When the alarm sounded the next morning she was laying half on top of him. He reached for his phone and turned the alarm off and rubbed her back, helping her to wake up. She lifted her head and saw that it was still dark outside and dropped her head back onto his chest. He laughed and hugged her tight.
"You need to hop in the shower," he said, trying to encourage her.
"Okay," she said sitting up. He immediately missed her warmth. "I like sleeping with you, Billy," she said, rubbing his chest.
"Me, too. We'll make sure it's something we continue at home. We'll figure it all out, okay, I promise."
She nodded and got out of bed and walked into the bathroom. When he heard the shower start he walked into his room and showered. He then called Lonny to let him know they were going to breakfast before their flight. He was already dressed and packed when Mac walked into his room. "Are you ready for breakfast?" he asked.
"I am. I'm really hungry, too."
"Mary will like that," he said, taking her hand and together they walked out of the hotel and met Lonny at the car.
It was too early for the diner to be very busy. "Good morning, Mary," Will said as they took a table.
"Good morning, Will. Is anyone else joining you today?"
"Iris should be here along with Jess and Michael. Pete and Cassie have been invited, but I don't know if they are going to show up."
"Coffees all around?" she asked. They all nodded and agreed.
Iris was the next to arrive and she came in with Pete. Will stood to greet Iris with a hug and held his hand out to Pete. "Cass won't be joining us this morning."
"Did you find her last night?" Will asked.
"I did. She was pretty messed up when I found her. There was more than alcohol in her system. I'm sure she's still sleeping off whatever it was she took."
Jess and Michael joined them and they all ended up having a very nice breakfast together. Maybe Iris was right, Pete and Cass did need to know to start the healing process for all of them. Jess and Michael were the first to take off as they had to drive back to Omaha for appointments later in the morning.
Jess hugged each of them and walked out with Michael and Will. When they got to Michael's car Will pulled Jess into his arms. "I love you, Jess."
"I love you, big brother." She pulled back some but stayed in his arms. "Michael and I will see you and Mac in a few weeks in New York."
"That's great. I promise we'll make it to dinner," he teased. Will hugged her one more time and shook Michael's hand and said goodbye.
Iris and Pete were the next to leave. "Can I talk to you for a second," Pete asked Will.
They walked outside and Pete said, "I'm still processing what Iris said and I know this isn't enough but thank you, Will."
Will was touched. He smiled at Pete and nodded. "I'd also like to work on us being closer," Pete said.
"We can do that," Will said smiling at Pete. Pete hugged Will and after a moment pulled back. "I love you, Pete."
"I love you, too, Will," he said.
Iris walked out and saw the boys together and smiled at them. "Take care of her," Will said.
"I promise."
Will hugged Iris and stayed in her arms for a few minutes. They were talking quietly while Pete waited on Iris. Will kissed Iris' cheek and walked back into the diner. Mac could see the tears in his eyes and knew this was hard on him. She got up and pulled him into her arms and held him for a few moments. When he pulled back he had a smile on his face and said, "thank you."
"I love you, Will."
"I love you, Mackenzie," he said and kissed her gently. "Let me say goodbye to Mary and we'll go get our things and go to the airport.
Will walked back into the kitchen and was gone for a few minutes. When he walked out Mac saw Mary dabbing her eyes and Will had tears in his eyes again. She took his hand and they went back to the hotel after Will put money on the table for all of their breakfasts.
Will went to his room and quickly packed his things and brought his luggage into Mac's room. He sat on the bed and watched her finish up. "Are you all packed and ready?" she asked as she put the last of her items into her bag.
"I am. You ready to go home, Kenz?"
"Yes, are you?"
"I am. I never in a million years thought that I should have granted my father's request but I'm very grateful that you suggested I do so. It's been such a time for healing and understanding that I wouldn't have gotten if I ignored him. Thank you."
She smiled at him and nodded. "I'm glad you got some closure, Billy. Let's go home."
Lonny drove them to the airport and they boarded almost immediately. Will and Mac were sitting together with Lonny a few rows back. Once they'd taken off they settled in, holding hands. Mac fell asleep and Will watched her sleep, holding her close.
They were about to land when Will shook her shoulder. Her eyes popped open and he kissed her gently. "We're about to land," he explained.
"Thanks, I didn't realize how tired I was," she said.
"What time are you going to the studio?" he asked.
"I'll be there for the four o'clock meeting. Will you be there, then?"
"I'll make sure I am," he assured her.
Once they landed and got their luggage Lonny drove them to Mac's place first and Will took her luggage inside for her. "Thank you," she said as he put the luggage in her bedroom.
She looked a little sad and he said, "what's wrong?"
"I'm being silly," she said.
"It's okay, tell me," he encouraged.
