Love In The Dark

"We're not the only ones. I don't regret a thing. Every word I've said, you know I'll always mean. It is the world to me that you are in my life. But I want to live and not just survive. That's why I can't love you in the dark. It feels like we're oceans apart. There is so much space between us. Maybe we're already defeated."—Adele


"She was amazing!"

Fitz excitement came through the screen and Olivia smiled at him.

"Did you record it?"

"My dad did. You should have seen her up. She is really good and she doesn't even know it."

"Send me the video when you get a chance."

"Will do."

Fitz looked at the time, "It's two in the morning, why are you still up?"

"I went out for dinner and drinks with Abby. We were up late having girl talk but she finally went to sleep on me."

"Shouldn't you be sleep too."

"I'm not sleeping," Olivia lied.

She could go to sleep but she wanted to stay up and talk to him.

"Layla thinks something is going on between us," his voice broke through their silence.

"I know. Did she say something to you?"

"She mentioned that she thought something was going on between us at dinner. I'm pretty sure she was trying to see what my reaction would be."

"What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything. My dad told her how I was head over heels for you—"

"You were."

"The feelings were mutual."

"They were."

"He told her to trust her gut if she thought something was going on with us, then it probably is."

"Your dad is not helping."

"I think we should just tell her."

"Tell her what?"

"About us. That we're dating."

"We went on one date."

"Don't get technical because that is your fault."

"Are you mad at me now?"

"No. Annoyed maybe but not mad. I just don't understand why you want to hide our relationship. It is complicating things more than they need to be."

"I wanted you two to have time to get your relationship together before we bringing something new at her."

"That's bullshit but okay."

"Before this weekend she had a freak out about being around you because she felt like she kept embarrassing herself around you."

"It sounds like an excuse to me and a backwards one at that. You're so worried about our relationship but you forcing me to lie to her."

"I'm not trying to make excuses. I just don't know how she would take us being together."

This was not the conversation she wanted to have with him.

"It's probably selfish of me but I'm not ready to exit our little bubble. I'm not ready to deal with another blow up with Layla," Olivia answered honestly.

"You can't live your life in a bubble, and the longer you wait to tell her, the more of a blow up it is going to be. Or haven't you learned that from the last secret that you kept from her?"

"You're right but can we wait a little while longer?"

"Are you really asking me because you are giving me a choice?"

"Yes."

Fitz thought for a moment

"I won't say anything for now but I won't lie to her so if she asked me again, I am going to tell her the truth."

"Fair enough."

Olivia knew that she was now on borrowed time. She was going to have to find a way to tell her daughter sooner rather than later about her relationship with Fitz.


After breakfast Layla took a walk around the lake. She planned on visiting her grandmother since she was in the area but had gotten distracted by the quietness around the lake. She was in no way a nature lover and could never live somewhere where the next house was ten minutes up the road but it was something in the quietness that brought a sense of peace and really made you slow down and take in the beauty of it all.

"Hey," a guy's voice came out of seemingly nowhere.

Layla looked back and saw a guy walking towards her. Had she dropped something?

"Hey," Layla said once he was in earshot.

"I have never seen you around here."

"Did you stop me to tell me that?"

"No. I stopped you to say hey."

"Okay," Layla continued walking.

"I'm Tyler," he introduced himself as he followed behind her.

"Why are you following me, Tyler?"

"I was just taking in the beauty of the lake."

Layla looked at him, from the look on his face, she knew he wasn't actually talking about the lake.

"That was clever, cute even."

"I can be cute on occasion," he smiled at her and Layla actually saw that he was cute.

"I didn't get your name."

"Layla."

"That's a beautiful name."

"Don't overdo it, Tyler."

He chuckled.

"Are you new around here, Layla?"

"Visiting my grandparents."

"Who are your grandparents? I'm might know them."

"My grandfather on my dad's side is Jerry Grant."

"Oh I know Mr. Grant. He gave me my first job when I was twelve. He would let me mow his lawn and even recommended me to a few other residences in the area."

"So does everyone just know everyone around here?"

"Something like that. I think it's the small distances that actually make us closer. When you live close to your neighbors you can get sick of them pretty easily but when your next neighbor is ten minutes up the road, you see them less and are less annoyed with them. So when you finally see them, it's all love."

"No offense but I couldn't live out here."

"Why?"

"Have you never seen a horror movie? I need neighbors in close distance so just in case a demon or an earthily devil tries something, my neighbors will be able to hear me in distress."

