A/N: Long wait, I know. Forgive me? Hope you are all still with me and enjoy!
Thank you to Sab for being awesome!
Will shoved his books into his backpack, grabbed his coat off the back of his chair, shrugging into it as he rushed to catch up with Alicia, who had stormed out of the lecture hall moments before. They'd just lost the first round of their mock trial and she was visibly upset.
"Leesh, wait up." He reached for her arm, bringing her to a stop in the middle of the courtyard. "What was that all about?"
"What?" She pulled her arm out of his grasp.
"Hey, come on." He reached for her again, his tone softer. "Why are you upset?"
"I don't want to talk about it." She whispered before turning to continue in the direction of her apartment.
"Okay. Should I just pick you up for the party later, then?" he called after her.
Coming to an abrupt halt, she turned to face him, wearing a look of confusion. "What? Oh. I…I thought you were coming home with me."
"But you…" He sighed and moved to her side. "Come on, let's go."
"Will…" she reached out and tugged on his coat. "It's freezing. Zip that up."
"It's okay." He shrugged. "I'm not-" He smiled when she raised her eyebrow and nodded his head as he zipped his coat up. "Yes, dear."
"Thank you." She replied before turning away, a small smile on her lips.
He noticed her shift the books in her arms. "Here, give me those." She handed them over immediately. "Whoa. I was ready for a fight."
"Lucky for you, I don't have any more energy." She muttered as she pulled her gloves out of her pockets.
He glanced over at her as they continued walking. "Hey." He gently nudged her with his elbow. "I know you're upset that we lost. It's just the first round."
She sighed before replying. "It's not that. I hate losing, but I know it's bound to happen."
"That's true. Besides, this loss was totally my fault." He shrugged.
She glanced up at him and shook her head. "Don't do that, Will. It's not your fault." Looking down again, "I'm the one who froze." She whispered.
"Why did you? You were beyond ready for this."
"I don't know." She shrugged slightly. "Every time Paul-"
"Will!" They both turned to see Kelly rushing toward them.
"Oh dear God. Are you friggin' kidding me?" she complained.
"Hey you." Kelly flashed a wide smile at Will.
"Hey. What's up?"
"I missed you. Haven't seen you around since before Thanksgiving break."
"We've been…busy." Alicia told her, with a smile.
"Oh?" Kelly looked at her and then back to Will.
"Yeah. Did you need something specific because-"
"We're on our way home." Alicia cut in.
Again she looked between Alicia and Will, wearing a look of confusion. "Um…I was just wondering if you'd be at the Christmas party later."
"He will be. We both will. Anything else?"
Noticing her shiver next to him, he smiled before grabbing her hand and turning to continue on their way. "See ya later!" he yelled over his shoulder to Kelly.
"Boy, are you feisty." He said, glancing over at her. "I love it."
Laughing, she squeezed his hand tighter. "And freezing. I just want to get home."
Releasing her hand, he put his arm around her and pulled her to him, kissing her head.
/
Will made his way out of the kitchen and into the living room where Alicia sat in the corner of her sofa, under a blanket. Smiling when she saw him approach, she reached out for the mug he offered. Inhaling the aroma that steadily rose from the liquid inside, she wrapped her hands around it in an effort to transfer the warmth to her body.
"Hot chocolate?"
"Yes. But…" he stopped her hand as she lifted the mug to her lips. "Instead of extra hot and the possibility that you'd burn your tongue and try to kill me, I put brandy in there. So, don't drink too fast."
"You…" she looked down at the mug in her hand and then back to him. "You put brandy in here?"
"Do you not like it? I thought… Dammit." He stood and reached for the mug. "I'll make you another one."
