A/N: First of all, I apologize for the long wait. Will try to do better. Thank you so much for reading this story and also for leaving reviews. I truly appreciate them.

Dear Concerned Guest, I would like to apologize for the use of the word "lashes" instead of "spanks" in the last chapter. This was an accident on my part, culturally I grew up in a place where we said lashes instead of spanks. After educating myself I was able to learn that it's not technically the same. Please know that I've revisited that chapter and swapped out all of the offensive words with a more appropriate one.

Like I said before, I enjoy all reviews and I appreciate the criticism as well. It helps me improve my craft. And thank you for not being nasty when you do leave them. Ok… enough of this author's note. Hope you enjoy this new installment. We pick up right where we left off.


The next morning the incessant knocking on the front door awoke Fitz. He sleepily got out of bed without waking Liv, he rubbed his eyes as he made the trek to the living room. Fitz was dressed in only a pair of boxers and a white long sleeve t-shirt. By the time he'd reached the door he'd woken up considerably much.

"Olivia, why you took so damn —" the rant of an old woman was cut off by the presence of Fitz.

"Who're you?" She gruffly asked.

Fitz was taken aback by the fiery woman. Her mere presence was enough to shake away any remnants of sleepiness.

He intently looked at her face, surprise to see a resemblance to his Livvie. Before he could've answered her Olivia's sleep muffled voice sounded behind him.

"Nana, what are you doing here?"

"Olivia, who's this strange man in your house?" Claris asked while pushing her way through the door with a small suitcase tugging behind.

Olivia couldn't believe that she would show up at her place without any warnings. Instead of stating her disapproval Olivia smiled tightly. Inside she was seething with anger but she wouldn't let it out while she was in front of Fitz.

Fitz stood awkwardly very conscious of his underwear clad bottom on display.

Olivia tugged at the bottom of Fitz' shirt that she wore over her undies, and let out a frustrated breath. She didn't know why her grandmother was at her apartment. She hardly spoke to the woman since she moved out of her house when she was 18 years old. So to say that she was surprised to see her at her door was an understatement, but when it came to her grandmother nothing she did was actually surprising. After all, she had dealt with her for eight years. Olivia inhaled deeply to sate her anger before addressing the older woman. In a calm voice, she repeated her earlier question, "Nana, what are you doing here?" She enunciated each word to make her sentence as clear as possible.

"The plumbing in my master bathroom went bad, all of the pipes in the bathrooms needed to be redone. I needed a place to stay so I said why not come at Liv's. After all she would be glad to see her grandmother. Isn't that right?"

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Olivia replied in faux sincerity. She played along nicely and introduced Fitz to her. "Fitz, this is my grandmother, Claris. Nana, this is my boyfriend, Fitz."

"What kind of name is Fitz?" Claris jibed. In what was supposed to be a joke came off as an insult.

Fitz decided to ignore the question, he proffered his right hand to her. "Nice to meet you ma'am." Fitz didn't say the taboo "I've heard a lot about you," because he would be lying. Olivia never spoke about her family much.

"You too, Fitz," she replied as she shook his hand. She wore a dry face as she scrutinized him.

"Uhh, Livvie, I think I should go and give you two privacy," Fitz said once his hands were back to his side. He silently pleaded with Olivia through his eyes for her to excuse him.

"Uhh... Right. Nana, make yourself at home," Olivia mentally chastised herself for saying that. She didn't want her to make herself at home. She wanted her gone. "I'll be right back." Olivia didn't wait for her to say anything before leaving the room with Fitz. On her way out she could hear Claris muttering her disapproval about them.

In the bedroom, Fitz was putting on his jeans while he spoke to an equally dressing Olivia. "You didn't tell me your grandmother was still alive." Fitz stated

"Well she is but I really don't talk to her. I moved out of her house at eighteen and I distance myself from her."

"Why is that?" He asked as he pulled on a sweater over his head.

"She's a pessimist. Sucks the life out of me." She replied simply. When she was fully dressed she moved to the bed to straighten the covers.

