Will was doing his best to follow through on all his big talk from when they were kids. It must be because Hazel was the only person he liked. What she didn't understand was how that ended up happening in the first place.
Why her? She had been such a burden on him back then!
"Why do you want to hold my hand?" she asked uncomprehendingly.
Will was way too nonchalant when he replied, "It's just such a pretty hand. Very holdable."
"Will. Be serious."
"I am being serious. It's the prettiest hand in the whole world."
Will lifted their linked hands to kiss Hazel's, as if to prove his point. Her heart flipped in his chest. This was the second time he had done that now.
He was teasing her too much. She should really tease him back to make things fair, but didn't know what she should try. He was way better at this than she was. Either he was a natural or he had experience, which was an unpleasant thought. The only one who had ever been in her heart was him.
But wasn't he the same way? To say she was the only person he had ever liked.
Hazel was being ridiculous. There was nothing to be jealous of.
She didn't come up with a way to fluster him until they were on the T, heading back toward the station closest to his house. It would be a gamble but if her suspicions were correct, it would help answer some of her questions too.
She waited to strike until Will was least expecting it. He was in the middle of asking what she wanted for dinner when she hooked her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips. It was the most straightforward way she could think of to make him talk, since he was being so evasive.
Only startled for a second, he kissed her back so deeply that there wasn't a single doubt he wasn't in love with her. As unfathomable as that was.
For a first kiss, things got much more heated than Hazel was prepared for. She had to be the one to pull away once his hand went up the back of her shirt. She had to stand on principle here.
"Um…I'm waiting until marriage. It's important to me," she said awkwardly, unable to meet his eyes.
Will let out a breathless laugh. "Looks like we need to get a marriage license tomorrow then. I've heard there's a three-day waiting period here, but that isn't the end of the world."
Hazel blinked at him. Was that seriously a proposal? She hadn't even been sure of his feelings until he kissed her back so passionately!
"You really want to marry me? Isn't this a little sudden?"
"Hazel, I've wanted to marry you for most of my life. It isn't sudden at all."
Oh. So Will had been in love with Hazel the whole time. Though that still didn't answer why. She had caused him so many problems back then! There was nothing to love about that.
"Why?" she asked blankly.
He frowned and stepped back, putting his hands on his hips. "What do you mean, why? I already told you, you mean the world to me. A better question would be 'why not?'"
"But all I ever did was burden you back then!"
"That isn't true at all!"
Hazel sighed. This still wasn't answering her question. "Again, why? Be straight with me, Will. I don't get it. You were my salvation. That's why I fell in love with you. Things weren't like that for you."
"Says who? Who says you weren't my salvation too?" Will demanded, his eyes blazing.
She was? Really?
He had never given off that impression back then. But now, with that look on his face…it was harder to doubt.
"You were the only one who was kind to me after my whole world fell apart. What did I do for you that made such a big impression?"
"You were the only one who was ever kind to me, period. On the worst day of my life, there you were, an angel come personally to save me from hell. So don't you ever doubt how much you mean to me. You're everything, got that?"
Hazel's eyes widened. The day they met was really the worst day of Will's life? What had happened? He acted so unaffected when he saw her outside. Glad to see another kid, sure, but that was all.
He must be better at hiding his feelings than she thought. And he had been so mysterious back then already!
She hugged him, feeling horribly sorry for whatever he had been through that made him just as desperate for love as her. "Got it."
"You'll marry me, then?" Will mumbled into Hazel's hair, sounding the most vulnerable she had ever heard him.
"Yes."
How could she say no? All she had ever wanted was to stay with him forever.
"Thank you."
Will said that so fervently. Like this was the best possible thing Hazel could be doing for him. Really, she was doing it for herself.
She couldn't bring herself to care how fast this was all going anymore. He reappeared in her life without warning and now he had asked her to be his family.
Both of theirs had ultimately been disappointing. If her uncle had been a half-decent person, she wouldn't have turned out the way she did after losing her parents so horrifically. If Will's dad hadn't been unstable, he probably wouldn't have either.
But since their families were the way they were, all they truly had was each other. That never changed, no matter how much time passed.
Hazel had loved him for so long. Just like he had for her.
No matter what happened from this point on, she wanted to stay by his side. Neither of them would ever have to be alone again.
Who knew? Maybe she might actually be able to talk about her trauma with him one day and learn about his in return. Only time would tell what would happen in that regard.