A/N: I know. I know. It's been like centuries since I updated. I have been super busy with school and writing random one shots. I happen to be working on another one of those right now as well. It's teenage Olitz btw. Anyway, let's get to my babies.

Fitz awoke to find Olivia's side of the bed empty. He rolled onto his back and looked around the dim room as he blinked awake, wondering where she'd gotten to. He yawned as he sat up and ran a hand through his wild curls. "Livvie?"

Her head popped out of the bathroom. She smiled at him. "Good morning."

He looked over at the clock. It was 11:07. "What are you doing up so early?"

He had kept her up late the night before, pinned to the bed by silk ties wrapped around her wrists while she writhed in desperation to avoid his teasing tongue. She grinned cheekily at him. "Well I had to do something about my neck. Are you hungry? Breakfast should be here any minute."

He yawned again as he got out of bed. "You ordered me breakfast? What would I do without you?"

"Go crazy, I'd imagine." He laughed as he joined her in the bathroom, stopping to plant a kiss on her cheek before making his way to the toilet. Olivia smirked at him. "Are we comfortable enough to pee in front of each other yet?"

"I'd imagine so. When we're married, we'll have to do it at some point." His mind went to his mother's ring, nestled among his belongings in his suitcase.

Olivia put down her toothbrush and turned to look at his back with wide eyes. "We're getting married?"

"Yes ma'am." He smiled at her over his shoulder as he flushed the toilet. She had never seen him so sure and was surprised by the heat that strummed in her core. She wrapped her arms around him, planting butterfly kisses on the valley between his shoulder blades. Fitz reached back and squeezed her hip. He leaned forward and ran his fingers over his stubbly chin. "Baby, why didn't you tell me how badly I needed a shave?"

Olivia blushed, not wanting to admit that it was because she loved the way his stubble scraped her inner thighs. She nuzzled his left shoulder blade with her nose. "I like you stubbly. But I'll shave you if you want."

He turned around in her arms, peering down at her with a smile. "Have I told you I love you yet today?"

"No." He traced the line of her jaw with his index finger. She rose up on her toes, her eyes eager. "Say it."

There was nothing she adored more than hearing those three words from him. Fitz grinned. "Should I say it? What do I get if I say it?"

She planted a whisper of a kiss on his Adam's apple. She wanted to get to his ear, the one spot that made him want to come out of his skin, but she was too short without her heels. How had she never realized how tall he was? Maybe because they hadn't spent much time vertical during their time together. She couldn't get enough of him. It was almost terrifying how she hungered for his skin and his closeness, the constellations of bruises he left on her with his wanting hands. "You get to hear me say it back."-

His hands slipped under the whispery white nightgown she wore, searching for her panties. He smiled when he found none. "Where are your panties little woman?"

Olivia gave an impish smile. "I thought they might get in the way so I left them off."

He moved to lift her onto the counter. "Good idea."

A knock at the door stopped them just before his lips met hers. Fitz frowned. "If I wasn't starving, I'd kick that bellhop's ass."

Olivia smiled, running her fingertips over his ears so softly that he almost moaned. "Be sweet, Fitzgerald."

He leaned over to kiss her once, his tongue roaming torturously slow over her bottom lip. "I suppose I can."

He found his undershirt and pulled it on then went to the door. After taking the breakfast tray and tipping the young bellhop, Fitz placed the tray on the round table next to the dresser and took a seat in one of the chairs. Olivia emerged from the bathroom and draped herself in his lap, smiling as she scratched his stubbly chin. "I didn't know what you wanted so I got a little of everything."

"Baby all I need is a little syrup to pour on you." He nuzzled her neck when she laughed.

"Stop it now." Her voice was bubbly with girlish giggles as she pulled his face away but he pressed his lips to her flesh again, nibbling softly on already marked flesh. Only when she began to quiver in his arms did he stop, resting his chin on her shoulder. She turned to kiss the tip of his crimson nose. "Do you ever stop?"

"I can't stop." He licked a hot trail from the valley of her collarbone to her chin. "I don't think it ever stops, the wanting you."

Olivia ate her pancakes, watching Fitz ingest a surprising amount of waffles and eggs. When he was full, he leaned back in his chair and gave a sigh. "I'm gonna miss this food when I go back."

"It's a wonder the army can keep you fed with the way you eat." Olivia gave his full stomach a pat as she passed him on her way to the bathroom to get the washcloth and his shaving kit. When she returned, he was still leaning back in the chair, his eyes closed. "Are you sleepy?"

"Just full." He clasped her waist when she straddled him. She caressed his face with the warm washcloth then lathered his chin and neck. "Remember the last time you did this?"