Fitz stood to the side and watched her as she fixed and fluff the pillows on the queen size bed. He could see the tension in her shoulders, something that wasn't present there the night before. He was sure of it.

Sighing, he asked in a concerned voice, "Is there anything I can do?"

Olivia stopped her movements and looked in his direction. "You don't have to be worried. I've dealt with her most of my life. I'll be fine."

She padded across the room to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I'm sorry you have to leave so early."

"Don't be, it's ok."

Olivia exhaled loudly before she tiptoed and kissed him.

"OLIVIA!" The sound of her name being yelled pulled them apart.

Fitz couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her rolling her eyes. Defiant Liv was sexy.

"Go before she comes in here. Call me if you need anything." Fitz gave her another smooch before they walked out of the bedroom.

"It was nice meeting you again, Mrs. Claris," Fitz said to her as he made his way to the front door. He wasn't surprised that she didn't respond to him. He could tell that he was on her naughty list. At the door he give Olivia a final peck before he put on his winter jacket and left.

Olivia moved to the kitchen where her grandmother was busy looking through her fridge.

"You got nothing good in here to cook."

Olivia rolled her eyes at her back before she asked, "What do you want to eat, Nana?"

Nana closed the door with a dissatisfied grunt. She was no longer hungry. "So how long have you been dating that white boy?" Claris asked with her attention fully on her.

Olivia internally groaned as she referred to Fitz as "that white boy."

"His name is Fitz. A few months." She replied evenly.

"Mmm," her grandmother upturned her nose.

Olivia bit her inner cheeks to stop herself from saying something. She watched her grandmother look around her open plan one bedroom apartment. Olivia could practically see the insults churning inside of her brains ready to be spewed out. She steeled herself like she always did when she was younger. Her words won't break her, she refused to let it.

"This apartment needs some color. What's up with you and all this white? White walls, white man."

Olivia shook her head, she couldn't believe the audacity of this woman. She tried to respect her because she's her grandmother, but sometimes it was too difficult to do. She was already pushing it and she hadn't been there for an hour.

"Why didn't you call me beforehand?" Olivia casually asked even though she was very annoyed.

"I didn't think that I would need to give you notice since I'm family. Your grandmother, who raised you, to be exact." Claris returned with her arms folded across her waist.

Without hesitation, Olivia retorted, "yes you do need to give me warning. It is etiquette to give notice before you show up at someone's home."

"Oh... you want to talk about etiquette. Let's do, it's not etiquette for your man to answer the door in his underwear. What kind of behavior is that? I came here expecting you, only to be greeted by him in his underwear. I almost ran away thinking that I got the wrong apartment."

Way to be dramatic, Olivia thought. She took one of her hands and massaged her temple, she could feel an onset of a headache. She realized that this, or any conversation with her grandmother for that matter was futile. She was too self-righteous to see from anyone else's point of view.

"How long will you be here for?" Olivia asked evenly. She didn't want any emotion good or bad to be heard.

"About three days."

Olivia swallowed the bile in her throat. "Ok, you can take my room," she offered.

Nana shook her head no. "I'm not sleeping on any bed you and what's his name had sex on. Do you have one of those airbeds? I can't even sleeping on your couch because it's uncomfortable. Seriously, why would you decorate your place like this? It looks so..."

Olivia would be lying if she said that her words didn't hurt. She prided herself in her living space, a place she got to call home. Her negative words hurt but she was purposeful in not showing any emotions to her.

"No, I don't have any but I can go get you one," she told her somberly.

"Thanks." Her thank you didn't sound thankful but Liv shook it off.


Olivia had texted Fitz and asked him for a ride to the nearby Target which he quickly obliged.

"Thanks for the ride," Olivia said as she climbed into his truck.

"No problem, baby."

They rode silently with just the radio music playing in the background.

"Valentine's Day is coming up," Fitz mentioned. "Anything special you want to do?"

Olivia shrugged her shoulders disinterestedly. She wasn't in the mood to talk about Valentines when Cruella was at her apartment who sucked the joy out of her.

