Happy Thanksgiving, gladiators! I hope this day is treating you well. I was going to make this chapter longer but I know a lot of you have been requesting this update since Monday which is when I said I would update and now it's Thursday—sorry! I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well as this Thanksgiving.

Chapter 8: Breakthrough

"What do you mean there's nothing else you can do?" Fitz exclaims, perhaps a little too rashly and then feels guilty for yelling at his stepfather and principal. "I'm sorry."

Bob nods. "It's alright."

"It's just that if this has happened three times before, shouldn't he have already been dealt with in some form?"

"You would think that but Edison's parents are very powerful and wealthy people. They've done a lot for this community and have been one of the school's main contributors monetarily, so their son pretty much has the green light to do whatever he wants."

Fitz can't believe what he's hearing. He thought that his stepfather was a good, honorable man, which is why he hadn't had a problem with his mom marrying him, but now he wasn't so sure what to think. "So, you're fine with him treating girls like crap and abusing them just because of his parents' generous donations? Bob, that's unethical, especially for a leader of a school…"

"Fitz, I know that, and I'm ashamed that I can't do more to help but this honestly isn't on me. I'm not at the top of the food chain here—my bosses, the superintendents decide on what happens in cases like this. They think that upholding the high class standard of this school is worth the risk that they're taking with Edison, so that's that."

"'High class standard', yeah, because having rapists milling all over the school is very high class," Fitz mutters.

"I've tried so many times to convince them that this isn't the way to go but they honestly believe that the pros out way the cons. I love this school and I love being one of its main leaders, so it really pains me that this stuff goes on but there just isn't anything I can really do."

"But how about the other girls that Edison's abused? I can assume that they've gone to the police before."

Bob nods. "Yes, they have and tried to get something done but after a while they all just disappeared. It may have to do with the fact that the three girls were largely known around the school for sleeping around, so many assumed that the girls and their families were just trying a ploy to get some silencing money and they weren't really taken seriously. I don't even think any of these cases even went to court."

"Seriously?"

"I'm sorry, Fitz."

Fitz tries at a last resort. "But what if there's physical evidence that it happened? She has a bruise on her face where he hit her. Don't tell me that wouldn't help in some sort of way."

"It could lead to the opening of a case. Has anyone seen her with the bruise? You and her family, at least, I'm guessing have."

"Yes."

"And she told them about how she got it? I haven't heard anything from them yet."

"Well, not exactly. She told them that she banged into a pole or a wall or something. She told me she was embarrassed to tell anyone the truth."

"But she told you?" Bob says with a semi-suspicious look on his face.

Fitz knows what he's thinking and plays it down, using some of the truth. "Yes, I knew her before I started teaching here. We met when we were both vacationing in Hawaii. We chatted a little here and there but that's really all that happened…I guess she just trusts me," Fitz says with a shrug, hoping he sounded convincing enough.

Bob nods acceptingly. "Alright. And you said that you found her at a gas station?"

"Yes, and then I took her home where she then explained to her parents what happened," Fitz explains, hoping he'd be able to make this story work if the police were to ever ask. He knew that he couldn't tell anyone that she spent the night at his house. That would just open up another can of worms.

"Well, if she'd be willing to have a picture taken maybe we could use that as evidence, but I'm afraid they might claim it as circumstantial if the Popes went to court with this, especially with the kind of lawyers the Davises could muster up. They would destroy her. Maybe the best thing for her to do would be to get some counseling or even transfer to another school if it becomes too much. It's a shame that such evil kids can get away with this stuff, but it would be much worse for her and her family if they went after him."

Fitz sighs, feeling like he's failed Olivia. She shouldn't have to transfer to another school to get away from this asshole. "She trusted me with this and I promised her something would be done about it. I promised her that I wouldn't let him hurt or even come near her again. She didn't want it to be known that this happened to her but I thought that all the attention would be worth it if there was a chance of getting him, but I see that there really aren't any."

"It's a very unfortunate situation for Ms. Pope, but I'm afraid that she would just go in the same boat as the other girls before her—as much as I try to stay out of the high school drama, I know the rumors and I've heard some fairly distasteful ones concerning her and how she does get around."

