Melting Magnets

Chapter Nine:

Record Summer

"Olivia have…What are you doing?" Fitz placed his hands on his hips, staring at the woman lounging on the chaise chair by the pool. Her red bikini top lay on the warm stone. She had her hands above her head, gripping the top of the chair, drawing attention to her exposed, perky breasts.

"Sunbathing," she muttered, keeping her eyes closed.

"Like this?" He smirked. The sight was a welcomed one, even if she had, more than likely, planned it on purpose. The weekend was almost over and neither showed any inclination of giving into the thick sexual tension surrounding the house. He knew she was expecting him to give. Twenty years of marriage to Mellie had more than put him up to the challenge of a sex-less weekend, though. He refused to cave.

"Is there something wrong with the way I'm sunbathing?" Her tone was innocent enough. Shaking his head, he turned to re-enter the house, calling over his shoulder.

"I was going to take you on a date, but if you'd rather sunbathe…"

"A date? Since we do we date?" She called, turning her head toward the sliding glass doors, popping an eye open. He looked amused, almost boyish as he winked at her.

"There's a time for everything."

Tilting her head, she followed him into the house, goosebumps splattering her skin at the feel of the cool air conditioning. She crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing her biceps - her top still lay on the patio, forgotten. Fitz paused by the sofa, his eyes travelling her body. The thin, red material of her swimsuit bottoms barely covered anything.

"Where?" she questioned, her voice drawing his attention back to her face. She inhaled sharply when he inched toward her, his large hands gripping her hips, calloused fingers caressing her soft skin. Her arms fell, hands grasping his shoulders and eyes staring into his.

"Dinner and a movie. Girls like that, right?" He was only half-joking. It had been a long time since he had gone on a date. He and Mellie…they had both been too busy for dates after their marriage and, by the time they weren't, their marriage had long fizzled out.

"Since when do we do dates?" Olivia repeated, moving her hands to his hair, running his thick tresses through her fingers.

"I get the impression you don't want to go on a date with me."

"I just don't get why there's a sudden push to go on a date. We don't do things the traditional way. That's not who we are - we aren't traditional."

She frowned when he dropped his hands, taking a step or two back. The irritated look on his face wasn't one she was familiar with.

"Is there a reason you don't want to go on a date with me, Olivia?" His exasperated sigh was all the confirmation she needed that he was annoyed.

"I told you I'm not the dating kind." She lowered her eyes - that had been a long, painful conversation before she had left for uni. They both had admitted that they still had no idea what they were doing, but for some reason or another not having a label bothered him. She hadn't wanted to call him her boyfriend - to admit that they were dating. She wasn't ready to date - and neither was he. She didn't need a label, though. It didn't eat at her conscious that they had become, for lack of a better word, fuck buddies. Sure, if she wanted to admit - which she did not, there were some feelings that went beyond casual sexual attraction. Hadn't agreeing to call him her boyfriend been enough?

"You've made that clear." He was angry. Crossing his arms, he eyed her, silently demanding an answer.

"I'm not ready to date. I told you that!" Her voice rose an octave on the last word, her own frustration seeping through. They had incredible, hot sex. Why complicate it?

"Olivia," he sighed, running a hand through his hair, "I can't keep doing this. Not with you."

"Why? Why do we have to date?" she demanded, her hands going to her hips.

"Because I can't treat you like a fuck toy, Liv. Even if you weren't Eli's daughter - you deserve better than that."

"Really? That's what this is about? Me being Eli's daughter?"

Exhaling sharply, Fitz threw his hands in the air, narrowing his gaze at her. His tone made her jump: "Damnit Olivia! It's not always about your father. I care about you, okay?"

Shaking her head and raising her eyes to meet his, she spoke:

"Can we not talk about our feelings and just focus on having fun together while I'm here?"

"What happened to you that you think you're so incapable of being loved?"

"I never…"

"You didn't have to," turning his back to her, he called over his shoulder as he left the room, "Let me know when you're ready to leave."

