"Liv, come on, you've got to eat something."

She didn't want to eat. She didn't want to talk to anyone. Olivia had spent the last full day in bed, facing the wall. She attended the remainder of her classes for the week, turned in the appropriate assignments, and then got into her bed. She hadn't moved since. The hushed whispers and giggles she heard everywhere she went, were enough to make her want to never leave her bed.

"Fitz will be here soon." Abby said, and watched as Olivia's body moved some at the mention of his name. She tried again. "Maybe we should get you out of bed and packed for Santa Barbara before he comes to pick you up."

"Pick me up?" Olivia questioned, her voice slightly raspy due to its lack of use.

"Yeah, you guys have a plane to catch in a few hours. Tomorrow's Thanksgiving."

Olivia turned to face Abby, and the sight that Abby was met with broke her heart. She had never seen Olivia Pope look so helpless and broken. Her eyes were empty, void of feeling, and her cheeks were tear streaked. Her mascara was smudged heavily, and she seemed almost catatonic.

There were two quick knocks at the door. Both girls turned to see who was entering to find Fitz with a pained look on his face. He felt terrible about everything that had happened. Olivia's pictures, pictures meant only for his eyes, were taken and put out to ruin her reputation. They were sent to her father. Cyrus had gone too far.

Fitz took care of Cyrus the minute he had left Liv's sight. He had never felt so betrayed in his entire life. He saw red the entire way back to the dorms from the Dean's Office. How could Cy do that to me? He wondered, his hurt setting in. He was like a brother to me. Fitz got Dean Holland's personal number from his father, using his father's connections for the first time in his life. The Dean agreed to meet Fitz at his office, despite how late it was. He told the Dean of the events that transpired, and due to Fitz being the son of a personal friend of his, the Dean assured him that Cyrus would be off campus before the weekend was over.

When Fitz got back to the dorm, Cyrus was packing his things with his back to Fitz. Andrew lay on his bed on the opposite side of the room, reading a book. Andrew heard footsteps, and was barely able to register what was happening before Fitz' fist connected with Cyrus' face.

"Fitz, no!"

Andrew jumped up, running to pull Fitz away from Cyrus. "Jake, help me get Fitz!" He shouted. Jake ran into the room to find Andrew on Fitz' back as his hands were wrapped around Cyrus' throat. Jake had never seen Fitz look so angry. It was like he had snapped. He tried to pry his hands off of Cyrus.

"Fitz, let him go. He's not worth it."

"He's vile, Jake." Fitz snarled. "He's disgusting, and low, and fucking pathetic!"

"I know! You're absolutely right. But this isn't you. He's not worth ruining a clean, perfect record. Especially if you decide that you want to run for President one day. He's not worth it, man. He's scum, and karma is gonna bite him in the ass, but don't ruin your future."

Jake could see his words resonating inside Fitz.

Fitz closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, releasing Cyrus from his hold. Cyrus dropped down to his knees, his hands flying to his throat.

"You'd better be fucking thankful that Jake was here to save your life. And you might as well pack up all of your shit, because you're not getting a room change motherfucker, you're expelled." Fitz said with an arrogant smile.

"You can't do that," Cyrus said in disbelief.

Fitz closed the small space between them, Andrew and Jake on either side in case he hit Cyrus again. "I'm the son of a four term Governor, two term Senator. Just try and fuck with me. I dare you."

Fitz turned around, exiting the room. "When I get back, I expect you'll be gone."

"Hi, Livvie." He said softly, his voice full of hurt. It hurt him to see her so…so, fragile. The feisty, lively, brilliant woman he loved was hurt, and he didn't know how to fix it. He crossed the room, smiling sympathetically to Abby, who returned his smile. She squeezed his shoulder as she stood up, leaving Olivia and Fitz to their privacy, closing the door behind her.

"What's going on, Livvie? Talk to me." He opened his arms, and she instantly leaned into him, her head on his chest. She let out a heartwrenching sob before she could hold it back, and the floodgates opened.

