More update cuz I had a lot of free time in the car to type

Note/ Clarifaction:

I mentioned earlier Will was adopted though I refere to his mother in this chapter as Mrs. Turner. This isn't a mistake. I'm aware (Obviously or I wouldn't have pointed it out)

WillxLiz will start eventually...just bare with me. I must get all the Liz torturing out of my system first...Huggles imaginary Will sitting next to her

...Pointless Emptiness...

Elizabeth woke up feeling sick to her stomach. Sweat covered her bed sheets. She sat up, which was quite a chore since her head felt as it was a rock. She looked to the clock, but she saw only a blur of red. She dragged herself out of bed and to the bathroom- making a mess on her bed was one of the only things that would make the early morning worse for her. She collapsed on the cold tile and heaved into the toilet. As her stomach churned, Elizabeth made a mental note to yell at all her friends who suggested she ate. If she avoided food she was fine. Elizabeth stayed put until she was sure there was nothing left in her stomach to throw up. Her face had lost all its color- though she was less nauseous she was still plagued by the throbbing in her head and dizziness.

"Are you alright in there, honey?" Her father tapped his knuckles on the door.

"Uh…yeah…I'm good." She grasped at the door knob and pushed it open. He looked her over- her knees gave out and she toppled forward- he steadied her.

"Liz, you're sick." Elizabeth sure felt awful enough to be sick. Maybe she was sick- she hoped she was- then at least she could count on getting well.

"Don't worry about me. It's nothing. I'm just a little dizzy."

"You nearly pasted out. You have to take care of yourself. Don't make me worry about you."

"Dad, I'm okay. Really, I'm sure I just ate something that didn't agree with me-"

"Or did you drink too much?"

Elizabeth lowered her body onto the couch, resting her head on the throw pillow.

"Thought so. I'm not going to lecture you Liz. You are old enough to know what is safe to do…"

Shivers ran up Elizabeth's spine. She covered eyes with her forearm. It was getting painful to listen to her father's voice. "Why are you up so early?" She asked to change the topic of discussion.

"Oh. I was going fishing with the guys, but now….I don't want to leave you if you're sick."

She rolled over, wondering why he suddenly cared about leaving her alone. "No, don't let me foil your plans. I don't have anything to do today. I'll just sleep."

"Liz…"

"Dad, go have fun. I know how hard you work…" The man frowned. She could tell he wanted to go. He probably felt awkward around her while she was ill.

"You sure?"

"Go, it'll be sunrise soon. All the fish will be gone…"

"Okay Liz, take it easy." He grabbed his fishing gear. "I'll have my phone so if you need anything…" The man left. Elizabeth knew that when he fished he never left his phone on- they needed silence so as to not scare the fish away.

Elizabeth lay on the sofa until the room stopped spinning. She was grateful she had woken up; at least she had gotten the opportunity to speak with her father before he left again. When she lay still, she wasn't suffering too much, but Elizabeth hated doing nothing. Her father was right; she was wasting too much time. She had to focus on school and track. What was she thinking when she ditched practice that previous morning. She sat up- there was time to make up for the mistake. She went back to her room to grab her Ipod from her dresser. She put on her running clothes and shoes. She knew she this wasn't the smartest idea she ever had, but in her mind slacking was even worse.

When she first took off running, Elizabeth feared she going to pass out. She turned her music up as loud as it would go. She would listen to only that, ignoring any conscious thoughts. As she fell in pace, she forgot her misery and just ran. Hours passed; her legs became numb. She loved very little else more than the exhilarating feeling that came with knowing you could run forever. She hadn't taken her watch so she had no idea what time it was, but since it was daylight she assumed it was around nine or ten. She wished she had taken her water bottle. She stopped and looked around- she hadn't really been paying attention to where she was going. A car horn sounded and she jumped.

"Elizabeth Swan! What the heck?" Elizabeth rolled her eyes. Will was tremendously talented at finding her.

"Morning Will!" She tried to sound enthusiastic but her throat was too dry for faking. The person in the passenger seat said something to Will, he nodded and the back door slide open.

"My mom insists we pick you up so get in or I'll be forced to use alternative methods."

Elizabeth nodded and hopped aboard. She had gotten her work-out for the day and anyway saying no to Will was not something she was practically skilled at. She slid the door of the minivan shut and strapped the seatbelt. Will touched his foot to the accelerator and they drove off. Of all her friends, Will was by far the best driver. She couldn't recall a single instance where he sped or took a stupid chance- at least when Jack wasn't involved. He pulled into his driveway, hitting the button to open the garage door before he got out. Will lived in a single story wood house. The lawn was neat and an apple tree grew to the left of the bay window.

"So why were you out so early?" Mrs. Turner asked. She was a short woman with dark brown hair that she wore tucked behind her ear. Though it was clear she was young, she had worry lines etched into her face. She wore black slacks and a violet sweater.

