AN: So sorry for the incredibly late update. Hopefully a few of you are still out there, lol. If you are, thank you and I love you guys so much. I know some writers are okay with updating inconsistently but I never will be. So I am genuinely, truly very sorry. That said, I can't promise that it won't happen again. But I will try harder.

I would also like to give a huge thanks to guest reviewer Sandra. Any fanfic writer knows how amazing it is to get any review, but one for almost all the chapters (if not all) in the story? When I saw that last night, I was completely motivated, even though this chapter is very short. So thank you for your kind words. :)

Just a few more weeks until Scandal comes back...how cool is that? :)

'The best thing to hold on to in life is each other.'

July 16th, 2016

7:49 PM

Rome, Italy

Olivia's POV

I look behind my shoulder and smile at Fitz. "Zip my dress?"

Fitz grins right back and comes up behind me. He presses his lips on my bare shoulder before moving his hands down to the middle of my back, where my lace dress zipper starts. "You look..." He sighs.

"Beautiful?" I offer with a smirk. "Amazing? Breathtaking?"

"All of the above," Fitz replies softly. "But I was going to go with incredible."

I smile a bit, looking at our reflection in the hotel bathroom mirror. We do look pretty incredible. I don't think there is a doubt about that. "Fitz?"

"Mhm?"

I place my hand on top of his. "Do you think that one day, a long time from now...we can come back here?" I pause. "Not to Rome, even though it's gorgeous here. I meant Italy itself. Sicily. We can grow old in that house...surrounded by grandkids. I can see that. Can you?"

"I can," Fitz squeezes my waist. His mouth forms into a slight grin. "Grandkids. You said grandkids."

I lower my eyes. I didn't mean to say that. But then again, if it did leave my mouth, didn't a part of me really want to? "I guess."

"Livvy," Fitz begins slowly. "I know it's only been two weeks. But are you rethinking the whole 'kids' front?"

How am I supposed to answer that? I want to give Fitz a family, of course I do. And obviously I know how adorable our children would be. But I would be a horrible mother. And do I want to drag kids in a world with a shitty mom? They would have a great dad, the best dad...

But would that be enough?

Was a good dad enough for me?

No. I fucked up anyway and I don't want any kids of mine to suffer the same way I did. So yes, of course I want babies. But that is selfish. And I am trying to do right by people nowadays. That, and it is really too early for that kind of thinking.

Don't get me wrong, though. I want to get married. Scratch that - I want to get married to Fitz and him only. I want that so much. Hell, if he dropped down on one knee right now, I think I would say yes. There is no doubt about us getting married in the future...'future' being the operative word. We're both so busy right now and I know the time isn't right. But like I said, one day it will happen,

Kids just won't.

"I don't know," I reply honestly. "I really don't know. I'm happy where I am, but Fitz..." I sigh. "We're really problematic as is. I mean...if I am being candid, this whole distance thing still has me fucked up."

Fitz looks at my reflection directly through the mirror. "Really?"

"Yes," I admit. "I can't stand the thought of not being near you."

Fitz leans down slightly and rests his chin on my shoulder. "Well, hopefully you won't have to for a while."

I know that has some truth to it...I mean, I get to spend the whole summer with him, which of course makes me ecstatic. But I wonder if it will ever be enough.

I follow Fitz into the dim but beautiful hotel restaurant, holding his hand. Once escorted to the table, he lets go of my hand to pull out my chair.

Before I can sit down, someone accident backs up into me and makes me stumble a bit.

Fitz's arm goes around me protectively but before he can something, the man turns around, looking really apologetic. We're surprised when we hear an American accent. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry."

The young, pretty woman next to him looks at us too. "Forgive my husband. He's so clumsy. This happens at practically every place we go to."

"It's fine," I smile. "Are you two tourists?"

"Yes," the woman holds out her hand, smiling as well. "I'm Sarah and this is John. We're from Chicago."

I shake her hand. "I'm Olivia and this is Fitz."

Sarah shakes her head. "You two are the cutest couple, aren't they John?" Her husband nods in agreement, although he still looks embarrassed from practically cutting off my foot. "How long have you been married?"

I look at Fitz, who is just grinning. I open my mouth to correct her, but something else comes out instead. "Just a week. We're on our honeymoon."

