And here's part two picking off right from where 1 left off. Enjoy!
Meet the Family (Part 2)
Olivia wakes up to being roughly swayed around then the feeling of being carried in someone's arms and she guesses that that someone is most likely only one person.
"Fitz…" She whispers, stirring in his embrace and slowly opening her eyes.
"Hey, Livvie," he whispers back, pulling at the door to the house and then sliding it open fully with his foot. He uses his arm to close it and then says to her, "I wish I could have you in my arms all night but I'm not sure your family would like waking up to see that, especially your Grandpa. Also, I think a bed is much more comfortable."
Olivia fully opens her eyes and sees that the whole house is dark and quiet, telling her that everyone has gone to sleep. She wonders what time it is but doesn't ask because as soon as Fitz gets her to the top of the stairs, she can tell that he doesn't know where to take her to.
"Just put me down. I can find my way to Emmy's room," she tells him, and he gently does, still supporting her body in her sleepy state.
"Do you remember where the room you're sharing with Nathan is?" She asks him.
"Mmm, yeah. Goodnight, Livvie," he says, kissing her forehead in accordance with his nightly ritual.
"Goodnight, Fitz," she says back, yawning as she starts toward Emmy's room. She sees that Emmy is fast asleep and quietly fishes through her suitcase for her pajamas and toothbrush. Once she's done changing and brushing her teeth in the adjoining bathroom, she crawls into bed with Emmy, who wakes up as soon as she feels the bed move.
"Liv?" she calls out, flipping around to face Olivia.
"Hey, Em. Sorry for waking you up," Olivia says, getting comfortable under the covers.
"No, it's okay. I was going to wait up for you but I feel asleep," Emmy says in the middle of yawn. Once Olivia is settled in, Emmy pauses a moment and says, "I like Fitz, he seems like a great guy for you."
"I think so, too," Olivia replies, smiling to herself.
"Do you love him?"
"Yeah, I…really do," she answers truthfully.
"That's good then. I think he really loves you, too. He's also nice and super handsome. I hope that when I'm your age I find a boy like that."
"You will, Emmy, but don't worry about that stuff now, just focus on being a kid, okay? The older you get the more you miss it, believe me," Olivia tells her reassuringly.
Emmy nods. "Yeah, okay."
They lay in silence for a few minutes and then Emmy turns back onto her side and says, "Goodnight, Liv."
Olivia closes her eyes, still facing the ceiling. "Goodnight, Emmy."
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After saying goodnight to Olivia, Fitz heads to the room that he and Nathan are sharing and expects Nathan to already be asleep like everyone else, but he walks into the room to see Nathan watching a movie on mute with subtitles. Fitz gives him a small smile and Nathan nods back in response. Fitz quickly finds his nightwear and his toothbrush then heads to the bathroom. After he's done, he quietly slips back into the room and gets into his bed. He checks his phone and notices that it's about 1 am and that he and Olivia had fallen asleep outside for almost four hours before he woke up. He quickly checks his messages to see that Mellie texted him 'Happy Thanksgiving' but with none of the Emojis she usually included. Of course she was pissed at him for not calling or anything else but she at least had the decency to say something, unlike him. He sighs in frustration as the feeling of self-loathing comes back to him. He would call her in the morning.
"I can turn the TV off if it's disturbing you," Nathan says.
"It's alright," Fitz tells him, plugging his phone back into the charger in the wall and flipping over on his side so that he's facing away from the screen. Nevertheless, Nathan decides to turn the TV off anyway about five minutes later and after several moments of silence, Fitz thinks he's gone to bed too but Nathan breaks the quiet by saying, "I know that you're not a bad guy and that you seem to care about Liv. She's…crazy about you."
Without hesitation Fitz says back, "I'm crazy about her."
Nathan acknowledges this with silence. "Just a few weeks ago, she called me about being her alibi to see you, and I didn't like it but she is my sister and she's covered for me many times before so I guess I felt like I should have her back this time. I also really haven't seen Liv this happy in a long time and it feels nice to see her this way, but our dad—he's a sociopath, and I'm sure she's already told you about Edison…"
"Yeah, I'm well aware of your dad's world domination plan but Liv and I are trying to figure out a way to make our relationship work."
Nathan waits a few seconds before asking, "What about your other…girlfriend?"
