Willow in a bikini was definitely not the kind of sight that made it easy for me to get over my crush on her. She was wearing a multi colored bikini, her dyed red hair shining in the sun as her melanin skin glowed making her look ethereal. I'd never seen all her tattoos exposed at once but at the moment they were all out there for me to see and admire. I didn't even have a tattoo but she had several amazing ones that kind of made me want to get one myself.

It took every bone in my body and a lot of will not to storm towards her, pull into my arms and kiss her cherry flavored plump lips. Don't ask me how I knew how her lips tasted, we shared a bathroom and I saw her lip gloss tube amongst all her girly stuff.

That was another thing that was messing with my head, sharing a bedroom with Willow. It had taken me three hours to fall asleep the previous night after we'd had dinner. I kept staring at her as she slept peacefully in the bed next to me. All I kept thinking about was joining her under the huge blanket and pulling her body next to mine. I didn't do it and it sucked being so close to her yet so far away. Willow was my dream girl but she was also very unattainable.

I was having the best Thanksgiving of my life and it was all because of her. Getting invited for Charlie's birthday had been an honor and I was having the best time. Willow was beginning to mean so much to me and I had no idea how much longer I could hold out before I confessed my feelings for her.

She looked my way from the pool where she was helping Alex float around and smiled at me. I was sitting at the edge of the pool my feet dangling in the cool water. Charlie was a little distance away being aided by one of the lifeguards. His big smile was infectious and it was hard not to be happy while around him.

After making sure that Alex was okay, Willow swam towards me, pulled herself out of the pool before sitting next to me.

"You've been quiet all morning, are you okay?"She asked looking at me concerned.

It warmed me from the inside to know that she genuinely cared about me. It made it all the more harder not to fall for her.

"Yeah I'm okay, this is the most fun I've had in a very long time. I'm happy you asked me to tag along."I replied.

"Thank Charlie, he's the one who insisted you come along. I was happy to leave you behind and miserable with your overbearing family."She teased with a playful grin.

"Feeling the love."I retorted unable to hold back my smile.

"I'm happy you're here too, it would not have been the same without you."She confessed making me feel all fuzzy inside.

I ignored that feeling and decided to change topics quickly before I made a fool out of myself.

"So what's the plan for the day?"I inquired.

"Well I was thinking of us riding as many rides as we can before lunch then going back to our rooms to freshen up. We'll have lunch before cutting Charlie's cake and giving him gifts. We'll cap the day off with Thanksgiving dinner at the restaurant then calling it a night."She summarized.

"It sucks that there's so much to do with such little time but let's not waste any more time talking about having fun and let's go and actually have some fun."I declared.

"I love that enthusiasm, let's go."Willow concurred jumping back into the pool and swimming back to her brother and Alex.

I smiled at myself before joining them in the fun.

After exhausting ourself by riding as many rides as could squeeze in we showered as per Willow's demands before settling down for lunch at the resorts balcony. Since the weekend was all about Charlie he was calling the shots that's why we had Grilled hotdogs with fix-ins for lunch.

Just as we were waiting to order dessert one of the waitresses walked in carrying Charlie's cake with a fortnite theme as she sang happy birthday to him. We all joined in and Charlie could not hold back his excitement as he clapped happily. I didn't have a sweet tooth but I had to admit that the cake was delicious. Willow had outdone herself and I had to admit her love for her brother was overwhelming.

We shared the cake before carrying the rest upstairs so we could give Charlie his gifts. It was thrilling watching Charlie unwrap his gifts and even more awarding when his eyes lit up everytime he saw what he got. Alex bought him Marvel themed spoke guards for his wheelchair, Willow got him a Iron Man Helmet that was personally signed by Robert Downey Jr. I'd never gifted anyone before let alone an eight year old so I got him a new gaming pad and one of my own games that I'd never given to anyone before. Jack got him new lightspeed wireless DTS headphones.

"I had no idea you designed your own video games."Willow commented as we watched Alex and Charlie play the game I had gifted him.

"It's a hobby, I like coding. Numbers are easy unlike people."I replied.

"It's a gift but only you can downplay your talents like that."Willow replied.

"Thanks I guess."I said chuckling nervously.

"You're welcome."Willow grinned.

She winked at me and my heart nearly stopped. To her it was a harmless gesture but to me it was a lot more than that. As a way to distract myself I watched the kids play as Willow and I ate some birthday cake.

The excitements of the day had the boys tuckered out before seven so Willow and I decided to take an evening stroll as we talked about everything under the universe.

"I feel like I know all these big things about you but I don't even know the small details like your favorite color or meal." Willow pointed out.

"That's true but do the little details really matter?"I asked.

"Of course they do, what proof will I have that I'm really your friend if I don't know a single thing about you."She countered.

