Author's Note: And now for something completely different. In all of my years on here and elsewhere, I've always been one to fly solo when writing stories but the end of Season 4 changed everything. Like many others, I wanted to fill in the blanks but I had no idea where to begin, how to write it, and most importantly, where to end it. Enter HandsUpPunk08 or ivebraved100storms, if you're on Tumblr. She reached out to me to collaborate with her on a Post YCTC Olitz Balcony Scene of WIN fic and here is the result. I love what we've come up with and she has one of the best grasps on Fitz's voice that I've ever read in the fandom. You guys are going to love it and her. Follow her and be nice to her because we need all of the writers we can get around the Arena, especially after the show starts up again. This fic is long as hell, it's sexy as fuck, and it's got what I hope The Creator and her enablers will eventually do in 5candal's endgame or the season afterwards. They probably won't but one can always dream, can't they? Enjoy!

PS: When the first letter of the first word of the sentence is bolded, that's the switch between writers. HandsUp and I have very distinct writing styles but the bolded letter makes things a bit easier to follow. At least to me…

PPS: HandsUp and I definitely want to continue this collab so if y'all have any ideas for us to tackle, put it in a PM or in the reviews.

Disclaimer: "Honestly, it's not mine!" (ours!)

Even as Fitz kissed her, held her flush to his body there on the balcony, it still felt surreal. As if she would vanish from his hold or change her mind the moment he pulled away and opened his eyes. He had been chasing her for so long. Too long. The idea of doing 'whatever they wanted' seemed entirely too good to be true. But God knew, they deserved to finally be happy. Could they be? Was it real?

Fitz lifted her up into his arms and spun her around, his hands smoothing down to clutch at her ass desperately, holding her flush against his body. His kisses grew more heated, boiling with a need that had been suffocating him for months. He ached for her in the worst way. Fitz didn't want her. He needed her.

He had needed her for weeks, months...ever since she walked into that gymnasium all of those years ago, Olivia Pope had become very necessary to him. The necessity had tempered over time. There had been no choice. He was the married one and she...she always left him. There were times that he had pushed her away, most notably after he found out about Defiance but mainly, she left him. She ran away. She found ways to separate them. She allowed others to get in her head and scramble things around so badly that she felt like she had no other option but to run.

Over the years, he had grown resigned to it. Fitz always threw himself headfirst into whatever interactions he could have with her, good or bad, because eventually, she would go away again and he would have to wait for her to come back...if she came back.

She had run away again but this time, she had run to him. The absolute last thing he had expected was to hear her voice, see her on the Truman Balcony in the White House where he was, where she should've been from the start...but she was there. She was there and looking more at peace with herself than he had seen in such a long time. Even before her Captivity, even before Gerry had been so cruelly stolen from them, even before...god, there had been so much. Almost too much but...but...

"You're here."

Clinging to him with all of her limbs, looking up at him with raw need and even rawer love, Olivia nodded.

"You're really here? I'm not...I'm not going to wake up?"

She nodded her reply, but it still didn't set in for him. What would it take for him to believe it? That she was finally coming to him, after so many years of dancing around the life-shattering, breathtaking, all-consuming love that they so obviously shared. He couldn't relax into it, not yet. She could change her mind and spring from him at any moment, as she had done so many times before. She could try to shake some sense into him and 'fix' everything. But really, only being with her could fix him. Only she could make him whole. Nothing and no one else even came close. Not ever. Olivia Pope was the one and only love of his life. Her body pressed against him was almost too much to bear. He hadn't been touched intimately since their night in Vermont. He needed her in every way possible. Arousal coursed through him like fire and he tensed, running his thumb over her cheekbone and gazing into her rich, brown eyes.

"Fitz..."

His mouth crashed down on hers and she yielded to him immediately, inflaming him even further. One of the many things that drew him to Olivia was her spirit, her fierce will but knowing that she trusted him with her body, that she would whimper and moan for him despite her being fully clothed...

Their lips parted with a loud pop and she looked at him with open need, her hips shifting against his significantly. He was hard enough to drive nails with it and Fitz couldn't wait to bury himself inside her again.

He wouldn't wait.

The time for waiting was over...

"Take off your clothes."

Olivia's kisses were intoxicating, and Fitz was falling deep into the haze of her. He could never get enough of her, but he intended on trying his hand at it. All night long. Until she was completely spent and begging him to let her body rest. He planned on reclaiming her. Other men may have had her body since had last made her come, but he had always had her heart. Before the night was through, she would be hoarse from moaning for him.

He pulled back just enough to murmur the words he had commanded so erotically the night they first made love. The night that he had signed his heart over to her, his clean, masculine signature right on the dotted line. With his hands giving her ass another firm squeeze, he carried her across the threshold, into the residence where they could have a little more privacy. Not that his Secret Service detail wouldn't hear exactly how well Fitz treated her beneath the sheets. The first possessive growl of the night resonated deep in his chest as he placed her back down onto her feet, giving her the chance to obey his command. His eyes never left her as he untied his tie, letting it fall to the floor.

/

Her eyes followed the tie and looked back up into his blazing cobalt eyes, a smile playing at her lips as she let her white cover up slide off of her arms and to the floor. Crossing her arms at the hem of her black top, she removed it, noting and loving the look of surprise on his face as she kicked her pants away.

Once Olivia had reached the decision to go to him, to be with the man she truly loved, she had acted quickly. After getting the Intel she needed from Charlotte (fired Cyrus, Mellie escorted off of the premises, seemingly forever...), she had pulled out a suitcase and began to pack. It wasn't like when she packed for the Island. There was no desperation, no fear, no confusion. Every action, every breath she took held a serenity that she had lacked for...years. Her Gut had been completely silent and warm, confirming what her heart had always screamed.

The safest place for her, the best place for her was with Fitzgerald Grant III. He loved her. Matter of factly loved her. Even after everything. He would accept her. He would embrace her. He would...he would...

Gentle fingertips traced over the scalloped cups of the strawberry red bra she had on. His free hand went to the flare of her hip and she shivered as he undid one of the side bows of her panties. The lingerie wasn't new. She had bought it years ago but she had never worn it before. It was for Fitz and Fitz only...

/

They hadn't been able to take their time in a long time. Well, if ever. Someone was always rushing them. Time was always precious, and neither had ever wanted to waste a single moment dwelling on the perils of reality that waited for them once the embrace ended. All of that was over. No more need to rush, but that didn't mean that Fitz wanted to wait a single moment longer to touch her than he had to. His need for her was primal and deep, filling him right to the brim and beginning to spill over, seeping into the air between them in a thick, humid rush. He quivered with restraint as he watched her. She captivated him, in all ways. His chest visibly rose and fell, his hands deftly unbuttoning his crisp, white shirt.

"You're so fucking gorgeous," he murmured, shrugging his shirt off of his shoulders. His cock throbbed for her. For only her.

His muscles rippled with movement as he tugged his undershirt over his head, dropping it to the floor. He toed off his shoes and socks. It all appeared relaxed, unhurried, when in reality he couldn't be naked fast enough. He couldn't bear the wait, but knew that he needed to take a breath. If he wanted it to last, and god, did he ever.

Fitz licked his lips and stepped to her, closing the distance. The distance that had stretched between them for what seemed like an eternity. His hands found her bare skin, finally, one smoothing over her hip (god, those perfect hips) and the other possessively grasping over her left breast, still covered by the unbelievably sexy bra. His mouth dipped to her neck and he kissed her there hotly, resisting the urge to suck hard and mark her as his. She belonged to him.

/

"Fitz..."

"I said take off your clothes, Livvie."

There was an edge to his tone that made her blood quicken. Olivia was all too familiar with that edge. Fitz was thoroughly turned on and when he was thoroughly turned on, he was very much an Alpha male. He wanted her. He needed her. He was going to have her and she was going to feel so damned good.

Fitz always made her feel good.

Moving just out of his reach, Olivia undid the other bow to her panties and the red satin slid to the floor. His eyes followed them and she unclasped her bra, holding his gaze as she dropped it to the floor. Stepping forward, she pressed herself against her man, the only man she truly loved, and kissed the flesh where his heart pounded underneath. A visible shiver went through him at the sensation and she gasped as he picked her up, pivoted on his heels, and deposited her onto the bed firmly.

"Don't move."

/

There was something about Fitz when his cock was hard that pushed him into a dominant, possessive creature. And there was something about Olivia that made that even more true. She drove him crazy and he was about to do the same to her. With his mouth. Until she was begging him to stop.

His eyes moved up and down, taking in every inch of her perfect body. His nostrils flared in response. She wouldn't be walking steadily tomorrow, that was for certain.

