A/N 1. I've had this written for some time, and decided to publish it. After the first few chapters this will be a whole lot of A/W goodness! Will has to see if he can get Alicia to fall in love with him all over again! Diane and Kurt will play a big role in this as well, because who doesn't love them?! And Diane's been a big part of their lives in this one. I will cover more of everyone's backgrounds in following chapters. Feedback is always helpful, and welcomed!

A/N 2. As always I don't own The Good Wife, or its characters.

Life is filled with moments that within a matter of seconds steer the course in which we take those lives. It was a string of these defining moments that brought Alicia and Will together, and another string of moments that began tearing them apart years later. Sometimes the most difficult, unexpected moments, are the ones that truly define us. In the most difficult of times we find out who we really are, what we really want, and if we're willing to sacrifice to gain back what we once had. It was just life Will and Alicia had, but was it enough?

"You have to make the decision Will," Diane said, sullenly sitting across from him in his office. "You are the only one who can decide if you and Alicia get a second chance, or if you want to put the past behind you, and never look back."

He sighed heavily. "I know."

"Do you still love her?"

He looked into his partners eyes. The woman who'd held him together over the past week. "Yes, but I don't if she still loves me."

"It doesn't matter if she did or didn't a week ago. All that matters now, is if you still love her."

A decision Will Gardner would have to make days after Alicia had packed a bag, and left him sitting on the sofa in their front room, scotch in hand, trying to figure out what had gone so wrong between them. She'd intended for them to separate. "We need some time apart Will." Words that continued to run through his mind as he finished the scotch, placing the empty glass in the sink. Nothing like a little alcohol to numb the anger, and hurt he felt. He made a final lap around the house, turning out the lights, checking the locks, when a knock came to the door.

Maybe Alicia changed her mind, realized how hard this would be on the kids. He thought as he approached the front door to their home. No, she wouldn't knock on her own front door.

He opened the door to find a uniformed officer standing on the front porch. Despite his simmering anger, his heart sank just a bit knowing that at eleven at night in a heavy snow storm this wouldn't be good news.

"Mr. Gardner?" the officer asked.

"Yes"

"Your wife is Alicia Gardner?"

Will had been furious at her just an hour before, and she at him. Now he was beginning to regret the last words he'd said to her.

"If you walk out that door, I won't be willing to try and fix our marriage anymore. I'll get full custody of the kids, and your exit package from the firm won't be anywhere near what you'll want."

He hadn't meant the part about the kids, but the words came out before he could stop himself from saying it. That was the only moment Alicia hesitated before grabbing the doorknob and leaving. He also knew Diane would never allow him to cut Alicia a bad deal. In fact there was a chance Diane would side with her, and he'd be the one booted out.

"Yes, she is," he said, with a deep sigh.

"We're very sorry to have to tell you this, but your wife has been in a serious automobile accident. We're here to escort you to the hospital."

Will stood motionless for a few moments. Yes, he and Alicia were at odds, their relationship was crumbling – or so it seemed. But the man standing in front of him in the falling snow was telling him he may never have a chance to speak to her again. And somewhere deep down, beneath all the pain of the past months, he felt his heart being ripped from his chest.

"Dad," Will was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of his son. He turned to see Zach standing on the bottom step behind him, tousled hair, a blanket wrapped around him. "What's wrong with mom?" The eleven year old had been there long enough to hear what the officer had said.

Will looked from him, to the officer, and then back again. "Your mom's been in an accident. But the doctors are fixing her right now. Okay?" He placed his hands on Zach's shoulders to reassure him. "I need to go to the hospital to be with your mom. I'm going to call Mrs. Hansen down the street to come and stay with you and Grace for the night. I'll call Uncle Owen, or Diane and Kurt to come stay with you in the morning. Everything will be okay. Go back to bed. You have a big game tomorrow."

Zach nodded his head skeptically at his father, but obeyed by turning and ascending back up the stairs to his room.

All Will could think about on the ride to the hospital was their time at Georgetown together.

The first moment he'd laid eyes on her at that orientation pool parry. The party she'd been dragged to by her roommate before their first semester of law school. Her eyes had placed a permanent mark on his that night, without a word ever being exchanged.

