"What are you doing? You cannot be here." The words were out of Olivia's mouth before she had time to think about them, much less stop them.

But there he was, and Olivia couldn't help it – this was the closest she had been to him in too long and she took in everything that was only inches away from her. Her eyes immediately rested on a scar, dark pink and an inch above his temple, starting by his eyebrow and disappearing into his hair, which was…shorter, than she'd last seen. She looked over the steady bridge of his nose down to his jaw line – strong and tense. She found the curve of his neck disappearing into the collar of his blue shirt, lying under a red tie hiding cream-colored buttons.

"Tom and Hal are on their way up," Fitz started, sending chills down and then back up Olivia's spine. She forgot how his voice could be everything to her sometimes….

"They were pretty reluctant to bring me here. Very reluctant actually," Fitz walked towards Olivia, who backed up back into her apartment.

Trying to regain herself, Olivia took a deep breath, "You can't be here. It's not smart and it's really not safe. I'm leaving anyway, so if you want to speak to me, you can make an appointment to speak to me."

Fitz closed the door without looking behind him, and continued walking. Olivia was against her kitchen countertops now, the cool marble pressing against the backs of her arms.

"I can't believe it's been this long since I've been this close to you."

Olivia looked at the ground, not allowing herself to lose all the hard work she'd put in so far. He wasn't even that close to her yet, and she could feel the weight of his body pressing against her own, filling every curve the way he always did. She tried to conjure in her mind a distraction…Edison, Defiance, Hollis, Huck….

"Tell me you really thought that I wouldn't show up here? Tell me you didn't think that I would be able to see you yesterday and not need to see you again?" Fitz continued, his voice slow and sexy. "I wish you could see yourself the way I see you right now…then I know you wouldn't be telling me I couldn't be here."

Olivia looked up, "Mr. President, I have to go."

With a kind of strength and a willpower that surprised her, Olivia walked past Fitz, taking care not even to brush past the shirt on his back.

"Did you mean it?" Fitz asked, as soon as Olivia had reached the door.

Olivia stopped and turned around. She knew exactly what he was asking, but she couldn't help but ask, "Did I mean what?"

"Did you really mean what you said to me on the phone two weeks ago? When you said 'goodbye'? Did you really mean this was over and that we were over? Did you really mean to let me go?"

Olivia didn't say anything for a moment. She didn't know how to answer that. Olivia bit her lips and repeated herself, "You can't be here. You need to leave."

"Olivia."

Olivia switched tactics, ""Where does Mellie think you are?" She asked, accusingly.

Without a moment's hesitation, Fitz answered, "Does it matter?"

"It should, she –,"

"Did you mean it?" Fitz prompted, louder this time. He started walking towards her. Olivia's heart scrambled up into her throat. She had nowhere to go now but out, and every part of her didn't want to go anywhere at all.

Olivia looked into Fitz's eyes – a cool blue that softened every time they met her own brown eyes. A torturous mix of sadness and desire rose in the pit of her stomach as Fitz stopped, only a foot away from her now. The room was suddenly too hot, and had she not been so focused on the little dent above his lip, she would be amazed that she was still standing.

"I had to do it. You know I had to do it. And you being here right now is…" she paused, searching for words to say that wouldn't cut him – cut her – too deep "it's not conducive to anything."

When Fitz spoke next, his voice sounded scratched, like it was crumbling with every word, "You walked away from me on that hospital bed and for three months, I didn't see you. For three months, I couldn't hold you. And then when I can finally talk to you from a room that doesn't vaguely remind me of piss and sick, you tell me that it's over. I can't believe that. I can't believe those words Olivia. I can't believe that you would honestly tell me it's done. Why did you leave when you know you didn't want to? You can't say to me that you really wanted out of this, you can't tell me that you stopped loving me. So tell me Olivia, why did you do it? Because I know you didn't mean it."

The sides of Olivia's throat began to sting from tears fighting their way forth, and she could only whisper, "I almost lost you."

