New Girl in Town

Twenty minutes later, the guys were ready and came downstairs after one final look at themselves in their mirrors. It was almost the end of October. That weird part of the fall season where it was cold in the morning and after the sun went down, but warm in the afternoon. One had to dress wisely or end up sick.

Generally, Leo was the more casual dresser, Harrison was the sharpest, while Fitz fell somewhere in between. The three men discovered they had all opted to wear jeans. Leo wore a flannel shirt with a pink and blue plaid print, Fitz wore a green cable knit sweater, and Harrison wore a white button up dress shirt that had black print on it under a tan suit vest. They needed to leave if they were going to have enough time to properly pre-game before going to the carnival, but each man though the other two looked utterly ridiculous. There was always time for talking shit about your friends.

"What the hell are you wearing?" Harrison asked Leo with a grimace.

"Right? Fitz chimed in. "Did you get that shirt on sale at Gap for Kids?"

"It's comfortable! It's also lightweight so I won't sweat running down my ass while the sun is up."

"The print is terrible, man." Harrison informed him. "You look like you're going to a gender reveal party and didn't know which gender to dress for."

Fitz eyed Harrison. "You remember we're going to the carnival, and not the runway in Paris, right?"

"I feel like you should have a coat hanging from your finger as you pose and give us a look" Leo added, doing his best to imitate a male model.

"This finger right here?" Harrison asked, proudly displaying his middle one. "I look good and you both know it."

"At least you and I have places where we would fit in." Leo began pointing at Fitz. "You are wearing a boring ass green sweater. It's like you grabbed something out of your grandfather's closet at the last minute."

Harrison nodded as he laughed.

Fitz lifted his sweater and gray t-shirt underneath revealing his stomach. "Grandad never had abs like these."

"Make sure you catch me when I faint from lust." Leo told Harrison as he rolled his eyes.

"You're about to catch my boot up your ass." Fitz threatened. "Now how about the two of you shut the hell up."

"Let's go before Cinderella turns into a bigger asshole." The trio went out the front door, climbed into Harrison's car, and talked excitedly as they headed for the mall.

Once they got there, Harrison parked at the edge of the mall's exit and all three of them got out of the car, glancing around. "It's hot as balls out here." Leo commented. When he caught Harrison shooting him a glare he added, "oh. Right. Too soon?"

"Just for that, the first round at the bar is on you." With a press of a button Harrison locked the car, pocketed the fob, and led the way to the bar across the street called The Blue Panda. Once inside, the friends bellied up to the bar and each ordered a beer.

As they worked on emptying the amber colored glass, Harrison tried to give Leo advice about dealing with Abby. "After we run into the ladies, you should suggest we play a carnival game. Fitz and I will lose on purpose so you can win her a prize."

"Really? You guys wouldn't mind throwing a carnival game so I could win something for my girl?"

Fitz and Harrison shrugged. "Of course not man. Anything for love."

"Exactly."

Leo grinned into his beer and said, "thanks, guys. You two are the best friends ever!"

Two beers, a couple of shots, and a half football game later, the three men sauntered across the street, feeling on top of the world. They bought ten tickets each and went in search of the scariest looking ride. They ended up squinting against the bright sun as they watched the Zipper in motion. "This is the one, boys." Fitz practically sang.

Harrison shifted his weight from one foot to the other, trying to figure out how to get out of riding that death trap. "That looks kinda..."

"Pansy." Fitz challenged.

"It looks like it's held together with duct tape and dreams." Harrison shot back.

"That's part of it's charm." Leo replied with a laugh as they watched the ride slow down.

"Exactly. It's also part of the thrill." Fitz deepened his voice and tried to make it sound more dramatic. "Will we live or will we die?"

"See, none of that is really a selling point for me." The wimp informed them.

One of the caged compartments came to a stop and a woman stepped out with a huge grin. The man operating the ride – who appeared to be all of fifteen years old – gestured for the next person in line to get inside. Harrison nodded a few times, in an attempt to psych himself up, and stepped forward as his two idiotic friends cheered him on. "We'll be right behind you." Leo called out to him.

"We're not riding that thing, are we?" Fitz asked as the ride moved to empty out the next rider and load a new one.

"Hell no!" Leo stated firmly. "I don't have a death wish."

"Let's go get another beer while Harrison spins until he pukes."

"I support that idea." Leo chuckled, and clapped his friend on the back.

When Harrison got off the zipper, he saw Quinn and a small herd of women walking towards the ride he had just vacated. She was talking to her friends, but stopped mid sentence when she locked eyes with his. Her smile instantly doubled and she called to him. "Harrison! Fancy bumping into you at a place like this."

