I believe in happy endings,
even though I know you don't know why.
It doesn't mean that happy endings,
won't make you cry, won't make you cry

- "Happy Endings" by Mango Grooves -

For amost every episode I can – sooner or later - see a happy end and I thought I write them down, one chapter for each episode.

This means each chapter is to be seen completely separate from the others, they are no sequels and every chapter starts with them being NOT together and is based on everything that has happened in all episodes up to that specific point.

Some happy ends will come quickly, especially in the beginning where they „only" have to deal with the old baggage from three years ago, some will be longer/more complex. There also might be different explanations or interpretations of some things, so maybe in one story Will has read her emails, in the next he hasn't, the reasons for Mac cheating on him differ etc., but some things also might repeat themselves.

I assume I could just post a number of different stories, but I like the context of them being connected by the possibility of a happy ending.

Okay, so I'm a sucker for happy endings, sue me. ;-)

Thanks to lilacmermaid and Sueg for their encouragement!

This is the way I dreamed it
(Season 1, episode 1)

The elevator doors had closed; Mac's attempt to tell Will that she hadn't been a figment of his imagination at Northwestern had come too late, he was gone. She hesitated for a moment but then closed her notebook, and with a snorted smile she went back to her office.

I had been a good day. Despite the gruff reception and argument in Will's office earlier he had accepted her as his EP, consented to the fact that she was in charge during the show, and they had made a damn good job covering the BP spill tonight. And just now she and Will had been able to have a civilized talk about an event in their past - That was something and more than she had expected when she accepted Charlie's job offer, at least at this early stage.

On her way she stopped in the bullpen for a moment, looked around and took a deep breath. This was her newsroom now, at least for a week, as Will had been kind enough to point out. Still, she felt like coming home.

Back in her office Mac sat down at her desk and started sorting through the pile of papers that was waiting for her. It would take her a few days to get up to speed and the first priority had to be to build a new team around the people she brought with her to replace the staff Don was taking with him to 10 o'clock.

Soon she was so absorbed in her work that she almost missed the light knock on her door.

„Will...?" She looked up with surprise. „What are you doing back here? You just went home."

Will seemed a little uneasy. „I heard you calling after me when the elevator doors closed, so I came back... I thought it might be important. Can I come in?"

„Sure." Mac tensed up a little, but tried to appear calm on the outside. She leaned back in her chair, while Will took a seat on the opposite side of her desk. „That was a great show tonight, Will... How do you feel?"

He looked down at his hands. „It was... It felt good. I honestly haven't felt like this in a long time..." He raised his head and showed her a hint of a smile.
„You know, when I thought I saw you in the audience at Northwestern..." Mac tried to say something but he didn't let her interrupt. „ When I thought I saw you, I had to think back to our old show, what we did back then, and sitting on that stage with these... whatever you wanna call them... I sudddenly felt so empty and useless and... well, kind of like a fraud. I'm here to deliver the news to the people and what did they get from me these last years?

„It wasn't just you, Will." Mac tried to offer him an excuse. „You had your whole team behind you, especially your EP."

He snorted almost contemptuously. „Do you really think anyone of the God knows how many EPs I've had in the past three years ever stood up to me? No one's had the guts to criticize me or push me, and I think most of them didn't even want to make a better, more ambitious show." Will sighed. „But I should be honest, I wasn't the easiest guy to work with after you left, Mac... Don has worked for me for 13 weeks and I think that was longer than any of his predecessors have lasted."

Mac didn't know what to say. In no way had she prepared herself for a conversation like this yet. Especially not after how the day had started out in his office.

„Will..."

„I... I missed you, Mac..." Mac's eyes grew wide and her heart missed a beat. She felt her mouth open, but didn't manage to speak.
„Professionally, I missed you professionally!" Will added quickly. „Today felt really, really good..."

Of course, he had missed their working relationship, she mustn't get her hopes up in regard of anything else, as much as she wished for it.
„So why did you renegotiate your contract to be able to fire me at the end of each week?" she finally asked.

He shrugged and looked slightly embarrassed. „Because... Because I've spent the last three years trying to convince myself that I hate you." Mac flinched.
„I didn't want you here... The thought of seeing you again every day was just too much. But when we were in my office this morning... I lied to you... You made a pretty compelling argument and I think we should go for it; try to do the news again. I'm sorry for the..." Will waved his hand to the side. „The paperwork isn't through yet, I will call my agent and have him cancel the contract changes. If you want to keep doing the job, that is..."

„You bet your arse I do! And I knew you ate it up with a soup ladle!" Mac grinned at him, but then she sighed. „But you have to know... What would you say if I told you, that you weren't hallucinating at Northwestern?"

