Chapter 21: Promises

You would promise me we wouldn't change
Though we were young we'd stay the same
That I'd always be in your life
But we soon move on

—Promises by Boxer Rebellion

Olivia didn't know what had compelled her so much to call Fitz. Maybe it was the empty feeling left by the passage she just read in The Girl in the White Dress, but she just needed to talk to him, to hear his voice.

"Hello." Just the sound immediately feels her with a sense of peace and warmth.

"Hi," she says softly.

"Hi. Is everything okay?" He asks, sounding sincerely worried.

She nods to herself. "Yeah, everything is fine…I just wanted to hear your voice."

"Oh…" There's an awkward silence as she figures that he's trying to figure out what to say next and eventually they both end up laughing as he struggles to say something meaningful.

He finally asks, "How was your day?"

She smiles. "It was mostly spent planning a Superman-themed party."

"That sounds fun."

"Yeah, but did you know that you can hire the whole Justice League to show up at a party and play with the kids for entire day for just $300?"

"That's pretty inexpensive."

"That's what I thought. Something didn't seem right so I called the number on the ad and the person that answered not only couldn't speak English, but was advertising in America from a totally different continent."

"Are you serious?" Fitz says through his laughter.

"Yes! I knew something was wrong but I just had to check it out for myself. Danny says he doesn't want the whole Justice League anyway, just Superman, so the search is still on…"

He smiles. "I can't wait to see you guys again. I'm still searching for a gift, though. I just don't know what he'd like."

"He likes to draw and write a lot, but I think a lot of people will buy him gifts in those areas. He also really loves sports, though, especially basketball. His favorite team is the Clippers."

"I might be able to get him something there. I have a friend that can score tickets to their games for pretty cheap. Do you think he'd like that and would you be okay with it?"

"I think he'd love it. And I trust you so yeah, I'm totally fine with it."

He seems to hesitate before saying, "And I would love you to come, too, Liv…if you want."

"When's the next game?"

"Next week Sunday."

"Sundays are usually my prep days but maybe I'll be able to. If not, maybe you could take Bobby along," she suggests, knowing she probably won't be able to make it and he agrees.

She suddenly grows serious as she remembers what had made her want to talk to him in the first place. "I've been reading your book. The one you wrote about us…"

"Oh, I wasn't aware you knew. I was going to tell you but…I don't know. How did you find out?"

"I went to the old B&N and there was a whole rack of them, but honestly, the book is everywhere. It's a number one best-seller and there's a movie coming out this summer."

She can hear him smile on the other end. "I know."

"I never would've imagined that my life would ever be turned into a movie and hit the big screen."

He chuckles. "I know, neither did I. When I first wrote the story, it was mostly just to vent but, I don't know, something just told me to put it out there, so I did and now it's become this huge thing…you aren't mad are you?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"Because I didn't ask for your permission, I mean, I didn't use anyone's real names and a few things in the story are different but overall, it is our story, and I can understand if you'd want to keep it just between us."

"I did at first, because of all that had happened, but, this book has made me feel closer to you again, even with all the good and bad memories it's bringing, I'm glad you did it. I'm glad that our story means something. With everything that's happened, I'm glad that it'll leave some sort of legacy."

"Then I'm glad I did it."

She smiles warmly. "So, where are you in the story?" He asks with a slightly wary tone.

The smiles slowly falls off her face as she answers, "The part after my father found out about us."

"Oh," he says tersely and she can tell that the memory is coming back to him.

January—2016

"Okay, so I'm going to try on all these clothes and I'll try to be quick."

Fitz looks at her skeptically, which prompts her to say, "I promise I'll be quick. Love you!" She leans up on her tip toes and pecks him on the cheek before disappearing into the dressing room.

They had been at one of her favorite clothing boutiques around town for an hour now and even though Fitz was tired, especially tired of all the women in the store making googly eyes at him, he didn't want to upset Olivia by complaining. "Fine. I love you, too!"

It had been seven months since their trip to New York and they were currently both on their Christmas Break. Olivia had been inching to do some shopping, but since all of her friends were busy, Fitz eventually relented and agreed to go shopping with her, mostly to make her happy but also because he was hoping to get some bed action that night and thought that they could even stop by a lingerie store to spice things up even more.

He leans against the wall outside the dressing room, messing around on his phone until he hears a familiar voice, "Mr. Grant? Is that you?"

