This is my first published FF so please review. I already have the next two or three chapters written so if you want more, let me know.

I own nothing except for my ideas and my refusal to believe certain things have happened. I especially don't own the characters or story or the Civil Wars lyrics.

/

William Gardner was not unfamiliar with the sensation of waking up with a strange girl in his bed, so when he rolled over and saw a mess of curls sprawled across the pillow; it took his mind a second to recall that this was not just any girl.

Then, she woke up too, turning toward him. It was like looking in a mirror. She had the same October brown eyes, flecks of bronze with the sunlight flickering slowly in them. She had the same desert sand hair. She had the same propensity to ask too many questions.

"Morning Uncle Will," she said sweetly, the sleep still in her voice.

"Good morning, Sweet Bea, how'd you get in here?"

She giggled at the sound of her pet name. "Uncle Willlllllll. I'm four years old now! You can't call me that anymore." She had inherited his stubborn nature as well.

"Sorry, BEATRICE—what are you doing here?"

"Mommy went to get coffee or something and she told me to stay here with you until she got back or until you woke up but you looked like you were having a good dream and Mommy says to only wake people up when they're having a bad dream so I just stayed right next to you and thought about ponies for a while and then I fell back asleep and then you woke up and then I woke up and that's it," the little girl stated without missing a beat.

To be honest, he was having a good dream. They were always good dreams when he woke up still feeling the coarseness of her raven hair in his fingers and he could still hear the breathy way she said his name when they were alone.

Of course, he couldn't explain that to a preschooler. Instead he told her, "I was dreaming of all the fun things we were going to do together today. I have the whole day off. It's a special Beatrice/Uncle Will day."

Maybe family was what he needed. Maybe it would help him stop seeing her at stoplights and in the wine aisle at the grocery store. Maybe it would stop the tightening he felt in his chest when he smelled her perfume on a stranger walking by him on the street. He could only hope at this point.

/

Sophie Gardner was not a morning person.

She also was not the type of person to get dumped by her husband and move in (however temporary it may be) with her brother with her four year old. That happened. Sometimes, things change.

Standing in line at the Starbucks she found wandering the neighborhood around her brother's apartment, her mind was elsewhere when she realized she was next in line. As she placed her order, she heard the barista call out an order for 'Alicia.' The name rang oddly in her head. She'd heard it plenty of times…on the phone with her brother.

Lacking some of the subtlety and tact her mother wished she would have, she called out, "Alicia? Alicia Florrick?"

The woman turned cautiously around, her dark eyes ablaze.

"I'm Sophie, S-Sophie Gardner. You used to…work with my brother."

"Oh, of course," Alicia says with a synchronized sigh of relief and hesitation. "I've seen pictures of you and your daughter, I believe."

"I'm sure you have. Will loves his niece more than anything."

"Well…" Alicia looks at her watch. "I have a thing to get to. It was nice to meet you, finally."

"You too! I've heard so much about you! Take care."

The dark haired woman turned on her heel and walked out of the coffee shop, leaving Sophie to gather what she could recollect about this woman; the woman who had, in a matter of months, put her brother together and tore him apart; the woman she had told her brother didn't deserve him. Now, she wasn't sure that was true. Now, she had been in Alicia's place, willing to do whatever she could to save her marriage, to save her family.

Vaguely, she heard someone calling her name. She grabbed her coffees with a brisk 'thank you' and walked out into the blinding spring sun.

On her way home, she thought about everything that had transpired over the past month. Life changes so fast and you are never ready for the curveball, especially when you're not even up to bat. It hits you when you're in the outfield, picking daisies to put in your hair, not paying attention to the game. If she had been paying attention, maybe she would have seen this coming. She hadn't expected it when she came home one Tuesday from the studio and saw half her furniture missing. She wasn't expecting divorce papers to be sitting on the kitchen table. This was the same table where they made love the first time, and, coincidentally, the last time.

