Will

Slicing a large piece of wood after a good, long run seemed to be his only stress relief. The movements of his biceps swinging up and down with each throw became a good drill for his muscles for his arms, the exercise varied well with his previous run that thrived for his legs. Wiping a strand of sweat away from his forehead he briefly turned his head and caught a glimpse of a brief shine sliding against his peripheral vision. He turned his full body to face a flash, expensive looking car sitting in the front of the house. Presuming it was probably one of his colleagues from work he grabbed a towel, wiping the sweat away from his face as he patted towards the front area catching the sight of the car door opening, as if in slow motion, followed by what looked like a heel step out from under the car door.

He watched as a woman stepped out, her head faced up admiring the large house before her, and as she slowly, removed her sun glasses to get a better look towards the top half of the house, he literally felt his heart stop for a good three seconds, followed by fast poundings of his heart against his chest.

Alicia.

His breath caught in his throat and his eyes widened in shock.

He couldn't help but wonder if this were some dream, that the heavens were taking pleasure in his sorrow and decided to add more grief onto the situation, causing him to furrow his brows confused as well as astonished.

He was speechless.

Questions that flooded his mind, Why was she here? Was she looking for him? Was she in some kind of trouble?

He caught her gaze fall from the lake to face him and watched as her cheeks turned beetroot red. She smiled, awkwardly. "Hello" she nodded, her voice barely a whisper.

Standing there, still, somewhat shocked at her arrival he kept speechless, his eyes still furrowed in wonder and watched as her perfect cheeks heated even more, obviously embarrassed and uncomfortable in her position.

"I…" she started off, stopping as her eyes lingered on him once again before she gathered her composure.

She cleared her throat

"I was just in the neighbourhood" she pointed towards the back, far road. "Actually, I'm uh….. I'm staying down the road with Liz and….. uh, I saw the sale sign and wanted to see if you were okay"

Again, he stood motionless, his eyes still furrowed in puzzlement and somewhat of shock. He knew that he was probably killing her in his wordlessness but at the moment, he couldn't find the words to accentuate the situation.

"Are you okay?" she asked again

A brief nod answered her question, she was obviously expecting some kind of spoken answer but again he was still in shock to see her here.

"Okayyy.." she said hesitantly. As he watched her step away from the car door his eyes immediately lingered on her appearance.

It was so unlike Alicia Cavanaugh to have worn heels and actually be comfortable in them, he hadn't even heard of such a thing. Her dress was much shorter than the Alicia he knew from back in the day, and her hair was much silkier and had definitely grown out of its adolescence. She looked like an actual lawyer but with a skilled fashion sense. His spine shivered as he realised that he practically had a different looking woman before him, he hoped her personality was still the same.

"I should go" she said, her voice shaking slightly, she nodded to herself before quickly opening the car door, leaving him no chance to intervene and stop her.

He stood there, still speechless before taking in the sight of her trying to start the engine of her car.

Its gear tapped out, and it broke down as she revved the key in countless times. Seeing her curse through the car window he watched as she leant her head against the steering wheel, utterly embarrassed and fuming.

Feeling himself gather his baring's, he slowly walked towards her car, standing a few inches from the vehicle, he gazed down at her through the open window and spoke for the first time "Do you want to come in?"

Her breathing was rapid as she stared towards the steering wheel. Nodding her head promptly "Okay" she whispered.

"Okay." he repeated

Alicia

She'd never felt so embarrassed in her life; Alicia was never one to stumble on her words, in fact, she prided herself on having the ability to stand up against anyone but as she stood right in front of Will, with the hot sun blazing down on them and his eyes on her, her head and her heart clashed causing her to become tongue tied. She was thankful that Will hadn't found it amusing but instead, he subjected the most reasonable compromise and invited her into the house.

Her heels clicked against the hard wood floors as her eyes admired the full view of the inside of the house and the pictures above the walls. Her eyes followed each piece of framing and painting, folding her arms against her small chest she kept her eyes on the images of Aubrey and Sara along with his parents, they had grown so much since she last saw them. She even spotted a photograph of Sara and what looked like her partner with a new born baby in their arms.

"Tea?" she turned to see Will standing in the corner, a wet flannel in his hands as he had just washed the sweat off his face.

"Water's fine thanks."

As soon as he was out of site she returned her gaze to the surrounding area, there was minimal furniture inside the house, she figured it was because he was selling the house and the amount of furniture didn't matter. Her eyes instinctively landed on a photo frame in which she recognised it was the same one that her father had placed in his apartment.

