"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Afraid I'll knock you on your ass?"

Changed into work out clothes, Fitz ducked under the ropes to join Olivia in the boxing ring. Putting his gloves on, he wasn't sure what they were supposed to be doing in there but if she wanted him to be in the ring, that's where he would be.

"I know your rage, Liv. I could turn my head and not wake up for a week," Fitz told her seriously.

"I need you alive and conscious. It's the only way to get my answers. But we need ground rules."

"Agreed. No hitting below the belt, literally."

Olivia laughed and shook her head. "I'm reserving that. All answers must be honest. Brutal as it can be. I want only honest answers. And don't forget, I know when you're lying."

"Two-way street. Honest conversations."

"I didn't say I was answering your questions, Fitz."

"Well, that's not fair. Conversations have both questions and answers from both parties. I think it's only right that I get to ask questions to the woman who left me high and dry in the office for three months."

"Fine," Liv groaned standing in the corner of the ring. "But any stupid questions and I'll refuse to answer."

Nodding his head, Fitz stayed in the opposite corner as her, keeping his eyes glued to her. For a mid-Sunday morning, no one was in the gym. Lucky for them. What Fitz didn't know was that she had called the owner and asked him to close it for a few hours. To which, he agreed.

"Since this was your idea, I'll let you ask first," Fitz told her.

Leaning back to stand straight, Liv stared at him for a moment. "Why would you think that I would ever have sex with James?"

"You worked for him. You never gave me a reason why you quit. You're young, smart, beautiful. I let my imagination run with something that shouldn't have even crossed my mind. You wouldn't talk about it. One of my thoughts was a lover's quarrel gone wrong."

"Wait, what? You thought I was involved with him?"

"It crossed my mind that you were. I don't know. It seemed plausible at the time." Fitz watched her shake her head before she motioned for him to ask his question. "Why didn't you tell me he raped you?"

Hearing the word made the shiver run down her spine. "I hate that word. If I could pretend, even in my own mind, that it didn't happen and I didn't have to see him, I would be fine. There's nothing anyone could do about it, anyway. He's a judge. I stay out of his way; he stays out of mine."

"You can't honestly think that's how it would work, Liv. You are a paralegal in Washington DC. You take all types of cases, and he is a judge. You were going to cross paths eventually. He's… he did it to you once. What's to say he wouldn't do it again or to someone else? You need to take whatever evidence you have of what happened to the police. He needs to pay for what he did to you."

"That's my business. If and when I choose to. I have a close eye on him."

"There's no sense trying to talk you out of it, is there?"

"Nope, not at all."

Wanting to discuss it more, Fitz kept his mouth closed knowing that it wasn't going to do any good to argue with her about him. Waiting for the next question, he moved to sit down still looking at her. "Next?"

"What messages did you leave on my voicemail?"

"I miss you. Mostly I would tell you about the day. What some stupid client did or how court was. My last ones at night were always me lying in our bed smelling your perfume on the pillow and how much I miss and love you. That I want you to come home. Tell me where you were, and I'd come get you. Where've you been, Livie?"

"Montana. Tyler and I were at Elizabeth's house there."

"Were you planning on going there the whole time? You left DC and went to Montana?"

Leaning back against the rope, Liv shook her head. "I went to Cy right when I left. Spent a day with him and Michael. I actually didn't have a clue where I was going or wanted to go. I just started driving. I guess it wasn't until I showed up at a bar and Tyler ordered me a drink that I knew where I was going." Looking at him, she saw him cringe when she said Tyler's name. "Is that really what you think of me?"

"Is what?"

"The last argument we had. You were furious with me. I just want to know how long you had thought I was that type of person. Was it since I started? Since we started dating? A month prior? I didn't see it. I didn't see how you changed your view of me."

Confusion spread across his face trying to understand her. "What type of person?"

"When did you start thinking of me as a whore? As a damaged whore with no self-respect? Or having no respect for anyone for that matter. I don't understand how you could go from telling me how much you love me one minute to the next minute telling me I'm damaged goods that was using you. Where did I go wrong with that? How could I have been so stupid to actually believe that you love me? That anyone could love me when I'm so damaged and there's no one who can help." Trying to hide her face, she didn't want to give him the option of seeing her eyes water. "I talked myself into allowing myself to love another person and it backfired. With all my problems, I know better than to love someone. Especially my boss. I was fine but I let you talk me into us being more. How stupid could I be?"

