Blake looked around the entry as he helped Elizabeth out of her coat at the coat check. It'd been years since he'd been near UVA's campus or around any of the staff and even then, he'd been a lowly student at the time. "Ready?" He asked as he received the claim tickets and turned back to her.

"To be celebrated for an award I might get but don't think I deserve? Sure, let's do this." She leaned into his side and let him guide her into the main room, his arm at her waist.

"You always deserve being celebrated." He softly responded, making her laugh.

"You are so corny." She shook her head, spotting one of the hostesses of the evening.

"Madam Secretary, it's such an honor to have you here tonight."

"It's a pleasure and are you kidding, we both attended UVA, so this is a real treat." She touched Blake's arm. "I'm sorry, this is my assistant, Blake Moran; this is Nelly Conlon."

Blake recognized the name. "I do believe it was your office I spoke to about tonight." He offered his hand to her.

"Yes, I do believe so." She turned her attention back to Elizabeth. "I heard about your husband last year, how heartbreaking to lose him so suddenly. How have you been doing?"

"Uh, yes, it was sudden and unexpected, but I've been doing better every day. And I have great support of my family and I work with great people who step in to help when I've needed it."

"I see. It is good to have a good support network."

Blake excused himself to find drinks, coming back just as Nelly moved on to another guest. "She seems nice."

When Elizabeth brought her attention to him, he processed her fake, slightly freaked out smile. "Is there something online about my legs?"

"I- I… Daisy has been working extremely hard the last few days to manage all discussion of that article. Perhaps she is the one to talk to?" He avoided.

"First my wax face, then my blouse, and now my legs? You'd think I'd done a Playboy center."

He had no idea how to respond to that and was thankful when Nelly returned, bringing someone with her she was insisting Elizabeth meet. The man seemed excessively dull, even to him with his finance background. The topic itself was interesting enough, and he was familiar with it, but the man was…not. He listened calming for a minute before wrapping his arm around Elizabeth to stop her from carrying on drinking anything more. She had a fairly high tolerance, but pacing was important. Once Nelly vanished with Boseman, he turned so they were face to face. "Breathe. A few hours and we're through this. I will keep track of the time and as soon as it's socially acceptable, I'll create a crisis and we'll go."

"Deal." She lifted the glass again.

"You're plan to get through this is to get drunk, isn't it?"

"Bingo." She handed him her empty glass. "Sorry. You scheduled it." She walked toward the bar.

"Yes, yes I did." He spoke to himself. "I'm rethinking that now."

=MS=

The only upside, if there was one, to the UVA event was that the ride back to Georgetown was filled with Elizabeth giggling and trying to amuse everyone else in the car. Blake had accepted his fate and simply kept plying her with fresh alcohol until they'd been present long enough to not start an incident by being called away. He helped her into the house, accepting that the night was early enough and the issues on the table big enough that curbing her just yet wasn't something he needed to tackle so he poured them both fresh drinks and let her rant about whatever came to her mind.

"Hey, maybe if I show just a little more leg, UVA will get another Nobel Prize." She was leaned back in her chair. Blake wasn't sure how to respond, it was no secret that Elizabeth hated having her looks be the center of attention. Ali and Jason coming in derailed whatever response he would have tried to give.

"Are you guys drunk?" Jason looked between them.

Blake waved at Elizabeth. "Only some of us."

"You looked smokin' hot in the magazine, Mom." Ali said.

"Alison." Blake tried, shaking his head.

"Oh my god! Even in my own house I'm appraised like a show pony!" Elizabeth groaned.

"All I said was you looked hot." Ali defended.

Jason started to comment, but Blake cut him off with a glare.

"I'm going to bed." Elizabeth stormed upstairs.

"What's the big deal about the magazine?" Ali asked Blake. "I didn't write it."

"Just, it's late, both of you need to be in bed." He cleared up their glasses before heading up to find Elizabeth. "Hey." He knocked on the partly open door. "Talk to me." The bathroom door was shut, so he assumed she was in there.

"I'm a failure. I can't do my job, I can't talk to my kids without blowing up, I can't…" Her voice broke. "I'm so tired." The door opened and he watched her come out in pajamas. "Sometimes I wonder what Henry would tell me on nights like this. Would he have kept me from falling apart or… I don't know…" She sat on the bed and looked up at him. "It's been almost a year."

"I know."

"Should I take time off?"

"That's up to you. No one will think anything if you do."

"Yeah."

"For what it's worth, not everyone matters. Their opinions I mean. The people whose opinions do matter, they don't think anything of that article. It doesn't make you less. You're still driven, smart, successful…. Awesome." When she didn't respond, he backed away from the doorway and went and changed, returning to find her in the same spot.

"You came back." Her voice was soft.

"I will always come back." He was startled when she burst into tears. "Hey." He rushed to her side, unsure what he'd done but still holding her when she leaned into him. "It's okay." When her crying eased, he spoke again. "Talk to me, what's wrong?"

"Henry said he would always come for me." He could feel her shaking.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"I know." She sniffled and wiped her face. "Would you… maybe it's because of the last few days or tonight or, I don't know, the alcohol, but would you… Would you stay in here?" Her gaze didn't meet his and he realized she was nervous to ask.

"Yes, if that's what you need." He watched her process his answer, maybe a bit surprised he'd agreed, before standing and rounding the bed, pulling the covers back. Copying her on the other side, Blake got somewhat comfortable and let her curl into him, the room lapsed into silence until he thought she was asleep.

"How long after being widowed is enough time before dating?" She whispered.

"I-" He had no idea where that came from. "Where did that question come from?"

She shrugged against him. "At the party. Someone asked while you were getting drinks if I was back into dating now that I was single. Actually… They asked how long I'd waited before I had started dating after Henry died, implying I'd already finished waiting."

He considered that for a few minutes. Being with her day in and day out, he knew there was a good chance it would be a long time, if ever, before she took that step. "You still wear your wedding rings. Honestly, from what little I know, most widows or widowers start dating, sometimes even before they're truly ready, because they're lonely and just want companionship. Some only ever want companionship and never look for romance again because they never stop loving their spouse."

"Oh." The silence filled the room again. "I get that… But is it fair?"

"Fair?"

"If they are just with someone for the companionship, is it fair to the other person if they want more?"

"I don't have an answer to that. I guess it has to be a mutual arrangement, but lots of people do it. You can have platonic relationships, deep friendships that provide that comfort and connection without crossing into romantic. That's common."

He was dozing off when she whispered again. "Is that what we have?"

He hummed; not awake enough to process what she'd asked.