Liv POV

Fitz's arms held me the entire night. His grip didn't loosen and I knew this was now my favorite spot ever. In his arms, almost bare. I could only imagine what it would be like to be naked against him but that couldn't happen any time soon. It should have been the last thing on my mind, but it wasn't. I wanted to experience that with him, experience it in general but I knew now was not the right time. Not today, not this week even. Only time would tell when we'd reach that point in our….relationship? I think I was okay with calling it that.

I waited a second before I began untangling myself from his embrace and he responded immediately. I felt his arms enclose around my waist and pull me back towards his chest and I moaned almost too loud at the contact.

Morning wood was a real thing and Fitzgerald Grant had so much to work with.

"I want to go on record and say I have no control over that." He grumbled lowly against my ear.

I had to laugh at him. It was either laugh at him or be completely turned on and do something that was way too inappropriate with his daughter asleep in the next room. He flustered me in ways I couldn't imagine and I had to turn myself in his arms and make sure that our bottom halves weren't touching.

"It's ok. I understand."

I was suddenly shy and wasn't sure why. Finally facing him was probably the reason and I had to make my heart rate slow down to a normal pace. His eyes were only open in small slits and I wondered if he wanted to stay in our little cocoon of a world and stay asleep.

"I think maybe we should start becoming more presentable before she wakes up."

"Is that right?"

I rolled my eyes at him and shook my head. His voice was too deep and raw for it to be so early in the morning.

"Yes, and you promised her a full day of museums, parks, and sight-seeing so we should get ready before she comes in and sees us like this."

"Do you not want her to see us like this together?" he challenged.

I averted my eyes and tried to pull away from him, but he held me tighter against him.

"I'm only kidding, Livvie. I know this is new between us and it's something that CJ doesn't really need to be aware of until we get a lot of things figured out."

I looked up into his eyes and saw the understanding I needed from him.

"It might sound selfish, but I can let you get your hopes up, but I can't get hers up. She's too innocent in all of this."

"I know." Fitz glanced over and looked at the alarm clock on the mahogany night stand and read the time aloud. "If I know my daughter, I'd say we should start getting moving if we want to be decent by the time she barges in at any second."

I panicked and began to sit up but he grabbed my arm and yanked me back down so that I was on top of his bare chest. I laughed softly as he slowly shook his head at me.

"She can't get through a locked door so we have a few moments to greet each other properly before we have to get out of bed."

"And what is the proper greeting?"

"This"

Fitz's hands were on the back of my head and he pulled me closer until his lips touched mine.

He was completely right. This was the proper way of greeting one another and I would surely get used to it.

I sighed deeply and opened my mouth against his, demanding more of whatever he wanted to give me in that moment.

Fitz POV

We had spent an eventful day in DC exploring monuments, walking the National Mall and completely nerding out. I knew my inner nerd would come out, but I was surprised to see Olivia's come out as well. I knew she was smart not only because of the way she spoke and carried herself, but the line of work she was previously in was no easy feat. It took years of school, volunteering and hands-on experience to be a Child Life Specialist. The way her face lit up when we arrived at the National Museum of Health and Medicine and she nearly fidgeted out of her skin when we walked the exhibit on the Brain and Nervous System. I had expected for CJ to be weirded out by it all, but she was surprisingly eager to pick at Olivia's brain and ask her about everything she knew and how she knew it. The rest of our afternoon was pretty eventful and all the exploring and walking had CJ passed out for the short twenty minute drive back to the hotel. I expected her to pass out on the subway car but she was still so fascinated by the moving underground train that she waited until the busy streets of DC lulled her to sleep in the car. I carried her up to the room once we got back and laid her in the bedroom while Olivia and I got comfortable on the couch and watched a movie together. We barely paid attention to it and the six-dollar charge that was sure to show up on the hotel bill would be an extreme waste of money, but I didn't care. The entire time the movie played, we simply made out like teenagers. We kept it very PG knowing that CJ could very easily walk in on them this time.

When her near hour and a half nap was over, the three of us went to the hotel's indoor pool and spent the next few hours playing around until they all went up to shower and get ready for dinner.

"Alright Ceej, you done in there? We've been waiting for like an hour for you!"

"Don't have a cow, Daddy! I had to look my very best for Thanksgiving."

Olivia chuckled beside me and I loved how she purposely held in her laugh so she wouldn't upset CJ. Olivia was next to me with my arm wrapped securely around her waist, softly rubbing the skin of her hip. I noticed since we left that morning, neither of us could really keep our hands off each other. It was all innocent, a touch here, a rub there. She was more touchy- feely than I expected, and I loved it.

