The following week's passed at a fairly fast rate. He saw more and more of Alicia as their court date drew nearer. Every minute he made eye contact with her, he felt himself grow further apart from Laura. He knew she could sense that something was wrong. She was always questioning him, she didn't like him to be out too late; she was more clingy than ever. He didn't resent it, he couldn't really. He had given her plenty of reason to act that way.

He walked from their bedroom, fully dressed and ready for his day. Laura was sat quietly at the kitchen counter, reading and making notes. His coffee cup was already out and there was fresh coffee in the pot. He almost rolled his eyes at the level of domestically. It wasn't that It was something he was against, he just wasn't sure if he was with the woman he wanted to be living this way with.

She looked up very briefly before returning her eyes to her work.

He heard a quietly mumbled "good morning" as he made his way to his coffee cup.

"Morning."

He sat next to her, picking up his iPad and scrolling through the days news. The air surrounding them felt thick. The words that weren't being spoken were hanging over them like a noose. Before Alicia had come back into his life, it was easy for him to ignore the very obvious difference between them and to allude himself into thinking that he was happy. He was happy; to an extent. She made him laugh, she was carefree and she was undeniably attractive. But then she went back to the base, and he bumped into Alicia, and suddenly, his world shifted. Everything that he thought that he wanted shifted. It shifted back to Alicia.

He sighed as he took a long gulp of his coffee ignoring the burn it left in his throat and jumped as he heard a cup being slammed harshly onto the counter next to him.

"Stop it! Stop sighing and huffing and puffing like you're exasperated and put out by simply being here! I'm the one who should be complaining! My boyfriend has hardly acknowledged my existence for weeks!"

Her face was red with anger as she glared at him, making him feel small and – rightly so – guilty. He had been an awful boyfriend. He knew that. He was aware of it the whole time. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, readying himself to be the bigger guy and apologise.

"Look, I know I've been pretty damn awful. I know that okay. I've been busy at work and a few cases are getting to me and I guess I've brought that home. I'm sorry." He decided that at this pint, a half truth was probably better than no truth at all.

"Work? You're going to blame this on work? We both work Will. The difference is I don't bring my hardships home with me." She sighed deeply and ran a hand down her face. "Are you sure that's all there is?"

From the look she gave him, he was almost sure that she knew: that she had figured out that he was torn and being pulled in two directions. But he just shook his head.

"I promise, Laura. That's all it is."

She nodded, seemingly satisfied, as she got off the stool and made her way to the door, stating that they would talk more when they both got home from work that night.

Before he had time to think about what he was doing his cup was shattering against the wall on the opposite side of his kitchen. Obviously, his feelings weren't completely under control. He took a few deep, calming breaths, picked up a sweeping brush and started to clean the mess he had created, hoping that his life would eventually follow suit.

It was time for work. It was time to see her.

No longer did he dread hearing the tell tale sound of her heels making her presence known in the hallway, he almost appreciated it. So when she entered looking incredibly put together with a transcendent smile on her face as she chatted amicably with Cary he thought he would be prepared ... he wasn't. As soon as his eyes latched onto her form, it was hard to get them to move. If she sensed his leering, she didn't acknowledge it and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. Relieved that she was seemingly unaware or disappointed that she didn't seem to care.

"Alicia! I hear congratulations are in order?" confused by Dianes announcement, he looked up at Alicias face, almost chuckling when he saw her nose scrunch in obvious distaste. "or maybe condolences if the expression on your face is anything to go by?"

Alicia laughed, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He really did love that sound.

"I can't say I'm all that excited about it to be honest. It's a lot of pressure. And its going to take up far too much of my time." She rolled her eyes and huffed in exasperation.

Will cleared his throat, making his presence known. "I feel slightly out of the loop here?" his eyebrows furrowed in confusion and Alicia smiled at him. That was something. Their relationship has definitely developed since everything first exploded. They weren't on the best of terms, their relationship was extremely tentative, but they were taking small steps and that was definitely an improvement.

"I've been asked to do the key note at the next ABA conference." He felt himself beginning to grin at her, something she clearly noticed when she rolled her eyes to try and conceal the smile forming on her lips. "it's in New York in a few weeks."

"Wow. Diane's right. Congratulations Alicia. That's a big deal." He looked at Diane who was nodding in agreement.

"We're actually going. So at least you know there will be some friendly faces in the crowd." Wills eyebrows pulled together as he turned questioningly to Diane.

