I spent more time trying to figure out this chapter than any other before it. Most of my reviewers shared the same idea of what they thought Michael & Olivia's history was. That was honestly my first thought too. But that seemed too easy. So let's raise a toast on this Thanksgiving. To curveballs. Enjoy

Golden Boy

There was complete silence in the room as everyone looked at Michael. Four sets of eyes waited to see what would happen next. Olivia was still rooted in the same place, still looked stunned. Fitz was completely bewildered. Michael's shocked eyes were on Olivia. Charlie whispered to Rob, "Pimp Daddy knows Fitzy's girl. This is gonna be good." They both grabbed a handful of chips and waited for the show to start.

Michael and Olivia were staring at each other in silence. Neither one could believe the other one was really there. The tension in the room was palpable. All five of them felt it. Fitz repeated his question, a little louder. "Michael, you know Olivia?"

It was enough to snap them both out of the dumbstruck moment. Olivia noticed that Michael wasn't saying anything, explaining anything, so she took it upon herself. She closed her eyes, shook her head once, turned to Fitz, and said, "Michael and I went to Georgetown together. We...had a mutual friend. Didn't we, Michael?"

Michael listened to her explanation, and knew that while it was true, the story was missing some very important personal parts. He was more than fine with that. Fitz would probably try to beat the shit out of him if he knew the whole thing. And Michael hadn't been the victim of a beating since high school. He certainly wasn't going to tell him. So he smiled brightly at Fitz and agreed to the truth Olivia had shared. "That's right. Georgetown seems like a lifetime ago though, doesn't it?"

"Most days it does. Other days, like today, it seems like yesterday." She said with a bland stare. "What have you been up to since college? Did you ever get married? Have any kids?" She was taunting him and they both knew it, knew why.

He gave her a hard look, but answered her questions. "I don't have time for a wife or kids right now. I stay pretty busy with work, but always keep my eye open for Mrs. Right. Do you have any single friends who are also looking?"

"I'm not setting you up with any of my friends. What do you do for work now?" She could play the polite game with him. Her stomach was in knots and she hated that he still had that effect on her, but she could do it.

"I work on Wall Street as a trader. I do quite well for myself these days. I'm not the same person I was when I was in college. I've changed." Michael looked her in the eye and hoped that his statement spoke loud to her. He wanted her to know he had changed. That he was able to change.

"Are you still playing basketball?" Olivia felt like she was having the most ridiculous conversation of her life with a person she had no interest in being around whatsoever. Not any more.

Michael shot her a sad smile. "That championship game for Georgetown was my last time on the court. I accomplished what I needed to that night. For the school and for myself. I never wanted to play the game again after that."

He had summed it up perfectly. Asshole, she thought to herself. "Well, at least you went out on a high note and did what you needed to do. I think your jersey is still hanging up in the gym. You always did wind up on top."

"Not always," he quietly said.

Fitz was grinning widely at his friend. "It's so great that the two of you already know each other. It makes things a little simpler. I'd love to listen to some of the stories the two of you must have. College was probably really interesting. I'll bet you have some dirt on Olivia, and I bet she has some on you? Fitz grinned at Olivia and planted a kiss on top of her head. "The three of us need to get together soon and talk over dinner."

Olivia bristled at the thought of spending more time with Michael than absolutely necessary. She smiled at Fitz and avoided eye contact with Michael as much as possible. Michael smiled tightly and said, "I'll look at my schedule and see if I have time to squeeze in dinner somewhere. If it doesn't work out, I'm sure Olivia will fill you in on anything you want to know. She's great at telling stories, aren't you Olivia?"

"I am. But only true ones. Should I tell one now, Michael?" She asked with a hardness in her voice.

Michael grabbed his phone from the card table and stuck it in his suit pocket. "Maybe next time. I've got to get going. Early morning for me tomorrow. See you guys in a month. Nice to see you again, Olivia." He walked to the door and let himself out.

"We aren't finished playing poker though!" Charlie whined. He was trying to figure out what had just happened, but had no idea. Michael was always the last one to leave on poker night.

Rob could be heard muttering, "Girlfriends and wives fuck everything up."

