Trigger Warning

Mellie sat in silence, reading a book. As she put the book down, she sighed in disappointment. She wasn't a book reader kind of girl. In school, reading wasn't her thing. Well, unless it was history, economics, or politics. But other than that, fictional or even non-fictional stories bore her. It wasn't fast paced enough. Or, at least it wasn't because she wasn't a part of it. With the subjects she liked, she knew she would one day be a part of them. Politics was fast and quick witted, and being able to prove your argument correct was always so appealing to her.
But here she was, reading.
She stared at the shining cover of the book, and sighed again.
What had she become? She knew her wonderful and handsome husband was off at work, winning the bread and fame for the family.
She had a career of her own, a life of her own. But she was here.
Reading.
She threw the book down, disappointed with how fragile and dependent she had become. She had seen so many things about how rape victims needed to take it easy and heal.
That was too hard for her though. Her coping mechanism, since she was ten years old, was to work.
To ignore.
That's what she did directly after the assault. She worked in Fitz's campaign and never had to think about it.
It was when she was alone and workless that she started to feel it, to see it again.
That's what happened when she read. She would read every word and only connect it back to that night with Jerry. With the campaign work, it was just pounding it out.
No breaks to feel something.
She turned to lie on her back, pondering as she stared at the smooth grey ceiling.
She was done with being the victim.
She was ready to be Mellie again.
...

As Mellie felt her eyelids about to drop closed with her tiredness weighing them down, the phone rang.
She groaned as she picked it up
"Hello?"
"Hey Mels, its Fitz, just wanted to see how you were?"
She questioned at his anxious tone
"I'm fine. Is everything alright?"
There was a small fit of silence. She could hear him sigh over the line
"Well...I kind of went to see my father, and talk to him."
Mellie yelled angrily
"Fitz! What did you say to him?"
"Nothing! I mean, he was drunk so it doesn't matter."
Mellie sighed loudly
"Fitz, you don't understand. If he remembers this, I don't even want to do think about it."
Fitz spoke worryingly
"What...what do you mean?"
She hesitated. Sure, she had been open with him, but telling him this would just add fuel to the fire. She replied reluctantly
"He...he said if I told anyone what really happened...he would do it again. I can't Fitz, I can't survive going through that again."
She could feel the anger through the phone. She was worried he had hung up, but he spoke again, much smoother than before
"Well this time, I will kill that bastard on sight. That won't happen though. I have evidence."
Mellie's head perked up
"What...how, that's not possible. It was almost two years ago. There was hardly any from the get go."
"It's nothing from the actual incident. I recorded him when he talked about that night. I sent it over an hour ago so it shouldn't take to long to get there."
Mellie ran outside, quickly opening the mail box to a small recorder. She honestly didn't want to hear this, but she needed to.
She needed to.
"Hold on the line for a moment."
She slowly put some headphones on, and then played the recording
"She was there with me, alone, and I could do whatever the hell I wanted."
"Well I asked her if she wanted me to stop. But you know what? She didn't say she did. Because if she wanted me to, she would have answered me when I asked."
"Call it rape, call it sex. It doesn't matter to me. I got what I wanted either way."
She felt sick as she finished the recording. She knew Jerry was a vile man, if she could even call him that, but hearing him say that added a new level of disgust she had for him.
She put the phone back to her ear. Fitz noticed her silence
"Are you alright?"
She rubbed her forehead
"We can't use it.
"What?"
"There are three reasons. One, that recording was taken without his consent. It wouldn't hold in court as legal evidence. Two, he was intoxicated. That could easily be a good defense to what he said. Lastly, I never heard him actually say he raped me. Yeah he got very close, but he never admitted to the crime."
She could hear Fitz's sigh, and could tell he was near tears
"I'm sorry Fitz. You really tried. I appreciate that. But maybe..."
He replied aggressively
"Maybe what?"
"Maybe we should let it go. This won't do us any good. Jerry would have us easily destroyed. We could lose everything. So let's just...move on."