He laughed.

"Well I have lived out here all sixteen years of my life and no demon or an earthily devils have ever tried anything."

"It nice place to visit but I need more people around me."

"Do you mind if I walk with you? I mean since you need more people around you."

"You are incredibly corny, Tyler."

"In a charming kind of a way, I hope."

Layla took out her phone and snapped a picture of him and texted it to Mia.

"I just texted a picture of you to my dad. If anything happens to me on this little walk, you're the last known person I was seen with."

"Well I better make sure nothing happens to you now."

Layla let Tyler walk her the rest of her way to her grandmother's house. When they parted ways, he asked for her number and she gave it to him. She started not to as she remembered the last boy she talked to for fun but considering that she was leaving in two days, no real harm could come from exchanging numbers.

They said their goodbyes and parted ways. Layla walked into her grandmother's house—another reason she couldn't live out here was that people had that, 'It's safe enough to leave your doors unlocked' mentality. It just wasn't safe.

"Hello," Layla called out.

"Up here," came a male voice from upstairs.

Layla walked upstairs and was greeted at the top of the steps by her mom's stepdad.

"Hey, Laydee Bug. What are you doing here?"

Layla smiled at the nickname that only he called her.

"I'm staying with my dad and grandfather for the weekend. I figured I would stop by since I was in the area."

"Well I'm glad to see you. I missed you on your last visit."

"It was a brief one. I think mom and grandma had words because my mom didn't want to stay here so she stayed in a hotel."

"I figured as much. Your mom and grandmother are always going at it for some reason or another."

"Why is that? They are perfectly fine with everyone else but when they come together, it's like world war 3."

"You'll have to ask them that. I've have learned to stay out of their spats."

"Is my grandma here?"

"Yep. She's working in her garden."

"She has a garden now?"

Layla didn't know why the thought of her grandmother gardening made her laugh. She seemed to polished to get down and actually get her hands dirty with yard work.

"It's her new thing."

"Old age must be getting to her."

Dominic laughed, "Don't let her hear you say that."

"Don't let her hear you laughing at that."

Layla looked around, "You're painting?"

"Yeah. Your grandmother has taken on a remodeling project. She wants to redecorate everything."

"Good luck with that."

Layla headed back downstairs and went out back to find her grandmother.

"Hey."

"Hey," Maya stood and took off her gloves, hugging Layla.

"This is a surprise. Is your mother here with you?"

"No. I'm in town with my dad."

"Oh," she sounded surprise, "I never got to talk to you about that. How is that working out for you?"

"What? My dad?"

Maya nodded.

"It's working out great. A few small bumps in the road but all is going fine."

"That's good to hear."

"So you garden now?"

"I do. I'm testing out things to lower my stress. I tried scrapbooking and it wasn't for me. Gardening was the next thing."

Maya and Layla went to sit down on the back patio to play catch up.

"How has your summer been? I missed you this year."

"It's been great. It went by fast. I have been doing a lot of things with my dad, getting to know him."

Maya shook her head and sighed. Layla could tell that it was an involuntary reaction. She knew that her grandmother wasn't doing it to her but Maya's reaction opened up the door for Layla to ask her some question.

"You shook your head, what was that about?"

"Nothing. Go on."

"No, I want to know what's on your mind."

"Nothing."

"Please don't be one of those people who treat me like a child not entitled to know the truth about what is going on around me."

Layla knew that would get her grandmother to talk. If nothing else, she learned how to read people from her mother. Her grandmother's sanctimonious attitude told her that if she used the right words, she could get her to say what she really felt.

"I don't feel like you should be just getting to know your dad. I think your mother should have been told you, told him about you. I don't know where I went wrong with raising her. She lies and manipulates people so easily. She played a game with your life and I don't like that. She didn't grow up without a father, so why did you have to?"

Layla understood her grandmother's line of thinking. She had some of the same thoughts when she first found out that her mother had knew who her dad was all along. But she couldn't hold on to that one mistake that her mother had made.

"I felt the same way when I first found out. But I can't dwell on that now. If I let all the 'what ifs' and 'why didn't shes' cloud my mind, I would never forgive my mother. I'm too young to carry all of that on me."

"Well you are a better person than me. I don't know who Olivia is anymore. I haven't known her for years."

"She's your daughter."

"She doesn't act like it?"

"Do you act like a mother to her?"

"It's complicated, Layla."

"Well simplify it."