"I remember someone being quite flirtatious." Her hand moved steadily over his stubbly left cheek.

"I remember someone eating up said flirtation." She smiled, wrinkling her nose at him.

"So what do you wanna do after the war?" The end of the war seemed like such a vague time but she wondered where she fit into his plans.

"Be with you." It rolled off his tongue so easily. "We're gonna do everything in the world."

"I don't want everything." He opened his closed eyes to peer at her questioningly. "I just want a house with a little garden and a back porch. And bundles of babies."

"Bundles?" His fingers drummed on her thighs as she moved to his right cheek.

"Bundles." She smiled at him. "At least 6."

"I think I can do that. Can we have bundles of babies in Paris?"

Olivia was surprised. "Do you like Paris that much?"

"Well it's the most beautiful city in the world. And we can't stay here, unless that's what you want." He couldn't imagine her wanting to stay in Georgia, not when she was in far more danger than him. In Paris, they were just another couple.

She wiped the remaining shaving cream from his face, leaning over to nuzzle his now-smooth skin with her nose. "I've never been to Paris."

"It's beautiful. You'd love it."

"I'd love anywhere with you."

"Even crammed in that teeny tiny bed trying to take a nap in this heat?" Fitz had certainly experienced heat in California, but Georgia had the kind of humidity that made everything seem to move in slow motion. He stood with her hoisted in his arms and carried her to the bed, setting her down before going to open the room's only tiny window. Olivia smiled, laying back against a pillow as he joined her on the bed. He draped his body over hers, his head on her chest. She scratched his scalp the way she'd learned he liked, singing softly to lull him to sleep.

"Stars shining bright above you/ Night breezes seem to whisper I love you/ Birds singing in the sycamore tree/ Dream a little dream of me." She yawned, growing sleepy herself. Something about his scent and warmth never failed to relax her. "Say nighty night and kiss me/ Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me/ When I'm alone and blue as can be/ Dream a little dream of me."

XXXXX

"Hey Livvie, did you fall in?" Olivia smiled at her reflection as Fitz stood on the other side of the closed bathroom door.

"I'll be out in a minute. I'm just putting my face on." She leaned close to the mirror and drew her eyeliner on thick, like Marilyn Monroe. Her lipstick was a daring shade of red, the shade that Edison never kissed off her lips because it stained his mouth. She sensed Fitz wouldn't care. Assuming he noticed anything other than her dress. The halter bodice framed her collarbone and cleavage beautifully, and the low-dipping back showed off her shoulder blades. The full skirt stopped just below her knees and, paired with her black Mary Jane pumps with their sky-high stiletto heels, made her legs look miles long. She fluffed her curls and took a deep breath then emerged from the bathroom and found Fitz sitting on the bed. He wore a white shirt under a light gray suit. He looked up at the sound of the door opening and she stopped so he could look at her, unsure what he would say.

"Livvie…" She chewed the inside of her cheek, wondering what was next. She'd gotten used to having her fashion choices ridiculed for their lack of practicality or fabric. "You look…incredible."

Her cheeks flushed with heat. "You mean it?"

"Baby if we don't leave now, we're not gonna leave." Olivia blushed deeply as she made her way to the door. Fitz took a deep breath then joined her, taking a moment to pull her back against him. He moved her hair aside with his chin and kissed the curve of her jaw. "Are you sure you don't want to stay in?"

Olivia reached back to palm his cheek. "Stop being such a dirty boy, Fitzgerald."

XXXXX

Her arms rose, her fingertips reaching for something far out of her reach, and her hips began a feverish winding. The silk shimmered under the tulle of the dress' full skirt. Fitz had never seen her look so alive except when they were making love. He watched as her eyes closed, her pelvis pivoting back and forth to the bass player's sinfully loping strums.

"Shake it baby," the bass player called over the din of the jazz music. And she did. She was on fire, blazing like someone took a match to a gas can. Words tumbled to a halt as Fitz watched her dance. He had never seen a woman do that with her hips, her plump bottom bouncing rhythmically as her hips pivoted to the beat. He could see why Edison might not like her dancing, especially when he looked around and saw that several other conversations had stopped to watch her. She wasn't aware, her eyes closed, her mind somewhere deep in the melody of the nameless song. The bass player was riffing in earnest just for her, standing on the edge of the stage and peering down at where she stood below him. It was almost hypnotic, the way her body entranced everyone.