Olivia turned to the two complaining men and smiled at them. "I'm really sorry I interrupted your poker night. I promise I'll stay far away next month." Charlie punched Rob in the arm and called him an asshole as Olivia chuckled. "Who was winning?"

Rob rolled his eyes and begrudgingly said, "Fitz was on a roll the last few hands. I know he cheats but I haven't been able to catch him at it yet."

Fitz laughed at his friend and watched as Olivia pressed something into his hand. "I'm a fantastic lawyer. If you think you have a case, give me a call. We can make him pay for pain and suffering."

Rob held up her business card and read it. He shot Fitz a grin and a middle finger and said, "See this? I control you now, son! If you get out of line I'm going to call your girlfriend and take you to court. Thanks, Olivia."

"You're welcome, Rob." Olivia shook his hand and gave Fitz a huge smile, to which she got a frown in return. "Don't mess with my client, Mister! I'm very good at what I do."

Fitz pulled her close to him and whispered in her ear, "I know exactly how good you are at what you do, Miss Pope." He kissed her nose and added, "You just called me, Mister. I'll bet your parents would be so proud right now." As Fitz roared with laughter, Olivia turned a bright shade of red.

"Would you like me to take this guy outside and kick his ass, Olivia?" Charlie asked with a smile. He liked her for some reason other than she was Fitz's girl. She was the kind of person who made you feel like you've known them along time. And she didn't act like she was better than any of them either. Charlie admired that in her. He wondered if Olivia would get along with Quinn.

"You and what army? Fitz teased.

Olivia was enjoying the comradery between these three men. It was obvious that they cared about each other a great deal. She wished things between her and Michael didn't have to be so strained. That the five of them could all get along and spend time together every so often, for dinner maybe. But that would never happen. Olivia wasn't interested in spending time with Michael. Not within the group and definitely not alone. But these two were different. Even though she had screwed up their precious poker night, they didn't hate her for it. "As much as I think he needs that, Charlie, I kinda like his ass the way it is."

"HA! The woman said my ass is perfect, boys! Besides, you couldn't kick a tin can. Go home and get your freaky leather fantasy going with Quinn." Fitz shook his hand and watched him gather up his things.

"It was really nice to meet you Charlie," Olivia said as she also shook his hand. She leaned in close to Charlie and said in a low voice, "The same offer goes for you as it does for Rob. Call me if he gets out of hand in the future." She slid her card to him with a wink.

Charlie grinned at her and told Fitz, "Don't lose this one! She'll help us keep you in line and that's a hard thing to do. Have a good evening. I know I'm going to." He had a happy but wicked gleam in his eye as he walked out the door with Rob trailing behind him.

"I'm going to go too, Fitz. I have a headache. I think I'm going to go home, take something, and lay down." She pecked Fitz on the lips.

"Don't go, Babe. I probably have some Tylenol in my office. Since the game is over anyways, I'll follow you home as soon as I'm done cleaning up." Fitz wanted to take care of her.

"I'll be fine. I'm just going to put on my pj's and go to sleep. You'd be bored. I'll see you tomorrow?" Olivia tried to keep it together and act normal. Inside she was freaking out.

Fitz pulled Olivia close to him and kissed her. "Call me when you get home, ok?"

"I absolutely will." She pecked his lips once more, told him goodbye, and walked out the door.

As soon as she walked outside, Olivia stopped and took a deep breath. That was the most uncomfortable she had been in a very long time. Charlie and Rob were great. She could see why they got along so well with Fitz. They both seemed so easy going and fun. But she was still in shock that one of Fitz's best friends was Michael. This wasn't good. She put her purse on her shoulder and started walking around the corner toward her car.

An arm grabbed her and pulled her deep into the ally beside the bakery. Olivia was about to scream for help when she came face to face with Michael. Suddenly, she wasn't scared. She was pissed off. "What the hell is wrong with you, Michael? Have you lost your mind? Get your hands off of me and don't ever touch me again!"

Michael dropped his hand from her as if being burned. He held his hands out, palms facing her and said, "I just want to talk to you." Olivia turned to go but Michael pleaded with her. "You can stand over there and I'll stand over here. I'm just asking for a few minutes of your time. I promise I won't touch you."

