Epilogue

Olivia's apartment.

Fitz and Abby stand in the living room and stare anxiously down the corridor. Abby looks at the President of the United States and suddenly feels a little uncomfortable being there with him. She sees the concern in his eyes, traces of dried blood and tears on his cheeks... ThE President gradually slips away and is replaced by a restless man; a man deeply in love with her friend, a man who had moved heaven and earth to make sure that he was there when they had found her. Abby's eyes water at the mere thought, but she quickly shakes it off with a resolute declaration that she hopes will ease his mind.

"I'll stay with her tonight."

"No. You won't." As he continues to be distracted, his eyes fixated towards the hallway. Where was she? She should have come out of the bathroom by now. He had been preparing to take a step towards the corridor when Abby had spoken. He looks at her with determination.

"With all due respect, Sir, she can't stay alone tonight." Fitz nods and lifts up an eyebrow, almost in annoyance that he has to spell it out for her. It doesn't take too long for Abby to catch on, the look on Fitz's face says it all. "Oh, oh,... Ohhhhhh." She blushes, looks down and smiles slyly. The corners of his mouth lift up signifying mutual understanding. Abby grabs her purse and coat and turns to leave. "I'll handle everything, Sir." He tilts his head in appreciation. Fitz thanks her with another awkward pat to the shoulder. Still smiling, Abby heads for the door.

Fitz decides to give Olivia some space. A few minutes pass and his resolve crumbles. He strides towards the bathroom and thankfully encounters Olivia in the hallway. She's still in her bloody pajamas but her face looks clean. She manages a weak smile when she sees him.

"You had me worried."

"I'm fine."

He takes her hand and clutches it to his chest.

"You just went through a gruesome 24 hours, you inadvertently killed a man and your name is on every news channel on a loop. You are not fine. Can you feel that? That's my heart beating out of my chest. The thought of losing you, again! I am not fine."

She looks up into his eyes and parts her lips. He can tell there is so much she wants to tell him but the words never manifest.

"Where's Abby?"

"She left."

Olivia sighs heavily and extricates her hand from his. She leans against the wall. A moment passes in silence; Fitz, pain-stricken and staring at her, Olivia looking down at her bare feet. When she finally looks up, her eyes are swimming in pools of tears.

"Are you going to leave me too?"

"Do you want me to leave? Secret Service is here so you'll be protected."

"No! ... For the first time in my life I am really scared. I am scared of everything. I don't recognize what this feeling is but you here with me... I feel safe. Will you stay with me? Just for a little while?"

Closing the gap between them, he traces an imaginary line down her chin, "I am not leaving you, Livvie. I am staying with you... The whole night." As soon as he utters the words, Olivia begins to blink frantically.

"No, are you insane? You can't stay here the whole night. You made such a mess of things, Fitz! Reporters will be swarming this building; they're going to want answers. You can't..."

He desperately wants to quiet her with a kiss but he's not sure it's the right thing to do. Instead he gently reassures,

"Don't worry, Liv. Abby is taking care of everything. You're not my fixer anymore! I need you to rest and dream pretty thoughts, okay? It's been a long day."

Olivia calms down, albeit apprehension still stamped in her eyes. As if truly seeing him for the first time that night, she rubs his cheeks with her thumb.

"You have blood all over your face."

With a slight chuckle, "I don't care."

She reaches for the inside of his jacket pocket and takes out his handkerchief. She wets it with her tongue then commences to dab the blood away. With his one hand against the wall, Olivia leans further into it because she can feel herself slipping into him. As she continues to dab and he continues to gaze at her with those longing eyes, she can feel his effect on her in her very core. She attempts to regain her composure.

"It has been a long day for you too. I can't send you back to the White House looking like this. You should take a shower and I'll just pop your shirt into the washer."

Fitz pulls his head back in amusement.

"The washer?"

She laughs. "Yes. I'm quite normal you know. I don't have a dozen housekeeping staff at my beck and call like you, Mr. President."

He lowers his voice, "I have a dozen? I only know Edie. You know what happens in my House more than I do, Miss Pope."

He leans into her but something impedes him from kissing her. Her lips are ready for him but she doesn't kiss him either. This new dynamic between them is weird. It had always been easy to be intimate before no matter what had occurred. In the frenzy of the rescue they had kissed. Why was it so difficult to engage in this moment? Was he waiting for her? Was she waiting for him? Everything felt different this time. As if that kiss would seal their fate forever. No looking back? Their lips are inches away from each other and yet nothing happens. To escape his torturous stance, Olivia begins to unbutton his shirt.

"Here, let me help you." She sensually slides off the jacket and then his unbuttoned shirt. Her hands on his shoulders, she stifles a gasp at the sight of his chiseled frame.

"I know where to find the shower." He winks.

"You do." She blushes.

