August 28th, 2015

6:15 PM

American Airlines, Flight 102

Somewhere in Missouri

"Liv, stop," Abby pleaded, helplessly watching her best friend down the champagne she had ordered.

Olivia had somehow managed to smooth talk to first class flight attendant into coming by with alcohol - pretended he got tips, which she provided generously. She exhaled and set down her empty glass on the pull out try, turning to Abby with a grin. "Don't you ever let loose? We're about to go to the biggest party city in the world."

"We're not going to make it on the ground if you die from an alcohol overdose!" Abby snapped. "Seriously? Your dad buys us first class tickets and you go on and buy all the champagne you can get your fucking hands on?"

Olivia rolled her eyes, bringing her black leggings covered legs under her so she was sitting on them instead of the bottom of the leather beige seat. "Would you lower your voice?"

"No!" Abby threw her skinny arms up in the arm, being loud enough to cause other passengers to look at the two young girls. Abby shook her head, not caring and sending locks of her ginger hair everywhere. "We're landing in less than four hours, Liv. You promised me that you would be careful! Just a couple of fucking hours ago, you promised me."

"I know what I did," Olivia began with a sigh. As much as she hated seeing her best friend this upset, she was too drunk to think straight, let alone do anything about it. But Abby should have known better than to believe such an empty promise made by, of all people, Olivia. Suddenly getting an idea, she fished her iPhone from her lap, slowly grinning. "I've got something to make it up to you..."

Abby raised her perfectly shaped eyebrow. "What are you talking about, Liv?"

"This will help you calm down," Olivia elaborated with a quiet smirk. She pulled apart her phone case from her phone slightly - just enough to Abby could catch a glimpse of the thin, cocaine packed small bag hidden in there.

Abby gaped at her Olivia - then at the bag, then back at Olivia. After she got over the initial shock, she hissed, "What the fuck is that?!"

Olivia smirked again. "I think you know what it is."

Abby grabbed both the phone and her case out of her best friend's hands, her heart pounding. "Where the hell did you get that, Olivia Carolyn Pope?"

Olivia smiled, her fingers skimming the rim of the empty champagne glass. "A friend from last night. He said it would ease anxiety on the flight.

"That could be laced with something," Abby just stared at Olivia. This way below the belt - even for Liv. "And do you know what could have happened to you if they found this at the security checkpoint? You could kiss Stanford goodbye, Liv. Your ass would've been stuck in Baltimore Community College, if you somehow got spared from prison.."

Olivia rolled her eyes at Abby's dramatics. "Would you lower your frigging voice, Abby? If you don't want to take a line, you don't have to. Whatever - let freedom ring. Just calm down and spare me the lecture. I don't know what's stuck up your ass."

"It's called responsibility," Abby spat. "It's called common fucking sense."

Olivia turned to her window, leaning her forehead on it and looking out into the darkness. Abby's words meant nothing to her. She knew her limits, her boundaries and more than anything, she knew how to be slick. Right now she was just annoyed by Abby's judgmental attitude.

"Look, Liv," Abby frowned. "I really don't want you to get pulled into a fucked up situation neither me nor your father can't pull you out of. I know you've done drugs before but this? It's insane. If you really knew your limits, you wouldn't be this reckless and stupid. If you continue to pull this shit at Stanford, of all places, you're not gonna live to see graduation day. You're not even gonna make it through this freaking semester. Why don't you understand that?"

Olivia said nothing. Abby just sighed. They had gotten into bigger arguments and they never lasted. How could anybody be this upset when traveling to the Sunshine State? Abby was confident they would make up. But that didn't mean she would put up with anymore of Olivia's beyond reckless behavior.

Just she was reattaching the phone case to the phone, Abby felt it buzz in her hands. "You got a text, Liv."

"Whatever," Olivia replied. Champagne and wine had a tendency to make her sleepy and she wanted to get try and get some rest before they landed. She really wasn't angry at Abby - just annoyed and wanted to get past it. "I'll answer it when I wake up. Hell, you can answer it. I don't care."

Abby unlocked Olivia's phone, obviously knowing the password. Through dozens of unopened texts from desperate guys trying to sleep with her, she found the new one. It was from Liv's father. Abby opened it and squinted her eyes at the text and the attachment.

"Um, Liv?"

Olivia sighed and shifted in the comfortable seat. "What is it, Abs?"

Abby swallowed and nervously slid the phone to her best friend. "I think you're gonna wanna handle this one yourself."

Olivia put her phone on airplane mode, her fingertips too numb to feel the action. She was no longer sleepily drunk - she was wide awake and perfectly coherent. Her heart was beating faster than she had thought physically possible. Abby held her free hand and gave her an equally nervous, supportive smile.

