Here's the next chapter!

"I don't know what you're talking about" Olivia replied looking ahead. Where did this new confidence come from? She wondered. There was something in the way she said, that Stacy decided not to push the matter further.

Olivia's hands shivered, her lips quivered from what had just happened. Did she forget she had a boyfriend too? Why did she kiss him? Why? Just when her life wasn't complicated enough she made it worse. Maybe she kissed him to know what it felt like, to be with him, to kiss him, to feel him. Because over the past few days, she couldn't help but think about Fitz. She kissed him, because she wanted him out of her system, but here he is, threatening to break all the defenses she has carefully built over the years. She was silly to think the kiss would mean nothing, but it meant everything. He was so gentle with her, so considerate. She felt tingles all over her body when she thought back to how it felt to have him kiss her. Olivia took a deep breath and let it out slowly, she knew if he came to her another time, she would give herself to him without an ounce of doubt! See,that thought bothered her. It bothered her the depth of feelings that were coursing through her body right now.

Deep in thought, she took another sip of her drink and looked around hoping to see him.

Their eyes met briefly when she looked away, unable to control the emotions flooding inside her. She looked back to see that his eyes were still on her, there was a tender look in his eyes, as though understanding everything that she was going through, for he was going through something similar. He brushed the tip of his tongue over his upper lip reminding her of the small bite she gave him, making her look away embarrassed and blushing. He smiled and looked away at the turn of events.

Everything that he didn't want to happen, had happened today. He didn't fear getting close to Olivia, he feared about staying away from her. Now after that kiss, after this day, it was a mammoth task to stay away from her. Did he even want to stay away from her? No!

Fitz turned away from her as if to deal with his thoughts in private, just to himself. He didn't want her to see the struggle he was going through to keep it together. She had no idea about the effect she had on him. Her brown eyes, conveying a story every time he looked at them, the eyes he was addicted to now, the eyes that held so much pain, so much sadness that it scared him that he may end up hurting her.

He asked for another scotch and stared at the Golden liquid before taking a big sip and closed his eyes. It shouldn't have happened, he shouldn't have kissed her, because now, he wanted more.

Olivia walked away from the room to get some air, she would lose it if she looked at him another time. She walked out and sat on the staircase. The whole time Stacy's words repeated in her head. "You do know that he's married,right?"

A part of her didn't care if he was married, because right now she didn't want to think about Fitz, she wanted to think about herself. She hadn't lost control in a long time, yes she knew she had a drinking problem, a smoking problem, but this was different. She drank to forget things, to keep herself from destroying herself. As ironical as that sounded. But today, what she did, when she took a step forward and touched his lips with hers, it was a decision she took. She knew the consequences, she knew what she was doing, and she did it. Olivia hadn't done anything of that sort ever. She didn't do it on impulse, she thought about it and still went ahead. She kissed him because she wanted to. She thought about herself, she did it for herself. That is what astonished her.

It wasn't just the fact that she had kissed a man who belonged to someone else, she knew she had made a mistake. She considered herself dead on the inside since a long time and the fact that she look a leap of faith, a risk and did something she never thought she would do in her wildest dreams brought back the towering reality of her life. She felt human again. Somebody who can be happy, who can make mistakes, who can have dreams, who can hope. She had boxed herself for so long unable to bear the trauma of certain events in the past. She felt a sense of freedom, she hadn't felt in a long time. She wasn't panicking, she wasn't stressing, for the first time, she was thinking in a rational way, she was surprised. She was surprised that it took one kiss from a man to bring her back to life.

She felt footsteps towards her, she didn't even have to look up to see who it was, she knew it was him. It was weird she could already recognise his presence. She felt him sit next to her.

"I'm sorry, if I crossed a line" he said, slowly, looking down. Fitz has never ever apologised like this in his life, but when he saw her walk out of the room in a rush, he was scared whether she was alright. He debated whether it would be the right thing to do to go see her, he was scared if he was rough with her, he was scared that he might have already hurt her, but he had to see if she was alright and so he searched for her outside only to see her sitting on the stairs in deep thought. So he went and sat next to her, careful to maintain a decent distance this time.

"I crossed the line, not you" she said, smiling weirdly looking ahead.

He thought a lot before he could ask this.

"Do you regret it?" He asked.

"I don't know" she answered and he was disappointed, he felt crushed.

He got up before his emotions took the best of him. Before leaving he asked,

"Will you be alright?"

Olivia got up and walked to him. Fitz tried his best not to look at her swollen lips, inviting him yet again to kiss her senseless.

