"Good morning mr. President."

"Good morning Livie. You didn't come back last night?"

"I was stuck in surgery all night, a four-year old found his dad's gun and shot his 15 month old sister in the head."

"Ouch."

"Yep, how did you sleep?"

"In the past two weeks, I've gotten the best sleep I've had in years, my dreams are even better than the actual sleep though."

Olivia laughed.

"Where is the motley crew?"

Fitz burst out laughing.

"It's that bad huh?"

"Yep."

"I gotta say, I love how honest you are, it's refreshing, people aren't usually honest with me."

"Well that's means that you don't have the right people around you."

"Why do you hate my motley crew so much?" he asked curiously.

"You want the truth?"

"Definitely."

"Okay, don't say it didn't warn you. I mean, I can understand why they fawn over you, you are their golden boy, the good-looking, charismatic, charming and smart candidate that won for them. That being said, they fawn over you for all the wrong reasons."

"Oh really? How do you figure that?"

"I study people's brains and human behavior, I know."

"Okay so what do you know?" he asked playfully.

"I know Cyrus follows you because you are his key to power. He can never actually win any sort of position in government on his own accord so he uses you. He has affection for you but the second you can't give him power or whatever it is that he can get from you, he'll run, maybe that will change but right now, that's what I sense. Your wife doesn't love you either, not even a little bit. You're her golden ticket, you are the husband she can show off, you give her status, recognition and wealth, the life she's always dreamed of. For that reason, she will never leave you or let you leave her for that matter, not unless something better comes along. She is envious of you, the fact that you are the star of the show, pretty soon she's gonna reveal that she wants to run for political office or something like that, she'll ask you to back her and you will because you feel guilty about not loving her. Your father controls you and you let him, he treats you like a project more than an actual human being. I can tell that it wasn't your idea to run for president, not that you aren't good at being president, you are but you hate it, you've been dreading going back to the white house since you woke up but your father is out there doing everything in his power to make sure that you do regardless of whether or not you've properly healed. His love for you isn't unconditional, the way a father's love should be. The moment you are no longer his perfect political son, he'll disown you. You are everything that he wanted to be, he won't just let you ruin that. When I came out of surgery and I spoke with them about your condition, all they cared about was whether or not you still had your looks and when you could start working again. If you didn't come out of this shooting perfectly functional they way you are now, they would've all left you without a second thought."

Fitz was quiet, he couldn't possibly reply to that.

"You're gonna get angry with me and lash out at me, tell me to mind my business or that I've pass my place, so before that happens I'm just gonna go. I'll have Dr. Finch finish running the tests."

Olivia turned to walk away.

"You're wrong."

His words stopped her before she reached the door.

"I'm not gonna lash out at you."

She turned around and smiled.

"I enjoy being wrong from time to time, especially moments like this."

"I know the kind of people they are, I know they'll drop me the minute I become dead weight but they're all I have."

"Like I said, you don't have the right people around you."

She walked over and sat at her usual spot beside his bed.

"Are you ready to start walking even though the nurses tell me you've paced in your room all night."

Fitz chuckled.

"Nothing gets past you, does it?"

He stood up from his bed.

"Deep breath, walk and touch that wall over there and then let me check your heartbeat."

Fitz walked to the wall, touched it and then walked back to Olivia. She pulled out her stethoscope and checked his heart rate.

"It's still a little quick, do that again and let me check once more."

He did as he was told and then came back to Olivia. She checked his heartbeat.

"Okay rest for a couple of minutes," she instructed.

"So what about the people around you?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, who's around you?"

"Well, I have my best friend Abby, she lives with me in New York, she's finishing her residency. Stephen works here, he's my oldest friend and my other friend Harrison, lives in New York, he's a nurse, he assists me during surgeries. Huck, my longest friend, does his own thing and I don't see him that often but we're close."

"Any siblings? Aunt? Uncles? Cousins?"

"No."

"What about your father?"

"We don't speak."

"Why not?"

"Because he's worse than your father."

Fitz chuckled.

"That's a great non specific answer."

"Okay rest time is over, I need you to remove your gown, I need to check your cavity."

Olivia put her gloves on and held two fingers in the air.

"Whoa, at least take me out to dinner first."

