Chapter Five

"Rather Be"

Friday

It was a little after 6 am when Olivia sickly rolled out of bed, sniffing and pulling her yellow throw blanket tighter around her shoulders. The window was cracked slightly letting in the biting cold but it felt like the air conditioning was blasting. On the other hand, she felt too hot for socks and a big comforter, and this is why Olivia hated being sick because nothing made sense. One minute the room is freezing but her body feels like it's on fire. Between the constant stuffy nose and dry cough she was ready to call her mom but knowing Maya pope she would make the drive and sleep on the floor of her daughter's dorm if she had to. Instead, Olivia settled for cough drops and tea.

After sending a brief, generic email to her professors, she climbed back in bed, because whether she was sick or not Olivia could sleep the day away. As she was drifting to sleep, she made a mental reminder to tell Kelly that she was still sick, not that Kelly ever slept here often.

A few hours later, Olivia woke up to Kelly ransacking her dresser. She rose slowly, sleep still heavy in her voice. "What are you doing?" Olivia scrubbed her palms over her face to rid some of the dried sleep from her eyes. "Kelly?"

"Can I borrow a scarf?" She sighs as if Olivia was annoying her with her line of questioning. Kelly turned and Olivia noticed the pinkish-purple hickies that peppered her pale skin. "Can I? My parents are coming later, and this is the last thing I want to be lectured about." Olivia sends her a sleepy nod and lays back down. "Thanks, Liv, but I'm not psychic, where is it?"

"Closet."

Kelly went in and came out just as quickly but she had something else besides the scarf Olivia said she could borrow. "What's this, it's pretty amazing." She held up the blue and gold jewel with red detailing and at the base were the characters from the wizard of oz. Olivia was still in her sleep haze but when her eyes focused she all but jumped out of bed and snatched the egg out of Kelly's hand which sent her stumbling backward a bit. Olivia climbed back into bed cradling the egg.

"Sorry but don't ever touch this," Olivia said, as she placed the egg next to her bed. "It's not a toy, it's invaluable."

As a child and still, to this day, Olivia's been obsessed with the wizard of oz, her twin sister also had an affinity for the film. Anything Wizard of Oz related Olivia and September had to have and most of those things came in two's even though they didn't mind sharing their stuff, their mother thought it was better if they had their own even if it was exactly the same. For the twin's eleventh birthday, they took a family trip to Kansas, because the girls begged for it and as a gift to the girls their father found an antique shop that was Oz themed. Out of everything in store September zeroed in on the egg while Olivia's heart was set on a 1939 antique poster from the original screening of the movie. The Pope's left the shop two grand short but the girls were happy and that's all that mattered to them.

"I was just saying it's cool. Thanks for the scarf." Kelly said somewhat embarrassed by Olivia's reaction.

Olivia hadn't gone back to sleep after Kelly left and she hadn't moved from the position she was laying in. Her gaze focused on the golden egg- she hadn't looked at it in months because she knew the feelings it would stir up in her and ignoring that pain was good for her sometimes. She raised as a knock came at the door, muttering to herself that Kelly needs to get a new key and stop losing it every week.

Olivia opened the door, eyes puffy from the silent tears she was crying and nose red from constantly wiping it.

"Fitz?" Olivia tilted her head, he was the last person she expected. "What are you doing here?" Her question was answered as he held up the plastic bag. He scooted past her, giving her no other choice but to close the door.

"I figured you'd be hungry," Fitz says as he starts unbagging the items he bought. "Box of tissue- were you crying?"

Olivia shook her head and wiped her face with the back of her hand. She didn't want him to know she had been crying. It was bad enough that he was here in her dorm once again. Once again she found herself failing at taking her therapist's advice. "No, I just don't feel well."

When Fitz was finished unbagging everything he sat on her bed and kicked off his brown leather boots and placed a folder on her side table. Olivia's brow raised at the realization he planned to stay. He has to have something better to do. "I don't feel good, Fitz. I just wanna sleep and maybe eat something if I feel like walking to the dining hall."