/

Olivia entered her silent dorm, dropping her duffel on the floor and hitting the light switch as she kicked the door closed. She was glad Viti was still out - she didn't feel up for talking about her weekend. Fitz had barely said a word to her after their fight and during the ride back. Sighing, she reached for the bottle of whiskey she had tucked away under her bed. They weren't supposed to have alcohol in the dorm, but what they didn't know…

Twisting the red lid off the bottle, she took a swig, grimacing at the warm, cinnamon infused liquid. Fireball. She wasn't a fan, but it was the only kind of whiskey Viti would drink. Crawling onto her bed, she crossed her legs and leaned back against the wall, the liquor bottle nestled in her lap.

That's how Viti found her, hours later, when she returned to the room. At some point, Olivia had fallen asleep. Her neck was stiff - using the wall as a pillow wasn't a good idea. She raised her arms above her head, stretching and yawning while Viti shut the door behind her, turning the lock.

"Have fun?" Olivia questioned, glancing at her lap and raising a brow at the sight of the liquor bottle. Shrugging, she raised it to her lips and took another swig.

"Sure…" Viti tilted her head, her long, brown hair falling to her waist in straightened layers. "I take it your weekend wasn't that great?"

"Nope," Olivia stretched her legs out, letting her feet hang off the side of the bed. She frowned as she allowed more of the warm, foul-tasting liquid to trickle down her throat.

"What happened between you and Fitz?" Viti kicked her heels off, shimmying out of the tight, black dress she was wearing. Tossing the dress in the laundry basket at the end of her bed, she reached for the discarded Green Day shirt on her bed, slipping it on. Hopping onto Olivia's bed, she settled into a spot beside her friend, wrapping her arm around the other woman.

"I'm jaded."

"What?" Viti reached for the bottle of whiskey in Olivia's friend, taking a swig and holding tightly to the neck of the bottle afterwards - Olivia didn't need more.

"He wanted to go on a date."

"I need more, Liv. Like how is that a bad thing? He's your boyfriend."

"I don't want to go on a date. I don't want to call him my boyfriend."

"Huh? What? You like him. A lot."

"But not enough to call him my boyfriend."

"That's not true. I think you're just afraid."

"That's what he said."

"And you don't think he's right?"

"I'm terrified that he is." Olivia raised her feet, lifting her knees to her chest and resting her head on Viti's shoulder.

"Did you tell him this?"

"We didn't really talk after I said I didn't want to go on a date."

"You need to talk to him, hun."

"And if he is right?"

"Then I say the two of you work it out. Together."

The two women sat in silence for a while. Viti rubbed Olivia's arm. She was used to Olivia comforting her after a bad date. It was different to be the one doing the comforting this time around.

"I blame most of this on my shitty childhood."

Viti glanced at Olivia when she finally spoke, breaking the silence in the room. Hearing her refer to her childhood that way was new to Viti. Olivia didn't speak much about when she was younger, but the small reference here and there sounded amazing. From what she had gathered, Olivia's mother gave her an astounding level of freedom. That was something Viti hadn't experienced until recently and even now, her parents called almost daily for updates.

"Your shitty childhood?"

"I didn't know my dad. My mom told me that he hated me and I spent most of my time wondering what I had done to make him not love me. Then I discovered that drinking numbs the pain. You don't care how fucked up you are if you're drunk. And if you show just enough skin, men notice. They notice enough to do whatever you want them to do. I manipulated people. All the time."

"Is that what you did to Fitz?"

The guilty look Olivia threw her way was enough to give Viti the answer to her question. Inhaling deeply, Olivia reached for the bottle that was still in Viti's hand, grateful that her friend didn't stop her from taking it and a long, healthy drink.

"That's what I did to Fitz at first. When my dad told me that his friend was going to pick me up from the airport because he had a meeting that kept him from being there, it was like everything my mom had said was true. Sleeping with his best friend was a way to get his attention. And I had it. For about ten seconds before he told Fitz he was okay with us sleeping together."

"Wait what?"

"As long as Fitz agreed to divorce his wife."

"You know: you should probably see a therapist."