Her father and Diane Lockhart were standing in the middle amongst a large crowd, lawyers, work colleagues, Will stood close to Diane and they each had a glass of champagne in their hands, obviously celebrating something. She smiled, grabbing it, she took a closer look into the image, getting a closer observation of Will; he had changed so dramatically it was unbelievable, both of them had grown out of their adolescence and matured into what one would call, a young, independent adult. As far as the eye could see, everything had changed so dramatically, not just the both of them but the house, her family, his family, her father, Chicago.

"Water" she was brought back from her haze to see Will, barely a metre away handing her a glass of clean fresh water. Setting the photo frame back down, she grasped the glass out of his hand, their fingertips gazing against each other's, she felt her spine tingle for a brief second, gathering her baring's, she offered him a thanking smile before taking just a small sip and resuming back to her previous position, folding her arms. They both stood there, awkwardly, her eyes landing on the ground somewhat embarrassed while his gaze focused on her.

"I'm gunna head upstairs for a shower, make yourself at home" he gestured, leaving her dumbstruck.

Wait what? She expected an offer to sit and talk or a tour of the area, but instead he was leaving her alone.

"What am I supposed to do?"

He laughed at her words, bringing a small grin on her face as she locked eyes with his causing her world to slow down for a brief second. He shrugged "Have a look around, a lot has changed." no kidding

She laughed lightly at his comment, still feeling awkward, he took off upstairs leaving her alone. She walked further towards the kitchen area, catching the wide window that faced out towards the front of the lake, she smiled at the wonderful view ahead and the sun that was slowly setting above it. Walking further towards the dining room, she came to an immediate halt as her eyes landed on the piano in the far corner. Just by one single glimpse, she knew, for certain that it was the exact piano that belonged in his family's old home, the house that she had spent many memories in. From what she could recall, this property was only a shack back in the day, it barely had two bedrooms and was only used for holidays and camping trips in the Gardner household. Nowadays, it was an entirely different scenario.

Grazing her fingertips across the head board of the grand piano, she sighed in despair, recognising the fact that she hadn't touched one in ten years and that this exact instrument, was the last one she had ever played.

Discarding the recollection, she pushed the memory of her last time playing and instead moved further around the house. Smiling as she reached the main living room, noticing that it seemed lifeless and half empty, she brushed her fingers along each furniture piece, hoping that it would bring some life into it and finding amusement in the fact that she was acting foolish, but it was true, the entire inner house looked, lifeless to say the least, as if it's temporary occupant didn't care much for it.

Walking past the stair case, her heels clicked towards the door beside the kitchen area that walked out onto the patio. Stepping out slowly she felt herself inhaling the pure fresh smell of the environment. It made her recognise that she had most likely missed this place more than she had to admit.

She hadn't known for how long she had been standing there, just gazing out towards the beautiful view until a figure appeared beside the door. She turned the same time his gaze fell on her and she offered a hesitant smile. Trying, desperately to get rid of the sight of him, dressed casual in well fitted dark jeans with a simple white hoddie, his hair still spiky and wet. It was such a contrast to the elegant, overpriced outfit she was currently wearing.

He pulled two bottles of beverages from behind his back "Drink?"

She couldn't even remember the last time she had consumed a bottle of beer, as far as she could remember, the last alcohol she had expended was a bottle of champagne as a celebration of her and Finn's engagement along with their friends back in Washington.

She gently shook her head "No thanks."

Watching him as he shrugged, placing one of the bottles on the small, wooden table, he took a seat in one of the outdoor, wooden chairs and snatched the lid open before leading his eyes to rest on the lake before him.

She shifted awkwardly, her heels clicked as she walked towards the other chair and slowly sat down, crossing her legs elegantly and entwining her hands on her lap. "So, how have you been?" she smiled genuinely

He locked eyes with her. "Good" he replied, simply. Good? What was that supposed to mean? Good as in simplistically okay or good as in happy, with a girlfriend and a wonderful life.

"You?" he asked

She beamed, this time her smile reached her ears. "Good" she chuckled lightly "Really good actually"

"Your father told me you're getting married?" he said, a genuine smile forming on his lips but she noticed that it hadn't reached far enough.

She nodded, happily. "Yes" she smiled before shifting her eyes towards the ground. "His name is Finn Polmar."

