Chapter Text
26th July 2021
"Oh just fuck off, will you?" Will's voice was full of frustration. He was tired of having this argument over and over again. "Honestly Paige, I'm sick fed up of this, all of this! Why can't you just accept that I've got work?" The volume of his voice tapered off at the end of his question, a frustrated sigh falling from his lips.
The girl on the other side of the room sighed as well, looking away from her exasperated boyfriend and down to the floor. She was tired of this too, despite her having the restraint to keep that to herself.
"Right, okay then. Enjoy working tonight." Her voice was quiet, trying to be void of all emotion. She kept her eyes averted from Will and his sofa, where he was sitting on the edge of the cushions - head in his hands- visibly as frustrated as she felt.
Paige stopped herself when she reached the door to his flat, turning behind her to look at Will, who was now looking out the window. It was as if he knew that she would look to him, to give him a chance to fix this. She knew they had been in this exact situation way too many times, she was predictable now, he could predict everything she would do on her way out.
"I love you." She whispered as she walked out of the door, holding out hope that he would hear her and would stop her from shutting the door behind her, giving the night another go. All she had wanted was to order food and spend the night cuddled up with Will on the couch, leaving work and the outside world for another time.
But he didn't, he let her go. Despite the ache in his heart that he wasn't ready to let her see.
Will and Paige were a strange pair. All of their friends knew that they loved each other to the ends of the earth. But their relationship wasn't healthy anymore, and their friends had started to notice. They tried to put their issues aside when they weren't on their own, putting up a happy front to make themselves believe that everything was okay, to encourage themselves to stay together. But after six months of developing arguments, they were struggling to get over themselves long enough to enjoy time spent with their friends.
It blossomed from little arguments here and there, Will becoming busier with work and Paige wanting them to remain in their little corner of the earth. She loved that her boyfriend's career was successful, she really was so proud of him, but she was starting to feel left behind.
13th May 2019
The first time their plans had been blown off, she didn't really mind. Will was supposed to be filming with James on the Thursday afternoon but James had come down early, something about having to travel for his own work on the Wednesday. And so Paige was put on the back burner that Monday evening so Will could pull everything together for filming the next day.
"I'm so sorry, love." Will was running around his flat, grabbing everything he would need to take with him to the office, while she stood at the kitchen island. "Fuckin' James ruining everything." He was stressed, and she could tell.
"It's fine, I really don't mind." She was understanding at the time, this wasn't Will's fault. "I'll be here when you get back from the office, we can eat dinner then."
"No, no. You eat. I'll get something on my way down there." Will grabbed his rucksack from the top of the island and pressed a light kiss to her cheek as he left the flat. Paige sighed, letting her hands fall down to her hips as she looked around, trying to decide what to fill her time with while Will was away.
After she had eaten, she found herself laying on the couch, a movie playing on the TV that she couldn't pay attention to much longer. Her eyes were drifting shut and suddenly blinking back open more and more often, but Will still wasn't home. She pulled her phone out from under her thigh and checked the time. 22:43
She didn't expect him to be this long; she thought that he would just head to the office slightly earlier tomorrow to finalise the details for the shoot; she thought she would be able to spend time with her boyfriend. But she needed to go to sleep now, she did have work in the morning too.
The girl turned the tele off, and started up the torch on her phone when the room plunged into darkness, and made her way through to Will's room. If she had realised earlier that he wouldn't be home to spend time with her, she would've just gone back to her own flat, where all of her own stuff was and where she could walk around in the dark without fear of crashing into something. She thought by now that she would know where everything was to the point she would be as confident walking around in the pitch blackness here as she was in her own home. But that thought was shot out of her head weeks prior when she tripped on the corner of the couch in the dark, as she was trying to get a drink of water.
Once Paige was settled in bed, with one of Will's old t-shirts hanging loosely around her smaller frame, she pulled her phone up to her face, texting Will before she could fully nod off.
P<3 22:59
Going to bed, I have work at 9. I'll be quiet in the
morning if you don't wake me up when you get in :)
He hadn't been, spoiler. Will stalked into the flat at nearly one in the morning, exhaustion dripping from his veins, and dropped his bag beside the door, the steel water bottle inside banging loudly against the hardwood. Paige stirred at the noise, reaching her arm out to latch onto her boyfriend. However, the sheets were cold and empty. She rolled over onto her other side, still half way between sleep and consciousness, when a screech jolted her awake.