"Mellie, I can't let him just walk off without any sort of punishment. I won't let that happen. I would kill him before..."
"Good bye Fitz."
"Mellie he..."
"Goodbye!"
She hung the phone up, feeling tears well up, as she fell onto her back.
She would rather live in pain than have to face in a court of law, for the world to know, what happened to her.
She looked back at the shiny cover of the book she was reading earlier, staring at her own reflection.
Book reader.
She started a successful career and dealt with plenty of sexism and challenges and still stood tall.
She didn't sit around and cry.
She started a family and survived a suicide attempt, not to mention she was a rape survivor.
She didn't let the world decide for her how she was going to live her life.
She jumped off the bed, grabbing her coat, zipping up her boots, and twisted her hair into a bun.
She grabbed the keys, walking down the steps in front of the front door.
She is Melody Grant.
She writes her own story.
...

She quickly got a car to drive her to Santa Barbara, which took six hours but the long drive was worth it. She hoped Fitz wouldn't be mad that she was gone and he didn't know where she was.
When the car finally reached her destination, she slowly stepped out.
That house.
That horrid house.
Jerry's house.
She swallowed hard, walking cautiously towards the building. For a house designed for happy families and parties, it only gave her an eerie vibe.
As she was getting closer to the house, she heard someone yell out
"Hey, Mr. Grant didn't say he didn't want to see any else tonight."
'Damn it I forgot about the gate guard.'
She turned towards him, a smile on her face as she walked smoothly over to him
"Hey Tim. It's just me Mellie. I'm sure we can work things out."
His steel facade was slightly breaking. She leaned in closer to give him a kiss on the cheek
"Just for me, this once?"
She was drawing out as much as her old perky personality as she could. He finally smiled, opening the gate up. She skipped off, waving at him
"Thanks Timmy!"
As soon as he was out of site, she returned to her stiff and calculated side, walking in a focused manner.
She made it to the door, realizing it was locked.
"Shit."
She knew how to pick locks like it was second nature, but Jerry had one of those stupid expensive automatic locks for all his doors. She wasn't sure why but he did.
She thought for a moment.
Then a memory returned to her.
Back when her and Fitz first got married, they would go outside and look at the stars together, but because of the automatic locks they would always leave the key to the window on the sill.
She had to refresh her memory to how she got up.
First she stood on the couch on the patio, and then she jumped up to grip the edge of the roofing over it. She then gripped onto the window sill, pulling herself up and sitting on it.
God she hadn't done that in so long.
She began searching the sill for a key, as she didn't bring anything to pick a lock with.
'Come on.'
Just as she was about to lose hope, she felt the cool touch of metal in a slight indent of the cement. She immediately unlocked the window, almost falling onto the floor inside the bedroom.
She looked around, feeling almost sick as memories came back to her. They had so many sensual nights here, but she also spent many sleepless and lonely nights in the same room. So many nights where her nightmares only got worse.
She got up from the floor, opening the door to get out of the room. She peeked her head around; making sure no one was there. She then proceeded to quickly yet very quietly walk down the halls, attempting to ignore the negative memories resurfacing.
She hated this place with a fiery passion.
She went to the best of her abilities to remember how to navigate around the house, but the mansion was huge.
Eventually, however, she found the staircase, walked down it, and it led directly to Jerry's den.
She gulped, almost fearful as she walked in; her whole body was shaking.
She hadn't step foot in here since the night she was assaulted.
She took small steps, trying to ignore the panic rising in her.
Instead, she began madly searching through the room, unsure what she was actually looking for. She needed something to prove that night.
She needed to prove Jerry raped her.
Just as she was on the verge of a breakdown, she felt someone's presence behind her.
She stopped dead in her tracks.
She knew it was him.
"Well I'm not sure why you're here, Fitz just left."
She turned to face Jerry, a nervous smile on her face
"Well I know it's just..."
"Why are you searching through my stuff?"
