"I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun."
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice.

It was almost 1am on a Tuesday morning when Fitz and Olivia next spoke; she'd kept her distance for the past few days. She'd felt the spark between her and the soon to be Governor and she didn't like it. Well she liked it. But she couldn't want it, or encourage it. So distance it was. Well physical distance that was. It didn't mean she couldn't stare at him when he was giving speeches, or when he was in deep discussion with other campaigners. He was gorgeous. She couldn't believe that the man was 30 years old, there was no way. Well he did work out. Sometimes coming in early in the morning still in his workout clothes before changing into his suit, sweat looked good on the man. Well, anything looked good on him, especially white. Today he was wearing a white buttoned up dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, Olivia could almost feel his muscles moving. But his body was just one thing she had been staring at over the past few days, along with his hair that she physically had to stop herself from running her hands through, his smile was the thing she loved most. His charming Grant smile was enough to knock panties off every woman in America, but the smile he had reserved just for Olivia, was heart melting. She'd catch his eye across the room or he'd reply to a question she was asking with a beaming smile that turned her insides upside down. That's why she had to keep her distance, the man was a walking photo shoot, and she had to stay away. Fitz however had other ideas, he wanted to know everything there was about Olivia, he got enough out of Cyrus without raising suspicion but he wanted to hear it from her. He was fascinated with her, the way she would roll her shoulders and un kink her neck was one of the sexiest things he had ever seen a woman do and he couldn't help imagine her doing it as he lay beneath her in his bed. She was grace personified, the way she held herself was the way a ballerina would herself, with precision and excellence. Her walk was another thing that sent him crazy, he could spend hours watching her walk around the campaign office, her body swinging naturally. Fitzgerald Grant was an ass man and dear lord, did Olivia Pope's live up to his standard, it didn't help the fact that she favoured skin tight jeans everyday of the week. He was in heaven and hell simultaneously, this woman would be the death of him. He had to have her.

As Tuesday rolled around and there was only a few in the campaign headquarters, Fitz knew this was his chance to talk to Olivia, to get to know this woman who was such a incredible mystery to him, he waited until Cyrus had left, the last thing he needed was Cyrus on their case. He fluffed around with polls and stats until he saw her flicking through pages letting out frustrated sighs every few seconds, she needed a break, and it was his perfect opportunity.

"Olivia hey." Fitz said as he sat down at the table where she had pages of information, statistics and polls thrown across, placing a bottle of water and a banana in front of her.

"Sir what can I do for you?" She asked without even looking up, not acknowledging him.

"Stop calling me Sir for starters." He said trying to grab her attention, but she still didn't look up, focusing on the paper she was reading like it was the cure for cancer.

"Mr Grant, what can I do for you?" She replied, grabbing another page to compare to the one she was reading.

"Seriously Olivia?" Fitz asked. That got her attention and her head flew up, their eyes meeting.

"Excuse me?" She asked.

"Sir? Mr Grant? What is that?" He replied.

"That's your name and don't even ask me to call you by your first name because that would be inappropriate. Now what do you need?" She was frustrated with him now, he could tell, she grabbed the water, opening it and taking a long sip.

"Tell me about yourself." He rested his elbows on the table, his hands interlaced, and waiting for her response, she closed the water bottle back up, staring at him.

"We're not doing this. I'm busy trying to get you elected; we don't have time to play 20 questions." She put her head back into the page she was reading.

"That's right, my campaign. So as the man running for Governor, I demand you stop reading, give your brain a moment off from the continuos cycle it runs and tell me about yourself." He smiled at her, hoping it would bring her out of the shell she had cocooned herself in, she dropped the papers before looking up at him, gauging his reaction.

"I'm 19 years old, my middle name is Carolyn after my mum, she's been dead for 5 years, she grew up with Cyrus and that's why he's my godfather, my father is an alcoholic who when he is sober yells at me about why I'm studying law at Harvard instead of doing something more productive because apparently lawyers do nothing that helps the world." She took a deep breath in. "I was captain of the swim team in high school and also valedictorian. I have my own apartment because the idea of living on campus didn't appeal to me. I spend my spare time reading and following politics, except we all know I'm apolitical." They shared a smile over that, because it was true, she would tell anyone that would listen that she was apolitical. "I'm smart and I'm good and I'm really tired of people underestimating me because I'm a woman not only in general but also a woman of colour." His heart broke for her as she lowered her head, taking a moment before she raised it again. "And I believe in you, I believe you can win and I believe one day you could be President of the United States and that's why I'm here; because you have something that I can work with, you could change the word Fitzgerald Grant." They shared a smile. "Is that enough for you?" She asked as he continued to smile at her.