Olivia saw his eyes land on her lips and she felt shivers down her spine. If his one look could do this to her, she knew she was doomed. She saw the disappointment on his face, she knew he was worried if he had hurt her, so she said,

"Fitz, you didn't hurt me." She stated, looking at him.

"And that kiss, that kiss I don't regret." She said and walked away.

A small smile played on his lips while relief flooded his body. She knew what he was thinking, she knew he was worried about her. He saw her retreating figure as he felt new energy course through his body. Olivia Pope was going to be the death of him.

Olivia reached his hotel room at around 12AM. She had thought about their kiss the whole night and was exhausted both from overthinking and also moving around in those heels. She plucked them out of her feet and undressed and placed it neatly inside her closet. She removed her jewellery and her make up before she went to wash her face. As she looked at herself, she saw her lips were still a little swollen making her blush. She wished he could hold her again, she wished she could kiss him again. Annoyed at herself for thinking about it again, she closed her eyes and tried to forget what happened. She wanted to take a quick shower but was too tired so she wore a loose shirt and a pair of shorts and collapsed on the bed before setting her alarm. She fell asleep the minute her head hit the pillow.

This was probably one of the rarest of days where she hadn't used alcohol to forget something.

Fitz

"Fitz,its me"

Fitz groaned as he heard Damon banging on his suite door.

"What does he want now?" He mumbled as he opened the door.

"Why do you look like that?" Damon asked as he entered the room.

"This better be something important. It's fucking 3 AM in the morning" Fitz followed Damon as he sat on the couch.

"Awh, somebody didn't get laid" Damon said, mocking Fitz.

Fitz stared at Damon and clenched his teeth. Damon wanted to laugh but he knew he'd get punched so he shut up.

"What'sthe matter?" Fitz asked as he cooled down.

"How was the party?" He asked suggestively.

Fitz looked at him like he was out of his mind. Did he really show up at to his room at 3AM to ask about that stupid party?

"Aren't you supposed to be in London?" He asked ignoring his question.

"Yes. I'm supposed to leave in an hour." Damon said, annoyed that Fitz dodged his question.

As they sat in silence, Fitz finally gave up and confessed "I kissed her"

"That's horrible" Damon said.

"I mean she kissed me first and then I kissed her back" Fitz felt like a child caught stealing.

"That's even worse" Damon smirked.

Fitz rolled his eyes. Why did he think Damon would be of any help? Damon cared about Fitz and Fitz only. If anything threatens to disturbs even a strand of hair on Fitz's head, Damon will kill them before they could get within ten feet of Fitz.

"You know what? Just bang her, get her out of your system" Damon said as he got up and walked to where the scotch was to pour himself some. He was surprised when there wasn't any left. Fitz winced at his choice of words.

"Did you drink all of this?" Damon asked, shocked.

"Yes. I'll call for some, wait" he said and he picked up his cell.

"No, that is fine" Damon said still unable to believe the extent of feelings Fitz may have for this girl.

Fitz was struggling with his feelings. He was sick and tired of keeping it all inside, he needed an outlet. He thought he could tell Damon, but he was being irritating and judgemental and he just sighed, and put his ordeal to rest.

Damon sighed and sat down in front of him and looked at Fitz with concern.

"What is wrong with you? Why are you behaving like this?" He asked.

"I don't know" Fitz said as he texted his bodyguard outside to get some scotch for him.

"You like her?" Damon asked this time.

Fitz looked at Damon with a "how dumb are you" face.

"Okay, you do, I know" Damon said with his hands up as if defending himself.

"You know this is not gonna end well, for you or for her" he added.

"You think I don't know that?" Fitz asked frustrated.

"What if she gets to know that whatever happened with her that night was because of you?" He asked, looking Fitz dead in the eye.

Fitz gave him a furious look, that managed to scare Damon a bit.

"What are the fuck are you saying?" He got up and asked.

"Those men who did those things to her were there that night because of you. You went there to collect weapons in the middle of a street. You could've asked them to deliver or something, but you called them there because you were reckless and drunk, you didn't show up on time and they decided to pass time and have some fun, and who did they find to do that?" Damon screamed it out all in one breath angering Fitz who punched him hard but yet he didn't stop.

"This is not some sappy love story that is brewing between you both, this is your guilt. You know it was your fault. You caused her the pain, that has been killing you ever since and you think, this, whatever that is you're doing is going to take all of her pain away? Is this some messed up way to get forgiveness ?" He asked as Fitz put his hand around Damon's neck. Fitz let go of him as he heard him gasp for air.

There it was, the truth. The truth he had been trying to forget, the truth he had been burying deep inside of him every time he looked at her.

" Fitz, you damn well know I don't care what happens to her. I will even kill her if it means protecting you. I even thought about it, if I just eliminate her, all our problems would go away."

