2 Weeks Earlier
"This is nice…"
Edison smiles and looks away.
"Don't be so suspicious of everything. It ruins the fun."
I roll my eyes.
"So you just decided that we needed to have an extremely expensive dinner in the middle of the week?"
He shakes his head at my inquisitiveness and ignores my question.
"How's work?"
I groan in annoyance. Why is he doing this to me?
"What are you hiding?"
"How is work?"
"It's fine."
He shakes his head and continues to cut his steak, ignoring my foul mood which, I would like to point out, I wouldn't be in if he would tell me why he's suddenly decided to wine and dine me.
"You really want to know, don't you?" He asks with a small grin.
"Yes."
"Don't want me to tell you right now?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure you're ready for it?"
"Yes!"
"Will you marry me?"
"Ye-" I stop as soon as I register what he's just said. "Wait…what?"
He chuckles and moves to kneel next to my chair. I can't help but shake my head at the unexpected gesture, almost rejecting it so that I can properly prepare myself. He pulls a small ring box from the inside of his coat and presents it to me. His eyes are piercing in to mine as he gently takes my left hand in his and caresses it softly.
"Olivia Pope, will you marry me?"
My heart has stopped again and I gasp as if I hadn't heard the question the first time.
"Yes." I whisper, nodding my head slowly, still in disbelief. "Oh my gosh, yes."
I finally recover and quickly jump in to his arms as he slides the ring on to my slim finger.
"I can't believe I didn't see this coming." I giggle in to his ear before returning to my seat. "The only reason you got away with this is because there's a new administration so I have a lot going on. Don't try to get anything else past me because you won't get so lucky next time."
He joins me in laughter.
"I know." He agrees, holding his hands up in surrender. "I had to run it by Huck to make sure he didn't think that I was cheating or something with all of my sneaking around."
I shake my head thoughtfully. Of course Huck had known. We move back to our previous positions at the table, beaming at each other. I suddenly find myself excited for a future with the man in front of me.
The next morning starts with the same bouncy and hopeful mood that the night before left behind. I'm sitting half on the bed and half in Edison's lap as we lounge around, having taken the morning off to get some things together.
"Whose mom do we call first?" Edison mumbles in to the skin on my shoulder as he caresses it with his lips.
"I vote yours since you asked."
He laughs loudly and rolls his eyes while reaching over to grab his phone from the night stand on his side. I watch him scroll through his contacts and press the small green button next to his mother's contact information. I press the button to put the phone on speaker when he moves to bring the phone up to his ear and the dull sound of the ringing phone fills the room. His mom answers as the call as the last ring is petering out.
"Edison Davis, it's nice of you to finally call your mother. If I didn't keep up with the news I would have thought you were dead.
"Hello to you, too, Mother." His voice carrying a playful tone. "I had some news that I thought might make you happy but clearly you don't want to speak to me."
"You're so dramatic." She sighs and I can hear the smile in her voice. "What is it? Are finally coming back home because your father would love to talk to you about that Boehner guy that you've been seen with. He has a lot of questions and you know he won't talk to anyone but you when it comes to politics."
"No, Mom, I'm not coming home…not yet anyway. We''ll probably be there for Christmas." He looks down at me for my approval of the statement, accepting my nod as a cosign. "What I actually wanted to tell you was that I'm getting married."
There is nothing but silence on the other end of the phone. Enough silence to cause Edison to tap his phone to make sure the call hadn't dropped.
"Are you being serious right now, Edison, because if you're joking I need you to tell me before I get excited or I will never forgive you."
"I'm serious, Mom." He smiles down at me as he speaks. "Olivia and I are getting married."
An exuberant shout came from the phone, startling me in to a bout of laughter.
"Is that Olivia?" Her voice still high with excitement.
"Yes, it's me." I add with a giggle. "You're on speaker."
"Oh, congratulations, Liv!" My smile is wide as I listen to her. "You beautiful girl, I cannot wait to see you in a wedding gown."
"Thank you, Lyn, I really appreciate it."
Edison shakes his head at me in response.
"I like how I, your only son, called to tell you that I was getting married and you told Olivia congratulations first."
Laughter comes through the speaker.
"Edison, you should really stop being so needy." Laughter punctuates her sentence. "Congratulations, honey, you better not mess this up. Olivia's the best thing that's ever happened to you."
Edison kisses my cheek in agreement.
"Yes, I know." He pauses. "Alright, Mom, I love you and we'll call you later. We have to call Liv's parents."
"Alright, I'll talk to you guys later. Love you."
And then the phone goes silent and the screen flashes as the call ends.
Edison gives me a small smile before looking pointedly at my phone. I find my mother's number swiftly and take a deep breath before pressing the small call button and the phone picks up almost immediately.
"What?" The voice answers on the other end of the line.
"Wow that's a great way to answer my mother's phone. You have no idea who I could have been." I reply.
"Shut up. Mom has caller id and she has Bluetooth so it says 'Liv is calling' right before it starts ringing." She pauses. "I could have just ignored you seeing as how you know that this is the day that we have our mother/daughter bonding breakfast."
