Somebody's gonna hurt someone before the night is through. Somebody's gonna come undone; there's nothin' we can do. ~ "Heartache Tonight" by The Eagles

Alicia wasn't at her best, but she still caught the deer-in-the-headlights look that flashed across Will's face and she was acutely aware of the physical distance between them. Mentally shoving the angel off her shoulder, she slid her phone to Kalinda and grabbed an astonished Will's hand. "We'll be back in a bit."

As they headed for the dance floor, Will tugged her to a stop. "Alicia, what's going on?"

Will was shocked by Alicia's forcefulness as she pulled him towards the dance floor. Socially, she'd always been content to follow him at Georgetown, a pattern that continued after she married Peter. However, he was convinced the alcohol had fueled her behavior so he needed to find out Alicia's real intentions, not those borne on tequila shots or vodka martinis.

"We're gonna dance." Alicia's brow furrowed at his reluctance. "Don't you dance anymore?"

"I do. Do you?" Will could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen Alicia on a dance floor, and she had been drunk every time.

"I do now." Alicia sighed. "A lot of things can change in almost twenty years, Will." A ballad began to play and suddenly Alicia's desperate eyes were pleading with him. "Please, Will?" And once again, he was powerless to tell her no.

Still somewhat shell-shocked by her own behavior, she felt Will's hands settle at her waist, and she was instantly reminded of the awkward slow dances at her eighth grade graduation party. Instinctively, she closed the gap between them and put her cheek against his shoulder. His arms wrapped around her, much like they had minutes before, and she heard him sigh gently.

Something in the lyrics of a standard love-gone-wrong song soon had tears stinging Alicia's eyelids and she bit her lip to force her emotions back under control.

Will felt her stiffen in his arms and he could tell she was fighting an internal battle. Slowly, he slid one hand up and down along her spine, hoping to at least comfort her if he could be of no other help. She settled against him again, but just for a moment, then she pulled away. Before her name passed his lips in question, she'd grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss that lasted several heart-stopping moments. Realizing what she'd done, she pulled away a second time and hurried back to where Kalinda still sat.

By the time Will has collected himself, Alicia was already trying to escape, but Kalinda was attempting to talk her down. Will gave them space for a few minutes, but he could still hear their conversation.

"I have to go."

"No, you don't. You're just scared."

"Of course, and in case you've forgotten, I'm still married!"

"Give me a break. You know you don't belong with Peter anymore." Having stepped on shaky ground, Kalinda decided to pull back a bit. "Look, we'll forget about the dancing and we'll just sit here and talk, okay?"

Alicia looked like she was about to refuse, but since she didn't want to go home, she promptly changed her mind. "Okay." She climbed back up onto her stool and Kalinda beckoned for Will to join them.

How had everything spiraled out of control in less than fifteen minutes? Will's head was spinning, but he hadn't had enough to drink to blame it on alcohol.

"I should probably go."

"No, sit down. You haven't even had a drink yet," said Kalinda.

He looked askance at Alicia, who was laboriously ignoring him and playing with an empty shot glass.

"Okay." Will moved to the seat beside Kalinda and ordered whiskey. He and Kalinda chatted about mundane topics for a few minutes and Will belted his first drink, then quickly asked for another.

After about ten minutes of silence from Alicia, Kalinda rolled her eyes and asked, "So, Will, how did you and Alicia meet?" Kalinda was well aware they'd gone to school together, but she thought the question might bring Alicia back from whatever mental time-out corner her guilty conscience had sent her to. She was right.

Georgetown. Memories of the moment in question had been touched on weeks earlier with Will, but Alicia had tried to stuff them back into the 'forgotten' box. However, she'd never really forgotten any of the important moments in her relationship with Will.

She wrapped her hands around the mug of coffee she'd just asked for and, before Will could answer, said, "It was a pool party at law school orientation." She risked a look at him and saw nostalgia in his eyes. "Will was the life of the party." She sipped the coffee and continued, "I'm convinced that the six girls who quit after first year only stayed that long because of him."

