Author's note: I'm so sorry, I'm the worst with updates. I really am. I apologize. I hope this chapter makes up for it. Thank you to all the people who still review, favorite and follow this story. I'm very glad the Willicia fandom lives on. A special thank you goes to my friend Grazi for helping me with this one. To all of you, I hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks again for reading! - hannahorgrace

Chapter 8

Will wakes up from his daze to find his bed empty, but the light coming in from under the door tells him that Alicia is in the bathroom. Putting on his underwear, he gets up from the bed and walks to the bathroom.

"Hey," he says softly as he pushes the door open.

"Hey," she whispers. She's wearing her underwear and his t-shirt and it makes his chest tighten.

"Are you okay?" he asks, closing the door behind him.

"Yeah," she whispers, putting her phone down. "I have to go home," she says, watching him, waiting for his reaction.

He nods but stays quiet.

"Grace is on her own," she explains. "I don't like leaving her alone at night," she adds, justifying herself.

"Of course," he says, walking over to her, stopping just in front of her body.

"Will…" she starts, but he doesn't give her time. As gently as he can, he captures her lips between his and lets his hands rest on her hips. Unexpectedly, she replies by deepening the kiss, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

He slowly lifts her up so she sits on the bathroom counter and he stands in between her legs, never breaking contact with her lips. He lets her take whatever affection she needs from him, because he knows there's nothing he wouldn't give her anyway. His hands travel to the naked skin on the small of her back and he pulls her closer to him, deepening their kiss.

She sighs against his lips, her naked thighs tightening against his hips, keeping him close. He doesn't want to pressure her into anything, so he softly pulls away, brushing the hair behind her ears. But he knows that the simple fact that she came to him searching for comfort in the middle of the night was her way of crossing the boundaries that she had created for them. For tonight, he's fine with leaving it on her terms.

"Do you have your car?" he whispers, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"No," she shakes her head, "I took a cab."

He plants another kiss on her forehead. "I'll drive you home."

She shakes her head again, hands on his arms. "Will, I can take a cab."

"I know you can," he says, looking into her eyes. "But it's late. I can drive you."

"Will…"

"Don't fight me on this, please?" he asks, and she knows she should, because it's late and he doesn't need to miss any more sleep. But mostly, and she would never tell him this even though she's pretty sure he already knows, she doesn't want anyone seeing them together this late at night.

Nevertheless, she lets him press his lips against hers, and in the few minutes after he lets her go so they can both get dressed, she realizes she misses his touch already.

She lets him drive her home.

It's past one in the morning when Alicia slides the key into the door of her apartment. Zach is spending the night at his friend's house and she hopes to find Grace asleep.

"Where were you?"

She muffles a scream as she turns around in surprise.

"Peter," she exhales, finding her breath. "You scared me."

He moves around the kitchen aisle, slowly walking in her direction.

"What are you doing here?" she asks, setting her coat and purse away.

"Grace let me in. I came by at eleven, she didn't know where you were."

Alicia sighs, gathering the last of her patience, and faces Peter. "I left her a message saying I'd be in later. Look, Peter, I'm tired—"

"Where were you?" he asks again, his voice low, his eyes piercing.

"I don't see how that's any of your business," she answers, as calmly as she can.

He moves until he stands right in front of her. "Were you with Will?"

She shakes her head, refusing to answer his question. "Go home, Peter."

"Alicia," he says, his tone almost threatening. "You're my wife."

She chuckles then, careful to keep it low so as to not wake up Grace. "And look how well that turned out for me."

He stares into her eyes and out of the corner of her eyes, she sees him clench his fist. Still, he stays quiet.

"It's over, Peter. Let it go."

She casts a look in the direction of Grace's room, and back to Peter. He's visibly unnerved.

"What about the kids?" he asks, louder now.

"No, Peter. No," she says, resolute. "You don't get to play that card."

"You're being selfish," he retorts.

"No, Peter, you're being selfish. I'm done putting your satisfaction before mine."