Kissing her cheek, he flashed a grin to the women standing in a semi circle nearby.

"Oh crap! My manners are terrible! Sorry!" Gesturing to each woman, Quinn introduced Harrison to them. Hellos were exchanged by all, and then Quinn remembered that Abby was supposed to bump into Leo. Looking to the left and the right she casually asked, "did you come here by yourself?"

"Nah. The company would be great, but it would be a little boring. My friends basically dared me to ride the Zipper and then bailed."

A few of the ladies laughed and shot him sympathetic looks. Abby demanded, "what the hell?" and Harrison mentally reminded himself about redheads and their tempers.

"The joke is on them. No sooner had I gotten on the ride, when they shut it down for a maintenance issue. I went around exactly once going approximately three miles an hour, and the compartment barely did anything other than sit straight up."

Quinn glanced over at the ride in question. "It looks like they are still working on it."

"I'm not telling the guys what actually happened."

"Then what are you gonna tell them?"

"I'm gonna tell them it was a piece of cake and shame them into riding it themselves." He winked at her with a proud smile.

"I wanna watch that!"

"Me too!" The other girls agreed.

"I happen to know they are sitting at a table over in that direction" he pointed. "They weren't hard to keep up with in a non spinning ride. Let's go find them. I know they would love to see you. And meet your friends."

Putting his fists in front of his chest, he watched Quinn loop her arm through one of his. Claire looped hers through Quinn's. Abby looped an arm through his other one, and the four of them headed in the direction of the two males.

"Hey!" A voice demanded from behind them. "Are you guys seriously leaving me? I just had to pee."

The line of four broke apart, much to Harrison's dismay. He watched his three female companions turn around to see a petite woman standing in the midst of the crowd with her hands on her hips. "Crap! I'm sorry about that, Olivia!"

The shorter woman smiled as she made her way over to the small group. "Relax, Quinn. I'm just kidding." Her eyes flicked up to where Abby and Claire were. "Are you all heading somewhere to have a menage a quatre?"

"A what?" Quinn asked, scrunching her face in confusion.

Harrison briefly wondered how exactly that type of insanity would work before coming to his senses and sticking his right hand out in her direction. "We are absolutely not doing that. Hey, I'm Harrison Wright."

"Hey, Harrison. I'm Olivia Pope, but everyone calls me Liv." Dropping his hand, she asked, "so where are we heading? A ride? A game? Something to eat, I hope?"

Liv was pretty, short, and funny. The ultimate female trifecta in Harrison's estimation. As he quickly studied her face though, something felt...off? He realized that he wasn't interested in her romantically. Ahhh well. It would be good to have a new friend.

Instead, she reminded him of his younger sister who lived three states away. Harrison made a mental note to call her tomorrow afternoon. It had been a few weeks since he had spoken to her. He couldn't explain it, not even to himself - maybe it was who Olivia reminded him of - but Harrison was feeling slightly protective of her. It was weird since he didn't even know her, but that was how he felt just the same. He could feel all eyes on him, so he answered her politely. "Since we were about to leave you, you get to choose."

Olivia shot Harrison a smile and but spoke to her friend. "I like him, Quinn. You chose your friends well."

"Harrison definitely is one of the good guys." Quinn agreed.

"As much as I am loving the appreciation, I have a score to settle with two assholes first, if you all don't mind?"

The women nodded with big knowing grins, as Olivia felt confused. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I love asshole revenge. Fill me in on the way?" she asked. When everyone nodded, she looped her arm through Abby's and the group headed toward the unsuspecting males.

"There are a lot of beautiful women out here tonight, my friend." Fitz said to Leo as he craned his neck.

"True as that may be, I'm interested in just one." Leo informed him as he set his now empty bottle down on the table. "Abby is the only..."

"Ho-lee shit!" Fitz exclaimed, interrupting his friend's dramatic and sappy tale.

"What is it?" Leo asked in an irritated tone.

"It's Harrison." Fitz wasn't believing what he was seeing.

With his back to the group, Leo crinkled his face and said, "who gives a..."

"Abby is with him." Fitz simply stated.

"What? Where?" Leo asked, now craning his neck too.

"Gentlemen." Harrison said when he reached the two idiots gawking in disbelief.

Fitz and Leo immediately got to their feet, both wearing huge smiles. "Hey, Abby."

"Leo." The redhead replied as a smile began to tug the edges of her mouth.