"Shit." Will mumbled, looking up from his place on the floor, his shin wrapped around the leg of a chair that sat at his mostly redundant dining table. He was trying to be quiet - inconspicuous even - but in his attempts at making it from the door to his bedroom in the dark, he tripped over one of the chairs in the middle of the room. "Shit." He repeated, pushing his hands onto the floor at either side of his legs to push himself up and continue into the bedroom.
He hoped that Paige would still be sleeping, despite knowing she was a light sleeper, and that he could just strip his clothes off and jump into bed. But when he walked into the room, her silhouette was sitting up in bed, her body directed to him, "You okay, love?” She asked softly, her voice groggy and her speech slightly slurred.
Will smiled, even though Paige couldn't see it, and nodded, "Yeh, fuckin' chair got in the way. Was tryin' to ninja my way into bed. 'M not used to this flat yet, can't even get from the front door to bed in the dark." His voice was oozing tiredness as he stripped off his joggers and t-shirt, his tone soft as he pulled the covers back and slid underneath them. He splayed his arms out, an invitation for Paige to settle into them.
She was nearly asleep again, the calmness of the situation encouraging her to fall back into dreamland. She lay back down and moved closer to Will, plopping her head on his chest as he let out a soft 'Oompf'. He placed a kiss onto the top of her head and traced his fingers across her hip in small circles.
"'Missed you." Paige whispered, nearly asleep. She adjusted her arm and let it fall flat across Will's torso, her fingers gripping lightly onto the waistband of his boxers. Will only hummed in response as his eyes fluttered shut, he loved the way that she held onto his underwear, as if she was trying to keep him in place, not letting him leave her twice in one night.
When Will woke up the next morning, Paige was gone. His t-shirt that she had worn to bed lay on the arm of his couch, folded neatly and waiting for him to wash.
28th July 2021
Paige was sitting on her bed, staring at her phone. She was waiting for Will to text her - admittedly embarrassing - she shouldn't have to wait for him to text her, they had been together for nearly four years, she needed to get over herself.
The girl picked the phone up and opened her texts with Will. There was nothing new, unsurprisingly, and she tried to text him a few different times, deleting them since she couldn't decide what to say.
P<3 13:21
M'sorry for being so pissy, just feel like
I've barely seen you the whole month x
She plucked up the courage to text the older man and threw her phone back onto the mountain of covers that she hadn't made yet that day. Paige got up, needing to get away from the phone for a while, she didn't want to sit around and wait for him to reply now, that's worse than wanting him to text her first. Oh, and she needed to get ready for work.
Paige adored her boyfriend. He was handsome and tall and funny and always what she needed to brighten up her darker days. She adored his friends, who were all so caring and supportive of their relationship. She adored his fans, who loved his content and wanted to protect him from the dangers of the world. Despite Will's attempts to put out a strong persona, anyone who watched more than one of his videos, or spent twenty minutes with him in real life, could tell that he had the biggest heart.
His fans were mostly supportive of her, the rare few who didn't thought that they had some kind of right to control his life and who he spent his time with offline. She wasn't featured in his videos very often, by her own choice, but when she was, his fans always asked for more.
Those parts of the videos were when Will showed his vulnerability the most. His eyes following her every move and his hands finding their way to some part of her body constantly. His voice was softer and he was calmer, less anxious, when Paige was around. Usually she jumped into something on his second channel, trying something out that James and Will didn't want to.
9th October 2020
" I don't think we're the best people to try this out. Hold on a minute, I'll go and see if Paige will take a look for us." Will was up in a flash, his hands ran up and down his thighs as he made his way out of the room.
Will ducked his head into the communal lounge room in the office building where Paige was laying on one of the couches. Stephen was at the other end of the room, the kettle boiling as he placed a teabag into a mug, another one sitting beside it, presumably Paige's.
"Love, can you come through for a minute? I've got something I want you to check out." The two in the room turned to him and laughed as he bounced on his feet, fidgeting and antsy to get back to his video.
