Alicia finally made it home later that night after stopping by the office and working for a few hours, she had promised Will she would be by tomorrow and that they would talk more when their timing was a little better. Even now the curse of bad timing still followed them. She was exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally, but she knew she still had to talk to Zach and Grace. She didn't want to hurt her children but she was pretty sure they had heard the fight a week ago, she had gone a little nuts on Peter and while she normally would have taken the fight to the hallway she had ceased to care at that point. She remembered that night as the night she realized how done with Peter she was, it had been a hell of a week and she finally had a day to take a break

She had walked in the door and crawled into bed, she had wanted to pull the covers over her head and never come out again. So how she ended up on the floor in the bathroom she still hasn't figured out but that was how Peter had found her later on that night.

Peter had come in and saw her curled on the cold tile of the bathroom and picked her up, He had put her on her bed and started to change her clothes. Alicia had felt so lost, she knew Peter was trying to help her but it had scared her how much she wanted him to get his hands off of her, she wanted him to stop acting like he had a right to do this for her. To comfort her to try and make her feel better. Suddenly she had screamed and slapped his hands away, it was like she had taken a temporary break from sanity. Peter had backed off and Alicia had calmed down as she huddled on the bed half undressed, Peter had simply stared, he'd never seen her like this, not even when her dad passed away. He had said her name quietly, worrying as if speaking too loudly might startle her and set her off again.

"There's some clothes for you on the end of the bed, I'm gonna go make you something to eat, Grace said you haven't eaten yet." He turned around to leave.

Alicia slowly started to climb into the clothes Peter had set out for her, she never knew the thought of losing someone could hurt so much, it had seemed like everything had hurt and breathing is took more work than it was worth, and felt like the world was spinning way too fast. Once she'd gotten dressed she had crawled into bed and pulled the covers back over her head.

Two days later Alicia was still hiding under the covers, the kids had thought she was sick with a virus or something. She had slept most of the time, slept and dreamt about times with Will. She could see his eyes looking into hers. She had felt his hand grasping hers in the elevator on that first amazing night in the hotel. She heard his voice on the phone, not just the last phone call but all the others,

"I kinda miss you"

"I kinda miss you too"

Alicia's world had been slowly collapsing in on her and there didn't seem to be any kind of support. There had been nothing to hold her steady, it had been shaky and disjointed just like she was. She was untethered and she couldn't stand to feel anything. She was barely awake when she heard a voice, the voice barely pierced the fog, but sadly she'd know that voice even when she's not entirely sure she wants to hear it.

Peter had walked into her bedroom and took in the state of her room, he was not entirely sure how to react to the disarray around her. She sat back against the head board and wrapped her arms around her knees. Peter had looked at her and it had been a face somewhere between anger, disgust and fear.

" you missed the founders dinner, I was worried about you. You ok?"

" I really wish people would stop asking me that, I'm fine" Alicia swung her legs over to sit on the side of then bed.

"You know I don't often ask you to go to these political events" He paused,

"Alicia the way you're handling this,"

"I'm …doing…my… Best"

With that Alicia stood up and walked to the kitchen, Peter had followed her and it had all gone downhill from there, he had spouted his usual bullshit about how when he had cheated it didn't matter and Alicia had snapped,

"Well then that was a waste, because when I cheated it did!" She had screamed it at him, right before throwing him out of the house.

If that conversation hadn't clued Peter in to the fact their marriage was over she wasn't sure what would, other than the divorce papers showing up on his desk. She was fairly certain the kids had heard everything since Zach was avoiding the house at all costs and Grace gave her sad, disappointed stare every chance she got. Alicia could only hope that it would make the conversation she was going to have with her children easier.

Alicia walked in the door and placed her keys in the bowl. She called out to the kids to let them know she was home Grace came out a few minutes later while Alicia poured herself a glass of wine,

"Zach's at his girlfriend's, I don't think he'll be home until later." Grace let the sentence hang, she knew her mom, and she could tell something was up and it was more than just Will being in the hospital.

"What's up, Mom?"

Alicia finished her glass of wine in one swig, and promptly poured another.

"Grace," she started "You know I love you, and that your dad loves you, right?"

"Yeah, mom I've known since I was old enough to hear you talk."

Alicia figured it was just easier to dive in, Grace was going to be upset no matter how she phrased it and she was going to be upset and all Alicia could do was prepare for the windfall.

"Grace, I'm going to a lawyer to file for divorce from your father. We want different things in life and we're not the same people we were when we got married, we're not even the same people we were five years ago and I think it's time that we admitted it and started to move on with our lives."

Alicia waited for the inevitable tears from Grace and the backlash, she chugged the wine in her glass and started to pour the next glass, it seemed like one of those nights when she might finish off the whole bottle.

"Mom, will you be happy? Without dad?"

"I think so Grace, I really do, I'll love you father as long as I'm alive but I'm ready to move on."

"Did you mean what you told dad the other night? When you said you lost your husband a long time ago? Did it ever really get better, mom or were you just pretending?"

"Grace I really did try, he was the father of my children, and for 15 years we were happy, but somewhere along the way we got lost and not everything in the world can be found again."

Grace nodded then wrapped her mother in a hug,

"I can't say I'm thrilled mom, but I just want you to be happy, thank you for trying, you know for us."

Alicia sighed and kissed the top of Grace's head,

"You're getting so big, I'm not sure when you grew up on me but I am so proud of you and who you've become. I love you sweetie, now I've had a ridiculously long day and I think I'm going to order a pizza for dinner and take a hot bath."

Alicia walked to her bedroom and started running the bath, while she waited for the tub to fill she made a few calls. She ordered the pizza, left Zach a voicemail that she needed to talk to him, and left a message with David Lee's assistant to make an appointment to start the paperwork. The last call she made was the most important, she finally called Will. It had only been a few hours since she had left him at the hospital but she felt like it had been forever. She was a bundle of feelings, nervous and excited and scared and worried all at the same time. She dialed his cell number and waited for him to pick up.

"Hey beautiful, I was just thinking about you,"

"oh yeah? What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I knew I loved you before I met you. From the moment I saw you in your sundress at orientation reading a book with your feet in the water. When I get out of this bed, I'm going to try to impress you again with my cannon balling skills."

Alicia laughed,

"They must have given you meds before I called, eh?"

"They did. A magical man with many good medicines"

"I think I'd better let you go so you can get to sleep, I'll stop by tomorrow is there anything I can bring you?"

"Yes."

"And what would that be?"

"I want a beautiful woman, who will rescue me from my crazy sisters and stay with me when I get out of here and she will make my sister go home."

"Seems like quite a bit to ask, Mr. Gardner, you may just have to deal with me, but we'll see what we can do about your sister. In the meantime gets some sleep and I'll see you tomorrow."