Author's Notes: Sorry it's been a while since I updated this story. Real life and other story ideas got in the way. Hopefully, I'll get some work done on both my WIP stories in the next several days. Thanks to those who have reviewed and thanks to my beta. Once again, don't own The Newsroom.

One thing Will had always admired about Mackenzie was her amazing ability to fall asleep almost anywhere. Ok, there were a lot of things he admired about Mac, but years ago, before they had even begun seeing each other, he had discovered this talent while they were covering the 2004 Presidential campaign.

They had spent most of the election in the studio, but during the final days of campaigning they had spent a good deal of time on location. And despite what the general public would think, it was not a glamorous job. They had seen the inside of more airplanes and Hampton Inns than they would like to admit and it was wearing them down. Just minutes after broadcasting from a town hall in New Hampshire, Will was gathering his things and waiting for the crew to pack up so they could all head back to the hotel. That's when their sound guy had come up to him wondering what they should do about 'Ms. McHale.' His eyes followed the camera man's gaze over to where Mackenzie was. She had obviously fallen asleep the minute the broadcast was over. She still had her headset on, notepad in hand and was seated in front of a control panel with her head resting in her hand. Sound asleep.

So it really shouldn't have come as a surprise to Will when, once back at his apartment, he was met with sudden silence. They had watched Lonny leave only moments ago and Will had helped Mackenzie over to the couch while he took her bag and medications into the guest bedroom. He headed back to the kitchen, intending to make her something to eat but when he turned to ask her what she wanted he found her sitting straight up on the sofa, eyes closed and snoring softly. He supposed getting her fed would have to wait for a bit. He turned her gently and pulled her feet up onto the lounge and covered her with a blanket. He couldn't let her sleep long anyway…she was due for more meds and a nebulizer treatment in about two hours. No point in moving her somewhere more comfortable just then. He'd let her sleep while he checked his email from his study.

Will was only half-focused on his computer screen though. Part of him was still back at that hospital, watching Mackenzie struggle for every breath she took. Nothing like a little brush with death to remind you how short life really is. He had been secretly relieved that she gave in to him so quickly on the issue of recuperating at his home. He really didn't think he was ready to have her across town from him so soon after all this. He needed to be able to see her to reassure himself that she truly was going to be ok.

Will was starting to get a little anxious just being this far away from her. He'd managed to spend about a half an hour mindlessly sorting through bills and emails before he found himself desperate to check on her. He headed toward the living room quietly, listening for any sign she was waking. Soon though, he could hear her panicked gasps. He ran towards his couch only to find her laboring for breath.

"Mackenzie…you're fine…you just need to sit up" he assured her as he pulled her into a sitting position and propped her against some pillows.

"What…happened?" she asked between coughs.

"You just fell asleep lying flat, that's all. The doctor warned us your lungs are still congested. It's going to be hard to sleep without lying on an incline right now. You're fine, ok?" Maybe he was telling himself that as much as he was telling her. He sat down next to her and watched her begin to take slow, deep breaths. She could see him watch the rise and fall of her chest as if his life depended on it as well. He waited until some color returned to her cheeks before he let himself lean back into the sofa and relax a bit.

"Sorry I scared you…just panicked for a second" she whispered.

"It's ok…I shouldn't have left you lying on the couch like that. You've just gotten so little sleep in the hospital that I didn't want to move you. Now, how about some food?"

"I'm really not that hungry, Will."

"Yeah, well you've barely eaten anything in two days Mackenzie, so humor me. Let's just try some eggs and toast and see how that goes down."

He headed toward the kitchen but was not surprised when he heard her socked feet padding after him. She never could sit still for long.

She rummaged around his kitchen cabinets until she found what she was looking for.

"Ah ha…so it is still here" she said holding up the copper bottom kettle as if it were a prize.

"Why would I throw away a perfectly good kettle Mac…I just don't have a great need for it on a daily basis so the housekeeper must have put it in the pantry."

"I thought perhaps you had tossed it…along with a few other things" she finished quietly.

