Not the Same
Things should have picked up where they had left off-with a blissful kiss. Thinking back, she surprised herself when she found the courage to take the lead. Days prior she had pondered it, mulled it over like a warm cup of tea. When she looked into his eyes her heart started the melody and her feet found the beat. They had shuffled effortlessly up to him. His lips filled the gap and she had to squeeze any part of him just to make sure she was not hallucinating. Instinctively, Peter wrapped one arm around her. No, he was not leaving and yes, this was real, his body replied.
When she was sprawling helplessly in the dark cell, she had started to disbelieve that the kiss was real and that anything good in her life had happened.
But that was all then and this is now. Now, she sits or rather slumps, in a familiar chair in what should be a familiar lab. But, everything seems out of place. It was like she was suffering from a bad bout of vertigo. Nothing was in its place, herself included.
Olivia sat her glasses down over the files and tried to pull her hair back in a loose bun. She stopped abruptly. The memory of dying her hair brown to match her other-self opened a gate; flashes of being locked up, the fire, and his death flooded her. Inhaling, she opened the desk drawer and pulled out an old, ragged pair of scissors. She reached for them like a wild animal and cut unceremoniously. It felt good-even the prick.
She stopped when she felt liquid trickle down her neck. She scoffed.
Getting up from the chair, she made her way past the couch and to the bathroom on the other side of the lab. She stopped like a feral animal when she heard the lab door shut. She stood on guard; blood soiled her blouse without a second thought.
All three of them quickly gathered what happened. Walter spotted the blood stained scissors in her hand first. Glancing up, he noticed the substandard haircut. Peter only saw haunted eyes the size of saucers.
"Walter, come help me put down these bags," Astrid trailed, trying her best to not meet Olivia's gaze. Walter swallowed hard and did as he was told.
Without a word Olivia broke their gaze and walked toward the bathroom door. Peter let out a shaky exhale when the bathroom door clicked shut.
Nothing seemed real. It wasn't supposed to be like this. Their relationship should have picked up right after the kiss. Heck, it should have picked up after the kiss he wanted to give her when she came back. But it didn't seem right. Lives were lost. He only hoped her sanity and his courage wasn't.
And then she screamed.