Take A Chance On Me ☆ [Mamma Mia - Bill Anderson X Reader]

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Your POV

The cool air is a welcome distraction as it tingles your face, making tendrils of your mad curly hair dance in front of your eyes.
You don't try to sweep them away behind your ears - god knows you want to ignore everything right now.

So... Bob Anders is actually Bill Goddamn Anderson. How did you not see this earlier? I mean, Bob Anders? That's so similar! You can tell he's never lied about himself before.

Sitting on a rock on the beach, away from all the chaos of tonight, you finally let out the sigh that's been held in your ribs for hours on end.
This has all been too much for one night.

After Sophie fainted in the middle of the courtyard and you helped Donna carry her to her room, the party obviously fizzled out: all the girls rushed to cluck over the bride; all the guys went off talking amongst themselves as Sky couldn't focus on anything besides Sophie; Donna and Rosie and Tanya kept constantly switching between arguing about the three possible dads and arguing about Sophie.

And you...

You did what you always did - clean up after everyone else, then escape to be by yourself to work stuff out.

You hug your knees in their sensible dungarees and stare out into the night. After everything in your memory was unlocked yesterday, you can't help thinking back to the first day Bill proved to you he was more than just a shag, years ago, walking on the beach and singing with the guitar in pyjamas.

Before he ruined everything between the two of you forever.

"Y/N?" you hear from a voice that makes you feel all sorts of things, and you look to your right to see Bill standing on the last step up to the town.

You glance at him, then go back to staring at the ocean. "What do you want?"
"To apologise - again." He walks over and sits next to you, bringing his legs up to cross them. "Look, I'm sorry for everything that's happened between us: the lying, the cheating, the avoiding, the stalking..."

Your head whips round. "You stalked me?!"
"Only a little bit, by accident," he explains quickly, "I went to the same cafe in Australia you used to work at completely by coincidence, and I just... went there almost all the time after I found out you worked there."

You watch him shuffle in embarrassment, his eyes meet yours. Give him credit, he doesn't look away in shame - whatever he's about to say, he's been diligently rehearsing it.

Bill takes a deep breath. " Y/N... I still love you. I'm still in love with you. And I only came here because I thought you might be here to help your family, and thankfully I still know you enough to know that you would be. And because... because I want to prove to you that I'm a changed man. I want to show you that I can be a brilliant boyfriend, I want to make you see that I'm truly the sorriest I could ever be about what I've done and that I want to do everything in my power to make it up to you. Even if... even if you don't want to be with me, I want to prove to you that I want to be with only you forever."

You don't know why, but you feel as if you might cry. This man is bearing all to you, seeming to genuinely want to make things right. After 21 years, Bill still loves you.

You don't know what to say; you are utterly, completely, once in a lifetime gobsmacked.

He's watching you closely, a highly concerned look on his face.
"Do you want me to say more? Do more?"
"You have more?" you ask incredulously, because last time you remembered, Bill didn't have a penchant for words much.

But, true to his word, he holds up a finger to make you wait as he runs up the steps and brings back your guitar.
You point at it. "You stole my guitar!"
"Hey, hey, what's with the accusation? I borrowed it, as I am now a fair and just man," Bill replies with a grin that makes you think of boats and Greek expletives.