Disclaimer: I wish, but no, I don't own the characters/show.
Spoilers: All of aired Season 2, especially "Fracture"
It took him half the time it normally would have to make to Olivia's. The exorbitant amount of money he'd given the tired cabbie, with a request to go as fast as possible, probably having something to do with it.
But this simply couldn't wait; it'd gone on long enough as far as he was concerned.
He wasn't surprised when his firm knock was answered almost immediately. What did surprise him though was that when he moved to step inside, Olivia didn't move away from the door.
"What? Why are you looking at me like I've been rolling around in something from Walter's lab?" he joked, trying to keep things light, but the look on Olivia's face told him she wasn't going to have any of it.
He sighed, he'd never told himself this would be easy, but at least in his mind's eye she'd let him through the front door first before stonewalling him.
"Olivia, I-"
"Just say what you want to say then go. I don't have time for drunks tonight as well as smartasses who work at bowling alleys."
He opened his mouth, ready to protest to her drunk comment, as he'd never felt more sober in his life, when his mind suddenly attached itself to the last of her words.
"Wait, what smartasses who work at a bowling alleys?"
Her already pale face becomes paler at her apparent slip, and while he really wants to press the issue, the reason behind his coming to her place to begin with keeps him from giving into the urge. She sighs, one arm wrapped protectively around herself while the other remains braced against the door frame, he wonders briefly where her cane is but her voice derails his train of thought.
"Peter, what do you want?"
You.
It comes unbidden to his mind, and while he would have loved to say it just for shock value this isn't the time or the place for such declarations. She'd been shocked enough lately, and he'd much rather talk to her than get a hardwood door slammed in his face.
"Look, can I at least come inside? It's freezing out here, and if you don't like what I have to say then you can have the pleasure of kicking me out on my ass."
She smiles a little at that, a small victory but a victory nonetheless.
"Fine. But keep your voice down, Rachel and Ella are asleep," she moves from the doorway, closing and locking the door quickly after he comes in before following him to her living room, making sure to keep a good distance between them.
He notices this, as well as the fact that she doesn't ask him to sit down, but is a little more preoccupied with kicking himself for not realizing that they might have been staying with her. At the same time, however, he's glad that Olivia had managed to keep her sister around. Her family had always seemed like a dose of much needed normality, a thing he'd envied her for more than a few times. Now, though, he's just happy that she hasn't been home alone whenever she'd leave for the night.
But she's starting to stare at him with a slightly concerned look on her face, like he's been standing there a little too long for comfort, and he grabs at any topic to keep the awkwardness that'd already settled from growing.
"I always wanted a little brother or sister."
It's the first thing that pops out of his mouth, and he cringes at the randomness of it, but her look of surprise then curiosity keeps him talking.
"I was always the weird kid growing up. Having a father who accompanies his son to his elementary school science fair, and then proceeds to lecture every kid, teacher, and parent about the terribleness of each exhibit tends to do that. So after that, when I'd lost most of my friends, I got it into my head that I wanted a sibling. Someone who'd understand where I was coming from for a change, I guess, someone I could protect and teach all the things I'd had to learn the hard way."
He chances a glance at her face then, his eyes up to that point looking at everything but her as he recalled that particular incident among the many of his childhood.
Her face is softer then it'd been, understanding but without the pity, he's never been able to figure out how she does that. Her eyes, though, were what caught his attention. He'd never been able to match a specific color to them. Every new light, every different mood, and they'd become something entirely new. Just one of many things he loved about her, but a particularly captivating thing nonetheless.
"Of course, the logistics never really occurred to me until later. By then, though, everything had gone to hell in a hand basket and the idea of protecting, let alone caring about anybody but myself had lost its appeal."
He risks a step towards her and she holds her ground, but the look now in her eyes tells him he has to make his final move soon. He was halfway up those walls of hers and he wasn't going anywhere, but her pouring boiling oil on him would definitely but a damper on his plans.
"So am I that sister you never had? Is that why you're here?"
It was a sorry excuse if he ever heard one, and he knew she knew it.
"If only it were that easy," he laughed a little at the absurdity of the idea, daring another step that thankfully she didn't seem to notice as he caught her gaze with his.
"But it's not that easy, is it? It never has been between us. And, I admit it, it's scary, but it's also the only thing I'm ready to do whatever it takes to keep around, even if that means getting over myself."
"Peter-"
He was nearly nose-to-nose with her now, the culmination of several small steps as he'd talked to keep her attention on his face and not his feet. A cheap trick, but at that point he was game for whatever worked, and it surely had.
"I gave you your space, your time, because that's what I thought you wanted, that you'd eventually tell me what was going on with you if I did. But it seems that the more time passes, the more space is created between us. So I had to finally ask myself, was that really what you wanted, or was it just me thinking you did? That's why I'm here, to ask you that."
Her eyes break away from his at that, blinking with a suspicious rapidity as her chin hits her chest that damn near breaks his heart. He had to get it all out in the open, though, or all of it would be for naught. Raising a hand between them, he moves it to gently cradle her face as he had when she'd woken up nearly hysterical in the hospital not so long ago. Just as gently nudging her face back up to meet his with said hand, his thumb quickly rubs away a rogue tear from her cheek, doing his best to keep the traitorous prickling behind his own eyes in check at the sight.
"So, want do you want 'Livia?"
Author's Note: For the record I have no idea whether Rachel stuck around or not, I just needed her to to keep this story rolling, call it a little AU-ness if you like. A big thanks too to everyone who's reviewed, it means a lot. And please do stick around for the third installment of this fic if you like fluff!