Will looked at her increduously. „Are you saying...?"

Mac opened her notebook and showed him: It's not and But it can be.

„So it was you?" Will shook his head in disbelief.

„Yep... That's what I tried to tell you before."

„That is... Wow..." He leaned back in his chair and didn't say anything for a while. Mac couldn't tell what her admission made him feel and she nervously started pushing some papers around on her desk.

Suddenly Will looked up. „Let's go out for dinner. To talk about the new show."
Mac was stunned; she absolutely hadn't expected that, but she quickly recovered and gave him a genuine smile. „That's a great idea."

She quickly shut down her laptop, got up and put on her blazer. When she reached the door he was right behind her, startling her by putting his hand in the small of her back and leading her through the bullpen, which was almost empty by now.

Mac couldn't help but feel confused. The signals Will had sent throughout the day had been clear:
I don't want you here, how dare you come into my newsroom and I cant' wait to get rid off you.

But during the course of the broadcast they had reached that almost blind understanding they'd had in the past. It had felt as if their last show had aired yesterday and not three years ago. A few minutes earlier in her office he really had seemed to make an effort to be nice and civil, almost as if he liked having her around... And now his hand on her back...?

When they arrived at the restaurant near the AWM building they were seated in a private booth in the back. Mac ordered a salad and pasta linguini with shrimps while Will chose a rump steak with barbecued potatoes and ordered the wine. When the waiter had left he leaned back and looked at Mac.

„So, was you producing me at Northwestern a test to see if I still have it in me?"

„You know me better than that, Bi... Will." Mac snorted. „It just hurt to see you trying to please everybody and doing everything to avoid giving a straight and meaningful answer. What happened to you, Goddammit?"

Will stared into her eyes. „You happened, MacKenzie..."

Mac's face seemed to crumble and swallowing hard she looked down. „Walked right into that one, didn't I?"

„Yeah, you did..." They both remained silent for a moment until the waiter came with the wine. When he had filled their glasses Will cleared his throat.

„So... Don Quixote, eh? What are your plans, Mac?"

„I already told you earlier today: Do the news again. Inform the electorate. Frame the debate.
I have watched your last shows and there were hardly any important issues you've covered... Jennifer Aniston in a new relationship, the new Toyota hybrid at the Detroit autoshow, a wannabe-starlet having a face lift that left her with monster lips... Do you want me to go on?"

„I admit it could have been better, but it wasn't that bad, Mac!" he protested weakly.

„Then tell me you wouldn't have reported on the new iphone prototype tonight if it hadn't been for the BP spill?"

„The audience likes this stuff..." Will almost pouted a little.

„For God's sake, you are a prosecutor, Will!" Mac leaned forward, throwing her hands in the air. „You can literally take people apart by pointing out their mistakes and attitudes and that in a smart, determined, sophisticated way, not condescending. Yet if you do happen to have a guest or interview partner of statue you let them get away with anything. You don't even rebut when they contradict themselves within a couple of sentences live on air!" She finally took a breath but went right on.
„Jesus Will, just don't give anybody a reason not to like you, right? Well, here's a little secret: The people who want to know the truth, who want to know what's going on in this country and the world – They don't like you, because you don't deliver. Oh right, they probably don't watch you anyway..."

Mac had almost worked herself up into a frenzied state but when she saw the hint of a smile on Will's face she stopped with a confused look on her face. „What are you smiling about?"

Will just shrugged his shoulders.

„What, Will?"

„I... I just missed your passion... for the news... You really do still know how to get to me..."

„Professionally, I know, you said so."

„Not just that..." he mumbled under his breath.

Mac could barely understand him. „What?"

He sighed and looked a little defeated. „You're still getting to me, not just professionally..." Mac just gaped at him.

„Don't look at me like that! I don't want to feel this way! I want to hate you for what you did to me, for what you did to us... I've been trying to hate you for the past three years!"

Mac's thoughts were swirling around in her mind and she slowly turned them into words. „You already said before, that you were trying to convince yourself that you hate me... And now this... So...You don't actually hate me?" She couldn't help the glimmer of hope shimmering through her voice.

This time Will looked straight into her eyes. „I could never hate you, MacKenzie."

Right this moment their food arrived and they both were thankful for the distraction.

Will silently cursed himself for steering the conversation in this direction, but then he realized that he didn't mind it as much as he would have expected. Strangely enough he felt comfortable, something he wouldn't have believed if anybody had told him this morning.

Mac on the other hand could only think about Will's admission that he didn't hate her. It surely was a long stretch, but could that mean he still had feelings for her? She knew, that she still loved him, but she had no clue how he felt about her. He hadn't forgiven her, that at least seemed to be certain. But maybe they still had a chance?