I responded to her chuckling by poking her in the side and she giggled quietly before gripping my fingers in her hand.

"No tickling." She whispered.

"But I'm kinda bored."

"Fitz, stop!" She giggled again and the sound was becoming one of my favorites. I had tickled her almost non-stop as we swam earlier and learned just how ticklish she truly was.

I relented and stopped before she decided to move out of my embrace.

"I gotta get her to come out so we won't be late for our reservation."

My daughter was so dramatic and I could only smile at the fact that she wanted to dress up for the holiday. We were all dressed up to go out to dinner and CJ all but kicked me out and allowed Olivia to help her get ready. However, Olivia had left the bathroom nearly ten minutes ago and CJ stayed inside "fixing things" while they waited. Olivia's outfit was gorgeous but I had to admit I didn't understand it. I thought she had appeared from the bathroom wearing a dress, but when she had gotten close enough and I gripped her side, I was able to feel skin. I remember looking at her confused as my thumb continued to tease the soft flesh of her skin and she muttered something about a "high waist skirt and cropped top". All I knew is that it was a gorgeous color and it had easy access to her skin.

CJ stepped out of the bathroom and smiled bashfully at the both of us. She stepped closer before unexpectedly twirling so that her dress twisted beautifully.

"You look beautiful, CJ." Olivia spoke, reaching out her hands for CJ to take. CJ moved closer to her before wrapping her arms around Olivia's waist and standing on her tip toes.

"Thank you. Can I have some of your lips gloss and make-up?"

Liv POV

I looked at Fitz and knew he'd object immediately but I also didn't want to indulge the little girl in make up at such a young age.

"I really think you might be a little young for wearing make-up out of the house, but if it's okay with your dad maybe we can play around with some make-up once we get back home. Just the two of us."

CJ looked at Fitz with hopeful eyes and when he rolled his eyes playfully, the little girl cheered loudly, knowing she had gotten her way.

"Alright you sneaky snake, we need to get out of here before we miss our reservation. Let's go." Fitz spoke, moving towards the hotel's closet where we'd hung our coats.

We grabbed our coats and scarves before heading downstairs. We were halfway through the lobby when I spotted Huck sitting at his usual spot at the bar. I was so grateful to him and didn't feel right about leaving him alone on a holiday that was all about being grateful for those in your life. Huck was a very big part of the group of people I was grateful for. I stopped and Fitz's eyes followed mine until they spotted Huck's stiff form. My eyes connected with his and his grip loosened on my hand and I walked towards the bar and directly to Huck.

His blank stare didn't change as he looked at me and I didn't take offense at all.

"Liv" was his only greeting.

"Huck. Thank you for everything you've done. I just wanted to know if you wanted to join us for dinner tonight? We could still change the reservation to four with no problem at all."

"No Liv, but thanks. You enjoy yourself. I'll be here."

I smiled and didn't push him on the matter. Fitz waited until I was close enough and intertwined our fingers once again before we headed out the door and to the restaurant.

When we were seated, the waiter placed a special thanksgiving menu in front of the three of us and explained that there was a flat rate per plate for all you could eat of their thanksgiving meal. Fitz and Olivia got everything while Fitz made sure to only get specific things on CJ's plate. He didn't want her to waste any food so he wouldn't worry about forcing her to try anything new tonight.

"What's your favorite Thanksgiving memory, Liv?" Fitz asked me.

"That's easy. Each year, I usually worked shift at the hospital, but then me and some co-workers would always sign up early to volunteer at soup kitchens or shelters and we would head there and serve dinner to the homeless community."

"You and that big heart of yours."

I blushed at his statement and took a sip of the ice cold water the waiter had sat in front of me minutes ago.

"I just wanted to be around people that realized they had something to be grateful for even if it didn't look like it. I didn't grow up around that type of humility so once I was old enough to decide plans on my own, I made sure they would be moments I would never forget or overlook."

"Tell Livia about the first Thanksgiving you and me had, Daddy." CJ spoke up and I looked at Fitz eagerly wanting to know the story.

Fitz chuckled before he even began speaking and I knew he could probably still picture it as though it happened yesterday.

"You were about twelve weeks old and Grandma called saying she was bringing food, but I told her I didn't want any and you couldn't eat any so it was no point to bring it all the way up to our house. She kept trying to argue with me and ended up driving all the way up to our house and when she got there I let her inside."

