I don't own Scandal and never will. No copyright infringement intended.
Mellie absolutely refuses to let Fitz and Olivia ruin the only source of happiness in her life. They get to be together, so why can't she be with Andrew? It isn't fair. "I will not say a word about your relationship with Olivia again if you back off. Fitz, I swear." She is desperate, but doesn't want to admit it. She's already hit a low point in her life so it shouldn't matter, but it does. Her kids hate her and Andrew is pretty much the only person she has left. She wants to be with him.
Fitz scoffs. "Please, Mellie. You'll just glare disapprovingly at me instead and be a passive-aggressive bitch about it."
She glares and struggles to resist the urge to tell him to fuck off. She is the First Lady of the United States and a proper Southern woman. Mellie will not stoop that low. "Why do you care? Our marriage is already ruined! It's not like we're hurting you."
"You are my wife, Mellie."
She laughs. "Like that matters to you! You're my husband, but you're not keeping it in your pants. The one time I decide to be selfish and it blows up in my face. Of course it does." Mellie doesn't even know why she's surprised. And as pathetic as it sounds, she wants to be loved. Fitz clearly fell out of love with her a long time ago. She briefly considers a divorce, but that'll ruin everything. And she can't give him the satisfaction – he can be trapped in an unhappy, loveless marriage too.
He rolls his eyes. "Are you still playing the innocent victim? You got caught. Deal with it. And this is my best friend! My best friend!"
"Are you going to repeat that again?"
And that's when Olivia steps in. "Are you two done? We have more important things to discuss than an affair. And we can't let it get out." She wants to head this off at the pass so they can talk about re-election.
"You need to worry about your affair getting out – not me. Didn't Andrew mention something about glass houses?" She's pissed now and wants to throw something, but she won't.
Olivia glares at her. "We are not here to talk about our personal lives. Again, more important issues."
Mellie is past the point of caring about the next four years. "Is this about the election again? Doesn't Fitz have a big important dinner coming up that should take priority?"
"That's part of the more important issues!" Olivia snaps. She curses the day she ever met these people, even though she loves Fitz. All this drama and stress is getting to her, and she needs to remember that she has a job to do. She cannot be put in the middle of Fitz and Mellie's problems.
"Oh. Well sorry then." Mellie smiles and then goes to sit on the couch. She misses Andrew and can't wait to talk to him again. And she doesn't care what Fitz says – she is still going to see him. He cannot tell her what to do, especially after everything he's done to ruin their marriage. And she still can't tell him what his father did – that secret will go with her to the grave. Andrew will hopefully never tell anyone else, which is why she trusted him with it all those years ago.
After talking with them, Mellie goes to find the nanny so she can see Teddy for a little while. "Have you been good?"
The baby babbles and smiles at his mother as she picks him up. "Yeas, I thought so. At least you haven't been ruined by your life. There's still some hope for you!" And when Teddy starts crying, Mellie hands him back to the nanny and then heads to their room, where Andrew is waiting for her.
As soon as he sees her, he stands up from the bed and beams at her. "How'd your talk go?" Andrew had wanted to talk to Fitz himself, but Olivia refused to let them in the same room after the punch. Nobody blames her for that decision since it seems logical. None of them want the two men to fight, just in case it leaks. They can't afford that right now.
"Not good," she admits before sliding up to him and putting her arms around him.
He kisses her deeply and Mellie melts into it. They have passion, something that has been missing from her and Fitz's marriage for a long time. Andrew makes her feel safe (and loved). She's content for the first time in a long time. She never thought she'd feel this way again – Mellie feels alive now. She felt like she was just gliding through life before. "You look beautiful today."
"I look like I always do, but thank you for the compliment." She can't wait until Fitz wins so she can see more of Andrew. It means another four years with Fitz, but it's worth it. Mellie hates that their relationship – if it even lasts – can never be made public, though. The media and others will make assumptions that she can't afford for them to make.
"I am so in love with you," he murmurs, and the world screeches to a halt. She looks up at him in shock – she hadn't expected those words to come out of his mouth.
"You love me?"
"Of course I love you. How could I not?" Andrew hates that Fitz has destroyed Mellie – it's not fair. Part of that is due to the rape of course, but not all of it.
She actually giggles. "I love you too." And Mellie isn't surprised to find that it's true. She's fallen in love with this wonderful man. She can't believe how pleased she is at this very moment.
"You want me to go talk to Fitz?" He'll probably get punched again, but it'll be worth it.
Mellie shakes her head. "No. He's not going to listen to reason. Thank you for offering, though." She will not let Fitz and Olivia ruin this – she can't.
This isn't going to be easy or go smoothly, but Mellie is determined to ride this out. She and Andrew can do this. And they won't let her husband get in the way of their relationship. They're both adults who know what they're getting into.