WILL

She did it.

Lou convinced me, Will Traynor, to go out to a pub for karaoke night. I'm still not sure how she did it, but I realized again there was nothing I wouldn't do for Louisa Clark. Her happiness meant the world to me. I suspect Nathan knew it, too. I wasn't oblivious to his tongue-in-cheek remarks as we dressed for the evening.

My nerves shot off like rockets, tensing my shoulders and making my heart thrum beneath my skin. I still hated being seen out in public. The day at the silent film museum wasn't so bad because we were mostly in the dark. Tonight, I pictured a crowded bar with rowdy football fans, chatty waitresses, and too many people gawking at me.

But Lou thought it would be fun. Part of me missed going to the pub and doing simple things like ordering a pint. I'd even done a few drunken nights of karaoke with Rupert and Freddie, but I had no plans on putting myself on display tonight. It was one thing for the old Will Traynor to make an arse of himself while singing covers of pop tunes and the man I am today.

Still, I couldn't help the bit of optimism Lou must have shot me with earlier when she administered my medication. That's the only explanation that made sense.

We paused outside the local pub—The Blue Boar Tavern—to collect ourselves. True to its name, a painted blue boar adorned the sign above the door. Someone had placed a chalkboard sign next to the entrance welcoming guests with the night's specials—a pitcher of the local craft beer for six quid. And in bright pink and blue chalk, an excited announcement about karaoke.

Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" wafted through the door, along with the off-key singing accompanying it. I swallowed hard, hoping neither Lou nor Nathan would expect me to get up in front of the crowd and try my hand at the Beetles or something equally cliche. They both promised me that there was no expectation for me to perform, and I would hold them to it.

"Tonight's going to be fun," Lou said, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. She gave it a light squeeze.

I moved my eyes to look at her and curved my lips into a wan smile. "Right. I can't wait for you to regale us with your rendition of 'Spice Up Your Life,'" I teased.

She laughed, and it almost sounded like a snort. "I'll have you know that song is a certified classic. But if I'm going to do any Spice Girls song tonight, it has to be 'If You Wanna Be My Lover.'"

I stared at her for a moment. Oh, she had no idea.

Nathan cleared his throat, getting both of our attention. "Bit nippy out here. Think we should head inside?"

I felt a slight chill on my face, but he was right. Even if the rest of my body was numb to the cold, that didn't mean I was immune to it.

"Sure. Treen knows to meet us here. I think you'll both like her," Lou said as we headed inside.

I used my working thumb to navigate my power chair through the entrance, but my back wheel caught on the threshold. A bead of sweat formed on my brow as I tried not to pay attention to my surroundings. Instead, I baked up and moved forward a few times before finally crossing over. My heart thumped loudly in my ears, but I made it over. The whole time, I could sense a dozen curious eyes on me, and the familiar feeling of regret crept along my skin, warming it. I shouldn't have allowed them to talk me into this. The thought echoed in my mind, making me feel even more self-conscious.

Lou placed her hand on my shoulder again. "So far, so good," she whispered close to my ear. "You're doing great."

This was a change from the over-enthusiastic Lou, who dragged me to a horse race once upon a time. I glanced at her, noticing the encouraging smile on her lips, and I wanted to believe her.

Nathan flagged down a blonde woman dressed in a black mini skirt, fishnet tights, Doc Martens, and a black slouch jumper. Her eyes lit up, and she nodded before showing us our table—an inconspicuous booth at the back of the house.

I looked at Nathan, and he grinned as I navigated my chair toward the back. I wedged myself next to the leather seat beside Lou, realizing I could sit beside her and still have a sliver of the table in front of me. I didn't even block the path.

"How's that, Mr. T?" Nathan asked.

"You're off the clock tonight, Nathan. It's just Will."

He chuckled. "Force of habit."

Lou drummed a beat with her hands on the table. "Why don't we order a pitcher, yeah? It's the weekend. Time to have fun!"