Olivia felt her skin crawl, knowing he was looking at her. She took a few steps away, pointed a finger at him, and said, "What the hell do you want to talk about?"

"I want to talk to you about Fitz. Are you going to tell him about what happened in college?" He watched her expression change from defiant to worried. It calmed him some. Women were unpredictable, but he didn't know what Olivia would do. And he needed to know. "I think it would really hurt him if you did."

"You only care because if I did tell him, you wouldn't be one of his favorite people anymore. His opinion of you would change drastically. Isn't that what you're really worried about? Number one?" He had some audacity! Trying to act like he's protecting Fitz, when in reality he was only trying to protect himself.

Michael watched her for a moment. She looked mad. And conflicted. This Olivia wasn't the same girl he knew in college. She was tougher, more determined, and not to be taken for granted. Michael spread his hands at her and said, "Look, I'll admit that I am worried about what Fitz will think of me, if he learns the whole truth. And if he was dating any other girl, it wouldn't bother me. But it's you. I'm very sorry for what happened that night back in Georgetown. I've said it many times before and I'll say it again. You know that wasn't me. You and I got along so well up until that night, and you know I would never act that way under normal circumstances. It was the alcohol from that damn party. I can't change the past, but I think it's best to leave it there though. Don't you agree?"

Olivia knew he was right. If Fitz found out what happened years ago in DC, he would probably end his friendship with Michael. And while she wouldn't mind never seeing him again, she knew Fitz only had three friends whom he thought of as brothers. She didn't want to be responsible for changing that. But on the other hand, it wasn't her fault. It was Michaels. His actions, while years ago, were ultimately his own responsibility to bear.

And she shouldn't lie to Fitz just so Michael could sleep at night. She cared about Fitz and she shouldn't cover up something his friend did a bunch of years ago. What if Fitz's feelings for her changed once he found out the truth? He has known Michael much longer than he has known her, and has a bond with him. It could happen. She wasn't sure she could handle that. But she knew she couldn't handle acting like everything was fine between her and Michael either. Not even for appearances sake. "Look, Michael..." She started.

"You certainly didn't help the situation by telling everyone, and I do mean everyone, what happened. And why did you tell Jessica? We were supposed to get married, have lots of kids, and grow old together. You really screwed up my life, Liv. My reputation was almost ruined. If I hadn't pulled out that win for the basketball team at the championships, my name would have been shit forever. I hate to think about what my life would have been like if I hadn't made that three point shot." Michael didn't like placing any of the blame on her, but she did have a part in what happened too. He thought she needed to see that.

"So it's my fault? Is that what you're saying?" Olivia was absolutely amazed at what he was saying to her. "Do you even remember what happened that night? Or did the alcohol take all of your brain cells? Let me jog your memory."

"That's really not necess..." He began. But he was quickly cut off.

"Oh but I think it really is necessary. You seem to think that any of that was remotely my fault! So let's clear that up right now, shall we? You had just proposed to one of my best friends. Everyone knew you and Jessica would get married because you were perfect for each other. You were both driven, hard working, and completely in love. But she said not yet. She wanted to finish college, get her degree in child development, and get a good paying job before she got married. And you couldn't accept that for some reason.

"So you took your heart broken ass to a party the same night. Which is where you found me. Drinking alone and feeling sorry for myself." Olivia swallowed her pride and continued. "And enough time has passed that I can admit the reason I was feeling sorry for myself. It was because I wanted someone to look at me the way you two always looked at each other. I wanted to be in love. Not with you, but with someone who would treat me decently and love me back wholeheartedly.

Being friends with Jessica, I heard all about how special you made her feel. She loved you more than anything in this world, and had you taken her answer and been patient and waited, you would have been married to her for at least ten years by now and had all kinds of babies with her. But instead, you decided to go to a party and drink your sorrows away. And when I offered to take you back to your dorm so you could sleep it off and sober up, you took that as an invitation for sex." Olivia was completely unaware that she was shouting at him now.

