Maybe This Time

13

Me and Willow began our work on the assignment. We figured that the best way to go about it was to split it into half, but work together as we tackled it. Although a part of me was glad that me and Willow got paired together, the other part of me feared that I'd fall deeper and deeper for her. I couldn't control my heart any longer.

Right now, I'm about to knock on the front door of Willow's house, when the crunch of gravel behind me catches my attention. "What are you doing here?" I hear a deep voice, and I quickly turn around, met by the stern face of Obi. I gulp.

His tough exterior scared me just a little. "I'm... I've got an assignment with Willow." I tell him, stuffing my hands into the pockets of my jacket. I don't know if he was here merely to see Willow, or to... no, I don't want to think about it. The image of him plunging into her is engraved into my mind, and I can't seem to forget it. I still remember the picture of their bodies tangled together as they christened her bed.

"Hmm." Obi nodded his head. "I don't know what's going on between you, but you should stay away from my girl." Obi warns, and my eyebrows furrow in confusion. I didn't realise that he and Willow were an item. If I did... I mean, I doubt it would have changed my feelings towards her, but I just thought it was something Willow would have mentioned.

"Nothing's going on between us." I tell him, shaking my head.

"Clearly there is, if she kicked me out whilst we were fucking so she could talk to you." Obi tilts his head to the side. I notice how abnormally large he is. If he punched me right now, I think I'd end up in hospital. If this is Willow's type, I have absolutely no chance. Me and Obi are completely opposite.

"I... I can only apologise for that." I tell him, and it's almost like Willow sensed the trouble, because just as Obi took a step towards me, the front door flung open. Willow is standing there, looking between us. Her mouth parts slightly before she clears her throat.

"Obi. What are you doing here?" She asked him, and he glanced at me before stepping into the house, forcing Willow to press her back to the wall. Obi looms over her, his body incredibly close to hers. I look away just as Willow looks up at him, and it's like my heart shatters.

I try to hide the upset on my face, but I don't really know how much I've scrunched up my eyebrows. I hear them exchange words, but I don't process them as I hear footsteps descend from Willow. I turn back to her as she clears her throat, her hand on her throat.

"He's here to see my brother." She clarifies, and I hesitantly nod my head, casually shrugging my shoulders. "Do you wanna... go up to my room?" She asked, and I followed her into the house and up the stairs, into her bedroom. Willow closes the door behind her, and I swallow the lump of nervousness in my throat.

"Shall we get started?" She asked, and I quickly turned around to face her.

"Yeah, we should." I quickly pull my laptop out of my bag, sitting at her dressing table. "Do you wanna do the first part of the assignment or the second half?" I asked her, and Willow shrugged her shoulders. She drops herself into her bed, laying down as she stares at me.

"I don't mind." She murmurs, her eyes flickering all over my face. I raise my eyebrows. "I'll do the second half." She shrugged her shoulders, and I nodded my head before opening my laptop and typing in my password before opening the assignment.

"That's fine." I tell her, and we spend a good few hours working, tiring ourselves out.

***

Me and Willow collapse onto her bed, my hand aching from all the typing I had just endured. I sigh, running my fingers all over my face as I hear Willow laugh from beside me. I look over to her, admiring the wide grin on her face.

"I never wanna do that again." She complains, and I find myself smiling at the joyous expression on her face. "That's the worst thing I've ever had to partake in." She sighs.

"You'll get used to it." I tell her, even though I doubt she will. Willow, ever since she was young, has always hated school. She's hated doing assignments and she's hated doing homework. I knew college was going to be difficult for her. "Anyways, you did great on this assignment." I tell her, shrugging my shoulders.

"Thank you, but you don't have to lie for my sake. You helped me with most of it." She states, and I chuckle, shaking my head. "It was fun, though. In a weird way." She tilts her head to the side, staring up at the ceiling. I fold my fingers together and rest my entwined hands on my stomach. There's a few beats of silence between us before Willow blurts out, "I didn't know you had tattoos." She says, and I looked down to where I had rolled up my sweater to my elbow.

Tattoos cover my arms and my chest. They were random images that I thought were cool at the time, and six months ago, when I decided to get inked up, it seemed like a good idea. I don't regret it, or anything. They just don't suit me or who I am. Most of them were drunken mistakes.

"Yeah." I say, resting my head on her bed, my feet dangling off of the edge. "I started them a few months ago."

Willow leans up on her elbow, looking down at me. I stare up at her majestic face, and her eyebrows that begin to wiggle, and her foxy eyes and her thick lips. My mouth parts slightly. "I have an idea." She grins, grabbing my wrist. My breath hitches at the contact of her skin on my skin. I think I stopped breathing.

Then, Willow pulls me up off the bed and we're standing in the middle of her room. "Do you remember when we would climb through our windows and sit in the middle of the tree for hours, just talking?" She asked, and I grinned at her.

"You wanna do that now?" I asked her, and she excitedly nodded her head at me. "Go ahead, then. I'll follow you out." I tell her, and she lets go of my arm before walking over to her window, opening it as wide as it goes. I shoves my hands into my pockets as I watch her lift her foot onto the ledge, pulling herself up.

"It's a lot more difficult to fit through this as an adult." She grumbles as she struggles to get out of the window. Willow ducks her head and drags her leg over the ledge, and now she's standing on the other side of the window. I grin as she gestures for me to make my way, as she carefully walks across the wooden plank.

I huff. I'm a lot taller than Willow, so it'll be a little bit more difficult for me to get out, but I think I'll be fine. By the time I get my long legs over the ledge and onto the other side, I think I've pulled a few muscles. "Shit." I mumble when I hit my head on the bottom of the window as I get up. I hear Willow try to hide a laugh as I turn around, joining her in the middle of the plank. We both sit down, and I cross my legs underneath me.

"I love the view from up here." Willow sighs, staring down at both of our clean gardens. I glance at her, the serene look on her face and the calming expression reflected in her eyes. That's when I realise that this crush I have isn't going to go away any time soon. I'm well and truly fucked.