Fitz took his eyes off the road for a second to look at her body language. "Babe, is everything ok?" Fitz asked, he reached out his vacant hand to grab one of hers.

"Yea, I'm fine. Anything you want to do for Valentine's Day is fine." She relayed dispassionately.

Fitz reluctantly released her hand because he had to switch gears. "Ok." He realized that she wasn't in the mood and decided to not nag her.

A few minutes later they arrived at Target. Once they were inside they head to the home goods section in search of the airbed. The airbed that she had was destroyed when she accidentally ripped a side on an exposed nail inside her closet. Olivia found an affordable queen size one. She decided to also purchase a sheet set and a comforter just in case she didn't want to sleep on her defiled sheets that she have in her linen closet.

Fitz pushed the cart while Olivia put the items in. After they grabbed the items from the home goods section they moved to the produce area for groceries.

"Whoa, what is all of this?" Fitz saw Olivia grabbed foods that he knew she didn't eat.

"For my nana. She complained that there weren't anything in the fridge for her to eat."

"Oh," was all Fitz said. He didn't dare say more in case he overstepped his boundaries.

As they passed the feminine care aisle Olivia remembered that she needed to stock up on some personal items. Slightly nervous, she asked, "Do you mind if I grab some personal hygiene stuffs?"

Fitz chuckled at her technical use of words before he answered in a soft voice, "no, I do not mind you grabbing tampons."

Olivia give him a goofy smile before grabbing the items she needed. As they walked towards the cash register Fitz held onto her hand while pushing the shopping cart. When they made it to the front of the checkout line they emptied the merchandise onto the conveyor belt to be scanned. Fitz tossed in a pack of gum for himself and Olivia's favorite breath mint into their purchase.

"That will be $203.16," the perky cashier announced.

"I got it," Fitz blocked Olivia's hand and produced the cashier with his debit card.

"Fitz you don't... Ouch," she was stopped from objecting by a pinch Fitz placed on the back of her hand.

"Here's your receipt. Thank you for shopping at Target. Have a great day."

"You too," Fitz returned to the young woman with a smile.

"You're so mean," Olivia whined, she rubbed the back of her hand to get rid of the sting as they walked out of the store.

"I am very mean." He smirked.

Olivia playfully rolled her eyes at him and pouted.

Once they returned to his truck they packed the bags into the space behind the seats. When they were finished they climbed in together.

Before she buckled up her seatbelt Olivia leaned across and kissed his cheek. "Thanks for paying."

Fitz smiled and said, "You're welcome." He was happy that she didn't say something along the line like, "you didn't have to." He knows that he didn't have to but he wanted to.

"Where to now?" He asked as he started up the engine.

Olivia looked at the time and saw that it was almost 11. She wasn't ready to go back home so she said. "I'm in the mood for some greasy hamburgers. Thing you can dig it?"

Fitz smiled lopsidedly and said, "Hell yea. By the way you're a bad influence."

Olivia threw her head back and chuckled. Her laughter was music to his ears, he was happy to hear such sounds. That was his Livvie, laughing and being carefree.


It was around midnight when they received an emergency call that part of a gas station had caught on fire. It was an enormous fire requiring all of the neighboring fire station. All of the firefighters were moving back and forth working on controlling the flames and subsequently putting it out. At the same time all of the paramedics worked on saving burned victims. So far they detected that one person may had died in the explosion while five were injured. Some suffered from first degree burns while some had second and third degree on more than 30% of their body.

Olivia and Abby worked diligently in removing all jewelry and belts from their victims while wrapping their burns in moist bandages.

An hour later the fire was contained and all of the victims were safely removed from the scene. Olivia and Abby stood in the emergency room as they signed off all paperwork.

"Liv!" Olivia looked up to see Quinn walking towards her.

"Hey, I didn't know you were working tonight."

"Just started my shift." Quinn answered.

"Oh, ok. Quinn, you remembered, Abby, right?"