"I'll jump in once my tea is done, you know I can't say no when Stephen offers up a brew." Her voice was loud, trying to be heard over the noise of the kettle, before she turned to face him properly and gave him a gentle smile. He gave a quick nod and gave Stephen a thumbs up, then he was on his way again.
Paige knocked on the door lightly, stepping through without waiting for an answer and smiled at everyone in the room. As she rounded the table, she patted James on the shoulder a silent acknowledgment of the man's presence. Will made a move to get up from the chair and offer her his seat but she pressed down on his shoulder and stood beside him, "I'm small enough to be in frame, right? You don't have to move the cameras then."
Without saying a word, Will pushed himself backwards and gently tugged her down to sit on his lap, an arm wrapping around her torso loosely. He leaned back in his chair and brought his spare hand up, resting his elbow on his knee as his hand drew shapes on her back absentmindedly.
James noticed that his friend was more relaxed now than he had been all day, finally having something to ground him into the reality he was living in, calm surrounded him as Paige's weight settled him into the chair. With her on top of him he had no room to fidget and bounce his legs, he was now more focused on making sure she was comfortable in front of the cameras, his own anxiety pushed aside for the time being. James took this as his chance to explain to Paige what they were asking her to do.
She laughed lightly at the explanation and turned around to Will, her legs slinging through the loop in the chair, "You really didn't want to try out fake eyelashes?"
"Of course I didn't!" Will's eyes were full of light as he smiled at his girlfriend. James watched on with a soft smile of his own, saying something about how much he thought they would suit Will.
"Go on, let me put them on you. For the video!" Paige could tell he would fold under her request but knew he would try to push it away, he would let this play out just for a bit.
"She's right, Will. You would look absolutely amazing!" James was joining in now and Will suddenly remembered why he didn't mind that Paige didn't like being on camera too much, her and James were a deadly combination for his image, always getting him into situations he didn't ever think he would be in.
"You're going to be the death of me, love." His voice sounded like a strained sigh but his face showed that he was slightly amused, "You better take them off before you get up, though. And you need to stop encouraging this behaviour!" Will pointed a finger against James' chest, poking him a few times before his hand dropped back to Paige's thigh.
Paige took a drink from her mug, offering it up to Will with an innocent smile playing on her lips. He sighed again and shook his head, laughing as he took the mug from her and pressed it to his mouth. "I told you Stephen makes a good brew."
"You can act innocent all you want, I'm not buying it for a second though." She pressed a hand to his chest and took the mug back into her own hands before taking another sip of the tea and placing it down on the unit, swapping it for the do it yourself fake eyelashes kit.
"Oh! These are the ones with the magnetic strips, I've been wanting to try these for ages." Her enthusiasm picked up instantly as she took a good look at the kit, turning to Will excitedly with a bright smile on her face.
"Well, if you've been wanting to try them, why don't you just do them on yourself?" His question was hopeful, smiling at her excitement. She laughed again and shook her head, opening the kit with a new focus on her face, going silent.
"I need to make sure they work before I try them, I've got night shift tonight." Will just looked at her with a deadpanned stare, trying his hardest to get her to change her mind without saying anything, "I'm not going in to work looking like a tit, Will! No chance."
The next thing Will knew, there was magnetic eyeliner painted onto his face and Paige was gently pushing the eyelash strips against it, laughing marvellously as they joined together and were glued to his eyes. James sat at the side, laughing along to the ordeal as Will looked to him with pleading eyes every time Paige's hands dropped from his face.
Her grip was back on him again, turning his head side to side as she looked at her work. Her lips were curved into a soft smile before she leaned down to press a kiss to his cheek, "You look amazing, Will. Absolutely darling." The voice was warm and slightly teasing as she leaned forwards on his lap to let Mikey come beside them and get a closeup of his face.
"I hate you." Will muttered softly in defeat, his head turned down. Paige glanced at him properly now, looking for any signs that he was truly uncomfortable. James got the hint and motioned for Mikey to turn off the cameras, giving the pair a minute as the rest of them exited the room. However, Will didn't seem to notice them leaving, focusing on Paige's weight on his lap keeping him as grounded as it could.
"Hey, are you alright?" Her voice was different now; soft, serious, barely above a whisper. He turned his gaze up and settled it in her eyes, he was pleading with her to help him - get him out of his own head. "Why don't we take these off now, yeah?"