"Probably," Olivia giggled, handing the bottle of whiskey back to Viti, who leaned forward to sit it on the floor.

"Not that I don't love our chats, but I'm definitely not qualified to help you get over all of that. Your dad really isn't pissed that you and Fitz are a thing?"

"I don't think my dad really sees me as his daughter."

"I'm sorry, Liv."

"Nah. It's okay. Ya'know? We share DNA. He didn't raise me. There's a difference between being a dad and being a dad."

"When I first met you, I wished that I had had the same freedom as you."

"Google my name some time. You won't wish that."

Viti tilted her head at Olivia's words. She was tempted to hop from the bed and grab her phone, but she decided to wait. Olivia needed her more.

"You should try to sleep, Liv. You're already going to have a killer hangover in the morning."

"I'm French: I don't get hangovers," Olivia winked, yawning and twisting around on her bed as Viti hopped off. She laid back against the pillows, her eyes shutting instantly. Viti reached for the small throw at the foot of the bed, tossing it over Olivia before bending to grab the liquor bottle. She found the red cap on the dresser, replaced it, and carefully tucked the bottle back into its hiding spot under the bed. Setting her alarm for earlier than needed, Olivia was probably going to have to be dragged out of bed, she climbed into her own bed.

/

"Why do I feel like I was hit by a train?" Olivia yawned, sitting on the hard floor of the dorm. Her head hurt. Her body hurt. And now her ankle throbbed. Her legs had gotten tangled in the throw as she was trying to get out of bed. If her head hadn't been so foggy, she might have been able to avoid the ungraceful tumble to the floor. Somehow, the throw had wrapped around her ankle, twisting it as she fell. She sat, rubbing her tender joint, and watched as Viti slowly shoved herself out of bed.

"What did you do?"

"I fell."

"Can you stand?"

"I don't know." Olivia scooted toward the bed, placing her hands on her mattress and manoeuvring herself until she was on her knees. She lifted one leg, placing all her weight on her good foot before lifting herself into a standing position and tenderly placing her other foot on the ground. She winced, biting her lip hard, at the sharp pain that shot through her ankle and up her leg the moment her foot made contact with the ground. Twirling on her one foot, she collapsed on the bed.

"I take it that's a no. Email your professors and I'll try to help you to the doctor."

An hour later, Olivia sat in an exam room with Viti, waiting for the doctor to enter with the results of her X-Ray. The exam table was hard and the paper covering crinkled noisy every time she so much as breathed.

"The universe hates me."

"Or the universe is trying to tell you something."

"Like what?"

Before the other woman had a chance to respond, a tall, classically beautiful doctor entered the room. Olivia's stomach instantly sank. She recognised that face. Why hadn't the nurse mentioned who her doctor was when she'd taken her to get the X-Rays? She almost wanted to just bury her face in her hands and try to disappear.

"Hi Olivia. I'm Doctor Grant." Great. She was still using his last name. This wasn't awkward or anything.

"Hi."

"So your X-Rays show a fracture right…here." She hung the X-Ray on the light box, hitting the switch and pointing toward a faint line near Olivia's ankle.

"Does this mean I have to have a cast?"

"Unfortunately, you will need a cast, but lucky for you, the fracture isn't bad enough to need a full leg cast. I'm going to get you fitted in a walking cast. And despite it's name - I'd like for you to do as little walking as you can while your ankle heals. Any questions?"

"Nope."

"Alright. I'll go get your cast and I'll be right back. Did you need a note for school or work while I'm out there?"

"Could you give me a note for my classes?"

"Of course. I'll be right back."

Olivia breathed a sigh of relief when she finally left the room, turning her attention to her friend.

"See? The universe hates me."

Viti tilted her head, raising a brow at her friend and prompting Olivia to explain:

"That was Fitz's ex-wife. You know, the one who heard us together on the phone. Yeah that's her and she's ridiculously beautiful."

"And so are you. But he's in love with you - not her. You just need to get off your high-horse and call him. The universe loves you which is why it gave you a reason to call him - and a reason for him to be a doting boyfriend."

"I hate you."

"You love me."