Thank you everyone for all the comments. I appreciate all of your feedback. I'm hoping this chapter can help explain a little more of the confusing feelings Olivia all of those summers ago. Also just as a heads up, we are now completely in the "present" (so summer 2019). There aren't any flashbacks in the next couple of chapters. So with that, enjoy!

Chapter 13

Olivia's eyes fluttered open from the rising sun. She had forgotten to close the blinds and was frustrated with herself for it. The comfort of her bed was warm, cozying her in a state of limbo over whether or not she wanted to go through the hassle of getting up out of bed to close the blinds and try and catch a few more hours of sleep, or just ignore the light and stay in her bed, uninterrupted. She glanced at the clock by her bedside, 7am. She could afford a few more hours of sleep she supposed, and she had a headache from her late night and was still exhausted.

While trying to remember the events that kept her up through the night, Olivia registered an arm, draped across her torso, and a warm body snuggled up beside her. Her breath hitched, turning and seeing Fitz, as all the events of last night came crashing back to her like waves against a rocky shore.

She slept with Fitz! How could she have done that? She didn't need this kind of emotional drama troubling her. Not now, not during her daughter's wedding. Her talk with Stephen caused her mind to open about forgiving Fitz, not about reconnecting with him. What was she thinking? She tried to evaluate the situation that took place last night. It was late. She was in an emotional state. She was upset. He was there. That was what happened, she was upset and he was there, she told herself. And now she felt ashamed for allowing it to happen.

Olivia moved Fitz's arms so she could scoot off the bed and put on clothes. She immediately saw Fitz stir in his sleep from her sudden absence.

"Livvie?" he mumbled in his semi-conscious state, his eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the light.

"Fitz, I'm sorry. This was a mistake…I didn't mean to…you should go."

Fitz's eyes shot open, afraid of what he was hearing. He lifted himself onto his elbows.

"Livvie, can we talk about what happened last night?" he said exhaustedly, his heart thumping in his chest that he was about to lose her again. He couldn't bear to lose her again. Yesterday he shared his side of what happened in the past, but they didn't talk about anything in regards to would happen in the future.

"Fitz, what happened last night was a mistake. I'm sorry. I was just not it a good place, and you were just there and-" she fumbled, looking for a way out.

"I was just there?" Fitz questioned, knowing that to her he was more than just a body. He couldn't believe she was belittling their chemistry to just being around in the right place at the right time.

"Fitz, my daughter's wedding is today. I can't deal with this right now. Please just go…" Fitz could tell from her voice that she was clearly in disarray and stressed out. He thought it best not to fight her at this moment. If he actually had a chance of getting back with Olivia, it would require him to pick and choose his battles, and right now was not a good time to get into one, not when she was this overwhelmed. He got out of bed and groaned, feeling the tiredness set in his bones. He walked behind Olivia and rubbed her shoulders in a soothing circular pattern.

"Hey, it's going to be okay," he tried to make her better.

Olivia began to tremble lightly. Fitz could feel her panic. He noticed shimmering coming off of her face, and realized she was crying again. Her light crying started to turn into sobs. Was she really this upset over her daughter getting married? Fitz knew it would be an emotional time when his kids got married, but he didn't expect sobs.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he whispered.

"You-you hurt me…" Olivia finally broke down in front of him. All the feelings she had held toward him that was disguised as anger shattered before him. Olivia suddenly stood as a frightened and sad girl, just like the recent college grad she was all those summers ago. Olivia cursed herself for allowing Fitz to see her this way. She had managed to be so strong the past couple of days, and now with her daughter getting married, all of these emotions just spewed out of her uncontrollably. It didn't help that Fitz was right there still holding her to make her feel better. Why did he have to do that and be so caring? It made it difficult to stay away from him like she wanted when he first showed up.

"I know…" Fitz replied broken-heartedly. "I know I messed up, but let me try to fix this now."