"No, sit down. It's just…" she watched as he sat, closer this time, and smiled. "My dad, whenever he knew I had a bad day, or something was bothering me; he'd make me hot chocolate." Carefully, she scooted closer to him. "When I was old enough, to him, he started to put brandy in it. Of course, he made me swear not to tell my mom, 'This is our secret, honey. Mom can never know.' he always told me." She smiled nostalgically, releasing a small chuckle. "You'll understand the irony in that when you meet my mother." She told him as she finally took a sip of the steaming liquid. Closing her eyes, she let the warmth radiate through her. "Mmm…tastes just like when he used to make it for me." Grazing his cheek with her hand, she leaned forward slightly and placed a soft kiss on his lips, "Thank you."
Smiling in response, he raised his arm as an invitation for her to cuddle into his side. Placing a kiss on her head when she leaned against him, he sipped on his own mug before clearing his throat. "You never talk about your parents. Should do it more often. You get an adorable glint in your eyes and a sweet smile on your lips."
"Hmm… Well…" he looked down when she grew quiet. "They…are…" She sighed. "They're complicated. I love them, of course, but…"
"Okay, say no more. I get it." Putting his legs up on the coffee table, he pulled her closer to him and she wrapped the blanket around them as they fell into a comfortable silence, watching the television in front of them.
"Will?" she glanced in his direction after taking another sip from her mug. "How much did you put in here? I already feel…"
"Incredibly relaxed?" she smiled and nodded once. "Good."
"I should stop drinking it." He stopped her when she moved to place her mug on the table.
"What are you doing?"
"If I drink this whole thing, we'll never make it to that party."
He shrugged his shoulders. "So what? We'll have our own party here." Gently, he pushed the mug toward her lips. "Drink away." Shaking her head at him, she drank before nestling back into his side.
After a few minutes of silence passed, he cleared his throat. "So, what was that all about earlier? After class?" He felt her stiffen against him and wrapped his arm around her a tad tighter.
She sighed and looked up at him. "I knew that was coming." Sitting up straighter, she reached for the remote and muted the volume. "I honestly don't know. It was new to me, but, every time I asked a question and Paul objected? It…I…I don't know, I froze. No, I didn't freeze. Well, I did, but it was more like it threw me off every time." She continued when he gestured for her to. "It's like when you're reading a book and someone interrupts you. When you go back and try to continue from where you left off, you've lost your place." She shrugged slightly. "As hard as I tried, I couldn't get back on track and it happened every single time. I'm so afraid this is going to be something I'll always be bad at. How can I even think of being a lawyer, if I can't even survive opposing counsel's objections?" She furrowed her brows when he continued to sit there in silence, staring at her. "What?"
"You're cute when you get flustered." Rolling her eyes, she moved to rise from her spot next to him and he reached out for her hand. "Hey, hey, hey…come here." He pulled her back to his side. "You know what was going through my mind watching you today? I was thinking that I have a lot to learn from you and I know that everyone in that room had the exact thought. Leesh, you…are brilliant. This is just an obstacle. The first of many that you will face and deftly overcome. That's what this is all about." He entwined his fingers with hers, raising her hand to his lips and placing a soft kiss on her knuckles. "You will get past this and when you do, you'll be handing out so many asskickings in court that no one will want to go up against you."
She released a soft giggle and looked at him. "Thank you."
He leaned over and kissed her softly. "I'm not just saying that, either. It's the truth and it scares the shit out of me, so we'll need to open up our own firm and be partners."
Laughing, she repositioned herself in his arms and draped the blanket over them again. Feeling him suppress a chuckle, she sat up and looked at him inquisitively.
"I just… That's the first time you ever readily admit to being bad at something."
She gasped and playfully hit his arm.
"Oh God, I shouldn't have told you that."
"Why not?"
"If you're ever up against me, I just gave you ammunition to beat me."
"I would never do that to you. So, get those thoughts out of your head." He said before kissing her forehead. "But, what I will do is take advantage of your drunken state. So, if you could please finish the rest of that heavily-laden-with-brandy hot chocolate, I'd greatly appreciate it. You know what? Never mind."
"Will!" she exclaimed through her laughter as he laid her down, his body on top of hers and threw the blanket over them.