Work Text:
Olive was hitting a wall. As she typed out the last line of the first draft of her report, she leaned back in her chair and stared at the clock. 11:50. At the beginning of the week, she had promised Adam that she would try to be in bed before midnight. It hadn’t worked out last night. Or the night before.
It was a Thursday night in the first week of December. The semester was coming to a close and there were still holiday festivities to plan, gifts to buy, pastries to bake. It was her and Adam’s first holiday season living together and Olive’s mind had been racing since before Thanksgiving as the end of the year loomed over her and the to-do list grew longer and longer. This could become another long night if she let it.
But Olive had a feeling she had reached a point at which she would not be able to produce any more groundbreaking science until after a full night of sleep. Well, most of a full night of sleep.
With that, she closed her laptop and left her things where they were, spread out on the dining room table. She padded through the kitchen, grabbing two glasses from the cupboard before filling them with water.
She tiptoed through the house and up the stairs, careful not to spill the drinks or make too much noise. Upstairs, a beam of light spilled from one end of the hallway, illuminating the path to the bedroom.
Adam was lying on his back with his eyes closed, the way he did when he was only resting his eyes. Olive smiled to herself at the thought of him waiting for her to join him. Carefully, she placed each glass on their nightstands before leaning down to give him a peck on the cheek. She quickly got changed and ready for bed before crawling under the covers and snuggling up next to him. As the mattress shifted, Adam finally stirred.
“What time is it?” he asked while rubbing his eyes.
“11:57”
Adam gave her a look.
“I made it! With multiple minutes to spare!” Olive said before he could respond.
Adam shook his head but Olive could see he was trying not to smile. He turned toward her and pulled her body against his. Muffled by his arms and the duvet, Olive could barely hear.
“Maybe we should aim for 11:30 tomorrow night,” Adam said.
“You’re no fun,” she responded. “Tomorrow’s Friday! We should be out on the town, living while we’re young! Well, while I’m young.”
“Careful, smartass, or I’ll call your bluff,” he said, lightly pinching her hip.
She laughed and closed her eyes, settling into Adam as he lightly ran his hand up and down her back. Maybe the feeling would wear off, but for now Olive held onto moments like these like her life depended on it. Quiet nights at home with the man she loved. After more than 26 years being single, these were experiences she never thought she would have. Now, they were what she looked forward to most every day. As she drifted off, she thought about waking up next to him in the morning, maybe kissing him awake as the morning light creeped through the curtains.
<3 <3 <3
Olive woke up alone.
It wasn’t unusual for Adam to wake up before Olive. But he typically stayed in bed until she woke up. And the time on her phone read just before 7 am. It was still early for him to be getting ready. She sat up and took a deep breath, looking around the room. At the sound of pots and pans clanging downstairs, she got up to investigate.
She tiptoed down the stairs and through the living room. She turned the corner into the kitchen and saw Adam standing at the stove. He glanced up and caught her eyes. She smiled and leaned against the door frame.
“You’re not supposed to be up yet,” Adam said, his voice still raspy and fresh from sleep.
Olive giggled and stepped forward. “Why? Are you trying to poison me?” she asked, looking down at the skillet on the stove. French toast.
“Hey, my cooking skills have much improved since the first time I made you breakfast in bed,” said Adam, setting down the spatula as Olive turned and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“And for that, I’m thankful,” Olive said, pressing her lips to his. “What’s the occasion?”
Adam wrapped his arms around her body and swayed them in place.
“Well I figured if you’ve been eating like you’ve been sleeping, you probably haven’t been getting enough this week.”
A defensive rebuttal was on the tip of her tongue, but it was true. Olive often only gave herself enough time to get dressed, brush her teeth, and grab a granola bar on the way out the door. It wasn’t Adam’s job to take care of Olive, but when he did, it sometimes made Olive uneasy. Like she was being a burden to him or that he was giving more than he was taking.
But this was how Adam showed his love. And it worked. Olive felt it every day. So all she could do was accept it and try to give back what she could.
She leaned forward and squeezed him tight. “Thank you for thinking of me. I promise I’ll take better care of myself once the semester’s over,” she said softly in his ear.
“I believe you,” Adam said, rubbing her back. “I can’t help but worry about you though.” He leaned back and gave her another peck on the lips before giving her a soft smile. “Will you be busy tonight?”
“I have some grading to do, but I can be done at a reasonable time. Why?”
“I was reminiscing before you came down and I think we’re overdue for one of our sushi dates.”
After their first one in Boston, Olive had begun dragging Adam to various sushi restaurants around the Bay Area in search of the perfect California roll- one of the only rolls they both enthusiastically enjoyed. After several attempts, they finally found a place they both liked and thus, the sushi date became their go-to.
“Hmm. I like the sound of that,” Olive said with a smile. “I’ll keep you updated and we can try to leave campus at the same time?”
“It’s a date. Now go back to bed so I can surprise you.”
<3 <3 <3
Even after eating breakfast together, showering together, and driving to campus together, Olive was still buzzing with excitement over their date. Adam was always so good to her, but sometimes they both got busy and couldn’t prioritize their relationship the way they wanted to. This sushi date was much needed and Olive didn’t know if this work day would ever end.
Both of her freshman biology classes were sitting at about 50% attendance. And getting freshmen to participate in class at any time, much less on a Friday at the end of the semester, was like pulling teeth. For them and for Olive.
After getting through her two classes and hanging around to answer students’ questions, it was already 4 o’clock by the time she made it back to her office to begin grading papers. She pulled out her phone and opened up her chat with Adam.
Olive: i’m running behind not sure when I’ll be done :(
After a minute, she saw three dots pop up on his end before they disappeared. She didn’t think much of it. Adam usually stopped by her office before he left. She’d probably hear from him soon.
But the next hour passed by without so much as a software update notification. The BIO101 Cell Membranes quizzes were passing by in a blur of red pen. She was just getting ready to call Adam when she heard a quiet knock on her office door over the music softly playing from her laptop. She glanced at the clock, worried about getting stuck here for even longer.
“Come in,” she said without an ounce of enthusiasm.
The door creaked open and Adam slipped into the tiny office. “Delivery for Ms. Olive Smith,” he said, holding a bag of takeout.
She couldn’t help herself. As soon as he shut the door behind him, she jumped up and wrapped her arms around him.
“Hey,” Adam said, surprised but quick to return her hug. “You okay?”
“Mhmm. Just happy to see you.”
They stood there, silently embracing for a moment, before Adam pulled back and held up the bag he’d walked in with.
“Two California rolls just like always. I also got some edamame and-”
Olive zoned out while he was talking and just admired him. Sometimes she could still hardly believe this was working out and that he was here, wanting to see her. Wanting to love her. And he just got more and more handsome everyday. His dark hair was getting to be on the longer side, which Olive loved. And his sweet, dark eyes made Olive feel-
“-but anyways, that will change once we’re married.”
Olive snapped out of her trance at that.
“What?”
“I could tell you weren’t listening,” Adam said, chuckling before leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead.
Olive sighed as she sat back down and Adam rolled one of her office mates’ chairs over to her desk. She and Adam had talked about marriage before, and they lived together, so they were clearly in it for the long run. But the thought of being married at all, much less to Adam Carlsen, still gave her butterflies.
“You’re terrible, you know that?” asked Olive.
“But you love me,” Adam said, handing her a pair of chopsticks.
Olive reached out to grab them, their fingers brushing momentarily, and smiled to herself. She really, really did.