"I should have shut my mouth when he told me to. I just didn't want to hear it. I'll apologize to him after school before my swim. I'm sure he's very angry with me and anything else. I'll take whatever punishment both of you decide to give me," Liv said.

"Under the circumstances, I only blame myself. I pushed the two of you together when I shouldn't have. I knew," Cyrus started before the door opened.

"Cyrus, I did something I shouldn't…" Fitz said as he walked in until he saw Olivia.

"No need to say anything, Mr. Grant. I've already discussed it with Mr. Beene and I am transferring to another class. You won't have to see me in your class anymore. Cyrus will help me with my debates if he chooses or I will do them myself. I apologize for my behavior earlier and from the few weeks before now. I should know my place and keep my mouth shut when told to do so. I realize that you are the teacher and I am the student and that's how it should be," she said looking at her feet. "I shouldn't have called you those names and accused you of having a motive for them. I know you were only acting under Cyrus's ask and I apologize. Also for calling you a perverted pedophile. I know that you aren't and I shouldn't have even thought it. I've filed the form to be moved to another class and Cyrus has it now. I'm sure he will get me to the new class by tomorrow. My assignments are on your desk for today. Thank you for taking the time to do something so nice for me even when I was an awful person to you."

Fitz listened to her and tried not to look surprised at what she was saying. He knew that none of it was true and wondered why she was lying. She could have easily told Cyrus that he kissed her and she'd be off the hook, but she didn't. He cleared his throat and looked out the window avoiding her eyes. "That's alright, Ms. Pope, I'm sure the experience that you went through gave you a different perception of things."

"Yes, it has," she said through gritted teeth.

"I accept the apology and your work for the day. Enjoy Ms. Hart's Civics class."

"Thank you, if you two will excuse me, I have some work to do in the library." She left his office and started her way to the other side of the school.

"I'm sorry she treated you like that, Fitz. She's just having a hard time," Cyrus explained.

"I know she means well. I'm going to be late for my class. I'll talk to you later." As soon as the main office door closed, he ran trying to catch up with Olivia. "Olivia!" he yelled when he saw her. She didn't stop and he called her name again. Eventually he caught up with her. "Hey, what was that back there? Why did you lie to Cyrus?"

"I was taking one for the team, it's not a big deal."

"So, we're a team now?"

"It's a metaphor. I wasn't doing it for you."

"Well, you weren't doing it for him or yourself."

"You don't get it do you?"

"What? Explain it to me. None of this makes any sense. You lied to Cyrus and told him you called me all those names, which you never did. And we didn't argue."

"I took one for the team. I didn't do it for me. I did it for the two of you. You and him are friends and he doesn't really have that many."

"So?"

"If he finds out that we kissed, no matter whose fault it was, he will blame you. He will never forgive you for doing that after he pulled all the strings for you to get the job here. I'm like his daughter, no matter what I do, he will always forgive me. He can't stay mad at me but he can you. I was making sure that everything would stay the same between you two, so I lied. Go with it and make sure you keep it straight. That plan was bulletproof. There's no way he will see through it, so get with the program and keep your mouth shut. He fought, I called you names, many inappropriate names and I transferred class before you could kick me out."

"But that's not what happened."

"Can't you just thank me and move on, or just move on? We can be done with all of this and move forward."

"And if I don't want to move forward? What if I want to stand here and be here with you?"

He could see her visibly relax but knew it would only take mere seconds for her defenses to go back up. "I would love to."

"Wait, you aren't fighting this?"

"You are the one who kissed me, I just responded. It's not like there's much they can do to me. The entire risk is on you. I can't make you choose to walk away or to take the risk with me. I can only live with the decision you make. I'm a big enough girl to understand the risks that you would be taking and if you didn't want to take them with me, I'd understand. You'd be facing harsh words from everyone, losing your teaching license, prosecution from the state, the investigation and so much more."

"It seems like you've gone through this before."

"Never enter a situation where you don't know the consequence of the actions about to be committed," she quoted.

"Cyrus?"

"Yup, he taught me well."

Fitz took her hand and pulled her into the auditorium after making sure it was clear. "I want to take that risk. You're amazing and I want to be with you. But we couldn't get caught."

"I know."

"Then I'm in."

"Good, me too."