Chapter 4

Olivia woke to two realizations.

The first was that it was 5:30 am. For the past 2 years, she set her alarm to that time in order to get in a good workout as well as a healthy breakfast before her day started. Her body was used to the schedule so she knew that when she woke, it was exactly that time. The second realization was that there was a heavy weight attached to her middle.

She looked down and saw a familiar, warm arm draped over her stomach. She stroked her hands over his fingers and clasped them to her middle, holding tight. As she woke fully, she also felt warm breath on the area between her neck and shoulder, as well as an intimately placed thigh in between her own.

She turned slowly in his embrace so that she wouldn't wake him. As she faced him fully, Liv still couldn't believe how far she'd fallen for Fitzgerald Grant. She lifted her hand and began to trace his features, from his hairline to his collarbone and back again. She was tired and a little sore but she was also deliriously happy as well. As she recalled how many times she ended up screaming his name last night, heat flooded to her cheeks. But she wasn't alone in her ardor, for she felt a few love bites on her own shoulders and neck as well. She also felt certain that there were nail gouges on her bottom and she was pleasantly surprised at how much he liked to anchor his hands there.

'He made me break every single one of my rules' she thought, smiling. As she continued to remember everything that happened between them the night before, she leaned over and kissed him soundly on the lips.


Fitz woke to the most wonderful sensation. He was being kissed by someone, and the minute he recalled what happened last night, his eyes snapped open. He caught Olivia by her waist and dragged her underneath him as he deepened the kiss. Eyes smiling, he came up briefly for air to say, "Good morning, Livy." He didn't allow her time to say it back as he went in for seconds. And thirds.

An hour later, they lay back against a bed of their clothes, exhausted. She knew they had to get back to their respective rooms before everyone got up for the day, but she wanted a few more stolen moments with him first.

"We'll have to get up now," she said, tracing circles on his navel, and lower.

"In a minute," he said, hugging her to his side. They stayed that way, silent, for a few more minutes before he spoke.

"I wish…" he started. "I wish I could run away with you," he finished softly.

Olivia turned her head and kissed his chest. Smiling sadly she asked, "And where would we go?"

"Anywhere we wanted to go," he said. "We would just go to the airport and pick a random spot on the map. I have wanted you for seven months, Livy. And now that I have you, I'm afraid that you'll be taken from me somehow and that I won't get to keep you." He looked down at her and pushed a strand of damp hair off of her face. Laying that same hand against her cheek, he said, "The only thing keeping me here are my obligations to my children. Otherwise, I would pack you up right now and we'd be on our way out of here."

She knew that Fitz loved his children and would never abandon them for anything—and she would never think to ask him to. But his statement also caused Olivia to silently strap on her invisible armor. All this talk of 'running away with her' gave a girl ideas, but those ideas were her enemy. She had to guard herself against those ideas because one fact remained glaringly obvious: Fitz could walk away now. He could pull out of the race, file for divorce, and be with her tomorrow. So…why didn't he? If he became president, they would never be able to have an acknowledged relationship without scandal, even after his term was over.

Olivia knew that he was under pressure from a million different angles but she couldn't help that small part of her that wondered if he could ever just wake up one morning and say, 'I quit', everyone else be damned, as he walked away with her, no regrets.

Last night was the most amazing, wonderful, beautiful night of her life, but they hadn't talked about love. She hadn't said the words and neither had he. They expressed their feelings through touch and sight but they hadn't actually said the 'L' word yet. Is that why he wouldn't quit? Was he afraid that he might throw it all away for nothing or that their attraction would fade after the chaos of the campaign and thrill of sneaking glances was all over? Was he afraid that they wouldn't be 'Fitz & Liv' if they were just alone and married with nothing to do but go to work every day? She didn't know how he felt but those fears existed in her heart. And because of her fears, she did not fault him for going through with the campaign every day and still fighting to become president.

His wish might be to whisk her away to whatever country caught her fancy, but her wish wasn't that they could run away together, hiding or in shame. She wished that he would be willing to walk away from it all for her, no matter how selfish a wish it was, and simply be with her before it was too late. Because like it or not, if he won the election, it would most definitely be too late. If he became the President of the United States of America, they would never be able to have a normal life together. Ever.

Olivia sighed as she realized she was in love with Fitz and she believed him when he told her he wanted to run away with her. But their feelings were too new, too raw to risk the catastrophe of coming out with their affair only to just fall apart later.

So what was the point? Liv wondered. They couldn't get closer to one another because the election is coming up in a few weeks. And if he was elected, it would be too late to 'walk away from it all' and she knew that she could never ask it of him.

Olivia realized that the only solution was to draw away. To cut her losses now while she could still pick up the pieces of her heart before Fitz became the thing in her life that annihilated her so completely that she'd be willing to compromise her own gut and her own wants out of life. She looked at him and knew that if they continued this way, it was very likely that he would gain the power over her to make her settle for just half of him—the dirty little secret part.

But she wasn't made that way. Olivia knew herself and she was certain that if she fell in love with him completely, she would die a little each day that she was denied all of him. She would want the late night movies and the early morning cuddling. She would want the 5 o'clock shadow and the 24-hour access so that they could talk and see each other whenever they wanted to. Olivia would want to be there to massage away his worries and be his rock when he needed to be strong. She'd want children. She would want it all.

