A/N: Dedicating this chapter to all of you, my loyal readers. I publish for you. Léa, you are a true friend, I love you babe. Happy reading XOXO.

Songs I listened to while writing this: Lovely by Billie Eilish and Khalid

Chapter 8: The minute

It was their first day on the road, granted they were only headed a couple hours north to Washington University. Fitz was excited to get on the road and meet new people all across the country. He was also ecstatic to be in such close quarters with Olivia. Currently, they were traveling on the campaign bus, but later they would need to fly to some places, first class of course. Olivia was sitting across from him on the bus and he was glad and frustrated at the same time that there was a table in between them. He was glad because after all, there were other people on the bus. But, he was frustrated because he yearned for her. His heart ached to be so near, yet so far from her. After their makeout session in her hotel room, all he could think about was her lips on his and wanted it to happen again. He is significantly older than her, yet he has never felt this way about anyone. Not to say he hasn't had passion with anyone, just not quite like the spark he has with Olivia. It's more than her body, it is her mind. They connect on a level that only astrologists would understand. It's fate, he thinks. That he is in an awful marriage to get him this far in life that he would be so lucky to meet Olivia. It's fate that he is running for President, although it is for everyone but him, he now has a reason to carry on. She inspires him to do more, be better. He has been so unhappy, until now. He would take anytime he gets with her, stolen moments or mere minutes. Olivia clears her throat and Fitz realizes he has been staring at her this whole time, while she diligently worked in front of him.

"Are you okay? Is something wrong with me, do I have something on my face?" She asks, legitimately concerned.

"I wish", he says simply.

"What?"

"There is nothing wrong with you, ever. You're damn near perfect, as far as I can tell", he doesn't stutter and his voice doesn't crack. He is as serious as it gets.

"Ummm, I have lots of flaws. I just hide them really well", she cracks a smile at him to lighten the thickness of the air surrounding them.

He appreciates her candor and smiles back at her, thinking that there really are no flaws. She always has a solution; an answer for everything. "You're even perfect at that, hiding your so-called flaws."

"I have them, trust me", she looks down at the papers she was writing on and suddenly gets shy talking about herself. If her mocha skin allowed it, she would be bright red.

"Then tell me some of them", he says with his eyes never straying from her face. He watches her look down, yet he never waivers his attentiveness.

"Okay, let's see. I'm a workaholic."

"Who said that is a flaw?"

"Edison, mostly."

"Ahh yes, I forgot about our old pal, Thomas."

"You know his name, and I'm sure you haven't forgotten about him", she meets his eyes again for a brief second.

"It's a hard name to grasp", he winks at her. "But, you're right, I haven't forgotten about him, but I think you have."

She looks up at him so fast, in shock almost. She can't believe he said that, in all it's truth, he still shouldn't know that much about her personal life. He is her boss. Oh, who is she kidding. They are past that by now.

"Okay, back to the flaws."

"Okay, um. I guess being closed off sometimes."

"That's not a flaw either. That just means you weed out the weak."

"You don't strike me as weak", she returns his smirk.

"You're right. I can weather any storm."

"Maybe we should be campaigning for you to be the weatherman instead of President then, sir."

His heart leaps at her voice calling him 'sir'. It was sultry, not formal and he liked it.

"It's too late now, we're in this thing for the long haul, I'm afraid."

"You shouldn't be afraid, you should be confident. I mean, I am your communications director after all."

"Oh, I am very confident in your abilities, Ms. Pope."

She smiled at his formality, thinking he was following her lead after her use of 'sir'.

"Okay, Olivia, what is an actual flaw you have? Bite your nails, chew too loud, what's your poison?"

"I drink obscene amounts of red wine."

"Well, that just sounds like fun."

"It is, until the next morning. So, none of what I consider flaws are satisfying you, what would?"

"Well, I won't answer that question when a sleeping Cyrus is less than 10 feet away from us", he smirks, leaving her breathless. His flirting was starting to make her get hot in her core. He was beginning to insinuate things that she has imagined for months now.

"Yeah, probably for the best", she crosses her legs as tight as they will go without falling off her seat, trying to conceal the heat between her legs. She starts writing on the papers she was before. Mainly she was fake concentrating. She couldn't tell you what those papers said now. Her vision was clouded, as were her thoughts. She stands up to escape his aroma and attention.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be back in a minute."

"Okay, hurry back."

