"Are you still driving?"

"No, I stopped to get some dinner. I'll be on the road again soon."

Sitting at a quiet little diner, Liv had just entered the Montana border. For a week, she mostly would drive around the country and sight see if something caught her eye. But seeing the Montana sign, she knew her subconscious led her here. Though the why part was still unclear. Cyrus called just as she was pulling into the diner parking lot.

"Do you know that Jerry and Huck are looking for you? And Fitz is too."

"I'm sure Huck is. Jerry might be too."

"Not might, Liv," Cyrus nearly shouted at her. "They are all looking for you. Jerry called me again today looking for you. None of them knew you left the city. Which concerns me because that would mean that you haven't slept in a week. Where are you now?"

"I'm not sure on the city, but I'm in Montana. And I'm fine. I saw a couple of missed calls from Fitz. Looks like he left a message."

"You haven't listened to it?"

"It's probably just him asking something about work or I got mail at the apartment. Or worse. I'm not listening to it. Abby called me a couple times already asking about the work codes and what they mean. She's handling it pretty well."

Sighing, and shaking his head, Cyrus couldn't care any less about work or her former work. What he wanted to know was her plan. What she was doing and where she was going. Most importantly, when she would ask someone to come to her so she could get some sleep.

"Liv, I get it. You are off on an adventure and having a blast. That's great. But it's been seven days since you were here and eight since you left D.C. Which would mean you have not slept in nine days, minimum. We all know you're getting to a breaking point. Let one of us come out to you. If you don't want Jerry or Huck to, I could fly out. Or I can send Michael. You need to get some rest."

Handing the menu to the waitress and placing her order while she listened to him go on, she didn't care about sleeping right now. She knew where she was headed and what she was doing.

"I am resting. I'm getting dinner and then I'll be back on the road. I'll drive for a few more hours and then I'll get a hotel room and lay down. You need to relax a little, you'll give yourself another heart attack worrying about me so much. I'll call Jerry and put him at ease too. Huck too. It's almost Javi's bedtime so I need to go. He'll call soon and I'd like to have eaten my dinner. I'll talk to you in the morning, Cy."

Seeing the time, she put her phone on the table ready to video chat with him as she had done every night since she was away. Getting her plate and starting to eat, she saw the text from Huck come in. He's brushing his teeth now.

Ordering dessert, her phone went off seeing Javi's phone come up and answered. "Hey little man! How'd your day go?"

"Mommy took me to the soccer field today. I got a bunch of goals. Papa and Nana came too. Uncle Fitz didn't come today though. But I got a present from Papa and Nana!" Javi told her before moving off the bed to get his present. Coming back, he held up the stuffed teddy bear dressed in a little tuxedo holding a pillow. "I get to be the ring bear at the wedding, Aunt Livia. Nana said it's the biggest job to have. And Papa said he'd be mad at me if I lost the rings. But Nana said he'd never be mad at me. Even if I didn't tell him things."

"That's a big job for sure. Nana and Papa would never get mad at you. Did he ask you something and you didn't tell him?"

Though Liv was telling Javi where she was every time they talked, she never gave him specifics of her location. She'd tell him she was far away at a hotel or a diner. Liv wouldn't put Javi in a position to lie for her. Not that she was hiding. She wasn't hiding from anyone. This was only a road trip to get away and clear her head. But the last few days and her current location, perspective was coming out of what she was doing.

"Papa asked where you are. Uncle Fitz wants to know too."

"Uncle Fitz is?"

"Yup. He says he didn't know where you are."

"Well, that's alright Javi. You know where I am now?" Javi shook his head at her. "I'm even further away than I was yesterday. I'm in a big outdoor place. Bigger than the Vermont house outdoors. There are mountains here. And they like to wear cowboy hats here too. I might just get one. I could go horseback riding."

"That sounds fun! But you need a cowgirl hat. Like Jessie's hat in Toy Story. And you can ride Bullseye!"

Liv watched him get excited for a moment before his smile disappeared. Javi sat on his bed with his iPad on the night stand and held his new bear while his eyes darted side to side. One of the nervous habits he seemed to have when he was unsure of something that Liv had picked up on when he was a toddler. "What's wrong, bud?"

"Uncle Fitz said you aren't his girlfriend no more. How come you're not? Is it because you went away?"

"He's right. We aren't together anymore. I just needed some time away. I'll be back though. I have to come back for Nana and Papa's wedding, remember?"

"That's so far away too. You could come back sooner. I'll share my room with you if you don't want to live with Uncle Fitz. Wait, is Uncle Fitz still my uncle? Or is he nobody like Mellie? You're still Aunt Livia, right?"

Liv smiled and laughed at the thought. "I am absolutely still Aunt Livia. Nothing will ever change that. Do you want him to be Uncle Fitz still? He can be your uncle if you still want him to."

"And you are not mad if I want him to?"

"Not at all. He's still Papa's son and you'll still see him. Now that him and Papa are getting along."

"Good. I want Uncle Fitz to be Uncle Fitz," Javi told her and yawned. "I need some sleep, Aunt Livia. Are you going to sleep too?"

