The next few chapters, including this one, will have a few time jumps from Christmas time until we get to Liv's graduation so be prepared for those. Enjoy!

Chapter 13: Dreams and Opportunities

"Omg, Fitz, these cookies are amazing!" One of his cousins exclaims as everyone at the party rushes at the platter of ginger cookies.

"Aw…Fitzy learned how to bake. You didn't burn down your house, though, did you?" Harrison snickers, bringing up the incident that Fitz loathed hearing every year.

Fitz glares at him. "No, everything went great. Sorry there isn't more to go around—I didn't expect everyone to love them this much." Of course Fitz had known everyone would love the cookies because Olivia was a natural in the kitchen, but she had only made enough for about twenty people. Though, that number was quickly decreasing as Harrison grabs up about five of them in a napkin, earning a good smack from their mom who was forcing him to put all but one of them back.

Fitz felt a little bad about passing Olivia's work for his own but he thought that it'd be much easier for him to just say that he made the cookies instead of conjure up some elaborate lie. He couldn't even tell them that he bought them from the store because they were still warm by time he got to the party.

His Grandma June wasn't taking the news of his newfound baking 'ability' well because usually her goodies were the center of attention every year, but she had pretended to at least be as happy as everyone else. Though, there was one person who had seen through the ruse.

"You so did not make those cookies," his sister Lindsey says to him with a knowing smile as they stand outside away from everyone. "You're too much of a crap cook to even pull that off."

"Whatever, Linds. You can be jealous all you want but it'd be better if you accepted that I've picked up a new hobby and I've gotten quite good at it," he says back, not giving into her.

"Just a few hours earlier you were all worried about only bringing an apple pie, which you now don't have, and then you whip out some magical cookies that everyone's in love with." Fitz had realized earlier that he forgot to bring the pie but it had been a win-win situation because he had made everyone happy with the cookies and now he had an apple pie at home to tend to later.

"You either managed to find a sweet old woman to cook for you or you have a girlfriend, so which one is it?" She asks, trying to search his face for the answer.

He chuckles and says, "Nice try, Linds, but I really did make these."

She narrows her eyes at him. "Whatever, I'll let it go for now, but I know something's up. Hey, how about you bake an apple streusel cake for me? And keep in mind that I know the difference between the store-bought ones and homemade ones, there's just a certain taste."

Fitz sighs, realizing that keeping up this lie might be harder than he thought. "I'll see what I can do."

She smiles. "Great. So, I wanted to ask you about the whole college thing. Are you really going back to school?"

"Yeah, I am. In fact, I've already applied to several colleges."

He still hadn't told Olivia that he applied for some colleges back in November—mostly because they weren't on speaking terms at the time but also because he wanted her to make the decision to go to college on her own. Though, he wasn't even too sure himself where he wanted to go—he had applied to some colleges both in Northern and Southern CA like Stanford & UCLA, but he had also gone for some on the East Coast like Harvard and NYU. Though, deep down inside he was curious to know where she got accepted to before he made his decision because he didn't really want to be too far from her.

"I want to get a degree in journalism and use that to move into politics."

"I can see you doing that. You love to travel and you've loved politics ever since we were little. I'm glad you're deciding to forge ahead with your future. I guess the three years you took off from school did you some good," she says, nudging him.

He smiles. "Yeah, I suppose they did, though, I wish I had started sooner, but I don't regret most of the experiences I've had over this period of time," he says, thinking about all the time he's had with Olivia.

If he hadn't taken so much time off and gone on to graduate school after his first four years of college, even if he had still gone on his trip to Hawaii, he might've never gotten the chance to really get to know her and develop the relationship they have now, and he wouldn't trade the last five months of his life for anything in the world, no matter how difficult they had been at times.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

It had been about two weeks since school resumed and it was the first day of the new semester. Fitz had to say goodbye to his English classes and hello to his creative writing and poetry courses. Although, it had only been the first day, he was already enjoying the transition as the students he had now were much more invested in what he was teaching and got more involved. This would be a good semester, but there still would be some things that he missed.

As he's tidying up his new classroom a bit, he hears someone knock on the door, even though it's open. He turns to see the very person he was just thinking of in the doorway, slowly walking in and smiling lightly at him.

"Hey," Olivia greets. "I just wanted to stop by before heading to swim practice and check out your new classroom. I like it—very artsy and vibrant."

He smiles back at her, glad to see her in the flesh because the last time they had seen each other had been about a week ago to work on the final touches of her college applications. He wasn't too sure of how they would be around each other after their Christmas Eve interaction, but it hadn't gotten in the way of them working together and they were much like the way they were before with a few awkward moments but he was glad that she was back in his life. As far as he knew, she was still with Kenny but she had confessed her love back to him so he would grasp onto the fact that when the time was right, she would eventually be his. "I'm glad you like it. The students are great, too. They actually pay attention."

