To say that Will had woken up early the next morning was an understatement. He was wide awake at five thirty, and his mind had been running wild ever since. What if Elizabeth had changed her mind about yesterday? What if after everything that happened she realized she really didn't feel a thing for him?

He had considered calling her several times, but he was afraid that she'd be upset with him if he did. It was still really early, and if she didn't feel anything for him she would probably want to avoid him. He knew Elizabeth better than anyone, and he knew exactly how would react if that were the situation.

So, at eight thirty that morning, he lay wide awake in his bed pitying himself. He wasn't ready to lose his relationship with Elizabeth, even if said relationship was just a simple friendship.

He heard someone knocking at his door, and ignored it. His mother was probably awake and had breakfast ready on the table. But Will wasn't hungry, and he didn't want to look at his mother. He didn't want to see that sparkle in her eyes that she got when she was really excited for him. She had had it when he was accepted to NCWC, the day he graduated high school, and many other times in his life. When he had come home the previous night she was wide awake waiting for him, so of course he shared his happiness with her and that sparkle became evident. Hdidn't want to see that it fade into a look of sadness.

He heard the knocking again and sighed. "I'm awake Mom. I'll come out in a few minutes."

The door creaked open and Will lifted his head to greet his mother but was surprised at the sight in front of him. Instead of his mother standing at his door, it was the very person who he had been thinking about for the last three hours.

"Elizabeth! What are you doing here?"

Elizabeth stepped further into the room and closed the door behind her. "I missed you." She replied sheepishly.

Will felt his heart do a somersault, and knew at that moment that everything was going to be okay. He scooted over on his bed as she took a few steps towards his bed and crawled in beside him. She leaned up and placed a kiss on his lips before laying down and snuggling into his shoulder. Will smiled to himself at the simple actions, and tightened his embrace on her.

She slightly tilted her head so she was looking up at him. "How are you this morning?

"Oh, I'm definitely better now. I couldn't really sleep."

"Really? Me neither. I think I was too excited to see you." She said with the sweetest voice that made Will question why he had ever doubted the girl in his arms

"I don't really see how I'm anything exciting. You've seen me almost every day since we were ten."

"Yeah," Elizabeth responded, giving him a coy smile. "But now I get to do this."

She slightly pushed herself up off the bed and kissed him again, only with more fervor than before. Before Will could even respond, she pulled away and jumped off the bed.

"And where do you think you're going?" He asked playfully.

"We are going to watch a movie with your mom. So get your lazy butt out of bed." Elizabeth responded before skipping out of his room.


"Elizabeth, are you feeling better?" Emily Swann asked across the table to where her granddaughter was sitting.

Elizabeth was quickly brought out of her daydream at her grandmother's question, and looked up at the elderly woman a few moments before responding. "Yes, I am. Thank you. I think it was the end of a long week catching up to me."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that dear. Why don't you tell us all how school is going?"

Elizabeth looked away from her grandmother and saw that most of the table was now focused on her, waiting for her to respond.

"Well, it's going really well. A few of my classes are tougher than I expected, but I think I'm doing okay in them. There's nothing really exciting to talk about, I guess." She said slowly, knowing at any moment her father would cut in. It was just how things worked.

"What do you do for fun?" She heard her cousin Brooke ask.

"Well, I spend time with friends mostly. I guess I haven't been there long enough to figure out what all NCWC has to offer."

"Have you joined any extracurriculars yet?" Her uncle asked next. Elizabeth had decided a long time ago that these dinners felt more like being interrogated than simply enjoying dinner with family.

"No, not yet." She responded looking in the opposite direction of her father, knowing it wasn't the answer he would want to hear.

"Well, she's only been there a month or so. She still has plenty of time to take care of that stuff." Weatherby's confident voice filled the room. "I'm quite sure that Elizabeth will make quite an impact there."

Elizabeth listened as he continued to ramble on, and watched as everyone's faces lit up at everything her father was saying. It was only after everyone moved from the dining room to the back yard did the conversation end.

It was a beautiful afternoon, and Elizabeth was glad for that. She wasn't sure she could handle being cooped up in her house with her family for very much longer. Sitting on the deck with her cousin Brooke, she allowed herself to focus on the warm sun instead of her family and their constant questions.

She quickly looked over and saw her father engulfed in a game of croquet, and pulled her cell phone. She typed a quick message to Will, before sneaking the phone back into her pocket. She knew her father would be upset if he knew she was texting around her family, but she wanted to let Will know that she would text him when she was ready to head back to Rocky Mount where NCWC was located.