"You're perfect Liv and someday you're going to change the world." He said as he walked off leaving her to her papers, finally learning a little bit more about the mystery that was Olivia Pope.

"Get it off, get it off." Olivia said as she walked into the room as Fitz went over his speech for the final time.

"What? Liv?" Fitz asked having no idea what this woman was talking about, he was hoping he was hearing it for the reason he wanted to but considering they were in a room full of campaigners he was thinking she probably wasn't on the same page as him.

"Your tie, you look ridiculous." Her eyes scanned around the room. "Bradley, give me your tie. NOW." Considering that the golden rule of the campaign was never say no to Olivia Pope, Bradley gave her his tie.

"This is getting filmed Mr Grant. It's going to be on national television and if you wear that tie, people aren't going to be talking about how much they want to vote for you, they'll be talking about how bad your tie is." She said as she began to tie it for him, her hands brushing against his neck sending a shiver down his spine as he watched her face laced in concentration.

"What would I do without you?" He asked looking deeply into her eyes, but like the past week, she once again broke eye contact. "Liv." He said slowly.

"Stop it with the eyes Grant." She said light-heartedly as she focused on brushing down his lapels and tie, making sure he was presentable.

"If you stopped doing that, I wouldn't have to. Just look at me." He said seriously his hand resting on her elbow.

"Stop it." She glared at him, they were playing with fire and he knew it. "We are in a room full of people. Pull yourself together." She said removing herself from his personal space and walking off to read something from another campaigner. Fitz sighed, this woman was going to be the death of him, and he'd only known her a week.

"So? What do you think?" Fitz asked as he walked off stage into the wings where Olivia and Cyrus were waiting. He'd just given a speech to a group of college students; it was being filmed not only for the college's website but would also be broadcast across media stations on the 7 o'clock news. He needed their votes, the 18-25 age group was crucial to him winning and he wasn't afraid to admit that he was a little anxious before his speech.

"Good, good! They lapped it up. I think you have this group of voters Fitz!" Cyrus said clapping him on the back before walking off to get the poll numbers from an aid.

"Liv?" Fitz asked, her opinion was the one that mattered most, this was his first public speaking event since she'd joined the campaign and he wanted to impress her. She contemplated answering for a second, their eyes joining as she cocked her head to the side, thinking.

"You did good." She finally answered, "You should be proud of yourself." She replied with a smile.

"Good? That's all I get from you guys? Good?" He was slightly annoyed; he thought he had done better than good.

"Are you complaining right now Mr Grant?" She said with a cheeky smile, teasing him. "A good from Cyrus and I is something you should strive for. Start complaining when we say its okay or fine." Olivia replied a small chuckle, this man was desperate to impress her, but she wasn't going to give him, what was she was suppose to tell him? That she'd hung off every single one of his words, that he was brilliant and that he had definitely 100% won this group of students. No, she couldn't say that, because she was keeping her distance, being professional. Her thoughts were broken when he let out a small chuckle.

"I forgot you guys were political masterminds. I guess I'll take what I can get." He replied with a smile as he began to walk over to Cyrus who was calling his name.

"Hey." Olivia said grabbing his attention; he spun around meeting her eye. "You did good." She said with a smile that he had never seen before and his heart soared, she was proud of him, and that's all he ever wanted.

"Stop it. You two are like children." Cyrus said separating Olivia and Fitz by picking Olivia up and moving her to the other side of the table, away from Fitz.

"Cyyyyyyy." Olivia whined out as she sat up properly in the seat he had placed her in. "I was winning too." She said with her famous Olivia Pope pout.

"As if you were Olivia." Fitz scoffed.

"I was too!"

"Was not!"

"STOP! Liv, I have a headache so please give Fitz back his cards so you can help me with this speech, Fitz, your suppose to be going over your speech for next week's campaign dinner. We don't have time for you two to be playing card games." Cyrus huffed as he flicked through pages of information, he had given them a half an hour break to get their silliness out but now he needed them to focus.

"Sorry Cy. We've been working since 6, I convinced Liv to play with me, I was getting a bit stir crazy." Fitz replied taking the blame for their impromptu game of cards, he'd spent two hours trying to convince Olivia to play with him before she finally gave in, claiming she was only doing it to shut him up.

"Give me the speech Cy. Lets do this." Olivia replied, her worker mode immediately switched back on as she shared a smile with Fitz. "I was totally winning and you know it Grant." She said with a chuckle.

"In your dreams baby." Fitz replied, joining in her quiet chuckle before they broke eye contact getting back to their respective speeches.

A/n Thank you all soooooooo much for your kind words, favourites and follows! Continue to do so! P.S congrats to our girl KW on 1 million followers on Twitter – that's something to celebrate! Love M. x