"Does this look okay?" Fitz asked Cece, as she flipped a page of her Chemistry textbook. Cece rolled her eyes as Fitz turned, examining the army green button up he was contemplating wearing on his date with Olivia that night.

"I guess. Are you trying to launch an attack or go to dinner?" Cece asked, not looking up but ticking her tongue at Fitz, indicating that she disapproved of his outfit. Fitz pulled off the button up abruptly, dropping it on the floor and picking up an almost identical shirt in navy blue. Fitz was nervous, he'd never gone on an actual date before, his parents liked to set him up with daughters of their friends, or colleagues. Fitz wasn't difficult, but he liked unique girls, and the girls he was set up with were all the same, all one dimensional. Fitz liked that Olivia was a challenge, that she wasn't afraid to be impolite and that she spoke her mind. He envied her confidence, she made him work harder, just to keep up.

"Why don't you just wear a pair of your suit pants and a button up?" Cece advised, getting up from his bed and scanning his closet quickly, pulling a pair of pants down.

"Here, try these. And burn those jeans, Fitz. You look like a club kid." Fitz chuckled and discarded his light wash jeans on the floor.

"And you're sure the button up isn't too much?" Fitz asked, apprehension leaking into his voice.

Cece raised her eyebrow.

"Where are you taking her?" Fitz shrugged on his suit jacket and undid the top two buttons of his button up, he searched the bottom of his closet for his black dress shoes.

"There's this amazing Italian place I thought she'd like."

"Is it fancy?" Cece pressed.

"Sort of. Maybe I'm overdressed…"

Cece surveyed Fitz again.

"Roll up your sleeves." Fitz paused in his search for his shoes.

"Huh?"

Cece gave him a look, and Fitz did as instructed.

Rolling his sleeves made his outfit more casual, and showed off his tattoos. Cece collapsed back onto Fitz's bed, turning another page on her textbook.

"See? Now you can get away with wearing those shoes."

Fitz pulled on his dress shoes, having finally found them.

"What's wrong with my shoes?" Fitz asked, staring down at them.

"Absolutely nothing, brother." Cece answered, giggling. "By the way, what was up with you and Ken icing each other out at dinner?" Fitz rolled his eyes at the thought of his brother and picked up his comb, running it through his hair twice and shaking his head, undoing any taming he might have done.

"He's just an asshole." Fitz replied reluctantly.

Cece considered this for a moment. "But so are you. You guys should get along great." Fitz turned around, he regarded Cece seriously.

"As far as I'm concerned, Ken is on the fast track to being Dad. He doesn't give a shit about anyone but himself and he's more concerned with money than getting to know his own siblings."

Cece sat up again, clearly feeling combative.

"And you think you're not on the fast track to being Dad? You go to the same school Ken did, you have basically the same skill set and the way you're hung up on Olivia, you'll be married before you're 23, just like Ken and just like Dad. You're just like them, Fitz. You just pretend you're not."

Fitz ignored Cece's observations and disappeared into his bathroom.

"Speaking of recent behavior," Fitz called. "What did you do the other night with my car?" Cece ignored Fitz, instead she took notes in the margins of a notebook.

"Cece? That wasn't a rhetorical question."

Cece remained silent as Fitz scrunched up his face in the mirror, and decided he probably looked presentable. He wondered what Olivia would be wearing, but exited the bathroom and leaned against the doorframe, watching Cece pretend to read.

"Cece. C'mon. I don't judge." Cece rolled her eyes and looked up at Fitz and bit her lip.

"I think you'll judge me if I tell you."

Fitz chuckled. "No, I won't. I promise." Cece stared at Fitz for another beat before rolling over to lay on her back.

"Fitz, I'm seeing someone." Cece divulged, her voice just above a whisper.

"Okay. Is this someone on the run? A career criminal? Father to a basketball team of kids?" Cece pushed her hands over her face. Fitz, not understanding why Cece was making such a huge deal about telling him, sat next to her, and pulled her hands away from her face.

"Cece. You can tell me."

Cece blinked twice, hard, before telling him.

"Fitz. I'm dating a girl. She's in my year."

Fitz raised an eyebrow, he was surprised, and he couldn't deny that.

"Wow."

"I know." Cece replied, rolling over onto her elbow.

"Fitz. Do you know how mad Mom and Dad are gonna be?" Cece asked, picking at Fitz's comforter.

"I say don't tell them," Cece regarded Fitz skeptically, to which Fitz just shrugged.

"Look, they only want to hear good news anyway, and you know it. They hate hearing anything other than that. Either you're perfect or you're nothing, and we know that."

Cece nodded, she knew Fitz was right, as much as she hated it.

