First, Will needed to transfer to a different college for the fall. Wherever would take him. He could pretend he had been there the whole time.
His grades were excellent, so transferring wasn't an issue. He managed to transfer to Harvard, which would help both his cover story because of how far it was from California and his future resume, so Hazel wouldn't be suspicious about where all his money was coming from.
Next, he made sure there was an entire shipment coming in worth millions of dollars that he would fence and pocket the money without sharing any of it with the others. Then he would disappear. They would be too busy scrambling to clean up the mess he made to even try looking for him.
Will could pretend he was so well off because he won the lottery. He planned to buy a house and a variety of businesses in the Boston area to keep the cash flowing long-term.
His semester ended before hers, so he would be able to get everything taken care of. He already had enough saved to buy a nice house in cash with plenty of space for her to have her own art studio. He went house hunting over his school's spring break, needing the place to look lived in by the time she got there.
He had to wait until the semester was over to steal that entire shipment himself, so his credits would transfer. Once that was taken care of and the money was deposited in his overseas bank account, he vanished. Leaving behind anything that could connect him to his first alias, including Alfonzo's old phone. A completely clean break.
Will didn't look like himself as Gold anyway. No one would be able to find him up in San Francisco when he stopped by Hazel's graduation. He wouldn't be there long. Then he planned to avoid the state of California for the rest of his life, just to be safe.
He needed to make this special for her, so he got her the nicest bouquet of flowers he could find. He sat in the audience and eagerly tried to spot her in the crowd, but it was hard from a distance.
He didn't even have the right hair color. Once her name was called to walk across the stage, he realized her hair was dyed tomato red rather than her natural blonde.
Will's heart skipped a beat. He loved Hazel blonde but she was still gorgeous. She always would be. Something silly like hair color couldn't change that.
She was really here in front of him after ten whole years of agonizing waiting! He was practically vibrating out of his skin.
He called out to her as soon as he saw her on the football field after the ceremony was over. "Hazel! Over here!"
Hazel seemed confused. She obviously didn't recognize Will, which was fair. He only knew her face because of her driver's license photo. He had looked that up to find where she was to come to her graduation.
"Can I help you?"
Here went nothing! The moment he had been waiting for.
"Happy graduation day, Hazel! I didn't think it would be right for me to miss it, since you've waited so patiently."
Hazel clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes shining with tears. It took her a moment to say anything and when she did, it was a disbelieving whisper. "…Billy?"
Will nodded. "I go by Will now, but—"
He didn't get to finish what he was saying. She had thrown herself into his arms. He savored the hug, barely biting back a sigh. Oh, he had missed this!
"How did you know I would be here?!"
"I looked you up, of course. It wasn't hard to find your graduation date once I knew where you went to school."
"Oh, I'm so glad to see you!"
So was Will. More than he could ever say. He had been waiting for this even more anxiously than Hazel had. He was sure of that.
"And I'm so glad to hear your voice. We have a lot to catch up on. Can I buy you dinner to celebrate?" he asked.
"Yes!"
Will suggested taking pictures of Hazel first. She did just graduate. He wanted pictures of her for his office anyway.
Once that was done, she hugged him again and he couldn't stop himself from kissing the top of her head. He had been waiting for this for far too long!
"Will? Are you if.theres.a.will.theres.a.way, by any chance?" she asked suddenly, looking up at him with those beautiful blue eyes.
Will laughed. He had been expecting this question and prepared for it accordingly. Though she did catch him faster than he thought she would. As long as he was careful, he could tell her part of the truth.
"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."
Hazel held him to that as soon as they were in his rental car. "So? Where have you been all this time?"
This part was completely fabricated. Will couldn't let her know he had any ties to the criminal underworld in L.A. He needed to pretend he had been on the East Coast the whole 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."
"Look at you, smartypants!"
He grinned at the praise. It was so much better coming from her than anyone else. "Yep. Have you accepted any college offers yet?"
"Yes, but don't change the subject. Why did you leave me?" Hazel demanded. "I would have much rather gone with you than my uncle."
Will had been expecting this too. He had to tread carefully here.
"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."
"Okay, I get that, but why not tell me who you were when you found me?"