A/N Ok sorry this chapter took longer than usual to get up I was suffering from severe creativity block. I used a lot of song lyrics buried in the dialogue and a lot of songs for inspirations, and I borrowed a few lines from Pretty Woman.

Songs: Girls Chase Boys – Ingrid Michaelson

Stick – Ingrid Michaelson

Cannonball – Lea Michelle

My Skin – Natalie Merchant

"Alicia, I'm sorry. Can we please talk about all this? I love you. Please call me back."

Alicia sighed and hung her phone. Peter had been calling a leaving voicemails at least once a day since he had yelled at her. She wanted to call him back but she really didn't know what to say. She sat at her desk after evening. It was quiet, with no walls the quiet in Florrick/Agos was something to cherish. But that wasn't why she was sitting at her desk after hours this evening. She just wasn't ready to go home, she wanted to go see Will but she felt like she needed to talk to Peter and make things better before she ran to Will. 20 years of marriage and 2 kids deserved a better send off than defensive screaming.

She reached for her phone and dialed the familiar number silently hoping it would go to voicemail. Like most of the day luck wasn't with her and Peter picked up on the second ring.

"Hello"

"Hey Peter, It's me." Alicia sighed. She loved Will but when Peter really talked to her, not angry Peter, not political Peter but actual Peter that little part of her heart that he would always occupy would light up. It made things so much harder than people would ever understand.

"Look I just wanted to talk to you about all this, let's not make it harder than it has to be. Let's just call it over."

Peter was quiet on the end of the line, Alicia knew when he was quiet like that he was thinking and that he was going to proclaim something profound.

"Alicia, did I make you happy?"

"You did Peter, right up until you made me feel like I wasn't enough for you anymore."

"Does Will make you happy like I used to?"

"Will makes me happy in a different way. I know who I am and I don't care what other people think about me but when people put you down enough, you start to believe it. The bad stuff is easier to believe. Suddenly I was an ice queen, only I wasn't and it broke me. I thought you would be able to help me fix it, that I would be enough again, then I found out about Kalinda and all the little pieces fell apart again. I felt like I was becoming untouchable. There was so much I didn't understand. I still don't really. I put me back together but Will helped me find the pieces. The light was gone from my world. I was suddenly a single mom, the ice queen that had pushed her husband into the arms of a hooker, I was losing the house my kids had grown up in. My world was dark. Then there was a beacon, a light warning me of the shore and helping me steer the path. Will gave me job and fought for me when no one else would. He reminded me that I was touchable and desirable, he reminded me that I wasn't frozen. He saw me as Alicia not the scorned housewife. "

"That's the first time you've ever told me any of that. I never realized."

"I guess that was part of the problem, you never saw it, you never heard it. You will always have a place in my heart, 20 years doesn't disappear but it's over. Sign the papers so we can both move on, sign the papers so our kids can move on."

"I'll drop them by tomorrow before I head back to Springfield. I gotta go, I'll talk to you later."

"Bye Peter" Alicia started to hang up the phone,

"Alicia?"

"yeah?"

"For what it's worth, I know I made mistakes, I never realized what they would cost me, I really wasn't thinking of my family. I'm sorry."

"Thanks Peter, we'll talk soon."

Alicia hung up the phone and laid her head down on her desk. She felt emotionally drained, she really did miss when life was less interesting. She heard her phone vibrate and looked up to see who was texting her.

"drinks?"

How Kalinda always seemed to know when Alicia needed a friend she would never understand but she wasn't about to look a t gift horse in the mouth. She texted back,

"Usual spot? 30 minutes?"

Kalinda's reply came back in seconds.

"see you there"

"So Will tells me you two got caught by Grace and Peter." Kalinda paused, "So..?"

The question hung in the air as Alicia sipped her tequila.

"It was interesting," Dammit there's that word again, Alicia thought to herself. She threw back what was left of her shot and signaled for a second round. I felt like a three drink kind of night. She continued,

"Well Grace was better after I talked to her. It scares me old they're getting… And I talked to Peter just before I got your text message and I think we got it figured out. I think my life might be finally clicking into place."

"I'm glad." Kalinda signaled to bring another round.

"Ok this is my last one, then I have to go."

The drinks arrived and Alicia and Kalinda toasted,

"To a life less interesting!"

The two women stood up to pay their tabs and leave. As they walked out the door together Alicia looked at Kalinda and asked

"Same time next week?"

"Sure thing"

"See you later Kalinda"

"Bye Alicia."

With that the women went their separate ways and Alicia couldn't but think that another piece had clicked into place.