Possible Trigger Warning: Profanity
Will's P.O.V
I'm so fucking sick of myself. I've been stuck inside this asshole who pushes away his best friend because he couldn't handle having a little fucking crush. I want nothing more than to just not exist anymore.
"William, get your ass down here!" My father called. I sighed and rubbed my face tiredly. I don't think I had a blink of sleep in a fucking week. I dragged my body downstairs and into the living room, where my piece of shit dad was drunk out of his mind with his "golf buddies."
"The school called." He said gruffly. My heart skipped a beat. "You're fuckin' failing? I gave you e'rything, boy. And this is how you repay me? I told your mom, I told her, I said: "don't you spoil this son of a bitch." And what does the whore do? She fuckin' spoils you. C'mere, boy." He slurred.
I shuffled my legs of lead toward him. He reached for his belt, and I cringed. He pulled out his belt. I knew that I'd regret what I did, but before he could whip me, I sprinted for my life. I ran as fast my stupid legs could take me. I was panting and coughing by the time I reached another neighbourhood.
I sat down on the sidewalk. I didn't give a shit that I was getting judgmental stares and that I probably looked like some homeless kid. I rubbed my face again and sniffed back a cry. I got up again and walked with wobbly knees. I didn't know where I was heading, but I wanted nothing more than to go as far as possible from my house.
I soon found a little playground, and sat on the swing. I was sure it would break from my weight, but it didn't. It was impossible to keep the thoughts at bay. Thoughts of how fucked up I am and how much I hated myself.
Danny didn't deserve that. He'd gone through so much. I was supposed to he there for him. Fuck, I was supposed to be his friend. And I wasn't. I was an asshole and I deserved to suffer. I wanted to talk to him so badly, but I didn't want myself to have that sort of comfort. I missed him. I was tired. Really tired. I just wanted to curl up somewhere warm and sleep. Possibly never fucking wake up.
•••
Danny's P.O.V
The cafe was really cozy. It was warm, and filled with the most beautiful scent of coffee. And strongly of croissants, cookies, and all things sweet. Lily, of course, was the thing that drew my attention the most. She had her hair up in a ponytail, strands of her curled hair framed her face. She was wearing a tight, white t-shirt and a black zip-through hoodie, baggy black jeans and a pair of red converse.
I pried my eyes away from her glowing face and explained an exercise we had solved about stoichiometry. She huffed in frustration and let her head fall back. A groan escaped her. "Ugh, I'll never get this." She pouted. I took a sip from my coffee and smiled. "Of course you'll get it. You're one of the smartest people in our class." I encouraged her.
"Yeah, but I'll never be first again. Thanks to you." She said, shoving my shoulder playfully. I smirked at her. "Fine, I can go easy on you." I joked. She frowned at me. "Cute." I said, and put my finger on the crease between her eyebrows. She really was cute when she was angry.
"Explain this part again. I get how we balanced the equation and turned this from grams to moles. But what's this thing here?" She pointed at the sheet and I leaned in. "Lavoisier's law. Basically, the stoichiometric ratio of this reactant is equal to that of this reactant which is also equal to that of this product and so forth." I told her.
"Okay... I think I get it. Hand me the pen." She frowned in concentration. I gave it to her and she solved it herself. She gave me a proud smile when I told her that she got it right. It made my heart flutter. "Again." She said to herself and solved the next question.
Soon, the waitress placed a brownie in front of Lily, but she didn't seem to notice as her pen practically flew across the page. The way she was focusing so intensely was so adorable. I solved a few exercises of my own, glad for the time to revise. Lily shook my arm frantically. "I don't get this part." She said pleadingly.
I smiled at how much school mattered to her. I explained the part for her, and she smiled gratefully before leaning back. "I'm hungry." She complained. I stared pointedly at her brownie, and she turned to look at it, her eyes widening. I laughed. "When did this get here?" She asked, smiling shyly. "About 10 minutes ago."
Lily laughed and took a bite. "This thing's huge." She said. "Want some?" She asked, pushing the plate between us. "I'm not that hungry." I said, sipping my coffee. "I can't finish this." She whined, insisting. "Fine." I mumbled and cut of a bit of the brownie. In fairness, it was huge.
"This is so easy, why am I so dumb?" Lily muttered. "Don't blame yourself, the teacher doesn't know how to teach." I said. "You're not wrong. You explained it to me in half an hour and I got it. You're a better teacher." She said. "I have an excellent student." I winked jokingly.
She continued studying, as did I. After a while, I was getting sort of bored. So I took out a book and started reading. Every now and then, Lily would ask me to check her answers and they would always be right. We finished the brownie and I asked for my third cup of coffee. "Jesus, no wonder you're never hungry." Lily shook her head. I blushed sheepishly. "My appetite is fine." I mumbled.
"You're cute." She said, and she squeezed my cheek. I smiled and my face burned an even brighter red. She sighed and stretched. "I'm tired of looking at chemical equations. If I see one more double-displacement or synthesis reaction, I'm gonna lose my goddamn mind." She sighed in exasperation.
