There's a knock on the front door after I've tied up two front sections of my hair and left the rest down in its natural state.

I try to get to the door before mum, but she beats me to it. I'm on the bottom step of the stairs when the door cracks open and she greets Will in a friendly tone.

"Oh, hello, poppet. I'm sorry, I'm not looking to buy anything today."

I smack my hand against my forehead and swear under my breath, embarrassment consuming me.

"Oh—I'm not selling anything. I'm here to pick up River. I'm Will," he explains.

"Oh. Oh, you're Will? Sorry, sweetheart. Are you going to the party together?"

Not being able to handle the embarrassment for a second longer, I appear from around the corner and make eye contact with Will who is stood in the doorway, desperate for me to save him from the awkward situation.

"Yes, mum. I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you Will was coming by."

My mum pivots. Knowing that Will can no longer see her expression, she decides to wriggle her eyebrows and wink in my direction.

If dying of embarrassment was a thing, I would be on the floor without a pulse.

"You two have fun," she tells us. "It was so nice to finally meet you, Will."

"You too," he replies, showing off a charming grin that makes my mother smile in response.

She waves and walks back to the living room, finally leaving Will and I to have our space. I pull my coat sleeves over my arms as I walk towards him, offering an apologetic smile for leaving him to talk to my mum.

The grin on his face does not go unnoticed by me.

"So...you've been telling your mum about me?" he teases.

"What? No," I lie, scoffing in the process.

"Is that so? Strange, I swear she just said that it was nice to finally meet me. Clearly she knew about me beforehand."

I scowl in his direction. I've never been embarrassed this much in only a matter of minutes.

"I'll take that silence as a confirmation," he hums. "I hope you've been telling her good stuff about me. Not too good, though. If that's the case, the pressure to act up to those standards will be—difficult."

Luckily Will is staring at himself in the reflection of the mirror that's hung in the hallway of my house; playing with his hair and moving it into different positions, so he's not able to see the smile on my face that is beaming towards him.

Everything about him captivates me.

"Ready?" he asks, still oblivious to the fact that I was accidentally gazing at him.

"Yep."

He turns away from the mirror and looks at me. Properly looks at me this time, scanning his eyes over my usual black jeans and my black top that hangs lower than usual. I'm unable to make eye contact as he reaches my face and stares deeply into my eyes, scanning over each aspect I own.

"Looking good, Smiley."

My flushed face is all he needs to know that his words have an effect on me.

I want to hear him say it again. Just one million times more. Is that too much to ask?

"Thanks. You—um—look good, too," I stammer. My face grimaces at the awkwardness of my own voice. Will seems both amused and thankful.

"A compliment. That's something new," he counters.

I recoil my head, confused. "I've complimented you before."

"Don't think you have."

My forehead creases as I think hard, trying to remember all the compliments I've thrown Will's way. None spring to mind, and that realisation kills me inside. Will is always throwing compliments at me, trying his hardest to make me like myself a bit more. I've never returned the favour, even though I adore every part of Will, not just his physical attributes, but for his personality and all that his heart is made up of.

"Giving compliments isn't something I'm used to," I explain in an apologetic tone.

Will laughs, trying to show me that it doesn't matter. "No worries. I don't mind."

"No, it does. I've never told you...or explained—" I sigh and shake my head, giving up already. I'm terrible at explaining things. "What I mean is, there's a lot about you that I can give compliments for, but I'm terrible at giving them, so that's why. It's not because I don't find you funny or good looking. It's because I get, well, like this."

His grin is now reaching his ears. "Please, tell me more of what you like about me."

I roll my eyes and leave my house, calling out to my mum to let her know that I'm leaving and I'll see her when I get back. She sounds from the living room, telling us both to enjoy ourselves again.

Will jogs after me, still laughing at how awkward I was just a minute ago, and still trying to keep his humbleness after I stroked his ego and feed into his cockiness.

However, part of me thinks Will needed to hear that, because I believe that Will hates himself. Whenever he talks about himself, it's always in such a negative manner, like he can't stand to know that he's what he looks back at in the mirror every day. It's mainly his personality that he despises. I've noticed that about him these past few weeks. He thinks he's a monster. But that's not true. Not in the slightest. He's just shouting for help, trying to gain attention because he wants someone to realise his pain. The attention he gets at home is always negative, it always has been, so he thinks it's what he deserves.

I wish I could make Will see himself the way I see him. I wish there was something I could do to magically make him love himself, like he did before this world and the people in it cracked his soul and destroyed him.

I hate his family for doing that to him.

Every time I look at Will, I want to protect him from this world and the horrors that happen in it. I want to shield him and hold him like he's never been held before. My hugs will contain such care and comfort that he will melt in. I'll take him to my cupboard and we can board the train together; anywhere we want to go.

I'll follow him anywhere. Even if it's my worst nightmare. I'll endure it, for him.

"I cannot believe you're so fond of me," he exclaims. I gasp when he stands behind me and wraps his arms around my front, trailing behind as we walk towards the twins' house.

A sudden rush of confidence flows into my body, helping me to lift my hands where they hold onto his arms that wrap around my neck. I smile as the reflection of the moonlight brightens my eyes that are radiating with pure joy.

Will makes all my problems go away simply by just being here.

"Why can't you believe that?" I ask.

"That's quite deep, you know?" Will thinks on it for a minute. "I'm not sure why. I guess I always just thought..."

"Thought what?"

Will sighs, leaning his chin on my shoulder, his breath loud in my ear, tickling my skin and sending shivers down my spine.

