Olivia took a deep breathe when she saw Tyler's car in her driveway.

She had just left her parents house after staying with them for the past two days.

After spending time with Fitz on what was supposed to be her wedding day, she left his place that same evening after a very fruitful conversation.

When she felt prepared enough she got out of the car and headed for the front door.

Olivia hadn't had any contact with Tyler since breaking up with him and now she had to face him.

"What are you doing here?" Tyler asked bitterly upon seeing Olivia enter what used to be their bedroom.

"I live here. ." She answered quietly.

"Then why haven't you been here for the past two days?"

"You were here?" Olivia asked surprised. "I figured you needed space."

"Yes, I was here. Waiting for you to tell me why you chose our wedding day to make a complete fool out of me. I bet you were with him these past two days weren't you? Probably laughing at me."

Olivia sighed and shifted her phone in her hands. "No. I was staying at my parents house."

Tyler chuckled as if he didn't believe her.

"You're taking your stuff." She stated as she watched him empty his closet.

"What? Are you gonna ask me to stay?" Tyler asked. His voice filled with sarcasm.

Silence filled the room until Tyler dropped the clothes and looked directly at Olivia. "Was this whole relationship fake? How do I know this wasn't the first time you decided to cheat on me?"

"I didn't fake four years with you Ty.. You know I loved you. We loved each other, and no, I have never cheated on you before."

"I really can't believe anything that's coming out of your mouth right now. Why Olivia? I thought we were happy. I would've given you the world, you know that. Was I not man enough for you??"

"We were happy and you were great which is why I felt horrible when I started developing feelings for another man. I tried to stop it because I knew I loved you. I was so conflicted. I--"

"How can you just fall in love with another man so quickly if you supposedly loved me?" He cut her off mid sentence, moving away from the closet.

"I didn't ask for it, it just happened. Look I'm sure you don't want to hear this at all but from the moment I met him we sort of just clicked. Although there wasn't an instant connection at the time but further down the road we started talking and.. Ugh, I don't know, I just can't really describe it. It was never my intention to be disloyal and unfaithful to you, I swear.. But I couldn't stop what I was feeling for this man. It was deeper than anything I've ever felt before, I'm so sorry."

"So why play me for a fool? Why didn't you say something sooner? Why the hell did you make me believe that we would be getting married?"

"I didn't have the heart to break things off with you because I knew how much it would've hurt you. So I thought that if I went through with the wedding that I'd be able to forget about the other guy and do right by you."

"Do you have any idea how serious marriage is!? You were about to make me look like a joke by starting our marriage on a fucking lie!"

"I thought I was doing the right thing okay! I didn't want to disappoint anyone or cause a stir amongst our families. But on our wedding day I just couldn't keep lying to myself anymore. It would've been wrong of me to stay with you as I was still trying to figure out what I really wanted. If was going to marry you I had to be in it with my entire heart and soul."

"YOU EMBARRASSED ME!!"

"And I'm sorry. I'm so terribly sorry Tyler."

"Four years. Four fucking years and you just threw it away for a guy who gave you a little attention and a good fuck." The words left Tyler's mouth like venom. "I could tell you were different. You just wasn't yourself. We barely had sex anymore. I fucking knew something was up but I chose to ignore it. How fucking stupid of me."

Olivia decided to bite her tongue and stay quiet. He was angry and he needed to let that out.

On their wedding day she chose to run away from the confrontation. But now she had to face him. They needed to talk things through.

So she was willing to take it.

All the the yelling, the ugly words, the insults.. She was going to take it because she could only imagine what it must feel like being in his position.

"AND WHO THE FUCK IS THIS GUY ANYWAY?? DO I KNOW HIM??" He shouted angrily at her.

"What does it matter anyway. It won't make any difference."

"FUCK YOU OLIVIA!"

Olivia winched when Tyler broke the bedside lamp.

"You didn't tell me how long." He said breathing heavily, nostrils flaring.

"What?"

"How long have you been sleeping around with this guy?"

"...a few months. ."

"A few months?"

"It started in September."

"Wow." He let out a twisted laugh. "I never expected this from you."

"You should probably finish up." Olivia replied quietly and tried to make her way out before feeling Tyler's hand on her wrist, spinning her around with force.

"Where do you think you're going? Are you ashamed now all of a sudden and now you're trying to hide away?"

"You're busy. We can talk when you've finished up in here." She answered calmly but she felt a sting from his grip on her arm.

"Oh no, we're talking now. Did you fuck him in our bed?"

His grip tightened. "I asked you a damn question! DID YOU FUCK THAT SON OF A BITCH IN THE BED THAT I SLEPT IN?"

Olivia didn't recognise the man in front of her as anger overcame him.