Fitz again feels a pang of guilt and answers, "I feel like a craphead for what I'm doing to Olivia and I really want to break up with the other girl, Mellie, more than anything but Liv doesn't think it'd be a smart move right now, so I'm going to do it at the end of the school year so that we're less likely to get found out by Mellie and my father, who wants me to be with Mellie, and also your dad."
Nathan digests all this and sighs. "Just—take care of her, please. I know she wants to be with you more than anything else and there's nothing I can say to stop her from seeing you, so take care of her, alright?"
"I promise I will—with my life. I love her so much already," Fitz says, meaning every single word.
"Taking care of her also involves doing something hard, like possibly letting her go if it'll keep her safe, like from our dad or anyone else. If you really love her, you'd do what needs to be done," Nathan tells him point-blank.
Fitz ponders this and can hardly fathom letting her go, especially since he's promised her over and over that he would never do such a thing—he was in this with her for the long run. He starts to get more curious about who and how Eli really is and doesn't believe Eli would go as far as seriously hurting Olivia to get his way since Big Jerry would never do anything like that to him, no matter how angry Fitz made him. Fitz shakes the idea out of his head and tries to go to sleep, focusing his thoughts solely on Olivia because that always manages to calm him down and he quickly dozes off.
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Fitz wakes up to a soft kiss on his lips and the sweetest voice in the world, saying, "Fitz…wake up, babe."
His eyes flutter open to see Olivia smiling down at him and sitting on the bed. He gives her a sleepy smile.
"Good morning, beautiful," he says groggily, pulling her down to him and wrapping his arms around her.
"Fitz…" She objects, but he just holds her tighter. "Fitz, we need to get up."
"Why? It's not like we have to go anywhere. We could probably hang out in here like this for another hour," he says, now seeing that Nathan's bed is empty. He starts to peck at the back of her neck, willing her to say yes.
She stifles a moan of pleasure. "As much as I want to…it's already almost 11am and some of my family members want to say bye to you before they leave. So we need to get up, mister," she says, managing to wiggle her way out of Fitz's embrace before he can do anything.
"Oh," he says, reluctantly sitting up. Olivia nods and gets up but Fitz pulls her right back onto the bed and before she can protest again, connects his lips with hers for a slow, gentle kiss. They pull back and he wipes the hair out of her face so that he can stare at her eyes. She stares back at his in a similarly hypnotic fashion but eventually quirks an eyebrow at him and gives him a smile that is adorably sexy. "Whatcha lookin' at?"
"Have I mentioned how gorgeous your eyes are?" He asks, refusing to look away.
She blushes and he loves how he still has this effect on her. "Let's go, Prince Charming," she says, getting up this time and waiting for him by the door, probably so that he can't try anything to make her stay with him. He finally climbs out of the bed and follows her.
They head down the stairs together and Fitz follows Olivia to the foyer where everyone is waiting. As soon as they all see him, Fitz gets a load of greetings and ridicules as they all grin and laugh at his appearance.
"Someone finally decided to wake up," Maya says, smiling at him.
"Aww, poor man still looks half asleep," says Grandma Stella sympathetically. "What did you do, Liv, yank him right out of bed?" They all laugh.
"Nice hair," says the twin Fitz is 80% sure is Justin, he'd have to ask Olivia how to tell them apart later. He can only imagine how crazy his hair looks but he stopped caring about fixing it first thing in the morning a few weeks ago after Olivia told him to leave it because she adores his messy curls.
He smiles shyly at them all. "Yeah…sorry."
They tell him they're just giving him a hard time and then those who are leaving grab their suitcases and head towards the cars they came in. Grandpa Joe and Grandma Stella, along with Maya's sister's family are staying for the weekend because they live in different states and want to get the most out of their trip. Fitz inwardly groans at this, not because he has something against Olivia's grandparents but because he really didn't want to have to deal with the twins for even one more day.
After everyone leaves, Emmy asks Fitz if he wants to go see her room and Fitz undoubtedly agrees. She takes him by the hand and drags him along like she did the day before with Olivia, which everyone finds amusing. Fitz expected the room to be all girly and princess-like or to look like whatever most 10 year-old girls are into these days, but he's surprised to see that it's instead decked out like a library. The room is almost like a two-story, with the bottom being used as some kind of play or recreational area with beanbags, a mini couch, and a fridge, microwave, and flat screen, similar to the guest room he's staying in. At the back of her room is a queen-sized alcove bed, partially hidden by curtains. A small ladder connects to a sort of mezzanine that encircles the entire room and that is dedicated to the library part of the room, with the bookshelves carved into the wall so that the books are actually in the wall and a work table right in front of the window that gives a pretty nice view of the city. He also sees many portraits of famous leaders and politicians framed on her walls, along with a few small foam statues of what he assumes are her favorite people or people she admires, including Abraham Lincoln and President Obama.