She wasn't sure how long she cried for, her shoulders shaking as her sobs escaped her, but Fitz didn't once release his hold on her. He held her against his chest, occasionally rubbing her arm and her back. He knew how much her father's words had hurt her, and he wished he knew how to help her feel better. He would hold her for as long as she needed, if that were the case.

After awhile, the sobs turned to hiccups, and the hiccups to sniffles. Fitz was just beginning to think she had fell asleep, when he heard her soft whisper.

"Can you pass me a tissue, please?"

"Of course, beautiful."

"Don't call me that." Olivia rolled her eyes as he handed her a tissue.

"Olivia, you are the most stunning person I have ever laid eyes on. You are absolute perfection, and it upsets me that you think otherwise."

Silence stung the air as Olivia looked down at her lap. She opted out of that conversation, choosing another topic to discuss. "What time is our flight?"

"Let's just talk for a minute, okay?" He looked at her for a moment before continuing. "We can go down to the dining hall and get so-"

"I'm not hungry." Olivia cut him off.

"Liv," he said with a sigh, "When's the last time you ate?"

"Depends on what day it is."

"Honey, you can't do this to yourself. You have to stop punishing yourself, it's not your fault. You can't punish yourself for Cyrus' actions."

"Oh, can't I?" Olivia said with a hysterical laugh, her temper getting the best of her. "Because everyone else is! Do you know the things people are saying about me? The nicknames going around about me? 'Hey, look! There goes Grant's Touchdown! You gonna take pictures for us too?'"

She bit her lower lip, shaking her head as the lump in her throat built up. "My reputation here is ruined. My relationship with my father is ruined. But yeah Fitz, you can be upset that I don't feel very fucking beautiful right now. My life is in ruins, but everything's just well and dandy for you, isn't it?" She said with a clipped tone.

"Everything's all well and good in white man's land, huh, Fitz?"

She saw him visibly flinch at her words, his face displaying the hurt her words caused. She felt a twinge of guilt before brushing it off. She knew it wasn't Fitz' fault, but her anger got the best of her.

Fitz looked away from her, taking a deep breath before he spoke. "I think I should go."

"Fitz, I'm sorry, I didn-"

"Just don't, Olivia. It stung when your father said it, but you…" he trailed off, his voice cracking. "I didn't do this to you, Olivia. And if you feel that I'm to blame, if you feel that your father is right about you dating me, then maybe you should fly back home with Abby, and just take some time to think." He stood up, his back to her.

"Think about what, Fitz?" Olivia whispered. Nothing was making sense.

"If you truly want to be with me. Because I don't know if you do."

"All I meant was that it's hard for me to sit here and be getting all of the negative attention and the tarnished reputation!" She shouted.

"And I understand that, Liv! I get it." Fitz said as he turned to face her with his voice raised, throwing his hands up in the air. "I know it's hard for you, and from the bottom of my heart, I am sorry that this happened to you, and it's not fair that it's happening to you. But I'm not the one who did this to you, Cyrus is! And he's not walking away unscathed, I got him expelled. I got rid of him, for you." He said exasperatedly.

"….you did? When? Why?"

"Right after everything happened on Friday. As of Monday, he was no longer on campus."

"And why am I just finding out about this?" Olivia sat up, slightly.

"Because you're not the only person who had four finals. Not to mention 3 papers. I know it's been hard on you, but you're not the only one, Liv."

Fitz reached into his back pocket, tossing the plane tickets on her bed. "You and Abby can fly together back home. I'll buy a ticket for later tonight. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, Olivia." He left, shutting the door behind him. Not even two seconds after she heard the front door close, Abby ran back to her and Liv's dorm.

"I heard yelling. You and Fitz have never fought."

"Well, there's a first time for everything, now isn't there." Olivia said, her tone laced with annoyance.

Abby let a beat pass before she spoke again. "…do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really. I said something low, I knew it would hurt him. I fucked up, and now we're on a break. He gave me his ticket to give to you, and he said he would buy another one."

Abby moved around the room and packed while Olivia told her all about her and Fitz' fight. She told her about how she was feeling, the things people were saying about her, letting Abby in for the first time in days. About thirty minutes passed, when they heard a knock on the door.

