AN: Thank you to crabapplect for the idea for the first part of this chapter. To the guest who said she was hoping I wouldn't go the sexual assault route - I don't think I did!
Olivia was having a hard time letting Fitz comfort her. While she loved having him with her and having his large arms encircle her to keep her safe, she felt extremely disappointed in the fact that she had been unable to avoid this situation in the first place. She was supposed to be strong, not weak. Not a person a male could prey on. She was upset that the reason she was still at The Center was to help Fitz with Amanda and instead he was once again helping her instead of her helping him.
There was something niggling her brain; something that Fitz had said that she thought she could use, but she couldn't focus. Her heart rate kept picking up and her throat kept clenching with tears, especially when Fitz stroked her back or her hair or kissed her gently, letting her know he was with her. Finally, she gave up. She moved herself out of his arms and stood up. He was on his feet beside her in an instant, asking if she was okay.
Olivia took a deep breath. "I'm okay," she said. "I need a few minutes to myself to think. And then I want to talk to Amanda."
Fitz looked at her, a confused expression on his face, but when she gave him a weak smile, he nodded. "Okay," he said. He turned and walked out of her office. Olivia was briefly worried that he was upset with her, but decided she would talk to him later and concentrate on herself for the moment.
Olivia paced her office, the small space not conducive to pacing, but she thought best when walking and she did not want to leave her office yet. Her thoughts were everywhere, but mostly on one thing. She had bruises. Amanda did not.
About ten minutes later, there was a small knock at her door. When Amanda came in, she looked scared. Olivia did not consider herself to be scary, but Amanda had been through a lot and probably did not trust most adults, so Olivia could understand her look of fear.
Once Amanda was sitting and Olivia was beside her with her arms crossed and hiding her bruises, Olivia began. "Amanda, I think you know that it's never okay for someone to hurt someone else, especially for an adult to hurt a child."
"I'm not a child," Amanda clarified, her face showing she hated to be called one.
Olivia tried again. "This morning, something happened to me," she said.
Amanda looked up curiously.
"Someone hurt me," Olivia said, struggling to keep her voice from breaking. "He held on to me and he wouldn't let me go. I thought he would hurt me even more than he did, but luckily he got interrupted. But – " Olivia uncrossed her arms and allowed Amanda to see the bruises.
Amanda didn't say anything, but Olivia could see her eyes fill with – something. Whether it was fear, or shock, or sympathy, Olivia wasn't sure.
"Amanda, has anyone ever hurt you like this?" Olivia asked, knowing in a way it was manipulative, but needing to communicate with the girl.
"No!" Amanda answered quickly. Too quickly. "Well, not recently."
Olivia looked at her, waiting for more.
"I lived in a lot of foster homes when I was younger," Amanda said. "In one of them, there was a kid who liked to beat up on me. But it was a long time ago."
Olivia nodded. "Is there anyone who you are scared of?"
"No," Amanda answered.
"Good," Olivia said. "Being scared is an awful feeling. I was scared today."
Amanda looked down at Olivia's arms again. Then she looked back into Olivia's eyes. Olivia willed her to understand what this was all about before she had to spell it out for her.
Finally, Olivia sighed. "Amanda, what happened with Dr. Grant on Friday?" she asked.
Amanda's eyes immediately showed panic. And then realization.
"Did he hurt you, Amanda?" Olivia asked.
Amanda started shaking her head, her eyes on Olivia's arms and then on Olivia's face. "He didn't hurt me," she whispered.
Olivia nodded, her hand reaching towards Amanda's. Amanda jumped in her chair, as if Olivia was reaching for her with fire. Olivia withdrew her hand. "So what happened?" she asked quietly.
"It was Billy's idea," Amanda said. Olivia thought that might be all she said, but then she continued. "He told me that I could convince Dr. Grant to do what I wanted if I flirted with him a little. And Billy would be so mad if he knew it didn't work. I actually didn't mean to get Dr. Grant in trouble." This last part came out in a rush and Olivia felt her hopes lift. She thought maybe, just maybe, she could save Fitz.
"Amanda," she said. "There's a meeting happening soon between Ms. Whelan and your social worker and your caseworker from the state. They're going to talk to Dr. Grant about whether he hurt you and whether you need to move to a new school. Do you think you could tell them that he didn't hurt you?"
"You can tell them," Amanda muttered under her breath.
"No," Olivia said. "It has to come from you." Olivia looked at Amanda carefully. Then, "I know you're scared," she said. "I know you messed up, and now you're afraid you'll look like a child if you take it back. But people make mistakes too, Amanda. And this mistake? If you don't make it right, it could really hurt Dr. Grant. And it could also hurt you. You've been doing well here and you're safe here. Who knows where else you could wind up if you have to switch schools?" Amanda nodded, as if agreeing; as if she understood the concept of hurting someone else; as if she wasn't hurt by others her whole life. And Olivia understood that, she did, but she needed to fix this for Fitz. "I'll be there with you, if you want," Olivia told the girl, trying to be empathetic.
Olivia was ignoring somewhere else she had to be; something else she had to do to help herself before she could help anyone else. She knew she couldn't ignore it for much longer, but she wasn't sure how long it would take. She would have to wait until later. She also had no way to get anywhere, and she wondered if she should ask Abby for a ride. Olivia had to file a police report. She wouldn't let Jake hurt anyone else; she had to be the one to stop him.
