Here's chapter 7...fianlly. The much awaited first date. I hope I don't dissapoint. It's been hard to write, school is crazy because I'm graduating soon and stress gives me major writers block. I apologize for taking so long with this story, I mean it's almost thanksgiving again. I hope you guys enjoy. Please review :)

Friday came along in no time and Fitz was eager for the day to go by fast, he had made all the necessary arrangements with Tom so he could go pick her up, but it was going to be surprise, as long as she was concerned he would be sending a car to pick her up at 7. He was also going to drop her off after, he wanted to do regular date things to make up for the fact that they weren't actually able to go out.

Cyrus almost caught Fitz as he discussed his plans with Tom Thursday morning, but he quickly changed the topic and successfully dodged the bullet. He also called OPA and asked Abby to call Cyrus about something pertaining their PR plans so he would be too busy all day to be meddling in his life. James only knew about what happened when they met and the confrontation between Cyrus and Fitz, but he hadn't caught them on anything else so Fitz figured he was in the clear for a little bit longer. He just wanted to have some time to start building their relationship before all hell broke loose, he was scared Liv would freak out.

Olivia was planning to leave her office at lunchtime so she would have enough time to get ready, she wanted to finish closing on a couple of clients, but the little time she was at work she was so distracted she had to delegate all the work to her associates. She had spent a few hours on Thursday afternoon going over her closet with Abby and Emily trying to pick an outfit, after going through all the contents of the closet she settled for one of her favorites, a Herve Leger off shoulder bandage black dress, it was an elegant dress that highlighted every curve, topped with an off-shoulder neckline. She also decided for her classic black pumps and a cream colored coat.

Before she left the office she went to find Huck, she had decided what to get Fitz for his birthday and needed to ask her friend for a personal favor.

"Huck, do you have a moment?" She knocked on the door of his office

"Sure come in" he replied

"I need to ask for a favor, it's not work related, it's personal" She explained

"Anything you need, you already know that" He told her

"Thanks" She gave him a warm smile "Could you please get this photo printed, nice paper, high resolution and all that" She handed him a flash drive.

"Is it for him" Huck asked

"Yes"

"I am happy for you, he seems alright, but I'll be keeping an eye on him, he better behave" Huck was very protective towards Olivia, and like the rest of her friends experience required him to be extra careful.

"I don't think that will be needed, but I appreciate the thought" Olivia just didn't feel like she had to worry, she trusted Fitz.

"I'll be the judge of that" Huck replied, he sounded harsh, but Olivia knew he meant well.

"Ok, I have to leave now, take care, and thanks for helping" Olivia left Huck in his office and proceeded to say goodbye to everyone so she could finally get home.

Olivia was feeling quite anxious and her appetite was gone, so when she got home she decided to take a long relaxing bath, when she got out she felt a whole lot better and she fixed herself a cup of tea and ordered a salad from a restaurant she loved that was just down the street from where she lived. When she was done eating she took her time getting her make up done and fixing her hair into loose curls.

Fitz had texted her that morning that he had arranged for her to be picked up at 7, and she was actually grateful she didn't have to drive. She didn't want to make him wait longer than needed so she was ready by 6:30. She decided to turn on the TV while she waited, and stopped on a channel when she heard they were talking about Fitz. At first they were talking about the recent Holiday events and the talk was pretty positive, Olivia felt very good about herself and the work her team had done, but her joy was short lived because a few minutes later they started talking about the fact that he should start dating at some point and how he was one of the most elegible bachelors in the world. They started naming women who they deemed appropriate for dating the President of the United States, and Liv began feeling self conscious, her mind was spiraling down to a bad place when she heard the doorbell ring.

Olivia immediately turned off the TV and walked to greet the agent she thought would be picking her up, she tried to calm down and figured she had the entire ride to the White House to get herself together, but when she opened the door and Tom stepped aside to reveal Fitz himself was there to pick her up. She was stunned silent upon seeing him standing there smiling radiantly and looking as handsome as ever. He was wearing a charcoal suit and a black cashmere sweater underneath that fitted him like a glove. Much to her relief he was silent as well, the moment she opened the door and he laid eyes on her his reaction was pretty similar to hers. They were both standing there just looking at each other, the agents began to feel uncomfortable and Tom decided to clear his throat. Fitz snapped out his thoughts and finally spoke.

"Hi" was all he managed to say

"Hi" she answered

"Hmm I got you flowers" He produced a beautiful bouquet of white lilies from behind his back to give them to her.

"Thank you, they are beautiful" She said as she took the flowers from him.

"Not nearly as beautiful as you… you look… stunning" Olivia felt her cheeks get warm

"Thanks… I should put this in water… would you like to come in?" She asked him

"Yeah, sure" He stepped inside his apartment, Tom went in right behind him for protocol reasons, and both of them stood awkwardly near the door, while they waited for her to return.

