November 2017, Chicago

Alicia had been back a week. Grace and Zach had returned off to their Universities, Grace to Stanford and Zach to MIT. Her mother had gone off on a cruise to Mexico, and Owen was still working. So Alicia was alone once more, not that she minded. The past week her work load had been double that which it usually was, meaning she had not even spoken to Will for more than a fleeting conversation in the hallways welcoming her back since she returned. He had been dealing with the class action case which had all come to head, him and Diane had spent long hours cooped up in the conference room, never leaving except for depositions.

Meanwhile Alicia had been juggling three separate cases, two criminal and one civil. All the while attempting to dodge the questions the press threw at her, field all the calls asking if it was true that Eli Gold would be joining the firm, and decide just what she was going to do about her husband. The fact that it was nearly two weeks since the news had broken, and Alicia had not made a statement had caused the press to pretty much have a field day. Peter had rung her a hundred times begging her to support him, yet not once had she picked up. Alicia did not know what she was going to do, but what she did know what that she was not going to be pressured either way.

It was late when she walked into her office. The sun had set on Chicago, outside the taillights of cars lit up the city like a christmas tree. In one day, she had managed to get a client off on a reckless driving charge and had the jury come back as not guilty on her second criminal case. Alicia had been about to head home for the night when her phone rung, saying the jury was back in. That was the reason why at eleven in the evening she was only just arriving back at the office after a fourteen hour day in court.

The brunette placed her bag down on her desk and pulled off the black patent stilettos which had been murdering her feet since lunchtime. Alicia had not even bothered to move to the respective side of her desk first. The feeling of the carpet on her burning feet caused her to let out a sigh. Leaving her shoes where she had stepped out of the she then removed the black and grey blazer she had been wearing and sat down on her desk chair, leaning back and stretching out as much as she could.

"Beer?" Alicia turned her head towards the door, she was about to sit up straight until she saw Will. Smiling she relaxed once more and nodded as he walked over and help out the bottle, before taking a seat on the other side of her desk. Alicia thanked him, before taking a sip of the fizzy liquid. A small smiled passing over her face as she leant her head back and closed her eyes momentarily. From where Will was sat, all he could think was how beautiful she looked. With her hair loose and slightly tussled from the day. Wearing a fitted pencil skirt and pale blue blouse, but relaxed. She looked perfect to him, and it took everything he had not to tell her that. "Bad day?" He questioned, only to receive a shake of her head.

"I won two criminal cases and it looks like the civil one could go either way. It was just a long day. Jury came in at 10:30pm."

"I'm surprised you didn't go home." He watched as Alicia shrugged her shoulders.

"I need to do some paperwork, however I don't think I will actually end up doing it." She said laughing, Wille just shook his head. "I enjoyed dinner the other night. It was fun."

"Yeah, it was." He said, leaning back in his own chair. Will had also lost the jacket of his suit, it was probably wherever his tie was. His pale shirt was open necked now, and the style suited him. "Zach and Grace didn't hate me too much did they?"

Alicia looked at him and smirked. For a man who was so confident in his work life, who would stand up and argue in court like it was nothing, he had looked so nervous that night, like it was the hardest thing in the world. That same nervous look was plastered across his face right now. It caused her to realise just how much he cared, just how much he wanted her to be happy. Not just her, but her children as well. "They liked you." She said reassuringly. Will smiled at that, which in turn made her smile.

"Good. They really are great kids. Grace is gonna kick my ass in court one day."

"You and me!" Alicia said laughing. She had no doubt in her mind that if she ever faced her daughter in court she would loose, and not because she was playing easy either. "Thank you, for coming over, for staying for dinner, for just being there. It really means a lot."

"I wouldn't have rather been anywhere else. Have you decided what you're gonna do about Peter?" Will didn't like bringing her ex-husband up, but he knew Alicia and he knew she needed to figure out a plan. More than that though he knew that she would want reassurance that she wasn't making the wrong decision.

