Chapter 16: A Rainy Day

March 9th, 1979

Fitz snuck into the room, wary in case she was sleeping.

"I'm up, sweetie. You don't have to be so quiet," she said in a weakening voice.

"Oh, sorry," said Fit, closing the door to the hospital room behind him and going to Maya's side. He had visited a few times since she was admitted, always making sure that Olivia wasn't present for those times. He just wasn't ready to deal with that, and stayed clear of her, and he was pretty sure she felt the same.

"How are you feeling?" Fitz asked. Maya was clearly not doing well. Hooked up to machines and awfully thin and pale, Fitz knew that she was putting up a fight to try and seem cheerful. "I mean um…"

Maya placed a hand on his arm, "it's ok, I'm doing just fine," she slightly laughed.

"Right," he said taking her hand.

"Fitz I called you here because I need you do to me a favor?" she said in a stronger tone.

"Of course, anything," Fitz responded. He owed Maya a lot for her kindness in the past couple of years, and was willing to do anything for her.

"It's Olivia…"

Okay, so maybe anything but that.

"Um…I don't know if that's s-such a good idea. We're not exactly on good terms right now. I think she…hates me…"

"She doesn't, Fitz," Maya said reassuringly. "She's complicated and cautious, but she doesn't hate you."

Fitz just nodded to Maya, not fully believing in her, but also not wanting to fight her on this matter. It would have taken far too long.

"When I'm gone Fitz, she's going to be hurting badly, and she's going to need someone. I need you to be there for her, just as she was for you."

Fitz's breath hitched, somewhat remembering the day that Olivia and Mellie came to his house. When he threw Mellie out and Olivia stayed to take care of him, cleaning up, feeding him, and being emotionally supportive of him. He couldn't remember all of the details because he was in a drunken state at the time. But he did remember her being there, and him being so thankful by the decision she made to stay and comfort him. She was only 14 then, but the support she provided was well beyond the emotional maturity of any 14-year-old. Fitz knew that he owed Olivia this much to help her grieve when the time came, but there was another problem to consider.

"I don't think she'll really want my help."

"She won't," Maya agreed. "She's going to try and push you away, but you can't let her."

"I-I don't know…"

"She broke up with Edison," Maya said out of the blue. Fitz looked up at her, making sure he heard her right. "She broke up with him last week."

"W-why?" he asked nervously, afraid that maybe Stephen was right in what he said, maybe he had gaslit her into breaking up with him.

"He's not family. Never was, never would be. And it took awhile, but she finally realized that," she said sternly. "Listen Fitz, she's going to need you and only you."

"W-why me? What about Mellie, or Cyrus, or even Abby? She'd probably be better off having one of them," Fitz thought. Surely she wouldn't want to see him, not after everything.

"Because you have a special way of getting through to her."

Fitz raised an eyebrow at her questioningly.

"I've seen it myself. That early morning after the RFK assassination when you talked with her about Cyrus," Maya shared, revealing that she had overheard their conversation even at the early hour it took place all those years ago.

"We were just kids then," Fitz replied, not seeing any significance in that at all.

"Or getting her back into drawing and painting."

"I mean-"

"Or convincing her to rebuild that old tree house," Maya laughed slightly, thinking about how that was the first time she had ever seen Olivia holding a hammer.

"Okay…I get it," Fitz relented.

"Promise me, Fitz," she squeezed his hand using as much strength as she could garner and forced to look into her eyes. She needed to know that her daughter would be taken care of, and while Mellie and Cyrus would always be there for her, always be her family even if not by blood, she knew Fitz provided her with something else.

"I promise," he nodded.

Maya reached up and cupped Fitz's cheek, looking at him diligently.

"Fitz, your parents would be so proud of the man that you've become," Fitz stayed smiling at her for the kind compliment. "You're going to change the world, just like them."

March 17, 1979

Maya died a few days later on a Tuesday. The funeral was held on a Saturday. It rained most of the day, which only seemed fitting, but it made the outside proceedings run on the quicker end of things, so people did not spend too much time in the cold rain.