"Yea, I do. Nice to meet you again." Quinn extended her right hand and Abby shook it.

"You too, Quinn." Abby give her a friendly smile.

"How are the victims?" She asked in a low voice.

"First, second and third degree burns." Olivia replied.

Quinn made a sad face.

"I know," Olivia filled in.

They talked for a few minutes more before they left the hospital. On their way to the firehouse Olivia received a phone call from her grandmother who was still at her apartment and was still driving her nuts. She wanted to know if Olivia could buy her some regular milk because she didn't like the taste of the almond milk that she kept in the refrigerator.

When she hanged up the phone Olivia let out a frustrated groan.

"Let me guess. Granny, still at you?"

"She is, she said she was only going to be staying for three days and today is the fourth day. I'm ready for her to go back home, but she can't because the plumbers ran into more problems. Ugh..."

"I'm sorry," Abby squeezed her knee emphatically. "You are grace personified, Queen Olivia. You had the stamina to deal with me and my bullshit now this. On behalf of all the assholes in your world, I'm truly sorry."

Olivia laughed, a much needed reprieve from the angst in her life. "Thanks for the laugh. So how's things with you and Stephen? Hope the drama is gone from your lives."

"Ha, ha," Abby faked laugh before actually laughing. "We are trying to be drama free. So far so good. He asked me to move back into our apartment but I don't think I'm ready for that."

"Good! Make him work for it." Olivia said smugly.

Abby's lips twitched into a smile. She was glad that they could do this again. The months when she'd alienate her friend had been truly hell. She was finally happy again.

"So... How's things with you and Lt. Grant?"

Olivia smiled while letting out a long sigh. "Things have been really good, but right now we're hardly getting QT."

"QT?" Abby asked.

"Seriously, Abbs? It means quality time."

Abby squeezed the steering wheel tightly and laughed. "Now I get why I haven't seen any hickeys on your neck lately. The lioness has been out of commission."

Olivia elbowed her side playfully. "Oh shut up." She quipped.


When they returned to the firehouse most of the guys were already showered and changed into fresh uniforms, no one wanted to smell like gasoline. They were mostly scattered across the communal area recapping the fire. It was then that they learned that no one actually died in the incident. Thankfully, everyone swiftly moved away from the gas pump that the fire originated from. Even though the extended effect of the explosion caused various degrees of burns it was still better than death.

Olivia and Abby also went to the locker room to shower after they caught up with the boys. Olivia was just about to go under the steaming water when a large hand covered her mouth.

She turned around to see a naked Fitz, her eyes grew wide. She watched as he mouthed for her to be quiet. When he was sure she would comply he removed his hand from her mouth.

"Fitz, what are you doing in here?" She asked in a hushed tone. She was panicking inside.

"I don't know, thought it was a great idea at the time," he whispered. They stood silently staring at each other.

"Liv, you ok over there? You're awfully quiet for someone who's supposed to be showering." Abby called from the bathroom stall next door.

Olivia's eyes frantically looked at Fitz before she replied, "yea. I'm fine."

"Ok." Abby said before she began to sing Drunk in Love off key.

Fitz and Olivia did their best to stifle their laughter.

"What do you think you're doing?" Olivia asked when Fitz started kissing her neck.

When she realized what his intentions were, she told him, "No, no, I'm not having sex with you here."

"Come on, Livvie. You promised one day we would at the station."

"And today is not that day," she whispered back. Even though her body was screaming yes her mind screamed no.

"Are you serious?" He stopped his ministrations after he realized that she wasn't caving.

Olivia nodded her head yes. "As much as I would love to, not here. I can't do it here."

Fitz felt foolish, he thought it was a great idea for them to pull a quickie. The women in his past would have jumped at such opportunities, but he had to remember that Olivia wasn't like the other women from his past.

"I'm so sorry," he apologize a little too loudly. "I don't know what I was thinking or even if I was thinking. I'm so sorry. I'm going to get out."

Olivia stopped him from walking out the bathroom by holding his forearm. She didn't want him to think she was upset with him because she disagreed with his plan.