"I don't know." Alicia said. "I don't like what he had done, I'm disgusted by it." She shrugged her shoulders and finished off her beer. "But that child, they've done nothing wrong. Zach and Grace would be their half brother and sister. Surely..."

"The child is gonna be your family."

"Yeah, and at the end of the day you are meant to stick with your blood aren't you?"

"Look 'leash, you can stand by that kid even if you don't agree with the action of the parents." He looked at her and saw her nodding.

"Thank you." She said, smiling at him. God he was so close to telling her how perfect she was, smiling like that.

"What for now?" He asked raising an eyebrow and laughing.

"For putting up with my ridiculous life." Will laughed again, shaking his head.

"Maybe you can pay me back." The words had let his lips before he had even realised. She raised an eyebrow at him, and smirked one hell of a sexy smirk. "Let me take you out for dinner on Saturday."

"Will Gardner are you asking me out on a date?" Alicia watched him blush, and smiled. It was good to know that he was as nervous as she was, because her stomach currently felt like she was on a rollercoaster.

"Yes." He replied simply. If Alicia was surprised by his invitation then she was not more surprised than he was. "Alicia Cavanaugh, will you go on a date with me?" In that moment Alicia was hit by all the reason she should say no; the press, her children, the fact they worked together. Then she remembered that kiss a few weeks ago, she remembered how natural that meal had felt on Friday night. The fact that it had felt more like a family meal than any she could remember.

"Yes, I will." She smiled, and he smiled as well. It was a smile that reached their eyes, and Alicia could not remember the last time she smiled like that, couldn't remember the last time she felt like a teenager giddy with glee. Will must have the same, because completely out of the blue he stood up, walked around to the side of the desk she was on, and leant down. He cupped her face with his hands and kissed her. It was soft, and gentle and quick. He pulled away and looked down at her for a moment, until she placed her hands on his shoulders and pulled his down for another kiss. The second one, well that was enough to lead to a few more as well.

There was a smile engraved on her face when she walked through her front door that night. She and will and ended up on the sofa in her office, drinking a couple more bears each and just making out like teenagers. Not that either one had any complaints. However they had stopped it going any further. They wanted it to work this time, properly. So they were going about it right, not just diving into bed like they both were tempted to.

Alicia once more removed her shoes and placed her bag on the working top. "Oh dear sister of mine, how are you? Why are you so late? Were you and Will having sexy time?" Owen's voice sang from her living room. It caused to jump out of her skin at first, but once her breathing was normal she made her way to her brother and joined him on her sofa. The smile on her face spoke because she was able to. "Oh my god?! I was joking but you were weren't you? Alicia-"

"We did not have sex, Owen."

"But you did something!" the look on Owen's face reminded her of her children when they were younger and she would let them have chocolate or the time she told them that they were going on holiday.

"We kissed, again." She said. "And he asked me on a date."

"Please tell me you said yes? If you didn't then I am going to date him. I bet he has a cute ass." Alicia just laughed at her brother.

"I said yes." She answered, watching as her brother squealed in excitement. "Why are you here anyway?" Owen's face turned sullen, and she raised an eyebrow.

"I may have slept with a married man." He took a drink of the wine Alicia did not even know he had, and she rolled her eyes.

"May?"

"Okay, I did sleep with a married man." He stated. "Don't give me the judgy Alicia look!"

"Did you know he was married?"

"I suspected."

"Owen!" Alicia reprimanded. Sometimes it felt like she had three children not just two when her brother was involved.

"He was so cute."

"You want to talk about it?" Alicia asked, resting her head on her brother's shoulder. She felt him shake his head.

"No, I want to discuss what you are wearing for your hot date. One of us needs to get a successful love life!" Both of them just laughed. It seemed like when it came to love, in their own ways, they had both inherited their mother's genes. Owen with his serial bad string of relationships, and Alicia with her few but all catastrophic relationships. For one of them though, it seemed like there might just be a light at the end of the tunnel.