She looked at her hand and then back at him and erupted in laughter.

"Wait, you thought I was gonna ask you to-"

"Well, you seem like the kinky type," he chuckled.

"No, not that kind of cavity, I meant your chest cavity, and you only have to take the top half of your gown off."

Fitz pulled the string at the back of his gown revealing his torso and nothing else.

Olivia tried not to stare and Fitz could tell.

"Oh Please Livie, one quick peek won't kill you," he teased.

She slowly turned her head and face him. She tapped his chest with two fingers at four different points. While she did this Fitz stared directly at her, intent on making it as awkward for her as possible. Before she could move her hand, Fitz held it right over his heartbeat. She could feel the goosebumps under her lab coat.

"Do you feel that Livie? I'm alive because of you."

She stood with her hand planted on chest, her eyes locked on his. She had never felt anything like that before, the warm feeling that washed over her was indescribable. It took a while before she snapped herself out of the trance he had her in.

"Lay flat on the bed please. How does your chest feel?"

"Honestly, it doesn't feel bad."

Fitz did as he was told. She used the stethoscope to check his chest and then flipped him so she could check his back.

"Is it immature of me that everytime you say cavity, I think anal cavity " Fitz joked.

They both started laughing, relieving the thick sexual tension that had trapped them both minutes before.

"You're a little trouble maker aren't you?"

"Only when someone is worth the trouble," he chuckled.

"Well, your chest is clear, no fluids in there. You can put your gown back on and this time I'll turn my back."

Fitz rolled his eyes and pulled his gown back up.

"What's next doctor Pope?"

"Breath in then hold your breath while I count to ten then exhale, we will do a few sets of this."

When they finished the exercise Fitz laid back on the bed.

"How do you feel?" She asked.

"Good, I'm a little tired but I feel better everyday but this is the best I've felt since the shooting."

"You are very strong, not many people recover so quickly from an assault of that magnitude. You've shown steady process, with that being said, I'm going to discharge you today."

"Really? And here I was enjoying my vacation at James Madison hospital."

Olivia chuckled.

"I can't keep you here forever you know."

Fitz sighed.

"You could, if you wanted to."

"I'm a doctor first, I can't keep you here when there is no reason to, no matter how much I may want to."

"So where are you going after you get out of here?"

"Back to New York."

"When do you leave for Doctors Without Borders?"

"7 weeks and three days, why?"

"Because I'd like to hire you as my personal physician, I've suffered a terrible ordeal and I'd hate for my condition to go awry when I get out of here."

"You are healthy and your wounds are healing nicely, you don't need me anymore."

"I'm always going to need you."

Olivia pondered.

"I have a life in New York that I've been away from for three weeks."

Fitz threw his head back and grabbed his wound on his forehead.

"It hurts Livie," he cried out.

She grabbed his face and looked into his eyes.

"You're faking it."

"No I'm not, it's throbbing and it hurts."

"Okay lay flat on the bed, let me get some ice for your head."

Olivia was about to run out of the room.

"Wait-"

He called.

She stopped and turned around, his voice was normal now.

"Does this mean you're gonna stay in D.C. with me?" she could see the smirk tugging at his lips.

"You were totally faking it weren't you?" she asked incredulously.

"Worst performance of my career and you never doubted it for a second," He teased.

She walked over and slapped him lightly on the arm.

"Oh now you think you are some great actor huh?"

He chuckled.

"Fooled you, didn't I?"

She rolled her eyes.

"So does this mean you are going to stay?"

"No."

"Okay let's make a deal."

She sat in the chair, eager to hear what it is that he had to say.

"You stay in D.C until you leave for Doctors Without Borders, you can travel back and forth if you have any surgeries you need to perform-"

"That doesn't-"

Fitz cut her off.

"Wait let me finish, or I can stay here and fake this headache for two months and you'll be stuck here with me because according to the contract you signed with Cyrus, you have to. Either way, there is really no escaping me," he finished with a devious smile.

"I can't tell if you're serious?"

"I'm very serious."

"You can't be?"

"I am."

"You're crazy."

"For you, you're a great doctor," he teased

"I can't just leave my life in New York and move to another state just because you asked me to?"

"You know what I think? I think you want to do it?"

She tilted her head to the side and stared at him.