A deep growl sounded from him as he placed her onto the bed. "Don't move," he rasped, voice low and raw with arousal. Fitz stepped back, his eyes never leaving her as he slowly unbuckled his belt and pushed his pants and underwear to the floor, allowing his straining erection to spring free. He stepped out of the pants and got onto the bed with her, slowly kissing his way up her body to meet her lips in a bruising kiss. Their bodies were aligned as if they were made for each other.

He couldn't wait any longer to please her. To taste her, because it had been too long since he had done that, and it was his absolute favorite way to please her. His mouth slid down to flick over each of her nipples, latching onto one and suckling softly, his eyes watching her for reaction. Moving on, he kissed lightly down her torso, nipping at her hip on the way. Settling between her thighs, he groaned out at the sight of her glistening sex, his eyes held her gaze as he leaned forward and finally, finally, ran his tongue up her slit.

/

Her hips jumped at the sweet sensation and she shuddered as his left hand raised her left leg over his shoulder, effectively trapping her.

Olivia threw her head back and her moans were answered by his groans, accented by the suckling sounds of his mouth. Before she had met Fitz, she had never really enjoyed oral. It felt sloppy and much too intimate but Fitz? Fitz was a master. He used his tongue, his lips, and just a little bit of his teeth to play with her. He knew when to be gentle and when to be rough. He knew how to make her shiver, make her buck, make her moan, make her...

"Please...god, Fitz, please..."

"...you can beg better than that, Sweet Baby..."

/

Olivia came to life in a whole new way when Fitz had his mouth on her. She writhed deliciously beneath him and the sounds she made were beautiful and erotic, each one sending a sharp jolt of arousal straight to his cock. He moaned against her sex, his tongue greedily lapping up her lust. "Mmm, tell me, Sweet Baby..." he murmured in encouragement. His lips found her clip and he gently sucked, looking up at her. She was a vision.

/

"...that's it, honey...that's it...scream for me...come for me, Livvie...come for your man..."

Yes, he was her man. Whether she or he or anyone else liked it or not, Fitzgerald Grant III was hers and she was very much his. The connection had blossomed between them from the moment she called him out in that sunny gymnasium and nothing had been the same. Even at their worst times, they remained connected and they belonged to each other in their hearts, minds, bodies...

Now, all they had to do was make it permanent, make it legal. More to the point, Olivia knew that for things to really work out, she would have to let go. She would have to let go of her fear, her guilt, her control. She would have to really trust him and let him in so that they could be together, legitimately together, at last. It wouldn't be easy. It definitely wouldn't be easy. Mellie was Mellie, Cyrus was Cyrus, and just because Rowan was in jail didn't mean that he wasn't still a substantial obstacle.

Right now, she and Fitz were in the eye of a building hurricane. There would be mayhem, there would be scrutiny, and knowing how things had a tendency to go around DC, there would be more than a little bloodshed.

It would be worth it, though.

He would be worth it.

Fitz was always worth it and damn it, she deserved to be happy. She deserved more than stolen moments and faux happiness in the sun. She wanted it all and she deserved it. She had earned it.

Now, she just had to see about earning him...

/

She was dangling there, right on the edge of her peak. Fitz upped his game, doubling his efforts. His hands gripped her hips firmly, his tongue flicked faster over her, light and rough alternately. He didn't pull away to speak again, his focus on making her cry out his name. He needed to hear it, to know that he was the cause of her pleasure, just as much as she needed to experience it. A growl slipped from his mouth and the vibration hummed against her clit as he sucked her expertly, as only he knew how. He knew her body, better than she knew it herself. Those little boys she had been dabbling around with didn't know her, or her body, like this. After he was done, she would have no doubt who she belonged to. She was his. She belonged to no one else, or she wouldn't be there with him.

This was the real deal. The love between them. It was what people wrote books about. That love that once you had it, you fought for it. Fought hard. Fought with everything that you had. It was what they had been fighting for years now. Fitz would always be willing to fight for her, but he was tired of the void she left behind over and over. He was ready to make the changes needed to make her his legitimately. And forever. God, forever with her was all that he wanted.

/

"Fitz...god, baby...I...please, I..."

Her screams of release were jagged and her back arched like a bow, her hands burying themselves in his thick silvery chocolate curls. Fitz drank and lapped at her pulsing sex greedily, determined to lick her dry and wet all over again. Olivia squirmed and bucked into his efforts, gasping and groaning his name like a heartfelt prayer.

Abruptly, his mouth pulled away and she watched wide eyed as he moved up her body, pressing his nakedness against hers. His lips met hers firmly and she suckled alternatively at his lower then upper lip, tasting herself on him. Fitz's left hand went to the space where her neck and jaw met and she whimpered as he tilted her head, baring her galloping pulse point to him.

"Mine."

His tone was growling and near pained, the tip of his tongue licking a straight line from her pulse point to just below her ear. Olivia nodded fervently in agreement and locked her ankles around his hips, trying to draw him inside her. His hips resisted her efforts and she tried harder, moaning as the tip of him brushed against her humid heat. Why wasn't he moving? Why wasn't he inside her? Couldn't he feel how ready she was?

"Fitz..."

"If you want me...earn me."

/

The sound of her releasing was music to his ears. Easily one of his favorite sounds ever. He could listen to it over and over, and he would do just that before the week was over. She just didn't know it yet. She had no idea of the plans he had brewing in his brilliant presidential mind. Because if he was going to get away with it, she couldn't know. Regardless of how tired they were of dancing circles around their love, he knew she would try to stop him when he gave it all up. For her. For them. For Vermont and babies.

But all of their years struggling with reality, she had always made it about Fitz earning her. But after leaving him, which literally almost took his life, it was her turn to earn him. It was his turn to hold what she wanted, just out of reach, until she had earned it. He needed to know that they were really going to begin their life together. In the morning, he would have a press conference and hire an attorney to draw up divorce papers. But what would Olivia do to earn him? To prove that they were in it together?

Fitz reached for his tie on the floor and he used it to firmly secure her hands to the headboard, above and behind her head. He straddled her hips, perched up on his knees but pinning her down. His right hand began to stroke his throbbing cock, his eyes fixated on her face.

"If you want me, earn me," he told her, repeating the words she had once said to him. "Prove to me that you belong to me. That there is no one else nor will there ever be anyone else." He licked his lips, still tasting her and desperately wishing he could flip her over and fuck her, relentlessly. But he needed to be in control. When she left, she had taken all control from him and he desperately wanted it back. "You have left me, Livvie. Over and over." His voice was punctured with emotion. "Last time, it almost killed me. I can't keep doing this with you. I have to know that we're going to actually do this. That we'll be together."

His hand increased in speed as he touched himself, wanting her to watch him bring himself to orgasm. She wouldn't be fucked tonight. "Mmm, earn this. Earn Vermont. Then I'm all yours. "

Fitz gazed at her body, letting her form fuel his self-pleasure. He groaned softly, smiling down at her as he felt his release nearing. His fist stroked faster, harder. "Livvie, " he moaned out, his seed hot as it came to rest on her chest.

/

Up until that moment, Olivia had always found the idea of a man coming on her flesh repugnant but as with many other things, good and bad, Fitz was the exception to her rules.

And he had a point all the way down the line.
She always ran away from him. She always found a way out, a door marked exit when things got too uncontrollable. Part of it was her admitted control freak nature but the majority of it was fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of joy...Olivia had conditioned herself to expect the other shoe to drop. Nothing good ever lasted. No one ever loved or claimed to love without ulterior motives. People let you down, people leave, people lie...

While Fitz was far from perfect, he still...god, she had been so stupid! She had lumped him in with people like Rowan, people like Cyrus, and reacted accordingly. She never fully trusted him. She never really gave up her control. She held onto the most intimate parts of her, the deepest parts of love that Fitz was certainly worthy of because she was afraid. She had made so many mistakes, so many self fulfilling prophecies of doom with him.

How could he still want her?

How could he still love her?

How could he still trust her?

If she were in his position, she would've washed her hands of her years ago. She would've given up. She had given up, time after time. She had deluded herself into thinking that it was for the best, that it was for his own good but he just couldn't see it but that...that wasn't true. She had given up when the going got tough because it was easier to run away. Running away gave her power and control. Running away made things end and restart on her terms, not anyone else's.

But, miracle of miracles, Fitz was still there and still fighting for them. Even during their darkest times, at the end of the day, he was still in the Arena fighting, ready to take on lions, tigers, and beasts in human skin for her, for them. He never gave up on her. He may have pushed her away (rightfully so...) and he may have fallen to the sands but he always got back up. Bloody, battered, bruised, and hurt but he always, always got back up. He always believed in her, in them, in their dreams.

