Hey guys! Over the next few weeks (I'll put up something every 2-3 days) I'm going to be moving all of my writing from Tumblr to this fanfic website so that I can have everything in one place. If you've read my work on Tumblr you'll know that I take prompts and then finish them off. So, I'm starting off my transition with one of my favorite prompts from nikkisshadetree whose prompt starts out the story in bold. This is a story that currently has a second part and a third in the works so whether you've read it before or not, I would appreciate your feedback on what you would want to see happen with those two knuckleheads known as Olitz. I hope you enjoy.

"And, to end tonight's broadcast, we close with footage of President Grant out on - by our count - his fourth date with Madeline Spencer, CEO of..." Olivia let the sound of Kimberly Mitchell drown out as she watched Fitz on the screen escorting Madeline into their vehicle. Her heart constricted in pain, pain brought by Fitz taking charge of his life and putting Olivia's well thought out plan into action...without her, because she picked her gladiators. Because she was scared.

It took a week of sleepless nights and countless bottles of wine for Olivia to summon the courage to call him and even when she had, the phone sat in her hand for half an hour before she dialed the number and an hour before she pressed send.

With each ring she was reminded of every single time she had chosen someone else, something else, over him. She was reminded of the sacrifices that he'd made for her and the cold shoulder that she had returned to him. The thoughts did nothing to help the constricting pain in her chest but made it the worse that she had experienced since it had made its initial appearance in the Oval Office. She takes another swig from the half empty bottle in front of her, she's long since abandoned glasses when they just seemed to take up time that she could have spent drinking, and moves the phone away from her ear to hang it up when it goes silent.

"Hello?"

His voice is gruff as it makes its way to her and her eyes immediately fill with tears.

"Hello?" He says again, this time, the agitation at the silent caller is clear.

"It's me." Is all she can get out, suddenly overwhelmed with the reality that she could say anything and this time he would hear her.

There's slight shifting on the other side of the line, like he's gathering himself and Olivia almost hangs up, plagued with the thought that he'd taken that girl back to the White House with him. That Madeline Spencer had walked through the Rose Garden hand in hand with him like she used to. That Madeline Spencer had made love to him in all of the places that she had, erasing the memory of her like she'd never been there. It only bothered her because there was nothing wrong with her. She was a perfectly respectable woman with a perfectly respectable career. The only problem was that her name was Madeline Spencer and not Olivia Pope.

"It's me…it's Olivia." She repeats quietly when he doesn't say anything. "You've been all over the news lately."

His end of the line is silent again and she's instantly frightened at the previously unforeseen possibility that he may very well ignore her. She lets out a huge sigh of relief when his voice comes through the line again and although it's exasperated and weary, it caresses her body just like it used to.

"You didn't call me at 2 in the morning to talk about the news." He pauses for a second before continuing, his voice lower than before. "Or maybe you did, it seems like every time I think that I know what you want or what's going on in your head, I'm wrong."

The rising anger in his voice is apparent.

"I deserved that-"

"Yes, you do." He interrupts, the small kindling turning into an all-out raging fire within him. "What you don't deserve is for me to answer your calls like you still matter to me."

Olivia nods her head at that, taking the phone away from her face so that he can't hear sharp intake of breath or sniffling at his words. She deserved them, no doubt about that, but this was never the Fitz that she had known. He had never been callous towards her and he had never sent underhanded jabs her way. She had never been, rightly so, on the receiving end of his wrath. The one time she had been was because she had rigged an election in his name. She could justify that, though. She did it for him. No matter how angry he was at her, she could justify why she had lied to him, gone behind his back, and ultimately betrayed him. What she couldn't justify was why she had left him all alone.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. I just wanted to ask you about how you were doing." She whispers, unsure of the answer that she's going to get from her confession.

"You don't have a right to ask that anymore." Fitz chortles in unamused humor. "Why don't you ask your Gladiators how they are? They're the important ones right?"

Olivia shakes her head, knowing that he can't see her but hoping that her emotions are transparent through the phone. That she'd made a stupid decision. That she regretted walking away every single second since she'd done it. She couldn't do it. She couldn't say it because as much as she wanted Fitz to know how sorry she was, swallowing her pride was a hard thing to do. Admitting she was wrong was even harder.

"Never mind." She mumbles into the phone, ignoring his question. "I'll just go. I shouldn't have called."

Before she can end the call his voice yells out for her.

"Wait." He demands, sounding like he'd run up 10 flights of stairs and still had 10 more to go. "I'm sorry."

His voice is small when it reaches her again and his words do nothing but make her feel more guilty.

"Don't be sorry, I'm sorry."