"I really like her, you know. Her name is Alyssa. She's sweet… she makes me feel… imperfect." Fitz smiled at his sister, grateful to be able to talk to her honestly.

"And that's a good thing?" Fitz asked, already sure of Cece's answer as a dazzling smile crept onto her face.

"That's an amazing thing."

Fitz grinned back at Cece.

"I'm happy for you… but why did you need my car?"

Cece laughed, and bit her lip. "Cause your car is much bigger than mine." Fitz raised an eyebrow, scandalized.

"Oh? And what, pray tell, did you do with the extra space?"

Cece wrinkled her nose at her brother. "I bet you'd love to know." Cece teased. Fitz stood, adjusting his shirt. "Not really. I'd love to know that you're happy."

Cece rolled her eyes playfully. "I am. Very."

"Good," Fitz replied, wrinkling his nose right back.

O

Olivia was sprawled out in the middle of her bed, trying not to cry as she heard her father ambling around downstairs. She smoothed the nonexistent wrinkles from her skirt and stared pointedly at the crumpled up shirt that up until ten minutes ago, she'd been wearing. She'd been ready to go on her date with Fitz, but as she descended the stairs, and saw her father grumbling to himself in the kitchen, pulling at the shelves and splaying condiments and such all around the kitchen. Olivia had rushed to his side, wondering how she would "bring him back." Of course, her father was in a state, and Olivia couldn't get him to stop. He was looking for the TV remote, and as Olivia tried to help him look for it in the living room instead of the kitchen, her father pushed her, leaving two half ketchup handprints on the stomach of her shirt.

Olivia laid there in her black bra, trying to convince herself that her blue shirt would look just as good as her white one had, but she couldn't even get up, she felt so heavy, and so sad.

How could she handle this? Her father forgetting how to be her father.

Olivia heard the downstairs phone ringing, and glanced at the alarm clock on her nightstand. It ten past seven.

Olivia reluctantly left her bed and pulled on her nightshirt and walked downstairs to answer the phone.

Thankfully, her father had moved to looking in the basement, but Olivia didn't trust that he'd be away from her for too long.

"What?" Olivia answered, already knowing who it was.

"Livvie? I'm sorry I'm running late. I'll be there in about fifteen minutes."

Olivia exhaled, tears rolling down her cheeks as her father dropped something in the basement below.

"Fitz, listen. I can't go out tonight."

"Why not?" Fitz couldn't hide the hurt in his voice, Olivia felt herself melting into the phone, his voice bringing her to a better place.

She'd enjoyed hanging out with him, holding his hand and talking to him about the books he loved, and the ones he hated. She liked Fitz, a lot. She hated that she did. It was easier not to. Even her best friends, Abby and Quinn only knew so much about her. They never came to her house and they had no idea that her father had such a debilitating disease.

Olivia didn't want them to know.

"I'm just… dealing with a lot. Not that it matters."

"Livvie. It matters. To me it matters."

"Fitz." Olivia started, her tongue running over her bottom lip as she cradled his name in her mouth. "This is too much."

Fitz moved closer to the phone, Olivia noticed, she could hear his breathing loud and clear.

"Can I please come and see you?" Fitz asked, his voice somber.

"Fitz. Not here."

"So can I take you somewhere? I know a place. We can talk, just for a little bit. I can come right now."

Olivia clutched the phone tightly, her knuckles white around the receiver. Her throat was thick, she wanted to sob, but she couldn't.

"Yes. Okay. Just for a little." Fitz breathed a sigh of relief.

"Okay. I'm on my way."

"Okay. Don't get out of your car, just honk."

Olivia hung up the phone, feeling the blood rush back into her hand as she padded to the door to the basement.

"Dad. I found the remote." Her father came back up the stairs, his sweatshirt smeared with condiments as Olivia lead him arm and arm back to the couch.

"Sit, Dad. Here." Olivia handed her father the remote, which hadn't moved from her father's placement on the arm of the couch.

Her father smiled at the remote as he changed the channel from a news story.

"Thank you, Bee." Olivia kissed her father on the cheek quickly, but her father stopped her.

"Are you going somewhere? You look nice. Minus that ratty old shirt." Olivia laughed weakly, plastering on a smile.

"No, no. Just running out to see Abby for a second."

"Oh. Alright. Don't be out too late, Bee." Olivia nodded.

"I won't,"

Quickly, Olivia bounded upstairs, shedding her shirt and pulling on the blue one that looked good enough. She felt tired again. She looked perfect and put together, as normal. No one would have guessed that her father had just had a meltdown and smeared her with ketchup thirty minutes prior.

