It's the beginning of freshman year and Mellie's walking back to her dorm from a double date that her friend Elizabeth set up. Her date was with a guy who was undoubtedly both handsome and charming. He was also persistent because he insisted on walking Mellie back to her dorm. The date was all kind of a blur. She spent most of it checking out the blonde waitress who served them for the night. When they reached the front steps of the resident hall Mellie finally turns to face him.

"Well thanks for walking with me, Fred."

"Fitz. My name's Fitz."

"Sorry. Fitz. Wait, Fitz as in Fitzgerald Grant?"

"Yes." He says as he looks down with embarrassment. "You follow politics?"

"Absolutely. I thought you looked familiar. I hear your dad's thinking about running for president in the next two years."

"Those are just rumors. He doesn't have it in him to actually run for office."

"Good. You don't share your dad's political views do you?"

"I pretend to for his sake but no. He's a bit old-fashioned."

Mellie chuckles. "Well that's a nice way of saying 'sexist' and 'homophobic'."

"Yeah, he really makes me proud." He responds with sarcasm while raking his fingers through his hair. He takes a deep sigh and then continues. "So why are you so into politics?"

"I want to be president some day." This is the first time that Mellie has ever said this to a stranger. She wonders if she sounds ridiculous.

"I don't know you very well but I think that's very ambitious of you. American doesn't know it yet but we could use a strong female president and I could help you. I could be your beard if you'd like. You were checking out our waitress all night, so I'm guessing that you're gay or bisexual. I know that's a thing too. Or maybe you don't like labels at all."

She thinks about lying to him. She thinks about telling him to leave so that she'll never have to see him again but his eyes are incredibly kind and he's right. She could use a beard. "I'm gay." That was definitely the first time Mellie had ever said those two words out loud and to her surprise Fitz seems unbothered by them.

"Do you want to grab a beer? I know a place that doesn't card."

Mellie scrunches her face and replies. "I don't like beer."

"You'll like this kind. I promise."

Olivia walks into the hospital room and finds Mellie on the other side of the room sitting in the chair next to Fitz's hospital bed. She's in the same spot that Olivia had left her three hours ago. She looks exhausted and she's lost some weight. It's been a week since the shooting and Fitz still hasn't woken up from his coma.

Olivia stands next to Fitz's bed and grabs his hand. "Any changes?"

Olivia looks over to see Mellie shake her head.

"Have you eaten anything since I left?"

Mellie shakes her head again and Olivia let's out a deep sigh. "You need to eat something Mellie or you're going to end up in a bed just like this?"

There's a long pause until Mellie breaks it. "Do you believe in God, Olivia?"

Mellie hadn't spoken all day so the question had startled her. She wanted to tell Mellie that she had lost her faith a long time ago but she knew that wasn't what Mellie needed to hear.

"You need to be strong, Mellie. You and Sally are tied right now. One of you will be the president of the United States tomorrow night."

"I don't care about the election anymore."

"Fitz would want you to put up a fight."

"You don't know that."

"I do." Olivia finally walks over to the other side of the room and kneels down in front of Mellie. "I remember you telling me that Fitz wasn't even a little surprised when you told him you wanted to be president some day. That's because he believes in you and he would want you to do the same thing right now. You have to fight for this."

Mellie finally takes her eyes away from Fitz and looks Olivia in her eyes. "What do I have to do?"

"Well the election is going to go one of two ways. You're going to lose the election because Fitz is in a coma. People are going to think that because you are a woman, you cannot run this country because you will be too emotion. It's sexist but that is a strong possibility."

"What's our other outcome?"

"You win the election because the American people feel sorry for you."

"This isn't how I wanted things to go Olivia. I don't want people to feel sorry for me. I don't want to win like that. I want people to vote for me because they believe that I'm the best candidate to run this country."

"Then you need to make a statement. And soon. The People need to know that you can still run this country regardless of Fitz's condition. They need to know that you will excel at it because no one is better at multitasking than a woman. You need to remind them that Fitz is in a coma and in critical condition. We need all of the sympathy votes we can get." Olivia reaches into her bag and pulls out a thin folder. "I've written this for you to read but feel free to make any changes to it. Try not to reveal any personal thoughts and if you're going to mention God try not to do it more than twice. Abby can have a news crew outside in thirty minutes but you need to eat something first, ok?"

"Ok." Mellie replies while looking over the speech. It's well written and quite possibly Olivia's best work yet. "Will you stand by me when I go out there?"

"Of course. I'll always stand by you, Mellie." Olivia stands up and takes her hand. "Come on. Let's get you some food."

Mellie is standing in front of a mirror in a chapel. She's wearing a wedding dress that's a little old-fashioned but it had been her mothers and she had insisted that Mellie wear it.

"You look beautiful."

Mellie turns around to see Fitz standing in the doorway. "You know it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding."

"Well I'm not planning on making a run for it. Are you?"

"No."

"Then I'll say we're pretty good. Till death do us part or whatever.

It's the night of the election and everyone who's ever been apart of Mellie's campaign is crammed into a conference room. So far Mellie has own two of five of the swing states and so has Sally. Virginia is still up for grabs.

The room is full of anxiety. Liv's phone rings for the hundredth time that night and for once she actually takes the call. She excuses herself and then Mellie turns to face Olivia's team.

"I know I haven't been the nicest to you guys but you three voted for me right?"

"Yes." Says Harrison while spinning his phone around in his hand.

"I don't vote." Replies Huck without taking his eyes off his laptop.

"I hate Republicans so you know I voted for you." Answers Abby before showing Harrison something on her phone.

"Well thank you."

Abby smiles at this because this is the first time she's ever heard Mellie thank them. "You're nervous. Take a deep breath. Maybe grab a drink."

Mellie takes Abby's suggestion and grabs a class of scotch. She downs it in one and then leaves the room to find Olivia alone in the hallway kicking the wall.

"What's wrong?"

Olivia looks up surprised. "Nothing. Just stressed about Virginia."

"I've been thinking a lot about the possible outcome of the election today. I've been thinking about Fitz too. I've been wondering if he'll ever wake up. If I win this election I want him to see me in that White House. He's always believed in me." Mellie takes a few steps closer to Olivia as she reaches into her blazer's pocket. "And so have you." She pulls out a box and Olivia immediately recognizes it.

"You kept it."

Mellie opens the box and then replies. "I did. I thought about throwing it away a couple of times. I know I could have given it away but when I first saw this ring I knew it was meant for you and no one else to wear. So I'm glad I kept it. If I lose this election then I want us to get married. Soon. And if I win I'd still like us to get married. We'd just have to wait four to eight years. We'll get married on an island somewhere because I know how much you like the water. That's if you want to marry me. Do you?"

"Yes."

Mellie takes the ring out of the box and puts it on Liv's wedding finger. "I know it's small. I can get you a bigger one."

"No. I love it. It's beautiful." Olivia kisses Mellie and it's passionate. As if it may very well be their last kiss. "I love you."

Someone in the hallway clears their throat and it causes the two to spring apart. Mellie turns around to see Abby standing there. "They're about to announce Virginia."

When they enter the room, it's absolutely quiet. Everyone's eyes are on the TV screen. The results are aired a few seconds later.

The TV screen reads: Mellie Grant wins the election.