The Lake...Chapter 3
I would like to thank my best friend Johnny for collaborating once again with me on this chapter. Honey, you truly are my source of inspiration! I would also like to thank all my followers for the reviews and kind words. You all mean the world to me. I dedicate this chapter to everyone who believes in second chances... - RoxyGirl24 oxox
(Will's POV)
Eight o'clock...
As I walked along the cobble stone path leading up to the lake, I couldn't help but wonder if this was such a good idea, to meet up with Sonny I mean. It took me three years to get passed everything that's happen between us, and honestly, I'm not quite sure if I'm ready to revisit those emotions again. But as much as I was angry at him for shutting me out of his life, I wanted and needed to see him, I missed him...
Once I approached the end of the pathway, I noticed he was already there waiting for me, sitting on the edge of the dock, splashing his feet in the water like we did so many times before as children. I remember being so happy when I use to run up here and saw Sonny waiting for me to sitting on the edge waiting for me likes he's doing today. But things change, I changed. I wasn't that young confused boy from the lake anymore, I was a young man trying to understand what happened all those years ago, hoping desperately to find the answers I was looking for, so I can finally put everything that's happened behind me, and hopefully find some closure.
"Hey", I whispered as I walk over and sat along side of him on the dock.
"Hey", he answered glancing over at me, "I wasn't sure if you were gonna come."
His assumptions were right, I wasn't sure if I was even gonna show up, but something deep inside me, told me I should be honest with him about it, "I wasn't sure of that either."
"Well, I'm glad you did", glancing over at me to see my reaction.
I smiled...
We look at each other a few awkward seconds, before turning our eyes over the water. Neither of us really knew what to say to one another. It only took a few minutes to figure that out after sitting there next to each other for over twenty minutes without saying a word. It was to be expected after everything that's happen between us, but someone needed to put an end to silence. I might as well be the one to make the first gesture.
"So, how have you been?", I asked, trying to strike up a conversation.
It took him a moment to respond, "I've been better", he admitted, turning his eyes over to mine once again.
I could see in his face that something was bothering him, I thought maybe his reasons for being here were the same as mine, to get away from it all, "Yeah, me too. That's actually the reason I came up here this week-end."
I got up off the edge of the dock and walked over to the other side to looking over the beautiful waters of Lake Celeste as the sun was just about getting ready to set. He followed behind me.
He gasped, "Me to", confirming what crossed my mind in the first place, "I thought this place might help me find the answers I've been looking for."
Guess I was right. Something was bothering him, but I didn't know what. I thought to myself that maybe this was the chance to ask him what was wrong. But I didn't want to overstep my boundaries with him. Maybe starting with a simple question would do the trick.
I once again turned over to him, "Well, have you found any of those answers yet?"
He chuckled, "I found you didn't I?" , he answered while staring at me with his mesmerizing dark eyes. I couldn't help but blush.
What happened next was totally unexpected. His latest admission caught me off guard, my body whimpered after hearing those words come out of his mouth, causing me to take a step back. And for a moment, I forget how close to the edge I was standing. I lost balance grabbed a hold of his shirt. But instead of stopping myself from falling in, I pulled him in under the water with me.
"Oh you are so dead Horton!", he said wiping the water out of his eyes.
I laughed, "You will have to catch me first Mr.", splashing a handful of water in his direction.
"You asked for it!"
Before I knew it, Sonny was fully submerged under the water. My eyes wandered around me trying to find where he might be. This was a game Sonny loved to play. I knew at any moment, he would pop up and scare the shit out me. He did it every chance he got. You would expect after so many times, a person would get use to it right? But believe me when I say, you don't!
"Gotcha!", he said, grabbing a hold of my leg from under the water.
I screamed, "You asshole!"
"I'm sorry, I have no will power!" he laughed.
"You know, you're gonna give me a heart attack someday?", I said pretending I was angry, but really, I wasn't.
I could see that something in his face changed. The corner of his eyes filled with tears, trying so hard not to let his emotions show. Sonny wasn't an emotional person. Let me just say that I've never seen him cry or show any signs of weakness. Well that was until now. I didn't know what to make of it.
He slowly waded over to me, stopping only a few inches away from my body. I watched him closely as he lifted his hand up to my face and gently brushed his thumb over my cheek, he whispered, "I'll make sure no one will ever hurts your heart again Will."
His last words made me lose sight of all the anger I had bottled up inside, and without even thinking, I said the first thing that came to mind, "You promise?"
