Chapter Five

"Didn't I say the world was cruel, didn't I?"

Not for the first time that month, Olivia found herself lounging barefoot on a teenager's bed. She stared at the steadily beeping monitors on Shilo's nightstand. She wondered absently if the monitor was somehow attuned to the teen's bracelet. How else could it keep track of her vitals? It wasn't as if she was connected to it. Her eyes went from the monitor up to the portrait of the dead woman on the wall. She looked like Shilo, in a way. They weren't twins but the resemblance was pretty close. That had to be unnerving, staring at a dead person who looked like you. Her lips quirked upward as she thought of the photograph of her mother. Very unnerving, indeed.

"How are these, Livvy?" She looked up at Shilo who was offering her latest attempt at stitching. This was only Olivia's third official visit so by rights Shilo didn't have to be suddenly brilliant with a needle but she managed it anyhow. It probably had to do with the fact that she had loads of time on her hands, as Olivia had pointed out when they started this little project. She accepted the fabric squares and studied the neat, tidy little stitches.

"You're ridiculously good and I'm officially envious. It took me ages to get my stitches just right," Olivia confessed. Even today she could get a little nervous when it came to pulling a needle through cloth. Skin was another matter entirely.

"So we can move to the next step?" Shilo asked hopefully. The older woman smirked. Shilo was itching for action and the closest she could get was quilting. It hardly seemed fair.

"Not today," Olivia decided, a new and doubtlessly bad idea beginning to form. "I may have something else for you to do but I'm going to let it simmer in my head for a minute. You can go ahead and ask me something random while we wait." Olivia knew Shilo wasn't about to pass up that offer, no matter how curious she was about her newest idea. It turned out that her clever distraction plan had a serious design flaw.

"What happened to your parents?" Olivia sat up.

"Always the tough questions," she muttered, looking away from Shilo's eyes. "My parents were casualties of the modern world. There's a price we pay for living like we do. People don't like to talk about it or even consider the truth. But it's there." Olivia closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath.

"What's the price?" Shilo asked. The teen's eyes were wide with what Olivia could only think of as morbid curiosity.

"Pain." Olivia watched her shudder. She couldn't blame her for it. Her voice had softened in a dangerous way when she said that word. This entire conversation was dangerous. It brought forth a lot of bad memories and bad instincts.

"Livvy, your face - "

"Is incredibly uninteresting and not worthy of comment," Olivia cut in swiftly. "Anyway, I've decided to do something stupid." She stood up and picked her jacket up off the window seat. After coming to the house once dressed like someone from 2008, she'd decided to switch back to her traditional dark clothes. They were more comfortable and harder to stain. Not to mention the fact that she'd gotten a lot of weird stares in her other getup.

"What kind of stupid?" Shilo asked, watching as Olivia stuffed something in her pocket and pulled on her boots. She rethought her choice of words while considering the layout of the Wallace household.

"Maybe not stupid. Potentially stupid but at the moment more daring and adventurous. Both of those things can equal stupid in the right circumstances," she admitted. "Anyway, I'm thinking I should teach you to cook. It's a useful skill and I'm in the mood for some homemade pizza." The puzzled look on Shilo's face didn't go away.

"You mean the flat pie, right?" Her eyes widened as she saw, probably for the first time in her life, a teenager who had never had pizza.

"That seals it. The world is not so awful that a kid can't have a slice of pizza. I won't stand for it."

"But I don't have a kitchen in here."

"But there is a kitchen out there," Olivia said, pointing towards Shilo's locked door. "And, conveniently, there's someone who knows how to pick a lock in here." Olivia crossed the room and kneeled before the lock.

"Where did you learn that?" she asked curiously. She could feel Shilo watching from over her shoulder even though there wasn't much to see. With a few twists of a wire, she had the door unlocked. It wasn't a very complex lock. Nathan probably never considered the idea of Shilo trying to break it.

"Oh, well, after my parents died I hang out with the wrong crowd, got mixed up in things I shouldn't have gotten mixed up in and was all sorts of trouble. Then I met a drug dealer and my life greatly improved. He taught me all kinds of useful tricks, including the art of picking locks." She slipped the wire back in her pocket and stood up. Shilo was staring at her in awe.

