A/N: I finally have a little bit of extra time, so I'm back to my rewatch and writing my character analysis stories. This is super short, but I needed to get it out of my system. In another note, hopefully I'll update Never Break the Chain in a couple of weeks. Thank you for reading!
Olivia strengthens the grip on her phone as the street lights pass by and exhales.
This should've been obvious. It doesn't matter what happens, everything leads back to Defiance.
Not even 24 hours have passed since he came to her door unannounced, ready to give it all up for her, and now she might lose him.
Maybe one night is all they had. It seems that even with their trust in each other regained, it's
impossible for them to have any resemblance of peace. He earned her, but at what cost.
There's no fixing the past, the election rigging cannot be fixed, the least she can try to do is appease some of its consequences.
It's self-sabotage, what Fitz is doing and it's impossible for him to not to realize that..
He has no belief in himself. A victory in a clean and fair election is inconceivable to him, not even in his imagination he can conjure it up.
If she fails tonight, they're ruined. The weight of him giving up on his future for her would never leave her shoulders. She has already taken his chance to win once, the thought of the guilt she would have to carry daunts her.
The dangers of the what if he had run, what if he had another term would haunt her for the rest of her life and one day he would come to resent her.
In the long run the what ifs would ruin them.
Inadvertently she has reinforced his father's words and his lack of faith.
Fitz loves her, but he's using her as an escape.
Olivia bites her lip.
In the case that she succeeds and changes his mind, she will also lose him. It means setting up again the façade of his marriage for the campaign, and it means another four years of hiding.
A lose-lose situation. He runs again and leaves her, or he doesn't, and they stay together until the moment he realizes the future she's taken from him.
There's always the option that she's wrong and that he was planning to run. Maybe he just hasn't filed the documents yet.
Olivia scoffs. That's unlikely.
The day has been spent ignoring her instincts at his wish.
She has let him be, not interfering at all with how he decides to deal with the repercussions of Mellie's interview, but there are many inevitable outcomes in this situation.
Eventually her name will come out. The president's mistress.
Considering the day she's had, the knowledge that for now their relationship is good puts her at ease. Whatever happens he'll be by her side. Or he would.
Now she's about to try to convince him to leave her all alone, back to stolen moments and barely seeing each other.
As Cyrus leads the way into the White House tunnels, Olivia straightens her spine, ready to give it all up for the man she loves.