"I'll be sure to tell our class that you don't miss them," she says with a wink. "Though, a few of the girls are considering joining this class just to get closer to you, so you should watch out."

He rolls his eyes. "That's just what I need. How's your new teach?"

She shrugs. "She's alright. When she wasn't giving us a monotonous overview of the semester, she kept dragging on and on about her pet bird. Her name is Mrs. Cockaran but now everyone's calling her Mrs. Cuckoo because of the whole bird thing. You are by far the better teacher."

He smirks. "Glad to know I'm better than the bird lady."

She lets out a small laugh and then says, "I also came by here to thank you for helping me with everything for college. I know that I still haven't gotten in anywhere but at least I know what direction I want to go."

"I think you have a pretty good chance of getting in to the schools you've applied to, even the more selective ones. You have a bright future ahead of you," he tells her, meaning every word.

She smiles shyly and nods. Since they were already on the topic he thinks that this would be the perfect time to bring up his decision to go back to school as well. He knows she'll be happy for him but he wonders how she'll react when she realizes he didn't tell her sooner. "Liv, I wanted to tell you something."

"Like what?" She asks, looking slightly worried.

"It's nothing bad, at least I don't think it is, but I've decided to continue on to graduate school after this school year."

"You are? That's great," she beams. "Have you already applied anywhere?"

He nods. "Yeah, back in November. I should be receiving some admission decisions in about two months or so."

"Where did you apply to?"

"All around, really. UCLA and Stanford around here and NYU in the east coast…and Harvard," he adds tentatively.

"Wow, Harvard…" She says, glancing away from him as her voice grows smaller. "That's really far…but I can see you going there."

She was upset. He didn't mean to make her feel like she wasn't an important enough person in his life to her about such a drastic choice, he just wanted to make sure he was making the right decision first. "I wanted to tell you earlier, but as I'm talking to you right now, I'm still conflicted about which school would be the right fit for me."

"You would do well at any of them. They would be lucky to have you," she says with a smile but he can tell that it's forced.

"Maybe so, but I also want to take into account the life and people I would be leaving behind if I had to live on the other side of the country…and that includes you," he admits, causing her to look up at him. "I don't want to be too far away from you. Seeing and being with you almost every day over the course of these past four months has been amazing and even though we could still stay connected by phone and other means, it wouldn't be as great as the real thing."

"Fitz…"

"I know you think I'm being irrational but I'm being honest, too. You only applied to one school on the east coast but I know it's not the best and you have a good chance of getting into better ones closer to home and I want the best for you. But I don't want to leave you."

She shakes her head, walking closer to him and taking his hand in hers. "Don't consider me when you make your decision. I-I don't want to leave you either but I want you to do what's best for you as well. Sure, I won't get to see you as much as I'd like but we can still make it work," she assures him with a wavering smile.

Most long distance relationships didn't go as well planned as the people involved intended for them to, and she knew it too, but maybe they wouldn't end up in that boat. Besides, Fitz still had to find out if he'd get accepted or not…

He nods. "We can. But we'll see what happens first," he says, squeezing her hand.

She squeezes back and lets go, stepping back. "I should get going before my coach wrings my neck. Can we talk tonight?"

"Yeah, I'll call you around 9."

She perks up at this, making him glad that she was just as happy to hear his voice before going to sleep as he was to hear hers.

"Alright. Bye, Fitz," she says, backing out of the classroom.

"Bye, Liv."

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

After swim practice, Olivia's mind was still reeling with what she and Fitz had talked about. If only she had started applying to colleges earlier then she could've gotten closer to him even if he went to Harvard. Her best choice now was USC but then they would be 3,000 miles away from each other. And even though they could still contact each other daily by phone or skype, it wouldn't be the same as getting to physically interact with him. She wouldn't be able to hold his hand or feel the warmth of his embrace or feel his lips on hers—

"I didn't know that you got a new car," Kenny says, interrupting her thoughts as they walk into the school's parking lot together. She had forgot that he was with her even though he had been keeping up perfect pace with her.

"Oh, yeah…" Olivia says, referring to the 2004 silver Lexus sedan she had gotten for Christmas. Her father had apologized for any 'misunderstandings' with Sammy about her grades and had admitted that he was proud of all the progress she had made so far, proud enough to buy her a used but in-good-condition car. Simon had been more than jealous that he was stuck with the old Ford Taurus they shared before, but their father and Becca agreed that Olivia deserved her own car, much to her surprise, but she had accepted the gift without any questions.

