I walked up to the front door of Will's house at 6:17, already running slightly later than I had promised. Rachel came to the door and welcomed me in, a smile bright on her face.

"You look beautiful River, sorry I think that Will should be ready in just a minute, Noah is just helping him with his shoes."

"Thanks, that's all good," I replied, moving to the side of the living room and leaning up against the couch.

Rachel sat down on the couch that faced mine and clasped her hands while she glanced at the closed door of Will's bedroom. "Thanks for inviting him, he's been pretty bored recently." She pursed her lips as she said it, clearly still adjusting to the change in her son's lifestyle.

I laughed a little. "He's doing just as much a favor to me. Probably more honestly, my management is making me go, and even though it will probably be fun it will be nice to have someone there who isn't making me think about work all of the time. That, and I didn't exactly want to bring Evan."

She laughed slightly at that before looking down the hallway quickly where a door had squeaked open. Noah exited with a grin. "He's all yours."

Will emerged a moment later, dressed in a light blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and navy pants. He gave me a half smile when he turned into the room. "Do I meet the dress code?"

"That's perfect, you look great," I smiled at him. I wasn't lying either- he did look good.

"Did you hear that, mom? I better never hear another comment about how I need to make more of an effort again," he shot a look at his mom with a triumphant grin. "She thinks I'm not putting enough effort in and that's why I haven't gotten a girlfriend yet," Will explained, looking over at me.

"Oh, Rachel, I can promise you that's not why. He had plenty of girls in his hospital room ready to take care of him a month ago," I laughed.

"What can I say, they go for the messy-jock type," he said with a shrug.

"Okay, okay, I'll let you dress the way you want to as long as you don't make River look bad. She still looks better than you, but I'll let it slide if she does."

He raised his eyebrows, "I mean she always looks better than me, I'm not sure how you want me to compete there."

"There are some competitions that you just can't win, Sanders," I shrugged at him, "Anyway, we should probably get going then."

"Okay, did you take all of your medication for the evening?" Rachel asked her son as he pushed himself towards the door.

"Yeah," he called.

"And you have any pain meds in case you need it?" She called again.

"Thanks mom, I'm all good though. See you later."

I offered her a sympathetic smile before following him out the door. Will was already on the passenger's side of the car, using the car and chair to push himself into the seat. He pushed the wheelchair over to me, veins still visible on his exposed forearms, and I quickly placed it in the back of the car.

The drive to the venue went quickly, and within fifteen minutes we were pulling up to the large warehouse that had been decorated with outdoor lighting and posters for the film. It was a relatively small crowd, mostly just people of interest from the surfing community and locals.

Will and I approached the entrance, and one of the surfers from the film approached us. His name was Leo, and I had worked out with him before.

"Hey, River, glad that you could make it! And congrats on the whole rookie thing," Leo came over and gave me a bro hug.

"Thanks, congrats on the film, I'm stoked to see it. This is Will by the way," I gestured to my left where he was sitting.

Leo's face split into a grin as he bent down to give Will the same bro hug that he gave me. "How's it going, bro? Glad to see you out and about, we've been praying for you up in our corner of the island."

"I've been good, making my way back to normal. And like Riv said, congrats on the film, I would have been even more excited if I knew it was yours," Will smiled easily and put his hands back onto the wheels of his wheelchair after he released Leo's hand.

"I used to hang with Noah back in high school and Will would always be following us around," Leo explained before turning back to Will, "but he's a great guy, I didn't know you guys knew each other." He looked back and forth between Will and I for a second, "Are you guys a thing?"

"Nah, I'm just his personal assistant," I joked quickly, resting my hand on one of the handles on the back of his wheelchair. Will glanced up at me and nodded before looking back at Leo.

Leo laughed a little and looked back at Will. "Well, I'm around for a few more months so if you and Noah ever want to get food or something I have plenty of time if you want to hang."

"For sure, just hit us up when you're free," Will answered.

"Will do. And River, if you ever want to get some practice in we have a few guys from the CT and QS if you ever want to do a mock-comp. I have to go meet more people, but enjoy the film," Leo said before walking off to another group.

I nodded in response before turning to the tables that had been set up. No sooner had I taken a step toward them when Will tapped my arm. "Aren't you supposed to get your picture taken?"

The set up was brightly lit with a backdrop promoting the sponsors of the film, and I sighed looking at it. "Probably."

Will hung back as I walked over to the setup, posing quickly and smiling after the photographers figured out who I was. They snapped a few shots before I waved over at Will. He furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head until I mouthed "come on".

"This is about you, you know that right?" He chuckled when he arrived.

"Well, you're also my date, so I figured that you should probably be in the picture too."

"Oh, so I'm your date now?" A smile played on his lips as he looked up at me. "Thought that you were just my personal assistant?"

"Just smile for the freakin picture," I responded, suppressing my own smile. I bent down next to him in the most lady-like way possible, so that our heads were about the same height. The photographer snapped the picture and we walked towards the tables, where Will thankfully spotted our name tags quickly. We were in the back, which would be nice if we did end up having to leave early.

After a few speeches, the film started. The majority of it was filmed in Bali, but there were also some clips from different spots on tour and the behind the scenes. Leo and the other guys were absolutely charging, and they got whistles and claps from the audience throughout the scenes. Will and I talked quietly about the different waves and rides, and he seemed to be enjoying himself overall.

It was a fun film, but I did get a little nervous when we were getting towards the end. They had included a wipeout section that was just intended for good fun, but I knew a few of the breaks, and a wipeout in those areas wasn't a laughing matter.

The lights were dimmed, but I could see Will's jaw muscles clenching and relaxing as the clips continued. He looked relaxed other than that, but it was clearly not the most comfortable experience for him.

"You good?" I whispered, leaning over to him. He nodded in response and continued to look ahead at the screen. It didn't seem worth the fight, so I let it slide and we sat in silence for the last ten minutes.

By the time the credits were done rolling Leo had stopped by at our table and Will was smiling again. They chatted for a few minutes before we offered our congratulations and made our way back to the car.

The ride home was pretty quiet, but it wasn't bad. Fifteen minutes later I was pulling up into Will's driveway and grabbing his wheelchair from the back. He pulled himself out of the passenger's seat and into the chair before giving me a smile.

"You can get in alright yourself?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied already making his way up the ramp.

I was walking back around to the driver's side when he stopped and called out from in front of his front door, "I had a great time, date."

Unable to think of a good response, I shook my head and laughed before opening the car door and pulling away from his house.

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If  you guys want to see a mellowed version of what Will would have looked like all scratched up, check out Griffin Colapinto's recent on Instagram (9/13/20). I saw it today and was like, man, my poor guy Will.