"You almost lost me?!" Fitz shouted so loudly that Olivia nearly dropped her purse to the ground. "You almost lost me?! I almost lost you! I thought you were gone Olivia, because all I had were those phone calls when I was in the hospital and then when I finally come out you leave. So no, I did lose you. You left me. I couldn't eat Olivia, I couldn't sleep… but I still tried to understand why you did it. You are the most important person to me, and I lost you. But when I saw you yesterday, I felt it and I had to come here. And I know that you telling me that I can't be here and that it's not safe is bull, because I know you felt it too. Tell me you didn't think I wasn't going to come here Liv. Tell me you didn't see the way I looked at you yesterday!"

Fitz was still shouting and Olivia's heart was breaking. He was yelling at her the painful and overwhelming truth at her she'd been trying to avoid. She couldn't listen to him. Tears were streaming down Olivia's face now and she wasn't going to stop them.

"Tell me it wasn't like we were the only people in the hall Olivia?!" Fitz yelled.

Out of a kind of frustration she couldn't recognize, Olivia yelled back, "What was I supposed to do?! Was I supposed to sit around and spend days crying over someone who I shouldn't be spending days crying over? Was I supposed to wait for someone who, when they returned, still wouldn't be mine? Am I supposed to sit here and be in love with you when I can't even," Olivia gasped, struggling to speak through the tears stuck in her throat, "I can't even hold your hand? No! I have a life. I have a job. My job is not to fall in love with someone and tear him or her down in the process. You know what I do when I'm done helping a client Fitz? I leave them alone. I don't talk to them, I don't call them, I don't wait for them, I don't watch for them, and I definitely do not fall in love with them. You have been cheating on your wife, cheating your family,and we've been letting it happen. It doesn't matter how you spin it, that's the truth. Everyday, I fall more and more in love with you and guess what? I'm still not any closer to getting what I want. And you know what else? That hurts."

Olivia breathed hard and leaned against the door. Her face was still wet but she was no longer crying.

"So Fitz, tell me you want us to continue only to be a secret forever. Tell me you want to keep doing this, and keep risking everything."

Fitz was silently staring at Olivia. His mouth was pressed into a thin line, thoughts he didn't how to say etched across his face.

"Tell me!" She shouted.

And then without warning - in what seemed like a quarter of a millisecond, Fitz was there. His lips were on her lips, hungrily and almost fearfully as though he were terrified they'd slip away. Everything else was forgotten and nonexistent as Olivia kissed him back. The familiarity of his lips was all she needed to lose herself to him, and she opened her mouth to let him in; feeling his tongue slide against hers. She pulled her jacket off, her lips never leaving his, and let it fall to floor while Fitz's arm snaked around her waist and his fingers felt for the small of her back. His body pressed into her own, his chest against her chest. Olivia ran her fingers through his hair and then dragged them up the back of his neck. Fitz's lips dropped down to her chin, grazed her neck, and then sucked just above her collarbone. Olivia gasped involuntarily, and then in one swift motion, Fitz had her on the couch, lying on her back and staring up into his cool blue eyes. She unbuttoned his shirt and dropped it to the ground, listening to the heavy sounds of his impatient and ragged breath. Fitz sat up and slid his hands up her legs. He peeled her dress away, leaving nothing left but a pair of panties. Quickly and expertly, he slid them off, letting his finger stroke against Olivia's moist, aching lips. Olivia sucked in a sharp breath and her body jerked upwards – her ribcage in the air while her tailbone dug into the couch. "Fitz," she moaned, pressing her thighs into his legs. The two of them looked at each other – all things left earlier unsaid, were said in silence. And in this moment, Olivia no longer felt like a secret. She felt powerful and sexy and loved, she felt so loved. Fitz slid his hand underneath Olivia's back and pulled her towards him, and then he leaned into her and pressed his cheek onto her own…. "My sweet, sweet baby," he whispered, and the closeness of his voice sent shivers down her sides. He slipped a finger deep inside her, encouraged by the heat and wetness he found there. "Fitz, Fitz, oh Fitz." Olivia panted. She fell back against the arm of her couch and could only lie there silently, practically shivering with her need for him. Fitz unbuckled his pants and let everything drop to the floor as Olivia took him into her hands, feeling the passion beneath her fingers. Olivia brought her hands up to his back and in an instant she felt him enter her, large and throbbing. He filled her completely and she felt lost and weak trying to get as much of him as possible. Fitz slid himself in and out of Olivia, and lost in love and passion, he took her to the edge.

