bestfriends (h.s. au)

7. CAN WE TALK?

Always a smart girl, Willa never let her emotions get the best of her. She was a fairly rational person and always thought with her head. Although, Alex and Hayden could fight that with how she reacted after she had gotten home from dinner the night of her promotion.

"I just cannot BELIEVE they had to audacity to sit with us!"

"Wil—"

"He knows what he did!"

That moment was more than likely not her absolute best moment but she chooses to ignore it. What she did do, in her rational state of mind, was choose to go on a date with Avian. It had only been a few days of speaking but there was no doubt there was a spark. "Is this as deep as Harry and I?" Willa would say to herself every time she thought about the date. The thought was intrusive and as much as she would try to control it, it was impossible.

Of course, her date with Avian was amazing. He was everything a girl could want in a man. He was charming, he was sweet, he was short of perfect. Willa was happy around him and he was happy around her. It was like they were a match made in heaven, he only had his eyes on her but that was the only thing that stopped them from being perfect for each other because a certain man with the most gorgeous green eyes stayed in her mind.

But Avian didn't need to know that. As far as he was concerned, the feeling was mutual.

He knew she had been through a prior on and off engagement and had recently gotten out of a 'situationship,' as she put it, not wanting to elaborate on what hurt her. Avian, being the kind gentleman he was, wouldn't push Willa to speak about it and for that, she was grateful. She knew she didn't deserve to have him while he was so infatuated with her and sure, the feelings were mutual but her mind was still on someone else.

Willa sat in her room at the small desk tucked away in the corner of her room while she was finishing up a huge paper on her thesis for her doctorate. She had been working nonstop all day on the paper, only leaving her room to use the restroom and make food once. Alex and Hayden knew not to bother her, seeing as she threatened to cut Hayden's dick off if they interrupted. He knew she didn't mean it, but the threat was on the table and he was not risking it. Willa was unpredictable sometimes.

It was also better she stayed in her room as Anna would be coming over for dinner to see her sister and it would be assumed Harry would tag along. Alex was not a fan of Harry, seeing as he hurt her best friend but Anna was blood. That bond could not be broken. Hayden, being the protective best friend of Willa, wanted to be as far away from both Anna and Harry as possible. Hayden and Willa were like siblings, although they may not be blood, their bond was something that could not be broken.

All Willa had done for the past hour was re-read, revise and cite more sources. It was tedious but she really had almost completed all her doctorate credits prior to signing up for the program. Perks of being Valedictorian at the ripe age of 16 and already being in a pre-med program previous. Now being 23, almost 24, she was ready to embark on her doctorate. Perfect, she thought to herself with a smile before submitting her thesis. The teacher was notoriously quick and would have a grade in and tell her if her thesis was good within an hour or two, which made Willa's stomach bubble with nerves. She could have a doctorate within a few weeks if this went well.

Flopping on her bed and looking up at her ceiling with a blank expression was the only acceptable response to eight hours of hard work. It was almost as hard as her actual job, which she had a rare day off of. She had worked three twenty-four on call shifts the past week and could not help but relish in her days off. She heard her door open and Hayden walked in, closing it swiftly and jumped on her bed. Willa let out a groan and moved over so he had more room.

"Why are you in here?"

"To annoy you.

Willa scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Yeah, you're a comedian. The only person you annoy is Alex."

"Hey."

A giggle slipped past the blonde girls lips while she looked over at Hayden, his features not as evident in the purple lighting of her LED lights. Such a basic girl thing but she had to have them.

"So, why are you actually in here?"

"Harry and Anna are out there."

At the mention of the two names, Willa felt the bile rising in her throat. She knew Alex and Anna were sisters and she couldn't control if Anna was here but Harry?

"I think jumping out a window is a good option." Willa sighed, getting up to walk to her window, "It was nice knowing you, Hades."

Hayden couldn't help but smile at her nickname for him. They looked at each other as devil spawns around each other so she adopted the nickname from Greek Mythology, one of her favorite things, "Sit down, loser. I don't imagine they'll come to the room."

"Don't imagine is just you thinking so. If they do, i'm killing you and myself." Willa replied. Whether she was joking or not would not be known.

The amused expression on Hayden's face showed it was just an empty threat while he looked at the smaller girl in her baggy "All Too Well" hoodie and her leggings, tapping her foot without any patience while waiting for the explanation as to why the two people who were her close to least favorite people were in the apartment. The fuzzy bunny socks didn't help her supposed threatening behavior.

"Anna came over for dinner and of course, she brought Harry. I just can't stand how you aren't being the bitch you normally are and giving them attitude right now."

Willa raised an eyebrow and pointed her finger at Hayden as she sat down on the bed and scowled, "Shut your damn mouth." She sighed while moving one of the loose strands of hair in her face, "I just don't have the energy. After everything with Lance, I swore to never fall for someone again, Hades. You know that and Harry came and ruined my plans of being single and living with twenty dogs and cats."

Hayden frowned at the words Willa was letting spill. She typically bottled herself up and kept her sadness to herself but it was evident this had gotten to her.

"He was so sweet, he really seemed to want me
and I just can't decipher if I did something wrong to make him not want me or if it was fully him just seeing Anna is taller and more successful than me." Anna was a model, obviously. One of the most famous that is. She was a household name and being as Harry was too, it was like they were meant to be together.

"I don't think you did anything in particular, Wil. I personally think he just saw she wanted him now and you were still apprehensive about even admitting your feelings. Not that he did either. I'm upset with the both of them for disregarding you and how Harry ghosted you. It makes me think he had feelings and needed to get rid of them.

Had. That word was enough to make Willa want to projectile vomit on Hayden but he was probably right. She wasn't going to fight him on it and simply nodded, "You're probably right."

Hayden and Willa continued to just talk for the night, enjoying each others company. It was nice for Willa to have her two closest friends under the same roof. Willa told Hayden about Avian to which he replied, "Lets hope you didn't pick another shitty one." Which elicited an eye roll from Willa.

The only thing that stopped the conversation between them was a curt knock on the door.
Willa squinted at the clock, 12:39am, it read. Anna and Harry had more than likely left for
the night hours prior and it was probably Alex letting the two know. Hayden got up to leave and when he opened the door, the last sight he expected to see was Harry. That was the last sight Willa expected to see too. He looked between both Hayden and Willa and coughed slightly,

"Willa, can we talk? Alone."