Chapter Three
If you were here we'd laugh about their vacant stares
Olivia was practically glowing with excitement. Fitz shook his head as he glanced over at her tiny form, bouncing along the sidewalk toward their first debate prep meeting. "Someone's excited." He commented absently, squeezing her hand gently in his.
She quirked a dark brow and looked up at him, "Aren't you? We made it, Fitz. We actually did it. Together." She chuckled, "And now we really get to start." When he didn't respond, Olivia tugged him to a sudden stop, "Look, Fitz, if I pushed you, if you're not, if you don't want to"
Fitz was shaking his head before she could even continue her train of thought, "No, I do and I really am excited, I just" he stared down at her in awe, "it's been one month and you believe in me more than anyone else ever has." He sighed, "This is the most prestigious debate team in the country and I shouldn't have had a chance in hell of making it and"
Rocking up on the toes of her boots, Olivia pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, interrupting him, "I don't believe in people who don't deserve it, Fitz. You deserve it. You're brilliant and kind and I believe in you." She gave his hand a firm squeeze, "Now, I don't want to hear anymore about you not being good enough to make it on this team. You can do whatever you set your mind to. I know it. So, are you ready?"
Pressing a kiss to the crown of her head, he nodded, "Let's go."
SSS
When they entered the small discussion classroom that consisted of a long conference table surrounded by chairs, the room was buzzing with energy. They stood on the outside of the chaos for a moment before a black man in a checkered button down and a tie that was so bright it hurt Olivia's eyes stepped forward. "Welcome to the debate team, I'm Harrison. You're Olivia Pope and Fitzgerald Grant, right?" He pratted off quickly, "We have a bunch of classes together."
Olivia grinned, "That's us. How did you"
"Know?" He laughed, "Senator Grant's son and the Olivia Pope. Highest LSAT at Georgetown, early graduation, already top of our year?" He chuckled, "Got to know who the competition is." He held out a hand, "Harrison Wright. Dartmouth." He introduced himself.
Fitz laughed, "Fitzgerald Grant. You can call me Fitz. Yale."
Olivia rolled her eyes, "Clearly you know more than you should about me already."
"We all know more about you than we should. Apparently, our captain," Harrison pointed over to the other side of the room, "he's the Brit over there, he put you on top of the pile before even looking at your application."
"Oh my gosh, you're Olivia Pope." A woman came to a skidding halt next to them, "I'm such a fan, you sat next to me once in Judge Randall's class!" She took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm such a fan. I went up against you on the debate team in undergrad. I was at Stanford. I'm Quinn. Quinn Perkins. Wow, you're Olivia freaking Pope." She glanced up at Fitz, "And wow! You're a legend in California. I would know, I'm from California too!"
Olivia gave the young woman a small smile, "It's nice to meet you, Quinn."
"Okay, everyone!" A lilted voice called out, "I need everyone to sit down. We have a lot to go over today." He motioned to the seats, pulling out one himself. "I'm Stephen Finch. I'm a third year here." He introduced himself. "Cyrus couldn't make it today, something with the disciplinary committee." He passed out folders, "Now this is our schedule for the weekend in California. The flight schedule is also included."
Olivia accepted her folder and leaned over to whisper in Fitz' ear, "Tell me you're not excited now?"
He turned his head, his lips lightly brushing over her earlobe, "I'm not excited now." She could feel the smirk on his face and hear the teasing tone in his voice. She swatted him playfully on the thigh before turning her attention back to Stephen Finch.
Three hours later, Harrison had talked Quinn, Fitz, and Olivia into drinks at a dive bar a block away from the campus. The topic of course was the trip to California to beat Stanford.
"Are you so excited to go home?" Quinn asked, "I'm so excited to go back to California. My dad's coming to the debate and everything." Quinn continued.
Harrison chuckled, "Reign it in there, Quinn. You're going to scare everyone off." He noted Fitz' relative silence on the topic of returning to his home state and Olivia was just watching him closely. The two of them seemed to be hyper aware of each other and move as one.
Diverting the conversation, Olivia commented, "I'm just excited to get the season rolling. This Stephen guy seems pretty good. I guess he'd have to be to work with Cyrus Beene. I've heard all about him, he's the best they say."
"Seems like a pain in the ass if you ask me." Harrison commented. "Stephen seems cool enough though. Guess we're all in the same boat as the four first years."
"Here's to taking over the team." Fitz raised his glass of scotch, finally joining in on the conversation. The other three echoed his sentiments, clinking glasses with him.
SSS
It wasn't until he was standing outside of her apartment door that she asked, "This isn't about the debate team at all, is it?"
Fitz leaned forward, pressing Olivia into the wall next to her apartment door. "What?" He asked quietly, even though he knew exactly what she was talking about.
"This tension and uncertainty you've been feeling, it's about going to California." She surmised, "Fitz, your dad will be five hours away in Santa Barbara, if he's even in California at all. He could be in DC. I heard there's some big thing going on with past governors." She paused, "Or he could be in Sacramento. I doubt he's got the time to even make it to"
"He'll be there, Livie." Fitz murmured. "He'll be there to remind me why I'm not good enough. He'll be there to tell me what I did wrong and why I shouldn't be with you."
"I'll be there to tell you everything you did right." Olivia interrupted, "I'll be there to remind you that you're more than enough." She murmured, "Now," she tugged lightly on the bottom hem of his Navy t-shirt. "I promise you everything will be okay."
SSS