They sit in silence. Listening to the other breathe. Breathing all of their thoughts into the receiver like they could be translated on the other end.

"You said we could have a life together." He croaks, almost as if he'd been crying while they weren't speaking. "I told you that I wanted to marry you and you said that you could make it happen, that you would fix it so that we could be together for the rest of our lives. You let me believe that were going to be happy together, that you were going to be my first lady and then you left me. You gave me hope and then you walked away."

They're both silent again. Letting his words marinate.

"I didn't want to ruin you. I've already done enough. I just…I'm the person that rigs elections and lies to you about it. I already ruined you. I couldn't let myself do anymore damage."

"That's the problem Olivia. You can't try to fix problems that don't exist and you can't fix people. I'm not ruined. I'm fine but you made it up in your mind that there could be a problem and that you were the problem and you ran. You didn't even give me a choice."

His voice cracks over the word choice causing the levity of hers to weigh heavily over her. She can't refute that though, so she doesn't even try.

"Are you happy with her?" She asks softly, unsure if she really wants the answer. "Are you happy with Meredith?"

He chuckles into the phone and the sound almost brings a smile to her face.

"I know that you know that her name is Madeline." He pauses, giving her a second to contest and when she doesn't he continues. "She's alright. She gets the job done."

And suddenly Olivia is sick to her stomach. She figured they had kissed, maybe some heavy petting was involved but even though her wildest dreams had speculated that they'd slept together, she refused to believe that they were true. That another woman knew what it was like to be underneath him, writhing in ecstasy. That another woman knew all of the ways that his tongue could pleasure her. She also never thought that he would tell her outright.

Her gasp tipped him off to her train of thought and he corrected himself immediately.

"What I meant was that she's okay with a few dates. We decided on ten. The publicity will help her company and, of course, I get the benefit of having my lot of women to choose from when we're done."

"Your lot of women?" Her question is pointed but his reply is simple.

"Yes, my lot of women."

There's a lull in the almost steady conversation that causes him to speak again.

"Livvie?"

Her heart clenches at that. The way that he said her name hadn't changed but it did nothing to quell her every growing fear that he had moved on. He had just said it in so many words, hadn't he?

"I'm still here." She answers, trying her hardest to keep her emotions out of her voice.

"The plan was that I would go on a few dates and then I would let everyone know that I'd fallen in love with my good friend and trusted adviser, right?"

She nods even though he can't see her and he continues without her verbal answer.

"I'm still dating Madeline but we won't be together in a few weeks and if by then you'd like to go on a few dates, I'd be happy to take you on some and then maybe we can make that announcement."

"You want to go on a date?" She asks, her voice colored with shock.

"If you would like to. I fell in love with a woman a few years ago and I can't seem to get her out of my system no matter how hard I try, so if you would like to give us another go, I'm willing to but we have to make a deal."

"What's that?"

"That once we're together, that's it. No more breaking up and fighting over nothing. We start fresh but we'll always love each other so there's no point in acting like we're going to move on with other people. You have to promise that you'll never choose anything else over me, even your job, and I don't think I really have to promise you the same thing since we both know that nothing is more important than you but I will if you need me to." Fitz pauses and then adds an afterthought. "And no lies. We're both completely honest about everything. Even if the truth is the hardest thing that we we'll ever have to tell each other, we still tell it."

She starts nodding again, it's almost constant at this point.

"I can do that." Her voice cracks as she speaks, unprepared for the onslaught of feelings that covered her at his forgiveness.

"Good and then one day you'll be my wife. You will be my first lady and we will be together for the rest of our lives."

She doesn't say anything and instead lets the fairytale of a life that he's imagining take over her brain as well.

"I love you, Fitz." She declares, her voice clear and steady. "I'm in love with you."

And her small admission, although it wasn't exactly a new one, brings a smile to his face.

"So, we're in this together?" He asks, mimicking the tenor of his voice that he used the first time that he had asked her the very same question.

"We're in this together." She answers, a smile taking over her face as well at the familiarity of the conversation.

They soak in the silence left behind by the pleasant turn in their exchange. Breathing each other in. Immersing in the feeling of togetherness after so long.

"Goodnight, Livvie." He finally whispers.

"Goodnight, Mr. President."

And then he's gone. And she's alone. It's a different type of alone, though. A more comforting alone than what she was saturated in just an hour ago.

She gets up from the couch and grabs a fluke, pouring a glass of wine for herself and turning her television back on. Kimberly Mitchell is going on about the presidential romance of Fitzgerald Grant III and Madeline Spencer again but this time Olivia feels hope instead of dread as their appearance is recounted. Her fear and pain has been chased away by his words and forgiveness and she doesn't ever want to hurt or be that scared again.

It was a new world.