Two hours later

Olivia is standing on the balcony staring at the stars while she sips a glass of red wine. The night air is calm with a subtle breeze. The quiet around her is welcomed, as it lulls her mind and puts her at peace. With all of the drama that unfolded not long ago, she's appreciating the stillness.

Minutes later she turns around to the sound of a door opening and closing and footsteps. She takes a breath as she thinks to herself, its Showtime. When she walks inside she sees him walking toward her, and she can tell as he nears her that his hair is damp, but he's wearing the same clothes he had on earlier, and he's carrying a bag.

This spikes her attention as she puts the glass of wine down on the table as he approaches. And before she can say anything he has her in his arms, and she can see the appreciation in his eyes as he says, "I don't deserve you." His words warm her heart, he can see the acceptance and care in her eyes looking back at him, and she caresses his cheek as she replies, "Yes you do. You deserve me and more."

They share a sweet and loving kiss that heats up within seconds. With their bodies so tightly pressed together, pelvis to pelvis. She feels him harden against her thigh, as he grips her ass securely, breaking the kiss as a moan escapes her lips.

He then pecks her lips sensually as he whispers, "Thank you for staying." She looks up at him as she responds, "Of course. I couldn't leave you like that. I needed to make sure you were okay first."

He nods as he replies, "I can't tell you how much I appreciate you Liv." She smiles as she responds, "Thank you. It's great to be appreciated. But you'd do the same for me. So it's a no brainer. Are you ready to talk about what happened?" He tenses a little and pauses, but then replies, "Yes we can do that. Just let me put these dirty work out clothes in the wash and we can talk." She can relate, she does the same thing post work out, and its then she realizes instead of dressing to go the gym, he used the clothes in his gym locker to work out, and showered before coming home. That's why he's still wearing the clothes from earlier, but his hair is damp. Agreeably responding to him she smiles as she says, "Okay." Sweetly, he gives her a quick peck, and she has a seat on the couch, finishing her glass of wine.

He returns in minutes and finds her relaxing on the couch, and as he has a seat he says, "Sorry about that, I needed to get those in the wash before that stress sweat settled into those clothes." She nods as she responds, "I get it. I do too." Agreeably he nods as he says, "So where were we?" She sighs as she replies, "You were about to talk to me about how you're doing?"

He takes a breath as he replies, "Honestly, I'd be better if I hadn't ruined our day together by getting into a fight with my father." She appreciates his thoughtfulness but says, "It's sweet of you to feel badly about me witnessing you in a not so shining moment. But I'm fine. If I wasn't I wouldn't be here. This isn't about me; your feelings are just as important as mine. So I'm asking, where are you emotionally right now?"

With a slight smirk, and an attempt at humor he replies, "If you consider the fact that I don't want to choke my father out at the moment, I guess you could say I'm doing well." She shakes her head as she grins in response to him, knowing his sense of humor. He loves making her smile, and he grins in response to her reaction.

Olivia understands his personality, and appreciates the laugh. But she touches his hand as she replies, "Fitz, come on. No jokes. Talk to me please. This is serious."

He nods in acknowledgement as he says, "Right now if I had to put a word on it. I'd say I am feeling embarrassed because I shouldn't have allowed myself to get that angry, and react to him that way even if he instigated it. She can see the remorse in his eyes and feel it in his tone; lovingly she squeezes his hand as she says, "What you're feeling is totally normal; I've certainly felt embarrassed after rethinking something I've done or said. But you know what matters most?"

He asks, "What?" She replies, "What matters most is how we respond after the fact. How we move forward says more about us than what we did to get to that embarrassing and regretful moment. So don't beat yourself up about this, because that's not going to help you solve the riddle of why this happened in the first place. It will just keep you as a prisoner of your own struggles. Preventing you from growing and learning from your mistakes as you move forward."

Her response comforts him greatly, he can feel himself emotionally settling down. She too can feel his energy leveling out more, his anxiety that was showing before is reducing. He thinks for a moment then replies, "I get your point about figuring out what triggered the break down, so it can be addressed. But my father won't let that happen. If it's not something he wants to talk about, he will immediately change the narrative. It's incredibly frustrating to deal with someone like that."

She hears him, and realizes in order to help, she needs to know more about what actually happened.

So she asks, "Is that how you two came to blows?" He sighs as he nods and says, "Yeah. Things escalated rather quickly between us as always. But this time it was more intense because there was so much in the works." She asks, "Like what?" He replies, "He came to talk to me because I'd been ignoring his calls or not giving him full answers when we did talk. Which I know is my fault. I could've handled that better. And I acknowledged that part. But, that wasn't enough for him."

He pauses, as he collects his thoughts, trying to remain calm. Her heart breaks for him, she can feel his body tensing as he speaks; she reassuringly rubs his hand, helping him be present in the moment, verses trapped by the emotions attached to the incident.

They share a look and she says, "Take your time. Nobody's rushing you." He nods as he continues, "Anyway, he was basically pissed off about me filing for my trust my mother left me without his knowledge. And despite me owning the fact that I'd been ignoring him, and apologizing for not being straight forward with him about me entering the freshman senate race. Instead of accepting my apology, and just saying he doesn't agree with my choice. He felt the need to tell me how much of a fuck up I am for my choices, and accused me of doing it all to spite him. As if somehow this is all about him and not about me and what I want to do with my life."

Olivia responds, "Wow, that's allot to chew on. But we knew beforehand he wasn't going to be a fan of your change in career path, or filing for your trust access early, in addition to stepping back from Mellie. So what pushed you to react so angrily?"

He replies, "When I called him on his inherent need to always make things about him and change the narrative to fit what he wants or wants to talk about. That took things to another level, because when he refuted my accusation. I used today's conversation as an example, but he dismissed it; so I used the topic of my mother to prove a point."