Late Night Laughter

The two of them lay side by side on Fitz's bed with their index fingers locked, staring into each other's eyes. It was one of those moments that felt magical and full of wonder, kind of like when you're a kid and wake up on Christmas morning and realize that Santa came, the moment before you bolt from your bed to go see what he left for you under the tree.

Olivia sat straight up.

Fitz followed suit, feeling kind of sad that their physical connection, as simple as it may have been, was now broken. "What's the matter? Are you okay? Are you going to be sick?"

"Nah." She said dismissively. "All that alcohol ran right through me. I just need to pee."

"Oh." Fitz chuckled lightly at her. "The bathroom is..."

Scooting to the bottom of the bed, and wearing a small knowing smile, she told him, "I know where it is. I watched you go in there earlier."

In a flash, Fitz was on his hands and knees beside her. He touched her arm lightly and waited until she made eye contact with him. Dropping his head a few degrees while raising his eyebrows, he said, "I'm sorry. You watched me go in there?"

She nodded, fighting to hold her smile from getting any bigger. It wasn't going well.

He cocked his head to the side, still holding his eyebrows high on his forehead. "And?"

She hated him for making her laugh. "Annnnnd...you have a nice ass. Happy?"

His smile was immediate. Liv had checked out his ass. He wished he could high five himself without looking like a moron. Instead, he shrugged nonchalantly, like he heard that compliment at least five times a day, and said, "yea."

"Great. Now that that's settled, can I go?"

"Absolutely. See, now it's my turn to check out your ass." He moved back to the head of the bed, carefully fluffing his pillow and pushing it against the headboard, before leaning against it with his hands locked behind his head with a big smile on his face.

Out in the hall, Olivia looked over her shoulder at him and chuckled. "You're kinda ridiculous."

"Something else we have in common." He tossed back with a grin.

When her laughter died, Olivia's glance grew serious, and lingered. Her hand rested on the frame of the bathroom door just across the narrow hall.

Fitz's expression mirrored Liv's.

As she continued to study him, she saw past the humorous guy who liked to talk about serious things, past the competitive one who accepted defeat fairly easily, and past the only male she had ever known who could make touching one finger the most intimate thing she had ever experienced.

And, if she was honest with herself, he didn't look ridiculous. Not in the least. He looked comfortable - and rightfully so in his own bed - but he also looked sexy as hell. The way he was laying there, full of confidence, looking at her unashamedly and intently as if he were about to...

Just as she was thinking it, she watched in disbelief as he got up off his bed and make his way toward her. She didn't know if she should stay put or dart into the bathroom and slam the door shut to put some space between them. Knowing she definitely should do the latter, but unable to move, she simply stood there, watching him. There was no way her mouth wasn't hanging wide open in shock! She came to her senses quick enough to whisper, "what are you doing?" before one of his arms encircled her waist.

A smile ghosted his lips before he licked them and very slowly began lowering his head towards hers. His free hand came up, cupping her cheek and his thumb stroked her velvety soft skin. He wasn't going to do anything she wasn't completely comfortable with, but she had been killing him with the way she had been looking at him moments ago. When her arms came up around his neck, he knew she wanted to be kissed.

Still, he moved towards her slowly, just to be sure. "Do you know what I'm doing now?"

She smiled up at him, said, "shut up" in a teasing tone, and closed the gap between them while locking her brown eyes on his blue ones. Their foreheads rested against each other for a moment and a split second later, both of them closed their eyes.

This was it.

The moment their lips connected time seemed to stop completely. It started off as most first kisses do. Shy with lots of anticipation, and a bit of curiosity mixed in too. His lips were soft and yielding. He wasn't trying to force his tongue down her throat. Instead, he was leaving the pace and control up to her. Again, it was refreshing for Olivia. It was a beautifully slow paced kiss without all of the hurriedness of trying to remove each other's clothing or rush to the goal of the bed.

It felt like this was the goal, and it was perfect.

When the kiss ended, Fitz pulled her close for a warm hug. He had no idea why. He had never done that before. The only reason he could come up with was that he simply wanted to continue to be close to her. She smelled like something tropical. Coconut and fruit. It was his new favorite scent, whatever it was. "You smell nice." He murmured into her hair.

Olivia pulled back to face him. "You like that?"

He nodded.

"It's my pathetic way of holding onto the long gone summer. I always buy way too much Bath and Body Works sprays." She admitted. "I'm always a season or two behind."

"Really? You're a summer girl?"

Olivia nodded.

"Fall is my favorite season." he admitted.

"And just like that, we're back to learning more about each other." She flashed him a smile, but her eyes were on his lips.

Loud steps could be heard on the stairs, and the two of them turned to see Quinn heading their way. "Hey. I thought you guys went to sleep?"

"We've just been talking." Olivia explained.

"What do you want?" Fitz asked in an irritated tone.

"I came up here to get my phone charger."

