March 31, 2018

I was at Will's all of Saturday.
It turned out that I forgot to text Jenny, and she was insanely worried about me. I felt bad, but as soon as I saw her frantic texts about me missing school and not coming home, Will called her and explained, and she gave in because I was safe. Will then lectured me for not texting her like he said to, and shot me a how on earth did you forget, now she's yelling at me look while he was on the phone.
Other than that it was a pretty calm night, and so was Saturday. Will was working for a couple hours so after he made me eat breakfast, drink tea again and take some vitamin d supplements, we went out. While he looked great in a v-neck grey shirt and black jeans with clean hair and nice shoes, I had ripped jeans, ripped up shoes, his over sized sweater, and greasy hair. Compared to him I probably looked like the embodiment of death.

We walked to his work, telling me about how he was still saving (I just learned he was saving) for a car. It was cold, but not fingers-turn-blue cold, thankfully.
He held my hand and our arms swung between us. Randomly he would lift my hand and kiss the top of it, making my cheeks brighter red in the cold and a light laugh escape my lips.
At work he greeted his co workers. There weren't many people in this time, only two in the back corner, in a booth together.
A cute Asian guy who's name tag read Kevin laughed at Will who tripped over a chair leg and threw a black apron at him.
I was standing awkwardly behind him while this happened.

Then Will turned around and introduced me to Kevin, a girl with long, bright neon blue hair in a messy bun named Melissa- no wait "don't you dare call me Melissa, my name is Mel"- and apparently Carly was in the back cause we were 5 minutes late and she wanted to leave. Will said she was bitchy.

Will made me what was apparently the best hot chocolate of all time (because he made it) while Mel and Kevin worked the drive through which was also mostly empty.
When he passed it to me I almost died from laughter.
It was a venti, for one, so it was huge, and it had perfectly swirled whip cream, and a ton of it, piled perfectly, with chocolate sauce, powder and sprinkles on top of that. I didn't even know Starbucks had all of that.

"Jesus Christ Will how much does this cost?!" I laughed. He shrugged and put five dollars in the register. Mel punched his shoulder with a smile on her face.
I sat at a table closest to the counter and joined in on there friendly banter in between orders.

I still didn't want to go home at this point, so three hours later I was walking home with Will, who was onto his third coffee of the day. He would take sips and sigh in content, making me laugh. Then he would try to convince me coffee was amazing and peer pressure me into drinking it. I always slapped his arm or ducked away- dare I say giggling.

Then I stayed at his place at night again, making sure to tell Jenny I was, and not in the same bed, and not do anything.
Two of the three things were truths. I was at his house but did she expect me to sleep on the couch?
No.
Well maybe she did expect that but I didn't and I had a great sleep.

The next morning, Sunday, I woke up alone. I grabbed for my phone on Will's nightstand and checked my phone. It was 10:57, and I had a text from Jenny saying she wanted me home tonight because I had school tomorrow.
I stretched and laid on my back for a bit, staring at the ceiling. Then I got curious because I couldn't hear any noises throughout the apartment.
I hopped out of bed, wearing a pair of Wills pj pants and a huge t-shirt. I had a vague memory of Will asking me to eat more because I wasn't healthy, last night at 1 am.
I made my way to the living room. No one. Kitchen was empty as well.
I went into the kitchen and immediately saw a box of lucky charms and a bowl. I walked up to it, and saw inside the bowl was a sticky note.

Hi Neeks, I completely forgot I have an early morning shift today and then a short lecture at 12:00-1:00. Please eat breakfast and lunch, there's food in the fridge. I'll be back asap I swear. If you need me text me, I'm in building 3956 (human biology). See you soon- Will

I smiled, and placed the sticky note on the table before pouring myself a bowl of cereal, because for once I was actually hungry. My stomach growled to prove my point.
I added milk and grabbed a spoon before going to the living room and plopping on the couch. I felt like I had my own place. I felt independent, and able to do things. It was like like this was my life. University, a job to carry my weight, and money to buy anything I needed.

I turned on the tv and went to Netflix, onto Wills account, and turned on the supernatural episode I had ended on.
I watched 2 and a half episodes.
I checked the clock and saw it was 36 minutes before the end of Wills class, and I kind of wanted to surprise him.
I hopped off the couch quickly, threw my bowl in the dishwasher and ran across the apartment floors barefoot, quickly getting dressed and clean-ish to meet him.

I looked up the building on my phone and followed that. I had about 6 minutes to spare when I found it. Thankfully his apartment was near the building- It was near everything.