"You're you. You get good grades, you're quiet and friendly, you're a good girl. You're basically perfect in my eyes. But me? I'm trouble, I'm loud, I'm gobby. I'm just everything that a person shouldn't want. I'm surprised your mother hasn't warned you away from me."

Shock takes over every molecule of my body. I replay Will's words in my head, but they still refuse to make any sense. All this time, I've been thinking that someone like Will would never go for someone like me. I've convinced myself that he can do better; that I'm not enough for him.

Now I'm realising that Will has been feeling the same way. He's so much like me in all these little ways that no one would ever imagine.

"Will, you're so much more than that," I say. My heart aches for him.

He doesn't say anything for the rest of our night stroll towards the party. He just holds me and melts against my body, warming me in more ways than one, making me feel safe in a place that I should have feared the most.

"Here we are," he announces once we stop in front of an average sized house. It's a two-story, painted white, an open front garden lit up by dozens of glow sticks and neon face paint that has been wiped everywhere.

"I see the guests have already fucked the place up," Will mumbles to himself, sighing as he steps over the mess on the grass.

"Their parents are okay with this?" I ask, gawping at the trashed house and garden.

There's a woods behind it that catches my attention. A few students are scattered around with their phone torches blaring light into the distance, showing them the way if they manage to get lost between the maze of long trees that travel higher than I can view.

"Their parents are away on business trips half the time, so they don't really care. As long as the police don't show up and the house is spotless afterwards, they can throw as many parties as they like."

Will holds out his hand for me. My heart flutters and melts as I reach out and hold it, allowing him to walk me into the house that is crowded with drunk and high guests.

I'm pressing myself against Will, entangling my arm in his so we don't get pulled apart and lost in the swarm of people who I don't want to be alone with.

"You okay?" Will tells over the music.

I nod my head and try to smile.

"Drink?" he asks.

I nod my head again.

Hopefully it'll take the pressure off. However, the alcohol didn't work in the slightest at the last house party I tagged along to.

"Cider again?" We reach the kitchen and he holds up the bottle.

My eyes gaze over the wide selection of drinks to choose from. I decide to be different for just one night. One night of not being my anxious, paranoid self.

"I'll have vodka," I decide.

Will widens his eyes. "Are you sure? This stuff is quite strong."

I nod my head, though I'm not actually entirely sure. I have no idea what I'm doing.

"Okay," he sounds unsure himself. "I'm only going to give you a little bit, just because you're not used to strong drinks. Do you want lemonade as I mixer?"

"A mixer?"

Will smirks slightly. "Something to mix with the alcohol. Trust me, you don't want to drink straight vodka. Here, dip your finger in and try it."

I do as he says, rolling up my sleeve before I dip my finger in my glass that holds a shot of vodka. Will watches me like a hawk when I put my finger in my mouth and suck the substance. It's awkward at first, but soon the taste kicks in and I'm not caring about whether I look good or not. My mouth and eyes water as I cover my mouth and try to refrain from spitting it back out.

"Nice?" Will asks, gasping with laughter.

"That's horrible! That's what my drink will taste like?"

"Nah, don't worry, the lemonade will drown out the taste. Here."

He fills my glass the rest of the way with lemonade before he passes it to me and allows me to take a sip. My face grimaces as I look down into the fizzy drink that makes me want to vomit at the thought of that taste again.

My face softens when I take a sip and realise that Will's right. I take another sip after that, but the taste catches up and makes my face grimace again.

Slow steps.

"Better?" he asks.

I smile and sigh, nodding my head. "Much better."

The night goes on, music is pounding in our ears, loud singing echoing the rooms, drunk people stammering around and spilling drinks on the once spotless cream carpet.

I've had a few more drinks, and suddenly the room is feeling a little fuzzy. My chest feels so large, like I can breathe in all the air that's flying around the world. My mind is silent and the room is flashing with beautiful, blurry lights, making me smile at the sheer sight of it.

"This has gotta be the best night ever!" Will exclaims as we sit on a sofa together, exhausted after playing beer pong and other games that include drinking. "I'm so glad you came."

I chuckle at his words, holding my hands against his chest and feeling his heavy heartbeat that is pounding against my palm. The feeling comforts me.

"I'm glad I came, too!" I yell over the music.

"Woah!" Will recoils his head and covers his ears, his jaw dropping as he gawps at me. "Where have you been storing that volume? I'm seeing a completely different side to you tonight," he jokes, grinning in the process.

I can't help but laugh in response. Tonight, I feel free. As free as a bird. I feel like I can fly.

"Let's go outside," I say.

"Outside? You know it's, like, freezing, right?"

"And?"

Will stands from the sofa and reaches out for my hand, warming my skin with his as we stroll outside together.

"Never knew you had such a rebellious side to you, smiley. I'm learning something new everyday."

I glare playfully in his direction. The fresh air hits my face, and I close my eyes as I breathe it all in. "I'd hardly call going outside rebellious."

"Oh it definitely is when it's minus degrees outside."

I spend the next ten seconds simply gazing into Will's eyes which I can hardly see in the dark. Only the glow from inside the house and the moon above us are our only sources of light.

"What are you looking at?" he asks in barely a whisper. His eyes are soft and his cheeks are rosy.

I must be tipsy, because the confidence I suddenly feel is over the roof.

"You."

Will smirks as he rubs his hand down his cheeks, trying to hide the rosy blush that is spreading across it.

"How the tables have turned," he mutters while chuckling.

Will smiles down at me, his eyes piercing my soul. It's such an intense stare that affects my heart in the most wonderful way.

He takes my hand and leads me into the woods.