"Fitzgerald, look me in the eyes, and tell me you don't love her!"
Mellie took his silence as the answer she was waiting for. She grabbed her bag from the bottom of the staircase and walked towards the door.
"Mel, wait!"
"No, Fitz. I am done waiting. I am done sitting around while you run off with her in the middle of the night. I'm done smiling for the cameras and press. I am done."
"Mellie, please don't leave."
"See this is your problem, Fitz; you won't ever be able to choose, so I'm choosing for you. Teddy and I will be at Blair house for now. Just until I find a house nearby. I'm not going to take him away from you, and I still have a job to do."
"I'm sorry, Mellie," Fitz sighed.
"I know you are," Mellie replied and walked out.
*One Year Later*
"Teddy, sweetheart, I need you to come inside. Your dad is coming to get you! You need to come in here, so we can get you ready!" Mellie stood out on the patio waiting for Teddy to come inside. He refused to get ready every time he knew he was going to his dad's.
"Mommy, I don't wanna go!"
"And I don't want a disobedient six year old, but we can't always get what we want, darling. Come inside please."
Teddy reluctantly came inside after more grumbling.
"Mommy, I really don't want to go."
"I know you don't sweetie, but he's your dad. He loves you, and he misses you. He doesn't get to see you everyday like I do."
"I know mommy, but I don't want to leave you."
"Teddy, I'll be okay. You'll be home Sunday night. Mommy has plans tonight, and daddy wants to see you."
"I can go see uncle Cy while you have your plans!"
"Theodore, you are going with your father. End of discussion."
"Okay. Sorry mommy."
"It's alright. Go get your bag and come back down. Your dad is on his way."
Right as Teddy went upstairs, the doorbell rang. Mellie yelled for Teddy to hurry as she went to the door.
"Hi."
"Hello, Fitz. You can come in. Teddy just went upstairs to get his bag," Mellie said as she stepped to the side to let him in.
"Sorry I'm a little early. My meeting was finished earlier than expected."
"That's alright. You could have just sent agents to get him," Mellie replied as she walked to the kitchen with Fitz following behind her.
"I will not send agents to pick our son up. I can get him myself."
"Sorry, sorry. Don't get mad at me. It was just a suggestion," Mellie laughed as she began to do the dishes. Fitz grabbed a towel and dried as she washed them.
"I'm not mad, Mel. I'm just saying I will come get our son. There doesn't need to be a middle man."
"I agree, but if you're ever busy, it is okay for an agent to come get him once in a while, or I could drop him off if I need to," Mellie said as she handed him a plate.
"Mellie, I'm not going to make you come to the White House."
"You wouldn't be forcing me to do anything. I can politely bring our son and leave. I can be nice to her for a few minutes while I drop him off."
"I'm not going to ask you to do that," Fitz was about to say something else, but Mellie's phone started ringing. Mellie dried off her hands and answered it.
"Hi! No not yet. I know, I'm sorry. I'll be ready in half an hour. Okay. I'll text you. Bye."
Mellie hung up her phone, and before she could explain the phone call, Teddy walked in.
"Mommy, I'm ready now," Fitz gave Mellie a look, and Mellie nodded.
"Fitz, we'll talk about it later."
"Sunday night? I'll bring take out when I bring Teddy back."
"Sounds good."
"Okay. I'll bring him back around six."
"Alright. Teddy, come give me a hug. Be good for you dad. Have fun. I love you!"
"Love you too mommy."
"By, Mellie. We'll see you Sunday," Mellie waved goodbye and watched them leave.
Mellie walked back to the kitchen to grab her phone. She dialed the number of her boyfriend, Grayson, as she walked upstairs.
"Hey! Fitz just left with Teddy, so I'll be ready in about twenty minutes."
"You say twenty, so that really means forty. I'll leave now,"
"Grayson, I do not take that long."
"Mellie, yes you do, and I love you for it. It's cute."
"So now I'm cute?"
"Among other things," Grayson smirked into the phone.
"Grayson Keith, I can hear you smirking through the phone."
"I love it when you use that deep voice. It's a real turn on."
"Control yourself, Gray. There's plenty of time. We have all weekend."
"Oh I know. I'll be sure to take advantage of that. I'm getting ready to leave for your house. I'll be there in twenty minutes. I love you."
"Love you too," Mellie said and hung up the phone.
Twenty minutes later, Grayson walked into the house and found Mellie in the bathroom still getting ready. He stood in the doorway for a minute before she noticed him.
"I'm almost done."
"I'm sure you are. Hello, beautiful," Grayson walked over and kissed her cheek.
"I really am."
"You're not even dressed yet. You're still in your robe, and you don't even have a dress laid out."
"Then go get one out of my closet, and I'll put it on in a minute."
"If I had to pick, I'd pick what's on under that robe, Mel," Grayson chuckled and walked out into the bedroom and sat down.
