Disclaimer: The Good Wife is not mine

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! I really appreciate them. Hope you enjoy.

June, 1994, Washington DC

The small apartment that she had called home for the last four years and that he had called home for the past year was now simply a jungle of brown cardboard boxes all piled perilously high. It was insane to see how much stuff they had managed to accumulate over their time at Georgetown. The small sofa in the living area of the apartment was probably the only thing which did not have packed boxes or things to be packed on it. Tomorrow they would move out, begin the rest of their lives. Both going to different states, to different firms. She knew it would be hard to maintain a strong relationship, but Alicia Cavanaugh loved William Gardner, that she knew for certain.

She slung her pale denim jacket on as she exited the bedroom and looked over at him on the sofa, he looked as though he were in a world of his own. "You okay?" She questioned, he just nodded, before standing up and taking her hand. Since the all of their things were packed except what they would need between then and tomorrow when they moved out, they had decided to go out for a walk in the early evening before turning in for the night. It was something they had always loved to do, and had become a tradition before exams. It effectively cleared both of their minds, and stopped Alicia from overly stressing out over things that she was convinced that she didn't know but actually did. Outside summer was in swing, but the air was still a little cool at that time of night.

The sun had yet to set, but their shadows were ever growing in length as they walked down the quiet residential streets of the city until they reached their favourite park. It was a park that the had been coming to for the past four years. Since the early years when they were just friends, both attracted to the other but too nervous to say or do anything about it. Just two best friends, in amongst a larger group of friends. She was the quiet one of the group, the one who would take a book to the park and read. He was the sporty one who would always take a baseball, or basketball with them. Occasionally he would tease her and she would join in. Sometimes he would sit out and they would just talk. Everyone had always known they were close, but they weren't together at first. Every girl at Georgetown fancied Will Gardner, and Alicia had always accepted that she was just another one.

They had finally gotten together nearing two years ago now though, and it was a lot more serious than either one of them had ever imagined it becoming. Every girl at school had hated her for dating him, and every girl had still tried it one with him. That became a running joke between them, that they could never go out without some girl 'accidentally' bumping into him. That wasn't saying it never got any less annoying however.

The park was beautiful, then again it always was. As they walked along the path neither said a word, Will looked down at Alicia, at her hand intertwined with his, at the look of contentness that covered her face and hated himself. "Leesh, we need to talk." He said, his voice laced with emotion. Immediately she stopped and looked up at him, her eyes searching his dark brown ones for a sign of what he meant.

"What's wrong? You have been really quiet all day." She said, he just held onto her hand and walked over to a bench and they sat down. It was strange to think this park was where their relationship had really begun. While everyone else was playing football one autumn afternoon and they had been sat just talking, that was when they had realised that there was a chance they could be more than friends. It was sat on the grass that they had nearly kissed for the first time. Will didn't think he had ever resented the idea of getting ice cream more in his life than he had that afternoon. Yet it was in that same park where everything was about to end.

"Look, I don't know how to say this. But, I..." He began, only to run a hand through his hair.

"What is it?"

"I turned down the internship in New York." He said, making her raise her eyebrows in shock. It was the internship that everyone in their year had been dying to get. A top New York law firm, a paid internship, and a job almost guaranteed at the end of it. Alicia had been so proud of him when she heard that he had got it. Now she was more than a little confused as to why he would turn it down.

"Why? You worked so hard for it!"

"'Leesh mum has cancer, it is terminal. She only has six months maybe a year at most left, we can't afford a carer. I'm gonna take some time out, look after her." His voice was rough with emotion and Alicia could see the tears building up in his eyes.

"Oh god. Will i'm so sorry! Whatever you need, I will be there-"

"No Leesh, that is the other thing. I don't want you there." He felt like someone was punching him continuously in the stomach, he couldn't quite believe what he was doing to the woman he loved. Yet he honestly and wholly believed that he was doing the best thing for her. That this decision would be one she would thank him for making in years to come.

"I don't understand." She stated, as he turned away and avoided her eyes. "Will look at me. I am going to be there for you."

"Leesh I love you, okay, but I don't want you there. You deserve so much better, you deserve to go and conquer the world, not be stuck with me in Chicago."

"Will-"

"No, Alicia, you are too good. I'm not gonna have you resenting me for the rest of your life because I held you back and you didn't get where you wanted to."

"Jesus Will, I wouldn't-"

"I'm not taking the chance." Neither could look at the other. Will was fighting back the tears, and Alicia had given in, letting them stream down her face. "I can't do it. I can't hate myself for holding you back." His voice was so certain, so decisive. It was the same tone he used in moot court, when she knew their opponent had no chance of beating him. Now she knew his mind was made up, knew there was no way she was going to be able to persuade it. That knowledge made her feel as though someone had reached into her chest and pulled her heart out leaving a wound the size of a small continent in her chest.

"Say it." She said, her voice filled with hurt and anger mixed at the same time. "If you are not gonna let me stay with you then say it. Be a man and tell me we are over. If you can't do that, then we pretend you never said anything and we make it work. I love you Will, I will always love you, but if this is what you want – what you need – then damn well say it."

He looked over at her, at the tears rolling down her face, at the hurt and heartbreak that was painted in her eyes. "It's over." His words were so quiet he wasn't sure that she actually heard him until she stood up and closed her eyes.

"Okay." With that she walked away, and as she went he could see her shoulders shake as she tried to fight the sobs that were about to escape her.

"I love you Alicia." He whispered so quietly that he knew she would never hear her. As she walked away he wiped the tears that had escaped his eyes. Tying to control his own emotions. Will Gardner placed his head in his hands. Never in his life had he ever felt likes such a bad person. Never had he felt like this before. His heart was broken and so was hers, yet it was all his fault.

She hid in their room that night, and he stayed on the sofa. The next morning he woke to the sound of boxes moving as she took all of her things down to her brother's car. He had kindly offered to help her move out. Alicia had never been more thankful to Owen than that day. They never spoke that day, in fact, they didn't speak for over twenty years after that evening in the park. Never saw one another for over twenty years after she moved out. Yet he kept a track of her life through the media, always reading an article when she was mentioned, always seeing the pictures, hoping she was happy. Alicia tried not to think about Will, yet she still checked up on him. Reading the article about Stern, Lockhart & Gardner when it was published in the paper, and the article about him being Chicago's 16th most eligible bachelor years later. They never spoke though, just maintained two very different lives.

I thought that this would explain their history just a little bit more.

Abby