Nathan and I nodded in agreement, and a few minutes later, our waitress, another blonde woman, greeted us with a friendly smile.

"I'm Elle," she said, introducing herself. "And I'll be serving you tonight." She looked at each of us with big hazel eyes.

I waited for her to avert her gaze when she stopped on me, but she never did. They always looked away, especially the pretty ones. Elle just kept on smiling—a genuine kind that reached her eyes, surprising me.

"We'll have a pitcher of your local tap!" Lou ordered with her natural enthusiasm.

"Make that two pitchers," I added. "We've got another person coming."

Elle nodded. "Two pitchers coming up. Let me know if you need a menu or anything else."

I watched her leave, grateful that her presence hadn't made the interaction more awkward than it needed to be.

"So, Nathan, what song do you plan on belting out tonight?" I asked.

Nathan chuckled. "I think karaoke is more of a spectator's sport, mate."

I laughed with him. "I'm afraid I'll have to agree."

"Oh, come on, you two. Don't be spoilsports. I can't be the only one willing to make a fool of myself tonight."

I laughed, feeling the tension ebb from my neck and shoulders. For some reason, tonight with Lou felt like old times. It reminded me of the hours we spent together—easy moments filled with laughter.

"Well, you've got Treena to duet with you."

Lou grinned. "Speaking of Treena, here she comes."

Even though I had never met Treena, I immediately noticed the resemblance between the sisters. Although there were obvious differences, they both had the classic Clark family trait of dark hair and warm smiles. Treena wore her hair in a collar-length bob that framed her heart-shaped face. Unlike Lou, she had a sensible taste in style, wearing a dark blue peacoat, a cream jumper, and a pair of jeans.

"Hey, everyone!" She greeted us.

Lou slid to the other side of the booth so I wouldn't have to move, and Nathan stood up, allowing her to stand. The sisters gave each other a brief hug.

"Treen, this is Nathan and Will," Lou said, introducing us.

Treena gave Nathan a polite hug Before turning in my direction. There was a brief moment of awkwardness as she tried to decide how to execute the maneuver with me, but soon, she enveloped me in her arms.

"Nice to finally meet you, Will," Treena said with a smile. "I swear, Lou wouldn't shut up about you from the moment you met. I feel like I already know you."

"Treena!" Lou balled up a tiny black napkin and threw it at her.

"Well, it's true," she said, sandwiching herself between Nathan and Lou. "I'm really glad we got to meet. You were such a big part of Lou's life; it felt like a shame we never got around to it."

Lou's eyes darted to the side, and she shifted in her seat.

"I know. I was looking forward to meeting the whole family for Clark's birthday. But I understand you were away at uni," I said, ignoring the elephant in the room.

"Yes. I had an exam and couldn't make it."

"Clark tells me you're studying accounting."

Treena nodded. "I've always been good with numbers and figures."

"Kind of the opposite of Clark. She got the fashion bug, I take it."

"Yep. Though she's always had her own style."

"She's been thinking about returning to school and studying fashion."

Lou shrugged. "I've been researching some programs." A warm blush brightened her cheeks, and I gave her an encouraging smile.

"That'll be good for her," Treena said. "I always thought Lou could do more with her Iife. Anyway, Will, I understand you were some big corporate hotshot before—back in the day."

"Guilty as charged."

Lou slapped her hand on the table. "Alright, enough of this work talk. Tonight is all about fun, fun, fun!"

That garnered a chuckle out of all of us. "Right, if fun includes singing oldies but goodies."

Treena's eyes lit up. "Are you signing too, Will?"

"Oh, no, I'm leaving the crooning to you three."

"More like you two," Nathan amended.

Treena laughed. "Oh, what kind of wingman are you? The whole point of karaoke is to have fun while making an arse of yourself."

"So I've heard," Nathan said.

Treena poked him in the arm. "Then it's settled. You have to sing."