x X x

A little past midnight, Fitz and Olivia were lying in her bed in a tangle of sheets, pillows, and limbs. To their right, the light of a candle was dancing on the wall and casting shadows on Fitz's face. Olivia moved in closer and pressed her nose against his face, breathing in the scent of her lavender-scented shampoo. She had just taken a shower and Fitz, unwilling to leave her side, had joined her. She smiled to herself and reveled in the happiest moment in so long.

"Do you really use all of those shampoo, lotion, conditioner things in there?" Fitz asked.

Olivia laughed, "Yes. They all serve a purpose you know, even the pretty much empty ones."

"Hey, I'm not complaining." Fitz said, letting his hand rest on the soft curve of Olivia's waist.

Olivia looked him over as he lay on top of her comforter; her eyes scanned his body, strong and magnificent. With her index finger, she reached out and touched a short and fading scar on his right arm.

"This…does it hurt?"

"No, but it makes lifting up a 60lb weight feel like lifting Thor's hammer."

Olivia instantly pulled away, looking afraid. "But you lifted me up? Back by the door. Shouldn't you not have done that?"

Fitz laughed a deep and throaty laugh. He grabbed Olivia and pulled her on top of him. "Yes, I probably shouldn't have. But can you blame me?"

Taking care not to rest all her weight on him, Olivia traced all of Fitz's scars. She started at the uneven and raised scar on his chest and then drew a line up across his jaw line to the scar right above his eyebrow.

"Craniotomy?"

"No," Fitz said clearing his throat, "that's where the bullet grazed."

He sat up a little and parted through his short hair to reveal to her a large C-shaped scar, barely starting to fade.

"That, is the craniotomy," he told her.

Olivia could only look at him. She scooted downwards to rest her head on his stomach.

"I called Cyrus every other day to ask about you. I think by the end of the first month he really hated me. But he told me everything, from…when they put in the tube in your chest to when they took it out, to the number of nurses that visited you..."

"You did? He never told me that."

"I asked him not to. I really wanted to visit you though."

"I know," Fitz said quietly. "When they took me out from the under the coma, I slept for almost entire days for about a month. And then when I realized that you hadn't once come in to visit me, I had to ask where you were. When he told me what had happened, I wanted to scream. But you know, with my lung and all," Fitz patted his chest, "the doctor advised against that."

"Where are Tom and Hal anyway?"

Fitz chuckled and combed his fingers through Olivia's hair before resting them on her naked shoulder, "Tom's downstairs outside somewhere, and Hal is standing just outside – plain-clothed."

"Mm," Olivia murmured, running her lips down Fitz's left bicep. "How did the conference with Christie and Boehner go?"

"Remember when I told you how Sally Langston was looking at me when I came back into the Oval?"

"Yeah?" Olivia giggled.

"Multiply that by five. Democrats aren't happy with Boehner, New York isn't happy, New Jersey isn't happy, and some Republicans are embarrassed. We all know that Congress adopted the legislation but it doesn't change people's attitudes. In fact, I think his re-election had the undesired effect, for him at least."

"That's an understatement. And good, you should be embarrassed. The chamber was criticized big time for not acting quickly enough on such a necessary aid package, so what you need to do is make sure you publicly distance yourself from that attitude. This isn't some unnecessary billion going to private interest groups."

Fitz leaned in and kissed Olivia, "You know, I think I actually might like you, just a little bit."

Olivia laughed and turned over onto her back so that he was lying underneath her while she looked up at the ceiling. She reached out and pulled his hands down to rest on her stomach.

"Thanks, you're too sweet. The jury's still out on you though."