"No that was-" Olivia's breath caught in her throat, trying to say her next sentence. Despite her hard exterior that she put on daily, she was absolutely terrified by the idea of starting with Fitz again. She couldn't deal with another heartbreak like when she was in LA. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, it was just that she was petrified. "Last night, it was about forgiving you, it wasn't about getting another chance. I…that ship has sailed. I went too far last night, that one is on me."

Olivia stepped away from Fitz and tossed his clothes out of the laundry at him. "I need to start setting up for the wedding."

Fitz took his clothes in hand and quickly made his way out of Liv's villa, vowing not to get in her way and be a nuisance. He felt he had already caused enough trouble for her by showing up to see her, even if it turned out to be part of her daughter's antics.

He didn't really know what he was expecting in the morning. Last night really took him by surprise. It was just one surprising event after another until things escalated to the point that they were wrapped in each other's arms again. One thing was clear to Fitz though in that moment: though she wouldn't admit, he knew she still cared. There was hope.

Fitz looked at his watch. It was just half past 7, which meant the stores downtown would be opening soon. If he left now he could be in town at 8. He realized that there were some things he needed to pick up.

Olivia paced outside the villa back and forth, contemplating. She was just going to have to buck it up and go for it. This whole mission she was on was about forgiveness after all. She had to take what Stephen said to heart. She went to the door and knocked lightly.

"Jake?" she said, as he opened the door.

"Liv, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, is Stephen here?" she asked partially out of curiosity, and also she found Stephen's presence to be a pretty calming force for her. She really did miss having him as a friend.

"He actually never came back last night," Jake informed. Both of them gave off a little smirk, realizing the likelihood of where Stephen had spent the night. "I'll tell him you were looking for him though next time I see him.

"Wait, actually I came to talk to you."

Jake shot his eyebrows in some surprise. He and Liv had talked the past couple of days, but other than their one serious talk, it was mainly all surface level crap. He could tell that what she wanted to talk about right now was far deeper.

"What is it?" he shifted uncomfortably.

"I've just, I've been thinking a lot about that summer…and I want you to know that what happened between us, how things ended pretty poorly…you apologized earlier at the clinic, and I just wanted to tell you that I forgive you."

"Liv?" Jake questioned. "Liv, you shouldn't. I wasn't really the best guy then."

"But I knew you wanted short term, I knew you weren't looking for anything serious, I knew that you were a little bit of a player, and I feel like I held this remorse against you for it, even though I knew what I was getting into with you. And for that, I'm sorry."

"Liv, you shouldn't apologize. I should be apologizing to you for holding back when you were trying to have a healthy and meaningful relationship," Jake sighed. "Did it work out by the way? Did you have the relationship you were looking for with him?" Jake asked referring to the guy that Olivia told him about when she called things off.

"Fitz and I-" Olivia stopped, realizing that the words had just slipped out of her mouth.

"Fitz?!" At last all the pieces clicked into Jake's head. That would explain the strange and hostile relationship he had observed between them over the past couple of days. She and Fitz were also en item that summer. She left him for Fitz. Jake struggled to believe it. Fitz, his friend, his own Navy brother, pursued her, knowing that she was seeing him at the time. "Fitz was the guy?"

Olivia snapped shut, realizing that she had given information he was not aware of.

"He was…but it ended really quickly," she said, hoping to lessen any damage she may have created. Jake ran a hand through his hair.

"Sorry this is all new information to me…but I guess I should say that I'm not really surprised given how you two have acted towards each other," he scoffed.

"Jake, I'm sorry. I thought you already knew. I thought he told you at some point over the course of the last twenty years. I shouldn't have said anything."

"No it's fine. It actually helps me put things into perspective. Thank you, Liv," he replied blandly. And with that Olivia walked away in search of Abby. Jake knew he was partially to blame for his and Liv's relationship coming to an end. He was no boyfriend material, and he knew that his style of relationships at the time was casual, but he couldn't help but feel a slight sense of betrayal from the man he once thought of as his older brother. Fitz was the one person in the Navy he could trust. He always had a parental, big brother character to him that Jake admired. Having come from a pretty broken home, Jake admired him like an older brother, although it was now clear to him that Fitz had just played him like a fool.