"Just because the duvet and sheets are different doesn't mean I erased you from my life Mackenzie. We weren't lovestruck teenagers for God's sake. I didn't ask you for my class ring back" he said sarcastically.

"You had a class ring, Billy? Who did you give it to?" She was trying to turn this maudlin discussion around. She hadn't really thought a search for a tea pot would lead to a review of who took what when they split.

"Nice try Mackenzie, but you brought it up. I was just trying to tell you that…you know what…I don't know what I was trying to do. But damn it Mackenzie…we can't pretend we don't have a history. We've known each other for nearly ten years. We were together for two. We were practically married, so yes I still have your tea kettle. I also still have some of your clothes and shoes and I think you left a photo album and some books here. Did you want to look for them while you're at it?"

"No. The tea's fine for right now. I'm sorry I brought it up" she said quietly. She rinsed out the kettle and then filled it with water and set it on a lit burner.

"Do you still have any tea bags around here?" she asked cautiously.

"I think your parents sent me some last Christmas…check the cupboard over the stove."

Sure enough, she found a large wooden box filled to the brim with every variety of tea Twining's made.

"My parents sent you a Christmas present?"

"Yeah, they do every year. Usually liquor or some sort of gift basket. I'm sure I'm on some list that I never got scratched off, that's all Mackenzie."

"I highly doubt that Will. I'm sure the embassy has a list of people they automatically send cards to in my father's name…but I don't think my father's office sends bottles of GlenLivit or mahogany tea boxes to every person he's ever met. He misses you."

Will was staring a hole into the skillet he was scrambling eggs in. How did this happen? One minute they're talking breakfast and the next she's telling him how much his almost father-in-law misses his company?

"He misses telling me my political party has mucked up the entire system. And before you bother to deny that, please sit down and eat something Mac" he ordered.

"But, my tea…" she whined.

"I'll get your tea, now sit and eat please Mackenzie." God, he'd forgotten how obstinate she became when she was sick. She'd barely eaten more than a bite or two of muffin or toast in two days and she was arguing with him about a cup of tea?! Thankfully, once seated she actually ate most of the food he had set before her.

"Feel better?" he asked her.

"Much. I didn't realize how hungry I was. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now come on…medications and into bed young lady" he ordered.

"Nope. Toothbrush and mouthwash, discussion of what you said to me in the hospital and kiss. Please?"

Damn, he hated when she looked at him like that. All doe eyed and fluttering lashes. She knew he always folded like a house of cards when she did that. This was why it was dangerous to work with the ex love of your life. She knew you like the back of her hand.

"We'll see Mackenzie. To bed with you first please…before you fall over."

He pushed her down the hallway toward the guest bedroom. He wasn't surprised when she popped her head into the linen closet first in search of an extra toothbrush.

"I'm not sure there are any toothbrushes in there Mac. You might have to wait until I can get to the store."

"Unless you have had twenty guests over here in need of toothbrushes, then there is one in here somewhere" she hoarsely replied over her shoulder.

"What?! I have twenty spare toothbrushes in my linen closet that I don't know about?"

"Yes you do. Ah ha! Here they are!" she exclaimed holding up a toiletry case he did not remember buying. It appeared to be filled with toothbrushes in every color and about five different types of toothpaste.

"Where in the hell did that come from?" he asked her.

"Some segment we did on the dangers of cosmetic tooth whitening years ago. I think it was one of those god-awful human interest pieces Leona always insists we throw in. The dentist who served as our expert kept passing out business cards and toothbrushes to every person he saw. Somehow that bag got shoved into my briefcase and I threw it in the linen closet when I got home." Mackenzie sputtered to a stop. Home. She had just called this place home and she could see the look on his face…hopeful and hurt and longing all at the same time.

"I'm sorry. I…I should just go brush my teeth now" and with that she disappeared into the bathroom.

Home, Will thought. Yeah, that's what it had been. And he missed it…missed her so much.