There was a brief pause before she noted a sly, boyish grin spread across his face. "Finn Polmar" he repeated to himself. "Your parents must love him" he said ironically.

The smile immediately fell off her features as she realised his words, knowing that he probably had an idea that her father didn't exactly have a liking towards her fiancé and that he most likely blabbed about it around his firm. It made Alicia cringe, just the sudden concept of her father informing all his colleagues on her personal life, was to say the least, upsetting.

-"That was a joke" Will cut in

"Right" she replied, although she didn't exactly see what was funny in it. "He's a really great guy Will, I think you would really come to like him"

"Do you love him?"

She seemed momentarily stunned by his question, eyeing him, she recognised that he genuinely wanted to know.

She nodded, certain.

"Yes, I do. I love him very much."

She watched him lean back, clicking his back and twisting his fingers, he looked like he was suffering through some internal cringing lower back dilemma. "Well, that's wonderful" she couldn't tell if he was being ironic or genuine.

"We can be friends."

Friends? That was a surprise considering they hadn't spoken in well over a decade, but then again, what was he expecting? More than friends? Shrugging the idea away, she shifted awkwardly in her seat.

Before she could speak, or form an opening question that could possibly get more into detail of his current day to day life, he jumped in.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" he seemed so confident, so normal, it unsettled her, knowing that deep inside, her bottomless core she was a trembling mess while in contrast, he was taking the situation at ease.

"I... sure."

Will

The humour was still there, well at least he thought so, the nervousness was still there, the way she constantly fluttered her eye lashes when she was deep into a conversation was still there. And of course, the beauty was still there.

But he found the courage to ignore her new sense of fashion, trying to picture her in sneakers and a hoddie was long gone, in contrast to the heels and dress that she was currently wearing, it was difficult to even remember the appearance of Alicia Cavanaugh back in the day.

Her acceptance into the offer of staying for dinner brought happiness to his heart more than any of the years that had passed.

If he couldn't get her back into his heart, then a dinner with an old friend was reasonable right?

He was currently preparing dinner, chicken marinade with slices of potato's and avocado salad, a recipe his mother had taught him a few years ago. Alicia was standing in the far corner, her body resting against the counter, her elbows leaning against it and the fascination clear behind her eyes as she carefully observed him. They made easy conversation, talked about where she specifically worked in Washington, how law school provoked both of them into the desire to change the world but then laughed as they both realised that they had basically experienced the same dilemma; coming out of law school as a young ambitious attorney wanting to change the world wasn't exactly easy considering, it was impossible, society was society, whether the universe liked it or not, people were going to stuff up, make mistakes, have strong opinions and there wasn't much that could prevent it. –They talked about that for a half an hour until Finn was brought into the conversation and that was when Amy was mentioned.

"Will?"

"Hmm?" he said, as he had just placed the chicken inside the oven.

"Who's Amy?" she smirked, her eyes twinkling in mischief.

He raised a brow, obviously wondering where she had gotten this piece of information. "I saw that you ignored her call on the receiver phone for the third time." she explained.

He moved towards the counter opposite her, bending down to retrieve two plates in the bottom draw, he popped up to see her, still staring suspiciously as she had her body leaning against the counter with her chin in her hands. He shrugged "She's a friend that I hang out with from time to time."

"And you hang out with her quite a lot?" the smirk in her face was undeniable and he knew she was taking amusement in the topic of conversation.

"I think so"

"What does she think?" she smiled up at him through her heavy eyelashes.

Leaning over to grasp the salad bowl from where she was standing, he felt his face near hers, she could easily feel his breath on her face, he made eye contact with her for the briefest second.

"She thinks that when I look at her, I see somebody else."

Hearing her throat hitch and the smile fall slightly off her face, he took what he had been anticipating, the bowl and backed away, turning his attention back to the sink and rinsing the lettuce before dressing it, he smiled as he had obviously left her dumbstruck.

The beginning of dinner was an odd intervention, between watching her eat, and laughing at each other's past experiences in law school there came a time where a silence soon filled and they locked eyes with each other's, just gazing into her green ones was enough to know for sure that he was still in love with her.

"I have to say, this is pretty good food Will, did you take a cooking class or something?" she asked, genuinely interested and he laughed at the straightforwardness in her voice.

"No. It was just something I learnt off my mother" he said, watching her as she took another sip of wine across from the table. The distance between them was almost ridiculous, she was currently sitting on the other end of the table, her legs crossed and her posture straight up whilst she held a wine glass in her hands, it was the most content he had seen her in all day.