Fitz looks up to see Eli coming his way with his wife, Olivia's step mom, Becca. His heart pounds out of his chest with every footstep that they take towards him and he freezes, prompting Eli to ask, "Are you alright?"

Fitz shakes himself out of it and smiles nervously. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. W-what are you guys doing here?"

This time Olivia's step mom answers, "I just wanted to check out the store. Our daughter likes to shop here a lot. How do you two know each other?" She asks, turning to Eli.

"This is Mr. Grant, Simon and Olivia's former English teacher…" As Eli explains, Fitz quickly shoots Olivia a text to stay in the dressing room until he's says it safe to come out.

"Oh, it's nice to meet you," Becca says, holding out her hand for Fitz to shake.

He does and tells them, "You, too, but please call me 'Fitz', I don't go by 'Mr. Grant' since I'm not a teacher anymore."

They nod and Fitz thinks they're about to continue on their way when Eli asks, "So, are you waiting on your girlfriend or something? I doubt you would come in here alone."

Fitz chuckles and is about to answer when Olivia comes walking quickly out of the dressing room with one of the outfits in hand. She sees Fitz and smiles, opening her mouth to tell him something but the smile is quickly wiped off her face at the sight of her parents.

She immediately freezes and asks slowly, "What are you guys doing here…?"

Eli looks at her with a just as confused expression. "Becca and I are here shopping."

She nods and exchanges a look with Fitz, prompting Eli to eye them suspiciously.

Olivia breaks the awkward silence, saying, "Well, I'm going to check these clothes out—"

"Wait, do you two know each other?" Eli asks Fitz and Olivia.

She looks back at Fitz, who hesitates slightly before saying, "Well, yes, I was just her English teacher this past year as you already know."

He stares at Fitz, trying to read his face but Fitz's poker face stays strong because Eli eventually relents and shakes his head dismissively. "Yeah, sorry, I don't know what I was thinking. For a second I thought—"

"Well, actually, that's not totally correct," Olivia interrupts. Fitz looks to her, like she has ten heads, wondering what the hell she was doing, but she continues, "Fitz and I…we've been dating for a while now. He's my boyfriend…" she tells them, going over to Fitz and taking his hand in hers. It takes him a while to register what she's just done, especially with him still questioning it, but eventually he intertwines their fingers and holds her hand firmly.

"Boyfriend? You mean, the boyfriend that you've been hinting at for months now?" Eli asks, his voice steadily rising.

Olivia nods.

"Well, I'm not sure how I feel about this…"

"It's not what you think, Dad…"

"It isn't?" He exclaims. "Because I remember Mr. Grant being very keen about helping you when you were struggling in his class. Were you even struggling, Olivia? Or was it all a ploy just to get closer to him?"

"Can you stop jumping to conclusions? It wasn't like that!" Olivia tries to tell him but Eli just keeps going.

"And you," he says, turning to Fitz, "had me believing that you really cared about my daughter's future and education, but you were really just using it as an opportunity to sleep with her. You used her low self-esteem to impose yourself on her."

"No, I didn't," Fitz says, growing angry at all the accusations. "I never slept with her while I was her teacher. Our relationship was completely plutonic and only turned romantic once school was over."

"But even if that were true, which I don't believe it is, you must have been eyeing her during all that time, weren't you? And then once you were sure you wouldn't get in trouble, you made your move on her."

"Why are you talking like I don't have a brain to think for myself?" Olivia asks, insulted. "I was already 18 ½ when Fitz and I started dating and now I'm 19. Fitz and I didn't break any rules. I was completely legal when we started dating and I'm still old enough to make my own decisions about who I want to date, so please back off."

"He's got to be about ten years older than you, Olivia. Why wouldn't you want to date someone your own age?"

"He's twenty-four and I don't want to date anyone else because I only want him, and if that's too difficult for you to understand, then I guess we have a problem."

Even Fitz is shocked by her words, feeling somewhat surprised that she would side with him over her own father even though she's said countless times that she would.

Eli raises his eyebrows at her, taken aback and says in an even voice, "Well, I guess we do have a problem, then, because I will never accept this—perverted excuse of a relationship!"

"Eli!" Becca chides. "That's enough!"

His words sting but Fitz had expected that much. What he's afraid of is how Olivia will handle it. He knew that she could be strong but as soon as he glanced at her and saw her bottom lip quiver, he knew that this would be much worse than he thought.

He squeezes her hand and holds her closer to him. He glares at Eli before Olivia musters up enough courage to say, "Well, goodbye then. I don't want to ever see you again so don't contact me in any way."

