I have a nice and short update for y'all. Enjoy!
Chapter 10: The Deal
After she talked to her parents, Fitz picks Olivia up and they head to the town's bowling alley to meet up with some of her friends. She decided it would be best to just come right out and tell Fitz about the dinner as soon as possible so on the drive to the bowling alley, she brought it up, and even as they were entering the building, she was still finding it difficult to convince him.
"Liv, it's not happening," Fitz tells her, holding the door open for her.
She rolls her eyes. "Oh, come on, Fitz, do you know how hard it was to convince my father to agree to this? They're giving you a chance and if you back out now then we're squandering that."
"I'm not squandering anything, there will be plenty of other times that I can meet them for dinner later."
"But they asked to meet you now. If we keep procrastinating their going to think something fishy is up and they're going to be even more wary of you."
He lets out a long sigh as they approach her friends who have already secured a lane. "Could we just talk about this later? I'll think about it but right now I just want to do something fun with my girlfriend," he tells her, taking her hand.
"Fine," Olivia says, choosing to back down for now. Abby is the first to see them, a look of shock and excitement immediately taking over her face as she hollers, "Liv!" and waves at Olivia and Fitz like they already haven't seen her.
Everyone else turns around, revealing Abby's boyfriend Leo, Quinn, David, and surprisingly Mellie and Andrew. Olivia cringes at the sight of the two of them, wondering who invited them but she disregards it as her friend envelopes her in a big hug, like they haven't seen each other in ages—though, to Abby it probably felt like ages with the way she had been badgering Olivia all week about getting to meet Fitz.
She pulls back and smiles affably at Fitz. "Hi, Fitz."
He smiles back politely. "Hey, Abby."
"I'll let you guys go get your shoes and pay then we can start the game."
Once they get settled they make their way over to the lane their friends were waiting at and as Fitz greets and talks to the rest of her friends, Mellie approaches Olivia. Olivia expects her to say something snotty and sarcastic but much to her surprise, Mellie just smiles widely and politely says, "Hi, Liv, it's great that you and Fitz could come and hang with us."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Olivia asks suspiciously.
"I genuinely mean that I'm glad you guys could come. I know we've always had a bit of a rivalry in the past but I was thinking that since this is the last time we're all going to be together for a while, we should set our problems with each other aside and try to get along," she explains simply.
Olivia nods but deep down it feels off to her. She and Mellie had had much more than 'a bit of a rivalry' in the past. They had been at each other's throats for years. It all started back in the 5th grade. Olivia and Mellie had pretty much been indifferent to each other before then but that all changed when Mellie chopped off a large handful of Olivia's hair—hair that she had spent almost three years trying to grow down to her waist—as part of dare at a sleepover. And as a result, Olivia spread a nasty rumor about Mellie having a crush on some dorky, weird teacher they had. And from there began a long, mean, and dirty rivalry. But could Mellie really have changed her ways? Or was she still the coldhearted bitch that Olivia always knew she was?
"Alright, let's get started!" Leo says. "I guess we can do four teams of two."
Everyone agrees and they get started but before it's Fitz and Olivia's turn to go, she decides to make a deal with him. "Hey, babe, how good are you at this game?"
"I don't know. I've never played before," he tells her.
Her eyes widen. "Seriously?"
He shrugs. "Yeah. I never really ever got the chance but it doesn't look too difficult."
"So…what if we made a deal? If we win, you don't have to go to dinner with my parents but if we lose you do," she offers gingerly.
"How is that a fair deal? I've never played before!" He protests.
"Fine, let's see how you do on your first try and then tell me what you think."
He nods. "Okay." So when his turn comes, he picks up a suitable ball and steps up to the lane. Olivia can't help but marvel at how handsome he looks. He was wearing a red and grey baseball shirt that fit him extremely well and accented his strong arm and abdominal muscles. He had left his hair just the way she liked it, in thick, messy curls just after being washed, giving Olivia a strong urge to run her fingers through them. And even though he had never played before, she loved his confident swagger as he kept one hand tucked in his front pocket and rolled the bowling ball down the lane effortlessly, knocking all eight pins down, making him the first out of all of them to do so. He was truly a dream and it's obvious that she wasn't the only one thinking that because when Olivia glanced to her left she caught Mellie gazing pensively at him, looking just as mesmerized with an impressed smile on her face. "Nice job, Fitz," she says but there's something in her voice that rubs Olivia the wrong way. Nevertheless, Fitz doesn't hear her or acknowledge her as he grins at his success and then returns to Olivia's side, hooking his arm around her waist.
"You know, I think I want in on that deal now," he tells her with a smug smirk.
