Last day – last chapter...

On AO3 this chapter is longer, containing some M-rating stuff – But what do you expect, Will's coming home! ;-)

I hope I toned it down enough for the T rating. However, if you feel uncomfortable with anything, please let me know and I will change it.

Day 52

„He died..."

Mac could barely say the words for she knew too well what they would do to Will. And sure enough she saw him freeze, just looking at her, his eyes full of shock. Then, once he started to digest what she had said, his expression shifted to disbelieve and despair.

All she could do was hold him and whisper that everything would be alright, though she herself wasn't sure about that. This wasn't how this moment was supposed to be – Will finally coming home!

She held on tighter, his head nestled in the crook of her neck and one of her hands in his hair while the other one soothingly ran up and down his back. She supposed they should be grateful for the small things, in this case that she didn't have to tell Will about Charlie during one of her visits to jail and then have to leave him alone to deal with it on his own. But still, couldn't for once anything go smoothly for them? Didn't they at least deserve a short time of happiness without another tragedy descending upon them?

Will hadn't moved except for closing his arms around her when she had pulled him into her arms, and she realized that he was in shock, just like she had been when the doctors had come out of the emergency room to tell them that Charlie had lost the fight for his life.

Nancy and Leona had arrived shortly thereafter and she had been the one to tell them. Nancy, Charlie's wife for so many years, had almost collapsed at the news, but Leona had taken care of her and shooed Mac out of the hospital to meet Will when Rebecca's call had come in.

With a sigh Mac moved both her hands to Will's head to move him from her shoulder. Tears threatened to fall when she saw his empty eyes, but she bit them back and let her thumbs tenderly caress his temples. „We should go home, Billy..."

These words seemed to reach him in and he slowly nodded and let her pull him into the direction of the car, but then he stopped. „Nancy... We need to..."

„She's okay." Mac interrupted him and continued their way. „Leona will stay with her until Sophie arrives."

„Good..." Following her again they slid into the back seat of the SUV that had brought Mac to the Detention Center, and while the ACN driver left the parking lot and merged into the traffic Will pulled her into his arms. His chin rested on her head but neither of them said a single word until they arrived at their place and then only to thank the driver.

Riding up in the elevator they stayed close to each other, drawing comfort out of their touch. When Mac finally closed the apartment door behind them and turned on the lights Will didn't waste a second to look at what she had accomplished in regard to the renovations while he had been gone. Instead he grabbed her arm without warning and pulled her in for a desperate kiss. She responded immediately and flung her arms around him, pressing herself against his body and clenching her fingers in his hair.

Will couldn't wait a second longer. Not letting go of her lips he feverishly let his hands run up and down Mac's body, squeezed her ass, then reaped her skirt up to her waist. After pulling down her panties with hand and foot he took a couple of steps, pushing her against the wall and making her gasp.

With an exasperated whimper he picked her up and she more than willingly wrapped her legs around his waist. „Yes, Billy, yes..."

This wasn't the time for soft kisses and light touches, this wasn't a gentle reunion but pure physical and emotional need for both of them, and after only a few moments both of them exploded into each other, shouting out their names.

Struggling to catch their breath they kept holding each other, resting their heads in the crook of their necks, Mac still up against the wall and her legs crossed behind Will's back.

When Will was able to breath more evenly he looked up and ruefully gazed into her eyes. „I'm sorry, MacKenzie..." he whispered. „This wasn't how I had imagined this."

She stroked through his hair, still out of breath but smiling. „Don't apologize, there's nothing I wanted more... We both needed it..." Giving him a tender kiss she knew this hadn't just been about the long time they had been separated but also a reaction to Charlie's death and the need to feel alive. „God, I have missed you so much..."

Will kissed her back softly, then stepped away from the wall and made his way to the bedroom, still carrying Mac who clung to his neck. „You're knees are gonna kill you tomorrow." she mumbled into his skin.

Grunting he gently put her down on the bed before removing his clothes. Then he lay down next to her and started to unbutton her blouse. After taking it off her bra followed, and then he allowed himself to just look at her in awe for a moment, taking in her beauty and relishing the fact that he was finally able to see and touch her again.

Ever so lightly he touched her breasts before pulling her in for a long and slow kiss. His hands were entangled with her hair, and he didn't want this kiss to ever end.

Mac's little moans was all the welcoming he needed and after that hasty episode in the hallway he now wanted to indulge in the slow lovemaking they both enjoyed so much. Looking at her he saw his own desire mirrored in her eyes and told her with a husky voice „I'm going to make love to my wife now..."

This simple sentence, that contained so much promise at the same time, forced Mac to hold back her tears. „Do you know how long I've been waiting to hear this?"

„I would guess 52 days?" Leaning in Will kissed a line from her jaw down her neck to her chest, cupping one mound with his hand while caressing the other with his mouth.

„Almost six years..." Gasping she arched into his touch and couldn't prevent a desperate groan. Her breasts seemed to be more sensitive than usual and a myriad of sparks exploded throughout her body. „Billy...!"

„I know..."

