This is what I come up with after defrosting my car on a Monday morning and listening to too many love songs ;) My first FF in English so, please cut me some slack :)
Thanks go to Steffili for beta reading this :)
I do not own The Good Wife :(
Through the Storm
"We made it!" Peter stopped the car in his driveway and took the key out of the ignition. He turned to look at Alicia, whose gaze was on her own car standing next to them, covered with five inches of snow at least. She could even see a layer of ice beneath it.
"Come on, let's get out of the car and into the house." Peter opened the door and a gust of wind immediately pushed thick snowflakes inside. It had been crazy to drive back in this weather from Rockford and it had taken them nearly 4 hours to cover the 80 miles. She shook her head at herself for wanting to drive home in this weather. However, she had not wanted to spend another night away from home, so Peter had finally given in and rented a car to get her home. Eli and the driver of the campaign-bus had stayed behind, telling them more than once to do the same.
"Don't even think about it!" Peter's voice yanked her out of her thoughts. He was holding the door open for her to get out of the car. He had taken their bags out of the trunk and even though it had only taken a minute, his coat and hair were covered thickly with fresh snow. He looked tired, having driven the whole way by himself through the snowstorm that seemed to be getting worse with every mile. She shook her head, signaling him that she would not attempt to get back into the city tonight. He approvingly nodded his head, picked up the bags and walked towards the front door. She got out of the car and followed Peter towards the house slowly, making sure not to slip on the icy surface.
She stepped into the dark hallway, closing the door behind her and automatically reaching for the light switch, but nothing happened. "We lost power." Peter's voice came from further down the hallway. After a few seconds, her eyes had adapted to the dark room and she could see that he was looking for something in the wall closet. Finally, he closed the door again and a bright white light illuminated a part of the room. He had found a flashlight. He walked towards her, handing her a second one. Before she could switch it on Peter held his flashlight beneath his face. "Are you afraid? Boo!" he whispered to her in a wicked voice. "Peter! Stop it!" she shrieked and slapped him on his arm. Peter lowered the flashlight and chuckled. "Sorry! I couldn't resist!" He turned away and walked towards the living room. "I'll light up the fireplace, maybe you can see if you find some candles." Alicia switched on her flashlight and went into the kitchen towards the drawer she used to store the candles, but when she opened it, she just found silverware, sparkling in the beam of light. She shut the drawer again and looked around. It seemed to be the same kitchen as "before". That's how she mentally referred to the time before the scandal about her husband's infidelity.
This was not her kitchen anymore and suddenly she felt like a stranger who had somehow ended up in the wrong house. She looked outside the window hoping the storm had eased up, but with a heavy sigh she recognized that in the few minutes since they had left the car, it had gotten worse. She was barely able to see the street through the thick white wall of snow that was falling down. She knew that Peter was right. It would be dangerous and insane to drive to her apartment, but right now she would rather risk being out on the icy streets than staying here overnight and maybe even the following day. She glanced again at the dark cloudy sky that incessantly released thick flakes onto the ground. If it kept falling at this rate, they could be stuck here for days. The thought of that made her uncomfortable.
She would not be able to avoid talking about their situation to Peter, something she'd managed to do well over the past weeks. Although they saw a lot more of each other recently, their tête-à-tête in the campaign bus had been only the start to a series of more or less regular meetings in private. She had been very clear to Peter that no one could find out about their "affair". It was enough that Eli had seen her leaving the bus back then. She could not risk anyone else finding out or give Eli the impression that something more was going on. So she had been here rather often in the last weeks as her apartment was off limits because of the kids. However, she had always made sure never to spend the night here although she sensed that Peter wanted her to. And despite the fact that she had found it harder the last few times to leave him afterwards, she forbade herself to give into her feelings. She knew that Peter wanted to talk about where their newfound intimacy was leading them, but she could not yet bring herself to make any commitments to him. She was happy with the situation as it was right now and refused to think of the future. Therefore, she had made it a habit to get out of the house rather quickly after they had slept together. She felt the same urge right now.
She had been a little relieved that Peter was too concentrated on driving earlier for them to have a real conversation. So the drive had been rather silent on their part, the radio with the frequent weather warnings providing the only sound in the car.
"Did you find the candles?" Peter's voice jerked her out of her thoughts for the second time since they got here. "No." She turned around and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know where you keep them. They aren't where I used to store them." She let the beam of the flashlight rest on the drawer she had opened earlier. Peter walked over to the pantry door and opened it. "No, I keep them here." He reached inside and produced two packs of candles, a lighter and a box of matches. "Can you light some of them in the living room and maybe also some in the hallway? I am not sure how long those flashlights will last and I don't think I have any more batteries in the house." He handed her the candles and the other things. She switched the flash light on again and started to find her way through the kitchen. "Alicia?" She turned towards him again. "Are you ok?" She was glad he could not really see her face in the darkness, as he held the beam of his flashlight towards the ground in order not to blind her.
"Yeah." She paused, thinking about if she should tell him that she wanted to try and drive home. She cleared her throat."Maybe I should try and get home somehow tonight. I worry about the kids a little."Peter let out a sigh. "You cannot be serious, Alicia. Look outside. It's gotten worse since we came here. There are at least 10 inches of snow on the ground, not to mention that your car is covered in even more snow and ice." He walked towards her. She could see the worry and care in his eyes."I won't allow you to go out there and drive the 30 miles to your apartment." She could tell by his tone that he was serious. She looked up to him shrugging apologetically.
