Chapter One- Lou…

-Katrina, Chapter Twenty Five, Me Before You by JoJo Moyes.-

"Louisa. It's Camilla Traynor. Will you call me? As soon as possible?"

I started at the answering phone. I rewound and replayed it. Then ran upstairs and whipped Thomas out of the bath so my fast boy didn't even know what hit him. He was standing there, the towel wrapped tightly around him like a compression bandage, and Lou, stumbling and confused, was already halfway down the stairs, me pushing her by the shoulder.

"What if she hates me?"

"She didn't sound like she hated you."

"But what if the press are surrounding them there? What if they think it's my fault?" Her eyes were wide and terrified. "What if she ringing you to tell me he hasn't done it?"

"Oh, for Christ's sake, Lou. For once in my life, just get a grip. You won't know anything unless you call. Call her. Just call. You don't have a bloody choice."

I ran back to the bathroom, to set Thomas free. I shoved him into his pyjamas, told him that Granny had a biscuit for him if he ran into the kitchen super fast. And then I peered out of the bathroom door, to peek at my sister on the phone down her at the back of her head. She reached out a hand to steady herself.

"Yes," She was saying. "I see." And then, "Okay."

And after a pause, "Yes."

She looked down at her feet for a good minute after she'd put down the phone.

"Well?" I said.

She looked up as if she'd only just seen me there, and shook her head.

"It was nothing about the newspapers," she said, her voice still numb with shock. "She asked me – begged me – to come to…"

oOoOOoOo

Louisa

"… the house." I finish.

Treena looks at me like I've lost my mind, an expression she has given me on multiple occasions. She shakes her head, bringing her hands to her head trying to stop the movement. Her brows knit together in confusion before all of her movements and expressions stop. She opens her screwed eyes and looks at me.

"What? It thought that… What?!"

"Apparently… he changed his mind. I… I changed his mind."

I bring my hands up to my face, covering half my face as my eyes begin to water.

"Well, if that's the case, why are you still standing here explaining it to me?"

"I can't move."

It's the truth. My feet feel glued to the floors beneath my feet. I'm in shock. The shock of hearing Camilla Traynor tell me that Will has come to his senses. The shock of hearing the words- "You changed him, Lou… You did it," fall from the lips of Camilla Traynor. Treena comes over to me, shaking my shoulder to make me come back to my senses.

"Come on, Lou. Wakey wakey!"

I shake my head and then I gingerly take a step forward and then it sets me off. I run upstairs and into my bedroom, throwing on my Japanese yellow and pink coat, yellow knee-length skirt and putting my bumble bee tights too. I may or may not have been wearing them the whole time… Slipping into my ankle boots, I fly back down the stairs watching as Treena finishes informing mother and father about Camilla's call. Mother shakes her head in disbelief just as we all have been at this sudden announcement.

"Go, Lou… Go." My father says.

A smile forms on my lips and then I run out the door, down the pathway and through the gate.

I don't bother taking the car. I'm so pumped with adrenaline that I just want to run. I feel like I could run a marathon of Patrick's knowing that Will was at the other end, not leaving for Switzerland in a few hours. My heart thumps with the need for more air becoming a problem as the cold air flows into my lungs as I run fast in the direction of the castle. My sights gaze towards the castle which has just come into view and my hearing is pulled to the sound of an approaching bus. My arm flies out and signals for the bus to slow down and it does at my actions. I board the bus and chuck some change I found in my pocket into the till before taking a seat. When I stop, I let myself breathe. I breathe in order to catch my breath so I can go running again towards the Traynor's house.

I close my eyes, letting my head lean against the back of the bus seat. My lungs inhale the slightly warm air surrounding me. My mind then begins to wonder. Conjuring up ideas of how it'll go when I see Will in a few minutes time. Will Will say something sarcastic as he would usually? Such as- 'Your plan worked, Clark. Despite all my thoughts wanting to go to Switzerland.' 'Clark, these tricks of yours.' Maybe he may even call me Louisa. That would be nothing like Will Traynor. He only calls me that in the most serious situations. I have no idea what to expect. Would it be something completely not like Will? Will saying something like- 'I should have never doubted you, Louisa,' would definitely be something that's not him. But yet again, I don't know what to expect.

What should I do? How will I act? Would I run up to him, pressing my lips straight to his, cupping his face before he could even being to wonder what word to begin with? Would I just shut up and listen to him, waiting for him to give me an explanation before I do anything too rash. Or would I ask him what changed his mind, listened to his reasons and then kiss him like I have always wanted to do? Actually… That's the best thing I could do. That's perfect.

The bus slows and I open my eyes, seeing it's settling at the stop that I need. I get to my feet and jump off the bus, taking off running in the direction of the Traynor house. The cold brushes over my cheeks and blows through my brown locks which trail behind me. My heart thumping in my ears as I grow closer and closer to the house. I realise how much I really miss seeing Will every day. How much I really need to see him and tell him I love him all over again. And again and again. I get into the Traynor's courtyard and I bounce up the stairs before pounding on the door as my need to see Will have tripled in the moments since I was on the bus to now. A few seconds pass and I'm about to knock again when the door open. A teary and very happy looking Camilla Traynor answers the door. She looks completely different now than she did any other time than now. Her hair not in its usual fancy done up style, it hangs past her shoulders in messy curls. She doesn't hesitate when she pulls me into her arms. This kind of embrace from her seems kind of awkward, yet one that fills me to the brim with hope.

"Thank you, Louisa. Thank you so much." She whispers into my ear, as she keeps a strong and powerful hold of me.

