‹ Prequel: Here We Go Again
Status: This is the sequel of Here We Go Again as well as the third and final installment for this series.

Third Time's a Charm

Chapter 3

The next day at around noon, Will and I planned to leave and head back to my apartment. I had a bit of cleaning to do before our little New Year's party we were going to have with our friends. Will's mother was sad that her only child was leaving so soon, but I couldn't exactly say she felt the same way about me. I was sure she was happy that I was leaving already. Of course I didn't tell Will what I thought, because he would just deny it anyway.

After saying goodbye to his parents and Will promising that we would visit again - much to my disdain - we left and made our way to my apartment.

The ride was a long one and before we got back to my apartment, Will and I stopped somewhere for some lunch. While we ate, we started talking about our party.

"So is Erin bringing a date?" Will asked before he brought a forkful of food into his mouth.

"Yeah, she's bringing this girl she met at school," I said with a shrug as I shoved food into my own mouth. Will looked at me in confusion as he swallowed the food he was chewing.

"A girl?" he asked and I nodded at him. "I thought Erin was straight."

"She's bisexual," I said.

"Oh," he said in understanding. "I never knew that."

"I didn't think it was important to mention," I replied with a shrug. And to be honest, I really didn't think it was. Back when we were in middle school and she told people she was bisexual, people would always give her shit about how she was a poser or a just a lesbian, and a bunch of other harsh things. So now she just left her sexuality as something that was only important to her and the person she was dating. And I respected that. And I hoped Will respected that as well. I glanced up at him and waited for his reply as I fiddled with my fork.

"Oh okay. That's cool then," he said simply. I let go of the breath I was holding and smiled at him. "What's her name?" he continued.

"I'm not sure actually. She didn't tell me her name. All she told me was that she's bringing a girl."

"I guess we'll find out her name tomorrow night then," he said.

I nodded at him as we talked about who else was going. Obviously Erin and her date were going to be there. Chris and Hayley said they were going as well as Sara and James. I invited Travis and Annabella as well. Since we were all trying to get along with each other and get back into the flow of our friendships and relationships before all this drama happened, I figured a party would do us some good. It also didn't hurt that Travis and Annabella were trying to have another go with each other. When I last spoke to him, he told me they were taking things slow. Nothing too drastic or fast, unlike how Will and I started. I understood the reason to go slow with everything, so I didn't say anything about it.

After lunch, we finally got back to my apartment. Erin wasn't there so I assumed she was out at the store, getting things for the party. While I cleaned the kitchen, I forced Will to clean the living room. I wasn't going to be the only one cleaning this place up. And when Erin was going to come home, I was going to make her clean her room and the bathroom. If we were going to have people over, I didn't want this place to be a mess.

We spent the rest of the day cleaning. And as soon as Erin came back, she got to cleaning as well. We had finished at around eight and the three of us had dinner at a restaurant down the street from the apartment. After dinner, we went back to the apartment and all went to bed. We were all pretty tired from the cleaning, so we planned do all the decorations tomorrow.

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The next day rolled around and while Erin and I got dressed, Will set up the last of the decorations and food and drinks. It wasn't a real party, especially a New Year's party, without alcohol.

When I dressed into a simple blue cocktail dress and did my makeup, Will got dressed. While at his house, he grabbed some more of his clothes and brought them to my apartment. More and more of his things were gradually coming into my apartment that he was practically living with Erin and I. I didn't mind it though and when I had asked Erin if that bothered her, she said it didn't.

At around nine o'clock, Chris and Hayley arrived right as Will got finished getting ready. I glanced over him before I left my room to greet them. He was wearing a pair of black slacks with a cream-colored dress shirt. I had only seen him in dress clothes like this a handful of times and I still had some getting used to it. He really cleaned up nicely. I grinned to myself as I finally left my room with Will trailing behind me. I glanced back at him and he was running his fingers through his slightly damp hair.

"Hey!" I exclaimed as I saw Chris in the kitchen. He was in the middle of dunking a chip into some dip. He glanced over at me as a smile made its way onto his face. He quickly stuffed the dip filled chip into his mouth before he wiped his fingers on a nearby napkin.

"Hey!" he exclaimed back through a mouth full of food. I laughed as I hugged him.

"Where's Hayley?" I asked when I pulled away from him.

"She popped to the loo real quick," he answered as he turned back to the chips and dip. He glanced up at Will as he stuffed more food into his mouth. "Hey, Will," he said, not as enthusiastically as when he greeted me. Will noticed this and narrowed his eyes at him.

"Hey," Will replied as he patted Chris' back hard. Apparently he hit him too hard, because Chris started to hack back up the chips.

"Blimey!" he exclaimed as cleared his throat of food. "What was that for?"

"Thanks for the enthusiasm in greeting me."

"Geez, just for that? Fine then. I'll greet you properly then," he said as he gave Will his full attention. "William!" he suddenly exclaimed. "How are you, my mate?! It's been days since I've last seen you! Far too long!" He pulled Will into a tight hug, managing to lift his taller frame off the ground for a few seconds before he placed him back onto the ground. Right as I thought he was done exaggerating, Chris cupped Will's face and planted a big sloppy kiss on his cheek. I looked at them in surprise while a look of disgust and regret crossed Will's face.