Thinking quickly, Olivia pulled off the skirt and instead pulled on a pair of her comfiest sweatpants. Hearing a honk, Olivia pulled on a pair of her running sneakers and headed downstairs and outside, thankful that her father was vegging out in front of the TV. Olivia tucked her key into the pocket of her sweatpants and walked down her house's walkway, to see Fitz leaning against the passenger side of his car, smiling as soon as he saw her. Olivia couldn't believe how amazing Fitz looked, in a suit with the arm sleeves rolled up and his hair perfectly tousled, Olivia couldn't help but want to kiss him.

Olivia had never wanted to kiss anyone. Ever.

Olivia approached Fitz cautiously, thrown off by how physically attracted to him she was in that moment.

"Are you okay?" Fitz asked, noticing that Olivia stopped two feet from him, her arms crossed as she stared up at him.

"I'm fine." Olivia replied stiffly.

Fitz closed the space between them, looking down at her and pushing his hands to cup her lower arm. He pulled Olivia into his chest, into which Olivia melted, she inhaled his scent and felt like crying, she felt like trusting him, like telling him exactly what was wrong, but she couldn't. She wouldn't.

If he had asked her, Olivia would have said no. He didn't ask her to let him hold her this time. Fitz held her like it was his job, he held her together.

"Are you hungry?" Fitz asked, not letting her go.

"Not at all." Olivia replied honestly.

"Not even for ice cream?" Fitz pressed. Olivia chuckled into his chest.

"I hate ice cream." Olivia countered.

"Okay. So what do you love?"

Olivia pulled away, staring up at Fitz. "Something I love? I don't love anything." Fitz laughed.

"Not even candy? What is your favorite candy?"

Olivia thought for a moment, leaving Fitz in suspense.

"Licorice. I guess. If I had to pick." Fitz smiled.

"Interesting. I would have never guessed."

"You've thought about my favorite candy?" Olivia accused, cracking a smile.

"The more important question is where can we find some licorice at this time of night?"

O

Olivia sat in the passenger side of Fitz's car, her legs crossed as she pulled apart a licorice whip and sipped some of her seltzer water. Fitz watched her, taking a bite of his chocolate bar and readying his bottle of Coke.

"That's such a weird combination," Fitz observed, as Olivia took another sip of her seltzer.

"And Coke and a Hershey bar isn't?" Olivia countered. Fitz chuckled.

"Okay. You win." Fitz said, holding up his hands.

Olivia smiled at him a moment longer, before leaning back and staring ahead.

"This is weird." Olivia admitted, suddenly uncomfortable in her sweatpants.

"How so?" Fitz asked, shooting Olivia a dazzling smile. Olivia grinned and looked away again.

"You're seeing me… in my sweatpants." Olivia replied plainly.

"And that's weird why?" Fitz pressed, taking in Olivia's slightly puffy face. She looked as if she'd been crying.

"I don't know. It's just. Weird… like… intimacy I guess. I'm not used to it." Fitz laughed again, and set his Coke down.

"Have I told you that you phrase things in such an interesting way?" Olivia bit her lip and didn't answer.

"Fitz. I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For blowing off our date. I wanted to go. And I should have been dressed so that we could go."

Fitz shot Olivia a sideways smile.

"I don't blame you, I actually liked this better. Just being with you is nice. I like that. I like that I don't need to go anywhere to like being with you."

Olivia grinned. "I like that too. I'm just. Not perfect. But you think I am."

"Livvie, I know you're not perfect."

"You must think I am. The way you look at me. How can you think anything else?"

"The last thing I think you are is perfect. You're interesting to me because you pretend to be perfect. You think that by making yourself seem so put together that everything else will somehow be put together too."

Olivia swallowed, her throat thick. "Wow. That's what you think?" Olivia asked.

"Isn't it true?" Fitz implored.

"Maybe." Olivia allowed, her voice thin and timid.

"Okay." Fitz accepted.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!

I enjoy reading your reviews and they really help me out!

This chapter establishes a few things, first we get to see some of the stress Liv undergoes at home, and her desire to present a perfect face to the world. We also see Liv shed a little of that perfect persona by being vulnerable in her sweatpants with Fitz (it may not seem like such a big deal, but to Liv, who is used to being so composed it was a huge leap!) We also find out why Cecelia took Fitz's car in the previous chapter, and Cece's story line isn't over! She's coming back and there will definitely be some drama there.

I actually enjoyed writing the scene where Fitz tells Cece that if she isn't perfect she doesn't matter, in the eyes of their parents, and then Fitz goes to tell Liv that he doesn't see her as perfect at all. To me, that is Fitz's way of saying so much more.

Please tell me what you thought! And I hope you enjoyed!

Avis

xoxo