"Okay, Will, take a deep breath and try again," I said after Will had tried to ask me something over and over again. Whatever he wanted to ask me had him plainly flustered. I didn't get it; what could have him so flustered?
Will gave me a shaky smile, pushing his light sandy hair out of his eyes. I smiled, finding it cute how the hair fell right back into his startling blue eyes.
"I want you... no, Angel, I would like... umm..." Will stopped talking, getting up from the bed quickly. He walked over to his window and looked out at the darkness that surrounded everything in sight.
"Angel, I know I said you didn't have to stay until my rents got home, but... " Will paused. I looked over at him, surprised to see that his shoulders were shaking.
Slowly, I stood up and walked over to Will. Hesitancy I reached out lightly touching him on the shoulder. Will turned around, his bright blue eyes shining like crystals. Tears were pooling in the corner of his eyes, spilling over, making trails down his pale cheeks.
"Angel, will you s-stay with me?" Will asked, his voice so small and so scared, I just didn't understand why.
"Of course. Will," I reached out, placing a hand on Will's cheek. "Why are you crying?"
Will looked away from me, avoiding my gaze, I could tell, "it's nothing... I'm just... scared of being alone. Phobia and all."
Why did something tell me that Will wasn't totally telling the truth? Something other then his fear of dark phobia was scaring him. Did he even have a phobia of the dark, I wondered?
"Okay, well, I'm here now and I'm not leaving, so you can stop crying." I tried to smile but was finding it hard with the way Will looked. He looked like a small, scared lost child; like his mommy had lost him in a big department store.
Will smiled, reaching up to wipe away his tears. "Thank you, Angel." Will said, leaning against me. I smiled for real, wrapping my arms around him.
"You're welcome." I told him.
Throughly confused I watched the man leave the room.
What in the world, I wondered? I wasn't sure what to make of that. I was sure that that man had been Will's father, but what he was doing in Will's room was beyond me.
Just checking up on him, I suppose.
Closing my eyes, I tried to fall back asleep but found that I could not do so. Something just didn't feel right.
I opened my eyes to see a cheerful looking Will looking down at me. There was no trace of his previous fear. So maybe he really did have a phobia that only scared him at night, in the dark.
"Morning," I mumbled, turning over.
Will laughed, "Angel it's morning. Time to wake up." Will poked me in the cheek, "come on, don't you want to get up to see me off?" Will asked, a pouting tone in his voice.
"See you off," I looked up at Will, "what do you mean?"
Will grinned sheepishly, "ehhh, hehe, I have summer school." Will rolled his eyes, "ugh."
"Summer school, eh?" I set up, stretching my arms far over my head.
"Umm, yeah, I missed a lot of school so I have to make up during the summer." Will said, smiling.
Getting off the bed, I blinked when Will hugged me. Smiling, I hugged him back. "Why were you absence from school a lot?" I asked, running fingers through his soft hair.
"Oh, well I was in ICU at the hospital." Will said quietly.
"What?" I pulled away from Will, looking him in the eyes, "what for?"
Will looked down, "it's all really a blur... but I got hurt... hit my head and went into a coma..."
"B-but you're okay now, right?" I looked at Will, wondering what could have happened to him.
"Y-yeah, but now I have that fear of dark and sometimes I black out."
"Black out?"
Will sighed, "some times I wake up and realize I don't remember the last hour or so."
"But haven't you told your doctor about this?" I asked, clearly shocked to hear this.
"Umm, no, you're the first person I've told." Will smiled, "don't worry, It's no big deal. Just a lost hour here and there."
"No," I shook my head, "it is a big deal. Only something really traumatizing would make someone block out an whole hour."
Will shrugged, "Well, I wouldn't know what that is."
Could his dark phobia be that traumatizing that he blacks out from time to time?
No, something told me a phobia like that wouldn't make you black out.
"How many black outs do you have a week?" I asked.
"About three times a week and it's always really late at night." Will answered.
Three times a week, really late at night.
"What times do your parents get off work?" I asked off handedly, as if I was just curious.
Will 'hmmed' "well, dad he gets off around eleven Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and at five on Thursdays and Fridays. He's off on the weekends. Mom doesn't work, but she's never home until way after dark."
Was it just a coincidence that Will's father got off work late three nights a week, or something else, I wondered? Last night Will's dad had been in his room and last night had been a Monday.
The wheels in my head started to turn, and when they stopped I was sickened with what I was thinking.
No, that is so wrong! Will's dad is a normal ol dad, he's not hurting Will three nights a week. He can't be.
"What time does your class start?" I asked, quietly.
"In a hour," Will said, seeming to forget about our earlier talk.
"I'll walk you," I said.
I looked up, seeing my agitated boss glaring down at me. She was normally a nice women, but I could understand why she was upset with me. I work at a book store and I was supposed to be shelving books, but for the last half hour I'd been staring at the same book, my mind on Will.
"I'm sorry, Charisma." I sighed.
"Angel cakes," Charisma set down next to me, "What's bothering you?"
"Charisma, I met someone..."
"Well that's not something to be moping about. I'm confused." Charisma gave me a confused look.
"Well, it is something to be moping about because... something tells me that..."
"What?" The dark haired women was now giving me a concerned look.
"I think someone is abusing him."
I didn't have any problem letting Charisma know that the someone I'd met was a guy, after all I knew she was very opened minded, at least her girlfriend said so.
"Well, sweetie, you usually are right about these things, but if you are right, you need proof."
That's what I was dreading she'd say. I was hoping I'd be wrong for once. Quickly I explained everything to Charisma, and by the time I was done she was looking madder then I'd seen her in a long while.
"That's awful, that's so wrong... that's so... " Charisma's shoulders slumped, "but how can we help him?" she whispered.
"I don't know," I said back.
"Well, it's slow today, so I'm closing early." Charisma walked over to the door, turning the sign that said "open" over to the side that said "closed." I then watched as she locked the door.
"Charisma?" I questioned, "can you afford to close early?" This place didn't bring in too much business.
"Of course, Angel. You go to that school and pick Will up. Don't let him go home alone, cause if you're right, his father abuses him Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. He came into the room last night but you were there so he couldn't do anything, so he'll try again tonight. Will doesn't know he's doing anything wrong, seeing as he blacks everything out, but because of what his father does he's scared to death of the dark. He doesn't understand why he's scared, but deep down he feels that something bad happens to him during those black outs."
He's such a sweet, cheerful kid; how can something like this lay under the surface?
"Of course I did." I said, "Will, may I hold your hand."
Will giggled, "hehe, my, you're such a gentlemen." Will said, grabbing my hand.
"What can I say; I do try."
Our hands swinging, we started to walk away from the school. I glanced over at Will, trying to see some sign of his abuse, but I couldn't see any. The trauma of what was happening to him was hid very well.
"Angel can we go to the park!?" Will suddenly asked, making me jump from my disturbing thoughts.
"The park? Hmm, okay, I guess so." I smiled, looking at Will. How long had it been since I'd been to the park? A long time I think. The last time I'd been with Juno and Connor.
A/N thanks for reading. So what exactly does Will's father do to him to cause him to black out? Wait and see.
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