"I'll watch the kids. Go see him," Jerry prodded, his hand resting comfortably on Olivia's upper back. Olivia turned her attention toward the hall that led out of the kitchen, her teeth digging into the already sensitive skin of her bottom lip. She pressed her hand just a bit harder into the dough on the counter.

"I…" She swallowed hard and cleared her throat.

"I know it's hard, Liv," Jerry agreed with her unspoken words. "Hell, I cried seeing my son on that hospital bed with all those machines hooked up to him."

Olivia blinked rapidly, her eyes watering as Jerry choked on his words. Pulling her hands from the misshapen dough, she turned toward the sink. After a couple minutes of rinsing her hands in the warm water, scrubbing the dough from her hands and letting the silence fill the room, Olivia reached for a towel and turned the water off.

"I won't be gone long," Olivia offered, reaching toward the hooks on the end of the counter to grab her keys.

"Take all the time you need," Eleanor tsked, walking around the counter and stopping before the mess Olivia had made. "I'll finish...What were you making dear?"

"I don't know," Olivia admitted, a shaky smile crossing her face. "I just needed to stay busy."

"I see," Eleanor clucked, shaking her head with a smile, "I'll clean this up."

Olivia took one last look around the discombobulated kitchen before scurrying out the door. Athena was milling around the gravel driveway, bouncing a basketball with Lio and Maxson. If it were any other time, Olivia may have taken the moment to appreciate the sweet sight of her oldest giggling at something Maxson had said and twirling her hair around her finger. As it was, Olivia stopped long enough to call:

"I'm going to the hospital. Your mamaw and papaw are in the house if you need anything. Help them with Seph if she wakes up."

She had waved to the trio and was halfway to her jeep when she heard Athena calling her name. Turning around, she was met with the girl's arms around her. It was a brief hug and when Athena pulled away, Olivia reached up to brush her hair out of her eyes. She had hit a growth spurt right after Christmas and was now a good three inches taller than Olivia.

"Will you…" Athena stopped to clear her throat. "Will you tell dad that I love him?"

"Of course," Olivia answered, brushing Athena's hair off her shoulders and behind her back. "And maybe tomorrow you can come with me."

Athena tilted her head, a wistful look on her face. The topic of visiting her father had been a constant battle between mother and daughter. Olivia wanted Athena to visit Fitz - they shared a special bond and as the days went by, Olivia had become hopeful that that special bond would provide some much needed motivation to wake. Following her mother's hesitant cues to visit the hospital as well as feelings of injustice that her siblings were not allowed into the ICU, Athena had, so far, refused.

"Let dad know I'm thinking about him." And she was off - running toward her brother and 'friend' with her hands held in front of her body and shouts to 'pass the basketball'.

Sighing, Olivia pulled the key from her purse and unlocked her vehicle. She waved to the kids as she pulled out of the driveway - fiddling with the radio as she went. Shaking her head at the song coming through her speakers, Olivia moved her hand back to her steering wheel. As she sang along with the pop tune, she couldn't help but think that Athena would be proud of her for knowing the lyrics.

"You said it was a great love, one for the ages -" Olivia gently tapped her fingers against the steering wheel in rhythm with the song. " - but if the story's over, why am I still writing pages?"

"Who's that?" Lio asked his sister, stepping onto the sidewalk beside her and pointing toward the end of the driveway where a grey Silverado was pulling in. Athena glanced behind her, a blush covering her cheeks as she held Maxson's hand, and shrugged.

"Mom didn't say anything about visitors."

"Isn't that coach Pope?" Maxson wondered, following Athena to the end of the sidewalk where Lio stood, watching the truck roll to a stop.

"Why's he here?" Lio questioned, tucking his basketball beneath his arm and squinting as the older guy exited his vehicle.

"Maybe to give you more pointers on your game," Maxson teased.

"Don't be a sore loser," Lio grumbled.

"Just picking on you," Maxson clarified, "You're a good player, Lio."

"Hey Lio," Eli greeted, stepping onto the sidewalk.

"Coach," Lio offered, letting the basketball fall to the ground so he could shake Eli's hand.

"You must be Athena." Eli turned his attention toward the blonde, shaking her hand as well. "I'm teaching one 8th grade social studies class next year and you'll be in it."

"Yeah, I saw that on my schedule," Athena acknowledged, dropping her hand and looking toward the porch. "My mom just left."

"Well shoot," Eli stuck his hands in his pockets, "I came by to offer my condolences."

