Wow it's been a looooooong time! I decided I haven't done anything in a while so I went for a quick Philby/Willa one-shot for old times sake before all the homework gets too crazy!
FYI, this takes place near the end of KK7 before the very end, but after the whole Finn-dying-&-coming-back-part.
I hope y'all enjoy this!
Solution to All Her Problems
It had been three days since Finn had died…and then brought back. So far Willa's days had been filled with countless meetings and debriefings that she had lost all energy whatsoever.
It was now only 10 A.M. and it was two hours until the next debriefing on her busy schedule. It was the only break she had all day and she intended on using it for a nap. Charlene, her only roommate here in Burbank, had gone off to sight-see with her mother, who had flown in just last night to visit.
Willa plopped down on the bed and set an alarm on her phone for thirty minutes before the debriefing. A ninety-minute nap seemed like the solution to all her problems. She closed her eyes and…
Three quick knocks on the door.
Willa rolled over, not wanting to believe she actually heard it. She closed her eyes again and…
Three more knocks.
She rolled back over and sat up, not even bothering to check her probably already unruly hair. She walked over to the door and opened it without even using the peephole to see if this was all worth it.
"Hey," came a familiar British accent.
Willa rubbed her eyes to see Philby standing in front of her.
She smiled involuntarily. "Hey." She yawned. "Not that I don't want you here, but what are you doing here?"
He had changed since their last meeting. His usual khaki pants and polo shirt his mom had packed for him a few weeks ago had changed to casual khaki shorts and a green t-shirt. She would be lying to herself if she said he didn't look good.
"I thought I would ask you to hang out while we're on break." He finally noticed how tired she looked. "But if you want to…you know…sleep instead…I'll just…"
Willa reached out for his arm. "Of course I want to hang out. Let me just change really fast and redo my hair. It'll take like 2 minutes." She smiled at him and he smiled back. She closed the door and hurried to change.
Philby was a nervous wreck. Hang out? Come on man, you can do better than that! Ever since seeing Willa point to her eye, then her heart then at him, signaling I love you, Philby had never been the same. He loved her back, but he hadn't said it. He felt like a jerk for not doing so. He had do tell her before they went off to separate colleges. He knew that high school relationships almost never made it through colleges—especially if the couple goes to different schools—but he wanted to be that minority that made it. He was determined to do so. He loved Willa that much.
And besides, their colleges were only an hour away. That's doable.
She opened the door after a few minutes and had changed into black Nike dry-fit shorts and a blue tank top that highlighted her blue eyes. She had re-braided her hair and let it fall down onto her shoulder.
She had never looked more beautiful than in this moment.
She closed the door, stuffing the room key into her pocket and looked up at him expectantly. "So whatcha wanna do Philby?"
He smiled down at her. These past three years had resulted in him getting four inches taller than her. He loved it and he knew that she did too.
"I thought it would be a surprise."
He turned to offer his arm to her and she took it with an even wider smile.
Since there was nowhere to go except for around Burbank, they went for a walk around the Imagineering campus. It wasn't too hot, since it was late morning, so it was perfect.
"I'm so glad all of this is over," Willa blurted out after a few minutes of silence.
Philby didn't know what she meant by "this." Did she mean the whole Overtaker business or did she mean them. Were they done? He didn't even know they had started.
Willa had noticed his confusion and elaborated. "The Overtakers. I'm glad the Overtakers are gone."
"Oh yeah. Me too," Philby said quickly to cover up his confusion.
"What do you think Brad meant about Imagineering School? I didn't even know that existed." She looked directly at him. "Are you thinking about doing it?"
Philby shrugged. "I figured we should get through college first and then decide."
Willa nodded to herself. "That's…efficient."
"I thought so."
Another few moments of silence.
"You know…" Philby started. "Our colleges are only an hour away."
"Forty-seven minutes." Philby raised an eyebrow and she looked up at him with a sheepish expression. "I looked it up on MapQuest."
Philby laughed and let her arm fall out of his. Instead, he grabbed her hand and gave it a light squeeze. "So forty-seven minutes, huh?"
Willa smiled up at him and gave his hand a squeeze back. "That's not too far."
"Definitely not."
They walked for the next ten minutes in almost complete silence, creating small talk as they passed certain buildings. They had made it to a particular fountain that Philby called his destination for the walk. Without consulting her, Philby sat down on the edge of the fountain and urged her to do the same.
Willa looked over at the water and the way it sprouted up and flowed down to the bottom. She was so entranced by the beauty of the fountain that she didn't notice Philby looking at her instead.
"It's so beautiful," Willa said quietly.
"So are you," Philby added before he realized what he was saying. Before he could make some smooth cover-up, Willa turned to him and raised an eyebrow.
"You think so?"
He found himself smiling without even trying. "Of course."
She blushed and looked down to try and hide it. How cute, he thought.
Okay, Philby. Now's the time.
"So Willa…" She looked up at him. "You said something…or rather motioned something…" He looked at her and she nodded for him to continue. "And…I uh…wanted to…uh…"
"Yeah?"
"Uh…" He was rendered speechless. Give him the hardest calculus you could find and he could do it. Ask him to talk to a girl that he really, really likes and he's useless.
Willa raised an eyebrow, a mocking grin growing on her face. "Are you okay there Philby?"
"Yeah…I just…uh...umm…"
"Don't know what to say?" He nodded and she burst into laughter. "I can't believe this! Professor Philby's speechless. This is the first time like…ever."
She continued to laugh. He rolled his eyes. He hated being called Professor Philby, but it wasn't as bad when she said it.