"I always run in the mornings. The world is more peaceful then…" Elizabeth smiled. The car beeped as Will locked the doors.

"Good thing I saw you running so I was able to give you a lift."

"Will, I run all the time. I wasn't going to drop dead if I went a few more blacks."

"I don't know…knowing you you've probably been out since daybreak."

"Nope." Elizabeth had to deny that- he was kidding around. If he learned the truth he'd freak out. "Where were you two coming from?"

"Uh…church…same as every Sunday morning."

"Come on, Liz. I make pancakes every Sunday morning too."

Elizabeth sat on a stool in the kitchen while Will went to his room to change out of good clothes. She watched Will's mom gather ingredients.

"So how are you Lizzie? I hear you're quite the star around school."

"Oh really? I don't know I'd go that far…"

"Don't be so modest, dear. If you work hard for something, you should reap the rewards." Elizabeth smiled as Will walked in.

"Whoa! Elizabeth smiling, what'd you say to her?" Mrs. Turner laughed.

"Don't just stand there Will. Set the table. You're hungry right, Elizabeth?" She switched on the stove to heat up the skillet. Elizabeth looked up.

"Don't tell me, you ate before you went out running."

"I…I'm not really in the mood for food." Elizabeth wasn't going to eat- she didn't want to have a repeat of that morning.

"If you run a lot, you need to eat- unless you want to make yourself sick."

Will placed a glass of orange juice in front of Elizabeth. "We tell her that all the time. But I think she may be going deaf." She drank the juice. If they knew what food did to her, they would stop trying to feed her. That wouldn't happen though since she planned on never letting anyone find out.

After they were finished eating and the dishing put in the dishwasher, Elizabeth and Will retreated to his room. She sat on his bed, leaning against the wall.

"What is this?" Elizabeth held up a pirate hat that resembled the one Jack wore everywhere. Will dove for the hat.

"Just a prop for our routine…"

"That reminds me. What happened with Jack?"

"He was at the Taco Shack down by the beach."

"He made all that up then…"

"Uh I don't think so…He was dripping wet. You never know with him…"

"True that. He has ways of doing things I'd never thought possible."

"Make you jealous?"

"Excuse me."

"Hey, you never gave me that book you borrowed back. My collection is incomplete without it." He pointed to his bookshelf. There was an empty spot where volume one would go. Never-the-less, he had a very impressive collection of mangas.

"I forgot, sorry, I just don't have the time to be reading…"

Then I guess you don't have time for this either." Will tossed her the box to a Playstation 2 game. Elizabeth looked from it to Will.

"So it finally did come out?" Last summer the two of them had been so excited when they heard the announcement of the game's release date. They had tracked down any and all information about it until school began. Then she became busy and found other uses for her time.

"Yeah last month. The date got delayed. You can take it if you want. I beat it. I'm playing Grandia III now. Sorta, I'm actually stuck. I should give up though it just isn't worth it."

"Thanks, but I don't even know where my system is…Want me to try?"

"Be my guest just don't smash it when you die or at least take the game out before you do." Will pressed the red button on the console and the television and handed her the controller. She lay on her stomach in front of the television. No sooner had she loaded his game, did her phone ring.

"Why did you even take that thing running?"

"Habit. What why don't I get a turn?"

"Frustrating isn't it."

When Elizabeth didn't answer the call went through to her voice mail. The noise the phone made as a reminder got so annoying she checked it.

"James right?'

"Yeah." She opened her voice mail and played the message.

"Hey Liz, what's up? Hope ya had fun last night and didn't get into too much trouble. You were so beautiful last night…absolutely stunning. I love you so much- every moment we're apart tears my heart apart. I'm thinking about you, Lizzie."

Elizabeth closed the phone before her face could go completely beet red. Will leaned closer.

"Did your man say something naughty?" He reached for the phone, but Elizabeth shoved it into her pocket.

"None of your business."

"Oh dare, so how was your date with Norry last night? Or is that none of my business either."

"It was fun. The food was incredible-"

"Oh so you ate with him. Guess our food isn't good enough for you."

"No…that's not it. James was so excited- he really wanted me to enjoy myself. I couldn't let him down."

Will shook his head. "Cuz I've never gone out of way to please you…"

"Huh?"

"Oh nothing. Who wouldn't want to be thrilled with the opportunity to eat at the most well to do joint in town especially alone with your love." He rolled his eyes, making no attempt to hide his sarcasm.

"Will!"

He put his hands up in surrender. "Hey, hey I didn't mean anything by that…just teasing you. Get a sense of humor."

"No, you weren't. You hate him and you hate me spending time with him."

"Come on. I never said that."

"You don't have to- I'm not daft."

"I just don't get why you like him. He's rich, insensitive, and boring. That's all I'm going to say on the topic…"

"Will you don't even know him. And just so you know we can say some nasty stuff about you and you're crew too."

