A/N: Sorry for the delay. I'm a little stuck on this one, so forgive the randomness.
Across the bar, Ed watched their exchange and tried not to react. It was a simple hug. It didn't mean anything. He took a deep breath and steeled himself.
He thought he and Barba had reached an agreement. He didn't know why he felt so differently about Barba than he did about Fin. He hadn't missed Fin following Olivia out of the bar earlier, and he wasn't the least bit bothered by it.
However, seeing Barba hug her and make her throw her head back in laughter made Ed anger bubble back to the surface. Even after Olivia's and Barba's assurances that there was nothing more friendship there, Ed was jealous. Of what, he didn't even know. Nonetheless, he strode forward, one purpose in mind.
Barba left the bar and smiled to himself. He and Liv were finally somewhat normal. He still didn't feel that Tucker had fully forgiven him, but he took some solitude in their gentleman's agreement to play nice for Liv's sake. Maybe eventually they'd actually find neutral ground.
Unaware he was being followed, Barba decided to walk a while. He was a few dozen blocks from his condo, but right now he didn't care.
Barba quickly realized he didn't want to walk. It had cooled off considerably since he'd arrived, and he didn't have a coat. He hailed a cab after walking only two short blocks. He was happy that Olivia was taking everything in stride and didn't seem hold his poor timing against him. He hoped Tucker meant what he said about letting things go for her sake.
He told the cabbie his home address as he climbed into the backseat. As he leaned back and watched the city go by, he wished he could get today's images out of his mind. He was happy if Liv was happy, but he did not need to think of her and Tucker…together.
On the street corner, his shadow stomped out a cigarette and made note of the address he heard the ADA give to the cab driver. Then he turned and headed back in other direction.
Back at the bar, Olivia shifted on her stool and looked around for Ed. She finally spotted him waking toward her from the front of the bar. She stood to meet him.
"You ready to get out of here?" He asked her.
"Yeah," she answered flatly.
"We're good here?" Ed said as he looked around to make sure their group was either gone or taken care of.
"Tab is paid, and we're the only ones left." She said, again her voice was even and tight.
"I'll walk you home," he said. It wasn't so much a statement as it was a question.
Olivia just shrugged. Chivalrous bastard.
Maybe he and Barba had made up, maybe they didn't. She was still frustrated with Tucker's earlier behavior, and she wasn't even sure why it bothered her so much. But she didn't want to argue with him anymore tonight.
Sensing her annoyance, Ed didn't push the conversation. Regardless, it was after ten, and while he knew she could take care of herself, he planned to see her home.
They walked in silence. Ed's mind was a sea of thought. The longer they walked, the heavier the silence seemed. He didn't know what to say because he couldn't really explain his overreaction.
At the next corner, he grabbed Olivia's elbow to direct them down a side street out of the heavy foot traffic on 5th Avenue. She didn't react or resist, so he didn't let go. He also didn't do what he wanted to do and slide his arm from her elbow around the back of her waist. He just loosely held her arm as they navigated the streets of Manhattan.
He wanted to tell her he was sorry. He wanted to tell her that he'd been so worried about how the whole situation with his cousin, her transfer, him being falsely implicated all just seemed to crash down around him.
He'd buried it at the time because he didn't have much choice. Then, somehow, all of that anxiety got funneled into anger at Barba. He knew that wasn't fair or even logical. It just was. He shook his head slightly. They'd made it through one of their most difficult times professionally, and it only brought them closer together. Now, it was his own actions that were causing the rift between them.
Out of the corner of her eye, Olivia saw him shake his head. She knew he wanted to talk, so she wasn't sure why he wasn't saying anything. She didn't know what to say about it anymore. This jealous, brooding side was not something she found appealing, so she hoped he figured it out sooner rather than later.
On the other side of town, Barba made it to his apartment. He dropped his keys and phone on the coffee table and went to pour himself another scotch. Being late to the happy hour meant that he only had time for one drink. After the day he'd had, then the ridiculous encounter at the bar, he wanted a little more to numb him.
Maybe it'd help him sleep through the night for a change. For weeks now, he'd been getting calls from untraceable or blocked numbers all hours of the day and night on both his cell and his landline. When he answered, they'd just hang up. He would block the number and get a few hours respite before the calls would start again from a new number.
Barba sipped his scotch and picked up his tablet to check out the news. After a few minutes he realized he'd read the same paragraph three times and still had no idea what the article was even bout.
He was thinking about the night. It was such a relief that things seemed to be worked out with Liv, despite his timing issues. And Tucker seemed to genuinely want to put the past in the past.
His phone vibrated, and the sudden intrusion to the silence almost made him drop his glass. Shaking it off he retrieved the phone and was relieved to see a text from his mom. She was reminding him that he promised meet her in the morning to help her get some boxes from her storage locker in the basement of her building. He responded in the affirmative and made sure to set his alarm.
