A/N: Woah! All of your responses were so great! And they just got me in such a good and writing mood. I was excited to write this new chapter, so I'm posting it right now for all of you to be excited too! :-) Keep those comments flowing in guys!

"Will…" Alicia said, very unenthusiastically. She wasn't entirely sure why he was standing at her door. She wasn't entirely sure whether she wanted him there. It was so unexpected.

"I just thought I'd come into town for a couple of days." He spoke quietly, unsure of himself. Obviously reacting to her unexcited greeting.

"Uh huh…" Alicia wasn't responding well to him. Her mind was a huge mess, especially from just waking up and not even having a sip of coffee yet. Will eyed her carefully, waiting for more of a reaction from Alicia, other than her just staring at him.

"I could go?" He offered, not wanting to leave but he felt like he hadn't had the great thought he did the night before to visit her. Alicia looked down to the ground and shook her head.

"No- I- It's just…" She looked back up at Will who was patiently waiting for her response. "Come in, Will. Sorry. I just wasn't expecting you." She was almost proud of herself; she actually put together a proper sentence. She stepped back to let Will into the apartment. He skimmed past her, gently brushing against her body.

"Do you want some coffee?" She bleakly asked while closing the door.

"Sure, sounds good." She nodded and gave a weak smile as she slowly walked into the kitchen. Will left his small bag in the hallway and started to take off his coat as he followed her. He draped it over the back of the chair and sat down at the counter.

"I'm happy to see you." Alicia murmured cheerfully while she prepared the coffee. She felt like she could have chosen something better to sleep in other than some old, daggy grey sweatpants and a light blue singlet that had a few small holes in it. She was definitely not expecting a handsome looking Will Gardner to show up at her door, but it didn't stop her wanting to look better for him somehow.

"I'm happy to see you too. I'm sorry to just show up." He said softly.

"No, it's fine. I just- I wasn't expecting it." She bit her lip nervously, out of habit really. She wandered over to Will and put her hands over his, which were clasped together on the counter top. He leaned forward and gave her a small kiss.

"I should wake Grace up and let her know you're here. So she doesn't freak out if she walks out here."

"You don't have to wake her. I have to go into the office and meet Diane. I just wanted to see you first." Alicia smiled and felt a little giddy over the fact that he wanted to see her first thing. Her mind darted to the bag he brought in with him.

"Did you just come from the airport then?" She asked.

"Yeah. Fresh off the plane. I'll check in at the hotel in a couple hours." Alicia instantly felt a wave of relief roll over her, and then she shut down the feeling. She didn't think she was supposed to feel that it was a relief her… Someone… Wouldn't be staying with her while he was in town.

"Okay, sounds like a plan." She eventually said, feeling awkward because of her own internal feelings. She gently stroked his hands then walked to a cabinet, took out two large mugs and filled them with hot coffee. She placed one of the mugs in front of Will.

"I'm just going to quickly tell Grace you're here, I'll be right back." She placed a hand over his shoulder for a moment and let it fall away as she made her way to her daughter's bedroom. She eased the door open slowly. Grace was still asleep. Alicia tip-toed over to the bed and started rubbing her arm gently.

"Grace. Grace, honey." She whispered close to her ear. She started to move a bit. "Grace." Alicia said a little louder. Grace turned over onto her back and tried to open her eyes.

"Mmm?" Was the only sound Grace could possibly make after being woken up.

"I'm sorry to have to wake you up." Alicia stroked the top of Grace's head.

"Mom?" She said with a groggy, rough voice.

"I just thought I'd let you know that someone is in the kitchen. Just before you were to walk out there and see them." Alicia wasn't sure on whether to tell her it was Will. If she asked, she would say who it was but it was still a touchy subject, especially now.

"Mmhmm." Grace mumbled.

"Okay, you go back to sleep. Sorry." Alicia said sympathetically. Grace rolled back over and almost immediately went back to sleep. Alicia softly walked back out of the room, being careful with the door, and returned to the kitchen. Will smiled at her as she reached him.

"Is she… Alright?" He asked. Alicia took in a deep breath and sighed loudly.

"I don't know. She didn't eat last night. She just stayed in her room. I didn't hear her come out here once."

"Well I guess that's understandable." She nodded, and was almost glad he had nothing more to say on the matter. Not that she was sure he knew what else to say, it was something extremely unknown to him.

"I should head off. Diane will be waiting." He said with a smile, then a sigh, and finally with a gulp of coffee.

"You just got here." She protested, weakly.

"I know. I should still go. We could meet up later, if you have time?" He asked, his eyes beaming with eagerness. She thought about Grace, and what it would mean to leave her home alone. Alicia expected that Grace wouldn't want to go into the outside world yet, but also felt that alone time could be somewhat good for her right now. Which is what a teenage girl usually loves.

"I can figure something out. We can go grab some lunch?" Will stood up and loomed over her.

"Mmm, lunch?" He said cheekily. Alicia half-smiled and diverted her eyes up towards the ceiling, giving the over-dramatic "I'm thinking" look. She was, however, thinking back to some of her favorite lunches with Will a couple of years ago. Remembering how wonderful they were.

