"Any reason you're sitting here alone?"

"You know I don't socialize very well."

Working on her second glass of wine, Liv stayed at the same table she sat at with Tyler and watched people enjoy themselves. Huck joined her while he watched Kim and Javi dance. Though he had questions that he wanted to ask, it didn't seem like the appropriate time or place for such. But he needed to know.

"Are you staying?"

"In the hotel room tonight, I'm planning to leave in the morning."

"Liv, you can't keep running," Huck sighed. "You are going to have to face him some time. And what about Javi? You've been gone for three months. He misses you. I miss you. Hell, we all miss you. Running away isn't going to solve anything. Since when do you run away? If you don't want to talk to Fitz, fine, but don't punish the rest of us for his stupidity. Especially Javi."

Taking a drink from her glass, Liv kept her eyes straight ahead to the dance floor seeing Fitz with Kim. "I'm not running away. I'm going home."

"Your home is here."

"My home is in Vermont. I'm going home to Vermont. At least until I figure out what my next move will be. I haven't been keeping up with the accountants for the last couple of months. I know I need to check in with them."

"You can check in with them from here. Stay with me and Kim. You know the guest room is always there for you. We can come up with a next move for you together."

Reaching over, Liv took hold of his hand and gave it a tight squeeze as she smiled at him. "I can't always be your problem, Huck. I have to figure things out myself. I've been relying on you and Jerry for so long that it feels like second nature to run to you two when I need something. But you both have a family; they need to be your priority. The last few months have shown me that. I need to be my own problem and not anyone else's. I can take care of myself. I'll always be around for all of you, you can't get rid of me that easy."

Before Huck could answer her, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see who it was.

"I believe the woman of honor owes the groom a dance," Jerry smiled and held his hand out for her.

"Are you really going to make me do that?"

"You bet your ass I am."

Taking his hand, Liv followed him out to the dance floor and put her free hand on his shoulder.

"I think the wedding went perfectly," she told him.

"With a fantastic planner on board, I had no doubt. You made everything Verna wanted. And what I wanted. And you came home for it. Thank you."

"I promised I would be here. You know I don't break my promises."

"What were you and Huck discussing? He didn't look happy when I came over."

"Nothing you should worry about. Tonight is yours. Don't be concerned about anything other than Verna. Just enjoy your night."

Shaking his head, Jerry held her hand tighter. "Now I am concerned. You're running off again. Livia, you have to stop this. Running off to places without telling anyone is not like you. You had all of us worried sick about you. Including Fitz."

"Fitz doesn't give a damn about me."

"That's not true. He was just as concerned as Huck, and I were. Possibly even more than us. I think that the two of you need to talk. You should listen to him. Hear him out on what he has to say."

"After everything he said to me, you want me to give him a chance to say it all again. Are you insane? If someone said all those things to you, would you give them another chance?"

"I married her. Verna had said some things that were horrible to me when I cheated on her with Lily. Then some even worse things when we'd gotten together again and it didn't work out the several times after. But we still worked it out. We're at our wedding after all."

"You only want him to have a second chance because he's your son."

"Wrong. I want you to have a second chance because I love you. You deserve to be happy, and we both know that Fitz makes you happy. If he didn't, you wouldn't have run off to parts unknown. You'd have been right here and gone about your work and had no problem continuing to work for him. You love him too. If you didn't love him, you wouldn't have cared what he said to you. You'd have brushed it off and moved on. I know you better than anyone else, aside from Huck. You ran off because he hurt you. Talk to him, Livia. Tell him that you're hurt, make him apologize, grovel if need be. But do not run off again without telling anyone where you're going. And first, have a discussion with Fitz."

"I don't want to talk to him, Jerry."

"Consider it a wedding gift to me then. Listen to him. You don't have to talk if you don't want to. But listen to what he has to say. Please? For me?"

Shaking her head, Liv hesitated. "You fight dirty. Fine, I will hear what he has to say. But that's all I'm agreeing to. I'm not making any other agreements past that. I'm planning to go to Vermont tomorrow. I guess I can stay here at the hotel another night."

