A/N: This might be the last chapter...at least it's the last one in my head at the moment. I have a little voice telling me I need to somehow bring this full circle with Will's sibilings one last time but I'm not 100% sure how'd I get there. If I do then I'll post it as an epilogue but I'm going to mark this as complete for now. There is another Jeff Daniels song in this story...It's called 'When My Fingers Find Your Strings' and it's awesome. Youtube it! If you like his music I'd also suggest "Are you as excited about me as I am".

Anyway...Thank you for your readership and support and comments. It's always fun to put a story to paper just for myself but seeing people actually following along and actually liking it...well it blows my mind...especially considering this is an international site; it is so cool to be making connections with people across the world! This has been my favorite story writing process to date so thank you again for that! ~TJ

The broadcast had gone smoothly and when Will had launched stray commentary at her during breaks she had served them right back, ignoring the staff in the room and instead very much enjoying the one time she was actually able to make him blush the moment before they came back from commercial.

By the time she had extricated herself from the post broadcast wrap up and looked around the studio Will was nowhere to be found, the lights in his office were off indicating he had left.

She assumed he had left for the bar with the staff and tried not to feel disappointed that he hadn't waited for her. She shook her head, resolving not to get caught up on the small things but she couldn't help but allow the thought to distract her as Sloan urged her from the building and down the street.

Arriving at Hang Chews she was disappointed to note that although the staff was in their regular place, Will was not among them as she had assumed he might be. Nor was he at his corner seat at the bar.

Still making the effort to keep silent the her little voice of doubt she began to run through all their interactions during the day to see if there was some hint as to where he might be or if something had happened to make him decide against coming out tonight.

She and Sloan settled into the half booth across from the rest of the staff; close enough to be able to lob commentary back and forth but far enough that they could speak without necessarily being overheard.

Sloan looked around, "Where is he?"

Mac shrugged, giving up any pretense, "I don't know. I've been trying to think where he might be but I was pretty sure he'd be coming here tonight."

Sloan pouted, "I hope he does. Watching you two has made the past two work days infinitely more entertaining."

Mac rolled her eyes, "You don't need to sound so voyeuristic about it."

Sloan grinned, "What can I say; I'm a sucker for a good love story and if you haven't noticed, I'm busy during primetime so I don't get to catch a lot of TV."

"Don't you have a DVR?"

Sloan nodded, "Yes, and it has every single episode of How I Met Your Mother on it… Though I've only been able to actually sit and watch the first episode. Someday I'll watch it all because a title like that really makes you curious, doesn't it? I mean really, when does he meet their mother?"

Mac just stared at her friend, completely baffled. She was saved from having to respond by some commotion up at the karaoke stage.

"Hi everyone," The bartender / part owner, Judith, was on the stage, getting people's attention, "Everyone here knows that we are the best karaoke bar in lower Manhattan and I promise we will continue giving you all the mic soon but we've had a special request so we're going to break it up a little bit. Please welcome to the stage, Billy Mac!"

There was a smattering of polite applause but Mackenzie's jaw dropped. Billy Mac was the ridiculous name that Will had anointed himself one night after mastering a particularly challenging guitar chart and declaring his musical victory made him a delta blues man who needed an appropriate moniker to match. In their more light hearted moments 'Billy Mac' was a reoccurring character, even occasionally appearing in their love making, singing sultry lyrics in her ear while his hands made her see stars.

She turned to the stage and sure enough, there was her Billy, with that ridiculous old battered brown fedora on his head. The staff caught on quickly and soon there was a ruckus of cheering and cat calls from their corner of the bar.

He situated himself on the stool and smiled at the group before scanning the bar. She could tell when he found her because his face lit up. It was obvious to the rest of the staff too because the whistles started again.

Next to her, Sloan was just repeating "Oh my God. Oh my God, Kenz. Oh my God; that's Will."

Mac ignored her and instead flashed Will her most brilliant smile and made a show of turning in her seat so he knew he had her full attention.

He leaned into the mic, "Hi everybody. I hope you don't mind I just felt like playing a little today."

There was more applause as a few more people in the bar recognized him. "Thank you. I've only got a couple of songs I'm feeling like singing today so we'll be sure to get you back to the karaoke soon enough.

He then leaned back and started picking at the strings and Mac found herself completely hypnotized by the movement of his fingers.

"You were there when I was fallin'

You were there when I fell in love

You were there when I was thinkin' through

All those things I was thinkin' of

You were always right beside me, never out of sight

You turned my never evers into maybe I just might…

…When I'm left all by my lonesome, you know just how I feel

When I'm down you come around my corner on two wheels

Every time I tell the truth you catch me in a lie

Every time I try to run you just won't let me hide.