"Wow," is all Fitz can say. He's seen pretty extravagant rooms and even had a few growing up as a kid but has never seen one quite like this, especially since it was so unexpected from him of her to have a room so mature.
"I got it renovated this summer since I had been bugging Mom and Dad about having a more grown-up room that showcased more of what I liked—and it ended up being perfect! Do you like it?"
"Yeah, it's amazing, Emmy. I don't think I've seen anything quite like it for a bedroom before," Fitz tells her still looking around the room in amazement.
She smiles back at him. "I used to be really into girly stuff but Liv is really smart and she told me that you get that way by reading and doing well in school so I did just that. I really want to be a lawyer and be just like Liv someday, since she's a great student and great person in general. She's probably my biggest supporter and I feel like she really believes in me and doesn't treat me like a little kid like everyone else, you know? She's also beautiful, inside and out."
Fitz nods, smiling hearteningly down at Emmy. "Yeah, she is, she's extremely beautiful and one of the most amazing people I've ever known, and I have no doubt that if you really want to become a lawyer too someday, you can do it."
"Thanks, Fitz. And just so you know, Liv really loves you and she deserves someone good like you. I hope you guys stay together forever!" She exclaims.
Fitz grins and then says quietly, "Me, too."
Before they leave to go back out with everyone else, Emmy quickly tells Fitz, "And don't mind Justin and Jordan because they're idiots and they're just jealous of you because you're better-looking and more charming than them—they could really take a few lessons."
Fitz laughs at this and thanks her as they go out to find everyone else.
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For the rest of the day, after cleaning the house up a bit, everyone kind of just branches out and does they're own thing. Maya and the rest of the adults hang around mostly in the living room either talking or watching TV, the twins and Nathan stay upstairs for the majority of the day in the house's game room playing video games, Emmy spends her time cooped up in her room working on a project for school, and Olivia and Fitz stay outside, coming in occasionally for food and bathroom breaks, to get some private time, something Olivia thinks they've gotten a little too used to since they're always spending time together in secret.
Around 5pm they decide to come in for good, only to be sent back out again by Maya who wants Fitz and Olivia to take the kids out to a local fair that's set up in town every year the day after Thanksgiving. Maya says it'll be good for all of them since they've just been sitting around the house all day and she wants them to do something fun before they all leave. Fitz and Olivia agree since they really don't have anything else better to do and after a little reluctance from the boys who claimed they were in the middle of a video game that they'd been playing for the past five hours, all the kids are out of the house by six and piled up into Maya's Sequoia, though Emmy wasn't too happy because she was the only one in the very backseat of the truck.
Olivia takes notice that the fair isn't as packed as it was in previous years, so Fitz is able to find parking not too far away from the fair. Fitz buys enough tickets for three hours for everyone with the money Maya gave him, though he wanted to pay for it with his own money but she insisted on him using hers, and they go in. The twins and Nathan split off from Olivia, Fitz, and Emmy, having found some games and rides they deemed cool enough to check out. Emmy doesn't wait long before she's whisking Fitz around the fair and getting him to win prizes for her. Olivia knows Emmy's starting to get clingy and wants to tell her to tone it down, but Fitz doesn't seem to mind and looks like he's actually enjoying playing every single carnival game Emmy takes him to, so Olivia doesn't bother them.
"Here you go, my dear," Fitz says with a goofy smile on his face, handing Olivia a medium-sized, stuffed Tweety bird.
"This really wasn't necessary," she tells him, but takes it anyway.
"Yeah, it was. Normal boyfriends win prizes for their girlfriends all the time—and while this relationship isn't normal, I'm making sure that you get the full Fitzgerald Grant experience and this is part of it. So, don't even think about protesting, Liv, because I swear we are not leaving here until I win you that," he tells her, pointing up at a life-sized white teddy bear in a black hat hanging up at one of the game booths.
She laughs, shaking her head. "You are relentless."
Before he can reply, he hears Emmy call from the booth, "Fitz!"
