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UNEDITED SORRY FOR THE MISTAKES

When I wake up it's to Jason peering down at me.

"Oh." He says his voice tinged with the smallest bit of relief,"You're up."

I sit up disoriented, my mind still echoing bits and pieces of whatever memory I had seen.

It's a bit blurry to me but I remember most of it like in a way one would remember a distant sort of dream but it's not because the memory is faded but more so because everything pales in comparison to Will's final words.

"I wonder if you could save a monster too?"

"Yeah she's up." I hear Jason talking on the phone and with a start I realise that I'm in Tyler's room, bedroom to be exact. I can make out that there are a good number of picture frames hanging on the muted blue walls.

"She seems a bit dazed. Have you informed your father yet?" Jason's voice cuts in.

Oh fuck.

I leap out of the bed practically launching myself at Jason and snatching the phone out of his hands.

"Stop!" I say frantically,"You have to stop."

There's silence from the other side, probably from surprise.

"Tyler you can't tell this to anyone. Any of it. Please please tell me you didn't tell anyone." My voice is shaking by the end of it but the conviction in it is not lost.

I can't have my parents knowing about this. I can't bear to face the disappointment-

"You went off your medicines again? You know they are here to help."

I sink back down on the bed feeling shaky and out of breath, my head pounding. My anxiety is climbing up the longer Tyler stays quiet.

"I'm on my way." Tyler finally says quietly,"But-"

Relief washes over me,"Okay great just come back. It's okay I'm fine."

"You just fainted after-after-"

"A panic attack." I say quietly. Tyler is silent and I wonder if he hadn't been told about my condition.

"You should get medical-" He starts but I cut him off.

"No I'm fine." I force out,"I really am, it's nothing new and I don't want to worry anyone."

"But-"

"Tyler please." I say,"You owe me this much at the very least."

He goes entirely quiet on the other end of the line so much so that I think that the line is disconnected.

"Okay." He finally responds,"And.. Jules I-I'm sorry."

"Hmm." I say softly,"I know."

______________________________

I don't stay in the room for long after that eager to leave before Tyler comes back. On another day I would have definitely stayed and analysed the photos on the wall, how each had been pasted carefully, every frame thoughtfully depicting an entire collage of faces and places giving me another insight into another aspect of Tyler that I didn't know.

It's something I've come to terms with now I suppose. Today my ego had been brought down by several notches as the reality of my situation and the people around me was finally sinking in. I'd clearly overestimated myself and brushed over things choosing to stubbornly follow only what I thought best.

I'm shaky on my feet which isn't all that surprising considering everything and Jason follows me out of Tyler's room quietly and cautiously.

"I'm fine, you know."

"Tyler seemed pretty panicky when I found the both of you." Jason says,"And you were really pale. Still are, I really think you should get medical attention."

"Surprising as it would seem, this isn't my first rodeo." I say,"I'll be fine after sleeping it off."

Jason seems hesitant even once we reach my door. I realise that it would take a lot more to shake him off. I might have managed to guilt Tyler into leaving the matter alone but Jason was a very different case.

I smile as convincingly as I can,"I really am alright. It's not a big deal."

"You fainted."

I'm not sure how to explain that this was milder than most I've had in the past. It's just something that hadn't happened for some time now which is why it had taken me off guard.

"People faint a lot of times." I say,"I'm a little more fragile because of my accident but it's still not something to worry about. I'm fine. I'm safe. So it's alright. In fact I want a bath so-"

"You said safe." Jason cuts in,"Why wouldn't you be?"

You have nowhere to run now anymore , do you now J-

I shake my head.

"What I mean is that I'm not in any immediate danger." I say quickly,"The fainting was because I'm exhausted nothing more nothing less. Okay? I'll take my meds and go to sleep. Goodnight."

I don't wait for any longer my skin prickling standing in the dim hallway. I quickly open my door and shut it behind me. I trust that Jason won't really tell anyone even though he was a bit apprehensive about my leaving.

I then start my routine, to switch on all the lights in my room followed by the TV. It switches on to some vague news report and although I don't know what's going on, the voices act as white noise in the background drowning out the oppressive silence. My mind flashes back to the dark- I shake my head and throw open balcony doors. It's really cold but I don't care.

I'm not trapped. It's not dark. I'm fine. I'm safe. It's okay. It's okay.

I quickly change making sure to put on my softest sweater and hoodie and just curl up inside my blankets.

