The soft beeping and buzzing of Olivia's phone alarm continued for the third time. It was probably a bit after 4 in the morning with the sky shining through the peak of the curtains as an illuminated darkness. Olivia stirred in his arms, beginning to wake as they both knew was needed. They couldn't do this for much longer. For the increased risk of being caught as much as the emotional toil it will have of them both, especially Livvie. The skulking in and out of each other's homes, walking the Devil's Hour. He knew it bothered her a great deal. It was another problem they would have to work through for the remainder of his presidential term. For now, they were warm and safe in their cocoon.
Fitz rested his hand lightly over her ribs. He caressed down the dip of her waist then the swell of her hip.
"I guess it's time to get up," he heard Olivia say to his chest. He squeezed her a little tighter as he sighed, "yeah, I guess so. How was your day yesterday?"
Fitz heard Olivia deeply sigh once again as she slowly sat up in bed. He watch as she stretched her arms over her head and his eyes traveled down her lean back as the blanket slinked farther down.
"Well, I found Cyrus. We had an...interesting conversation," Olivia informed him as she reached for her discarded robe.
"Interesting," Fitz scoffed. Was there any other type of conversation to have with Cyrus Beene? Fitz felt his blood begin to heat again with the thought of Cyrus' betrayal. He closed his eyes and began to take deep breaths, trying to control his emotions again. Trying to shake the sight of Cyrus and Rowan Pope conspiring behind his back. Trying to shed the dead weight feeling of his son's body from his arms.
"Fitz..." Olivia's voice pierced his solitude. He opened his eyes to see Olivia's deep brown eyes staring at him with concern. Fitz leaned towards the nightstand and turned on the lamp. "I'm fine," he told her. "What did he say?"
"Well," Olivia said as she rolled out of the bed and headed for the bathroom. "He asked if you were still making it to Ella's birthday party."
Fitz knew his facial expression must have been a sight to see based off of Olivia's response to it.
Olivia walked down the stone path of Cyrus' garden holding Ella's little hand. They chatted of things almost four year olds chatted of. She didn't think Ella quite understood what her birthday meant beyond the promise of cake and friends, but she seemed excited nonetheless. Honestly, that was pretty much all that did matter for a birthday, she mused to herself. She saw Cyrus on his knees surrounded by beautiful pink peonies. Olivia sat on a stone bench near him as Ella ran off chasing a ladybug, having loss interest in her.
"Ah, hi Liv. What brings you by?" Cyrus spoke with a jovial tone that slightly surprised her but she had seen him down on his luck before. If he is this spirited, he either has one hell of a plan or has lost his mind.
"What's your plan. Cy?" Olivia asked while fiddling with one of the peonies before turning to face him head on. Cyrus continued clipping flowers as he answered, "Oh, I was thinking some type of insect or nature theme. Apparently she's been really engrossed with it lately."
It seems he had clearly lost his mind.
"Cyrus, you know what I mea…"
"We'll get some costumes the other kids can put on," Cyrus said, interrupting her. "Face paint, bug cakes. Oh wait, cupcakes. That's what's in in now, right? I don't know." He waved off the thought. "And some food a little less grubby for all of the adults. Would you mind asking if Fitz and Mellie if they are still coming?"
"Cyrus!" Olivia felt rather impatient. She didn't have the time nor will to deal with Cyrus's games. Not after the minefields she just had to navigate with her parents over the past few years.
Cyrus sighed and groaned as he got himself off of the ground and plopped next to Olivia on the bench.
"I know what you mean, Liv. I don't have anything planned beyond bugs and a cake. Rather, cupcakes."
She stared at Cyrus, his line of sight shifting from Ella to something unseen in the distance. She knew that he had weighed the benefits and consequences of blackmailing Fitz. Nothing would hold too much weight considering Cyrus would go down in the hellfire with them all. They have all been through this thought process before with varying people as challengers. It all boiled down to whether self-sacrifice was an option.