"The princess calls so wait here, my queen," he says, winking at her and walking back to Emmy. Fitz stays true to his word and wins Olivia the huge teddy bear and also gets Emmy a small pink Angry Bird. They move onto rides and go on a few mild ones together before finding a rollercoaster that's suitable for Emmy which is where they also locate the twins and Nathan who are already waiting in line to go. Olivia decides to sit this one out since she feels like she's already gone on enough rides for the day. Fitz leaves her with her teddy bear that he's carried for her around the park, along with the rest of their prizes and promises her that he will go on the ferris wheel with her after this ride. Olivia can see that he feels a little guilty for not doing much with her at the fair because of Emmy but Olivia isn't even the least bit upset since they spent the entire day together and she's just glad that Fitz is getting along so well with everyone, especially Emmy.
She watches as Fitz and Emmy get onto the ride, sharing a cart and wave frantically back to her like little kids. Olivia waves back, laughing, and continues to look at them as Emmy takes off the over-sized, funky glasses she's wearing, fixes them on Fitz's face, and poses with him to take a selfie before the ride starts. As they take off, Olivia relishes in this perfect moment and feels full of hope that maybe her and Fitz can have the life together that they've always wanted and as she watches her favorite people in the world put their hands in the air and scream their heads off then laugh it off, she actually envisions how things will be years from now when all the hard stuff is over and she and Fitz are officially together. But she gets that familiar pang at the back of her mind whenever she's being too hopeful and before she can think any further about it, the voice she never wanted to hear again says from behind her, "So, you're with him now."
She flips around fast to see Jake staring at her, feigning an indifferent expression but she can see the anger and hurt in his eyes.
"Jake, what're you doing here?" she says slowly, refusing to fully look at him.
"This is a public event, Liv, anyone can come. And I'm visiting my parents for the holiday, probably like you are."
She nods, still glancing away.
"I didn't know that you had family up here—mostly because you never really did want me to know anything about you or your family, it's like you were in the Witness Protection Program or something—"
"Is there a point to what you're saying right now? Why are you even talking to me, Jake? I told you I didn't want to see you again."
He remains quiet for a few moments, staring intently at the ground, which is slowly making Olivia uncomfortable. She glances back at the rollercoaster and sees Fitz and Emmy laughing away, calming her down a bit. "I just…have one question. Did you dump me for him?"
She gives him a puzzled expression. "Who? Fitz?"
"Did you know him before we broke up? Did you have feelings for him while we were dating?"
"Jake, I hadn't even met him before mid-September—"
"See, I don't think that that's true because Fitz claimed to have a girlfriend that went to Berkeley, just like you but he never really talked about her, he never even gave up a name. He said he met her during the summer and I was with you for the entire summer. But at the beginning of the school year he comes to California to see this supposed girlfriend and two months later, he's moving all the way across the country—to attend Berkeley. So, I don't think that you met him in September, I think you knew him a lot earlier and you guys decided to start some kind of secret, long-distance relationship, only you were still dating me. And you continued it after you broke up with me."
She positions the teddy bear on the ground, so that she can look at him clearly and says, "Really? You think I was cheating on you and then broke up with you for him? I ended things with you because you were acting like an asshole and I was frustrated and fed up with it, that's why, and I've moved on so I don't know why you can't."
He sighs, shaking his head. "I'm sorry for whatever went wrong and for however I made you feel that made you want to end it, but you were acting so distant from me during those three months and I felt like I had a right to question it especially since we were doing great before the school year ended."
Olivia looks at him incredulously. "Question what? Why I didn't want to sleep with you? You thought that there must've been something wrong with me just because I didn't give into you? Jake, here's a news flash—the world doesn't revolve around you and your supposed needs."
He looks away from her and hesitates a few seconds before saying angrily, "I'm sure you're giving it up to him whenever he wants it. And you probably think that he's just the greatest thing that ever happened to you but when he's done with you, I'm sure he'll have more little whores to entice to fulfill his needs."
Olivia glares at him and walks away, mumbling, "You always did have a way with words."
Jake quickly goes after her, trying to apologize like he always did whenever he would go too far, but she had had enough. "Liv, I'm sorry—"
She stops and turns back to face him. "Don't call me that! This is why I broke up with you—because of the crappy, messed up things like that that you said to me. And if I had known Fitz while we were dating, I probably would've dumped you for him because Fitz is more of a man now than you will ever be. Oh, and who I am or am not screwing is no longer any of your damn business. Goodbye, Jake."
