Being escorted out of her apartment in the middle of the night by two bodyguards was something Mackenzie never thought it would happen to her. She could feel the tension radiating from the two men while the elevator took them down to the garage. When the doors opened, John stepped out first, to clear the area. Once he signaled them, Mike let her get out. He gently took the bag she was carrying and, after making sure she was safe inside the car, he put it on the back seat and climbed on the driver's side.

He locked the doors and turned to look at her. "Are you ok?" Mac simply nodded; she could feel the lump in her throat, tears threatening to fall. Mike sympathetically squeezed her shoulder. "Right now, we have three options. Number one, AWM. It's a secure building."

"And sleep in my office?" Mac said, her voice barely a whisper.

"So that's a no. Number two, we get an hotel room for the night. I'll alert the staff and stay with you in the room." He told her.

"And number three?" She asked.

"Number three, you stay with Mr. McAvoy until we secure your building once again." Mike replied.

Mac thought about her options for a few seconds: she could get an hotel room but staying with Will appealed her more, she knew she would feel safer with him. She took a deep breath and told Mike her choice. "Ok." He replied. "Let me call Lonny to explain the situation. Do you wanna call Mr. McAvoy?" She quickly shook her head; she wasn't sure she could make the call without bursting into tears. Mike understood her negative so he placed a quick call to his colleague and asked him to inform Will.

Once everything was set, he started the car. The ride to Will's place was quiet. Mike parked the car in front of the building and jumped out, grabbing Mac's bag from the back seat before opening her door. The doorman held the door open for them and greeted Mac with an smile. He accompanied them to the elevator but, before he could do anything more, Mac took out the key that made the elevator stop at Will's penthouse. Mac didn't say a word, neither did Mike. When the doors opened, they saw Will waiting for them. Will immediately opened his arms and Mac almost ran to him. His arms quickly went around her body, pulling her close, while she hid her face into his neck. He wasn't surprised when he felt his t-shirt getting wet; even if she wasn't making any noise, he knew she was crying.

Over her shoulder, Will made eye contact with Mike. The bodyguard slowly approached them and left Mac's bag next to the couple, on the floor. "I'll be back in the morning." Mike softly said.

"Thank you." Will told him, on behalf of Mac and himself.

Mike quietly left the apartment while Will returned his attention to the woman in his arms. Mac had his shirt clenched with her fists, her sharp breathing tickling his neck. He moved his hands to her back, his fingers drawing slow circles on top of her clothes, trying to soothe her. When he thought she was a bit calmer, he kissed the side of her head, encouraging her to look at him. "Come on, let's go to bed." Without releasing her, he grabbed her bag and took her to his bedroom. He left the bag on top of the dresser and helped her sit down on his bed. He walked back to the dresser and grabbed one of his t-shirts; he was sure Mac had packed something to sleep but he knew she loved using his shirts to sleep. He handed it to her and waited until she finished changing. Then, he lay down on the bed, on his back, and opened his arm so Mac could climb next to him. She quickly did, pressing her body as close to his as she could, her head resting on his chest, just under his shoulder, with her arm over him. With his free hand, he pulled the covers over them.

They spent a couple of minutes in silence. Mac's breathing slowly returned to its normal rate, the tears had stopped a few minutes ago. Her eyes were closed but Will could tell that she wasn't asleep. He wasn't sure what to do next: should he say something or should he wait for Mac to talk first? Fortunately, she made the decision for him. "Billy?" He heard her say. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me, Mac. You can stay here anytime you want." He replied.

"Don't say this too many times or I may take you on that offer." She tried to joke, opening her eyes to look at him.

"I mean it." He assured her.

"Are you trying to tell me something?" Mac asked him.

"No. Yes? I don't know." He hesitated. "We decided to take things slowly, right? The last time I went too fast and you weren't ready."

"I'm ready now."

"Are you trying to tell me something?" He repeated her exact words.

"Maybe? I don't know either." She sighed. "Slowly is good."

"Yeah, you made that clear Saturday night." Will said, teasing her. He yelped when Mac tugged his chest hairs. The pain he had briefly felt was worth it when he heard a tiny laugh coming from the woman in his arms.

"Billy?" She said.

"Mackenzie?" He replied, still grinning.