She came back with a vase filled with water and placed the lilies inside it, then she placed the vase on her coffee table and went to get her coat. She started walking towards Fitz and when she was putting on her coat he stepped in to help her. Tom opened the door for them and once they were outside Fitz offered his arm to her, she gladly took it and they all walked back to the elevator.

They were pretty much quiet until they reached the parking lot, as much as the agents turned the other way she was still very much aware of their presence, and inside the small space of the elevator it was a bit awkward, they looked at each other and smiled a couple of times, she didn't let go of his arm until he helped inside the SUV.

"I was not expecting to see you here" She said after they started moving.

"I know" he said with a smirk "I wanted to surprise you"

"That you did mister" She tried to smile naturally, but she was still trying to get past her tv induced freak out. Fitz noticed she looked uncomfortable, and wondered if he had done something wrong

"I thought it would be a nice surprise, since we can't really go out, I wanted to do other normal date stuff even though this is not… I just… is everything ok?"

"Yes of course it is, I'm just a little concerned, your agents must have gone through a lot of trouble to pull this off" She cursed in her head for making him worry.

"Ok" He was not convinced. Olivia took his hand and gave him a warm smile.

"It was a great surprise, but you know me I think too much about everything"

"It's alright, if I let them know with enough time it's not that much trouble" He smiled at her reassuringly.

They held each others gaze and smiled for a few moments before she decided to break the silence, to see if she could get past her nerves and start enjoying their date.

"So what do you have planned for tonight?" She asked him

"That is another surprise" he gave her a sly smile "You are going to have to wait and see"

"Seriously? Oh come on, give me something"

"Hmm, I can tell you we are going to have dinner" She laughed and playfully hit his arm, Fitz was really enjoying teasing her.

"Really, that's all you are going to tell me?"

"We are having Italian" he was not about to give away the main part of his plans.

"You are something else" Olivia made peace with being in the dark about his plans and changed the topic of the conversation. "So are the kids ok with sharing you tonight?"

"Ok? they practically pushed me out the door, Karen was all like, you can't be late dad that would be very rude, also they have more fun when I'm not around, their nanny will probably let them have a ton of ice cream and stay up late watching tv or a movie" He was really glad his kids were fine with him dating, and he actually didn't mind spoiling them a little bit.

"That sounds like fun"

"I'll keep it mind for our second date" He was so happy he couldn't stop smiling.

"What makes you so sure there will be a second date?" It was her turn to tease him

"I guess I better step up my game tonight then"

Her nerves were mostly gone, both of them were feeling a whole lot calmer by the time they reached the White House. They walked inside together and she was anxious to find out what they would be doing, but a good kind of anxious, she felt excited and happy, something she hadn't felt in a long time. He was really hoping to live up to her expectations, he just wanted to make her happy.

When they finally reached their destination, Fitz opened the door for her and let her in, his agents stayed outside. The room was dark so she didn't realize immediately what they would be doing, but it wasn't long before he turned on all the lights and she realized where they were.

"So, What do you think?" He said motioning to the bowling lane behind him.

"I did not see this coming" She was truly surprised, she had not expected to bowl on their first date, and she was certainly not dressed for it.

"I figured, since we've had dinner so many times already I had to do something special" He had a goofy smile on his face, he was clearly excited, but then he wasn't sure she was loving the idea "You do like bowling right, I remember you said you did in college with your friends…"

"I do, but I would have liked a little heads up, you know to plan my outfit accordingly, I just feel like I might not be dressed appropriately"

"Right, but it would have been a shame though, because that is a great dress" The way he was looking at her, made her feel butterflies in her stomach.

"Well, this way you might actually stand a chance against me" Olivia walked over to the chairs where the shoes had been placed by the staff so she could get ready, along with the brand new shoes she also found a pair of socks. Fitz was momentarily distracted by her, and he just stood there.

"Are we going to do this or what?" She said to get his attention.

"Uhh… yeah… Game on" He quickly went to change his shoes as well.

"This place looks great, I heard it wasn't looking so good recently" Olivia commented, she had read somewhere that the place needed at least some paint.

"Yeah it was quite ugly when I first took office, so I had it completely remodeled, I figured the kids might enjoy it"

Fitz already had arranged several bowling balls for her to choose, since he didn't know which weight she preferred, his was already picked and ready to be used so while she chose, he set up their names on the screen for the scoreboard.

Olivia took her turn first, he watched her as she got ready to roll the ball, her dress was indeed getting in her way. As she lifted her dress a little bit, to be able to move more freely, she turned to Fitz and gave him a flirty smile. He realized she was completely aware of the effect she was having on him and she seemed to be enjoying it.

She made a strike on her first attempt, but Fitz didn't do so well. She teased him about it and he took mock offense, but really he couldn't be happier about how the night was going. Fitz had taken off is suit coat so he was not the only one enjoying the view, the soft material of his sweater clung to his body in all the right places. Olivia was so distracted by the flexing of his biceps that he didn't realize when Tom came in to leave some snacks.

