AN: Sorry about the late update! As you probably guessed, I'm starting school soon, on Monday to be exact. That doesn't mean that updates are going to come less frequently but they may come inconsistently. I'm starting high school this year and I don't know how my schedule will be, or when I will or will not have time to write. But I will definitely try to at least once every three days. :)

Enjoy this chapter.

Perhaps one did not want to be loved so much as to be understood.

-George Orwell

June 16th, 2016

8:30 AM

Los Angeles, California

Fitz's POV

"Livvy!"

My girl's face lights up when she sees me and she races across the airport gate in full speed. Liv throws her arms around my neck when she sees me and all bad feeling from last night vanishes just like that. I'm just happy to see her and have a kickass summer, no matter what that stupid video held.

"Hey," I mumble into the crown of her head. "I missed you."

Liv picks up her head and gives me a huge kiss right in the middle of the airport, making bystanders go 'aw'. She parts and sees me blush. "I missed you too."

Before I can reply, she leans back in and proceeds kissing me, sliding her tongue past mine this time. I pull away this time, not because I mind the PDA but because she is already having me feel some type of way and I can't have that in public. That is for when we're at home.

I wrap my arm around her shoulder and drag her suitcase along with us as we walk. I can't stop looking at her, as always. She looks beautiful, of course. She's wearing light wash jeans and a white tank top with matching converse sneakers. "How was your flight?"

"It was good," she looks up at me, looking her arm around my waist. "I wish I could say the same for you. You look like hell. Is everything alright?"

I debate telling her about the video. Whatever it is, she must obviously know it exists. And she will automatically assume I am judging her for whatever is in it, even though I won't. So I just won't tell her. Liv already has a tendency to over worry herself, so I don't need to add to that.

"Everything is fine, baby," I force a smile. "I'm just kinda bummed out that I'll be saying bye to you in a couple of months."

"Shut up," Liv tightens her grip around me. "We are not talking about this, Fitz, okay? Absolutely not. We're going to have a fun time and we're not going to worry about goodbyes until August. We're going to enjoy ourselves at-..." She looks up at me. "Where are we going again?"

I lead her out of the airport into the sunny area where my car is parked. I open the front door for her. "We'll figure that out later, okay?"

She nods and gets into the passenger seat but not before sneaking in another kiss, which I gladly accept.

I look at Liv in the reflection of my dresser mirror. "Do you want to go to Italy?"

"What?" Liv looks up blankly. "You literally ask that like 'do you want to go to McDonald's?'"

I laugh and turn around to look at her. She is so beautiful. I swear she gets even prettier every time I see her. I will literally go to my grave that. "I'm serious, Livvy. Let's go to Italy. I can have a flight booked tonight."

I want to get out of here as soon as possible for two very important reasons.

One being that Italy is very close my heart and because Liv is too, I want to share that with her. I would be honored to take her there.

Secondly, I don't want to spend another second in this house with Liv and my father under the same roof. He's not here right now but once he comes home, I know it's only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose.

"Tonight?" Liv looks down at her half full suitcase. "I haven't even gotten done unpacking this."

"If you don't want to go..."

"Are you crazy?" She looks up at me, smiling at beautiful smile of hers. "Of course I want to go!" With that said, she comes over and hugs me tightly.

I hug her back and kiss her cheek. I missed her so much and I am beyond happy she's finally here but...I would be lying if I said my mind wasn't elsewhere. And she is definitely picking up on it. Olivia is a smart girl. I can't blame her.

"Fitz," Liv looks up at me seriously. "I don't want to get to Italy if you have something up your ass. Tell me what's wrong. Right. Now."

I look away from her.

"Did you cheat on me?" Olivia asks point blank, very calmly, making me gape at her.

"What?" I step back. "No...of course not!"

Now it's her turn to look away. "Do you think I cheated?"

"No," I shake my head, then pause regretfully. "Did you?"

"No," she folds her arms. "And I'm upset that you would even ask that."

I shake my head again. "Same goes for you." I pause before realizing that this is not how I want to spend my summer. I love being with Livvy, but I do not like fighting with her. "Let's not do this, Liv. I don't want to argue."

"Me either," Liv keeps her arms folded. "But I do want to know what you're upset about. Because I know you, Fitz. Over the past year, I have gotten to know you very well. And I know when something is bothering you."

Again, I debate telling her and I decide against it. But I cannot get the imagine of the video link out of my head. What the hell was in it? What if I just asked her? But I know that is a bad idea.

"Nothing is wrong," I lie to her, not feeling very good about it. I try to smile. "Let's buy those tickets."

Olivia's POV

"Livvy?" I wake up to my nickname in Fitz's voice and his lips on my cheek. "Wake up..."

"What time is it?" I flutter my eyes open. I'm pretty tired, only because the slight jet lag did manage to screw up my sleeping schedule. Somehow I thought taking a nap in the middle of the day was a good idea. It clearly wasn't, since Fitz did manage to book tickets to Sicily for tonight. Don't even ask me how he did, he just did.

