She walked up to the gate and flashed her hard pass to the security guard. Of course he knew who she was. Everyone in the White House knew who Olivia Pope was but it was procedure. As she began the walk down the pathway to the Oval Office she tried to take deep breaths. She's pissed. She is irrationally angry and she wanted answers. Just a half hour earlier she was sitting at her desk watching Cyrus and Fitz get out of Marine One. They looked so chummy and friendly. Then she watched as Fitz placed a kiss on Mellie's beaming cheeks. That is when she snapped. She barked "I'll be back" to Harrison, picked up her keys and purse and got into her car and headed to the one place on earth she should not be. Olivia knew this was going to stir up a bees nest but she didn't care. They were going to have this out once and for all.
She rounded the corner and saw the President's secretary sitting at her desk.
'Hello Louise. Is he in?" Liv asked but wasn't really asking. She knew he was in. She just watched him land on the South Lawn.
"Miss Pope. Wait…" Louise quickly got between the door and Olivia. Olivia wasn't asking for permission. "I can't let you in without announcing you." Louise explained.
"Is he alone?" "He is but…" "Then you don't need to announce me. " "I am sorry I can't let you in." Olivia took a deep breath, stepped back, and squared her shoulders.
"Louise, I need to speak with the President. So either call Tom and Hal to physically remove me or get the hell out of my way!" Louise returned to her desk. At first Liv thought she was going to call the Secret Service but she just went back to whatever she was working on when Liv walked in. Olivia took another deep breath, smoothed her hair, and opened the door.
There he was, the President of the United States. Fitzgerald Grant III, the one great love of Olivia's life. There he sat at his desk reading over some documents. He didn't look up. "What is it, Louise?" Olivia's breath caught as she started to speak. Fitz looked up and was genuinely shocked to see her there. They hadn't spoken in weeks and had only caught glimpses of one another as Liv left Cyrus' office or at events. For a moment he looked thrilled to see her. There was a small flash of the man she used to believe would love her forever. That look albeit brief, gave her some hope. Maybe there is a way out of this. Maybe we can repair the damage and love one another again, she thought. But as quickly as that look appeared, it was gone and his grey eyes hardened.
"Miss Pope. Did you need something?" he asked her looking back to his paperwork. "I would have thought that it was clear you have used up all of your favors from this office."
Olivia tensed up and thought back to sitting at her desk and watching Cyrus, Mellie, and Fitz happily stroll across the lawn, and her rage returned. She tossed her purse on the couch, walked over to the front of his desk. When he didn't look up she pursed her lips and said "Look at me." His eyes didn't move. Fitz was ignoring her. " .ME!" This time she spoke much louder and with all the force she could muster when dealing with this man. Fitz looked up at her. He looked annoyed and sad but at least he was looking at her.
"I need to know why." She said.
"Why? Why what?" He stood up. He knew her. He knew that look in her eye. He was about to go toe to toe with the great Olivia Pope.
"Why everything? Why am I banished and punished and hurt all alone, while Mellie and Cyrus get a free pass? All of us were involved. Some more than others but all of us were! Yet I am serving the sentence alone and it's a life sentence. Why?!" She was holding back tears and trying not to scream. She also chose her words carefully she knew the cameras were on.
Fitz walked out from his desk and over to the private office that sits off the Oval. He opened the door and stood there waiting for her to follow. With both apprehensiveness and confidence she walked through the door. He followed and shut the door.
"Olivia. This is inappropriate and dangerous! You are angry and irrational. What if you had slipped up and said something you shouldn't in there? Do you want to go to prison?"
"I want answers. I want you and me to have this conversation. I want you to understand. I want to explain. I want you!" Olivia couldn't contain the tears any more.
Fitz looked at her. She seemed smaller than he remembered. It was clear she wasn't sleeping and her wine and popcorn diet weren't doing anything to keep her from losing weight. He felt his anger shift. He loves her. That hadn't changed. In fact that's what kept him up at night. Not that she betrayed him but that she betrayed him and she was still the only thing in the world he truly wanted. He walked over to the wall and leaned up against. "Ok."
She wiped tears away as she looked up and asked "Ok?" Fitz looked at her. "Ok. Let's talk. You asked me why you're the one left alone? The answer is because I am alone. Cy and Mellie don't matter. What they did doesn't matter. I expect that from them. They are both vipers that will do and say anything to get what they want and what they want is power and see me as the highway to the ultimate power. And in some ways they are right. But you, Olivia? You were my one ray of light outside of my children. You were my ultimate council, my best friend, the greatest love I have ever known. I have believed in you every single moment from the day I met you. Even when things between us were hard, sad, or awful I still believed in you. Knowing that you not only didn't believe in me but that you used me just like Hollis, Verna, Mellie, and Cy. It literally killed me. It crushed ever part of me that you revived. So why are Mellie and Cyrus off the hook? Because they were never on it to begin with. It was always you. You were always the only one that mattered. Without your faith in me I am lost. I am not me anymore. "He closed his eyes and laid his head against the wall. She was stunned. She was ready for just about anything he would say but not this.