Before I could even register what was happening, I felt the strength of his arms wrapping themselves around my waist, leaving only a short distance separating our lips from pressing against each other, "I promise", he managed to breathe out, feeling the warmth of his breath against my face. It was déjà vu all over again for me...
Flash back...July 2010
Sonny and I were both enjoying our last evening together swimming at the lake. We spent every waking moment of our day together. Let me just tell you that it was one of the best days of my life, but that was until the sun started to set and I realized that our time together was ending. Tomorrow, Sonny was leaving...
"Sonny?"
"Yeah Will?"
"I don't wanna leave tomorrow Sonny, because that means I wont see you again for a whole year. I'm gonna miss you..." My eyes began to tear up, trying so hard to stop it from happening.
"Hey, don't cry Will. If it makes you feel any better, I don't want to leave either."
"Really?", I asked, trying to question the way he really felt about me.
"Yeah, really", he admitted.
Out of nowhere, this crazy idea popped into my head, "We should run away together, so that way we would never have to leave each other ever again."
"Will, It's not that simple. It wouldn't take long for our parents to find us and when they did, we would both be grounded for life. And God knows how long it would take before we could see each other again, and I'm not willing to risk that."
He was right. my idea was stupid. But knowing he was leaving tomorrow broke my heart. At this point, I couldn't hold back the tears anymore. I turned away from him.
He tried to comfort me, "Hey, don't be sad", lifting my chin up to look at my face, but still, I couldn't look him in the eyes, "Will, you gotta know that I would love nothing more than to able to see you everyday."
I knew he was sincere when he said those words, but I didn't want him to see how torn up I was inside. When he saw I wasn't responding, he tried even harder, "Hey, look at me" he asked, "We still have tonight...Let's just make the most of it. Okay?"
"Okay", I answered as he reached over and wiped the tears away from my eyes, "Sonny?"
"Yeah?"
"Can I ask you something?"
He nodded.
"Do you like me?", I asked watching his face turn to shock by my question.
"Of course I like you Will, you're my best friend, why would you even ask me something like that?"
"Because I wanted to know if you liked me. That's all."
As much as I wanted to tell him flat-out what I meant by that, I couldn't. I was afraid that if he knew I had feelings for him that went beyond friendship, that I might ruin any chance of having any kind relationship with him at all.
"You're weird you know that?", he responded by splashing a handful of water in my face.
"I know", I said grabbing a hold of his head and pulled him under water with me. We wrestled and splashed around for a while, just like we always did. Laughing, playing, but all that changed when I realized just how close we actually were to each other. I could no longer hide the way I was feeling anymore. Before Sonny even knew what was going on, my lips were pressing to his...I kissed him...
He pulled away for a moment and gave me a slight push, "Will...What are you doing?", he said looking straight into my eyes.
I had no idea how to explain what the hell just happened. So instead of trying to justify my actions, I simply did the only that felt right. I asked him to forgive me, "I'm sorry Sonny, I shouldn't have done that, I'm sorry, I just got caught up in the moment and I though...I'm sorry, I never meant for any of this to happen. Please Sonny, don't hate me."
He just stood there in the water, frozen. When I saw he wasn't saying anything, I took it as a sign of rejection on his behalf. I couldn't even look at his face anymore, because I felt so ashamed after what I just did, so I turned away from him and started to make a run for it by swimming over to the dock.
Before I could even get away from him, I pulled me right back into his arms again, "Will, don't go", he begged, "I'm sorry I reacted that way, it's just...", he started to fumble over trying to find the right words to say.
"I get it Sonny, you don't like me the way that I like you. It's fine! Let's just forget about this and pretend like nothing happened", I said as I tried to free myself from him once again.
"You don't get it do you Will."
I was scared and confused, "I get it. I get that you don't like me that way. Please, just let me go so I can get out of here and forget this ever happened. I'm embarrassed enough as it is already", I pleaded, trying to get him to release me from his hold.
We both continued struggling, "Will, stop it! Stop trying to run away from me."
"Let me go", I screamed.
His grip on me was getting stronger. I knew I couldn't fight him off much longer, "I'm not letting you go until you hear what I have to say."
"I don't wanna hear it Sonny."
"Well, you're gonna hear it if you like it or not...I love you Will."
After hearing those words come out of his mouth, the battle ended. I was no longer trying to fight him off anymore. I turned over to him admitting defeat. He kindly reached over and took my hand and lifted up around his neck and pulled me in closer to his body, so we were now nestled into each others arms. We stared into each others eyes for only a few seconds, until I saw his face slowly leaning towards me, I closed my eyes, and felt the soft touch of Sonny's lips, gently pressing up against mine...