Fitz slid off his bar stool. She would have to stop that before he took her in front of everyone. Before he could get to her, someone else did, a tall blue-black man with a shining bald head. His hands clasped on her waist and her eyes opened, a glimmer of a smile on her face until she saw that the hands were not the ones for which she'd hoped. Her hips sputtered to a stop and she turned her head to look at the man holding onto her. Fitz couldn't read her lips, just her body language as she extricated herself from his grasp. She was uneasy, especially when she stepped out of his space and he stepped into hers. She tossed a look at the spot where Fitz stood, pointing at him and saying something to the man who followed her gaze and frowned deeply. Fitz stepped closer, weaving around people to get to her.

"Something wrong, Livvie?" he asked, looking at her with concerned eyes.

She looked back at the man, stepping out of his space and into Fitz's. She licked her lips. "No. I'm just ready to go."

"Okay." His hand found the small of her back and he moved to lead her away but a meaty onyx hand clamped the flesh of her upper arm.

"I know you're not leaving with him. A room full of good colored men and you take the white one? What's your problem, gal?" Fitz bristled at his hand gripping Olivia's arm. She wasn't strong enough to pull it away though she was certainly trying.

"I think you should let her go, man." Bleary black eyes flickered to clear ice blue ones.

The man smirked. "I think you should mind your business man. I was talking to the lady."

"The problem with that is that the lady is my business. Now if you'd let her go, it's time I got her home."

The man let Olivia go but only to step closer to Fitz. Fitz clasped Olivia's waist and pulled her out of the way of what he sensed would become a heated altercation. The man tottered toward Fitz on unsteady legs. He reared back to punch him but Fitz, being far more sober, was able to dodge the blow and deliver one of his own. The large man careened into a table with a crash that brought the music to a screeching halt. The band, sensing the trouble was only just beginning, quickly backed off stage. Fitz stood his ground as the man got to his feet and charged at him, waiting for him to get just close enough before he delivered another sound blow to the man's face. The man crumbled at his feet. Fitz stepped back and looked around for Olivia, only to find himself on the receiving end of a blow to the right side of his face. He immediately saw stars as he tumbled backward. It was only by sheer force of will that he didn't hit the floor. He shook his head, trying to stop his ears from ringing. He wondered who had hit him. He hadn't even seen the fist coming. He didn't see the next on coming either, but he managed to strike back. But there were too many fists. He swung wildly, connecting with anything he could. Were there four of them? Five? He couldn't count, couldn't do anything but fight back with everything he had. He managed to elbow what he guessed was someone's eye or nose judging by the groan that accompanied it and give himself the berth to hit someone else. He wasn't even sure if he was being hit as his adrenaline rushed. In the back of his mind, he wondered where Olivia was, but he couldn't pause to look, not when someone was trying to beat his face off his head.

"Nobody move!" Fitz blinked as everyone backed away from him. He willed his head to stop spinning. He didn't need to be fully cognizant to know that the authoritative tone was that of a policeman. He stood upright, wished he'd brought his military credentials. Olivia inched to his side, her hand on his lower back to help steady him. Several police officers, guns drawn, spread out around the club, pinioning club-goers in sections. The one who seemed to be in charge looked from Fitz to the man who had received the initial blow and was rousing himself to his feet. "Who started this?"

"He did," Fitz and the other man answered immediately.

The police officer looked from one of them to the other.

Fitz finally seemed to get a hold of himself. His ears weren't ringing anymore. "Officer, that man accosted my date and assaulted her. I tried to stop him and it got physical."

"He shouldn't have been in here anyway!" the man roared.

"We were trying to leave." Fitz looked at Olivia. She seemed much more contained than he'd have imagined she'd be. "He wouldn't let us go."

The cop looked at each of them as he put it together in his head. His eyes moved back to Fitz. "You're here with her? Is that what this is about?"

"This is about him putting his hands on my date." Fitz bristled as he realized what the cop was getting at.

The officer looked at Olivia. She felt herself go hot under his intense gaze as he looked over her outfit. "So you came with him?"

He pointed a meaty finger at Fitz. Olivia nodded. The officer's fat hand moved to the other man. "And he started the fight?"

"Yes. He grabbed my arm. Fitz only punched him because he wouldn't let us leave." Olivia thrust her arm out, already emblazoned with large fingerprint-sized bruises.

The cop looked around at everyone in the club. "Alright. This is how we're gonna do it. Everyone go home peacefully and we'll act like none of this happened."

Olivia slipped her hand in Fitz's, a gesture not unseen by the police officer. He looked at Fitz critically. "It's none of my business, but I think you'd find yourself in a lot less trouble if you'd find more fitting company, if you know what I mean."

"What?" The vein in Fitz's forehead bulged like it might explode as he stared at the policeman.