"You know I love you, right?"

Layla nodded.

"No one wants their child to be a teenage mom. Yes, she was legally an adult when she had you but eighteen is not grown. There was so much that she didn't know about life. So many things that she should have done before having a kid."

"I think that if she could, she would have waited."

"She could have. She wasn't a dumb girl. She knew about birth control and condoms."

Layla just listened to her grandmother. She could tell that this was the first time she was getting to let some of these thoughts out.

"When you were born, before you were born even, it was like everything changed with your mother. She shut me out. Every word she said from then on had been lies, and I'm sad to say that I just don't trust her anymore. I don't trust her to be honest. I don't trust her to be humble. I don't trust her not to act entitled. I don't know this person that my daughter has turned into."

Layla felt uncomfortable listening to her grandmother's true feelings about her mother. She felt the need to defend her mother.

"Well for whatever it's worth, she is a great mom."

"I would hope so for your sake."

"Maybe you should try being a mom to her. I know that you're mad, disappointed in her even but nothing will get resolved if you don't talk, without the animosity."

"She never came an talked to me. She is the one who ruined our relationship."

"And you're her mom. No matter what she did or what you think she did, you are supposed to love her anyway. You are always going to be her mom. You have to be the bigger person here."

"I have been trying for years. It's just a lot of pain there. It's hard to try with someone who is not honest with you."

"Try harder, for me at least. I don't want you two always at odds for the rest of our lives."

If only for Layla, Maya thought that she could at least try with her daughter.


"How was your visit with your grandmother?"

"It was interesting."

Fitz nodded, not sure if interesting met good or bad but she didn't look upset so he guessed everything was okay.

"Is interesting good?"

"Interesting as in not what I expected but not completely horrible."

Layla spent the next ten minutes explaining the conversation she had with her grandmother. How much she appreciated her mother and the relationship that they had because she honestly couldn't fathom having a mother as judgmental as her grandmother. It was a very eye opening conversation for her.

"I just don't know how my mom put up with it all these years. I guess that's part of the reason we don't visit as much. My grandmother is something else. The dislike towards my mother is clear in the way she speaks."

Fitz had never met Olivia's mother but from hearing both Olivia and Layla speak about her, she seemed like a piece of work.

"I met a guy," Layla changed the subject.

"You did what?"

"I met a guy," she repeated.

Layla almost laughed at the look on his face.

"You met a guy at your grandmother's house."

"On the way there."

Fitz didn't want to be one of those father's but he hated the idea of his daughter meeting boys.

"He was actually kind of cute, in a corny but charming kind of a way. He asked for my number and I gave it to him," Layla couldn't help but to toy with her father.

"He kind of reminded me of you or at least the you I imagined that my mom fell for. Nice guy, charm makes up for him not being a bad boy."

"You've just met him. You have no way of knowing if he is a nice guy."

"He was nice to me."

The fact that all boys are nice when they want something from you was stuck on the tip of his tongue but he didn't say anything because at least she was coming to him with this.

"You might know him. His name is Tyler and he said he use to cut grass for grandpa Jerry when he was twelve."

Fitz tried to think if he could remember any kids cutting his dad's grass. He vaguely remembered his dad mentioning it and he may have seen a kid in passing once or twice but he couldn't recall the kid's face.

"I don't remember him. I'll have to ask my dad about him."

"I can just call him if you want to meet him. I'm sure I can get him to come over."

"Enjoy this now because you're never coming back here again."


Layla was having the best weekend of her life. Somehow her dad kept topping himself with all the things he had planned for them. Sure it was a work weekend for him but for her it was one life changing experience after the other. She had gotten to play piano on a song her dad produced, performed at an open mic night, went shopping, and was now attending first listening party. Andra Day was having a listening party for her album and as one of the producers, Fitz automatically got an invitation and Layla was his plus one.

Layla sat in the lounge area of the rented nightclub. Fitz had been pulled away for a moment to handle some business related stuff so she was just scoping out her surroundings. She spotted a few celebrities and tried to act normal as she munched on snacks and people watched.

Across the room, Fitz was talking to Garrett Johnson, a former A&R rep turned manager. The came up together in the business. Garrett was one of the most brutally honest people that he knew, so even though they rarely saw eye to eye, the developed a working friendship over the years.

"I hear you took up a teaching position at some private school."

"I did."

"Why? I don't understand why someone as talented as you want to waste your talents by teaching."

