Chapter 13: A Night on the Town

June 22nd, 1978

Olivia walked out of her office at the National Collection of Fine Arts. She started her internship in DC about a month ago and was back living at home with her mother and Cyrus. Mellie and Marcus would occasionally come by to visit and have dinner with them, and sometimes even James would stop by to say hello. No one asked her about Fitz, and she didn't bring him up, though she knew they were all probably curious on what he was doing, and what happened between them. They knew that he also had an internship in DC, and found it odd that he hadn't come by to visit.

She hadn't spoken to him since that night at the club. They were both mad and said some pretty harsh words. He avoided her in class, which during final exam period was pretty easy. He no longer came by when Stephen would visit, and so Olivia wouldn't tag along with Abby whenever she left to go to the boys' apartment.

Instead Olivia remained headstrong on focusing on her internship, using it as a way to avoid thinking about the friendship she feared she might have just lost. She was working extremely hard, and her supervisors were quick to notice her strong work ethic.

She loved her job. She was an intern for the art museum's legal team's office. She was learning so much more about what they do. She found it to be the perfect combination of using her studies in something that she was passionate about. It made her sad to think about how she could have easily passed over this smaller branch of the legal field had it not been for Fitz who told her about it back in the law library a while ago.

Honestly she found herself missing him a lot. He was her confidante, probably her closest friend, even more close than Abby as of recently. She missed being able to talk to him about school, or her family, or really just about anything. She missed his charm and personality, how he could be super shy one minute and then charismatic the next. She missed his ocean blue eyes and that funny lopsided grin he would give when he looked at her. And she missed his voice. Boy, did she miss that voice. It was so deep and rugged, but secure and protective.

"Livvie!"

It was almost like she heard it right there.

"Livvie!"

Olivia whipped around. This wasn't an auditory hallucination. She had definitely heard him. She saw him standing at a street post, waving to her as he ran across the street to get to the other side where she was.

"Hi," he said a little awkwardly as he over to her.

"Hi," she said slightly confused. "Fitz, what are you doing here?"

"You work here."

"I know, but…" Olivia trailed off still confused. He spent the last two months completely avoiding her, ignoring her calls whenever she tried, and now he was showing up at her work. "I thought you didn't really want anything to do with me."

"What?" Fitz said full of shock and hurt that she would think that. He understood why though, and couldn't blame her for thinking that. "Of course not, Livvie. You-You're my…best friend."

"I thought we were 'good friends,'" she said sarcastically, tracing back to an earlier conversation that Fitz had the vaguest memory of.

"No, you're my best friend," he said shyly, giving her a small smile with pleading eyes. "A-and I could really use my best friend tonight."

Olivia nodded at him and walked around and past him continuing down the street.

"Livvie, I-I know I must seem a real jerk after what I said to you that night," he started, reciting the speech he rehearsed several times over in the mirror. "And I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking, and I had a lot going on that I never told you about. If you could just give me the chance to explain, I will. Pl-Please, Livvie. I-I can show you my apartment, and we can talk this out."

He tried to make one last attempt to get her, "I can order pizza for us too."

Olivia turned around and faced Fitz. She was standing at a payphone that was somewhat near them.

"You already had me before the pizza," she confessed and pointed to the payphone. "But I have to call my mom to tell her I'm not coming straight home."

"Oh," Fitz let out a sigh of relief and felt himself giving off all of the tension he had from thinking she was turning him away.

ooo

"I can't believe you get pineapple on your pizza," Fitz criticized Olivia as they walked into the apartment complex carrying the box.

"You're one to talk. Sausage, bacon, and ham?" she looked at him questioningly.

"What's wrong with that?"

"At that point you're not even eating pizza. It's just meat with tomato sauce and bread underneath. Is there even room for cheese with that many toppings?"

"I'm not going to apologize for being a carnivore," he laughed, grabbing his keys and opening the door.

Olivia stepped inside, "so this is the bachelor pad?"

"Um, yep. This is it," he said.