"Then tell her what you did!"

Fitz chuckled before he continued, "She kept trying to make me eat the food but I just kept watching tv with you."

"Tell Livia where I was and what you were eating!"

"CJ was lying on my chest and I was eating ice cream."

CJ laughed loudly before bringing her little hands up to her cheeks as her mouth hung open.

"He just ate ice cream for Thanksgiving dinner, Livia! So now each time we have Thanksgiving dinner, we get to eat ice cream, right Daddy?"

"Right, Bug. So tonight, on the way back, we're gonna get some ice cream from room service and have at it."

I smiled at the two of them, loving that CJ brought up a tradition that was clearly dear to her heart and that she was inviting me to share in that special time. It was a few minutes later when our plates arrived and the waiter walked away from the table to grab our warm rolls.

Fitz POV

"Alright, so we do this pretty simple tradition before we eat where we say what we're most grateful for. If you don't want to.."

"No," Olivia interrupted me and I smiled at her. "Of course I'll do it too."

"Okay, I'll start. I'm very thankful for my family. That's my mom, CJ and you, Livvie. I'm thankful that you came into our life when you did and that we get to be the ones you spend time with."

I wanted to lean over and kiss her but I knew I shouldn't so I turned to CJ knowing she wanted to go next.

"I am thankful for all of my toys in my room and for a kitten that Daddy can get me for Christmas since I was so good this year, and for Grandma and Daddy and for Livia cause she's our family now too and she spends a lot of time going places with us and playing with me."

Liv POV

I tried not to cry from the innocence of CJ's words, yet the tears welled up before I could stop them. I reached under the table for Fitz's hand and intertwined our fingers before looking at him. His eyes said everything my heart was saying, and I knew he could feel me saying them without even speaking.

"I'm thankful for the both of you being in my life and I'm grateful because I know no matter what happens, we've have this extraordinary time together and I'll never forget it. I hope we can have so much more in the future."

Liv POV

I watched as Huck typed away furiously on his laptop while I stood to the side watching and waiting for him to say something to me. He had been in this position for the past nine minutes and I knew it had been that long because the sound of the clock on the wall ticked away and I couldn't help but count along with each second. My heart was racing and all I wanted to do was pick up the phone and speak to Fitz but that was impossible.

"Huck can you say something! Did they go back? What's going on?"

"Liv stay calm and let me work. I told you to trust me."

"I do trust you but I need you to tell me what's happening! It's Fitz and CJ! I can't just… I need to know what's happening. They went to their house so they know where they live…"

He turned to face me and stood up before grabbing a hold of my shoulders.

"Everything is fine, Olivia."

"Then why'd you come and take me away? If they're still here and it's not safe for me to be there, then it's not… I can't just leave him there, Huck."

The tears spilled down my eyes and I felt my knees buckle beneath me. I was a mess as Huck caught me before I hit the ground and my mind went back to the last hour and a half, trying to make sense of a perfect night that turned horrific.

"What did I tell you about tickling me?" I laughed loudly as his long fingers dug into my skin ferociously, no matter how much of a fight I put up against him. He constantly wanted me to admit to anything he assumed he was right on and when I refused, he always brought out those fingers. He was so bad.

"Fitz! I swear if you don't stop, I'm going to pee on myself and you!"

Anytime I mentioned wetting myself he would stop. I knew that CJ had peed on him before and he took any warning of being urinated on seriously.

"You don't play fair, Livvie. You know the thought terrifies me."

"Well if that's the ammo that I have, then I'm gonna use it every chance I get."

I moved off of the couch and into the kitchen to grab the tall bottle-neck glasses from the counter and moved back towards him.

"Thank you." He said before bringing the bottle to his mouth and taking a long sip.

I sat down beside him and threw my legs over his thighs while resuming my previous position against the arm of the couch. He had just gotten off the phone with his mother after saying goodnight to CJ. The little girl had been excited to see her grandmother after a few weekends of staying home. She was still following the rule of not mentioning me to anyone, that we know of, and as bad as I felt, I was also glad.

"I still can't believe you convinced me to drink this stuff. I feel so emasculated thanks to you."

"Yet you're the one that bought it! I just made you try it because I think it taste good."

"Cider always tastes good."

"Well this is considered a hard cider. Besides, I thought beer was beer to guys."

"You really thought wrong on that one and even if it was true, gluten free beer is not real beer. It's just not and will never be."

"Just shut up and keep drinking, crybaby."

"Now if you don't want the fingers, you know better than to name call, Livvie."

