Thank you so much for all the reviews and follows. This is the first Olitz Fic I've ever posted—and it was so affirming to hear from all of you that you not only enjoyed the story, but that the emotion I felt was passed on in the pages. I'll take it. Enjoy, here's part two, written in Olivia's point of view.

Chapter Two

The door of the Oval Office shut with a thump behind her and Olivia knew that it would be a long time before she ever stood there with him again. Maybe it would never happen again. Suddenly she was overcome with a feeling of sickness and abruptly changed paths. Vaguely aware of agents on her heels, but careful to keep their hands off her, they guided her gently to the nearest bathroom and stopped at the door as she barreled in and shut the stall behind her. She bent down and emptied the contents of her stomach into the bowl.

The floor felt like ice to her heated skin and provided cool comfort as she leaned back and rested her head against the wall. She slammed the lid down and flushed the toilet before getting up and sitting on the seat. She snatched a piece of toilet paper and wiped her mouth, the scent of lilies strong in the air. White noise roared in her ears. Her relationship with Fitz had been irrevocably changed. Excitement still thrummed through her body at having been near him. It was a physical reaction she was powerless to stop and frankly, she didn't want to. Despite the sheer impossible situation, she was never sorry for loving him, for wanting him. But now, she sat shell shocked by the news that he seemingly didn't want her anymore.

Nothing in her mind would allow her to believe it was true, but she fell into Fixer mode immediately when she felt her emotions begin to threaten her. It was embarrassing enough that she had just gotten sick in front of agents who knew of her bold and brazen love affair with the President. She was sure that this visit would keep the rumor mill going. Did she still have their respect? She wondered. Did they feel sorry for her? Did they care one whit about her once she was beyond the bounds of the White House? Were they just doing their jobs? Olivia Pope would have rarely admitted that she cared what other people thought, but she cared a great deal. Her reputation was all she had. Or so she thought.

After taking a moment to check her reflection, Olivia stood up and marched out of the bathroom and took the long trek back to her car at a savvy march. She didn't meet anyone else's gaze, didn't answer any questions or acknowledge any greetings from White House staffers. She slammed the door shut on her car and took out her cell phone while agents flanked the outside. Once the Bluetooth connected she reversed the SUV from its parking space and sped out.

"This is Abby Whelan."

"Abby, it's Olivia. I need you to get me a hotel suite. Downtown optional, but not at anything near GW or the State Department, got it?"

"Olivia, are you all right?"

"Can you do it, Abby?"

There was a pause where Olivia could actually hear the wheels turning in her friend's mind. They had recently made up but things were still tense. Would she forgive her and help her again?

"I can do it."

"Thank you, text me with the room number and then meet me there." She disconnected the call and kept driving, mindlessly dialing the next person she needed, Huck. She heard the line connect again and started talking. "Huck, it's Olivia. I needed to tell you, I—I'm going to be unavailable for a couple of days." She heard his breathing increase. "But I wanted to tell you I'm staying in town. I'll be here, I'm not disappearing, I promise. Do you hear me? HUCK?"

"I hear you."

"Okay," Olivia sighed, "one more thing. Have Quinn deliver my laptop and a couple of changes of clothes to the hotel suite Abby's booking now. And get Jake the hell out of my apartment." She paused as she negotiated careful one-way turns through the city. "Huck, don't hurt him," she added, "Just tell Quinn to make an excuse and get him to leave. I just can't have him there right now, okay?"

"I'm on it."

She parked and stared out into the dark DC night and the dam of tears she had been holding back suddenly burst forth. She gasped and cried her head in her hands, letting the emotions overtake her for just a few moments. When she had nothing left, silence filled the car as she immediately switched on NPR unable to withstand it. She waited for Abby to send her the information she needed. She took the opportunity to send Jake a text message and pushed all thoughts of her conversation with Fitz out of her mind purposefully.

'I'm fine, with a client.' She hit send.