He nodded wordlessly, placing his hands onto her waist as she reached up to gently pull the fake eyelashes away from his own. "You're okay, love. Its just me and you, you're okay."
His head fell against her shoulder, a deep sigh escaping his lips as he wrapped his arms around her, "I don't know why I'm so freaked out." Paige placed a hand in his hair, soothingly scratching at his scalp.
"Everyone has their limits, Will. There's no need to panic. I'm sorry I made you feel so uncomfortable." Will let her go and looked up at her again, his eyes full of guilt.
"No, don't apologise. This wasn't your fault." Paige looked down at him and then pulled him into her chest again, her arms wrapping around his shoulders and neck before she kissed his mop of hair. "I don't hate you. I never meant it like that."
"Oh love. I know, I know exactly what you meant. And I shouldn't have pushed so hard." He didn’t reply, wiping at his eyes instead. Paige noticed the smudge of eyeliner on the back of his hand, "Let me up quickly, Will. I've got some makeup remover in my bag, we'll get the rest of that off of your eyes."
Will did let her go and heard her say something to the people waiting outside the room. She was back in no time and took the seat beside him, her bag resting on her lap. He let her wipe the eyeliner off with no struggle - her hands were as gentle as her eyes, despite feeling regret pooling in her stomach - and once she was done he pulled her back against him, "I'm okay, just need a cuddle."
She smiled softly at him and rose from the seat, settling on top of him again, this time she was straddling him and her legs were pulled up beside them, resting against his sides. Will pushed his face into the crook between her neck and shoulder, his nose nuzzling against the fabric of her hoodie, "You're okay love, I've got you."
28th July 2021
James was her favourite of Will's friends, probably because she grew up in Brighton and he stayed there now. In a weird way he reminded her of home, despite not being from there himself. She loved when James would invite both Will and herself down to spend the weekend with him and his friends; going out and watching them make music - and giving Paige a reason to go and see her family.
All of that was amazing for her but her favourite thing about James was that he loved to annoy Will just as much as she did. They would egg each other on in their sly antics. They pushed Will to his breaking point every time, making him fold under the pressure of their relentless taunts and comments. But since that time in Will's office - where he was so close to the verge of a panic attack - they were more careful with how they went about it. After that day, they got better at reading the man's facial expressions and body language for any signs of discomfort.
She never held any hard feelings towards James when he was the excuse for her plans with Will being cancelled. If Will really didn't want to abandon the evening he had planned with his girlfriend then he wouldn't, despite the consequences that abandoning work held, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place, she knew that, she just struggled to see why he couldn't push it for a day.
Will was amazing at creating content and as much as he loved involving his friends, he could do it on his own. Paige wanted him to see that, he could do anything on his own. She understood that the fans loved his friends, and loved when he was with his friends, but she wanted Will to understand that he didn't need to rely on his friends when it came to his work, he was just as capable on his own as he was when he was with them.
W<3 13:44
I'm sorry too love, its not your fault that
shit came up again x
I love you :)
She didn't see his reply for nearly two hours. Spending her time showering and getting ready for work, instead of fretting over Will's inevitable response. She had been drying her hair when she heard a notification come from her phone which lay on her bed. It was recognisable, the specific tone she had set for Will's number. But she pushed it to the back of her mind, continuing to make herself presentable and organised before she left the house for her overnight shift.
Paige smiled when she read the text, feeling the warmth in her heart that was common when it came to Will. She had rose-tinted glasses on when it came to the Northern man, ignoring the root of all of their arguments, his image in her world nearly was still nearly perfect. But they were slowly starting to slip down her nose and she couldn't find the strength to constantly push them back up for much longer. She pulled his jumper further down her figure as she padded through her flat, her ironed uniform on underneath, taking the phone that was once left in the bedroom through to the kitchen.
P<3 15:37
Heading off to work now, can I stop in to
yours tomorrow after my shift?
I love you too x
Will hummed to himself, falling back onto the couch cushions with a huff, the remnants of his guilt still bundled up into a tight knot at the bottom of his stomach. He truly felt terrible about how he had been treating his girlfriend recently. He tried his hardest to excuse his own behaviour with the reasoning that his work was important; it was how he made a living; how he supported himself; how he was a relatively stable human being. But deep down he knew, he knew that the beautiful girl deserved more than this.