"Okay, okay I'll stop. Keep those fingers to yourself."

"But I don't want to keep my fingers to myself."

His voice had dropped a few octaves and I shivered against him instantly. I had no idea how he was always able to make me respond in a way that made my entire body heat up.

"Fitz…."

"Shhhh"

His lips were against my ear and I complied with his words as I felt his fingers move to the waistband of my pajama pants. I held my breath when his fingers moved against me. Since returning from DC over a week ago, Fitz and I had been taking many steps closer to complete intimacy but hadn't reached it yet. I wasn't sure if we were exactly ready to take that step and I knew Fitz was following my lead. I wasn't really ready and he always seemed to understand it and not push me too far. Anytime I felt that I was ready to take that next step, we'd get completely interrupted.

Tonight was no different.

His fingers rubbed across my lower lips and I grabbed a hold of his chin and brought his lips to mine.

I felt his finger move towards my opening when we both jumped at the loud knock against the front door. We both jumped at the noise and I moved my legs from his before we both stood up.

"Who the hell is that?" Fitz questioned in a low voice as he walked towards the door.

"Wait!" He paused and looked back at me with worried eyes. "What if... Fitz.. Just wait."

It was as if he understood what I was saying and the feeling I had in my gut was strong. I moved to the top of the stairs and stayed in place as Fitz went to the door.

Fitz POV

There were two men dressed in suits standing on my porch and the second that I saw them, my own gut told me that Olivia had every reason to be afraid.

I opened the door and eyed them before casually greeting them.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm Detective Stevens and this is Detective Young. We saw that your firm had pulled the case on a Ms. Olivia Pope from Georgia and that your access ID was used to gain it."

I blinked at them wondering why they just stopped talking.

"And?"

They looked at each other stupidly and I knew they expected a different reaction from me.

"We just wanted to know why you chose to access her case? Do you know Ms. Pope?"

"No. Case came from Georgia. As far as I know from the notes, she's nowhere to be found."

"So why'd you pull her case files?"

"Because it's labeled as a back burner case and I could tell it hasn't been touched."

They simply stared at me before the shorter man, Stevens spoke up.

"So you're just looking at her case?"

"Look, I'm a lawyer and just recently got re-certified to practice criminal law so I had to find a case to present in a mock trial. One that probably won't see the light of day anytime soon and I'm not sure if you've been around here long enough to tell, but there ain't much going on around here to choose that kind of case. So I looked at the nearest city that had a high criminal law pool and just picked one. I'm really confused as to what the big deal is about this Pope lady?"

It was Detective Stevens that gestured at Detective Young for them to finish up.

"We apologize for the inconvenience. Pope is one of our missing fugitives from down south.."

"Wait so you came here from Georgia to see if she was with me? All because I pulled her file? Wow." I laughed but purposely kept my voice down. I noticed them looking past me and into the living room. I'm sure they'd seen all of CJ's mess she'd left before she went with my mom and they had to assume there was a child present. "This is exactly why I stay in a small town. Sorry you wasted your time coming all this way but I'm just getting reacquainted with my profession."

"Again, sorry to disturb you. Have a good night."

"No problem. Hope it works out for you."

I closed the door and stayed in place with my eye looking out the peep hole. I waited until the car pulled off and turned at the end of the block before I heard Olivia move quickly back down the steps. The second I turned around, her arms were around my neck and I felt moisture against my skin. She was crying.

I felt her body shaking against mine and I did my best to hold her tighter into my body.

"Talk to me, Livvie. Don't shut down on me."

"They were lying. It was Jake and Chris."

"What? Are you sure?"

"I know their voices." I felt her nod against me as she tried to catch her breath.

"Shhhh, Livvie. I need you to calm down for me. Please baby, breathe for me."

I could feel her beginning to hyperventilate and I didn't want her passing out on me. I kissed her head repeatedly and rubbed my hand up and down her back for several moments until I felt her grip on me loosen and her breaths coming out more evenly.

"They found me, Fitz."

The moment I opened my mouth to respond, loud knocking sounded against the backdoor, terrifying us both even more than the first time. I grabbed Olivia's shoulders and moved her towards the steps before I went into the kitchen.

I let out a sigh of relief when I saw who was on the other side of the glass door and called Olivia's name just as I slid it open.

She rounded the corner and looked at Huck with concern written all over her face.

Liv POV

"Liv, we need to go. Now.

I hesitated for a second, and he repeated his words, but firmer.