We stand for a few minutes when she releases me, standing back and pushing my hair from my eyes.

"Steven will be out in a second, so you and Will have time to speak alone." She tells me.

I nod my head and she lets me past her.

I walk swiftly through the corridor and I watch as Mr Traynor emerges from Will's room. He stops when he reaches me, placing his hand on my shoulder and saying,

"We will forever be in your debt. For keeping him alive."

Before I can respond, he passes me and walks down the corridor. I take a deep breath as my hand land on the door knob of Will's room. My whole body feels like breaking down in a shaking matter and crying.

When I turn the knob, I walk in slowly and find Will parked siting by the fire, his body facing me. His eyes stay on mine as he watches me close the door tightly behind me. I can see the relief in his face when my eyes lock with his. Those beautiful eyes looking back with nothing but happiness and love radiating from them. His lips part as I step towards him.

"I'm so glad you're here." He breathes.

"The only thing I wish I could do now is hold you tight and never let you go. But, we both know that's not going to happen." The corner of his lips curl up and it makes me smile sadly at him.

I open my mouth to say something when Will stops me.

"Please don't say anything until your right here." Will uses his hand to gesture to his lap very softly.

I obligate and I walk towards Will, sitting myself on his lap, my legs off to one side. I grab onto one arm, draping it over my legs, moving the other so it's circled around my waist. His hand rubs his thumbs back and forth across its spot on my waist as I wrap my arms around his neck.

"Look, you're holding onto me." I whisper.

"I guess I am, Clark. Maybe with some physio I could actually do that myself." He comments.

I smile and my nose crinkles as my eyes begin to water.

"Clark, don't. Don't cry." Will says softly, trying his hardest to grab a tight hold on my waist.

"You're giving me a chance."

I let the statement linger before finishing,

"You're giving us a chance."

"I know. Because I couldn't go without giving us a chance. I couldn't. You are the only thing I want to wake up for in the morning and I don't care if I'm in this stupid chair, because I get to see you. You are everything that I want in the world and I'm not going to let my handicap be something holding us back anymore. Let's go on adventures together. Let's do all these things that you desperately want to do and the things that I want you to do. You've made me fall for you, Lou… You made me fall so deeply in love with you that when I was telling you those things on the beach, I was dying inside. I may be a cripple. I may not be able to do anything for myself. But, I'm sure as hell going to try the best I can at being the best thing that has ever happened to you, Louisa Clark. Besides your bumble bee tights." I laugh at this as tears fall from my eyes, dropping onto my cheeks.

"I'm in love with you, Clark. You made me fall for you just from walking onto the property. Just from wearing your hideous clothing which I'm surprised about how you never get embarrassed out in public. You continue to surprise me every day. But, I have never been has happy as I have been throughout these last six months. You turned my life upside down. But, if you think about it properly, you probably turn it back up from bring down for two years. You make my horrible life worth living. You changed my mind and… I assume everyone is happy that you have done that."

I let out a sob and lay my head in the crook of his neck. I breathe in his cologne and the smell of him, hoping that it could be in my sinuses forever. He turns his head so it's resting against mine. His lips press a kiss into my hair. That's when I pull my head back, placing my hands on either side of his face, bringing my lips down to his. When our lips touch, a million fireflies light up in my body, spreading from my head to my toes. He take my bottom lip in between his, sucking on it and making me moan. My fingers rake through his locks and my other still cupping his face runs across his stubble upon his face. It makes me wonder when the last time that his face was shaven… And by who. When I pull away, I press kisses on his cheeks, nose, fore head and eyelids before staring back into his eyes.

"So, when was the last time someone shaved your stubble?" I whisper.

"Nathan did it one. Same with my father before I refused to have a shave again, because it was never the same without opening my eyes and seeing you. You're eyebrows are always knitted together when you do it, concentrating just encase you cut me. Even after the amount of times you did it, your brows still knit together."

It makes me smile as he tells me these things. He always points out those little things and habits that I never realised I did. I run my hand over his locks.

"When I go to give you a shave tomorrow morning, I'm going to give your hair a trim too."

He smiles, closing his eyes as my fingers continue to simultaneously glide through his hair.

"You mean, you're going to still be my carer, even if I am the biggest prick around?"

I shake my head back a forth before pressing my fore head against his.

"You aren't the biggest prick. You may be a handful. But, God… It just give me another reason to love you."

"So, you'll come back tomorrow as my carer?"

"If that's what you want."

"That's all I want in the world."

"Do you know what, Clark?" Will asks after a few minutes of complete silence.

"What, Traynor?"

He scoff before continuing.

"Move into the spare bedroom. God knows that you are going to be here every day until Mother would send you home."

I stare at him, my whole body tingling with the idea of living here with Will. I smile, bringing my lips back down, placing a lingering kiss onto his awaiting lips.

"That's all I want in the world."

Then Will and I stay like that. Myself sitting on his lap, fingers gliding through his locks and staring into his eyes as they stare back into mine. His hand making movements on my waist as well and as much as he can. We talk about physio so that he can move his body more, well his hand and arms, possibly even his legs. We talk about where we could possibly go for our next adventure. And most of all, we kiss. Every time, it's like an explosion of the most powerful explosives, spreading throughout my whole body. I know that I am in love with Will Traynor. I know that he is in love with me. And I know that I changed his mind and it was the best thing I have ever done in my life. He changed his mind because of everything I did for him. He gave life a chance. He gave a life with me a chance. He gave us a chance at a life together. And that's all I could have hoped for and more.