Hey guys! First and foremost, sorry it took so long for an update. I have been really busy with a huge transition period in my life but I hope to have more free time coming up so that I can write more in my stories! Also, let it be known that the flashback scene has direct quotes from the show, and do not belong to me, but to ABC. But the rest is original. Please review! Thanks!

Chapter 7

"The president was gravely wounded by the assassin," Cyrus said into the microphones, "But he is expected to make a full recovery and will make a statement to the public this Friday. Thank you," Cyrus finished as the crowd erupted into questions.

He stepped off the podium and gave a quiet sigh of relief. He hated press conferences. Reporters gathered around like dogs hoping for a bone, and moments like these actually made Cyrus glad that he wasn't the president.

He slowed his footsteps as he thought of when Fitz was shot right in front of him. Cyrus knew that both Fitz and Olivia had disappeared from the banquet hall for a while but he grew tired of trying to keep them apart. Fitz was hopelessly in love with her and blind to anything else whenever she was in the room.

Olivia didn't wear her heart on her sleeve like Fitz did but Cyrus knew Olivia better than most—he knew that the more indifferent and cold she seemed about a situation, the more passionate she was about it. And she'd never been more indifferent and aloof as she was when Fitz was nearby.

Cyrus had geared his entire life—his entire career—towards the goal of setting foot in the White House. He also knew that he'd only do so by latching onto a gravy train like Fitzgerald Grant, and he was right—Cyrus had hit the jackpot when he and Fitz met. But this train was on a collision course simply because Fitz refused to give up Olivia Pope.

The thing about Fitz that Cyrus used to admire most was his determination. Cyrus used to believe in that determination with conviction because so few people possessed it anymore. But that same determination became something that Cyrus grew to loathe as he realized that the Grant Administration would come crashing down around them when—not if—their affair came out.

Cyrus sat down and stared up at a portrait of Alexander Hamilton. It was his favorite portrait in the entire White House because Cyrus looked up to the man. He saw in himself the same drive and commitment that Hamilton had as the guiding hand and wise counsel of President Washington. He was the man that the very important people turned to when their lives were headed to hell in a hand basket; he was the man who should have had the spotlight and the recognition he deserved. Instead, he died with an unadorned picture in an obscure hallway in the White House, only to be gazed at by the occasional passerby.

Cyrus was in no way jealous of Fitz, as he himself would not have enjoyed the presidency as he once thought in his youth. It was more about putting on an image to the world that others wanted to see, rather than the reality. At least when Cyrus went home for the night, he was happy. No cameras followed him home and no one could care less what he did and with whom. That was not the case with Fitz, as he wanted nothing more than to be with Olivia, an impossible dream if he ever heard one.

Cyrus did not begrudge Fitz his happiness but he also wished that Fitz would just…do what he told him to do! Fitz Grant was a good man, but he could be a great man. If he did not love Olivia the way he did, he could be an extraordinary man.

But in the same way that Cyrus could not function properly without the nitty-gritty, backstabbing politics that went on behind the scenes, Fitz could not function without her. He could not sleep, he would not eat, and he couldn't make sound decisions if everything wasn't well between him and Olivia. Just look at the mess he made with Amanda Tanner! No, if Fitz was going to be able to have his cake and eat it too, he would need Cyrus' help. Cyrus did not want to crash and burn with the Grant Administration if this all came out, so he would do what he always did to insure the success and well-being of the President of the United States.

Whatever was necessary.


Olivia hadn't seen Fitz in four days and she was becoming anxious. She wanted to see him and touch him to reaffirm that he was alright. That he was alive and well and still existed. The last time they'd talked, they were happy. They were going to talk and see each other more often. She'd been excited. She'd been over the moon because they were moving forward. Because they'd made plans.

But when she watched as those bullets went through his chest, she'd felt like she was dying. It's so strange that the one time she was willing to be truly honest about Fitz, both to him and to herself, was when it had almost been too late.

When he fell, her conscience kept screaming at her, asking, 'Why? Why did you waste even a second not being in his arms? Why did you run from him when all you wanted to do was run towards him?' Olivia couldn't forgive herself for the chances they missed to be together in the past, but she could learn from her mistakes and make sure that she never took their love for granted again.

"Hey," she said, smiling softly.

"Hey," Fitz said, sadly. He looked almost…regretful. He'd called her down to the hospital after night had fallen, saying he needed to talk to her, face to face.

Olivia asked, immediately concerned, "What's wrong? Are you in pain?" Liv was about to get the nurse when Fitz stopped her.

"No," he said, "I'm fine, physically. But I need to tell you something," he finished.

Liv waited. She knew that whatever it was, he would say it when he was ready. As long as he wasn't about to say he was bleeding internally or some other life threatening thing, he could say anything in the world and it wouldn't wipe the smile off of her face.

But Fitz, of course, proved her wrong.

He took a deep breath and said, "Mellie is pregnant."

For a moment, Olivia just stood there, not comprehending. But…but she couldn't be pregnant. They'd made plans.


Fitz stared at Olivia, the love of his life, and thought, 'She deserves so much better than this.'

When she first walked into the room, she had looked so cautiously happy that he actually considered lying to her.

