Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm so glad you liked the story and they motivated me to continue it. I hope you like where I went with it, please let me know :)
Thanks Mike for beta-reading.
After watching the door close with a bang behind Will, Alicia leaned back against the dressing table and closed her eyes. The same dressing table, which only minutes before, Will had her pressed against. Alicia just stood there; she didn't know for how long, processing the recent events. Had she really just kissed Will? Minutes before he got married? Alicia felt dizzy, her head spinning and goosebumps all over her body from Will's touch, still very present on her skin. The realization that it would have been the last kiss they would ever share made her shudder again, but this time not a pleasant shiver. It had been their last stolen kiss, unless… Alicia had seen in his eyes that he still cared. Will did ask if she was going back to Peter as an argument to justify his going out to get married to Laura. What if she wasn't? No, she couldn't act on it. She couldn't do anything. It was wrong.
When Alicia felt like she could no longer stay hidden in the suite, she stepped away from the dressing table, straightened her clothes and checked the mirror. The maid-of-honor reapplied her make-up and redid her hair, which was no longer up in a beautiful hairdo, but all messed up, falling loose to her shoulders. No wonder Kalinda had only needed one look before realizing what had been going on. As soon as Alicia was satisfied with her work and thought she was somewhat presentable again, she took a deep breath, found the bouquet she was supposed to hold while walking down the aisle in front of Laura, and got out of the room.
When the maid-of-honor got to the door of the salon, she was met by a euphoric bride. "Where have you been? I was about to send someone to look for you –" Then, in the middle of her questioning, Laura just stopped and asked with true concern, "Hey, are you okay? You look…off."
Laura was a sweet person, a friend, about to get married. Alicia couldn't hurt her. That was one of the thousand reasons why she couldn't speak up about her and Will, why she had to keep pretending everything was fine and follow the plan. Laura's excitement was a reminder that Alicia was doing the right thing in shutting down her own feelings. So, Alicia just smiled and said as reassuring as she could, "I'm fine, don't worry about me. I should be the one worrying about you. How are you? No cold feet, I hope."
"No, not at all. Everything is perfect. Thank you, Alicia. I can never thank you enough for everything you have done for us." Alicia didn't say anything and just rubbed her hand up and down Laura's arm in a comforting manner, smiling.
Suddenly, the music started playing and they could hear the guests getting quiet inside the salon, waiting for them to enter. In the line of bridesmaids Alicia, as the maid-of-honor, was last walking down the aisle. Alicia was heading towards her place at the side of the altar. She was taking in her surroundings, appreciating the result of her hard work and she couldn't help as her eyes locked with Will's, standing in place, waiting for his bride. While looking in his chocolate irises, she remembered her speech from the rehearsal dinner the night before.
Alicia hadn't wanted to do it; she was terrible at giving speeches. Especially when she was supposed to talk about Laura, someone she didn't really know that well. This maid-of-honor thing was getting worse by the minute. Having no other choice, Alicia stood up to give the happy couple her blessing, like everyone was expecting her to.
"Well, I know I'm the maid-of-honor and supposed to talk about Laura, tell embarrassing stories and some dark secret about her. Truth is, Laura and I haven't known each other for that long, which makes me even more honored to have been asked to be her maid-of-honor. What I can say is that she must be an astonishing person for Will to have asked her to marry him, to have chosen her to spend the rest of his life with, because Will, I do know well. We have been friends since law school and honestly, I never thought I would see the day we would lose Chicago's 16th most eligible bachelor." The room burst out in laughter and she could hear Will saying with a smile 'I can't believe you brought that up'. "The Will I knew in college didn't believe in marriage, something he didn't mind to vehemently argue in our first Family Law class. If Laura was able to change his mind on the subject, well…What I'm trying to say is that it says a lot about someone to become his partner in life and equal to such a carrying, funny, loyal and amazing man like Will Gardner. I hope I'll be giving a speech on your 25th anniversary, saying I was right about that…I hate to be wrong." More laughter from the room. "Seriously, I wish you two all the happiness in the world." Alicia rose her champagne glass in a toast and was accompanied back to her place by a round of applause. On her way through the tables to her own, she caught Owen's eyes and saw him mouthing to her 'bullshit', which she replied with an eye roll.