"You know a drug dealer?" Olivia tried not to wince. Perhaps that was information she shouldn't have given out so easily. The walls had ears, after all. And in this house, the ears all belonged to a very strict father.

"It's not as cool as it sounds. He's obnoxious. Also, doing drugs isn't good," she added awkwardly. When she'd been Shilo's age, she'd taken a hit of Z. It felt a bit hypocritical to lecture about drugs considering her lifestyle. Even if she didn't actually take the drug anymore, she helped the Graverobber peddle it illegally. There were probably people dead because of her. One in particular… She shook her head. "Sorry, I drifted off. What were we talking about?"

"How drugs aren't good," Shilo offered helpfully.

"Yeah, they're not good. They're addictive and generally lead to death. So… no drugs." Olivia cleared her throat. She sounded like a moron. "Anyway, let's see if we can find a kitchen in this place."

"Peeling off the tissue inch by inch, skinning off the muscles, too."

"I think I just fell in love with your father." Livvy immediately turned around to face Shilo with a slightly panicked look on her face. "That was a deliberate lie in order to create amusement. There was absolutely no sincere feeling in that statement." She just smiled at her.

"Okay." It had taken a good fifteen minutes to actually find the kitchen. Shilo had felt very paranoid during that time. She expected her father to jump out at any minute although she knew he took the time she had with Livvy to work. The fact that he trusted her, even if it was only a tiny bit, was interested to Shilo. She often thought about the tolerant smile her father wore when she talked about Livvy or how Livvy just rolled her eyes and changed the subject if she ever brought up her father. She didn't know much about romance. Actually, she knew nothing about romance. Despite her lack of knowledge she liked to think that maybe the reason they were so determined not to like each other was because they already did.

Then they'd walked into the kitchen and the paranoia went away in favor of a more fascinated sense of awe as she watched Livvy gush over the kitchen. All the appliances were in stainless teal, something that delighted Livvy. Apparently the range on the stove was excellent and the size of the refrigerator had her bizarrely impressed. Shilo didn't understand a lot of what Livvy was saying. She just smiled, unused to seeing her friend this energetic and happy. In her opinion, the kitchen was very sterile. The floors were shiny, impeccable white as were the countertops. She settled down in a booth in the corner of the kitchen and contentedly watched Livvy study everything around her. Finally she'd opened up the refrigerator, which had led to her sudden declaration of love and almost as sudden retraction of said declaration.

"All this food is organic," Livvy said as she opened drawers and checked labels. "He's got to have cloned meat, though. I mean, seriously, who can afford real – Holy shit!" Shilo jumped, startled at the sudden exclamation. Livvy turned around to stare at her. "What does your dad do for a living?"

"He's a doctor," Shilo replied casually.

"And that's it?" She nodded and Livvy snorted her disbelief. She wasn't sure what was so remarkable about that. After all, doctors had to be well paid, considering all the work they did. Her dad was working almost constantly. "Well, anyway, I'm not touching the meat. That is way too pricey for my blood. I think a margherita pizza is in order here."

"A what pizza?" Shilo asked.

"It's basically a tomato, mozzarella and basil pizza. Simple but good. Oh, so good." Livvy sighed deeply, a look of hedonistic joy on her face. Shilo bit back a giggle. She wasn't all that certain about pizza but anything that made Livvy look like that deserved a chance. She stood up and peered into the refrigerator.

"Okay, so do we have all that?"

"Oh, it's going to take a lot more than that," Livvy informed her. "First we're going to make the crust. We need dry yeast, unbleached flour, salt…" She trailed off and raised her one visible eyebrow. "What are you standing around for, kid? Hop to it!"

Shilo had liked learning to stitch. She liked reading the books Livvy left for her and she liked saying all the things she couldn't say to her father. But Shilo had to be honest. While she liked those things, she loved cooking. She loved the way Livvy explained each step and how it absolutely required getting one's hands dirty. Sequestered in her room, Shilo didn't get her hands dirty much. The only thing that could possibly ruin this moment was her disease.