"Oh come on Philby," she grabbed onto his arm and leaned into his left side, resting her head on his shoulder. Their backs were now to the fountain. "You need to lighten up a little bit. All the serious stuff is over."
"Yes…it is…but not all of it."
She looked up at him. "Is this getting back to what you couldn't say earlier?"
He nodded and the smile disappeared from her face. She let go of him, stood up and turned so that her whole body could face him.
"Philby…is this about what I said while we were fighting that soldier thing that wasn't really human?" The confusion about that fight showed on her face and he understood completely. It had been a strange fight—actually, all of that endeavor had been strange.
But that's not what she was referring to. It was the I love you she motioned to him just before risking her life…and his…and Charlene's too.
She looked down at her feet. "When I said…that I…loved you?"
He nodded, but she didn't look up, so she couldn't see it. He stood, grabbed her hands and after a few minutes she eventually looked up at him, but her gaze quickly fell back to her feet. But she didn't let go of his hands.
"It was kind of a I thought we were going to die moment…if you don't feel the same—" she began.
"I do."
"—I completely understand. I mean…we're going to go to separate colleges so there's no reason—"
"Willa."
"—for us to give this a try. I mean…we won't see each other every day—"
"Willa." He let go of her hands.
"—and you don't really like me that much, obviously…so it's just a one way thing…and—"
"Willa!" He used his hand to cup her face so that she could look up at him finally. "You never let me say what I was going to say in the first place."
"Oh." Before she could continue, he took a deep breath and started the speech he had stuck in his mind for a very long time now.
"Willa, I do feel the same way about you. I just never had the guts to say it like you did. Willa, you're the most beautiful girl I know." She blushed and a small smile grew on her face, giving him the courage to continue. "You're also the smartest. We…our minds work the same way. We understand each other." She grabbed his hands, which took him by surprise for a brief moment. "Everything about you intrigues me. I want to know more. Every second I spend with you isn't enough for me. Twenty-four seven wouldn't even be enough."
She laughed and it was music to his ears. "That's impossible, Philby."
It was his turn to look sheepish. "I know. I know. It's just…you mean that much to me, Willa." He gave her hands a squeeze. "Do you…I mean…would you want…I mean…would you do me the honor…"
"Yeah?" Her smile was as bright as the sun.
He cleared his throat. "Would you make me the luckiest guy on earth and become my girlfriend?"
Her smile got wider. "On one condition."
He froze for a second. "Uh…what is it?"
She let go of his hands and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Will you take me on real dates that have nothing to do with Disney? I'm kind of Disney-ed out for a while."
He laughed and wrapped his arms around her small waist. "How does tonight sound to you? I heard there's a great pizza place just outside of the campus."
"Pizza with you sounds amazing." She leaned a little bit closer.
"So…is that a…yes?"
"To pizza? I'm pretty sure I just said that."
"No," he leaned forward. Their faces were only inches apart now. "To becoming my girlfriend? You know…making me the luckiest guy…like ever."
"Oh, my bad. I thought the answer was obvious."
He raised an eyebrow. It was anything but obvious.
His confusion must have been obvious because she laughed. "The answer is yes Philby."
He leaned in a little bit further to kiss her. Further…
Water drenched the two of them from their side. Once it had stopped, they both turned away from the fountain to see Maybeck with a water hose. He was currently lying on the grass, laughing so hard there were tears in his eyes.
"MAYBECK!"
"I'm sorry!" He managed to say in between laughs. "I…just…I just couldn't resist!"
Willa crossed her arms and started tapping her foot, glaring at Maybeck. Philby gave him a what-the-heck look from behind Willa.
Maybeck stood up, a huge grin still on his face. "Sorry guys. It's just…you were here…and the hose was there…and…I couldn't—"
"Resist?" Willa finished.
He laughed some more. "I take it back, I'm not sorry."
Before Willa could retort and start a full-blown fight, as her posture and body language suggested, Philby stepped up to stand beside her and grinned at Maybeck.
"That's cool, Maybeck. I'm not sorry for this then."
"For what?"
"This," he pulled Willa into his arms and kissed her.
Willa was shocked, but definitely not in a bad way. She wrapped her arms around Philby's neck and kissed him back. There was something purely magical about this kiss. It was their first real one. Yes, technically they had kissed once on the cruise, but he was unconscious and she was breaking a curse. That doesn't count. This kiss, though it was just as magical as breaking a curse, was the real deal. Something she had waited years for.
Maybeck made gagging noises and Philby pulled back to address him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she dropped hers from his neck to his chest. He held her tight and it felt good.
Philby turned to Maybeck. "I'm not sorry for that. I just couldn't resist." Philby winked at Maybeck.
Willa burst into laughter.
In his arms, she felt safe. She felt protected. She realized his love for her, though unspoken. More importantly, she knew that he was the solution to all her problems, not sleep as she had thought just half an hour before.
She knew with him, she could make it through anything. She had made it through everything so far with him. The rest of their lives should be a breeze compared to what they had just gone through.
Philby turned to her. "Wanna get out of here?" He twisted his arm so that he could see his watch. "We've got an hour and a half until the next debriefing."
"I think that sounds lovely."
He let go of her and grabbed her hand. Her heart skipped a beat. They started heading away from the fountain and Maybeck. She turned around and waved at him, adding a wink just because.
Well isn't that just precious! Review if you want. Tell me if you liked it or not.
By the way, there's no way to be "Disney-ed out," in my opinion, but if I was in their situation, I might feel the same way :P
Have a great weekend! :)