Fitz shakes his head, not wanting to hear anyone bash Olivia. "She may have made some mistakes but she's still a good girl," Fitz tells him confidently but not being so sure of himself inside. He knew she was a good person at heart but he had really only known her for a week, not counting their time in Hawaii. He still had a lot to learn about her, and she had admitted to him that she had slept around before but something told him after this incident, she might change her ways. Whatever she decided to do, she still didn't deserve the slut-shaming or the injustice she was getting because of Edison.

"You're a good guy, Fitz, and it's great to see that you care about your students so much but unless you can think of a way of making Edison pay without it backfiring on the school, there isn't much that can be done. If you're fearful that he might come at her again, maybe her family could file a restraining order. I know that she wants to keep this confidential, but it is necessary for me to notify her parents of the incident if she's under the age of 18."

Crap. How could he forget about that? Of course her parents would have to know the truth. "I know, but, wait…please just give me three days to find a way to resolve this before her parents find out. I know that they will have to be notified regardless, but if I can figure out a way, I think it's better for them to know that something can be done than for them to make a big fuss out of it without anything getting done and make this an even more traumatic event for their daughter."

"Fitz, you know I can't—"

"Please, I know that I can do this. I'm not asking for you to break any rules, I'm just asking for a bit of a delay. Three days tops."

Bob stares at him for a long while before letting out a long sigh and saying, "Fine, three days, but if anyone else, including her parents, find out that school knew about this incident and her family wasn't notified, then my ass is going to be in hot water and so will yours. And make sure that this doesn't hurt the school in any way."

Fitz nods. "I promise, and thank you."

"I hope that you can do this. If you do, I'll give you the spot as my favorite stepson," he says with a wink.

Fitz smiles. "Don't tell Harry that. He already thinks that he has one over me because you gave him that old car of yours."

Bob laughs. "We'll see."

The bell to start the day rings and Bob tells Fitz, "Okay, you better get going for you first class. Report back to me in three days if you find anything."

"Will do. Thanks again, Bob."

"You're welcome," he replies and Fitz shuts the door to his office as he leaves.

Olivia had kept her parents questions to a minimal about the bruise, telling them she had fallen down on the sidewalk somewhere and badly hurt her cheek, a story she had also gotten her friends and classmates to believe..She had managed to make it through her first day at school after the incident relatively fine and she was starting to think that she could eventually move on quickly from what happened, as long as she saw Edison as little as possible but she should've known that she wouldn't be so lucky.

"Hi, Olivia," she hears behind her as she's heading towards her last class of the day. She turns around to see Edison staring back at her with an awkward smile on his face. At first she freezes in place, remembering the awful things he did to her but then she quickly feels anger rising up at the look on his face and the fact that he had the audacity to greet her in this manner.

She continues to stare back at him, fuming as he looks down nervously and shoves his hands in his pockets and says with a little chuckle, "So, about Friday night…things got a little bit out of hand. But it's not something that we can't move past, huh?"

She opens her mouth in shock. He was really going to try to just sweep this under the rug like nothing happened. What did she ever see that was attractive in this asshole? "Is that you're sorry attempt at an apology?"

He furrows his eyebrows at this. "Well, no, I wasn't exactly apologizing because nothing happened."

"Nothing happened?" Olivia exclaims in a hushed voice, struggling to keep composure as she points to the side of her face. "I have a bruise left there by you."

"I hit you by accident. I was drunk, remember? That wasn't on purpose so stop trying to make me look like the bad guy when I'm not," he says, starting to get angry.

"You are a bad guy, you're the worst guy, and I can't wait until you get what you deserve for what you did," she tells him, then turns around and keeps walking to her class.

"Whatever. I'd like to see you try, you stupid bitch," she hears him scoff as he turns to head down the hall but a second later, Olivia hears a loud bang against the lockers and flips around to see Edison being held up against a them by Fitz.

