Ted raised his head from his pillow, half asleep in a daze. His eyes peered over the hair scattered on his chest, the soft leg draped over his, the sheets matted and twisted pushed aside and hanging over the edge of the bed. He kissed the top of her head and she let out a small moan, brushed a soft kiss to chest and lifted her head to meet his eyes.

"Is it morning already?"

"It doesn't matter what time it is, Peggy."

The sun was beginning to rise outside the window, Ted pulled her close to meet his lips as Peggy pushed herself up and in the same moment kicked off the remaining bed sheets to the floor, along with an abandoned shoe that fell to the floor and made a thud sound. They broke from their kiss and shared a laugh.

Ted held her gaze, "I think we may have destroyed this hotel room."

"That's not all you destroyed" Peggy smiled coyly, motioning to the marks Ted left on her in the midst of passion. Ted planted soft kisses on her shoulders and neck.

Peggy laughed, "I can't remember the last time someone gave me a hickie."

"Oh?" Ted smiled, he flipped her onto her back and climbed on top of her, pinning her down, kissing and sucking on her neck again.

"Ted!"

"It's okay, Peggy, you like to wear scarves anyways, no one is going to notice."

He returned back to her neck, as she let her hands wander down his back and scratched up his spine.

Ted let out a soft "ow" and groan; the sound escaped from his lips was muffled by Peggy's neck. She spread her legs and searched for him with her hand, guiding him into her, Ted dropped his focus on her neck, kissed her cheek and let out a soft "Peggy" as he entered her completely.

…

The night before Ted and Peggy had met at the hotel bar for drinks. Ted wanted to talk with Peggy, and upon returning to the New York office had pleaded with her time and time again to talk, which Peggy always rejected. This went on for weeks, until after a dismal interaction in front of clients, Don persuaded Peggy to take Ted up on his offer, at least, for the sake of the company.

Ted waited at the bar alone, he was on his third drink of the night (not to mention the previous drinks he had at the office earlier that day) and it began to sink into him he was becoming an alcoholic like his father before him. He stirred the glass in his hand, feeling the rim, letting the condensation of the glass to rub onto his fingertips. Peggy was running late, they agreed 8pm but it was 8:30pm now and Ted wondered if she would show or not. He raised the glass to his lips, breathed in the perfume of the alcohol in the glass but it set back down on the counter before taking a sip.

Letting out a sigh, he let go of the glass and rubbed his temples. The divorce from Nan was settled quietly without much of the office knowing, besides Don and a few of the partners. Ted left his life behind, agreed on terms to see the kids during the holidays and over the summer, that's if, they wanted to and didn't already have plans. His children, like all children would, he assumed, took sides with Nan and pushed Ted away. He felt himself sink into further darkness, he thought New York would be a salvation, running away from Peggy, putting three thousand miles between them did nothing for Ted but made him lose hope in all things, and above all, life.

He knew moving back would not mean he and Peggy could pick up where they left off, but for the first time in months, he had hope. Seeing her in meetings, seeing her pitch to clients, Ted felt the weight of his heart lighten and crash back down, when he would attempt to congratulate Peggy and she would brush him off. This meeting tonight, he thought, could be a new start, at least for our working relationship. But Peggy running late worried him.

What if she doesn't show? What will happen on Monday? I can't…

Ted's thoughts were interrupted as Peggy arrived at the bar and placed her hand on his shoulder, "Ted?"

Ted looked up and saw Peggy; she flashed him a worried smile.

"Hello, Peggy. Please have a seat."

"Sorry I'm late. There were plumbing issues at the apartment and I had someone come over to work on things, and…" Peggy saw Ted fiddle with his glass again, "—you don't want to hear any of this."

"No, no it's quite all right. I'm sure it's a lot to handle."

Peggy ordered a drink and they sat in silence at the bar for a moment until her drink arrived.

Peggy took a sip of her drink, took a long pause and then turned to Ted, "So?"

"So…" Ted let the word slowly escape his lips, what could he say to her at this moment. All these memories and thoughts rushed through his mind, his eyes darted from Peggy to her drink, where an imprint of her lipstick stayed on the glass and for a moment, was envious of the glass that would touch her lips.

"I guess we should talk…" Peggy started.

Ted hung his head, mumbled under his breath and Peggy leaned in to hear him.

"I'm sorry?" Peggy asked.

Ted let out a sigh, "Peggy, I'm sorry."

"Oh…"

"The way I left, and then coming back here…and seeing you" his words began to choke him, his hand began to tremble and he clutched at his glass to settle him. "I'm sorry for everything, I know saying sorry won't change the past, but I am sorry."

Peggy swallowed her emotions down hard, she stared at Ted, a man she once thought she knew. Her anger and resentment towards him had blinded her to seeing the man Ted had become. Sweat poured down his face and glistened on his skin and for a second thought she saw a tear run down his cheek. He wiped at his face and sniffled, Peggy's lips let out a small gasp as Ted raised his head ever so slightly to catch her eyes. She was right, he was crying, his big soft eyes were now bloodshot red and she wondered how this strong man could have become this, this person in front of her.

"Ted…" Peggy started but didn't know what else to say in that moment.

Ted cleared his throat, picked up his drink and took a sip.

"This is not how I intended this night to go. I – I just want us to be able to work together again, like we use to. Do you think that's at all possible?"

They shared a tender moment, and Peggy let herself begin to fall under his spell, placing her hand on top his.

"Maybe this should be your last drink."

Ted nodded, and Peggy returned her hand back to her lap.

Just then Pete Campbell stopped by and put one hand on Peggy's shoulder and the other on Ted's.

"Well what are you two doing here? I'm meeting a prospective client, you two should join us, top account man and top creative, why not?"

Ted hung his head back down, and Peggy smiled up to Pete, "No, thank you, Pete. I was just leaving." She stood up her stool and grabbed her purse. Ted raised his head, looked longingly at Peggy, his eyes pleading for her to stay.

"Well, that's a shame. How about you Ted?" Pete asked.

"No. No. I'm going to head upstairs. I think I should call it a night."

"All right, I'll just do everything myself." Pete huffed and walked away.

Ted looked to Peggy, "Are you really leaving?"

"Are you going upstairs?"

"Well, I…I didn't want to join Pete" Ted stammered.

"If you like, we can continue talking upstairs."

Ted smiled and stood up from his stool, settling the tab.

"But on one condition – no more drinks." Peggy firmly stated.

Ted nodded in agreement, and they headed upstairs to his room.