Slowly driving Mac to her peak he brought her down gently afterwards, chuckling proudly when he heard her rambling. „Jesus fucking Christ... Billy, that was... Goodness gracious, you didn't forget a thing, fuck, that was so good... Come up here..."

Kissing his way up her body he covered Mac, his arms framing her head and his eyes locking with hers. „I love you, Mrs. McAvoy..."

With a sigh Mac pulled him down for a lingering kiss. „So many people have called me that over the last weeks, but nobody said it like you."

Kissing him again she let her tongue run over his lips until he turned them over so that she was straddling him. His eyes, completely focused on her, were dark and wide, and his expression showed her everything that she had missed for the past 52 days.

Leaning down she kissed him passionately before murmering „I love you" against his lips and taking him in. Biting her lower lip to hold in a moan she then lasciviously smiled at him. „Is that... more like what... you imagined... in jail?"

„God, yes..." Will panted heavily and placed his hands on her hips. After only a short time he couldn't hold on any longer, and his wife, following him over the edge, then fell foward onto his chest, completely exhausted and close to tears. „Billy, oh Billy, I missed you so much!"

Will pressed her against him, determined to never let her go again. Out of breath he couldn't answer for a long while before he buried one of his hands in her hair and mumbled sweet words into her ear.

After a moment he turned them onto their sides again without ever letting go. It was a warm summer night, but their overheated bodies started to cool of quickly, so he pulled the bed cover over them before turning on his back and taking Mac with him to snuggle into his side.

For a long time neither one of them said a word, Will's eyes were closed and both still tried to catch their breath. Then slowly reality came back, and now that their most urgent need was sated the thought of Charlie crushed down on both of them again.

Running his fingers through her hair he finally whispered. „How is is possible to be so happy and so sad at the same time?"

Looking up Mac's heart almost burst with the love she felt for him, tinged with more than a little regret that he had to go through this. Leaning on her elbow she stroked his hair and leaned in for a soft kiss „I know, Honey..."

How different had she expected this moment to be, him finally coming home. But instead of complete bliss they were torn between their happiness to be together again and sorrow about their loss.

And then... For days now she'd had the burning desire to tell Will that she was certain that they were expecting a baby. She knew it would make him so happy, and had it been any other day it would have been one of the first things she'd told him, certain that it would help him to look forward and forget about the time in prison. But now he had to deal with the death of his best friend and mentor, and he needed time to come to terms with it and mourn his loss before other gigantic, overwhelming emotions would instill the complete opposite feelings in him.

After all, what if it turned out to not to be true? She had seen her doctor only this morning and was still waiting for the results of the blood test. No, right now she couldn't get his hopes up and maybe have to crush them again in the end.

She knew he would be so happy; they had talked about having a family, but now was not the right time to distract him from his thoughts about his best friend. She would wait, but she vowed to herself that the moment she was sure she would tell him, no matter where they were or who was with them.

Will unconsciously continued to let his hand roam through her hair and couldn't prevent the tears from gathering in his eyes. „What happened?"

Now it was Mac's turn to turn flat on her back and stare at the ceiling. With a sigh she took Will's hand and started to speak with a quiet voice. „I've told you about the conversations I had with Charlie a couple days ago. He told me to keep on going and keep fighting for our show, and that's what we did... This app on our website that Bree has developed, ACNgage, is just terrible, and Sloan took him for a ride during the show tonight. I didn't know about it before, but I didn't do anything to stop her either... When we were off the air Charlie came down and he was so mad at us, but when Pruit followed in his footsteps and wanted to fire us all, he still defended us... And then he had the heart attack; he just collapsed and hit his head on a desk and then he was lying there on the floor... He looked so scared, Billy..."

Her last word were just a quiet whisper with her tears flowing freely now, and all Will could do was pull her to his chest, trying to console her while he himself was on the brink of tears. „Shhh... shhh... It wasn't your fault, Mac. He had been troubled and worn himself out for a while now, we've talked about it when he came to visit me... I wish I could have been there to support him... all of you. Maybe I could have taken some of the heat from him..."

Mac sniffed. „He wouldn't have let you. He didn't want us to fight with Pruit ourselves; he tried to protect us... Oh, how I hate this son of a bitch! I still don't understand why he bought a news station and not some entertainment media outlet..."

„I know... Charlie was asking himself the same thing..." Will sighed. „I can't believe he is gone... How is Nancy?"

„Not good... She's fine for now, not alone at least, but we should go and see her tomorrow."

„Yeah... We also need to see the staff..."

„I rode in the ambulance with him, Billy... He was conscious, but he couldn't talk... I could only hold his hand, the paramedics were doing all sorts of things to him... He looked so small on that gurney..." Her tears flowing freely again by now and she leaned up on her arm again and looked at Will with her tear-stained eyes. „What's gonna happen now? I'm scared, Billy..."

Not really knowing how to answer he let his hand glide down her arm to entangle his fingers with hers. Finally he just told her the truth. „I know, me too..."

„I always thought we would all stand up against Pruit. Together, the three of us, with the whole team. But now... without Charlie..."

Pressing a long kiss into Macs hair Will sighed. „I guess it's just us now..."