You're the sunrise in my mornin'

You're the warm wind through the night

You dance me through the darkness and you lead me to the light.

You answer all my questions and you finish what I start

And when I'm at a loss for words you find them in my heart

We both know I'm less without you

We both know it's plain to see

I ain't holdin you my friend, it's you that's holdin me…"

As the melody faded away the room erupted in earnest applause. Mac blinked rapidly in a desperate effort to hold back the tears, and trying to ignore the awed looks that some of the staff were shooting between her and Will.

He was smiling so genuinely in her direction that she would have run to him if it wasn't for Sloan's death grip on her arm and continued "Wow. Wow. Just…Wow."

Seeming to understand he smirked knowingly and ducked his head, clearing his throat before he spoke again,

"Thank you. This next song is one everyone should recognize now but it's relatively new for me to play. I was only inspired to learn to play it a little while ago and this is the first time I'll be playing it in front of people so please excuse any missteps…"

As the cheers died down he started to play again and out of the instrument came an acoustic version of Willie Nelson's arrangement of "You Were Always On My Mind"

Maybe I didn't love you
Quite as often as I could have
And maybe I didn't treat you
Quite as good as I should have
If I made you feel second best
Girl I'm sorry I was blind

You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

Mac thought back to that night early last fall when she and Will sat at the bar here and when this song had come on he had shushed their conversation, favoring instead to hold a long and silent moment between them as the lyrics passed through.

And maybe I didn't hold you
All those lonely, lonely times
And I guess I never told you
I'm so happy that you're mine
Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time

But you were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

At the time she had indulged herself imagining that he was hearing the lyrics they way she had, as their story and their way of telling each other something neither was able to articulate on their own.

Tell me
tell me that your sweet love hasn't died
And give me
Give me one more chance
To keep you satisfied
I'll keep you satisfied

Back then she told herself the moment had been a sweet little day dream, one of those memories she could tuck in her pocket and remember the next time she was lonely or infuriated but she didn't ever truly believe he had been as invested in the moment as she was. And certainly not enough that he would be driven to learn how to play it himself.

Little things I should have said and done
I just never took the time

But you were always on my mind

You were always on my mind
You were always on my mind

But now, it was him singing. And he was looking at her, the same way he did that night.

She could swear she felt her heart expanding so much so that it was going to quite literally burst from her chest.

The bar was clapping and the News Night staff was hollering. Will thanked the crowd and descended the stage, heading to the staff. He sent a smile over to Mac and Sloan but stopped at the rowdy group first.

"Here you go Jim, thanks for letting me borrow it." Will handed the instrument over to Jim.

"Sure thing man any time. You were great." Jim smiled tucking it safely beside him.

"That was fantastic!" A slightly inebriated Neal was standing up. "That was really great!"

"Well, thank you." Will smiled in humble appreciation, "Just need to play sometimes, right?"

"Uh-huh…." Tess commented, casting a knowing grin over to Mac.

Will blushed and smirked, offering a small shrug.

Gary nodded, "I was going to offer to buy you a drink but I feel like you're just standing here to be polite and I wouldn't want to keep you from where you really ought to be."

Will grinned, "Just being polite? Oh how well you know me." Everyone chuckled. "Tell you what? I appreciate the offer, but the next round is on me, okay? Just tell Judy."

Everyone shouted their thanks and Will moved past with a parting wave, catching a solemn, approving nod from Jim. Will paused long enough to return the gesture before making his was to the lady's table.

Mac was ready for him to settle on the bench next to her and had been prepared to twist in her seat and greet him with a long kiss of which she couldn't imagine the ending.

She was disappointed when offered a small tip of his hat, "Evening ladies." And settled himself in a backwards chair on the other side of the table.

Mac said the first thing that came to her head, "I think you gave Willie Nelson a run for his money with that performance right there, Mr. Billy Mac." She smirked fondly over at him.

He shrugged and pierced her with a knowing gaze, "Mr. Nelson didn't have the inspiration I do."

Sloan raised her hands in the air, "That's it! There it is. Kenz I don't care about any other crap we talked about yesterday; if you don't go home with him tonight, I will."

Will glanced at the economist, amused, "Do I get a say in this?"

Sloan shook her head, "Shut it McAvoy. You have already said more than enough. God, Mac has always said that you're charming but you really know how to lay it on and quite frankly if Kenzie can't figure it out from here may be she just isn't smart enough for you."