But Fitz had lied to her once before and promised himself that he would never do it again. Fitz thought back to how Olivia looked in the Oval Office on the night that she confronted him about Amanda Tanner and she had that exact same expression on her face now. He'd been scheduled to give a toast to the president of France that night, and while Cyrus briefed him on what to say, his secretary had told him that Olivia was waiting in his office.

Immediately, he headed that way, but Cyrus put a hand on his arm, saying, "Fitz, it can wait until you're done with the toast—"

Fitz cut him off saying, "No, it can't."

Making his way to the office, he turned the knob on the door.

"Livy? This is a surprise," Fitz said, happy to see her but trying not to show it. It took him exactly two seconds to realize that something was wrong and on the third, he knew what it was.

She knew.

And the way she was looking at him—with disappointment and hurt and confusion…with censure and regret and sadness—that look, it slayed Fitz. That look made him feel about two inches tall in her sight, but it also made him want to haul her into his arms and make sure she knew that he was her man. That she was the only one who owned his heart.

But he needed to get her alone to do that.

Fitz turned and said, "We're gonna need the room, please." Cyrus looked between Fitz and Olivia, seemingly confused to be left out of the loop for a change.

Cyrus said, "Sir, you have to give that toast to the president of France in 10 minutes. Maybe you can find another—"

"We need the room," Fitz said, leaving no room for argument.

Turning back to face the music, he noticed that anger was starting to dominate her every other emotion as she started to compose her mask of indifference. But his sleeping with another woman broke past her usual reservations and left her unable to bounce back as quickly. Liv needed him to lie to her again. She needed him to tell her that he didn't sleep with that girl and that she was the only person he loved. She needed that lie like she needed her gut instinct, but it seemed that both were in short order tonight.

"Livy—" Fitz said, but she wasn't hearing it.

"Sweet baby?" Liv asked. "Sweet baby," she said again, unable to hold back the tears gathering at the back of her eyes. She'd never cried in her entire life as much as she did since she'd met Fitz Grant.

He pointed to the ceiling cameras, reminding her that they weren't entirely alone. Redirecting her to the window, Fitz finally spoke.

"You left me," he said. As if that explained everything!

She'd left him because she'd had no other choice! She'd left because she was in love with a married man, because she couldn't watch him 'fake it' with Mellie in front of all the cameras anymore. She left because Olivia Pope was beginning to—quite recklessly—stop caring about public opinion.

She left because she'd wanted to keep him.

But of course, she said none of those things. "Because you are married! Because you said you wanted to try to dedicate yourself to your marriage. Because you are the leader of the free world and I wanted you to be a better man," she said, losing her composure. It was slipping and she didn't know how to get it back. Not after opening the barely healed wounds caused by leaving him the first time around.

"I wanted you to be the man I campaigned for, helped get elected. The man I voted for. Do not touch me! Don't touch me!" Liv said, panicked. He was getting too close and Olivia knew that she would be completely at his mercy if he put his hands on her. Because when he touched her, the world stopped. Everything just fell to a hush and she was lost to herself, her morals, and her beliefs. But he kept coming and she didn't know how to stop him as he reached his hand out and around her. And there was a tiny—okay, a large—part of her that didn't want him to stop.

With one last, desperate plea, she begged, "Please don't—"

Fitz, of course, ignored her. He wrapped his hand around her waist beneath her jacket so that he could be as close to her skin as possible. Then he pulled her into his chest and just looked at her. God, he'd missed this! No, the situation wasn't perfect, but Fitz would take what he could get, and right now, he had his Livy back in his arms and it was the most peace he'd felt in over a year.


Those few moments he spent with his arms around her were beautiful moments that he'd never forget. Fitz wondered if she'd even let him that close to her again after what he'd just confessed about Mellie. He didn't deserve Olivia but he loved her more than he'd ever loved anything and he was not noble enough to even consider trying to let her go.

Olivia looked at him and just needed to know the answer to one question.

"Is the baby yours?" she asked. Liv hadn't slept with anyone since she'd met Fitz and she had-perhaps foolishly-thought he'd do the same. She had been operating under the assumption that Fitz had been loyal to her since they'd fallen in love, but when she found out he'd slept with Tanner, it put cracks in that assumption. If he'd slept with Mellie, it would shatter those assumptions.

She knew that it shouldn't bother her if he was with Mellie...but it did. She knew that she was being unfair. Olivia knew that she'd backed Fitz into a corner when she made that… arrangement...with Mellie behind his back, but she didn't think she had any other choice at the time. Now, she wished she'd let him leave the White House to be with her as he'd planned, no matter how selfish that decision might have been.

But she needed to know. She needed to know if he slept with Mellie and got her pregnant. She needed to know if she would always be envious of Mellie Grant. Mellie, who had the whole world by having the right to call Fitz Grant 'husband' and having the freedom to love him openly. All of which were privileges that Mellie couldn't care less about.

Fitz looked at Olivia and wondered if their love was hopeless. He wondered if they were just that unlucky to have found each other only to forever be just beyond reach. He hoped that wasn't the case. He prayed that that wasn't the case.

Fitz looked into Liv's eyes and he told her the only thing he could tell her—the truth.


What do you guys think he'll say? Yes? Or No? Please review!