Suddenly she could no longer hold Will's gaze and her eyes shifted to the guests. Among the bridal party she found Peter and the kids. When her eyes met Grace's, her daughter mouthed 'you look beautiful, mom' and a happy smile crept on the girl's face. Another reminder to Alicia that she was doing the right thing in leaving things as they were. She couldn't hurt them. Her family was healing. Her kids were finally happy again.
When she at last got to her place at the altar, her look crossed paths with Will's again. It was only a fleeting moment, because he quickly looked back down the aisle, his attention caught by the bridal march playing as Laura entered the salon. Alicia saw his eyes widen as he saw his bride in the beautiful white dress, veil and all. If she had had any doubt before that this was the best way for things to go, this was the final nail in the coffin. Will deserved to move on and be happy. He needed someone uncomplicated, with no baggage, undamaged, and who could put him first. It was the final reminder that she was doing the right thing in not pursuing anything. So, she would just keep her mouth shut and watch Will get married.
…...
When Will heard the bridal march, he forced himself to look at Laura, his bride, like he was supposed to. He made himself break eye contact with Alicia, even if it was the last thing he wanted to do. Damn! It had taken him one year of dating Laura to stop dreaming, stop hoping and finally be comfortable with what he had. Will had at last reached acceptance, made peace with the situation and then, it took only a few minutes for Alicia to undo all his hard work. She had chosen the worst moment to stir things up between them again. But he wasn't only angry at her. Most of all, though, he was pissed at himself for giving her so much power over him.
During the ceremony, his eyes wandered through the room and like magnets, they were drawn to Alicia. She was standing at the side of the altar in her beautiful blue dress. Tears were streaming down her face, escaping from her red eyes. She tried to hide them; constantly brushing her hands on her cheeks and under her eyes. Alicia was doing a poor job and Will could see very clearly that she was crying. Were those tears of joy? Or maybe she was crying because… No! He forbid his mind to go there. His heart started beating rapidly in his chest. Damn again! He was getting married to Laura. He couldn't be having those feelings. Laura didn't deserve that he still had those feelings. He was about to promise to be hers forever, any minute now. On second thought, maybe he wasn't really there yet. Could he guarantee there would be no more weak moments between them? Could he promise Laura that working a late night at the firm that he and Alicia would never give into temptation? Just one last time? Could he assure Laura that if Alicia one day decided to divorce Peter, that he wouldn't be shaken by it? Could he say, without a doubt, that if Alicia ever wanted to pursue the idea of them he would shut her down? No, he couldn't. Laura clearly deserved more than that, more than him, more than he could ever give her.
Will couldn't go through with this; he had to stop the ceremony. Talk about worst moment possible.
"Stop!" Did he really say it out loud? Every look in the room was pointed at him. Apparently he did.
"Will." Laura whispered in a warning tone, furrowing her brows in confusion and pointing her head at the rabbi.
"Laura, I'm sorry, I can't do this. I can't put you in this position, you deserve better than what I can give you." He whispered back. Not everybody had to hear that. The least he could do for Laura was not having everyone in the room knowing what this was about. Not that they wouldn't find out any minute, but Will would give her a little more time.
"Seriously? You're doing this now? I can't believe you!" She shouted and slapped Will. The bride got down off the altar and ran out of the salon. Away from everybody's confused and concerned stares.
A/N.: So, what did you think? I felt really tempted to take the "cheesy" way out, with Alicia interrupting the ceremony. But, as an angst lover I just couldn't do it. I hope you don't hate me for that, but if you do, please tell me your thoughts.