She sets her clothes down on a nearby chair and she and Fitz walk out of the store without another look back at her dad or Becca. The ride home is quiet and full of tension but Fitz just focuses on driving and getting home—their home.

Once they enter the house, they just awkwardly stand in the living room until Fitz tells her that he's going to start dinner. As he arranges everything on the stove, he can hear Olivia sniffling in the bathroom but instead of immediately rushing to her side to comfort her like he normally would've, he just freezes in place, feeling like everything around him might fall apart.

Eli's rejection of their relationship had hit them both where it hurt, especially Fitz. Fitz knew how people would view their relationship, especially with the fact that he had been her teacher but that didn't stop him from feeling any different about Olivia. His own family had been uneasy about the whole idea at first, specifically Bob who had been their principal, but even he had eventually come around. And even though Fitz had sworn to himself and to Olivia that he would be ready for whatever her father would throw at them, it was easier said than done. Yes, he loved Olivia with everything in his being but he didn't want to tear her away from her father or her family just to be with him. It just wasn't right and down the road, they would end up blaming each other for it. But he also didn't want her to leave him. She was the most important person in the world to him and without her, nothing would ever be the same again. He needed her like he needed air. He couldn't and he wouldn't just let her go.

He finally comes back to his senses and notices he's burning the food, but he doesn't care. He turns off the stove and slowly walks to the bathroom, trying the door even though he knows it's locked.

"Livvie, can I come in?" He doesn't hear anything except for the sound of her blowing her nose.

"Please, baby, let me in. I need you…" he says softly, pressing his head against the wall by the door. He listens as she sighs and comes to the door, twisting the lock and opening the door. Her eyes and lips are swollen red and he feels his heart breaking at the broken look on her face.

He doesn't even have to say anything as he opens up his arms for her and she falls right into them, her tears staining his shirt. They eventually go to their room, stripping down to just their underwear and clutch onto each other. After what feels like hours, even though it could've been minutes, Olivia looks up to Fitz and cries, "Please don't leave me. I love you so much…"

"I could never," he tells her, kissing a falling tear from her cheek. "Please don't leave me either…I wouldn't be able to bear it," he tells her softly.

"I promise I won't ever do that. We're in this together," she says, wiping the last of her tears from her face.

Present

"I'm sorry," she says breathily.

"It's not your fault that he hated us being together so much."

"No, not that…I promised that I would never leave you, but I did and I tore everything apart."

"You had a right to. You were going through a lot. Besides, we were young. We weren't stupid but we kind of had our heads in the cloud thinking that everything would work out. We didn't think things through and circumstances eventually tore us apart. We didn't try hard enough to keep what we had."

"We could've been so far by now…" She says, imagining the life they could've had if everything had just worked out.

"We could have," he agrees. "But we can still build from where we are now. It's not all lost. This is just a new beginning."

She nods and repeats to herself, "A new beginning…"

"And things already look brighter than ever."

She smiles. "You're right. Things will be different and better this time."

They continue to talk for a few more minutes before she hears him trying to stifle a yawn on the other end, making her chuckle. "You sound tired. You should probably get some rest."

"I don't want to stop talking to you, though."

"Do you have work tomorrow?"

"Yes…"

"Then you need rest. I'll call you again tomorrow night. Hang up."

"You hang up," he says daringly.

She laughs. "I don't want to…"

"Then I guess we'll just have to stay on the line and talk until one of us falls asleep."

She sighs but gives in. "My dad is coming to the birthday party…and he knows that you are, too. But he knows how we feel about each other and he's come to accept that nothing will change." She pauses for him to say something but he remains silent. She sighs. "I can understand if you don't want to come with him there—"

"I don't care about what he thinks. I'm going for Danny. He's been out of my life for too long and I want to be there, I have to be there, for this."

She nods. "Okay."

"Okay."

They carry on about different things, work-related, family, and just random and Olivia feels she's finding the person she lost along with something new that was never there before in him, but it fascinates and intrigues her all the more. After a while Olivia realizes that she's been going off for a while so she stops and notices the steady breathing and soft snoring of Fitz's as he sleeps soundly.

"Goodnight, Fitz. I love you," she whispers, before hanging up and falling asleep herself, dreaming sweet and peaceful dreams.

Hope you enjoyed that. Thoughts on this chapter? Next is the b-day party. Any thoughts on how that will pan out? Thanks for reading!