A/N: Ok so I'm going to give a warning that there are some Stephen and Jake moments in the flashbacks here. It is all part of the story, and I promise i won't take too long to upload the next chapter so we're not stuck with those moments for long. Get ready because in Chapter 4 we'll have a lot more Olitz moments!

Chapter 3

***Summer 1996***

"I can't believe you moved to LA, and you didn't even think to bring a swimsuit," Stephen laughed as he walked alongside Olivia on the beach. They had finished their shopping spree, and Stephen took it upon himself to show Olivia all the classic LA hot spots.

"Well you know it was pretty last minute, and you saw my suitcase." Olivia retorted.

"Oh I'm sure you could have fit a bikini in there. I mean the one you're wearing right now is rather – um-"

"Rather what, Stephen?"

"Um…it's rather small," Stephen stopped, taking in Olivia's body wearing a small bright green bikini.

"What you don't like it?" She teased flaunting her ass in front of him.

"Hey! Now I never said that," Stephen blushed. "Are you hungry?"

Olivia nodded.

"Great! There's a food cart not too far away, how about I go grab us some hotdogs?" Stephen suggested and Olivia nodded once again and watched Stephen run off toward the beach's boardwalk.

All of a sudden she heard a rather loud shout.

"LOOK OUT! INCOMING!"

Olivia looked up right in time to see a Frisbee in path with a small nearby child's head. With her quickest reflexes that surprised even herself she jumped up and caught the disc all before it could get too close.

"Whoa! Nice catch," said a muscular brunette jogging toward her. "I'm really sorry about that. My navy buddies and I are on leave right now, and we can get a little careless when we're on vacation." He had learned to mention the Navy wherever he could. He found it to be a dealmaker with the many girls he had encountered, and he hoped this beautiful woman in front of him would be no different.

"You're in the Navy?" Olivia mused, he could already tell it was working.

"Commander Jake Ballard," he smiled and held out his hand. Olivia looked at his eyes. They were a gorgeous shade of green that she adored.

"Olivia Pope," she introduced herself.

"Well if you would care to join us, we've got a spot set up over there and a couple of beers in a cooler," Jake invited, smiling at Olivia and making her blush.

"I probably shouldn't. My friend just ran off to grab us hotdogs, and I don't want him to get concerned looking for me."

"Him? I see…so this friend-"

"He's just a friend!" Olivia quickly interrupted. She didn't want to give off the impression she was off the market. Sure she liked Stephen, but it was truly as a friend, though she could tell that Stephen had a bit of a crush on her. "Really. He's just a friend who's showing me around the area because I just moved here." She explained.

"Well welcome. How are you enjoying it so far?" Jake asked genuinely curious to learn more about her.

"It's pretty nice, and hot. It's way better than the weather I'm used to in DC where I'm from."

"Ah DC. I'm pretty familiar with that town as well from some previous assignments. Have you ever been to Tombs? It's a bar near Georgetown-"

"Of course I've been! I love Tombs," Olivia enjoyed reminiscing on some of her hometown places with this green-eyed stranger.

"Hey if you like Tombs, I think I know another bar around here that you'll like. It's called Break Room. I think you would love it."

"That sounds nice. Thank you for the recommendation," Olivia smiled politely.

"I could take you sometime…if you want?" Jake muttered, trying to seal the deal with Olivia.

"I didn't take Navy boys to be the kind that take out girls they only met five minutes ago."

"Well, I'm a good judge of character. It comes with the training," he smirked, egging Olivia on. "Come on…if it helps they do karaoke sometimes…." He urged. Olivia thought that karaoke might be a good way to make her debut in LA. She didn't think it would get her a record deal – of course she wasn't that naïve. But she thought that maybe she could test out her singing in front of an LA crowd to see if she had what it took to make it here.

"Ok. I'm in." Olivia reached into her bag and ripped out a page from her notebook and a pen and started to write. "Here is my address." She said, handing the paper over to Jake.

"Great! I'll pick you up at 7?"

"Sounds good. It was nice to meet you commander Ballard. See you later tonight." She smiled.

"Olivia, the pleasure was all mine," Jake winked and turned away to join his other friends by the shore.

Olivia couldn't believe what she had done. She normally would never agree to a date with a man she only met five minutes ago. But then again she also thought she would never pack up and leave her life in DC, and here she was. She was going to have to break the news to Stephen who she knew would be upset. She suspected he had some feelings for her, but it would probably be best to be direct with him much more early on. She saw him approaching her with two hotdogs in hand.