Olivia wasn't too surprised by it. It was a lot smaller than his two bedroom in New York, and it wasn't as fancy or well decorated, which made sense since this was only a temporary arrangement for the summer. You could still tell that it cost quite a bit though, it wasn't something that any average-Joe would have been able to afford.

"I like it," she said, taking a seat on the floor of the living room with her back against the couch and her legs under the coffee table. Fitz went to the kitchen to get some plates and napkins, and then joined sitting next to her.

"So…" he started. "About what happened two months ago…I-um I'm sorry."

"You said that already," she stated.

"Right," he let out a breath. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest. He was so worried and scared to share more with her. He trusted her more than anything, if there was anyone he would talk to about this it would be her, but he couldn't stand to see judgment and petty in her eyes.

"So remember when after you painted those portraits of Stephen and I, I told you about Vietnam, and how my plane got shot down?"

"Yes," she said, a little concerned that this was being brought up. He hadn't mentioned it since that afternoon in his apartment, and she was puzzled trying to see why this was relevant.

"I didn't tell you the full truth about what happened there," he looked down at his thumbs, fidgeting them slightly to distract himself. "When I woke up in the hospital I found out that I suffered a TBI."

He saw Olivia give him a concerned look. "A concussion?" she asked.

"It was more serious than a mild concussion like I let on, but it wasn't anything really too severe. And I'm better now, for the most part."

"For the most part?" asked Olivia.

"I-um-I," Fitz took another deep breath. "When I first woke up, I was having issues with speech impairment. It's called neurogenic stuttering. And…it was pretty bad at first."

"Fitz," Olivia said, her voice full of sorrow. Guilt rushed over her entire body. She felt absolutely terrible about the things Amanda said, about the things she said. Tears pricked her eyes, threatening to spill over.

"But I'm better now," he quickly added. "Really. I went through therapy and-and everything. And it really only happens now when I'm stressed or-or nervous. I know I'm telling you this so much later than I probably should have…I guess…I just thought it was something no one really needed to know."

He avoided her eyes, ashamed of what she might think of him. He glanced off to the side staring at the patterns on the rug, when he felt her arms wrap against him in a tight hug and her face bury into his shoulder.

It all made sense to her now. His unusual shyness when he met someone new that was out of character of his old teenage self, his sensitivity, and his anger toward Amanda and herself after what happened. Her voice faltered between trying to be strong and also extreme sadness and regret.

"Fitz, I'm so sorry," she hugged him tighter until he hugged her back. "Quinn and I thought it would be a good idea to try and fix you up with Amanda. I had no idea that it would make you anxious and uncomfortable. I should have told you ahead of time, and talked to you about it instead of trying to play matchmaker. I'm so sorry. And the things I said I-"

"It's okay, Livvie," he rubbed her back. "I also said a lot of things that I shouldn't have said. And there's no excuse to not hold me accountable for my words."

"Fitz don't apologize," she insisted and got out of the hug, and wiping her eyes. "Honestly, you weren't too far off. I mean…between you and me…Amanda can be a bitch sometimes. I just don't like hearing that word, and it got to me emotionally and…"

"It's okay," Fitz insisted.

"If it helps at all, she didn't get the job."

"Oh thank god," he sighed before pausing. "Sorry that was probably mean."

"No, you're fine. She won't be visiting New York again anytime soon."

Fitz let out a light laugh, "I'm sorry though for all I said to you. I just got angry, and I'm sorry that I messed up that whole night. I just wanted us all to go out and all have fun."

"I think we deserve to have a redo," Olivia thought out loud, peaking Fitz's curiosity.

"A redo?"

"A redo. What are you doing this Saturday night?"

"Whatever you're proposing," he grinned.

"How about we redo everything and actually have a fun night going out? We can go dancing at some club in DC. It won't be New York but-"

"I'm in," Fitz replied without hesitation.

"Yes!" Olivia cheered.

The two stayed like that for a while sitting on the floor, eating their dinner and catching up with one another. For only going about two months without seeing each other they had a lot to talk about. It was getting late and Olivia knew it was time for her to leave and go home, but she also knew that Fitz was in no mood to be alone tonight of all nights. He didn't have to say anything, and she didn't have to ask, she just knew.