My mind is still a mess and I try to drown it out with a selection of really loud music hoping that I would eventually fall asleep.

Sleep doesn't come easily of course my mind turning restlessly. Mulling over the newest fragment of my memory that I remembered makes me even more unsettled.

I promise.

I'm keeping a promise.

Would you be able to save a monster?

He's a monster, you know.

I curl up into a ball. The memory had left me with this deep sense of fear that I might never see Will again, that he'd slipped through my fingers for good. It had just compounded what happened in the ball which had given me a very rude wake up call about my entire situation.

I fiddle with my phone opening up Will's contact my hand poised to send a text.

But I can't. He's probably on a flight somewhere far away with Isabella.

And what would I say to him any way? What had I done uptil now but just chase after him blindly?

Blindly and recklessly without realising the consequences or how entirely futile the whole thing might lead to be.

I may have to come to terms with the fact that beyond the few glimpses I get of him in my memories there was nothing more.

Perhaps it was time for Juliet to say goodbye to Romeo.

The panic attack must have taken more out of me than I'd thought because somehow I manage to fall into an exhausted sleep.

I'm not sure what jerks me awake suddenly. It's still dark outside and I shiver at the cold wind that blows in from my balcony. It's clearly much later in the night and I blearily look at the clock on my wall which says it's been around 3 hours since I'd come up. The party downstairs must have winded down entirely by now with my father and his wife probably asleep along with everybody else in the house.

I grab at my phone to realise I had just gotten a notification. The sound must have woken me up I conclude as I swipe open to the messages.

Only to go entirely still.

The very next moment I scramble out of my bed rushing towards the balcony, my velocity making my stomach collide almost painfully with the railing but I don't care as I desperately look down.

And somehow it's Will Kensington who stands in the garden below my balcony.

It's undoubtedly him, he's wearing the same suit he had been wearing to the ball, his coat slung over his arm and his tie loosely knotted over his slightly unbuttoned white shirt. He's holding his silver mask in one hand, his blonde hair glowing silver from the light that filters through from my balcony and the moon.

Will looks like a picture out of a fairytale. Achingly unreal.

And perhaps he was.

Because he can't be here can he? He's supposed to be jetting of with perfectly put together Isabella and not standing in my back garden just hours after the ball had ended with the two of us on two very different sides of the line.

He had left hadn't he? Left with her by his side while I just stood there watching because that's all I could do. Just like when he had let go of my hand left when he'd opened that door two years back.

Will was gone. He wasn't here. He couldn't be here.

Wake up. Wake up. It's a dream.

I shut my eyes tightly almost afraid to open it again but when I do he's still there.

My breath catches as I start to hope.

"Why are-" I start but Will puts a finger on his lips effectively silencing me.

He tilts his head slightly as he raises his hand up as if reaching towards me, his palm facing up.

I stare at him confused for a few moments confused as to what he was trying to imply.

"What is-" I start to murmur until I realise.

If it's alright. May I have this dance?

I inhale sharply my hand tightening around the balcony railing so tightly that my knuckles turn white.

Be brave Butterscotch.

Then I turn around frantically running towards the door of my room. I barely manage to slip on my shoes nearly tripping down the stairs running to the backdoor.

I burst out into the back garden only stopping when I realise that Will isn't here. I really had imagined it hadn't I?

He wasn't here. He really had left hadn't he?

He really wasn't coming back.

Could you save a monster too?

I'm terrified that I wasn't able to.

I realise that the gate to the park had been left entirely ajar. I move towards the gate going through it, Will's words echoing in my head, the vulnerability in his eyes and then the finality with which he had walked towards the door had made me afraid. Afraid that I wouldn't get to see him again. As if- as if-

"Butterscotch?"

His voice stops me on my tracks, noise filtering back in. I can hear myself breathing heavily, my lungs struggling after how frantically I'd run.

But I don't care. I don't care because Will was standing in front of me, his face twinged with the slightest bit of worry.

Will was looking at me.

Not turning around and leaving while I stood there frozen. He was here. He was here. Oh thank God.

I involuntarily sink to my knees, my breathing shaky from my frantic running.

Almost instantly Will is in front of me kneeling down.

"What's wrong?" His tone is so so soft,"Are you hurt?"

I can't seem to get myself to say anything instead just choosing to hopelessly stare at him. He really was here wasn't he?

He hadn't left. He hadn't left!