She rolls her eyes. "Beginner's luck."
He presses his lips to hers for a quick kiss but she deepens it, gripping the back of his neck and pulling him closer. She opens her eyes slightly to see Mellie staring at them with blatant envy in her eyes but once she notices Olivia noticing her, she straightens up, putting on an indifferent expression and going to sit next to Andrew. Olivia mentally sighs, thinking, Some people never change.
Much to her discontent, Olivia and Fitz end up blowing the rest of the teams out of the water and their deal backfires on her. Fitz on the other hand is ecstatic. He had won his very first game of bowling and he was soaking in all the praise everyone was giving him once they learned of his inexperience.
As they were leaving, the weather had already turned sour for the afternoon and it was raining cats and dogs outside. Fitz and Olivia said goodbye to her friends and promised to do something similar another time before going their separate ways. But when Fitz tried to offer Olivia a jacket he had brought along, she aloofly declined and set out in the rain, utterly exposed, towards the car by herself. Fitz shrugged off her behavior but he knew she was really sticking it to him when he tried to open her door for her and she gave him a dirty look before reaching for the door handle herself and getting in.
He sighs as he goes to the other side and gets in. He takes his time starting the car and fiddling with the heater, even though it wasn't even cold. He can feel her irritation and impatience rising with each ticking second until she finally grumbles, "Can you stop doing that please? Just drive."
"I know you're upset."
"Yes, and I have a right to be. I didn't expect you to be that good…" She says, crossing her arms over her chest.
"It seems like all I do is win," he tells her with a wink.
"Shut up," she mutters.
He chuckles and then pauses before saying, "Yes."
"Yes what?"
"Yes, I'll have dinner with your parents next week."
She creases her eyebrows and he smirks at her adorably confused expression. "But I thought after we won the game—"
"I know what I said but I thought about it some more and I know how important this is to you and it's important to me too so if you think now is the right time then I'm on board. I might be scared out of mind, actually, I am scared out of my mind but I'm just going to do my best and hopefully that will be enough for them."
A radiant smile spreads across her face as she unbuckles her seatbelt and throws her arms around him. He hugs her back as he continues to speak, "But I just have one condition."
She pulls back and looks cautiously back at him. "What?"
"You let me take you out on a real date on 4th of July."
She cocks her head. "I thought we were just going to go to Stephen's party."
"We are but, I mean, it is the 4th of July, a huge holiday. I heard there's this festival in the next town that a lot of people go to so I thought that sounded like fun. We could get something to eat, hang out there, and then head over to Stephen's—it's just an idea, if you don't want to it doesn't matter…" he grumbles, looking away from her outside the window, taking her silence as a message that she wasn't interested.
"Fitz…" She carefully positions herself on his lap, sitting sideways and letting her legs hang over the console and she places her hands on both of his cheeks, turning him to face her. His jaw is tight and he avoids eye contact, prompting her to say, "Babe, just look at me."
He sighs and finally gives her his attention. "I would love for you to take me out on a date."
"Are you sure? Because we really can do something else if you want or just—"
"No, I want to go on an official date with you. I just hesitated because I was surprised—pleasantly surprised like getting a Christmas or birthday gift. I wasn't expected it. But I can't wait."
He smiles and places his hands on her waist, pulling her in more and kissing her. She was so amazed by how sensitive he was when it came to her and how much he cared about how she felt. She'd never had anyone react that way to her. This takes her back to the night before when he had drunkenly told her that he loved her. It had been more of a quick, goodbye 'I love you' and he likely didn't remember but regardless, he had said it and it was the first time. She didn't want to bring it up because she didn't really know how and she was still afraid to see those three words herself.
The kiss gets heated as he glides his hand up her shirt and his smooth, soft touch sets her skin on fire. He reaches her bra, his fingertips grazing her breasts. She releases a moan, wanting him to take her right there but on the other hand, making love to her first real boyfriend in a cramped car in the parking lot of a bowling alley didn't feel right to her.
She pulls away and he stops, panting with an apologetic look on his face. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"No, that's not it. I want you to…just not here. I want our first time to be more special…" She says, hoping he understood.
He nods and smiles awkwardly. "Oh…right. I do, too. Sorry, I just got a little carried away."
She shakes her head. "You don't have to apologize," she pauses as she remembers what her parents told her. "Actually, my parents are going to be out of town on 4th of July evening. That means I'll have the house all to myself…" She says flirtatiously, biting her lip in a way she knew turned him on.
"Well, it would seem that this date just got a thousand times better," he says back with a wicked smile.
So 4th of July is up next and then the dinner with the parents. How do you think the date will go? Other thoughts? Thanks for reading!