Executive Orders

CH 43 | Hand In Hand

"How do you always know exactly the right words to say?" Olivia laid her head against Fitz's chest and closed her eyes for a minute. She could hear his heart beating strong and steady and it grounded her.

When she lifted her eyes back to his, they were aglow with love.

Fitz's voice went husky with emotion. "I'm not sure how true that is - except when it comes to my feelings about you. When it comes to you and me, I just let my heart do all the talking."

"I wish my heart was as strong as yours." Olivia said with a sigh.

"Don't do that." Fitz's gaze was tender and sweet as he shook his head at her. "What you're doing takes just as much strength as anything that I've ever done between us. I'd say that only you know how much strength for you to take this step -"

"I should have taken it a long time ago -"

"You took it when you were ready -"

Her eyes stung a little and she found herself unexpectedly blinking back tears. "This was nothing -"

"It was everything." Fitz disagreed.

"It was a baby step." Olivia said. "There's so much more work that I need to do on myself and I don't know how long it will take -"

"None of that matters. It will take as long as it take. It doesn't matter how long it took you to get here either - you're here, standing in your truth. I'm here, standing with you, by your side - and I will always be there. And that's all that matters." Fitz's voice was gentle but determined. "As for anything else - all you can do is try and be your best self - because that's what's best for you.

"You want to know what I want, Livvie? - that's it. That's the only thing I want from you - because what's best for you is what's best for us."

"All I can do is try?"As Olivia repeated his words, she felt herself giving in to his optimism - and it felt good. It felt real, and even better - it felt right.

"Yes, just like the rest of us mortals. If you try and you fail, you'll pick yourself up and try again - for as many times as it takes to get it right. And I'll be right there by your side doing the same. Why? Because we're human." Fitz smiled down at her. "And because we're human, the both of us are going to make mistakes - some big, some little, and some of them are going to fall in between the two. Some of them are going to hurt. A lot. Some of them are going to hurt in unexpected ways and some of them will hurt people we never intended to hurt, in ways we never intended."

His hands came up to cradle her face, unable to stop himself from pressing a gentle kiss on her lips. "And what do we do then? We fall down, but we get up. We apologize, do our best to make things right and we go on. Because you and I - we have the rest of our lives to get it right. That's all any of us can ask for."

Olivia felt overwhelmed by the simple truth in his words. "When did you get so wise?"

"I don't know." Fitz shrugged. "Probably when I fell in love with you."

He smiled at her. "I think that love... at the end of the day, is stronger that some mistakes somebody made - something that they regret. I think that love allows for forgiveness - don't you?"

"I think that that's another life lesson that I've had to learn." Olivia felt his words mesh with her thoughts, reaffirming everything that she was feeling, everything she was trying to find the words to say. "It's what I want, Fitz. I know that I've fallen - that I've failed you - I've failed us - again and again and again. And I'm scared, Fitz. I'm scared that I'm not done making mistakes, that I might hurt you again, the way I hurt you with Defiance."

"That happened so long ago, Liv. None of it matters anymore. I forgave you for that a long time ago." Fitz smiled again. "Isn't it time that you forgave yourself?"

Forgive herself? His words shattered another wall inside her. The certainty in his voice was everything Olivia could ever want and everything she needed to take another step forward into her own truth.

In response, her hands reached out for him, first to cover his hands with her own, to feel the warmth and confidence in them, to claim it for her own. And then they slowly traveled from there to rest on his shoulders, to feel the strength in him, in them - to finally - finally - cradle his face, to meet his eyes with all the love she saw in his.

What else was there to do except draw him to her slowly, until her mouth was butterfly soft against his own. Olivia wanted nothing more than this; to stand in the sun with this incredible man, to feel the warmth of his body against her own.

Fitz melted into the kiss, all of his senses centering themselves on Olivia's mouth, on the sweet, soft intimacy she was evoking in him as her lips played against his. Whatever Olivia needed, whenever she needed it, Fitz would always be ready to give. He tried to put all of that and more into this kiss and then he was groaning softly into her mouth as they began to loose all sense of them as separate souls and came together as one. And as always, when they kissed, time and the world went away, leaving them in bliss until the sound of Agent Tom's voice brought them back.

"Mr. President..." the agent had been courteous enough to call out before coming into view. "Excuse me sir, but the communications team has flagged an incoming call from Mr. Beene."

Fitz turned his head. "Thank you, Tom - you can tell them that I'll be back to my cabin in a few minutes."

"Yes, sir." Tom nodded and turned back the way he came.

Fitz turned back to Olivia and found her smiling up at him. She was so full of her love for him in this moment that she has the hardest time finding her words. Unthinkingly, her fingers traced their way across his lips in an attempt to find them there. "I'll try, Fitz. I want to be everything you need me to be - for you - for us."

"How can either of us ask for anything more?"

He surprised her with his next words. "What is it you told me your people say? Over a cliff..."

Hearing those words coming from Fitz startled her into laughing and the sound of his joining hers made them both laugh even harder and made them both even happier and they remained that way as they made their way back to the main cabin, hand in hand.