"Condolences? My dad isn't dead," Athena scoffed, crossing her arms and turning her grey gaze toward Eli.

"I...I'm…"

"Athena?" Jerry spoke from behind his granddaughter, saving Eli from the uncomfortable fumbling for words.

"This is Mr. Pope. He's Lio's coach and one of the history teachers," Athena introduced, standing out of the way as the two men shook hands.

"I'm afraid you just missed my daughter-in-," Jerry shook his head, "You just missed Olivia."

"So I heard," Eli sighed. "I was hoping to get to meet her. Her mom and I were friends in high school."

"Oh?" Jerry raised a brow, albeit a little too slow to be taken as genuine surprise. Glancing at the kids - the three had gone back to milling around the basketball hoop, Jerry led Eli up the sidewalk toward the porch.

"You don't sound all that surprised," Eli observed.

"It's a small town," Jerry shrugged, stepping onto the porch and deadheading the purple petunias hanging from the ceiling, "Everyone knows everyone else's business."

"Don't I know it," Eli mumbled, resting his hands on the porch railing and watching as Lio made a layup. "His dad play basketball? He's a natural."

"My son was the quarterback. They took state his junior and senior year." Jerry tossed a couple of the dead blossoms in his hand out into the yard.

"What about his mom?"

Jerry glanced at Eli for a moment, narrowing his eyes. "Liv was a cheerleader. She did mock trial, too. They hardly lost. Had the whole town convinced she was going to go off and become a bigshot lawyer."

"She didn't?"

"She's the head of the Classical Studies department at IU."

"Impressive," Eli whistled. "Her mother never liked history."

"Strange how that works, isn't it?" Jerry raised a brow, taking a seat in one of the rockers.

"Why do I get the feeling that everyone here knows something I don't?" Eli turned from the railing and sat in the rocker by Jerry.

"Because everyone probably does," Jerry responded, crossing his ankles and gripping the armrests.

"She's my daughter, isn't she?" Eli blurted.

"That isn't my place to say." Jerry attempted to be diplomatic, eyes shifting once more to the kids in the driveway.

"I suppose not."

"Livvie, I didn't know you were coming today." Mercedes stood from her chair near Fitz's bed and wrapped her arms around Olivia.

"Your dad and mom are watching the kids." Olivia returned Sadie's hug. "You're not working today?"

"Well," Sadie dropped her arms, "I'm officially a board certified neurosurgeon. They gave me the weekend off to celebrate."

"Congratulations, doctor Grant." Olivia winked, her eyes sparkling.

"Now we just talk your three into becoming doctors and it'll be like we collected the whole set," Mercedes joked.

"One huge, overqualified family," Olivia agreed. "Not that Fitz would ever admit it."

"Everyone knows Fitz only got his Ph.D. because you were getting yours. Talk about overqualified...he's overqualified. He could literally be teaching criminal justice instead of getting shot." Mercedes turned her head toward her brother, her eyes sliding to the monitor above his bed.

"I think everyone would feel better if he were teaching." Olivia made her way to Mercedes' side. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah," Mercedes nodded, "Everything's good. His doctor came in earlier. Said they're going to try waking him up in a couple days."

"Oh. So you guys are talking now?" Olivia's eyes twinkled.

"Shut up." Mercedes moved around Olivia, reaching for her purse and slinging it over her shoulder as Olivia laughed. Sadie hadn't gotten along with Fitz's doctor - arguing with the slightly older man over her brother's treatment.

"He's still a sexist dick," Mercedes complained, wrapping her arms around Olivia once more in a brief hug.

"Guys see a pretty girl and they're surprised that she's smart," Olivia agreed.

"Like I said: sexist dick," Mercedes smirked, "I'll see ya later, Liv. Watch out for my big brother."

"I'll let you know if anything happens."

"I know he's in good hands," Mercedes winked before walking out of the hospital room.

Olivia sighed and sat on the edge of the hard mattress, careful to avoid messing any of the various tubes running from the bed to the machines. Tilting her head, she studied the man laying on the bed. His chest rose in deep, even breaths, despite the rest of his body being motionless. His hair lay flat against his head making Olivia wonder what kind of superpowers the nursing staff possessed.

"The kids keep asking when you're going to wake up," Olivia began, resting her hand on his forearm. "Athena and Hayden aren't dating anymore. She broke up with him though so there's no reason for you to threaten the poor kid."

Olivia chuckled, rubbing her thumb against his warm skin.