"What did the rest of the message say?" The grin vanished from his face when he heard those words. He sighed deeply. Mac knew he loved her, he had told her a few times since they had begun dating again. Confessing his love for her while being high as a kite hadn't been his finest move, it had caused more headaches that he was willing to admit, but it had been something he had needed to do at that precise moment.

He knew it was time. "Hey. It's me, Will. Listen, I swear I'm not saying this because I'm high. If the answer is no just do me a favor and don't call me back or bring it up or anything but I have to tell you, I mean, after tonight, I really wanna tell you that I've never stopped loving you. You were spectacular tonight. Can you believe we got Obama?" A tearful snort escaped her lips. "I meant Bin Laden." He clarified.

"I know."

When she didn't say anything more, Will gently raised her chin to look at her. "Mac?" He softly asked. She had been pestering him about the message for two months and, the moment she had heard about it, she had gone silent.

"I understand why you couldn't tell me before." She finally replied. "I'm just glad that it didn't take us more time to get to this point." She continued, her head returning to rest on his chest.

Mac yawned and snuggled closer to Will, adjusting her position against his body to be more comfortable. She closed her eyes and sighed. "I love you, Billy."

"I love you, too."

The next morning, Mac slowly woke up. Without opening her eyes, she reached for her phone but she didn't find it where it was supposed to be. Confused, she opened her eyes and remembered that she wasn't at her apartment; for a moment, she had forgotten about the events of the previous night. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply, burying her face on the pillow under her head. She was about to fall asleep again when she heard soft footsteps approaching the bedroom, the smell of strong coffee filling her nostrils.

She opened one eye just in time to see Will entering the room. "One of those better be for me." Mac said, referring to the two mugs he was carrying. She sat up on the bed and rearranged the pillows to lean against the headboard.

"Morning, sleeping beauty." He told her, smiling, while handing her one of the mugs.

"Thanks." She told him, gladly accepting the mug and the peck on the lips. "What time is it?"

"Almost eight." He replied, sitting next to her legs. "Mike called ten minutes ago. He wants to talk to you. I told him he can come right up when he arrives."

"So, we have half an hour." Mac said, a wicked grin forming on her face.

"More or less." Will replied. Mac drank the rest of her coffee in two big gulps before reaching for Will's mug. She took it out of his hand and left the two mugs on the bedside table. She swung her legs out of the bed and stood up, grabbing Will's hand on the process to make him do the same. "Mac?" He asked, confused.

"We're going to take a shower and you're going to make me forget about everything, even if it's only for a few minutes." She firmly told him, not leaving any room for him to argue.

Not that he was going to.

"You're making me do things I'm sure I wasn't able to do, even before the accident." Sloan heard Mac say when she stepped into the AWM gym. She stifled a laugh, walking around the corner of the room where Tim, Mac's physical therapist, had set up his working space with a therapy table, a stool and an exercise mat.

"Your muscles are hard as rocks, Mac, you know we have to stretch them." Tim told her.

"Are you sure you are not trying to kill me?" Mac groaned.

"Yeah, I'm sure." He replied.

Sloan observed them from behind: Mac was sitting on the therapy table, with her legs hanging on one side. Tim had his hands placed on both sides along her jaw, thumbs at the base of her head, while he slowly rotated her head to one side and held that position.

"Oh God." Mac groaned again.

"Just a few more seconds." Tim told her.

"You always say that." She replied.

Sloan waited until Tim let Mac rest a bit to make her presence known. "Hey." She said.

"Sloan, I don't think your clothes are adequate to exercise. It'll be difficult for you to run on the treadmill with these heels." Mac teased her friend.

"I could, if I wanted to." Sloan replied. "Hi Tim." She greeted the young man. "Do you mind if I stay here while you slowly kill her?" She asked with a grin on her face.

"Not at all." He told her. "Just try to not distract her too much."

"I can do two things at the same time." Mac told him. "What's up?" She asked Sloan, aware that the easy-going conversation was just an excuse. She looked worried, behind that playful mask that Mac knew too well.

Sloan picked up the stool and placed it in front of her friend before sitting down. "Rumor has it that you and Will have arrived together two days in a row." She said, crossing her legs.

