The Tour

thirty-eight / do you even lift bro?

"Not to ruin the mood, but speaking of the friend zone, can I ask you something?" I said, sitting up and leaning against the bed frame to face him.

"Shoot," he smiled slightly.

My cheeks reddened. "Actually, this is embarrassing and probably not a good thing to ask so nevermind."

Will laughed and rolled his eyes. "I don't care, spit it out. If it's that bad it will be good practice for when I'm famous and getting asked bad questions in interviews."

"Ok, fine, I just don't want to be that girl," I paused for a second, "I was just curious how many girls you've dated since you got to college. Because I never heard much about it at home."

Will bit his lip and sat up, advancing and cornering me. "What, you jealous?" he asked in a low tone, moving even closer.

I shoved him in the chest, starting to giggle. He broke his seductive act and was full out laughing now, knocking his hat off the bed and onto the ground as he moved back again.

"Sure Riv, sure, I'll tell you if you want," He said, still trying to suppress his smile. "I mean I went on a few dates last year, kissed a couple girls at parties or whatever, but nothing serious. Freshman year I liked this one girl but then I saw her with a guy on every other team at the school, so I got over it. She didn't seem like the smartest tool in the shed, either."

"Okay, thanks," I nodded.

"But," he added, "I've realized that I'm pretty confident that I'm in love with you, so things are going well on my end."

"Really," I smirked, kissing his jaw. "When did that happen?"

"Well, I mean, I always thought that you were pretty," he mused, "but that wasn't exactly breaking news. You were modeling for brands as soon as your parents let you sign contracts. But then you were also Evan's little sister, and basically my little sister. I shoved every thought about you being pretty into the back of my head. I obviously didn't like it when guys at school talked about you, but at the time that was just because you were my best friend. And you were my best friend-- we survived the little sibling teasing together, you were just as good at sports as the rest of us, and you were determined to never be left in the dust."

His eyes skipped to mine and away as he laughed nervously. One of his fingers absentmindedly ran over a scar on his knee. "Then my accident happened, and that kind of flipped everything around. I didn't expect you to show up that day. When you walked in the door, I felt so relieved to see you. But then everything felt too much, and I got mad. I got it in my head that you were itching to get back to your competition, and had just stopped by as a pity formality check."

I wanted to protest, but he started talking again before I could get a word in.

"And then I yelled at you, and I felt worse than I had in my whole life. You left, and then everyone else left, and I realized that you were my best friend and one of the only things that I had left in life. I cried a lot that night, lots of self-pity crying."

He smiled, "And then you came back the next day. And you were there for every hard day after that. Those girls from the sorority came that one day," I cringed at that reminder, "and I just wanted them to leave so that I could hang out with you. I realized then that I couldn't imagine my life without you. So then I let myself imagine my life with you, and as more than just best friends. And I let myself acknowledge the fact that you're hot, and then we got to the fast heartbeats," he laughed, waving at his chest. "From there I just had to figure out the right time to go for it."

I tried to calm the butterflied in my stomach. "You sure picked a dramatic time for that, first steps and all."

His eyes widened and he shook his head, "You have no idea how scared I was. I was terrified my legs were going to collapse just from how much I was shaking. The other nightmare was that you would push me away and I would just fall over."
"Glad we avoided that," I laughed. My gaze wandered to the clock on his bedside table, and I leaned my head back against the wall when I read that it was almost midnight.

Will followed my gaze to the clock. "You have to go, yeah?"

"I don't want to though," I complained, burying my head in between his arm and his chest.

He sat up slowly, holding my head into his chest. "We'll call, and it will go by quickly. I don't want to screw up your sleep schedule when you're away though."

"Yeah," I sighed, collapsing and putting all of my weight on him. "You'll have to get me off first though."

Will groaned at the sudden added weight. A second later my head snapped back as he shoved me up into a standing position.

"Do you even lift bro?" He asked jokingly. I grumbled and fell right back onto him, but he wiggled his way out from under me. A black sweatshirt was hanging off the foot of his bed, and he tugged it on over his t-shirt. Standing up against the bed with his back to me, he shoved his arms straight back. I sat up and wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck.

As soon as I was set, he started walking towards the door. "Are you going to drop me? Coach John will be mad if I break my tailbone," I suggested.

"Sheesh, do you think I'm weak or something?" Will let go of my legs for a second, causing me to yelp. He started laughing and I took the opportunity to put him in a fake choke hold.

"I mean, you couldn't field the bunt, so..." I teased.

Will continued to give me a piggyback ride though the house towards the front door. We passed the living room where a bunch of the boys were sitting around a video game and drinking. "Will, I'm so proud of you for taking care of our local cripple! Did you know that River was actually paralyzed from the waist down?" David called as we went by.

"Just trying to serve those in need," Will saluted, causing me to almost fall again.

"I hate you, just so you know," I whispered in Will's ear as he went though the front door. He literally dropped me off at my car, and I fished for my keys in my bag.

Will's face sobered up in the moonlight as he looked down at me. I ran my hand through his hair, which was falling into his eyes. He wrapped me in a hug, strong arms holding me securely. "Two months?" He murmured, kissing the top of my head.

"At least. Could be more if the waves are lousy and we end up on the later side of the event window."

"Two months," Will asserted, causing me to giggle into his chest. He put a hand on my cheek and kissed me before I eventually pulled away to get into the car.

"Good luck with baseball. Hit some homers for me," I said through the open window.

"Sure, sure. Make sure that you don't embarrass me," he called back, winking and shoving his hands in his pockets as I pulled away. 

Sad boi hours for the long distance lovers :(

In less sad news it's my birthday so here's my gift to you ;) vote and comment how you think their seasons will go!