Never Smart With Love
I Warned You
I'll tell you that I love you, then I'll tear your world apart.
Just pretend I didn't tear your world apart.
The room was cold. It was something that Mac would always remember about that day, the room was cold. It was like that before she even told Will. She walked into her apartment, could hear the faint sounds of the television, and when she stepped further in, she couldn't help the shiver.
I've never loved anyone before you.
Every time she came back to her apartment and Will was there, she couldn't help the feeling of sickness that rose in her stomach. It was just over a year with Will when Brian first rung her, and five months later, she was creeping home at 3am after spending the last three hours having drunken, partly angry sex with the latter. It went much that way for four months, near enough, and when she ended it, she thought she could just forget it. Three months she spent falling more in love with Will, while the guilt ate at her.
I'll never love anyone but you.
Mac was sitting opposite Will, him on the couch and herself on the coffee table in front of it, the quiet buzz of the television forgotten in the background.
It was a mistake, I'm sorry.
She had expected anger, and she wasn't disappointed, he shouted at her, he stormed around the apartment, and she was sure when she went into her bathroom later, she'd find a crack in the mirror, but nothing compared to the quiet that followed.
Mistakes don't last four fucking months!
She hadn't cried, she had however, been sick. He wouldn't look at her, and the reality at what was going to happen next hit her in a way she wasn't prepared. She expected it would be hard, but she also expected that they'd get through it.
You don't do this to people you love.
She watched him as he mentally went through his memories, probably trying to figure out the nights when she came home late, or nights where she cancelled on him, if she was with Brian, and it killed her. It was almost an hour, before his eyes flicked up to hers again, and the breath was knocked out of her.
Nobody can know why this is over.
3 Days Earlier...
"You've been getting job offers," He walked into his office as he spoke, eyeing her.
"I've been getting job offers since before I started here," her reply was simple. She smiled turning her computer off and her full attention to the man in front of her as he sat.
"Yeah, but you've never really consid..."
"I'll stop you there, Will. You know I always consider job offers. The thought of staying in one job longer than a year unnerves me, and I've been here nearly two. My contract is up soon, it's natural for me to get curious."
"Is it just curiosity, or am I going to lose you to Fox -"
"Ha, no."
"Or CNN again?" She had nothing to say to that, her eyes flicking to her computer screen and back to him, "So, CNN?"
"They've e-mailed me a few times, and I just replied that I'd have a meeting with them, it's nothing but a meeting." She fidgeted.
"You're bored here," He stated.
"I'm not... Okay, I am. You're perfect, you go on that show every late afternoon and you... You don't need me any more..."
"I always need you," he cut through.
"I'm not talking in general..."
"Neither am I." There was a pause where Mac smiled at him.
"I'm just browsing, nothing to worry about." She had gotten good a lying, and it was something she hated. She knew she was going to tell Will, she had to...she couldn't live with herself, and worse case scenario, she'd need a cowards way out. A few moments of silence passed before Will stood, made his way around her desk, turned her chair and placed his hands on her shoulders.
"You okay?" He asked, bending so he could look in her eyes.
"Yeah, just distracted, is all." He stared at her for a moment, before leaning forward to capture her lips. He pulled away, and noticed her eyes were still shut.
"Mac?"
"I love you, Will." She half whispered, "I really do." Her eyes blinked open, a watery glaze on them.
"Good, because I love you too," He paused, "And you can't go too far away from someone you love." He didn't catch the bitterness in her short laugh.
It took another week at work, before Mac was called up to Charlie's office, she knew the conversation that was going to happen, and she welcomed it.
"You're leaving," Charlie stated, as Mac sat in the seat in front of him.
"I am, my last week next week," She smiled sadly, "My contract is up, W-Will can do the show great, he practically doesn't need an EP..." she trailed off.
"Completely irreconcilable?" He asked, obviously not talking about the job.
"Completely," She answered, looking down at her feat, shifting them slightly. She looked up at Charlie, a sad smile on his own face.
"You're the best EP in the business," He looked at his computer before back at her, "You're going to be great out there."
"Yeah... I don't leave for a few months yet..." She paused, "Does Will know?"
"That you're going to be embedded in Afghanistan? No. That you're leaving? Yes." He answered.
"Don't tell him where I've gone until I've gone, Charlie? I... it's an amazing opportunity..."
"Do you think if he knew he'd stop you?" He asked, a slight bit of hope in his voice.
"Not even slightly." She sighed at Charlie's frown, "I'd just prefer to pretend that would be the case."
"You be safe out there," Charlie spoke quietly as he got up from his desk, motioning for Mac to stand. He moved around the desk and took her in a hug. One she happily returned.
"It's an amazing opportunity," She said weakly, grasping Charlie tighter.
"You keep saying that, kiddo. You'll always have a home here, okay?" He moved back and kissed her cheek.
"Dammit Charlie, why didn't you tell me?"
"Would you have stopped her?"
"...No."
"Then what does it matter?"
It took seventeen months before Charlie heard anything negative about the work Mac was doing whilst she was embedded. He checked up on the work she did weekly, and wasn't surprised when she got her first Peabody. When he found that her show wouldn't be airing for one week, warning bells went off, and he checked the CNN website. It took him twenty minutes to find out what was wrong, in a story pushed to the side of the website, the writing so small it took him a few minutes to read, 'CNN's own Mackenzie McHale injured covering a protest in Islamabad. Critical but stable, updated soon'.
It took Charlie only ten minutes from there to find out exactly what had happened, and five minutes later he wasn't completely surprised when Will came into his office, without knocking, and on the phone.
"...No... Thank you... Bye." He looked flustered, and oddly more alive than he had in over a year.
"You've heard." Charlie stated obviously.
"Not critical any more, fucking stepped in front of a senior producer of hers. Stupid."
"Brave, and you know it." Charlie corrected, a slight shout to his voice.
"They're releasing the footage," Will replied bitterly.
"She wouldn't want it any other way."
"She'd hate being seen as entertainment, and you know it." There was a pause before he moved for the door, "Tell me what you know when you know it, Charlie."
"You told me you wouldn't have stopped her from going..." Charlie replied, eyeing Will as he stayed paused by Charlie's door.
"It wasn't my place to make her stay."
"She would have... If you asked."
"I know." Will spoke quietly before leaving the office.
"She's getting another Peabody."
"She deserves it."
"She doesn't think so."
"You've spoken to her?"
"Yeah... Get your head out of your ass and read your damn e-mails."
It was nearly a year later that Charlie had word that Mackenzie was back. He kept up to date with her process, disgust swimming through him when he found that she couldn't get a job anywhere. His eyes flicked to the tv screens in front of his desk, a frown forming as he watched Will autopilot his way through his final news broadcast before his vacation. He had the youtube video of Will and Northwestern and smiled to himself as he realized there was a way he could hopefully finally watch the news again.
To: Mackenzie McHale
From: Charles Skinner
Subject: [empty]
I think it's time to come home, don't you?
A/N: I've always been interested in how Charlie reacted to the Will/Mac situation, since we know he didn't know Mac cheated on Will. It turned out to be a lot more Charlie that I'm comfortable writing because...I don't don't feel I do him any justice. I hope this was okay... part 3 (final part) shouldn't be too long coming up either, I've started it so that's good! Thank you so much for the reviews also! I know this chapter has a very different feel to it, I'm sorry if it's not what you wanted... Enjoy!