With her eyes, she told him all of these secret wishes and fanciful hopes and dreams she had of the two of them. With her mouth, she said, "You have an early meeting with the council members of Trenton County."

Fitz sighed, hoping for a different response. He felt her pulling away from him but he didn't know if that was her reflexive response or if it had to do with something he'd said. Yes, he'd wanted to run away with her because he didn't want to share her with anyone else. Not Cyrus, not her precious Stephen who she fondly talked about sometimes.

She was his.

The thought stopped him short. Then he smiled, thinking that if Liv could hear his thoughts, she'd call him a he-man. Fitz reluctantly released Olivia and rolled over to get dressed.

As he gave her his back, she gasped when she saw the scratch marks all over it. How could she have lost that much control? What was it about him that caused her to be so uninhibited as to physically mark him? But underneath her embarrassment was a distinct feeling of satisfaction. She'd marked him as hers. It was so…primal. Liv paused at that particular word. What, was she a cavewoman now?

"You'll have to wear a tie all day and button your shirts all the way to the top for a few days," she muttered.

"Why?" he asked. "Does it make me look like the kind of man who could run this country with due diligence?" he asked, grinning.

"No, it's because there are some very obvious hickeys on your neck and chest," she said, slightly embarrassed. "You need to cover them so that you don't look to be the exact opposite kind of man who could run this country with due diligence."

She thought he'd be shocked but instead his smile widened. "Really?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, standing and dressing quickly. He started to button his shirt but she knocked his hands away this time, doing the buttons up herself, even knowing that he had to shower and change once he got to his room.

"I want you again," he said, not surprised. He had a feeling he would always want her, no matter how pressed for time they were.

She wanted him again too. But she had to nip this in the bud now. If he left thinking that they would be able to continue on this way for the remainder of the campaign trail, she had to be fair and let him know the truth.

"We can't do this again Fitz," she said. "I don't for a second regret last night, but if we end up having a prolonged affair, it increases the likelihood of someone finding out. And it would be disastrous to your campaign for president," she said, pulling away from him.

Fitz looked at her face and realized that she'd flipped a switch. His Livy, the one who woke him up with a kiss and seemed so happy she was almost…giddy…was gone. In her place was straight-faced Olivia Pope, the campaign fixer extraordinaire and crisis manager. He loved both parts of her identity but if she thought he was just going to let her put up a wall between them, that he would allow her to pretend that they didn't matter, she had another thing coming.

"Okay," he said, finding his tie.

Everything in Olivia halted. She expected him to protest or to use persuasion to get her into bed again, but she didn't think she'd get his acquiescence. Although his response should have made her happy, she irrationally became both angry and hurt that he didn't protest. But, since it would be totally unfair to be angry at him for agreeing with her, she simply nodded her head once and walked away. She pushed the button on the elevator, only slightly embarrassed that they'd slept together in the middle of a hallway where anyone who'd come to the 35th floor by elevator could have walked out and seen them.

When the elevator arrived, Olivia stepped in and pushed the button for the 10th floor, planning to use the stairs to reach the 9th so that she could look out first to make sure no one would see her entering her room in the same clothes she had on the day before.

As she turned around to face Fitz, he said casually, "I'll take the next one. See you in a few, Olivia," he said. He never said her full name like that. He always called her Liv or Livy. She wanted to feel relief but she couldn't help feeling a little hurt that he was able to distance himself from her when she was always the one who put the distance between them. Was this how he felt whenever she didn't give him the eye contact he demanded or whenever she purposefully avoided him? If so, getting a taste of her own medicine was most unwelcome.


The elevator doors closed and Fitz allowed himself a small smile. He knew he'd hurt her with his fake expression of aloofness but it was necessary. While her lips said they couldn't be together again, her heart and her body were thinking something entirely different. Another time, he might have been thrown off or hurt by her statement, but her hands still had had a strong grip on his belt. And after he readily agreed with her declaration, the hurt in her eyes told him all he needed to know.

Besides, he realized that if he wanted to get Olivia cornered again, she couldn't know he was hunting her—and he was most definitely hunting her. When she knew he was looking for her, she made herself scarce or avoided him even when they were in the same room. So Fitz started to plan his next move, which would require both stealth and strategy on his part. Fitz became excited as he started to think on when and how he was going to have her the next time. Perhaps he'd plan his seduction on the roof, under the stars?

He laughed, pushing the elevator 'down' button. He was going to get off on the 10th floor so that he could walk down to the 9th in order to avoid anyone who might see him in yesterday's clothes. Of two things Fitz Grant was sure: The first was that he would have Olivia Pope again—he refused to accept anything else. And the second?

Elevators were now his favorite invention in the whole world.


I just want to say a great big thank you to all of you who have read my stories. It was so fun trying to envision what elevator scene I would have preferred to watch on Scandal and I'm glad that you guys enjoyed them too! I know you'll want to know what Fitz's plans are for Olivia in future elevator scenes and if I receive a high enough demand, I'll write more. Otherwise, I'm going to be focusing on my other Scandal story Meant to Be, because the story arc is intended to go on for a while, whereas the Alternate Elevator Scene story was simply meant to replace the one that was shown in episode 6 of the show. Again, a huge thanks to all my fans and I truly do appreciate you taking the time to write reviews on my stories!