"Fitz, I've never stopped believing in you. Even after the vile things that you said to me at Verna's funeral and Ella's christening I still believed in you. You are the best person for this job. You need to understand what happened that day. The day I sold a piece of myself to Hollis Doyle. You were down. You'd made a lot of headway with the debates but not enough. I stood in that hallway and listened to your father spew hateful trash at you. I watched you go from the amazing and strong Governor Grant to a young boy who was being belittled. It broke my heart. Then Cyrus cornered me and gave me one of his great monologues about how you are great and deserved the Presidency. He just wouldn't let up. It's not an excuse, it's just a reason. I said no every single time and the four of them pressured me every day. They kept asking me what I wanted. Verna was going to be on the Supreme Court, Cyrus: Chief of Staff, and Mellie: First Lady. Hollis got to be God. The guy we would all owe. So when they asked me what I wanted I didn't understand because I didn't want anything. I just wanted you to be happy. So at the last possible minute, terrified of the outcome of you losing I said yes. And I have hated myself every day since. I don't regret you being President because you belong in this office but I do regret not being strong enough to say no. I regret that I hurt you. But most of all I regret not telling you sooner because maybe if you had found out from me you wouldn't hate me as much as you do now." She was physically exhausted. She walked over to the small chair in the corner on the complete opposite side of the room, brought her knees up to her chest and sobbed. "I am so sorry" was all she could muster. They stayed like that for what seemed like hours. Liv crying and Fitz leaned up against the way trying to process all she just said. He spoke first:
"First and foremost I do not hate you Olivia. I wish I did. If I could maybe I wouldn't be in constant agony. So please whatever you take away from today take that. I do not hate you. That said the trust is shattered. Why didn't you come to me? Tell me what they were planning? I could have stopped it. I could have protected you. I could have saved all of us. Liv it could have been my out."
"I know. We'd probably be married right now. Maybe have a baby. I know. I think about it every day. But what is done is done and now you are the President and you are a great President. Would I be blissfully happy with you right now had I not said yes? Probably. But who the hell am I to deprive the world of such greatness? I am no one. " At that Fitz stepped away from the wall and walked over to her. He kneeled so they were eye to eye. "You, Olivia Pope are everything. I can't get past or over anything with you by my side. Why didn't you just stand by me Olivia?" His eyes were sad. There was no anger or disappointment, only sadness. That is when she realized it. Every time he told her he would leave all of it behind to be with her, he meant it. She never let him because she was afraid that if he did, she wouldn't be enough. But in this moment she saw that she would be enough. They would be enough.
"Livvie, I am so sorry for every horrible thing I have ever said or done to you. I am so selfish. I am always wondering why this life I chose is the life that is keeping me from actually living. I can't do it anymore. I don't want to."
"Fitz, you have to decide within the next 6 months if you are going to run again. If you do, you will win on your own. I believe that. And I think you need to prove that to yourself, and Mellie, and Cyrus. Show them all what I have always known. Show them who you are. Because Fitz Grant you are amazing. I will do whatever you want me to do. I will walk out that door and never come back. I will help with the campaign." She sighed and closed her eyes as she said the most important sentence of her life "If you can forgive me I will walk away from it all and stand by your side both figuratively and literally. I will be yours completely. But Fitz it's up to you. I am sure you need some time to process all of this so I am going to go. But know this whatever you decide, I will do. And whatever you decide you will always be the love of my life and I will never stop loving or wanting you. I told you I would wait for you. And I will even if I have to wait forever, I will wait forever." She leaned forward and kissed him softly on his lips. As she started get up he wrapped his arms around her waist. Kneeling at her feet, he kissed her stomach and held her close to him. "Do you promise?" he whispered. Olivia kneeled in front of him. "I promise. " Something in him broke at those words. He believed her. Suddenly nothing else mattered. Still holding onto her he lifted her chin to meet his eyes. "I forgive you, Livvie. I forgive you and I love you and I want you. You and me against the world forever?" He smiled at her. As the tears welled up in her eyes she nodded "You and me against the world." He wiped tears away with his thumbs and kissed her. He'd kissed her hundreds of times but this kiss was the one they would remember for the rest of their lives because this kiss was the beginning of them for keeps. They were both all in and were going to walk through fire to keep the other. Everything else just didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was Olivia and Fitz were finally going to be together. They were finally going to live one life. The road wouldn't be easy and they both knew that. They had to still get through the Presidency, the divorce, and a potential scandal but they knew they could because they were together.