Olivia stirs in her sleep as Scandal Season 4 Episode 17 begins. She has visions of her relationship with Fitz interspersed with her time in the cell. She's awakened by the sound of a ringing telephone. Charlie and Quinn get a call, as does Abby. They all convene at OPA where Huck brings Michael in, drunk, after he was found closing down a bar. Cyrus is there and Michael calls him Satan, which reveals how well their fake engagement is going.

Pictures of Michael and another man surfaced on Instagram, throwing images of his affair with Cyrus front and center on the news cycle. Olivia tells Cyrus that the only way to handle the crisis is to shut it down by getting married immediately. He's pushed the wedding back four times and now he has to change the conversation. Olivia visits Mellie to convince her to host the wedding, both to help Cyrus and to help her senate campaign.

As Cyrus prepares to marry Michael, he remembers his first marriage to Janet and the night he proposed. It was a joyous occasion not at all like the moment in which he currently finds himself.

Abby discusses Cyrus' wedding plans with Fitz and asks how to handle the press as they ask for his views on same-sex marriage. He knows Mellie didn't come up with the quickie wedding plan and Abby reluctantly tells him it was Olivia's idea.

Mellie goes into full wedding planning mode making arrangements to host the ceremony in the Rose Garden. Elizabeth announces that they're waiting on the seating chart until Michael's parents RSVP and Michael asks Cyrus to intercede hoping they can un-invite his parents. Cyrus remembers the moment before his own wedding when he broke up with his boyfriend in order to avoid getting sick and also to attempt to live a happy heterosexual life. 

Sally Langston has moved into the media circus now that her days in the White House are over. She has an insider in the White House feeding her information about Cyrus' wedding to Michael and she's offering a reward for proof that the entire thing is a sham, calling out the Grant administration in the process.

Elizabeth isn't happy that Mellie went with Olivia's idea to host the wedding because now she's tied up in Sally Langston's muckraking. Olivia sends Quinn and Huck to dig into Michael's background to ensure he isn't hiding anything and then realizes that someone inside the White House is feeding information to Sally's camp without knowing. That person is Abby.

Abby and Leo argue over who broke their "church and state" rule for their relationship. Leo says Abby talked and she tells him he didn't have to use the information. He points out that she would've done the same and she has no rebuttal. When he goes into the restroom, she takes his phone from his pocket.

Michael comes into Cyrus' side of the house which sends Cyrus into a rage. As he goes into the closet to confront his future spouse he remembers the night Janet told him she wanted a divorce. After telling him she was having an affair she told him she knew he was gay. Then she said goodbye. Then he remembers James. When he snaps out of his daydream, Michael is leaving the closet citing laundry mix-ups as his reason for being there.

Huck learns that Michael has a second phone and has been having an affair with a man named Phillip Reed. Abby has already arrived at this information by listening to Leo's voicemails. Lizzie and Mellie want to call the wedding off but Olivia says no. That night Cyrus remembers the day he married James. 

Olivia continues to have her nightmare about Fitz and being kidnapped. Upon waking she also remembers Cyrus' wedding day when he married James. It was the day Fitz gave her the ring. The ring is the origin of the pet name "Sweet Baby." She gets out of bed and goes in search of the ring.

Later she goes to the White House to see Fitz in the Oval Office. She asks him to sign a document they can use as a bargaining chip with Sally and he notices that she isn't wearing the ring. He compliments her on the decision to go around his back to Mellie.

Olivia visits Sally at the TV studio and offers her the position of Secretary of State in exchange for canceling her interview with Phillip Reed. Sally refuses the offer and says that sitting behind her "bully pulpit" and reaching nearly 4 million people is her position of power.

Cyrus says he's not ready to leave the White House and his position as Chief of Staff when Olivia tells him she struck out with Sally Langston. Olivia's other card to play is that of the jilted lover, but she cautions Cyrus that doing so sends Michael to the media wolves who would destroy him. Cyrus is okay with that option.

Michael and Cyrus have dinner with his parents and Cyrus learns that Michael's parents do not approve of Michael's sexuality. They don't support the wedding and are only attending because Elizabeth North paid them. Cyrus softens toward Michael and what he's been through in that moment. Michael asks to borrow Cyrus' shampoo and drops his toiletry bag in the floor. When Cyrus tries to help him clean up, Michael shoves him away prompting Cyrus to remember the first time he worked James to help the White House.

When Olivia walks into the war room amidst the chatter of canceling the wedding, she looks at Cyrus and realizes he still wants to go through with the wedding in order to save Michael. They discover that Daniel Douglas was one of Michael's clients and use that information to shut her up. It works.

Cyrus finds Michael sitting alone before their wedding and Michael talks about how alone he is in this life he's living. Cyrus promises him that no matter what, he will try to be Michael's someone so he'll never be alone. While Mellie talks to the crowd gathered to witness the ceremony, Fitz looks toward Olivia. She's wearing the ring again.