"I brought food, chicken noodle soup and tomato, and grilled cheese. We don't have to study but Abby said professor Davis has a mock midterm coming up. So I wanted to stop by and give you the exam he gave last year when I took this course."

"But you're in my bed, probably soaking up my germs," Olivia whined, stamping her foot on the floor. "I didn't want to get you sick and here you are laying on the pillow I've been coughing on all day."

"I got my flu shot, I'll be fine." Fitz bounced off the bed and grabbed one of Kelly's pillows off her bed. She would notice but it's not like she ever slept in that bed so Olivia didn't protest. "Let's watch that movie you're always talking about." Patting the right side of the bed he sent her a silly smirk that made all her protest melt away. She hated when he did that because she lost whatever strength she thought she had. Olivia climbed into the bed next to him, pulling the throw blanket around her shoulders.

Maybe it was because she was only half aware that she'd promised herself to stay away from Fitz Grant, not because he was a bad guy but who was it helping to crush on a guy that she couldn't have? Deciding that she could handle this, she allowed said guy to kick off his boots and take up the left side of her bed.

The movie was the Wizard of Oz and Olivia couldn't help the smile that etched across her face when he suggested it. She hadn't known he was paying attention every time she went on long tangents about how good the movie was for its time but he was listening to every word. He pretty much knew the entire plot and all the characters' names, not that it was so hard to spot the cowardly lion but when he did ask a question she was happy to answer considering that people talking during movies was one of her pet peeves.

Halfway through the movie, Fitz felt Olivia wiggle her body as if she was trying to find a comfortable position and even though this was a full-size twin bed, there wasn't much more space Fitz could give her without getting off the bed. It wasn't until he felt her do it again that he lurched forward tapping the spacebar on her laptop, pausing the movie "Am I making you uncomfortable?" Fitz asked.

She threw back her head with a small chuckle. "No." She said through lingering chuckles at his expression "My back itches."

"Oh… turn over I'll scratch it. Cause I wanna see if Dorothy gets home and I can't focus if you keep fidgeting over there." Oliva hesitated a moment, but then she just turned over. If she got in her head even just for a second about his hands being up her shirt it would be very bad for her. So she turned around and lifted her shirt up.

His hand outspread against her skin was warm and soft in a way that made heat bloom in her stomach. His hand roamed over her back with her guidance to where it was itching the most. She felt the way his fingers stalled over the scar below her rib cage before he pulled his hand out of her shirt, fluffed his pillow, and laid back folding his arms across his chest.

"Better?" Fitz asked, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

"Yeah, thanks." She whispered as her cheeks burned crimson-her breathing shallow and her heart pumping faster than her brain could comprehend. Calm down.

Fitz resumed the movie and Olivia tried not to focus on the heat that filled the room, she could tell she was the only one phased by his hands being on her. And then Abby flashed in her mind. , Girlfriend. It was a reminder of their boundaries but she hadn't confirmed that accusation first so it was hard to abide by something she might have made up in her head.

Olivia reached forward and paused the movie and Fitz turned to her, the light coming off the screen lit up his face. Olivia thought about turning on the lamp but decided against it. Because it would be easier to hide her expressions if he couldn't fully see her. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"I do, but she doesn't go here." Fitz lifted his bottom off the bed and got his wallet, and pulled a picture of him and a brunette at what looked like their high school graduation. Olivia swallowed the bile that had risen in her throat. She didn't actually believe she would vomit but the reaction was sound. "Melody, but everyone calls her Mellie," he says, not knowing that every word he spoke was a nail in Olivia's coffin.

"She's pretty." Was all she could manage without feeling like her throat was closing.

"Thanks, that's a huge compliment to my taste," Fitz says and then he unpauses the movie. She wanted to snatch the question back, lock it in a box and keep living through the fantasy. Embarrassment spiked through her but she refused to ask Fitz to leave as if that would make it any better. She'd rather suffer in silence than ruin what friendship they had.

Abby told you so.

Why are you surprised?

He's been pushing you towards Jake since you met him.

Olivia argued back and forth with herself for a bit but everything made sense. The confirmation out of his mouth didn't make things easier but she also didn't melt into puddles of blood and embarrassment. She lived.

