This is based on the way I think the writers are going to take things forward with Alicia and Peter at the end of this season and into season 4. The Will bits, I fear, are just wishful thinking!

Will was relaxing in his apartment, bare feet propped on the coffee table, beer in hand, watching the ball game on TV. The knock at the door surprised him. A glance at his watch revealed that it was gone 10 and he wondered who would be calling, unannounced, at this time of night.

He padded over to the door and a look through the peep hole revealed an anxious looking Alicia standing outside. He was gripped by a mix of hope and unease and a surge of adrenaline. He had no idea why she was here but he opened the door and stood back for her to enter.

"Alicia..."

"Will, I'm so sorry to come by so late but.." she hesitated, seemed to find her resolve "I need to talk to you.."

"Sure, no problem, come on in..."

They stared at one another uneasily. Will pulled himself together and motioned her into the apartment. "Take a seat. Would you like a beer?"

She nodded, looking relieved that the ice had been broken.

He grabbed a beer from the fridge and strolled over to where she was sitting, nervously, on the edge of her seat.

He sat near her but not touching and waited for her to speak

"I...this is so hard...I want you to understand...what you see on the TV tomorrow...I want you to know..." she tailed off looking more uncertain than ever.

Will felt his heart sink. He knew this wasn't going to be good or what he wanted to hear but she looked so miserable, so vulnerable, he felt the need to reach out to her, protect her in whatever way he could no matter how much it hurt him.

"Alicia, it will be fine. Whatever you've come to tell me, it will be fine, we'll be good."

"I'm...I'm going back to Peter"

He fought for breath, whatever he might have been expecting it wasn't this, he felt anger surge within him but struggled for calm, to keep his features impassive..

"Go on..."

"Are you familiar with Mike Kresteva?"

"Of course, the blue ribbon panel, he's a player and not one of the good ones. What's this got to do with you and Peter?" He was pleased at how even his voice sounded.

"He's going to run against Peter for Governor. He's bad news for this state, he will not run a clean shop and for all that Peter has proved to be a lousy husband, he wants to do a good job.."

Will cut her off, "Are we talking about the same man? The one who tried to indict me and ruin my firm, loose you your job as a result?"

"That was jealousy, a weakness he would not normally give in to but he understood what was going on between you and me before we even saw it ourselves. Maybe it went back as far as Georgetown...I don't think he ever meant it to go as far as it did but once he put Wendy Scott Carr on the case, she had an axe to grind, it got away from him. It was personal not political and I think he genuinely regrets it, he won't go there again and I'm so sorry for what you've had to go through. He thinks he loves me and saw that as a way of regaining control but he knows now that that is not going to happen, at least where I am concerned".

Will tried to keep his voice even, "So why are you going back to him?"

"Jackie has bought our old house and Peter is moving back in, the kids are so excited about returning to their childhood home and no one knows that Peter and I have been living apart, we never made it official or public. If I don't go with them then that will become the story and Peter will have no chance of becoming Governor. He behaved really badly where you are concerned but he is actually a good and honest politician, he went to jail because he was trying to do the right thing. I don't want to be with him but I think it's the right thing to do, to stop Kresteva getting in."

Again, anger threatened to come to the surface, "And you are here, telling me all this because...?"

"I want, no need you to understand the reality"

"And that would be?"

"My family know the truth"

"And that is?"

Alicia closed her eyes and thought back to the excruciating conversation she'd had earlier in the evening. She'd made it clear to Peter that she would share a house but not a bed with him. That she would back his campaign on the proviso that Jackie had absolutely no insight as to what the real situation was, that he would give her a quick, no contest divorce once the campaign was over, and that the children knew the truth. That was the hardest part. Peter didn't like it but he valued his career above all else and, as far as Alicia was concerned it was non negotiable. She didn't want either child, Grace in particular, getting their hopes up, so she and Peter had talked to them together. Zach was philosophical, his thoughts were heading for college and he had already discovered that life could be complicated with his various girl friends. He was a typically self obsessed teenager but sufficiently aware to know that his Mom had had a really tough time and he wanted her to be happy. He'd had to be the man of the house for enough time to recognise that sometimes the best outcome was not necessarily the one you would wish for. He had his suspicions about where his Mum's affections lay but had no desire to get involved in the details. He was fine with whatever.

Grace was a different story. Firstly she wanted to know why her parents thought it OK to live a lie and that was a hard one for both of them. Peter stepped in first, explained that it was entirely his fault that the marriage had failed and that they weren't technically living a lie because they had never gone public about the separation. He then attempted to explain why sometimes the end justified the means and that they both felt that it was good for their state that Peter become governor.

Grace's next question was as predictable as impossible to answer without opening a whole new can of worms. "But surely Mum, if you and Dad are living together, you could be OK again?"

Once again Peter stepped up to the plate. "No Sweetheart, I'm so sorry but that is not going to happen. I wish it could but I treated your Mum really badly, I betrayed all her trust in me, not once but several times and I no longer deserve her love. She deserves to be loved by someone better than me and I think she's found that. "

Grace looked puzzled and alarmed at the same time. "What do you mean, Dad, Mom?"

Peter reached for Grace's hand and said gently, "Your Mom has found someone who will love her much better than I have and I want you to know that that's OK with me. I am OK with it and I want you to be alright with it too"

"Who?" Grace whispered

"Is it Will?" Zach joined the conversation.

Alicia drew in a deep breath. "Will and I have been friends for a long time. He stuck his neck out and gave me a job when your Dad went to jail. We were together for a few months after your Dad and I separated. We are not together any more and if your Dad and I live together again I will be faithful to him, as I always have been."

Grace was overwhelmed with questions. "Do you love him? Does he love you?"

"It is not a conversation we've had and for now it's not relevant, we are just talking about now and what's going to happen for the next few months."

"Sorry Mom, no deal, we need to know the truth. If you're talking honesty we need to know, if you say there's no chance of you and Dad getting back together, is that because you're in love with Will?" Zach looked so earnest as he posed the question that Alicia felt compelled to be honest.

"I don't know, it was so complicated when we were together, but I miss him, I really, really miss him...

And suddenly Alicia was back in the present with Will.

"They all know that I am in love with you. I don't know what you want to do with that or whether you reciprocate it and it's fine if you don't. I wouldn't blame you after the way I've treated you. But I just wanted you to know before it all kicks off tomorrow."

She stood up to leave, "I should get back, I'm so sorry Will, for everything.."

She made to move away but Will grabbed her and pulled her close.

"Alicia, I have loved you for 20 years. I am so glad that you came to me this evening. I do not begin to understand why you're going back to Peter but whatever reason you have, you came to me. For that I am grateful and I hope it means that some day, some time in the future, we will be together and I will wait for that. I told you once before that I'm not interested in anyone else and that is still true. You are the love of my life and I will wait for you.

Do what you have to do, whatever happens I will be here for you