I knew I had to leave, but the thought of just walking out of this home without any idea of when I'd be able to come back, terrified me.

"Livvie, listen" Fitz reached for me and pulled me into his arms before bringing his hands up to my face and forcing my eyes to connect with his. "I need you to go with Huck. I'll be here and everything will be fine, but I need you to go."

"But what if.."

"No what if's. You need to go with him now. I'll be in touch, I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise me." I whispered. Tears were once again spilling down my cheeks and I was shocked at how much everything had changed within the last few minutes.

"I promise you I'm not going anywhere. We're going to handle this. Tell me you trust me."

I didn't respond to him like he wanted, and he tilted my head further up and brought his lips to mine in a soft kiss.

"Tell me Livvie."

"I trust you." My voice came out in a whisper and as soon as the words left my mouth, his lips were on mine again but more fiercely. He whispered "I love you" several times against my lips before he pulled away.

"I love you too."

"Olivia, they aren't in town anymore. I watched them leave town with my own eyes and I have someone tracking them now. They left just as quickly as they got here and they're headed back. The reason I brought you here is because there's someone else that stayed behind and that is watching Fitz's house. He's some hand they paid off but I don't expect him to stay for long. Maybe a few days most, but Jake and Chris are gone. They believed Fitz but they're just covering their tracks and making sure they aren't getting played by him. Until this guy is out of town, I'm not letting you anywhere near that house."

"But what if…"

"No" Huck interrupted. "You will stay here until I know that it's safe for you to go back. We knew this would happen once he was allowed access to the case and this is just the beginning Liv. If this is what you want, then you have to know that it's going to get worse before it gets better."

I stood up and looked at him, finally letting it sink in that this was a turning point and that I had to make this choice myself. As much as I wanted to run, I promised Fitz that I wouldn't.

"Is this what you want, Liv?"

"Yes." I knew I sounded confident, but on the inside I was still terrified.

"I can and I will take care of Chris and Jake."

"What about Russell?"

"He'll be harder to find. The second he knows that Chris and Jake are done, he's going to go into hiding. It's what he does, but I'll be waiting for him to resurface and when he does, I'm going to kill him."

I didn't want to think about Huck killing anyone because it didn't seem real. Although I knew exactly what he had done in his position at my father's company, it was hard to see the quiet man that had done nothing but protect me, as a killer.

"Huck… I don't want you to … I can't imagine how that weighs on you."

"I've killed people that did nothing wrong to anyone and got paid for it. At least this time it'll be for something good. Someone that deserves to die. They can't get away with how they hurt you. I won't let them and I made your father a promise that I would take care of you. He might have been a lot of things, but he took care of me the only way he knew how and I owe him that much."

I didn't know how to respond to that and could only promise myself to never forget how much Huck was doing for me. I sat down and waited, trying my best to not cry again because I knew it wouldn't do me any good. I also knew it would make Huck anxious and he had enough to worry about. Not being able to sit still, I went into my bedroom and flung myself down on the bed, willing the tears not to fall. They were desperate to fall and I fought hard against the constant lump in my throat. All I wanted to do was talk with him. To be in his arms and have him holding me and reassuring me that everything would be okay. But that was too much to ask.

I had fallen asleep in that very same spot and that's where I stayed for the next two days until I was shaken awake by Huck. I knew it was somewhat childish to lock myself in my bedroom and refuse to come out, but I honestly wasn't in my right frame of mind to think clearly. It's not that I wanted to, but each time I went to ask Huck if everything was safe the answer was no. When I asked if I could at least speak with him, he would just stare at me, not wanting to share more bad news with me. The fact that Huck was in my room and standing over me, must've meant that something changed.

"What's going on? Is he in the clear? Are they still watching his house?"

"Sorry Liv, there's been no change. He's still watching the house."

"Why are they staying here for so long? You said he wouldn't stay this long…. That they would leave right away."

He didn't respond to me, instead he reached out his hand towards me, offering me a small phone that I had not seen before. It looked like one of the burner phones he had given me weeks ago, but I hadn't known that it was functioning.

"It's for you."

I looked at the phone and saw that it was connected already and the timer on the phone was already counting the minutes. I grabbed the phone from his hand and he left without saying another word. I pulled the phone against my ear and immediately noticed the pattern of his heavy breathing as it sounded in my ear. It was enough to make me fight back the tears that were threatening to fall. All I knew was that the person that I needed the most, the love of my life was on the other end of the line and I felt like I could breathe again.

"Hi."

"Hi."