Cyrus spoke at the funeral for the family. They had a pastor as well, but otherwise speeches were kept to a minimum. Olivia sat in the front row with Cyrus, Marcus, and a very pregnant Mellie.

She stayed back after the funeral, standing on the sides and watching the others congregate and mingle before drifting off to their cars. Many people came up to her to give their condolences, and she spoke to some of her relatives and Maya's old friends from DC. She saw James and Cyrus talking on the other side of the grassy area. She craned her neck to try and get a closer look. She tried to read their lips and figure out what was being said between them, but was having no luck. It looked serious, though. Cyrus seemed mad or aggravated somehow, and if there were a microphone that could have picked it up, she had no doubt that some harsh words were being said between them based on James' face.

Olivia let out a loud sigh, thinking about her mother's confession about her and Cyrus right before she died. The fact that their marriage was based on protecting one another was tragic, yet necessary, which only added more to the tragedy.

Olivia thought long and hard about her mother's advice on soul mates. And of course her mind immediately went to him. Him who was…standing right over there in the back of the crowd? Could it have been him?

"Fitz?" she questioned approaching him as he stood still.

"L-Livvie, I'm so sorry about Maya," Fitz said sincerely. "When I found out she was sick I wanted to visit with you at some point, but I wasn't sure if it was a good idea…and-and I didn't want to upset you…"

He trailed off before continuing to speak, "b-but when I heard she died, I had to be here. Even if you hate me, I-I'm sorry Liv, but I had to be here."

Fitz's breath became caught in his throat, unable to speak anymore as he felt Olivia's arms wrap firmly around his shoulders, holding onto him for dear life. He returned her warmth, wrapping his arms around her waist to support her as she continued to hug him tighter than he had been hugged before. Maya was certainly right; she needed him.

"I could never hate you," Olivia cried into his shoulder. He held her for several minutes, letting her cry before she finally pulled back and readjusted herself and put herself back together.

"I'm not marrying Edison," she murmured, staring blankly at the ground and avoiding Fitz's eyes. She was worried about looking in his eyes. She didn't need the judgment at the moment.

"I-I heard about that."

"And you don't have to say anything," Olivia spoke softly, really not in the mood for any kind of I told you so moment., he may have had. "I just, I didn't love him like I should have."

"We don't have to talk about anything," he stated, making her give him the smallest of smiles for being so understanding.

"Thank you," Olivia responded meekly, and the two just stood together not saying anything for about one minute.

"Excuse me, are you Olivia Pope?" Olivia heard a deep voice coming from behind her and turned around with Fitz still behind her.

"Yes?"

She looked at the man, staring for a long time. He looked familiar to her. She raked her mind trying to pinpoint where exactly she had seen him from, and then she realized, she'd seen him in pictures before, but she had to make sure.

"My name is Elijah and-," he spoke in a steady voice.

"I know who you are. Wh-what are you doing here?" she said in a voice filled with disgust.

Fitz's face dropped at the realization on who this man was. At first he put together the similarities of their physical features, but after hearing his name, and Olivia's response it was clear.

"I just- I heard about Maya, and I just wanted to pay my respects to you and to her."

"Pay your respects?" Olivia scoffed. "Because what you did to us was so respectful."

"Olivia," Eli uttered.

"I was two! I was two years old when you walked out!" Olivia started to raise her voice at him.

"I think you should leave," Fitz stepped in trying to deescalate the situation before it drew some of the remaining people over.

"I'm trying to have a word with my daughter, here."

"I'm not your daughter!" Olivia nearly shouted. "You can't just show up over twenty years later like everything is fine."

At this point Mellie, Marcus, and Cyrus had sensed a commotion. The people were thinning out and they walked over eager to help whatever was happening.

"What seems to be the problem?" Cyrus spoke up, sensing tension and growing worried. He stared at the stranger he had never seen before who was clearly making Olivia upset.

"No problem," Eli uttered. "Just wanted to give my condolences."

He then walked away, leaving an aggravated Olivia huffing in anger. She almost ran after him and lunged forward when Fitz blocked her path and grabbed onto her, holding her back.

"Livvie, listen, I know you're upset. He's scum, and he's not worth your time, okay. He's not worth it," Fitz spoke to her in a soothing tone, trying to get her to calm down, but her breathing kept deepening.