I slid my phone into my pocket and walked in.
Suddenly I was terrified. I didn't belong here. I shouldn't be here. This is where smart people went, people without problems and have their life together and know what their doing. I was out of place. I started getting small waves of panic.
I pushed through and went up the stairs. There were only a few seconds of class from what I assumed. I walked up the mostly empty stairs, and they creaked in the quiet.
Then, like a stampede, the sound of doors opening and footsteps were heard, and all of a sudden I wasn't alone, and over 100 students started piling down the stair case. I hurried to the top and saw a long hallway with doors on either side. I began walking down looking for Wills familiar eyes. I clutched my phone so tight my knuckles turned white as people passed by me. It wasn't as bad now. I kept walking and then heard a familiar voice, followed by laughs from female voices.

Cursing my short height, I went on my tip toes and tried to move forwards.
Then, like a miracle, people began to disperse and I made eye contact with him.
He somehow immediately recognized it was me, and his eyes lit up. I then saw three girls walking on either side of him. He put a finer up and said something to them, probably around the lines of "I'll be right back for some reason my boyfriend is here," and then sped up his step and jogged towards me, perfect curls bouncing, and his computer bag awkwardly moving against him.

"What are you doing here?" He exclaimed, slowing to a stop and pulling me into a hug. I tensed momentarily in such a public place with people he knew but melted almost instantly into it. He held me tight, and I could tell he felt my ribs through my sweater because he did something like a flinch.
He pulled away when his three friend got closer and made kissy faces.

"I was bored and decided to come to walk you home cause Jenny wants me home tonight," I replied. He grinned widely, like I was the best thing he had. Maybe he did think that.

"Two surprises in three days?! Neeks you've really outdone yourself!" He snaked his arm through mine, and put his hand into my pocket to fish mine out before locking them.
I smiled softly with my cheeks tinged pink, when one of the girls, blonde like Will, bumped his shoulder,

"Come on love birds, lets walk," She giggled, and earned chuckles from the other two as well. Will shrugged down at me and pulled me along.
We fell in step with them, and I was glad I was on the outside of the line to avoid contact as much as I could.

"So Will, would you like to finally introduce us to the boy you never stop talking about?" Blondie asked. She had a Camilla kind of stature to her, snarky but probably really nice once you get to know her. I missed Camilla actually, maybe I'd get her lunch the next day for being distant and not texting her.
Will sighed but smiled nonetheless.

"Nico, the blonde girl who is being a bitch today is Eloise, but we call her el and pretend she has magic powers cause she always does super well on exams," she flashed me a toothy grin and extended her hand across Will as we walked. I took it and shook it to be polite. While Wills hands were warm and giving me heat, hers were freezing cold, probably what mine felt like.

"Nice to finally meet you Nico, and we don't pretend I have magic powers, I do have magic powers. Don't forget that," she pulled away and winked. I cracked a smile. Any one who Will was friends with always seemed cool.
Will shook his head and introduced the next girl.

"This is Le, she went to high school with me-
Well us I guess," He gestured at the next girl down, a petit girl with long, long shiny black hair pulled into a braid down her back, and big black framed glasses. She was the shortest of all of them. Now that I think about it, she did seem kind of familiar.

"Hi Nico, I've heard a lot about you," she was soft spoken, unlike El, but smirked at Will at the end. I could tell she wasn't as quiet as she first showed.
I looked at Will who was blushing slightly, but shook it off and introduced his last friend.

"And all the way at the end there is Tania, she's hilarious and usually is the one to get us In trouble In class for talking," she smirked and waved at me.

"Hey Nico, Maybe now that we've met you maybe Will will shut up about "how dreamy your eyes are"" she grinned. I waved back with another smile. She was Indian, or somewhere around there, I wasn't very good at knowing that sort of stuff. She had perfect make up, sculpted eyebrows and long eyelashes, and probably had long beautiful hair, but as I have seen many girls do, she covered her hair with a purple silk hijab. It matched her jeans and tight black tshirt with a big black jacket on, ready to go outside. She was gorgeous.

"Hi, it's nice to meet all of you," I replied. I seemed to be meeting a lot of Wills friends, the more time I spent with him. I'm not sure if I wanted to meet the loud ones I heard over the phone a few weeks ago before the trip to Mexico. I had a feeling they were connected to Will from high school, the popular big group that had been friends all their lives.
I zoned out a little bit while we walked down the steps of the building, Will rubbing the top of my hand and squeezing it often, pulling me into reality. I listened to them laugh and talk and socialize, all of them so good at it. I didn't even try to clue in.

Then before I knew it we were outside, and Will was waving goodbye to them as all three walked the opposite way. I joined in.

Then we started walking the way back to his apartment. I wanted to stay for longer.

"So why did you really come to see me?" Will asked squeezing my hand. He turned, down a different street instead of staying straight. Up ahead there was a coffee shop. I almost laughed, he really was addicted.

