humiliated. When he saw Olivia trying smother a laugh, he knew he was blushing again. Damn it.
"I don't think I need to ask any more questions," She simpered, obviously amused.
"Well I'm glad Walter could make you laugh," He spoke with a slight smile, turning his head to look her in the eyes. "I really missed the sound of that."
Olivia smiled back at him, the excited butterflies coming alive in her stomach again. All at once, Olivia felt that striking electricity in the air between them. The first time she'd felt it, it'd been so intense that she'd had to look away, not prepared to feel something so powerful. But Dr. Madison assuming Peter was in love with her changed things. Olivia wanted to see it for herself, to taste it on his lips. She couldn't simply take the doctor's word for it—she needed to know without a doubt that his observation was true. So this time when the almost tangible current swirled around them and their eyes fixed on each other, she didn't look away.
Peter's gaze was all consuming, making everything else around them disappear. Closing her eyes, she intuitively moved closer to him until she could feel his humid breath leaving steamy heat on her awaiting lips.
A knock on the door made Olivia jump back, her hand resting over her heart in a startled response.
"Oh my God, I think I just had a heart attack," Olivia breathed, taking a steadying breath and sliding off the counter. "I wonder who it is, I'm not expecting anyone."
Still in a trance from their amorous moment, Peter snapped himself out of it and moved the last slightly-burnt pancake onto a plate with the rest, creating a tall stack of blueberry bliss. As Olivia headed toward the door, he grabbed her arm to stop her.
"I'll get the door if you get the table set up," Peter conceded.
"Okay, sure," Olivia shrugged.
After turning off the stove, Peter walked towards the front door. He assumed it was someone who'd heard about Olivia's incident coming to give their apologies and leave a casserole or something. He knew it would make her uncomfortable, but she was too kind and considerate to ever tell the person she wasn't ready for company. However, Peter was perfectly comfortable with telling people to give her some space.
When he looked through the peephole, his heart dropped. It was the police.
"Morning, officer," Peter smiled as he opened the door. Cops and Peter Bishop really didn't mix, but he needed to stay polite for Olivia.
"Morning," greeted one of the two policemen. "Is this Agent Olivia Dunham's residence?"
"Yes, it is. How may I help you?"
"My name's Officer Burrows, and this is my partner Officer Reynolds," he addressed, holding out his hand. Peter took it and gave it a quick shake, offering the other officer a nod. "We'd like to ask her a few questions. Are you her husband?"
"No, just a friend. Peter Bishop," Peter offered.
The two cops exchanged a stern look. "You're Peter Bishop?
"Last time I checked," Peter replied, getting slightly annoyed.
"Well we have quite a few questions to ask you, too. May we come in?"
"Oliv—Agent Dunham and I are just sitting down for breakfast. Could you come back another time?"
Before the officer could answer, Olivia appeared at Peter's side.
"Can I help you?" Olivia inquired casually.
"Hi, Agent Dunham. I'm Officer Burrows and this is Officer Reynolds. Would it be okay if we came in and asked you and Mr. Bishop a few questions regarding your incident? If you would like us to come back another time we can."
As much as Olivia wanted to forget about everything that'd happened to her, she knew she'd have to go through the inquisition sooner or later. What she really wanted was to move on from all of this and get back to her normal life, but delaying the questioning would just prolong Daniel's haunting presence in her mind. She just needed to get this over with.
"Yes, that's fine. Come on in," Olivia granted, moving aside to let the officers enter her apartment. "You can take a seat on the couch, if you'd like. Could I get either of you something to drink?"
"No thanks, ma'am," the officers answered as they took seats on the sofa, taking out their notepads in preparation.
Before Olivia could make her way to the living room to join the cops, Peter took hold of her hand. She turned to look at him.
"Livia, are you sure you don't want them to come back later? You've barely been home two hours and haven't even eaten yet. I'll tell them to leave if you want me to," Peter insisted quietly so only she could hear him.
Olivia furrowed her brow. "Peter, I need to get this over with. The longer I wait, the longer this whole thing is going to eat at me until I can finally put it in the past and move on."
"I understand, but can't you at least wait one day? Just so you can have some time to recover a little?"
"Peter, I'm fine. I recognize you're just trying to protect me, but I'm not a child. I am perfectly capable of making my own decisions." With that, she took her hand from his and walked briskly into her living room.
Sighing, Peter reluctantly followed and took a sit next to her on the couch opposite of the officers.
"Are we ready to get started?" Officer Burrows asked.
"Yes," Olivia replied, answering for both her and Peter.