Chapter 30: Back Of My Mind

It was a snow day in the Boiling Isles, as winter is fast approaching. The snowflakes have started to fall and gather on every blade of grass, and every leaf on Willow's balcony. Soon enough, the plants will start to weaken and reserve their energy for the winter.

And as always, Harvey is in the kitchen preparing cups of hot cocoa as Willow and Gilbert snuggle up on the floor around the fireplace. With mountains of pillows and blankets covering them.

An old family tradition.

"Willow." Gilbert tugs on Willow's blanket.

His daughter seems a little absentminded as of late. Always staring off into the distance, staring deeply into the fire as if it had eyes to look back. Each flicker visible on her fogged up glasses.

"Pop," she responds, her eyes still glued to the fire. "What got you into flyer derby?"

Gilbert blinks. He chuckles a hearty laugh to himself as he recalls. It's surely been a while since then. And even he admits it's rather corny. "Well, my parents wanted me to join more extracurricular activities."

"That's a lie."

Harvey's voice echoes from the kitchen. His footsteps draw nearer, along with the clinks of mugs in his hand. He sets the mugs on the table in front of his family and sits down beside Gilbert.

"He joined because of me."

"PSSH noo I didn't!" Gilbert grabs his mug of hot cocoa, the one titled as '#1 Dad', and mutters a teasing, "Maybe."

Gilbert takes a long sip before he compliments his husband's hot cocoa. Predictably saying it's the best. Harvey lets out a shy chuckle in response.

Willow takes a gentle sip. It burns the roof of her mouth and lips, and as she listens to her fathers chuckling the unpredictable nature of fire and warmth all reminds her of Boscha. A blush spreads through her face, warming up her nose and cheeks, before the hot chocolate leaves a hot feeling fluttering in her chest.

She tries her best to ignore her feelings, but can you blame her for how Boscha seems to leave her mark on everything she ever touches?

"Oh, Willowww," Gilbert says with a drawn-out singsong. "How come you're not joining us?"

"Hmm? But I'm here aren't I?" Willow says in-between sips.

Harvey frowns. "You don't want to cuddle with your old dads anymore? Are you a big girl now?"

Willow cringes internally. It doesn't help she was thinking about her crush. Her dad was very insistent on her not having a girlfriend until she graduated. As much as she wishes she could say yes, she just doesn't have the heart to tell them it's gotten a little embarrassing.

She gently shakes her head, hiding her blushing face with the mug in her hand, unaware her fathers can already tell what's going on.

"Ah well you know," Harvey starts off. "I remember Gilbert joining flyer derby to try and impress me."

"Uhm actually, it was so I could see you."

"Same thing." Harvey sets down his mug of hot cocoa on the table. Fittingly titled as 'Best dad'. "OH yeah! Hold that thought."

He shuffles off upstairs to grab something.

"So why are you asking anyways?" Gilbert asks. "You interested in playing… Or anyone encouraging you into sports all of a sudden?"

It's then that Willow could tell her father was onto her. She fakes a confident laugh, pretending that her dad is the silly old goose, "oh pop. You know I've always loved sports."

"Oh?"

He doesn't sound convinced.

"I uh, inherited it from both of you? Anndd you've seen me get excited over grudgby season with Gus, right?"

Gilbert takes an obnoxiously loud sip from his mug with a quirked eyebrow. "Then why not grudgby?"

"Hmm…" Willow hums. Even she seems to not know why. She's already excellent at grudgby… But… "I just wanted to start my own team… Earn my own trophies too."

"Hmmmm, are you sure flyer derby is the only thing you inherited from us?"

Elevator music plays in Willow's head. "Huh—"

"Here it is!" Harvey waves a small photograph of him and Gilbert in their teens wearing flyer derby uniform. "Ehehe, the more I look at it the more I realize I might've been the one crushing on your pop…"

In the picture, the two teens have their arms slung around each others' shoulders. Gilbert has his fist and staff in the air as if they both won, but the closer Willow looks, the more it looks like they were on different teams. With Gilbert in pink and Harvey in green. But the picture was titled with "The Ghouls celebrate their first win!"

"Are you guys on the same team or…"

"Different teams, Willow." Harvey says. "I was in Glandus, he was in St. Epiderm."

"So why is… pop…"

"He said he wanted to celebrate my first win, and his 'first lose'. "

"And I'm happy to have been your first." Gilbert winks.

Harvey blushes and chokes. Willow dies inside.

"AHAH," Harvey stammers. "ANYWAYS—Willow. Don't listen to your pop. He's a bad influence."

"What!" Gilbert feigns innocence, "I was just saying the truth!"

Harvey groans. "Why did I marry you again?"

"Why are you asking me? Weren't you the one who said you didn't need me~"

Is this what people meant when they say 'argue like an old couple'?