She tried to keep cool as he stepped forward, his significantly taller stance casting a shadow over her entire body. She dodged any eye contact. She stuttered, looking around
"I thought I left something here."
He eyed her suspiciously
"You came all the way down here for that? And you never go in this room anyways."
"Well I thought I'd try."
She took a stride forward, making her way towards the door.
As she went to open the door, his hand held it shut. Her eyes widened in fear, and she didn't turn to face him
"Wh...what are you doing?"
His hand made its way to her back, wrapping it around her small waist and forcing her to face him. He smiled at her.
That horrible grin.
"Well you didn't think we could just talk and not have a little fun, did you?"
She was trying hard to not stutter
"I...I need to get home J..Jerry."
She tried pushing him away, but he only pulled her closer
"Right here Mels. You like that right? When I call you Mels? Doesn't my son call you that? The same stupid son who can't even get it up enough for his stubborn but still deviously beautiful wife?"
His fingers ran through her smooth locks, then roughly making their way to her neck, wrapping them around tight enough for it to become slightly harder to breath.
"Don't you like it? Rough? Or did Fitz fuck you as pathetically as I expected him to? I guess you don't know what it's like because when I gave it to you hard you go around telling my idiotic child that I raped you."
She whimpered, terrified by the evil in his eyes. He pushed her against the door, his fingers now forcibly running down her chest to the button on her jeans. She pushed her hips forward, trying her best to shove him off of her. She desperately wanted to scream, but the pressure that his hand was putting on her windpipe made it almost impossible to even breathe.
He smirked as he saw her failed attempts to escape, and he placed his lips on the softness of her neck, running his hand down her face as he did so.
She responded by spitting on his face.
He wiped it off, smiling at her
"Well look who got a little fight in her? Whatever, I think you're just making me want you more sweetheart."
She struggled as hard as possible to push him away, but he retaliated by forcing her head onto the hard surface of the door
"Let me show you how rough I can really get princess."
He attempted to pull her pants down, but her instincts kicked in and she slammed her knee as hard as possible into his groin.
He let out a pained grunt and took a step back, letting her go.
She was too angry though, and her adrenaline was too high just to leave. She yelled out as loudly as possible
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
He glared at her, regaining his composure
"You're a little bitch aren't you?"
She could see the mixture of irritation and hunger in his eyes, but this time she refused to be scared.
She stood as tall as she could, and walked as close to him as possible
"Fine, maybe I am. Maybe it's because I'm not here to be some sex toy for you whenever you're mad at your fucking son. I'm here because I want you to rot in hell for all the shit you have put me through."
He looked surprised as she began causing him to walk backwards. She couldn't stop talking. She wasn't done with letting her rage out
"I am not a whore or an asset or a bitch or whatever you want to call me. I am a human being. I know you don't want to think that because you'd rather just force me to have sex with you. But that's true. And yes, as a human being I have feelings; I have a soul, not that I would expect you to know. Which means that consequences follow when I'm hurt. And for that, I will drag you down with me."
He raised an eyebrow, still confused as to what she meant.
She handed him a paper, and turned away from him. He stared at her, than putting his attention to the document that was in his hand. He looked up in shock
"You're pressing charges against me?"
She continued to walk away. He tried his best to not sound distressed, but his voice easily portrayed his nervousness
"You have no proof. You'll only drag us both down."
She proceeded to ignore him
"You'll ruin both of us, mine and your political careers and our lives!"
She finally turned to look at him, a glare of determination in her eyes
"Then I'll guess I'll meet you in hell."

Dammmmmmn my girl Mellie is slaying! This chapter took soooo long to write because there was so many different scenes. Not to mention I actually wanted Mellie to be accurate to the TV show. I've read so many fanfics where Mellie is just treated and acts like a timid victim, and yes while she is still healing, she's always gonna be that sassy, outspoken, takes no crap from anyone kind of women. Well I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and thanks, as always, for continuing to read! ❤️