GRACE

Grace was his best friend. Grace was his first real girlfriend, his first fiancé, his first everything almost; with a girl at least. He had come to tell her everything. Whether it was from the flirting of someone at a supermarket or the date he had the previous night. It had soon become, Will and Grace for any kind of wedding invitation. It was like that for years, until three years ago when a wedding invitation came for Will and Guest. There was no more Will and Grace; it was Will and Karen now.

Will stared at the picture of the four of them; Jack, Grace, Karen, and Will, all at some bar they had grown familiar with. Karen was leaning into Will, holding Jack's hand; Grace and Will conversing over some topic he doesn't remember; they looked happy. They were happy. He then shifted the picture to the back of the stack, putting Grace's wedding invitation in front. That was a year and a half ago that he received it. It was for Will Truman; no guest, just Will. All of its pieces were still together, including the RSVP card.

Karen watched him shift through the pile, not knowing what to do. She had tried to convince him that he wanted to go, that she wanted him there, but he didn't mark anything down or send it. In the end, they sat in the back row, closest to the door, watched the ceremony and snuck out before they were noticed. Karen had her own wedding to plan; and the one person she knew he wanted to be there, wasn't. Not because she didn't want to be there, but because she was too hurt to come.

"I got the RSVP cards today," Karen said, announcing her presence. She noticed as she sat down next to him, he waited for her response. "She said no Will,"

"Well I guess it's better than not sending one," He retorted. He finished the rest of his wine, and carelessly dropped the pile on the table, making his way into their bedroom, adding a slam to the door. She shook her head and made her way into the room, following him.

"You want her to go," Karen pointed out. "You wanted her to check yes, that she'd go. She's your best friend Will," a

"She was my best friend. My best friend would have been there when my dad died. My best friend would have been the person I was going to call when I proposed to you. My best friend would have been there holding my hand, while you fought for your life!"

"True." She said, agreeing with him and taking a seat next to him on the bed. "But Grace would have known I had gotten into a car accident or that your dad died if you would have called her. She would have known I had a miscarriage if you called her. She may not seem to care about much, but you saw a different Grace Adler than I did."

"I don't know if I really want her there." He said shrugging his shoulders. "We sent out twenty five invitations, hoping no one, but my parents and your friends from your side would come. I sent one to Grace, because I felt like I had to. I had to send one to her, hoping somewhere in the back of my mind that she'd say yes. She checked no, and I'm okay with that."

"You left Grace," Karen reminded. "You left Grace because she didn't like me. She thought I am wrong for you. It sounds a lot like the conversation you had with her about Danny doesn't it?"

"It's completely different,"

"Not really," She said with a small smile. "You thought Danny would cheat on her, make her into a different person that you weren't used to. She wanted you to be happy with her choice."

"She wasn't happy when I said we we're getting married. We yelled at each other for hours about the pros and cons about our marriage. She told me you'd get bored of me and just use me just for my money. "

"We've been together for three years Will, living under the same roof. There are days when I feel like screaming at you, wanting you to leave me alone, but then if I go too far, I'd die." She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't want to be the reason for you not talking to Grace. I want you to tell her that your dad died. I want you to tell her about all the plans that we made for our new life. You don't need to make up excuses for not calling her. I'm not the excuse anymore."

"She won't want to talk to me,"

"You don't know that unless you call her," She said getting up from her place on the bed, leaving the phone in her place. "Call her and let her know what's happening."

It had been two weeks and he still hadn't called her. Karen hadn't mentioned Grace and calling again. It irritated her that he wouldn't call and he picked up on that fact, and for a while he fed off that annoyance. Seeing how irritated Karen could get before actually breaking and mentioning it again, but it never came. He was now sitting and staring at the black phone sitting on the coffee table, debating whether or not he should dial the numbers that became a habit to dial. Whether or not she was still there, or he would get someone else.

He picked up the phone and dialed the number. It rang once, then twice more, and one the fourth one, was the breaking point causing him to hang up the phone. If she answered, what would he say? If she didn't answer was a message necessary? He didn't want to leave a message, he couldn't leave a message. They never left each other messages.

Karen watched from the doorway. He wanted to call her, she was right. He was debating with himself for a long time; she could see it in his face. Even if she called herself, there was nothing she'd say to Grace, other than 'Call Will'.

"714-556-6247." Karen said entering the room. "Her phone number."

"I know what it is," He said carelessly tossing the phone to his side. "What if it's a wrong number? Or someone else answers."

"You don't know until you've tried." She said. "Plus, you still know she lives at the same place since you got a reply."

"True." He said placing a hand on Karen's knee. "What if she answers and wants to know why I haven't called? What do I tell her then?"

"Whatever you want to." She said, placing her hand over his, stilling it. "Tell her the truth, tell her lies. Whatever you think will be what she'd want to hear." Karen placed a kiss to his cheek, and stood up. She placed her palm to his cheek. "She'll be glad to hear from you Will. She'll want to know what's been happening with you. Trust me."

He watched her leave and eyed the phone. After three years of not saying a word to her, there was so much to say. So much had happened for the both of them. He eyed the clock on the side of the bed, smiling at the times. It was time for re-runs of ER with George Clooney. He could imagine her sitting on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket with a bowl of chocolate ice cream, watching. He heard the faint click and smiled. "Hey Gracie,"

Karen Walker, on the other side of the door smiled. She made herself comfortable on the couch with some magazine she picked up on her way home, full well knowing that the phone would be busy for a while. Everything took a while with Grace.