Two weeks later Alicia was back in court. This time for a criminal case. By the time they recessed for lunch, she was feeling down. So far Geneva was a formidable opponent, and the SA's office had a strong case against Alicia's client. But Alicia really believed her client was innocent. She couldn't bear the thought that this woman might be convicted for something she didn't do. Alicia decided to skip lunch and just go to the coffee shop across the street from the courthouse. She'd get coffee and a danish and work at trying to figure out a new angle to her client's defense or a hole in the prosecution's case.

After she ordered, she found a quiet table in the back corner, set an alarm on her phone, and got to work. She was so engrossed in her notes that she paid no attention to who was coming or going or what was going on around her.

Will was also at court that day and stopped into the coffee shop on his way back to the firm. He was going to get his coffee to go, but he spotted Alicia in the back and took a seat at the table next to hers. She seemed frustrated. He remembered her being like that when studying for an exam or preparing for a mock trial and not being able to find the information she needed.

"Court not going well?"

She looked up surprised by the company and the comment. "What?" She involuntarily smiled when she saw him.

"I asked if court was not going well."

"No, it's not."

"Civil or criminal?"

"Criminal."

"Want some help?"

"We work for different firms."

"But this case is against the SA's office, so there's no conflict of interest."

She began telling Will about her case and Geneva's agruements, and the corner she found herself backed into.

Will offered some very helpful insights to the case. He also offered some insights about arguing against Geneva. He also offered her some insights about herself. "You care too much."

"What?"

"You care too much. It's a liability as a defense attorney. You have to detach emotionally from your clients."

"So I shouldn't care if an innocent woman goes to prison?"

"I didn't say it wasn't right to care or that you shouldn't, but it's a professional liability. Sometimes you'll have innocent clients that go to prison, and sometimes you'll be representing clients who are guilty as hell and have to zealously defend them. You can't let your emotions get in the way."

She was pondering his thoughts when an odd man made his way over.

"Well, Mr. Gardner, taking a coffee break when you should be working on my defense?"

"Mr. Sweeney, don't worry, I'm not billing you for my time here, and if you would stop getting caught in incriminating circumstances, there would be no need to work on your defense."

"Well, incriminating circumstances seem to find me."

"That they do."

"Well, are you going to introduce me to your friend?"

He turned towards Alicia and gestured towards Sweeney, "This is my client, Colin Sweeney." He then turned to Sweeney and gestured towards Alicia, "And this is an old friends, Alicia Florrick."

Mr. Sweeney thought for a moment before recognition clicked. "Alicia Florrick as in wife of the former State's Attorney, Peter Florrick?"

That was a title that used to bring her pride. Now, she could barely stomach hearing herself referred to as Peter Florrick's wife. She put on her dealing-with-the-public face and responded, "Yes."

There was nothing that interested Colin Sweeney more than a sex scandal, but Alicia was saved by the bell, literally. The alarm on her phone indicated it was time for her to return to court.

"Well, Mr. Sweeney, it was nice meeting you. I have to be getting back to court, now." She gathered her things and got up to leave.

"Will, thank you for your help."

"You're welcome." She started walking towards the door and he called after her, "Let me know how it goes."

She turned back around to face him, "Okay, I will." She smiled again before turning and walking out.

By the end of the week, the trial had ended and Alicia's client was cleared of all charges. She texted Will right after court ended Friday before heading back to the office.

Will had been in a meeting at the time and hadn't gotten the message right away. When he did get the message later in the afternoon, he texted her back. His first reply was immediate, but after thinking and rethinking a few times, he sent an additional message not long after the first.

Alicia was finishing up her paperwork for the day when her phone beeped. A smile formed on her lips when she saw the name Will Gardner as the name of the sender. "Congratulations on your first win against the SA's office." She then noticed that there was a second message, also from Will, "We said we would catch up sometime outside of court. I was thinking we could go to dinner tonight, in honor of your win."

She wanted to say yes, but she had promised the kids a movie night. They got to pick whatever movies they wanted (with age-appropriate ratings) and they'd order pizza and make popcorn. She didn't want to back out on her kids. She started to text him back when she decided to call instead. By the fourth ring she was expecting to get his voicemail when he answered.

"Hi."

"Hi. I got your message."

"But" -

"What makes you think there's a but?"

"I heard it coming. Maybe some other time."

"Hey, hold on there Mr. Mind-reader-who's-got-it-wrong."