Fitz didn't stand in the sun. He was the sun. He was life and love and a key element to her happiness. He was...he was everything to her and there was no more room for denial, no more room for games, and it was certainly time to stop running away.

It was time to stand her ground.

It was time to be a true Gladiator.

Fitz was a Gladiator.

He was a true Gladiator.

He was their Gladiator and he deserved to be earned.

Olivia would do whatever it took to earn him, earn them. They deserved to be happy separately and they deserved to be happy together. She would make it happen.

Starting tonight.

She flexed her freed hands and slowly, her fingers dipped into the pooled seed on her and she brought them to her mouth, looking at him with tenderness, desire, and absolute submission. She did it again and again, watching as he hardened before her eyes and as his cerulean slate eyes glowed with unshed tears.

She wasn't good with words, not when it came to heavy matters but she could show him better than she could tell him.

"...you're here? I'm not dreaming?"

"I'm here. I'm not leaving you again. Not if I have a choice."

"...you have no idea how much I want to believe you, Olivia."

"I know that you have doubts and those doubts are my fault. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for leaving you when you needed me. I'm sorry for running away. I'm sorry for breaking your heart. I...if I could go back and undo it, I would but I can't. What I can do is be brave. What I can do is stay and...I love you. I love you so much. Let me...let me prove it. Let me earn you, Fitz. Please?"

/

Of course, Fitz would rather be inside of her. Thrusting deeply, roughly, possessing her. Feeling her nails clawing harshly against the skin of his back as he made her come over and over again. But Olivia needed to earn her pleasure. She needed to put forth some effort, some action, to regain their passion. His body twitched, tensing and contracting its muscles as he came, his mouth slightly agape as he groaned softly. She had earned her punishment, and he was going to give it to her. He had spent years watching for her, waiting for her. Now she was going to watch him and wait for him. Just differently.

The time had arrived for them to finally be together, yes. The time for them to figuratively, and perhaps literally, walk hand in hand into the sunset. To not stand in the sun, but be the sun. Together. Would she finally allow that to happen? Would she finally allow him to put it all out there and on the line for the sake of Vermont? He had tried before, but she hadn't let him. She had made him stay in office. Fitz had about two years left as President, but being with her was more important to him. He was human and he was in love. It was time that he started being honest with himself. It wasn't fair for them to keep ignoring what was so obviously between them. They had been through too much. Defiance, which he still hadn't quite forgiven her for. Amanda Tanner, which he still hadn't fully forgiven himself for. The eye-opening assassination attempt. Her abduction and his going to war to bring her back to him. Losing Jerry, followed by her disappearing with Jake. The suicide attempt that they hadn't discussed. Too many 'one minutes' that didn't add up to the lifetime they both deserved.

It was time.

There was something that changed in her eyes as she looked up at him, he saw it. He bit his lip as she teased him, her fingers toying with the pools he had spilled onto her chest and going to her mouth. But he wouldn't give in to her. Not tonight. He wanted her to see that he was serious about this. The next day would tell. She would see his actions and have the opportunity to run away or run with him.

"You'll have the chance to prove it tomorrow, and so will I," he told her, reaching over to the nightstand to grab some tissues. Delicately, he wiped her chest, freeing it of his lesson to her, and tossing it into the wastebasket nearby.

Fitz leaned down and kissed her lightly, sucking softly at her plump lower lip, tasting himself on her. "I don't want to live without you anymore," he whispered.

/

What did he mean by that? What was going to happen tomorrow? What did he...fiercely, Olivia squashed the urge to demand immediate answers and captured his lips. Whatever he was going to do, whatever he was planning, she knew that he wasn't going to tell her until after the fact, if he even told her at all. She couldn't blame him for that. Every time he let her in on a Plan for them to make progress, to be more than stolen moments, she found a way to ruin it. She found a way to run away. She would let others (Mellie, Cyrus, Rowan, Jake...) get in her head, twist her thinking, and destroy them, destroy him...

No.

Not again.

Not this time.

It was time to be brave. It was time to stop running. It was time to trust him and back him up. Whatever he was going to do, whatever he had planned...she was sick of the train wreck, the carousel, the back and forth misery that denying Fitz, denying herself the chance to be loved caused. She wanted to be loved. She wanted to be happy. She deserved to be happy. No, not just happy. Happiness could be fleeting. She deserved joy. Joy was deep. Joy was tangible. Joy had roots. Joy had hope.

Joy was with Fitz.

Like she had in the bunker corridor, she brought a hand to the nape of his neck and he groaned into her mouth, his hips shifting restlessly against hers. She met him halfway in a slow, delicious grind and she shivered as the head of him teased her pulsing clit. Nobody came close to making her feel like Fitz did. The pleasure she had received from other men had been physical but emotionally, it had been toxic, hollow, unfulfilling, a diversion, another way to flee from problems that she had manufactured.

When she was with Fitz, when Fitz was inside her, it was everything that she needed, everything that she craved. Not only did she achieve deep satisfaction of the body, she felt nurtured in the soul and the heart.

"...I don't want to live without you anymore, either. I want to be with you. I love you."

Grabbing his shoulders, she pushed and urged him onto his back, straddling him neatly. Fitz swallowed thickly as she raised herself above his pulsing erection, slipping the head of him inside her.

"Let me love you, Fitz..."

/

She would never truly understand how intoxicating she was to him. He could have his mind totally made up, and then she would come along and persuade him to do otherwise. Sometimes without even trying. Because she was so often right. But hadn't she been wrong about them for this long? But her body...god, her fucking body. So lithe and all curves, rubbing against him in all the right ways as their kisses grew more heated.

Fitz's neck had always been a sensitive spot. The slightest touch, the softest kiss, drew him wild. Pushed him to that animalistic edge. He knew she often did it on purpose and he groaned as her hand easily found the spot, lightly grasping it as she pulled him more into the kiss. It made him groan and his hips pressed firmly against hers, his need slowly rising, despite his so recent self release, which he was thankful for as he'd now be able to last much longer. He intended on making her come over and over until her body couldn't bear it any longer. He intended on her being reminded of him when she felt the soreness that walking caused the next day. He intended on reminding her that she was his. She belonged to him and no one else. One of his hands groped her breasts possessively, his kisses hot and rough.

"I love you too, baby," he replied, his voice a primal growl.

He gasped as she quickly turned the tables, flipping him over and straddling him. The vision was so erotic. Though he intended on taking back the reins, he had to admit that he loved what power did to her sexually. Like him, she enjoyed being in control. It was a power struggle that they kept playful in the bedroom, usually. And clearly, she wasn't giving him a choice. She wanted him right then. She wasn't willing to wait a single moment longer. Part of him loved that, but part of him hated that he couldn't stick to his guns. Not when it came to her.

Before he could fully process her actions, he felt her heat envelop his head and he gasped. Once. Twice. His hands moved up her luscious thighs and he gripped her hips firmly. Bruisingly. His jaw clenched.

"You're going to fucking kill me," he said through gritted teeth as he forcefully pulled her down so that he filled her completely. He was ready to hear her moan for him.

/

A guttural groan of pained pleasure escaped her at the impact and she shivered as he started to thrust up into her firmly.

Bracing her palms on his chest, Olivia moved to kiss him but before she could blink, she was back underneath him. Fitz's mouth latched onto her neck and began to suckle with bruising force, determined to mark her. Each impact of his hips had her moaning loudly and each moan made him move harder, faster, deeper...

"Mine!", he grunted as he caressed the deepening love mark with gentle fingertips.

Yes, she was. She was certainly his. She had said otherwise, screamed otherwise during their various arguments but they both knew better. Olivia was his and more to the point, Fitz was hers. He waited for her, he watched for her, he loved her...his heart was in her hands and this time, this time, she wouldn't crush it underneath her heels as she bolted into the night. She would cradle it, protect it, and embrace him fully, the good and the bad...

Her hand went over his and she nodded, working herself on him, relishing every twitch and throb of him inside her.

His lips brushed against hers again and again.

His hips rolled and snapped against her, making her quiver with growing heated bliss.

"I love you, Olivia...do you love me?"

"Yes!"

"Say it."

"I love you!"

"Are you going to leave me again?"

"No!"

"Even when things get crazy, even when you get scared again...am I going to have to chase you? Am I going to have to earn you?"

"No!"

"I want to believe you, Olivia...really, I do but..."

She whimpered in protest as his hips slowed to a halt and her eyes widened as he quickly retied her hands to the headboard. She could feel their mingled fluids run over the underside of her hips and she yelped as his teeth nipped at her left inner thigh. Her bent and spread legs were draped firmly over his broad shoulders. His hands went to the juncture where her thighs and torso met and pressed down firmly. Olivia could barely move an inch and she knew that he was far from done with her...