"That line of thinking right there is why. You know I hate this business. It's so cutthroat and gimmicky. You have no respect for the music. You are all about the money."

"You grew up with money so it's easy for you to say that."

"My dad raised me well."

"Don't get me wrong, I think it's great, noble what you are doing but I couldn't never just take a year off."

"Your priorities are messed up."

"You musical genius types are all the same."

"I've always hated that title."

"We get it. You're humble, good looking, and talented. Give it a rest already."

Fitz laughed.

"Out with it, Garrett. What do you need?"

"I need a song. I have this new artist that I am working with. She gives me this whole Aaliyah feel but she comes off as more of a party girl. All she has is up tempo club hits and that's great but you know that will make her very one dimensional really quick."

"Okay. I'll do it."

"Really? Don't be playing with me."

"Yeah, I'll do it. I need to talk to her first to get a feel for the kind of song I need to write for her."

"I owe you one, Fitz."

"Not a problem. Just give me a call next week and we can work out the logistics of everything."

Fitz wrapped up his conversation and made his way back to where he left Layla sitting.

"Sorry about that."

"No, it's totally cool. This is really chill compared to what I expected."

"What were you expecting?"

"This to look like a hip hop music video or the way they portray parties of reality TV."

"Some parties look like that. It really depends on the artist. Andra is a really laid back, soulful artist who loves the intimate experience. This is kind of like a mixer where you catch up with people who you haven't seen in a while, get some free food and drinks, and hear some amazing music."

"Speaking of drinks, since they are not carding people in here—."

"Nope."

"Fair enough. I just thought I would ask since I was getting to do a whole bunch of things for the first time."

"Turn eighteen and we'll talk."

A woman walked up to them.

"Andra would like to see you."

Fitz stood and started to follow the woman before he noticed that Layla was still sitting there.

"Are you coming?"

"Sure," Layla stood and quickly caught up to them.

They were escorted to the back, into a dressing room.

"Hello," Andra greeted them with hugs as soon as they came in.

"You look amazing," Layla said, "Are you excited?"

Layla didn't know how she became so comfortable being around an actual recording artist but she figured her excitement from just being here had something to do with it.

"I am. I've worked really hard on this album. It's my baby and I'm about to show my baby to the world. I'm really excited."

"I'm sure they'll love it. I only heard three songs and I think it's amazing."

Andra smiled at her.

"Your dad told me that you played piano on my song."

Layla looked to Fitz and then back at Andra, "I did."

"I was wondering if you would play for me on stage?"

She didn't hear her right. This was not happening.

"Can you repeat that?"

"Since you know the song and played it so beautifully, I wanted to know if you would do the honor of performing it with me? I want people to feel what I felt in the studio as I worked on the song."

Layla's mouth fell open and she shook her head. It was hard to tell if she was saying no or yes.

"I think she's trying to say yes."

She pointed at her father while still shaking her head.

"Yeah. She's saying yes."

"What he said."

Andra found her to be adorable.

"Have you ever performed before?"

"Once."

"I know that I'm just springing this on you—"

"I can do it," Layla said quickly.

If she possessed no other talent musically, she knew that she could play the piano with her eyes close. She had been playing for as long as she could remember.

"Alright then. Do you want to do some practice runs?"

"Yes."

Layla walked over to the keyboard that was set up in the corner. Fitz watched as the two of them went over the song. Layla was doing good but he could tell that she was nervous. They went over the song three times and each time it got better but Layla's nerves were still there.

Fitz excused himself from the room and went back to the front to order a drink. As he waited for his drink, Mellie approached him.

"Hey daddy daycare."

"Mellie."

"I didn't expect to see you here."

"I highly doubt that."

"You really think a lot of yourself."

"You are always popping up."

"It's a small industry."

The bartender sat Fitz drink down in front of him. Fitz thanked him and grabbed his drink.

"You brought her."

"Layla, yes."

"Why? This isn't the place for a kid."

"Don't worry about my kid, Mel."

"You've changed so much. I don't like it."

"I grew up. I stopped letting you use me."

"Use you? You wouldn't be where you are today if it weren't for me."

"Now who is the one who thinks a lot of themselves."

"You treat me like crap for no reason."

"I treat you the way that I do because you like to play games and play the victim. I don't have the time or energy for the drama that you try to bring into my life."

Fitz didn't wait for her to respond, he just walked away. He had no time to deal with her and her negative energy.

When he made it back to the room, Layla was alone playing the keyboard. She played the song full out and it sounded amazing.