My mother cuts in before the conversation can digress any farther.
"Alright, Jordan, Liv didn't call to talk to you." She stops lowering her voice and I can hear her chastising my sister. "You okay, Olivia? What did you need, Honey?"
I pause searching for the right words so Edison gives me a smile of encouragement.
"Well…I'm glad that you guys are together because I have some news." I pause again, purely for dramatic effect. "I'm getting married!"
I immediately hear choking.
"You're getting married?!" Jordan shouts through the phone. "When the hell did that happen?!"
"Um, last night?" It comes out as a question instead of a statement. "Edison proposed over dinner."
"And you said yes?!" The astonishment in her voice is genuine and I can tell that Edison's feelings are hurt by the obvious surprise over my answer.
I get up as fast as I can, removing myself from the room before my sister says something that can end my relationship before it's even had the chance to really begin. I can see Edison's confused expression as I close myself in the bathroom. I run in to my closet, knowing the bathroom will just project the conversation like a megaphone, and move sit under the clothes rack like I did as a child. Before I continue the conversation I move my legs up to press against my chest in an upright fetal position, bracing myself for what is about to be said.
"Hey, I'm back." I sigh in to the phone. "Mom?"
"Liv, you know that I'm happy as long as you're happy."
Of course Jordan's opinion is different.
"Well, because I'm not your mother my happiness doesn't depend on yours." She stops, probably waiting for me to interject, before continuing. "Olivia Pope, you do not love Edison Davis."
"Yes, I do."
"No, you don't. You might like him a whole lot but that doesn't mean go and get married!"
"I said the same thing about you and Elliott and look at where you guys are." She's silent for a change. "You were eighteen when you guys got married. I'm older, more mature, and I've thought this through."
I can almost hear her eyes roll through the phone.
"Jordan, you keep rolling your eyes like that and they're going to get stuck in the back of your head." My mom says. "Liv, does that mean you'll be coming home for Christmas? Daddy and I would love to see you, especially given the news."
I sigh softly.
"Ma, I don't know yet. Let me talk it through with Edison first but probably not." I utter trying to let her down easy.
I hear Jordan scoff at my answer. She, unfortunately, knows exactly why I'm avoiding the entire west coast as a whole.
"It would really mean a lot to us if you did, Liv." She confesses. "Your sister sees you all of the time but your father and I can barely catch a glimpse of you unless it's on the television. I'm just saying it would be nice to have everyone in the same place for Christmas…for once."
"I know, Mom, I know. I promise that I'll talk to Edison, okay?" I respond before looking at my watch. "Hey guys I have to go. It's almost twelve here so I'll call you both later." I giggle lightly knowing that my next statement might cause a riot in my mother's car. "And Jordi, I know that you're secretly really happy to have Edison as a brother-in-law, you don't have to hide it."
My mom laughs and I can hear Jordan laugh facetiously with her.
"I love you, Liv." My mom chokes through her laughter.
The phone gets quiet immediately afterwards.
"Livi, I'm happy if you're happy. I just worry about my big sister." Jordan admits. "I love you.
"I love you, too." I whisper just before the phone disconnects.
I look up to see Edison standing the closet door.
"Your mom wants us to come to California, I take it."
"Yeah…she's complaining about never seeing me…" I commented. "I know you wanted to go to your parents' this year, though, so I told her we'd talk about it but we probably wouldn't."
He nods his head slowly, thinking over my words.
"Do you remember what you first said to me when we started dating?" He asks out of the blue.
"No…what?"
"You said that you never wanted to get married." He walks toward me as he speaks, kneeling down in front of me so that we're somewhat eye level. "What made you change your mind?"
I think over his question, immediately remembering exactly which discussion he's referring to.
"I guess when I said that I didn't think that we'd be here." I answer. "I didn't think that I would ever fall in love so, in turn, I wouldn't ever get married."
He nods while mulling over my words.
"So you're in this?"
"You bet your ass I am. You're stuck with me."
It's 6 o'clock Thursday morning when the doorbell rings unexpectedly. Edison and I pause, looking at each other, dropping everything in our hands as we rush to get to the door so that we can finish getting ready.
"I'll get it." I volunteer, knowing that I'm closer to being ready for work than he is. "Finish getting ready, don't worry about it."
I rush to the front door and open it hastily without checking who it is and to my surprise it's Quinn.
"Quinn!" I shout pulling her in to the house. "What are you doing here?!"
She laughs at my exuberance.
"Well..." She trails off in a sing-song voice. "I've was in D.C. for all of a day when I got a call from Harrison telling me that you were engaged?!"
I can see the undercurrent of shock on her face, like she hadn't believed for a second that the news was true.
"I would have called you myself but I got a little busy an-"
"Don't apologize to me Olivia Pope, I used to work for you, I know exactly how busy you get which is why I'm here bright and early because I knew that if I didn't catch you now you'd be way too busy later."
"Well, I'm glad you did." Our excitement over seeing each other again fades a little and I realize that she hasn't only come just to give her congratulations. "Quinn, what else did you want to talk about?"
She sighs, knowing that I've read her correctly.