"Come on, it'll be fun."

She sighed

"I'm gonna regret this but fine, I'll stay and be your 'doctor'. This is so illogical, it's ridiculous."

She said as he smiled widely.

"Hey, not everything makes sense all the time."

After Olivia discharged Fitz that afternoon, she took the first plane back to New York to pack. She had never done anything so crazy before but it was fun, it was fun to be around him and for now she was just going to do what was fun, questionable, unethical but fun. She also knew that if she really didn't want to stay, he wouldn't have forced her. Her entire life she'd been walking to the beat of her father's drum but now that they were no longer speaking, she relished in her new found freedom. She had no idea what would come of her staying in D.C but she knew that if nothing else, it would be fun and she needed some fun in her life.

The plane ride was quick, she hoped in a cab from JFK airport and headed to her apartment on Central park west and 96th street. She had a beautiful view of the park that she never got tired of. She wanted to surprise Abby so she didn't call to let her know she would be coming home. She greeted her doorman and headed up on the elevator up to the 14th floor. She walked up to her door and opened it with her keys. As soon as she stepped into the foyer, the first thing she saw was Abby on her knees blowing some random guy.

"Abby," she screamed as she dropped her suitcases.

Abby gasped and jumped up.

"Liv, what are you doing here?"

"I live here."

"I know but what are you doing home so quick and why didn't you call."

"Uhm I wanted to surprise you but it turns out you surprised me."

She's seen Abby naked a million times, she didn't care about that part, she cared that the guy stood naked in her apartment.

"This is Paul," Abby said.

"Hi Paul," Olivia said as she tried to stifle the grin that tried to fight its way onto her lips.

"Uhm hi," he began scratching the back of his head.

"I'm gonna leave you guys to it."

She grabbed her bag and headed to her room.

"Great technique Abby, you are very thorough and Paul if you get jizz on my couch, I'm really gonna be pissed," Olivia teased and she disappeared into her room.

She closed the door behind her and dropped her things. Almost immediately, she heard Abby moaning wildy from the living room, she was definitely getting fucked. She put her headphones on and tried not to think about what was going on in the living room.

She laid in bed, waiting for time to past when her phone rang. She knew exactly who it was.

"Hello?"

"You know Livie, I remember asking you to call me when you landed."

She smiled widely.

"Maybe I just wanted to see if you'd call to check up on me."

She pulled out her headphones and put the phone to her ear.

"FUCK ME HARDER!" Abby screamed from the living room.

"What was that? Are you watching porn Olivia Pope," Fitz couldn't hide the amusement in his voice.

"No my best friend is fucking some guy in my living room," she said it so nonchalantly that it made Fitz laugh.

"Why is it so loud?"

"Well Abby's a talker and the walls are thin, so I'm all the way down the hall and I still hear everything."

"You make it seem like no big deal."

"It's just sex, I actually walked in on her, mid blow job."

"Really? What did you do?"

"I congratulated her in her technique and I made things awkward for them, on purpose of course but it didn't really work so I went in my merry way."

"Sounds like your afternoon was a lot more eventful than mine," he chuckled.

"What happen when you got back to the white house? Are you resting like I instructed you to? You should be in bed."

"Well no, I headed straight to the oval and broke up a meeting the Vice President called so that she could get the cabinet members to appoint her president, after that I made a speech."

"No. That's not gonna cut it. Where are you now?"

"I'm in bed now, I knew you'd have a fit if I wasn't."

"Good."

"What did you say in your speech?"

"SHIT PAUL I'M COMING," Abby screamed.

Fitz erupted in laughter but then he felt a pang in his chest so he tried to calm down.

"It's gonna be over in a sec," Olivia said flatly.

"What's really killing me is that it seems like no big deal to you."

"AAAAHHHHHHHHH," they moaned in unison.

"Let me guess, they came," Fitz said through the phone.

"Yep, Abby's gonna kick him out in about 2.5 seconds, she's notorious for hitting it and quitting it, I just hope that guy didn't cum all over my couch or my carpet for that matter, because that'll really leave a stain."

Fitz laughed loudly.

"For your sake, I hope so too."

"When are you coming back down here or did you trick me?" he asked.

"Would you be angry if I did trick you?"