"Dad," Olivia swallowed after dialing Eli. She had no idea what he was going to say. Hell, she had no idea what she was going to say. How could she explain a video that was sent to Eli, of his daughter stripping topless at a club?

"Olivia," Eli said shortly. "I don't wish to speak to you. Not now...not as far as I can foresee."

Olivia closed her brown eyes. "I'm sorry. I can explain."

"There is no explanation that could possibly make me feel better," Eli replied with disgust. "I got sent an anonymous video of my only daughter stripping naked at a random bar in the city. My eighteen year old daughter. Completely wasted and high off God knows what. So no, Olivia, I don't have anything to say to you and there is nothing you could say that I want to hear."

Olivia tried to hold back tears, but felt the rims of her eyes get wet anyway. She had no idea who took the video - rather, who was fucked up enough to send it to her father. But in the end, it didn't matter. "I'm so sorry, Dad. I messed up. I don't know what to say."

"That makes two of us," Eli practically spat into the other line. "Goodbye, Olivia."

"No," Olivia shouted, causing annoyed and confused passenger to look at her. She couldn't care less. She truly did feel guilty and didn't know how to make it up. Well, she didn't feel bad for doing what she did. She just felt horrible that she got caught. She hadn't heard her father this angry since...ever. "Please, Dad. Tell me what I can do. How do I make it up? It was a one time thing...a mistake. I-I...made a mistake."

There was silence on the other end and Olivia felt the tears move past her eyes and down her cheekbones. Abby embraced her best friend. Olivia sniffed into the phone. "Dad?"

"Like I said, Olivia, I don't know what to say," Eli snapped. After a pause, he corrected himself. "Actually, I do. I'm sure this is not the first of many videos. That said, you were wrong the other night. Not only are you a disgrace to this community, but also to this family.

Olivia shook her head and tried to speak, but Eli cut her off. "I hate to say this, Olivia, I truly do. It breaks my heart. But you've become a stranger to me. I don't know you. And I don't plan to contact you again."

Olivia swallowed. "You can't possibly mean that, Dad-"

"Try me," Eli promised firmly. "These are not the actions of my daughter. As far as I know, I don't even have a daughter. Not anymore."

"Dad-"

"Enough," Eli demanded. "Now I already paid for your semester housing in Florence Moore Hall. Consider that your parting gift."

He hung up curtly and just like that, he was out of her life.

Olivia inhaled. This wasn't happening. This was ridiculous. This type of stuff didn't happen to Olivia Carolyn Pope. It was the type of shit that gets written into angsty fictional stories. Except it wasn't...it was her reality. It was really happening to her. And Olivia simply could not deal with that.

"Liv," Abby called her friend's name slowly but Olivia could not hear her.

There was a ringing in her ears and she couldn't breath. She gripped the metal hand rest between them so hard her palm turned white.

"Olivia," Abby repeated, her voice raising with concern.

"I-..." Olivia tried to speak, but she felt like she was being suffocated.

She felt like she was in quicksand and the more she tried to fight it, the more prominent it became. Her breathing was jagged, uneven and she felt like her heart was going to rip out her chest. Heat rose to her face.

She ripped her seat belt loose and stumbled out of her seat. The champagne glass fell and shattered on the floor but Olivia didn't even hear or notice it. She marched past it and ran into the nearest bathroom she could find.

She collapsed in front of the toilet, her phone falling from her and her hands gripping the metal seat.

Abby, on the other end of the plane, jumped out of her seat and tailed her best friend. She pushed several agitated passengers and shoved the door open. She found Olivia sitting down, head cradled in her hands.

"Liv," Abby sunk down right next to Olivia, not caring that she was getting her jeans and Tommy Hilfiger sweater dirty. She pulled her arm around her best friend. "Liv..."

"No," Olivia shuddered from Abby's grip, which only made Abby hold tighter.

Abby had seen this before. Granted, not in years, but she had dealt with it. Olivia used to get occasional panic and anxiety attacks. It didn't happen often but when it did, it was with full fledged force. And it broke Abby's heart.

"Liv," Abby rubbed Olivia's beige cardigan clad arms. "It's alright, Liv. It's okay."

"No!" Olivia shouted, her chest heavy from sobbing. "S-stop it, Abby..."

A young female flight attendant opened the door and poked her head in. "Ma'am?"

Abby resisted the urge to roll her icy blue eyes at the woman. "Give us a minute, please."