An awkward moment passes between them. Olivia glides her hands to the scar on his chest and moves in as if to kiss him. He tilts his head down as if going in for the kiss. Still nothing happens. What was this air between them? They break contact at the same time and clumsily go their separate ways, silently cursing and shaking their heads.

Fitz jumps into the shower and he allows the water to run down his body. He whispers to himself, "Why didn't I kiss her?"

In the living room, Olivia has popped open a bottle of wine. She pours herself a glass and gulps down a large portion. She berates herself, "Why didn't I kiss him?" She paces back and forth several times. She gulps down the rest of the wine, sets it down and resolutely marches towards the bathroom.

Fitz hasn't really made an effort to scrub away the rest of the blood stains. He's just standing there letting the water run down his body, lamenting that he was such a coward for not making a move. Perhaps it was the fear of rejection. He'd laid his heart out on the line so many times. It's not that he didn't know Olivia loved him. It's that he was never sure at what moment she was going to run away from that love. He would always wait for her. But maybe... maybe he was tired of always going to her. She had to...

His thoughts are interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. He turns around to find Olivia standing in the shower with him, wet and fully-clothed. Before he can begin to process what is happening, she lunges for his mouth, his top lip engulfed by her luscious ones. Fitz responds with the same ferocity. He grabs a chunk of her wet hair to deepen the kiss even further. Their tongues connect and Fitz sucks on hers as though he were trying to haul out drops of that fine wine. Olivia moans as they kiss under the strong waters. Just when it seems the kissing will never cease, Fitz gently takes off her tank top. He pours soap on a sponge to wash the horror of the day off of her body. The soap trickles down to her pajama pants reminding Fitz there is more work to be done. He crouches down and slowly, deliberately removes her pajama pants followed by her lacy underwear. He swallows hard at the sight of her. The restraint he exercises... to not just allow his fingers to roam to her center! Olivia is either too stunned or too emotional to move. The events of the last 24 hours finally caught up to her. For the first time since it all happened she allows herself to be vulnerable. The sense of Fitz's hands on her body makes her tingle all over. What she really wants is for Fitz to make love to her. To make love to her as only he knew how. To take her to another universe as only he could. Fitz doesn't acquiesce. Was it because he couldn't read her thoughts anymore? He always knew exactly what she wanted. He opts instead to lodge warm kisses on her stomach and her breasts as he makes his way up. He is extremely tender with her, it almost shatters her soul. The next thirty minutes pass in silence, Olivia reciprocating his affection; washing his face and hair and proffering warm kisses on his back. Eternal kisses under the water and moments of just breathing together. Although, they do not make love in the conventional sense, they do so with their hearts and souls. They take care of each other.

/

Sitting on the edge of her bed, wrapped in nothing but a white towel, he watches her naked form as she rummages through her wardrobe. He desperately wants his hands on her voluptuous bottom and those free-flowing wet curls but he's more determined to move foreword in a "healthy" way. He wasn't exactly sure what this meant but that's what his mom always advised. She'd warned him about the perils of political marriages. She had let the love of her life slip away and it was her greatest regret in life. After he'd heard his father bang his secretary on his 10th birthday he'd promised himself that he would never let love run off. The twisted way life works; it had given him Mellie for the majority of his adulthood. In a way, Olivia honored his mother's memory.

"Found them." She announces cheerfully.

"What did you find?"

Olivia happily moves towards him. He loved it when she was just happy and carefree; when she shut out the world and her doubting thoughts.

"Don't laugh, but I bought these a long time ago. I didn't get them at an auction but..."

His curiosity is piqued. He seizes her around her waist and pulls her into his lap. She giggles as he plants a lingering kiss on her cheek.

"Show me."

Olivia reveals the matching bathrobes. Fitz chuckles because he knows exactly why she'd bought them.

"You looked so ridiculous last time in my bathrobe... I just thought..."

Nuzzling her neck, he whispers, "Who'd have ever thought Olivia Pope was so cheesy? I loved having to wear your robe last time. I smelled like you."

"And looked very uncomfortable." With some regret in her voice, "I just never thought it would take so long for us to get to this place. That's partly my fault."

"Partly?" He teases. She elbows him in the stomach and hops off his lap to put on her robe. Fitz feigns pain at the elbow jab; she merely shakes her head with a slight smile on her face and throws the other bathrobe at him. He rolls his eyes and puts it on. More seriously he inquires, "Am I sleeping in here tonight?" Olivia whips her hair around, befuddled. She rubs her nose and decides he's mocking her. She chooses to ignore him.

"Would you like some wine?"

