A/N: I could have posted this in my 'Mr. and Mrs. McVeigh collection, but I wrote it for a special occasion, so I decided to have it stand on its own. That special occasion is the 4 year anniversary of me writing my very first English fanfic. I posted my first drabble-length fic about Diane in our Christine Baranski Community on November 7th, 4 years ago and I felt like commemorating that day this year. I planned to wait until next Friday (the 7th) to post it, but it's a canon fic, based on the developments in episode 6x6 and honestly I didn't want to end up having to rewrite it or throw out parts of it in the light of the new episode, so I'm posting it a few days early. I hope no one minds and that you'll like the result.
I'd like to point out that I didn't steal the idea for this fic from that confession on tumblr, because I submitted that confession. Maybe some of you don't know what I'm talking about, never mind, just wanted to make it clear.
Special thanks to Sab for the fast an amazing beta-job and lontanissima for the inspiration to write McHart again.
Where We Belong
The question was on the tip of her tongue, but Diane hesitated to say it out loud. In the past, with someone else, who couldn't be here anymore, she wouldn't have even had to ask. But it was new for both of them, for her and her 'new' partner, they were still in the midst of finding their common routine.
"How about a drink?" Diane went for the suggestion nevertheless, so they wouldn't have to call it night just yet, even if it was only the two of them now.
"Won't Cary be jealous?" Alicia asked with a mild-smile, while Diane hoped it wasn't real concern.
She didn't think Cary had any reason to feel jealous or left out. They both handled him as an equal partner and just a few minutes ago he had been sitting there next to Alicia.
"It's not our fault that he isn't allowed to drink," Diane shrugged it off. She hadn't brought up the idea of a drink on purpose until Cary had been present, she didn't want to be responsible for him violating the conditions of his bail.
Alicia looked hesitant at first, probably pondering Diane's remark.
"You're right," she gave in in the end, so Diane turned to her cabinet.
"Would some wine be okay?" she offered and thoughtfully tossed away a bottle of Scotch. She certainly wasn't ready for that yet and Alicia didn't seem like a Scotch type of woman anyhow.
"My favorite," Alicia replied and Diane put the bottle on the desk along with two glasses.
"Do you think he will ever be okay with us moving back?" Diane inquired while pouring from the drink in both glasses.
After a week, Cary obviously still wasn't happy with this new arrangement and on a certain level Diane understood, but she had no regrets. Actually if anyone had a reason to be jealous of the other two, it was Diane. She was the outsider, even if she hadn't usually felt like one. And ever since they had been back here, this feeling completely vanished. She respected that Alicia and Cary were close and she knew it would take him longer to actually accept Diane's presence in their firm.
"I hope so," Alicia reached for her glass with a sigh.
"I sure don't miss the cockroaches," Diane joked it off.
"Me neither," Alicia agreed, chuckling.
"And this feels like…" she paused and shifted her gaze on the glass in her hand, maybe she said something she shouldn't have.
"Home."
She heard Alicia finish her sentence with the exact word she hadn't dared to say out loud.
"Yeah." Their eyes met for a brief second before Diane's gaze wandered further, out the door of her office, and soon she found herself staring at the other one, on the other side of the corridor. "He would be proud of us." She was surprised she actually spoke the words and didn't just think them.
"I'm sure he would be," Alicia replied. And when Diane glanced at her again, she saw her same emotions reflected on Alicia's face. They obviously weren't talking about Cary anymore.
"To Will," she raised her glass, the toast wore with it the echo of the still painful one from a few months ago.
"To Will," Alicia repeated as they clinked their glasses together with the same sorrow in their eyes.
She couldn't toast to Will with anyone else, it wouldn't have felt right. She knew that Alicia understood, because she suffered a similar loss, possibly an even bigger one. She didn't know exactly, because she never asked, it wasn't her business.
"I've thought of him a lot more since we moved back," she admitted, and it felt good to say it out loud to someone who wouldn't judge her.
"Me too, sometimes I feel like he's watching me," Alicia confessed and Diane knew exactly what she meant.
"He probably is," she noted with a half-smile. His presence was sometimes palpable for her too.
"I hope he likes what he sees," she responded a little perplexed.
Diane knew that Alicia felt the pressure of occupying Will's office, sitting in his chair, but she thought it had been really brave of her to want to be there on the first place. She certainly couldn't think of anyone more deserving than her.
"He probably doesn't recognize his office anymore," she switched to a lighter tone.
"That was my intention," Alicia smiled at her with a slight nod.
"You did great." Diane repeated what she'd already told her before. She liked what she'd done to his office, to make it her own.
"Thank you," Alicia replied when the ringing of her cell phone interrupted their moment. "Oh no, it's Jonathan. I need to get this," she explained and quickly drank out the rest of her wine before she stood up.
"Don't worry," Diane let her leave and as she watched Alicia talk on her phone, walking towards her office, Diane wondered how this campaign would affect all of them.