"You're nervous."

"Of course I am."

"Why? You said it yourself, you can do this."

"I'm going out on stage in front of people who do and make music for a living."

"So what? They are people just like you. Some not even as talented as you. And no, I'm not just saying that because you're my daughter."

"For some reason I didn't think that you would."

"Andra picked you. She felt that you added something to her song that needed to be heard live. She wouldn't have asked you to do it if she didn't feel like you deserved to be on that stage with her."

Layla took a deep breath. She knew that she could do this. She had already performed on stage this weekend. She knew the song. She totally had this.

"Here," Fitz handed her a drink.

"What is this?"

"It's a vodka and cranberry. It will help with your nerves. Don't tell your mom because she will kill me. Don't make this a habit, you know, the whole drinking before performances thing."

"Who knows if I'll make this performing thing habit," Layla took a sip of the drink, "This is awful," she took another sip.

"You don't have to drink it."

"I know," she finished the drink, "I got this."

"You totally got this."


The ringing of Fitz's cell phone had woken him up. He blindly reached for his phone, still trying to hold on to his sleep.

"Why are you calling me so early?"

"Long night?"

Hearing Cyrus's voice, Fitz reluctantly opened his eyes. Pulling the phone away from his ear, he looked at the time.

"Cyrus, it is not even seven in the morning yet."

"Now that we have established the time, I thought you would like to know you made the news."

"I did what?"

"I texted you the story."

"Give me a second."

Fitz took a look at his text message from Cyrus. He clicked the link and was taken to a blog post. He skimmed the post and let out a long sigh.

"You know how James loves his gossip sites. He found this little story and sent it to me."

Someone on a gossip blog had posted pictures from inside of the listening party, pictures of him and Layla with title, "Access Granted: A look into the super private producer's intimate life with new bae."

Fitz lived a very private life. With the exception of a few gossip sites who wanted to link him with people or find out his deal was since he wasn't an extra, in your face "celebrity", he got to live a normal life. There was this allure about not knowing everything about a person that made him a hot commodity. People wanted to know his story, even if it meant having to make one up. Somehow last night out with his daughter turned into a fabricated story for the gossip rags.

"What the fuck? Do they think I'm like a perv or something? She looks her age."

"It's Hollywood. Weirder things have happened."

Fitz let out another sigh.

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I just thought you would want to know."

"Thanks."

Fitz hung up the phone and read the post. He got annoyed with every line that he read and lie that he saw. It was just like a trashy tell all blogger to make up things based off of pictures. According to the post, Layla may have been with him to advance her career.

When Fitz finished the post, he sent an email to the blogger. He had to see how he could clear this up with little mess.


Fitz wasn't looking forward for the conversation with Olivia because he already knew it was going to be brutal. He and Layla had returned from the west coast three days ago and he had yet to talk to Olivia about the blog post.

He stopped by her office because he felt like that was a safe place for them to talk. The moment that he saw her face, he knew that she knew and could tell that she was pissed.

"Why is my daughter's face on a gossip website?"

"No hey, hello, how are you?"

"Hey. Hello. How are you? Why the hell is Layla's face on a gossip site as your new young "conquest"?"

"It's just one little blog, not a gossip site. It's a small blurb that I am taking care of."

Olivia went into her desk draw and pulled out a folder and threw it on the desk in front of her.

"It's never just one little blog or a blurb."

Fitz picked up the folder and glanced through it. His face remained calm but the one little blog post that came out over the weekend had turned into a story on TMZ and E! News. Olivia had highlight parts of the articles, printed out comments, and somehow managed to get photos from inside the party.

"You took her to an industry party?"

"It was a listening party."

"She's fifteen."

"And she listens to music. It wasn't like I took her to a party with sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll."

"My fifteen year old daughter has her photo on two gossip websites with grown ass men commenting about how good she looks and how well she looks like she can take dick. There is nothing small or little about this whole situation."

As she talked Fitz was reading through the pages she had given him and occasionally looking up at her so that she would know he was listening to her. His eyes reached a comment from someone with the screen name FuckHerTitz26, that said, 'Her face looks like the perfect place for my cum.'

Fitz bit his top lip to stop the string of expletives from falling from his lips. Who type of basement bastard was FuckHerTitz26? Clearly Layla looked young, too young for anyone to be thinking about her in a sexual way.

Fitz looked up at Olivia.