The smug look is immediately wiped off of Edison's face, taken over by pure fright as Fitz holds him by his shirt collar and says with clenched teeth, "I think you better get your ass to class before I smash your face in. And if I ever catch you talking that way to or harassing anyone here, especially Olivia, not even your rich daddy will be able to save you."

He releases Edison who slumps down a little, trying to put on a tough face but it's easy to see he's still shaken.

"What are you still doing here? Get gone," Fitz tells, raising his hand to give a mocking wave making Edison flinch because he probably thought Fitz was going to hit him. What a wimp.

He takes off, walking fast down the hall and disappears around the corner. Olivia turns her attention back to Fitz who's still panting hard with an angry expression and she can't help but think about how incredibly sexy he looks at the moment. She shakes the thought from her mind as she walks closer to him.

He lets out one final sigh and looks at her, his face immediately softening. "Are you okay?"

She gives him a small smile and nods. "Yeah, I'm fine." She pauses before continuing, "Thank you, but you shouldn't have done that. You could get in big trouble."

He shakes his head. "I'll be fine. I'm working on something to get Edison out of here for good. If I can help it, hopefully you won't have to ever see him again."

She smiles thankfully at him, thinking that someone like him was too good to be true. He returns the gesture and then they head into his classroom together.

Two days had gone by faster than Fitz thought they would and now he only had 24 hours to do something about Edison. He had started off by searching for anything he could find about the previous girls Edison had messed with online, but when that attempt came up empty, he looked into Edison's parents—his mom, Sylvia, who was pretty much just a trophy wife, however, her husband Harold seemed to be more of a suspicious character but Fitz hadn't found anything concrete, just a few shady business deals. He didn't know where else to look or what else to do. He wasn't exactly skilled in these kinds of things but he had had faith that he could figure something out. He thinks of one last option but he had wanted to use it at all since it was pretty much illegal and he wasn't even sure it would work, but now it was his only choice.

He picks up his phone, finds the contact that he needs, and clicks on the name.

"Hello," his friend answers.

"Hey, I know that it's been a while but I really need something and I think you're the right guy to help me."

"What's in it for me?"

"Gee, Charlie, at least let me tell you what it is first."

He sighs on the other end. "Fine, what is it?"

"I need you to see if you can get some dirt on someone. Maybe blackmail them, too," Fitz says, feeling guilty about what he's asking his friend to do. He knew that Edison was a dirtbag and from the look of it, his father didn't seem to be so much of a savory character either so maybe Fitz was justified in doing this. Charlie had been one of his party buddies in college and when he wasn't attending MIT for his master's in Computer Science, he hacked anywhere he could get into for sport. Fitz wasn't a big fan of invasions of privacy or using secret information for personal gain, but he thought that the situation granted an exception.

"Oh, you know I love a good blackmail," Charlie says giddily. "Give me the name."

"Harold Davis."

Fitz hears Charlie scoff on the other end, "Don't even need to look him up to know that that guy is dirtier than the Sahara Desert."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that he makes it possible for marijuana to be smuggled across the border in exchange for a piece of the proceeds made when it's sold in the US."

"Do you have any proof?"

"Not at the moment but you know me, I can find anything if it's out there which it is. Give me a few hours."

"Okay, thanks, man, and if you can find anything, I promise I'll find a way to repay you," Fitz says, optimistic that not all hope was lost.

"Mmhmm, you better. I'll call you in a few. Bye."

"Bye." Fitz sighs, falling back onto the couch and feeling like a little bit of the load that he had been carrying for the past two days had been lifted off. If Charlie could come through for them and make things easier on Olivia in any way, he would be forever thankful.