Fitz had asked his most trusted SS agents to help with the serving of food throughout the night, and excused the staff who would normally take care of it. Only his agents and a couple of aides that worked at the residence knew about her. He wanted to keep the amount people who knew about Liv to a minimum. A part of him thought it was ridiculous he had to hiding around in his own house, but he also knew that his life was far from normal.

After a while, both of them stopped taking the game seriously and they were just goofing around making up new ways to throw the bowling ball, and purposefully trying to make the other miss the shot. Olivia won the game anyway, so Fitz gracefully accepted defeat and suggested they moved onto dinner. He drove her on a gold cart through the tunnels, with his agents following close behind, he had arranged for diner to be set up at one of the dinning rooms in the Blair House.

When they got there, Olivia excused herself to go freshen up, and Fitz made sure everything was just like he had ordered. The food had been placed on buffet warming trays and he would be the one serving it, the Blair house staff had been dismissed for the night.

"This looks great" She said upon returning, and finding him filling a couple of bowls with soup.

"It's Zuppa Toscana, it's one of chef Coopers specialties" He told her and stopped what he was doing to pull her chair out for her to sit.

"Well, just by the way it smells I can tell it's delicious" Fitz placed one of the bowls in front of her and then sat down.

They didn't talk much at first, they had worked quite an appetite with the first part of their date so most of their attention was on the food. A little while later, Fitz served the second course, it was parmesan chicken with spaghetti, conversation flowed easily, they talked about their days, the weather and just about anything that popped into their heads. For dessert, Fitz had to go to the kitchen to retrieve it, because it was gelato and it couldn't be left out.

"I don't know if I can eat anything else" She told Fitz when he returned

"Not even hazelnut gelato?" He said with a smirk

"Oh, ok maybe I can manage" Fitz let out a small laugh and then served the ice cream.

"I gotta tell you Mr. President, your chances of getting a second date are pretty good" She told him after taking the first spoonful of ice cream.

"Glad to hear that" He said grinning ear to ear.

It was almost midnight when Liv realized she probably should be leaving, it had been a wonderful evening but it was getting really late and she knew he had to be tired. She wasn't all that surprised when he said he'd be taking her home too. It was a quiet ride home, but it had nothing to do with nerves anymore, she was just pretty tired too. Olivia leaned on his shoulder and nearly fell asleep. Everything was quiet in her building, when they got to her floor, the agents stepped out of the elevator first and stood as far as protocol allowed them too. Fitz walked her to her door, dreading the moment because he didn't want to be a part from her.

"I had a great time tonight" She said smiling, she was leaning on her door and he was standing really close to her.

"So, you think I can get a second date?"

"I'm not fully convinced, but maybe" She teased him

"Pretty please" He pouted his lips and gave her his most convincing puppy dog eyes.

"Really?"

"What" he feigned innocence

"Alright Fitz, you have your second date" Looking at those blue eyes she had lost her will to tease him.

"Why thank you Miss Popes, you will not regret it"

"I'm sure I won't"

He really didn't want to leave, but he knew he had to

"I guess I should get going" He said it but we was actually getting closer to her, he was debating wether or not to kiss her goodbye.

"Yeah… I guess" He saw she was nervous so he opted for kissing her cheek, really close to her mouth, he didn't want to do anything she didn't want.

"So… Hmm goodnight" Fitz waited until she walked inside her apartment and then he left, the elevator was already on her floor, he walked in, but seconds later he reconsidered and pushed the button for the doors to open. He rang her doorbell and she opened, surprised to him back so soon.

"Everything ok?" She asked him

"Yeah I just… I forgot something" He answered

"What did y…" Her words escaped her when he gently cupped her face in his hands he was looking right into her eyes. All logical thought had escaped her head. He is so close she can feel his warm breath on her face, their lips are almost touching, but he stops.

"May I?" he asks, barely able to speak the words.

She slightly nodded, giving him all the confirmation he needed, he finally pressed his lips against her, her lips were soft and sweet. There were butterflies in her stomach and she could feel the flush on her cheeks. Hearts racing, ragged breaths and soft moans, it was as if time stood still, at that moment nothing else mattered. He moved his arms and wrapped them around her waist to bring her closer to him, Olivia threw her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. Their lips moved in perfect harmony, it was slow and tender, yet full of passion. He pulled away, they were both gasping for air, he pecked her lips a couple of times before taking a step back; she finally opened her eyes a few moments later. He held both of her hands in his and they held each others gaze for what felt like an eternity.

"That was…" he couldn't even finish the sentence.

"Yeah…" She was still trying to catch her breath.

His lips curved upwards, unable to contain his happiness and she couldn't help but smile as well. He pecked her lips one more time before letting go of her hands.

"Goodnight Livvy" He slowly walked backwards, unable to take his eyes away from her, she turned around in a daze and managed to get inside her apartment.

Fitz felt like he could fly, he couldn't believe how much she had changed his life for the better, in that moment he knew, without a shadow of a doubt that there was no going back, she was it for him.