A/N: Things are moving pretty quickly now for Fitz and Mellie, hopefully in a good way. Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a review! Only one more chapter left.
Disclaimer: I own nothing from ABC's Scandal.
Fitz dragged into the kitchen around five that afternoon after checking on Mellie, who was finally sleeping again after that morning's events. He opened the top cabinet above the stove fan, reaching in and grabbing out a half full bottle of vodka. He doesn't get a glass, not even drinking enough to need one. He takes the cap off and takes a few drinks, liking the feel of the burning in his throat. He needed some liquid courage.
He needed to relax.
He wasn't going to rest until he knew Jerry was dead.
He took one last drink, wiping his mouth, and putting the bottle back up. He was still angry. He had too much built up inside and went straight from the kitchen, through the living room and to a room with a nice view of the backyard. He considered it his man cave, but all it had in it was his workout equipment. He exhaled slowly, looking around, trying to decide where to start. He pulled off his gray shirt and went straight for the punching bag hanging in the corner. He was glad Mellie was asleep. He didn't know if he could contain himself right now. The force of each punch rippled through his body, pulsing in every muscle. Every kick, every thud, every grunt, he felt all his energy leaving his exhausted body. He went hard at it for a good thirty minutes, then gave it up and went for chin ups.
He finished quickly when he heard Mellie get up, his feet landing loudly against the cold wooden floor, his chiseled body dripping with sweat. He grabbed his shirt and went back to their room, seeing his wife go through the stained wooden dresser, looking for something to wear. She pulled out her old Johnny Cash shirt and blue hoodie, shut the drawer, and saw a sweaty Fitz opening the closet.
"I'm about to take a bath, ok?" She tells him, feeling like a prisoner, having to report her every move to him.
Fitz grabbed a purple long sleeve shirt out of the closet and shut it quickly, throwing it on the bed and turning to her. He meets her halfway and leans in for a quick kiss, careful not to get too close, but is surprised when she pulls him in and dodges the kiss. She wraps her arms around him, running her hands down his wet back, taking in his scent. She rests her head on his bare chest and exhales softly, enjoying this. She loved his natural scent; it was extremely sexy to her.
"God, you smell good. I wondered where you went," she said softly into his hard chest.
"I had to burn off some energy," he tells her. She knew how tense and worked up he had been lately. "You want me to wash your back?"
"That would be nice," she says, agreeing with him. She enjoyed him taking care of her sometimes.
Neither one of them could believe she just agreed to this without any hesitation, that she was going to let him get this close. But he didn't question it.
He followed her into the bathroom, going to the sink to shave while she started her bath. She ran her warm water and took off her cozy pajamas, gently stepping in. Fitz restrained himself from looking at her as he stared in the mirror, careful not to miss any inch of his face. He shaved slowly, enjoying the sounds of his wife's soft singing as she bathed, preparing to wash her beautiful hair. He set his razor down and went over to her, sitting on the side of the tub and sticking his feet in the water surrounding her. He loved to take long baths with her.
"I'll wash your hair," he volunteers, grabbing the fruity shampoo and conditioner.
"Somebody is being awfully nice this evening," she smiles, looking into his eyes.
They both grinned and leaned in for a kiss, the smell of vodka on his breath surprising her. She could still taste it on his tongue, a familiar taste so bitter yet so sweet to her deprived taste buds.
"Tastes like someone had a little to drink," she teases.
"Only a little," he assured her.
Fitz smiles and removes his feet, getting up and grabbing a cup from the sink to use to wet her hair. He ran some warm water in it and poured it over her gorgeous brown hair, the water feeling good as it ran down her tired back. He pours some sweet smelling shampoo in his hands, lathering it up in between her curls. She closed her eyes, she was so trusting of him right now. He only looked at her body once as he massaged her head, knowing he couldn't break this trust right now. He rinsed the shampoo out and added in her fruity conditioner, then washed her back slowly, sensing she was also enjoying their little moment.
