Keeping Score

After a mostly sleepless night, Olivia got up and made breakfast the next morning. The change in Fitz's demeanor was like night and day. His head was nowhere near his ass this morning. In fact, he was...humming? He chirped, it was the only word Olivia could think of, for how he happily told her good morning before picking up the plate she had made for him loaded down with toasted frozen waffles and sausage and joining her in the living room.

"You're in a good mood." She commented before taking a bite.

"I slept great. All of this quiet is perfect for peaceful sleep. Does your bed feel as soft as a cloud too?"

"Not exactly." Olivia mumbled. Although she knew it wasn't the bed's fault for her lack of sleep. "I live in the city, so the noise is peaceful to me."

"That doesn't make any sense to me, but to each their own." He took a bite of his waffle, chewing it up and swallowing it before speaking again. "What's on the agenda today?"

Olivia glanced out the large picture window. "I think I'm going to go for a walk today."

"Out there?" Fitz asked, pointing outside.

"Yea." Olivia chuckled.

"Are you gonna need protection?"

"From what exactly?"

"Bears. Wildcats. Trolls." He said with a shrug.

"Trolls?" She snorted.

"Oh yea." Fitz began, shaking his head. "This part of the woods is peppered with trolls. It's a huge problem."

"That's good to know, but I think I'll be okay."

He gave her the fakest pout known to mankind. "You don't want me to go?"

"I'll tell you what. If you can beat me in a round of mini golf you can go with me."

"Wooooow! I just learned that you have a mean streak." He shot her a look and then resumed eating.

"Are you chicken?" She asked with a grin, baiting him.

"Really? You're gonna call me names like that?" he asked. "Where exactly would we play? In case you hadn't noticed, the ground is covered with at least two feet of snow."

"I passed a place called The Outrageous Family Fun Center on my drive here. It was maybe twenty miles away."

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather just hit me with a golf club again?" he asked with a smirk.

"Mmmm, tempting." She cocked her head to the side and glanced up as if in deep thought. "I'm pretty sure I saw a sign for chicken boarding there too. It could come in handy."

"Ohhhhhhhh, it's on, Livvie!" He forked the last bite of his waffle into his mouth and chewed it quickly. After swallowing it, he got to his feet and added, "I'll be ready in ten minutes. Will you?"

"Loser pays." Leaving her plate where it was, Olivia jumped to her feet and sprinted up the stairs with Fitz right behind her. They were laughing the entire way to their bedrooms, where the doors were slammed shut and the clothing was quickly riffled through.

Eight minutes later, Fitz quietly opened his door and listened. He hadn't heard any noise from Olivia's room in a while. Either she was still debating on what to wear or she had given up on her idea to go at all. Either way, he was ready before she was and that had to be rubbed in her face.

As he tiptoed down the hall, he stopped at her door and listened, stifling the urge to laugh. She must have fallen asleep. That was a damn shame. He continued down the stairs, his confidence growing by leaps and bounds. By the time he had gotten to the bottom step he did a little dance by himself. He planned to perform it again once Livvie had come down...

"Are you finally ready to go?" She asked, standing by the front door.

"Holy hell, woman!" Fitz shrieked, turning around at warp speed. He practically jumped to the ceiling. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

She smiled sweetly at him. "I've been waiting for forever."

He pointed a finger at her. "Bullshit!"

She chuckled at him. "See. I just learned some new things about you. A, you're very competitive. B, you scare reallllly easily. And C, you know how to fly."

He was still very confused about how she had beaten him downstairs. "But, how? You didn't make a sound! There's no way!"

"And yet here we are still talking about it. I beat you. Suck it. I'm driving. Let's go."

The two of them got out of the car and jogged inside their destination. There were only a few cars in the parking lot. Added to that it was only a little after ten in the morning. It seemed they were basically going to have the place to themselves for the next hour or so.

Fitz paid for them each a round of mini golf, opting for the glow in the dark game that was offered for a few dollars more. When the girl on the other side of the counter handed them their golf clubs, Fitz took both of them and held them over his head. "I don't completely trust you with one of these yet." he joked.

"Ha, ha." Olivia replied dryly. "If you're ready for your beating, you're gonna have to give me my green club."

"That's cute. But you're going down for making me scream like a girl earlier." he told her with a grin.

"Your smack talk game needs work, Fitz. Let's see what you got."

Fitz dropped the grin and stopped walking. He craned his head to the left and then to the right. "You wanna see it right here?"

"Oh my gosh. No!" Her eyes doubled in size and she put her hand over her eyes before spinning around away from him. "That's not what I..."

Fitz appeared in front of her and gently pushed her hand down. When she looked up at him, he was grinning like a madman. "Gotcha, Livvie."