Fitz gave him a cold stare.

"If you lay as much as a finger on her, I will not hesitate to snap your neck" Fitz said with an terrorising expression on his face.

Damon chuckled.

"What a story you told me!"

"I was waiting around for a pick up when I saw those men try to rape her and I shot them and saved her" Damon mimicked Fitz.

Fitz clenched his teeth as his secrets were coming out.

"It bugged me so much why you cared about her suddenly out of nowhere. So I did my digging and now I know, this is nothing but guilt." Damon said confidently looking into Fitz's eyes.

Fitz looked at Damon and tried not to punch him again in his stupid face. But what was it going to change? Nothing.

Damon saw the dejected look on Fitz's face and felt bad for him and so to cool down the situation he said,

"To me, it's not your fault. You didn't know she was going to be there. You didn't know those bastards would do shit like that..."

"Yeah, but if I had just reached there sooner..." Fitz sighed and looked away. He always felt guilty about that night, but ever he saw her again few weeks ago in that conference room when he was announced the CEO, he lost his mind. He couldn't stop thinking about her, about what he caused, about the trauma and scars she had to go through even after he shot those people. So he had made it his mission to protect her, but that was failing miserably now, because he knew, deep down he knew what he felt for her was not just guilt, he was developing some serious feelings for her. But if she were ever to know, that he was responsible for every nightmare, every drop of tear, she would walk away.

"You want to protect her, but again, you're putting her life in jeapordy. Those men you killed, you knew they were Remi's yet you acted all surprised when I informed you that last week. You know everything. You need to stay away from her. Day before's guy was harmless, I myself did a check on him."

"But you are going to cause her more harm than Remi"

Fitz hated every word that was coming out of Damon's mouth because he was right. He was right, he had to stay away from her. But could he? Especially after that kiss, how could he stay stay from her?

"I want you to leave." Fitz said as he slumped down on his bed.

"Don't drink yourself to death." Damon said as he left. Damon knew what he was doing was only going to help Fitz in the long run.

Fitz stared at the wall ahead as he felt himself fall into a spiral of thoughts again. Everybody saw him, knew him as a strong man, both physically and mentally, somebody who was cold, heartless and didn't care about anybody. But nobody knew the man inside, the one who was repressed by his father that made him resentful about life, the good man inside fighting to come out, but being desperately pushed down by those around him. When he was with Olivia, he didn't have to worry about that, he could show his feelings and not get judged, he could be himself, he could smile, he could laugh, he could eat ice cream. He felt like a child as he thought about himself. What he did was wrong, but he didn't have the strength to tell her that. There are times he wanted to tell her the truth but he couldn't. She trusted him, he knew that, deep down even if she didn't tell it out aloud , she trusted him and if she gets to know, he would lose her. Not like he could get her even now.

Damon was right, he had to stay away from her for.

With that thought, he tried to sleep but he was awake the whole time. Sleep didn't come to him, as he stared blankly at the ceiling.

Next morning -

Stacy and Olivia went for a morning run around the hotel and went back to their respective rooms.

Olivia showered and dressed. She was in a better mood today, so she dressed carefully, paying attention to each and every detail. She wore a black pencil skirt and a V neck white full sleeve blouse that was tucked in. She parted her hair in the midline and tied it. She wore long earnings and a bracelet. She applied a lipstick which had a reddish hue to it, she applied more mascara than usual, and her eyeliner was on point. She looked more dressed than usual. To complete the look, she wore her favorite pair of black heels and took her necessities and left her room.

Her heart was beating so hard and fast, she worried if somebody heard it. She will see him today, she didn't know what to do, how to act. She thought it would be better if she behaved as though nothing happened between him. It was stupidity to even expect anything out of this. The kiss maybe the most fantastic one she's ever had, but he was married and she had Richard and just thinking about it gave her a headache.

Because she had breakfast in her room, she went directly to the room that had been converted into an office. . She saw him sitting behind those glass walls. He looked like he hadn't slept. His hair was slightly messy, his eyes looked sleepy yet he managed to look sexy. Sexy, woah that is new. Where did that come from? She thought.

She stole a few glances at him throughout the day and was disappointed that he had not looked at her even once. Almost annoyed at the whole situation and her herself she walked out to smoke a cigarette.

She came back to see him standing near her cubicle with the others surrounding him. She instantly became scared, wondering if she missed something important. She ran and joined the group, others noticed but he still didn't, he just wouldn't look at her. That's it, it made Olivia mad.

"But sir, Olivia is supposed to accompany you" Stacy said brining back Olivia from her thoughts.

