A/N: If you made it this far, thank you. I hope you're enjoying the story. This chapter is just Olitz opening up more to each other and bringing their back stories together. Please, if you have enjoyed the three chapters, leave a review. Good, bad, neutral, I enjoy every one of them. Thank you and happy reading.
Liv slowly drove back home. She felt a bit more confident driving the car. The rental was going to picked up tomorrow and her permanent would arrive. As she pulled into her driveway, she took a deep breath. She had done it. A step in the right direction.
Daisy greeted her before she even got out of the car and Fitz jogged over to open the door for her.
"You're early. You are going to ruin my surprise for you. You shouldn't be here for another hour."
"I wanted to get that done for you." He pointed to the door. "No sense in having your heat on with a screen door."
Liv noticed a brand-new door installed and Fitz's toolbox sitting on her porch. "Fitz, you didn't have to, thank you." She looked up and greeted his eyes. God, would they ever stop drawing her to him. The way this man made her feel.
"You're welcome. Now I am heading home to shower as I have a dinner date with a special lady. Goodbye Ms. Pope." He gave a little brush to her nose and planted that cute little smirk on his face.
Liv chuckled. "That's one lucky lady. I have a gentleman coming over myself for dinner, so I need to freshen up also. You're not the only one with a life." She smiled at him, and his heart skipped that beat again. The feelings this woman stirred up in him.
"Can I help you with anything?" Fitz said curiously looking at the car.
"No Mister," as Liv covered his eyes and turned him away. "Now go."
"Fine, but you're keeping Daisy." Daisy didn't seem to mind as she was waiting on the porch to go inside anyway.
"Like I am going to complain about that. I have a little something for her also." Sophie had chopped up some plain meatballs in a container marked "Daisy". Sophie did think of everything.
Dinner was set up, complete with candlelight. If she knew how to light the darn fireplace she would, but that's another story, so no fireplace. On Fitz's place setting was the gift she got him. She had a hard time thinking about this Mellie person, but didn't want to bring her up unless Fitz did. She had her own secret of Edison, but that would be for another time. She used the last few minutes to call her mother.
It was late in Paris, but her mother was never one to go to bed early and she answered on the first ring.
"Girl, what do you mean Vermont? Like the state with the green mountains Vermont? How on earth did you wind up there?"
Liv told her everything. She was never one to hold anything back from her mother. She just wasn't happy and wanted to venture on something new.
"I am glad, proud of you for taking that leap baby. Not many people would be brave enough to walk away from that job. Send me pictures of the mountains of the house and I will make plans to get there after the holidays." Maya was happy for her daughter. It seemed she was breaking a shell and she was there for it.
"Hey Livvie," Fitz called as he entered the house. "Is it ok to come in."
"Oooh girl, I hear a sexy voiced man, what's going on.?"
"Goodbye Mother. I will call you tomorrow. I love you."
"Livvie.." but Liv hung up before her mom could continue.
Fitz walked into the kitchen. "Did I interrupt the phone call?"
"No, not at all, I was just hanging up anyway. Come on, have a seat."
He saw the set up and noticed the gift bag. "What is this Liv?"
"Just a way of saying thank you, for everything. For the dinner the first night, for the driving fiasco, for staying with me last night, the list goes on and on what you have done for me. I wanted to something for you. Come out of that darkness, Fitz, let's have some happiness."
"Livvie, you drove to town. You did that, for me? I know your fear, and you did this for me. Thank you so much."
"You know, you say there's nothing you wouldn't do for me, well, the feeling is mutual Fitz, there's nothing I wouldn't do for you."
He smiled grabbing the gift bag. He pulled out three picture frames. One was the two of them together that he took after the kiss. One was of Liv smiling (his favorite) and the last was the leaf, pressed from the picnic together. Fitz rubbed his hand over all three just shaking his head.
He held up the one of Liv. "This one. This one will go right next to my bed. I want that smile to be the last thing I see when I fall asleep."
Liv tilted her head and looked at him. That was one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to her. "Fitz, that was just so…you're just too kind."
He looked at the setting. A plate of salad and the meatball hero waiting for him. "Liv, this is great, thank you so much, you didn't have to."
"I know, but I wanted to give you something special. You deserve so much more."
He pulled her close to him and whispered, "you are my something special." He gave her a small kiss on the lips, very soft. It sent chill down Olivia's whole body. She rested her head briefly on his chest and they began to enjoy their dinner.
"Oh, Miss Daisy, this is for you, I almost forgot." Daisy was jumping up as Liv was trying to set down her bowl of meat."
"You're spoiled little princess, aren't you" Fitz said, despite the dirty look he got from Daisy.
