Title: my future in your hands
Pairing: Olivia Pope/Mellie Grant
Rating: General
Summary: Set during 1x6 "The Trail" – Canon Divergence. Olivia raises one perfectly-sculpted eyebrow. "Mrs. Grant, I'm just here to offer my congratulations on your win in the primary today. New Hampshire made the right choice."
The campaign bus rolls down the highway, blurring trees and mountains of rock and dirt until it all becomes the same green-brown streaks that fade into the darkness.
Inside the bus it is almost silent, save for the sound of tires on pavement and the occasional tapping on keyboards and sometimes even an unexpected snore from a journalist or a staffer who has finally drifted off to sleep.
Olivia balls up her jacket and presses it into the crevice between her headrest and the window, intent on getting an hour of shuteye before she has to be up and moving again. But that plan is foiled as soon as Mellie walks into view.
Mellie stops at Olivia's seat, just for a second, and looks at her like she has something on her mind, head cocked a bit to the side. Olivia looks up at her and their eyes meet and then Mellie is gone, taking her seat at the rear of the bus, as far away from any journalists as she can possibly get.
Olivia's brow furrows and she only waits thirty seconds before following after her. She sits in the seat next to Mellie's, privately relishing in Mellie's gasp when she realizes Olivia is there.
"You shouldn't be back here," Mellie whispers harshly. She clears her throat and straightens her back, looking out over the tops of the seats to make sure no one has turned around. "Go back to your own seat."
Olivia raises one perfectly-sculpted eyebrow. "Mrs. Grant, I'm just here to offer my congratulations on your win in the primary today. New Hampshire made the right choice."
Mellie sighs. She searches Olivia's face for any sign that she is lying, but there is nothing but earnestness there. Leaning back in her seat, she rubs at tired eyes. "I'm sorry," she says. "Thank you. God knows we couldn't have done it without you."
"No," Olivia says, relaxing into her seat, "probably not."
Mellie drops her hands into her lap and tries to glare at Olivia but she's grinning too hard for it to be believable.
They're sitting close now – too close, for sure, to be inconspicuous – their bodies aligned and touching from knee to hip to shoulder. It would be easy, so easy, for them to just lace their fingers together and lapse into comfortable silence.
But that doesn't seem to be in their cards.
"Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I hadn't married him," Mellie says. She has a dreamy look in her eyes, like she's imagining herself on top of the world, rather than standing beside the man who very nearly is. "If I had waited for someone…else. Someone I loved and who loved me. Someone who encouraged my aspirations and didn't expect me to give everything up my life for them."
"You're going to do great things as First Lady, Mrs. Grant."
"Of course I am," Mellie snaps. She takes a shuddering breath, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…I'm sorry. What I'm trying to say is what if I had waited…for you?" Her heart is hammering in her chest and she bites her bottom lip almost hard enough to draw blood, but she refuses to look at Olivia, doesn't want to risk seeing the rejection on her face.
"Mrs. Grant, I–"
"Don't, Olivia. We're so beyond formalities now, I think."
Olivia stares at Mellie, replaying her confession over and over in her mind. It feels like a punch to the gut every time. This is exactly what she's wanted for months, what she's dreamed of during every stolen moment and every glance across a crowded room. It's right here in front of her and it's completely unattainable. In another universe or at another time, maybe it would work out. But in this one, at this time, Mellie is married to the man who is about to become the Leader of the Free World.
"Say my name," Mellie whispers.
"That would be crossing the line," Olivia says, nodding more to reassure herself than anything else. "It would be inappropriate."
"Just say my name," Mellie says, finally looking at Olivia.
Olivia chuckles, looking down at her hands. She's quiet for a long minute and then faintly, "Mellie." She lets out a breathless laugh.
Mellie smiles, resting her head back against the headrest.
This time, Mellie doesn't hesitate. Her hand snakes across into the space atop their touching knees, entwining her fingers with Olivia's. It's like they've been doing this for their whole lives; leg against leg against hip, hand upon hand, head upon shoulder, heart upon heart. It's a moment that could last forever, that could stretch beyond time itself and outlive the universe.
The End