"Did you bring your car to DC with you?"

"Yeah, I did. Why?" Fitz asked, sitting up more.

"It's getting dark, and I was hoping you could drive me home."

"Of course," he responded and started getting up.

"Do you also want to spend the night at my house? Mom and Cyrus would probably love to see you, and you could stay for breakfast in the morning," she offered, knowing full well that Fitz was never one to turn down Maya's breakfasts.

This was one of the things that Fitz loved most about Olivia. They had such a strong understanding towards each other. He was dreading having her leave and being by himself for the night. She didn't even have to mention the date, she knew, and she knew better than to bring it up, which he respected.

"I'd really like that."

ooo

June 24th, 1978

Fitz came back to the Beene's house on Saturday night to pick Olivia up for a redo of their night out. They all knew he was going to be coming by, so they left the door unlocked, free for Fitz to just walk in when he arrived.

He opened the door and walked in. Greeted by Louie right away, it felt like it was completely normal to be going to their house at this point.

"Hello!" he called out to no response.

He walked into the living and saw Cyrus and James sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Hey Cyrus, hey James," he greeted them.

"Hello Fitz. Long time, no see," Cyrus joked, having just seen him yesterday morning for breakfast.

"Haha, yeah. It has been sometime hasn't it?" he said sarcastically. "Where's Maya?"

"She's at a wine night with some of her girl friends down the road," Cyrus replied. "but Olivia is ready, I believe. I think she's outside in the backyard."

"The backyard?" Fitz questioned, finding it a little strange.

He walked outside and went to the tree house where he saw Olivia's figure sitting along the edge. As if she couldn't get anymore beautiful, Fitz was again in awe seeing her curled hair in the moonlight. He eagerly climbed up the ladder.

"Hi!" he said, making her jump.

"Shit! You scared me," she took a breath and turned around to face him, smiling at his dopey grin that gave him such a welcoming and trusting face. "Hi."

"What are you doing up here?"

"You know I realized that even after we rebuilt this for the kids next door, I still haven't been up here yet. I haven't been up here for years," she explained getting up, "not since you left."

"Th-that's a long time," Fitz replied awkwardly. He didn't want to focus on the memory they had from that night in the very same spot, and so he tried to lighten the mood. "You're chariot awaits, lowrider. Are you ready to go?"

"Yep," Olivia got up and followed Fitz back to the platform with the ladder, watching him climb back down. She hesitated, "Ummm Fitz?"

"Yes?"

"I might need some help here," she said looking down, realizing she had not thought this through when she climbed up. "It's just that my heels are pretty tall and…"

"Oh," Fitz said, realizing the problem. "No worries, I got you. I'll catch you if you fall."

He went to the bottom of the ladder and watched Olivia intently as she slowly made her way down, having his arms ready at any moment. Olivia looked down at about halfway through and misplaced her foot, making her stumble and fall off the ladder.

"Shit!" she screamed, feeling herself only fall for a millisecond, until she felt Fitz's arms around her.

"I got you," he said in a calming voice and put her on the ground.

"My hero," she giggled and looked at him. "You weren't kidding when you said you'd catch me if I fall."

"Always."

ooo

Fitz parked his car back at his place and walked with Olivia to the club. They waited in a pretty short line together until they were finally let in. Olivia heard about the club called Live from Mellie who went there a few times with Marcus before. It was highly recommended, and the energy did not disappoint. The building was packed with DC's youngest professionals drinking and dancing.

"So booth? Bar? Dance floor?" Fitz asked her. He didn't care how they spent the night.

"I'm thinking bar for liquid courage, then dance floor."

"Wise choice," Fitz agreed and headed towards the bar.

The two friends drank, listening to the music at the club, then joined the dance floor. They danced the night away, both a little too gone to be caring the slightest on how they looked. After working up a sweat, the two decided to go back to the bar and drink some more refreshments before going on a walk to cool down.

