Author's Note: This takes place at the end of 5x21 and is what I wanted to happen. It's also completely AU, so obviously I don't own Scandal. I would still love to hear your thoughts, Olakers!

Olivia Pope, the campaign manager of Senator Melody Grant, the Republican Party's presidential nominee for the 2016 general election, was not a woman that did things without rational consideration and forethought. She was not a person that jumped off of a cliff into the abyss without having any idea what awaited her. She was not a person that wanted the perfect husband or the 2.5 kids or the picket fence or the swing on the front porch or the dog running around underfoot. Olivia Pope was not normal; she had never wanted to be normal. Ever since she was a child, she had always wanted to achieve greatness, and if what she had had with Fitz was any indication, that was probably a good thing, because she was awful at normalcy; she ran over it and then buried it in the ground. Everything that she had thought that she had wanted when she was living in that big, beautiful, historic, suffocating White House with the man of her dreams had been the exact opposite of what she had actually wanted, and she had yet to decide if that was because of the way of life or because of the man that she had wanted to spend that life with, but she knew that normalcy wasn't something that she'd be good at, even if a part of her, a part of her that was growing larger and larger every minute, wanted to take a chance at it.

She knew that Jake was in love with her, had always known that Jake was in love with her, but she didn't see how that could change anything. Jake had been in love with her time and time again, had confessed his feelings only to be rejected by her, and yet this time, she felt regret. The last time she had felt such staggering regret was the day on which she watched him pledge to spend the rest of his life at Vanessa's side. She was left wondering if the feelings of regret and guilt and grief that were continuously cursing through her body were ever going to go away. If the way that she felt while watching Jake pose with his new wife on the stage at the Republican National Convention in Baltimore, Maryland after announcing himself as the vice presidential candidate joining the Republican ticket alongside Mellie was any indication, those feelings weren't going anywhere soon if they went away ever.

She was pulled from her thoughts when Fitz approached her, a concerned expression on his face. It was strange, this, being friends with him, because they had never been just friends. Their friendship on the campaign trail back during his first run for the presidency had been a precursor to their relationship; Olivia wasn't altogether certain that the two of them even knew how to be friends without the added benefit of sex. Then again, she supposed that every great friendship had to have a starting place, a trial run, at some point, so she flashed a smile in his direction and stiffened her resolve. She wouldn't let her emotions be known to him; he didn't deserve that. Even after everything that had happened between them in the past months, she didn't want to hurt him, and knowing that she had almost run off with Jake before his wedding to Vanessa would most assuredly hurt him.

Fitz leaned down so that he was level with her ear when he finally reached her side. "Are we to the point where we can give each other advice that isn't exactly appropriate?" he questioned her, his voice rising in an effort to be heard over the cheers from the crowd that Jake was addressing. "Because if we are, I'd just like to tell you that you haven't stopped staring at him since he walked onto that stage." He pulled back, flashing her a small, sad smile that nearly shattered her heart.

"Fitz," she began to protest, but the man shook his head, closing his eyes slightly.

"Livvie, I love you," he informed her, effectively silencing her. "But whatever happened between us that night, whatever we did or whatever we said to get to that point, it'd probably just keep happening again and again even after I left office. So I love you, but if you love him, that's fine, because for once in your life, Liv, you need to allow yourself to be open to a happiness that you and I never quite managed to achieve."

"He's married," Olivia pointed out, causing Fitz to look at her in disbelief. She smiled softly, shaking her head. " I had a chance to stop this one from getting married, and I didn't," she admitted softly.

"And I'd be willing to bet the Oval… actually, no, just take the Oval," he joked, causing Olivia to chuckle. "I'd be willing to bet the ranch in California that your father had something to do with you not stopping that wedding. I saw your face, Liv. Whatever you said to Jake, it wasn't something that you wanted to say."

"When did we become mature adults that can actually talk about our mature relationships and problems like adults? I just want to know where it should go in the history books," Olivia stated with a small smile, causing Fitz to laugh.

"I just realized that no matter what happened between us in the past, I want you to be happy. I want you to be in love, even if it's not with me. I want you to know what that feels like, Liv, to allow yourself to let someone in." He squeezed her arm and moved to take a step away from her, but she reached for his arm, gripping it tightly. He shot a questioning look in her direction.

"I want you to be happy, too," Olivia murmured, causing Fitz to look down and nod. "No matter what, I want that for you."

"Yeah, well, my happiness may take a little longer to achieve than yours," Fitz replied, gesturing towards the stage once again. "He's a good guy, Liv. He's one of the very few men on this planet that is deserving of you. That's not something you should turn away from." With that, the forty-fourth President of the United States made his way towards his dressing room, leaving Liv to stare after him and wonder about everything that he had just said.

Mellie was a beaming image of joy when she practically skipped towards Liv a few moments later, and Liv had to force herself to recover from her shock in order to return the hug that the former First Lady offered. When she pulled away, though, the smile slipped from Mellie's features, and her eyes grew serious and kind. "You're fired." The words the presidential candidate spoke were as clear as they were blunt, but Olivia still had to ask for clarification as she stared at the other woman in shock.

