I'm surprised when I wake and Will is still sitting beside me. His eyes are open and staring and he's so still that he almost looks dead. But then I see him look over slowly at me and close his eyes partway.

"You're awake." He says flatly and I can see the warmth from the night before slipping away through my fingers though my hands are clutching his. "You were having nightmares."

Sitting up, I blink sleep away. "I don't remember them."

Pulling his hand away from mine, I instantly gets colder when the freezing air hits my exposed skin. I grab the blankets, wrapping them around me and shivering. I think he opened the window because the air is crisp and smells like pine. My thoughts are confirmed when he reaches above me, sliding the glass closed and instantly, the room gets warmer. "Come one, Tessa. I want to go to the city hospital today." He remarks, his eyes dark with exhaustion. I can tell that he hasn't slept well the past few nights ever since he got that message at the dinner.

"Hospital?" I echo, standing up and letting the blankets slide off. His eyes flit over me before he turns away, frowning.

"Get yourself ready." He orders, exiting the room. He glances at me, a glitter in his eyes that makes me flush a little against my will. He plays me as easily as he plays a puppet, and he knows it. Everything is instinctive, now and everything is the same.

Calling Emma to help clothe me.

Going to the restroom to apply makeup.

Curling my hair.

Joining Will in the main room.

Except there is one thing wrong.

Will is silent as he takes my wrist; he is never this gentle. He is silent as we walk to the train; we use the train for everything. He is silent when we sit down in our cabin car; he always has something to complain about. We're so close that I can feel my shoulder brush his just barely and I reach out and take his hand. He is quick to draw away from me, leaning his head against the window. With a frustrated sigh, he pushes my reaching hand away. "Miss Gray. I'm not in the fondest of moods so, if you would like to keep that hand of yours, I suggest you keep it to yourself."

"Very amusing." I say dryly, frowning. "With what would you cut it off? Your tongue is sharp enough."

"Ah, but, alas, I can't slice hands off with it, can I?" Will comments, licking his bottom lip. "Today, at the hospital, keep quiet and don't ask questions."

"What are we going to be there for?" I ask instinctively before biting my tongue so I don't say anything else.

"The discussion of life support." Will says casually, though there is an underlying cloud of grief in his voice. "My mother has been sick for a while; this trip was bound to happen sometimes. Oh well, life comes and goes fleetingly."

"You care for her." I point out, my tone gentle though he hisses in anger.

"So? It's called family obligation." He snaps and looks away from me. "I really don't give a shit about anything revolving around the whole thing. They tried surgery, it didn't work. Might as well just let her die now than make her live any longer." He raises his eyes, the blue cold and icy. "It's easier to just let them die rather than be burdened by their very existence." Pulling his ring off, he spins it on his hand, watching it. "Ella. Cecily. My mother."

"What's wrong with you?" I ask suddenly, my voice an octave higher than I wanted it to be. "You act as if everyone's lives are yours to take and you act like you don't care about your family even though I know you do."

His eyes narrow. "I did care."

"Where did that person from last night go? I thought you were better than this." I say softly, pulling my knees to my chest. I look at my hands, straightening them and then clasping them together. "Every time that I think I'm getting close, you slam the door back shut. You constantly go between being kind to being an absolute monster. I've tried to hate you, I really have...But I can't when I see the good and I care-"

Will's standing up faster than I can blink, his arms on either side of me so I can't move. He leans in, his fingers pressing into my arm with bruising force. Tilting his head to the side, he gives me a measured look, his eyes shadowed. "I'm a very good actor, Tessa. You don't know me. You don't know me at all. You're constantly in other people's business and making blind assumptions when, in actuality, you have no idea what you're dealing with. I don't care about you, Theresa. I never have and, if you don't want to get hurt, I suggest you take those feelings of yours and hide them because they don't mean a thing. Why are you so obsessed with all this 'giving a damn' crap?"

"This isn't your world." I say, trying to struggled from his grip. "You play everyone as if they all serve you and then you blame it on all this 'corrupt mentality' that you get from your father." My voice lowers and it turns into a plead, but I don't care. "I just want to help you. Can't you see that?"

"Better just see to yourself that you don't step out of line." He growls, his eyes turning to slits. "This," he releases my arms, drawing away, "is what happens when people care. They speak out and corrupt the system because they are not the same. They do not fit in. I've just decided to free myself of that liability and take charge instead."

I give him a look of incredulousness, shaking my head slowly. "So you've decided to run away. Instead of doing what is right, you have turned your back. That is not very noble; not like all the characters in books that you cherish so much."

He raises an eyebrow, and then laughs. "Comparing me to a book character? Wake up, Tessa. This is the real world, not some written out plot that ends up with a happily ever after, or with the villain dying, or with them being okay."

"You're cruel-"

"You should have thought about that before you tried cozying up to me."

I let out a startled breath. "Cozying up to you? I did no such-"

"Good lord. Not only are you daft, but you have short term memory loss as well." He announces, throwing one leg elegantly over the other and leaning back in his seat. "'Oh, William. Stay with me!'. 'I have hope for you'. If that wasn't cozying up, I don't know what was."

My cheeks heat with embarrassment as I flush. "I wasn't remotely like that."

"You were exactly like that."

"Why did you stay, then?"

Shrugging, he smirks. "Pity, I guess."

"I like you better when you're drunk."

He smirks again. "You've never seen me drunk."

I give him a pointed look, my lips pursed. "That one night when you gave me that glass of wine or...whatever it was. You were obviously inebriated even though you say you have a very high alcohol tolerance. You were drunk that one night."

"As I said before," Will murmurs, moving so close to me so I can see each individual fleck in his eyes, "I am a very good actor."