"I'm sorry," the attendant frowned. "We're expecting turbulence and we need you ladies to get back to your seats right -"

"We need a minute," Abby repeated firmly.

The flight attendant narrowed her own eyes, back and forth from Abby and the crying Olivia. "Just a minute." And then she was gone.

Olivia's hands frantically thumped across the floor of the dirty bathroom, blindly searching for her now cracked phone. She slipped her fingers through the Mophie cause and pulled out the baggie.

"No," Abby tried not the scream. She pried the bag away from Olivia but the girl had a death grip on it. She didn't care what type of breakdown her best friend was having - she was not going to be getting high on an airplane. "Olivia, give it to me."

"No," Olivia mumbled, holding the bag out of Abby's reach. She needed a line and she needed it now. She tried to sneak her fingers into the bag but Abby reached up her fist and shoved it down - so hard that it fell straight into the toilet.

Abby scrambled to her knees and flushed it as quick as she could.

"Stop it," Olivia sobbed, pushing Abby's arm away. "What are you doing?"

Abby watched as the ugly plastic baggy circled the drain before disappearing completely. "Saving your life, Liv."

Olivia collapsed down, her back against the sink, crying harder than ever. "How could you do that? I hate you. I f-fucking hate you."

Abby shook her head firmly and tried to hug Olivia, only to be angrily pushed away.

"I hate you," Olivia choked through tears, still shaking from the anxiety attack. "I hate you."

"Yeah?" Abby kneeled in front of her best friend and inhaled. "Well I love you, Liv. That's why I did what I did. To save your ass."

Olivia hiccuped through tears, glaring at Abby. But she was more scared than angry. "He wants nothing to do with me, A-Abby. What the hell am I gonna do now?"

Abby gently traced a circle on her friend's arm as an unsteady wave of turbulence slightly shook them. "Liv-"

"No," Olivia shook her head, wiping her face with the back of her hand. She had calmed down a little but she was left feeling more hopeless and destroyed than ever. She had never been without her father's support and could tell Eli was not joking. "What happens now, Abby?"

"It's gonna be okay. I know everything's gonna be fine." Abby lied through her straight white teeth. She knew nothing. As much as hated to admit it, Eli had been swinging her semester housing payment and although Abby had a supportive family, she had no where near enough means to get through a semester much less eight. She actually had no idea how things were gonna turn out but it seemed like the right thing to say. "It's all gonna be alright, Liv."

Olivia rested her head against the wall, trying to regain control of her breath. This was absolutely the lowest point in her life - in an airplane bathroom, on her ass, drunk and drug deprived. "I'm all alone. I have nobody, Abby."

Abby closed her eyes. "You have me. Over a cliff, Liv."

Liv grinned softly through her tears at hearing Abby say the stupid promise , metaphorically had made up years ago.

"Over a cliff," she repeated.

August 29th, 2015

2:14 PM

Florence Moore Residence Hall

Stanford, California

"Olivia," Abby shook her best friend's shoulder, having given up on gently persuading her to wake up.

Olivia turned around on the bare mattress and groaned. She fluttered her eyes open, only to see Abby's slim figure outlined by the sun shining through the bare windows. "Ugh. Does it really have to be so freaking sunny all the time?"

Abby walked over to her side of the spacious dorm room and sat on her bed, which she had already managed to wiggle fitted sheets onto. "Well, it is California. They don't call it the 'Sunshine State' for nothing."

Olivia pulled up her blanket to her chin. I guess not she thought bitterly. They had landed late last night and crashed in bed as soon as they arrived at the campus - which was, by the way, beautiful. Florence Hall was the most elegant of freshman housing - Eli wouldn't have had it any other way.

Still exhausted and sleepy, Olivia shifted in the bed so she was facing Abby, who was unpacking a box. "What did you wake me up for? My first class isn't until tomorrow morning. Yours isn't either. Don't we have the same one? What is it again?"

Abby pulled a toothbrush from her bag and went to the adjoined bathroom to brush her teeth. "'Intro to Political Science' taught by Professor Cyrus Beene. And there's a little thing called orientation we have to attend."

Olivia rolled her eyes. Her head still hurt from last night and her eyes were puffy from the crying. It was hard enough to wake up and realize her father disowning her wasn't a dream. She was in no mood or condition to attend orientation. That, and she had more important things to do. "You'll have to go without me, Abs. I have to find a job."

Abby stepped halfway out of the bathroom, toothpaste still in her mouth. She spoke with her purple toothbrush between her teeth. "What?"

"There's a little thing called a job," Olivia mocked Abby's sarcastic tone, sitting up and stretching. "And money - which, as of now, I have absolutely none of. We only have a couple of months in this dorm, Abby, and then we're on our own. God knows your family isn't gonna help - no offense."