Will smirked and turned his attention to Mac, "What do you think Mac? Sloan is questioning your intelligence; you going to let her get away with that?"

Having regained some of her equilibrium Mac was able to put a playful smile on her face and lean forward on the table. "I don't know. After all, Sloan is just seeing slick Billy Mac for the first time. She doesn't how much trouble he can be like I do."

Under the table Mac's foot found Will's leg and slowly began to move up and down.

Will smiled and leaned forward to match her position, "Nobody but you. Nobody but you."

Sloan shook her head, "This is too much for me. I have got to go get another drink and then maybe get Jim to play next." She stood and watched as neither Will not Mac moved to break eye contact.

Before she stepped away from the table she bent over, "Mac, seriously. I think you shouldn't worry about any of those concerns you've had. Please, have a good night you two, see you on Monday."

Will smirked, without breaking eye contact. Once Sloan walked away he leaned his head on his hand, "That Sloan has some pretty good thinking."

"Oh really?" played Mackenzie.

"Yup." Will nodded. "You want to know what I figure?"

Mac leaned back, an affectionate smile on her lips, "What's that? What do you figure?"

Will squinted as if he were deep in thought for a moment, "Well, see, this thing here, " He gestured between the two of them, "Is inevitable."

"It is?" She challenged.

"It is. I'm persistent." He affirmed.

"And persuasive." Mackenzie coyly reminded him.

He smiled, "Yes, and persuasive. Shush now, don't interrupt while I'm trying to persuade you."

She smiled and crossed her arms, "Oh, okay."

He grumbled, "Anyway…this is inevitable. So at one point in the future you're going to be looking back at tonight and regretting the time you're wasting right now. I want to save you from that regret."

She smirked, "Really? How am I wasting time right now? The way I see it I'm out having a lovely evening with some friends."

He shrugged, "And that's fine. But if you were to just put down your objections we could be anywhere. It's a Friday, we have nowhere we need to be until 11am on Monday, we have resources and live in the center of the world. We could be on our way to France or Rome or London" he emphasized her parents' home town knowingly, "Or Toronto or Hawaii or Jamaica…"

She cut him off, "Toronto?"

He shrugged, "Why not? It's a great city."

She smiled, "I've never been."

"See!" He gesticulated broadly as if she had proven his point, "If we were together we could be on our way to Toronto right now. And then we could spend two days wandering around and exploring the city and add to your life's adventures."

She smiled a little sadly at that, "I think I've had enough of life's adventure's Will."

He shook his head, "Don't say that, Mac. Maybe you're tired of traveling but you don't need to leave home to have an adventure."

She tilted her head quizzically at him.

He explained, "Take our show for example. News Night 2.0 or whatever it is now, is a grand adventure into journalism and patriotism and idealism in a modern cynical society… and you're the navigator, setting the course."

She smiled and he reached across the table, finding her hands, "Love is one of life's great adventure's Kenz. Full of treacherous passes and valleys but so full of exhilaration and beauty that it makes all the scary moments worth it because you're doing something amazing."

His voice went low and serious, "Life is its own adventure, and just like traveling to somewhere new, it's always better when there's someone to share it with. A while ago, when you were dating the jerkface…"

Mac squinted, she had only dated one person since coming back, "Wade?"

Will nodded, "Yeah, idiothead."

Mac let out a small chuckle.

"Anyway, around that time you told me, rather emphatically, that you wanted a partner. Mac, don't you get it? I'm your partner. And your mine. It's always been that way and it's always going to be that way. Nothing else even makes sense. We look out for each other, we make each other better, we love each other. We're partners Kenz; there's nothing more real than that."

She didn't say anything for a long time, instead squeezed his fingers in her own.

She wet her lip and took a deep breath, "You know where I want to go this weekend?"

His blue eyes sparked and he smiled, "Anywhere. You name it."

She smiled fondly at his excitement, "Sunday morning. I want to be sitting the couch, reading the paper, and eating an egg sandwich."

He tried not to let the disappointment show at her less than grand pronouncement but his shoulder dropped and confusion passed across his face.

She squeezed his hand again and smiled at him, "You didn't let me finish. I want to be doing that all dressed in one of your t-shirts because in my weekend fantasy I don't imagine having the time, nor the inclination to stop by my place for something as unnecessary as clothes."

Will's face lit up as Mac pushed herself up and leaned over the table, brushing her lips against his. She pulled back a fraction of a space, "Take me home Billy."