They finished there meal in an awkward silence, only interrupted by an occasional comment on the food or the wine. When they were done they stepped outside and while looking for a cab Mac started to thank Will for the dinner.

„I really enjoyed it, Will. It is really good to see that you..."

„Would you like to walk a little?" he interrupted her.

„I..." Mac was stunned at first but then she smiled. „Actually, I would love that. My apartment is down that way."

They started strolling in a now more comfortable atmosphere and suddenly, without even thinking about it, Will reached for Mac's hand. She gasped and looked up at him with disbelief on her face, but didn't move her hand away, she was enjoying the sensation of his touch too much.

After a while Will coughed slightly. „I told you another lie this morning, MacKenzie... I did read the e-mails you sent me..."

Mac was surprised, but, seeing what he had already admitted to this evening, probably not as much as she normally would have been.

„So you know everything..." She said slowly, but didn't elaborate.

„About the stabbing? Yeah... How are you?"

„I'm doing okay. Sometimes it hurts a little, but the doctors say it will get better over time." She took a deep breath. „But I meant... about Brian..." She felt his hand clench around her fingers. „I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up."

„Yeah... No... No, I started it when I mentioned the e-mails..." Will suddenly stopped and turned towards her, loosening his grip on her hand, but not letting go off it. „You know... This morning... I... When I... Fuck..." He sighed. „I cannot do this out here on the street. Could we take a cab and go somewhere we can talk?"

Mac looked into his eyes and saw that he was dead serious. She didn't know what to make of all this, but she was certain that she mustn't pass this opportunity up. „We can go to my place, it's not far from here. It's mostly still packed up in boxes, but I do have a couch."

„Sounds good." Will said with a relieved smile and hailed a cab.

The short ride to Mac's building they spent in silence. While Will tried not to lose his nerves she had actually problems thinking straight, her thoughts basically just jumping from one scenario to another. What was he up to?

When they finally entered her apartment she locked the door, led him into the living room and then nervously turned around to him.
„Now say what you have to say, Will."

He took a deep breath.
„Okay...What... what I wanted to say was, that this morning... when Charlie told me you were coming back, I basically just went into shock... I have spent years trying to forget you and when that didn't work I at least wanted to hate you... I didn't want you here and bring everything back up to the surface... That's why I went to see my agent. And then, when I came back and saw you, it was just..." He shook his head and his expression softened.
„Gosh, you looked so beautiful and I knew then and there that I had fooled myself all this time... But I didn't want to admit it, not even to myself, so I played that little scene in my office... And then the show tonight... It just came back to me, everything, MacKenzie... I remember everything, especially how good we were together. Not just professionally. And... I want that again..."

Again Mac could just stare at him and finally settled to focus on one of the less disturbing things he had said for now. „I was pretty surprised earlier today that you recalled meeting my father in such detail."

„Like I said... I remember everything..."

„But..." Mac nervously bit her lower lip, but she knew she had to ask. „What about Brian?"

„Brian... yeah..." Will ran his hand through his hair. „Don't get me wrong, Mac. We would still have to work through a lot, I still have to get my shit together, but... I know that I don't want the past to matter anymore... And I know that I love you... That I have never stopped loving you..."

Mac closed her eyes. Did she just hear right? „Say that again..." she whispered.

Will relaxed a little and took a step towards her, carefully placing his hands on her upper arms.
„I love you, MacKenzie. I have never stopped loving you... I know I behaved like an idiot, but you came back, so I hope you're not feeling completey indifferent towards me..." He let his hands glide down to hold hers. „I promise you, I will go and see Abe again to help me get completely over everything. I really want this to work, I really, really want to be with you again... I missed you so much..." He whispered now. „Do you think we could still have a chance?"

A beautiful smile appeared on her face and she now looked directly at him, while a tear made its way down her cheek.
„You really are an idiot, Billy... Of course I love you, why do you think I came back?"

Mac raised her hand to lightly touch his cheek when he sighed with relief and closed his eyes for a second, but then he looked at her again. „I need you to promise me something though, MacKenzie."

„Anything, Billy. Just name it."

„You'd know what you'd get with me this time..." Will said quietly. „Promise me you will never do that again?"

„That's an easy promise to give, Will." She genuinely looked into his eyes. „I do know what I would get and believe me, I do know what I have missed for the last three years... I know I fucked up big time and I would never do anything to jeopardize that again. And I won't need to, because this time I know from the start how much I love you."

With a sigh of relief he took her hand and pressed it to his lips, sending a shiver down her spine. Then he leaned in for a kiss, and as soon as their lips touched Will knew that nothing else mattered anymore.

:::::::::::::::

"This is the Way I Dreamed It" by Doris Day