"Not yet, Javi. But I'll be okay. You get some sleep for both of us."

"I can do that. Good night, Aunt Livia. I love you more than nuggets."

"Sweet dreams, sugar. I love you more than wine."

Before he could hang up the video call, Javi was already asleep. Closing the app, Liv got up and paid the bill before heading back to the car. Sending Huck a text message that she was okay and would call him soon, she dialed Jerry's number and waited.

"Well, it's about damn time, Livia!" Jerry yelled answering the phone. "What the hell is going on?"

Without saying a word, Liv hung up on him. Hearing the silence on the line, Jerry pulled the phone back to see it was disconnected. Taking a few breaths to calm down, he redialed.

"Jerry."

"Alright, that was a bit much. I apologize. What's going on? You're not answering calls or texts. No one here knows where you are except a four-year-old. Cyrus says you aren't with him and haven't been for a week. So, tell me. Where in the world is Olivia Pope?"

"I'm fine. I'm still in the country. I've been to a lot of different places this last week. Javi doesn't know where I am. He knows what's around me. I'm enjoying this little trip."

"Little? Livia, a 'little' trip is going away for a weekend. It's not venturing off to parts unknown. When did you last sleep?"

"About eleven days ago. I'm alright. I've stopped several times to get hotel rooms when it got to be too much. But no, I haven't actually slept yet. How is everything there? Javi showed me the bear you and Verna got him. He's very excited about that."

"We're all fine here but you're trying to change the subject. Why are you wandering around the country anyway? Because of Fitz?"

"Fitz and I broke up. He doesn't want me."

"He understands now. I had to tell him. He knows about Richards."

"Excuse me?"

"I didn't have a choice, Livia. Fitz needed to know. You should have been the one to tell him instead but we both know you weren't going to."

"He said I'm damaged goods. He doesn't want me. Fitz thinks I cheated on him to get Richards to sign his divorce papers. He doesn't trust me. Fitz only thinks I am a whore and a slut and damaged beyond repair. And maybe I am. Maybe I am so far damaged that there's no coming back from it."

"Livia, he loves you. Listen to his message. I know he left you a voicemail."

"I deleted it. I don't need him telling me all over again how damaged I am. I am completely aware of it. Fitz doesn't love me."

"He does, Livia!"

"No, he does not! If he did, he wouldn't have even thought that I could cheat on him. He would not have been able to tell me how damaged my life is and how horrible I am. If he loved me, he would not have been able to even think of calling me a whore or a slut. Because that's not love. Would you ever say something so hurtful to Verna?" Waiting for an answer, Jerry couldn't form a word to respond to her. "Of course not. You love Verna. I love Fitz. No matter how hurtful he is to me. The name calling or pointing out the facts that rip my heart to pieces, I still love him. And maybe you and Verna were right. Maybe our relationship was only one sided. I love Fitz. I probably always will love him. But he does not love me. And I'll be okay with that after some time."

Sitting on the couch in the living room, Jerry didn't know what to say to her. He knew Fitz loved her, but she did have a point. If he did love her, he wouldn't have said all those things.

"Livia, will you at least let him call you again? Just answer and listen to what he has to say. Fitz knows he made a mistake. A grave one. But he understands what happened between you and James now. I told him what happened."

"You had no right to do that! That is not your story to tell. That's none of his business. I didn't tell him for a reason!"

"He needed to know. Keeping it from him was only causing damage between you two." Jerry listened for several quiet moments waiting for an answer but received none. "When are you coming home?"

Gripping the steering wheel tight, Liv settled down her temper that was about to fly. "I'll be back in D.C. for the wedding."

"That's three months from now! You cannot go without sleep for three months! Are you insane? Livia, just come home. You can avoid Fitz from D.C."

"If it was only a matter of avoiding him, I could easily do it from there. But this isn't about him anymore. This is about me. I'll still be around for the wedding. I'm still going to be your best woman. I'll call you and Verna, and we can remote set up the wedding until I come back."

"I'd try to talk you out of this, but I know it's a pointless fight. I am going to call you every day, multiple times a day though. You'll get tired of it eventually and come home or get so tired that someone needs to come get you."

"Tell Verna I said hello."

Hanging up with him, Liv started off on her drive again. Listening to her music along the highway for three hours, she made it to the small town she was looking for. Going past the main drag of businesses, she got out after pulling into the bar parking lot.

Walking into the bar, not as many people were there as she thought would be. For a Thursday night, this was quiet.

"What can I get for you?"

"Old fashion, please," she told the bartender and took a seat at the bar.

Holding the glass after he set it down in front of her, Liv stared at the glass in hand. Taking several sips of it while hearing people around her talking, she held it tighter and stared harder at it. As if the answer to everything in the world that was wrong was in the bottom of the glass. Hearing footsteps behind her suddenly stop, she was ready to throw a punch if whoever it was started to hit on her. Tonight was not the night for it. She was too tired to think about being hit on and having the energy to say no thank you. The chair beside her moved slightly making room for the person to take the seat there.

"Another one for the lady please, Mark. I'll take the same."

Looking up at the person beside her to disagree about another drink, she stopped and looked at the man.

"Hi Liv."