"...I have to make sure that you don't run away again."

/

His possessive side ran deep, and it had been itching and nagging at him for months now. Every time he saw her with Jake. He had been wanting to put her back where she belonged, to show her who she belonged to. To him. Only to him. Forever. And he would never love anyone else again. He only hoped she felt the same. They could take on the world together.

She felt exquisite. He had almost forgotten. Almost. Her slick heat clenched around him perfectly, always. As if she had been made just for him. Fitz flipped hear over easily, smoothly, and thrust deeply, sucking her neck. Hard. He had never marked her in such an open spot before, but the bruise that he put on her neck would be a deep purple in the morning. She would either be angry or turned on by it when she saw it, he wasn't sure.

He teased her, but needed to hear the validation of her words. To set it straight in his self conscious mind that it was real. That she loved him. That she wasn't leaving this time. Her moans set his pace, his unforgiving roughness, but he needed to slow down. He wanted to have a record setting night. He had given her four orgasms in one night before. Tonight, he hoped for five.

Her disappointment when he stopped didn't go unnoticed, but he secured her tightly to the headboard once again, the sight almost more than he could stand. His strong hands held her hips, securing them.

"I'm going to make you come over and over, Olivia," he explained, his voice raw and gravelly with lust. "Until you forget how it feels to have anyone else touch you." He slowly started to lap at her dripping sex, savoring her taste. He could eat her all day. Every day. And never tire.

"You're mine. This pussy is mine."

/

Any other man saying something like that to her would immediately get the verbal and physical beat down of his life.

Other men had made that declaration and had ended up backtracking in the wake of her growing ire, fleeing from her, and in Edison Davis' case groveling for over a month before she forgave him. She was not an object to be claimed, a trophy and what was between her legs was hers. She could share it. She could keep it to herself. She could groom it. She could leave it wild. She could do whatever and whoever she wanted with it because it was hers, all hers, and no chest pounding, ego stroke needing caveman would ever take that away from her! Ever!

Of course, when she had made that resolution, she had neglected to consider one thing.

The right person, the right partner, could make the declaration and she would want to hear it, wouldn't deny them. Why? Well, because that right person, that right partner would be just as much hers as she was his. From the crown of their head to the balls of their feet and their intimate places would be hers. She wouldn't bristle, she would embrace the possessiveness, encourage it because...

"I'm yours. I'm all...y-yours...every...every part of m-me is..."

Olivia screamed out and arched against him as another climax sent electricity up and down her spine. Fitz was a man of his word, especially in the bedroom, and he was proving it tenfold. He was insatiable and he knew how to eat her just right. He knew where to be soft, where to be rough, and how to shift so that she wouldn't become too sensitive. Her skin glistened and dripped with sweat, her hair reverting steadily back to its natural texture, and her voice was growing raspier, rawer, needier by the second.

"...t-too much...Fitz, I...I can't...I c-can't..."

"You can and you will. I'm not done with you yet. I'll never be done with you. I love you. You are mine. This..."

A long, high squeal escaped her as 3 of his fingers plunged into her sopping channel and twisted.

"...is mine!"

/

Fitz would never say anything about her or her body with the intention of offending her. She was a vivacious, gorgeous, ball-busting woman. But at the end of the day, she was his. They both knew it. But she has been playing games with him. Giving him more than enough reasons to be jealous. And he had been. A small part of him still was.

But, his claim of her wasn't ego. Well, not entirely. Sure, she was something to be proud of. An intelligent beauty than any man would be lucky to have. But he was in love with her. So incredibly in love with her. Despite the agony she had put him through. He loved her more than words could explain, but he planned on spending the rest of his life trying to show and tell her in every way that he possibly could.

He spoke in between the skilled flicks of his tongue. She told him once that going down on her was his super power. Since then, he had always made a point to show her just how magnificent he was at it. And how much he loved doing it for her.

"Mmm," he hummed, clearly enjoying himself. Clearly enjoying every single bit of her on his tastebuds. Clearly enjoying every sound his mouth drew from her. "Are you sure?" He teased, smirking. "You're not Jake's?" He traced her clit delicately. "What about Edison?" His words began teasing but slowly shifted. His eyes were so painfully serious. Jealous. Intense. "Your little play toy, Russell?" He spat, finally rubbing his flat tongue over her just so, his growl vibrating against her. Greedily, he pulled another strong release from her, his eyes never leaving her arched, writhing body as each wave hit her.

She begged him to stop, but he knew she could handle more. She wasn't spent yet, and that was the goal. He wanted her so completely sated that she never forgot this night. Never forgot what he could do to her. And he let her know that he wasn't finished with her. And that he never would be. Making love to her would never lose its appeal. He wasn't going to give that up again, not for anything.

Without even letting her take a moment to come down from her high, Fitz pressed his fingers into her. He curled them inside of her, right where she liked it. Her sweet spot. He wanted more. He needed more.

/

Her voice was nearly gone, the ability to scream replaced by moans and whimpers.

Olivia couldn't stop shivering and every part of her twitched with aftershocks as Fitz slowly, lazily ascended from her sopping core. The tip of his tongue traced and his teeth nipped at the jumping muscles of her abdomen, the flare of her hips. His palms rubbed her legs and her head lolled heavily, exposing the unmarked side of her neck. She felt sticky and overheated but was aching for more from him. His tongue and fingers had coaxed deep passionate pleasure from her but not full satisfaction. Full satisfaction would come only when he did, when he returned to her silk depths and took her fully.

"...are you mine, Olivia?"

"Yes...I'm yours...I love you...only you..."

"I don't want another man making love to you, Olivia."

"...never again...only you...I love you...I'm yours..."

Fitz rose up on his forearms above her and she turned her head towards him. His breath was warm against her cheek and she could smell her nectar all over his lips and tongue. His breath came closer and she raised her head to lick and lap slowly at his mouth, tasting herself on him, loving herself on him. A soft whoosh sounded as his tie was loosened and the fabric fell between the headboard and mattress. Her hands were raised to his lips and she held back sobs at the tender gesture.

"Look at me...look at me, Livvie...look at me..."

She did so and could feel silent tears running from her eyes, into her hair. Fitz wiped them away with his thumb and raised her upper body up so they were chest to chest, heart to heart again. She bent her spread knees and the head of him returned to her opening, brushing against it, just barely slipping inside. His brow rested on hers.

"...you're really here? I'm not dreaming again?"

The tears fell faster at the crack of vulnerability in his baritone and she confirmed, "I'm here. We're here. I'm with you. I love you, Fitzgerald. I love you so..."

The last of her sentence was lost in a gasp as he slowly, firmly, tenderly slid home.

/

His breath was slightly labored from restraint, if nothing else. It took so much from him to be able to be able to hold back and wait, to put his own pleasure on the backburner. He loved to ensure that she was more than satisfied, but it had been too long since had made love to Olivia. Too fucking long. Which is why he needed to put time into it. To show her is utmost affection. He could tell she was growing tired, not of the pleasure or action, but literally, physically tired. He'd have to settle for four orgasms. He'd beat his record another night.

Fitz showered her body in soft, sweet kisses and bites. Haphazardly, showing no area favoritism. He loved her. All of her. Every single inch. He loved her like this especially though, in the midst of their lovemaking. Glistening with sweat, her hair returning to its tight curls, her limbs heavy. The fact that he could have that effect on her filled him with pride. He had never clicked with someone so well and knew that he never would again. The whole world stopped when he was with her. Not much else mattered. As long as she loved him, he could survive another day.

A tiny grin graced his lips at her answer, her validation.

"Good. Because you're stuck with me." He let her tongue taste his lips before he brushed light kisses to her mouth, then even softer kisses to her wrists where her hands had been bound. He begged her to look at him, feeling a little bad for binding her so tightly, all to prove a point. Then he asked her, one last time, if she was really there with him. Fitz had dreamed of her, of nights just like that one, over and over, waking up rock hard and panting lustfully. But he was feeling so much. He was so overwhelmed with emotions and he needed to know that it was real. So that he wouldn't be startled by waking up to feel devastatingly disappointed. He knew he wouldn't be able to bear it.

At her confirmation, he wrapped his arms around her and thrust up into her, not even trying to hold back his deep groan. "Sweet Baby," he purred as he held her hips and worked her over him, moving his own in time to counter her. "Please...please don't leave me again..." he begged.

/

"I won't...I promise you that I won't...not if I have a choice..."

His response was to bury his face in the unmarked side of her neck. Olivia gasped as he latched onto the skin there, suckling and nipping as he continued to move inside her. Her shaking hands caressed his back and she whimpered as he gripped her right above her ass, pushing her firmly to meet his thrusts. Her bent knees clenched against his hips and her foot went over his calf, her toes curling into the strong flesh as he began to pick up speed.