"I'm sorry about this. It was really just an innocent listening party," he didn't know what else he was supposed to say. He couldn't change the fact that the articles and comments were out there but he was working to correct the information that was out there.

"You should have asked me before you took her to a party."

"I didn't know I needed permission to spend time with my daughter."

"There is a lot of things that you don't know."

Her tone held an attitude that Fitz didn't like so her retorted back, "Whose fault is that?"

"Really, Fitz?"

He stared at her straight on. She didn't scare him. She wasn't this big, bad Olivia Pope to him, just Livvie. Fitz understood that she was upset but he wasn't going to back down from her.

"I know that you are new at this whole parenting thing but normal people don't go partying with their children," Olivia stated calmly.

"Cut the condescending tone and the passive aggressive shit, Olivia."

"Excuse me?"

"Your underhanded comments are not needed. I apologized already to soothe your ego. The superiority complex that you are showing right now is not becoming."

"I don't need your insincere apologies. I need you to do better. If you're going to play daddy, I need for you to think before you put Layla in situations where she is making tabloid news before she can even drive a car. We didn't have these problems before..."

"Before what? Before you lied and kept my daughter away from me for years?"

"Don't do that."

"Don't criticize me and talk down to me about being a new dad when you hid her from me. Cut all the 'new at this whole parenting thing' dig that you do. You of all people don't get to throw that at me. Don't act like you are the only one who knows what is best for her because you have been doing this a little longer than me. She likes to sing and is damn talented. I took her to a listening party, not a strip club. She worked a song with me and got to hear it live. Stop acting like I put her harm's way."

Fitz voice was calm yet stern. It had a finality to it that didn't leave room for any dispute. Olivia was quiet for a moment. She didn't know this side of Fitz. She didn't think he was pushover but clearly her normal tactics of talking to people weren't going to work on him.

"Look at the last few pages."

Fitz flipped through the pages until he reached the last stack. There were photos of Mellie talking with gossip columnist Amanda Tanner.

"That's your friend, right? She looks different with her clothes on so it's hard to tell."

"Where did you get this?"

"I have a guy."

"What does that even mean?"

Fitz got to the end of the photos and reached a page that had all of Mellie's information on it. Her full name, birthdate, social security number, home address, phone number, email address, there was a whole profile and life history going back years, decades even.

"Your guy can do all of this?"

"I know people in high places."

"This seems like an invasion of privacy."

"Do not defend that mutt to me. Not when she invaded my daughter's privacy."

"These photos don't really prove anything," Fitz was lying to himself because the photos were pretty damning. He just didn't want to believe that Mellie would stoop so low as to tell a reporter about Layla, and not only that but try to frame it as if she was someone he was seeing romantically. What was she trying to do to him?

"See this is why I bring up the new dad thing. Our daughter just had her face put on a gossip site as the latest girl that you are sleeping with and you are acting so nonchalant about this. You are defending the bitch that did this. Layla is about to start a new school. You are going to be her teacher, how does it look that you two are out at parties? What if the school hears about this? Will they want to disqualify her from the program? What will the students think if they have seen this? Will she get harassed about getting special treatment from you every time she does good? You are not thinking about her and how this will affect her. That's why I mention being a new dad because clearly from your reaction the connection is not there between you two or you would be pissed the hell off."

It was Fitz's turn silent. He hadn't even thought of any of that. Did that make him a bad father? He should have thought about that. He had just wanted to do something fun with Layla, something that he knew she would love. He had no idea that Mellie would be stupid enough to leak false stories to the press.

"It's very hurtful that you would say I don't have a connection with Layla. I'm sorry my fury doesn't match yours but don't act like I don't love her. I would never intentionally put her in a situation that would bring her harm."

"I know that," her voice was softer, she could tell he was dealing with all that she had thrown at him. But she wasn't going to apologize because this was her daughter so even though he didn't mean her any trouble to come her way, some woman from his past had out her daughter's name out there.

"I know that you didn't mean for any of this to happen but you brought this person into our lives. I don't play when it comes to my child so fair warning, you put a muzzle on your Chihuahua before I silence her. It will be less pleasant if I do it because I will ruin her."


The more time that Fitz had to think about it, he knew that the blog post had Mellie's name all over it. He was pissed her for the position that she had put Layla in to try to get his attention. He didn't trust himself to be around her because the more that he thought about it, the angrier he got.

It was probably something that should be handled in person but Fitz decided to call Mellie instead because he didn't want to see her.