"How is your mom?"

"Good, everyone's doing well, yours?"

"You wanna know how my mother is doing?" she laughed

He nodded his head. "Uh, well, she's still the same, inappropriate as ever, the irony is still there. She remarried a couple of years ago and I think she's already planning on divorcing." he noted her roll her eyes causing him to chuckle in amusement before taking another sip of beer.

"I have to warn you, I'm a sloppy drunk, another one of these wine bottles and a few shots of tequila, you'll have to call Liz to come and get me." she grinned

"Well, you'll just have to go slow and I won't have to take advantage of you" he smirked

"You wouldn't dare, I'm a married woman." she raised her brow, full with amusement.

"Not yet"

She threw her left hand up, showing off her diamond dazzling ring whilst taking another sip of wine. He gazed at her, his mind flooding with memories that included that familiar smile placed on her lips. Just gazing at her was fascinating; she was a completely different looking woman from the teenager that he had known, but her personality and nature was still there and it overpowered all the elegant suits and heels that she probably had placed in her closet at home.

"What?" she said as she had noticed his eyes on her and the fascination behind it.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

Her naive question nearly made him burst, until he realised it was a serious question. Shrugging he said "Memories" he shook his head "This house…. This room." he trailed off

Watching as recognition formed in her features and a small sign of horror forming in her eyes. "This…" she swallowed "This, is the room?"

He felt himself tense, shaking it away he took a large chunk of alcohol in his mouth before placing the empty bottle on the table. He nodded, awkwardly while pointing towards the fireplace in the far corner of the living room, the memory of them making love in that exact spot already surfacing through his mind.

"Huh" Alicia said, bewildered and perplexed all in one. He smirked as he watched her down the full red wine in her mouth before slamming it, lightly against the table.

"I'm full" she said, changing the subject and rubbing her tummy.

"Me too."

She helped him gather the small amount of dirty dishes, taking them towards the kitchen she placed them into the sink. His eyes fell on the night below through the window, knowing that she had to leave soon, he just wanted time to pause and make this moment last, the simple sight of her standing in his kitchen, washing dishes with the moon radiating on her porcelain skin was breath taking.

"Can you, come over tomorrow?

Her eyes flickered to his "Tomorrow?"

He nodded "Yeah. Can you come?"

He watched as a hesitant smile formed on her lips before she handed him a t-towel, to dry the dishes and leant against the counter folding her arms whilst smirking at him.

"Sure, it's not like I have anything else to do. What are you planning on doing Gardner?" Gardner. She hadn't called him that in years, which in retrospect, she was the only one who ever called him Gardner. The rest just referred to him as Will, or Mr Gardner. It was so ironic, and yet, amusing.

"I wanna show you something." he stated honestly, turning his body to place the plates back in the cupboard he turned back to see her eyebrows raised.

"Show me something? About what? The house?"

He laughed at the amount of questions she threw in. "It's just….. something."

"Well. That's helpful." she said making him laugh.

She glanced down at her watch placed on her wrist, he couldn't miss the frown that she produced. "I have to go" even if he weren't facing her as his body was turned towards the cupboard, he could easily hear the small amount of remorse in her voice.

"I'll walk you out."

Grabbing her small amount of belongings, her heels clicked against the floors of the wooden house as he followed her outside into the, already dark night. Slipping his hands into his pockets, he walked her outside towards her car. He had taken the liberty of preserving it hours ago as he knew something was wrong with it, and sure enough, it just needed a little water to get the engine going. As they neared the driver's seat, he stood with his hands in his jean pockets and smiled hesitantly at her.

"I'll see you tomorrow"

"Lunch time?" he asked

"Lunch time is fine with me. I have to meet my father in the city in the morning anyway…" she explained, letting the silence fill as she stood awkwardly before him. They locked eyes for the briefest moment and he was sure that she was currently feeling the same emotion as her eyes gazed into his.

"I had a really great time this afternoon Will, I'm glad I came" she broke the silence, offering a sweet hesitant smile, he nodded his head as a response.

"Me too" me too

-"Well" she gestured off, inhaling a deep breath. "I better go"

"Yep" he took a step back. Letting her slip into her car, with one more wave goodbye she threw him a stunning, hesitant smile before reversing back and driving away, leaving him staring out at her as her car lost its appearance in the dead of night.