"We're dead." Abby and Olivia said in unison before chuckling.

"You guys are so annoying with that." Quinn entered the room with a pizza box in her hand.

"Oh, yum, pizza!" Abby said, licking her lips. "Way to let us know you were gonna order some, Perkins!"

"Fitz just dropped it off for Olivia. Here." She said, placing it on the foot of Liv's bed. She leaned over, opening up the box, to find a sticky note with Fitz' handwriting on it.

Eat something. Please. I'm still mad at you. Love, Fitz.

Olivia smiled softly as she reread the end of the note. Only her boyfriend would be the one stubborn enough to nurture her and be upset with her in the same sitting. She hurt him, and she knew it. He cared for her more than anyone else had in her entire life. He got rid of Cyrus for what he did to her, he offered up his home to her, without even the slightest of second thoughts, and all she did was blame him.

"I gotta make things right, you guys."

The entire plane ride home was completely opposite of what Fitz originally thought it would be. He thought he and Olivia would people watch, creating different lives for each person they observed. She would make an observation, and he would say something corny, causing her to laugh and roll her eyes. Instead, he sat alone, listening to his itunes the entire flight.

He couldn't believe the turn of events over the last few hours. He thought for sure that the trip home would be good for the both of them. Being together, leaving everything that happened at Princeton behind them for a little bit. He could tell from his conversation with her earlier, that Olivia was thinking about transferring. He couldn't blame her, honestly. He was just concerned about what it meant for their future. Would they stay together? How would his parents react if he transferred to be with her? A million questions were running through his head.

Fitz was brought out of his thoughts by a loud ding. The pilot began to speak over the overhead speaker. "Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbelts, the descend to Santa Barbara is about to be underway."

"Mom?" Fitz called out as he walked through the foyer of his home. She was supposed to meet him at the airport, but he was greeted with one of his drivers holding up a sign with his name.

"Mom?" He called out again. He thought he had heard something in the den. He walked towards the noise, pushing open the door lightly. On the floor surrounded by family pictures, was his mom, Julie. She was sniffling, wiping at her face with the sleeve of her dark grey sweater.

"Mom?" He questioned worriedly. She turned around, trying quickly to hide the evidence of her tears. "Fitzy, honey!" She exclaimed, scrambling to her feet. She threw her arms around him, enveloping him in a hug. He hugged her back tightly, before pulling away.

"Ma, what's going on?"

"Oh, it's nothing honey, don't worry about it." She smiled at him, stroking his cheek with her thumb. "My baby boy is home now, everything is okay."

"That's not going to make me stop asking, and you know it. Come on Ma, I'm home now. We'll work through it, together. But you gotta talk to me." He held her hand. "What's going on?"

She looked down at the floor, as she shook her head. "…Your father is having an affair."

Olivia sat up, one of her cucumber slices falling from her face.

"Liv, what's wrong?" Abby asked, still in her spot next to Olivia, vowing not to mess up her facemask.

"I need to talk to Fitz. Something's telling me he needs me right now." She didn't know why, but her gut had never been so adamant about anything before.

"Maybe you should just wait til tomorrow, he's probably tired from the flight." Abby suggested. She was trying to get Olivia to relax and be drama free. Olivia calling Fitz didn't really fit into that plan.

Olivia ignored her, reaching for her phone to text him.

Hi. Thank you for the pizza.

Hi. Did you actually eat some, or did Abby do all of the work?

I contributed some…are you okay?

Nope.

Want to talk about it?

She bit her lip as she awaited a reply. He had been texting back right away up until now. Five minutes had passed with no response from him. She figured he was probably still pissed at her and wasn't ready to talk yet.

As soon as she started to give up hope on getting a reply, her ringtone for Fitz went off. She looked at the screen as Here Comes the Sun continued playing, a picture of her and Fitz making funny faces as his contact picture. She swiped her finger across the screen, before clearing her throat.

"Hello?"

"Does Abby still live on Sunset?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"Okay, I'm outside."