"Sloan." Mac warned her, knowing it wasn't the real reason why she had come to see her at the gym when she could have just waited for her to get back to her office. Tim moved her head once again, making it impossible for her to see Sloan's face.

"Will and I went out for coffee and he told me what happened Monday night."

"Don't worry about it." Mac told her.

"I worry!" Sloan exclaimed. "If that creep knows how to get in your building..." She said, before she remembered that Tim was also in the room. She looked at him, her eyes wide open.

"I know / He knows." Tim and Mac said at the same time. "I had to tell him. Michael had him fully investigated before he was allowed into AWM." Mac explained.

"I feel like a celebrity's therapist." Tim said. "Lay down, face up. Bend your knees." He instructed her. Mac did as told while he grabbed a triangular cushion to put under her legs. He moved to the head of the table to continue working on her neck.

"Kenzie..."

"I'm being careful, Sloan." Mac interrupted her. "And I'm staying at Will's, as you probably already know, until they determine how the hell he managed to get in."

"How is that going?" Sloan asked, grinning.

"Pretty well, actually." She replied. "We haven't killed each other. Yet." She continued, emphasizing that last word. "We aren't moving in together, so get that thought out of your thick head."

"I didn't say anything!" Sloan exclaimed, slightly offended.

"But you were thinking it." Mac told her.

"I was." She admitted.

Tim laughed at their antics; he could tell those two had a strong friendship and that they deeply loved each other. Usually, he didn't let anyone sit during his therapy sessions, people tended to distract his patients, but Mackenzie was perfectly capable (as she had said) to do two things at once and Sloan always made him laugh.

"Hey, Tim?" Sloan said.

"Yeah?" He replied without looking up at her.

"Can I do that? It seems like fun." She asked him. She laughed out loud when Mac eyes flung open and she cried out an outraged "No!"

"You might kill her if you do." Tim simply said, smiling.

"Go pester someone else." Mac told her.

"Ok." Sloan replied, standing up. "Wanna do something this Saturday?"

"Dinner at my place?" Mac asked her.

"Perfect." Sloan replied.

"Now, go!" Mac told her.

Sloan raised her hands and slowly backed up. Just before leaving the gym, she bursted out laughing when she heard Mac tell Tim that he shouldn't even try because her neck couldn't turn 360° like that creepy girl at The Exorcist.

Michael and his team had spent three days re-securing Mackenzie's building, once they had found out the weak spot the stalker had used to sneak in. Just when they thought every point was covered, and he was about to let Mac return to her apartment, the guy had broken in again. He was getting frustrated so he perfectly understood Mac's anger when he went to Will's apartment to tell them what had happened.

He left a few minutes later after that. Mac quickly went to Will's bedroom and slammed the door behind her, leaving a slightly confused Will standing in the middle of the kitchen. He waited five minutes before following her. When he opened the door, he heard Mac on the phone, canceling the plans she had with Sloan for the evening. He slowly approached her and put his hand on her shoulder. Mac turned around and his heart broke a little when he saw her moist eyes. He pointed to the phone, asking to halt her conversation for a minute. Mac excused herself and covered the phone with her hand to speak with Will.

"Don't cancel your plans with Sloan." He said. "Tell her to come here instead."

"Really?" Mac asked, surprised.

"Yeah." Will replied.

"You don't mind?" Mac asked, again.

"I don't." He assured her, smiling.

"You're a good man, Billy." Mac told him, standing on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss. "Sloan, change of plans." She said, returning to her phone conversation.

When Sloan stepped out of the elevator into Will's apartment, her mouth fell open. Mac, who was waiting for her, laughed at her friend. "I didn't remember you haven't been here before." Mac said in greeting.

"I was stuck on a plane while you celebrated the first anniversary of 2.0." Sloan reminded her, accepting the kiss on the cheek.

"Want a tour?" Mac asked her.

"Of course." Sloan quickly replied. "Where's Will?"

"Grocery shopping, believe it or not." Mac told her. "He's cooking us dinner and he needed some things."

"Really?" Sloan asked, surprised.

"Yeah." She simply said.

"And...?"

"And, this way, we'll have some time to talk without him being here. His idea, not mine." Mac explained.

"I feel I'm about to discover a new side of Mr. William McAvoy." Sloan told her, smiling.