The door opened and-

He'd come back to me.

"Say something." He says again even softer,"Butterscotch, are you hurt?"

I manage to shake my head.

"You're crying." He says softly and my eyes widen, my hand flying up to my face to touch my cheeks which come away wet.

I am. I'm crying.
But I'm not sad.

"What happened?" And his voice is so gentle that it hurts.

Would you be able to save a monster?

I don't know. But I'd do anything to save you.

I manage to shake my head. I'm not hurt. Physically, probably not but emotionally I feel like I've been rammed into, battered and beaten into pulp.

Everything that has happened in the past few hours is suddenly coming crashing down on me, the panic attack, Parker gripping my wrist almost painfully, my father's cold eyes and then there is this twisting fear of not ever being able to see-

"Butterscotch." I startle out of my head at his words,"It's okay. Please don't cry."

The desperation in his voice is so uncharacteristic that I'm pulled entirely into the present.

The present in the small park between two big houses where Will kneels before me.

Not Juliana's Will. Not Juliet's Romeo.
Rebecca's Will.

My Will.

The one who came back and the one who I would do anything just so that he would stay. And the thing is that I don't even know why.

But seeing how Will looks at me helplessly now, like I'm the one who is crying but it's his heart that's breaking, I'm starting to understand why.

It's why even if no one else believes that Will isn't bad, that he's not the monster that everyone seems to potrayed him as, I will.

Because I know. Right?

I quickly wipe my tears.

"I'm alright." I say giving him a small smile, because this is perhaps the first time I mean what I'm saying even if the excuse I'm about to give is a lie, "Something went in my eye."

For a minute I think that he might call me out in my very obvious lie. His eyes are still streaked with worry as searches my face for something. I suppose he finds it because relief shutters back his expression to something more neutral.

He backs off, the space between us increasing. I almost reach out to grab him but I stop myself in time.

There's so much I want to say to him. Ask him why we were alone in that room, how he'd gotten those scrapes on his hands, ask him why he'd looked so lost as he'd asked me if I would be able to save a monster too.

As if....
He thought he was the monster.

It would be easy just to come clean to him, tell him that I was remembering, collecting random pieces of a puzzles in the form of memories that didn't quite fit together yet.

But I was scared.

Everything I remember inevitably leads to Will, it's only about him and if I tell him I'm afraid that he might find a way to dismiss it or perhaps brush it off as if those moments which seem to be everything to me meant nothing in actuality.

After all my desperation to know what happened to me two years ago now I realise that perhaps the answers I want are not the ones I will get.

"I thought you had a flight to catch." I finally say my eyes trained firmly on the grass. I've managed to pick myself into a position that is more or less upright.

"Isabella did." He says his voice is still soft,"I realised I had something more important here."

I look at him my eyes wide and I wonder if he can see the hope that is splashed across my face. If he can see the way I'm desperately wishing that it's me, that I'm the reason he stayed back. I'm the one he chose over Isabella.

It's ridiculous I suppose, I'm halfway if not entirely in love with a boy I barely know now anymore than I might have two years back.

It's like I'm torn being two people. The sixteen year old who can't quite admit to herself that she was falling in love with the one person she shouldn't and the me now who might already be in love with someone she didn't know at all.

But it's okay for now I know everything that I need to about Will.

"Oh." I say keeping my voice steady as I can,"Right now there is nothing I would not do to catch a flight and run away. I kind of hate this place."

"Then why don't you?" He asks,"Leave that is?"

Because of you.

I quickly bury it under other reasons in my head, my college education, my father and more importantly the answers I owed to myself. But none of that's true.

"I don't know." I say instead.

He doesn't say anything for a while instead choosing to adjust himself on the grass in such a way that he's sitting next to me. We aren't touching or even sitting all that close but it's still enough to make me hyper aware of his presence.

"You're good at it you know." Will finally says,"Acting like you belong here. You fit right in."

"I shouldn't have to act to belong here. I don't like pretending to be something I'm not."

"I know." His voice is incredibly soft almost as if he thinks that I'll break with anything harsher and perhaps he would,"Believe me, I know."

"Can I?" I ask and I hate how I sound like some wounded bird, but honestly I'm so tired, so incredibly tired of everything and everyone here. I just want to run away and go back home, to my friends, to my real family,"Can I trust you? Can I believe you?"

Again he pauses. It's never anything good if Will actually hesitates to speak.