"It was just an idea. You're right. I was stupid. Of course I'll stay." She turned to finally get to the living room as his voice stopped her again. "I will have to go out to the garage and get more wood. That what's left in here will not last through the night." He walked towards the door, handing her his cell phone in passing. He had just remembered that hers had died last night and she had forgotten to bring her charger. "Why don't you call the kids while I'm out and make sure they are ok and your brother is taking good care of them." He smiled at her. "Don't you want to talk to them, too?" Alicia called after him, while he was already opening the front door. "Tell them I said Hi and keep it short, I only have one bar left on the battery and God knows when the power will come back on."
Alicia dialed her home number and after some rings the sleepy voice of her brother greeted her with a "Hello?"
"Hi, Owen. It's me. Are you and the kids ok? Do you have power?"
"Hi, sis. What time is it? I've already been asleep." He paused and Alicia checked her watch. It was past midnight. "Sorry, Owen. I did not check the time. We just came back from Rockford and I wanted to make sure you were ok. And I assume you have power as the phone is working." She could picture her brother laying on her couch in the living room. Although she had a guest room, Owen mostly fell asleep on the couch in front of the TV when he spent the night at her place.
"You drove home in this storm?" She could tell from his voice that he was fully awake now. "Where are you? Are you stuck somewhere? And from whose phone are you calling?"
"It was a bad idea, but we made it in one piece. I am at Peters now. And I will spend the night here." She heard him let out a sigh of relief and quickly filled him in on how the drive had been and that they had no power.
"Are the kids asleep, yet?" she finally asked. "Yes, they went to bed over an hour ago. Do you want me to wake them?" "No. Just tell them I'll be home as soon as possible and that they should not worry. I will call again in the morning. And also tell them their Dad said Hi." Owen let out a snort. "You will be ok, sis?"
"Yes, of course! Gotta go now or this cell will die on me, too. Good night, Owen."
She ended the conversation before her brother could say anything more. The last thing she needed right now was a discussion about Peter with her brother. She knew that Owen thought she should have divorced Peter long ago. Although he looked after the kids when she was on the campaign trail on weekends he did not at all approve that she helped Peter. She chuckled as she imagined Owens face if he ever learned how close, at least sexually, her relationship to Peter had become again in the last weeks. She had been close to telling him a few times, but decided against it every time. She loved her brother but he would probably tell their mother and she still had not gotten over the drama at Thanksgiving. However she had to admit that her mother's remark about all that mattered was happiness had been what started things up again with Peter. Maybe she should be thankful to her mother for that.
She placed the cell phone on the kitchen counter, picked up the candles and made her way to the living room. The fire had already made it more comfortable in there and Peter had shut all the doors leading into the room so the warmth would stay in there. She lit a few candles and put them up in the living room area and also took some and set them up in the hallway and kitchen.
While the temperature in the living room got cozy the other rooms got colder by the minute. Alicia wondered what took Peter so long to get more wood. She looked worried outside and decided to wait a few more minutes before she would look for him. She got the matches out of her coat pocket and went to the stove to try and get the gas burner working. At her second try it worked. She found the kettle and went to the sink to fill it with water. She had to go through several cupboards to find teabags and a pot. Once again she felt a little awkward.
She was just pouring the hot liquid into the pot when she heard the front door being opened. She walked into the hallway and saw Peter coming in, carrying a big basket full of firewood. "Finally, I was about to sent a search party after you. What took you so long?" she walked towards him and helped to carry the basket into the living room. "There was not much chopped wood left in the garage either. So I had to chop some first. Sorry it took so long." Peter fell into the nearest chair. He looked exhausted.
Alicia retrieved the tea, which they drank in silence, both too tired to talk. It had been a long day.
"I'll pull out the couch, so you can sleep in here. I'll go upstairs." Peter stood up from the chair, placing his cup on the sideboard.
"Don't be stupid, Peter. The couch is big enough for the both of us. You can't sleep in another room. They are way too cold. It's ok, if you stay here." She smiled at him. His gaze was fixed on a point behind her. "I just figured you weren't eager to spend the night with me in the same room…" he left the sentence unfinished and sighed.
Alicia closed her eyes for a second, took a deep breath and prepared herself for the discussion which would follow. She knew they needed to talk and that she somehow owed Peter an explanation, but she had hoped they could avoid it tonight. When she opened her eyes again Peter was still standing in the same spot, but looking directly at her now.
"Peter…" she started, taking another deep breath.
"Don't…" he stopped her before she could say another word. "It's ok. I'm too tired to fight with you now. So I'll accept your offer to sleep here. Thank you." A sad smile played on his lips when he turned towards the door. "I'll go upstairs and change. You want me to bring you some fresh clothes to sleep in?" he looked over his shoulder at her, the door knob already in his hand. She just nodded and smiled at him.
She went outside to her bag and got her toiletries out of it and went to wash her face and teeth in the small bathroom downstairs. When she returned, the couch had been pulled out and several pillows and blankets were placed upon it. She smiled when she found a shirt, some sweatpants and a pair of socks on one of the armchairs.
She changed and got under the blanket when she heard Peter come back into the room. He blew the candles out and stopped at the fireplace to put another log of wood into the fire, before also lying down on the couch.
"Good night." He turned away from her, trying to give her as much space as possible.
Alicia lay on her back for a couple of minutes staring at the ceiling and the shadows that were cast there by the flames. She felt that Peter was still awake as well. Finally she sat up and leaned herself towards him, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Good night, Peter. Thank you!" she laid back and closed her eyes.
A few moments later she felt Peter turning and placing his hand on top of hers that was lying in between them. She interlaced her fingers with his and gave his hand a light squeeze. A few moments later they had both fallen asleep.