It was after they'd put the ball of fresh dough in a large oiled bowl, covered the top with plastic wrap and slipped it in the fridge that Shilo's bracelet went off.

"Medicine reminder!" Shilo looked around her and realized she hadn't brought her medicine downstairs with her. She paled. Livvy caught on instantly.

"Oh, crap," she muttered. "Where did you leave it?"

"It's next to my bed," she hurried to answer. The world was beginning to look a little fuzzy. Her head felt light. "It's the little bottle…" She stumbled. Livvy took her gently by the arms and lowered her down onto the cushioned bench behind the kitchen table.

"I will be back in one minute. Clock me." Shilo blinked and Livvy was already gone. She was trying to keep her breathing even. If her vitals started going crazy then her dad would definitely be alerted. She had to stay calm. Livvy would be back. She would be.

"Livvy?" she whispered. There was a sudden pounding like boots against wood and then Livvy skidded into the kitchen, her heeled boots leaving marks on the tile floor.

"I've got it." She popped the top off the bottle and handed Shilo her medication. She quickly dry-swallowed her pills. Almost instantly the disorientation went away and she was well again. "I'm sorry, Shilo. I failed you." Shilo shook her head.

"What? No, you didn't. I'm fine."

"I said I'd be back in one minute. That was at least a minute and thirty seconds." Livvy gave her a playful wink. "Lucky for you, we've got some time before we have to start cooking again. You get to have some rest whether you want it or not." Shilo nodded, disoriented again but for a different reason. She couldn't believe Livvy had made a joke about what had happened. Instead of chastising her for being careless, she'd winked! Her father would have had a heart attack. Her father would have been panting heavily after making such a fast run up several flights of stairs. Livvy was teasing her. Livvy was panting slightly but she looked invigorated, not exhausted. Shilo began to wonder if a mother was merely the opposite of a father. Without one there was nothing to balance out the other.

"Livvy, what was your mother like?" Livvy frowned briefly, probably confused about how the topic had changed.

"She was patient. She had to be where I was concerned. My dad and I fought like cats and dogs. She kept the peace. Don't get me wrong. I loved my father. We were just too much alike to get along well." Shilo smiled a little. So far her new theory was proving correct.

"What were you like as a teenager?"

"Trouble," Livvy replied immediately, a faint grin on her face. "Big trouble." She began to explain about how school had felt like a prison. Being forced to study things she didn't care for made her unhappy so she had escaped every chance she got. Her father shouted at her for it while her mother just gave her alternatives, such as quilting and cooking. When she was in school she got into fights of the dirtiest kind. That got worse after her parents died. Shilo ate up the details of Livvy's life.

In no time at all an hour had passed and it was time to start cooking again. Livvy picked up a knife. "Chop up the parsley in little pieces then tear the basil. Be sure to cut away from your hand." Shilo did as she was told, only pausing to stare as Livvy picked up another knife, flipped it casually and caught it by the handle. Then she started mincing onion and garlic with practiced ease.

"So this is a pizza?" Shilo asked thirty minutes later, staring as Livvy spread the sauce over the dough she'd rolled flat.

"Not yet. Here, sprinkle mozzarella and basil evenly while I check the oven."

"So this is normal?" Shilo whispered to herself as she completed her task. She was getting hungry now but she didn't want anything to eat until the pizza was done. She had a hunch that nothing would ever taste as good as something she made with Livvy.

"All right, we're ready to go," Livvy announced. She slid the pan holding their hard work into the oven and set the timer for ten minutes. "Okay, so be honest. Was this a total waste of time? Did you hate it?" Shilo blinked.

"Are you kidding? This was awesome. I'm out of my room, I cooked something and I get to eat something I've never eaten before. I loved it!" Livvy let out a relieved sigh.

"Good. I'd hate to think I've pissed off your dad for nothing."

"No, we wouldn't want that," Nathan Wallace said from the doorway, his eyes narrowed on the two women. Shilo jumped but Livvy just seemed resigned.

"Typical."