"Is that so."

"It is. I was going to say that I can't go out, but that you're invited to join the Florrick Family Movie Night. I can't promise the movies will be any good, the kids get to pick, but there will be pizza and popcorn, which usually are good - most of the time."

Will thought for a moment. He hadn't actually thought of his asking her to dinner as an actual date. He didn't even know what the status was of her relationship with Peter, but he wasn't expecting to hang out with her kids. Kids were uncharted territory for him. "I don't want to intrude."

"You're not intruding." She meant it. She was surprised by how much she wanted to spend time with him, just not at the expense of her children. "It will be like movie nights in law school."

"In law school we had beer."

"So bring beer."

Maybe participating in Florrick Family Movie Night would be better than a night home alone or with any of the women from his little black book that might be available short notice. None of those women even interested him anymore anyway since he'd seen Alicia a few weeks ago.

"What time?"

"Seven, or whenever you can make it."

"I can do seven."

She ended the call with a big, goofy grin. Anyone who would have seen her would have mistaken her for a happy woman, and maybe for the moment, she was happy.

Will left the office a little earlier than usual for a Friday and took a six back from his office mini-fridge before he headed over to Alicia's. A family movie night was not the way he usually spent his Friday nights, but he actually found himself looking forward, even if the movies weren't good, or the popcorn and pizza for that matter.

Alicia got home around 6. Owen was there. "I took the kids to the video store, and I didn't let them get any R-rated movies."

"Thank you, Owen."

"I just ordered the pizza. It should be here in an hour, and we already started on the popcorn."

"Great. How many pizzas did you order?"

"Two."

"Can you call back and add a third one?" After a second though, "Actually, two more." She'd rather have too much than two little. She didn't know if Will still ate (well, devoured food, especially, pizza) like he did fifteen years ago.

"Sure, but why do you want so much pizza? We don't each need our own."

"Well, there'll be five of us, and I just want to make sure there's enough. And it never hurts to have leftover cold pizza for breakfast Saturday morning."

Owen noticed how she mentioned five and then tried to camouflage it by segwaying into the bit about leftovers for breakfast. He was not distracted. "So who else is coming over?" He was dialing the number for the pizza place.

"An old friend."

Owen gave her a knowing smile, "Mr. Georgetown?"

She gave him the Alicia stare. "His name is Will, and don't you dare embarrass me by mentioning that name."

He added two pizzas to the order and put the phone down. "Why would I do that?"

"Because you're my little brother and you've been embarrassing me on purpose for as long as I can remember."

"Do you want me to leave?"

"You can stay as long as you behave yourself."

"I'll try. Scout's honor and all that."

"You were never a boy scout."

"Well, it just sounded good."

She threw a few pieces of popcorn at him. "Hey." he faked being hurt.

The kids walked in the kitchen. "Hey, you two better watch it, or we might need to put you time out," Zach.

Owen and Alicia both turned to them. "Ha, ha, very funny."

"Hey, if you caught the two of us throwing popcorn at each other, you would not think it was okay," Grace.

"Oh, yeah?" She eyed Owen and then threw a fist full of popcorn at the kids. Owen quickly put an end to the popcorn fight after a few fist fulls had been thrown each way. "Hey, hey. I worked too hard popping all that for it to end up all over the floor. And how would we explain the mess to our guest?" He eyed Alicia, who suddenly became a bit self-conscious as her kids' attention shifted.

"What guest?" Zach asked.

Alicia got the broom and started sweeping, while Zach and Grace picked up popcorn off the chairs and counters. "I just discovered a few weeks ago that an old friend from college has been in Chicago the past few years, and I didn't know. We hadn't seen each other since graduation, and wanted to catch up."

"So what's her name?" Grace was intrigued to meet one of her mother's friends.

"His name is Will - Will Gardner. He has his own law firm. We've run into each other a few times at court, but we really haven't had a chance to talk much."

"Was he a friend or a boyfriend?" Grace asked a question Alicia had hoped to avoid.

Alicia was sailing into uncharted territory. Owen was smirking, clearly enjoying this a little too much. She gave him a look that meant he better not add to or contradict anything she was going to say. "We were friends." She said it matter-of-fact and seemed to convince Grace there wasn't anything else to the story.

How could she explain her relationship with Will to her kids, if she couldn't even explain it to herself? Even back in law school she didn't know what they were at the time. She didn't know what they were then, and she didn't exactly know what they were now either.