"I'd be sad if you did, but I'd get over it because I would hop on air force 1 straight to New York. I'd wear a t-shirt with your face on it so everyone could see it then I'd show up at your door."

"Nice but unnecessary because I will be there for your check up in a couple days sir," she teased.

"Okay, I can't wait to see you."

"Me too."

Olivia could feel their relationship morphing into something different every time she found herself next to him or in conversation with him.

There was a knock on Olivia's door.

"One sec," she said to Fitz.

"Come in Abby."

Abby opened the door.

"Give me one second Abby."

"I'll call you back later okay."

"Okay."

She hung up.

"That orgasm tells me that Paul might be invited here for a second round."

"He's been here all week, I'm having African for dinner every night."

Olivia laughed.

"Where in Africa is he from?"

"I don't ask questions Liv, you know the rules. I only know what he tells me."

Olivia chuckled.

"I sure do."

Abby sat on her bed.

"So what's up? I take it the president is better since you are back here."

"We'll sort of, he wants me to stay in D.C. for a little while just to monitor him."

"You said no right?"

"No, actually I'm going to go back to D.C in a couple days."

"Why?"

"Just as a precaution."

"Alright," Abby said skeptically.

"When do you leave?"

"Monday."

"Okay, well then we have the weekend to have fun."

"Actually we don't, I called Harrison and told him that I was free this weekend and he scheduled me for a couple procedures so I'll be busy."

"You totally completely suck Liv."

"But you love me anyways."

"Sometimes," Abby chuckled.

Olivia rolled her eyes and then she felt a pang in the back of her head. The familiar pain that she dreaded. She immediately shut her eyes tightly and covered her ears. Abby knew the signs and as soon as she saw that, she turned off the lights and closed the draped to block out all light and sound from the room.

Olivia suddenly felt enveloped by dizziness, everything became foggy. She curled up into a ball on her bed and tried to ride through the pain like Fitz said. She didn't make a sound because use knew that even the sound of her own voice would send an unforgiving stab of pain through her ears. Abby knew that whenever she had her episode, she wanted to be left alone.

Olivia rocked back and forth in her balled up position on the bed and waited for her body to pass through the phases of throwing up and then probably passing out. Abby was on standby with the small pan Olivia kept in her room for whenever she couldn't make it to the bathroom to throw up, she tried to hand her, her earplugs but Olivia wouldn't move her hands from her ears. Once the pain hit her all hopes of walking or talking had to be abandoned because she physically couldn't do it anymore. Abby waited and when she heard gagging she ran over with the pan so Olivia could throw up in it. The gargles that filled the room brought on another set of pain for Olivia, all she could feel was the crippling pain vibrating through her head and the the ringing in her ears was deafening, a few minutes later she passed out cold.

She woke up the next morning, still feeling a little dizzy. She walked slowly to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, her eyes were red and her face was puffy, the way it usually was after one of her headaches. Usually she would spend a couple minutes feeling sorry for herself but not today, just like Fitz said, she was going to go on with her life. She washed her face, brushed her teeth and showered and then headed to the living room to find Abby. Abby was in the kitchen cooking up a storm.

"What are you cooking?" She asked.

"Bacon and hot cakes."

"It's actually called pancakes but whatever."

Abby rolled her eyes, every time she said the word hot cakes, Olivia felt the need to correct her.

"Uhm can I have some?"

"Of course you can, its for you."

Olivia was a little skeptical.

"The only time you cook me breakfast is when you want something, what do you want?"

"I wanted you to pay for my plane ticket so I could come with you to D.C. for a couple days to visit Dr. hottie."

"Okay but you need to throw some eggs on that plate too."

"Of course you want more food, greedy."

When Abby finished the plate, she brought it over to Olivia who was sitting on the high stool at the kitchen island. Olivia ate her food all the while quietly smiling to herself.

"What's going on over there smiley?"

Olivia snapped her head up.

"Nothing."

Abby stood up from her chair and walked over to Olivia and stared in her face.

"You met a guy didn't you."

"No."

"You did, why would you be smiling to yourself like that."

"Maybe I'm just happy."

"Happy you met a guy, yeah."

Abby's face lit up.

"Tell me."

"No," Olivia insisted.

"Tell me."