"I think you already know the answer to that." He finally says sounding almost as defeated as I am.

No, then.

I sigh wondering what I'd been hoping for. I don't understand my relationship or my feelings when it comes to Will, not back then and even less now.

"But you've never needed anybody to trust or believe in Butterscotch." He,"You've always had yourself and that's been enough all this time."

I let out a breath I didn't realise I had been holding. Somehow, that was exactly what I needed to hear right now.

"It's strange you know." I say mulling over the words carefully,"We are supposed to hate each other and yet you seem to know me better than everybody else. Why is that?"

"I don't think that's true."

"Which part?"

He shrugs,"That's up to you to decide."

Oh joy more vague answers. Talking to Will was like walking in a maze. Choose the wrong question and you would meet a dead end and by the time you backtrack you forget what path you were on in the first place.

"Why did you bring your mask?" I ask changing the topic.

He looks at it thoughtfully,"To be perfectly honest I'm not sure. I do have quite an attachment to it. It's sort of a good luck charm."

"What good luck did it bring you?" I avoid looking at him afraid that my expression would give me away.

"Well I met someone." He says,"She was quite a good dancer. Unfortunately we've only danced together once uptil now so it's yet to be seen. She was quite intriguing to be honest and even had her own dance form. She termed it as abstract jazz."

Oh dear god. End me.

"She sounds high." I mumble embarassed. Well at least sixteen year old Juliana and current me are both embarassing.

That didn't change, because of course.

"No she was rather down to earth to be honest." Will says almost sounding amused.

"Was she me?"

"In what way are you down to earth?" Will asks his tone clearly teasing,"I did mean it more so literally than figuratively though."

"I'll have you know that I'm extremely humble." I huff ignoring the last part. No way was I playing into his hands and actually admit that I'm short.

"Oh really?" He raises an eyebrow.

"I just reached perfection early." I huff,"Your sorry ass had to grow another foot before you could even start to compare to the superior being that is me."

"Superior Being?"

"Well yes have you seen me?"

"Yes I have." He says,"But I don't think it's relevant to the argument."

"Goldilocks I swear-" I take a calming breath.

"Your face looks like it's going to burst." He says,"I wonder if in a few minutes smoke will start coming out of your ears. In fact come to think of it you'd be a perfect fit in Tom and Jerry, Butterscotch."

"I'd totally be Jerry." I say.

"I was thinking you'd be a better fit for the bulldog."

"Well I'm sorry that my face bothers you." I snap. I do a poor job of hiding my irritation. I know I don't look my best right now especially considering the night I've had. But being compared to an animated bulldog when his date to the party was Isabella isn't really doing wonders for my self esteem.

"I never said it's a bad thing." He said,"On the contrary, I find it kind of adorable."

I blink at him,"Are you telling me that you find the bulldog from Tom and Jerry adorable?"

"Hmm I suppose?" He murmurs,"The bulldog reminds me of you and I find you adorable... So I suppose it's safe to come to that conclusion."

My jaw drops open and I turn a brilliant shade of red. What the actual hell.

Oh come on Rebecca you can't be blushing at this. When have your standards for flirting been this low?

"You're blushing Butterscotch." He teases and I quickly look away.

"Am not." I manage to say.

He leans forward and I instinctively lean back slightly, "Definitely are. Even your ears are red. How cute."

My head snaps back towards him, my expression utterly incredulous.

"Now you're entire face is red." He says flicking my nose,"I think that's even cuter."

His face is just a mere inches from mine, the flecks of gold in his blue eyes apparent from underneath his long lashes. I don't dare to move or even breath and despite all my self control I can't help but glance at his lips.

"You know if you keep doing this crap you'll send the wrong message." I say forcing myself to look away.

"And what makes you think it's the wrong message?" Will asks.

I raise an eyebrow,"You asked me to stay away from you. If that's not a big red sign I don't know what is."

He looks at me tilting his head up and down as of giving me a once over. His lips curving into a smile,"And yet here you are."

"I'll have you know that you were the one who was standing below my balcony." I point out.

"And?"

"Well." I huff out moving my hands wildly,"That doesn't exactly give the message to stay away."

"Now, now Butterscotch it's you who has got the wrong idea."

"How so?" I ask haughtily blowing a stray strand of my hair from my face rather unsuccessfully.

"I told you to stay away." He says gently pushing the hair out of my eyes, the tips of his fingers brushing against my cheek as he tucks it behind my ears. "I never told you that I was going to do the same."