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Fitz helps Emmy off the rollercoaster cart as she goes off animatedly about how scared she was at a certain part of the ride and how she thought she was going to be sick.
"Did you have fun, though?" He asks, now regretting the ride, thinking it was a little too much for her.
"Yeah, it was awesome!" She exclaims, bringing a smile to Fitz's face. "Liv should've come on with us. Where is she anyway?"
Fitz looks at the spot where they left her and doesn't find her but about ten feet to the right of there, he sees her with no other than Jake Ballard and by the way they're looking at each other and standing, they're having an argument. His blood immediately starts to boil and his body urges him to march right over there and knock Jake's teeth out, but his mind is telling him that wouldn't be the best move, especially with Emmy standing right there, looking between Olivia, Jake, and him in confusion. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? Olivia said that she had set him straight months ago but that wasn't the case since he was there in the flesh with her right now. Unless Olivia hadn't told the truth and she was still talking to him behind Fitz's back. He pushes that thought away, knowing it's false because he knows how much she loves him and that she wouldn't lie to him about that. He leans down to Emmy so that she can hear him through the loud music that just started playing from the ride and tells her, "I'm going to go over there and see what's going on. Nathan and the twins are almost off the ride so can you wait here until they come?"
Emmy is still confused but nods. "I'll be right back," Fitz tells her and then walks over to Olivia and Jake as fast as his legs will carry him. He gets there just as Olivia is saying, "…is no longer any of your damn business. Goodbye, Jake."
He rushes to her side, seeing that she's obviously in distress and asks, "Olivia, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," she says. He makes eye contact with Jake, burning holes through him and notices him shrink back slightly. Fitz takes the big teddy bear at Olivia's side, placing it next to him and pulls her to him, putting his arm around her waist. He feels her instantly relax in his embrace but doesn't take his eyes off of Jake. He wants nothing but to go over to Jake and punch the crap out of him for making Olivia feel even remotely upset by what he did or said, but he knows she wouldn't want him to make a scene. Through gritted teeth he says to Jake, "Can I help you with something, Jake?"
Jake looks back at him with same level of contempt but Fitz continues to stare him down, standing his ground. Jake nods to himself, accepting that this interaction is over and says with a spiteful smile, "No. You two have fun together." And with that, he's off.
"Fitz…Fitz, that kind of hurts," Olivia says, shaking him out of his defensive trance. He notices that his fingers are jammed into her side and he lets go, apologizing, "Sorry, Liv. Are you sure everything's okay?"
"Yes, Fitz, he didn't do anything to the bear because if he had I would've kicked his ass, but we're alright," she jokes, rolling her eyes. He gives her a small smile but he hasn't completely calmed down and won't until he knows what happened. "What happened?"
"Fitz, don't worry—"
"Liv…"
"It's not like I was in any danger. Yes, we argued and he acted like the jerk I know he is but I had it handled. And then you marched over here like you were the freakin' Hulk getting ready to smash him to pieces." She sighs and goes on her tiptoes and puts her hands to his cheeks, shifting his face down to hers. "Thank you for having my back but I can take care of myself. I had it handled."
He puts his hands gently on her waist to steady her and stares into her eyes and it does the trick to calm him down. He lets it go, deciding to trust her and agrees, "You had it handled."
"Yes." She gives him a gentle kiss on his lips.
"If you want to go back home we can. I'm sure Emmy and the boys have gotten their fair share of fun for tonight."
She takes his hand as they walk back towards where Emmy is waiting with the boys. "They probably have, but you still owe me a ride on the ferris wheel, remember?"
He smirks. "Of course."
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The next day is much like the day before in the sense that the family just hangs around the house together. Olivia and Emmy wake up early in the morning to help their mom cook a big breakfast since Gloria and her family were leaving around 10am. In the late afternoon, everyone starts asking for food again so Fitz offers to make the family turkey sandwiches using the leftovers from Thursday to give Maya a break from cooking for once, and Chris decides to join him while Olivia helps Emmy with some homework but even from all the way upstairs, she can hear the two guys getting along just great.