"Flight is in three hours," Fitz rubs my arm. "But if you want to head to the airport a few minutes early...?"

I run my fingers through Fitz's waves of thick hair, which are slightly damp from the shower we took together right before I fell asleep. "Are we really going to Italy?"

"Yes," Fitz leans forward and places a kiss on my mouth before grinning. "As far away from my father as we can hope for."

"Well, technically that would be like Asia. Or Japan. Or Australia."

"There is always next summer."

I laugh and prop myself up on my elbows. "Are you done packing?"

"Pretty much," Fitz looks around his messy room. "Put on your clothes and head downstairs. You should probably get something to eat. I gotta finish some of this stuff and then I'll meet you, okay?"

"Okay."

I cross my arms, drawing my cardigan closer to my body as I enter the kitchen. Something doesn't feel right in here and I can't exactly pinpoint what it is.

"Olivia?"

I literally jump when I hear someone call my name. I turn to see Fitz's father on the far side of the kitchen, out of my initial view. He approaches the island counter. "Hello."

"Hi," I lower my gaze. I regret coming into the kitchen already. "I didn't know you were home, Mr. Grant."

"I just came a few minutes ago," he opens the fridge, unbothered. "And you can call me 'Jerry' or 'Big Jerry'. Everyone says the latter."

To be honest, I don't want to call him anything. If it were up to me, I would never have to see him again. He makes me feel so uncomfortable for some inexplicable reason. And I have heard all the ways he has been cruel to Fitz, so that doesn't make me a big fan of him to begin with.

But I just nod politely. "Yes, sir."

"Again, it's 'Jerry' or 'Big Jerry'," he looks me dead in the eye. "Not 'sir' and not 'Mr. Grant'."

"Sorry, sir," I say before I can stop myself. Suddenly I have lost my appetite and I just want to leave.

He just looks away from me. "So I take you're going somewhere?"

"Yes, we are." Fitz walks in the room, his voice even but looking more angry than I have ever seen him before. "I just saw your car outside when I was putting our bags in mine. Liv, let's go."

He wraps his arm around me protectively and we're about to leave when his father speaks up again. "Wait, hold on now." He turns to me and I face Fitz's shoulder. I don't want to be here. "Olivia, Fitz has told me so much about you. Why don't you stay for a day or two and I can get to know you? Well, better than I already do."

I have no idea what he is talking about but at this point, I don't care. I don't want to hold a conversation with this man. I don't even want to be in the same room with him.

"I don't think so," Fitz speaks up in place of me and I silently thank God for him. "We're going to go now and I don't think we'll be coming back anytime soon."

"Hold on," Jerry comes around the island, closer to the both of us. "What's the rush? We have barely scratched surface-"

"Dad!" Fitz shouts so loud that I shut my eyes. "We're done here. Drop it."

"Drop what? The video?"

The second after the last word leaves his father's mouth, Fitz takes me by wrist and pulls me outside and into the car.

"Fitz?" I pull up the low quality material blanket up to my lap and look at Fitz, whose gaze is glued to the window of the plane.

It's yet to take off and already, we're not saying anything to each other. I poke my sandwich container on the tray in front of me. I don't know what exactly happened at the house and I can't find out if Fitz is not talking to me.

"Fitz," I repeat, my hand resting on his forearm this time. "Fitz, what video? What was your father talking about?"

Fitz brings his hand up to the side of his head and leans it on the window pane.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, not exactly certain what I'm apologizing for. "I'm happy to be here with you. And I missed you for the longest time. Whatever it is, I don't want you to be mad at me."

The overhead dings. "Attention, passengers. Please turn off all electronic devices, fasten your seat belts and put up your trays as the aircraft will be taking off in just a few minutes. And again - thank you for flying with Alitalia."

I put up the tray and fold my arms on my lap. I kind of wish I had the window seat just so I could be preoccupied, even though it's dark outside. The most fun thing in the world for me is being with Fitz, even if that means just having a conversation with him. But he won't even look at me right now.

"I'm not mad at you."

I look up, but his eyes are still locked out the window, even though he has finally bothered to speak to me. "What?"

"I'm not mad at you," he repeats. His eyes finally come to meet mine and he sighs. "I'm not mad at you, I'm just mad. At him. I...hate him. He can rot in hell for all I care. I just him to die. And I don't say that lightly."

"Don't say that," I tell him softly. I know that he is angry at his father - I know all about that firsthand. I understand that. But even I wouldn't wish death upon my own father.

The plane stirs under us and slowly begins moving down the runway. Fitz lowers his gaze. "I mean it, Olivia. Why is he trying to ruin every good thing in my life?"

I reach over and hold Fitz's hand tightly. "I don't have an answer for you. All I know is that he isn't ruining us, okay? We aren't ruined. I know he may be...reluctant. But he isn't trying to sabotage our relationship."

Fitz still doesn't look at me. "Livvy..."

