Better Than Milkshakes, Better Than Boys (girlxgirl)

[43]

Will's eyes look up at mine, eyes we both share. It's the first time he's looked at me since Christmas Day. They aren't friendly; not like I'm used to. Will's eyes have always been full of a humorous mischief, like he knows something that I don't, but now they're devoid of anything. 

"What?"

"Can we step outside?" I ask, though I try to stress in my tone of voice that this really isn't a request, and more of a demand. Will never breaks eye contact, his strong eyebrows scrunching with annoyance. I merely raise my eyebrow in his direction, effectively daring him to act the child in front of everyone. 

"Fine."

Will pushes himself up from his chair and walks towards the front door, not even bothering to check to see if I'm following. I roll my eyes at his behaviour, kissing Mackenzie quickly on the cheek before following after him. 

I follow Will out of the restaurant and out onto the street. It's dark outside now, and the streets are busy with students from UPenn who are starting their nights out. Bars are spilling out onto the streets, and restaurants are removing their outdoor seating to accommodate this influx of people. 

Will is leaning on the wall away from the front door, his dark eyes never leaving mine as I approach. I debate being polite with our talk, but the longer I think about how he has behaved about all of this, the angrier I become. He has no right to be feeling hard done by when it comes to my reaction to the situation. He is the one who kept his relationship with my best friend a secret and dropped it on me over Christmas.

"You have no right to act like this." I eventually say. My voice is blunt and cold, and my temper rises when he rolls his eyes at my statement. "Don't roll your eyes at me. You're behaving like a child and you have no right to act like this towards me."

Will grinds his jaw as I talk down to him, his eyes blazing with anger. "What do you want me to say, Alex?"

"I don't want you to say anything." I hiss. "I want you to respect the fact that I was angry and upset about the way you and April went about telling me about your relationship."

"I didn't owe you anything." Will snaps.

"You owed me the decency to tell me you were seeing my best friend before bringing her around on Christmas Day!" I shout, my frustration taking him aback. His eyes widen slightly at my annoyance regarding this. 

"Is it such a bad thing that I'm with April?" Will's voice is angry but he controls his temper much better than I. "Am I such a bad choice for her that you feel it necessary to act like this. I'm not a horrible person Alex, I'm not a poor choice for her. I treat her right, you know I'm not a bad person."

"You used to tell me everything! I'm not angry about you two being together, and I know that you'll treat her right Will, that isn't what my problem is. I was more angry with April, but I've had this chat with her about why I was upset and we're moving past it. Why are you carrying this on?"

I can see the gears slowly turning in Will's brain as he finally starts to listen to me. I sigh and drop my attitude, my voice no longer full of malice. "Will, I tried to tell you this before you came back to college. My problem was with April not telling me after pushing me all year to bare my soul to her and tell her about Mackenzie. It had nothing to do with you."

Will pushes his fringe out of his face with his fingers, his eyes holding an apology I'm unsure whether he will voice. I think it's finally clicked in his head that this whole problem didn't really have anything to do with him. He blows a heavy breath past his lips. "I didn't realise."

"You didn't let me explain." I respond, softening when I see the guilt pool in his eyes. "If you had I would've told you."

I can see both understanding and regret flashing across his features and I realise I have finally gotten through his thick, boyish skull. If only he had spoken to me about this earlier, let me explain, this whole period of him ignoring me like a child would never have happened. I can see the apology on the tip of his tongue, his arms twitching as he debates how to handle this.