"Nope. My lips are sealed," Olivia got up from her stool and ran. Abby was like a dog looking for a bone when she set her mind towards something.

"Fold Olivia, you always do."

Abby chased her and managed to catch her before she locked herself in her room.

"No."

"FOLD, FOLD, FOLD, FOLD, FOLD, YOU COWARD."
"Fine, I meet someone - sort of."

"Ah ha. Tell me all about him."

"Eww get off me."

Abby stood up and pulled her up.

"What's his name?"

Olivia froze like she had gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

"Keith."

'Damn it, so many other names I could have said,' Olivia thought.

"Eww Keith," Abby teased.

"That's it, conversation over."

"No, so tell me, did you blow him yet."

"Not yet."

'Shit, I'm never gonna blow him, he's married.' Olivia thought.

"But you have had sex with him right?"

"No I haven't, he's just a friend."

"Really, a friend has you smiling like that?" Abby asked skeptically.

"I wasn't smiling."

Abby ignored her.

"So, how old is he?"

"Mid forties."

"Silver foxes are so hot."

Olivia chuckled like a giddy schoolgirl.

"There it is, that smile. I've never seen you smile like that about any guy."

"He's funny, I don't know what you want me to say."

"What else?"

"I feel like I've known him for my entire life and I can tell him anything."

"You are totally whipped, is he hot?"

"He is so fucking hot, I can't stand it."

Abby laughed.

"See what did I tell you, you are totally whipped."

"No, I'm not, he's just my friend."

"You're friend whose face you wanna ride?"

"Maybe," Olivia admitted.

"Well that sounds like the start to a beautiful relationship., Abby teased.

Then it clicked to Abby.

"So that's the only reason you said yes to the president Grant thing, because you like some guy back in D.C.."

"No."

"You are moving all the way to D.C. for some guy?"

"Of course not."

"You totally are, I'm not judging, you have to do crazy stuff at some point in your life."

"I'll be back in 7 weeks Abby, it's not like I'm moving there permanently and since you have so much to say, let's see who will pay for your ticket to go see Stephen," Olivia teased.

"Dick move Olivia but I guess you are just trying to get rid of me because you want to there with your boo…"

"Fine, I'll buy the ticket but at least wait for me to get settled in before you come and wreak havoc on my life down there too okay."

Over the weekend Olivia made a reservation for a two month stay at an apartment hotel, essentially an apartment that didn't force leasing down everyone's throat, the apartment came fully furnished for living and you could stay for a day or a year, it was your choice to make. It was a gorgeous glass high rise near the D.C. waterfront, the area was residential and secluded. She had agreed to work at James Madison whenever she was available just to pass the time by. She'd been screening Fitz's calls just so he could be a little pissed off when she visited him at the white house, she thought it would make for an interesting conversation.

When she arrived back in D.C. mid Monday afternoon, the first thing she did was drop off her stuff at her temporary apartment, then she headed out to find a few things to make it more homely.

For one, she loved having canopies over her bed, she wanted to get a few throw blankets and small pail to throw up in whenever she needed to. She got a huge bohemian tapestry for her wall and a dream catcher. She bought a small sheepskin rug, a yoga mat and two mongolian fur pillows in white. She had all the things scheduled to be delivered to her apartment.

Everything in her work life had to be so clean and precise and perfect. Home was the only place she could relax, it was her haven so she always made sure it was nothing if not comfortable and lax.

She spent hours in the home store even though she didn't buy that many things. Once she was finished she grabbed lunch and then headed back to her apartment. She ate her double bacon cheeseburger and cheese fries and dozed off on the couch. She didn't wake until she heard the delivery man knocking her door at 6 in the night. She got up and ran to open the door. She signed for her bags and dropped them all at the door then went back over to the couch and plopped down and fell asleep again.

She woke up at 9pm and decided to begin decorating. It was a spacious studio apartment so everything was in plain sight. First, she tried to hang the tapestry on the wall over her bed, when she was finished, she switch the generic cushions they had for the new ones she bought. She laid out her rug and hung her dream catcher. It took her some time to hang her canopy and wrap her fairy lights around it. She was done by 11. She barely sat on the couch when she heard another knock on her door.