People wondered a year later how these two opposites had become friends. Both were smart, witty, and near the top of their class. But Alicia did everything by the books. She took everything seriously, from her grades to dating. If you wanted to study with her, you were welcomed, but you'd better have something to contribute. If you wanted a date, you were welcome to ask, but you better have a plan. And under no circumstances should kissing Alicia Cavanaugh on that first date, be a part of your plan.

Will on the other hand, studied as much as he needed too, but he was rarely serious about anything. He could study with five other people in the room, and loud music playing. He was good looking, all the girls knew him. All of them wanted to date him, just so they could say they had. He was usually willing to kiss a girl, or more, on a first date.

Their second semester of law school was the first time Will and Alicia spoke to each other - another defining moment. Alicia's alarm hadn't gone off one snowy January morning. She was late to Criminal Law 101. The only seat left in the room when she arrived, fifteen minutes late, was next to Will on the back row. Someplace she never sat. Because that alarm clock hadn't gone off, and she ended up sitting next to him, they were assigned to do a group project together with three other classmates. Alicia knew of Will's reputation, and tried to get herself put into a different group. The professor didn't care how much she wanted to switch groups. A few days later she was surprised to find a very intelligent, decent human being behind the player she'd always heard about.

That didn't mean they got along. They argued – constantly – over everything. They argued over what to eat when their study group got together, and which cases needed to be included in their mock briefs for the professor.

It was clear to everyone - but the two of them - that there was definitely an attraction between the two. As time went on, they could grow so angry at one another they'd swear to never speak to the other again. Yet, for some reason they couldn't go for more than two days without seeing the other. Everyone was grateful when the group project was over.

Near the end of the semester Will asked her out. "No!" She didn't even think twice. "It's two weeks before finals. You're welcome to study with me, but no dating."

He agreed to her terms. If studying was the only way he could spend time with her he was willing to do it. They found that studying together without the pressure of a grade dependent upon the other, was quite pleasant – even fun.

They spent their first summer internships in D.C. at separate firms. Their friendship continued. They spent more and more time together, and the arguing subsided some. They both continued to date other people, and thought it was ridiculous when people said they should just date each other. They were just friends, to opposite to date. Alicia attended some of his baseball games during the summer and he spent the occasional Friday night watching a movie with her that he would never choose on his own.

In the fall they remained friends, but Peter Florrick entered Alicia's life one rainy night in October.

Will frowned at the memory now, looking out the window at the falling snow.

"Will, he was such a gentleman. He let me borrow his coat in the rain. He's a year ahead of us. He has a job to go to after graduation at one of Chicago's best firms."

He remembered how happy she'd been that day when she shown up to their study group a half hour late because she'd had lunch with Peter. He also remembered that instance as being the first moment where he felt jealousy, and a little possessive of his best friend. They weren't defined, they'd never set boundaries, or rules, they were just friends. But that was the first time he realized that maybe he wasn't interested in anyone but Alicia.

As the police car made its way through the snowy Chicago streets, he remembered how Peter had just three months before, become a partial cause to their marital undoing. Something that even just six months prior Will would have said was impossible. The warm September afternoon a year and some months after graduation when he placed the diamond ring on Alicia's finger, they had made vows to each other that neither one ever thought could be broken. No one sitting in the audience at the ceremony that day would have thought otherwise either.

If you asked anyone who knew them back then, Alicia and Will had it all. Successful careers, a fully furnished apartment in a good New York neighborhood. And most of all they had love. A love that was evident every time they looked at each other, every time they saw each other, every time they talked to anyone about the other. Theirs was the stuff dreams, and fairy tales were made of. If there were ever two people who were meant to be together, it was Alicia and Will.

The news wasn't good when they reached the hospital. She was in surgery – they were trying to put her back together. Even if she made it through surgery, she'd sustained some head trauma in the accident. They would leave her in a medically induced coma until the swelling on her brain went down. They'd just have to wait until she woke up to know the extent of the damage.

Will pulled out his phone and dialed Diane who had known them since Will started working for her right out of law school.

"Will, its midnight, can't this wait until morning?" Diane said, before ever saying hello.

"Diane, something's happened. It's Alicia."

In the early hours of the morning he sat next to Alicia in the ICU, grateful Diane and Kurt would be at the house when Grace and Zach woke up. Yet, he was struggling with the flood of emotions that had come over him. Guilt, anger, sadness, anxiety, and deep down, love. There was still a place where he held Alicia in his heart. A place that in a few days time, he would have to decide to unbury, or leave behind forever.