After Olivia and Emmy are done, they go downstairs because they expected the sandwiches to be long done but when they get to the kitchen they see that Fitz and Chris have barely started but they give the excuse that they're making something else to go along with the sandwiches so it's going to take longer. The two guys continue their conversation about the best sports cars they've ever driven as Olivia and Emmy join Nathan in the backyard and kick around a soccer ball for a half an hour before Fitz calls them in, saying the food is ready. They all eat in the living room while watching an old sci-fi flick for the next two and a half hours. After that, Emmy and Nathan go upstairs to play a Wii game and Fitz and Olivia stay with the adults in the living room to casually chat with the news showing on the TV in the background.
They're in the middle of a heated discussion about how different kids back in the older days were compared to now when Fitz's phone goes off. He checks the caller ID and Olivia sees his whole body language go from relaxed to tense and rigid as he says, "It's my cousin. Sorry, let me just step out to take this."
They nod understandingly but Olivia feels dejected because she knows that 'cousin' is hers and Fitz's code name for Mellie. They resume the conversation but Olivia isn't really engaging as she looks out the window at Fitz, who's pacing around with the phone pressed to his ear, looking just plain tired. She tries to listen to her family talking but as five minutes go by she can't help but feel a pang of jealousy growing. Fitz catches her gaze and rolls his eyes, shrugging and mouthing 'sorry'. She mouths back 'it's okay' but she can see that he knows it's not. She concentrates on the TV which actually manages to keep her attention since the local news is broadcasting a small fire at some restaurant downtown. As she continues to watch, she hears Fitz's voice and thinks that he's just finishing up with Mellie but when she hears her Grandpa's voice in an icy tone, she gets up to see what's going on.
"…didn't sound like it," she hears Grandpa Joe challenge, as she walks around the corner to the foyer to see her Grandpa staring Fitz down and Fitz trying his best to stay calm.
"What's going on?" Olivia asks, crossing her arms over her chest and looking between Grandpa Joe and Fitz for an answer. Both men remain quiet for a few moments before Fitz turns to Olivia saying quietly, "I was just talking to my cousin." He shrugs but Grandpa Joe continues to glare at Fitz and tells him bluntly, "And like I said before, it didn't sound like it. Is there something you'd like to share, Fitzgerald?" Olivia flinches at the coldness in her Grandpa's voice as he refers to Fitz by his full name, knowing that he's extremely upset and isn't letting this go so easily. And if Olivia was right and Fitz had just gotten caught talking to Mellie by her Grandpa, things for the both of them were about to take a turn for the worst tonight if she didn't do something.
Fitz opens his mouth to speak and comes out tongue tied. He clears his throat but before he can say anything, Olivia tells Grandpa Joe, "Seriously, Grandpa, it's just his cousin. She's been…going through a hard time lately so…Fitz has been comforting her and they've gotten close. And I don't know what you heard but can you just let it go. It's not what you think it is." Olivia is surprised at how well that lie came out and feels guilty about lying to her grandfather, especially since he's just looking out for her, but him knowing the truth at this time would do more damage than good.
Fitz nods. "Really, sir. She's just my cousin and nothing else."
Grandpa Joe glares at the two of them for a long moment before relenting. He nods tolerantly, saying to Fitz, "Alright, I'm…sorry for running to conclusions so fast, but I'm a grandfather so I hope that you can understand that I will always want the best for my granddaughter."
"I do understand that and I'm really trying to give that to her because she deserves nothing but the best," Fitz says, turning to Olivia and giving her a wayward smile. He looks back at Grandpa Joe and tells him, "And I'm sorry for any confusion."
Grandpa Joe gives Fitz a subtle nod and goes back into the living room to be with the rest of the family. Both Olivia and Fitz exhale and Olivia feels like she hasn't taken a breath since she confronted her Grandpa. Fitz opens up his arms for her and she gladly goes into them. "That was close," she mumbles against his chest.
"I really hate lying to your family like this," he says, keeping his voice low.
"Me, too, but we have to stick to the plan," she says reluctantly.
"But the plan doesn't really involve them. Didn't you say that they don't even talk to your father anymore? We could tell them."
"They'd hate you forever, Fitz, they would never trust you with me again. For now they're just going to have to believe the story that we've shown them…we just need to figure this out."
Fitz sighs but agrees with silence. "I was going to go take a shower. Care to join me?" He says, bringing his voice down an octave, making a chill run down her spine.
She looks up at him and chuckles nervously. "You are shameless."
"So, is that a yes or a no…?"