"Fitz, calling me. This is a surprise."

"Do you have a minute talk?"

"Yeah. What's going on?"

"I sent you an email. I'm assuming you didn't see it."

"Give me a second."

He heard her clicking some keys on her keyboard and then things went silent.

"Do you see it?"

"…yeah. What is this?"

Fitz had sent her copies of the pictures that Olivia had gotten her hands on.

"Do you have something at you want to tell me?"

"I hear accusation in your voice and I don't appreciate it."

"I don't appreciate having sneaky, bitter ass people go to the press behind my back."

"Excuse me?"

"Cut the shit, Mellie. I know you were the one who leaked Layla's name to the press."

"Do you seriously think I have the time to worry about you and your little ready made family? Don't flatter yourself, Fitzgerald."

"Don't try to play me for stupid."

"Did your baby mama give you these?"

"What happened to you? Why are you so vindictive? Do you not care that you are bringing a young kid into whatever scheme you are trying to pull?"

"I'm not trying to pull anything. I resent the fact that you would try to accuse me of leaking your daughter's name to the press. Why would I do that to you? That makes no sense."

"That's why I don't understand why you would do it."

"I'm not understanding how you are turning me talking to someone into this big plot against you."

Fitz knew that she was going to lie to the end. Mellie was never going admit to what she did, and because he wanted no parts of any type of relationship with her, he just wanted to make things clear.

"I need you to stay away from me."

"What?"

"I don't want anything to do with you. Work relationship, romantic relationship, friendship, nothing. There is no reason for us to ever speak again."

"Fitz, you don't know what you're saying."

"You're delusional, Mellie. I don't know what you were trying to do but I'm going to say this to you one time and one time only, DO NOT play with me."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I'm promising you, that you don't want to bring my daughter into whatever game you are trying to play. I'm daring you to try me. I am done playing with you. I will ruin your life."

"I don't take too kindly to threats, Fitzgerald. If you think for one second that you are going to ruin me, remember that you will be ruining yourself as well because I'm not going down until you are going down with me."

To get the last word, Mellie hung up on him. Fitz didn't know what Mellie had planned but he knew that she couldn't be trust.


The women in Fitz's life were trying to drive him crazy. He was sure of it. If it wasn't Mellie being vindictive and manipulative, it was Olivia snapping on him. When he invited her over after Layla had left to go to the movies, he planned on having a rational conversation with Olivia but she was more interested in talking at him than too him.

He had done an interview, clearing up who Layla was to him and announcing to the world that she was his daughter. He had already talked to Layla before doing the interview and she was fine with it so he didn't feel like he needed to consult with Olivia on the matter. Maybe that was wrong of him to do without talking to Olivia first but he was tired of hiding things. He wasn't ashamed of Layla or his relationship with Olivia. He wanted the world to know so that they weren't living under a cloud of secrecy.

Fitz thought that Olivia would be able to take the news fairly well. The story had been out of two days now and no negativity came out of it. But he thought wrong.

"Why would you do an interview without talking to me first?"

"You told me to fix it and I did."

"No. You went behind my back and did an interview announcing to the world that Layla is your daughter."

"You just like to be angry don't you?"

"You just did the same thing that Mellie did."

"No. I cleared up what Mellie did."

"The point was for Layla's name and image not to be in the press."

"How did you expect me to do that, genius? Her image was already out there. I cleared up the confusion about who she was to me. I'm not ashamed of her. She is my daughter and the world should know that."

Olivia was trying her hardest not to get angry with him, she just wish he had talked to her first because she felt blindsided.

"You should have talked to me first."

"You seem to be under the impression that you have control over what I do or say. I'm not one of you clients, Olivia. Stop treating me like I am."

She would be lying if she said that she hadn't been treating him like this was a big scandal. Maybe it was selfish on her part because she didn't want people to start asking questions. She didn't want Layla's life to be front page news, hell she didn't want her own skeletons being brought up in this mess.

"I talked to Layla before I did the interview. I wanted to make sure she was okay with it and since she was, I did it. I'm not going to apologize for claiming my daughter."

"You two didn't think that I needed to know about this before the general public?"

"She thought you would worry about it too much."

"You're not supposed to help her keep secrets from me."

"You want me to help you keep secrets from her."

"It's when you say things like that, that makes me think you did this out of spite," her tone was light as the tension that filled the room moments earlier disappeared.

"Did you read the article?"

"I did."

"What did you think?"