Abby spit out the toothpaste and walked back to the doorframe of the bathroom, staring at Olivia. "None taken. But we don't have to worry about that - not yet, anyway."

"Yes, we do," Olivia insisted, sighing. This was the last thing she wanted to think about, but there wasn't a choice. She was broke. There was a bank account with three thousand dollars to her name but that wasn't gonna be enough. Not for a while, anyways. Besides that and the, maybe, hundred dollars in her pocket and thousand she had brought in cash, that was all she had. Abby didn't argue.

Olivia finally got her ass out of her mattress and faced the body mirror Abby had brought up. She fixed her dark, wavy hair and stared at herself. She had never worked a day in her life but that was about to change. A lot of things, she expected, were going to change soon enough.

"Liv," Abby came from the bathroom, smiling with sad sympathy. She had feel horrible after the bathroom incident and was sparing Olivia of lectures and arguments - for the time being. "Everything really is going to be okay."

Olivia turned to the redhead and mustered up a brave smile. "I know that."

Abby smiled back, then went back through shifting through her unpacked clothes. "Then you should also know that we have less than fifteen minutes before we need to be at the lecture hall. Job searching can wait."

"I guess," Olivia tried to hide her relief, walking to one of her own unpacked boxes. She hadn't worked a day in her life and she was not in a rush to start.

August 29th, 2015

2:40 PM

Lecture Hall

Stanford, California

"Ooh," Abby looped her arm around Olivia's and pointed down the lecture hall at the back of a man. "Eye candy."

Olivia laughed and turned to her best friend. "You can't even see his face, Abby."

The redhead made her way through the aisles of seats and found two empty ones so they could sit down. She shrugged. "So what? The back of his head looks hot. And you could tell a lot from the back of a guy's head and his hair."

Olivia rolled her eyes with a grin. Abby could be so ridiculous sometimes. She could tell Abby had no interest in the poor guy, but she was trying to lighten the mood. She had been noticeably nicer and lighter ever since that mess of a plane ride.

While Abby went on about exactly how attractive the man had the potential of being, Olivia looked around the huge lecture hall. Stanford was a beautiful school and she was lucky to be there. It had, of course, the lowest acceptance rate in the entire United States. She was gonna try to make her education count - starting with this prestigious Political Science class.

"Liv..." Abby whined, poking her friend's arm. "Look! Look at him. He's so...ugh. The things I would let him do to me."

As if on cue, the man turned around slightly, giving the two girls a view of his profile. He had tousled light brown curls and eyes that were blue, but deeper than Abby's.

He was, Olivia had to admit, severely attractive. He had a tall muscular build (that his navy sweater and dark jeans showed off) and looked older - too old to be a freshman or even an undergrad student. He was hot, nevertheless.

He was absolutely Olivia's type - not that she had a specific one. Olivia self admittedly would sleep with anyone she found attractive and while her standards were high, she didn't have a specific type. On a scale system, if it were one through ten on attractiveness, Olivia would only sleep with tens. This man? Hell, he was an eleven.

"I'm turning over a new leaf," Olivia announced, never taking her eyes off the man. "At least I'm trying. No sleeping around, not on campus."

"With guys like that walking around?" Abby scoffed. "Good luck."

"Excuse me," an older man stood in front of hall and everyone instantly shut up. The girls presumed he was Cyrus Beene. "Please take a seat."

"He's so cute," Abby whispered to Liv, still referring to the mysterious guy seven rows in front of them. "But he can't possibly be a freshman. What's he doing in an intro class? Do you think he's a politician? He'd be a sexy politician. Okay, now I'm thinking about him as a mayor or President. Ooh..."

Olivia couldn't help but laugh softly. "Abby, shut up."

"Ladies," Cyrus called from the bottom, referring to them. The girls blushed and shut up. Cyrus smiled. "Thank you. As I was saying, welcome. This is your first time in this class and as for many of you, Stanford. If you don't know much about this course, I don't think I can comfort you. It's rigorous and challenging."

Olivia shrugged that off. She had managed to keep straight A's all throughout her academic life and she didn't feel intimidated at all.

"In the end," Cyrus continued. "Studying politics is very fulfilling and the subject has a lot of promise."

"Ugh," Abby muttered, bored to death. She was interested in politics - hence taking the class. But she had no idea how Olivia could sit with such attentiveness and passion. Abby was bored out of her mind. She reached into her bag.

"Abby," Olivia hissed. "You really need to shut up."