He realizes that conversation was going to have to wait. He nods and watches as she leaves him, again. Fitz scans the room. Last time he was here he hadn't really seen much of it. He walks to the mirror and smiles at the sight of the perfectly-sized white bathrobe. At once he heads out of the bedroom as though deciding he had waited long enough for Olivia Pope. He doesn't find her in the living room. He can smell the aroma of popcorn wafting from the kitchen. Of course she'd be hungry. She'd probably refused any food those criminals had offered to her. He smiles again. He was smiling a lot since he'd found her. He walks over to the piano and strokes the keys. He sits down and begins to play a melody that sounds a lot like John Lennon's, Imagine. After a few notes the tune changes to Marvin Gaye's, What's Going On?.

Olivia saunters into the room with a bowl of popcorn, a bottle of wine, and two glasses in hand.

"Marvin?"

"Marvin!" Fitz continues to play.

"You play beautifully." She pours a glass for him. When she gets to where he is she sets the wine glass on the piano as her hand rubs his shoulder and she kisses the side of his neck. She sits next to him and harmonizes. They play together for a few moments singing, "Father, father, everybody thinks we're wrong. Oh, but who are they to judge us...oh, you know we've got to find a way to bring some understanding here today." It sounds as if they had been playing and singing together their whole lives. They beam at each other when they finally stop. Olivia solemnly states,

"You know you can't follow me everywhere I go."

"Yes, I can."

She turns to face him, clutching his hands.

"I know you worry about me. Especially now, but I am fine. As long as I have your love I'll be fine. You can't worry about me. You have the whole world to worry about."

Fitz decides this is the right time to air out their dirty laundry. He disentangles his hands from hers.

"Jake came to see me."

"Jake." She states derisively.

"Jake. He was looking for you. I told him to move on because you'll never be his. Was I wrong to tell him that? Even after everything that's happened today, ...the rescue, the shower... I'm trying not to assume anymore. That hasn't worked out so well for me in the past. Olivia, I can feel your love when you kiss me, when you embrace me, and when you make love to me. In my head and in my heart, I know. Or at least in my mind, I know that you can't possibly feel that way about anyone else. So, was I wrong? I need you to tell me what you want, Olivia. You know what you want. I need you to say it."

She clasps her hands to her face and considers her words.

"When I was tied up in that chair and that man told me what they were doing to you, I couldn't breathe. Remember what I told you in Vermont? That loving you is terrifying? The more I love you the more bad things happen to you. Bad things haven't stopped happening to you since I've entered your life.."

"Bad things have been happening to me all my life."

"No I need you to hear what I'm saying. You were right too. I am scared. I told you I was scared of everything now but what I'm most scared of is losing you. Now more than ever. I always thought our undoing would be you leaving me, but I never imagined I'd be the one to leave; much less involuntarily. Yes, I realize that's what I've been doing, running. I'm scared of this love; it swallows me up, it consumes me. And I feel guilty most times. Because I shouldn't feel this way for a married man, a man who belongs to the nation. But I do. And Jake, he made me forget that for a few seconds. I don't know, I guess he was my Forget-Me-Fitz. I would always feel terrible for using him that way, but Jake has always known where my heart lies. Always. He chose to stay anyway."

"Forget-Me-Fitz?" He chortles.

"See these veins?" She lifts up her hand to him, "You course through them, through every fiber of my being. You were all I thought about when I was in that chair, when I thought they were going to kill me. You were all I thought about. So you were not wrong, my love. Jake here with me right now, would be. It would be painful because you're always in my head, all the time. I am going to tell him that he and I, ...it could never be. I think he's always known that because all I want is you. All I've ever wanted is you. I want Vermont with you, but more than that, I just want you. I want a life with you and I don't want to wait anymore. I could die, I could literally die, you could die, we both almost did..what a waste. Don't you know how important you are to me? I would do anything for you?"

With great cheekiness, he demands,

"Would you stop that? Stop doing things FOR me and start doing things WITH me. Can you do THAT for me?!"

She smirks, "The irony." He smirks in response.

"Well? Can you?"

"Okay. I promise that I'll try."

He leans into her and holds her face in his hands.

"You do realize what you're saying, Liv?" She nods. "Life with me is not going to be easy. It'll never be easy or normal. But I can guarantee that it'll always be exciting." They both chuckle. "You will always feel loved, every minute of everyday." She nods again. "I will never leave you alone again, ever." Tears stream down both their faces as they grip each other's hands. "We can do this together, Livvie."

"We're in this together." She say through tears. "I am not just saying that. I feel this new bond between us. I never thought I could feel any closer to you but I do. My heart has always been with you but now I feel..I really feel every part of me is yours. I don't know how to describe it."

"I feel the same way, my love."

"I have been apologizing for loving you for too long. No more apologies. It's going to be difficult but I don't care anymore. Life is difficult. But without you, it's devastating."

"Excruciating."

"Suffocating."

"Heartbreaking."

"Impossible."