"You won't know what hit you." Mac teased her.

When Will returned half an hour later, he found the apartment empty. He went to the kitchen and left the bags he was carrying on the counter before walking towards the balcony. He found them there, sitting in his lounge chairs sharing a bottle of wine. The opened the door and stepped outside.

"Good evening, ladies." Will greeted them, smiling widely.

"Hi Will." Sloan replied.

Will bent down to give Sloan a quick kiss on the cheek before doing the same with Mac. He sat down by Mac's legs and stole the lit cigarette she had on her hand. "Get your own." Mac told him, trying to get it back.

"It's mine, I bought them." Will simply said after taking a drag.

"You don't smoke Marlboro Red." She replied.

"You do, that's why I bought them." He told her.

"So, they're mine."

"I never said that."

Sloan watched the exchange with a silly grin on her face: it was great to see her two friends so at ease with each other, so comfortable and happy despite the circumstances. She loved having the opportunity to finally see them interact outside the newsroom. "You two are like an old married couple." She teased them. They looked at her, confused, and Sloan bursted out laughing. Mac joined her while Will looked at them with a curious look on his face.

"Well, I better go back to the kitchen or we won't be eating anything tonight." He announced, returning the cigarette to Mac before standing up.

"Want some help?" Mac offered.

"I can manage." He replied. "Stay here and continue drinking my wine, smoking my cigarettes and talking about me." He told them, grinning.

"We talk about other things too, you know?" Sloan told him. "There are some more things besides Will McAvoy."

"He likes to think he's the center of the universe." Mac teased him.

"Well, I'd like to be the center of yours, at least." He replied.

"Ooooooooooooooooh!" Sloan exclaimed. "So cute!"

"Shut up." Mac said to her friend, trying very hard not to smile even if she wasn't succeeding. Will bent down to give Mac a quick peck on the lips and she gladly returned it, slightly blushing when Sloan began to clap like a little kid.

Will had a better time than he thought he would: he wasn't used to socialize with Sloan outside work and the occasional drink at Hang Chew's and he had found that he really liked spending time with her. The dynamic between her and Mac was something that he really had enjoyed watching, it reminded him of his sisters, always teasing and making fun of each other but, at the same time, sharing a deep connection only found in siblings and the closest of friends. He knew Mac and Sloan had become friends pretty quickly but he hadn't realized the extend of that friendship. He was pleased that Mac had introduced Sloan in his small circle of friends.

It was close to midnight and Sloan had just left. After accompanying her to the door, Mac had returned to the balcony with Will. Instead of getting her own chair, she had nudged Will to make room for her in his chair and had stretched out next to him. It was a close fit, they couldn't move very much without one of them falling over. They spent a few minutes in silence, enjoying the moment. Will reached for his packet of cigarettes and, after a quick look to Mac, grabbed hers too. He lit both cigarettes and gave Mac hers. Just when she took the first drag, her phone rang. Carefully, she extended her arm to grab it from the table.

"It's Sloan." Mac said after reading the name on the screen. "Miss me already?" She told her friend.

"Kenzie, there were a couple of paparazzi just outside Will's building when I left. They approached me, asking questions about the two of you; they know you're there. I didn't say anything, don't worry, but I thought you should know." Sloan explained.

"Fuck." Mac muttered. Will, who had heard every word, sat up and helped Mac do the same. "Thanks for calling, Sloan."

Mac hung up, closed her eyes and sighed deeply. Will put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. She gladly rested her head on his shoulder, burying her face on his neck.

"When is this going to end?" Mac quietly asked, not really expecting an answer. "Why the bloody hell can't we have a fucking lovely evening without someone wrecking it?"

"Hey." Will softly said, trying to comfort her. "It's gonna be ok."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do." He quickly replied. "Mackenzie, look at me." He gently asked her. She complied, reluctantly, and raised her head to look at him. "We can control the story. Tomorrow, we'll call Charlie and formulate a plan. We'll be under the spotlight for a few days until some other celebrity does something that captures the gossip media and, then, they'll forget about us."

"Why are you being so calm and optimistic about this?" She asked him, slightly pissed.

"Because someone in this relationship has to." He smiled at her. "Come on, let's go to bed."