"Here you go. I wasn't sure what you like on your dog, so I just got ketchup. I was going to do mustard too, but then again I know not everyone is a fan of mustard, and there are so many types of mustard, and some people can be really picky about which type of mustard they get that they would rather have no mustard at all..." Stephen blindly rambled, not taking a single pause. "Anyway, did I miss anything?"

"Um yeah…I actually got asked out on a date," Olivia gently explained, still in some awe over Jake Ballard.

"I see…wait what?" Stephen exclaimed.

"I got asked out on a date, and I'm going to this karaoke bar with him."

"Olivia, do you even know this guy?"

"Hey, I didn't know you, and now we're roommates," she pointed out. Stephen sighed, realizing she did have a point there.

"And what if this dude is a serial killer?" Stephen asked.

"What's up with you and assuming everyone is a serial killer?"

"Olivia, I'm serious."

"He's in the Navy and is on leave right now. I think the Navy has a pretty intense vetting process."

"Oh he's a Navy boy…" Stephen lightened up a little bit. If this guy was on leave from the Navy then he wouldn't be around for all too long. "I mean if he's volunteering to serve his country, then he's probably in the clear," Stephen added in, pretending to be on board with Olivia's decision to go out with this stranger.

"Thank you, Stephen. I'm glad you came around," she punched his shoulder, and they continued to walk along the beach.

Olivia and Jake were enjoying their shared pizza, talking about their lives.

"So how long are you on leave for?" Olivia asked. Jake stopped for a minute to swallow his food.

"About three months."

"And what made you decide to join the Navy in the first place?"

"Good question!" Jake took a sip of his beer. "I was born in a pretty rural town in southern Illinois. It was the kind of place where once you're born there, you pretty much die there. But I didn't want to stay and farm. I had to get out and see what's out there, you know?"

"Oh believe me, I understand," Olivia muttered.

"My options were pretty much earn a college scholarship or join the armed forces. The former didn't really work out, so I went with the latter. But I'm nevertheless proud to be a United States Navy officer." Jake declared, grabbing another slice of pizza.

"And what about you? What's your story? You just moved here. There's got to be a reason, right?"

"Yes, well I write songs, and…and I sing a little bit too…sometimes." Olivia blushed at her confession. Jake grabbed both of her hands into his much larger hands and forced her to look up.

"Hey, hey come on, look at me," Jake pushed. "Look at me," Jake stated more firmly. Olivia glanced up.

"It's nothing to be ashamed about. It's good," He smiled. Both of their attention was immediately brought to a loud high pitch screaming of the current karaoke participant. "I think I can safely say without even hearing you sing that you are more talented than half the people in this bar."

Olivia laughed at Jake's joke and the girl attempting to sing, "I will Always Love You."

The MC of the bar quickly approached mic the minute the girl was done hollering, much to the appreciation of all the customers.

"Thank you Rebecca…" he cringed slightly. "Is there anyone else who would like to go?"

Olivia glanced at Jake quickly and saw a look in his eyes. Before she could even stop him his hand was already halfway in the air.

"She wants to sing!" he declared, using his other hand to point at Olivia.

"Jake, no!" she shouted. The more she thought about performing, the more she thought it was a bad idea.

"Come on Olivia, take a little risk," Jake teased. "She'll sing," he stated louder this time. Olivia placed her head in her hands.

"Excellent. And what might this beautiful lady's name be?" the MC asked approaching their booth and shoving the microphone right in Liv's partially blocked face.

"Olivia Pope," she stated simply with no emotion. The MC reached out his hand and helped Olivia onto her feet, walking her toward the stage.

"You'll do great, Liv!" Jake reassured her as she passed him.

Olivia stood on stage with a bright light gleaming down on her, blinding her from being able to see all the people around the stage. It was just her alone, front and center of the stage, her mouth inches away from the microphone.

"And what song are you going to be singing for us?" the MC who was waiting by the karaoke machine snapped Olivia out of her trance.

"Oh uh…I'll be singing 'Honey, Honey,'" Olivia stammered. No more than three seconds later Olivia heard the intro to the song. She had to say something quickly or risk looking like an idiot. She tried to work up her courage. If she couldn't sing at a karaoke bar, how the hell could she succeed singing at a live sold-out venue. The time for the lyrics came on the screen and Olivia quickly transformed herself to a woman emitting confidence.

