C. 3

An alarm was going off, Fitz rolled over and saw Edward was there. He pulled the covers over his head and tried to go back to sleep.

"Get up, we're going for a run!"

"leave me alone, it's 4:30 in the morning!"

The next thing he knew he was being abruptly rolled out of bed and clothes were being thrown at him.

"If you're not downstairs in ten minutes, it'll be water thrown on you next."

Fitz groaned, got up and made his way to the bathroom. Fitz had no idea why Edward was being such a hardass, they had always gotten along for as long as he could remember, although Fitz was being cold towards both he and his mother. He knew he better not mess around, Edward had been an army military intelligence officer after college, which is the main reason his mother settled for his father. Edward had been her best friend in college, but neither of them made the move to date, so when his opportunity to advance in the military came, he took it, while my mother was heartbroken she truned to Fitz' father. After Edward left the military they reconnected and the rest is history.

Fitz trudged downstairs and put his headphones on.

"Take those out, we are gonna talk."

met Edward was going on a run to Manassas battlefield, three miles, leave it to the former officer and history professor to run to a battlefield. Fitz rolled his eyes, could only imagine what this was about.

Edward didn't wait for anyone so he had to hustle to keep up and decided to pass him. This game of passing each other went on for much of the three miles, as each tried to get away from the other and show who was in the better shape.

"Would you quit being such a dick… you've been nothing but rude since you've been here and are acting more and more like your father everyday."

Fitz turned around and glared at him "What did you just say?"

"You heard me… you're acting like your father…"

Something snapped that made him immediately charged at Edward , which was a mistake because he easily put Fitz in a move where Fitz was stuck. Although Fitz might be strong enough to take on his drunk father, Edward was tall and unassumingly strong, which left him no chance.

"Can you calm down? I'll let you go and we can talk."

"Yes."

"Listen Fitz, I know you're a good kid and I care for you like a son, but the way you've been treating your mother has been really shitty, he said as he released him.

"Really, and how do you think I should treat the other half who abandoned me? I don't know why they even had me if I was going to be such a burden… how do you expect me to feel about parents who don't want me?" He was becoming emotional, he had never told anyone this but had felt this pain for years since his mother wouldn't let him move with them.

Edward sighed "I told your mother she should've told you right away when he threatened us, but she thought it was best to protect you and by being with him he wouldn't hurt anyone."

"What are you talking about?"

"Fitz, when your mother and father's divorce was settled, we wanted full custody of you, but Jerry wouldn't allow that. He said you were a Grant and needed to be raised like one, you were destined to be President someday and he wasn't going to let us ruin that. We tried to fight him but he has connections, he threatened our jobs and you. We didn't believe him and tried keeping you here, but do you remember that bad car accident when you were seven, you had a bad gash on your head?"

"I still have a scar."

"It wasn't an accident Fitz, your father was showing us how far his power reached and letting us know this would just be the beginning if we tested him. I wanted her to tell you after you asked to stay here with us five years ago, but she was afraid if you knew that what you would do when you got back home, you were scrawny then and who knows what Jerry would've done to you? You have to understand your mother did what she was best to protect you, if there would have been another way that would have kept you safe, we would've taken it."

Fitz day back and ran a hand through his hair, letting out a sigh. He was trying to process all this new information and felt overwhelmed by it all.

"I've been such an ass…." Fitz mumbled as Edward sat down next to me. He shook his head and could feel his hatred for his dad rising felt horrible for how He refused to see them the past five years and the way he'd been treating her since he moved here.

"Yeah, you kinda have been, but you can change that. At least the only good thing to come out of that is your dad thought this would be a horrible place and punishment for you, that's why he let you move here. He thought taking you away from your school, friends and football would be an even worse punishment than staying under his control. By the time high school was done he thought you'd be crawling back to him.'

They sat there for an unknown time, as an uncomfortable silence grew between them. Fitz promised to talk to his mom when I got home and treat her better. She deserved that for all the misery he put her through when she was just trying to protect him.

They headed back, and took a shortcut so our run ended up being 5 instead of 6 total miles. When they went inside the house his mom was sitting there drinking her coffee and reading the news paper.

"How was your run guys? I made you breakfast sandwiches."

Fitz walked over to her, gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks mom, I really appreciate it. I'm gonna take it to go, I'm going to the school with the Popes to lift and get a tour of the school. Please remember to have my transcripts sent over."

She gave him a confused look, then responded. "Of course honey, I can come over in the afternoon and sort things out with Maya. I only have one class this morning at 10 and can cancel office hours this afternoon."

"Thanks mom, I love you and I'm sorry for being such an ass. I promise to be more like the son you taught me to be," he gave her another kiss and walked towards the door. He could see her give Edward a questioning look in the reflection of the glass and he told her he'd explain to her later.

Olivia was fixing her hair and making sure her outfit look good. Normally she wasn't too concerned when she was going for a cross country workout, but knowing she'd be riding with Fitz and seeing him most of the day, she wanted to look nice. She had packed her bag with a change of clothes and essentials to shower, she knew how much she'd sweat running six miles.

"Whoa, look at you making sure you look good to go run…. mmmm I wonder, WHY in the world you'd be concerned about your looks for a cross country workout" Jackson sarcastically laughed.

She threw her pillow at him and told him to shut it.

"Look Liv, if you like Fitz there's nothing wrong with that. From what I see he's a good guy and he's definitely into you. You know my feelings about Brody, but regardless of what you think, you neeed to tell Fitz about him, you can't lead him on, especially since Brody will be back on Monday and they'll be football rivals."

