A/N: I promised an update and here it is. I'll admit it almost didn't happen after Thursday's episode. People were asking me on Firday how scandal was and I was like "Scandal came on yesterday? Could have fooled me, lol." But then I got over it because even though I'm not here for Olake I still like the show. I had two exams this week though so now I'll only have one midterm which is in two weeks so expect the next update at about that time. Anywho, Enjoy Lovelies! Follow/Fav/Review : )
Chapter 2:
Because she was late getting to class all of the seats towards the back were taken. She was stuck on the very first row. So when Fitz saw her hand knock over her coffee he rushed to help her clean it up. She was so embarrassed that she didn't notice he was the one trying to help her but it didn't take her long to figure it out. The hairs on her arms were sticking up and the pit of her stomach was tingling. Her eyes were focused on his strong hands, travelling up to his arms, his shoulders, his curly hair.
When he noticed her stop moving he looked up briefly and almost fell over from the intensity in her stare. At the same time they both looked away quickly, praying no one noticed but everyone did. Several glances were passed between the students. Luckily, people had better things to worry about than whether or not their professor found a student attractive.
"You know what, don't worry about it. I can take care of the spill after class I need to get started. You can move to another seat," he told her.
That was the last thing that she wanted to do. She had chosen the one farthest from him in the front and the only other one was right in front of him. She was about to refuse until he brushed his hand against her arm as he stood up. She'd do whatever he asked her to if he kept touching her.
They both scrambled away, flustered. She didn't hear a word that he said in his introduction, she was too focused on his facial features. She figured she might as well take this opportunity to get a good look at him in the daylight, up close. His hair was a silky brown, slightly curly; she had always been a sucker for hair that she could run her hands through and the curlier the better.
At the same time he was trying his hardest not to look at her but his eyes kept gravitating towards hers. He tried to keep his glances brief. A small smile flickered on his face when he realized she was checking him out. That's when her eyes went to his lips. He had a beautiful smile; she wondered how it looked full-force. His lips made her want to kiss him and she subconsciously bit her lip. His smile dropped.
God, she looks sexy as hell when she does that, he thought. Focus Grant.
But he knew he wouldn't be able to focus as long as she was in the same room as him and he gave up trying. He passed out the syllabus and dismissed class. It was the first day after all.
She tried to rush out of there but somehow everyone left before she could. She prayed he'd let her go. No such luck. "Olivia," he said. She kept walking. He refused to let her get away again. There was no way. In two long strides he was behind her and he grabbed her free hand that was hanging at her side. The contact shocked her and she stopped in her tracks, making him run into her back. She dropped her books. Her lips parted, eyes shut. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her waist. They both took a deep breath.
"Fitz," she whimpered.
He grunted. There was no need for words in that moment. If he could keep her in his embrace forever he'd be content. She opened her eyes as he turned her around to face him. They were so close that she couldn't look into his eyes if she wanted to so she stared at his chest. Don't look up, he'll know, she kept telling herself.
He ran his hands up and down her back. It was tempting to just lay her head on his chest.
"Look at me please?" he asked. "Look at me."
When she refused he placed his finger up her chin, tilting her head up. He smiled at her. "There you are. Hi."
"Hi," she responded.
He finally released his hold on her body and stepped back, realizing where they were. A student could walk in at any moment.
She saw the inquisitive look in his eyes. She was freaking out. She knew he had questions that he wanted answers to but she didn't think she could give them to him. She didn't want to. There were a lot of things that she didn't want. She didn't want to feel this strong connection to him. She didn't want to think about him like she did every night before bed. She didn't want to feel guilty. She didn't want everyone to depend on her. But what was the most surprising, she didn't want to feel the need to run from him.
"Can we…Why did you…" he stammered.
"Fitz, what are you asking me?"
"Can we talk? About what happened between us?" he asked, placing his hands in his pockets.
"Nothing happened," she lied. She was growing impatient. His eyes grew wide. His ears were turning red in frustration. Was she serious right now?
"Why are you lying?"
"I'm not…." He interrupted her, "Do not do that. Don't lie to me. I know we don't know each other beyond that dance floor but when we were dancing I felt something with you. When you looked at me it was like…"
"Like you saw all of your hopes and dreams staring back at you," she finished for him. Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"What did you say?" he asked. He wanted to be sure he heard her correctly. He watched her lips move as she repeated herself. He took a step closer to her but she put her hand up to stop him, stepping back.
He let out a frustrated sigh. "If you felt it too why did you run? Tell me what I did wrong. I need to know."
"Can we not do this right now?" she asked. Her emotions were all over the place from seeing him unexpectedly.
"No!" he yelled. "We're doing this now because if you hadn't run in the first place we wouldn't even need to be having this discussion. And you're obviously intent on running from me now. So no, we do this right now."
"Fitz, I'm sorry about that but now isn't the right time or place for this," she told him.
He knew she was right but his mind refused to believe that she would keep her word and see him again if he even got her to agree to it. She knew what he was thinking. "If I agree to meet you somewhere and promise to show up, can we stop this discussion?" she asked him.
He was torn. On the one hand, the promise of getting to see her again was great. He might even get the opportunity to convince her that they should try to explore what they had. On the other hand, what if she broke her promise? Then what? He couldn't survive losing her again.
She was stalling. She knew they would have to talk eventually once she realized he was her teacher, she just needed time to prepare herself for it. But she knew as long as he felt like she might run he'd never let her go without getting answers. So she held out her hand to him and asked for his phone. He hesitated a bit before handing it over. She put her number in his phone and then called her cell so she'd have his as well.
"There. Now do you feel better? You can reach me if you feel like I'm not going to show up."