"I'm sorry, what?" Olivia asked, a disbelieving laugh slipping from between her lips.

Mellie glanced behind her at Jake, whose facial expression was indifferent. Olivia wasn't sure if he could even hear the conversation that they were having; he was fifteen feet away, which would make it difficult, but she wouldn't put anything past him. "Normally, I'm a cold-hearted bitch that can't see what's right in front of my eyes, but that's not the case with the two of you. Olivia, I respect you. I like you. I actually consider you to be a friend of mine, which is strange, considering all that we've been through. But because I respect and like you, because I think of you as a friend, I'm firing you, because no amount of power is ever going to be enough when you give up the man that you love. Take it from someone who knows, Liv. I was a woman completely in love with my husband when I entered that Californian Governor's Mansion, and now I can't even remember a time when I was anything other than indifferent to him after all our boxes were unpacked and before we were divorced. I don't want that for you. And I don't want that for Jake Ballard. So, you're fired. You're both fired. And you're not going to get me to change my mind."

Olivia shook her head in disbelief. "Mellie, you have the opportunity to make history here."

"And you have the opportunity to make a life, Liv," Mellie replied just as seriously. "When you look back in forty years, I guarantee that you'll see that as so much more important than making history." The Republican Presidential Nominee smiled at her slightly. "Make him happy, or I will cause you to regret it. He's one of Karen's godfathers." With that, Mellie headed in the direction that her ex-husband had gone minutes before, and Olivia was left staring after two consecutive Grants.

Vanessa didn't even bother to stop on her way backstage, but Jake did. He looked at her with a blank expression that she hated on his features. He seemed to be searching for an answer in her eyes, but she didn't know what answer he wanted her to give. His wife was currently going to get dressed backstage. He had a wife. She didn't want to be that person twice in a row. (Then again, this was different. Fitz had, at one point, loved his wife. Jake was indifferent to Vanessa, which was one of the saddest things about all that was going on.)

"I'm no longer running a presidential campaign," Olivia informed him, still in a state of shock. "You're not running for vice president, either. We were both fired. Mellie just fired us."

"Why would Mellie fire you?" Jake questioned, his tone conveying his disbelief. "You're the best thing for her campaign."

"Well, apparently I need to focus on the opportunity to make a life, not make history, because I won't look back in forty years and regret making a life and not making history, but I will regret it if I do it the other way around." When Jake looked at her confusedly, Olivia shrugged. "She fired us because she wants us to be happy."

"She's chancing running her campaign into the ground by doing this," Jake pointed out, still shocked by the turn of events.

"And it's not as if we're going to be happy together now, anyway."

"Jake," Olivia tried to interrupt, but the Navy Admiral shook his head, his green eyes piercing into her dark brown ones.

"Don't, Liv. I get it, all right? After time and time again of admitting my love to you, I get that you don't feel the same way. I get that you don't want to stand in the sun. I don't need you to try to let me down easy off of that hook anymore, all right? I get it now. I get you now."

"Can we finish this conversation backstage?" she murmured, glancing around. "We're in a public area; it wouldn't be good if anyone overheard us."

Jake sighed but still nodded, following her to her dressing room backstage (a location that was quiet and cool, but completely unnecessary, because she had managed to get dressed at the hotel before they had even left for the arena). He folded his arms over his chest and crossed his ankles as he leaned against the door, raising one eyebrow in question to inform her that he was ready for whatever it was that she didn't want the public to know about at that moment.

"I'm cold," she began, causing Jake to push away from the door slightly, looking ready to protest the two words that had left her mouth within the first fifteen seconds of their much-needed conversation. She held up a hand, shaking her head at him. "I'm cold, Jake. It's who I am, who I was raised to be. I let people get close to me, but I never let them in. I sleep with people, but I don't allow myself to love them. And when I realize that my lack of allowance doesn't keep me from loving them, I run scared. That's who I am. I don't know how to change who I am." She glanced towards him. "Normal terrifies me. My parents had what I thought was the normal life, and not only were they both criminals for the entirety of my childhood, but they also hated each other. So I didn't want the picket fence and the porch swing and the 2.5 kids because I didn't know how to want the picket fence and the porch swing and the 2.5 kids. I still don't know how to want that, as evidenced by the screaming match I had with Fitz a few months back, but he and Mellie just double-lectured me about being happy, and those two agree on something about as often as my father and I agree on something, so I've decided to take their advice. I love you, Jake," she uttered confidently. "And I don't know, maybe I'm going to completely screw this up and screw us up, but I do know that unremarkable and unimpressive will never be words that could apply to the two of us. But if you want me to support your unimpressive JV baseball team as they play out an unimpressive season and then go home to an unremarkable house where I can… comfort you about the loss, if that's still what you want, then I want it, too. I want you, too."

Jake finally smiled, a small smile that was as genuine as the sparkle in his eye. "Well, then," he replied, clearing his throat slightly. "What the hell are we waiting for?"