'I'll be unavailable for a bit, but I'll keep in touch. Quinn is coming over and the client may need my space, so.' The gentle whirring to signal that both messages had been sent.

'Are you all right?'

'Fine, promise. Be back soon.' She read that he would be in his suite and that she was welcome to stay with him there. Ignoring the reply she quickly texted Abby to make sure she didn't book Olivia at the Omni, since Jake was already there, and then dropped the phone into her purse unable to focus and interact with him for one second longer. She was starting to lose it. She needed to get somewhere private and she needed it now. She contemplated driving out of the city but she needed to be there in the morning. She couldn't be at her own apartment though, the paparazzi would be camped out within minutes and she didn't think she had the strength to deal with it. She needed to be available in case Fitz—she was jarred from her thoughts by three rapid fire text messages sent by Abby with the suite information. She sniffled and sped off in the direction of the hotel.

Abby opened the door without a word and ushered Olivia inside. Cyrus had called Abby, and for that Olivia was grateful, but she noted in the back of her mind that he hadn't called her. At least she didn't have to update Abby on what was about to transpire. She crossed the living area and closed the bedroom door behind her with a word to Abby to wait on Quinn's arrival and an update from Huck. When the door clicked home, she fell to the ground, her butt hitting the plush carpet with a quiet thud. It was cold, the air conditioning just shy of being loud enough to drown out her thoughts. She crawled to the bed and pulled the covers back, climbing inside only taking the time to kick off her shoes.

Her mind went immediately to the anonymous hotel suites she'd shared with Fitz. How the cool sheets had always made her gasp when they came in contact with her heated flesh. The way that Fitz liked to stretch out above her and the way she reveled in that feeling. Then her heart began to race with the impossible notion that he would never do that again. He was getting divorced from Mellie, but why did Olivia feel as though he were divorcing her, too? Because he was, she knew it. He had never been alone in her presence where he didn't try to send her the message that he loved her, wanted her, and needed her. And now she lay with the knowledge that he had no intention of ever being alone with her ever again.

The thought could not take hold. The finality of his words were just plain wrong. Stupidly she looked at her phone to see if he had called like so many other times before when he knew she was upset. He hated to see her hurt. He hated for her not to have her way if there was something he could do about it, didn't he? She sat up in bed and drew her knees up to her chest. She leaned back against the headboard and felt so small alone in this bed.

Silent tears fell down her cheeks as questions slammed through her mind. How could he do it? Why did he do it? Why now, why today when everything was fine? Mellie was fine, Karen was fine, and the American People were fine. Then she knew. Fitz wasn't fine. They weren't together; she was with Jake, waiting for what…? She didn't know. She had pushed him too far, she had a sinking feeling. It was too much to ask him to watch her carry on a relationship with Jake in public after what had gone on. Jerry's death, Jake's interrogation and subsequent release, the punishment of the Secret Service Agent who was physically responsible, and the inability to now prove that it was her father who had orchestrated it all. No justice for Jerry, no love left from anyone for Fitz, except from his constituency. She knew now what he was trying to do. He was trying to be a good President. She didn't want to get in the way of that, but if it meant that he was out of her life forever in every way, how could she agree?

Her mind turned to getting him to change his mind. Not about the divorce, but about her. She didn't know what to do about Jake, and she couldn't yet decide. But Fitz out of her life forever wasn't an option. So she had to come up with a way to make him see that. She could work this for him, she could fix this behind the scenes, and she could make this divorce fall out as short as possible. Then, when he was over it, when Mellie was gone, then she would show up in the Oval and he would be thankful. He would be glad to see her, she just knew it.

Ignoring the niggling thought in the back of her mind that somehow her plan might be pointless given Fitz's new position, she heard Abby and Quinn's voices so she got out of bed to face them. Though she felt cloudy standing there talking to them, she knew she didn't have to put on pretense. She just needed to tell them what she wanted. And then they had to go away.