My breath catches as I suddenly realise how close we are. How his lips look-

"Like I said you're cute when you blush Butterscotch." He says pulling back.

"I'm not blushing." I deny.

"It's almost like you enjoy this."

Will shrugs,"And what if I do? You forever entertain me. I think you should consider this a career path."

"To entertain you for the rest of my life?" I say,"I'm not a circus act."

"We've had this discussion before, you kind of are." He says,"It's extremely endearing though."

"Are you drunk?"

He pauses for a moment,"Not at all. Why?"

"Because you're acting weirdly nice." I say,"I mean do I have to cry- I mean does something have to go in my eyes everytime to get this side of Will?"

"If I recall correctly you've already tested this hypothesis of yours once before. " He says,"But regardless of my concern for your well being it's about time you realised that I'm very nice to you Butterscotch."

"We currently aren't in the dimension you come from." I roll my eyes.

"That's a pity." He says,"Because if we were then I could be more than just nice to you."

Oh my god. I don't think I'm even alive anymore.

"Wh-what's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know." He shrugs,"You tell me."

Ugh, I can kill him right now. The bastard is smooth though,I'll give him that.

He moves back so"But then again I have been told that my tastes are weird."

"Are you calling me weird?"

"Did I ever imply that you're not?"

"Are you insulting me or complimenting me?"

"I think the correct way to put it is that I'm teasing you." He states.

Oh gods I must be an idiot for my heart to flutter at that. But I feel so so light.

I'm not sure how Will's managed to change the oppressive panicky air weighing around me to something light and just... happy.

Like he's pulled Rebecca Reynolds back out from under the garb of Juliana Windsor.

I turn my nose up and huff out, "You know guys are known to tease girls they like."

"Are you trying to imply that I like you Butterscotch?"

"Well obviously you like me." I start,"I'm too cute to be dislik-aaow-"

Will's reaches forward and pulls both my cheeks bringing me towards him.

"What was that again?" His eyes are twinkling, "You seemed to have trouble speaking."

I glare at him as he looks down at me smug,"Gowwlilooksuwhaandmwee."

He doesn't though instead choosing to pull it a little to the side as if inspecting me,"You look like a toad, Butterscotch. One who thinks rather highly of itself I may add."

It's only then I realise that I have hands which I can use. I swat his hands away and he chuckles softly finally letting go.

"Oww." I say rubbing my cheeks which feel red and hot.

Who needs a traffic light when they can just use my face instead?

"Like I said I like it when you blush." He says simply,"You're prettier when you're happy Butterscotch."

Forget traffic light, I'm pretty sure my face is red enough to attract aliens from the next galaxy.

And yet somehow I feel like myself again. Embarassed, loud and just in general like the carefree girl I used to be back home and not the one here who seems to constantly have the ground pulled out from beneath her feet.

I don't say anything for a long time fiddling with my fingers unable to look at him. The silence is comfortable and he doesn't say anything either rather choosing to simply sit there and stare up at the sky.

"Thank you." I finally manage to mumble out,"I-I feel better now."

"I'm not doing much Butterscotch." He says,"But I'm glad that it's working. Jason told me you weren't keeping very well."

"Jason told you?" I ask surprised. I didn't expect Jason to willingly contact him regarding me,"What did he say?"

"Not much." Will says and I breath a sigh of relief when I realise he didn't get the details of my attack,"Just a vague text when I was getting on the plane. It didn't detail much except you were unwell. It was very Jason-esque"

I finally get the courage to look up at him,"And that was enough to get you off the plane?"

Will holds my gaze his blue eyes inky, the flecks of gold in them twinkling softly like stars,"I'm here aren't I?"

The air between us is charged and heavy as if there is a lot more to be said but neither of us are willing to.

I bite down on my lip and Will's gaze travels down to them and for a second I think-

Will just reaches out to flick my chin lightly,"I mean I had to get off the plane. After all I am an absolute delight to be around. Wouldn't want you to miss out on my delightful company."

I look at him confused for a moment before it turns into irritation when I realise he's pulling my leg, "Hey it's cute when I do it. On you it just sounds insufferable."

"Because it's absolutely true?" He blinks innocently,"I mean look at me."

"Ugh." I groan,"Stop it!"

"I'm sorry." He says,"Jealous of the superior being that is me?"

"Hey now you're just mocking me."