"Honey honey, how you thrill me, a-ha, honey honey
Honey honey, nearly kill me, a-ha, honey honey
I'd heard about you before
I wanted to know some more
And now I know what they mean, you're a love machine
Oh, you make me dizzy
Honey honey, let me feel it, a-ha, honey honey
Honey honey, don't conceal it, a-ha, honey honey"

Olivia finished her song with an extreme roar of applause. There was no question that she was by far the most popular and most talented performer of the night. She went back to her booth, being stopped consistently by other customers as she made her way back to Jake. She finally made it back to her table and sat down.

"What?" Olivia asked. Jake was giving her the most bewildered look. His green eyes looked so intense and crazy for her. "What is it?"

"I am so turned on by you right now, Olivia Pope," he uttered. Olivia giggled at his compliment.

"I think I know a way we can fix that, honey," she taunted him, driving him crazy. Jake quickly paid for their meals and grabbed Olivia in his arms, kissing her once they made it outside. The kiss was sloppy and rushed, but signaled much more to come.

"Come back to my hotel with me?" he asked between breaths of their make-out session outside the door.

"Please!" Olivia begged. Jake stopped the kiss and looked at Olivia for a moment.

"Tell you what, tomorrow I'll take you to a talent agency, but tonight I'll take you to bed," he grinned. The two made out through the parking as they stumbled their way toward Jake's car.

***Summer 2019***

"Olivia, hey! You're daughter said I could find you in here. I need a quick favor-" Stephen stopped realizing that the cottage he was currently in was some guest's room. "Oh I'm sorry. I hope I'm not interrupting." Stephen apologized staring at the attractive redhead who stood before him.

"What's going on, Stephen?" Olivia said slightly annoyed.

"Uh hi. I'm Stephen," Stephen said walking right past Olivia to introduce himself to the woman in the corner.

"Oh! You're Stephen! I'm Abby," she said, introducing herself, throughout Olivia's journey that one thrilling summer, she kept in constant contact with Abby, filling her in on all the characters she encountered.

"Oh my god, you're the famous Abby! Back when Liv and I lived together, she never stopped talking about how wonderful you were, isn't that right, Olivia?" Stephen looked over his shoulder at Olivia.

"What do you need?" She replied, ignoring Stephen's earlier comment.

"Oh right. Well, it appears that my toiletries had a bit of an accident on the plane and exploded everywhere. I was wondering if you would know where I can happen to buy more."

"The resort is pretty far out from a lot of the main stores, but I can have my daughter take you to town tomorrow, so you can buy some things." Olivia explained.

"That would be fantastic," Stephen smiled gleefully, still staring at Abby. "Well, I should probably go and unpack my stuff that isn't covered in shampoo and soap. It was great to see you again Liv, and nice to meet you Abby." He blushed, backing his way out of the room and nearly tripping over his own two feet clumsily, and making Abby laugh.

Fitz looked around his villa – or really shed. Olivia wasn't exaggerating at all when she said the place wasn't nearly ready. It was pretty small and damp with only a single light bulb in the whole shed controlled by a pull string. There was a small nook within the shed that Fitz assumed would become the bathroom once a lot of work was done on this place. For now it was really just a wooden shack full of storage crates with a lingering smell of seawater and fish.

"I hope this is alright. I know it's probably not what you were expecting."

Fitz jumped at the voice that startled him and turned around to see Raya and Jake standing in the doorway.

"Sorry I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to drop off some blankets and a pillow for you." Raya handed the items to Fitz.

"Thanks," he said putting the items on the floor. "And really it's ok. It's not too bad," Fitz lied.

"Well Jake and I were going to go paddle boarding. Do you want to come?" Raya asked, eager to spend as much time with as many of her "dads" as she possibly could.

Fitz frankly didn't want to be spending any more time than what was necessary with Jake, especially when Olivia was around. He needed to find her and try to win her back in the next few days. He knew his time at this resort was limited and once he checked out, he knew Olivia would do anything in her power to ensure he could never make a reservation again.

"Nah, that's ok. You guys go ahead. I've got some work I need to do."

"And what work could you possibly have. I thought you were retired, governor?" Jake teased, getting a major side-eye from Fitz.