"I got it for Christmas. Sorry I forgot to mention that," she tells him, even though she had rushed to tell Fitz as soon as she was handed the keys.

"So, are we going to hang out tonight?" He asks.

She gives him an apologetic look. "No, I have a ton of homework to do," she says, unlocking her car and opening the driver's door. She had made up her decision to break things off with him before Christmas and would've done it earlier, but she thought that it'd be cruel to do so around the holidays and over phone because that was just cowardly. But it was easier said than done because every time she wanted to break the news to him, he would do or say something sweet and she would chicken out.

"We could do it together…" he offers but even he can see that she's not going to budge.

"Not tonight. Sorry, Kenny." She turns around and starts to sit in her car but his voice stops her.

"Wait, Liv." She turns back around to see him glancing down away from her and chipping at the ground with his foot as he mumbles, "I don't know if we should keep doing this…"

"What?" She asks, not entirely sure if she heard him correctly.

"It's just…it doesn't seem like you ever want to spend time with me since we started dating. Every time I try to arrange some time for us to be together you always decline and say you're busy, or if I try to kiss you or even touch you, you flinch or try to get away from me. And we haven't really…you know, had sex since our first time. I don't think that you want to be my girlfriend anymore."

She continues to stare back at him not knowing what to say and he nods dejectedly, taking her unresponsiveness as confirmation of his suspicions.

"I'm sorry," she tells him softly, feeling terrible because she can't deny it but thinking it was better to end this conversation as soon and kindly as possible. All she can do is look back at him as an awkward silence fills the space between them because she can't give any good explanation as to why she's sorry. She couldn't tell him that she was in love with their former English teacher and that he was the reason why she never gave them a real chance, so she continues to stand there silently, looking back at him.

"I just wanted to make you happy and while trying to do so I feel in love with you. You were my first everything—I've never felt so strongly towards anyone. And even though I wish you felt the same way, I liked us more when we were just friends. I think we should break up."

She nods slowly and acceptingly, bringing an even sadder expression to his face. "I think we should too. But can we still be friends?" She asks hopefully.

He shrugs, sinking his hands into his pockets and mumbling, "I guess…"

She attempts to smile back at him though her mouth barely moves a crack upward, but he gets her drift and forces a smile. "Bye, Olivia."

"Bye, Kenny," she tells him as he then turns and walks back to the school without another look back at her.

She sighs as she finally sits down in her car, feeling like a huge weight has been lifted off of her shoulders but she had never gone through a break up before and even though it's what she wanted, she still can't help but feel a little upset.

IiIiIiIiIiIiI

It was amazing to Olivia how fast two months had gone by. It was now mid-March and like she expected Fitz had gotten accepted everywhere he applied, including Harvard and even though he was considering UCLA more, she just wanted the best for him even if it meant she wouldn't get to see him as often as she'd like. But she would find out where she got into in a couple of weeks and after that they still had until May to make their final decisions. But that didn't mean they couldn't celebrate. It had been a half day and she had forced him to let her take him out for lunch at the restaurant they used to go to all the time and then they saw a movie. Technically they had agreed not to be seen anywhere in public but they had been sure to conjure up some 'disguises', which really just consisted of sunglasses for her and a hoodie for him, in case they were seen together.

Now she was just getting home and was glad that she would get some quiet time since her whole family would be out at one of Matt's away baseball games. She decides to go to the kitchen quickly and grab a bottle of water before heading to her room to relax, but when she's about to step in that direction she hears a continuous thumping noise coming from upstairs. She creases her eyebrows at this, wondering what it could be and decides to go upstairs to check it out. As she makes her slow ascent up the stairs, the thumping becomes more irregular but more pronounced and she swears there's another sound—almost like whimpering or crying. When she gets to the top of the staircase, she realizes that the noises are coming from Simon's room and as she inches closer, trying to be as quiet and sneaky as possible, the noises she thought were whimpers start to sound more like moans. She hopes she's mistaken in what she hears as an idea of what's going on occurs to her but as she looks through Simon's slightly open door, she gets her answer. On top of his bed, she sees Simon repeatedly pounding into Abby as she moans and encourages him.

Olivia quickly closes the door and backs up, still completely in shock at what she just saw. What the hell was he doing? And with her of all people?

Olivia is shaken out of her daze when she hears all movement stop and both Abby and Simon ask each other, "What was that?"

She realizes that she shut the door in a cursory effort to un-see what she had just walked in on. She quickly tip toes to her room as she hears one of them get off the bed and quietly closes her door before either of them can peak through.