"I think lunch sounds great." She looked intensely into his eyes.

"Lunch sounds perfect." He leaned in and gently placed his lips over hers, which she immediately turned into a hungry, deep kiss, Alicia tasting the fresh coffee on Will's tongue. After a couple minutes of heartily making out, and hands going to places that were almost too early to even think about, Will put his coat back on and let himself out the door.

At close to 9.30 that morning, Grace stumbled out of her bedroom and laid eyes on Alicia, who had stretched herself out on the couch with a book in her hands.

"Morning." She said to her mother sluggishly. Alicia dropped the book to her chest.

"Morning Grace. How'd you sleep?" She asked with too much concern in her voice.

"Fine, I guess." She took a few steps forward towards the kitchen, but then stopped and turned to her mom again. She developed a confused look on her face.

"Did you wake me up earlier?"

"Oh, yes. I did." Alicia said soundly.

"Why?"

"I, uh, no reason." Alicia brushed it off, letting it seem to her daughter that her mother was going a little insane. Grace walked through to the kitchen and got herself a glass of orange juice. She had pulled the juice out of the fridge but walked back to her mother.

"Was someone here?"

"Huh?" Alicia stopped reading for a moment and looked to her daughter, who looked more confused than a minute ago.

"Did somebody come by this morning?"

"Yes. Why?" Alicia wasn't ready to give up that it was Will. She hoped she could just play out that it was some unimportant stranger, but that wasn't going to happen.

"Who?" It was definitely not going to happen. Alicia then decided she had to just tell Grace. It was going to have to happen sooner or later, she just wasn't hoping it had to be sooner.

"Actually, Will stopped by." She watched as her daughter froze up.

"Will… As in Will?" Alicia paused just to see her daughter's reaction to even just her saying the name. Whether she was a little freaked out by it, but there was no recognition of any emotion. Alicia closed her book and set it on the couch. She got up and moved towards her daughter.

"Yes, Will. Is that okay?" She asked anxiously. Grace nervously shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess so." She walked back into the kitchen and poured herself some juice. Alicia followed her and leaned on the bench, watching Grace.

"Are you sure? He was only here for a minute anyway."

"Mom, it's okay."

"If it makes you uncomfortable he doesn't have to come by here. I can talk to him." Alicia unnecessarily reasoned with Grace.

"It's fine, I don't care."

"Really?"

"Well now you're sort of weirding it out, and it's getting less fine." She said abruptly.

"Okay. I'll stop then." Alicia raised her hands in a stopping motion and nodded, more to herself than her daughter. "Do you want some breakfast?" She offered, as a less touchy subject.

"Not right now. I'll just make some toast or something later. Thanks though." Grace smiled to her mother and left the room with her drink.

Alicia didn't know how to help her daughter. She didn't know what else to do but let her know that she was there if Grace wanted to talk, or just hang out. It wasn't often that teenage girls wanted to just sit and talk with their mothers when something horrible and embarrassing happened to them. Of course, this was an extreme circumstance and it was treacherous waters Alicia would be entering. She felt awful for her daughter, but she felt bad for herself too. She absolutely hated and despised what had happened and thought it was wrong on every level there was, and there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't go out and stop the newspapers and magazines running the story and promoting ridiculous rumors and theories about why it had happened. Alicia was careful not to let the newspaper sit around, or even turn the TV on, knowing that this would be the story of the week. It's a 24 hour news circle but it's thrown in into daily segments as an "update" to the story, which would only be a nasty rumor about something relating vaguely to the main story. The only true thing Alicia knew about it was that Grace wasn't ready to talk about it, and it killed her.

Not wanting to intrude on Grace any longer, Alicia walked into her bedroom and decided to text Peter.

'As soon as you know something, let me know. Grace seems okay but she won't talk or come out of her room. How is Zach?'

She hit send, hoping he wouldn't call back. She was not in the type of mood to talk much. The only thing she wanted to do was make pancakes for her and her daughter so they could at least feel happy about those together. And she knew Grace would be pretty happy if they were blueberry pancakes, so Alicia headed to the kitchen and started on the batter.

"Grace, I'm going to work for a couple of hours." Alicia told her daughter, who was sitting comfortably on the couch watching some generic action movie that was too loud for Alicia.

"Okay. See you later. Love you." Grace called out half-heartedly.

"I love you too." And Alicia was out the door, absolutely over-excited to go meet Will for maybe some lunch but most definitely for some sex. She had to get her mind off of everything for a short while, and of course Will was the one to help with that. Alicia did feel guilty for not even going into the office for a couple of hours like she had told Grace, but Cary had assured her everything was under control and Alicia did lose one relaxation day so she had to have been granted an extra one, at least that's what she told herself to try and make it okay.

She arrived at the hotel Will was staying at, which did seem odd to her but she tried to let it go. She walked confidently through reception and went straight for the elevators. She had done that walk many times, but she noted how it felt different this time. It didn't feel so secretive and forbidden. It felt great, better even, because she knew she really didn't have to hide from anything. She didn't have to try and sneak inconspicuously out of the Lockhart/Gardner offices and pretend she was only going out for lunch that consisted of real food, when really it was a hot go-around with her boss.