"It's a sport that I excel in." He says.

I roll my eyes,"What don't you excel in?"

"Cooking." He answers seriously and I blink at him surprised.

"Seriously?" I ask and he nods.

"I don't quite understand the concept or the logic of ingredients and how their combination works or how why have be cooked to a certain temperature. It's just baffling."

"Woah I did not see that coming." I say,"I always imagined you all dignified making French recipies and tossing pizzas in the air."

"Sounds like you spend a lot of time fantasizing about me."

"I do not!" I deny loudly.

"Tell me Butterscotch what colour is my apron?"

"Red." I say almost immediately and then curse myself, "I mean- oh what the hell yes I imagined you cooking in a red apron."

"That's surprising I would have though the apron would have been transparent."

I hit him, embarassed,"What the hell I'm not some sort of perv."

He blinks innocently,"Why would you be? After all I would be wearing clothes under the apron."

I blink at him as his mouth curves into a small smirk as he says,"What did you think?"

Ohmygod.
There is no way I'm admitting to the fact that I imagined a very naked Will cooking in a transparent apron.

No way.

"Haha." I laugh awkwardly,"Why would I think anything I mean it's not like..."

I trail off as Will starts to chuckle,"Hey this is not funny." I try sounding offended but Will is still laughing and it's that sort of clear genuine one that makes my heart do backflips and puts a large smile on my face.

I don't know how long we stay like that, just stupidly grinning at each other. It could have been two seconds or twenty minutes but I think at that moment, I'm the happiest I've ever been since I came here.

It's funny that just sometime ago I'd been hit with the realisation that Will and I are two very different people standing on two very different sides.

But now I realise that's Juliana Windsor and Will Kensington in the middle of a ball surrounded by people who expect us to hate each other.

But here in this small park there is only Goldilocks and Butterscotch who smile at each other and the whole world around them fades away.

Juliana and Will may not be able to stand on the same side, or even next to eachother without consequences but here in this small park they can do anything they want.

So I stand up abruptly and march in front of him offering my hand as he tilts his head questioningly looking at me.

"Dance with me." I say simply.

He doesn't react going absolutely still and I wonder if he's thinking about the time when he'd done the same.

"That sounds more like a command than a request." He finally says, "I don't know where your manners went, but ask me nicely Butterscotch."

My jaw drops.

"And no I'm not going to be grateful because you are giving me the high honour of dancing with someone like you."

"You're being awfully pricey about this." I mutter,"You did ask me the same thing just a little while ago, didn't you? Or was that just for show?"

"I'd be lying if I didn't enjoy the entire scene." He says,"Your family has always had a flair for dramatics and I wasn't disappointed by the show put up today."

I roll my eyes.

"But I did want to dance with you Butterscotch." He says,"And it wasn't only to see the look of absolute shock on everybody's face."

"Why then?" I prod.

"It was to keep a promise." He says,"I'd once promised that I'd ask you in front of everybody."

"Why would you promise something like that?" I ask,"Why would you keep a promise like that?"

"Because it's a promise I made to you."

My breath catches and my eyes widen as Will stands up brushing himself off the mask back in his hand. He looks at it contemplatively before putting it on.

"Why are you wearing it?" I manage to ask my voice strangled.

"It's lucky." He says just as he had before but there is an odd sort of vulnerability in his voice,"And behind it I don't have to hide anymore."

Will's sudden admission gives me a whiplash. Everytime I think I'm one step closer to understanding him, to know what he's thinking he throws a curveball my way that leaves me right back to where I started.

"Sometimes I just don't understand you." I murmur unconciously.

He doesn't say anything for a few moments but he's gone oddly still. The light atmosphere twists into something heavier that's thick with tension as if my words have reminded him of something bitter.

"But isn't that why you're here?" He asks quietly,"To figure me out? Test me so that you can figure out how I feel? Solve me like I'm some interesting puzzle of yours?"

There's is a teasing lilt in his tone hiding something that sounds much more like a challenge.

"Don't you want to understand me?" He says so softly that it almost manages to hide the edge in his tone.

Will takes another step forward so that he's towering over me but I quickly turn my eyes firmly towards the ground unable to find the courage to meet his gaze.

His cool fingers push my chin up so that I have no choice but to look at him. His dark, dark eyes.

"But do you really think you're up for it?" He's so painfully close that I can hear his steady breathing in contrast to my painfully shallow ones,"To see who I really am?"