"Hey, it's ok." She told him while directly staring into his eyes.

"This was a stupid move." He sighed. "I guess I was thinking with my little head."

Olivia chuckled lightly. "I guess so. I know we haven't been spending quality time with each other, so I understand."

Fitz smiled in relief that she wasn't too mad at him. He took that moment to place a chaste kiss on her lips. "I love you."

"I love you too." Olivia returned, she watched as he retreated out of the bathroom before she grabbed her shower gel and bath sponge.

"Liv!" Abby called again from the next bathroom stall.

"Yea?"

"You just wasted a good fuck!" When she said that they both burst into uncontrollable laughing. Of course Abby heard them and she was happy with her decision to not do it.


It was her day off and Olivia was pissed that she had to cancel plans with Fitz. Her grandmother complained that she wasn't feel well and required Olivia to be at her beck and call. Olivia wondered if her diagnosis was bitchitis because all she did was bitch. She was currently in the kitchen making her some chicken broth soup when she called her for the thousandth time for the day.

"Olivia, can you grab my medication bag from suitcase?"

"Sure," Olivia said casually. She went to the suitcase and collected the bag.

"Here you go," Olivia gave her the bag and a glass of water.

Claris collected both of them and mumbled a thank you. After swallowing the pills, she snidely asked, "Where's that white boy? Never seen him come back since I've been here."

"He's busy with work." Olivia answered with a hint of attitude in her voice, she was growing sick of her underhand remarks and that's why she didn't want Fitz around her.

Sensing her attitude, Claris said, "Don't go around thinking you're special because a white man is bedding you. That has been the case since slavery days."

"That's it! I'm done biting my tongue around you! Why are you always so nasty? You can never see the good in anything! All you see is the bad in everything and everyone. I'm sick of it!"

"Olivia, don't you dare raise your voice at me! I've taught you better than that!"

"No! I can raise my voice all I want, because this is my house! This is where I live! I pay for this! This is all mine! I worked hard for what is mine! You didn't give it to me. No one did! I did this and I can speak as loud as I want!"

Claris raised her body up and looked at her granddaughter as if she'd gone crazy. "You're such a disrespectful ingrate. I should've left your behind to foster care. You would've known what's yours and not yours. After all I've done for you, the minute you turned eighteen you moved out and never looked back at me." Her voice was cold as she spoke.

"What have you done for me, Nana? Your daughter and her husband died and left me an orphan. I was 10 years old. What was I supposed to do? You tell me? Do you want to blame me for my parents death?" Olivia was highly emotional. She did her best to keep the tears at bay as she spoke.

"Yes! I want to blame you! It's because she was pregnant with you. You were the reason she stayed with that bastard. First it was a slap, then a punch and when I tried to get her away she didn't want to leave him because she was pregnant. I've watched helplessly for years the destruction of my child by the hands of your father. So yes, Olivia, you owe me. You owe me my child's life. Because if it wasn't for you she would still be here."

Olivia stood shocked as she watched the woman who was supposed to love her and care for her in the place of her birth mother. After all these years she finally understood why she hated her. The revelation didn't make things easier for her. All those feelings of insecurity and fear rose within her chest and crawled its way up to her throat. She felt as though someone was choking her. She had nothing to say to the words spoken to her.

Olivia silently walked to her coat rack and put on her jacket. She was in a pair of sweatpants and a pair of UGGs boots with a long sleeve T-shirt. She zipped up her jacket and left the apartment. She had no keys, no phone and no wallet when she made her way down the stairs of her apartment complex. To say that she was in a daze was an underestimation.

When she got outside of the building, she looked up to the sky, oblivious to the snowflakes that fell on her face. She didn't know how long she spent standing there, looking into nothingness. Eventually, she looked down because the strain on her neck had become too much. Olivia wanted to feel numb because the pain that was inflicted on heart was too much.

Eventually, the first drop of tears rolled down her cheek. Olivia touched it with her fingers like if it was the most foreign thing she'd seen. She didn't want to cry, she didn't want to breakdown because if she did, she didn't know if she could rebuild herself again.