"She's been hanging out with Maxson. I know you don't want her dating in the first place, but we always talked about this - didn't we? Eddie's kid dating ours. It's cute."

Olivia cleared her throat, blinking back her tears. Biting her lip, she let go of his arm to brush his curls from his face, trying to keep them from flopping back down over his forehead. She shook her head when they fell again - those damn curls.

"So...about that thing that happened...you know? Before all of this."

She took a deep breath, her eyes travelling to the bland, white wall above his head.

"Your sister thinks we were finally 'being real'," Olivia attempted to mimic the blonde's high-pitched voice, "Sadie says it's about time we admit our feelings - even if it took us being drunk to admit them. Sometimes I think she's absolutely insane…"

Olivia laughed, standing from her seat and slipping her shoes off her feet, wincing at the feel of the cold tile.

"Who am I kidding? Your sister is insane. A genius, but insane. Anyway…"

She cleared her throat again, placing her knee on the mattress. Using the metal railing, she lifted her body onto the bed - careful to avoid all the wires.

"Your dad knows, too. He thinks we can work past it and that we shouldn't let it hold us back from the progress we were making...but I don't know, Fitz. I don't want it to hold us back, either."

She tucked her body into his side, wrapping her arm around him and resting her head on his chest as her feet connected with the metal railing.

"I think this...this opened my eyes. We've both been so fucking stupid. And we have a lot to work on. But it's time that we actually do that. No more running when things get hard or refusing to talk things through. If we're going to do this…

We have to do this right."

"Where's Seph?" Athena questioned when they walked into the seemingly empty house.

"Hm. I don't know. Maybe your mom had to go somewhere?"

"Her car is in the driveway, dad."

Fitz dropped Athena's bookbag on the floor, eyes scanning the room. Olivia's shoes were by the door and her purse was on the table. But she was nowhere in sight. Neither was Seph.

"Your mom might have taken her to your grandmother's. She said she was on a roll with her book."

At that precise moment, a breathy moan floated from the direction of their bedroom. A not-so-quiet exclamation of 'Jake' that had Fitz ordering Athena to her room and taking the stairs two at a time. Clenching his jaw, heart racing in his chest, Fitz placed his hand on the doorknob and slung the bedroom door open.

"What the fuck?" He growled at the sight in front of him. Olivia was quick to scramble off the bed, landing on the floor and wrapping her arms around her legs - closing in on herself. Fitz barely paid any attention. His focus was on the man now shoving himself into a sitting position on the bed. Fitz's bed.

"You're home early," Jake observed, a smirk covering his face as he lazily stood and grabbed his boxers from the floor.

Shaking, Fitz balled his hands into fists. "You have a lot of fucking nerve."

"I definitely have a lot of somethi -"

Fitz didn't give Jake the time to finish his sentence before his fist collided with the other man's jaw. Jake stumbled backward, the smirk finally leaving his face as his hand raised to his already reddening skin. After rubbing his jaw a time or two and straightening his posture, Jake met Fitz's gaze.

"Aw. Don't be upset that I give it better than -"

Whack. This time, Fitz's aim was a little lower - hitting Jake in the abdomen and causing him to double over. Unrelentless in his attack, blow after blow landed on the other man. Unfortunately for Jake, the moment he struggled into an upright position, lifting his head in what was undoubtedly another attempt at goading, Fitz's fist collided with his windpipe. Air completely knocked out of him, Jake crumpled to the floor.

"What did you do?" Olivia demanded, struggling to her feet and reaching for the sheet. Wrapping the silky fabric around her body, she scrambled across the bed. "Is he breathing?"

"What the fuck would I care, Olivia?" Fitz's gaze was hard, unrelenting as he finally addressed his wife. Holding his hand before him, he clenched and unclenched his fingers a few times. There were cuts on his knuckles and bruising was already beginning to show.

"How could you?"

She bowed her head at his question - his disappointed head shake the last she saw as he walked toward the bathroom, tossing over his shoulder:

"I want you out of my house."

A/N - I'm terrible at fighting scenes, so I'll go ahead and apologise for what all of you had to read there.

Liv and Fitz are making progress - or at least Olivia is. She's had a bit of an 'awakening' while Fitz has been in the hospital. Now, if only Fitz would wake up on a similar page. Time will tell.

Papa Pope is edging his way into this story - and seems to know a bit more than Fitz gave him credit. Or did Fitz give away just enough for Eli to piece that puzzle together?

Until next time,

Gabi