"Look at me," Fitz repeated, forcing her chin up to gaze into his eyes. "He's not worth it."

"Okay…okay…" Olivia mumbled and reluctantly stepped back. She paused for a couple of moments before turning in the opposite direction. "I just, I need to go for a walk for a little bit by myself."

Fitz nodded and Olivia left the group to clear her head.

"Fitz, who was that?" asked Marcus.

"That was Eli Pope."

ooo

Fitz sat alone in his hotel room, flipping through channels that evening. After Olivia left, he spoke with Cyrus and Mellie and Marcus for a bit since he hadn't seen them since New Years. They asked if he wanted to go back to the house with them, but he informed them that he was staying at a hotel and then decided to go back to where he was staying since he had already paid for it. Once he went back to the hotel and changed out of his tie and suit jacket, he spent the rest of his day watching TV. He thought about Olivia and the poor mental anguish that she was probably going through between the loss of her mother and that stunt pulled off by her deadbeat dad. It angered Fitz that he would even think it best to make an appearance at Maya's funeral after not being there for her for twenty-two years.

Fitz was brought back to reality by the telephone in his room ringing.

"Hello?" he said, answering the phone.

"Fitz," he heard Mellie on the other line in a worried voice. "Is Olivia with you?"

"No," Fitz shot up straight into his seat with panic. "What happened?"

"She never came back from her walk. We've checked all over the cemetery and called the funeral home, and we've found nothing. I was hoping that maybe she was with you."

Fitz felt an intense wave of fear hearing that Olivia was missing. His head started pounding, trying to think of places that she would go to.

"Did you look downtown? Maybe the art museum? She loves art."

"Not in DC, no. But we've been all over McLean and the other nearby suburbs," Mellie answered.

Fitz's stomach became tight in a knot of worry. He made a promise to Maya that he would be there for her, and he feared he'd already broken it on day one.

"Alright I'm going to get my keys and do some laps downtown. I'll call you back if I find anything."

Never in his life had Fitz been so quick to put on a jacket and shoes and he rushed out the lobby doors to his car. He drove downtown, circling the museums and monuments, parking his car and going inside them looking for any sign of Olivia, but there was nothing. With each place he visited he could feel her slipping farther and farther away, and he was terrified. He knew she wasn't in a good place, and having been in a similar situation, knew that no one was in their right mind when plagued with grief. He feared the worst. He couldn't lose her. The past two and a half months without her taught him that. He wouldn't know what he'd do if he did.

He sat in his car, thinking long and hard about all of her favorite places in DC. He tried to recall all the places that she liked that they went to when they were interning in DC together. He remembered there was one bar, Lucky's that he and Olivia would go to every Saturday night. It might have been a long shot, but he had to try anything, so he drove over, parked his car and went in.

Much to his relief, he saw Olivia slumped over at the bar with several empty drinks nearby. He went over to the hostess and asked if he could use their payphone to call Mellie back. He told Mellie and Marcus that he found her and was safe with him much to their relief as well. Afterwards Fitz approached the bar, taking a seat in one of the empty stools beside her.

"Fancy seeing you here," he smiled gleefully.

"mmmmm…what are you doing here?" Olivia groaned, lifting her head from the counter.

"It's a Saturday, isn't it? Where else would I be?" Fitz flagged down the bartender, asking for some waters. "You had us worried. We didn't know where you were."

"I followwwwed him," Olivia slurred, taking small sips of the water.

"Liv," Fitz spoke, concerned that following Eli might not have been the best idea given what had occurred that day.

"Relaxxxxx," Olivia said exaggeratingly. "I didn't speak to him. I just followed him to a restaurant he stopped at to eat."

"A restaurant?" Fitz asked and Olivia, wondering why she would follow him to a restaurant.

"Yeaahhh…And then when he was gone I made sure no one was looking…then I threw a rock at his windshield," she mumbled casually like it was no big deal whatsoever.

Fitz chuckled dryly at Olivia. It may have been destructive, but he couldn't deny that it was also funny.

"Did it make you feel better?"

