TW: trauma, panic attack
willis + cove
Because Will deserves a forever true love.
w i l l i s
♾
The first day of my sophomore year in college is not off to a good start.
I wake five minutes before my alarm to a dream that Winston broke out of prison and was trying to find me to kill me. Since I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep, I turn my alarm off, careful not to wake my roommate, Alex, and go into the bathroom attached to our room and start the shower.
It's been a year and a half since everything with Winston happened, but I have nightmares like it was yesterday. It took a while last year for me to be able to trust Alex, permanently scared to let new people in my life. Even now, my friend circle is small: there's Alex, Ari (shirt for Arianna), and Knox.
After I've showered and gotten ready for the day, Alex walks into the bathroom for his turn, and I check my phone while I wait for him.
♾
Alex and I meet up with Ari and Knox outside of the dorms and head toward the cafeteria.
"Are we ready?" Ari asks, unnecessarily bright and cheerful for seven o'clock in the morning.
Knox grunts, probably still half-asleep, Alex nods, and I shrug.
"I guess," I say.
It took a while for me to open to my friends about what happened, but when I did, they were really supportive and made it known that I could talk to them about it anytime I needed.
Ari knocks her shoulder against mine. "You alright?" She asks quietly, hanging back and letting the boys go ahead of us just a bit.
I nod. "I just had a rough night," I say. "I had a dream about what happened... I'll be okay, though."
She nods. "Let me know if you need anything."
I nod, and less than ten seconds later, I crash into someone who drops their books.
"I'm so sorry!" I say, apologizing profusely.
"It's okay!" He says.
When I look up to see who I've run into, I get lost in his deep, ocean blue eyes. His shirt, brown curly hair looks so soft, too...
"I— I'm Will," I say, handing him his books.
"Cove. Nice to meet you. I hope I'll see you around," he says, walking off with a smile.
I watch his figure walk off and then look at Ari who raises an eyebrow at me.
I'm nearly breathless by the beauty of him.
♾
As usual on the first day, we go from class to class listening to teachers ramble on about what they expect from us in the classroom and schoolwork.
After our (very) long day, Alex and I head back to our dorm, telling Ari and Knox to meet us out front of the dorm buildings for dinner in ten minutes.
"So..." Alex starts. "Cove?"
I blush. "He's cute," I admit. "But I don't think I'm ready."
On our way out of the dorm, I brush into someone's shoulder; upon looking up, I find myself staring at Cove again who flashes a bright smile at me.
"I'm sorry. Again." I say, laughing.
He smiles again. "No big deal," he says.
♾
We're a month into school now, and the work is already piling on. Since the first day, I haven't run into Cove again, but I've seen him on campus plenty of times. Every time he walks off, Ari elbows me gently, raising her eyebrow at me.
I have talked to him a few times, and he genuinely seems to be a sweet guy, but Winston was too, at first. I don't want to get hurt like that again. Ever.
