Disclaimer: I don't own scandal
AN: I am so, so, so, so sorry for the long length time between updates. I started school again, and I don't care what anyone says, senior year of high school is not fun, but stressful. Anyways, I've been feeling under the weather so I went to the doctor and he diagnosed me with a severe case of the lazies. He prescribed hard work, and that has produced this next installment, lol.
Two weeks after they decided to give their relationship a chance, Fitz and Olivia were sitting in the same room that he had over a year ago addressing the sextape, about to announce their relationship to the entire country. He had contacted Diane Sawyer to conduct an interview and would be going live in about an hour. They figured that since he was the president, it wouldn't stay a secret for long and they wanted to be the ones to break the news to the country. Before the meeting, they had to break the news to his children, Karen and Gerry.
"LIv and I…Liv and I are in love and she and I have decided to be in a relationship," Fitz broke the news as gently as he could to his children. He expected shocked expressions but instead, what he got from his fourteen and fifteen year olds was a look that said 'finally'.
When their mother left, although they had missed her, neither of them really put up a fuss or took it negatively. They still talked to her on a regular basis and were even scheduled to spend some time with her in Florida next month. They've known for a while that their parent's relationship was an unconventional one and were happy that the arguments and the cold looks were a thing of the past.
"Finally you guys said something. We were wondering how long this was going to take. Pay up Ger, I win," Karen said rather excitedly with her hand out.
Grumbling, he dug in his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill, "You really couldn't have waited another month could you?" Although he was mad to lose to his little sister, he was happy that his dad and Liv were giving it a go.
"Wait, you two had a bet going on?"Fitz asked, dumbfounded that his kids knew of his relationship.
"Yup." They said in unison.
"How did you guys even know we were going to get together," Liv questioned, speaking for the first time.
"Please, it was written all over Dad's face the first time we met you. It was so obvious that you two liked each other, and as time passed, we could see that like transform into love. Dad became a different man, happier. And so when he divorced Mom, we knew it was only a matter of time until you two got together," Karen told them as if they insulted her intelligence by thinking they had kept this a secret.
"So you guys are okay with us being a couple?" Fitz asked, just wanting to be sure.
"Of course. We like Liv a lot. She keeps you in check. You need her and we're just happy that she's back. For good this time." Gerry surprised Fitz with his statement. He knew the kids liked Olivia, but he had no idea how in tune they were with him.
"I told you this wouldn't be a problem," Fitz said, addressing Olivia. How about we all have dinner tomorrow?" The kids readily agreed and went off to do whatever it was teenagers did.
So here, over an hour later, Olivia and Fitz sat hand in hand and watched as Diane Sawyer read over here note cards, not saying a word to either of them. Olivia knew by her demeanor that this was not going to be a friendly interview and that Diane was going to be the voice for women scorned everywhere. Taking a deep breath to settle her impulsive behavior, she looked over at Fitz and squeezed his hand. He would be her rock to not go off during this hour long question and answer segment.
The director told them that they had less than a minute before they went live. Running a hand through her hand one more time, Olivia pasted a pleasant smile on her face and sat up straight, getting ready for the verbal assault she knew was about to ensue. The cameraman began to count down, and on 'three', Diane finally looked up and the interview began.
"Good afternoon Mr. President," she smiled brightly at Fitz, then as an unwanted afterthought, "Ms. Pope." Although her smile to Fitz had been genuine, hers to Olivia had been as real as a purple spotted unicorn. They both responded in kind and then the real interview began.
"So Mr. President, are we to assume that the woman you were speaking of in your interview is Ms. Pope?" Diane asked after she briefly glanced at her cards.
"That is correct. Olivia and I are in love and we are not longer going to hide that fact," Fitz answered, turning to smile at her when he did so.
"How did Mrs. Grant, your children, and your staff react to the news of not only your divorce, but your affair?" Olivia did not miss the way she emphasized Mrs., as if she was irrelevant in Fitz's life and his wife would be back soon.
"Of course Mellie didn't like the fact that I was leaving her, but it was more about losing the position than losing me. My children, they are dealing with the changes in their own way, but each love Olivia, and are happy that I am happy. As for my staff, they realized that this was a big distraction for me and now that my personal life is in better shape, I will be in an even better position to run the country." Fitz spoke as truthfully as he could, hoping to make up for his former lack of honesty.
"The way you are speaking , it sounds as if you have no qualms about cheating on your wife and lying to the American people," Diane noted, starting to turn up her line of questioning.
"I wouldn't say that. What I will say is that in my position, it is hard to be true to yourself when the truth is something the American people frown upon. I had to make a decision, either be an unhappy liar living a sham of a life, or a happy individual that tells the truth and lives the life he dreamed of. I chose to be happy, I chose Olivia."
It took everything out of Olivia not to cry at his admission. After his statement, the director decided to cut to a three minute commercial break. Olivia was grateful for this, and as soon as the recording light went off, she pulled Fitz down for a kiss.
