Disclaimer: Yo, I ain't John Wells/Aaron Sorkin. Get over it.
Love is the affinity which links and draws together the elements of the world... Love, in fact, is the agent of universal synthesis.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
It was a bit disconcerting, particularly for a woman not accustomed to being disconcerted. But standing with only Charlie between them should not be causing her this much emotional turmoil. While it's wonderful to see the President again (she's found she can't quite stop thinking of him as that, even though most have added the word former in front of the title) she doesn't think she can take this much longer. Will Bailey is a matter of footsteps away and that shouldn't be this awkwardwonderfuldistressing. Kate Harper is very clear on this point.
As soon as politely possible (which is far too long for Kate's preferences), she gives her regards to both presidents and C.J. and slips out of the Josiah Bartlet Presidential Library into the evening. The taxi is not set to arrive for another fifteen minutes, which makes her a cold girl with nothing to do. And of course, within minutes, he's there because he's always had some sort of internal tracking device on her that she's found it is impossible to rid him of.
"Hey." Softly, quietly. He stands next to her, choosing to look at the darkened sky.
"Hi." She's been in awkward situations before - very, terribly awkward ones.
"It's nice. The library, I mean. Feels like eight years has been boxed, gift-wrapped, and given to the American people."
"It's not as if they turned the Bartlet presidency into a made-for-television movie."
"But it's as if they left it out dangling off a cliff edge." Vulnerability doesn't come easily for him.
"You have plenty to be proud of in that library, Will - the second inaugural, all those briefings. People will look at that and you can be proud." She has a strong urge to grab his hand.
"All I have in there are words, Commander Harper."
"There's more than words, Will. You know that." Suddenly it's as if they are back in his office (which was still always Toby's office) and she's telling him to run, run because he has the strength and quality and he needs her to tell him that because he doesn't believe it. In some measure, to himself, Will Bailey will always be only Tom Bailey's son.
The silence is stiff and uncomfortable. Kate taps her foot absently and thinks of all the ways she could kill the cab driver even without a gun for taking so long.
"Kate?" Will questions softly after a few minutes.
"Yes?" Pleasecomesoongetmeouttaherepleasepleaseplease….
"Why didn't we work?"
"We both have jobs." She's not clear on where he is going with this one.
"Don't be opaque. I meant in the you and I as a couple sense."
"Oh. Well, you moved to Oregon."
"That wasn't it entirely. Kate, when I moved, I called nearly every day for the first few months. The conversations got shorter and shorter – you always had somewhere to go, something to do – and then they stopped. Suddenly we weren't a we anymore."
"You moved. There was nothing to be done." She has always maintained that long distance relationships are screwed by fate.
"Yes, there was." He grabs her forearms and forces her into facing him. "You gave up on us." He says this quietly, gravely, and without recrimination. He has some idea of what her bastards of ex-husbands took from her.
"What was I supposed to do? Sit by the phone all day, waiting for your calls? Move to Oregon to be with you?"
"You were supposed to have faith in us, Kate."
She is so consumed by guilt that words (and the vocalization of them) suddenly become impossible. She wrenches her arms away, crosses them across her chest, and gives a little disgruntled huff. Strange indeed that two divorces never made her feel as complete a failure as one ex-boyfriend is doing now.
"Your cab is here." But Will seems unable to look past her at the telltale yellow.
"I know." Automatic. Military training isn't for nothing.
Somehow, she wants this moment to never end. She wants the rest of her life in the night air and with only the view presented before her – Will Bailey, ever and ever and world without end amen. Will seems similarly shaken.
"Kate…." His mutter trails off. The thought, the question in it, is incomplete. Has to be.
Without a word, she turns to go into the cab.
"This isn't finished." He calls, running towards her.
And here is the moment of decision. Kate stands in front of the door debating the two potential scenarios within her mind while the cabbie scoffs "Lady, are you getting in?" and she is worried both scenarios would leave her miserable – driving off without Will Bailey or driving off with him.
But he's behind her now and it's hard to assess this situation properly when his familiar scent (Ivory soap, Mitchum deodorant, and that dorky aftershave of his) is wafting around her. She slides into the back seat of the cab and then turns her head to him.
"Get in."
That's all that's said on their way to the hotel. They cross the lobby in silence, walk the stairs to the second floor in silence, and come to the door of her room in silence.
Will tenses as she's about to swipe her key card.
"Are you sure about this? I don't want to rush…" The words are caught in his mouth as she puts a finger over his lips and then opens the door.
"Come in. Please." Her voice is steady and calm. As they walk into the room and she feels his lips on hers, his hands gently gliding on her skin, she can't imagine how she's lived without this for as long as she has. This synthesis between their bodies feels natural and beautiful and right and makes her ache to think she might have lost it.
They are tucked into each other as she wakes up the next morning. She turns in his arms and stares down at him – this passionate, quirky, intelligent Congressman Will Bailey. He stirs, leans up and kisses her shoulder.
"Good morning," he mutters groggily.
At this moment, in this cheap hotel room in New Hampshire, snuggled in the warm arms of William Bailey, Kate Harper finally understands the meaning of the word happy.
A/N So, this is all the fault of that two minute teaser in The Ticket. It made it pretty clear that Kate and Will were no longer together by that point and this saddened me deeply. Hence this fic to explain why they weren't standing next to each other or holding hands (as they should have been if they were still together) and to make sure they do stick together, because they are a supremely adorable couple. Voila. Any grammar help (as I lack a beta) would be most appreciated. Have a loverly day!