Harbour Lights

When Will woke up, the first thing he saw was white. White walls, white sheets, white beds…white, white, white. It even smelled white. He immediately knew that he was in the hospital.

"Oh my god, Billy, you're awake!" cried Evie and she flung herself into his arms. He winced as her body tugged on the IV sticking out of his arm. She began showering him with kisses and asked, "Do you remember what happened?"

"N-No…" Will said. He knew he was in the hospital, and he knew that he felt like absolute shit, but he could not recall why.

"You…" Evie started, and her eyes welled up with tears, "You overdosed on heroine."

"Oh." That's all he could think of to say.

"Oh, Billy," Evie cried into his chest. "Why didn't you tell anyone about your problem? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know." Maybe it was because he wasn't planning on getting caught for it? Because no one would understand him? Because he's a fucking idiot? "Um, is," he started, looking around the room and realizing it was empty, "is anyone else here?"

His fiancée sniffled. "Adam, Joe and Chad are in the waiting room," she answered. "Your parents aren't here…I'm so sorry, Billy. When they found out, they…they were so furious. They know you're okay, but they won't come to the hospital to see you…"

Will shrugged, trying to act indifferent, although on the inside he couldn't help but feel a little stung. "Whatever. They never really cared about me, anyway."

"I'll always be here for you," Evie said and clasped her hand around his. "It's okay if you do drugs, I'll still love you. If – if you still feel the need to keep doing it when we're married, I'll be okay with it."

Will had to refrain from snorting. What a great wife she’ll be, he thought to himself sarcastically. She’s supportive of my addiction. But he wasn't really in the position to be judging anyone – he was the one who overdosed, after all.

"Billy, I need to tell you something," Evie suddenly said. "Adam, Chad and Joe aren't the only ones here to see you. There's…there's someone else."

"Who?"

She shrugged. "I don't know who she is, or why she's even here; Adam brought her. Her name is Marilyn Day."

◊ ◊ ◊

When Marilyn was a sophomore, her favorite class in the entire world was Honors Algebra II. Now, although she was smart, she actually hated math. Her teacher was boring and unintelligent. The homework load every night sucked. So why did she like the class, then?

William Banfield sat next to her.

In the beginning of the year, she was mildly surprised that Will was in her honors class. But, as the weeks passed, she learned that he wasn't the stereotypical band member. He was actually very smart, especially in math.

After sitting next to him for the entire semester, Marilyn could barely contain the butterflies she got in her stomach every time she saw him. When he asked her to go to the all-school dance with him last Friday, she actually thought that she was dreaming.

They had had a great time. They laughed, they danced...they even kissed during the very last song.

But now it was Monday, and Marilyn dreaded math class.

What did that dance mean for the two of them? Were they going out, or...well, what? Who knew? She was so utterly confused and when Will walked through the door, her heart was pounding.

He didn't even look at her when he took his seat.

It was five minutes into the class when she realized how much of a jerk Will was. So she didn't exist to him now? What a son of a...

Before she could even finish that thought, she saw Will scribble something down on a piece of paper and then he tossed it over to her desk. She gave him a confused look, but he was pointedly not looking at her. She could have sworn she saw him blush, but then again it was a Monday morning and she could easily be imagining things.

With shaking hands, she gingerly unfolded the paper and read his messy handwriting:

What are you doing Saturday?

Her heart was thumping as she wrote her response in shaky handwriting. Nothing. What are you doing?

She passed the piece of paper back to him, being extra careful so that their teacher didn't see. She watched in her peripheral as Will read it and smiled. After jotting something else down, he slipped it back into her hands.

Hanging out with you.

She couldn't contain a grin. But that smile was wiped right off her face as a sharp voice rang out into the air:

"Marilyn Day and Will Banfield. Are you two passing notes?"

"No," Marilyn hastily answered as Will enthusiastically said, "Yes, ma'am."

"Well then, William," the teacher said crossly, folding her arms. She had hated Will since the first day of school when he had oh-so-maturely hit her in the head with a spitball. "Why don't you read us what you two are discussing, since it is apparently so much more important than quadratic equations."

Will proudly unfolded the note and stood up, much to Marilyn's horror. He cleared his throat and began speaking: "Hey Mare, what are you doing Saturday?" Then he switched to a high-pitched voice in order to imitate Marilyn."Hopefully I'll be doing you, William."

"Hey, I did not say that!" Marilyn said as her face turned crimson. Everyone in the class laughed.

"Oh, well that's an interesting thing to have on your to-do list," Will continued to pretend reading, and he had to hold the letter high above his head as Marilyn tried to snatch it from him."Oh baby, I can't wait. You can come over anytime."

Marilyn sunk in her seat and buried her face in her hands.

"Mr. Banfield, I think that's enough," the teacher stammered.

"But I'm not done yet, Mrs. Penn!" he protested. "Anyway, after that I asked her if she would like to be my girlfriend." Then he turned to Marilyn. "And what did you say, Mare?" he asked in a murmur.

She knew that was being serious this time. Marilyn looked him straight in the eye, still blushing profusely, and said, "Sure."

Will grinned and sat down in his seat. "Now it's done," he announced.

"You forgot one part," Marilyn interrupted."P.S.," she said in the same high-pitched voice that Will had used, "you're a jerk."

Everyone burst out into laughter, and Will just smiled at her. She shyly smiled back.

And that was the beginning of it all.