She laughs out loud and swats him on the arm. "In your dreams, mister. If we even tried that, my Grandpa would kill you with his own two hands since he's already so suspicious of you."
Fitz laughs at this and says quietly to her, "In my dreams, indeed." He pecks her on the lips and heads toward the stairs, leaving Olivia feeling electrified from his comment. She waits a few seconds, trying to return her breathing to a normal rate before joining her family in the living room. She sits down next to Chris, putting her feet up on the couch. "Everything okay, Liv?" he asks.
"Yeah, everything's fine," she replies, giving him a smile which he returns. They start watching some detective show but once a commercial comes, five minutes into the show, Grandpa Joe says, "Olivia, can I talk to you in the kitchen?"
"Um, sure…" she says hesitantly, a little nervous as to what he wants to discuss now. She follows him out of the room into the kitchen and sees her mom, who she didn't even notice wasn't in the living room with them earlier, washing a few plates in the sink. She gives them a small smile which turns into a frown when she sees her dad's troubled expression.
"What's going on?" Maya asks, wiping her hands on a towel.
Instead of answering Maya, Grandpa Joe turns to Olivia and asks, "Where's Fitz?"
"Upstairs taking a shower," she replies. "Why are you asking?"
He sighs and says in a soft tone, "Liv, I know that you really care for Fitz and that you may be starting to get tired of me meddling in your life, but I only do it because I love and care about you." He takes a deep breath before saying, "Olivia, I think that Fitzgerald is seeing someone else."
"Grandpa, we already talked about this, that was his cousin on the phone," Olivia says, half annoyed and half anxious with this idea being brought up again.
"Not from what I heard. I went along with it back there because I didn't want to embarrass you in front of him in case I was wrong, but I thought over it some more and I know what I heard," he assures her.
"And what exactly did you hear?" Maya asks, confused as ever.
"Something along the lines of 'you're the only one for me' and he called her 'honey', too," he says, squinting as he recalls the conversation. "Do those sound like things cousins would say to each other?" He asks, turning to both Olivia and Maya.
"I think you heard wrongly, Grandpa, so please drop it. Fitz, is a good guy, he wouldn't do that," Olivia tries to downplay.
"I don't think you quite believe that," he says. "Do you think there's a possibility he might be dating someone else as well?"
They both look to her and she swallows quickly before, answering, "No."
"Olivia, you're lying," her mom says without hesitation. "What's really going on?"
They both turn to her expectantly and Olivia racks through her brain, thinking of believable ways to get out of this because she knows the people in front of her are two of the most intuitive individuals she's ever met in her life and she knows that they won't let her go until they get something solid. She sighs and says truthfully but vaguely, "It's really complicated, you guys."
Her mom crosses her arms over her chest now staring at her daughter expectantly and Olivia can't help but think about how similar they really are. "Well, explain it because I have all night."
"Me, too," Grandpa Joe says.
Olivia shakes her head, seeing just how serious they are. "We still have another day here and Mom, I don't need you staring Fitz down during that whole time or you, Grandpa, trying to kill him in his sleep. I promise I'll tell you everything a little later but right now is probably the worst time for this discussion, so can we drop it for now."
"Just answer me this," Grandpa Joe says calmly, but not letting up his guard. "Do you know if he's seeing another girl?" Olivia looks away, shaking her head again like it's a ridiculous accusation, and doing her best to hide the answer in her eyes but she realizes too late that her silence doesn't help. "Olivia, do you know if he is seeing another girl?" Grandpa Joe repeats in a more stern tone.
Olivia simply shrugs at them, giving them the answer. "Like I said, it's complicated, but I…I love him and he makes me happy," she reveals truthfully, instantly regretting it because of how silly she now sounds. She sighs. "I know I sound like some stupid, lovesick teenager for saying that but it's true. And it really isn't what you think."
Her Grandpa raises his eyebrows at her. "You love him? Olivia, you are better than this. What in the world would make you settle for a boy that is two-timing you?"
Maya cuts in before Olivia can say anything, "Look, Olivia, I know you think you love him but you're still so young and trying to figure out what love really is. Don't make the same mistake I did with your father. Don't trust someone with your heart who doesn't deserve it and fool yourself into thinking it's love and then end up with your heart broken and your view of what love should be distorted. I know he's charming and handsome and he swept you off of your feet but to him it's a game—he's playing you."