"Thank you," she whispers. "For everything these past few days. You take such good care of me. I'm sorry I've created such a commotion. I'll put out a statement tonight and ride this out. A few more days and it'll die down," she explains, feeling guilty.
"You haven't created any kind of commotion, Mels. This isn't your fault. And I wouldn't want to take care of anyone else but you," Fitz reminds her that none of this was caused by her.
He was in the process of rinsing her back when both of their phones rang simultaneously. She gave him a look that he knew all too well: something wasn't good. He grabbed their phones from the bedroom and handed her hers, then stepped back into the bedroom to answer his as she answered hers.
"Hello?" Fitz answers.
"Fitz, why is there video of you and Mellie dragging in a nearby hospital earlier this week?" Mike asks, wondering what is going on.
"-Jade, breathe for a second and slow down-" Jade cuts Mellie off.
"Someone found out," Jade says in a panic. "Someone knows you're pregnant and that you were raped. There's all sorts of rumors going around-"
"One channel says it was a rape kit, another says an abortion, the list goes on and on-" Mike explains to Fitz.
"I didn't say a word, Mel. I swear," Jade promises her best friend.
Fitz stood in the bathroom door, phone still pressed to his ear, Mellie's heart sinking as fast as his was. He knew Jackson was going to be pissed. His eyes met Mellie's and she set her phone down on the toilet, Jade still talking, getting out as quickly as she could. Fitz grabbed her towel and helped her dry off, then she picked up the phone again.
"Jade, I gotta go."
She hangs up and sighs, not wasting any time getting dressed. Fitz sits down on the edge of the bed, taking a minute to think, surprised Jackson hadn't already called. She sat down beside him, grabbing her computer and checking her email. It dinged constantly for an entire minute, her inbox flooded with interview requests. She scrolled through them all until she stopped at the only worthwhile one so far-the Huffington Post.
"Huffington Post wants an interview," she said without a second thought.
Fitz sighs and looks at the email, then picks up his phone. She grabs his phone from him and puts it down, picking up hers. She needed to take charge of the situation.
"I'll handle this. Time for damage control," she sighed.
She calls Jackson and he answers, clearly frustrated.
"Jackson Gregory, please hold-"
He immediately looked at the number and saw it was Mellie, apologizing.
"Sorry, Mels. Talk to me," Jackson said.
"How's it going there?" She asks, wondering how he's handling all the publicity.
"It could be worse. I've got the IT guys and the investigator trying to trace who leaked this. I'm so sorry, Mellie. I'm working on a press statement-"
"Huffington Post wants an interview," Mellie says, shutting him up for a minute.
"Accept nothing less than an physical interview. I trust you with the questions," he says, having faith in her.
"Ok," she says confidently.
"Don't go out if you can avoid it. Fitz needs to take extra security to work. This will all blow over, Mel. I promise. You know the drill. Keep the answers simple. Yes and no responses. Don't talk to reporters. Don't answer anything you don't feel comfortable with. It'll be ok. I'm handling it," he reminded her.
Mellie sighed with relief, knowing he was right. He was handling everything, and she had nothing to honestly worry about.
"Thank you, Jackson. I'll forward you the email about the interview."
"Ok. You two take it easy. I'll call if anything new comes up. Good night," he says.
"Bye."
Jackson hangs up, ignoring all his other calls, and picks up a mailing box out of his office floor. He grabs his scissors out of his top drawer and cuts through the tape, opening the box to reveal several stacks of money equaling to $250,000, and a note. It was a simple thank you note from the publisher he sold Fitz and Mellie's story to yesterday. He picked up a stack, thumbed through it with a smirk on his face, and set it back in its place. He taped the box back up and put it in his safe against the wall, then emailed the Huffington Post.
He had them right where he wanted them.
"He said not to leave if it wasn't necessary, and for you to take extra security to work. He would set up the interview," Mellie tells Fitz as she set her phone down on the bed.
Fitz rubbed his tired eyes, wondering why all this was happening to them, and stood up. His sticky body ached, and he handed her the remote off the nightstand. He was tired of everything.
