Chapter Text
It was like a damn science fair with the crew that were stuffed in the moderate sized living room in Jack’s, an experimental physicist Adam met in undergrad, Boston townhouse. These were Adam’s friends as, apparently, he had way more of those than she thought. And they’re all tall… hugely, massively, tall… Olive thought as she stared across the room at Levi Ward, a NASA engineer who is built strikingly like Adam and Jack. They must be the people that he who shall not be named were talking about Adam’s relationship back in Boston.
Georgina, another physicist who Olive was pretty sure worked at Harvard, unceremoniously plopped on the couch, startling the already on the edge Olive who sat as close to the arm as she could. Olive tensed, and made a quick glance in her direction in acknowledgment.
“I hear I have you to thank for saving all the Women in STEM from the one-and-only Thomas Benton,” Georgina threw out rather casually as Olive was mid-sip of her glass of white wine Adam thrust into her hand only minutes ago with a murmured warning, You’ll need this.
Olive froze at the name. His name.
George kept talking, “Despite the numerous times I told him about my wife,” she rolled her eyes, “his advances never quite stopped. Told me he could convert me.” George took a rather large gulp of her wine; Olive responded in kind.
Olive was already nervous about meeting all of Adam’s friends, especially as he seemingly only had highly influential scientist friends while she was still a year out from getting her PhD. And, the memory of Tom’s words that still haunted her raised her anxiety to a new level. And… and…
“I know a few women who had tried before to file a report against him, but, in the end, academia, and even more so Harvard, is an old boys club, and without the kind of proof that you had…” George stopped her rambling as she noticed Olive’s shaky, forced smile and the hole she was rubbing into her palm. “Oh, Olive did I…?”
Did you barely introduce yourself to me before discussing really the only thing that could send me spiraling? She sat frozen for a moment before chastising herself, Figure out anything to say back! Olive forced herself to look at George, “I am happy to have done something, but I—“
“Olive!” Adam appeared over Georgina’s head, his eyes wide as he searched her face. How did he know I needed him?
“Adam, I’m fine, truly—“
“George,” he gritted out.
Olive spoke softly, “I knew it would come up.” I had hoped we could all forget about that slimeball, but when in Boston…
“Oh, Olive,” George reached out her hand and placed her over Olive’s, “I am truly terrible with human interaction—“
“She is!” Jack chimed in from the Go board where he was crushing the redheaded girl she had yet to be introduced to.
“I didn’t think about it. We talk about you as a superhero at Harvard— but you’re a real person with real feelings, obviously,” Georgina rambled on, and Olive could feel her smile growing just a bit.
“It wasn’t really anything I did…” Olive’s voice trailed off, “I’m just happy it all worked out in the end.” She glanced over to Adam who had a glimmer of pride in his eye.
He had to practically drag Olive back to Boston kicking and screaming. Which she knew was ridiculous; He had moved out of the country just to get job prospects. But, Adam had been invited to speak at a smaller conference, and apparently had been “getting his balls busted,” (Holden’s words) by the Boston crew for not meeting up the last time he was in town. Olive was faced with two options: one, don’t go and find herself with severe FOMO as she FaceTimed Adam before bed, or two, go and allow herself to have fun. Even if she had to put on a brave face and pretend like just the name Boston didn’t make her brain spew all the horrible words He said.
Adam moved over to play a round of Go against Jack who was working through beating everyone in the room once. Georgina, and the redhead, Mara, had started to give Olive the lowdown on everyone in the room. Olive was grateful for their easy companionship; she had been worried about feeling like she was following Adam around like a lost puppy dog, sitting sullenly on the couch alone, or that everyone was going to treat her like an errant grad student.
Mara and George were rambling on about someone Olive didn’t know. “You know the woman that Levi has had the major crush on for years, Bee?” George shot Levi a glance as she spoke in hushed tones. Bee? As in Bumble? Buzz Buzz? That can’t be her actual name, right? She thought it must be like Kalamata— related, but not her name when she had keyed back into Adam’s conversation with Jack.
He wasn’t speaking loudly, but loud enough that she could hear Jack asking, “Holden’s said you’ve had the ring for months, what’s holding you back?”
A ring?!
She watched out of the corner of her eye Adam swipe a hand through his hair as he sighed. Her breath caught and her heart felt like it might pound out of her chest. Why does he look so… unsure? Defeated?
Adam didn’t continue, just stared blankly at the board.
“Dude, she’s not going to say no, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Yeah, Adam! What Jack said!
“I…” Adam stopped and glanced in her direction, and Olive hoped that she adjusted her gaze to seem involved in the girl’s conversation fast enough. “She’s been living in Berkeley for the past year in their dorms. Malcolm moved in with Holden, so she doesn’t have her old apartment to come back to. She practically lives with me on the weekends, and I… I thought it was a given that she’d move in officially with me at the end of her time with Dr. Wiley. But, she has mentioned looking for a new apartment. If she wanted to live with me—“ Adam sighed and looked down.
