The Silver Lining [BxB]

Chapter 1

Both of his parents' cars are in the driveway when Will gets home. This is alarming for two reasons: one, his mother works at the hospital and is never home while the sun is still in the sky, and two, his father moved out four years ago.

The front door is unlocked when he tries it, and he can hear raised voices from inside the house. He takes a deep breath and opens the door.

"I just can't believe you. I raised you better than this!" That was his mother, slamming her palm on the kitchen table.

"What were you thinking, you dipshit." His father barks.

"Oh, you're one to talk," his mother snaps back.

"Hey, don't yell at me. Am I the one who got a 16-year-old pregnant?"

"I don't know, you tell me, Jason."

Yikes.

"I'm home," Will calls, elbowing the door closed behind him. The kitchen goes silent as he shuffles in, kicking off his Converse and dropping his overnight bag at the bottom of the stairs before rounding the small hallway to find out what the fuck is going on.

His mother stands, arms crossed, beside the kitchen table. His father sits opposite her, chair turned to face the living room. And sitting sullenly on the couch, glare sharp as daggers, is his older brother, Ethan.

"What's, uh- what's going on?" Will asks awkwardly.

"Your brother," his mother says with disdain, "got his girlfriend pregnant."

Shit. No sex was, like, rule number one when Mom allowed Ethan to start dating. Will stares at him, raising his eyebrows incredulously, but Ethan just rolls his eyes. "She wasn't my girlfriend," he mutters.

"She WHAT?" His mother whirls around, and Will takes this as his cue to back out of the room. This is not a conversation he wants to get in between. He takes the stairs two at a time, putting his ear buds in to drown out the arguing from below. Maybe he can steal Ethan's old GameBoy Color after Mom kills him.

They don't eat dinner together that night. Mom is in her room, having declared that they were going to have a 'serious discussion' the following day. Who knew what that meant. Dad, ever the cheapskate, is sleeping over on the couch to save money on a motel. And apparently Ethan isn't dead yet, if you could trust the heavy metal practically vibrating the floorboards with how loudly it's blaring from his room in the basement.

So Will eats leftover Chinese in bed, texting his best friend, Parker, about what happened.

'is she keeping the baby?' she asks.

'Dunno'

'if she does, ethan better pay child support'

Will snorts. As if. 'He can't even pay for his own gas, you think he has enough money to pay child support?'

'LMAOO fair'

Will glances at the time, wincing. 'Think I'm gonna go. Gotta be ready for anything tomorrow'

'night, dork'

'Night' He smiles, turning off his phone and rolling onto his side.

It's ridiculous, in Will's opinion, to accidentally get a girl pregnant. Why would you take that risk? It seems easier to just not have sex at all.

But maybe that's just because he's never had sex before. Maybe he'd change his mind if he tried it. The most he's ever done was his first and only kiss: an experiment with Parker.

They were twelve or thirteen, and they were curious. So he sat next to Parker on his Spider-Man duvet and screwed his eyes shut, pursing his lips like a fish.

They kissed, technically. It was more like a bump of heads before Parker pretended to retch and Will shoved her off the bed in a panic so she wouldn't stain his covers and she broke her wrist, laughing all the while.

Maybe it's because it was Parker, or maybe he needs to face the fact that he never seemed to feel anything for the other girls at school either. Maybe there's something wrong with him, that he can't imagine ever having sex with a girl.

He sighs. That's a problem for tomorrow. In the meantime, he should get some sleep.

---

Just past 11 AM, Will finds himself sitting next to Ethan in the living room, hastily-grabbed banana in hand. His parents sit in the armchairs across from them, faces stony.

Clearly they're just going to reprimand Ethan, so Will busies himself fiddling with his earphone cords.

"We," his mother pauses, gesturing between her and his dad, "have come to a decision." She turns to Ethan. "First, you're grounded."

He groans, slapping his hands over his face.

"You and I are going over to Paige's house tonight," she continues, "and we're going to figure out what you two are going to do about the baby. If she decides to keep it, you will take responsibility for your actions, and you're going to get a job to support them."

"But-"

"Absolutely not. You made your bed - or stained it, maybe - and now you'll lie in it."

Well. Good morning to you too, Will thinks with a snicker.

"Will."

His head snaps up, wondering for a brief moment if she read his mind.

"Since your brother's actions have proved no one in this family is able to control themself, we've decided to make sure you aren't going to follow in his footsteps. You're being transferred to an all-boys boarding school in Vermont."

What. The. Fuck.

"Language," Mom reprimands, and he claps his hand over his mouth, realizing he accidentally said that out loud.

"You can't be serious," he says, laughing in disbelief between his fingers.

"I can and I am. I've been too lenient since your father moved out-"

"Hey," he complains.

"-and it's time that changes."

"But I didn't do anything!"

"This isn't a punishment, it's preventative. Teen pregnancy is life-changing, and I will not let you and your teenage hormones ruin some girl's life," she says in disgust.

Nonononono, this can't be happening. "What about my friends? What about Parker?"

His mother's eyes soften. "I'm sorry, but I have to do what's best for you. You'll still get to text and call all the time, and you can hang out when you come home for holiday breaks. This decision is final." She stands, just like that, as if she didn't just turn Will's entire world upside down. "I'm making tuna fish for lunch. Should be ready in about 15 minutes."

The utter- the utter gall she has to talk about tuna fish at a time like this! Will whips around to gape at Ethan, but he just glares and sinks further into the couch cushions.

"Sorry, kiddo," his dad says, and at once a painful lump forms in Will's throat as tears prick in his eyes. This is real. He's really truly being sent away.

He walks to his room in a blur, successfully holding back tears until he closes the door behind him. As he lets go of the handle, his knees give out, and he curls up on the floor with a sob.

All their end-of-summer plans - the sleepovers, the bucket list, the ice cream discounts at Joe's for being faithful customers for ten whole years - they're crumbling before his eyes.

He lays there limply, staring at nothing. His life is over.

Eventually something is slid under the door: a flier advertising King's Boarding School for Boys, and a sticky note. "Plane tickets are booked. You leave in three days."

Fresh tears overtake Will, and he cries himself to sleep lying on the floor of a room that in three days will no longer be his.