I don't own The Good Wife.
I don't know how or when, but I ship Johnny and Alicia. And I don't know why. I still ship Alicia and Will until the day I die, and will continue writing stories for them. But Johnny is there, alive and a very real possibility. I couldn't help but sense from the very first time we meet him that he has a thing for Alicia. His reaction to the kiss was more than enough proof and inspiration for this story.
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Alicia sat on her kitchen counter top, nursing her glass of wine. She had been home from the debate(or at least the half they finished that night) for over an hour. Grace went to a friend's house, so she was home alone.
When her phone rang, she slid off the counter to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Alicia. It's Johnny."
"Hey. What's up?"
"Are you home?"
A sudden wave of panic swept through her.
"Why? What's wrong?"
"Nothing! Nothing. I just, I just was going to stop by, if you had a few minutes."
"Yes, yes that's fine."
"Ok. I will be there in like, well, now. I'm outside your building. I will be right up."
"Oh. Okay-See you soon."
3 minutes later, Johnny was knocking on her door.
Alicia opened it, inviting him in. After shutting the door behind him, they stood in silence, Johnny staring at her.
"What?"
He smiled.
"Nothing. I just have never seen you like this."
Looking down, Alicia flushed bright pink when she realized what she was wearing. Red pajama bottoms, a black tank top, and her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail. Great.
"I'm sorry. I'll go change."
As she turned around to go put on something more appropriate, he grabbed her elbow, and smiled softly.
"Don't. You look fine."
She met his eyes, and he dropped her arm.
"Shall we go into the kitchen? I have a bottle of wine open."
"Yeah, ok."
He followed her through her apartment, and watched as she took down another glass. After filling it and handing it to him, she perched herself back on the counter top, and he leaned against the sink.
After several minutes of silence, Alicia spoke.
"So. What brings you here this late at night?"
He shrugged.
"I didn't want to go home to an empty apartment yet, and I wanted to see if you were ok."
Surprise flashed on her face.
"Why wouldn't I be ok?"
"Peter. Ramona. All that."
She dropped her gaze and picked at nonexistent lint on her pants.
"It's not the first time he cheated. And it won't be the last."
"But are you ok?"
"I'm fine."
"Saying you're fine doesn't make you fine. You know that, right?"
"I know."
"So, how are you? Really?"
Sighing heavily, she jumped off the counter and made her way to the living room. Johnny followed her, sitting on the couch next to her.
"I'm just done. You know? I'm just emotionally done."
He put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"It will be ok."
Alicia snorted.
"Yeah right. Nothing has really been ok, not since Peter slept with those prostitutes. My life has been a series of unfortunate events since then."
Johnny felt his heart go out to the woman sitting next to him.
Alicia angrily wiped at the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. Cursing under her breath, she looked at him through red rimmed eyes.
"I'm sorry for being emotional."
Fiddling with the tassels on the pillow next to him, Johnny quietly spoke.
"You know there is no law against crying, right?"
Giving him a half smile, she replied.
"When your entire personal life is always played out for the world to see, you have to stay strong."
Sliding a little closer to her, he took both of her hands into his.
"No. You don't. Not always. Look at me. Alicia, look at me. You are entitled to emotions. You don't have to keep it all together, all the time. And if you ever want out of the race, just say the word. Say the word and we are done. You can walk away."
"I don't want out. I want to win. I can do this."
He smiled.
"Yes you can."
They sat in companionable silence, until-
"You can do better than Peter."
"As State's Attorney? I know I can."
Johnny glanced sideways at her.
"Not just that. In general. You don't have to stay with him, you know."
Alicia turned so she faced him completely, confusion evident in her voice.
"What?"
Johnny continued fidgeting with the pillow tassels.
"You don't need him. He needs you, but you don't need him."
"That's not what Eli says."
"Yeah, well Eli says a lot of things."
Alicia contemplated what he said for a brief moment.
"What's this really about Johnny?"
The campaign manager mumbled out a quiet, "Nothing."
"Johnny?"
"What?"
"What's going on?"
He gazed at her.
"Ok. I'm not a beat around the bush kind of guy, so here it goes. That kiss? In the parking garage? Well-"
Alicia interrupted.
"You might want to think before you say anything else Johnny."
"I have been thinking. That's all I can think about, Alicia! You. Ever since I met you."
"Johnny-"
He held a finger to her lips to shush her.
"No. Let me finish. Since the day I met you, I knew you were special. And everyday you show just how special you are. I know your past isn't perfect, but mine isn't either. And I know that it is wrong, and unethical, and completely crazy, but when you kissed me, the world finally made sense. It may not have meant anything to you, but it meant everything to me."
He finished speaking, and waited for her to answer him. Or slap him. He didn't know which. Alicia sat in complete silence.
"Please say something Alicia. Anything."
She took a deep breath, before making a simple statement.
"I lied."
"What?"
"I lied. The kiss did mean something to me."
A streak of hope he hadn't let himself feel before went through his veins.
"It did?"
She took his hand and intertwined their fingers.
"Yes. It did."
"So what are we going to do about it?"
She looked at him with her big eyes.
"Can we do anything? I'm married. You're my manager. I have had enough sex scandal headlines to last me a lifetime."
He smirked.
"Well, part of my job is to cover up scandals."
She chuckled.
"I don't know that we should risk yet. Maybe after elections. After I div- never mind."
Johnny stared intently at her.
"After you what?"
Alicia looked down at her lap.
"I haven't told anyone yet, and just assumed that you would freak out as much I expect Eli too. I am making plans to divorce Peter. I was waiting until after elections."
Johnny rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand.
"Really?"
Alicia nodded.
"How long have you been planning this?"
"Since I found out he was screwing Ramona."
"And no one knows?"
She shook her head.
"No."
He kissed her temple.
"It will be our secret."
"Yeah. Kind of like us."
"Yeah. Although, you should know. I guess I'm not as good at hiding my feelings as I thought. Eli cornered me today. Told me that you were unavailable, and that I needed to get my head on right if I thought that I even stood a chance with you. Lectured me on being professional. He didn't want me messing this up for Peter or you."
Alicia sighed.
"The man is smart. He sees things. He knows things. We will just have to be careful. Ok?"
"Ok."
Alicia yawned, but when Johnny made the move to leave, she asked him, half asleep, to stay. Soon, they were snuggled together on the couch, Alicia tucked under Johnny's arm asleep, him playing with her hair. He listened to her even breaths, before kissing the top of her head. As he drifted off to sleep, the last thing he thought was,
"Alicia Florrick, I do believe I love you."
/
Can't decide if this needs more chapters or if I should just leave it there. Opinions please?