"We should take a break." I suggested. "Yeah, you're right." She said, cracking her knuckles. "What do you say to a bit of shopping? I don't have anything to wear." She gestured to her outfit as if it was evidence, but in my eyes, everything Lily wore was amazing on her.
"Sure." I replied, and got up, stretching my limbs. We walked out of the cafe after paying. Lily surprised me by holding my hand in hers. Without thinking, I muttered a "thank you." She laughed, rubbing her thumb over the back of my hand. I blushed. "You're adorable." She said, leaning her body against mine. I smiled at her. I wanted her lips on mine again.
There was a mall nearby, and Lily didn't let go of my hand the entire time. She pulled me from shop to shop. She seemed like a very picky person, because she didn't even try anything on until we reached the 7th store. She grabbed a nice white cardigan, with big blue flowers on it. She held it against her. "Does this look good?" She asked me. "Yes, it does." I replied.
Lily hummed thoughtfully. She then shrugged off her jacket and handed it to me, then tried the cardigan on. She studied it in the mirror, then turned to me. "What do you think?" She asked. "It looks beautiful on you." I told her, being very truthful. She then returned and studied her reflection. "Does it make me look a bit broad shouldered?" She asked.
I frowned in utter confusion. How can a piece of clothing change someone's bone structure? "No." I said. She took the cardigan off and grabbed her jacket from my hands. She handed me the cardigan, as if I were her personal shopping cart.
Lily decided against the cardigan. By the time we reached the 9th store, my feet were killing me. Lily found a lot of stuff in this store. A sage green cardigan (she seemed to love them), a blue crop top with a cool design, a white sweater with a monogramed quote, a dark green sweatshirt, and a pair of blue jeans with flowers covering them. All of these were in my aching arms.
I sat down on the couch outside the changing rooms with a relieved sigh. Lily took the clothing items from me and went inside the changing room. While I was left alone with nothing but my thoughts, my therapy session with Dr. Cohen flooded my mind.
"So, tell me a little about yourself, Danny." Dr. Cohen said. "I'm 15, I grew up in foster homes, 9 to be exact. Um, I don't know." I replied, fidgeting anxiously. He glanced at my fingers again, and I stopped. He got up and unearthed a fidget toy from one of his drawers. He handed it to me and sat back down. "Thanks," I muttered, embarrassed.
"Is that all? What about your hobbies? Friends? Interests?" He prodded. "I can play piano. Uh... I like reading, writing as well, I guess. My closest friend's name is Lily." I said.
"Wonderful. What about your family, how do you get along?" He asked. "The Clarks are amazing, really. They're very good to me and gave me a lot." I replied. Dr. Cohen nodded and wrote something in his notepad. What did I say that was so wrong?
"What do you think?" Lily said after exiting the changing room. She was wearing the cardigan. "It looks amazing." I told her. She smiled, revealing her beautiful dimple. She then turned and looked in the mirror. "Hm... I think I'm gonna get this." She said, and took it off. She handed it to me. She then disappeared back into the changing room and I was alone again.
"I can see how much you close yourself off, Danny. That's completely understandable for someone who's undoubtedly been through a lot. I'll have to earn your trust and I'll be more than happy to do so in our upcoming sessions. I'll need to see you twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at 3:00 p.m., is that alright with you?" Dr. Cohen said. "Yeah." I mumbled. "Great, see you next Tuesday." Dr. Cohen smiled. I think this was the first time I didn't totally hate my therapist.
"How does this look?" Lily said, emerging from the stall. She turned around to show me her outfit. She was wearing the flower jeans and the white sweater. "It looks great." I said. "Really?" She asked, looking at her reflection. "Really." I replied. "Hm... I'm not sure about the jeans. I like the sweater, though." She took of the sweater and handed it to me, before going back to change again. I almost had a heart attack before realising that she was still wearing her t-shirt.
She then walked out again, this time in the dark green sweatshirt. Without her even asking me, I said, "it looks good." Lily smiled at me, then turned to the mirror again. She nodded to herself and took it off. "Okay, I'll take it."
She didn't try on the blue crop top, apparently she had changed her mind. We walked out of the store, Lily bouncing happily and me carrying her bags. "We should get something for you." Lily said, as if it were the brightest idea she's ever had. "Um, I don't know." I mumbled.
"Oh, come on! It'll be fun. I'm starting to get a bit hungry, though. What time is it?" Lily said. I pulled my phone out from my pocket. My eyes widened. "2:00 p.m.," I said. Lily widened her eyes as well. "Wanna get some lunch?" She asked. "Yeah." I said, and we walked to the food court.
I haven't eaten fast food since I was 7. So I didn't know what to order. Lily ordered for the both of us. Once we got our food, we sat down. "Thanks for your help today." Lily smiled. "No problem." I smiled back.
Once we were finished, Lily dragged me to several stores and made me try on outfits. I left those stores with more and more shopping bags.