"You knooow what I just reeaaalized," Fitz said with his words slightly slurred as they walked down the National Mall past the Reflecting Pool.

"No! Tell me!" Olivia said over excitedly with intoxication, gripping his arm.

"We left Stephen and Abby in New York with no roommates for either of them – just-just the two of them."

"They're probably having marathons eeeeveryday," Olivia laughed.

"They have definitely done it on my bed since I've been gone," Fitz laughed too.

"No they wouldn't."

"You don't know Stephen like I do. He deeefinitely did."

Olivia started laughing hysterically, stumbling slightly in her drunken state.

"Careful there," Fitz quickly grabbed her sides to stop her from falling.

They continued walking up to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial where Olivia then stopped.

"You know what? Thisss…this has been absolutely great!" she said with her arms spread open.

"It has been really fun. I'm glad we did this."

"No, no, no," Olivia shook her head. "Not just tonight, I mean this in general."

Fitz looked at her confused.

"Us, becoming friends again! Whooo would have thought?" Olivia spun around in a circle. The air had turned thick and humid. She suddenly gasped. "What if you chose a different law school? Or what if I chose a different law school?"

"I think we would have found each other again somehow," Fitz chuckled, seeing that she was more far gone than even he was.

They looked each other in the eye, time freezing between them. They were completely alone. No tourists at this hour. It was just the two of them. Olivia couldn't tell if it was the humidity or the tension in front of them that was making the air thick and hard to breathe. The silence grew. She knew she had to say something before anything happened.

"Did you know that the Lincoln Memorial has a typo in the carving of Lincoln's second inaugural address?"

"Olivia Pope," he continued watching her intently, "you continue to impress me every damn day."

Her attempt to distract was no use. He was too charming and adorable to ignore. She wanted this. She had wanted this for a long time. And he, well, she was pretty sure that he wanted this too.

Before either of them could stop themselves, Olivia and Fitz began leaning forward, tilting their head to the side and closing their eyes. It felt like slow motion, something out of a movie, and electricity struck through both of them when their lips finally touched.

He moaned into her mouth, grabbing on to her bottom lip, but she snaked her tongue through. He allowed her to take control of the kiss, letting her kiss him however she liked. For almost half of her entire life Olivia wondered what it would be like to kiss Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III, and now she had her answer. It was perfect.

Their make out session continued for an undefined amount of time. They only pulled their lips apart when a crack of thunder and a massive downpour of rain interrupted them.

They quickly went back to their senses, running hand in hand up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to take shelter under its roof at the top, laughing joyfully along the way, trying to remain as dry as possible. Despite making the run so quickly, even in heels for Olivia, they were both completely soaked. They stared on seeing intense lighting strike the sky and hearing more thunder.

"Shit, this is some storm," Fitz observed.

"What should we do?"

"It's 12:30," Fitz said, looking at his watch. "Let's just stay here for now and we'll wait it out."

"Ok," Olivia nodded, agreeing with the plan. "That's a good idea."

"How long could it take?" Fitz asked rhetorically.

Three hours passed, and the storm hadn't died down the slightest. They stayed sitting in the opening of the structure at the top of the Lincoln Memorial, watching lightning dance across the sky. Fitz noticed Olivia shivering from her wet clothes, and felt the need to act.

"Liv, c-come here," he said with open arms. "We may be here longer than I thought.

Feeling cold, she followed and got herself wrapped into his arms. Fitz laid down, taking her with him and keeping her wrapped up tight and warm. Olivia became alarmed.

"Fitz, what about your back?" she asked, worried about the effects laying on marble could have after the couch incident.

"It's fine," he insisted. "We'll cross that bridge later. I'm cold too."

Olivia felt herself being warmed by Fitz's body heat, and her shivering eventually subsided. The warmth and comfort however brought on a new challenge of tiredness. He felt nice, warm, and soft. She tried to stop her heavy eyelids from closing and tried to suppress the yawn in her throat.

"Come on, Livvie. Don't fall asleep on me now," she heard Fitz tell her.

