Notes: This opening chapter will be fairly short compared to the rest of the story but it sets up the timeline for the story. This takes place 2 years before season one.

Chapter One

The Tipping Point

Love is a lot like suffocating. When you have air, you can breath, easily, naturally, you don't really think about the fact that you're breathing air and you don't think about the fact that if you suddenly didn't have that air you might suffocate. Before you realize that you're in love, the person has become your air. The thought of being without them makes you feel like you are going to suffocate and suddenly you can't breathe.

And that's how Olivia Pope realized that she was in love. Somewhere along the campaign trail she had fallen in love with Governor Fitzgerald Grant. She let his smooth words and his cool demeanor win her over. Something in his eyes reflected the same burning passion that she felt about her pursuits. Every day she spends in his presence the closer she gets to him and the more guilty she feels Though, to be fair, she was doing a good job of keeping him at bay. No matter how much she wanted him, she knew that she couldn't have him because of his marriage and the fact that he was running to become the most powerful man in the country.

Then it happens, the most challenging moment of her campaign career happened. After celebrating a successful polling event, the group had a little too much to drink. She refrained from drinking, not because she didn't like to drink, but because but because she was working and didn't want to drink while she was working. So, she said her goodbyes to Cyrus and Mellie. She would have said goodbye to the Governor but he was busy talking to some of the volunteers so she gave him a small wave and headed out of the venue.

Somehow, she missed the sounds of someone running behind her, but when she entered the elevator and turned around, he was standing right there in front of her. His eyes were glassy and his jaw was set in a steely determination. She tried to set her face in determination. He always looked at her like this, with nothing but pure lust and desire in his eyes. And it tore her up inside. Olivia tried to step back and turn away from him but he grabbed her by her arm with one hand and cupped her chin with the other.

"Liv…." He tried to make her look at him.

"Fitz, don't you know I can't…..we can't." She fought to turn away.

What happened next should have ended things right then and there, and yet, it didn't. Fitz closed the distance and attacked her neck with his mouth, hungry and drunk. The elevator doors opened and she heard Mellie's voice cry out in shock.

"Fitz, get OFF of her!" She rushed into the elevator to pull Fitz off but he unhanded Olivia and turned away, hands up in peace. He said nothing as he stumbled stuff.

Olivia tried to fix herself and maintain some semblance of dignity. Her face burned with guilt. She hadn't kissed Fitz, but she wanted to. And now Mellie was going to fire her for having an affair with her husband despite the fact that she was doing everything in power not to touch Fitz.

"I am so sorry, he's not normally like this. Please forgive him, forgive me. It won't happen again Olivia," Mellie gently placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt reassure her. Olivia forced a smile and shook her head.

"No, it's fine. He's drunk I understand. I just need a few days, away,"

Mellie nodded and reassured her the best that she could. "I understand, just text me if you need anything okay?" Olivia gave her a small smile and left the building to go home and rest.

Olivia could not sleep that night. After a full bottle of wine, and a long hot bath, she settled into her sheets for the night and tried to blot the memory of Fitz's lips pressed against her neck out of her memory. But they were as burned onto her brain as they were on her skin. She had envisioned the feel of his lips for months now and now that she knew what it felt like. She shuddered in her bed, the alcohol not loosening her nerves at all. She was tightly wound and she couldn't relax. So she stayed awake all night envisioning what it would be like if Fitz did more than kiss her neck.

And within a few hours she started to wonder if this giant moral code was actually worth it. Fitz was giving her every sign that he wanted her. He even told her that he wanted her on more than one occasion but she refused to give in to his desires. She was working for him. Maybe if sh wasn't a part of his campaign she could see herself with him. But she would not allow him to cloud her judgement. She would keep herself together and make sure that she did her job as prescribed and helped him win the election. No matter what she had to do…