Olive struggled to keep her shock from showing all over her face as she internally screamed, You never asked me to move in!
Jack chuckled to himself, “Did you ask her to move in?”
No, no he did not!
Adam frowned.
Jack laughed loudly, “You have to ask her to move in.”
“She has a key! And half of my closet!” Adam defended weakly.
“Oh man, this is why I don’t date,” Jack shook his head, still smiling. “You’re so far gone for Olive, and are still so lost— she’s waiting for your okay to move in. I’m sure of it.”
Olive suddenly felt bad for eavesdropping on their conversation, and tried to pay attention to whatever new topic Mara and George moved onto. She started by gulping down the rest of her wine, and was thankful that she shifted her attention away from Adam. She could feel his gaze upon her again.
————
She had changed into one of his Princeton alumni t-shirts that’s sole purpose used to be for his morning run, but had since become a part of her weekend sleep attire. Adam was already stretched out on the bed in a pair of boxers and what Olive could only classify as “Dad Socks.” His abs and mountain of shoulders were on full display. His secret glasses perched on the edge of his nose as he scrolled on his phone.
Olive couldn’t help but stare for a moment before glancing away and picking at the skin by the nails on her thumbs.
“Stop that,” he admonished without looking up at Olive. “We can leave the trip early, if you—“
“I listened to your conversation with Jack earlier,” she blurted unable to hold in the secret. It had been eating at her all night.
He looked like a cartoon character, his eyebrows shot up towards his hairline as his eyes widened, “You… you did?”
“Mara and George were rambling on about someone and I heard you guys talking and…” She paused, and took a cleansing breath. “Do you really want me to move in? Do you really have a ring? It’s more than just me staying a few nights a week… that’s being with me all the time for… for…for forever! What if you hate it? What if you start hating me?” She was speaking a mile a minute looking at him with crazy eyes, she knew and couldn’t stop it.
Adam smiled sadly as he stood up and grabbed her shoulders to make her face him, “Look at me.” She kept her gaze down, so her grabbed at her chin, “Olive?” His voice was gentle.
“Yeah,” she answers like a reprimanded child.
“I want nothing more than to have you move in,” he paused, considering, “Well, that’s not entirely true, I do want something else more.”
Her heart skipped, “Then, why haven’t you asked?”
“Sweetheart, you’re practically moved in already. You have two more weeks at Dr. Wiley’s lab and 90% of your stuff is already in my house. I just thought you knew that that’s where I think you belong.” He placed a soft kiss against her lips.
“I thought… I think,” she amended, “That one day you’re going to wake up and realize that I’ve overstayed my welcome.”
Adam pulled away from her and she immediately missed his proximity, his comforting scent and warmth. She watched at he pulled open an inside pocket of his laptop bag and pulled out a film canister. And her heart fluttered a little bit. Is the ring in the…
“Now,” Adam began as he turned around to face Olive again, “this is not the state of dress, or location I had planned for, but…” Adam got down on one knee before her, “Marry me, Olive?”
Tears welled up in her eyes, and her heart was screaming for her to jump up and down and telling him yes, yes, a hundred times yes, but ultimately her anxious brain won out, “But, we haven’t even lived together. And, and… you’re Adam Carlsen! You’re biologist extraordinaire! And…”
He cut her off, took her hand and led her to sit on the edge of their bed, “No, technically we haven’t lived together. But, we might as well be. I know your tendency to leave your ice cream spoon in the sink without rinsing it off, and the way you never hang up your towels and leave it in a scrunched up ball on the bed. I know all about your supposed genetic predisposition to balance trash on top of pile instead of taking it out.” Adam gazed tenderly at her before continuing, “I know how you take your coffee in the mornings at home, and that you like the Flintstone gummy vitamins the best. On rainy days, you curl into the blanket and cover your head or bury your face in my chest and tell me you’re not getting up. I know the good and the “bad” parts of living with Olive Smith.”
Olive wiped her hand furiously under her nose and over her tear-soaked cheeks.“Adam,” she choked out as a small smile threatened to appear. Her voice caught in her throat, “I want it all so much.”
“You already have all of me, Olive, I am all yours,” he caught her chin with his right hand, running his thumb lightly over her lips.
“What if…”
“You steal my deodorant, have used my toothbrush in the bleary hours of the morning despite mine being black to your yellow, you have a key to my house, my office, my lab for god’s sake, Olive,” he released her chin and looked down at his knees, “I thought we… we were there, on the same page, but…”
“Why the film canister?” Princess Diaries Two — it’s one of her comfort movies, she had always hoped that…
“Because once a month, Malcolm and Ahn come over and you take over my living room and watch that Julie Andrew’s movie and look at your friends and sigh every time the guy pulls out the ring in the film canister, so,” Adam holds the container up.
“Yes, I… I want to move in. I want the ring. I want you,” she grabbed both of his hands, “I’m sorry I didn’t just say yes before. I wanted to, I really did but-“
“Sweetheart,” Adam smiled and squeezed her hands tighter, “Stop apologizing.”