"Jesus christ it's freaking 11 in the night, who the hell-"

She stormed over to the door then checked the see who it was. A part of her was sort of hoping it was him and she was right. She opened the door, she immediately knew he was annoyed.

"Thanks for not returning my calls Livie, some friend you are."

She smiled widely.

"Wow, this is really happening," she teased, "how did you find me?"

"Please Olivia, I have the nuclear codes, all I had to do was search your name through the credit card database, track your purchases and then follow you here. Not hard at all."

Fitz was about to step in.

"Woah woah woah, take your shoes off, this is an Asian household, we don't do shoes in here."

He eyed her as he took his shoes off. When he was done he took a minute to look around her apartment.

"Oh my god, you're a hippie," he said incredulously.

"I'm not a hippie."

"You have a dream catcher over your bed, you're a hippie. I bet you eat hummus."

"Sometimes," she teased.

"I might be a hippie, but only when I'm at home."

"And the no shoes thing doesn't help either."

"Just be glad I let you in, how are you even here right now? Isn't this a national security hazard?"

"So dramatic."

He sighed.

"I did break a few rules to get here, but it's a small price to pay to come see you after you've been ignoring my calls all weekend."

"There it is. I was wondering when you were going to start on me."

He chuckled.

"So you did it on purpose?"

"And the look that's on your face right now tells me it was totally worth it," she teased.

"Well I just got shot and I'm fragile aren't you gonna offer me a seat?"

"Welcome to my home Mr. president, please have a seat," she said a faux southern accent.

Fitz rolled his eyes at her sarcasm and took a seat on her couch.

She took a seat beside him, not too close but not too far.

He finally got to take in her appearance, she wasn't showing him much, she had on a huge knit sweater and leggings.

"You look so different when you aren't in a lab coat and scrubs."

"You look so different, when you are dressed in an Armani suit and not in a hospital gown."

"How do you know this is Armani?"

"I saw it online a few months ago."

"Oh yea, the memory," there were so many fascinating things about her sometimes he had to remind himself.

"That reminds me, how have the headaches been? Have you gotten any since you told me about them?"

"2."

"When?"

"Well Friday at 7:52pm after we spoke when I had just gotten to my apartment and the second one was Saturday at 5:27pm just before I performed a surgery."

"You are very specific with the times?"

"Sorry, it's a habit."

"No, I think that's cool but how did you manage to do surgery after the headache?"

"Well we had to push the surgery half an hour back but remember that this is something I've been dealing with my entire life, I'm sort of used to having to pull myself together afterwards. If I was home I would probably passed out not woken up till morning but I had a job to do so I pulled myself together and did it."

"Do you always pass out?"

"Look at it this way, not every headache is a painful as others. There is a certain pain threshold the body can stand before the brain goes into emergency mode and shuts down the body to give you relief, whenever I pass the threshold, I pass out, if I don't pass the threshold, I won't pass out. It all really depends, I always get dizzy but I'll only throw up if I've had something to eat recently, it's all very relative."

"How do you feel right now?"

"Absolutely, perfectly fine," she chuckled.

"It's actually funny, whenever I'm around you, no headache. Before you woke up headaches one behind the other, once you were up nothing then as soon as I left for New York I had two. Wouldn't it be funny if you were my cure all along?"

"Then you could never get rid of me."

"I might have to because you are an entirely different headache all on your own."

"Shut up."

She got up and picked up the burger bag that was on the coffee table in front of the couch and threw them in the bin.

"What did you have a for lunch?"

"A double bacon cheeseburger and cheese fries."

"I like a woman who can eat."

"It's all about balance, I had salads three days in a row, I thought I'd treat myself."

A question had been weighing on her mind for days and she thought maybe it was finally time to ask him. She walked in front of him and stopped.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"I want you to be honest with me?"

She paused.

"What's the real reason you asked me to come here, I know it's not because you wanted me as a medical adviser."

"What if the truth scares you?"

"You can tell me."

"I asked you to stay here because I don't wanna be away from you, not even a little bit."

She blushed.

"Well...the only reason I took you up on your offer was because I didn't want to be away from you either."

She plopped herself on the couch.

"I suppose for now this will suffice."

"For now," Fitz added.

He had serious plans for her but he didn't want to make her privy to them just yet.