"Governor?" Raya asked like this was the first time she had heard anything about him being a politician. When she sent out the email she had done Internet searches on all of them, so Fitz's political career was no secret to her. She had read up on his two terms as California governor, his recent failed presidential bid, and his very public divorce from his wife of eighteen years shortly after. He was the one guy that she knew the most about already because he was such a public figure in American politics. But in order to hide her involvement of her scheme, she couldn't let the guys know about her background searches on them, it would give the secret away that she had been the one who invited them. She had to play it dumb, like she knew nothing about any of them.

"Yeah, don't you know Fitzy, here was a two-term governor of California?" Jake answered Raya's question. Fitz grew angry at Jake's use of his nickname "Fitzy." Mellie used to call him that in interviews to seem cute and it absolutely disgusted him and made him want to gag.

"It was years ago. It doesn't matter." Fitz grumbled and distracted himself by laying out the blankets into a makeshift pallet for himself.

"He even made a run for President!" Jake said excitedly, proud that he knew Fitz on such a personal level before he even became a well-known politician. "But he didn't make it too far. He dropped before the first primary-"

"I had to!" Fitz yelled, angry. His presidential run was a sore subject for him that he didn't discuss with anyone. He looked up and saw the scared look on Raya's face. He didn't want to scare her. He didn't want to scare anyone, but he especially didn't want Olivia's daughter to be scared of him. Immediately shame swept over his face from his outburst. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to raise my voice." He spoke calmly.

"Why did you drop?" Raya asked calmly. Online she had read that it was due to personal turmoil within his marriage. His divorce happened only a year after his run so it wouldn't surprise her if that were the case.

"My mom, she uh…she got sick." Fitz quickly explained and took a deep breath.

"I'm so sorry. That must have been really difficult." Fitz looked up at Raya and could have sworn he was looking at Liv's twin. She had the same eyes as her, the same composure, and the same soothing energy that made Fitz just want to hold her.

"It's alright," he mumbled.

"Well we better get going. The water is usually at its warmest at this time." Raya said to Jake and the two headed off toward the resort's beachside. Once he knew the two were gone, Fitz left the shed in search of Olivia.

"You can't just paddle on one side. You have to do both evenly if you want to move forward. Otherwise you'll just end up going in a circle!" Raya called out to Jake, who for a Navy man was really struggling with this water sport.

"I would paddle on my right side if I felt a little more confident I won't lean too far over!" Jake called back with fear clear in his voice. Raya chuckled, giving her a brilliant idea. She slowly got down onto her paddleboard and then slipped off of it into the water.

"Raya! Hey Raya! What are you doing? Raya, don't you dare!" Jake yelled as he saw Raya swimming toward him. Before he could even give out another warning he felt a hard shove of his board, making him tumble into the ocean.

Jake popped to surface, breathing heavily to try and get his bearing when he saw Raya pop up right before him, startling him.

"Boo!" She yelled like a small child, laughing hysterically.

"Jeez, you scared me…" Jake panted. "God, you are so much like your mother it's insane," he spoke solemnly. Her youthful energy, and enthusiasm was exactly how Liv was when she was starting her new life in LA.

"What was she life? My mother, when you knew her?" Raya asked.

"Well I didn't know for too long, but she was extraordinary, really extraordinary."

"If you don't mind me asking, what kind of relationship did you have with my mother?"

"Excuse me?" Jake said surprised by how direct this was.

"I know you guys dated, that much was clear by the interaction at the front desk. But what happened that ended it?" Raya wanted to be efficient in her quest to find her dad, and if that meant having to ask some uncomfortable questions directly, then so be it.

"I-I lost her," Jake sighed, treading in the water. "She was the best person I had ever met, and I let my dumb youth and arrogance get in the way."

"I don't follow…"

"I was a different person back then. I had a lot of commitment problems that I've been working through. But losing your mom is what opened me up to address that. Take a lesson from me, and when you find the right person, do whatever you need to make them happy," Jake whispered with sad eyes staring at the water's surface. He didn't mean to bring the mood into such a downer and instantly perked his head up. "Now come on. Let's get back on our boards and hold a race off to that buoy and back."

Raya laughed at Jake's request. "You want to race right now? Seriously? You can't even steer."

"What? Scared you're going to lose?" Jake teased sarcastically, propping himself onto his board, and Raya followed suit.

To Raya, Jake seemed like a nice guy. Fun and energetic, Raya could see why her mom fell for him. She felt herself bonding to Jake as they raced around the water goofing off. She had managed to bond with one of the guys, now she had two more to go.

A/N: Get ready because in the next chapter we'll focus more on Olivia and Fitz and see how they first met during that one summer.