She sits on her bed and tries to figure out what's happening. Never in a million years did she imagine Abby and her nerdy and shy brother together in this way. At first she's just in shock, but as she sits in her room and they resume their throes of passion, if you could call it that, she begins to grow angry as she wonders if there's any real passion involved. When they were kids, she used to tease Simon about having a crush on Abby but she thought that it had diffused over the years. She was now obviously wrong but she was still worried for him. Abby wasn't the girlfriend-type and she never had been. She got around and she was fine with being that way because she believed that no guy would ever be enough for her, unlike Olivia would had slept around because she was sad and needed to feel wanted, which had all changed when Fitz came into her life. But she didn't want Simon to fall into that same boat of boys that Abby had used and then gone on her merry way without so much as another glance. Simon may have been older than her by 7 minutes but she still saw him as and looked after him as her brother who had been picked on and taken advantage of so many times and she was afraid that the same thing was happening here. She didn't want Simon to get the wrong message and think that Abby was interested in a relationship with him when she really just slept with him for some twisted reason—and what was that reason? Get sleazy with one of the nerds as part of some dare? She wouldn't let it happen to him.

Twenty minutes later, she hears them come out of his room and go down the stairs, laughing and chatting away and she decides that it's time for her to crash the party.

She makes her way out of her room and sees them by the front door, starting to say goodbye but they both freeze and look of horror takes over their faces as they see her standing at the top of the stairs.

"Olivia, what are you doing here?" Simon asks shakily.

She shrugs casually. "Oh, nothing, really. I was just going to chill in my room but then I got a little distracted by the sound of you two screwing three rooms down! What the hell is wrong with you, Abby?"

An expression of what looks like guilt flashes across Abby's face but then she puts on a defensive front, saying, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm talking about sleeping with my brother when that's all you intended to do. I know that you guys aren't dating or else you would've told me."

"This is really none of your business, Liv, so could you butt out," Simon tells her, not holding back his annoyance but Olivia ignores him, saying, "No, not until she admits that she's using you."

Abby rolls her eyes. "So, I screwed him, what's so wrong with that? It's not like he didn't enjoy it. Didn't you?" She asks Simon, turning to him.

Simon blushes and shyly throws his gaze to the ground as he stammers, "Uh-w-well, yeah. A-a lot."

This just proves that Olivia was right about him still being infatuated with Abby. "It's wrong because now he thinks that you want a relationship when really you go around sleeping with anything that has a pulse!" She spits out.

Abby gasps, taken aback at her friend's words and says back, "Don't act all high and mighty just because you had a boyfriend, Olivia. You used to be the same way."

"Yeah, used to be, but I never clearly took advantage of someone who didn't know any better. Don't tell me that you didn't know he had a crush on you. You could've found someone else to fulfill your slutty desires."

"Really, Olivia? You are such a hypocritical bitch!" Abby spouts back.

Olivia smiles back spitefully. "I'm sure I am. You can leave now," she says, waving her out.

Abby shakes her head and marches out of the house without another look at either of the Pope siblings. Simon calls out to her by the door but she continues to angrily march away. Olivia didn't see Abby's car outside so she must've purposely parked farther away or Simon must've driven her here. Whichever one, it was still sneaky as hell.

Simon turns back to face Olivia and irately says, "That wasn't necessary. I can handle my own situations and love life without you trying to intervene."

"She's using you," Olivia tries to tell him again.

"No, she's not! She says she's interested in me. And thanks for thinking that I'm such a loser that I'd never be able to get laid. Just back off," he says, angrily taking off towards the boys' game room and shutting the door behind him.

"Why do I even try?" Olivia grumbles under her breath before, returning to her room, closing the door, and turning on her music to calm down.

So, I would say a lot happened in that chapter. But first things first. Do you think Fitz trying to trick everyone into thinking he could bake will come back to bite him in the butt? Do you think Fitz should choose to go to school far away or stay near Liv? And the Kenny break-up which some of you have wanted for some time…how sad but oh well, Olitz is better. And lastly, Abby and Simon. Do you think Abby is using him? How will this whole thing impact Liv and Abby's friendship and Liv's relationship with Simon? Other thoughts? Thanks for reading!

PS: I read my first FF story in May and from there my passion for FF just grew. A lot of the stories I've read on here have helped me get through some tough times so I wanted to pay an end of the year tribute to said stories by making a favorites list of 2014 on my profile page. So, if you haven't read these stories yet, please do because they're so amazing and I'm sure you will enjoy them as much as I did, and if you have read all these, give yourself a cookie because you, my friend, are on top of things!