"Don't leave without talking to him."

Just before the song was about to end, Jerry spotted Fitz and Verna a few feet away and caught his eye. Giving him a nod, Fitz danced Verna towards them as the song changed. As the song closed, Liv let go of Jerry, but he kept hold of her hand before giving it to Fitz and kissed her cheek.

"Just listen," Jerry told her and walked off with Verna.

Holding her hand, Fitz kept a grip strong enough to not let her go if she tried as the next song started.

"You did promise to dance with me at dad's wedding," Fitz reminded her. "And if I remember correctly, Olivia Pope does not break her promises."

Liv put her hand on his shoulder and looked around the room while he started to move them. Every other step through the dance she stepped on his foot.

"It would be easier to lead if you looked at me," Fitz said low enough for only her to hear.

Hesitating, Liv took a moment to ease her stance and looked up at him. "The song's almost over."

"I would prefer to not have bruises on my feet tomorrow though."

"Yes, well…" she stopped herself from making a snide remark. This was not the place to talk about it.

"Relax, Livie. I'm not going to make a scene. I just want to talk to you."

"Don't call me that. I'm not 'Livie' anymore. It's Olivia to you. You have no right to call me anything but that."

"You are acting like a child."

"Compared to you, I am."

Fitz looked around the room a moment as he took a breath. "This isn't the place."

"No, it's not. I agreed to listen to you to Jerry. I don't want to. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to be around you. You've made it perfectly clear you want nothing more to do with me."

"Livie…"

"As soon as the song is over, we can just go about the night."

"We are not just going to go about the night. You and I need to talk and we're going to do that."

"Isn't that what we're doing now?"

"You know what I mean, Olivia."

The song ended after what seemed like forever for her and she let go of his hand. About to walk away, Fitz tried to pull her back, but she ducked him when she saw Javi beside her.

"Aunt Livia, I found you! Come dance with me!"

Unable to deny her the time with Javi, Fitz went to the table she was at before and sat down. He kept an eye on anywhere she went in the room. You're not getting out of here without talking to me. This has gone on long enough.

For several hours, Liv spent more time with everyone at the party. When Jerry and Verna were ready to leave, she told them good night as well as Kim, Huck, and Javi. Finding Michael and Cyrus at a table, Liv grabbed herself another drink and joined them.

"Well? What happened?" Michael asked her.

"With?"

"With Fitz. What did he say?"

"That I'm acting like a child. Also, that we should talk."

"He's right on both accounts," Cyrus added, earning him a smack on the shoulder from Michael. "What? They do need to talk, and she ran away. You both know I'm right."

Liv rolled her eyes at him and took a drink. "It doesn't matter. I don't have anything to say to him."

"You are being difficult, Liv," Cyrus scolded her. "I am always on your side but you're not helping yourself. Talk to him, hear him out. Resolve your issues with him. After that if you don't want to talk to him, I'll support you. Until then, you're on your own."

With only a few people left in the ballroom, Liv let the waiters start to clean up as she told the last few of the guests good night. Completely aware Fitz was there, she could feel his eyes on her. Going for another piece of cake, Liv made her way back to the kitchen with the staff. I can make it out the back of the kitchen and up to the room.

Looking up from his phone, Fitz watched her disappear through the swinging doors. Expecting her to come back through them in a moment, he waited to see her again. After two minutes and she had yet to appear, he got up and went in search of her. Checking around the kitchen, Fitz saw her walk through the back doors and ran after her.

"We're not doing this, Liv," Fitz yelled out to her trying to catch up to her about fifty feet away.

"You're right, we're not," she called over her shoulder.

"Then stop."

"I am. I am going to my room."

"Stop walking, Liv." Fitz stepped faster towards her as she continued. Just as he caught up to her, the elevator door opened. Grabbing her arm, Fitz pulled her into the elevator and closed the doors. "What floor?"

"You're not going to my room, Fitzgerald."

"What? Floor? Olivia?" Fitz punctuated each word with more force in his tone locking his eyes to hers.

"Nine."