The next afternoon Will was on his couch waiting for Mac. When the concierge called up to let him know she'd arrived he had her sent up. He was waiting by the elevator for her.

She walked off the elevator and said, "are you all right, what happened?"

"Come sit down and I'll explain."

"Let me put these in the refrigerator and we'll talk."

After she'd put the steaks away she walked back into the living room and said, "tell me why you are on crutches."

"My knees reminded me I'm not as young as I like to think I am," he responded, carefully settling onto the sofa and dropping the crutches to the floor.

"Both of them?" she asked.

"They both ache like hell, but it's only the right that decided to give out on me," he told her.

"Well, I guess our walk in the park will have to wait a while. It's a good thing that today is my turn then," she told him.

"What do you mean it's your turn Mackenzie?"

"My turn to woo you," she responded, pulling out a bag from Dean and Deluca and leaving his side to place all her loot on the counter.

"What is all that?" Will asked.

"Well, it was all the side dishes for our steak dinner. That is if you still feel like grilling steaks for us. I'd try, but I'm sure your neighbors would prefer it if I stay away from the kitchen. I'm a fire hazard waiting to happen in there. But I brought salad and wine and scotch and dessert," she told him.

"I think I can stand up long enough to prepare a couple of steaks. I took a shower when I got home and managed not to kill myself in the bathroom. If I can survive that surely I can survive cooking you dinner."

With a little help from Mackenzie, Will managed to hobble around the kitchen to prepare the steaks. She did the rest. And when it came time for dessert, Mackenzie disappeared into the kitchen.

"What are you doing in there Kenz? You alone in the kitchen is a bad idea, remember?"

"Very funny. I'm placing a pre-packaged dessert on plates. How much damage could I possibly do?" she shouted from the kitchen.

"Lord only knows," he muttered.

"I heard that Will!"

She returned bearing two plates filled with what appeared to be tiramisu. And on the top of his portion was the number seven written in delicate chocolate piping.

"But I already have a number seven planned" he whined.

"Save it for my birthday then," she replied.

"But that isn't for another three months Mac."

"Well, is it perishable?"

"No."

"Then it can wait. Let me give you something for a change Will."

"Fine," he huffed.

She couldn't help herself, she burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"You. Why can't you ever just graciously receive a gift Will? Maybe I enjoy spoiling you just as much as you enjoy spoiling me."

"Not possible."

"Why not?"

"Forget I said anything. You're right, it was rude of me to complain about a gift."

He was hedging now, she could tell. She had backed him into something he didn't want to talk about. Part of her wanted to let it go, to smooth things over and pretend nothing had marred an otherwise lovely evening. But another part of her said this would just be repeating the mistakes of their past. They had both been so good at pretending nothing was wrong when tough times hit, and in the end, that had been a disaster.

"Will, what aren't you telling me?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing Mackenzie. Please, let's just enjoy our dessert. Please," he fairly begged.

"No, not if we're going to start doing this little dance all over again Will," she said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest and pushing her plate a little further away from her. She sat there quietly until finally he gave in.

"Fine. You want the truth? You can't possibly enjoy giving a gift to me as much as I enjoy giving a gift to you, Mackenzie, because you were the first person who truly appreciated anything I gave to them."

"What? I don't understand…" she started, but he cut her off.

"You know what I did my whole childhood Mac? Anytime there was a fight or one of my sisters got in the way during an alcohol fueled rage? I cleaned up the mess and then I bought them something to make up for it all. I have no idea how many dolls I replaced or candy bars I bought to stop someone's crying. Gift giving became a chore Mackenzie, something I did to get everyone to just shut the hell up!" he exclaimed, falling back into his chair and rubbing his hands through his hair roughly.

"Oh Billy, I'm sorry. I didn't think about why you enjoyed it so much."

"It's just, you were always so damned thrilled with even the smallest gesture Mac. I swear, I could give you the sticker out of a Cracker Jack box and you would probably gush about it," he chuckled.

"Do you know why I enjoy gifts from you so much?" she asked.

"Why?"

"Because they are from you. My whole childhood was spent knowing that my gifts were probably bought by the maid. I knew my parents loved me, but at times it seemed they didn't know me very well. They wouldn't have had the first clue what to get me, but the nannies and the maids did."

"Oh."

"Yeah. We sure are a pair, aren't we Will? We've know each other for nearly ten years and yet, in some ways, we're still just scratching the surface."

"It could be fun. Starting all over again. What do you say Kenz?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Hi, I'm Mackenzie McHale. Nice to meet you," she said in a serious tone and held out her hand.

"Okay, I didn't mean we should start quite so literally at the beginning Mac. I've seen every inch of your body. I think we're a little beyond shaking hands," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of her chair and into his lap.

"Yeah well, there are a few new additions since the last time you saw every inch of my body Will," she said sadly, looking down.

"And I'm an arthritic mess hobbling about on crutches. We all have our scars Mackenzie," he reminded her.