She remembered how Tyler had became less threatened by other men looking at her as their relationship progressed because he trusted her and knew their relationship was strong. But now that she confessed to cheating he became a whole other person. Not that she blamed him.

"No." She whimpered.

"YOU'RE LYING!"

"I'm not."

She really wasn't. Having Fitz in her house would've made her feel even worse. Therefore it was just easier getting together at his place.

"Tyler you're hurting me."

He ignored her cry. "I thought you were different."

"I'm sorry. You have every right to hate me."

"Stop apologizing because you're not sorry. You got rid of me only to be with your little side piece. Actually, you should hate yourself."

"I am genuinely sorry Ty. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you. What we had was real but it just wasn't meant to be. We aren't the same two people who fell in love years ago."

"You just decided all on your own that it wasn't meant to be so you can continue fucking him without feeling bad about yourself."

"Please let go of my arm."

He stared at her with rage but removed his hand.

"You know what? Fuck it. I bet you're gonna do the same to this guy. Keep him around until you get bored and magically develope feelings for someone else. I don't even want to see your face ever again. As soon as I leave this house with all my belongings, you're no one to me. You won't exist to me. We're done."

Olivia stayed silent, nodded and exited the room.

Much later after Tyler had left, Olivia just felt emotionally drained so she went to lie down and eventually fell asleep.

xxx

An entire week later Olivia arrived back in town feeling a lot better after all the drama.

She went completely awol for a whole week.

Olivia literally shut down the world around her by escaping to a spa and wellness resort.

She needed to clear her mind and build up her spirits. Decompress. Rejuvenate. Revitalise.

She could finally face the people around her without feeling guilty about her recent decision making.

It was clear to her that she did Tyler wrong but what she felt and experienced with Fitz in all those stolen moments together was so much more powerful than anything she's felt for Tyler and she couldn't just ignore that.

So she wasn't going to feel guilty. Leaving Tyler was the better choice.

They were no longer deeply in love whether Tyler wanted to admit it or not.

They were just comfortable with each other.

There wasn't any passion. No fire. Nothing special.

They could've probably tried to work on their relationship and bring the fire back but to Olivia, nothing could match the intensity Fitz brought.

So, ending things with Tyler was just better.

She already cheated on him with Fitz and the lie would've ruined them anyway had she chose to marry him.

Now he could go out and find himself someone who made him feel the same way Fitz made her feel.

No matter what anyone's opinion was on how wrong she was, this was her mistake to make.

She chose to leave Tyler not just for Fitz but for herself. She wanted to experience a life changing kind of love and that wasn't happening with Tyler.

So even if things don't work out between her and Fitz then it would've been the best mistake she's ever made.

"Gosh, finally!" Abby said as Olivia opened the door for her. "I was here two days in a row and you weren't home. I called and texted you everyday but received no answer. I went to your parents and visited the spa but no one knew about your whereabouts."

"Hello to you too Abigail. I was out of town for a few days." She replied casually, allowing Abby inside.

"Out of town? Liv I haven't seen or spoken to you since..."

"The wedding." Liv finished for her.

"Yeah."

"I needed time alone."

"No shit. So..you and Tyler. Are you DONE done?"

"We're not getting back together."

"You guys seemed fine though. We were all excited to see you getting married after all these years. What happened?"

"Tyler didn't tell you guys?" They were all friends with each other so she assumed he would've been telling everyone she cheated.

"No. He's not talking to any of us. I don't know about the others but he blocked my number."

"You're my best friend. He probably thought you knew."

"Knew what?"

"I was unfaithful in our relationship. I cheated on Tyler with another man and fell in love with him."

Abby straightened up in her seat on the couch.

"Not what you were expecting was it?"

"Honestly, no. I'm not judging though, and not just because you're my friend but because I've been there as well. Not that I had to cancel a wedding but nonetheless."

"I would've went through with the wedding Abby but I just couldn't live in a lie for the rest of my life and it would've been unfair to Tyler if I had gotten married to him with my heart not in it."

"So..you really love this other guy?"

"I'm in love with him. I don't know..he just came out of nowhere and turned my world upside down."

"Yeah I can tell. Your whole face just lit up." Abby smiled.

"Thank you for your friendship Abby. I'm sorry for not letting you in but this was something that I had to deal with on my own."

"I understand. Are you really okay Liv?" Abby asked with compassion.

"I am yes. After my week at the wellness resort, I have made peace with everything's that happened. Now I'm just looking to do what's best for me."

"I'm glad. It couldn't have been easy for you to have your heart in two different places."

"It was exhausting and I hated myself."

"Well I can see that you're doing much better now, you look great."

Olivia's hair was completely black. A change from her usual dark chocolate brown shade.

"Thanks."

