2:53 pm

"Oh my god."

As soon as Karen saw him, lying on her bed, everything she had planned to say to him went out the window. Instead, all she could think about was the quick downward spiral of their time together. The hurt he put her through when he left. And she started to make her exit.

"Wait, wait. Karen, please don't go. I need to talk to you." She didn't turn around. She couldn't look at him. Not yet. Will started to speak again.

"Look. I know I didn't leave things well. I know that you probably can't forgive me. But you have to understand. In that short amount of time, I had gotten so used to it being you and me. Only you and me. I didn't want to have to share you with anyone else. So when you told me that Olivia called, it made me realize that I had to. It made me realize that you had already pledged your love to someone else, and even if you don't feel completely the same way you did about him, I would have to share you anyway. And I didn't think I could handle that. That's why I left. But since I did, I have not been able to stop thinking about you. I want to stay with you. I want to make it right."

It wasn't really like what he planned to say to her. But it was all he could get out.

After he finished, she turned to face him for the first time since she saw him on her bed.

"Will…"

Karen stopped for a moment, unsure of what to say. Everything she had thought up until this point had meshed together so that she couldn't make out what she wanted to get out and what she wanted to forget. She tried the best she could.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't thinking of you. I don't want to say I've fallen for you, because it was only a few hours. But I've certainly cast you in a different light. And I truly believe everything you just told me."

Silence.

"There's a 'but,'" Will said. "I can feel it."

"But I don't think I can do this anymore."

The look on his face was one of shock that was masking a hint of broken-heartedness.

"What do you mean, you can't do this anymore? Why not?"

"Because we wouldn't be able to break the cycle! Look, the way you made me feel last night…there aren't enough words to describe it. I hadn't been so alive in years. But as soon as something from our outside life came sneaking in, you switched so quickly, I couldn't even recognize you. You had turned from someone who told me he wouldn't hurt me into someone who leaves at the first sign of complication. I'm not saying I'm perfect. We all know I'm far from it; I've made more mistakes in my life than I care to think about. But it goes both ways, Will. So I slipped and let my actual life get in the way of the one we pretended to have for a few hours. But at least I tried to make you stay after it happened."

"Karen…"

"Honey, please. Let me finish."

Will nodded.

"Maybe if it were under different circumstances, maybe if this happened at a different time, we could really take the chance and pursue this. I just don't want to keep being heartbroken if we start up, only to be reminded of real life again. You can't tell me that it will never happen again."

A few moments went by before someone spoke again.

"You know what?" Will finally said in a quiet voice. "You're right. I can tell you until I'm blue in the face that it won't happen, but I can never really promise it. Maybe there's really something here between us. But I don't want to be disappointed every time I realize there are strings attached. And I don't want to be the one who continually hurts you. You've had enough of that; the last thing I want to do is add to it."

Silence.

"We have got to be the king and queen of bad timing."

At Will's remark, Karen suddenly burst out laughing. "That's the understatement of the year." She could hear Will join in the laughter, the first smiles they had given each other since the morning. "Oh…" Karen let out as her laughter died down. "So what are we going to do?" It wasn't a heavy question like it possibly should have been. She wasn't angry at him, and he let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Well…" Will gave this some thought. "I guess we'll just go back to the way things were. What else can we do? Grace and Jack have no idea what's going on. They're going to expect us to have the same connection we've always had between us."

"Maybe we could be a little more civil towards each other in public. Gradually, of course."

Will smiled at her. "I can definitely do that. You know you can count on me if you need anything. I'm not going to turn you away."

He grabbed her hand. She weaved her fingers with his.

"I know, honey."

Will let a few moments pass. "Karen, can I ask you something?" She nodded. "Can I stay here tonight? Just for the night. To make up for how I left things."

Karen stared at him for a minute. She wasn't sure what would come of one more night with him. For all she knew, their minds could change completely, and they'd be willing to take the risk together. For all she knew, they were just continuing the cycle they started thirteen hours ago. She had no idea where this would lead them.

But she was willing to find out.

She nodded again. "I'd like that."

The smile on his face grew wider when he heard her acceptance. He pulled her into his arms and felt her wrap around his neck. He was going to make it right. She felt his caress on her skin. It was all they wanted.

They didn't have a clue what lay ahead of them. They didn't have a plan for the future.

But they had tonight.

And that's all that mattered.