They had discussed this earlier, and formed a plan that would help get Elizabeth out of any situation she no longer wanted to be in. She would simply send him a blank message, and he would respond saying it was time to head back. She would then show her father the message, and let him know that she needed to leave soon.

Elizabeth smiled thinking back to their discussion and the time she spent with Will and Amelia that afternoon. Like always, they chatted over breakfast before popping in a chick flick (much to Will's protests) and spent the afternoon sprawled across the couches.

"So, are there cute boys up there?" Brooke's voice brought Elizabeth to reality. She looked over at her cousin and smiled, thinking of how she had seen Will just that very morning.

She had spent several minutes out with Amelia before she tip toed to his room, quietly letting herself in. She knew Will was shocked to see her standing in her doorway, but what he didn't know was that she was also shocked by the sight in front of her- Will lying on his bed in only a pair of dark gray sweatpants.

"You could say that." Elizabeth responded with a smirk.


"I'm happy for you William." Amelia said as she began to collect the dishes from their lunch. "Just because you would never admit it doesn't mean I didn't know how much you cared for her. And I'm just happy this day finally came."

"Finally?" Will questioned his mother's use of words.

"Yes, finally. I think it was obvious to everyone how you two felt about the other."

"I really doubt that." Will responded, his voice falling slightly.

Amelia's expression changed. "Talk to me."

She watched as her son sighed and put his head in his hands. Moments later, he lifted it back up and looked her square in the eyes. "Her family is gonna freak. I know she won't tell them today, but she will soon, and they're gonna freak. Her dad doesn't even like that I'm her friend, how do you think he'll react when he finds out we're dating? I just don't know how it's going to work if her family hates me. And what will she do when-"

"Will, stop." Amelia cut him off. "You've been dating a day and you're already betting against it? Honestly, who cares what Weatherby Swann thinks. If I disapproved of Elizabeth, would that change anything?"

"Yes, it would. Your opinion means everything to me. And I'm sure her parents' opinions mean something to her too." Will said with a slight dramatic flair to his voice.

"Well, I'm glad that my opinion means that much to you. For the record, I adore Elizabeth. But the fact of the matter is we both know that she doesn't really care what her parents want for her. She wouldn't have gone to Wesleyan if she did. She would've graduated top of her class and be off at Princeton, but that didn't happen did it?" She looked at Will and waited for his response. "Did it?"

"No." Was his muffled response.

"So keep your chin up. The girl was here at seven forty five this morning wanting to see you. That should mean something."

Will smiled and nodded his head. "You're right. I'm just nervous. I've wanted this for so long that I don't want anything to go wrong."

Amelia could see the genuine worry in her sons eyes, and took hold of his hand. "The best advice I have for you is to just go with it. You and Elizabeth might go a month before realizing it won't work. While I doubt that, it could very well happen. And the only thing you can do is enjoy your time together while you have it. It's one of the best things you can do to make it last."

Will nodded his head again and gave her hand a tight squeeze. "Thank you. You always know what to say."

Amelia grinned. "That's what mothers are for."

The moment was broken by the sound of Will's phone sounding through the room, alerting him that he had a message. He flipped open the phone and saw a page from the very girl they were just talking about.

He turned to his mother and gave her a sad look. "I gotta get going."


"I'm so glad to be back." Elizabeth said as she cuddled into Will's side. They were currently occupying the futon in her and Ana's dorm room watching reruns of CSI.

"Yeah, I am too, but it was good to see my mom. I hate that she's alone like that."

"It's hard for you isn't it?" Elizabeth said, her voice turning more serious.

Will paused before answering her. "No. It's just that or so long it was just the two of us, and I hate leaving her like that."

"I can understand that." She said. "You guys are a team."

"Isn't it hard leaving your parents?"

"Seriously Will, have you met my parents?" Elizabeth asked causing them both to laugh.

They turned at the sound of the door opening and saw Ana standing in the doorway, arms filled with her books. She continued to stare at the couple, cocking her head to the side and narrowed her eyes as if she were studying something.

"Well, well." She said giving a sly smile. "Glad to see there's a new development in your relationship. Here me and Jack were planning on locking you two in a closet until you figured it out. But heck, I guess a car works just as good."

She gave them both a wink before placing her books down and walking back to the door.

"Where are you going?" Elizabeth called after her.

Ana turned and smiled. "I'll give you that you guys are cute, but you can't honestly think I want to spend the night watching you canoodle on the futon. Besides, I owe Jack ten bucks."

"What for?" Will asked.

"We made a bet. He said you two would get together before Thanksgiving, while I thought it would be longer. Looks like he won." She smirked and walked out the door.