He and Charlie were able to prove that Harold Davis was indeed involved with a drug trade and as a result blackmail him into doing several things. The first was to take Edison out of the school where he would be required to take anger management classes and take a 5 year-break from any sports, this way he wouldn't even have a chance to play in college. At first Fitz had thought transferring to another school and the anger management classes would be sufficient, but he wanted to hit Edison where it hurt by taking away what he loved the most. Mr. Davis had obviously thought that this was an abnormal request and wondered why his son was involved but he went along with whatever they asked, promising to do whatever it took to control his son. The second part of the threat was that $2 million be donated to the school and after that, an annual $50,000, but Charlie had ended up asking for an extra million up front for his own personal gain, much to Fitz is disliking since he didn't want to go too far with the threat and have it backfire, but at least Fitz didn't have to find a way to repay him now. Everything had worked out almost perfectly, Edison hadn't even showed up to school that Thursday and Bob had notified Fitz that the extremely generous donation had already come. But Bob had to inform Olivia's parents about the whole incident and they had of course wanted to press charges, though after Bob had told them that the school had "handled" the issue and Olivia downplayed the incident sufficiently, they eventually dropped it. Olivia had been considerably upset with Fitz when he explained that he had to reveal what happened to Bob and her family because she specifically told him not to and now it was Saturday and she hadn't spoken to him or bothered to show up for their normal morning runs and it was driving him crazy. He knew that he had gone against what she wanted but he had done what he thought was best and he was starting to think that she was being selfish and totally unfair for being angry at him and ignoring him when he had done something so out of his comfort zone for her. He thought that he deserved at least a conversation.

"What are you even doing with a boy like that, Olivia?" Eli asks. The family had all just finished dinner and Olivia had hoped for a peaceful evening but she knew that would be impossible as soon as her father started asking a bunch of accusatory questions. Her brothers had cleared out of the kitchen and retreated upstairs, not wanting to stick around for the show, and Olivia didn't blame them.

"It's not what you think."

"You give that excuse for everything. For once, tell me the truth."

"I did tell you the truth, I don't know why you won't take my word for it." Olivia had told her father that Edison had gotten drunk while they were at his house alone and he had gotten a little rough with her, but still stuck by her story for the bruise. Her father had believed it at first but over the past three days he had begun to ask more questions which would eventually led to blown up arguments like the one they were having now. "It's not important so just let it go please. Gosh…" she says, feeling like her head was about to explode. She was done talking about this. Why couldn't everyone just let her move on the way she wanted to? First Fitz had gone out of his way to do what she specifically told him not to and now her father wouldn't give her break.

"Drop the attitude because I don't need it. I know that we decided not to go after this Edison Davis but I need to make sure that you're making the right choices in your life and that you're not getting into trouble, especially since you'll be going off to college soon."

She rolls her eyes at this. "I'm fine, Dad."

"We're honestly just trying to help you, Olivia," Becca chimes in.

Olivia loses it at this. "Please, Becca, stay out of this. You're not my mom and you never will fill her place so back off," she tells her off as she grabs her keys off of the kitchen counter and heads for the door.

"Olivia! Where the hell do you think you're going?" Eli asks, marching after her.

"I'm leaving," she tells him, opening the door and stepping out. "I don't want to discuss this anymore, especially with her trying to position herself where she doesn't belong. I'm done."

She didn't know whether or not her father would follow her outside but she doesn't look back to find out. She goes to her and Simon's car on the side of the street, starts it up, and takes off all in less than fifteen seconds. At first, she drives aimlessly, needing a moment to just let herself cool off. She knew she had overreacted and would have to pay for it later but for now she needed a break from it all. She wanted to talk to someone who would stop asking her questions that had 'judgmental' written all over them. She wanted to talk to someone who didn't plan on punishing her no matter what she said. She knew who she wanted to talk to but she wasn't sure he'd feel the same way since she had basically blown him off for these past few days, but she thought it was worth a try to attempt to get back into his good graces.

She makes a quick stop and then heads to his place. She knocks on his door but immediately regrets it, thinking that it was a big mistake coming there in the first place, but as she turns to leave, the door swings open and there stands Fitz, in a simple T-shirt and sweatpants with his hair drenched wet, probably from a shower by the soapy scent his body is emitting. Could he go a day without looking absolutely sexy?

"Hi," she says in a small voice.

"Hi," he mumbles, not bothering to even look in her direction as he gazes out to the rest of the neighborhood with his mouth in a straight line. Of course he was pissed. He normally gave her his undivided attention, but now he was barely acknowledging her presence and it hurt more than she imagined it would.