His eyes flicker to my lips and something in my stomach flips. My heart is beating so loudly that I can hear it echoing in my ears and suddenly my palms are sweaty .He bends down slowly and my eyes unconsciously flutter shut.

But he doesn't kiss me, instead his lips brush lightly against my ears, his voice barely a whisper,"Because you are not going to like what you see, Juliana."

My eyes open and Will's gaze is terrifyingly intense. His eyes are the deepest blue I've seen behind the silver and white mask that hides his face from my view.

And before I know what I'm doing I've reached forward towards him standing on my tip toes, my hands reaching out behind his head, tugging on the knot that holds his mask in place.

My fingers brush through his hair, the strands of gold softer than the satin of the ribbon holding his mask in place. The knot comes undone and his mask comes loose, slipping off his face in one smooth movement, falling to the ground with a faint thump.

And with that Will Kensington is left standing without his mask on.

It's brighter now. Brighter than it had been a few moments ago. The light of the moon which shines brightly having come out from behind the clouds make it so that I can see his features in detail. His soft breath fans the tip of my nose and I can see the difference between the Will in my memories two years ago and the one in front of me with absolute clarity.

In contrast to the Will I'd gotten a glimpse of in my memories, the Will now has grown into his features, the angles of his face have become sharper making him look more like a man than a boy. I trace my fingers lightly over the plane of his cheeks and he goes completely still. My eyes trail down to his lips which are fuller and then back up to his hair which is slightly longer.

But the thing that's the most different wasn't anything that he'd hid behind his mask but rather his eyes.

The blue isn't glazed with hard indifference like it had been two years back but rather now it stands more like a carefully constructed wall, one that is skillfully built and strongly re-enforced but only to desperately hide what's behind it.

It looks so incredibly fragile though. Like it's trying to hold back so much,so much fear, so much pain and so much desperate longing.

And no matter how much he hides it, it inevitably seeps out of the little cracks.

The answer had always been in his eyes I'd just not looked hard enough.

And maybe that's why I'm different when it comes to Will.

Tyler said he couldn't understand why I couldn't see him like the others did. Like a monster.

It's because the others can't see him like I can.

Because unlike everybody else I can see Will. I see Will for who he is. I can see the chinks in his armour just as he can see the chinks in mine.

I don't see him as the monster people portray him as or as the monster he thinks he is.

I see Will behind all his masks.

You won't like what you see.

No I don't like it but I'm very much in love with what I see.

Perhaps I don't quite understand why but that's okay because I know how I feel. Even if I don't understand my feelings, I can accept it.

And I accept that I'm in love with him.

"I do see you." I say quietly brushing my thumb against his cheek softly. I'm afraid he'll disappear again,"I see you because when you're near me all I can see is you. Not your masks, not all your clever words but you. Because no matter what masks you wear, the silver one or the ones you create with your words they still cannot hide your eyes."

Will startles, shock blatantly painting over the blue in his eyes.

Two years ago I had said, I wonder what could make Will Kensington waver from his wall of indifference.

If he even could waver.

And now I know.

I can.

"You may hide all you want Will Kensington." I say,"But your eyes can't."

The wall in his eyes shatter and Will takes in a sharp breath tearing his gaze away from mine.

He doesn't move though his face still cradled between my palms and I softly tilt his head so that he meets my eyes again.

"I-" He starts but his voice is heavy and thick and perhaps for the first time Will Kensington is left speechless.

I smile widely,"It's okay. You don't have to say anything. Your eyes tell."

And then I stand on my tip toes and kiss him.

______________

This chapter is my absolute favourites. I can't even begin to tell you why maybe it's just that I'm getting excited.

I don't know if it's well written I'll be honest me and writing are still having a rocky relationship but I'm getting there.

There is a crazy amount of mood swings in this chapter which is why I wonder if it's a bit off, but then again Rebecca isn't the most sane to begin with.

Regarding Will though the reasons are very different. There are many flashbacks yet to come that will help you piece together Will's side better.

But I'll be honest JAJ isn't like TGND (if you've read that book) TGND was about relationships how the main character changed as a person etc etc.

JAJ is an unapologetic romance. It's the fairytale type of romance that's somewhat of a crazy roller coaster.

Surprisingly the your eyes tell part was written waaay before the BTS song but when I heard it, I just had to make it the title it seemed so fitting.

I love you guys. Please do tell me if you liked the chapter.