"So, you and the other guy.."

"We're not exactly together at the moment. Right now we're just taking time to ourselves, separately, just to make sure that we want this..us, together. And if we are sure then we gotta be ready and fully prepared to venture into a new relationship."

"That's wise."

"Yeah.."

"I hope everything works out for you. You deserve to be happy Liv and you're allowed to love who you love. Don't let anyone stand in the way of your happiness."

Olivia smiled appreciatively. "I love you Abby."

"I love you too lady."

The two of them spent most of the day catching up, talking about nothing in particular.

Later that night Liv got settled in bed and decided to give Fitz a call.

"Hi."

"Wow it feels great to hear your voice. Hi."

Olivia smiled into the phone. "It's been awhile hasn't it. How are you?"

"I'm good..busy. Just took on another project at work. You?"

"Great. I went away for a bit."

"Yeah? Where'd you go?"

"The perfect hideaway to relax and unplug."

"Sounds nice. So you're okay, you're doing better?"

"Yes. I feel better."

"That's great."

"When I got home from my parents a week ago Tyler was here at the house, packing up his things."

"How did that go? Did you talk?"

"More or less. I mean obviously he was angry, everything that happened was still raw. He wanted answers. At first he was calm and everything but then he started throwing things and yelling at me. I just took it because I thought it would make him feel better. I kinda deserved it."

"Liv, did he hurt you?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

She didn't reply immediately.

"Olivia?"

"He didn't really hurt me. He just stopped me from leaving when I wanted to give him a few minutes to calm down. He grabbed my wrist but I was fine Fitz. If anything his words is what hurt the most."

"If he wants to be angry and hurt someone then he should have a go at me. I'm the guilty party, I should be held accountable. I ruined your relationship. He had no right treating you like that." Fitz was seething at the thought of Tyler hurting her.

"Hey..relax. Like I said, I'm okay."

"Have you seen him again?"

"No, according to him I'm nonexistent. But I'm over it Fitz, really. I have found peace within myself. I admit what I did to him was wrong but I don't regret falling in love with you. I think everyone should have a chance in their lifetime to really truly love someone with with a fiery passion. I got that chance with you and selfish as it may sound, I don't regret acting on it. Though that doesn't mean that I didn't love Tyler. We had great times together and I appreciate what he did for me during our time together."

"I could thank my mother a thousand times over for sending me to your spa that day. Meeting you is probably the best thing that's ever happened to me."

"Are you getting all soppy on me now?"

"Okay go ahead, make fun of me." Fitz laughed.

"What are you doing right now?"

"I was actually working on a few presentations for a client when you called."

"Do you always bring your work home with you?"

"Sometimes I can think more freely when I'm at home than at the office. So when did you get back from your little vacation?"

"This morning. I was barely home for five minutes when Abby showed up here. It felt good to talk to someone about everything that's been going on though. She was so amazing and supportive and non judgmental."

"It's always good to have those kind of friends."

"Am I keeping you from your work?"

"No, come on..I like talking to you and we haven't spoken in quite a while."

"I like talking to you too. Hey how's Booger?"

"He's fine. He got himself in a lot of trouble the other day. When we were visiting my mom the neighbours cat was walking through the yard and Booger chased the thing while simultaneously wrecking mom's garden."

"Oh no."

"Yeah so now he's banned from her property." Fitz said through hilarious laughter.

"Fitz that's not funny." She replied lightheartedly.

"Hey at least I promised to repair all damages."

"Good and teach your dog some manners."

"Booger is a free spirit."

"You're crazy."

"Crazy about you."

"I want to give us a chance Fitz. I want to be with you. I'm certain about that but I think I have to be single for a little while longer just to get my head straight because I know for a fact that any relationship between us will be taking a lot of strain from outside factors."

"You should see how big my smile is right now and yes of course I'm okay with you taking your timw with this. There's no rush from my side. We have time Livvie. I can't wait to get to know all the layers there is to Olivia Pope."

"So do you think we can make this work? Like for real?"

"I know we can. I'm serious about you and I don't plan on giving up on you no matter what. You made some major decisions for us to happen so just know that I'm all in. Oh and just so you know, I can't wait to have this conversation with you in person."

"It'll be kinda nice to see your face again." Liv said with a little humour.

"Well whenever you're ready, remember I'll be here."

"You should get back to work."

"Yeah.." He sounded like he would've preferred spending his night talking to her instead.

"Goodnight Fitz."

"Goodnight Liv. Thanks for the call. Hey I'm allowed to call or text you whenever, right?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course."

"Good. I'll try not to be nuisance." Fitz chuckled the added, "Night Livvie."

They ended their call, both grinning widely.

Everything was going to work out. Or at least she hoped it would.