Alicia stepped out of the elevator and walked to the room Will was staying in. She knocked lightly and she heard a jump somewhere inside the room, a loud bang, possibly a swear and then Will opened up the door looking startled.

"Everything okay in there?" She asked, trying to suppress a laugh. He smiled happily at her.

"Yep, fine. Just fine. Hit my leg on the chair but it's fine. Come in." He allowed her to enter and closed the door. Alicia wandered her way through the room and sat on the bed. She had started to think of why Will was in town in the elevator. He had said he would see Diane, so it was probably for a case but it was awfully interesting timing given her current situation. And including the stressed phone call to him the night before.

Those thoughts liked to sneak up on her when she was in a good mood, something would always worm it's way into her head and make her forget about how good she felt before it. She hated that her mind was doing that to her now, so she had to get it all out.

"Will, why did you come back?" She said nonchalantly. He looked at her, concerned by her question. His face then eased, like he had given up an internal struggle of some sort. He walked smoothly to Alicia and sat down next to her on the bed.

"For you." He said coolly, but not in the standoffish way, in the way that he used to use while they were in their affair. It always made her heart race.

"For me?"

"Yes. It sounded like you needed me last night. I don't want to assume things, but you just sounded… Frustrated. So I just thought, I could come back for a couple of days." She nodded along, listening to his every word. "It also gave me a reason to see Diane and everyone. I've missed them." He said in a surprising tone, like it was so strange to miss your friends. Alicia found it funny and let out a small laugh. Will joined in with her.

"What?" He asked, still laughing.

"It sounds like you're surprised you missed some people."

"Well I didn't think I would. I'm tough, I don't miss people much." He stated proudly, but jokingly.

"Oh yes. The tough lawyer type who doesn't miss the people he genuinely likes. I've got it now." He looked off to the side somewhere and tried to look handsome, which was effortless for him, and nodded his head slowly.

"Yep. I'm just so charming too, you know." Alicia laughed with him some more then leaned in closer to Will.

"I know how charming you can be." She whispered seductively in his ear.

"As a matter of fact, I've recently discovered some new charms." He looked into her eyes. Alicia felt the space around them grow much smaller and she always loved that moment, when everything else disappeared around them and it would be only them for a while.

"Well, please, show me." She said softly. Will only nodded his head slowly and leaned in more to kiss her, slowly and deeply. They took their time. It was probably the only time they've just kissed every inch of each other in a lunch hour, and it made Alicia feel better than ever. At least for that moment of theirs.

Her post-Will hazy-dazy phase soon ended when she arrived home. She discovered Grace still sitting on the couch, but she was in the arms of an unknown boy who Alicia could only assume was Connor, and hoped it was him otherwise she and Grace would have a lot of talking to do whether she liked it or not.

"Hiiii." She greeted them. Grace quickly turned around, shuffled out of Connor's embrace and stood up.

"Mom. I didn't think you'd be back so soon." She glanced down at her boyfriend (?) who looked a little scared, Alicia wouldn't blame him. In fact, she wanted him to be scared.

"Well, here I am." She paused for a moment, looking back and forth between them. "And here you are…"

"I- We- Um… Mom. This is Connor." She spoke nervously. Alicia focused her attention on the young man, who knew didn't know much about.

"Nice to finally meet you." She greeted him.

"Uh, nice to meet you Mrs. Florrick." She almost winced at the name, it sounded so normal and familiar and soon it no longer would feel that way. She managed to smile at the boy.

"Grace, come to the kitchen for a moment." She walked into the kitchen with Grace on her tail.

"Okay, don't freak out. We were just watching a movie and it's normal for the guy to have his arm around the girl." Grace started to panic and ramble on.

"Grace, it's fine. I wish you would have told me he was on his way over, but I'm not upset. Just stay out here, alright?" Grace started to roll her eyes and protest but her mother stopped it. "No, that's what is happening." Grace stood there quiet for a moment, but gave in.

"Okay. We'll stay out here."

"One more thing. I invited Will over for dinner tonight." Grace dropped her gaze to her hands, and began to fidget around in an uncomfortable manner.

"Why?"

"Because, he's only here for a couple of days and I just thought it'd be nice. And you mentioned you were okay with him being here."

"Fine. Then can Connor stay too?" The girl gazed up at her mother with pleading eyes. Alicia wanted her daughter to try and get through a dinner with Will, no matter how strange it would be, and she wanted it to be alone. But with all that was happening, with how sad and vulnerable she must be feeling, Alicia felt it was right to let her boyfriend or whatever he was, stay and be there for her in a time like this for Grace. In Alicia's heart, it seemed like the right thing to do for the moment, but her mind was telling her a completely different story. She told herself while watching Grace go sit back down that it was as if Grace were six years old again and really wanted a new stuffed bear after the other one had an eye ripped out by Zach. Alicia stitched the eye back on for Grace but it didn't fix the knowing that the bear wasn't the same so Alicia had given in to buying a new one. She wasn't sure if the old story exactly fit the moment right now, but she felt that it was close enough. She had to say yes to her daughter that day. She was a total sucker for giving in to her kids.