They had barely started something new together when Alicia had already committed herself to a completely different deal. Ironically it was the same offer Diane had turned down months ago, which had been the right decision. Alicia might be more fit for that position anyway, Diane had been on the other side long enough, that's where she belonged.
She wished Alicia the very best of course, but she wasn't sure how she felt about the possibility of her leaving them in case she won. Things had been changing way too quickly around here in the last year and not all of these changes were for the best.
"Hi." Her husband's voice interrupted Diane's chain of thoughts, reminding her of the one change in her life that was the most welcome.
"Hi," she greeted Kurt with a wide smile and emerged from her seat, "I didn't realize it's so late already," she checked the time on her watch.
"You still have things to do?" he inquired calmly as he approached her.
"No, I'm ready to go," she reassured him and began to gather the files on her desk. She needed to continue work during the weekend, but they had different plans for tonight.
"I missed your office," she heard him say and stopped what she was doing to look at him.
"You and me both," she admitted with a mild-smile and glanced around in the room, which still gave her the chills. Even after a week she couldn't believe she was there again.
"This is where we met after all." Kurt's observation widened the smile on Diane's face. That was definitely one of the reasons this room was so dear to her heart.
"I know, feels like forever ago," she shifted her gaze on him and their eyes locked. It might have been a long time ago, but she still remembered that day like it was yesterday.
"It's been four years and eight months," he noted, making her feel ashamed that she couldn't remember the exact number herself.
"Don't tell me you've been counting," she teased him, while she actually found it very adorable.
"You looked at me like I came from another planet," he reminisced about their very first meeting with a chuckle.
"But you quickly convinced me that you were the right man for the job," she continued with the teasing, letting out a mild laugh this time.
"What job are we talking about exactly?" He looked confused, but she could easily tell it was just an act.
"You tell me," she kept it ambiguous on purpose.
"You smiled at me the exact same way, it was almost too easy to fall for you right away." His confession put an even wider grin on her face.
"You swept me off my feet too," she admitted that she hadn't been neutral towards his charm either, "with the very few words you used," she added with a chuckle.
"I've improved since then," he declared, proudly.
"You certainly have," she affirmed. It had been a real effort on his part and she was proud of him too.
"Who would have thought we'd get this far?" He sought an answer to his rhetorical question in her eyes.
"I never wanted to get married on the first place." She let out a chuckle to mask her emotions.
This man had the power to change her in a way she hadn't even known she had wanted to be changed. But now that they had been together for a longer time, she realized he gave her all the things that had been missing from her life before, without her realizing it.
"And yet here we are, two weeks after our first anniversary," he reminded her of the huge milestone they'd reached. It was a big deal for them, both married for the first time, but it was also quite easy, because this marriage made them happy.
"Stop with those numbers," she scolded him playfully, but he didn't take offence.
"I've brought you something." He took out an envelope from his inner pocket.
"What is it?" She eyed him curiously.
"Something for your old-new office." He pulled out a photo frame and when he turned it towards her, she faced a picture of the two of them together.
Her first thought was the night that photo was taken and it instantly put a smile on her face. She found the gesture very lovely and she had meant to bring a picture of the two of them to her office, but she'd kept forgetting, it had been an odd year. But then her thoughts wandered to the photo she had always had in her office and she burst out in laughter.
"I'm not getting rid of that photo." She motioned towards the picture of her with Hillary Clinton, the one Kurt had teased her about from the very first day they'd met.
"I'd never ask you to, but I'm sure you can find a place for us as well." He handed her the photo over the table with a smile.
"Of course, but you know that I don't need a photo to think of you during the day." She held his gaze for a few seconds, she enjoyed getting lost in those eyes that showed so much love at this moment.
"I know," he reassured her.
"It looks good, thank you," she noted after she'd placed it on her desk. She wanted to be the only one to see that picture.
"My pleasure," he replied, when they heard a knock on the door.
"Just wanted to say good night," Alicia stood there, ready to leave.
"Good night, Alicia," Diane said and after her partner had walked away she looked at her husband again. "We should go, too."
"Yeah," he mumbled, but his eyes were pacing her in an unexplainable way.
"What is it?" she inquired, but instead of a reply, he walked over to her, folded his arms around her waist and pulled her close until their lips met in a gentle kiss.
"Now we can go," he declared, making her chuckle.
On their way out Kurt turned to Will's old office and Diane's eyes followed his. They didn't talk about Will that often, Kurt was aware that it was still painful to her.
"He would be proud of you," he stated and before the emotional moment could get to Diane he grabbed her hand and pressed it gently.
They walked towards the elevator hand in hand, without another word and to avoid the hurtful thoughts Diane focused on the environment instead. The offices were all empty, the only sound in the silence were their footsteps. Glancing around, she managed to find the most comforting thought; that this place belonged to her and this was where she belonged.