Author's Note:

Hi guys! Sorry it's been a while - I've been sick, and also severely lacking in inspiration. However, last night's episode of Scandal gave me just enough feels to start writing again - and surprisingly enough, I think I've switched sides from Olitz to Olake. Well, I abandoned the Olitz ship a long, long time ago, but I think I'm to the point where I actually like the idea of Liv and Jake together - maybe. We will see how I feel after watching a few more eps.

Anyway, I said all that to say this is me trying my hand at an Olake story for the first time - there will be very little (maybe none) Fitz in this story. I hope that you'll give it a chance anyway, and let me know what you're thinking about the premise as it goes along. I'm challenging myself to do better about writing, so I'm aiming for updates 1-2 times per week until this is finished. I'm totally open to reviews, so please leave some and let me know where your heads are!

Standard disclaimer: the characters aren't mine, just the feels. Enjoy!

Chapter One:

"What do you want, Huck?" Jake said lowly, never turning around to look at the man behind him. Huck, unsurprised that Jake had sensed his presence long before now, stepped from underneath the alcove in which he'd been hidden and moved to stand next to the other man.

"How are you?" Huck said, his meager attempt at small talk bringing a cheeky smirk to Jake's face. "How have you been?"

"I'm a newlywed, just back from my honeymoon with the perfect woman. Edison has all but clinched the Democratic nomination for the presidency, which means this time next year, I'll be the second most powerful man in the world. I'd say it's been a record year for me."

Jake laughs lightly, but Huck doesn't miss the bitter tinge to his voice, or the sardonic smile that seems pasted on his face. Still, never one for many words, he stays quiet as the two of them stare out at the water.

A few silent moments pass between them, and to someone who didn't know better, they looked like two old friends sharing a reflective moment by the river. Jake almost wished that they could be that – that they could be normal comrades instead of men united only by the shared trauma of living life with the vilest man on the planet, and of a misplaced sense of obligation to his equally damaging daughter.

Olivia.

Jake closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose hard, willing the mental picture of her beautiful face to fade from his mind. His brain was burned with images of the way that she looked their last night together, her wild curls a tangled mess, her full lips parted in ecstasy as he made love to her for the last time. He hadn't known it was the last time then. If he had, he would have savored it. He would have made it last as long as possible, holding on to her longer than necessary, memorizing every curve of her face, every sound she made, every feeling he felt with her body flush against his.

He loved her so much that night. He'd thought she loved him, too.

He'd been wrong.

"What do you need, Huck?" Jack asked brusquely, a sour taste pooling in his mouth as he tried desperately to stop his mind from moving to the next scene in the sick little movie on repeat in his head. The one where she took it all back, and gutted him with her cruel words. The one where even as she stood in front of him, telling him everything he already knew was true – how she would never love him like she loved Fitz, how she would never choose him, how he wasn't good enough for her, how she deserved so much better – he still hoped she'd take it all back. He still wanted her to change her mind… to choose him. To choose their life together.

But Olivia hadn't. She had walked away from him, leaving him feeling as jilted as he'd been planning to make Vanessa feel just a few moments before. He'd gone into the wedding in a daze, robotically taking the vows that bound him to a beautiful woman he could barely even stand. It wasn't that Vanessa wasn't special – Vanessa was perfect. She was everything that he should want in a woman… but she wasn't Olivia. And that, unfortunately, made all the difference in the world.

Jake pulls himself out of his thoughts again just in time to catch the frustrated mutterings of the man beside him. "Huh? I'm sorry Huck =- what did you say?"

"I said, she needs you," Huck ground out, slowly and deliberately this time. Jake rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh as he fought valiantly to keep the butterflies in his stomach from rising up again. He couldn't afford any more hope – he'd already given her everything. What was left of his heart and his manhood, he would keep only for himself.

"She doesn't want me," Jake began evenly as he turned to face Huck. "She's never wanted me. She told me in no uncertain terms that she could and should do better. So no, Huck, she doesn't need me. She needs to get a life and move on. I have."

"Jake, you don't understand. I've never seen her like this. Ever since your wedding, she's… wrong. She isn't eating, she isn't sleeping. All she does is come to work and act like a robot every day."

"Well, that's probably because she has no heart," Jake laughed bitterly, but even as he said it, he felt no conviction in the words. For all her faults, for everything she was and wasn't, Jake knew the truth: he hadn't stopped loving her.

But that didn't mean he had to keep putting his heart through a meat grinder for her.

"You don't believe that," Huck said quietly, his eyes focusing on Jake. "I know you Jake Ballard, and you don't believe that. You saw how happy she was when you said you wouldn't marry that woman. You saw how she looked at you and said she was ready for forever – ready to be happy. You. Saw. Her. So, don't tell me that you really believe that was all an act. Don't tell me that you think she doesn't really love you. And don't tell me that you don't still love her."

"Of course I still love her!" Jake yelped, the words coming heavy and thick off his tongue. "I'd set myself on fire just to make her smile. I'd give my own life just to ensure that she is safe and happy. I'd sacrifice the entire world to be with her. I. Love. Olivia. Carolyn. Pope. But she left me. Again. She had a chance to choose me, and she didn't. Again. So I don't know what you want me to do now, Huck. But I can't be her superman anymore. Saving her is killing me."

Huck was quiet for a moment, letting the gravity of what the other man said rain down on him. He saw how stooped his shoulders had become, saw how wistful his expression became, heard the resignation thickening his voice as he finally gave up. He knew Jake had been hurt by Olivia more than anyone else – but he also knew that Olivia loved Jake like she'd never loved anyone else. He'd watched the tapes of her crying alone by herself at night in her apartment – screaming out his name in her sleep, sobs wracking her body. She kept the stoic façade in place during the day at work, but at night, Huck knew that she completely fell apart in her grief. Ever since she'd been abducted, Huck had made sure to keep her entire apartment under constant surveillance so that any other threats to her safety and well-being could be detected and eradicated quickly. He didn't realize that the biggest threat to Olivia's well-being might be Olivia herself.

"Look man, you don't have to believe me if you don't want to. You can see for yourself what she's like."

Jakes eyes flickered down as Huck handed him a folded slip of paper. He opened it up and saw a series of numbers coded inside – an IP address.

"You've been watching her?" Jake stated more than asked. Huck's noncommittal shrug was all that he needed for confirmation of what he'd already guessed.

"Someone needs to watch over her. She isn't as invincible as she likes to think. Log on to that site tonight and watch her for a little while. If you still think she doesn't need you, doesn't love you after you see what she's like, then I'll respect that and not ask again."

Jake stared at the numbers for a few more minutes before looking up with intentions to respond to Huck; however the latter had already disappeared back into his alcove and to whatever lay beyond that. Jake was alone with his thoughts again, but this time he didn't want to be. Thoughts of her came unbidden, and with them the dangerous levels of hope he should know better than to feel by now. He worked hard to school his face back into one of passive indifference before folding the paper back into itself and shoving it in his pocket. He had a role to play right now – he needed to be the moonstruck newlywed Rowan and Vanessa expected, the one that only had eyes for his new wife, while attending the function later this evening. He didn't have time to dawdle with thoughts of the one woman who would always have his heart – even if she didn't want it. He'd made a commitment, and he would honor that commitment… and worry about Olivia later.