"What are you doing here, Olivia?" He asks with an annoyed sigh. He only called her Olivia during class—outside of that it was always 'Liv' or 'Livvie'.

"I-I was just coming by to—I wanted to…" She doesn't know what to tell him that won't end up with the door being slammed in her face. She had thought that he would just welcome her in at least but he had more dignity than that.

"I don't know…I bought some food—McDonald's," she says, holding up the bag of food and his drink. "You told me you liked McDonald's so I got you a cheeseburger combo with a strawberry shake. I personally love the strawberry shakes so that's why I got it for you—"

"Your point, please?" He says bluntly.

She freezes at his coldness, knowing that she really messed up as tears sting the edge of her eyes. She looks down, mustering up the strength to say, "I don't have a point. I'm sorry for bothering you…"

With that, she turns around and walks back to her car slowly, and when she hears him shut the door, the tears start flowing freely. She had been so stupid, ruining the best relationship she had ever had in her life with the best guy in the world over something that seemed so trivial now. All he had wanted to do is help her and he had and in return she hadn't even given him so much as a 'thank you'.

She sits in her car, wanting to get going but she doesn't know where to go. She had never felt more alone in this moment. She's about to start the car and just drive until she gets tired when she hears a knock on the glass window on the passenger's side. "Open the door."

Her mouth gapes open as she stares at him in shock and he knocks again, saying, "Liv."

He was calling her 'Liv' again. She unlocks the door and Fitz slides in, taking a seat in the passenger's and shutting the door. They sit in a silence which she pins as awkward but he seems to be just fine as he turns on the heater and even the radio, adjusting it to a low volume.

"Why did you come out here?" She finally asks him in a gruff voice. "I thought I was wasting your time."

"You'll never be a waste of my time, Liv." She looks at him, confused at his sudden change of heart as he asks, "Why're you crying?"

"No reason," she mumbles.

"You don't cry for no reason."

"What do you want me to say, Fitz?" She asks, starting to become aggravated again.

"I want you to say what you feel."

She sighs deeply before saying, "I've just had a rough night and I came here because…because I wanted to talk to you but—"

"What?"

"But you were acting all cold towards me. You wouldn't give me a chance to explain anything and I thought that you didn't want to have anything to do with me anymore, so I left and here I am, crying in my car with you bearing as a witness."

"Why would you think I wouldn't want to have anything to do with you?"

"Because I ignored you after what you did for me and I know that you're angry which is why you didn't invite me inside, so I thought that we were done."

"Just because I'm angry doesn't mean that I won't come after you. But now you know how I felt after you blew me off for three days after all I did for you. I know that you didn't like me telling anyone else about what happened but I felt it was necessary. I'm sorry if it caused you any strife with your parents but I really did have your best interests at heart."

"I know and I'm sorry for being a selfish idiot."

"Don't call yourself that. But next time, just don't jump to conclusions. Try and hear me out first, okay?"

She nods. "Okay. And thank you for taking care of Edison. No one's ever done anything like that for me."

He smiles at her. "You're welcome. Now, no more crying," he says, reaching over and wiping her cheeks with his thumb. "I don't like seeing you sad. And it's hard to properly enjoy a good McDonald's meal when you're sad—or any meal for that manner."

She chuckles at this as he reaches for the bag and takes out its contents. As he starts to split the burger in half, she stops him, "You don't have to do that. I bought that for you."

"I want to share it with you." He hands her her half and places the fries on the center console.

"Here's to us," he says, raising his half of the burger. She laughs as she clinks hers with his and he takes a bite. She pretends to take a bite and decides she'll get rid of the burger later because she's a vegetarian but she doesn't want to ruin the moment. It never ceased to amaze her how just being around him had the ability to make her feel exponentially better.

I hope you enjoyed this. Did you like how Fitz handled Edison? Did Olivia overreact to how he handled it? Did you like Olitz's car scene ; ) ? Other thoughts? Have a blessed day and remember to be thankful. Thanks for reading!

EDIT: A reader reminded me about Olivia being a vegetarian so I had to fix that here-sorry for the mistake.