"Fitz." He turned his eyes to Olivia and his face softened. Tossing another glare at the author, he guided Olivia in front of him as they left the club. When they stepped onto the sidewalk, Olivia let go of his hand and rounded on him. "What the hell was that?"

Fitz blinked at her in surprise. "I was just trying to protect you, Livvie."

"You almost got yourself killed! Do you know how many men jumped on you?" She hated that her voice was so high-pitched and cracking, and that her throat was dry and her eyes were wet. "What would have happened if the police hadn't showed up? You could have died! How am I supposed to—What am I supposed to do if you…"

"Livvie…"

She held up her hand to stop him. "Let's just go."

The walk back to the hotel was quiet. Fitz held a handkerchief to his mouth to stop his busted lip from bleeding. Olivia maintained her chilly exterior as they rode the elevator to their room but she found she couldn't stay angry. He'd been protecting her, after all. And his face was so bruised. How could she be mad at him when he was obviously hurt badly. And he seemed so ashamed of himself for upsetting her, his shoulders stopped and his eyes doleful. She regretted yelling at him immensely.

He sat on their bed, the now-crimson handkerchief clutched in his hand. Olivia wordlessly took it from him, and exchanged it for a warm, damp towel. She wiped the blood from his lip and chin then lifted his face to look at him. His right eye wasn't as swollen as she might have expected it to be, his lip and cheek having taken most of the damage.

Olivia caressed his bruised cheek with her thumb. "I'm gonna go get some ice for your face."

He nodded and she left the room in search of an ice machine. He was still in the same spot when she returned a few minutes later. He didn't look up when she opened the door. She stood in the doorway, looking at him as he glowered at the floor. "Fitz."

He didn't look up, instead shaking his head, something that caused him to get a little dizzy. Olivia regretted the whole evening. "It's fine."

"It's not. It's not." He slammed his fist on his knee. "I mean, people looked at me funny when I showed your picture around the barracks but I never imagined… All that uproar just because you were with me. And what if you'd gotten hurt in all that commotion?"

He ran his hand over his bruised, grimacing face. Olivia's heart broke. She'd never seen him look so helpless. There was so much sunshine in his heart, so much love for her, that he couldn't fathom a world where them being together was wrong. "Come here to me."

He shook his head a little, quickly realizing that it was a gesture he'd best avoid. "I really don't feel like it."

Her voice firmer, she implored, "Come here to me."

Again he shook his head briefly. "I just can't… too much on my mind."

"Come. Here. To. Me." He finally looked up at the sound of her dress hitting the floor. She stood before him, gloriously naked, her arms outstretched to him. Her eyes were wide and glassy, her lower lip quivering. Fitz stood and walked to her, shedding his blood-stained shirt and pants along the way. She whispered kisses on his chest, holding him so clingingly that she was afraid she'd break him further. He knelt in front of her, his hands roaming to her hips. He bit her soft flesh, left marks because he was desperate. She let him because he needed to.

Fitz lifted her into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist. He walked them back to the bed and lay down. Olivia ran her fingers through his curls. Fitz pressed his face into the crook of her neck. Somewhere, she guessed in the hotel's restaurant, a saxophone crooned "When a Man Loves a Woman." She lifted his face so she could see him, cradling his head in her hands. She lowered his forehead to hers and smiled at him, much the same way she'd done in the movie theater. Fitz smiled. He couldn't help smiling, understanding that sometimes love worked in patterns.

He sat up and looked at her. Breasts the size of his palms, with perfect nipples like chocolate kisses. A waist made for him to clasp. Ample hips, soft and round, perfect for him to grip while burying himself so deep inside her. He lay atop her, resumed pressing his face into her neck, trying to meld into her.

"I was made to do this, to be right her right now with you." He kissed the hollow of her throat. He smiled against her neck. "What were you made for?"

"I was made for you." His hand slipped between her thighs, delighting in finding her warm folds slick with excitement. She withered with need beneath him, spreading her legs to welcome him. He pushed inside her gently, inch by inch until he was fully seated. He interlocked his fingers with hers, pulling them up onto the pillow on either side of her head. Neither of them moved. They just needed the closeness.

XXXXX

The next day his face looked a little better. The bruise on his jaw was a smaller and his lip wasn't swollen anymore. Olivia lay atop him in the tangle of their sheets, rubbing his marked cheek. She smiled at him. "You used to be so pretty."

Fitz brushed his bruised cheek as he took her hand away to kiss her fingertips. "I expected to look a lot worse."

"I'm just glad you're in one piece." She raked his hair back from his face. "But you won't be if you pull a stunt like that ever again."

"Yes ma'am." He gave her a boyish grin and a little salute. "So what do you wanna do today?"

"Something fun."