She was laid back and his left hand rested firmly over where her heart pounded.

"Look at me."

She shivered.

"Look. At. Me."

Each word was accented by firm thrusts into her rippling walls and she obeyed him, aroused and amazed by the deep heat in his eyes. They were deep fevered cobalt, almost midnight blue and heavily lidded with growing bliss. His jaw clenched and a deep flush colored his cheeks, his ears scarlet. Each of his muscles stood out in sharp relief, working together in an effort to find his satisfaction. She wanted it. God, she wanted to feel it. She wanted to see it. She wanted him to come for her, come inside her where he belonged. She wanted him...

Holding his gaze, Olivia slowly, purposely clenched her walls around him, making his nostrils flare. She did it again and again, urging him with her eyes to stop holding back, to let go. It was time.

/

Fitz nodded, somehow finally believing her now that they were fully joined. He was home. She was his home.

Her body was his bliss. He felt the jolts of pleasure coursing up and down his spine, making his body shake and quiver. He marked her again firmly before he pressed her onto her back, giving him more leverage to thrust deeper. Stronger. Filling her completely, right to his hilt. Her heart beat rapidly beneath his hand and it pushed him further. Egged him on to make her come just one more time. He could tell it was right there, so close. Fitz could feel it in the way her body clenched around him. He knew her tell.

When she looked at him, his breath caught and he almost lost all control, his hips bucking harder against her. He groaned out deeply, gripping her tighter. Their connection was so much more than skin deep. Olivia Pope had never been his mistress. She was the love of his life. His sweet baby. And her brown eyes were swallowing him in their depths.

"Fuck, Livvie...come with me...please," he begged, grinding against her with each thrust, his pelvic bone rubbing her clit. "Come on, baby. One more time," he panted, his hips moving faster, harsher, a sweaty sheen covering his flexing muscles. He laced his fingers with hers, squeezing tightly.

/

The coil snapped inside her and she sobbed softly, moaning as her climax singed her nerve endings. Fitz's arms gave out and she held him to her as he shuddered against her, his eyes squeezed shut and mouth open in a silent scream. He twitched inside her and Olivia purred in triumph as the first pulse of sticky heat blossomed inside her welcoming walls. He gasped and his hips took on a staccato, harsh rhythm, filling her with his seed and satisfaction.

"That's it...come for me...fill me up...make me yours...so good...god, baby..."

"Olivia...Olivia...Olivia...angel...love...god...love you...shit..."

/

His breath grew harsh and uneven, muscles tensing...tensing...

Fitz repeated her name in soft cries, the intensity of his release bringing tears to his eyes. His body buckled, weak, and he slumped against her, panting and in a haze from the pleasure. When he got the strength, he rolled off of her and onto his back, trying to steady his breath.

"God, I fucking missed you," he said through a breathless smile, rolling his head heavily to look over at his lover.

/

"I missed you, too..."

Olivia moved so she could rest her head on his chest, embracing him tenderly.

She could feel his body calming and she squeezed him, draping a leg over his hip. The action was accepted with a pleased rumble deep in his chest and his right fingers toyed with her mussed hair. The bedding was bunched up at the end of the bed and she pulled some of it up over their lower halves. Looking, she saw his left hand on the pillow underneath his head and the wedding ring on his finger. That ring had always been a taunting reminder that he wasn't fully hers. It was his shackle, a shackle that she had helped to keep him in because she had been a selfish coward.

If she had just been brave enough, then that shackle would've been long gone, replaced by a ring that she had given him. She remembered the ring on his finger during her captivity Dream. She remembered the dimensions, the design, the way it looked and felt as he held her, stroked her, lived a happy life with her. Olivia wanted to give him that ring. She wanted to give him the love and joy that he had been aching for, begging for, fighting for. She wanted to have the joy that she had felt unworthy of. She wanted...

Before she could talk herself out of it, Olivia abruptly grabbed his left hand, and to his wide eyed shock, savagely yanked his wedding band off. Sitting up, she threw it as hard as she could out of the master bedroom door, pleased when she heard expensive glass shatter at the impact. It probably was in a now damaged china cabinet or had hit an empty drink glass. It didn't matter. What mattered was that it was off and he wouldn't be putting it back on. She would not shackle him again. She would not take away his choice or his say again. Never, ever again.

It was a new day between them, a new era.

It was their Time to just...Be. Truly, fully, finally Be.

When he put wedding bands on again, they would be hers and they would be a blessing, not the curse and horrid scandal that she had so long believed she was to him, that they were as a couple.

They were not a curse.

They were not a mistake.

They technically were a scandal but not an insurmountable one, not one that they she...he...They couldn't Handle.

They weren't bad.

They were good. Not perfect, far from it, but still good.

With a satisfied nod, she looked over her shoulder and Fitz's face was awed. It was also very, very pleased. He was looking at her like he had never seen her before. A soft huff of laughter escaped his smiling lips and she returned the smile fully.

His reaction confirmed that what she had just done was right. It was yet another long overdue thing that she had done right between them in the last few hours and it wouldn't be the last.

"I love you. You're mine. I won't leave you again. I won't let another man touch me and you're not to put that ring on ever again. It's off and it's staying off. The only rings you're allowed to wear from now on are the ones that I'll be giving you."

"...okay."

/

As much as Fitz loved making love to Olivia, and oh, he did, he loved the gentle intimate moments of holding her after. It was something they didn't always have time for and when they did, he relished in it. He loved the way her petite body curled into his. Like puzzle pieces that had been long lost and finally found each other. Their fit was impeccably perfect. It took his breath away often.

They were about to be truly tested, he feared. They had to make some decisions in the upcoming days. How they were going to do this, what speech regarding the divorce that Fitz was going to make, when they should go public with their relationship and how they should go about it. Fitz tried to simply enjoy being with her instead of thinking about all of it. It made his head start to ache and he didn't want to ruin the moment. One of many instead of their seemingly endless 'one minute' sessions of pushing the world aside. That teasing was over. They were really going to do this. They owed it to themselves.

Her rapid, somewhat heated, action drew him out of his thoughts and his eyes widened, a smirk slowly stretching itself across his incredibly satisfied mouth. Oh, how he wished he wasn't sexually spent. There was something about that act of ownership that was unbelievably sexy to him. He would never get enough of her. She would never cease to amazing him and turn him on in unexpected ways. He would never tire of learning about her. All of her little things.

"Mmm, Livvie. You're so lucky that I'm worn out because that..." he tilted her chin up and kissed her, his tongue caressing hers in lazy, languid movements. "...was hot as fuck." he admitted. Because it was. There was no other way of putting it. No censorship to still get the point across. "Expect payment in the shower in the morning," he promised with a chuckle. She really did make him curse a lot, and he sort of loved that. Actually, he loved it a lot. He loved what she was able to bring out in him. Sides of him that he had never seen. Good and honest to himself sides. She made him the man he wanted to be. He hoped he made her feel the same way.

This was it.

What they had been waiting for.

They were just a few small steps away from their forever. Their life together. Their Vermont, jam, and two kids.

Their happily ever after.

Sure, they would have backlash from Cyrus and Mellie to handle, but they would. And that would mean seeing Olivia in fixer mode and he loved that more than words could say. It was the first image he ever got of her and eventually one of the things that made him fall so deeply in love with her.

"...okay," he agreed, his heart beating a little faster at her words. She was really claiming him this time. She was promising to be faithful and asking that he do the same. They could do this.

"Are you proposing to me?" he teased, propping himself up on an elbow, rolling to his side slightly, looking down at her with amusement.

They should probably start talking strategy, but he didn't want to be the one to ruin the moment by bringing it up.

/

"It's not a proposal, it's a declaration of marriage. It's what going to happen. It's what should've happened a long time ago if I hadn't been a coward and an idiot."

"You're not the only one to blame, Livvie. I could've said no. I could've gone forward with the divorce and resigning anyway but I didn't. Don't dwell on the past."

"I can't help it. I keep thinking about how I've hurt you and I really don't want to do it again. I don't...I don't know how not to hurt you when things get tough. I end up thinking about the bigger picture and you get shafted for the sake of it. I don't want that to happen this time."

"A good first step would be to actually let me be involved in managing us. You say that we're in it together but then you take over. You don't tell me things until after the fact, if you tell me at all."

"There has to be insulation. I was trying to protect you. You have more to lose than I do."

"The fact that you think that I have more to lose than you do should make you more inclined to let me help. Shutting me out, even if it's to protect me, hasn't worked, Olivia. In fact, it makes things worse in the long run."