He was able to breathe a little easier knowing this. He shrugged with his customary smirk, "Fine. But make no mistake I am NOT letting you get away. I don't think I can."
This time when he walked up to her she let him. He brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers. She was so beautiful. When he lowered his hands he grabbed her fingers briefly, squeezing them. He picked up her books and handed them to her.
"Thank you. Tomorrow…can we meet tomorrow? If you're free, I don't have any classes," she asked. His mouth fell open but he quickly recovered.
"Yeah. Sure, that would be fine. Where is most comfortable for you?" he asked. She told him about her favorite place to go when she had free time and they agreed on a time. He walked her to the door and paused. He wanted to say something else or even kiss her again but he stopped himself. Baby steps. Once it was closed he leaned against it, throwing his head back. Eyes closed, he pinched the bridge of his nose before the biggest smile took over his face. He honestly couldn't believe his prayers had been answered. He let out a shout and jumped into the air, he was THAT excited. He felt like he could do a cartwheel. Okay, maybe that was a bit much. He wasn't a young boy anymore. He didn't even know what he was going to say exactly but he figured if he spoke from his heart nothing could go wrong. Or so he hoped…
When Olivia heard the door close behind her she leaned back against it. Out of all of the professors in the world, he had to be mine, she thought. Just then she heard a loud shout and giggled. It touched her to know that he was as excited as she was even if she refused to admit it out loud.
The whole way home her mind was occupied with thoughts of him. The way it felt to have his arms around her, the way that one curl made him look like superman. Her superman. Could he save her? Did she need saving?
The Next Day:
Fitz got to Cafe Eclectic first. He was about 30 minutes early because he was eager to see her. He knew she would probably be nervous when she showed up, IF she did. He glanced around the parking lot before noticing her walking up to the door. He tried to get out of his car so he could get the door for her but in his excitement he forgot to unbuckle his seatbelt and was yanked back. He couldn't help but laugh at himself. By the time he actually got out of the car she was already inside. He rushed in and spotted her looking around for him. He walked up to her, touching her elbow lightly. She glanced over her shoulder, giving him a shy smile.
Once they were seated in a booth the waiter left them to browse the menu. He chose to sit next to her for several reasons. They were close enough for their elbows and knees to touch. He was fine but the contact was causing Olivia's brain to short-circuit. That's why he had to ask her twice what she would recommend that he order.
"Sorry. I have a lot on my mind," she said.
"Like what?" He asked. He'd love to know what kind of things went thru her mind on a regular basis. But really he just wanted an excuse to get her talking. "You can tell me anything you want to."
"I don't know about that," she mumbled. Louder, she said, "It's nothing. I don't think you really want to hear about my problems. Besides that's not what we came here for."
He wanted to tell her that it didn't matter. If they decided to see each other like he hoped they would, then he wanted to know anything that crossed her mind no matter how trivial she thought it was. But he was afraid to push her. Granted, she couldn't run without pushing him out of the booth, like he planned when he sat down, he still wanted her to trust him on her own.
She wanted to change the subject. Ever since she got home last evening her day took a turn for the worse. "So…" she started. The waitress walked up and took their orders, interrupting whatever she planned to say.
After she walked away he grabbed her hand because he loved the way it felt in his. "See what I mean?" he asked. She knew what he meant. It felt like her hand was vibrating from the tingling sensations. "I think you do," he said when she didn't answer. He knew he couldn't have imagined everything that night.
"Okay," she admitted. "You're right. I did feel something with you that night. I'll admit that. Yes, it was strong but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. It could have been the fact that we weren't expecting to feel that way."
"Or, maybe we felt that way because our hearts knew something that we had yet to find out or admit," he reasoned. "I've never felt this way before. The way our bodies spoke to one another was just… magical. I'm willing to bet it can only get better between us."
That statement could be taken one of two ways. "You don't know that for sure. I can't just… I'm not," she couldn't voice her thoughts.
"Is this why you ran?" he asked.
"Y—yes. It's complicated. I'm complicated and I don't think,"she tried to say.
He interrupted her, "Don't tell me what I do and don't need. Let me decide who is worth my time. And you are more than worth my time."
"See you make it seem so simple, so easy. But for me it's not," she said. She was playing with the food on her plate at this point. She was starting to wonder if this was even a good idea.
He placed his fork on the table and turned to face her. Using one hand, he tucked her hair behind her ear. He let his fingers trace the edge of her face as he took in her facial features before grabbing her chin. He looked in her eyes, leaning closer. Gently he placed his lips against hers and held them there. Pulling back slightly he whispered, "You. Are. Everything." She sighed. Why did he have to be so perfect? "Give me a chance, give us a chance," he pleaded.
Could she live with herself if she didn't? The what-ifs would eat at her constantly. But it would be completely unethical with him being her professor.
"One minute?" she asked. He nodded and she grabbed his neck so he couldn't move his face away.
"You're my professor, I'm your student. We can't," she said.
"I know."
"But, just sit here with me for one minute. For one minute we just sit here and I'm not the student and you're not my professor. We're just us. For one minute."
That one minute was all it took. Fitz knew if she agreed to give them a chance there wasn't anything she could do to get rid of him. Olivia knew once she said yes there was no going back for either of them. Neither considered what would happen if she said no. If she said yes she would have to drop his class. And then there's the issue of the students who had already seen them interact with one another. It didn't matter to her though, for once, she was going to take a leap of faith and try.
"Yes," she whispered. She'd worry about any other consequences later.
Did he hear her correctly? "Yes?" he asked for clarification.
She repeated herself with a smile. He got up and pulled her out of the booth and into his arms. He picked her up and spun her around. This was the happiest she had felt since running out on him.
Annnnd, this is where I leave you guys, lol. How did I do? Don't forget to leave me reviews, they make me happy!