He had nothing planned for tomorrow, one of the only quiet Fridays he would have for the next few months. I'm going to make it up to her, he decided. And so, instead of replying to the text she had sent, he pushed himself up from the couch and made his way through to his bedroom, changing out of the clothes he wore to bed last night - the same ones he had wore all day yesterday, too - into a clean tracksuit and slid a pair of trainers on his feet.
By the time he made it out of the lift and onto the busy London streets, his headphones were in his ears and his head was pointed down at the floor, concentrating on where he was walking as he dodged couples, groups of teenagers and a few extremely slow walkers. He turned the corner into the Sainsbury's closest to his flat and rounded the aisles quickly, picking up all of Paige's favourite breakfast foods and snacks.
W<3 16:33
Course love x
When does your shift end?
Will shrugged his jacket off of his shoulders as he entered his flat, the warmth a welcomed feeling as his fingers nipped from the cold wind that had been blowing through the air. It lay discarded on one of the dining room chairs as he dropped the shopping bags onto his kitchen unit. It was easy to put it all away as there was barely anything in his fridge, aside from a packet of cheese slices, a tray of eggs and a small carton of milk.
His night went by quickly. He spoke to Mikey on a call for a few hours as they worked on some editing together, getting lost in time as they were distracted for most of it, seemingly talking about everything but the video that was being shared onto Will's screen.
"How's Paige?" Mikey had asked as he cut a part of the video out, replaying the new scene on a low volume, making sure once more that he was happy with the cuts. Will watched intently, checking himself that he approved of this part of the video too.
The Northerner leant back in his chair, his arms falling from the rests onto his lap, "She's fine, working the now though." He replied, his voice passive, looking at his reflection in the dark monitor on his desk, noticing the empty bed behind him. Too often, Will found himself chatting idly to Mikey at his desk while Paige slept in the background - either sleeping before a shift or resting after one - her working schedule even less predictable than his.
He suddenly lost himself in thought. His girlfriend worked a variety of shift patterns, from a usual nine to five all the way to an overnight shift that started at six in the evening. Why did she judge him for his abnormal working hours if hers were so varied too?
Will pushed the thought away, knowing this wasn't the time. They weren't in the best place anyway, he didn't need to add to the frustration that was lingering between them. It nagged though and he didn't understand why, even after he got off of the call with Mikey, that he was still thinking about the judgement that came from his girlfriend.
29th July 2021
"Hi." Will said to Paige as she smiled up at him, exhaustion evident across her features. He stepped back and opened the front door wider, allowing her to step into the flat. She slipped her shoes off, leaving them by the door, as she let her hair down from a bun to flow freely across her shoulders, a few knots tangled together at the ends of her hair.
"Hi." She returned, opening her arms to ask for a hug from her boyfriend. He waved her closer, pulling her into his grasp comfortingly as she sighed, taking in a deep breath when her head rested onto Will's shoulder. The man's fingers combed through the parts of her hair that were knotted, placing his cheek onto the top of her head after he had kissed her temple. The next words that were spoken into the room were soft, Paige's voice partially blocked by Will's hoodie that was pressed against her cheek, "I'm sorry, Will."
There was silence for a few moments, Will thinking about what he wanted to say. He hated arguing with his girlfriend and he didn't want to continue this fight for longer than it had to go on. It felt like all they did recently was disagree over things that Will felt like was out of his control - Paige thought the opposite, telling the man multiple times that when 'things came up' he could say no, he didn't have to always answer to everyones beck and call, he could stick up for himself - and he hated feeling out of control. If he was saying yes to people then he was accepting the changes in the schedule and being more amenable than he had been in the past, when he was so uptight and stuck to a tight schedule.
"I'm sorry too, P. I feel like an idiot for pushing you away when it comes to work, I just don't want people to think I'm as high-strung as I really am." He looked down at her mop of dark brown hair that was under his chin, letting himself enjoy the moment before he pulled away from her, rested his arm across her shoulders and guided her into his kitchen, "I made breakfast. Thought we could get my duvet from the bedroom after and watch a film on the couch and then you could sleep, obviously, you must be exhausted, then we could go for dinner and-"
"Will." Paige laughed, her hand going to his chest as she rested her head on his shoulder, effectively stopping his rambling, "Maybe we could talk while we eat? And then we can see where the day takes us."