"What was that for?" he asked her when they came up for air.
"Because I love you so much," she told him, wiping her lipstick off his lips with the pad of her thumb.
Once again, she did not miss Diane's eye roll at their public display of affection and knew that once the commercial was over that it would be her turn to answer questions. Hair and makeup came out and touched everyone up, then once again the camera man counted down and signaled Diane to begin speaking.
"We are back with President Grant and Ms. Pope, covering the first and only look inside the relationship that shocked the nation," Diane began, looking directly into one of the cameras. Then turning her attention back to Olivia, " Ms. Pope, how do you feel about being labeled by some sources as a home wrecker, a power hungry whore, the new Angelina, and a terrorist for trying to break up the nation," Diane finished with a malicious glint in her eyes.
"Wow. I have no idea where those adjectives came from seeing as how we are just now announcing our relationship but I take no offense to them. As Fitz has stated, he was living a sham of a life. His relationship was long dead before I came into the picture. We fell in love, and as much as I tried to fight it, we are better together than apart."
Diane continued on with questions like, "Do you have no shame in being the other woman,' and "do you have advice for any other woman who has been in your shoes," "how does it feel to be the cause of the first Presidential divorce," and her favorite, "has Rielle Hunter reached out to you , so that you two can stand united in issues such as this,". All the while Olivia kept her calm, although by the end of the interview, she had a feeling that Fitz's hand would need some ice because she was squeezing it so hard.
"Well thank both of you for answering the questions honestly and I wish each of you the best in your relationship." Diane said facetiously and with that, the interview was concluded.
The camera crew was packing up and Diane was about to leave when Olivia stopped her with her words. "Are you jealous? Is that why you asked me all of those ridiculous questions, making up sources when those were all your word?" she wondered aloud.
"Excuse me. What would I possibly be jealous about." Olivia had been itching to reveal the information she had gathered about Diane in case of an instance such as this.
"Of the fact that Fitz left his wife, quite possibly even the presidency, for me. Jealous of the fact that he had more to lose than your George, but he still took the plunge. A plunge you have been begging Mr. Stephanopoulos to make for years now, but he won't," Liv smirked.
Diane's mouth was agape as her blue eyes shone with shame, surprise, and anger. "Maybe you, Rielle, and I should do lunch. Discuss forming a group of mistresses, oh but wait, neither of us are mistresses any more, but you are. Never mind then." And with that, Olivia grabbed a laughing Fitz's hand and exited the room, leaving Diane Sawyer to wish she never agreed to do this interview.
Later that evening, around 5 or so, Olivia had finally made it to her office. She, Fitz, and Cyrus had spent the entire day reading blog posts and watching the news to see how the public had received the President's news relationship. The reviews were about 50 /50. Half of the country hating Olivia (the women that had been cheated on, no doubt) and the other half realizing how in love the two were. The entire time, Cyrus huffed and puffed and stated under his breath how stupid they were being. He made it a point to let them know it was a mistake and that Fitz should just be single. Fitz had to threaten firing him several times before Cyrus finally shut up.
She sighed and sank into her office chair, rubbing her hands down her face. Just as she was about to turn on her computer and get some work done when a knock sounded at her door, and her entire team poured through.
"What the hell Liv? The President. REALLY. You didn't think that was something I should've known about?" Abby was the first one to speak, well scream. Her attitude matching her fiery red hair.
"Hey, calm down. I'm sure Olivia has a perfectly good explanation," Huck stated, defending her as always.
"I sure would like to hear it," Harrison chimed in.
" What is there to explain? I 'm sure everyone has watched the interview and put two and two together. We met, had an affair, fell in love, and are now together, end of story and conversation." Olivia said, addressing the entire room.
"I thought we had a deal, Liv?" Stephen questioned, looking hurt that she didn't at least tell him.
"Wait, you knew all along," Abby interrupted, becoming mad all over again.
"Yeah well, I called you before I called him, needing you to talk me off the ledge, but you didn't answer. So I jumped. Lucky for me, Fitz was standing at the bottom to catch me. I don't regret my choice and I won't let you make me feel guilty for loving him," she answered, ignoring Abby's death stares.
"How selfish can you be? It is not your time to be together…" Stephen started to yell, but was cut off by a deep voice coming from behind him.
"I beg to differ. " Everyone turned to see Fitz standing in the doorway, wearing a tuxedo, holding a bouquet of roses, looking incredibly handsome.
"Fitz…what are you doing here," Olivia wondered, more than happy to see him.
"I'm here to take the woman I love on our first real date," he replied, smiling brightly, then crossed the room to gather her in his arms, flowers in all, to give her a kiss. She heard Stephen curse in the distance, and heard the rest of team leave, but was too distracted by his lips to even care.
"Hmmm…where are we going?" She whispered against his mouth as they broke apart.
"That, Ms. Pope, is a surprise."