"Okay," she said quietly.

"Come on. Help an old guy get into bed and put ice on his knee like the doctor ordered."

"You're not old, but yes, I will help you."

She trotted ahead of him down the hallway and arranged the pillows in the bed so he could lean against the headboard and prop his knee up. Once he was seated on the bed she began to untie his shoelaces and pull off his socks and shoes. She waited until his knee was on the pillows and then placed the ice pack on top of it.

"Where are you going?" he asked as she left the room.

"To clean up the dishes in the kitchen. I'll be right back," she told him.

"Hurry up. Elliot's filling in for Jane tonight. And he hates Jane's EP. Should be highly entertaining," he shouted to her retreating form.

"Good Lord. When did ACN become a soap opera?" she wondered as she washed dishes.

A short while later, Mackenzie eased herself onto the other side of the bed and sat stiffly watching Elliot try to keep his composure.

"I wonder what the man just said into Elliot's earpiece? He looks like he's ready to kill someone," Will chuckled.

"Hey, you would not be laughing if it was you trying to stumble through a broadcast with someone you hate in your ear," she reminded him sadly.

"I never hated you Mac. I was just a little surprised at first that's all. Now I can't imagine anyone else in my ear," he said, grabbing her hand and rubbing his thumb across her knuckles.

"I should go," she said. "You need to rest…keep that knee elevated, okay?"

"Mackenzie, it's almost midnight. Just stay here. "

"I don't think that's a good idea just yet Will. I thought we agreed to starting over just a bit ago?"

"We can't start all over again Mac, no matter how much we may wish we could. We just begin again. And besides, I'm not suggesting anything other than sleep tonight. We're both tired and my knee is killing me. But please, don't make me worry about you traipsing across town at midnight. Just stay," he begged.

"Okay. I'll be right back," she said, heading for the bathroom. She stopped first at his dresser and pointed toward a drawer that used to contain tee shirts and shorts. He nodded. She opened the drawer and grabbed the first shirt she saw.

She returned in a large ACN tee shirt and climbed into bed.

"Does this feel as weird to you as it does to me?" she asked.

"It feels oddly dream-like," he said.

"What?"

"After you left I would still be surprised every morning to wake up and not find you there. I was just barely getting used to that when you turned up at ACN again. Some mornings I still don't know what to expect. In my dreams you're still sleeping next to me," he said quietly.

"Mine too," she said, and curled up tightly against his side.

"Good night Mac" he whispered into her hair.

"Night Billy," she said back and was soon sound asleep.

Monday morning came too early for them both. She was curled up next to him with her head on his shoulder and her feet tangled with his legs. When the alarm sounded he groaned and pulled her more onto his chest and kissed her head. "Good morning, Kenz."

"Mmmm, morning, Billy," she said, her eyes still shut.

He kissed his way from her temple to her mouth.

"This is the perfect way to wake up." She sat up and straddled his waist and laid her head back on his chest. His arms were around her immediately. He'd forgotten about this.

"Comfy?"

"Very," she said kissing his chest. She realized he might not be comfortable and sat up. "I'm sorry" she said and started to get off of him, but he stopped her.

"You're fine, lie back down."

"I'm not hurting you, am I?"

"You feel great, relax Kenz."

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"You aren't. I like feeling you curl up on top of me. I'd actually forgotten about this."

She lay back against his chest. "I like to cuddle up on your chest. You feel so good. Is the alarm still set earlier than we need to be up?" she asked.

He smiled and said "yes." He used to set the alarm about half an hour earlier than they needed to be up for them to have this time. Sometimes they'd talk, other times they'd make love and sometimes they'd just lie there, holding one another.

"I need to go home, shower and get dressed," she said, not moving from his chest.

He smiled at her. "You're going to have to get up if you're going to do all of that."

"I could lie here all day."

"You wouldn't get any complaints from me Mackenzie."

She eased herself to a sitting position on his waist. She rubbed his chest and smiled at him. "I should go. Thank you for cooking," she said and gave him a quick kiss.

"My pleasure."

"Do you need any help getting ready?"

"I think I'm all right, thank you."

She eased herself off of him and out of bed. She found her clothes and went into the bathroom to change. He was sitting on the side of the bed when she returned. "I'll walk you out." She walked slowly to the elevator and turned to him before pushing the call button.

"Thank you, Billy. I'll see you in a little while. Should I bring breakfast?"

His face lit up. "Please."

"What would you like?"

"Surprise me" he said kissing her and pressing the call button.

"That's dangerous, mister."

"I trust you. I'll see you later, Kenz," he said as she disappeared behind the elevator door.

Will's doorman flagged her a cab and with so little traffic out this early the ride to her apartment was quick. There was a parcel waiting outside her door. Inside were three pairs of tickets. One pair for the opening night of her favorite opera at Lincoln Center and the other pairs were for Broadway plays. The note said, "With Much Love, Billy." The number six was written below his name.