Hey everyone. Wow! Thank you so much to all my reviewers and their reviews for the first chap! 14 reviews... wow, wow, wow! A huge thanks again! We'll pick up from where I left Clewis off in a few chapters time.

Anyway, I was hoping to update this sooner and shorten the gap between the 'pilot' chapter and the second, but it's so late due to uncontrollable issues (supreme school stress, sickness and a death in the family) as well as the normal stuff like school & work that make my life busy, and then to add to that I had a wedding to go to this weekend which meant a one night holiday and then I babysat a 2 year old and 3 year old today. Hence, I have about 7 hours of stuff I have to cram into 3/4 hours tonight. Be glad for this update! haha

Sorry for the vent, here's the chapter. Will's POV... strange for it not to be one of the girls, yeah I know, but it's crucial to how the events of the story and plots unfold. I'm also gonna try and have a quote relative to the chapter as I have done here.

Enjoy & please review. I appreciate them, and you all

"Be careful what you wish for...
... I guess there's a lot to be said for making the right wishes."

Rachel Rafter - Packed to the Rafters

Chapter 2 - Careful What You Wish For

Will's POV

It was a 40 something degree day (us guys don't check the weather) and Zane & I were lazing around under the heat of the radiating sun in the backyard of our shared place.

"Mate, this is the life." Zane smiled as he reclined further back on his beach chair, holding an ice-cold beer.

"You betcha!" I agreed with a grin, in-between sips of my own beer.

"Who needs chicks when we've got this?" Zane said, as I shot him a questioning glance, knowing that he was lying slightly, ignoring the thought of a certain fiery blonde girl he still loved.

"Yeah, right" I agreed hesitantly, both Zane & I knowing his statement wasn't a hundred percent accurate for me either.

So much had changed since our final year of high school.

Zane & I who previously couldn't stand each other, had grown close after finding some common ground. I'd even go as far as to call him my best mate...

A few months ago, we'd decided to rent a place together after I needed freedom and independence from Sophie, and Zane from his dad.

At the end of year 12, Zane's relationship with Rikki had already ended, but my own relationship with Bella had just begun, or progressed from being friends with hidden mutual feelings for each other.

That was another change.

Time and a lot of other things had passed in our previously burgeoning relationship which was no longer anything pleasant. I hadn't seen Bella since things ended nearly 18 months ago and Zane hadn't seen Rikki in just over two years after she strangely separated herself completely from Zane & I, only keeping in contact with the girls.

I know Lewis had told Zane bits & pieces that Cleo had told him about Rikki and what she was up to, but the two hadn't had direct contact in that time.

#

"I could do this all day" Zane sighed contently as he took another sip from his beer bottle, and swivelled down lower in his chair.

"Yeah, so could I, but unlike some more fortunate, I have to go out and look for a job" I said, using every ounce of motivation in me to resist the temptation of hanging out with him and enjoying the sunshine and perfect weather.

"You're such a party pooper Will!" Zane bellowed out as I stood up, and quickly sculled the remaining drops of beer as I headed for the house to go and get ready.

I shook my head in annoyance as I ignored Zane's added pressure. I really wanted to stay back and spend the rest of the day relaxing, but the common sense in me knew that I had to get a job if I even wanted a chance of living in comfortable luxury like this with Zane.

Zane noticed my ignorance and added "Where ya going again?"

I stopped as I lent against the frame of the sliding door. "I'm just gonna drop my resume into a places in the city. See how that goes" I said before walking inside to prepare to leave as well as getting away to reduce Zane's pressure.

#

Half an hour after I'd left Zane to enjoy the serenity of the perfect day on his own, I'd left the house and driven into the city to start handing out my resume. I'd basically thrown it anywhere that had an opening hours sign.

I was seriously that desperate.

Sure, the odd dive comps had given me a pretty decent amount of money, but they were so few & far between and weren't enough to live on.

I enjoyed sharing a place with Zane, but I always felt fairly pressured. He'd do nothing, yet cash would still roll into his account from his Dad automatically. I felt so embarrassed when it came to paying for the expensive drinks Zane would spontaneously or drunkenly order for us, leaving me in a tough situation of how I was going to pay for mine. That was only one case, with if we out to a club or bar, that's what would happen.

He didn't put pressure on me and he was reasonable about the fact that basically always, my share of the rent was late, but I didn't like it. It made me feel uncomfortable... like I was a charity case that could barely afford to pay rent or buy a drink.

It honestly sucked.

Because of all that, I had to find a job. Anything that had a regular pay roll would do the trick.

Anything.

Beggars can't be choosers.

#

I was walking out of a pub, looking ahead to see the next closest place I could go. It was nearing lunchtime, but I kept walking along, thinking that I'd just finish this road of shops before I'd stop somewhere for lunch.