Fitz kissed the top of her forehead and the two of them sat and talked about everything they didn't have the chance to say in the last four months, and then some. And then somewhere a little bit before three in the morning, they finally fell asleep – content and the happiest either of them had been in a long, long while.

x X x

It was almost six in the morning when Fitz awoke to see Olivia kneeling in bed and fiddling with her robe. It had been nine hours since he'd arrived at her apartment door, and he was still dancing inside at the fact that he was finally here with her again. He watched her silently, not yet letting her know that he was awake. Her hair was mussed with limp curls and flyaways, but she was still breathtaking. Olivia's skin – possibly his favorite part about her – was glowing a soft brown that melted his insides. No matter where she was or what she was doing, her skin was always the softest thing he'd ever felt. He could spend hours doing nothing else but running his hands over every part of her body. She was the most amazing, most stunning, most magnetic, and most intelligent person he had ever known, and even though she still wouldn't believe it, he was hers.

Olivia cinched the belt on her robe and noticed Fitz looking at her.

"You're awake," she noted, leaning in to kiss him.

"How long have you been up?" Fitz asked, a little disappointed to think that Olivia had been up for hours and hadn't bothered to wake him for company.

"Like ten minutes ago," she shrugged.

A vibration buzzed somewhere on the bed, and Olivia picked up her cell phone and started quickly texting. Instinctively, Fitz reached over and checked his own phone – "Missed Call (7): "CYRUS", "CYRUS" "MELLIE", "TOM", "TOM", "MELLIE", "CYRUS" – all of them within the past twenty minutes. He scrunched up his forehead, and sat up in bed, feeling Olivia's eyes on him, concerned.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Hold on," he put up a hand.

Fitz got out of Olivia's bed and stood in the corner of her room. He held his breath and dialed Cyrus back, who answered on the second ring.

"Where in the fucking hell have you been Fitz?" Cyrus hissed, angrily.

"Cyrus, where are you? What's going on?" Fitz asked. In the background, he heard too many different, unfamiliar voices. One of them shouted above the rest, "they're ten minutes apart, sir!"

"Mr. Grant, I don't know where you are, but your ass better find itself at Walter Reed Medical Center right now! Mellie is in labor."

The line went dead. Fitz held his cell phone in his hand watching Cyrus's name blink three times before his phone went back to its home screen. He looked over at Olivia, who was staring at him expectantly.

"Mellie's in labor."

Olivia opened her mouth and then she quickly composed herself, "Go. Don't stand here; you need to be there. What hospital? Call Tom and Hal to make sure they're ready."

"Yeah…they uh…they know. They called me." Fitz muttered, watching Olivia quickly gather Fitz's things – his belted pants, his tie, his shirt. She handed them to him and he took them from her.

"Liv, I –," he began, but she cut him off.

"Shh, just get ready. Fast."

Because he knew her too well, Fitz knew that the look on her face was only masking something much more heartbreaking. As he got dressed and listened to her assure him that she was fine and that they both knew he needed to be with Mellie and that any other argument was moot, Fitz's mind was elsewhere. He could only picture her: Olivia in the Rose Garden at a surprising loss for words when he declared his need for her, Olivia admitting her own love in front of The Constitution of the United States, Olivia sitting next to him on the campaign bus, Olivia placing a pin on his lapel…. All he wanted to do was hold her and never let her go.

Fitz stood at the door with her right behind him. He turned to look at her and she smiled, shooing him away with her hand. Quickly, he leaned in and kissed her hard on the lips.

"I'll come back," he pled.

Olivia only smiled and didn't respond. So he turned around and left without looking back, knowing that if he did, he would never leave.

After almost four months apart, Fitz and Olivia are finally together, just the two of them. But as fate it would have it, they were interrupted by Mellie and the newest Grant member (yay babies!). Poor Fitz wanted to stay, but his heart lost the battle with his head and so off he went. No one seems to really like Edison (he's no Fitz), but he is available, they must have had something really special at one point, and she does like him. Plus I think he probably wants to stick around in Olivia's life for a bit longer than last time. To everyone who has been reading, following, and reviewing – THANK YOU. Still no idea on how often I'm doing updates, but probably as soon as I write a chapter.