He began collecting the pills she would need to take and attaching the bottle of medication to her nebulizer. Mackenzie returned from the bathroom and sat next to him on the bed, trying to catch her breath. The last few minutes of activity and conversation had already drained her.

"Pills Mackenzie, right now" he said as he handed her the meds.

"Yes sir" she responded as she took the offered pills and bottle of water.

She was about to burst at the seams…he could tell just by looking at her.

"Ok, you win. We'll talk. Or rather, I'll talk. You have to do your breathing treatment. You're already wheezing again."

He held the nebulizer out to her and watched as she begrudgingly closed her lips around the mouthpiece of the offending object and began breathing in the medicated steam it was producing.

"You know, we should bring this thing to the office Mac. Whenever you start to get really riled up about something I can just stick that in your mouth and enjoy the peace and quiet."

Before she could remove the nebulizer from her mouth and start to argue with him he grabbed her hands and placed them in his lap.

"Sorry. I didn't mean it. Keep taking deep breaths." He allowed one of her hands to return to holding the nebulizer to her mouth. He held the other in his own.

Where did you start? How do you renegotiate the boundaries of a relationship that had gone so wrong, but had to be repaired? And that was the realization he had come to while Mackenzie had been so sick. They really didn't have any choice in all this. It was either get past her betrayal and move on with each other or accept that they would never truly be happy. They both knew this was it. Like Charlie had said, he had already found the one. He either had to figure out how to make it work or stop pretending that dating a myriad of totally wrong women would somehow drive Mackenzie from his mind.

So now, here they were….the walking wounded. She could barely breathe and he almost couldn't bear the thought of risking his heart again. But for her, he would. Sitting here, next to her in a small double bed he felt like the world was starting to shift. They were starting to shift…back toward each other.

"You scared the hell out of me, you know? Logically, I understand that we don't have all the time in the world to figure this out Mackenzie. You'll find another Wade or go off on some assignment to the Middle East, but maybe the next time you won't come back. Or maybe this lunatic posting death threats on our website isn't really a lunatic. Maybe he'll do it. I just want to know we tried, Mac. I need to know that we didn't let my stupid pride and your less than stellar judgment destroy something that could be amazing."

He looked over at her to find tears rolling down her cheeks, which looked absolutely ridiculous as she tried to continue puffing through her breathing treatment.

"Hey, come here. I didn't mean to turn your wheezing into crying" he said as he held his arms open for her. She dropped the nebulizer onto the bed and folded herself into him, practically climbing into his lap.

"I'm so sorry Will…I was so stupid" she said through her tears.

"I know and I'm sorry too for all the crap I've put you through since you've been back. I thought it would make me feel better, but it didn't. It did, however make me realize that you have become a much more patient person than you used to be. It also made me realize how much I trust you now…as my producer and as my friend. I'd like to see if we can trust each other as something more than that."

In response she simply nodded against his chest and held him tighter.

"Hey, look at me Mackenzie." He tilted her head up towards his and placed a kiss on her lips. Before he could pull away she placed her hand on the back of his head and deepened the kiss. This was what he remembered. What he had been missing. The way Mackenzie put her whole being into a kiss. The way the world fell away around them. That was what a kiss was supposed to be. It always was with her.

"There's still a lot we need to work out Mackenzie. I'm not pretending that we just fall back into the same relationship we had four years ago. We have some things we need to figure out first, and we will, I promise. But right now you look like you're about to fall asleep sitting up. Sleep Mac…we'll talk more later" he reassured her. He leaned back against the pillows and let her rest against his chest. It would be easier for her to breathe leaning against him like this, he told himself.

Sure McAvoy…that's the only reason you're staying in this tiny little bed in the guest room when your own luxurious king-sized mattress is just fifty feet away. He never had been very good at lying to himself. For years now, he'd been trying to make himself believe he'd be better off without Mackenzie. As if to prove him wrong, Mac burrowed further into his chest in her sleep.

Yeah, you'd be better off without her…how are you doing at convincing yourself of that one McAvoy?