"You're right. I know you're right but..."

"I already have a plan."

"You do?"

"I do."

"...you're not going to tell me what it is."

"Not yet."

"Because if you do, you know that I'll find a way to sabotage it like always."

"Yes."

"I should be angry. I should be pressing you for details but...I just feel relieved. If you're taking point, then maybe...maybe it'll actually work this time. I won't have a way to hurt you again and that's...I like that."

/

Fitz knew that the peaceful feeling that had fallen over them post-sex wouldn't last long. They had too many problems to face. They had a future to plan. He wanted them to actually be able to plan it together without one taking over and ruining it entirely. But would she be able to help him without running? Without finding a loophole that would somehow save his career and give her an easy way out?

The idea of her bolting again terrified him, but they both knew she wrote better speeches than he did. Then again, if he wrote it on his own, she would know that it was all from his head. From his heart. She'd know that he meant it.

Maybe she could read it, right before he stepped on the podium. That way she would know how he felt but still have the chance to offer critique.

Before he told the country that he was divorcing Mellie.

He sighed heavily, trying not to let stress crawl back into his body, ridding him with tension that he was so tired of carrying around.

"I'm going to have divorce papers drawn first thing in the morning," he explained, his thumb delicately tracing her swollen lips. "Then I'm going to write a speech and address the press...and you don't get to read it until right before I give it. Enough time for critique but not enough time for you to rain on my parade." He gave her a soft smile.

He couldn't quite decide how he wanted to tell America. Maybe he just needed to sleep on it. To wake up next to his love. To fuck her senseless in the shower.

You know, for inspiration's sake.

/

"Okay."

She wasn't saying it with a Look on her face. She wasn't saying it to appease him so she could buy time to come up with a "real Plan". She wasn't saying it like it was a wish, like it was such an impossible dream. She was saying that his plan was okay because it was. It was simple yet elegant. Mellie had no leverage against them left. Fitz had leaked her name as his mistress (yes, she knew that he did it...) so Mellie couldn't hold that threat over their heads. Although she and Fitz had continued their relationship, there was no concrete proof that they were really together, no real witnesses.

The Recording of their first time was long gone, as was the footage of them in the Oval Office.

Jake knew but he was gone now, determined to move on with his life while he still had it.

Rowan knew but he was in prison and the man had literally blown his power base to bits. The Files were gone, the operatives were gone, the money was gone and B613 was so fragmented, it might as well be gone.

Her remaining Gladiators and Abby knew but they wouldn't say anything out of renewed loyalty to her and loyalty by proxy to Fitz.

Cyrus knew but by the time his ego recovered enough to get back to puppeteering, it would be too late.

Mellie had far too much to lose to go against them, now. She had won her Senator's bid but had given Rowan the names to the Grand Jurors that would've legally taken out B613, its leader, and all of its operatives, past and present. She had then enlisted Cyrus into covering up the debacle, defanging him, too. If Cyrus helped her move against them, it would put him on the chopping block. She and Fitz couldn't expose the truth behind the Juror slaughter. There wasn't enough insulation for them to get through it unscathed but it was far from the only sin the man had committed, far from the only indiscretion Mellie had done.

Fitz had the upper hand and Olivia would help him keep it. She promised him not to leave him again. She promised that she wouldn't run away, literally or figuratively, when things got tough. It was a new era for them, a blank slate, a new chance...

"Okay? That...you're not going to do anything to..."

"Every time I Fix or Handle us, things go wrong and we both end up miserable. The definition of insanity is to repeat the same pattern of behavior over and over again, expecting a different result. I'm tired of being insane about us, Fitz. I'm tired of hurting you, hurting us. I want things to be different. I want us to be together. I want babies and jam and Vermont, sooner rather than later. We're both getting up there and I don't know about you but I'd love not to be an octogenarian when our youngest is graduating from high school, not to mention that my eggs are getting close to their first expiration date."

/

It was finally so simple in his eyes. All of the little bullshit that they had both been hung up on before either wasn't an issue anymore or didn't matter enough. Fitz just wanted her. Everyday. Forever. No more time apart. No more waiting.

No more excuses.

The relaxed state of her body when she agreed was something to behold. Sure, the immense pleasure he had provided her could be a factor, but it was more than that. She wasn't fighting it anymore. Their love. She wasn't fighting him anymore. Despite all that they had been through, many things that they still needed to discuss and work through, she was really on board this time and ready to let him make it happen. Afterall, he was the most powerful man in the free world. Especially now that Cyrus and Mellie were out of the picture. Neither could push his hand or manipulate him this time, not like before. Now the only person who could manipulate him was Olivia, and she wasn't.

They could do this.

If they didn't, they could only blame themselves.

Only the two of them could stand in their own way. Sure, people knew. So many people, in fact, that America shouldn't be that surprised when he announced, no matter what he said or how he phrased it. Worst kept secret in Washington? Maybe. But Fitz was tired of it being a secret. So tired of only having a series of stolen moments with her. With the love of his life. He wanted to wake up next to her, every morning unless he was forced to be abroad. He wanted her on his arm at galas and formal events. To shamelessly flaunt her as his partner in public, for everyone to see.

They were going to do this.

They had to. Fitz ached for it.

He needed to hear her say it. To hear her confirm that she was going to take a step back, go against her instincts, and allow him to handle it. Allow him to handle them. His smile grew with each and every word that came out of her gorgeous little mouth.

"Good. Let me handle it," Fitz began to pepper her face in feather light kisses, continuing to talk to her. To reassure her that things were finally going to be okay for them. "We'll have Vermont. And babies. And jam. I promise." And he meant it. God, he meant it. He chuckled at her comment about her age because of the fact that he was older. "Well, looks like we should get things situated so we can start working on those babies since we're both getting ancient," he joked, kissing her lips lightly, sleepiness falling over him.

They had a big day ahead of them.

/

"You're proving my point about our ages, you know... look at you. One extended, multi-orgasmic round and you're all tuckered out."

"An old man needs his rest, especially when he's lucky enough to snag a brilliant PYT who likes to use him as chew toy and a scratching post. I'm going to need skin grafts on my ass, thanks to you."

"You're not funny!"

"Then, why are you laughing?"

"Because you're funny to me, not to the Public, which is why someone should always vet your jokes. You're funny but you're not funny."

"And you are?"

"Funnier than you. You have your moments but overall, you're lame."

"Right...well, as long as you're laughing, I'm happy to be lame."

Olivia shook her head fondly at his declaration and watched as he rested his head on her shoulder. She put an arm around him and her fingertips began massage his scalp gently. His arms wrapped around her and the close eyed expression of bliss on his face made her smile. It also made her worry. She didn't want to hurt him again. She didn't want to fall back into bad habits but could she really do it? Could she let him Handle things? Could she let herself trust him? Could she really not run away again?

Olivia knew that she had to but knowing that a course of action was needed didn't make it easy.

She had been a Runner for years and fully accepted that she was a control freak. In the years after Maya's "death", she had felt a distinct lack of control over her own destiny. There was always Rowan or a headmaster or a professor telling her what to do, where to go, who to be. She had sworn that once she was an adult, then she would never give up control again, not if she had a choice. It was a double edged vow. Her control had gotten her through school with honors and made her a professional powerhouse but it had left her bereft emotionally and romantically

She would never compromise or she would self sabotage. People would give up on her and she had told herself that it was okay. Nothing ever lasted forever. People always lied. People always let you down. People...she hadn't counted on Fitz. Fitz was the anomaly. Fitz was the exception. He wasn't going away. He kept trying. He didn't give up on her. He got frustrated with her, angry with her, resentful and petty towards her (and vice versa, Olivia knew that she was no innocent victim...) but overall, he loved her. He wanted her. He needed her and he just loved her.

No one had ever just loved her before and that...that was frightening. She didn't want to lose that love but since everyone left eventually, she knew that she would so she had decided to push him away, to run away to intercept that inevitable pain.

It made absolutely no sense but that was how things worked when it came to Fitz.

Until now.

She was still terrified of losing him, of being left all alone in the cold again but...she didn't want to hurt him again.

She didn't want to run away again.

She didn't want to push him away again.

She just wanted to be with him as long as she could be with him and if that meant the rest of their lives, then that would just be okay.

No, not okay.

It would be great.

It was going to be great.

They were going to be great...

Olivia's lips pressed to his brow and his eyes opened to slivers.

"I love you."

He pressed a lingering kiss to the flesh just above where her heart pounded.

"I love you so much."

He squeezed her.

"I won't leave you again. I'll still be scared but I won't leave."

His right hand cupped her thigh and stroked tenderly.

"We're in this together. I promise."