"Oh my gosh! You are such a jerk!"

He put his arm around her and gave a little squeeze. "I just learned something new about you. You are sooo friggin cute when you're embarrassed."

They got to the first hole and Olivia held out her hand patiently. "Give it up. The quicker we get this over with, the quicker I can go on my walk alone."

"In your dreams." Fitz puckered his lips while keeping the clubs up high. When Olivia got on her tiptoes with a grin and pecked his lips, he handed her the shorter club and said, "let's do this."

They kept each other's score to keep things fair. Fitz added a stroke here and there when he saw her focused on taking her shot. He wanted to walk in the snow covered woods with her to spend more time with her. He wondered if he could talk her into making snow angels and having a snowball fight?

When she wasn't sidetracked by staring at his biceps or watching his butt when he bent over to get the ball, Olivia added strokes to his score too. She only did it every time Fitz bragged about how great he was doing; which was almost every time he putted.

"Okay, this is the last hole, Fitz. If I..."

"Yea, yea. Just do it already." He told her, motioning with his hand. He watched as she got a damned hole in one. There would be no way to fudge that score. And there would be no living with her after that either. All he had to do was get a hole in one himself to level the playing field. As she went to take a seat on a bench nearby to watch him, Fitz mentally thought about his putts. They had to be pretty close with their scores.

He set the ball down on the fake green turf and lined his body up for the shot. He had to get a hole in one. It would take away all of her bragging rights for the rest of...

"Come onnnn! We don't have all day!" Olivia called out through a grin.

"Excuse me? Did I harass you when it was your turn?"

"You're right. I'm sorry." She got to her feet and went to him.

"Livvie, what are you doing? I'm trying to take this last shot, and you're in the way."

"Listen big guy. If you get a hole in one, we aren't going for a walk in the woods when we get back."

"We're not?"

She shook her head back and forth. "We're going to have celebratory sex. In Abby and Leo's bed."

Fitz's blue eyes studied her face for the butt of the joke, but it never came. "Are you sure? But just yesterday you said you wanted to get to know me better first."

"Do you really want to argue with me right now?" She asked with a smile.

"I just don't want you to regret it later on. It's important to me."

"That's exactly why I'm sure. No man would ever pump the brakes and make sure I was fully aware of the decision I'm making. You're different. That's important to me."

"Give me your car keys please." he said, holding out his hand.

"Why?" She asked as she fished them out of her pocket.

"Because the second this stupid orange ball falls down into the hole in the floor, we will be out the door. I don't want to have an accident, but we will be in a bit of a rush."

Olivia giggled and put her arms around his neck. "You have to make that shot first."

"I've already made it in my mind." He put his arms around her and pulled her close for a hug. "You definitely know how to motivate a man."

She giggled again and held him tighter.

Fitz brushed his lips softly across hers, and then he watched her walk back to the bench she had been sitting on. The woman could walk in a pair of jeans!

Once again, he lined up his body for the shot. He swung his arms back behind his body and connected with the ball when they came back where they started. The little orange ball shot forward, bumping into the little wall that surrounded the playing field. It headed toward the hole at the end, wobbled against the side of the hole, and kept going until it stopped rolling about seven inches away from the goal.

He laughed at the stubborn little ball before going to stand beside it and tapping it into the hole. Olivia cheered from her bench, clapping enthusiastically. "Thank you. That was a good game. Now let's add up those points to see who won?"

When the two of them were done, they smiled at each other and swapped cards to see their own damage. Olivia grinned down at the card in her hand. He had given her extra strokes too. She saw a nineteen on a hole she remembered very clearly getting a three at. Her total score was circled three times and was written in very large print. One hundred and seven. So, he had cheated too.

She lifted her head to see what Fitz thought of his score, but instead of seeing him studying his card, he was staring at her with a funny look on his ridiculously handsome face. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and said, "what? You don't like your score either?"

He wasn't even looking at his card. "Why did you do that?"

"Well, your score of ninety eight still beats my..."

"That's not what I mean and you know it." He said softly. "You gave me a one on that last hole."

She dropped her arms and smiled at him. "Do you want me to change it?"

"No." He replied. "But you didn't have to do it. You don't have to do anything you don't want to, Livvie. There's no rush."

"That's why I did it. Because you are such a good guy. I know we play around and tease each other, and I know that we don't really know each other very well yet, but who says we have to stop learning things about each other after we have sex?"

"No one. I just don't want you to feel pressured from me in any way. That's all."

She stood in right in front of him, looking up into his soft blue eyes. "I don't. Honest. I want this. I want you."

He smiled back at her before reaching down to take her hand. "I want this too."