It was all moving too fast.

Legal proceedings and property divisions and custody arrangements and child support payments bounded around her head. How could it go sour so fast? Since when was the man she loved, the man sitting on the opposite side of the courtroom? She started to understand how Will felt when Alicia chose another man, another life over him.

Despite all this, she still did love him. She still thought he was a good guy. He was still Bea's dad. He was the man she'd spent six years of Saturdays making pancakes with. He was the man who proposed to her at the top of a rollercoaster. Now came the drop.

/

By the time Sophie got back to Will's apartment, he had dressed Bea in head to toe White Sox gear. He had even tried to pull her hair into a ponytail at the top of her head and truthfully, he hadn't done such a terrible job.

He didn't notice his sister staring at him while he tucked a few of Bea's stray hairs away from her face. "You'd make a good dad," Sophie said quietly.

Will chuckled. He'd only ever thought of having kids with Alicia. He imagined them with her dark curls and his eyes, her creamy skin and his long legs. He imagined playing catch in the yard. He imagined Zach and Grace as big brother and big sister. No matter how he tried, he couldn't picture anyone else in Alicia's place in the fairy tale but that was a distant dream now.

"Mommy! Guess where we're going today!" Bea ran to her mother and grabbed her pinky. "Uncle Will is taking me to a baseball game AND he's going to let me eat hot dogs."

Sophie smiled, letting her daughter's joy be her joy for a moment. "Wow, baby, that sounds like a lot of fun! Can I tag along or is this just for you guys?"

"You can come, Mom, but you can't be in charge. Uncle Will is in charge."

Will stated, in his usual stoic tone, "I got three tickets, of course you're invited."

"And I got coffee…remind me to tell you about that later." Sophie set the coffees down on the kitchen counter and went into the guestroom to change into appropriate baseball attire.

When she emerged, Bea was waiting not-so-patiently by the door. "Let's go, let's go, let's go," she sang.

Will was determined to make this a good day for everyone. He knew Sophie needed a day to clear her mind and let go and he knew it wouldn't hurt him either.

As they left his apartment, Bea wiggled her way between them, holding both of their hands. Will led them down the street to the L stop. They were not native Chicagoans and this was something you had to do in Chicago.

Approaching the stadium, Will saw a large crowd gathering and he scooped Bea up and placed her on his shoulders, feeling her tiny fingers curl around his collar. It was a perfect spring day, a perfect day for baseball. The sun was warm on their skin and the 'Windy City' was more like the 'Breezy City" that day.

The gates opened, they handed their tickets to the usher, and went to find their seats. The game moved slowly and after a hotdog and popcorn, Bea had fallen asleep in her uncle's lap. He tried his best not to wake her as the White Sox hit the game winning run.

Once the game was done, Will continued to carry Bea as Sophie carried their souvenir hats and shirts and gloves. Miraculously, they made it back to his apartment without waking the child.

/

Sophie laid Bea in the guestroom bed, delicately removing some of her game day gear. She met Will back in the living room. He was sitting on the dark leather couch, beer in hand, eyes closed. There was another beer sitting on the coffee table and Sophie picked it up smoothly as she sat next to her brother on the couch.

"So…do you want to talk about it?" He asked, knowing that she didn't.

"What's there to talk about? I'm getting divorced. That's it. Nothing I can do to change it," Sophie sighed into her beer. "Do you want to talk about Alicia?"

Will's expression turned sour.

"I met her."

"You what?"

"I met her, today, at the coffee shop."

"How did she look…I mean, how did you know it was her?" He said, catching himself.

"Well the barista called her name…and I saw a Florrick/Agos letterhead sticking out of her briefcase."

"And then?"

"I talked to her."

Will's face then filled with anger. "Why the hell would you do that?"

"I had to meet the girl who broke your heart. I wanted to see if I needed to kick her ass…but she kind of looked like she could kick mine so I just introduced myself, we talked for approximately 30 seconds and she rushed out."