Olivia looks away from them, refusing to hear it and starts explain, "You guys don't understand, that's why I keep saying it's complicated. It's complicated because of my dad and his father. Dad wants me to date and eventually marry Edison Davis, the son of another black mogul in America, and Fitz's father wants him to marry another girl…the one he's already dating, but—we want to be together."
"And if he wants that, why doesn't he break up with this other girl?" Grandpa Joe questions.
"Because it's not that simple. If he were to break up with her for me, he would not only piss off his father but Dad wouldn't be too happy about it either, so we're trying to figure out how to deal with it. We have a plan for Fitz to break up with the girl at the end of the school year so she doesn't give Fitz trouble during the school year and then we'll date in secret until we figure out how to deal with Dad."
"And you're fine with him staying with this girl for the next 6 months?" Grandpa Joe exclaims in a hushed whisper, not believing what is being said before him. "What the hell, Olivia?"
Olivia stares at the ground, embarrassed to look up at the two of them and says quietly, "It's for the best right now." She musters up enough courage to say as firmly as she can, "This conversation is over—and if you guys start to badger Fitz, we're leaving tonight."
She turns her back to them, walking out of the room and going to find Fitz, feeling like she just made a foolish mistake, but she knows nothing good would've come out of continuing to discuss her sticky situation with them. She goes upstairs to the room Nathan and Fitz are sharing and sits on his bed. She deliberates over whether or not she should tell him about the conversation she just had downstairs as she hears him still showering in the bathroom across the hall. They promised to be honest with each other and Olivia isn't going to know what to tell him when he gets dirty looks from Maya and her Grandpa, but she knows that if she tells him, he'll want to go talk to them and fix the problem. But it can't be fixed that way-him trying to talk it out with them and make them understand will likely worsen things and they'll probably hate him even more for trying to justify the situation. And she plans on being with Fitz for a long time so she doesn't know what she'd do if the whole family ended up hating him.
Olivia continues to wait as Fitz stops showering, brushes his teeth, and gets dressed. He comes out in a t-shirt and flannel pants, running his fingers through his disheveled and slightly wet curls, making Olivia bite her lip in desire. His face lights up as soon as he sees her waiting for him and says, "This is a nice surprise."
She smiles back at him as he sits down next to her and asks her with a devilish grin, "And is she also staying the night?"
She rolls her eyes and tells him, "Yes, and she'll be two rooms down."
"Oh, how you wound me," he says, putting a hand against his chest dramatically, making her laugh. He pulls her to him and leans against the wall. "I can't wait to go to sleep with you in my arms again soon. Please say you'll stay at the apartment tomorrow night."
Olivia can feel her breathing and heartbeat matching his as she starts to relax in his embrace. She breathes in his wonderful scent and buries her face into his chest, inhaling his scent even more.
He chuckles. "Liv?"
"Yeah. Of course I'll stay. I've missed you and our bed a lot, too," she murmurs, looking up at him and kissing just under his chin.
He smiles down at her and they sit in a comfortable silence for a while. "We should probably go back downstairs."
"We don't have to," Olivia says, snuggling deeper into Fitz to show him that she doesn't want to go anywhere. The last thing she wants is to have to face her mom and grandpa again that night, especially if Fitz is with her. They still needed time to cool down.
"Don't you want to say goodnight at least?"
"No, it's alright, we'll see them tomorrow. And by the way, would you mind us leaving a little early, maybe in the morning?"
"Uh…no, it's fine. Is there a reason why, though?"
"I just want to do some studying before the week starts and I left some essential material at the apartment…I guess I just forgot." Fitz nods, accepting her answer and Olivia hates that she's lying to him but the faster they got out of there, the better. She was surprised that her Grandpa wasn't trying to throw him out of the house right now but she had made it pretty clear to them that she was sticking by Fitz. She just hoped that one day they would accept him and that they could all move past this because like she had said before—she was never letting him go.
And there goes the end of the Thanksgiving visit. I hope you enjoyed meeting the family and the other things that went along with it. This is the last time we'll be seeing Jake so if you thought in the back of your mind he was going to steal Liv back…it's not happening, she's stuck on Fitz. And speaking of that, how do you feel about Olivia standing by Fitz instead of by her family who just has her best interests as heart? Do you think it was the right choice? Do you think she'll regret her decision later? Have any other thoughts? Thanks for reading!