When Fitz left Olivia's office, he returned to Harrison, who had not yet heard from Jake. Fitz's mind was reeling. He had never known Jake to be violent. He had excused Jake's behavior on the basketball court as an accident, but now he was beginning to think it may not have been one after all. As mad as he was about what Jake had done to Olivia, Fitz couldn't help but worry about Jake. Where was he now? Was he having a mental break? Had he kept all of his anger bottled up inside of him until he snapped? What if he had hurt one of the students? Obviously, now Fitz had grounds to fire the man. The first thing he did when he returned to his office was to call the state department that was in control of the school to report the incident to them.
Next, he went to speak to Abby. He wanted to know exactly what she had seen, what Olivia said to her, what her take was on where Jake might be now. Abby was on the phone and Fitz dropped himself dramatically into the chair beside her desk. She gave him a look that was a mixture of amusement and annoyance so he returned her look with an eye roll and a motion of his arm to indicate he wanted her to hurry up her phone call.
When Abby finally hung up, she just looked at him, as if waiting for him to be the one to start the conversation.
"Abby…" Fitz started. Apparently that was enough for Abby.
"Do you remember the day you met us for drinks?" Abby asked him.
He nodded. "Of course."
"We were talking before you got there and Quinn asked Olivia about Jake." Fitz's eyebrows went up questioningly. "She had no interest in him at all. It was like she never even looked at him. And then today, when I saw him in her office, I wondered if I'd gotten that wrong. If maybe there was something between them." Fitz was shaking his head at her words. "No," Abby said. "I was right the first time. It's you. She only has eyes for you."
"Do you think she's okay?" Fitz asked.
"I think she'll be okay," Abby answered. "She seemed a little traumatized. But I think she's strong."
"I want to kill Jake," Fitz confided.
Abby shook her head. "I can't imagine what he was thinking," she told him.
There was a knock on Abby's door then, and Olivia entered. "I handled Amanda," she said. "It's handled."
"What does that mean?" Fitz asked, gazing up at her.
"It means I talked to her and she's going to tell Clare and Sally that you didn't hurt her," Olivia said. She smiled a little, meeting his eyes for the first time. Fitz felt his heart beat a little quicker at the way her eyes held his.
"Do you two need a minute?" Abby asked with a small giggle.
Olivia looked away from Fitz first and he grinned at the blush that rose to her cheeks. He reached for Olivia's hand and intertwined his fingers with hers.
Gently, Olivia removed her hand from his. Fitz frowned. "Abby, can you give me a ride to the police station after the Amanda meeting?" Olivia asked.
"I can take you," Fitz said quickly.
Olivia glanced back towards him and he noticed the color had left her cheeks. "I think I'd rather go with Abby, if that's okay with you," she said, her voice quiet.
Fitz was confused, but just nodded his agreement. "Alright, I'll see you in the Amanda meeting," he said, referring to the meeting the way Olivia had, and enjoying the hint of intimacy implied in sharing her phrase. He left Abby's office to return to his.
As Fitz passed Mellie's desk, she was quick to greet him. "How was your weekend?" she chirped. Fitz felt a flash of anger. Mellie's phone calls over the weekend had started the chain of drama that had led up to Olivia being hurt.
Not answering her question, Fitz said, "You and Jake are close friends now?"
Mellie giggled. "Not really," she said. "We hung out on Friday."
"Mmm hmm," Fitz replied. "Did he seem off to you at all?" Fitz couldn't help it – he was still concerned about Jake's state of mind.
"He was okay," Mellie said. "Just a little overly concerned about Olivia."
Sounds about right, Fitz thought to himself. "Have you seen him today?" he asked.
"Nope!" Mellie said, making a popping sound on the P in the word.
"Alright, look," Fitz said. "First of all, please don't call me on the weekend again unless you have to tell me something about one of the students. And by something I mean something important. Also, you shouldn't believe everything you hear."
Mellie looked a little confused. Then she had the decency to look embarrassed. Fitz turned and walked into his office, closing the door behind him.
Handling things was Olivia's job. So she ignored the emotions threatening to consume her – the memory of Fitz's strong arms holding her and Jake's clammy hands squeezing her, Abby's look of shock hidden by empathy, her manipulation of Amanda to do what she wanted – and concentrated on handling.
The so-called Amanda meeting went quickly. Amanda did as she said she would and told Sally Langston – a no-nonsense type of woman who scolded Amanda for making up stories, as if she was a six-year-old and not a sixteen-year-old – that Fitz hadn't hurt her. The meeting was adjourned with Sally going to speak to Fitz in his office, leaving Olivia and Abby to handle their next order of business – filing a police report.
Although Olivia had called in multiple allegations of abuse to the state in the past, she had never yet had to make a report in person, much less a report regarding herself and not one of her clients. Abby proved to be a great support, answering questions about Jake when Olivia could not. Olivia managed to hold herself together, and when they were finished at the police station she asked Abby to drive her home.
Once finally alone, Olivia took a long, hot shower, trying to wash away the memories of that morning. It didn't quite work, so she dressed in a cami and underwear and climbed into bed. After tossing and turning a bit, she drifted into a fitful sleep, awakening hours later to the sound of pouring rain slamming into her roof and a loud knocking at her front door. Pulling on her robe, she sleepily pulled the door open to find Fitz, thoroughly soaked by the rain and looking as forlorn as she felt.
He gave her a small smile. "Hi," he said.
She replied, "Hi."