"Mmmhmmmm…a bit. Does that make me a psychopath?"

"No, just human."

"And then I came heeerrreee," Olivia slurred, pointing to the bar counter, and putting her head back down.

Fitz took a deep breath, "Livvie, come on let's go."

"No!" she uttered with her eyes closed.

"Yes, come on. You've had enough."

"No! I don't wanna go home!" She raised her hand, asking the bartender for another drink.

Fitz sat in silence, watching her chug down her next drink just to appease her to one more.

"Livvie?"

"No!" she replied firmly and asked for another drink. Finally at this point Fitz cut in and told him not to. If she didn't want to go home, that was fine, but Fitz sure as hell wasn't going to leave her alone in the bar. He picked her up out of her seat.

"Ugh!" she screamed in frustration.

Fitz leaned across the counter, handing his card to the bartender, "here, just charge whatever the tab was on here, please?"

"This is unfair – and my right as an American – and," Olivia mumbled through her next few words as Fitz waited to get his card back. He then put her back on the ground and half walked/half carried her out of the bar and back to his car. He grabbed a bag from the restaurant before they left and handed it to her in front of her lap. She gave him a puzzled look.

"Just in case you need it," Fitz explained. Halfway through his drive back to the hotel, the bag came in handy as Olivia hurled some of her alcohol into it. Once he parked, he disposed of the bag, and at this point had to fully carry an exhausted Olivia up to his room.

"Stop! Fitz, I want to go back to the bar!" she muttered.

"No Olivia, we need to get you cleaned up."

He carried her to the bathroom and had her support herself by holding onto the counter. He took out a spare toothbrush that the hotel provided and had Olivia brush her teeth and then drink more water out of fear that she was dehydrated from all the alcohol. He told her he was coming right back and came back with a t-shirt and shorts for her to wear so she could get out of the dress and heels she still had on from the funeral. She started to strip down in front of him.

"Wait, Liv," he called, and Olivia stopped. "I-I'll leave you some privacy," he clarified to Olivia who then had a horrified reaction when she realized.

He knew Olivia was going to wake up in the morning embarrassed by what had happened tonight, and he assumed she was probably going to wake up with a killer hangover. He grabbed some ibuprofen and a glass of water and put it on the nightstand by the bed. He then called Cyrus and Mellie to let them know that she was with him and would be safe, giving her a couple of minutes to change.

He knocked on the door before opening, and found her sitting on the floor with her knees up to her chest. His heart broke from the sad look she had.

"Ready for bed?" he asked kindly, trying to give her any type of grin that he could muster. Olivia just shook her head no from side to side.

"Come on, Olivia. You're exhausted," he urged.

She was silent and shook her head no again. Frustrated with her stubbornness, Fitz sighed before going over and picking her up to carry her to bed. He pulled back the cover before laying her down and tucking her in.

"Fitz, why are you doing this? I haven't spoken to you in months. You don't have to do this," said Olivia in a monotonous tone and a completely blank face.

Fitz swallowed hard, looking into her eyes with complete sincerity, "hey you took care of me, remember? Let me take care of you."

Olivia's demeanor suddenly shifted completely, with a flirtatious gleam in her eye.

"Well, I can still take care of you more," Olivia said in a sexy, drunken voice and started to rub her hands up and down Fitz's shirt.

"Ok, Livvie," Fitz laughed at her inebriated attempt to try and seduce him.

"What's the matter?" Olivia said flirtatiously as she used the little strength she had to completely rip open Fitz's dress shirt, sending the buttons flying.

"That was one of my favorite shirts," he muttered sarcastically, slightly laughing again at Olivia's actions, until he felt Olivia becoming serious, running her hands up and down his chest. He groaned slightly at the contact.

"Livvie," he moaned.

Olivia sat up in the bed and started kissing him, giving him sweet, endeared kisses all over his mouth and jawline. His moans of pleasure only encouraged her more as she kissed down his neck and ran one of her hands below his waistline into his boxers.

Feeling Olivia's hand go past his boxers quickly brought Fitz back to his senses. He instant pulled back and pushed her hands away.

"L-Livvie, wait," he said as she tried to come to him again.