I look back up at Fitz. His mouth is open slightly and his eyebrows are raised. I can tell he's wondering why I'm going along with this and the answer is, I don't know. But it's fun for some inexplicable reason.

"How sweet," Sarah beams. "Young love."

She's pretty young herself but I don't say anything. I just look up to Fitz, who is silently laughing to himself.

"I'm sorry," I hear a voice say and we look up. A waiter just came by. "Did you say you're on your honeymoon?"

I pause but Fitz speaks up confidently, reaching for my hand across the table. "Yes." He grins. "We're backpacking across Europe. We were just in...damn it's hard to keep track of. How many places have we been so far, sweetheart?"

I pretend to think about it. I'm good at making stuff up - that's how I got away with crap when I was a teenager. Technically I still am, but you know what I mean. "So far, Paris, London, Greece and Spain. But we still have Ireland and Germany on our list. Yeah, I think that about covers it."

The waiter smiles. "How about a complimentary bottle of wine for the newlyweds?"

Fitz and I try to agree on a bottle without bursting out laughing. When the waiter is gone to get it, Fitz looks at me, allowing himself to chuckle. "Germany, really?"

"I panicked," I laugh back to him. I let my eyes lower to my hand, which is still enveloped in his. I raise them back up and smile at him. "Outside?"

I nod towards the open balcony that a lot of people are on, looking on at the city streets while waiting for their food. The waiter comes back with our wine and pours it for us. Fitz takes both our glasses and leads me out the balcony.

He hands it to me. This past month we've been drinking. Not a lot, but enough. I think that we drink to forget our lives back in the United States. I think that alcohol just makes us believe that our life here in Italy is reality. And that is fine with us.

What I am trying to say is that Fitz lets me drink now. He doesn't worry about me, not in that way. He trusts me. And I am so happy about that. I don't need to drink when I am with him - he's enough for me.

Once we're out there, we fill a spot overlooking outside. It's a beautiful sunset - probably the most beautiful I have ever seen. It's crowded but - and I know this is lame but it's also ridiculously true - I only see him.

I love him. I don't think I could ever stop loving him. And I don't want to have to try.

Fitz's POV

"So," I rest my elbow on the banister and look at Livvy. "What was that all about...wifey?"

Livvy laughs, making me smile. "I'm sorry...in all fairness, you went along with it."

I raise my glass to my lips and take a sip. "Because I love free alcohol...also, I like to believe that we'll be married someday."

"Will we be?"

"Yes," I tell her firmly, only because I mean it. For a minute, I let my guard down and just try to tell her what I mean. Try to be completely honest. "I think...you're the love of my life, Livvy."

Liv lowers her gaze into her glass. "You mean that?"

"I do," I keep my eyes on hers and offer a small smile. She returns it slightly, setting her glass down on the banister. She comes close to me and wraps her arms around my neck tightly. I lock my arms around her waist and hold her like it's the last thing I'll ever do. We just stay like that, neither of us willing to let go.

"Livvy," I keep her in my arms, not letting the moment be ruined. "Do you want me to come back to Stanford?"

She doesn't reply.

I hold her tighter against me. "If you want it, it's done. Just say the word. I'm there."

Liv finally replies about a minute later, still hugging me. "I don't want you to come back to Stanford. You're not happy there. Don't deny it. But I do want us to be closer. Not just have stolen moments, you know?" I feel her sigh against me. "I want more weekend visits. We only live a few hours away from each other. You're busy and I am busy but-"

"We can make it work."

I have come to terms with a lot of things this past month. I want kids and I am not going to stop wanting them. I will however be patient and let Liv grow. Sometimes I forget she is as young as she is. I forget that she has made mistakes, because she is perfect in my eyes.

My point is that we will talk about having kids later. We will table that.

Secondly, marriage. I have every intention of marrying Liv. I know it's early but she is my best friend, the love of my life and everything in between. I could drop down on one knee right now. But I am going to give it time...give us time. We both have so much going on in our lives.

That said, I love this little escape. I love being here with here. This past month has been undoubtedly the best of my entire life. And it's not because we're in Italy. It's because we're together.

And it's gonna stay that way for a long time.