A/N So now you all need to go back and rewatch 2x06 because there is nothing I could possibly add to the scenes with Mac and Don at the bar, Will and Nina at home (and then that perfect dumping by Will) and Sloan's final slap upside the head to our poor, messed up protagonist.
Sloan paused in the doorway before she stepped out "I love you Will."
He regarded her with affection, "Thanks Sis."
He watched her leave then turned to look out the window. He couldn't argue with anything Sloan had said but even though she had crystallized the problem she hadn't told him what to do next. He tapped his fingers on the desk a few more times, sighed and he picked up his blackberry.
"Will? What's wrong?" Caroline's voice came through after the third ring.
"What? Nothings wrong, why would you ask that?"
"You hardly ever call and you especially never do it in the middle of the day." She patiently explained.
He shrugged, "Well maybe I'm trying to be a better brother."
"Yeah okay, right. What's up Will?"
"Hey," He objected honestly wounded by her disbelief, "Why is that so ridiculous?"
Caroline huffed into the phone, "It's not ridiculous, what's ridiculous is that you would start by calling when you're obviously in the middle of a work day."
He leaned his elbow on his desk, "Well now is when is convenient for me."
"Riiiiight. Will," before she could continue he could hear her pull herself away from the phone, "Jason! Can't you see I'm on the phone? Please, do that in the other room!"
She returned her attention to him, "He won't stop playing that damn guitar. All day and all night. I should kill you you know."
"I think I'd actually be okay with that." He commented dryly.
She sighed, "I knew something was wrong. What's going on Will?"
He tilted his head to the side, suddenly unsure of himself. "Have I ever mentioned Sloan Sabbith to you?"
"Will, I watch your show. I know who Sloan Sabbith is, but no, you've never said anything about her." There was a pause and a gasp, "She's not...the girlfriend you wouldn't talk about?!"
Will sat forward so fast he almost his head on his desk, "No!" he chortled. "No...not at all!" He let out a short amused breath.
"Good." Commented Caroline, "Because she's hot and smart but I could understand why that would be way too complicated."
He shook his head, "Yeah, I'm able to make complicated all on my own without any of her help."
"Okay, so what about her?" Caroline reverted the focus back to his question.
"Well, we've kind of developed a familial relationship...you know brother sister type thing."
Will tried not to read into Caroline's quiet "Mhrm..."
"So she was just in here and kind of gave me a lecture but she left and I was still confused so I figured I'd call my real sister to help fill in the pieces." He returned to his previous position, leaning back in his chair.
"Ooookay. You're going to have to tell me what the pieces are before I can help you at all William."
He sighed and ran his hands over his face. When he removed his fingers he noticed on the other side of the glass that he could see Mac searching for something on the desk closest to his door. She was leaning over and he became entranced by the small slit that lay flush against the back of her thigh.
He was assaulted with the image of his own hand, slowly teasing up the back of her leg and disappearing under her skirt, right there. He could hear her playful admonishment, "Not in the office Billy..." He swallowed his distracted smile as the real Mackenzie found what she was looking for, stood and walked away without turning to look into his office.
"Will?! Hello?" Caroline's voice came through the phone he had forgotten he was holding.
"Yeah?" He replied, voice hoarse.
"Are you sure you're okay Will? Where'd you go?"
Before he could stop himself he poured out, "I dumped her. The other woman. I dumped her because she was wrong. Wrong about what I should do and who I should be and wrong for me. She was the wrong woman and it was a mistake trying to be with her."
Caroline sighed, "And do you know who the right woman is?"
Will closed his eyes, heard Mac's words from the other night "I will always be there for you Will, absolutely always."
"Yeah. I do." He mumbled into the phone.
"So what's the problem?" Caroline prodded.
"She's pissed at me."
Caroline let out a laugh which immediately put Will on the defensive.
"What?!" He demanded.
"Really Will? Is this why you're calling me? Because Mac is pissed at you? This can hardly be the first time!" Caroline sounded absolutely incredulous.
He resisted the urge to pout. "First of all, I never said it was her and second of all I'm being vulnerable here! Shouldn't you be encouraging me to talk to you, not mock me?"
Amusement still lingering in her voice Caroline agreed, "Oh yes, of course Will, how dare I make assumptions or mock you...my poor, sad, vulnerable big brother."
He cut her off, "Alright, alright...I think I've had about enough empathy as I can stand from you."
She let out an amused giggle and then cleared her throat, "Okay then, let's do this, no games William; it is Mac we're talking about, isn't it?"
"Yes..." he grumbled.
"And why is she pissed at you?"
He rolled his head to the side and mumbled, "Because I did something she really didn't want me to do and then I was mean when she called me on it."
"Yeah, okay. Sounds like she has a very valid reason to be pissed at you." Caroline observed dryly.
"I guess so." He reluctantly agreed,
"So that doesn't sound like a difficult problem to me. Apologize. Done." She advised succinctly.
He rolled his eyes, "That only fixes the pissed at me problem."
"I'm confused Will, What's the other problem?"
He was quiet.
"What's the other problem Will?" She repeated.
"I don't know!" He exclaimed.
Caroline did not hide her skepticism, "What do you mean, you don't know?"
He slumped in defeat, "I don't know what comes next."