"Speaking of princesses," Liv said, "can you tell me what to expect on Friday? What is going on with this fairytale festival?"
"A few years ago, when I moved here, I remember visiting Lara and Bryce. Lara was pregnant with Brianna and Bryce was just becoming Sheriff. Alyssa was so bored and giving them a hard time about having nothing to do. Her and I sat down and made up a fairytale and it got me thinking of a money maker for the town. The adults participate by acting a fairy tale written by the children. The one who act it out the best and the crowd can guess the original and the changes wins the prince and princess of the festival."
"Fitz, that's adorable."
"Yeah, I thought so, but then we started getting fairytales are just for girls complaints, so we had to come up with something for the boys, although I think it should be all inclusive. But, we came up with a soccer tournament to go along with it, since it's at the soccer field. We have a most goal contest and a who can kick the farthest contest. So, now the girls and the boys can do whichever they want. That's where I was today with Bryce. We were finalizing all the vendors for the event. Looks like it's going to be great. It was just a change from all the fall festivals that go on around here." He quoted his fall festivals with his fingers, and he shrugged.
"Well, I think it's a great idea, and I am looking forward to creating a fairy tale with you. That is, if you don't want to play soccer instead. You know, I have a pretty good kick."
"Oh really, then we will just have to include soccer in the fairytale and see who can kick better, Ms. Pope." He raised his wine glass to her. She picked up her glass and tilted it towards him.
"It's so on, Mister." Liv had forgotten what it was like to be so comfortable, to not have calls to make and deadlines to meet. She was feeling so good in this moment.
After dinner, Fitz lit a fire and this time the setting was more comfortable. After he started the fire, he turned to Liv. "Were you serious about what you said that you wanted to be in my arms again?"
"Of course, I meant it. There's nowhere else in the world I would rather be. Since I have come here, my nightmares have been minimal. I think, no I am sure that's because of you. I won't lie, what I witnessed the other night with you, scared me. I just hope I can make you feel safe also."
Fitz took a seat across from the fire, leaning back against the couch. He put out his arm and Liv sat and rested her head on his shoulder as they watched the fire glow.
The crackle of the wood and smell of the burning fireplace was something Liv loved about being in Vermont. This wasn't something she could take for granted in the city and she loved it even more with Fitz's arm around her.
Fitz gobbled her into his arms, and they stared at the fire. Fitz looked behind him at the picture and noticed how it lit up the picture of Liv in the park. Fitz pulled her hand up and interlocked his fingers with her. "Livvie, you ever been in love?" He thought maybe she would open up about that bruise.
Liv thought of Tyler. It was painful and brought back so many emotions. She shrugged and looked up at him. "In high school, I thought I was in love, I did love him. His name was Tyler. We were planning our future." She paused and put her head back on his shoulder to compose herself.
"He collapsed playing basketball one night and passed away suddenly in our senior year. His life, our lives, were cut short. Whatever the reasons, it happened. The faults in our stars, they say."
He rested her head on hers. "Livvie, so much loss, I am so sorry." He just wanted to hold her like this, let her know he was there for her. No wonder she was so afraid to love, to be loved.
"We all have loss, Fitz, it just comes differently for some of us. Did you ever lose anyone?"
I lost my mother, but I was young. I don't remember much about her, and my father didn't really keep her memory alive for me. I lost other things being deployed, so yes, loss does come differently for some."
"What about you Fitz? Have you ever been in love?' She watched as the fire glowed and waited for his answer. She thought he would bring up Mellie.
Fitz nodded. "I thought I was also, with Natalie, we had a future planned also. I loved her, in love, I am not sure, but I did love her. She didn't wait for me though while I was deployed in Iraq. I came back damaged, and I couldn't blame her for moving on. What was supposed to be a six-month deployment turned into two years. She did what was best for her."
They sat quietly for a bit longer. Daisy was in her favorite spot now curled up by the fire, sound asleep.
"Sophie worries about you. She told me today when I went to get the food. She worries you don't eat enough; she worries about you overall. This whole town does Fitz. You're just amazing to everyone in Rutland. Why aren't you the mayor?"
Fitz chuckled. "I couldn't really be mayor. I am not a politician. I am not my father. He's the politician. Yes, I know Sophie worries about me, as does Bryce. They both witnessed what you witnessed the other night. It's hard to explain. I don't want people to worry about me."
"But they do, and now, so do I. Do you know what triggers the episodes? Why do you have them in the first place? You mentioned two years in Iraq. That must have been hard. I can't even begin to imagine the things you saw over there."
She felt him fidget a bit, he seemed uncomfortable. He took a deep breath. "Liv, let's not go there tonight ok, let's just…I don't know, let's just watch the fire."
