Scandal

It's 4:00 A.M.

You don't go in at 4:00 A.M. unless something big happened.

Did someone drop a nuke on us?

Separation of Church and State, Leo.

Did aliens land? Is the White House on fire?

Liv?

What?

Wait. I'm sorry.

Say that again.

What?!

Are you kidding me?!

Hey, party people.

Satan.

Last call. He was still in the bar.

You were still in the bar?

Forgive me for needing to escape your prison of a house

every once in a while to blow off a little steam.

I am paying you a fortune.

And believe me, it is the hardest money I have ever earned.

You have one job... one job...

to fake your way through this fake engagement!

- Cyrus. - What is Satan's problem this time?

What, does he want to watch? 'Cause that costs extra!

Hey! No. You have a heart condition. Sit.

He is in breach of contract.

I want that whore out of my house.

The contract says I can have a life as long as I'm discreet.

Yes, it does. But tonight,

you went out, ordered a few vodka shots,

met a cute guy... tall, blond, green eyes.

Someone saw me?

It's more than that.

Way more.

Looks like this D.C. o-m-g couple

is on the O-U-TS.

Photos on Instagram early this morning

revealed that Michael Ambruso, the former sex worker

engaged to White House chief of staff Cyrus Beene...

Michael was out getting to know

one of D.C.'s more hands-on gay bars,

called Gentleman John's.

Since the news broke early this morning,

it's been radio silence from the Chief of Staff's Office.

You have to shut this down.

Get it out of the headlines once and for all.

You have to get married...

not next month, not next year, now... this week.

It sounds like a shotgun wedding.

It is, and you're the pregnant bride.

You've pushed this wedding, what, five times?

No, four.

Y-you know the job, Liv.

There hasn't been a good time.

Of course not. It's impossible to find time

to do something you don't want to do.

Funny how that works.

Every day that goes by

gives the media another 24 hours to beat the drum.

We have to change the conversation,

to remind everyone that this is a love story,

a fairytale romance.

So, we need to go big...

something over the top, something splashy.

Cyrus, I'm sorry.

I don't want this any more than you do, but...

I can't ask the president to do that.

We need the White House.

There is no bigger stage. There is no bigger moment.

We have bills to pass,

and we need the tea partiers to pass them.

He has yet to publicly express his views on same-sex marriage,

and he can't rock the boat

with Mellie's senate campaign on the horizon.

I can't pile on and bother the president

with my hooker troubles, Liv.

I just can't. I won't.

A White House wedding?

A gay republican White House wedding?

Hosted by the First Lady...

more importantly, the republican candidate

for senator of Virginia.

Olivia, what's up?

You covering the first lady today, Peter?

Unfortunately. Why?

How'd you like to make some news?

Hosting an historic White House wedding

would be the perfect platform

for a candidate who's looking to transition

from a social figurehead

to someone who's engaging at the forefront

of one of our most divisive issues of our time.

What can I get for you?

You know those reporters outside,

talking endlessly about Michael's wild, sinful night in your bar?

Yeah. What about 'em?

They got the story all wrong.

It was an innocent bachelor party.

It was an innocent bachelor party.

Now go tell the reporters outside.

A leader taking a bold step

towards the right side of history.

Thank you all for coming.

Mrs. Grant, are you comfortable with the idea

that Cyrus Beene, your husband's openly gay chief of staff,

is getting married for a third time?

Breaking with her husband's beliefs...

decisively, unapologetically, publicly.

After careful consideration and prayer over these last years...

I am... not just for Cyrus,

who deserves his happiness, but for all Americans.

Never once considering asking the president's permission,

because this is something you feel in your heart,

in your gut.

Do you plan on attending the wedding?

That politics should never stand in the way

of fundamental rights for an oppressed population

of law-abiding Americans.

That yours is the party of Lincoln.

That love is love.

Attend? Of course I will.

I have the pleasure of hosting the event

here at the White House.

To be celebrated, never relegated or regulated.

That's all. Thank you so much.

I'm sorry, Leo, dinner's gonna have to wait.

The press wants a head on a stick,

and I don't want it to be mine.

Cyrus and his rent boy making things difficult?

We set up a war room, but it's a mess.

Hey. Hey, hey, hey.

You're doing great out there.

I'll see you at home.

I don't know. Don't I need a tie?

This is the style. Trust me.

If my name was Crockett or Tubbs.

It's purple, Janet.

Purple brings out your eyes.

You want people to notice your eyes.

It'll draw them in,

make them listen to what you have to say.

"I am Cyrus Beene,

and I would make a great comptroller."

What would I do without you?

Oh, wear the wrong clothes?

No. No, I mean it.

I can't do this without you... any of it.

I need you, Janet. Oh...

I need you.

And...

And... You know what?

Why don't we get married?

What?

But Cyrus, w-we just started dating.

Y-y-you just met me...

- I know. It's fast. I know. - But...

We've only been dating a few months.

But when you know, you know, and I know,

from the moment I laid eyes on you...

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God!

You better not be joking.

- What? - I am Catholic.

I have been saving myself.

And I can't just get divorced like those girls from holyoke.

I mean it.

I love you.

You're the love...

Of my life, my soul mate.

Marry me, Janet.

P... say yes. Please s-say yes.

Yes.

Yes, yes, yes!

We're getting married!

Aah! Oh, my God!

Aah!

Aah! Okay. Okay.

We...

Oh!

Are getting married.

Oh.

I hear we're running a quickie wedding service

out of the White House now.

I know you must be angry, Sir.

- I'm not angry. - Okay.

So, what should I say about your reaction

in the briefing today?

You should say that my views remain unchanged.

Whose idea was this? The first lady just announced it.

Mellie did not think of this. Elizabeth North?

Olivia Pope.

- You're angry, aren't you? - Still not angry.

So in the briefing, I should say...?

That my views remain unchanged.

But are you pleased? Concerned? Excited?

The president's views remain unchanged.

So the first lady's views on marriage equality have evolved,

but the president's haven't?

The president's views on the subject

remain crystal-clear.

Then why is everybody in this room