"You make sure she's not pissed at you and then you kiss her. Where's the confusion?"
Will grumbled, "I'm not sure I want to do that..."
"You don't want to kiss her?" She asked, clearly unconvinced.
He sighed "...Well..."
"I'm confused Will. Where is the problem here? This past weekend you were on the phone with her every chance you got and all you did was defend her to us and you just said she's the woman who's right for you...so where is the problem?"
He straightened in his chair, "Let's make this clear; I only called her twice."
All he got in response was his sister again laughing at him. "You were here for 48 hours. That's once a day."
"She's my EP. That's not unusual." He defended himself.
"So you were just talking to her about the show on a weekend in the middle of the night?"
"I could have been!" He insisted.
Caroline wasn't fooled, "Were you?"
"That's not the point!"
"What is the point?"
He sighed again. "I don't know."
"God, Will, you're infuriating." His sister murmured into the phone.
"In my own defense I do, in fact, know that." He drolly offered.
A moment of silent passed when he heard Caroline clear her throat and begin again, "Alright, because I'm still stuck on this let's get back to the beginning so I can figure out what the hell you want from me...it's obvious you love her, right?"
"That's the problem." He yelled.
Caroline was quiet for a moment, giving him a chance to elaborate. When he didn't she clarified, "What's the problem? That you love her or that it's obvious?"
"That I love..." He looked nervously out to the news room then turned his chair so his back was to the door and lowered his voice, "That I love her. That's the problem."
Caroline was completely bewildered, "And why is this a problem?"
"Because I'm going to be lonely for the rest of my life." He stated factually.
His sister was nonplussed, "Well this just keeps making less and less sense as you go on."
"Look," He leaned forward, balancing his elbows on his knees, "I love her so I'm never going to be happy with another woman."
"And why would you need another woman?" Asked Caroline, "You said this weekend that Mackenzie is your best friend. Don't you want to be with your best friend?"
"I can't!" He objected.
"Why Not?!"
He didn't say anything.
"Because she cheated on you?" Caroline answered for him.
"Yeah..."
It was quiet and he could here the sound of the screen door open and slap shut. He pictured his sister settling herself on the porch steps. "You spent a lot of time defending her last weekend." She began, "You said it was a one time mistake. That you wanted to forgive her. That she was your trusted partner. Is all that true?"
"Yes." He sighed.
"So she's your best friend?"
"Yes." He agreed.
"Trusted partner and adviser."
He nodded, "Yes."
"Does she make you smile?"
He flicked his eyes down, thinking of how every impossibly little cute thing she does makes him fight a grin off his face, "Yes."
"Does she do nice things for you?"
The image of the staff lined up around the office came to mind. Her pacing in his office talking of Don Quixote and pushing him to take on this great project. Refusing to leave his hospital room and refusing to give up on him.
"Yes." He answered quietly.
"Are you physically attracted to her?"
Again he thought of his hand under her skirt. Unbidden he conjured the feeling of his lips on her collarbone, and the cross between and gasp and squeal that she would release when his tongue...
He shifted in his seat and coughed to clear his throat, "Yes."
He heard what sounded suspiciously like a giggle and before Caroline sombered and asked the next question, "Do you believe she deserves to be forgiven?"
"Caroline..." He sighed.
She cut him off, "Ehh...please just yes or no."
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, using all of his energy to pull forth what he knew the honest answer to be, "...Yes. She does."
"Do you want to be happy?"
Relieved at the easier question he quickly agreed, "Yes."
"Can you see yourself ever being happy with anyone else?"
He swallowed, "No."
"Can you see her making you happy?"
He sighed and thought about how happy he was when she had come into his office yesterday afternoon; how much he missed her when they were fighting, how her smile made him smile.
"Yes." He final answered.
"So what's the God Damn problem Will?!" Shouted Caroline at such a volume that he had to pull the phone from his ear.
He rolled his eyes and shook his head, "It can't be that simple."
She sighed, "It's not." She agreed softly, "Nothing ever is. And I'm still mad as hell when I think about how broken you were when you two broke up but that's because I'm your sister William. And as your sister it's my job to want you to be happy. I want you to be happy and she's what makes you happy. So forget everything else. Do you want to be with her Will?"
His eyes fell on a beaten manila folder on the corner of his desk with 'News Night 2.0' written on the tab in her familiar writing. Then he remembered the sting of her words yesterday when she mentioned updating her resume and the fear that filled him at that simple phrase.
He nodded, "I do. I really do."
Caroline sighed and he could tell she was smiling. "Then it is that simple."
"Why am I afraid to admit all this?" Will asked so quietly he wasn't sure Caroline could hear him.
"Because you're afraid of getting hurt again. Just think of it like the time when your ribs were broken at the football game Jr. year. We knew you were scared but you went out there again and Mom was so proud of you. Time to get off the mat Will. At this point you're hurting the both of you and neither of you deserve it. Suck it up and try being happy again."
He swallowed and looked down to the floor, "So, apologize then kiss her?" He checked.
"Yup," She confirmed, "Make sure she's accepted the apology first, otherwise you're liable to get slapped."
He smirked, "Thanks Sis."
"Love you."
He hung up the phone and braced his hands on his desk, smiling to himself.
"Apologize then kiss her." He murmured, then nodded resolutely and headed for the door.