Just as he begins talking, the plane moves at full speed and within a few seconds, we're in the air. Our backs are pressed against the seats so forcefully that we can't really look at each other, but Fitz squeezes my hand. In a minute or so, the plane evens out and Fitz finally looks at me.

"Livvy," he repeats. "My father...found a video. Of you."

"I figured," I mumble, my stomach turning. I don't know what video Jerry found but I suppose it can't be good. "Did you watch it?"

"No," Fitz replies quickly. "Because I trust you. And I certainly don't trust him. But if there is something you need to tell me, Liv, you should. You should right now."

Suddenly, it comes to me and I feel like I need to throw up. My mouth falls open just a little. That stupid video last year taken at the club. No...no. If Fitz saw that...

"Livvy," Fitz speaks up, but I look away. "Olivia, look at me. I have seen you at your worst. Whatever it is, I'm not going to judge you. I just need to know what it is so I can stop thinking about it. So my father doesn't have anything to hold against us. I need you to tell me, baby."

"You're wrong," I shake my head, closing my eyes. "You haven't seen me at my worst. You've seen me at my most vulnerable maybe. But not my worst. And believe me, Fitz, you don't want to."

Fitz shuts up for a minute, but doesn't let go of my hand. We sit in silence for a minute until he speaks up again, quietly. "I'm scared...should I be scared?"

I shake my head again, not meaning it. I don't know how he would react and I don't want to find out. I don't mean to hide anything from him but I just don't want him to see me any differently. He knows about all the sex and mistakes but for him to actually see it on a video would be different. "I just don't want to talk about it."

"Okay," Fitz sighs, not letting go of my hand.

The lights above us fade out, since it's pretty late and most passengers are trying to get some shut eye. Purple and blue florescent lights come up instead with some digital small stars on them. I look up and get lost in them. It's really beautiful.

"Livvy," Fitz whispers after a few minutes. "Was it a sex tape?"

I have to cup my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing. "No. Although a sex tape is something I could see myself doing a year ago, that's not it."

"Oh thank God," Fitz mumbles under his breath.

I giggle. I think I should just tell Fitz after all. I trust him and I don't think he'd judge me. If he does...well I can't blame him for that. But even though I keep secrets so well, I don't like keeping them from him. He deserves the truth. "Fitz...the video was...um..." How do I even begin explaining something like this?

But when I look over at Fitz, I see that he is listening intently and trying to keep a calm look. I take a deep breath. "Last year, right before I flew to California, I was spending the night with Abby in a club. Things got out of hand...I was high and drunk, which is obviously not a very good combination... and I might have stripped in front of everybody?"

I nervously look at him, but his expression doesn't tell me anything.

"I guess," I look down at both of our hands. He is still holding mine. I hope that's a good sign. "I guess I forgot about it until now. My dad got the video too and that is why he stopped talking to me. Things haven't been the same since then."

I pause. "Basically the video ruined my life. And then I met you and I thought everything was going to be alright." I press my lips together and try not to cry. "But that's not the case anymore I guess. I made one bad choice and It's going to follow me around forever, destroying my relationships. I'm sorry you have to deal with the aftermath."

"Olivia."

I shake my head, not exactly sure what I'm saying no to. But I can't even look at him right now.

"Look at me."

I shake my head again.

Fitz brings his free hand up to the side of my face and gently but firmly pulls it up so I have to look at him. His eyes are really sad. It breaks my heart. "What did you tell me before the plane took off?"

I bite the inside of my lip. "What?"

"Before the plane took off," he whispers softly. "What did you say to me?"

I shrug pathetically. "That you should not pay attention to your dad?"

"Yes." Fitz nods seriously. "And you also said that nothing can ruin us. Why don't you believe that yourself? I don't...I don't care about some stupid video you made when you were a kid."

I shake my head again. "It was only a year ago and-"

"I'm not talking about age," Fitz cuts in firmly. "I'm talking about how much you've grown since then. You're not a kid anymore. You are mature and you take responsibility for your own actions. If we were all judged for our mistakes so intensely...Olivia, no one would ever be able to love as much as we do. And I do. I love you."

Fitz pauses. "I won't ever stop loving you."

I finally meet his eyes. "You're not upset?"

"I didn't say that," Fitz interjects softly. "I am upset. I am upset at my father and I am upset this video is floating around. I'm also upset that you put yourself in a position to get hurt or exposed. But I'm not mad at you. And I'm not going to get stuck on this. I'm happy you told me. And I'm so happy you trust me."

I take a deep breath. "I really do, Fitz."

"Thank you for that," Fitz leans forward and kisses my forehead gently.

"Fitz?"

"Mm?" Fitz draws his lips down to my lips, my cheek and to the base of my neck.

"I don't say this enough, but," I pull away slightly so can he focus on what I'm saying. "I'm really happy I found you. I don't what I would do without you. I'm sorry I don't say that enough, but I mean it."

Fitz smiles softly. "You don't have to say it. I know because I feel exactly the same way."