Her heart skipped a beat before speeding up, running over to the window. In Abby's driveway, sat Fitz in his Range Rover.

"You're outside!" Olivia confirmed.

"He's outside?" Abby yelled, sitting up for the first time, cucumbers flying to the floor.

Olivia ran over to put on her shoes, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head as she realized she still had on her avocado face mask. "Um, I need a few minutes."

Six minutes and a face wash later, the front door opened, and out came Olivia clad in Fitz' high school sweatshirt and black yoga pants. She walked over to the passenger side, taking a deep breath before opening the door. She sat down, closing the door behind her. Fitz' eyes bore a hole into the side of her head, but she continued to look down at her lap.

"Livvie," Fitz whispered, "look at me."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because I was an incredible ass to you, and I don't know how to look you in the eyes after that." She trailed off, her voice catching in her throat at the end. She shook her head slightly, begging the tears to stay at bay.

"You could start by actually looking at me." He said sarcastically.

"Fitz," She looked up finally, expecting to be met with an angry glare. Instead, his eyes were puffy and red. He looked miserable. She gasped a little, her hand caressing his cheek. "Baby, what happened?"

"I'll tell you later. You were saying?"

She sighed, making a mental note to get him to tell her, and not sweep it under the rug. "I was feeling overwhelmed with everything that was happening, and I'm so sorry for taking it out on you. I know it wasn't your fault, none of it was, and I'm sorry for using my father's words against you. I'm not my father, I don't think like my father, and I was just saying it because I was angry. You didn't deserve that."

"You're right." Fitz stated simply.

"So…are we okay again?"

"I don't know, Liv! You can't just do something really fucked up, say you're sorry, and automatically go back to things being the way they were!" He threw his arms in the air. "I'm not programmed that way, I can't just pretend what you did is magically nonexistent. I forgive you, but I'm still hurt by your actions, and nothing will heal that but time."

Olivia scoffed. "So if we get into a tiny argument, we're gonna be mad at each other for days at a time?"

"Olivia, if I do something like hanging out with the guys for a night, that's a completely different story than using the race card when it comes to our relationship. One is much more severe, and you know it."

"Why won't you let this go, Fitz?"

"Because I can't just sweep it under the rug. I can't just sweep things under the rug, and put on a happy face for everyone." His voice began to sound a little manic as he continued. "Everyone expects me to be okay with everything, and no one thinks of how anything is going to fucking effect me, and I'm sick of it." His voice broke then, the lump in his throat finally becoming too much to bear.

"Fitz, what's going on? I need you to talk to me." Olivia pleaded, holding his face in her hands as tears silently streamed down his face.

He told her his mother's news; about how his father had been cheating on her for the last year with his 26-year-old secretary, Hope. He told her about how his father would possibly have to step down from the Senate, once the scandal broke out. Fitz and his mother would have to play the role of the doting family who stands united in their time of need. Fitz begged his mother to leave, to tell his father to fuck off and the two of them could leave and be on their own, but she said it was detrimental that they kept up appearances right now.

"I think she's just too scared of living life without him." Fitz murmured, sniffling slightly.

"Well, I mean, look how long they've been together. When you've spent nearly all of your life with one person, you probably don't remember what it's like to really be on your own." Olivia rubbed the back of his hand soothingly. They had been in Abby's driveway for nearly half an hour at this point, and Olivia was so exhausted from the day's events, but she wouldn't dare leave his side right now.

"Do you want to go inside?"

"I don't really feel like being around people right now, honestly. I was wondering if you wanted to come home with me? I mean, if you still want to stay with me an my family. I don't know if Abby's folks wo-"

"Fitz, shut up! Yes. I'll go get my things." She leaned forward to kiss him lightly. About halfway through her motion, she realized that she wasn't sure if he would actually kiss her back. But before the thought could be fully processed, he captured her lips in his, breathing her in. His tongue danced along her lower lip, before sucking it into his mouth, enveloping her in another kiss. Sooner than she wanted, they broke apart.

"Liv?"

"Hmm?" She said, her eyes still closed, her body leaning forward.