“I have a tendency of getting in my own way of being happy,” she sniffled as he tried to put the ring on her. Her gaze locked on their hands while a small giggle threatened, “I have some things that you do, too, ya know?”
“Oh really?” He raised an eyebrow at her as the ring slipped over her knuckle.
She nodded and bit her lip as she finally looked back up at him and not at the ring, “You leave apple cores on your desks for longer than one should, you never refill your stapler, and you fold the pages instead of using a bookmark like a monster.”
“Is that all?” Adam smirked.
“I get to see you in your old man glasses,” she shot him a multi-watt smile, “and your real smile, too. The one where your eyes crinkle and your dimples come out in full force.”
Adam leaned his forehead against Olive’s and whispered, “And here I thought you were going to be a smartass.”
“Me? Never!” She laughed out breathily.
————
They laid entangled in the white hotel sheets. Olive’s hair up in hastily thrown up ponytail. It had been down earlier in the evening from her attempting to put some effort into her appearance for meeting Adam’s friends. But, she quickly discovered that it was just going to get in their mouths if they continued that way. And the bob in Adam’s throat as he watched her kneeled before him told her that maybe Olive should make a habit of putting her hair up in that position.
“I’m sorry about Georgina,” Adam said as he played with her ponytail- wrapping it and unwrapping it around his hand. “I should have considered that—“
“It’s okay. Honestly, it made me feel a little better about the whole thing. At least something good came out of the whole ordeal,” Olive flipped to lay on her stomach and placed her chin on his chest. “Ahn is going to have a field day with the knowledge that you have more friends than us.”
“Not quite as antagonistic and unapproachable as you thought?” His lips quirked.
“I’m choosing to believe that it’s because of Holden,” Olive smirked.
Adam pinched her ass in retaliation, “Such a smartass.”
“I really can’t believe it,” Olive shifted to stare down at the emerald ring around her finger. Adam and Olive had talked about marriage in the abstract way, but she hadn’t allowed herself to think that they would be here. Especially not yet.
“I get it. I’m not the most popular guy around Stanford, but I can have friends,” Adam continued the banter for a moment before catching on to the topic change.
“You told me you didn’t want a diamond,” Adam ran his hand up her bare spine as he voice was barely more than a whisper.
“Oh, I mean— I believe that part. You seem to have taken note of everything I’ve ever said—“
“I have,” he responded meekly, “Well, maybe not everything, but in my notes app— I keep a list of things you like and dislike.” A faint blush crept across his cheeks.
Oh .
Olive leaned in to kiss his nose, “Can I see it? When did you start it? Should I have one for you?” Does he even like anything?
“No. Not willing to answer. You don’t have to.” Adam deadpanned in a way that told her he was getting embarrassed.
So, of course she had to press, “Why can’t I see it?”
“Because, it has potential surprises.” Bashful Adam is her favorite.
“Okay, but when did you create this note?” The question she really wanted answered.
“No comment.”
“You recognize how suspicious that sounds, right?” Olive raised her eyebrows at him, “Was it while we were fake dating?”
“No.”
Oh.
“Was it… was it before?” A smile was threatening to burst across her face. Sure, Olive, if she really thought about it, could find it odd, stalkerish, should get a restraining order against him over some of these behaviors. But, he was just so sweet, observant, and nervous — a true scientist, though, who wanted all available data. And Olive knew when it came down to it, her comfort and feelings were at the top of his priorities.
His silence coupled with his previous answers gave him away.
“What was on the early list?”
Adam stiffened even more, but responded, “The type of cookies you preferred—“
“Free ones.” Olive laughed.
“Star Trek,” Adam smiled.
“Obviously,” she said as Adam rolled his eyes, “keep going.”
“Colorful socks,” Adam gave her a knowing wink.
“Does Holden or Jack or Levi or any others in your tall, hot academics club know about your previous obsession with me?” She brushed a piece of hair from his forehead as an excuse to touch him.
“ Hot academics?”
“What?” Olive smirked— Adam wasn’t often jealous, which was a positive for them as she had been gone the majority of the time for the past year. But, he seemed a little jealous now.
“Yeah! You and Levi could be twins, and Jack is your blond triplet. But the key identifying features are strikingly similar. So, it would be incorrect of me to say I found them unattractive,” Olive reasoned.
Adam frowned, and quickly responded, “You wouldn’t like either one.”
Ha! Olive knew she had gotten under his skin a bit, “Is that so?”
“Jack is a physicist! And Levi is a cat person.”
“Hmm, maybe you’re right. Those two things are unforgivable,” Olive moved to get up and get dressed again.
Adam tightened his arm around her as he smirked, “And, it is an ongoing obsession, not previous. I figured you’d want all the information. But, maybe you’re not interested at all…”
“I mean have you seen Jack’s eyes?” Olive fluttered her eyelashes dreamily. Adam rolled his eyes.
“Jack knows it, too,” Adam muttered.