"Wha-you don't- you don't want me!" she started to cry.

"No, Olivia I want you, I-I do," Fitz said, trying to speak to her calmly as she was in such an inebriated state.

"No you don't!" she cried again more forcefully. "You don't want me because I'm disgusting now because you saw me puke and I'm wearing baggy man clothes!"

Fitz laughed once more at her silly statements.

"No Livvie. I could care less if you threw up or what you're wearing," he chuckled. "You-You're beautiful. I want you – b-but not like this."

"Because of the baggy man clothes?" she whimpered again, not taking in any of what Fitz previously said.

"No," he laughed and decided to try again. "I just think we've both had a pretty exhausting day, and I'm really tired. Let's just go to sleep."

"Ugh so boring," Olivia sighed and laid back down. Fitz sat beside her for a couple of minutes until it was clear she was asleep.

ooo

Olivia woke up to a pitch-black room and blinked a few times. Where was she? She turned her body over feeling that she was in a bed, but couldn't recognize the room. She looked at the clock nearby on the nightstand; four in the morning. She waited a few moments, letting her eyes adjust to the limited light that was coming from the digital clock.

She recognized she was in a hotel room, and some moments from the night started to come back to her in a hazy blur. She was at Lucky's, Fitz was there, Fitz took her to his hotel to sober up, and then…oh no. Olivia felt a rush of embarrassment swoop over her. She wondered where Fitz was now, realizing that the bed was empty.

In the faint light she could just make out Fitz not too far away from her sleeping in the hotel room's armchair.

"Fitz?" Olivia whispered, but then had to go a little louder, speaking at regular volume. "Fitz?"

"Hmm," he mumbled in his sleep, waking up. He saw Olivia sitting up in bed and instantly became alert. "What's wrong? Do you need anything?"

"Yes, Fitz. Get out of the chair and come here."

Olivia moved away from the center of the bed to one of the sides to signal that she was going to make room for him, and this was not another attempt at seduction.

"L-Livvie, I-I don't have to," he started to fuss.

"Fitzgerald!" she commanded. He reluctantly got up out of chair and sauntered over to the bed, laying down on his stomach, feeling instant relief from his back since e was longer against the hard back cushion. He let out a sigh but still felt a little tight.

"Better?" he heard her ask. He nodded slightly and closed his eyes.

"A bit."

He then felt Olivia move closer and felt her hands on his back, rubbing it soothingly with just the right amount of pressure.

"That feels sooo much better," he moaned. Eventually Olivia's hand stopped as she drifted back to sleep with Fitz, laying side by side.

March 18th, 1979

Fitz woke up at around ten in the morning with Olivia in his arms. He was reminiscent of that previous night at the Lincoln Memorial, only this time it was better because his back wasn't killing him thanks to Olivia's late night massage. He looked at her, she was still fast asleep, and watched her for a little bit. He had no doubt that it would be awhile until she woke up given the amount she drank last night. Eventually Fitz gently got out of bed not to wake her and took a shower.

Olivia woke up a few minutes later, looking around for Fitz, she realized that the shower was. Her head was absolutely pounding. She hadn't drunken like that since her undergrad days, and there was a part of her that was convinced that she still never had a hangover this bad back then. She looked to her right and saw a glass of water left out for her with some tablets. Thankful for Fitz, she quickly swallowed the medicine and waited for him to come out. He stepped out of the bathroom a little later wearing a pair of short with no top.

"Hi," she spoke up, startling him and making him turn around in a jolt.

"Hi…Good morning, how are you feeling?"

"Like complete shit," she groaned. "I am so sorry you had to deal with me like that last night."

Fitz smirked a little bit, putting on his shirt, "it's ok Livvie. You've been pestering me for almost twelve years now. A guy adjusts."

Liv laughed at his comments, and was glad that he was not only talking to her, but they seemingly were back to joking with one another

"Are you hungry?" Fitz asked her.

"Starving."

"Great, I'll call up room service and order us a ton of greasy foods," Fitz said making his way over to the hotel room's telephone. Olivia eyed him as he used the telephone, making a terrible realization.