"Did I miss something here?" Hayley asked from behind us. I whirled around to see her slowly walking into the kitchen, a look of confusion on her face.

"That's a good question," I replied. Chris shrugged at his girlfriend's question as he turned back to the chips and started eating them once more as if we didn't disturb him. "Chris was just greeting his best friend," I answered with a laugh as said best friend wiped his cheek with the back of his hand. I laughed at him and he sent a glare my way.

"I was trying to eat here and Will was being a little twat because I didn't greet him with enthusiasm," Chris answered with a roll of his eyes. He continued to eat the chips as well as some of the other food on the kitchen table. He was practically scarfing down anything he could get his hands on. Hayley nodded in understanding as she stood beside him.

"He hasn't eaten all day, so he must be starving," she said as he rubbed his back. He grunted in agreement and flashed her a wide smile before he ate some more food. I nodded and turned to Hayley. I greeted her with a hug before she turned to Will. He greeted Hayley with a hug as well before he stood next to me. He still had a look of disgust on his face as he wiped at his cheek again. I laughed again and reached up to touch his cheek.

"You're fine," I said. "Calm down."

“I think he got crumbs on my cheeks...” he muttered as he narrowed his eyes at me and folded his arms over his chest. Before I could say anything to that, there was a knock on the door.

"That must be her," Erin said excitedly as she stood up from her place at the couch. Chris looked up at me with a confused expression.

"Her?" he questioned as he swallowed the food in his mouth. I waved off his question as Erin answered the door. The smile that was on her face dropped when it wasn't the person she wanted to see.

"Oh, hey, Travis," she said in a flat voice.

"Disappointed?" I heard him ask her, a hint of a smile in his voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed as she opened the door wider for him. "I didn't mean to sound like that. I'm waiting for someone is all," she said. Travis walked through the door and hugged Erin before he walked further into the apartment. He saw me at the entrance of the kitchen and smiled at me. I returned the smile as I walked past Will and hugged Travis.

"Hey, Nicole," he greeted me.

"Hey, best friend," I said with a goofy grin. He chuckled at that. I glanced behind him and noticed that he was alone. "Where's Annabella?" I asked him.

"We drove separately, because she and James are coming from home," he explained. I nodded in understanding.

"Do you know about Sara then?"

"I think she's also coming from home, so she's driving on her own," he answered. I nodded again. I let Travis through to the kitchen so he could say hi to everyone in there.

By nine-thirty, Sara and Erin's date - whose name we found out to be Rachael - had arrived. Annabella and James were still on their way. It wasn't until around ten o'clock that they finally arrived. It turned out that their parents wanted them to stay for some family time before the new year began, so they had no choice but to stay for a bit, and that's why they were late.

And by the time they arrived, everyone had at least one drink except for Will. Ever since his little drinking stint a few months ago, he had been trying not to drink too much lately. He told me he was going to have a drink though around the time when the ball was going to drop.

As the night wore on, I couldn't help but sneak glances at Travis and Annabella. I noted that she was kind of shy around Travis, sometimes even blushing around him. It was weird to see that considering I had seen her and Will display so much PDA without a single blush in sight in the past. I thought it was even kind of cute that she was shy around him.

At around eleven fifty-eight, after everyone had a bit more to drink, Erin started gathering everyone around the TV. Erin and Rachael sat on the couch and Chris sat on the other side of Erin with Hayley sitting on his lap. James sat on the loveseat with Sara while Travis leaned against the couch arm rest with Annabella standing next him, his hand on her waist. Will and I opted to stand on the other side of the couch.

As the last couple of minutes ticked away to midnight, I glanced at Will from the corner of my eye. He had a wine glass of cider in his right hand while his left hand was on my waist. He looked at me and I instinctively looked away.

"What?" he asked as he leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"Nothing," I said quickly as I took a sip from my own glass.

"No, really. What?" Will pressed as he leaned closer to me. He looked at me expectantly.

"It's just..." I said nervously as I set my glass down onto the glass coffee table a few feet in front of us. "It's weird," I said.

"What's weird?"

"I'm here on New Year's Eve. With you," I clarified. He smiled at me.

"You thought you weren't gonna be?"

"No, actually. I never thought we'd make it this far. We've been through so much."

"I know. But we're here now." Will flashed me a smile.

"We are," I said. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug.

"Guys, guys! Less than a minute!" I heard Erin say. "Everyone has someone to kiss, right?" she asked with a grin. I blushed as I looked at Will. My arms were still around his neck, but I didn't bother to move them. I looked away from Will and looked around at everyone as they paired up. "The countdown is starting!" Erin said. Will set his glass down on the table next to mine. He wrapped both his arms around me tighter.

"...5...4...3...2...1... Happy New Year!" everyone shouted together. I pulled Will down to my level and planted my lips on his. He kissed me back eagerly.

"Happy New Year..." I muttered as I pulled away from him.

"Happy New Year..." he muttered back to me before he kissed me again.
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It's been awhile since my last update, but here's the next chapter! To the very few people who have made it here and are reading this, some feedback would be great. So comment, subscribe, recommend, and let me know your thoughts about this story!