"Excuse me!" Cyrus singled them out again. "Is there a problem, ladies?"

All eyes turned to them, including a set of beautiful blue ones.

Abby and Olivia had no time to be embarrassed when they saw his face. Olivia just blinked. He was hot. Hotter than she ever thought possible.

"Ladies," Cyrus repeated.

"N-no," Olivia stuttered. "No sir."

"Good," Cyrus countered. "As I was saying..."

As Cyrus went on about the magic of politics, Olivia could not stop looking at the man sitting in front. Neither could Abby, for that matter.

"Damn," Abby said in a lowered voice, reaching into her bag. She quietly ripped out a piece of notebook paper and fished out a pen. She jotted down something before showing it to Olivia.

'I may not go down in history...

But I'll go down on you.

;)'

Olivia had to physically cover her mouth to keep from laughing. She grabbed the paper and crumpled it up. "You are not giving this to him, Abby!"

"Why not?" Abby grinned. "You can't deny that he's cute."

"He's hot," Olivia agreed in a hiss. "But you're not passing him this paper like a sixth grader."

Abby smirked. The roles were usually reversed - Olivia was the crazy, risk taking one and Abby was the responsible, designated driver. But this guy was cute and she had nothing to lose. He wasn't her type he was cute nevertheless. And Abby wanted to see Olivia laugh after going through such a crappy night. She took the crumpled paper from Liv's hand and before she could convince herself not, threw it down the rows of seats. It hit the back of his neck.

Fitzgerald Grant was listening attentively to Anthony's motivational, annual speech when something poked the back of his neck. With his hand under his brown waves, he turned around and looked up.

It was the two noisy girls, looking down with him. The redhead was beaming while the girl next to her looked horrified. Fitz couldn't suppress a grin before he looked down and wrapped the paper they had thrown at him. In small, blue ink, one of the girls (he presumed the redhead) had written -

'I may not go down in history...

But I'll go down on you.

;)'

Fitz stifled a laugh. He was not annoyed as he should have been. Maybe it was because the girls were prettier than most of them others who pulled this type of stuff. He was used to being flirted on by lots of girls - younger, older, just basically unattractive and definitely more irritating. But for some reason, he couldn't be angry.

He looked back up and blushed at them. The red haired one - she was more of a ginger - grinned back at him and topped it off with a wink, which made him chuckle out loud.

The other girl, the prettier one, who was wearing a white knit sweater and ripped, light wash shorts, cradled her head in her hands, obviously embarrassed of her friend's behavior. She was really attractive - she looked too old to be a freshman. She had a very mature face, a beautiful figure, flawless brown skin and really nice eyes.

Fitz just smiled and shook his head before turning back to Cyrus, who was just wrapping his speech obliviously. "And now, I have a friend I would like to introduce to you."

Fitz took his cue and got up. He turned around and looked up just to see those two girls gape in confusion. He couldn't stop grinning. He waved to the class of one hundred or so students.

"Hi everyone," he began, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets. He smirked looking at the girls scared expressions. They had probably thought he was a student - not someone of importance. He did look young enough to be a student, he supposed. He just found the whole thing to be hilarious. "I'm Fitzgerald Grant and although Cyrus insists on y'all calling me Mr. Grant, please don't."

The students laughed and Fitz grinned, carrying on. "Just 'Fitz' is fine. Anyway, I'm go to grad school here. Just four years ago, I was sitting exactly where you are right now. This is a hell of a course and Cy is an amazing teacher. You'll learn a lot this year." He took a deep breath. "For those of y'all wondering, I'm an assistant teacher. Cyrus was my mentor and this year, I will help him with the grading system, as well as take some opportunities to teach y'all as well."

With a final smile, Fitz looked back at those two girls. They were blushing rigorously. The dark haired girl mouthed, 'sorry' and Fitz gave everything not to laugh. He just nodded at her and took his seat.

It was the most he had smiled in months.

AN: Well, what do y'all think? I was letting my friend proof read it and she said it could be mistaken for a Abby/Olivia romantic fanfiction, which made me laugh. While I'm all for that, I assure you, that's not the case with this story. But I'll keep an open mind for the future, lls.

That said, I know a lot of people don't like Olivia as a character in this fanfiction - that goes for my other story too. You guys have been very vocal to express that. But I would, above anything, make my characters realistically flawed. If that makes them unlikeable, so be it. I appreciate all the feedback but unconventional characters is where angst comes from.

And regardless, thank you for your feedback

Sherry: I'm laughing so hard right now because I applied to Blair's CAP program a couple of months ago and didn't make it lol but that's so cool. And I'm just starting at Blake in August.