Quiet days were a secret favorite of Olivia's. Granted, they were usually hard to come by. Between planning sessions, debate practice, town hall prep and the like, she typically pushed herself to keep going. On the trail she was known to leave remnants of her high octane energy in every room she touched. This was her trademark, of sorts.

But, what Olivia loved most, if she were being honest with herself, was the opposite of what she considered her typical day to day. A quiet day sitting in her office - that was something that she had quickly learned to embrace.

Today was one of those days. A quiet day where she could sit in her office, with her hair down, listening to classical music while eating small handfuls of almonds, catching up on paperwork, emails, and reports. All while enjoying the satisfaction of having nowhere to be and no one to see.

She was reading an article online in Time Magazine that featured her candidate, Fitzgerald Grant the Third, when an aide tapped lightly on her door.

"Miss Pope?"

She looked towards her door and gave a relaxed smile to the well dressed young man standing at the entrance."What's up?"

"Um," he fumbled a little as he walked closer and handed her the forms in his hand, "Cyrus gave me this document and asked me to make sure that everyone gets a copy. The minutes from yesterdays conference call. Here's yours."

She continued to smile gently and turned her attention back to reading the article on her computer screen. "Leave it on my desk, please." As the aide gingerly placed the document on her desk, she stopped, visibly thinking to herself for a second before focusing her attention back to the aide. "Wait." The aide stopped and turned around, as a good soldier would."When did you speak to Cyrus?" she asked with narrowed eyebrows.

"Just now."

"Just now?" Her question was a challenge, as if the aide could have possibly been mistaken. "He called you and asked you to hand out these copies?" Something wasn't right.

The aide, clearly second-guessing himself, sheepishly replied. "He didn't call me. Exactly. I was walking past his office and he yelled something like "whoever just walked past my office in the khakis and green shirt, come here." So I did. And when –"

Olivia promptly put her hand up to stop the talking. "He's back from Florida?"

"Yes?" Now he was second guessing himself. Everyone knew how Olivia Pope hated when people second guessed themselves so he changed his reply a bit."Yes. Is that bad?"

"It's not bad at all but they weren't due back until tomorrow evening."

"Am I in trouble, or…."

She rolled her eyes at the timid young man that stood before her. "You are not in trouble. I just don't understand why they're back so soon and why no one bothered to tell me." She was more speaking to herself and thinking out loud as she focused on the document in her hand before turning her attention back to the aide. "Is the Governor back, too?"

"I…would assume he is? But maybe he isn't? I really don't know. I could –"

"Just. It's fine. I'll figure it out. Thank you."

As the aide scurried off, Olivia gathered her cell and a handful of almonds to eat on her way to Cyrus' office.

He was zooming around his workspace looking for something before he noticed Olivia standing in his doorway. "Hey, Liv! Long time no see. Well, only a few days, I know, but seeing as how we practically live together, a few days seems like eons." He plopped back in his office chair, just as chipper as could be.

"Cyrus, what the hell is going on? You're supposed to be at a dinner tonight that we've had on the schedule for months. I'm pretty sure-"

"You didn't get my email?" He seemed unbothered by her aggressive demeanor. This was Olivia Pope, after all. He picked up a half eaten cup of yogurt and scooped a healthy serving into his mouth.

"What email?" She was genuinely confused.

"You didn't get my email."

"I don't think I got an email." Her frustration was more than evident.

"I could have sworn I sent you an email today." Cyrus pulled out his cell, put down his yogurt, and began scrolling fervently. "Let me see here. Email, email, email, email."

"Forget the email," Olivia said, moving in closer to Cyrus' desk. "Why are you here?"

Nonchalantly, as he continued to sift through message upon message, he responded,"I pulled him from tonight's meeting."

"What? Why?"

"He needed a break, Liv." Cyrus was the best at multi-tasking, and scrolling through emails while sparring with Olivia took minimal energy.

"A break?" She was almost appalled at the concept. "He can have a break after we hit all of our marks and tonights dinner was one of them. Why was I not consulted about skipping an entire meeting?"

"Skipping?!" The accusation alone almost halted his phone use. Cyrus looked up at Olivia. "Who said anything about skipping?" He asked as he went back to scrolling through his emails. "Did I say anything about– Ah! Here it is! The email!" Waving his phone while giddily smiling at her, he looked back at the screen. "Sent today at 9:48 am eastern standard time directly to you, the one and only Miss Olivia Pope. Hi Liv, blah blah blah blah blah, we are moving the dinner to a midday lunch, earlier flight, blah blah blah blah, see you soon and more than likely at the office this evening. Best, Cyrus R Beene. See?" Turns phone screen to show Olivia from his desk. "Email."

She hoped to cover her mild embarrassment as she popped the leftover almonds from her hands to her mouth. "I must have missed that."

"You must have. See what happens when people are overworked? They miss things," he said matter-of-factly.

"Well, I get hundreds of emails a day, and -"

"Looks like you missed one."

"As it would seem," she replied under her breath.

