The Great War | Billy Hargrove

50 | The Beginning of the End

"No, you won't, Is," Billy muttered, chuckling to himself as he re-read the sentence Isadora had written about doing all the work on the project alone. The project had brought Isadora Jones into his life and even though he had hated school, he would forever be thankful that that project had brought Isadora into his life.

Either way, I am happy that we ended up working on that project together because it brought us together. You know, if I am being honest, if it wasn't for that project I am not sure I would have ever spoken to you. Sure, I had a crush on you but I also used to think that you were a self-centred asshole, but of course that was before I got to know you and as I got to know you, I realised the self-centred asshole thing was just a facade to hide the truth. At first you tried to hide the truth from me, you used to tell me you just got into fights and I remember I would clean up your wounds and tell you that you didn't need to fight people. I didn't know the truth then, I do know and I know you were just doing what you needed to do to survive but I also know you became better and I'm proud of you, William Hargrove, I really am. As I got to know you, I fell in love with you, even though it took me a while to realise it. The day you performed one of my favourite songs onstage in front of the entire school to apologise to me even though I had been the one completely in the wrong was the day I admitted to myself that I was in love with you and I will always be sorry for the mistakes I made back then. And I also know from Kendra that you had realised you were in love with me on the night of the school dance. Despite the way everything went down, I don't think I would change it for anything.

You changed my life, Billy.  Before I met you, I was lost and broken. I had been through so much loss, pain and trauma, and I didn't want to let anyone in or give them a chance but you kept trying until I finally let you in and I think it was the best decision I ever made. You showed me I could trust people again, especially after what had happened to me. I had always been terrified about anyone learning the truth but you listened to me and reassured me that you were always here for me. You kept me safe and never pushed me into anything I wasn't comfortable with. I know you don't always believe it but you changed my life for the best. You showed me how to have fun and that it was okay to let loose. You showed me that I didn't have to spend every day studying and you helped me feel real happiness again, especially after all the loss I had experienced. After everything that had happened and everything we had been through, we were finally happy and we deserved to be happy, which is why I guess writing this letter hurts so much.

You are my happiness, William Hargrove. You are my best friend, my soulmate and my other half and I could never imagine doing life without you. This is the hardest letter I will ever have to write because I don't want to say goodbye, not to you. I don't want to die, Billy. I hope everything will work out and we will find a way to defeat Vecna, but I guess if you're reading this letter, it means we failed. Even if I'm not here anymore, I want you to be happy, Billy. I will always be with you and I am so thankful for the time we got to spend together. Hang onto those good memories, Billy, but go out there and enjoy your life, live it to the fullest and enjoy it the same way you showed me how to enjoy life because you never know when it might be your last day. I will always love you more than you will ever know.

Forever yours,
Isadora Mary Hargrove 

Billy couldn't stop the tears from rolling down his cheeks as he finished reading the letter that Isadora had written, but smiled to himself as he noticed she had signed her name off with Hargrove, not Jones. He hoped to make that a reality one day, but he prayed that she would wake up first. It hurt him to know that Isadora had been cursed and had never told him, and that she had written a letter to say goodbye to him, but what hurt more was knowing that Isadora had gone through with her plan knowing that she was cursed and that Vecna could kill her if the plan went wrong. Shakily, he put the letter down before spying the book that had fallen out of the box earlier and he hesitated before picking it up and opening it to the first page before he started reading.