"Aren't you going to go inside and get your things?" He chuckled a little for the first time that whole day.

"Oh." She blushed, opening her eyes. "I'll be right back."

Fifteen minutes later, they found themselves entering a dead end street. Behind a giant black gate, stood a grand styled house, that could only be their destination. Fitz' house was bigger than she remembered it.

"We've moved since you were last at my house" He stated, as if he were reading her mind.

He pulled up to the gate, punching in the code on the keypad. The gate swung open, and he drove up the driveway, making his way to the entrance of the garage.

Olivia hadn't realized just how well off Fitz and his family truly was. Granted, she never had to ask her parents for anything, but Fitz had what her father would call "Old Money".

Olivia had to admit, she was incredibly nervous about seeing Jerry and Julie Grant for the first time in at least over a decade. She knew they would ask questions about her mother, questions she wouldn't want to answer. Things from her past she had done a good enough job trying to keep out of mind all these years.

Fitz squeezed her hand, bringing her out of her thoughts. She looked over at him and smiled as he parked the car, shutting off the engine. They got out of the car and she went to retrieve her bags from Fitz' trunk before he stopped her.

"Come inside." Fitz offered his hand.

She took it without hesitation, following him through a door that led to what Olivia assumed was the family room. Pictures of Fitz and his family were spread throughout the room. Fitz' senior picture hung on it's own wall, and Olivia smiled at how handsome he looked in his royal blue cap and gown.

She walked around the room, looking at pictures of Fitz from his childhood; on his father's shoulders at the beach, asleep on Christmas morning underneath the tree next to his toys.

"I want a copy of this one. You look adorable." She smiled, her fingers touching the frame.

"I'd like to think I look plenty adorable now." He pouted.

"You've always been adorable, Fitzy." A voice said from behind them. Julie Grant entered the room, and Olivia could see that Fitz was practically his mother's spitting image. Her wavy brown hair was pulled back into a bun, and her blue eyes were wide and captivating, just like her son's.

"Olivia Carolyn Pope, my, how you've grown." Julie extended her arms and Olivia walked into them, giving the elder woman a hug. She squeezed Olivia tightly, and Olivia closed her eyes, taking in the moment. It had been awhile since she felt a mother's touch.

Julie pulled away from the embrace, holding Olivia to get a good look at her. "You look every bit of beautiful as Maya was." She said with a smile, tears forming in her eyes. "I was at her funeral, you know. Just way in the back. I don't think your father would have wanted me there."

"Why no-"

"Come on dear, let's get you guys upstairs, it's getting super late. You're probably exhausted. Hannah will get your bags."

"Hannah?"

"Our housekeeper." Fitz answered.

Julie led the pair up a flight of stairs, a dimly lit hallway ahead of them. "Fitz, honey, I'm going to bed. I'll see you two in the morning. Happy Thanksgiving." She said with a small smile, kissing them both on the cheek.

Fitz took Olivia's hand in his as they said their goodnights to his mother, before entering one of the rooms to the left. Olivia could tell it was his room, before he even turned the light on. It had his scent. She could never fully explain what he smelled like to her, and she had never shared this fact, but she always thought that he smelled like home.

"Do you want me to get you towels for a shower?" He asked quietly.

She shook her head no, walking over to the bed and laying down. She patted the spot next to her, silently asking him to join her. He shut off the light, before walking over to the bed. He sat down on her side, taking off her shoes, following along with his. He took his shirt off, throwing it on the floor, before walking over to his side. He laid down next to her, her body instantly molding around his.

"I don't want to do anything else but lay here with you. Everything else can wait until tomorrow." She whispered, her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"Tomorrow." Fitz agreed, wrapping his arms around her. They had been through enough for one day.

Well, there's the update! This is going to be a part 1/part 2 kind of chapter since so much is happening. What did you guys think about Olivia & Fitz' first official fight? Who do you side with? Or can you see both sides? I'll try and update really soon, but for right now, I'll just say Happy New Year, and see you all then! As always, reviews are loved and appreciated!