I looked down at my stack of resume sheets, quickly flipping them over to see the front & back, subconsciously checking them.

I felt half of my body bump into someone else and I looked up to apologize, seeing a blonde dart down and pick up her phone that she'd dropped.

"So sorry!" I said as I watched her stand up, as my face met with hers.

"W...Will?" she said softly with a mixed expression.

I softly gasped upon realizing who the face belonged to.

"Bella."

I stood there, stunned, unable to move from feeling somewhat like I'd been winded.

I stared at her, moving my mouth stupidly with no words coming out as I took it all in slowly.

I looked up and down at her neat outfit. She wore a straight black skirt going just above the knees, with a darker than medium but lighter than navy, flowing, blue top. She had a thick black belt wrapped around her waist that matched her black heels and her blonde locks were slightly, but neatly curled, hanging loose around her face and below her shoulders.

She looked good. She always has.

I noticed she was wearing a lot more make up than she used to. A lot more.

"How are you?" she asked softly, at a volume just above a whisper.

"I'm fine... looking for a job" I said, awkwardly gesturing to the stack of resumes in my arms.

She nodded, expression-less.

"How about you? You look good."

"Thanks. Yeah, I'm fine too" she said, before looking down at the ground.

I fought the urge to ask her there and then all the questions that had piled up in my heart & mind over the last 18 months. I came to a compromise within myself. "Do you want to grab something to eat together? It's about lunchtime" I said, checking my phone just to make sure that a few hours hadn't totally passed without me knowing. "Just to catch up" I added in an effort to try and reassure her after I saw her look of uncertainty.

"I'm sorry Will. I don't think that's a good idea" she said with an apologetic frown.

"Why?" I asked gently, wanting to know her reasoning behind the rejection.

She took a deep breath and looked me in the eyes, before flinching away from my stare.

"I've got a boyfriend."

Those four words felt like they twisted a knife in my heart and could've killed me.

I stood there, slowly taking small breaths; they were the only thing keeping me alive right now. I felt a rush of emotions hit me painfully as I tried to process the information I'd just discovered. I felt the pain and my heartbreak of our breakup all over again.

She wasn't my Bella anymore. Well, she hadn't been for a long time, but now I knew she was someone else's Bella. It hurt. Someone else got to kiss her every day. Someone else got to spend hours upon hours with her every week. Someone else got to see her smile or laugh at the little things you said or did together. Someone else got to love the girl I had.

"I'm so sorry" she said as I silently watched her observing the ground and her feet.

Still feeling absolutely gutted, I tried again. "We can still have lunch can't we? It doesn't have to be anything. We can just talk and find out what's been happening in each other's lives. It's not like we don't care about each other."

She bit her lip, appearing to consider my proposal.

"Alright. Just to catch up. Nothing else."

I gave her a small smile and nodded. "Yeah I understand."

"Okay, good. Anyway, I know a nice little cafe just around the corner from here. It's a 5 minute walk away. That alright?"

I nodded. "Yeah, sounds good" I said as she started walking in the direction she'd pointed to, and I followed behind her, both of us silent the whole walk.

When we arrived at the cafe and were shown to a seat. I had to fight the urge to go and pull out Bella's chair before she got there, like I always used to do when we were on dates. She'd think that was taking things too far and our lunch together would be over before it even begun.

As we sat, I grabbed the menu that was in front of me and flicked through it before looking up and noticing that Bella was just sitting there with her hands in her lap, not even touching her menu.

"What's up?" I asked.

"I know what I want."

"Yeah? What are you getting?"

"Eggs Benedict."

"Sounds good. You come here a lot?"

"Well it's only down the road from where I work so yeah I guess I do eat here a lot. They make good coffee too. "

I smiled slightly. Bella's coffee addiction seemed to have not mellowed over the time passed. That brought back a lot of memories for me so the thought was bittersweet.

"So what are you ordering?" she asked after I zoned out, thinking about some of those memories.

"Uh... what's the salt & pepper squid like?" I asked uncertainly, the squid the first thing that caught my after I looked back at the menu which I hadn't been paying attention to.

"I think that's good. I haven't had it in a while."

I nodded and a waiter came over to our table almost on cue.

"May I take your order?"

"Yeah, we'll have a Eggs Benedict and Salt & Pepper squid, thank you" I said.

"Drinks?" the waiter added as he hurriedly scrawled our meals on the small pad of paper he was holding.

"Lime soda water, please" I said, before looking at Bella to see what she wanted as she added "Skinny latte thanks."

With a quick nod, the waiter left instantaneously, leaving us in an awkward silence for about 10 seconds before I broke it.

"So you said you have a boyfriend..."