"That won't be necessary. Harrison will accompany me" Fitz said and walked away.

Stacy looked at him Fitz with an annoyed expression.

"It's like he's on his period" Stacy commented.

Olivia ignored that comment. She was beyond disappointed that he said no to her accompanying him to an important meeting today. She didn't have much work to do, other than take notes but still, it was something. He was avoiding her, there was no doubt.

Maybe he regretted what happened between them yesterday. He was married, surely he would regret it. It scared Olivia how she didn't bother about his marriage. What kind of a person was she to think romantically about a married man?

Again her thoughts were broken by Stacy, who asked Olivia if she wanted to go eat lunch with the others outside at a cafe nearby. Olivia didn't feel like and thankfully Stacy understood. Fitz and Olivia both were acting weird ever since she saw them enter the hall together yesterday.

Olivia went back to her room and sat on her bed, she ordered room service and ate her food trying not to think about Fitz.

She wanted to call Richard and speak to him, it had been a whole day since she spoke to him.

Completely forgetting about the time difference she called him and he picked up at the last ring.

"Can you stop calling me, I need time to process this." She heard him say in a rush and cut the call.

What? What the fuck was that?

Olivia called him again and this time he picked up and screamed into the phone "I need some time Madison, I know it's my baby too!"

Olivia's blood drained from her face. She felt like somebody had hit her with a thousand bricks. Her mouth opened in an O, she was hyperventilating, her palms turned sweaty, the phone dropped from her fingers onto the bed.

Is it what she thinks it is?

She heard Richard scream into the phone, calling her name again and again. She cut the call and sat on the bed with her head in her hands. That's it, she was trying not cry, she was trying to figure out whatever life was throwing at her one at a time, but this, this she can't take.

She covered her mouth and cried. The one person, the only person she had ever trusted, the only man who loved her with all her flaws,all her dark days, the only man she gave herself to completely physically and emotionally, had betrayed her. She felt her heart break into a thousand pieces, as cliche as it sounds. Olivia always knew in the back of her head that Richard and her may leave each other, but not like this.

Not like this.

Her phone rang continuously, she knew it was Richard but she didn't care. She stared at the ceiling and let it ring. She couldn't care to listen to his voice after this.

She didn't realise when she fell asleep.

FITZ

I came back after my last meeting to the office. She wasn't around and I ignored it. I had some files to look at, some signatures to sign and a presentation to prepare with my secretary.

I shifted to a boardroom to do my work to prevent myself from looking up again and again to see whether she was around.

Three hours passed when I came back to the office to have a chat about tomorrow with my employees,but she was no where to be seen. I looked at my watch and it was 6PM. Where the hell was she?

I tried not to worry, I tried not think about it.

"I see there are three people missing" I said.

Just when I said that, I saw Stacy and Huck walk in. They were coming back from a meeting. Where the fuck is Olivia?

"Where is , I asked as calmly and formally as possible" Stacy looked at me for a second before she said,

"She should be here. Isn't she here?" She asked.

Nobody replied.

"Maybe she's in her room." She added, still looking at him suspiciously.

With no other choice I nodded and told them to not repeat the mistake as Olivia, and I tried to hurry with the briefing, while Olivia's thoughts plagued the back of my mind. Was she okay? Was she in danger? I had my security detail on her, she would be fine, I tried to tell myself but I just couldn't get a grip on myself. So I hurried through/ the thing and dismissed everybody and immediately rang the security head.

"Where is she?"

"In her room sir. She went to her room at 1PM and hasn't left the room"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes sir, we are seeing the cameras and our men are on the floor"

I didn't care about my decision to stay away from her. What the hell was she doing in her room for so long?!

I took the elevator to her floor and reached her door and knocked once, no reply. I rang the bell, no reply. I felt sick to my stomach and kept knocking and called out for her

" Olivia! Olivia!"

Olivia felt a distant voice call her. Only when she woke up she realized somebody was banging the door.

She realised it was Fitz and walked fast before he could break it.

Fitz saw the door open to reveal Olivia, who looked like she had woken up from her sleep. But her eyes looked red and moist, her hair was everywhere, her eyeliner drew sad lines on her face. She was crying. Why was she crying ?

"Are you alright?" He asked as he walked in and held her arms.

Olivia saw the concern and fear on his face.

Olivia tried her best not to cry, but she couldn't hold it in, she sobbed there standing in front of him.

It hurt to see her cry that way, he stepped closer and pulled her softly to his chest. Her arms rested on his shoulder as he held her.

He patted her back and wondered if he was the reason for all this.

Do you think Fitz is the reason for what Olivia went through that night? And what do you feel about Richard getting another woman pregnant?