Of course! How was Hazel supposed to turn down such a wonderful offer?
"Yes!" she cried, overcome with joy and relief that Will was actually here.
"We should get some pictures of you first," he said as he pulled away far too soon for her liking.
He took some of her with her diploma and the flowers he got her before she was able to find someone to take one with both of them in it. Her smile was too big for her face but she couldn't care about how unphotogenic she looked. This was the only picture she had of them! She would treasure it forever.
Once that was taken care of, Hazel had to hug Will again. She still wasn't entirely sure this was happening, since it was a dream come true.
He sighed and kissed the top of her head. She had taken her graduation cap off after the pictures were done.
Oh, she had missed this! The last time she was able to hug him was the night before she lost him. She had kissed his cheek then. Though, come to think of it, he had never kissed her before. His thing had been mussing her hair.
Will must have missed Hazel as much as she missed him. She had so many questions though. Like where he had been all this time, why he hadn't taken her with him, and why he hadn't bothered contacting her any sooner than this. This was the biggest surprise of her life!
Now that she thought about it, she was pretty sure he had bothered contacting her before this. He went by Will these days rather than Billy. There were so many 'Wills' in the world but the odds of the one she had been waiting for showing up at her graduation after she overshared seemed incredibly low. Not to mention, he had reminded her of her old friend so many times.
She pulled back slightly to meet his eyes. "Will? Are you if.theres.a.will.theres.a.way, by any chance?"
He laughed, seeming a bit embarrassed. "You caught me. I didn't want to say anything and ruin the surprise. But I couldn't just not go to your graduation after you seemed to be expecting it. I'm sure you have a lot of questions. Come on. We can talk on the way to dinner."
Will's car had a California license plate but also had a sticker designating it as a rental car in the rear window. Did he not live around here then? Where had he been for the past ten years?!
Once Hazel was in the passenger, she looked at him expectantly. "So? Where have you been all this time?"
"I had to get as far away from the mental hospital as possible so they wouldn't catch me. I hid in a truck headed across the country. I'm about to be a senior at Harvard."
Harvard?! She always knew he was smart, but…
That was also really far away from California. How in the world had he pulled that off? He would have needed to eat too. Maybe he had snuck into multiple trucks at various truck stops?
"Look at you, smartypants!"
Will grinned at her. "Yep. Have you accepted any college offers yet?"
"Yes, but don't change the subject," Hazel said sternly, needing more answers. "Why did you leave me? I would have much rather gone with you than my uncle."
His face fell and he sighed, his eyes back on the road. His tone was genuinely apologetic.
"I didn't want you to suffer more than you had to. You had a place to go back to, even if it sucked. I didn't. I was eleven, Hazel. I made the best call I could at the time."
Hazel supposed she couldn't judge Will too harshly for that. What bothered her more was that he had found her social media accounts years ago and didn't bother telling her that it was him.
"Okay, I get that, but why not tell me who you were when you found me?"
"I wasn't even sure you remembered me at first. Then I saw that drawing of the two of us from our time in the mental hospital and knew you did. I really couldn't have done anything while you were still a minor anyway."
Hazel couldn't refute that. It was why she had been convinced Will would come back for her after she graduated. And he did.
"You still should have told me," she grumbled, having already mostly forgiven him.
"Yeah, sorry about that. But I'm here now."
Will was here now. Just like Hazel had been dreaming of. She couldn't stay mad at him when she was so happy to see him.
He changed the subject by asking what her favorite restaurant was, wanting to take her there. She told him and ended up talking way too much about everything she had been up to while they were apart, since he had so many questions for her.
It didn't quite seem fair. She wanted to know about him too, but he said there wasn't much to tell. He had ended up in foster care and aged out, going to college on a foster kid scholarship. He was majoring in business with the intention of running his own.
They talked all through dinner and afterward, she said she wanted to go to a store that sold luggage. She needed to pack. She planned to go back to Boston with him.
There wasn't a point in being apart any longer. Hazel could start out at a community college since they were faster to enroll in and try to transfer to a four-year university for the following semester.
Will seemed particularly happy about this, teasing her a bit. "Someone's eager."
"What? I've waited ten years for this!"
"I know. It's just cute."
Hazel scowled. "I hate being called cute! It's the worst thing to be called when you look way younger than you are. Most people think I'm about twelve."
"Twelve-year-olds don't dye their hair bright red," Will pointed out. "Would you prefer to be called 'beautiful', then?"
Her heart skipped a beat. Was he flirting with her?
Hazel had realized she was in love with him years ago, but she hadn't expected those feelings to be returned, let alone this quickly. He couldn't possibly…could he?
"Yes, I would. But only if you meant it."