Fitz hated hearing what she said. All he wanted to do was comfort her but wasn't sure she'd let him. Taking off the gloves, he tossed them aside and stepped towards her across the ring. "Livie, you're not stupid. You're far from it. You're brilliant. You're lovable. And amazing." Putting her head in his hands, Fitz made her turn to see him before pressing his lips to hers. "You're my sweet baby." He said quietly against her lips. "What I said was terrible and if I could take it back, I would."

"Why would you say that? How could you say I'm a slut?"

"Liv, we both know you're not one. Can't we leave it at that?"

She shook her head away from his hands. "No, no we can't just leave it at that. I need to know. Is it because of how I dressed? The way I acted? What could I have done to make you think that I was a slut?"

Trying to answer her, he knew it wasn't one she was going to want to hear. Taking a step away from her, Fitz rubbed his arms as he spoke. "When I first married her, it's what she would do. To get her way, she'd get on her knees. Whatever she wanted and I didn't agree with or whatever to get her way, she'd use sex as a weapon. There were several times that she was getting into trouble drinking, that she'd… do that with someone else."

"So, you compared me to her. Not all women do that, Fitzgerald! Some of us are more intelligent and can come up with other ways to get what we want. Hell, some of us withhold sex to get what we want!" Moving forward, Liv hit him hard in the shoulder. "How could you think of me and her in the same category?"

Fitz attempted to dodge her fist but was hit on the first three punches. "I know, I'm stupid. It was stupid. I'm sorry!"

Getting several punches into him, her rage grew even more. Fitz was finally able to grab her arms and turn her around to restrain her against his body.

"Let go of me."

"Not until you've calmed down."

"I am calm!"

"If you're calm, then I'm dead. Relax, Livie." Fitz held her tighter against him, trying to bring her breathing down to a normal level. "We both know that you two are not in the same category. That was my own foolishness that put you two together. She's vindictive. You're caring. She's manipulating. You're ingenuous. She's trash. You're treasure. She's hateful. You're loving. I know the difference. I had a stupid lapse in judgement that pushed you away and I'll regret that forever. That's three months that I could have been with you."

Calming under his arms, she sighed and shook her head. "What does it matter though? You said it yourself, I'm damaged."

"I'm just as damaged as you are."

Liv pulled herself away from him and removed the gloves. "What are you talking about? You're not damaged. Your beyond perfect."

"I put my girlfriend in the same bubble as my ex-wife. I could swear that all women were the same when it came to getting what they want."

"I don't know what you want me to say. That you had a reason to put me with me? That I understand why you did? You wouldn't let me explain. You jumped to your own conclusion about me and wouldn't let me defend myself. Maybe they were right. We aren't right for each other. There are too many differences between us that we couldn't get past."

"Who said that?"

"All of them. Huck, Jerry, Verna, Cyrus, Michael, Kim. Every single one of them. They couldn't figure out how we would be able to stay together. We can't. There's just no way."

Fitz stared at her starting to pace the ring back and forth. Well, at least she's thinking. "Do you still love me, Olivia?"

Stopping where she was, she turned to look at him, frozen. That is a very stupid question. "Does it matter?"

"It matters," Fitz nodded. "It's a simple question, do you still love me? It's a yes or no question."

"I do." Liv nodded and locked eyes on him. "But I can't do this."

Watching her start moving away from him, heading towards the ropes to go, Fitz stopped her. "One minute."

Turning towards him, Liv stood still against the rope looking up at him. "You can't call one minute."

"I can. I am. One minute, Livie. Listen to me for just one minute. If you don't like what I need to tell you, then you can go. If you don't believe me, you can go."

Liv stood in front of him, hesitantly, afraid of what he would actually say. Nodding her head, she let him speak.

"The last three months, I've learned one thing. I can't exist without you. That I cannot breathe without you. That the man I am without you is… I'm nothing. I'm nothing. And you are everything. And I need you to give me another chance. I demand another chance. We're worth another chance. You have never cared about what anyone else thinks of you. You've never cared what anyone thinks of us together. We knew that every one of them had concerns about us. About me being your boss. Or about you being half my age. Or that I was married at the time. None of that mattered to you. Don't let anyone dictate who you want to be with because they don't understand you the way I do. I know that I hurt you before and I will regret that every day. I will do my best to make it up to you every day. Be with me because you love me as much as I love you. And anyone who doesn't like it, tell them to kiss your ass. This is about you and me. Together we can work through any problems that we have. We can fix whatever is wrong with us. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone else. I know I fucked up and I will always regret it. I told you this morning and I'll tell you again now. I will do whatever I have to do to get you back. Name it and I'll do it. Because at the end of the day, love is stronger than any mistake someone can make."