March 16th 1997

"Where are you tonight?"

Karen startled, forgetting that she was sitting across from Will. He took her to some small café on Tenth Street, and she tried to keep her mind on the moment, how he knew about this place, how his hand felt so soft, so warm, over hers. But in all honesty, she was thinking about home, about Stan, the kids. Olivia caught her trying to make a clean exit tonight while searching for her, wanting to say goodnight. She asked Karen where she was going. Karen didn't give her a clear answer, didn't answer the question at all, really; she simply smiled and said, "Don't worry, honey. I'll be back soon."

"Karen?" Will said, concerned.

"It's nothing, really, it's just…my stepdaughter caught me leaving. I mean, I thought I would be safe to leave; she was in her room and everything."

"You have a stepdaughter?"

"Yeah. A stepson, too." She took a breath before speaking, trying to figure out how to word this. "They're part of the reason I didn't call you until now. I know…I know that if I were to be found out, if I were to leave, it probably wouldn't make that much of a difference. They seem to like me, but I know on some level they're going to think of me as the one who's trying to replace Mom. They've already been through a lot with that divorce; I'd still feel bad if I caused another shake-up. Look, I want to make this work between us, I really do. I just don't know if I'm ready to pay the price yet. God, if only we had met before he put that damn ring on my finger."

Will sat there, silent for a moment, looking at her. He wished he could take away her pain, ease her conflicted mind. He wanted to take her in his arms so she could let her torment spill out, so he could absorb it so she didn't have to suffer. But as soon as he saw a tear roll down her cheek, he wanted to shatter. He knew that he was the one to do this. He knew that he was the one to hurt her this time, even when he was doing everything in his power not to. "What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"I want you to give me a reason to keep doing this."

Such a loaded demand. What if he were to give a response that wasn't good enough for her? What if his words made her reconsider him? "Yeah, it's been nice, but I don't think it's worth it anymore." He didn't want to hear anything resembling that, and tried to quickly come up with enough for her to want to stay with him. He moved his chair so that he was right next to her, put his arm around her shoulders, graced his free hand upon her cheek before speaking.

"You know how you get that feeling sometimes of falling for someone right away? You see it in movies, read it in books, and think it's so ridiculous, but once you feel it, you never want it to go away? I never had that with anyone. Until I met you. The night you were standing outside the restaurant…God, Karen, you were so beautiful. I hated him for standing you up, and I could tell it wasn't the first time you had your heart broken by him. I can't tell you why, but from then on, I've wanted to make sure that that never happens to you again. I know I can't give you the things you're used to. I don't have a lot of money. But I have my heart, and it's yours for the taking. Karen," he looked into her eyes, wiped away a tear that started to slide down her skin, "I think I…"

"Shhh," she said as she put a finger to his lips. "Don't say it yet." She pressed her lips against his. If he said it now, that he loved her, everything would become real. And although she knew that she was falling for him too, she still needed their time together to have that element of the dream state. He was Karen's getaway when life with Stan got too tedious. He was the one who would tell her everything she needed to hear, when Stan didn't have those words in his vocabulary. She still needed that to get through the day.

There was a time when Stan was able to say all the things to her that Will does now. But as soon as he first said he loved her, as soon as it became real, all of those words died in the dark, despite her attempts to save them. And Karen knew that if the same thing happened with Will, she wouldn't know how to handle it; she didn't know if she actually could handle it.

Karen sighed, tried to give Will a smile while brushing through his hair with her hand. "I should have known this wasn't going to be easy."

"Nothing actually worth anything ever is," he replied. "So if we've worked this hard over the course of a couple of weeks, then we must really have a good thing going."

She shook her head and laughed. "How can you make the toughest situations seem so desirable?" She wasn't looking for an answer, and he didn't seem to have one. She took refuge in the silence, pulled him closer to her. Karen realized the gravity of the situation she put herself in; she knew that either outcome would result in her being the bad guy or being heartbroken. If Stan ever found out, it would crush his seemingly perfect vision of their marriage. Then again, Will could just grow bored with her, find some flaw that he won't be able to deal with, realize that maybe this fight isn't worth it after all. He could so easily let her go, force her to fully return to her married life. And she found this scenario to be the harder of the two to swallow.

Will had shown her a different world that didn't revolve around money, business, high society, power. He had shown her a world with endless possibilities and unconditional love. If he were to take that away from her, Karen wasn't sure if she could ever go back to what she knew.

She took comfort in the fact that for now, he seemed to want to be with her and rested her head against his chest. "I wish I could spend the night with you," she whispered, then held her breath. Oh, god. That couldn't have sounded good. Nearly two weeks in, and already she's telling him she wants to spend the night?

"I wish you could, too," he replied and she was relieved. At least he felt the same way. She wondered if he realized that their future was so shaky, so uncertain, that he wanted to say and do everything while they still had time. She wondered if he realized that she felt it too.

She wondered how he would react to what she was about to say next.

"Stan's leaving on business in a couple weeks. The kids will be with their mother. I'll be alone for seven days."

Will smiled. "Then why don't you just stay with me? That way you won't have to be alone."

Karen stared at him, wide-eyed. "Are you sure about that? I mean, seven days? You don't think that's too much time? Not that I don't want to spend time with you, but think about it. We barely know each other."

"Karen, all I want to do is spend as much time with you as I can. I want to wake up and find that you're next to me. I want to kiss you goodnight and hold you in my arms as you fall asleep. I just want to be with you. What do you say?"

She was amazed how someone could want her so completely. She couldn't remember the last time Stan said anything remotely like that. She couldn't even remember if he ever said something like that to her. But with Will, she believed everything he said. And trust was so hard to come by with her.

Karen brushed her lips against his, whispered against his skin.

"It's all I ever wanted."