Will remained silent, but he knew what Alicia meant. It had taken only a few weeks for word to spread that Will Gardner's door was more like a turnstile and no girl ever stayed more than one or two nights. A few of their classmates had made a sport of attempting to shatter that theory; they'd all failed miserably.

"So Will's always been a playboy?" Kalinda's query pulled both of them from the clouds of their memories.

Alicia's laugh was forced. "Yeah."

"Hey, I'm a changed man!"

After considering for a moment, Kalinda's "You have been off-limits for quite a while," supported him.

Alicia pushed away her reaction to that news. "I really wanted to dislike him, but some part of me knew there must be more to him than the adorable, skirt-chasing charmer I met at that party."

Will's expression softened as a memory of a twenty-two year old Alicia formed in his mind. "Well, Miss Perfect, I wasn't so sure about you, either. I picked up a teacher's pet vibe from you that made me think you'd be uptight and no fun."

But just days into the semester, they'd gotten past those ill-formed first impressions, and they'd been inseparable for much of the next two years.

"Good thing we gave each other a second chance." Alicia saw the multiple meanings in Will's dark eyes as he said it.

"Although if we hadn't, our classmates would have been more successful in mock trials." And with a smile, they found a steady ground beneath their feet. For now, the blossoming relationship might need to be put away, but this friendship, even through their worst moments, had always been so easy. They just hoped it could stay that way.

Another hour passed in companionable chatter and comfortable teasing, before Alicia decided to head home. Will, ever careful with her, walked her out to make sure she found a cab. While they waited, Alicia whispered an apology.

Will turned to face her and tipped her chin up so she looked in his eyes, not at her shoes. "What are you sorry for? The dance and the kiss? Or running away?"

Alicia sighed. "For having to run away. I shouldn't have started it, knowing it couldn't go anywhere."

"Dammit, Alicia! You know I would've gone anywhere you asked. You just have to decide what you want." The cab arrived then and the conversation couldn't continue.

With tears in her eyes and a heavy heart, Alicia said, "Goodbye, Will. I'll see you Monday," slid inside the cab, and disappeared into the darkness.

Back inside, Will asked for another drink and knocked it back with one gulp. From the stool beside him, Kalinda asked softly, "You okay?"

Will's mirthless laugh was short and pained. "I just put her in a cab to send her back to her lying, cheating husband."

Kalinda groaned. This was not the outcome she'd envisioned when she asked Will to join them. "She's scared, Will. She puts on her unreadable, conquer-the-world face, but it's still there." After a deep breath, she plunged forward, trying to find out what Alicia had never told her. "She also seems more tentative with you than I would expect from a grown woman who's clearly crazy about you. What happened between you to make her that way? Is it recent, or does this reach back to law school?"

To Kalinda's utter shock, Will dropped his face into his hands. Apparently, Alicia was solid, confident, unshakeable Will's Achilles heel, and Kalinda was amazed. She hadn't been sure how deep his feelings for Alicia went before tonight, but knowing the effect this night was having on him, Kalinda could tell he needed Alicia as much as Alicia needed him.

"She should never have been single when she met Peter."

He couldn't believe he was telling Kalinda this. Oh, well, now that he'd started…

"We were friends at Georgetown. At first, I didn't think she was my type – as a young and stupid male, I went for the flashy, easy marks. By the time I saw my mistake, we were best friends, and I was afraid to mess that up. As time went on, I realized she was just as ready to take a shot as I was, but by then, it was the end of second year, and I was spending the summer here while she was in D.C. While I was here, she met and started dating Peter."

"But why would that…"

He cut off Kalinda's question. "I let her think I didn't want her, and she witnessed the girls coming and going from my life for almost two years. If I'd just told her, we could've made it."

"Will." Kalinda put her hand on his knee to get his attention. "You don't know that it would've worked then, and you don't know that it won't now. If you can find a way to settle down our skittish girl, I think you've got a chance."

He looked up, a glimmer of hope showing on his defeated face. It was unlike Kalinda to be so supportive. "You think so?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Thanks, Kalinda. I need a little faith sometimes."