"You're getting married…"
"Yeah…and…?"
"What about Fitz?"
His name stops my entire thought process and my body is hit with a million and one feelings at once. Edison's figure in the hallway brings me out of my trance and I can tell by the look on his face that he had been listening the whole time. My gaze shifts from his face back to Quinn's.
"We're over, Quinn." I sputter softly. "We've been over for a long time."
"Liv, what about what you guys had together?"
"What about it!" My voice is raised when I speak and I can feel my face heating up.
I know that Quinn has absolutely no idea that Edison is listening but it still makes me incredibly angry that she has put me in this position.
"Are you still in love him?" Quinn almost whimpers, seeming so childlike in the moment.
"I love Edison." I state strongly hoping the answer is enough. "Fitz is in my past. I love Edison."
She sighs deeply and I almost can't take anymore questioning, especially with Edison staring a hole in to my forehead.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have come over here bringing up Fitz…considering the circumstances and all." She pauses to look directly in to my eyes. "I was out of line and before you ask, he didn't send me to question you. I don't even think he knows."
I nod at her, taking in what she's said.
"How is he?" As soon as the question comes out I can feel Edison's disappointment burn through me.
"He's good." Quinn's face brightens as she speaks. "It's weird being with him in California because things have slowed down so much. I feel like he doesn't even need me but, you know Fitz, he wants everyone to feel wanted."
I laugh at that.
"Yeah, I know."
"I never thanked you for getting me a job with him. Not everyone can say that they work for the former President of the United States and I owe that all to you." Quinn emphasizes.
"You got the job because of your talent, it had very little to do with me."
She shakes her head vehemently.
"I'm not even going to start that argument with you." She chuckles. "I know you have to get going so I'm going to head out."
She moves in to give me a hug and we exchange goodbyes as I open the door for her, waiting for her to get on to the elevator. She gets on, waving once more but before the doors close she looks at me with pity.
"He really misses you, Liv. You should give him a call."
And that's all that she can get out before the elevator doors close her off from my view. I immediately ignore her words and shut the door, remembering exactly how late I am.
"Do you still love him?"
Edison's voice catches me off guard as I round the corner to our bedroom. He's staring at the floor as he speaks.
"Edison." I sigh. "Look at me."
His eyes come up to mine instantly. That's one thing that I always liked about him. His ability to listen to me when I tell him to do something.
"I love you."
His eyebrows furrow together as he throws on his suit jacket.
"Are you sure about that?" He walks across the room to get closer to me as he speaks. "All of these years I was completely convinced that you were over him. Not so much in the beginning but after a few months I never even thought about it but now…I don't know what to think."
"Edison-"
"Olivia, I don't even think that you know. I can't be confident in it if you're not."
I roll my eyes at him, moving across the room to put as much space between us as I possibly can.
"Why does it matter? It's not like I'll ever see him again or like we'll ever be friends."
His huffing and puffing after my answer lets me know that I haven't said what he wants to hear.
"It isn't fair to either of us if you marry me when you really want to be with him."
"It doesn't matter, Edison. I don't even know Fitz anymore."
"But it does, Liv." He countered. "It does matter."
"What do you want me to say?" I question condescendingly. "That I'm not in love with him? Fine. I don't love Fitz."
Edison takes a deep breath before speaking.
"That's what I want to hear but I don't want to hear it if you don't want to say it. I don't want to hear it if you're only saying it for my benefit and you don't really mean it."
At this point I'm tired of the conversation and I'm thirty minutes late for work.
"I don't know what you want me to do, Edison."
"How about we go to Santa Barbara for Christmas?" He suggests. "Your parents are dying to see you and your folks are close with Fitz. That way we spend Christmas with your family and you figure out how you feel because I don't need you figuring out that you want to be with someone else five years in to our marriage."
"Edison, that's not a good idea at all."
"Why?" He questions, pausing to give me a chance to answer. "It's not like we're going to hang out with your ex. We're going to California so you can spend time with your family and at the same time having minimal social exposure with Grant."
"I just don't think it's a good idea." I reply softly. "Plus, we told your mom that we were spending Christmas with her."
"My mom will understand." Edison walks over to me, tilting my face up to make direct eye contact with me. "California will be fine. The only logical reason you would have to be scared is if you don't know how you feel about him. Which you already said you do. It's settled. Make sure you call your family and tell them."
He leans down and kisses my lips softly and then makes his way to the front door, slamming it as he exits and leaving me alone in the silence to think. Edison was right, though. The only legitimate reason I would have to be afraid of by going back is if I'm unsure of my feelings for Fitz. That's the thing. I haven't directly thought about Fitz in years but he has this way of taking over all of my thoughts and senses when I'm around him, easily making me love him again.
I don't know if I can get on that plane and fly back to him.
I didn't die I just briefly forgot that I had a fanfic. My bad.
This chapter is Edison filled but Olivia's wording when talking to him is verrrry deliberate. If you can catch it you get a gold star. The next chapter should be up in a week but don't hold me to it, I'm forgetful. Reviews do motivate me to write faster though so you should click the awesome little button at the bottom of you screen and leave me a little gift. :-)