They are staying at the Ritz Carlton in St. Louis. Their staff meeting isn't until 11, but Fitz' speech at Washington University is at 3. They had a whole night to rest, but of course Olivia took that time to look over his speech and make sure everything was in order for the event.

It is 8 am and Olivia is already ready. She decides to head down the street to a small coffee shop she saw last night and continue working on the campaign, away from everyone and everything happening in the conference room that morning.

She is steadily working until she looks at her watch and sees that it is already 10 am. She starts gathering her papers, until her phone starts buzzing off the table. She pauses and goes to pick it up.

"What?"

"I always love how you answer the phone, so warm and welcoming", he says in a sarcastic tone.

"I'm busy, Edison. What is it?"

"Well, I haven't talked to you in forever, wanted to see how Cali is?"

"It's been good, but we're in Washington now."

"Oh wow, campaign is already on the road, that's good."

"Gotta take off while you can."

"I remember those campaigning days... and nights mostly."

"Yep, it can be brutal."

"So, I-"

The door of the coffee shop opens and in come Fitz' agents. Olivia turns around and sees the suits swarming the place. She holds the phone with her shoulder while she is putting her things in her oversize Prada bag.

He walks up to her and loudly declares, "Good morning, Olivia. I have been looking for you everywhere. This is where you have been."

"Good morning. Yes, I wanted to get away from the chaos."

"Oh, yes that is what I am here for. It has been hectic this morning, especially without you. They're panicking."

"And you're not?"

"No, you know me, I'm-. Wait are you on the phone?"

She looks down at her phone that she had instinctively laid on the table, forgetting all about the person on the other end.

"Oh shit, yes. Edison, hey. I have to call you later, I'm headed into a meeting."

"Okay, bye-"

She clicked the phone off before he finished what he was saying. She was so wrapped up in Fitz that she completely ignored the rest of the world. That tended to happen to them often, everyone seemed to fade away when they were in their bubble.

"So, were you here to get coffee?"

"Yes, and to get you. I don't think they can wait another hour until you get back. The staffers depend on you."

"You know you're the boss right?"

"Me and everyone else are convinced that you are, missy."

"I kind of am", she winked at him and went to get a refill while he got himself a cup of coffee.

He was not kidding when he said it was hectic today. Everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Olivia could only accost it to it being the first speech not in Fitz' home state. She needed a break, and Fitz could tell. He was watching her the whole time and saw her starting to get stressed from everyone asking her all kinds of questions and running back and forth.

He went and stood over her while she was bent over a stack of papers. "Do you need something?", she said, smiling, but never looking at him.

"Nope, just... no."

"Good", she smiled again, standing up to walk away. He grabbed her elbow and she looked up at him and he nodded for her to come with him. He never let go of her arm until they were out of the conference room.

She took a deep breath just from the relief she felt of being out of that room. He sighed. They were in the middle of the hallway and Fitz looked left and right before getting closer to her, bending his head down to be almost eye level with her. He searched for her dark eyes to meet his. She held onto the clipboard in her hand for dear life, waiting for him to speak.

"I'm married and I-"

"I know."

"And I'm running for President- and I can't."

"I know. I don't want you to."

"But, just stand here with me, for one minute", they search each others eyes for the answer to all their problems, but come up short.

"Let's not go back in there and talk or think or...", he pauses. "For one minute and we just stand here and I'm not the candidate and you're not the campaign fixer. We're just us. One minute. For one minute just... stand here with me", he takes a soft step forward, while she takes a step back. The wall is even with her back. She rests her head on the wall, while she contemplates his proposition. His eyes are begging her to stay.

She licks her lips, "one minute." He smiles and looks deep into her eyes, satisfied that she agreed to their little break from the chaos. Their breaths are deep and shallow. They are content in the silence of just really looking at each other. Memorizing every inch of their faces. He looks into her sad eyes and sees the weight of the world on her shoulders. There is no need for words. The silence is comfortable, welcomed. Their stomachs are now barely touching and their hearts are beating nearly out of their chests. He leans down to her face to where their noses are almost touching. He won't kiss her though, that isn't what this minute is about. It is about them being stripped of their titles and roles and just being two people who are falling in love with each other. Forbidden, yet so right.

After all it is only one minute, as he promised, before they have to resume their duties and be the people they really are. One minute.

A/N: Hope you liked the ending, I sure loved writing it! I watched the one minute scene and wrote while watching to get everything almost perfectly right. Thanks for reading! XOXO