He doesn't allow her to speak anymore. He kisses her: this time without hesitation, with certified confidence. He pulls her up onto the piano keyboard. It emits an imperfectly perfect disharmonious sound, echoing the tune of their impending path. He unties her bathrobe and runs his hand up and down her body. He kisses her neck and Olivia whimpers with felicity because he can still clearly read her thoughts. Fitz mutters in his deep baritone,

"I'm not going to make love to you until you tell me what you want me to do to you. Tell me Olivia. Tell me what you want."

He continues to kiss her neck as he cups one of her breasts; squeezing it so hard Olivia shrieks. Fitz is unrelenting.

"What do you want, Olivia?"

"First, I want your wet tongue on my breasts."

Fitz doesn't waste any time. He quickly maneuvers his mouth from her neck to her breasts. As he continues to squeeze on one he commences the nipple suction on the other. He doesn't stop. He doesn't stop until he receives his next instruction.

"Now I want you to kiss my stomach, furnish my belly button with tongue lashes then move down. Don't rush."

Fitz is dutifully attentive. Thoroughly. Everything she describes, he expertly executes. But he wouldn't be Fitz if there weren't any improvising. He first tickles her belly button with his finger then allows his tongue to linger before his mouth covers it. His lips move down to her center and there it remains, bestowing it with soft kisses, awaiting her orders.

However, at this point Olivia can barely speak. All she manages to articulate is,

"Fitz..."

He decides that she's earned his prescience. He knows her body so well she doesn't have to say anything. He knows exactly what she wants next. He softly bites her clitoris, simultaneously delving two fingers into her. Olivia screams that familiar scream he cherishes. He licks her center as his fingers nimbly move in and out, her essences dripping all over his hands seeping to the piano keys below. His mouth maintains its circling motion while his fingers caress her inner thighs. This is Olivia's undoing. She yells,

"Now, Fitz. I want you now...please...please...now...now."

He lifts her up to the top of the piano as the wine glass tumbles to the floor. Splat. More wine stains permeate. This time though, they represent a new beginning. The stain that marks their new life together erasing all the other rancid splotches. He rapidly unties his bathrobe releasing his manhood from its confines. The presence of his hard erection pressed against her pelvis sends Olivia into a deep frenzy. She cannot wait any longer. It had been far too long. She wraps her legs around his torso and shamelessly begins to stroke him. His own fluid essence blends with hers on the piano keys. Unable to withstand the heat any longer, he powerfully slides into her. Olivia yells out again. She feels so taut but Fitz doesn't care. He accurately surmises that she wants all of him, as she always does. Thus he pumps into her with intensity. His thrusts grow deeper and deeper with each leg pull.

Tears roll down Olivia's face. Joyful tears. To have the love of her life back between her legs despite everything the world had thrown at them? That was a hell of a thing. It makes her whole body throb. She doesn't stop crying or pulling him closer.

"Don't stop, Fitz. Don't ever stop making love to me."

He doesn't stop. He licks her neck and her first climax erupts. The thrusting intensifies. He nibbles on her ear and can feel the frissons coursing through her body all the way down to his shaft. He places her nipple back into his mouth, which proves to be his own undoing. He empties himself into her and she onto him. Everything is so meshed together it's impossible to determine where his nectar begins and where hers ends. The only thing that's certain is the warm sensation both are feeling; if hearts could burst from pure contentment their hearts would have. So thoroughly undone, they stare into each other's eyes allowing their bodies to calm. Olivia pulls his head to her and kisses him. She's still so ravenous for him; too much of Fitzgerald Grant III was never enough. After a few moments, he slips out of her and carries her into the bedroom. There is no doubt love making is what they'd be doing..all night.

The next morning, in between kisses they help each other dress. Fitz buttons her blouse, she fixes his tie. And his shirt is clean and crisp! Olivia hadn't had time to press her hair; serendipity really. Today, she was ready to show the world who she was. She was finally at that place.

"Are you sure you're ready to do this?" He asks. "We haven't informed anyone."

"Good. If we tell anyone, Cyrus especially, they'll only try to stop us."

Fully dressed they gaze at each other, love overwhelming their hearts.

"I love you!" She proclaims.

He smiles and kisses her ever so tenderly.

"I love you, too."

Their hands intertwine. Olivia exhales, "Let's do this."

A few minutes later, they walk out of her apartment expecting a throng of reporters. Bemusement is visible on their faces at the sight of only one news van waiting. They look at each other knowingly.

"Abby." They say in unison, with gratitude in their hearts. Kimberly Mitchell walks up to them with a mic and a camera man in tow.

"It looks like I'm the only one getting the scoop on the President and his mistress."

Fitz quickly corrects, "The President and his better half."

Olivia grins, as does Kimberly. Ms. Mitchell felt like she had known about their love, and she had always liked Olivia Pope. Fitz and Olivia stand by the stairs as they narrate their "disgusting" fairytale to Kimberly Mitchell. Their hearts never felt lighter.

Washington DC was going to be a whole new world.

THE END