Thank you all for taking the time to read this! I am really missing the OLITZ fire on Scandal, so hopefully this is filling the need for some of you. Thank you all so much for the reviews! It is so exciting to receive them! Also, I think that because I updated twice in one day, some of you missed chapter 8. If you did, it might be worth going back to before reading this chapter.

Chapter 10 Tuck and Roll

Fitz helped Olivia into the car before walking around to the other side and sliding in. A long rectangular box with a large lavender bow laid at his feet. He gently placed the box onto Olivia's lap.

"I believe these are for you Ms. Pope."

She looked at him quizzically before lifting the top of the box. Inside was a bouquet of the most beautiful roses she had ever seen in her entire life.

"Oh my God, Fi...Mr. Grant. They are beautiful!"

"I wanted to apologize for all of this.", he said gesturing toward her.

She looked confused.

"You wouldn't be hurt if I didn't act like an ass this morning.

"You were an ass.", she said deadpan. "But... ", she continued, "This wasn't your fault. It was an accident."

"An accident cause by me. I am so sorry Olivia.", he said looking into her eyes before hanging his head in shame.

He looked like a wounded puppy. Liv lifted her hand and placed it on Fitz's shoulder. He had broken her and she was comforting him. He couldn't get over how incredible this she was.

"There is no rose that specifically means I'm sorry." he said thoughtfully.

"Yellow roses symbolize a desire for you to get well soon. I thought they would be appropriate."

"They also symbolize friendship.", he added as an afterthought.

"I had no idea that you were such a flower expert.", she said trying to brighten his mood.

"There is a lot that you don't know about me Liv.", he replied in a lighter tone.

"But, it is a newly acquired expertise. Can you believe that there are entire websites devoted rose colors and their meanings?"

"That is the most unbelievable thing that you have found on the internet? Cy must have your parental controls set to PG. Although, I can understand why."

"Do tell Ms. Pope. What is the most shocking thing that you have seen on the internet?"

She decided to have a little bit of fun with him. "He can't hear me right?", she said quietly tilting her head toward Stephen.

"Stephen, would you mind turning the radio on up there. Ms. Pope would like to tell me about the filthy things she looks at on the internet.", he said with a satisfied smile.

Her eyes opened to twice their normal size and her jaw dropped a little. Her cheeks felt like they were on fire. She regained her composure and hit him in the arm - hard.

"Your loss.", she said folding her arms in front of her.

"Come on Livvie, tell me what you've seen.", he pleaded, moving closer to her, taking the box of flowers from her lap and placing it onto the floor in front of him.

She moistened her lip with her tongue, moving closer to him. "Well...", she began. A high pitched gasp escaped her as Stephen his a large pothole- hard- interrupting the moment. Pain was etched in every feature of Liv's face and it looked as if her eyes were going to bug out of her head.

"Jesus Christ Stephen!", Fitz snapped. "Be careful and slow the fuck down."

Olivia had slid as far away from Fitz as she could get and huddled into the door. Fitz made a mental note that when Olivia was in pain, she retreated. He thought back to the day's events. Retreating when she felt any type of emotion seemed to be her thing. She was angry with Edison and bolted to New York. She was angry with him in his office and she ran down the stairs. When she noticed him looking at her too intensely she would look away or if he touched her she would pull away, except for the precious few minutes when she allowed him hold her hand. He made a mental note that he would have to add a step to his plan. Step 1.5 Don't let her retreat. Be on offense, and take down her defenses.

She seemed to be OK when he held her hand in the hospital. Fitz slid across the bench seat until their thighs were flush against each other.

"Are you OK Liv?

She nodded, never looking him directly in the eye.

"Do you want to lay down across the seat? I can sit in the front with Stephen."

"I'm OK.", she said in a voice so small that he barely heard her.

He reached into her lap and captured her tiny hand in his. She flinched, pulling her hand away.

"One minute?"

He lifted his hand to her cheek and gently turned her head to face him.

"One minute?"

"One minute.", she replied.

He had turned his entire body to face her. Their chests rose and fell in unison. Their breathing was in sync – feeling his warm breath mingle with hers every time they exhaled. His eyes were caressing her soul, a warm content smile across his lips. He reached out, wrapping his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. He was on autopilot, his passion for her overriding his good sense. Her body tensed before she nuzzled her face into his chest. He rested his cheek against the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her hair.

Alarm bells were blaring in her head. Olivia Pope did not do things like this. This was a bad idea – a huge mistake. She knew Edison would never find out, but if he ever did, he would kill her. She tried to think through the fogginess in her head. Did she hit her head when she fell? It would explain how she ended up in her current predicament – surely she had some sort of frontal lobe damage.
She couldn't continue to sit here nuzzling into him. She needed an escape. She decided that the car was traveling slowly enough in the city traffic that she could probably make a break for it. She was already hurt, so if she tucked and rolled when she hit the pavement she would probably escape with a only a few scrapes and bruises. She rationalized that throwing herself out of the car door was probably safer than staying this car and in his arms. Better yet, she could wait for a red light and make a break for it.

His voice interrupted her thoughts. "Liv, you aren't thinking about jumping out of a moving car, are you?", he said playfully when he noticed her hand on the door handle.

She pulled away from him.

"How the hell did he know?" she wondered as she felt his hand gently prying her hand from the door handle.

"Of course not.", she lied.

"I had a good time at the ER too, but you don't need to think of ways to hurt yourself to spend more time with me." he said smirking at her.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You even get me all to yourself for dinner. What are you in the mood?"

"Mr. Grant", Liv began ignoring an irritated groan coming from Fitz, "I appreciate the offer, but I don't feel up to going out. I just want to relax in my hotel room and maybe order some room service later."

"That was always the plan, Liv. We are going to order in, but we don't need to limit ourselves to shitty hotel food. So, what are you in the mood for?"

"You want to have dinner with me in my hotel room?"

"No. I am having dinner with you in your hotel room."

"No you are not. We can't have dinner alone in my hotel room."

"Why not? You don't trust yourself around me?" He gave her his most intense panty dropping smile.

Olivia Pope was speechless. Of course she didn't trust herself around him – but it would be over her dead and lifeless body that she would admit that to him. She decided that blaming Edison was the way to go.

"I doubt that my husband would approve of me having dinner in my hotel room with you or any other man. But especially you." she added for good measure.

"Consider it a business dinner in the living area of your suite. You can insult me just like we were in the office, the only difference is that there will be food."

She looked like maybe he was convincing her. He wasn't leaving her either way, but the evening would be more pleasant if she was on board with the plan.

"Come on Liv. I just want to make sure you are taken care of. My intentions are completely honorable.", he said holding up three fingers like he was getting ready to recite the boy scout oath.

"If my intentions were anything less than honorable, it would only take one call to Cy and he would cut off my balls before he fed them to whatever serpents live in his circle of hell."

She giggled. "You have a point there Grant. Sushi."

"What?"

"I want sushi."

"Sushi it is.

They sat in companionable silence for the next few minutes until they arrived at her hotel. Liv admired the bouquet that she held in her arms as Fitz walked beside her with the bag from the hospital gift shop hanging from his right hand.
"What do the lavender roses mean?"

"That, Olivia, is something that you are going to have to figure out for yourself.", he said as they made their way into the lobby.

**I hope you all enjoyed this. Let me know what you thought. The next chapter will have a lot more going on, so it will probably take me a few days to update. Happy Olitzing!