Mellie rolled her eyes and continued to do her makeup. Once she was finished, Mellie walked to her walk-in closet to find a dress. She chose a simple black flare dress, black pumps, and pearls.
"Zip me up?"
"Of course," Grayson crossed the room in two strides. As he zipped her dress, he grazed her back with his knuckles, and Mellie shivered.
"You might want to watch yourself, or we aren't going to make it to that dinner party. It is for your friends. They might upset if we don't attend," Mellie closed her eyes and leaned into his touch.
"I can handle my friends. They won't be too upset," Grayson whispered right next to Mellie's ear, and she turned towards him. Mellie was about to lean in to kiss him when her phone went off.
"You better get that."
"I know," Mellie sighed, gave Grayson a quick kiss, and went to answer her phone.
"Hi, Emma. Is it that important? Okay. I'll be right in," Mellie hung up her phone and grabbed her purse.
"What's going on?"
"An emergency meeting has been called. I have to go, but I will meet you at the dinner party. Go ahead without me. I'll call you when I'm on my way. I gotta go. I love you," Mellie quickly kissed Grayson on the cheek and hurried out the door.
Grayson stood in the middle of the living room. He saw Mellie's purse on the table next to the door and hurried to get it to her. She was pulling out of he garage when he ran over to her.
"You might want this. You can't get anywhere without your wallet, sweetheart."
"Oh shit. Thank you. I didn't even realize I didn't have it."
"You're welcome. Now get a move on. You've got a meeting to attend," Grayson waved goodbye, and Mellie was gone.
Mellie looked at her phone as she walked to her car She saw it was almost ten, so she called Grayson.
"Hey, are you home?"
"No, I'm still here at Matthew's."
"Okay. I'll be over in twenty."
"Alright, honey. Be careful. Drive safe. I love you."
"Love you too," Mellie said as she got into her car and drove off.
Mellie arrived at Matthew's house and went inside. She rushed in and quickly kissed Grayson on the cheek.
"Sorry I'm late!"
"Everything okay?" Grayson asked quietly.
"Sort of. I'll tell you about it later."
"Alright. Are you thirsty or anything?"
"I'd love a glass of wine."
"Okay. I'll be right back," Grayson said as he got up to get her a glass.
"Mellie, I hear you and Grayson have been talking about moving in together," One of Grayson's friends said and smiled.
"We've talked about it briefly. He's got a big mouth," Mellie chuckled.
"I've got a big what?" Grayson asked as he walked in. Grayson's friend Matthew spit out his wine from laughing.
"Sweetheart, just sit down," Mellie laughed.
"I didn't realize what I said. My bad," Grayson chuckled.
"We were talking about your big mouth," Mellie turned to him and smiled.
"Based off of the look on your face, I'd say you aren't happy, and we have something to talk about."
"You bet your ass we do," Mellie whispered through gritted teeth, and Grayson turned to everyone else.
"Hey guys, I think we're going to call it a night. Mellie's pretty tired from a long day, so I'm long going to get her home," Grayson stood up and tried to grab Mellie's hand, but she stood up on her own.
Once they got back to Mellie's, she stormed inside. Grayson slowly walked in behind her. He was just waiting for her to explode. As soon as she got out of the foyer, she started to walk up the stairs. She got halfway up and stopped.
"Why would you tell your friends we've talked about moving in together? We discussed it once, and I wouldn't even call it a discussion. We very briefly talked about it," Mellie huffed. Grayson opened his mouth, but Mellie held up her hand to silence him.
"Grayson, telling you I loved you was a huge step for me, and it took me a while to take that step. I'm still not a whole person. I'm still broken. I'm not ready to move in with you, and I told you that, but you still told your friends. Right now, I need some space. I think you should go home. Please. I'll call you in a couple days," Grayson wordlessly nodded and walked out the front door.
Mellie sat down on the stairs and put her head in her hands. She did love Grayon, but she was still trying to get over Fitz. She still loved him. Mellie had been trying for months to get over him, and she was failing. Mellie got up from the stairs and slowly walked to her room.
She took her pearls off and put them on her dresser. Her phone began to ring, and she let it go. She kicked her heels off and went down to the kitchen for a glass of wine. She came upstairs and changed. Once she finally sat down, she saw she had two texts from Fitz and a missed call. She hurriedly called him back to see what was wrong.
"Fitz?! What's wrong?"
"Teddy is hysterical because he left his bear. I'm on my way over with him right now to get it."
"Okay. I'll go unlock the front door. Just come upstairs when you get here. I'll start looking for it," Mellie said and hung up.
Mellie hurried downstairs to unlock the door. She looked down at her barely there pajamas and decided to put a robe on before Fitz arrived. Mellie went to Teddy's room to start looking for the bear and wait for Fitz.