/

"Extended is the keyword," he countered pointedly, a drowsy grin shaping his lips. "And it's been awhile. I'm out of shape."

He had also quite literally put every single fiber of his being into making love to her, and it was more than a little exhausting. But worth it. So worth it.

He loved their banter. It made him feel young and alive. Light. When he was joking and playing with Olivia, it was as if the mass weight of being the Leader of the Free World was lifted from his aching shoulders. And their lovemaking loosened the sore knots of stress that riddled his muscles. She was his cure. Sure, she 'fixed' him, it was her job. But she truly FIXED him. She completed him in every possible way. She always had, from the moment he had laid eyes on her.

The feel of her skilled fingers kneading his scalp made his eyes flutter closed. He hummed, almost purring, at the relaxing sensation. His arms held her snug against him, right where she belonged. With him, through the thick and thin. Guiding him like only she knew how.

Olivia made him face his shit. She called him out, when no one else would. And she was probably the only one who could get away with it, really. Like her constantly telling him how terrible his jokes were. Of course, she always laughed. But usually at how corny they were. He recalled the night he had hid in the bathroom and called her for advice on his White House Correspondents' Dinner speech. She helped him spin the mudslinging that the tabloids were going into a witty opening.

They had laughed, despite wanting to cry at being apart.

Hopefully this would be them moving on to greener pastures.

Pastures in Vermont, where they could finally thrive, not only apart, but together.

Fitz wasn't sure he could bear her leaving him again. Not after the progress that they had seemingly made, just since their reunion on the balcony. It seemed that their view was much clearer. That their goals were paramount, and at least for Fitz, his goals involved her. Having a family. Spending as much time together as physically possible. And as much of it physical as possible. They had years to make up for. Would she try to weasel her way out of it this time? Again?

She couldn't.

They were worth everything they had been through. The push and pull. The waiting. The watching. The wanting. God, the wanting was soul-consuming and it set them aflame. Fitz had never felt drawn to someone the way he was to Olivia. She had him in her perfectly manicured grip and he hoped with everything in him that she never dared to let go again. Her hold grounded him. Kept his feet planted but left his head just enough in the clouds to dream of what they could be together.

What they would be together.

Nothing short of amazing.

His eyes flickered open, just barely, at her lips pressing to his forehead. Sleep almost taking him over, he returned her declaration of love and held her tighter, still a touch afraid to let go.

"We're in this together. I promise."

Fitz nuzzled into her neck lovingly and let his eyes slip back closed, sleep enveloping him and finally letting him rest, really rest, for the first time in what felt like forever.

Fitz smiled naturally when she walked into the Oval, the sight of her was just what he needed to instill him with a nudge of confidence. It was the acknowledgement that he was doing the right thing this time. They were right thing together. It was a decision they had been itching to make for years and finally, finally, they were there. On the precipice of what they had earned. Togetherness. He could definitely get used to a routine that involved her being in the White House every day. Lunches together. Oval 'meetings' together. Nights in the Residence together, not unlike the night they had just shared there. She would be a much needed breath of fresh air after the wrath of Mellie. And they had Vermont to look forward to.

Vermont.

He sipped coffee out of his mug before standing, watching as she casually made her way over to him. Like it was just another day. Like she was simply about to read over any given speech that he needed her to set fresh eyes on. He wrapped his arms around her out of habit once she was close enough, pulling her to him in a firm snap of a motion. Their bodies collided in perfection. She had been sleeping soundly when he had left her that morning, as she usually did after they had spent the night naked together. On too many nights apart, they had both struggled to sleep. Tossing and turning endlessly in a fruitless effort to dream. Fitz took solace that, if nothing else, the pleasure he gave her led to both of them sleeping well. If the pieces fell as he hoped, he would wake up to her well-rested face more days than not.

"Good morning," he murmured, kissing her with a slow, stifled desire that he promised himself he would keep at bay until after he gave his speech. But god, he was so used to rushing and taking advantage of every single moment spent with her. He wondered how long it would take him to get used to the shift of things. The reality of being with her on a much more permanent basis. Fitz let his lips fall to her neck as she answered him, his eyes just barely noticing the hint of the deep marks he had placed there the night before. Thatta girl. She had surely been able to 'fix' the visible brands he had left. Was there anything she couldn't fix? He smirked as he brushed light kisses over the skin of her neck, the touch a ghostly reminder of the unbridled passion they had shared. He knew they were there. So did she. That was all that mattered.

When he pulled away, he could tell by the look of her that yes, she was happy, yes, she was well-rested, but she was ready to get her hands on his speech. He suspected she had been dying to know what he planned on saying to the press the moment he had mentioned it the previous night. His hands found her hips and framed them, his gaze unable to tear away from her curvy, petite body. His perfect Livvie.

"Should I wear this tie or a red one?" he asked, wrinkling his nose slightly. They both knew he looked better in blue, given the intensity of his cobalt eyes, but the Party favored red. She had reminded him of it over and over on the trail and in important moments after he was elected. Always knowing how to best handle the tiny details that Fitz never thought of. He made sure to keep a spare red tie in his desk, just in case something popped up and he would need to look the part a little extra that day.

Her impatience was obvious and he smirked, reaching over to the Resolute where his speech sat in a folder. He held it hostage for a moment, wanting to preface the exchange with something first.

"Two versions. One addressing the divorce. The other..." He grinned. "...addresses the divorce and mentions who I plan on spending the rest of my life with..."

Fitz pressed a firm kiss to her mouth, as if punctuating his words with his affection for her. He let her take the folder from him and waited with bated breath as she read.

He watched her flip to the second document, which held only what information would potentially be added to the first, depending on what they decided.

"There have been rumors in the past about infidelity on my part and I would like to further address those today. When I began my campaign for president, I met someone unexpectedly who changed my life from the moment I laid eyes on her. Before she came into my life, I didn't know myself. She brought to life things in me that I had never recognized before. Potential. Worth. Determination. This woman believed in me, and has made me believe in myself. She is, in part, to thank for the man and the President that I have become.

I am not proud of the way this affair has unfolded, but I do not regret it. Not for a moment. I never meant to hurt or hinder anyone. Anyone who has ever been in love, really in love, will understand my inability to ignore my feelings for her. When you meet someone that makes you feel like you can fly, you cannot walk away from that. I will not apologize for falling in love, despite my poor timing.

I tried to make this declaration before, but she wouldn't allow it. She didn't seem to think that putting my Presidency on the line was worth loving her openly. She was wrong. Once my divorce is final, I hope to spend the rest of my days proving to Olivia Pope that she is more than worth it."

/

Tears immediately sprang to her eyes at the words and Olivia knew that she had no chance of holding them back.

Instead of making a hasty retreat, she stood her ground and reread the second document, searing each word into her memory. The first document was a good speech, a solid speech, but this addition was...it was phenomenal. It was bold. It was raw. It was sweet. It was unrepentant. It was...it was what he said to her head on. This was what he told her in their quiet times and what he would yell at her when they fought about their relationship. The addition was pure, unadulterated truth.

She would always dismiss the truth. She would never truly accept it, never truly believe it because she didn't think that she was worth it. She had never been worth it. People would leave her behind or pass her off to be a burden on someone else easily. Her parents, her friends, her exes...at least one of those things would happen with them, sometimes more than once. Of course, in her later years, she had done things to trigger the abandonment but still...

"Livvie?"

"Put it in. It's...you can put it in. You should put it in. It's...I'm..."

...she is more than worth it...she is more than worth it...she is more than worth it...that turn of phrase played on loop in her mind, his voice, his strong and powerful voice was in her head and would soon be on international television declaring it to the whole world, to Mellie, to Cyrus, to Rowan, to...to her. He would say it to her and she would believe. She would believe and she would love him. She would be person he said that she was in the rest of the second document. She would be the one who built him up, who supported him, who helped him find his voice and spirit again. She would be the one who made him feel as if he could fly. Her Fitz had been a pilot, a fighter pilot. He knew just what it was like to be high above the ground, above the noise and the mass of humanity. He knew that peace, that freedom so intimately, and to be compared to that, to be seen as worthy...

Setting down both documents, she nearly knocked him to the floor in a hug. Fitz grunted at the impact and held onto her tightly, able to interlock his fingers so she couldn't get away. She didn't want to get away. She didn't want to ever be away from him again. Olivia slid her hands underneath his jacket and caressed up his back, relishing the warmth of him, the scent of him, the feel of him, the love of him.

"Wear the red tie. Wear the red tie and use all of what you've...all of it, Fitz."

"You mean it?"

"Yes. It's time, Fitz. It's actually overdue. No more lying. No more running. Just...don't hold back, anymore. I don't want you to hold back, anymore."