"There we go," Fitz talked to himself as he put on the final touches of the patch he made on the wall to cover the ugly hole his temper created. He went downtown this morning to find a hardware store. He had promised Olivia he would fix the mess he made, and while the hole in the wall was only a superficial mess, it was a starting point. He put all the supplies back in the toolbox, and decided to leave it in the supply closet, in case Olivia ever needed to use it for other reasons at the resort. He figured it was a nice little gift. Proud of himself with the work he had done, Fitz returned to the boathouse.

He changed into a tank top and swim trunks, deciding to spend his day at the beach. He had spent so much time planning how to talk with Olivia that he hadn't really been able to enjoy any vacation time for himself, and it wasn't everyday he was on a tropical island. He grabbed his notebook and headed toward the beach. He found a nice lounge chair in the shade and plopped down, resting the notebook on his stomach. Fitz closed his eyes and felt incredibly tired, realizing that the total amount of sleep he had gotten since coming to the resort was within the single digits still. After days of restless nights, the exhaustion finally hit him, and hit him hard, as he quickly fell fast asleep.

Fitz must have been asleep for no more than five minutes when he heard a loud, angry scream.

"Fitz!"

No faster than he could open his eyes, he felt someone grab him by the collar and deliver a blow to his face. Fitz blinked rapidly, holding his hand up to his cheek to rub the sting away.

"Jake?" he muttered completely disoriented, "what the fuck?"

"It was you! You dated Liv!" Jake seethed. He wrestled Fitz to the ground in the sand. Fitz squirmed out from under him and flipped him over, pinning Jake down, surprising even himself since Jake was the younger of the two.

"What the hell is your problem?" Fitz yelled in confusion.

Just at the right moment, Stephen and Abby walked by. Stephen sprang into action, noticing the commotion occurring by the beach. Stephen always considered himself as a calming peacemaker, and thought it best to help. He approached the two to end the brawl that was ensuing.

"Whoa mate, off!" Stephen pushed Fitz off of Jake. "Now, what in bloody hell is this about?"

Jake got himself up off the ground and pushed Fitz back down roughly.

"He stole Olivia from me…" Jake huffed.

"I didn't steal her. She's not an object," Fitz said trying to get off the ground, but feeling rather weak. His chest was throbbing again and he had a massive headache. "She chose to be with me, and that was twenty three years ago. Get over it."

"Twenty three years…" Stephen whispered to himself. Staring at Jake who was wearing a Navy T-shirt, and looking at Fitz whose political career he was familiar with, Stephen finally made the connections.

"Navy boy?" Stephen uttered in almost disbelief, not having used those nicknames in over two decades. He turned to Fitz, "which means…Gatsby jr?" He hadn't realized that these were the other men from that summer.

"What?" Fitz shook his head in complete confusion. He was about to stand when he was struck again in the mouth by Stephen's fist, busting his lip.

"You asshole!" Stephen let out, punching Fitz again in the face. Stephen turned his attention to Jake, the Navy boy who he had heard so much about, who Olivia fawned over only to find out she was just another woman to him. He ran at him full speed, tackling Jake to the ground.

Fitz watched the two of them wrestle nearby, and used this distraction to try and escape. Using his remaining strength, he propped himself onto his hands and knees, but collapsed at the feeling of Jake and Stephen's combined weight which was now on top of him. He struggled beneath them as the three brawled in the sand, finally halting when they heard a large shriek.

"STOP!"

The men froze, looking up at Raya who was standing beside them, red in the face.

"What is going on?!" she cried.

"Raya, we're sorry we…" Jake stood up from the ground, unsure how to finish his sentence. Stephen followed suit and stood up.

"We lost control there. We're sorry, Raya. It's just…it's just we let some old romantic feelings bring out the dark side of us." Stephen tried to make sense of his outburst. He had never been a fighter, and he felt ashamed that Abby had witnessed a side of him he didn't even know he was capable of.