Liv sat up. She kneeled so she was eye level with him. She turned his face, so he faced her. She had her hand on the back of his neck. "Fitz, we all have scars. Scars that we carry that no one else knows are there. I know I do. We are the same in more ways than one, I feel that, and I know you do also."
"Liv, I can't go there right now, I just can't," he stopped and gave a small sob. "I just want to enjoy holding you. What you said, how you feel safe in my arms, that meant the world to me. I never thought I could make anyone feel safe. It's just…yeah, two years over there Liv, but I didn't see much because of the darkness I was in."
Liv still didn't understand. She wanted to, so much, but she didn't push it anymore. She pulled him closer to her, to her lips, and she gave him the soft kiss, much like he did to her earlier. Fitz closed his eyes as he felt the softness of her lips on his and for the first time, it did something to him and he had to pull back before she noticed.
Liv looked directly into his eyes. She saw now they weren't sad; they didn't show pain. They now showed desire, and they weren't their normal blue, they had turned a dark grey, and Liv felt her body respond to that. She felt an ache in her core and that was something she hadn't felt in years. She broke the silence, mainly to calm her body down.
"Fitz, drag me into the darkness with you, let me be a light for you."
"Oh Livvie, if it was only that easy." He pulled her back down to rest her head on his chest.
For the rest of the evening, until Fitz got ready to leave, they talked about the week ahead. Liv's car coming in the morning, another step towards staying in Rutland, Fitz thought.
They talked about her visit with Abby and the lunch she had planned with Lara on Wednesday. They would be prepping for the date on Friday and Fitz was looking forward to something. He took a deep breath.
"Fitz are you alright. You going to be ok tonight at home?"
He got up, and Liv stood with him. He looked down at her, and she realized for the first time how much shorter she was than him and she laughed. "I never noticed the height difference." She reached up and put her arms around his neck. "Good night, Mister". She stood on her tipped toes and Fitz leaned down to meet her lips. As she rubbed her fingers thorough his curls, he pulled her closer, more passionately into the kiss.
"I am beginning to like this Liv, like it a lot," as he smiled down at her. He picked up his gift bag. "Thank you so much for this. The leaf will go on my wall, the one of us on my fireplace, and you already know where the other one will go."
Liv smiled as Daisy jumped up to leave with Fitz. "Yeah, Liv, that smile. I'm glad it's the last thing I'll see as I leave tonight. I'll text you in the morning."
Just like that, he had left. Liv was alone with only her thoughts and their conversation fresh in her mind. They weren't there yet, and they had a long way to go, but Liv loved every minute of the way they were getting a bit closer. Liv turned off all but one light in the kitchen and headed to bed. She promised Fitz she wouldn't sleep in total darkness, and the light shown enough to reach her bedroom. She got ready for bed and again would fall asleep with the thought of his arms around her.
Fitz put his pictures exactly where he said he would. Besides the picture of him and his father, these were the only other pictures in his home. He looked at the leaf, pressed and framed. He thought back to yesterday in that pile of leaves.
He felt her body on top of his, yet his body didn't respond then as it did tonight. He was certain his feelings for Olivia were growing deeper and he feared he couldn't stop them. He could still smell her, that scent of coconut, so sweet. His arms wrapped around hers, then the laughter while the leaves poured down on them. He looked over at Daisy who didn't have a care in the world. "Yeah, girl, remind me I owe you one."
They both headed to his bedroom, where he placed the picture of Olivia on his nightstand. He always faced left when he fell asleep, so the picture went on his left nightstand. Daisy jumped up on the bed, went and checked on Fitz, then snuggled down at her end.
Fitz looked at the picture and the last thing he saw as he closed his eyes was the beautiful smile of Olivia Pope. Mixed with those amazing brown eyes, his breathing grew shallow, and his sleep came naturally.
Back in NYC, that same night, just when Olivia was settling down across from the fire and securely in Fitz's arms, Edison was making another stop to gain his access to Olivia.
Betty was just closing the shop when Edison approached her. She took a step back having been startled by him. "I am not going to hurt you ma'am. I just want to know if Olivia Pope has been in to pick up her clothes."
Betty looked cautiously at him. Olivia had left three suits there and hadn't come for her daily Saturday visit. She was concerned, but now more than ever since this stranger was asking about her. "I haven't heard from Olivia, no, and I don't have any of her clothes here" she lied.
Edison looked around. He nodded and looked back down at Betty. "This is nice property. There's quality in it. If you hear from Olivia, let me know", he handed her his card. "If you do hear from her and you don't let me know, well, I'll be owning the property a nice little tailoring shop once occupied. Have a good night."
Betty stood there shaking for five minutes before she could look down at the card and see Edison's name. She would try to contact Olivia in the morning.