/

When Olivia's eyes could no longer hold her brimming tears, Fitz watched them spill over and he thumbed them from her cheeks with tender swipes. Her reaction, the silent trickling of her emotion streaming down her cheeks, took his breath away. She could still run. For the hills. As fast as she could until he was out of sight forever. She could run to the ends of the earth to get away from him and the commitment. His chest tightened with the anxiety of the moment. Everything had built up to that moment, the moment that hung between them. Heavy. The weight of that moment made his shoulders dip, threatened to make him buckle under the pressure. Of waiting. For years he had watched for her. He had waited for her. Relentlessly. And in that moment, the moment that felt like an hour, he watched. He waited. For her to run. For her to stay. Fitz took a shaky breath, his face wrinkled and twisted, right on the bring of the agony that he was sure was coming.

"Livvie?"

And just like that, the weight was lifted and he could breathe again.

She was in.

His face softened, his body visibly releasing the tension he had been holding since he put pen to paper to draft the speech. The speech that was going to change their lives forever. Fitz had been wanting to drop it all and shout out his love for her at the top of his voice for so long. It was happening. It was really happening, and she was really, truly letting him say it. The love of his life was relinquishing control over the situation, momentarily giving up her natural fixing nature, to allow him to shed light on the love that they shared. The love that shook both of them to the core and rocked his political agenda to hell. Their love was the kind of love that people wrote books about, and he was going to hold onto it, white-knuckled, never letting it slip from his grasp. Never again letting anyone talk him out of its worth. Her worth.

Their worth.

Her embrace knocked the breath from him with its force. He could feel Olivia's emotion, palpable, seeping through her skin as he held her flush to him, his hold tenacious and harboring. Unyielding and sheltering. Fitz wasn't sure they had ever held each that way. Immovable. Adamant. They were both so unwilling to forgo their love this time. They had wasted so much time, years worth of time that they could have been together.

They weren't going to squander their lives away any longer. Being apart was no longer an option.

They were finally moving forward.

She couldn't find the words. He could tell. But they had all the time in the world for that later. Perhaps that weekend. Perhaps in Vermont

She cleared her throat and brought it back to business, as always, confirming the red tie. She'd tie it for him. Like she had a dozen times before. Like she would continue to do for years to come.

And she meant it.

Fitz grinned brightly, for a moment, the tiredness of the last six years fading completely from the lines of his face. Life, the prospect of life with her, lighting up his features like only she could.

"Kiss me."

/

"Kiss me."

She didn't hesitate. Unlike the time in the Bunker corridor, she was gentle in her kiss, slow and unhurried.

Soon, they would move fast and furious because they wanted to, not because they had to. Soon, there would be long kisses in the open, in broad daylight. Soon, there would be regular nights like they one they just shared. They would be able to wake up together and go to sleep together and just...be. They would be out in the open. No more secrets, no more stolen moments, no more lies, no more fears holding them back...they would be Olivia and Fitz. They wouldn't be the worst kept secret in DC, anymore. No longer would Cyrus, Mellie, Rowan, or someone else be able to use their connection as a shatterpoint. They would have the power. They would control the narrative. They would have a real life together.

Olivia was still frightened. She would always be frightened but as the old adage went, bravery was going forward despite fear, not without it. And leaving him again was just not an option. Every time she left Fitz, the damage was horrible and she had literally almost killed him last time. She had abandoned him "for his own good" and had nearly lost him forever. She had spent their time apart miserable and angry, so angry at life, at Rowan, at B613, and mainly, at herself. She had allowed herself to be run over and she had settled for the mediocrity and superficial feelings that she felt she deserved. Olivia had been on a downward emotional spiral, made worse by her Captivity, and she had just wanted to make it all stop.

She wanted to feel strong again.

She wanted to be happy again.

And now...now, she was taking a huge leap forward towards those wishes.

No, not wishes. They weren't wishes anymore.

They were now goals.

/

Fitz followed her relaxed lead to their kiss, put held her face securely in his hands as he deepened it. His tongue slowly stroked hers. His desire grew hot, the heat brewing and stirring in the pit of his stomach for her. After his speech, he intended on having her. His schedule was cleared for the day and he wanted to spend every moment possible of that free time with her. With the love of his life, making up for lost time. Irresistible. Fitz had never been able to resist the pull of Olivia. Not from that very first day. It was why he had tried to fire her. From the second their eyes met, his desire for her pulled him in so strongly. He knew he would drown. But Fitz was so tired of running from the waves.

He was ready to submerge himself. In her love. Shamelessly.

She sucked him in and he took a few steps, turning them and backing her against the desk. Absorbed in the moment. Absorbed in her. Completely. Fully. Forever. A low growl sounded in his chest. She controlled him, even when she wasn't trying to. And god help him if she was. But then, she wasn't. Olivia put a hand on his chest, pressing just hard enough to break their kiss and pull him out of the path his mind was about to travel down.

"Mmm, later," she promised, the tiniest hint of a smirk playing at the corner of her lips. Part of her absolutely loved that he was that drawn to her. It was empowering to know that she was the woman who would bring the Leader of the Free World to his knees. Literally and figuratively.

She gave him one more quick kiss before slipping past him. He always kept his ties in the same drawer and she gracefully moved around, easily finding the deep crimson silk and raising her arms to exchange the ties.

"They're going to want questions answered, are you ready for that?"

"Yes. Are you?"

She nodded, smoothing down his collar. He looked handsome. Perfect. Presidential.

"I am."

He gave her his trademark, crooked grin.

"Good. Meet me here after?"

She had to push him away, after his goodbye kiss turned into a series of much longer kisses, threatening to keep them holed up in the Oval all afternoon. He was clearly insatiable. He grinned and gave her a last look over his shoulder before leaving, walking tall and proud, ready to tell the world that he was a man in love.
The press lights shining on him were bright and even after years of standing in front of them on the podium, Fitz had to fight to not squint until he adjusted. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath before he started speaking, his heart fluttering wildly in his chest.

"It is a common misconception that those who hold office should be held to a higher standard socially. It seems that everyone else has the right to be human. Today, I'm here to tell you, to remind you, that I am human too. Despite being the President of the United States, I am a human being.

Over half of marriages in this country ended in divorce last year. Today, I am just another American telling you that I intend on ending my marriage with the First Lady. I have grown weary of deluding not only myself and Mrs. Grant, but the public as well, into believing that there is hope that our marriage will survive my presidency. She has been a great partner, one who has stood by my side through both my successes and my failures. I wish her the best in her future endeavors. Endeavors that will undoubtedly be bright and full of promise. Neither of us have been saints in our marriage. However, we both deserve another chance at happiness, just like many other Americans who choose to divorce."

Fitz took another breath, pausing to take a sip from the glass of water that sat on the podium.

"Out of respect, I am offering my resignation to Congress and the American people. My campaign slogan was 'Grant for the people' and I still strive to perform my duties as president with that in mind each day. Regardless of my mistakes and shortcomings, I serve this country with the best interests of each American in my heart and in my mind. Today, I urge you to consider that while I am the leader of this great nation, I deserve the right to be strong and content in my personal life, just like each and every one of you. I hope to keep your support so I can continue to help this country grow in my last two years in office."

He could tell by the shift in the room that they thought he was through. One bombshell had to be it, right? He fought the urge to smile. His words hadn't cued that expression yet.

"There have been rumors in the past about infidelity on my part and I would like to further address those today. Members of my administration would not allow me to address them in an honest and proper way at the time, so I am doing so today. When I began my campaign for president, I met someone unexpectedly who changed my life from the moment I laid eyes on her. Before she came into my life, I didn't know myself. She brought to life things in me that I had never recognized before. Potential. Worth. Determination. This woman believed in me, and made me believe in myself. She is, in part, to thank for the man and the President that I have become.

I am not proud of the way this affair has unfolded, but I do not regret it. Not for a moment. I never meant to hurt or hinder anyone. Anyone who has ever been in love, really in love, will understand my inability to ignore my feelings for her. When you meet someone that makes you feel like you can fly, you cannot walk away from that. I will not apologize for falling in love, despite my poor timing."

The room was silent. It made him giddy. He and Olivia were surely going to make waves. This time, together.

"I tried to make this declaration before, but she wouldn't allow it. She didn't seem to think that putting my presidency on the line was worth loving her openly. She was wrong. Once my divorce is final, I hope to spend the rest of my days proving to Olivia Pope that she is more than worth it."

Fitz looked up and scanned the room, a smile unlike any that the public had ever seen stretched across his mouth. In the past, such smiles had been reserved for only Olivia. But now, the public would see them too. It was the beginning of the rest of his life.

"Any questions?"

And just like that, the room was a zoo.