"Raya…this is going to sound strange, but we were all romantically involved with your mother," Jake said coming clean.

"I know!" she yelled.

Fitz rolled his head back. Of course she and he both knew. The real question Fitz had was how the hell it had taken Stephen and Jake so long to realize this revelation. From his peripheral Fitz saw Abby running with Liv toward them.

Great just what I needed, an opportunity for Olivia to see e getting into fights like some horny teenager, Fitz thought. He was ashamed and braced himself for the scolding that was to come. With a deep breath Fitz got himself off from lying on the ground onto sitting on his knees.

"You already knew?" Stephen asked Raya in a surprised tone.

"Yes…" she cried, starting to feel guilty for all the conflict she had created. This was exactly what Zeke had warned her about, and now it came to an eruption. She had the intentions of trying to have her dad come to her wedding, and instead all she had done was upset her mother and create unnecessary conflict. "I invited all of you guys here, because I-" Raya's voice caught in her throat. "-I wanted my dad to be at my wedding," she sobbed.

"I just wanted to meet you," she continued to cry, "but I didn't mean…I didn't think it would get like this. I just wanted to meet my dad before I got married and have him walk me down the aisle." Raya wiped the tears from her face. Olivia and Abby finally reached them. Olivia rushed to Raya, seeing her daughter cry and letting her motherly instincts take over.

"Raya, sweetie," Olivia hugged her and rubbed her back. Abby took Raya out of Olivia's arms and hugged her close.

"Liv, I can handle this. I think you should take care of them," Abby reasoned, eyeballing the three men. She knew Olivia was the better one when it came to scaring people straight. Abby wrapped her arms around Raya.

"Abby…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Stephen spoke shamefully. Abby ignored him and walked away, consoling Raya.

"What the fuck happened here?" Olivia yelled.

"I'm sorry…" she heard a low, weak whisper. Her attention was immediately brought to Fitz who didn't look good. He was bleeding from his lip and nose and his left eye and cheek were completely swollen.

"Fitz," she cried, full of genuine concern. She rushed to him and kneeled down to get on his level. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he nodded, and immediately grimaced from pain in his head that came from the movement. "Just dizzy," he concluded. She cupped his face in her hands.

"Try not to move your head too much," she instructed, worried he had a concussion. She helped Fitz onto him feet and provided support onto his side to get him to stop swaying.

"I'll deal with you two later," Olivia pointed to both Jake and Stephen.

"Ouch!" Fitz yelled. "That hurts!"

Olivia was cleaning the gash on his lip.

"It wouldn't hurt if you didn't yell and move so much," she replied annoyed by his complaining.

"I wouldn't have to yell if it didn't hurt!" he retorted before grunting in pain.

Olivia got Fitz's nosebleed to stop, and she was certain upon closer inspection that he didn't have a concussion or anything too serious, thank god. She handed him an icepack to help the side of his face that was swelling.

"Here, for your eye."

"Thanks," Fitz mumbled, placing the cold pack against his face. Suddenly Fitz realized he had left something and shot straight up. "Oh no!"

"What? What's wrong?"

"My-my notebook!" Fitz turned frantic twisting around, looking for it. "I-I-I left it at the beach. Oh my god, I don't know if it's still down there!"

"Fitz, relax it's just a notebook," Olivia said thinking Fitz was being way too dramatic.

"No, no it's not. It's really important!" Fitz jumped off the observation table, and stood much too quickly. The dizziness returned and he gripped the ends of the table to stabilize himself and ride out a wave of nausea that overtook him. Olivia immediately rushed to his aid and helped him back onto the table to lie down.

"Stay resting, okay. I'll get someone to go get it."

"It's really important Livvie, I need it now," he started to cry, shocking Olivia. She had never seen him like this. What could have possible been in the notebook that was so important it would make him cry if it was lost?

"Okay, I'll go back down to get it, but I need you to rest," she said, running a hand through his hair. Why was she suddenly so big on making sure he was taken care of? Olivia scolded herself. She didn't care about him…she didn't, right?