"You did good. You really focused it on the music program and the reason you wanted to teach towards the end. It came off as a really positive piece for the music program."

"And yet you came in here trying to yell at me."

"I may go a little overboard when it comes to her but I can't apologize for being a protective mama bear."

"I don't expect you to," Fitz walked over and stood in front of her. It was reminiscent of the way he stood next to her in her father's kitchen weeks ago. The moment that had changed everything for her.

"You have to trust me."

"I do trust you."

"No, you don't. I get that you have been doing this by yourself for so long but you have to trust me, and know that I wouldn't anything that would harm Layla."

"I know that," Olivia said simply, leaving out the fact that if she didn't trust him, she wouldn't have him around Layla.

Olivia could tell that their last few talks had left him feeling like she didn't trust him and would be second guessing his decisions forever. They were both Layla's parents, they both had a say in her life.

"I'm sorry that I made you feel like I didn't trust you. I'll be better at letting you take the lead."

"That was easier than I thought."

"I like you, Grant so I took it easy on you."

"Oh, really?"

Olivia nodded. Fitz moved in closer, his lips hovering just above hers. Olivia waited for his lips to connect with hers but he just smirked at her. He was testing her to see if she could actually let someone else take the lead.

"You want to kiss me, don't you?" He spoke against her lips.

"That would be nice."

"You want to kiss me, don't you?" He repeated his question.

"Yes," her voice was just a whisper.

"Speak up."

"Yes," she said louder. She was incredibly turned on by the way he was able to handle her. There was the very calm, subtle dominance that he possessed. Maybe it was in the way that he didn't back down from her that turned her on so much.

"Kiss me, Olivia," Fitz gave her permission to go after what she wanted.

Olivia wasted no time connecting her lips with his. He left her control the speed and pace of their kiss and she hungrily sucked on his tongue, not fully knowing how much she needed this. Fitz caught her off guard lifting her up and placing her on the counter.

"My turn," Fitz smirked at her before dropping to his knees.


Layla knocked on her dad's door and waited for him to answer. His car was outside but she didn't get any answer. She waited a few seconds before knocking again. Still there was no answer.

"Oh, come on," she tried to look through his blinds. The TV was still on so he had to be there. 'Maybe he is in the bathroom,' she thought.

Layla had made it all the way to the movies when she realized she had left her cell phone charging at her dad's house. She figured she wouldn't need it while she was at the movies so she went ahead and watched the movie, deciding to grab her phone on her way home.

As she contemplated really going home without her phone, she remembered the key that he had given her. She was never comfortable using it so she just stuck it on her keychain and forgot about it.

Layla dug in her bag and grabbed her house keys. She knocked once more and when she didn't get an answer, she used her key to let herself in.

She went straight to the living room and grabbed her cell phone and was on her way out when she heard a muffled noise from the kitchen.

Against her better judgment–and knowledge of scary movies–Layla walked towards the kitchen. She silently prayed there wasn't a murderer or home invader she would be encountering. As she got closer, the muffled noise turned into moans.

Before she could register that she should probably go back, she had taken one step too many and was greeted with the sight of her father's bare ass.

Fitz slammed into someone sitting on the countertop, his body shielding whoever his lover was but from the loud moans, Fitz was really giving it to her. It was only when Layla heard her dad say, "That's it. Just like that. Open up and take all this dick," was she able to snap out of whatever trance that wouldn't let her feet move. Layla turned away attempting to leave as quietly as possible when she heard a familiar female voice respond, "Oh my God! Fuck me. Ahhhh, shit."

She stopped dead in her tracks. Her mind had to be playing tricks on him. Looking towards the kitchen again, the woman who her dad was fucking was clear as day.

Fitz hand was around Olivia's neck, the sound of their bodies slapping against one another seemed to get louder and louder.

"Shit Fitz! I'm right there. Ahhhh," Olivia screamed.

"Mom?! Dad! Oh my God!"

Layla's voice broke through the sexual haze her parents seemed to be under. Olivia's eyes shot open and she saw her daughter. She pushed Fitz off of her.

"Layla," she hopped off of the countertop.

"Shit," Fitz quickly tried to cover himself.

Layla turned and disappeared out of sight.

Fitz pulled his pants up as Olivia frantically looked for her panties. Not being able to find them she grabbed her pants, putting them on without out missing panties.

"This bad. This is so bad," Olivia's hand was shaking.

"We fucked up," was all that Fitz could say.