Jackson always gave the best advice and knew her better than anyone, it was part of the twin thing. She knew he was right, but she was scared. She feared if she told Fitz about Brody he'd run and she'd never get to explain. She knew girls would line up to date him once they were at school and he'd easily forget about her before she stood a chance,

"Look if he's the type of guy I think he is, he's not gonna run, he's gonna fight for you and if he doesn't then I'll kick his ass!" He laughed as he put his arm around me and gave me a hug. "Meet me downstairs in five minutes, Fitz should be here any minute."

She grabbed her headphones and phone. Her phone went off again as Abby messaged er requesting more details.

"Olivia Carolyn Pope, what has happened, did hotstuff kidnap you?" -Abby

She laughed at her friend. "I'm going to the school with him and Jackson now. His name is Fitz, he's in our grade and he's a really genuine guy. I'll call you tonight and fill you in on the rest."-O

"OMG you're in love! Ok I CANT wait to hear all the horny details!"-Abby

She laughed as she turned off her phone going down the stairs tripping as she reached the bottom crashing into Fitz who gracefully caught her. They both smiled at each other.

"Hi"

"Hi" his body was warm and strong, and she liked the way it felt to have him hold her. His earthy, woodsy scent washed over her and she felt the same sensation that she had the night before, but even more intense.

Jackson interrupted the moment laughing as he spoke, "Let's go you two before we're late. Liv grab the smoothies mom made us out of the fridge."

The entire time she ran she couldn't get the vision of Fitz catching her out of her head. His scent, the way he held her and those piercing blue eyes, like he was trying to see into her soul. She watched the time for more than just her mile splits, but to countdown the minutes until she'd get to see Fitz. After six miles they always headed into the weight room and would overlap with the football players for about ten minutes before they went out for conditioning. She couldn't stop imagining how great Fitz body would look lifting, he had a sleevless shirt on with holes cut too big so his abs and chest were visible. she ran faster than normal hoping it would make the time move faster.

Fitz was spotting her brother who was trying to show off. He was wearing a cut off shirt and she could see all the muscles in his arms flex when he had to help Jackson finish his last rep. His hair was messy and held back by a head band but Fitz looked unbelievably sexy, he caught her looking at him as he returned the bar to the rack,smiled and winked at her. Olivia could feel herself blushing and walked over to a squat rack near them.

"How was your run?"

"Great, my splits are we really fast today, and I feel pretty good, it should be a good season."

"You know I can always run with you, if you ever want a partner?"he smiled his warm smile and closed the space between them.

"We can see if you can keep up…" she laughed as she loaded weights onto the bar.

"Ouch…" he grabbed his chest as if he was stabbed in the heart, and sat down on the bench. He easily completed his set with the weight Jackson struggled with, she watched his muscle glisten with sweat and needed to focus on her own workout before anyone else noticed how much Fitz captivated her. He got up and helped Jackson unload the weight. "I'll see you in a little bit,we're heading out to field," he smiled and head to leave.

"I can't wait," she said softly, not sure that he heard but checking him out as he walked away.

"Who is he?" asked Julia a Junior.

"Fitz, he's new, he's my neighbor."

"Well he is fine and I think you already noticed that."

Fitz and Jackson lined up for sprints to finish practice. He thought he had made a good first impression and seemed to get along with most of the players on the team.

"You're a receiver you better beat me, or I'll never throw you the ball!"

"Alright California, let's see what you got"

Jackson easily won and they laughed as they jogged back to the line.

"Yo man I just wanted to race you so we could talk. I don't know if you can tell, but I can, my sister is really into you. Her and I have always been close and being twins we can just read what the other is thinking and she's never acted around a guy the way she's acting around you."

Fitz smiled as his heart skip a beat, "I'd never do anything to hurt her, you don't' have to worry. I really like her too, I've never met a girl like that before, she's so different from most girls."

"I know all that because I'd have to hurt you if you did, but I just wanted to tell you, don't give up on her, and fight for her. Once football and school starts things will get crazy and I'm sure all the girls will fight over you because you're the new hot thing, but believe me, Liv is worth fighting for." Jackson punched him in the arm and took off to join the rest of the receivers to finish up position work and left him to his thoughts. Fitz already knew Olivia was special and was sure she has a fair share of guys lining up to date her, but he felt they had a connection, something that doesn't come along often. Whenever he caught her this morning he felt a jolt of electricity and knew she did too. He was determined to make her his before school started.

All three of them met up after our workouts and headed into her mother's office.

"I always thought QBs were weak" Olivia teased as she playfully hit him.

"Then you don't know any good quarterbacks. Besides how would you know, were you checking me out?" he teased her back, knowing there was truth behind this question.

Olivia blushed and giggled as they walked into the office. His mother was sitting there with Mrs. Pope eating lunch and discussing dinner plans.

"What do you guys think of having dinner together tonight? We figured it would be nice before the school year and sports start. Everyone is done with work early tonight, plus Fitz can meet Eli," Michelle asked.

They all agreed it sounded like a plan. Maya explained that she would need to review his file and he could take some placement tests next week to get a better assessment of the classes he should be placed in but she predicted he would end up in many of the advanced courses, similar to Olivia and Jackson. He saw Olivia's smile about this out of the corner of his eye.

The three of them spent the rest of the afternoon on a tour of the school and throwing around the football while Liv read a book. After that Fitz left with his mother for a haircut and clothes shopping. They talked about their past, and she apologized for letting him down while he apologized for being such as jerk.

"I'm so glad I got to spend today with you and I look forward to seeing you tonight :-)"-OP. Fitz smiled and was glad to have gotten a haircut and new clothes.