"What time is it?" Olivia asked. She had lost all track of time talking with Fitz in his room.

"It's after midnight. I don't know the exact time, because my phone died. What are you guys talking about?"

"Go away." Fitz told her.

"Don't forget my rule." She called out on her way to Leo's room.

Fitz rolled his eyes.

Olivia pointed a finger at him and said, "when I come out of the bathroom, the first thing I want to know is what is this rule she keeps mentioning."

"Okay, but there's a story that goes with it. It's pretty funny, unless you're Harrison." Fitz chuckled.

Back in his room, both of them were laughing uncontrollably once Fitz finished explaining Quinn's rule and how she planned to enforce it. "Poor Harrison." Olivia said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Poor Harrison my ass."

"He's probably scared of her!"

"Is that why he's watching tv with her downstairs at this very moment?"

"Good point."

They were laying on their sides again, facing each other with their fingers hooked together. "Speaking of Quinn, I told you earlier that I'd tell you why it was different for me & my sister to be at the carnival together than, say, a typical Tuesday night."

"Fitz. You don't have to explain anything to me. It's none of my business."

"I said I'd tell you another day. Since it's after midnight, it's technically another day now."

She grinned at him. He was back to being ridiculous. "Good, because I've been dying to know."

He chuckled lightly at her. God, she was adorable. "Tonight was a set up."

Shooting him a confused look, she said, "I don't understand what you mean. A set up?"

"Quinn came by here this afternoon and told us that she and her friends were going to the carnival tonight. Me and the guys had already planned to go there so Leo could stop being so damn annoyingly sad about missing Abby. When she learned that we were going there too..."

The gears in her head began to move, figuring it out. "You all decided to make sure they saw each other? To try to get them back together? Is that it?"

"Yea." She was sharp. Liv's expression reminded him of the cat on the movie Shrek when he's giving "the face". It was the cutest damn thing he'd ever seen.

"That's so sweet." she said in a sappy tone.

"Before you start giving me any credit, you should probably know that it was all Quinn's idea."

"Oh, I wasn't about to give you credit. Still. It worked like a charm." She had a feeling there was a romantic in him. Yet another refreshing quality in a man, in Liv's opinion.

Fitz licked his lips again and smiled at her. "I'm glad it worked out according to plan. Otherwise, you wouldn't have gotten kicked out of your apartment, and you wouldn't be here with me right now."

He was definitely a romantic. Smiling back at him, and giving his finger a little squeeze, she quietly said, "I'm glad too."

Changing the subject, she asked, "so. You were going to enlist in the Army. What made you want to do that?"

"Do you want me to tell you the truth or make something up that will sound much better?" he asked with a snicker.

Liv put her other finger to her chin and glanced up at the ceiling. "Hmmm. Lies or tell me the truth? Decisions, decisions."

"Okay. That was a dumb question. But don't say I didn't warn you when I tell you the truth."

"This is gonna be funny, isn't it?" She was already chuckling with anticipation as she cut her eyes back to his.

"It looked like fun from what I saw in a movie."

"No way." Surely, he was messing with her. When he didn't disagree with her, she realized that he was serious. "Which part of waking up in the middle of the night to run or sleeping in the narrowest bed known to mankind seems like fun?"

He laughed until she started laughing too. "I'm just screwing with you, Liv."

"Oh my God!" She playfully punched him on the shoulder. "That is so mean!"

Fitz laughed harder at her. When he was down to a chuckle, he apologized. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't resist."

"That's okay. I was about to go downstairs and watch some more tv with Quinn and Harrison."

That quieted his laughter like nothing else could. Fitz wasn't ready for her to leave his room. "What? No! Why?"

Smiling sweetly at him, Liv explained. "Anyone who would make such a huge life decision based on what they saw in a movie is not someone that I would think very highly of, and they definitely wouldn't be worth me spending more time with."

"You want to spend more time with me?" That part of her reply was making him smile really big right now.

Her own smile couldn't be contained. It was crazy to think that this man she had just met earlier that day was making her feel so many things she hadn't felt in a long time. Carefree, tender, beautiful, and fun, to name a few. She could feel her heart opening to him, and she liked that feeling. There was a connection here. It was real and powerful. It didn't make sense, but oftentimes matters of the heart rarely did. Something about him made him seem like he was the real deal. That one in a million guy with the perfect sense of humor, the great personality, completely settled in his career, and was sexy as hell to look at.

She studied his sparkling blue eyes that were full of mischief. Those blue eyes were such a distraction...in the best possible way. Instead of answering his question, she licked her own lips and closed the gap between them, connecting their lips in a searing kiss.

A/N - I have the next chapter almost finished, but nothing else after that is written. I have a craft show this weekend & next weekend & will super busy getting items ready to sell, so I may not be on time with updating after next week. I'll do my best, but please be patient. I know where this story is going, it's just difficult to find time to sit down & write it lately. Thank you xo