"We're going?" Diane nodded. "You would think that maybe that would be something you would tell me about, you know, give me a chance to pack my things, book some flights." He shrugged with a smirk, Diane glared and Alicia and Cary both tried pretty unsuccessfully to hide their amusement.

"I decided that there wouldn't be a point. You always end up forgetting and panic packing at the very last minute anyway."

Will conceded, Diane definitely wasn't wrong, he wasn't great at remembering things Diane would tell him about, especially if it was something he wasn't entirely enthused about. But something Alicia was speaking at? He's pretty sure he would be nothing but incredibly prepared.

Alicia cleared her throat, effectively ending the unusually civil moment, "so, shall we start?"

Depositions were over, there was no intense questioning, just calm discussions about strategy. Will felt himself stopping his eyes rolling multiple times whilst Cary spoke. He still didn't find him all that impressive in his reasoning. He had definitely progressed since joining forces with Alicia, but he still wasn't spectacular. Alicia however ... Her work was stellar. Her strategies were clever and well thought out. She was clearly invested in this case and fighting hard to advocate for her clients. He could see the approval written all over Dianes face and she was hard to impress.

They spent a few hours going back and forth making sure they had some sort of coherence about how they would face court and then it was time for her to leave; to head back to a life that didn't include him. He was only part of her work life right now. And although he was satisfied with that for the time being, he knew that in the long wrong, it probably wouldn't be enough. He had already gone 18 years without her, and now that she was so close but so far at the same time, it was even more infuriating. He knew It was of his own doing, but that didn't make it any easier to accept.

Thinking back to his conversation with Laura that morning, he decided that maybe he should stick by what he had said to Alicia all those weeks ago; he owed It to Laura to try and make it work. It was irrefutable that It would be a lot easier to make things work with her when he wasn't spending so much time with Alicia, but could he really accept not seeing her? Talking to her? Spending time with her? He knew the answer to that. And It definitely wasn't going to help his situation.

It was a knock on his office door that brought him out of his musings hours later; Kalinda.

"Drinks?"

He nodded as he stood from his desk.

"You know, if I was anyone else, I'd probably think we were friends." She shrugged a shoulder.

"Maybe we are."

He followed behind her, not bothering to reply, but at the same time knowing what a big deal it was. Kalinda didn't have friends.

When he woke up the next morning it was to a cold bed and a hostile note stating that sleeping next to an abhorrently drunk man was not wanted nor something she was particularly fond of. In other words, she had gone to stay at her sisters, In the middle of the night. Clearly not a good sign. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his eyes. He was hungover and now had to deal with a pissed off girlfriend. It was almost like high school, except now the drinking was legal and the relationships were more serious.

Kalinda had given him a lot of perspective the night before. She had talked things through with him and it felt good to finally have someone to vent to without fear of judgement. It was then that he decided that he had to be better. He may not physically be with Alicia how he would have liked to have been, but emotionally, she was all he saw. As she had requested, from now on he would be aloof. No checking her out as she worked, no compliments; nothing that could be considered anything but professional.

It all went smoothly for a couple of weeks. He tried extremely hard not to be too in awe when the case finally got to court and she questioned witnesses with more finesse than he had ever seen. When they all got together to discuss strategy he excused himself as soon as conversation strayed from case to personal. He forced his eyes away from her body when ever she strode purposefully back and forth the courtroom or conference room.

Laura was happier. He felt more at ease. Everything was going to plan.

And then it was time for the ABA conference, where avoiding being in awe of Alicia would be very near to impossible. It was her weekend. She would be in her element and that would be hard to resist.

He boarded the plane with Diane and Laura. They walked in front of him talking amicably as he read emails on his phone. He wasn't surprised when he heard them both greeting someone. This was an important conference; obviously a lot of Chicago lawyers would be in attendance. What he was surprised by – and really shouldn't have been because apparently this is just how his life goes - was Alicia, shaking hands with his girlfriend and smiling at Diane.

She looked impeccable in a red body skimming dress. And, coincidentally, was sat in the chair directly across the aisle from him.

He didn't engage as Diane and Alicia chatted in an almost friendly manner. He supposed the case they were all working together had forged some sort of friendship between them both. Alicia laughed, and he put in his ear phones to block it out. Laura leant across him to pass something to Alicia and he didn't even turn to see what it was. He was extremely impressed with his own self control. That is, until he instinctively turned his head at the unexpected movement to his right. Alicia was stretching up into the overhead compartment and he was treated to a spectacular view. He had slipped. He let his eyes stay focused on her body, on how the red dress hugged all her curves and he had to take a deep breath. His resolve was already crumbling.

Alicia was his weakness.