Author's Note: Ok, after my last fic I got a few requests for fluff to help smooth over the horribly sad things I put Will and Mac through. This is my attempt to make it up to you and to them. Happiness and fluff ahead! Oh, and in my mind, this takes place not too long after the season one finale. And, just so I don't confuse anyone…a Flake bar is a chocolate candy bar from England. And scones with clotted cream and jam are just yummy! As an American who spent many a summer vacation in England with relatives, these have always been the things I craved when I got back home. So, I gave my cravings to Mackenzie.
Most of the time Mackenzie McHale didn't miss home much. She didn't even really know where 'home' was anymore. She had been born in New York, raised in London and Oxford, gone back to the states for college and spent the last fifteen years flitting about the world from one assignment to the next. She hadn't been lying to Will when she said a three-year contract was the longest commitment she had ever made.
So when holidays and special occasions rolled around she really didn't notice. The odd friend or co-worker here or there had tried to console her during these times, not realizing she didn't really need consoling. They would try to take her to a pub for her birthday or buy her teapots or tea towels for Christmas thinking they were helping her recreate England in America. She would try to be polite, tell them the gifts were lovely and thank them for thinking of her. She never could make them understand that, despite how British she sounded, she really felt more at home in the U.S. than she did in the U.K.
But every once in a while, she would crave a Flake bar or a scone with clotted cream and jam and nothing could get the thought out of her head once it entered. She tended to crave these things when she was having a really bad day, which she was right now.
Jim and Maggie were at each other's throats. And while she had once enjoyed watching the soap opera that was Jim, Don, Maggie and Sloan it wasn't quite so amusing when it began to affect the show.
She had already accidentally screamed her frustration with them into Will's ear during a live broadcast. She had forgotten that she was still pressing the transmit button that allowed her voice to be heard in his earpiece when she had tried to stop Jim and Maggie's yelling from disturbing the control room.
Twenty minutes into the broadcast Joey lost the graphics for the rest of the show and he and Mackenzie were forced to cobble together a solution on the fly.
The teleprompter froze up during the last fifteen minutes of the show and she was sweating bullets watching Will improvise his way through a story about an outbreak of food poisoning at a state fair on the west coast.
By the time the show ended she was sure she had lost five years off her life from the sheer panic she had been experiencing for the last hour. She threw down her headset, grabbed her notepad and stalked off toward her office with a look on her face that dared anyone to follow her.
So she was more than a little shocked when, twenty minutes later, there was a soft knock on her office door.
"If you value your life and your job, stop knocking on my door and go home" she said from her reclined position in her office chair. Her eyes were closed and she was attempting to forget the train wreck of an evening she had just had.
"I do value my life and my job, but I don't think you can actually fire me or do me any serious bodily harm, so I'll take my chances" Will said, peeking his head into her office.
"Will, I'm sorry. I thought you were someone else. And I'm sorry for bellowing into your ear earlier. A few of our young reporters forgot where they were for a moment and started screaming at each other across the control room. I never knew I would have to play school principal and executive producer at the same time" she apologized to him. He had made himself at home in one of the club chairs across from her desk.
"Was there something you needed?" she asked him.
"Yeah, there was actually. Turn around."
"What? Will I'm really not in the mood for games today. Can we talk about whatever this is tomorrow, please?" she practically pleaded with him.
"Nope, tomorrow will be too late. Just humor me and turn away from the desk for a moment" he commanded. She did as she was told and heard some rustling noises behind her and the sound of Will's footsteps.
"Fine. This better be good Will, I am so not in the mood for …" Before she could finish he had come up behind her chair and swiveled it around.
"Happy Birthday Mac. It's not much…I didn't want to make you uncomfortable and I really would like to take you to dinner or something. Maybe later, when work settles down a little and we're both ready to do that. I just didn't want you to think I had forgotten today." He practically whispered this last part.
There, on her desk, sat a small tower of Flake bars and a single votive candle was burning in front of them. She had never seen a more beautiful sight in her life. Both, because this was exactly what she needed at the moment and because it came from Will.
She continued to sit there staring at her impromptu birthday present. Had she really forgotten her own birthday? Apparently she had, but Will hadn't. He never would.
"Make a wish, Mackenzie" he commanded.
It's already coming true, she thought to herself as she looked at his goofy smile in the candlelight. But she blew out the candle anyway.
He pulled her out of her chair and wrapped his arms around her.
"Happy Birthday Mackenzie McHale. I'm glad I get to celebrate this one with you" he whispered into her hair.
And as she clung to him, she realized in that moment she knew exactly where 'home' was. It was right here in his arms.