"The President is getting a divorce," Olivia began. Abby's face remained stoic and calm while Quinn's jaw dropped. She began to sputter questions and Olivia put up a hand. "Quinn, it doesn't mean anything for me. The President is not getting a divorce for me. I'm with Jake." The words tasted terrible coming out of her mouth and Quinn fell silent. "We are not working this for him," Olivia lied on. "We're doing this for me, I'm the client. I can't be in my apartment because the press will try to spin this in a million different directions trying to figure out why." She looked to Abby, who recognized her cue.

"I'll keep you informed of his interview schedule, any statements he might make; I'll try to send over to you as quickly as I can. I don't know what he's doing or how much longer I'll have my job-"

"Not long," Olivia interrupted. "Just do what you can and then get me every bit of information you can on your successor." She saw a shadow fall across Abby's face but felt a sense of pride when her friend nodded. She was a gladiator first—she was back in the fold. "Make the new Press Secretary think the message was their idea. This divorce is putting his family first. He and Mellie will jointly parent, the death of their son made them see that life was too short to be unhappy." Olivia paused, her own words smacking her in the face.

"I'll suggest one solo television interview after we release the First Lady's statement." Abby looked to Quinn, who jumped into action after watching Olivia's face with open sympathy.

"I uh, brought you everything I could think of, sorry, hope it matches. I got you a burner phone, and here's your laptop. Huck is working on upping the security and data integrity at OPA, moving everything to new servers, and he'll get you passwords within the hour. I brought you a few bottles of cabernet too," she motioned to the medium sized cooler bag by the door.

"That's all for now," Olivia said, her breathing increasing as she fought to stave off the panic. The sun was coming up through the drawn curtains. Maybe the news had happened too late for the morning papers but the news shows would definitely be covering this. She didn't want to watch, but she most certainly would.

She tried to sleep but only managed to doze a little. In a couple of hours the morning media would be frenzied and she needed to feel useful. She turned off her phone because she knew Jake would call as soon as he heard. He would know why she was gone. It wouldn't take him long to find her, but she trusted in his good sense of self-preservation to stay away until she was ready.

Olivia sat on the bench in front of the bed and turned on the television. She muted the weather and waited for the newscasters to begin. Her mind drifted back, inexplicably, to Fitz and the last time he had touched her. She remembered her body surging in pleasure so immediate and overwhelming that she had wanted to let it take her over. Why had she stopped it? Because he wouldn't have done it if he'd known the truth and she stupidly picked that same moment to test her theory. She didn't want the reestablished connection between them to be based on a lie. And she couldn't have him with the truth.

When no new Press Secretary, but Fitzgerald Grant III himself stood at the podium she scrambled for the remote and turned up the volume.

"As most of you know, this morning my divorce from the First Lady became final. On behalf of our entire family, we want to ensure that the public knows we did not enter into this decision lightly. We remain faithful to our roles of service to the American People, and will continue in those roles for the rest of our lives. This dissolution of our marriage is not based on any wrongdoing, but out of a mutual desire to parent our remaining children," Fitz's voice caught and he paused. Olivia felt her heart break a little further. "Excuse me," he said, before going on, "to parent our children from a place of respect and thoughtfulness. Though our marriage is over, we remain friends, united in our goals for the success of our children as well as this great Republic. We are no different than millions of other Americans who have decided to make a change in our family dynamic. We continue to be devoted colleagues, parents, and public servants. That's all for now," Fitz said as cameras began to flash and the voices of reporters began to fill the room.

A/N: I needed to get through that, guys. I hope you're still sticking with me, not every chapter will be angst-ridden, but they have a lot of work to do, don't they? Thanks again for sharing your thoughts with me. In my head, Fitz is always doing his best. And he's at his best when he's thoughtful and does what he knows is right, instead of letting other people decide for him, including Olivia. In my opinion that's where he always makes mistakes. When he's resolute and decided on anything, it always works out right. Anyways, I hope you'll keep reviewing and sharing and letting me know how this season is affecting you. Happy reading!