Olivia wiped the plucked peony petals from her skirt and looked up to see Ella collecting various rocks, bugs, and other natural paraphernalia in her shirt, her little, round belly peeking out. Was she his deciding factor? The reason he stepped back? Olivia would greatly like to believe that of her sometimes friend, but she'd known him far too long.
"And what happens after bugs and cupcakes," she said. "After a few months of domestic life or a relatively mundane job? When you aren't feeling so…zen?"
Cyrus sat still for another moment or two, then gave a slight shrug. "You know me, Liv. I always bounce back." Cyrus gave her an ominous look that made her anger and impatience begin to ebb up again.
"After what he did to Jerry. To Fitz. To me. Why did you help him?" Olivia stared at him again, trying to break his façade.
Cyrus slid off of the bench, grunting as he returned to his flowers while speaking, "You know me, Liv." Olivia stood up and began to walk away but was stopped by Cyrus's voice.
"And Liv, you know Fitz. And Mellie. And yourself," he said with an irritating matter of fact tone. Olivia turned back towards the house, crushing flower petals under her feet.
Fitz watched Olivia through the mirror as she finished with her hair, pondering Cyrus's last words with her. "What do you think he will do?"
Olivia turned from the mirror to face him, "Plan a birthday party. We all know too much of each other's dirty deeds. He's looking at what tools he has left and trying to figure something out. Hopefully he does some soul searching while he's at it. If not, he knows what I'm capable of."
Fitz nodded, knowing that they played a delicate game. He would call it chess but it seemed much more like Jenga. Startegically pulling out undesirable pieces and waiting for someone else to screw up and inherit the blame. He then saw Olivia reach for his toothbrush and present it to him. "Your turn," she said. "What happened with Mellie?"
"Yelling and more yelling," he said as he grabbed the toothbrush from her. They switched positions as he went on.
Fitz held his pounding head in his hands as he sat with his elbows propped on his desk. He looked up to see Mellie flushed with the same rage he felt. They had been yelling at and over each other for 20 minutes before they both just lost their breath. He didn't have time for this. He was dealing with a crisis and needed to get back but knew this problem needed to be quelled.
"We'll just have our lawyers talk from now on," he said as he rose from his desk.
"You selfish son of a bitch!" Mellie was completely livid again. She gripped the edge of his desk and spoke through clench teeth. "Does it always have to be about you?! Do I always have to come in behind you? Will it ever be my turn?!"
"What the hell do you think we've been doing for all of these months?" Fitz' retort was just as vicious as he leaned over the desk to meet her nose for nose. "You are Senator of Virginia. We got you elected with no previous political positions held with a path towards the presidency. Everything you've always wanted, right? Well, now this is it. The last line to cut us free besides our kids. We are done and you can be whomever you want to be." Fitz walked towards the door again to leave. He needed to be away from her. To stop himself from saying anything else.
"You wouldn't even be where you are if it weren't for me and what I've done for you!"
"Yeah, well neither would you!" He whirled back around towards her. "That's why you did it all, right? To make sure you made it here, too. Right?!" Fitz stared at Mellie, waiting for an answer. She just stood there with her arms crossed, her fist balled so tight he was sure her nails would leave marks.
Fitz sat down in his chair very precisely and leaned back. He spotted the picture of them with their children from his time as governor. He kept his gaze there as he continued.
"And you were raised that way. Your parents made sure, from birth, that you would be some politician's wife and not much else. It was sexist and wrong and not your fault. I get that. I understand having some predestined future. Being a piece of someone's agenda, damned if you have any say." He looked up at Mellie then, seeing her face soften just a bit but still looking at an invisible stain on the floor.
"That's why I don't get why you have fought me so hard about this divorce. After the presidency. When I told you we would do exactly what we have done over these last months. Get you on your own two political feet and away from my shadow. You reacted as if I wanted to boil you alive. Why?"
Mellie just mechanically shook her head. She closed her eyes and he could see the tears slowly swell at the edge of her eyes. "Too much," she whispered. "I have done too much for you to…"
"And you shouldn't have. You should have said no. I should have said no."