"We've been together constantly over the last few days. I'm going to miss you."
She'd said it so simply and so honestly that Will felt his heart lurch in his chest. The look of love written across Mackenzie's face at that moment literally took his breath away and it took every ounce of self-control he had not to drag her into the bedroom and not leave her arms for a week. Instead, he closed the small distance between them and instantly pulled her into his body, wrapping his arms around her tightly.
"You want me to stay here with you for a while?" Will asked a couple of moments later, completely relishing the feeling of Mac being pressed so tightly against him once again. He really had no idea how things had moved forward so easily over the past few days but he wasn't complaining one little bit, he'd been dreaming of this life and this kind of peace once again with Mackenzie and somehow it had all fallen into place.
Mac hadn't answered his question but instead she simply shook her head before resting it down onto his shoulder and closing her eyes. Will placed the softest of kisses to the top of her head and let his hands rub her shoulders tenderly. "Hey, I'm going to miss you too, but it's only three hours and we'll be back at work right?" Will whispered wondering just how tighter Mackenzie could squeeze her arms around his back before she cut off circulation somewhere in his upper body. "Hey, I bet by the time the show starts you'll be pissed at me already and looking to chew me out about something," Will joked and slid his hands down her arms, gripping hold of her hands tightly.
Mac giggled and seemed to come out of her dreamy trance like state, "you're right," she whispered and stepped a couple of steps away from Will, making her way towards the large window in her apartment as if simply watching him leave would be too painful, "Still, I know it's only a couple of hours but I'm going to miss you."
"I know, me too," Will mumbled walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist before resting his head on Mac's shoulder. They both stood still for a few moments with neither uttering a single word and both getting lost in the comfort that their arms bought each other. Finally Will pressed his lips to the side of Mac's head and squeezed her waist. "I better go, Lonny's waiting…I'll see you in a couple of hours, okay?"
Mac nodded and stared straight out of the window as Will made his way out of her apartment. She waited until she heard the door shut tightly before letting out the breath she'd been holding. A heavy sigh followed the breath and Mac rested her head against the cold window trying desperately to stop the muddled thoughts she had spinning around her brain right now. If she was honest with herself, Mac knew in her head she was probably being foolish by still doubting his feelings but she simply couldn't help herself, she'd spent so much of the last few years convincing herself that things could never be this good with Will that it seemed a pretty impossible task to now train her brain otherwise.
Mac appreciated that Will had shown her in plenty of ways over the last few days exactly how he felt about her but still she couldn't accept that he really did love her – that he really did want to start fresh with her. It just all seemed too good to be true that after all the years of heartache that a few days away was all it took to fix things between them. As much as she tried to believe his words and his actions, and she had really tried to believe them, there was just this silly niggling in the back of her mind that this would all be over the moment they were back at work, that Will would once again be his old self and Mac would be relegated from love of his life to simple work colleague and good friend and that thought simply wasn't acceptable to Mackenzie, not how he'd held her and kissed her and told her that he loved her. She knew she simply had to have it all with him or nothing at all, this 'in-between' they had created would simply not be enough for Mac, not anymore.
"You're being ridiculous," Mac whispered to herself and shook her head at her own stupid thoughts. Since when had she been the type to mope around over a man Mac wondered as she stood and began to unpack her suitcase. She slid the zip around the case and it only took her a single second to notice the large velvet box that was placed neatly on the top of her clothes.
Mac couldn't help but smile to herself as she lifted the box and gently pried the lid open. Inside sat the most beautiful string of pearls that Mac had ever seen in her life and she instantly knew she wouldn't be able to stop the tears that snuck out of her eyes. "Oh Billy," she whispered to herself and picked up the note that seemed to have been hurriedly scrawled and placed on top of the pearls.
'I thought these would look perfect with that dress on Friday night. All my love Will.'
And with that one simple gesture most of Mackenzie's doubts seemed to fly out of the window, she unpacked, showered, dressed and was in a cab heading towards ACN with a smile a mile wide across her face.
How Mackenzie managed to get through the next thirty hours before their date she wasn't quite sure. She had arrived at the office just yesterday afternoon to find a grinning Will sitting behind his desk and for the rest of the night the grin hadn't moved (including the hour between eight and nine pm when he was on the air).
It had taken Sloan all of two minutes to guess who the two dozen red roses were from that had miraculously appeared on Mackenzie's desk on Friday morning but neither Will nor Mac would confirm their staff's suspicions, over a shared Chinese take-out after the show on Thursday night they had decided that they wanted to keep this new found love and happiness quiet for as long as humanly possible. That was pretty much an impossible task though as Mackenzie walked across the newsroom to Will's office at half past nine on Friday evening. She slipped through the door and found Will gazing out of the window down to the city below.