Sonny, was now kissing me back...
And now, I find myself in the same place I was three years ago. Wrapped in him arms, completely lost in the moment, seconds away from kissing each other again after all those years...
Only this time, I was about to give in and let myself fall for someone who's hurt me more than I could ever explain. I pulled away...
"I'm sorry, I have to go", I swam over to the dock and this time, I was able to pull myself up and walk away.
"Will, please?", he begged, "Give me a chance to explain."
I continued to walk away pretending I didn't hear a word he said.
"Will, I love you...I've always loved you. You gotta believe me."
Anger took over me, causing me to come to a complete stop in my tracks. It took me a moment to calm down before turned over to face him, "How dare you say you love me and then not call or write me a letter for three years Sonny. Three fucking years without a single word or a phone call from you. And you expect me to believe you now?"
"I'm sorry."
"You're sorry? I'm the one who's sorry for ever agreeing to meet up with you here tonight!"
"Will, you don't mean that...", he stood there hurt, waiting for me to respond to his last statement.
As much as I cared about Sonny, I knew that I wasn't ready to admit to myself or to him for that matter, just how much seeing him, affected me, "I can't do this again. I'm out of here!", I turned around and stormed off."
"I want you in my life Will. Please let me explain?", he followed me from behind until we both reached the end of the path leading to my family's cabin.
As much as I try to walk away from him and pretend like I didn't care, something inside me was holding me back from doing it. I stopped...
"You can't come back into my life and pretend like nothings happen and turn around and leave me again for another three years. Do you know how hard that was, trying not to love you?
"I"m sorry", he whispered.
"Well sorry's not gonna cut it", I walked away from him and proceeded to go inside the cabin. Just as I was about to close the door behind me, he put his foot in door preventing me from doing just that.
"Would you just stop and let me explain?"
I replied in anger, "Explain what Sonny? That I meant nothing to you?"
"Will, do you think leaving was easy for me? My heart broke every time I thought about you. You mean the world to me Will."
Our heated conversation quickly turned into a full-blown argument, without holding back, I grabbed him firmly and roughly pushed him up against the door. Unleashing all the anger I had bottled up inside, "Oh really? I mean the world to you? It that the reason you never called me or answered any of my letters?"
"That's not fair and you know it Will."
"Let me tell you what not fair, I was thirteen years old Sonny, thirteen and in love with you. What was I suppose to think when you never showed up or called?", I said looking straight into his eyes as I poured my heart out to him.
He reached down and wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled me in slightly. Slowly, I began to release my grip on him as we began to move with each other until we completely shifted positions, and now, I was the one with my back pressed up against the door, "Will, I never meant to break your heart. You gotta believe me when I say that. There is a reason why I couldn't contact you Will, if you just hear me out and listen to what I have to say, I promise that once I'm done, I'll leave you alone and never bother you again."
"You promised you would never leave me and you did. Why should I believe anything you say to me now?", I whispered softly to him, desperately awaiting to see what his answer would be.
"Because I'm telling you the truth Will. All I'm looking for is a chance to explain myself to you, in hopes that one day, you might be able to forgive me for doing what I did."
"Is that all you're looking for Sonny? Forgiveness?", I asked, hoping that forgiveness what's the only think he was looking for, because my heart could no longer deny the feelings I have for him.
"No.", he answered taking a step forward towards me. I watched him as he slowly removed his hands from my waist and reached out for my hands, lacing his fingers in between mine. I did stop him either, "Not a day has gone by Will that I haven't dreamed about holding you in my arms again. Just like this", he pointed out stepping a little closer to me, "What I'm actually looking for Will, is a second chance with you. Would you ever consider giving us another shot?
Second chances...
Everyone deserves a second chance to make things right. Everyone including Sonny. As much as I wanted to hate him for putting my through the worst three years of my life, I couldn't. His last words made my heart flutter in way I never thought possible. I never imagined myself feeling this way ever again. He's the only person I ever loved and I was hoping he would also be the last. I stood there in front of him, ready to give him his answer, I simply nodded...
Without either of us saying another word, Sonny gently traced his finger along my cheek and then lifted my chin so we were looking in each others eyes. He leaned in closer. So close, that our noses were touching, ever-so-slightly bushing against each other. I could feel the warmth of his breath on my face as he slowly closed up the gap between us. It was then I felt his lips brushed up against mine, it was then Sonny finally kissed me. My lips ached for his as grabbed a hold of his shirt and held on to him for dear life.
To second chances...What happens next, is up to us...
To be continued...