Fitz' eyes went back to the picture on his desk.
"I shouldn't have cheated on you. I should have followed through with the divorce years ago. I shouldn't have kept Defiance a secret once I found out. I should have been a better father. I shouldn't have sacrificed the lives of those soldiers for…." Fitz felt his chest tighten as he choked off the last words.
"But all of those decisions had consequences that I didn't want to deal with, so those were the decisions I made and I can't change that. I can't rewrite history. What I will do is try to right those wrongs and it starts with us." Fitz quickly rose from his seat and stood facing Mellie. He lifted her face and stared into her eyes, trying to see through to her.
"It's time for you to do it on your own now. I can't be your fallback anymore. I won't be your scapegoat or the tool you pull out when needed. I…we…I can't be that person for you. I thought I could for a while, but I can't. I won't."
Mellie pulled away from him and scoffed. "I guess some people can handle more than others." She left for the door spoke over her shoulder, "Our lawyers will talk."
"I still don't think she understood what I was trying to say." They had moved from the bathroom and sat next to each other on the bed. Fitz toyed with Olivia's ring, twisting it on her index finger. He didn't think he knew exactly what he was trying to say either.
He knew she wouldn't be happy until she got those years back. The years she spent behind him. He couldn't give that to her, though. He could only try to give her a jumpstart for her future. That's what the senate seat was for. She would have to find the person she needed on her own. The person that would better her instead of just accomplish an agenda with her. Fitz found that in Olivia. He couldn't help Mellie on that path.
He realized then that maybe there was enough conversation of Mellie while he was with Olivia, half dressed and still a bit apprehensive about their current situation.
"And that was the second hardest conversation of the day," he spoke to Olivia, trying for a lighter tone. "All Karen said was 'ok' before hanging up." Olivia gripped his hand, stroking the back of it with her thumb.
"It's going to take time. And work but it will get better." Her voice and words were soothing. He hoped they were true as well. He didn't even know where to begin with his daughter. How would he ever make it ok with her?
Olivia leaned heavily into him. She kissed his still bare shoulder and he felt the smile she made. "I think after all we've been through, teenage angst should be a breeze." He felt her nervous chuckle on his shoulder as well. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her forehead.
"If you ever need to talk about it, you can always talk to me, ok?" He stroked her harm gently, trying to elicit an answer.
He could barely hear it but she did softly speak an "ok."
They stayed still for a few minutes longer. They held onto each other giving and receiving small touches. A twirl of his hair, a caress down her fingers, a stroke of his back, and on and on. Just existing with her felt euphoric.
Olivia's phone began to ring again, this time with a text message. She slowly reached over to grab it off of the nightstand and stayed in that position, laid across his lap. He began to hope they would have a bit more time that morning. He wanted to see where the touches would take them before life pulled them out of their stupor. He felt her body tense as she finished the text message and knew that today wasn't the day.
"I have to get going." Olivia got up and grabbed her purse and shoes from the corner of the room where they were neatly placed. He got up to walk her to the door where is agent was waiting to take her wherever she wished to go.
He pulled her up to his lips and gave her a faint kiss on her mouth. Her felt her push herself up to deepen it and smiled. "Would you like to go out with me this weekend?"
Olivia gave him a bewildered look. "I've spent the night twice and now you want to ask me out on a date? What kind of backwards man are you, Mr. President?" He felt her press against him a bit harder and he wondered how many morning appointments he could push off.
"Yours," he replied on her lips. "Always yours."
Olivia smiled and bent to retrieve her dropped purse. "Well, I'm a very busy woman and I'll have to check my schedule but I think I could make this weekend work. Call with the details and I'll let you know." She then whirled out of the room with one last smile over her shoulder.
Fitz closed the door and leaned back on it feeling like some love-sick teenager. He rubbed his face feeling his puffy eyes, shaved skin, and near permanent smile and wondered just what kind of date would impress Olivia Pope.