"I can't believe you." Will moved away from his sister, hoping the distance would help him hide his emotion.

"SORRY." Sophie wasn't really sorry but she didn't know what else to say and she couldn't take having another person mad at her.

They sat together, but separate on the couch for what seemed like an eternity. Both of their minds were somewhere else.

For Sophie, she thought about how she'd explain to Beatrice why Mommy and Daddy didn't live together anymore and why the little girl had to travel back and forth between Baltimore and Chicago. Then she wondered if she'd even stay in Chicago. She knew she couldn't go back to Baltimore. They had too many memories there. Maybe she'd go to Mexico. Thank God, they never went there. Her mind then went back to the courtroom when the judge was determining their custody arrangements. She felt her chest tighten as she recalled her ex-husband's apathy towards visitation. He had always been such an involved father. He went to Bea's preschool Daddy-Daughter dance. He took Bea to karate. They had a standing Thursday evening ice cream date. How could someone change so fast? He didn't even put up a fight when the judge awarded Sophie with primary custody and him with Holiday and summer visitations. She felt the tears burn her eyelids and she took a long swallow of beer.

Will, on the other hand, worked to get the image that was tattooed on his eyelids out. It had been there for two years now, since she ended things. The picture was cemented a little more every time he saw her in court, especially the time with the white suit. That was the final nail in the coffin. He didn't know if he would ever get her out of his mind. He tried. Boy, did he try for twenty years. He tried with Isabel, Tammy, even Celeste. He tried with work. He tried with running. That's all it ever was though, a solid attempt. He went out swinging each at bat.

Their solemn silence was disrupted when Sophie's phone pinged with a text message. Groaning, she picked it up. The text came from a friend in the music business who knew she was in Chicago. It read, "There are two tickets with your name on them at the Vic tonight for the Civil Wars. Would love to see you!"

Looking up at Will, Sophie asked slyly, "Know any good babysitters? We're going out tonight!"

/

Sophie rifled through her suitcases for the perfect little black dress. She finally found it crumpled in the corner of the last of her 3 bags. 'Good enough,' she thought to herself, shaking it out. She hadn't worn the dress since before Bea. She had always measured time like that; before Bea, after Bea, before college, after college. Now she had another defining point on the timeline of her life: before the divorce and after. She felt anger seethe. It rose from her toes and radiated out with such a force that she decided against the 'fuck-me-pumps' she intended to wear and instead grabbed her combat boots.

She met Will in the living room. He was wearing dark grey pants and a blue shirt. He looked too much like their father, Sophie thought.

"Nice…shoes," He said bluntly.

Ignoring him, Sophie remarked, "Thank god you have those teenage neighbors. They're like built in babysitters with their convenient location."

"I didn't know I did," Will quipped.

It was after 8 and Sophie had tucked Bea into bed after three bedtime stories, two bedtime songs, and one trip to the bathroom. The babysitters arrived and Will assured them they would be home before midnight. Sophie rolled her eyes behind them, mouthing the word "killjoy" to her big brother.

Standing in front of his apartment building, Will awaited the cab he called for earlier. Sophie bounded down the stairs like she did when she was Bea's age. Will smiled to himself, feeling the good kind of nostalgia.

In the backseat of the taxi, Sophie stared out the window at the city passing by. Will watched her watching the bright lights fly by in a blur. What a pair they were, both broken by other people and looking to each other to pick up the pieces, knowing fully that it would be impossible to even find the pieces, let alone put them back together.

Will and Sophie reached the venue, Sophie tried to pay the cab driver but Will had already handed him the cash. She was annoyed but grateful that he was always taking care of her.

The line to get in the venue wrapped around the corner, but luckily Sophie was on the guest list, meaning they got in ahead of the line. "Bar?" The siblings said in chorus. She ordered her standard gin and tonic and he opted for a scotch, neat. Sophie slammed her credit card down on the counter. "This one's on the ex." She remembered on the ride over that she still had a card on his account and she decided to be as vengeful as she could for the night.