"I'm not," she forced her eyes open, but still in a haze. It was a losing battle, but she had to try. "Will you just talk to me?"

"About what?" Fitz asked, bending his neck to get a better view of her.

"I don't know. Anything. What's something I don't know about you?"

"Um…" Fitz had to take a minute. Olivia knew so much about him already; the thing she didn't know was just how in love with her he was – but who was he to be bringing up this conversation outside in a thunderstorm at three in the morning while inebriated?

"Ok well, uh…when I graduated Stanford, I was chosen to give a speech at commencement."

"This story doesn't end well does it?"

"No, it doesn't," he shook his head. "I practiced like crazy, and I had it down perfectly where I could recite it perfectly with no fumbles. But then the day of graduation, I got so nervous about messing up that I couldn't even speak…like at all, not even a single word. So they had someone else go in my place instead and wing it. She did a really good job too, if I'm going to be completely honest here. It was probably better that way."

"Fitz," Olivia pulled her head off his chest momentarily and leaned up to him to kiss him on the cheek. "I'm sure your speech is amazing. I'd love to hear it sometime."

"No Livvie," he laughed. "You're trying to be nice about it – and I appreciate that - but trust me, it's not that great.

"Nonsense…My turn!" Olivia boasted. Sleep deprived, and still a little tipsy herself, Fitz couldn't help but laugh at her.

"Oh gosh…let's see…" Olivia thought to herself out loud. "Alright, you probably have no idea about this, but I was always really jealous of Mellie as a kid."

"You don't say?" Fitz laughed at her obvious admission.

"My mom treated her like her own daughter right away," she said in a solemn tone that made Fitz's heartbreak.

"Hey, your mom loves you," he said in a comforting voice.

"I know. But Mellie just had it so easy. She was always just the perfect child. Good grades, captain of the cheerleading team, big charitable activist. And everyone always got a long with her; she had no trouble making friends…"

Olivia couldn't fight the sleep off any longer, and her eyelids drew closed, yawning, "Plus she had you."

Fitz smiled brightly and watched her sleep peacefully for a couple and then shortly followed in his own slumber.

ooo

Fitz heard the faint sound of birds, forcing his eyes to flutter open. He looked up at the grey stone ceiling that made him rapidly blink his eyes awake. This wasn't his apartment. He immediately registered feeling weight on him and looked down. Olivia was snuggled up to his chest. He heard the tweet again and looked over to his right and saw a small bird hopping on the steps nearby. He was outside. He was outside at the National Mall. He began to remember what had led them to that moment. The storm, seeking shelter at the Lincoln memorial, trying to stay awake, but ultimately falling asleep with Olivia in his arms, the kiss – oh my god the kiss.

He looked down at her. She was still fast asleep in a dream. He propped himself up into a semi-sitting position with Olivia still laying on his chest. He instantly felt a wave of pain in his back as was expected, but it wasn't too terrible, and her being with him somehow made it feel better. He took in his surroundings. It was beautiful, and she, she was beyond even words.

He used his hand to gently brush some hair out of her face. She stirred slightly, hearing her mumble, but ultimately didn't fully wake.

"Livvie," he whispered, slightly nudging. "Livvie…"

"Hmmm?" she moaned only halfway awake.

"Wake up," he whispered again, a little louder. This time did the trick as she opened her eyes and perked her head up.

"What?" she said tiredly.

"Look," Fitz pointed out of the opening of the building eastward towards the Reflective Pool and the Washington Movement.

"Oh my god," Olivia uttered. In front of them was the most gorgeous sunrise that Olivia had ever seen. The bright orange rays peaked off of the water from the pool back to the light pink sky. "It's beautiful."

They moved, sitting up onto the steps of the Lincoln Memorial continuing to watch the prettiest sunrise they had ever seen. Exhausted and hungover, they somehow felt blissful in the peace and quiet; both of them wishing that they could wake up like this every morning.

A/N: Drunken words are often sober truths. There we have it. I didn't want to leave my story on the sour note that chapter 12 had for too long. This brings us to the end of Part II. Chapters for Part III will be coming out shortly.