"As it would seem," he responded gently as he sighed, dulled his candor, and put his phone down. "Everyone is just a little on edge for my personal taste, my dear. And you know that's a problem if I'm saying it. I brought him back just a few hours early. We need him fresh and ready for Santa Barbara. Do we not?"

"We do."

"Ok," he nodded slowly and spoke lowly. "So he's back, we're staying on schedule for the rest of the week and we're gonna knock Santa Barbara out of the park and get ready for election day." He lowered his eyes to make sure Olivia's met his. "It's coming, Liv."

"I know." The realization was getting harder and harder as the days went on.

A beat passed before she worked up the nerve to ask her next question.

"Is he here?"

"I put him on a conference call," he nodded his head in the direction of their candidate's office. "He's in his office if you want to debrief."

Olivia turned to leave without saying as much as a word.

"Are you forgetting something, kiddo?"

She slowly turned around only to give Cyrus a blank stare.

"Anything?" He asked slyly.

She had an idea regarding what he wanted, but she felt less than inclined to humor him.

"I see you might need some help," he said with a twinge of sarcasm in his voice. "Maybe something along the lines of, "I'm sorry Cyrus for barging in your office while you were enjoying your favorite yogurt and barking at you for an email that I missed?""

Olivia laughed airily."Sorry, Cy."

"No problem," he replied in his ever popular sing song voice.

"Knock knock," she said out loud as she approached his door. "Oops," she whispered to herself. He was still on the phone call much to her surprise.

Fitz' entire face lit up. He waved Olivia in as he was on the phone finishing up a conversation. Olivia entered and made herself comfortable on the chair in front of his desk as he worked.

She loved watching him work and he loved having her watch him work.

As she sat there waiting, she couldn't help notice that his hair was moderately longer than the last time they saw each other. His curls had more of a presence than usual. He also had a freshly clean cut shave. And, considering that he had flown halfway across the country in a matter of a few days, he didn't look disheveled or even tired.

"Right, and I completely agree that the first year of presidency has to consist of that kind of focus. We are prepared to extend ourselves in whatever way necessary. These policies are important to me personally and it's my goal to make sure that they don't fade in the background."

He could be so serious when he wanted to be.

Just then he stuck his tongue out at Olivia, and she returned in kind.

"Senator Summerfield, I completely agree. And, I hate to cut this conversation short but someone very important just walked into my office," he said as he winked at Olivia. "Of course, ma'am. The pleasure is all mine. Oh I definitely hope so. Tell your staff thank you for arranging this call. Wishing you the best as well. Have a great evening."

He gingerly hung up the phone and smirked at Olivia.

"She can talk," Olivia teased.

"Oh, she can talk."

"Someone very important, huh?"

"One of the most important," he said with a raised eyebrow and smirk.

They smiled at each other, finding it hard to hold back their mutual happiness at seeing one another.

"Welcome back, Governor Grant," she managed to say between her gentle glance.

"Thank you," he said firmly with a sly smile, slowly nodding his head."It's good to be back."

Olivia sighed not wanting to change the ambience. "You know, I didn't know you were here. I just happened to find out from that aide who always looks like he's about to shit himself."

Fitz chuckled knowing exactly who she was talking about. "Last minute change. Cyrus sounded like he was going to email you."

"He did. I just missed it. Somehow."

"Probably because you're working too hard," he whispered.

"Why is everyone saying that? If I didn't work as hard as I do the complaint would be that I don't work hard enough."

"Maybe. Probably not. You're too cute to scold. But maybe."

"Anyway," she said dismissively.

"Anyway. I got ya something."

Fitz stood up and pulled out a small gift wrapped in simple brown wrapping paper. He walked around to sit halfway on the front of his desk as he handed Olivia her present. She couldn't help but smile while revealing her gift.

"You got me….a keychain?"

"I got you a keychain."

"You got me a keychain." Olivia was staring at the small trinket with a faint sense of confusion.

"You sound...underwhelmed."

"No….its….funny," she replied as she looked up to him. "Its cliché which is what I'm assuming you were going for."

"You don't like the gift. Give it back." Fitz put one hand out.

"No! This is my keychain I'm keeping it. It's very sweet. That means you missed me."

"Nope." He stood, placing his hands in his pockets while looking in Olivia's eyes. "I definitely did not miss you."

"Oh good. I didn't miss you either. Not one bit."

"Good."

They looked at each other knowing they were playing this game all wrong. Conversations should be had, boundaries should be made. At least by now they should have.

Yet, here they were falling into their comfortable banter and playfulness all over again, as if the things they said in each other's ears during their night together were just a figment of their imagination.

Olivia tightened her jaw to force herself to stay focused on the main task at hand: her job.

Fitz found himself hoping that she wouldn't bring anything up to dampen their reunion from their short time apart. He wasn't ready to face reality and wasn't sure that he ever really would be. Unless his reality involved Olivia, of course.

"So I hope you're packed for Santa Barbara already," he said as he walked back to his chair on the other side of his desk. "The flight leaves early tomorrow."