An hour later, Barba was halfway through his second scotch and was finally starting to feel the effects. He'd given up on the news and was now mindlessly flipping through channels on TV.
A knock on his door startled him. There were only a handful of people who could get past his doorman without Barba's approval, and none of them would be here this late. It was going on 11pm.
He checked his phone to make sure he hadn't missed a call or text. Nothing. He got up to see who it was, and uncharacteristically checked the peephole before opening the door. He saw no one, so he unlocked and opened the door.
He jumped when he felt something fall against his feet as he opened his door. Looking down, he found a manila envelope with his name written on it.
Barba took a step backwards and stooped to pick up the package. He looked down the hallway in both direction. There was no one to be seen.
He backed all the way into his apartment and shut the door before daring to open the envelope. He was puzzled by what he found. A newspaper page that had an article about a case he'd recently won. The article included a picture of him.
When he looked closer he saw that his face had been scratched out. It looked like someone had gone at the black and white photo with an eraser until it his likeness had been worn off.
He flipped the paper over. Nothing. He looked inside the envelope. Nothing.
The peace of his evening and the numbing of the drinks he'd consumed vanished. It had started with emails, then phone calls at his office. Then the calls to his cell phone and home number started. But now, this was delivered to his home. As an ADA, his address was purposefully unlisted and unavailable. Had someone followed him?
Barba shook his head trying to clear his thoughts and went to put the envelope and paper clipping in his briefcase. He'd add it to his file on Monday. He downed the rest of his drink and double and triple checked the lock on his door before he finally went to bed.
When Ed and Olivia got to her apartment almost twenty minutes later, she didn't give him any indication of what she wanted him to do. He'd been spending at least half his nights with her these days, but she was obviously unhappy with him tonight.
Without a word Olivia fished her keys from her purse, unlocked the front door of her building and headed inside. When she didn't say anything, Ed followed. Silence again reigned in the elevator ride and the walk to her door.
It struck Ed that it wasn't an awkward, neither of them had anything to say, kind of silence. It was more that there was so much that needed to be said, they couldn't figure out where to start.
Once in her apartment, he didn't interfere when she talked to Lucy and caught up on her son's activities for the day. He took off his jacket and took a seat in the living room.
"I'm going to check on Noah." She finally spoke.
"Okay." He loosened his tie and un buttoned the top button on his dress shirt.
After a few minutes she joined him, but she was back to being mute. He found her ability to not speak truly astonishing and somewhat terrifying. Through her silence, he couldn't tell if she was shutting him out, shutting down or just plain mad.
Ed was bursting with things to say. He wanted to tell her that he and Barba had talked and everything was okay. The walk home had cured him of any lingering doubt or jealousy. He didn't care about Barba anymore. If she wanted to be friends with him and repair their relationship, he wouldn't stop her.
Before all of this started, he was sure they were on a path to something much more serious. Now, he just wanted to make sure they weren't losing ground. That they were okay.
Olivia studied him. She'd sensed a shift in him on the walk to her apartment. He was trying. She knew that much was true. She was still annoyed. That's why she kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to say something she'd regret. She needed to know what was going on in his head, so she could know how to react. He needed to figure out how to talk to her.
The silence was getting to both of them. He stood and walked toward her, but she held up a hand. There was one thing that had to happen before anything else.
"If you're staying," she began causing Ed to look at her in surprise that she was leaving the decision up to him.
"You have to go take a shower first," she finished.
Ed's eyes shot up to hers. He was caught. He'd made sure to pop a piece of gum on the walk home, but he knew it was stupid to think she wouldn't smell the smoke on him.
"I'm trying to quit. I basically have," he said quietly. He knew it had been a bad idea to sneak out of the bar and smoke the cigarette he bummed from the bartender. It was down right stupid to think that gum would keep her from noticing.
"I'm not calling you out," she said sincerely. "But you know why. I don't want it on me or my clothes or my sheets, so go."
"Noah," he said. He knew the kid had asthma and that smoke, even residual smoke on their clothes, wasn't good for him to be around.
"I'm not mad. I get it," Olivia said somewhat believably. She knew he smoked when he was stressed. She ran one hand down his arm in an attempt to make some connection and used the other to push him toward the back of the apartment. She didn't want to fight with him about cigarettes right now.
"Go," she said again.
Ed let her direct him. She seemed slightly less annoyed than she had been earlier, and he knew better on the smoking thing. He was just relieved and slightly surprised she wasn't kicking him out for the night.
"Okay," he said. "I still want to talk."
"I know," she answered with a sigh as he turned and walked toward the bathroom.
Olivia was still frustrated with their whole situation. She felt like he was doubting them. Like everything that had happened in the past few weeks and months was finally catching up to them. It felt like the other shoe was starting to drop.
Ed sighed and tried to let the hot water of the shower ease some of his tension. Since they'd agreed to give this relationship a shot, he hadn't felt this far apart from her. It killed him. It they got through the whole ordeal with his Cousin Eugene, they could get past this. Couldn't they?