"I don't know, I was sleepy, and I was starting to feel better, so I wanted to see you and be with you before I had to go home," I shrugged, telling the truth.

"Awe Neeks, you're the best," he let go of my hand and pulled me closer to him. How lucky was I, to have someone like him.

He pulled me into the coffee shop, and waited in the short line, bouncing on his toes lightly. I kept glancing at him, feeling more and more each time. I don't know what the feeling was, I had never felt it before, but it was strong and kept pulling at my chest. It almost made my eyes water. I was so lucky.
I wondered, maybe it was what love was like, but I didn't want to say it yet. It seemed too soon, and I didn't want to jinx anything.

Without asking he knew what I wanted and bought me a hot chocolate, with whip cream, and himself a coffee. I wasn't paying attention but when he suddenly put it in my hands, my eyes watered lightly again. It was so much, so much emotion.

"Thank you Will," I whispered. It was such a little thing, but it was so much. I had never had something like this.
He must've noticed my wettish eyes when he looked down at me because he squeezed my hand and kissed my hair.

"No problem darling, anything for you," he said softly. I sighed in content. I was happy. Happy with him.

We left and I immediately felt the chill of the cold air through my coat. Into my skin, into my bones.
Will lead me through the street to his apartment building, and took the stairs with me. He had an arm around my waist. Our drinks were almost done.

We got inside the apartment, still empty without Cecil milling around. We stripped off our coats and put them on the ground, and went straight to the couch. We cuddled up beside each other without a word, him pulling a blacker on top of us, and turned on a movie. I didn't bother to pay attention. I was leaning against Will, perfectly fit in the crease of his body. I finished my drink and set my cup on the ground below me, before cuddling up to Will and somehow, after all of the sleep I had had that weekend, fell asleep again.

I woke up a few times to him stroking my hair, kissing my limp hand, stuff like that, and the third time I woke up was because he had fallen asleep and moved slightly. I checked my phone and saw it was 5:00. I should be getting home.

I slowly stood up, careful not to wake him, and stretched widely. I snuck away to the bathroom.

Looking in the mirror, my bags looked lighter from a few days ago. I splashed my face with water, preparing for my walk home.
Will said my name sleepily from the other room.
I walked out and over to him again. He was yawned and stretching at the same time. His shirt rode up his stomach. I was allowed to stare.

"I have to get home sleepy," I moved from my stupor over to him. I kissed him on the lips lightly.

"Do you have to?" He complained. I nodded in reply.
He frowned but stood up and wrapped his arms around my waist. I leaned against him and inhaled his good smelling cologne.
He pulled me into a kiss. It wasn't a peck, it was consistent. Long. Longing. Lust.

After 6 minutes I pulled away.

"I have to go Will, I'm sorry," I told him. He nodded with an easy smile.

"It's ok Neeks, I'll see you Tuesday yeah?" He kissed me on the forehead.

"Yup, see you," I grabbed my coat and left before I could get pulled in any deeper.

My walk home alone was long and cold but my lips were tingling and warm from Wills.
I was about 5 minutes away from home when I got a call, from Jenny.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey Neeks, are you coming home?" Jenny's voice, slightly disoriented from the phone line.

"Yup, I'm like 5 minutes away, I'll be there soon," I replied, shivering from another gust of wind. It started to snow again. It was too late in the year for this.

"Ok honey, we have soup ready for you when you're home," she stopped but I could tell she wasn't finished. I've known her for long enough,
"Are you ok Neeks?"
There it was.

"I'm ok now Jen," I told her confidently.

"Now?"

"I wasn't on Friday, I was wanting to go back to old habits, but Will helped me. I'm ok for now," I said. She sighed. I felt guilty because she has put so much time trying to help me and I can't be helped.

"Old habits as in.." she trailed off.

"Yeah."

"Oh honey," I could hear Carmen make a wondering noise in the background. The house came into view.
"You're ok?"

"Yes," I told her.
"I'm at the house,"

"Ok," she hung up and I hopped up the porch steps. I walked in the house and was engulfed in a big motherly hug. My face was pressed against her shoulder.

"Thank you for doing the right thing," she whispered. I nodded and let her hug me.

A/n
Whip dab lookie here I finished a chapter in time what a surprise wowow.
So I have eqao coming up and it counts as 15% if my grade which is great.
And exams.
And then Vegas so I guess it's not all bad.
I just wrote most of this on a highway in torrential rain that was fun.
Anyways I love you all I'll see you soon! Try and eat good food and drink water and be around people who care about you,
((Also Fangirllingg has decided that I should be called auntie Thea now and I'm not against it))

Thea