"I'm not asking you to do that. I just want to try and make it work."

"Peter," she exhales. "I don't know how to make it work. I wish I did, but—"

"It's not that you don't know, it's that you don't want to make it work."

Alicia sighs, exasperated. "You know what, that may be true. Maybe I don't want to make it work. Maybe I don't want to be just your wife anymore. I did that for too long, and I'm done," she says, moving around him and into her bedroom.

She closes the door behind her and waits.

First she hears nothing, and then she hears the door close.

She sighs.

As she turns around to pull her pajamas from under the covers, she thinks she really needs to get some sleep.

"Mom?"

Alicia turns around, startled. Her daughter is standing at her door, her brows furrowed, her lips tight.

"Grace," she starts, moving towards the door. "What are you doing up so late?"

"You and Dad were fighting," she says, softly.

Alicia sighs. "You heard that?"

Her daughter nods, a soft pout on her lips.

Alicia sits on the end of her bed, gesturing for her daughter to follow her. When Grace sits next to her, she wraps an arm around her, holding her close.

"Are you guys getting a divorce?"

Alicia frowns. "No— I don't know, it's not…" she sighs. "I'm sorry you heard that."

"It's okay," Grace says.

"No, it's not, I—" Alicia takes her head in her hands, sighing heavily. "Grace, I'm sorry."

"Why?"

She looks up to her daughter. "I'm sorry this is such a mess. I'm trying to keep you and your brother out of this but—"

"Mom, really," Grace interrupts. "It's okay."

Alicia watches her daughter, amazed at how much she has grown, probably faster than she should have, faster than Alicia would have wanted. She pulls her into her arms and Grace lets herself be held, wrapping her arms around her mother's waist.

"Is it because of what Dad did to you?" Grace asks, hesitantly.

Alicia breathes in heavily. "It's partly because of what he did. And some other things."

"Zach told him that was a stupid thing to do."

Alicia pulls away, frowning. "What?!"

"A few weeks ago, Dad couldn't pick us up after classes and Zach had to drive us to his apartment. He apologized for the whole situation and Zach told him he shouldn't apologize to us, he should apologize to you. And he told him he was stupid for doing what he did to you."

Alicia blinks in disbelief. "What did your father say?"

"I thought he was going to be mad at Zach for calling him stupid," Grace starts, "but he wasn't. He said he was sorry for the mess he had created and that he had been stupid, that you didn't deserve to be hurt like this and that we should be nice to you and take care of you. That was just before your birthday. That's when I decided to bake a cake, because you were going to be alone for the whole weekend and we felt bad."

"No, Grace," Alicia sighs, the guilt filling her heart. "I don't want you to feel bad when you're with your father. I'm alright. I mean, I miss you both so much when you're gone, but I'm fine. I keep busy."

"With what?"

"Well, sometimes I have some work I need to do. Or you know, things around the house."

"Do you hang out with your friends?"

Alicia smiles. "Yes. Sometimes."

Grace raises her eyebrows questioningly.

"I saw your uncle last weekend."

"Owen is not your friend," Grace starts. "He's your brother."

"Yes. Well, I have other friends, but look," she says with a smile, "it appears it's time for you to go back to bed."

Grace frowns but gets up, resigned.

"Grace?" Alicia calls. "You're good, right?"

The young girl looks up questioningly. "Yeah, Mom. I'm good."

"Are you happy?"

"I am," Grace answers. "Are you?"

"I'm happy if you're happy," Alicia answers.

"Me too," she smiles.

It's late in the night when Alicia finally goes to bed. She doesn't find sleep very easily that night.

Author's note: Some Peter/Alicia fighting in this one, but some Will/Alicia fluff as well, which I hope you enjoyed. I'm almost done with the next chapter so hopefully that'll be up soon (and by soon I mean, not in 2043). I know I said last time that there would only be a couple of chapters left, but actually there might be more. We'll see. Thanks again for reading, feel free to review with comments/ideas, I'm always glad to read your thoughts! - hannahorgrace