"Hey," Mac whispered, creeping up behind him unable to hide the excitement in her voice, it really did feel like a brand new start for them and what's more up until a few days ago she really hadn't felt like that was possible.
"Wow, is it possible you look even more beautiful every time you wear that dress?" Will replied, turning and resting his hands on her hips.
"Why thank you sir," Mackenzie whispered and smiled that beautiful smile that managed to hit Will straight in the heart every time she used it. "If I remember rightly you're supposed to be helping me out of it."
Will nodded and let out a little chuckle, "I think I can manage that!" His hands automatically rose from her hips and found the zipper at the top of her dress. He pulled it down an inch or so and winked at Mackenzie cheekily, not daring to go any further right now.
"Not now mister, we save that for later," Mac giggled, the twinkle in her eye causing all sorts of effects to Will's body. He couldn't help himself a moment later as he leaned down and pressed his lips onto hers in a long tender kiss, there had been very limited physical contact between them since their return and to say it was driving Will crazy was an understatement. Much to Will's disappointment, Mackenzie pulled away and held up the black velvet box she'd found in her suitcase just yesterday, the same box Will had flippantly shrugged his shoulders at yesterday afternoon when Mackenzie had questioned him on it time and time again. "Will you do the honors?"
"Of course," Will replied softly as he took the box from her hands and lifted the pearls from inside. He walked behind Mac as she lifted her hair off her shoulders for him and fastened the pearls safely in place before dipping his head and pressing his lips to her bare shoulder in a long kiss. "So very beautiful," he whispered into her ear just before he stepped away slightly.
Mac turned around and her hand automatically rested on the pearls. "They're so beautiful Billy, I can't remember getting a gift so precious in a long time. Thank you so much."
Will nodded his head and quickly brushed away the tiny tear that had crept out the corner of her eye before resting his hands on her biceps and gently rubbing them back and forth. "I wanted you to have them," he whispered, a slight smile appearing on his lips. "They were my mom's, I bought them for her with the first pay check I ever got when I came to New York…honestly, they're nothing special but Mom loved them so much, I know she would have wanted you to have them."
"Oh Will," Mac whispered biting down on her lower lip to stop the tears from flowing freely. The emotions swimming around her already were threatening to spill over and they hadn't even stepped foot outside of his office yet. Will slid his hands down her arms and wrapped Mackenzie's hands in his own and squeezed them tightly.
"Iris had been looking after them for me since mom passed away and I asked her to find them for me. She gave them to me when we said goodbye at the diner."
"And just how did they end up inside my case?" Mac questioned all the time grinning at a mischievous looking Will.
"Well, you took forever in the bathroom at the airport remember?" Will chuckled, "I had Lonny keep watch while I slid the box inside."
"Way too crafty Billy!" Mac giggled liking the way Will seemed so pleased with himself. She was loving the new person he'd suddenly become over the past week, or should she say loving that he was back to the man she knew years ago while they were dating, the carefree, happy Will always putting her first and generally being the most perfect of boyfriends.
"You ready for dinner and dancing?" Will asked bringing Mac out of her thoughts and resting his hand on her arm.
"You know that lot out there are going to be talking about us going out dressed like this?" Mac said as Will placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her towards his office door.
"Let them talk," he whispered in reply as they reached the door, "You don't really think you could keep this quiet too much longer do you?"
"Not with you leaving roses all over my office Billy, no."
"I can't help it, you deserved to be spoiled," Will said as he stopped with his hand on the door handle. "I've been an idiot for too long now Mackenzie as far as you're concerned and I swear from now on this is a new start, this is where I show you just how special you are and just how much I love you."
He looked so sincere and full of love as he gazed into her eyes that Mac suddenly didn't care who knew. She'd been worried about the risk of them somehow fucking this up for days now so in her mind, it was simply best to keep this quiet but just one look into his eyes and she knew this love was forever, they'd both learned from their mistakes in the past and there was no way either of them were ever likely to repeat them.
"I love you too, you know that don't you?"
Will nodded and smiled a ridiculously huge smile just as he pulled the door open.
"Let's give them something to talk about," Mac whispered as she stepped out of his office and spun around to Will kissing him hard on the mouth in front of the whole newsroom staff. It took about ten seconds for the cheers and wolf-whistles to start and even the blush that came to Mackenzie's cheeks didn't stop them kissing until the need for air became too much.
"Kenzie, you have some serious explaining to do," Sloan squealed from where she was standing at Neal's desk.
"She does Sloan," Will chuckled as he started to escort his girlfriend towards the elevator, "but first she has to be wined and dined and…and well the rest I'm not going to talk about here so…it's just going have to wait until next week."