Will shrugged. He could never laugh at Hazel, whether she believed him or not. "I'm sorry you can't see my intentions. You're just too cute—sorry, I mean beautiful."
She glared at him and he laughed harder. Ah, she was adorable! He wished she could accept how cute she was.
"You're ridiculous, you know that?" she asked, her tone annoyed.
Hazel was the only one who had ever thought that way. It was rather novel. Everyone else thought Will was terrifying or didn't pay attention to him at all. Everyone who did noticed there was something "wrong" with him.
"Only when it comes to you."
"And why is that?"
"You're the only person I've ever liked," Will said honestly.
He could tell her that much. It wouldn't give anything away. She already knew he didn't like people from their conversations in the mental hospital.
Hazel hugged him and he soaked it into his soul before kissing the top of her head. "Come on. Let's go home. We have sightseeing to do tomorrow."
Will had been waiting to do this! He purposely bought her a nice camera to take pictures with for their vacations and handed it over as soon as they headed out the next morning. She got some good shots, including ones with him in them.
Not many pictures existed of him. This would be a nice change. Pictures of him with her in them too, specifically.
That wasn't all though. When Hazel wasn't taking pictures, he was holding her hand. He felt like he could get away with that, since she hadn't said anything negative about all the little kisses he had been giving her.
Will may have been wrong, since she asked what he was doing. He cracked a joke in case she wasn't ready for this. "Making sure you don't get lost."
She saw right through it. "…you just want to hold my hand, don't you?"
"Possibly."
Will deflected as best he could but Hazel didn't accept it. She kept pushing.
"Why do you want to hold my hand?"
Because he was in love with her and had missed her like crazy? Obviously? But that answer didn't seem like it would work on her, since she kept questioning his intentions.
Will ended up teasing Hazel again. "It's just such a pretty hand. Very holdable."
"Will. Be serious," she complained.
"I am being serious. It's the prettiest hand in the whole world."
Will lifted their hands to kiss hers, as if to prove it. He didn't like it when Hazel was down on herself. She had been so often in the mental hospital too. Curse her worthless uncle!
Will did his best to push those thoughts aside and continue enjoying their day out. He managed to calm himself down quickly. It wasn't hard when Hazel was around. Things had always been like that with her.
Everything was normal until they got home and he asked her what she wanted for dinner. Out of nowhere, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. That was not a cheek kiss!
He froze for a second in shock before kissing her back hungrily. His hints hadn't gone over her head after all. This went much faster than he expected it to.
What a relief! Will may be good at waiting but that didn't mean he liked it. It always brought him closer to the brink of madness.
Hazel was more than worth the wait. She was perfect! Absolutely perfect.
He was in heaven finally being able to do this…until she pulled away and he came crashing back to earth. "Um…I'm waiting until marriage. It's important to me."
Ah. Will had gotten a bit carried away.
Hazel had never said anything about this before but if it mattered to her, so be it. He could wait a little longer.
She had kissed him first. She had to be in love with him too. Since they already planned to stay together, nothing was stopping him from blurting what was on his mind.
"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."
"You really want to marry me? Isn't this a little sudden?"
Will barely managed to hold back a snort. Sudden? How could this possibly be sudden, when he had more or less decided to marry her at seven years old if he had the chance?
"Hazel, I've wanted to marry you for most of my life. It isn't sudden at all."
Hazel stared at him uncomprehendingly. "Why?"
Ugh, there she went, doubting herself again! Why couldn't she see how important she was to him?!
Will stepped back and put his hands on his hips, a very Gold-like pose. She needed to know he meant business. "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 had never been a burden. Not even once. Will had been too relieved to see her again.
She sighed. "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."
That was where she was wrong. He was only able to be her salvation because she was his first. If she hadn't been, she would have been murdered with her parents. If she hadn't been his angel, he wouldn't have stood up to Charlie to protect her.
"Says who? Who says you weren't my salvation too?" Will demanded, hating to see Hazel think like this.
"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?"
Right. She didn't know what she had done for him and never could. Not completely. He had to be as vague as possible here to get away with even telling part of the truth.
Will had to do it. It was the only way Hazel would believe how important she was to him.
"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?"