Chapter Four: Diane's Wedding

Uncomfortable was putting it mildly, but that's exactly how Alicia felt just now.

She had entered the church with Peter, aiming for a seat at the back. Then Peter was ushered to the front pews by an old, fat man – either a judge or a lawyer or a politician; Alicia hadn't been paying much attention – and they were given a prime seat for Diane Lockhart's wedding to Kurt McVeigh.

Now that she was a judge, Alicia supposed that Diane felt inclined to invite all these people, many colleagues and hangers on, but not many friends. There was one person she knew to be Diane's friend however, and she saw him now, standing on the altar.

Will was handsome. Not in an obvious, perfect features kind of way; but in a boyishly charming kind of way. While Peter had a charismatic, powerful sort of presence, there was something distant about him; whereas Will was approachable, easy-going. Well, when he wasn't being a lawyer. Or looking at Alicia.

He wore a black suit and tie, matching Kurt and the best man. Peter made small talk with the old man next to him, but Alicia didn't bother trying to engage. She fiddled with her hands, using them to smooth out her purple dress or fiddle with the ridiculous ring that her husband had given her. They still had not made the time for Hawaii; Alicia knew they never would.

The music struck up and Alicia gave herself permission to look at Will again. He smiled boyishly, eyes focused on the back of the church where Diane was walking carefully down the aisle. She wore a beautiful pleated skirt and jacket, all in white. A single string of pearls about her throat and a simple, netted veil covered her eyes. It was very prim and very Diane.

When she reached the altar, Diane offered Will and the best man each a kiss on the cheek. Then she gave her gaze to Kurt and never looked away. The ceremony was short and sweet and Alicia revelled in not having to speak to anyone. But by the time she and Peter entered the reception, her heart was beating rapidly. She wasn't sure what made her so nervous.

Not long after Alicia had secured a drink, Peter was whisked off by the old man into a group of old men, and Alicia was left to fend for herself. Usually someone would seek her out, Alicia never had to go looking for company and conversation. But this wasn't a political event; this was a wedding. And no one particularly cared for Alicia Florrick's favour.

Unwilling to spend the night with people watching her stand alone in a corner, Alicia decided to go outside where she could stand alone without being judged. The reception building was a country club, looking out onto an expansive golf course. Alicia leant her elbows on the railing, sipping casually from her glass of white wine. She enjoyed the solitude.

"Mrs. Florrick"

Will's voice was low and hard. She had become used to that, she almost regretted deleting that voice mail. But it had been the right thing to do, because that voice trapped in her phone cared. And she would never hear a caring word from Will again. She had to get used to that.

Turning, she met his blunt, brown eyes. "Mr. Gardner."

"Have you watched that video yet?" Will asked her, sipping his glass of champagne and coming to stand beside her against the railing, a comfortable distance away.

"I can only assume you're referring to the disk you gave me. No, I'm a little busy" Alicia said sarcastically, "you know, running a firm. How do you find the time to play all your little mind games?"

"Oh, I make the time" Will said casually, "call it a hobby."

"Well you need better things to do" she countered, knocking back the rest of her wine.

"Wow, you look like your gearing up for a fight."

"Isn't that why you came out here?"

"Actually I was avoiding an ex-girlfriend - that's why I came out here. And, seeing you, I thought I'd come say hello."

"Really? You wanted to say hello?"

"Well, and to ask if you'd watched the video. So why haven't you?"

"Because I don't need to do everything you ask anymore" Alicia said, walking closer to him, leaving her wine glass on the railing. "I'm not your employee or your girlfriend."

"You were never my girlfriend" Will shrugged.

"What was I then?"

"Uh, I don't know, you tell me. And which time are we talking about here?"

"Well, I certainly wasn't your girlfriend three years ago when we started things up again."

"You weren't my girlfriend at Georgetown either."

Alicia paused, hurt. Will looked at her defiantly, daring her to disagree with him.

"Well…this is honest" she said quietly. "I don't think I've had such a straight-forward conversation with you about our relationship since Georgetown."

Will smiled despite himself. "Yeah, funny isn't it? Honesty is easy when you don't care what the other person thinks of you."

Alicia nodded, biting her lip. But she did still care what he thought of her. She just believed there was nothing she could do anymore to stop Will from hating her, so why bother?

"Well. You're right then. I never was your girlfriend."

"Glad we got that sorted" Will said awkwardly. "I should go" he added, downing the rest of his champagne and walking away.

Alicia decided that it was time to go home.

When Will finally sat down in the security of his apartment, he rubbed his hands across his tired eyes and removed his tie. He wasn't sure who'd crossed the line into all the personal stuff, him or Alicia, but she was right: they hadn't had such an honest conversation in over a decade. The only time that came close was when he told her he loved her in a voicemail, but she hadn't heard that.

Rather than feeling embarrassed or mad, Will felt liberated. To talk so openly about what they had been to each other, it was like breathing clean air. Free of polite lies and cover-ups. He still hated her though, that was part of the liberation; in fact, it was the driving force behind it.

His thoughts wandered vaguely across their conversation, and he asked himself: What happened at Georgetown?

Walking into her apartment, the first thing Alicia did was walk into her bedroom. Grace was at Connor's. Peter was headed back to Springfield. Alicia was alone with the disk that Will had given her.

She found it, hidden under her bed in a box marked "Lockhart/Gardner", a mixture of stationary and documents that she'd thrown into a box the day she left. That's where she had put the disk.

Walking back out to her desktop computer, Alicia inserted the disk into the drive. She pressed play.

Eli picked up on the first ring.

"Peter, what a pleasant surprise."

"You son of a bitch" Peter snarled. "You showed Alicia the tape."

"Well, not exactly, but I'll take the credit."

"You didn't tell anyone about...did you?"

He couldn't even say it out loud.

"I told Will" Eli admitted smugly. He refrained from mentioning that David Lee and Diane knew as well.

"If I go down, I'm taking you with me."

"Wow – this seems like a conversation we've already had Peter. Except last time, I was under the mistaken impression that you were my friend."

"You were my friend" Peter insisted. "It was for the good of the campaign Eli, I could lose my Governorship."

"Oh, you will lose the Governorship. And you will go to jail, but you can't take me with you. I'd like to see you try. I've had four months to protect myself Peter, and while you've been playing politician, I've been playing strategist. You're screwed. And when you go down, just remember it was me who pushed you over."

"Go to hell" Peter spat.

"See you there."

Authors note:

I managed to fit in one last chapter for all you beautiful people before I leave for USA tomorrow! Hopefully I can write up a few chapters on my 17 hour flight and upload them when I get to LA.

This is especially written because of all the super nice reviews, honestly, i'm so grateful everyone, thank you Xx

Disclaimer:

This is a work of fan fiction using characters from The Good Wife television show, which is trademarked by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. Alicia Florrick, Will Gardner, Diane Lockhart, Cary Agos, Kalinda Sharma and Peter Florrick are all characters created and owned by Robert and Michelle King and CBS. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of The Good Wife. The story I tell here about The Good Wife characters is of my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of the King's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line. I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story. I am grateful to Robert and Michelle King, and all the other writers for The Good Wife, for their wonderful show, as without her it, my story would not exist.