"Who are your friends?" Fitz asked. He was looking at the short girl on one end of the line. She was beautiful, and she had a great smile. He couldn't look away. Didn't want to, if he was honest. His sister's rule about flirting with her friends drifted into his mind, but he let it drift right on out and kept his smile in place.

"Buy us each a beer and I'll introduce you." Harrison replied with a grin. He found it fascinating that Fitz was enchanted with the one girl he felt most protective over.

"Yea, sure." Fitz said, still looking at her. "Leo, go grab seven beers, will ya?"

"Sure. I have a dozen arms." He stated dryly.

"I'll help." Abby offered with a smile. He looked awfully cute tonight.

Leo wanted to do his happy dance, or do a cartwheel, something. But he was rooted in place, in awe of this amazing woman he was so in love with, who just offered to help him. He smiled back at her, still unable to move. Without taking his eyes off the woman in front of him, Fitz gave Leo a slight nudge, and heard him mutter, "thanks, man."

"Claire? I hear you're a free woman now?" Fitz commented as everyone took a seat.

"I am. Does that mean you're finally interested?" She asked with a flirtatious glance.

"Absolutely not!" he chuckled. "You're a friend of my sisters. And crazy as hell."

"Guilty." Claire said, chuckling with him. "I've gotta say, I'm not remotely interested in you either. I just like breaking your balls."

Harrison shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

Quinn cut her eyes to him and winked.

"Well, it seems the only person you don't know is Olivia." Harrison said, watching his friend. "Olivia Pope, this is Fitzgerald Grant. Fitz, Olivia."

The petite woman across the table nodded at him. He was hot. Blue eyes and curls were her weakness, and Fitz had both of them. He was super tall too. It was hard to believe that he had been so mean to Harrison earlier. She wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't told her himself. She acted uninterested and gave a slight shrug as she glanced around the brightly lit up carnival. "Everyone just calls me Liv."

"Nice to meet you, Liv." Fitz said, nodding back. He could play it cool too. "How come I haven't met you before?"

"I just moved here from Chicago."

"Oh?"

"I was ready for something new. A change of pace, I guess."

"Faster or slower?" Fitz asked with a grin.

Her brown eyes darted to his teasing blue ones. Her grin was automatic. Damn it. She really didn't want to like him. This fresh start was supposed to be complication free. But Fitz was funny and charming and easy on the eyes. She answered vaguely, hoping she sounded casual. "I'm not sure yet."

Leo and Abby arrived, breaking up their conversation for the moment, and handed out plastic cups of beer. "See? I told you we could do it." Abby told him grinning.

"We make a helluva team." Leo replied in a determined tone.

"Yea. I guess we kinda do." She said with a smile. "I think I forgot that."

The two of them stared into each other's eyes, grins still in place, before Leo pulled the redhead into his arms and kissed her right there in front of everyone. The group clapped enthusiastically and began adding their two cents.

"Woooow!" Quinn exclaimed.

"Awww, they are so cute." Claire said.

"Didn't see that coming." Harrison remarked.

"Gotta love spontaneity!" Olivia said wistfully.

"Leo is my hero!" Fitz teased.

Leo momentarily shot his middle finger into the air from behind Abby's back before giving her his full attention once again. Abby broke the kiss and covered her face with her hands before burying it into his chest on a giggle, as the group continued to clap.

"Let's all go ride the Zipper to celebrate!" Harrison tried.

"I'm not getting on that thing. Not after what you told us happened." Abby told him.

"What happened?" Fitz asked.

"It broke down not long after you two assholes put me on the ride and ditched me."

Leo and Fitz burst into laughter.

"Sorry about that man, but we had no intention of getting on it." Leo explained.

"Then what do you guys want to ride?"

"Nothing here. It all looks dangerous." Fitz replied.

"And badly maintained." Leo agreed.

"I can deal with that. How about we play a game?" Harrison suggested.

"All of us?" Quinn asked.

"Hell yea! I would love to see them try to keep us from playing." Claire agreed.

"I hope you like to lose." Fitz said, goading them.

"Funny. I was just about to say the same thing to you." Olivia told Fitz.

"Ohhh, I like her." Quinn said, nodding. "She's got spunk."

"Let's remember that you both owe me a game." Leo reminded his two friends.

"That agreement is null and void now." Harrison said, shooting him down.

"Right. We agreed to throw a game for you to win Abby a prize before you stuck your tongue down her throat in front of all of us." Fitz explained. "You're on your own now."

"Awww, you were gonna try to win me a prize?" Abby asked with puppy dog eyes.

"And on that disgusting note, it's time to kick the guy's asses." Quinn said, emptying her cup and getting to her feet.