Her feet began to move and she allowed it. There was only one place she wanted to be and with one person. He was her home, he was her world and she hoped that he would never break her heart. She hoped that he would never break her down to nothingness. She hoped that his love would be enough, that their love would be enough to overcome the demons of their pasts.


Fitz was lounging on the couch when he heard the timid knocks on the front door. He got up to go answer it, Bubba zoomed passed him with a speed and started barking incessantly at the intruder. Fitz looked through the peephole to see his visitor. Immediately, he swung the door wide open when he saw who it was.

"Liv, why didn't you call me? I would've come pick you up." Fitz said worriedly.

Instead of answering him, Olivia threw herself into his arms. Fitz was caught off guard but he still managed to catch her. He closed the door and moved them to the couch.

He sat her on his lap and hugged her body closed to his. She was shivering from the cold. He didn't know what possessed her to walk through the snow to his house. "Liv, baby, what's wrong?" He asked as he rubbed soothing circles into her back.

"My life." She sobbed. From those two words Olivia wailed into his chest. Fitz still didn't understood what was going on, but he was sure that her grandmother had a role to play in it. He consoled her and allowed her to cry, he murmured his love and words of comfort to her.

When she was finished crying she asked him, "can I have something to eat?" She was famished from the exertions of her emotions.

"Sure, I can whip you something up. Let's go to the kitchen." Before they head to the kitchen Fitz removed the damp jacket from her body and her boots.

Olivia sat at the kitchen table while Bubba sat at her feet. She rubbed his back over and over again, it calmed her. She watched as Fitz stood at the stove preparing veggies to make an egg and ham omelet.

"Sometimes I wonder why God has me here."

Fitz stopped mid chopping the veggies to give her his undivided attention. He didn't like the way she was talking.

"There's a reason and purpose for all of us." Fitz offered.

"Maybe, some of us are purposed to take the pains of others. Look at slavery for example. Why did God let that happen?"

Fitz shrugged his shoulders because honestly he didn't know what to say. It was such a heavy topic that he was rendered speechless.

Olivia took his silence as an indication to continue. "All my life I tried to be everything for everyone. God knows I tried, but when will it be enough?"

Confused by where all of this was coming from Fitz decided to ask her what transpired earlier. "What happened today, Livvie?" He placed the knife on the cutting board and walked towards her.

Olivia took a deep breath before she answered him. "My grandmother blames me for her daughter's death." From the puzzled look on his face Olivia recounted the earlier incident to him word for word.

When she was finished Fitz had his arms wrapped around her protectively. "Please don't believe what she said. It was not your fault. It was not your fault." Fitz repeated the last part over and over so that it would be ingrained on her mind.

Each time he said, "It was not your fault," she felt her resolve slipping. The weight forced upon her shoulders to bear was being removed little by little from each confident declaration he made. Then like a sprinkle of rain on a desert soil that give hope for rain, she too believe that she wasn't responsible for her mother's death.

"It is not my fault." She whispered back to him. "It is not my fault"


Two streets over in Olivia's apartment, a crying Claris lifted her suitcase containing her packed belongings and left in a cab. All this time she thought that if she broke Eli's spawn that it would somewhat make her feel better for what he did to her daughter. But now she realized that Olivia was not only Eli's child but also Maya's, and if she was being honest with herself Olivia was more Maya than Eli. She was deeply saddened that she had pushed the only remaining family over the precipice forever. She will die alone and miserable.


A/N: Woohoo. Are you guys ok? I'm not :( Of course whenever there's angst I cry while writing it. Lol. I seriously do. Man... Claris was no joke. She went for the jugular. What are your thoughts on her and her relationship with Olivia?

Thoughts on the scene with Fitz and Olivia almost Showergate? Abby is slowly coming into her own. Also, we had some Target shopping with our faves.

Thank you so much for reading and please leave those reviews. Next chapter will be a time jump.

Until next time,

Xoxo