"I'm going to take a shower. You can pick a movie or whatever you want to watch," he tells her, having little patience left.
As he walked into the bathroom, Mellie moved to the head of the bed, getting situated against some pillows and turning on the TV. She searches through the channels, finding nothing good to watch, deciding to find something on Netflix. She pulled a blanket on top of her, shivering beneath her hoodie. She was always cold natured, had been her entire life. Winter was her worst enemy. She found them a movie to watch after ten minutes of skimming through her queue and picked up her phone, looking for Ben's number. If they couldn't get out for dinner, she would have dinner brought to them.
Fitz came out of the bathroom ten minutes later with a creamy white towel wrapped around his waist, going to his drawer and putting on some clean blue boxers and shorts, along with his purple shirt on the bed. He combs his damp curls and lies down beside her in the bed, kissing her cheek. That shower had helped him feel much better.
"So what are we watching tonight?" He asks, snuggling up beside his wife.
"The Dark Knight," Mellie says with a smile, knowing he loved that movie.
"You sure did pick a good one. I'll get some snacks in a minute," he tells her.
He snuggles up next to her, putting his arm around her, needing to protect her. She buries her face into his warm chest, forgetting everything for a moment. Just going back to the two of them. Nothing else mattered. Not right now. Her heavy eyes closed slowly, falling asleep until they heard the front door open fifteen minutes later.
"Jer?" Fitz called out, curious as to who it was. Jerry was the only one who ever came home unannounced, and he always slammed the door. It was shut quietly this time.
Fitz sits up and goes to see who it is when Mellie grabs his arm and pulls him back.
"It's just Ben. Sit," Mellie commanded.
Fitz gave her a strange look and sat back down to see Ben walk in their room with a pizza box and grocery bag in hand.
"Hey," Ben says happily, glad he could help.
"Thank you so much, Ben," Mellie says in her usual sweet tone.
He sets everything down on the bed and Fitz looks at his wife and back at Ben, who wonders why his boss looks curious.
"You sure are sly," he says with a grin.
"It's in my blood," she reminds him, nudging his arm.
She and Ben laugh as Fitz reaches across the bed and shakes his hand.
"Thank you, man. Anything we can do for you or you want some pizza? At least help yourself to a beer in the fridge," Fitz offers.
"Help hold off that crowd at your gate," Ben jokes, hating going back out there. It was an absolute mess.
He laughs softly and Fitz rubs the back of his neck, hating all these people hanging around outside their property.
"I wish I could. Did the other four come out?"
"Yeah. I put three at the gate with Lance. Warren is with me and Chris on the house. I'm at the front if y'all need anything," Ben reminds them.
"Thanks again, Ben. Grab a few beers for you and the guys. If y'all need or want anything, just come in and get it," Fitz tells him. His house was their house.
"Yes sir. Thank you," he says, walking out of the room.
He pulls out his radio and goes back on official duty, then steps back outside to man the front porch. Meanwhile, Fitz opens the pizza box and sees half buffalo chicken, half meat lover's pizza. He closes the box and smiles, giving Mellie a kiss.
"God, you're the best," he says with a smile.
She smiles and reaches for the bag, but he gets to it first and starts emptying it of its contents.
"We got some cheddar chips...Dr. Pepper...and...for dessert, sour gummy worms. This sounds like a very personalized request, Mrs. Grant," he smiles, loving picking on his wife.
He teases her and she punches him in the arm as he opens the two liter of Dr. Pepper and takes a drink, almost making him spill it.
"You know you like it, Mr. Grant. I know meat lover's is your weakness. I even ordered extra cheese and bacon. You've never turned down chips and Dr. Pepper, either," she laughs softly, glad she remembered his favorite foods.
"You got me there," he shrugs with a smile, knowing it was the truth.
He goes to the kitchen and gets some plates and cups filled with ice, then comes back and snuggles up with her, enjoying their food and movie. Enjoying having her back.
Enjoying her.