"Oh my god, Mellie and Cyrus! I have to call them," she spoke up once Fitz had hung up the phone.

"No need. I already called them yesterday. They know you're here."

"Fitz, you are the best…I – thank you," she said smiling.

Their food arrived about twenty minutes later and they dug in enjoying the eggs, bacon, and toast that the hotel provided.

"Oh my god this is so good!" Olivia mused.

"Everything is good when you're hungover," Fitz laughed.

"Oh shut up," Olivia laughed. "You're going to sit there and pretend it isn't good?"

"It's pretty good," Fitz admitted before having to add it, "…As far as hotel food goes that is."

"You're impossible," Olivia laughed.

"Remind me to show you this new brunch spot I found over on 84th street. They have the most amazing breakfast food ever!"

"That's a bold claim," Olivia cracked while she took a bite of scrambled eggs.

"And I stick by it," Fitz grinned, taking a piece of bacon for himself.

"Fitz," Olivia took a moment to get serious and put her fork down. "I really am so sorry for last night."

"You don't have to apologize," Fitz tried to assure her again, but she couldn't help but feel terrible over being such a drunken fool, especially after everything he'd done for her.

"But I-"

"All water under the bridge," Fitz didn't let her finish. He didn't want her to feel bad about anything. Grief's a human emotion everyone feels at some point, and why apologize for being human? Apologizing for feeling emotions, that'd be like apologizing for breathing.

"Don't worry, I get it," he added, and she knew he did.

"Does it get better?" she asked solemnly.

Fitz sighed, "It does with time, I guess. Some days are better than others. An-And every now and then you'll have a really bad day out of the blue, but life goes on…it helps too when you have some good friends and company around…but you didn't join the military, so I'd say you're ahead of the curve," he added in jokingly.

Olivia smiled at him brightly, "Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Before I found out my mom was sick, Stephen told me that you were thinking about dropping out of law school. You weren't serious, right?" Olivia knew he hadn't completely disenrolled because she still saw him throughout February in the one class that they shared. Though he sat far away from her in it, she always made sure he was at least in attendance everyday after Stephen's warning.

Fitz put his fork down and waned a rather grim look, "i-it's a little complicated to ex-explain."

"Fitz, you can't drop out. You made it this far."

"I know that, believe me I know, "he muttered. "B-but it's just one of my classes. I-I'm not going to be able to pass it."

"If you're having trouble in a class, I can help," Olivia insisted. She told him she would always be willing to help him back in their first year at law school, and was upset that he hadn't come to her for help…but she understood why.

"It's not the material," he grumbled.

"Then what is it?"

"It-it's the final exam…it's an-it's an oral argument," Fitz said slowly, and Olivia recognized fear and embarrassment he had in his eyes as he spoke.

"Well, surely-"

"No exceptions. The professor made that clear," Fitz explained. "Said that you have to be able to publicly argue to practice law, and he's not wrong."

"So we'll work on it," Olivia said declaratively, refusing to let Fitz remain upset over it.

"What?"

"We'll work on it. You said that you got a lot better, and you only stutter when you're nervous. So we'll just work hard and practice, so you won't be nervous."

"Livvie, you don't have to do this. I-It's my problem."

"No, we're graduating together whether you like it or not," she proclaimed. "And it's going to have to be this year, because I don't know if I can afford another year at Columbia."

Fitz rolled his head back and laughed at her assertiveness.

"Livvie, do you even know anything about speech therapy?"

"No," she answered meekly. "But I'll read about it and learn. You're going to pass your oral exam and we're going to graduate."

He looked at her again with a beaming smile, "You seriously have that much faith in me?"

"Always."

A/N: I really want to thank everyone who has been encouraging towards this story, even with all the angst and drama it contains. I hope you trust me enough when I say it will have a happy Olitz ending to continue reading. I also enjoy the simple and nice Olitz fluff piece, and I apologize if those were your expectations. My background has just always been in screenwriting and writing for television, which I think explains why I insert drama. I like to imagine this story as a possible movie, and just like any movie that follows the three-act-structure conflict is required at certain points as the story progresses. I would like to tell you that we have gotten over the crisis point, so things will now be resolving shortly.