"Well that's specific." He raised his eyebrows and smirked at her.

Olivia smiled, wrinkling her nose. "Are you getting smart with me?"

"Are you gonna punish me if I am?"

She laughed as she rolled off him. "No. We're gonna get out of this bed and get out today. I swear we've spent the better part of this week lying down."

"We could spend every day lying down and you wouldn't hear any complaints from me."

Olivia laughed as she got out of bed. "Get up and get in the shower Captain Grant. We're going to the park."

An hour later they were out in the Atlanta heat, walking lazily through the park. Olivia wore a red polka-dotted dress with a full skirt that fluttered around her knees. Fitz found himself entranced by how young she looked with her hair pulled into a bun at the crown of her head. Olivia looked at him quizzically as he led her toward a playground. "Planning to pull my hair and run away?"

"Just get your sassy butt on the swing." He poked her side as she walked to sit on the swing. Fitz stood behind her and smiled as he gave her a push.

"I can't even remember the last time I did this." He wished everyone in the world could see the smile on her face as she swung back and forth.

"I never even got to do this growing up. Girls wouldn't even breathe in my direction until I was 20."

Olivia laughed. "I find that very hard to believe."

"I'm serious. I was scrawny and shy with no facial hair. I swear I was so invisible in high school that girls used to walk though me in the hallway."

"If only they could see you now."

"Pushing the most beautiful girl in the world on a swing. I've come a long way from the skinniest kid on the baseball team."

She laughed as she pointed to an open expanse of space. "Tomorrow, they're going to have a big fireworks show for the Fourth over there."

"Do you wanna go?"

She looked up at him with a smile. "Are you asking me on a date?"

Fitz stopped and pulled her against him. "Maybe. What if I am?"

Olivia laughed. "I'll go with you if that means we're going steady now."

"Oh baby, we're doing way more than that." He smiled, halting the swing to pull her into a kiss.

XXXXX

Fitz watched with a smirk as Olivia stared at two bottles of nail polish, one powder pink and the other lavender. She had been staring at them for a long moment, apparently quite unsure about which to choose. Fitz took the pink bottle from her hand. "I like this one."

"You think?" She looked down at the lavender one in her hand.

He nodded. "Well that's one pretty too, but this one seems more like you."

Olivia smiled as she put the lavender bottle down. Fitz pulled her feet into his lap. She looked at him in surprise. "You're gonna paint my toenails?"

"Yeah. I've done it before." She furrowed his eyebrows. "I have two sisters. I've painted toenails. I've even had my toenails painted."

Olivia laughed as she lay back on the bed. "Well go for it. I didn't really wanna do it anyway."

Fitz turned so that her feet were resting on his thigh and opened the bottle of polish. Olivia shifted so she could watch him. She almost laughed at the serious look on his face as he concentrated. "You have really little feet. I never noticed that before."

"Or maybe you just have really big feet."

Fit lifted his sock-clad right foot for them both to consider. "You think? I'm a size 12 and a half. That's normal. Isn't it?"

"Maybe for the jolly green giant." She laughed again. Fitz didn't. He just looked at her, thinking he'd never stop being in love with her. He went back to painting her toenails.

"The year I turned 15, I grew 8 inches and went up two shoe sizes. It was the craziest thing. I just sprouted like a weed." He smiled and suddenly he was a man-child again. "And my voice dropped. A lot. People kept mistaking me for my father on the phone."

"So you looked like this at 15 and girls still didn't like you?" Olivia couldn't imagine. "The must have been crazy."

"Well, a few liked me. But my sister Tess beat up the first girl that dumped me so girls stopped talking to me. Eventually I became invisible."

"That must have been some beating."

Fitz laughed. "Oh she kicked her ass something awful. Knocked out a tooth and broke her nose. Her nose is still crooked to this day."

"Remind me to never dump you." She smiled, wrinkling her nose at him.

Fitz smirked at her as he finished applying a second coat of polish to her toes. "You'd never dump me anyway."

He lifted her right foot to blow on the wet polish and made her laugh. She flexed her foot so she could see his handiwork. "Not bad. Very good actually. I didn't expect you to be so good at this."

"Well I am."

She smiled. "Have I told you I love you yet today?"

"No." He trailed kisses up from her left ankle to her thigh. "Say it."

She twined her fingers in his curls lovingly. "I love you."

"I suppose I love you too." He smiled cheekily at her.

She smirked back. "What do you mean you "suppose"? You just painted my toenails. You know you love me."

He laughed as he moved to lie beside her. She stroked his bruise.

A/N: So there might be two more chapters of smuff before reality comes knocking. Don't forget to review! XOXO