The aforementioned man nodded, pointing his head to the floor as he laughed at himself. Paige turned back to face him square on, looping her arms around his neck and pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you for this, it's really thoughtful." Will smiled and leaned down to kiss her properly, his head falling to rest against her forehead. They sat down at the kitchen island, where their breakfast waited for them and settled into a light conversation.
"Y'know, I really think we need to sit down properly and talk about all the arguing." Paige started, her eyes pointed down to her plate, rather than at her boyfriend beside her, "Cause I'm getting sick of it Will."
Will placed his fork down onto his plate, suddenly not feeling hungry at all. He looked towards her and noticed the shift in her energy, she looked even more tired now than she had before. "I know, I think so too. Do you want to sleep first, though? You've been going for nearly a full day."
It wasn't that he was putting it off, well, he was, but he didn't want it to turn into a bigger argument because both of them were tired. Will had barely slept the night before, antsy at the thought that this exact topic of conversation would come up.
Will was startled awake by a light knock at the door. He rolled over with a grunt, picking his phone up from the nightstand to check the time. 13:07. The pair had been sleeping for nearly five hours and with Paige bundled under the covers, seemingly unstirred, he swiftly got out of bed, before another possible knock wakened the girl too. Will rubbed at his eyes with his forearm, disregarding the fact that he was only in his boxers, and made his way through the flat to the front door.
Through the peephole, Will noticed a delivery man with a large package resting under his arm, just big enough to be held slightly uncomfortably. The door opened slightly, Will trying to hide himself behind it, suddenly remembering he was nearly naked. He smiled awkwardly at the unsuspecting man and tried to ignore the raised eyebrows he was given in response, taking the parcel from him and placing it at his feet. "Thanks, mate. Drive safe!"
As Will watched him walk off down the corridor, he kicked the parcel into he corner of the room, deciding it could be dealt with later on in the day, tiredness suddenly hitting him again. When he returned to the bedroom, Paige was still sleeping, now turned over and reaching her arm under his pillow, seemingly looking for him in her slumber.
He slid back into the bed slowly, trying his best not to stir Paige awake, and placed his arm under his head. It rested beside hers and he locked their fingers together gently while he thought about what he was going to say when she woke up and he had to address their recent issues. The man was terrified that this would be the end, they had been working towards having a healthier relationship for months; and despite the arguments about work, they were truly getting better; but when Will really thought about it, he had a horrible feeling in his stomach and he could sense the anxiety bundling up into knots in his veins.
"I love you, Will, and I don't want you to ever doubt that for a minute. But there isn't much more that I can take of this. My work is stressful enough, I really don't need yours to stress me out too. All I can think about recently is that every time I make plans to see you, there is a chance that you'll fuck off to do something related to work." They had moved to the living room after they surfaced from the bed, Will never falling back asleep.
"I get it, please believe when I say that I understand where your frustration is coming from. I'm so blessed to have a job that I love so much Paige, but the unpredictability that comes with it is something that I can't fully control. But you need to see that when things come up, I have to adjust. This is how I make a living, how I support myself, and I need to be able to make content when the opportunity arises. I wish I had a job with regular working hours but I don't think it would change anything between us." Despite the obvious snark in his last comment, Will was surprised with how calm he was being, usually he struggled to put his emotions into words. With Paige talking to him, he felt like he could have a proper conversation about this, maybe he needed to if he wanted to salvage their relationship. But Paige looked at him with confusion etched onto her face at his last statement. The cheek carried through, he didn't totally understand how Paige didn't realise that she wasn't the only one that had to sacrifice time spent together because of their partner's working routine, "I mean, your shifts are crazy too, they change week to week and they can be at any time. So really my hours aren't the only thing to blame this on."
Paige looked down, seemingly just realising that he had a point. She had never really thought about it: when they had got together, Will was working from the house and didn't really ever leave for work, so they worked around her shifts. And when his work picked up dramatically, they suddenly had a lot more factors to think about when it came to spending time together. Paige had been a 999 operator for five years, and was very used to working around her busy schedule so maybe she did take for granted that for the four years they had been together Will had been working around her hours for much more time than she had been working around his.