"You pulled me into a bedroom. I thought we were going to talk, but that was the last thing on your mind, wasn't it? I asked if you wanted to go get some coffee but you tried to kiss me. When I refused you shoved me up against the wall and almost knocked me unconscious. I kept saying 'No No No' but it didn't make any difference to you. You ripped my shirt off." Olivia started pacing in circles as she spoke. She needed to get this out. Even if he remembered what had happened, she needed to say it to him. She glanced up at him and saw him staring at the ground. She was back in that dark room with him as she spoke, but she kept going. "I was begging you to stop. To leave me alone. To let me out of that room. But you just laughed and kept pawing at me.

"Thank God that guy walked into the room we were in a few minutes later, looking for his coat. I ran out of there as fast as I could. To get away from you." Olivia was hugging her arms to herself as the memory enveloped her. "I went back to my dorm and showered under the hottest water I could stand and tried to scrub the memory of your hands off of my body. It took me months to deal with what happened. When my parents noticed something wasn't quite right a few weeks later, they suggested I go to a therapist. And I am so glad I eventually did. I told her every disgusting detail and she helped me deal with all of it."

Olivia glanced up at him again. "My therapist wanted me to press charges against you, but I didn't want to dredge it all up again in front of strangers. I really didn't think I had a case since, in my young mind, nothing serious happened. I didn't think I had a shot of winning even if I did go to court. It would be your word against mine, and you were back in everyone's good graces by then. So instead, I graduated from Georgetown and moved back to New York to be near my parents.

Do you know how embarrassing and humiliating that was? You were the boyfriend of one of my friends. I thought of you as a friend too. Jessica and I used to talk about your wedding. She had everything planned out you know. She had already chosen her bridesmaids and spoke to her mom about the venue she wanted. She even had an idea of which kind of dress she would wear. She knew you would eventually propose to her again, and she was still in love with you.

When I got my courage up, I told her what had happened. I felt like she deserved to know the truth about the man she was in love with. She ended things with you the same day I told her, and when the semester was over, she transferred to another college, far away. I told my closest friends so they would keep their guard up around you. Apparently they told their friends too. Because before long, everyone knew what had happened. And then you won that damn basketball game and you were the golden boy at Georgetown again."

Tears were forming as Olivia pressed on to get the rest of the story out. For peace of mind or closure. She didn't know which, and right now, she didn't care. "You may not have raped me that night, but it was definitely on your agenda. Are you man enough to admit that now? After all these years, Michael?"

He finally looked up at her and shouted his answer. "I told you before, Olivia, that wasn't me! I had never done anything like that before that night, and have never done anything like it since. I was devastated when Jess told me no when I proposed. That's not an excuse. That's a fact. I apologized to you back then, and while I know that an apology doesn't change what happened, I can't undo it!" Michael ran his fingers through his hands in frustration. He tried for a softer voice. "I am so very sorry for what happened in that dark room all those years ago. I am. And I am sorry that I did those things to you. It was wrong and I can't make it go away. But I have changed, Olivia. I am not that pathetic party guy who is constantly trying to hook up with some girl just because he wants to. After that night, I focused on getting out of college and getting a good job so that when I did eventually meet the woman I would marry, I would have my head on right."

"I knew what your reputation was back then because we were friends. And you're right, I had never heard of you doing anything like that before. I'm glad you have changed. That you have made changes to your life and how you live it. But the fact of the matter is, I was the girl who you abused on a bad night. And you didn't answer the question." Olivia folded her arms across her chest and waited.

"I don't know what would have happened if that kid hadn't walked in that room. I'm so very thankful that he did though. But I can't answer that definitively. If you are going to press me for an answer, then I would have to say, given the frame of mind I was in back then, then yea, it probably would have."

Olivia bent at the waist and released guttural sounds and cries at his admission. To think that would have been the end result was one thing. To hear him admit that it probably would have happened was another thing altogether. She thought this conversation would bring healing but she was wrong. She just felt terrible. Things couldn't really get any worse than they were right now. Or so she thought.

"What did you just say?"

Olivia looked up at the entrance of the alley toward the familiar voice she now knew as well as her own. A lone shadow of a man could be seen from where Michael and Olivia were at. Fitz was standing there with his hands clenched in fists at his side. Although they couldn't see it, he had a horrified look on his face and slowly started walking toward them. He growled, looked in Michael's direction, and shouted, "What the fuck did you just say?"