They found a table close enough to the stage to enjoy the music but far enough to wallow in self pity without too many people noticing.

The opening act was tolerable but forgettable and by the time the headliners came on, both Will and Sophie were in three drinks deep.

A hollow, haunting rhythm began.

I never meant to get us in this deep. I never meant for this to mean a thing. I wish you were the one, wish you were the one that got away.

Will swallowed hard, feeling his throat close up. The lyrics hit him. Hard. He excused himself to the bathroom. He didn't actually head to the bathroom. He went outside, letting the cool night breeze sober him up.

Sophie moved from the table to a stool at the bar and ordered another drink. She closed her eyes and let the music be the only thought in her head.

You'll always be the only one, even when you're not. You'll always be the only one, even when you're gone.

Outside, Will could hear the music. He couldn't get far enough away. Even if he could, it would still echo in his head.

Inside, Sophie was nursing drink number four when a handsome blonde approached her.

"Hello," she mumbled.

"Hey. I'm Cary. "

She turned away from him. "Bye."

At that very expedient moment, Sara, Sophie's friend who had invited her to the show, walked up. "Sophie! What's up? How are you liking the show?"

"It would be great if every song didn't remind me of my poor, sad, pitiful life."

"Who came with you? This guy?" Sara looked to the man who was still standing next to Sophie.

"Oh, no, my brother. He's around here…somewhere."

"Good, because this is Cary and he's a lawyer piece of shit."

Cary laughed. "C'mon, Sara. I'm not always a piece of shit." He moved around Sophie and hugged Sara. "It's good to see you. It's been a while."

"Have you met Sophie? She's a phenomenal writer. She used to review shows 'til she got too good for us."

"Well, I was trying when you came along," confessed Cary.

"I don't know how I feel about lawyers but I do have a pretty solid track record with pieces of shit," Sophie joked.

They all chuckled. Sara was called from back stage and she scurried off without a goodbye.

"Well, I guess we're friends now," Cary said.

"Oh yeah?" Sophie did think he was cute but he probably knew her brother and that was a situation she did not want to get into or maybe she did. It could be an easy way to get things off her mind. "If we're friends, I guess you can buy me a drink."

"I suppose I could," Cary said as he motioned to the bartender to make two more drinks.

"So…you're a lawyer."

"Guilty," he jested.

Sophie teased, "And a funny one…"

"We're not all boring. In fact, this one is having a party after the show. You should come."

She hesitated, knowing she should find Will and get home to Bea, but she continued her reckless streak. "That sounds like it could be—fun."

Then, Sophie felt a hand on her shoulder. "What-the-hell-are-you-doing-with-my-sister?" Will barked from behind her.

She was stunned. "Wait…what? You know Cary, Will?"

"Yeah, clearly he didn't tell you his last name."

Cary looked sheepishly at the ground. "Whoa, man. I didn't mean anything. I didn't know she was your sister. Not that you own her…"

"What's your last name?" Sophie asked.

"It's, uh, Agos."

"As in Florrick/Agos?"

"Guilty, again."

Sophie rubbed her temples, feeling the effects of the alcohol a little too much. Will fumed behind her. "Sorry, this is awkward. I have to go."

"See you around…" he said cunningly.

Sophie and Will walked briskly outside. Will led and Sophie held onto the tail of his shirt like she was five years old.

"I can't believe you. I can't believe him."

"Will—neither of us knew. It was harmless. He was flirting. It was nice." She spoke in short sentences, treading lightly.

"Nothing he does is nice." He hailed a cab and they got in without saying a word.

As, they pulled up to his door and got out, Sophie whispered, "You might be more messed up than me."

Will heard her but didn't acknowledge it. Yeah, I might be, he thought.