"As selfish as it sounds, I never actually considered that. I think because I've been so used to working like this for so long, I forget that it isn't normal to everyone around me. I mean, for years people have had to ask me when I can see them, it's never been the other way around. Maybe we both have some stuff we need to try and work around when it comes to spending proper time together, plan things out a bit more." Paige looked up at him for the first time since her gaze had dropped to her lap, his eyes had never once faltered from her, and laughed humourlessly, "Well, actually we've tried that but it seems that something always comes up."
A sad smile formed on her face, the devastation finally hitting her that this was happening and it was worse than she had allowed herself to believe. Will couldn't stop himself from moving over to her, sitting beside her on the small armchair that faced out the window, his legs slightly resting on top of hers. She shifted and pulled her legs out from underneath him and swung them over his lap, her head falling down to rest against his chest. They fell into a somber silence, their breathing synchronised but noticeably faster than normal.
"I love you." Will said softly, resting one hand on her hip, the other running up and down her shin. "But I think we both know where this conversation is going."
"Yeah, I know. I love you so much, I don't think I'll ever stop loving you, Will. Maybe we can revisit us later on in life, grow separately so in the future we can actually grow together." Paige wrapped her arms around Will and squeezed his waist tightly, tears slipping down her cheeks.
"I'll find you again, Paige. I really think you were made for me." Will wanted to sound confident but his tone faltered and he felt his eyes sting with unshed tears themselves. He felt Paige nod against him but knew that she hadn't stopped crying, he could feel her tears wetting his top against his chest, the feeling breaking him to the core. "Hey, don't get upset. It's what's best for both of us."
"I know, I know." She sat up slightly, looking around the room as though this would be the last time that she would see it. "I don't want us to end but I think I need to start getting my stuff together."
Will nodded, placing a kiss onto the top of her head and then her shoulder before he released her legs from his grasp and allowed her to get off the chair. He watched as she wiped her eyes gently and began gathering her things at the kitchen island.
The man leant her a few bags for life to put all her stuff in, four years of forgetting things at Will's or leaving them for another day was actually a lot and she only realised that she would probably need to make two trips to her car when Will picked four of the bags up from the island and started towards the exit of his flat, leaving her with only one in her hand, "I'll get all this, Will, don't worry." She said dismissively, watching him intently.
"Don't be silly, its fine." Will's voice was soft and he didn't know if it was him trying to relish in this moment or if it was from fear of crying, but he pushed the thoughts away for another time and held the door open for her with his foot.
Once everything was loaded into the boot of Paige's taxi, she stopped still at the back passenger side door. "I'll put all your stuff that's at mine back in these and bring it back over to you, okay?" Will nodded and pulled her into his arms, holding onto her with an intensity that he knew Paige could understand.
"Don't rush, just take your time, yeah?" The girl hummed and gripped the back of Will's top with her fingertips. She let go of him and looked up into his eyes, feeling a smile rush to her lips. This didn't really feel like the end.
"I'll have it back to you by the end of the week. And I just want to say, thank you for everything you've taught me. You've always been my biggest supporter and I couldn't be more grateful for that." Will's arms pulled her closer into his chest, her face smooshing against the material of his top.
"I will always support you, never forget that." Will could feel his voice wavering again and a tear slipped down his cheek when she let go of him. The next words that came out of his mouth allowed the tears he had been holding back to fall freely, everything becoming much more real, "I love you."
"I love you too. Always." Paige leaned up to press her lips to his cheek and wipe away a few tears with the pads of her thumbs, smiling when he leant into her touch and suddenly she felt extremely cold, the permanence of their hug ending, and knowing she wouldn't feel his touch again for a while, breaking her slightly.
Will's hand reached up to cup her cheek and he pressed his lips against hers for one last time, "This isn't goodbye, Paige." His voice, despite being soft, was filled with confidence, "It's just see you soon."
Paige laughed lightly, another tear slipping down her cheek as a sniffle escaped her nose, "See you later, Will."
He pulled the car door open for her and closed it once she had slipped into the car. Will stood on the pavement as he watched the car drive away, his hands balled into tight fists in the safety of his pockets. He would see her next week, right?