Chapter Two

Strangers' silence makes me wanna take the stairs

Friday Night

Fitz held up his glass of scotch, "To kicking ass and taking names in Randall's class on Wednesday and today." He grinned, his white teeth flashing and his blue eyes, only made bluer by the t-shirt he was wearing, sparkling.

Olivia chuckled, tucking a stray curl behind her hear, as she tapped her own glass of scotch against Fitz's. It was the first time she'd ever had scotch. She was fairly certain she was in for a lot of firsts now that Fitzgerald Grant was in her life. "You were right, we made quite a team." She assented, "I won't lie, I had my doubts about working together, about working with you in particular. You proved me wrong though." She scowled, "And that never happens." She paused again, "Also, I'm glad we skipped the party tonight. That's not really my thing."

Fitz just gave her a smile. When he'd picked her up he realized she was not into the idea of a Greek Row party, so instead they wound up at a dive bar near campus. "You know, I'm thinking we should make a habit out of prepping for class together. Bring down our classmates one by one. Maybe find another ally or two in the process?"

Olivia laughed and nodded, finally feeling her nerves slipping away. She wasn't sure if it was the good scotch he'd just bought her or just his own aura. He was a comforting person to be around. His personality was calm and easy. He was nice. It'd been a while since she met a truly nice guy. Sure, Edison had been nice, but he was manipulative and a bit controlling. Fitz just seemed to roll with her rather prickly personality. She was interested to see if that would stick or if it was just his way in with her. She had to admit, she was curious to find out. She was curious to find out more about him in particular. "I rather like the sound of that plan." She agreed after a few moments of quietly sipping her drink. "So, Mr. Grant, tell me how you ended up out here at Harvard."

Fitz stared down into his nearly empty tumbler for a moment, contemplating his answer carefully, "It was on the opposite end of the country from my father." He finally stated. "My father, well, he wanted me to go to Harvard initially, but then I up and joined the Navy and he balked, tried to talk me into schools out on the west coast to keep me closer. To control me. I decided against it and came here anyhow." He paused, "Actually, I told him I was applying to Yale, Georgetown, and Dartmouth. I left Harvard out. I didn't want his influence on anything. I knew I could get into this program without him. Of course, I'm sure people recognized the name and realized who I was, so maybe that meant nothing in the end." He shrugged, "It was worth a try anyhow."

Olivia arched a brow at that, "Most people would want his influence. Two term governor, former senator. It's not a bad resume to have backing you." She pointed out.

Fitz chuckled, "Everything with that man comes with a price. Every favor, every compliment, it's not worth it. He's not worth it. I don't want to be like him."

"Beloved by all?" Olivia quipped, though she could tell the underlying family history between father and son proved the beloved by all Big Jerry Grant was just a façade, it wasn't the real thing. Not much in this world was as it seemed though, something Olivia knew all too well.

"A cheating, selfish bastard." He finished his scotch and flagged down the bartender for another glass, "What about you, Olivia? What brought you to Harvard?"

Olivia took a sip of her scotch, "I want to do something, to change something. I want to be more than my parents are. I love them, I do, but I can do more. I need to do more."

Holding up his fresh scotch, Fitz said, "Here's to you doing more. And I will be more than happy to help you with that."

Olivia smiled softly, "I may have to take you up on that." She warned him. After a moment of silence, she placed her hand over his wrist. "You're not your father, Fitz. You can do whatever you want, be whoever you want. You're not bound to become him just because you were raised by him."

He turned his hand over and laced their fingers together. "Well then, here's to doing more and becoming what we want." He paused, "Perhaps even together."

Olivia clinked her glass against his, "I'll drink to that" She agreed.

SSS

One Month Later

"This is the most competitive program on campus." Olivia commented, tucking a stray wisp of hair back in her bun.

Fitz nodded, his arm draped over his shoulders, "One might even say in the entire country." They stared at the door for one of the lecture halls in the law building in silence for another moment. "You sure this is a good idea?" He asked slowly.

Olivia nudged him in the ribs. "Of course it is. We like to argue, they like to argue, we like to win, they like to win. Why not argue and win together?"

"Great pep talk, Livie." Fitz nodded, "Okay, let's do it." Fitz pushed the door open to the lecture hall where the interest meeting for the Harvard Law Debate team was meeting. Getting on the team would be tough. It was competitive. Olivia had assured him they'd both make it. Only a month into their relationship and he already knew he couldn't say no to her, so when she'd suggested they try out for the debate them, he'd simply swallowed his nerves and nodded.

Olivia tugged him into the classroom and pulled him into a seat next to hers on the second row, "You know it's going to be fine."

He shrugged uncertainly, "Actually, no I don't. You're confident enough for the two of us, though."

Frowning, Olivia muttered, "One of these days I'm going to beat the shit out of your father for stomping all over your confidence." She gently stroked his slightly scruffy cheek with her thumb as she said it.

He laughed, raising a hand to cup her head and brought his lips to just hover over hers. "Duly noted." He pressed a kiss to her lips, "My hero."

She raised her own hands to hold him in place. When they pulled back she was grinning, "That goes both ways, sailor."

SSS

One Week Later

"Welcome to the Harvard Law Debate team. I am Cyrus Beene and this is my team. I also happen to run the law school." He paced at the front of the much smaller lecture hall. "Congratulations, you are the ten students who are intelligent enough to be a part of this prestigious group." He held up a stack of folders with the Harvard emblem on them. "The schedules, the rules and regulations, and my rules and regulations are in here. We have our first debate in one month at Stanford in California. We will meet every Tuesday and Thursday night right here at 7pm on the dot. If that's a problem, then you may exit the way you came in."

Fitz turned his head to look at Olivia, "What on earth did you get us into?" He muttered.

Olivia chuckled softly, "Oh come on, he's a big old softy. Can't you tell that all those mean words are just to scare us? He's all bark and no bite." She whispered back, referring to Cyrus Beene. "There's no point in being scared of him. Between the two of us we could definitely take him."

Fitz laughed softly and picked up her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of it. He never saw her coming, that was for sure. He had no idea that his first day of stepping into a class at Harvard he would meet this amazing, fiery, determined woman who was already well on her way to stealing his heart.

And he'd happily let her.

SSS