Willow stares back at the now dying fire in front of her and sighs into her cup. "Is this going to be me and Boscha someday…"

Suddenly, silence. With the only noise in the room being the popping and crackling of the fire.

"…Did I say that out loud—"

Harvey snaps his head around. "Do you have a girlfriend, Willow I. Park?!"

Uh oh! It suddenly got very hot, as Willow is sweating buckets at the mention of her full name. "N-no…"

In her defense, she technically isn't lying.

"Don't lie!"

Willow yelps. "I'm not! We're not dating yet I promise!"

"…Yet!?"

A peck on the front door disturbs the three Parks.

"I'll get it!" Gilbert hops off with a cheery, "Just a minute!" before opening the door to see nothing but snow. He looks down, noticing a handwritten letter on the porch. Who sends them mail these days except for his own parents? They certainly wouldn't send a letter via a carrier pigeon either.

As he examines the mysterious letter, he notices that it is addressed to Mr. and Mr. Park. Odd.

Dear Mr. and Mr. Park,

Thank you for letting me stay over the other day. You may or may not know, but I love your daughter. So I would like to get to know the Park family, as well as get your permission to date your daughter.

I'm totally serious abt this. I'd love to introduce myself in this letter but I figured it would be better if I did it in person. I promise I won't disappoint.

Also my mom is asking about coming so… I guess she's coming too if that makes y'all more inclined to agree to this?

Meet us below Dead Man's Curve at 3pm.

Sincerely,

Boscha Ferburn.

As Gilbert reads the letter, Harvey and Willow have been squabbling in the background.

"Since when?!"

"It's only been, 2 weeks."

"And how long have you liked this girl?"

"...Months?"

Harvey fakes a cry, "And you never told us! Did you lie? Did you… Were you lying when you said you two did nothing during that wail storm?!"

Willow's face turns bright red and clams up. "N…No."

"Either way—" Gilbert interrupts the two bickering. He quickly shuts the door to prevent more of the cool air to barge in, and hides the letter in his pocket. He figures he will tell Harvey later, but won't let Willow come.

Because Titan knows if Willow came with them then they wouldn't be able to tell her off. Willow would look too miserable!

"It's not that we don't want you to have a girlfriend, Willow," Gilbert says. He sits beside Willow and puts his hands on her shoulders. The voice of a firm but gentle father coming through that can put any adolescent witch to shame. "We just wanted to know if you're responsible enough. And if anything happens, you'd tell us."

Because Willow was never the type to open up her issues to her dads. Or to anyone really. But they knew when she was upset or hurt.

And any dad's worst fear is their daughter being taken advantage of or being hurt by their partner, and never being able to tell them.

"I'm sorry your dad's being a lil stubborn."

"Hey!"

Gilbert glares at Harvey—-which immediately shuts him up.

"But he does it because he loves you, and he's worried… We're worried."

Willow sniffles. A hollow feeling brews in her chest as she ponders. A new warmth takes over her face, targeting her nose and eyes as she fights back from tearing up.

"I know…"

Her voice croaks. Because she never really told them about the bullying. Or the falling out with Amity. Everything she ever went through, she would always say "I don't feel like talking about it." So of course, why wouldn't they worry about this?

A single tear drips down Willow's chin and into her mug. Through her fogged up glasses she sees Harvey approach her and hold her cheek.

"Willow," he says, his voice quivering as he fights back from tearing up in front of his daughter.

Be strong. Be gentle.

He admits he was a little too tough on her. His years being bullied for being "soft" as a glandus kid really did that to him. When he thought she needed to be strong to protect herself, he forgot that she also needed a place to feel safe and comfortable, to let herself feel upset.

"If anything happens. You tell us, okay?"

She brings her warm mug up to her lips despite its emptiness, and nods. But that wasn't enough for Harvey. He opens his arms, letting Willow put down her cup and nuzzle her face into his chest, before allowing him to wrap his arms around her.

And the subtle streaks of tears rolling down Willow's face break him. He just can't bear the idea of her being hurt.

"P…Please promise…"

She clings onto him. "I promise."

The gentle popping of the fire drowns out the quiet sobs they share. All the while, Gilbert has already placed Boscha's letter in their bedroom on the way to get his family more hot chocolate.

It really is the magic of that fireplace Every confession Willow has had has always been during one of these days. He doesn't know why, but something about the cold always ticks Willow off enough to overwhelm her that she just needs to talk to her old dads.

With two new mugs of hot chocolate in his hand, he walks back into the living room to see that they had fallen asleep. He chuckles quietly, mainly at himself for the waste of good hot chocolate. But he assures himself it's okay.

So with two gentle kisses on their foreheads, taking Willow's glasses off her face, and tucking them in, he smiles, and lets them rest.