"Hurry…" he mumbled drowsily.

Olivia was about to walk out, which she thought was best for her sanity as well to put some distance between her and Fitz. She was stopped when Stephen and Jake blocked her in the doorway.

"We come in peace," Stephen said.

"What is it?" Olivia asked, sick and tired of all the drama and hostility from today. It was only the morning, and it already felt like it has been a week, and she still had her daughter's wedding in the evening. There was only so much she could handle at the moment.

"We need to talk," Jake said looking around the room, "all of us…about Raya."

"I'll say," said Abby as she walked into the doorway. "Don't worry, I finally got her to calm down, but this conversation needs to be had."

Olivia felt like the spotlight was on her, and not the kind of spotlight she preferred in her younger days when she was singer – no this was more of a headlight than a spotlight and she was a deer stuck in the middle of the road. The thing she had been trying to avoid all week, her three former partners wanting answers about her daughter, was facing her right now. She had spent so much time running from them, 23 years, but she couldn't run anymore. She felt cornered with no way out of this one.

"I…" Olivia began, "I…I don't know what to do next. You heard Raya. She wanted to know who her father was, so she invited you all here…and I guess maybe this whole mess is actually my fault…I should have been more open and honest with her when she was younger…" Olivia breathed heavily, fighting the urge to breakdown and cry.

"…I should have told her the truth…but the truth is I don't know…" Olivia stopped fighting as tears started to roll down her cheeks. One of her secrets that she consistently avoided was said out loud to an audience before her. "…I don't know who her father is…a-and I don't know if you guys want a paternity test or what, but she's an adult so you would have to ask her for permission, not me."

Olivia heard a small chuckle from behind her, and turned to see Fitz cackling lightly.

"A paternity test, really?" Fitz raised an eyebrow. He got up slowly from the observation table onto his feet, feeling steadier from moving slowly. He walked toward the others by the doorway, staring at Liv. She had already told him last night that not knowing Raya's father was her darkest secret that pained her almost everyday, and now the reckoning of that secret was upon them. He wanted to hug Liv and let her know that it was all ok, that she was ok, but given the company of Abby, Stephen, and Jake surrounding them, he thought better than to provide any physical comfort at the moment.

"Look I don't know about Stephen or Jake, but after everything, being on this island, at this resort, getting to know her…well, having even just a third of Raya is the greatest gift I could ever ask for." The crew remained silent for a beat until Jake chimed in.

"Being a third of her dad is great by me also…" Jake said, looking back up at Fitz and sticking his hand out. "No hard feelings?"

"No hard feelings," Fitz shook his hand.

"I'll take a third as well," Stephen agreed. "I never thought I would have kids especially come this age, so being a third of Raya's dad is more than I could ask for."

"Well I'm glad that's all settled now…" Abby breathed.

"How is she? Is she ok?" Olivia asked full of concern after seeing her daughter in the upset state she was in.

"She's fine. I think she just felt really bad about the drama she caused. She didn't think anyone would get hurt by it, and she feels real guilty."

"That one's on me," Jake sighed. "I started the fight, that was all my own fault and not on her. I let my anger get the best of me back there. I can go talk to her and tell her if it will make her feel better."

"That would be real good, Jake. Thank you," Olivia dismissed, and Jake turned on his heels and walked away with Abby and Stephen following shortly behind him.

Olivia chuckled to herself.

"Hmmm?" Fitz hummed, curious to her sudden change from crying to laughing.

"Her whole life she wanted a father, and now in one day she gets three," Olivia laughed, amused.

"Seems like things are wrapping up nicely."

"You know, you didn't have to say what you said to make me feel better," Olivia said, crossing her arms.

"I didn't. I said it because I meant it. Having even a third of a child with you – as weird as that is to say without the proper context – is the greatest news I've ever gotten."

Olivia laughed at his comment.

"More than finding out you became governor?" she eyed him.

"Far more," he stated promptly.

"Come on governor," Olivia helped Fitz back to the observation table and got him to lie down. "Let's get back to resting."