"I would only need to be packed if I were going. And, I'm not."

Fitz looked at Olivia as if she had just spoken another language.

"What? Liv, of course you are."

"No." She was serious. "I'm not. It's a work trip."

"Yes, it is a work trip. And we work, together. Word on the street is, you're my campaign manager and-"

"Yes. But the plan was for me to stay here. Cyrus will go with you and the rest of the team."

"What? Since when?"

"Since - "

"Liv. You're coming to Santa Barbara. End of story."

She stood up to shut the door and didn't sit back down.

Fitz had a feeling that the conversation he didn't want to have was about to rear its head.

Olivia looked at Fitz square on. She placed her hands on her hips, bracing herself for the back and forth that was sure to take place.

"You don't want me there for the right reasons."

"Excuse me?"

"You want me there..." she motioned har hands as if she were pulling for the right words, "to play."

"Do not!" Fitz shamelessly smirked. She gave him a knowing look. "Okay. Okay. Not to only play."

He knew he had to tread lightly here. "Liv, I want us to have a little down time. None of this rushing around. I want us to relax a little while we can find the time. Before…..I don't know. I just, I know I want you in Santa Barbara. I want us to enjoy Santa Barbara."

"I….do too. But - "

"But..."

"I don't want to be a distraction."

"You're not." Fitz was clearly mildly offended at the insinuation that he was lacking even an ounce of self-control.

"I am."

"You are not a distraction. On the contrary, you actually help me to focus."

Olivia's eye roll did not go unnoticed.

"You just kicked a senator off the phone to have this very conversation with me. If it were anyone else at the door you would have shooed them away. I am a distraction."

"It's your fault for being so cute."

"I'm not cute," she said seriously.

"The cutest." He know what he was doing.

"Stop. I'm serious."

He stood up from his desk and walked over to her. The best she could think to do was fold her arms in front of her. It was either that or kiss him.

Do not kiss him, Olivia.

Fitz didn't want to assume anything so he stepped close to her, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"I want you in Santa Barbara for work and play. Okay?" He dipped his head an inch or so to make sure their eyes met. "So sue me. We can do more work than play, if you insist."

Olivia couldn't help but give him a little smile.

"I'll think about it."

"Okay. Good enough." Fitz stepped back to give her some space. They both looked at the ground for a second before he spoke up.

"What'd you do while I was away anyway? Did I miss anything exciting?"

Olivia shrugged. "Not really."

"Oh good." He turned to walk towards his desk.

"I went to my doctor," she blurted out. Sometimes she didn't know what came over her when she was around him. This was one of those times.

Fitz stopped and turned around slowly. "Your doctor?"

"My doctor." She had implied in a previous conversation that she wanted to make sure they took preventative measures after the last time they were together.

He began to nod slowly as she willed him to figure out what she was talking about.

"Your doctor." Fitz tried to hold back his smile but was failing miserably. "Olivia Pope, you continue to surprise me."

She let out an airy laugh. "I surprise myself believe it or not."

Fitz was repeating his mantra of "play it cool" over and over in his mind but disregarded the concept for what felt like the millionth time.

"Can I just sneak in a very quick kiss?" He genuinely asked in a quiet almost whisper. "That would make this early day back just perfect for me."

"Fitz." She wanted to say yes but knew it was a bad idea.

Pouting. "Please."

"This isn't the right place for that kind of - "

"I promise it will be quick. I just…please?"

They were back at their playfulness. She cocked her head to the side, and looked off while smiling before turning back to look at him.

"Make it quick," she said, following her response with a curl of her pointer finger.

He walked up to her, slipping an arm around her waste and pulling her flush a gainst him so smoothly and slowly that she felt like she would melt. As his lips touched hers, cradling her face, she couldn't help but slip her tongue in to deepen the kiss. They were taking their time which was one of Olivia's favorite things about Fitz. He always seemed to make her feel like they had all of the time in the world.

He pulled away slowly and placed a few gentle kisses on the side of her neck. She exhaled deeply and slowly, trying to remind herself where she was.

"Why are you so good at that?" He asked as he pulled away and smiled at her, as she did the same.

She started to lightly chuckle to herself, cursing her irrational brain for what she was about to say.

"Screw it," she shrugged while looking up at his eyes and lips. "I'm coming to Santa Barbara."

"Yes!" He gave a little fist pump in the air that was cute and irritating to Olivia.

"On one condition," she said as she pulled away and walked towards the door to leave, placing her hand on the doorknob.

"Anything."

She looked over her shoulder at him with a serious face. "Work first."

"You're the boss," he said with both hands raised to show he was at her mercy.

"Oh you know I love it when you call me that." Olivia winked and walked out of his office, leaving Fitz laughing to himself.

Neither of them knew what the hell they were doing. But they both knew one thing was for sure. Santa Barbara was going to be interesting.

Okay. I have no idea what took me so long. And no idea why I am posting this today. Let's just blame writers block. NO CLUE when I will post again, but I figured I would put this chapter into the universe since I randomly decided to finish it. I hope you Scandal fans are well!