Nathan laughed, his eyes bright. His cheeks colored, but he didn't deny her this time.

I looked at Lou and grinned. The little matchmaker.

Treena convinced Nathan to sing, and he and Lou were by the bar belting out a rousing rendition of "Shout" together.

The entire pub buzzed with energy as everyone else sang and danced along. I even talked my thumb to the beat as I watched them. They looked like they were having fun, laughing and stumbling over the words. I wanted to be up there with her, laughing and stumbling over the words, too. But I wasn't there yet.

"So, Will, how is my sister?" she asked over the music.

I pulled my gaze off Lou, forcing myself to focus on Treena. I heard the protective edge in her voice, and my lip twitched. I knew she and Lou hadn't always gotten along, but the bond between siblings was true. No matter how much Georgina and I complained about one another, we were fiercely protective of the other.

I drew in A breath, considering my words with care. "She's Clark. Annoyingly optimistic, caring, full of hope, and incredibly resilient."

Treena's lips curved into a slight smile. "Good. I'm worried about her. We all are."

"Of course," I agreed. "Things between us haven't been easy." No sense in pulling punches.

"No, they haven't." She stared at me, her dark brown eyes unwavering. "Lou was a wreck because of you. She tried so hard to convince you to stay alive, and in the end, you still chose death. It hit her hard. It hit us all hard."

"I know…" my voice was low. I don't know if she can hear me.

"My parents are worried about her. Especially my mom. They don't want to see her hurt again."

"Your parents kicked her out," I said defensively.

"I know. But it's only because they don't want to see her go down that path again with you. You weren't here, so you didn't see what your decision did to her. She was heartbroken, devastated. Nothing we said could cheer her up. Then suddenly, you came back into her life, and she's at square one again—her life revolving around you, Will Traynor."

Her words shot straight through my heart. A flood of guilt passed over me, threatening to drown me on the spot. I closed my eyes and imagined a broken-hearted Lou grieving for me. Even though I had asked her to be strong and move beyond me in my letter, I should have known that would be impossible for a woman like her. She gave so freely. Loved so deeply. I wanted to believe that our six months together hadn't made much of an impact on her life in the long run, but I see now I was so very wrong.

"I wanted her to move on and forget about me."

Treena laughed as if I told her the world's funniest joke. "Impossible. Lou loves you." She paused. "And I suspect you love her, too, whether you've admitted it to yourself or her. We want what's best for Lou. Some kind of assurance that you won't hurt her again."

Another wave of guilt struck me. I knew I had caused Lou a great deal of pain, and I never wanted to do that again. But I couldn't make any promises… not yet.

"Look, Treena, I get it. I'm the arse that blew your sister's world apart. And believe me, I understand that I hurt her deeply. It was never my intention then, and it isn't now. I never suspected I'd come to care for Clark as much as I do. And I wish I could say that I'll never hurt her again, but I can't make that promise." I paused, gathering up my thoughts. "But what I can promise is honesty. No matter what happens, I'll make sure that Lou knows my intentions every step of the way."

That was the best I could do for now. I wish I had a crystal ball that could tell me where we'd be a month, six months, hell, even a year from now. But I couldn't. And as much as I was trying, I couldn't make any promises that I wouldn't end up in Switzerland.

I care about Lou. She's the only thing that keeps me going. But I don't know if that will ever be enough.

"Well, you better. Or I'll kill you myself," she said stone-faced.

I stared at her, unable to decide if she was joking. Then she smiled, and the tension left my shoulders.

"If I hurt her again, you have my word that I won't put up a fight. Not that I can put up much of a fight anyway," I joked.

She laughed with me. "I'll hold you to that," she said as Lou and Nathan returned to our table, skin flushed and eyes shining.

I gave Treena a thin smile. Perhaps it was time that I reached out to Josie and Bernard. I at least owed them that.

"Alright, who's up for another pour?" Nathan asked as he settled back down.