"And I'm sure you do- our badges of honor."

"Oh you sound like Jack."

"I'm not sure if I should take that as an insult or a compliment….hey how'd you survive this long? I'm KO'ed in like a few minutes."

"The game? I wasn't even watching. Once you get used to the battle system, it's not that hard. Well, you got to be patient…or in my case distracted."

"Nah, you're just talented…at like everything."

"Stop kidding around. That's so far from the truth…I suck at so many things…"

Will chucked his shoe at her.

"What was that for?" She rubbed her arm where the shoe hit.

"Putting yourself down."

"Why it's the truth?"

"I'm not arguing with you- just play the game. After wasting like forty hours on it, I want to at least see the ending…"

"Will! Come over here I need to talk to you."

"Mom's calling. Be right back. You want anything while I'm up?"

"No, I'm good though I will be better after this guy dies…" Will chuckled as he left. Elizabeth continued tapping the X button. She was having trouble believing Will had played this game for forty hours. To her the investment of that time was only worth it if the story, characters and battle system were all good- this game seemed drab in all those aspects. Maybe Will had too much free time on his hands…

One of her characters struck the finishing blow. She pushed the controller away for the generic after boss battle cut-scene. A few lines in, she realized Will would probably want to see this. She pressed start to pause it then lay her head on her hands to wait for Will.

Will returned to find Elizabeth still sprawled on the bed- only she was sleeping now. He picked the controller up- he'd let her sleep while he played. Her respite was short lived- as soon as he took control the game, a rather loud scene started. He hurried to lower the volume, but the damage was already done. Elizabeth grumbled.

"Morning Liz."

"Oh crap, I didn't-"

"Yip, but its okay. Games had a very similar effect on me on many different occasions."

"Ahh yeah. The game…I'm just tired."

"Really? What time did you get up?"

"I don't know…" She didn't even want to imagine what he'd say if she told him that she never really went to sleep.

"Did Norry keep you out too late then?" Will nudged her in the ribs. "Oh wait forget that…none of business." He tickled her until she rolled around and nearly crashed off the bed.

"Cut it out." Tears of laughter formed in her eyes.

"What am I doing something? I hadn't noticed. Hey what's so funny?"

"Will?"

"Yeah." He gave up his tickling and stared earnestly at her.

"Oh nothing…I was just thinking that I really haven't laughed this hard in forever…."

"Glad to make your day, Miss Swann."

Elizabeth positioned her head so it was almost resting on his leg. Will's mouth hung open- he was unsure what to do. He wanted to hold her, but she had made it clear in the past that she wasn't the touchy-feely type or not around him at least. A few strands of hair fell into her closed eyes. He brushed them back. The warmth of her face caused his hand to tingle. He spoke her name, his voice only a murmur.

"Yeah?" Will withdrew his hand as her eyes opened. He inhaled at the sight of her deep brown eyes. They were glossy as if she would fall back to sleep at any moment.

"Uh….just sleep…"

"Sleep…? Just five more minutes…"

"Oh Liz…" Her eyes were closed, but her breath wasn't steady enough for her to be asleep. Will covered her up with his blanket. "Why do you do this to yourself?" No answer came as Elizabeth had fallen fast asleep. Will muted the television and continued his game. As guilty as it made him feel, his eyes roamed back to his sleeping friend.

Will stirred Elizabeth awake. Her phone had wrong three times. After the second consecutive time, he had checked to see who it was.

"Liz, your dad is calling."

"What? How'd it get to be six?"

"Twelve, one, two, three, four and five passed."

"No, really…" She grabbed her phone.

"You feel asleep like six hours ago."

"Crap Will, why didn't you wake me up?"

"Hell no, for all I know that could be the only sleep you've gotten all weekend." Elizabeth gave Will a face and answered her ringing phone.

"Hey, Dad. Is everything okay?"

"Elizabeth you told me you weren't going out and I come home early to find you not here."

"I just went for a run…"

"You couldn't move earlier how could you run?"

"It passed. I'm fine now."

"Fine Elizabeth do what you want. Just come home, you have school tomorrow." Elizabeth closed her phone. He had a lot of guts lecturing her about not being home.

"You're fine now? Meaning you weren't earlier?"

"Will stop, just stop. I must be a horrible person since no matter what I do; I can't please either of you. What do you want from me?" Hot tears threatened to fall.

"Elizabeth?" He reached for her, but she pushed him away.

"I have to go Will. I'm sorry." She pushed past him out the door. Will stood in his door frame, confused.

"Will did you say something mean to her?" His mom asked, appearing from her room across the hall.

"I don't know…I just asked if she was alright…"

"Guess we can take that as a no then?"

Will nodded. "The sun'll freeze over before she tells me why though."

So? Please review!!!!!!!! Yeah I'm beggin' Thanky.