"Livvie?" he looked up at her with pleading eyes again.

"Don't worry, I didn't forget. I'll get your notebook right now." Olivia hesitated a minute, looking at Fitz's bruised face. For however bad he had broken her heart all those years ago, he had really come through for her the past couple of days. He had been beyond supportive of her and her daughter, and she was thankful. She reluctantly caved, kissing him gingerly on the forehead.

"Abby!" Stephen called, chasing after her. "Abby wait!"

Abby froze, waiting for Stephen to catch up.

"What is it?" she asked annoyed.

"I'm sorry," Stephen panted. "I'm sorry for what happened back there for getting into a childish fight like that. It was wrong of me. I don't know what got over me there, but it was like I was this young and dumb twenty-something year old again."

"The same young and dumb twenty-something year old that's in love with Olivia?" she said, this time angrily.

"No, no," Stephen shook his head determinedly "I'm not in love with Olivia. I mean I love her as a friend, but that's it. That's why I don't know what got into me back there? Because I don't have feelings for her…I-I have feelings for you…" Stephen whispered, blushing at his own confession.

"What?" Abby gasped.

"I have feelings for you, Abigail Wheelan. When I first saw you in your villa my heart skipped a beat. A-and I know we've only known each other for a couple of days, and I'm probably going to sound insane…but…but I just got offered a job covering the New York music scene, and I would love to accept the job and then take you out when I have the chance…" Stephen smiled brightly, hoping to make amends of his past, spontaneous and distasteful behavior.

"I would like that Stephen," Abby smiled. She hadn't dated anyone seriously since her divorce, and she really liked being with Stephen these past couple of days. He was very charming and energetic, she liked his positivity and childlike wonder. She reached into her bag and pulled out a pen and an old receipt she had stuffed there.

"Here is my number. And once you're in New York, give me a call," she handed the paper to Stephen. "I mean it. I'm expecting you to call me right when you get off that plane, Stephen Finch!"

"I'll call right when I land," Stephen laughed.

It took Olivia about fifteen minutes to finally find Fitz's notebook. It was by the beach chair where he was lounging, but had gotten some sand kicked up over it from the recent brawl. She barely managed to see the spirals of the notebook coming out from the ground and pulled it out of the sand, using her hands to try and brush off as much sand as she could from the cover of it. Olivia returned to the clinic to hand it back to Fitz and to check on him, but was greeted with soft snores.

Olivia put the notebook down on the counter and went to look at Fitz who was fast asleep. She ran her hand through his curls, eliciting a soft and peaceful moan from him while he remained in his slumber. She continued running her hands through his hair, soothing him into a deeper and deeper sleep, feeling sorry that he had gotten hurt because of her. She thought of getting more pain meds for him from the cabinet for when he woke up and waltzed back over to the counter. Olivia stopped, staring at the notebook. She wondered what was so important in there that the very thought of losing it was enough to make Fitz cry. She knew she shouldn't – it was probably personal; she would have been wrong to look in it. Curiosity got the best of Olivia however, and she opened it to reveal its contents, which brought her to tears.

Fitz quickly awoke, hearing the sound that he could recognize anywhere. It had followed him in his nightmares for years. He was convinced it was another incident of a bad dream, but as his eyes adjusted to the light and his mind became reoriented, he realized Olivia's cry was real and right in front of him.

"Livvie?" he lifted his head groggily and worried. "What's wrong?"

"What the hell is this?"

A/N: Hopefully Olivia will agree to giving Fitz another chance now that she has seen the lengths he will go to make sure she is okay. Well Jake and Stephen are all caught up, and it looks like all the secrets are out now, except for whatever is that Fitz has been obsessing over. Anyone have any guesses on what could be in the notebook?

I've almost finished writing the story. Before I even started I had a pretty decent outline of how I wanted everything paced. And while I know it's always sad for a story to end, I also don't want to drag it on past what it needs to have satisfying end. And I'm hoping you all will be pleased. But don't worry, there's still more excitement to come!