Across the table, she nodded and looked down at the serviette, playing with its white, creased corners.

"What's his name?"

"Dan."

I nodded, feeling a bit hurt upon the realization that sunk in and sunk deep. "How lo- How long have you been together?"

"7 months. It was 11 months to the day after we- we, yeah." I nodded, knowing the day she was alluding to well.

It was hurting me knowing the fact Bella had a new boyfriend, yet I found myself curious to know more about him and wanting to ask her more.

I looked at Bella who was biting her lip and checking her phone. She seemed really tense and edgy. Ever since we'd bumped into each other she had, but I guess she wasn't expecting to bump into me like she had. I wasn't at all prepared for it either.

"What are you doing work-wise?"

"I studied at Uni for a while, but now I've got a job as a creative designer. It's basically graphic design, but it's like designing ads and all that. I also go out and do surveys and research on the promotional campaigns."

"Creative designer" I repeated. "You'd like that."

She nodded stiffly, but with a small smile. "Yeah I do. What are you up to these days?"

"Stuff all. That's why I'm looking for a job."

She nodded with a frown. "What happened to diving?"

"It never really took off again after I declined that sponsorship and quit doing comps. Not surprising though. I didn't put any effort into training and just did the bare minimum. Problem is that I was stupid listening to Sophie and I'd put all my eggs in the one basket. I didn't have anything else to fall back on which has created a few difficulties. Anyway, what happened to singing?"

"Uh... a couple of things just came up and I stopped doing gigs with the band. I miss it though."

"Surely you could've found a way around whatever it was."

"It's easier said than done Will. You don't know the circumstances" Bella said with a frown and I nodded.

I really wanted to know what was going on or what happened, but the way she tiptoed around the matter told me she obviously didn't want to discuss it with me, but I was still nonetheless curious.

The waiter returned with two plates and two glasses, putting the appropriate in front of us.

"So that's enough about me. What about yourself? You said you were looking for a job, but what else?" she asked seeming a bit calmer than she had been earlier. Less edgy too.

"Well, depends on what you want to know" I said as I cut my squid up.

"Got a girlfriend?" she asked bluntly and I replied with an answer equally as blunt. "Nope."

"So you're single?" she confirmed unbelievingly.

"Yup. These days I'm living up the bachelor life with Zane."

"You & Zane live together? Really? I'm surprised you even talk to each other willingly!"

"Yeah, it's funny how things change like that."

"It is" she agreed, putting her knife and fork down and checking her phone again.

"Does your break end soon, or do you need to be somewhere or something?"

"Wha-?" she started asking, before my question clicked in her head. "No, it's just I'm keeping an eye on time, you know."

I nodded as I chewed a chip.

I changed the conversation's direction, making it somewhat risky, but honest.

"It's good to see you again Bella. It's nice hearing how you are and where you're at."

She nodded, but with a slight frown and look of insecurity. "I know. I feel the same. I mean, I still care about you Will. I always will, but I just don't care for you anymore. Things have changed, okay? We've both changed."

I'd dreamed about meeting up with her again countless times before, but all my fantasies were unrealistic. They all resulted, one way or another with a happy ending between us. That wasn't reality. This, right here, right now, was reality and Bella was reminding me things were definitely, 110% off, as they had been for the last 18 months.

No happy ending here. Not even the chance of one.

"I should get going" she said getting out of her seat as she spoke, probably so that she was gone before I had a chance to try and convince her to stay.

"But you haven't finished eating!" I said standing up too and pointing to her food.

"I'm not hungry anymore. Goodbye Will" she said, grabbing her handbag and walking off.

I sighed, resting my arms on the table and running my hands through my hair. I took one last skull of my drink before getting up to pay, leaving our two unfinished lunches and trying to remember what I was doing at the city in the first place...

As I walked out, I thought about how that was not the way I wanted our first reunion to end. All my wishes were just wishes... something I wanted to happen, but were about as realistic as a fairytale.

I'd made my bed, now I had to lie in it. No amount of wishes would change the past and it just sucks I have to learn that the hard way.

So that's chapter 2! What did you think? What happened in the past? What's Bella hiding? Do the other girls know about it? Find out more and have more questions raised in the next chap.

Blonde moment of the day. I was in the widely known and very popular wine region of my state (that equals a lot of wineries/vineyards) for the wedding and we were driving around when my sister asks: "What's with all the wine stuff here?" ... we're not related.

Anyway, please review and let me know what you thought. My next update's basically ready too, but I'm going to try and update When I Grow Up first, BUT if I get enough for this chapter, then I'll be inclined and inspired to finish and update my third chapter first.

Preview of next chapter: The title of the chap says it all... 'How Did We Get Here?'

Have an awesome day & don't forget to review!