Fitz was the sweet, kind caring friend, of course, he has a girlfriend only an idiot would pass up the opportunity to be with him. And I'm the late idiot.

Olivia threw the comforter off her and climbed out of bed, walking over to her desk where Fitz had put the food. She needed to put some distance between her and him. "Do you wanna split the grilled cheese?" Fitz asked, lifting the laptop so she could slide back under the blanket.

"Yeah, this is a lot of food." Against her better judgment, Olivia switched the lamp on. And her mind flooded with naughty thoughts, ones that stepped far out of her character. But for some reason, she couldn't shake the feelings she had for Fitz even with what she'd just confirmed.

"What's that?" Pointing to the golden egg on the dresser. Her gaze darted to the egg, silently scolding herself for forgetting to put it away because she hated talking about anything that had to do with her sister, especially since she lied to Fitz about September.

Olivia told Fitz the abridged version of the story leaving the messy, tear-jerking details out. However, she did tell him that her annoying little brother broke it when he was five, running with it because he hadn't realized its value. Her voice hitched when she told him that it played a soft lullaby, but because it doesn't open anymore so the lullaby is trapped. Similar to how she feels trapped right now. Though she left that part out. Upon finishing the story she could see that he had more questions than he'd started with, but she appreciated the fact that he didn't push.

Silence lingered in the air for a moment. But he soon broke it, still facing forward. "So what's going on with you and Jake?" He asked.

"um, not much I guess. I don't see him that much."

"Do you like him?"

The question caught her off guard, her initial thought was to lie and play up Jake's charm but truthfully there wasn't anything exciting about him."We don't have much in common."

"Did you tell him?" Fitz says, this time turning towards her.

Olivia felt panic prickle up inside her. If she admitted to Fitz that she wasn't interested in his best friend. Would it ruin their friendship? But if she kept lying and leading his friend on she would be the bitch and even though she didn't think Fitz would view her that way, it was still a fear that had taken hold of her. "I'm gonna tell him, please don't say anything. I don't want him to think we're gossiping behind his back."

Fitz sat back a doggish smirk played on his lips. "He wouldn't believe me anyway, his ego is the size of Texas." Taking a bite out of the cold grilled cheese he unpaused the movie.

His muscles ached from squeezing into such a narrow space and his ass was vibrating. Darkness filled the room except for the moonlight peeking through the curtains. Light symphonies of Olivia's babyish snores were the only sound in the room. His Nokia said it was one A.M. and below the time was a flood of missed calls, voicemails, and text messages from his fiance. Mostly he was still asleep so he just dropped his phone back in his pocket. I'll deal with it later.

Fitz reached above his head, stretching as best he could to relieve the cramp that was forming in his thigh.

He hadn't expected to stay this long or fall asleep because he had a meeting with his college adviser in the morning but he didn't want to leave her dorm a mess. He placed her laptop on her desk and plugged it in. Olivia was half under the covers and her leg was hanging off the bed. He didn't know how she was sleeping like that, but he tucked her leg in and pulled the blanket up to her chin. Careful to not hit the egg on her bedside table when he reached for the half-eaten bowl of soup.

Shame it doesn't work anymore, it's beautiful, like-

He smiled at Olivia as she snuggled further under the blanket before he went back to cleaning. When he finished her dorm was just as tidy as when he'd arrived earlier.

As he was leaving, he grabbed the bag of trash and opened the door. Kelly was coming down the hall searching her purse for her keys when she noticed her dorm door was opening. "You're cute, I don't know why she said she didn't have a boyfriend," Kelly says

"Oh…um" Fitz stammers "Just friends actually, but don't wake her, she's got the flu and she hasn't slept all day." Kelly pretended to zip her mouth closed to emphasize that she would be quiet.

A/N: I know everyone is asking for longer chapters, but these were all pre-written but there are some longer ones coming up. I don't like feeling like the chapters are jammed and run on with unless info, yall will know everything in due time. I hate long drawn-on info dumps.

Thanks for the reviews, they really motivate me.