"Fair enough, what do you want to know?"

"As much as you can tell me."

"It's funny that our friendship started backwards with the heavy stuff first but okay let's do this. My favorite color is black and I know that's a shade so don't point it out, I love pizza, sour gummy worms are my favorite guilty pleasure, I never learnt how to ride a bike and I have Aichmophobia which is a fear of needles that's why I always prefer taking pills to injections."I summarized.

"Wow you seriously don't know how to ride a bicycle?"She asked shocked.

"Nope. I never had anyone to teach me so I never learnt."I replied.

"That must suck."She sympathized.

"Not really, I wasn't much of an outdoor person so it didn't bother me."I assured her.

"Well since you've shared that much I guess it's my turn. I don't have a favorite color but if I was to choose I'd say blue, my favorite food is fries, oreos are my guilty pleasure though for some reason Doritos are winning nowadays, I have a phobia of losing my brother that's why I always get separation anxiety whenever we're apart and you are my first friend in a very long time, besides Jack and Charlie doesn't count, he's kind of obligated to be my friend. "She confessed.

I was surprised to learn that I was her first friend considering how lovable and caring Willow was. Anyone would be lucky to have her as a friend.

"You are my first friend in a very long time too."I replied giving her a smile.

She smiled back and I had to look away before I did something stupid like pull her into my arms and kiss her. Being so close to her and being unable to give into my urges was driving me crazy. It was actually taking a lot more strength to reign in my feelings than I thought it would be.

"Can I ask you something?"She requested cutting into my thoughts.

"Sure."

"Why do you fight against your family so much? Wouldn't it be easier to just give in, bid your time and when the time is right, leave and never look back."She asked.

I wanted to tell her than in some way that's what I was doing but I didn't want to lose her friendship. If she found out I was leaving immediately after graduation then she wouldn't want to be my friend anymore if I was just leaving her behind.

"I tried but I realized that it just takes so much energy trying to be fake so I stopped. I tried running away when I was ten but I didn't even get very far. The Sheriff found me close to the edge of town and thought I was lost so he put me in the back of his truck and drove me back home. I had been gone for hours and they hadn't even noticed. From then on I just blended into the background and stopped caring for them because they didn't care for me."I explained.

"Wow, I'm sorry. That must have been scary but at least you were brave."She sympathized.

"And stupid. My mom took away my gaming system for two months, I had to beg, plead and grovel before she gave it back."I expounded.

"I can only imagine how hard that must have been."

"Well I'm a big boy now and can take the hits."I grinned making her chuckle.

We walked around until we got to the playground. I sat on one of the swings while Willow took the one next to mine.

"It must have been hard growing up with your mom too. Robert is husband number what again?"I inquired wanting to know more about her.

"Four and only because she was unable to lure all the other hundreds of men into marriage."She replied.

"And you don't have any other family you could have turned to?"

"Nope. It was just my grandma but she disowned my mom as soon as she got pregnant with me. She died a few years back and I only know that because my grandma's lawyer tracked my mom down to inform her of the inheritance my grandma had left her. It wasn't much money but my mom said it was the only worthwhile thing my grandma had ever done for her."She explained.

The more I got to know her the more I felt a pull towards her. We had terrible childhoods under the care of our families and were just trying our best to stay strong in hopes of a better future. She was definitely stronger than me considering she took care of Charlie all on her own and I'd never heard her complain even once.

"How come none of your mom's ex-husbands ever reported her for neglect?"I asked.

"Anyone capable of thinking that my mom is wife material definitely has something wrong with them. They would never risk destroying their reputation by acknowledging that they married a terrible person. My mom is also good at putting up a facade and I help her because otherwise she'll separate Charlie and I."She replied.

I wished someone loved me as fiercely as Willow loved Charlie. I'd never had that kind of love in my life and it left a void in my heart that I had no idea if it could ever be filled.

"Charlie is lucky to have you."I commented.

"I'm the lucky one because if it weren't for him, I would have given up a long time ago and just faded into nothing."Willow confessed with a sad expression in her face.

We were slightly swaying with the breeze so I reached over and placed my hand over hers in hopes to comfort her. She gazed at our joined hands before she looked up to meet my eyes. The moon was reflected in her eyes making them look like pools of water in a dry dessert. I found solace in being with her at that moment because no matter how messed up our lives sucked we had somehow managed to find each other and that accounted for something.

"I've always hated it when my mom made us move and we have moved a lot but this time I actually liked what I found in Crescent. I mean the town itself is terrible, people are so uptight and full of themselves but Jack, working at the arcade and you make it all worth it."She expressed.

"I'm happy you moved next door too, the circumstances that brought you here might not be ideal but I'm happy that you moved here and I got to meet you."I replied biting my tongue.

There was so much more I wanted to say but it would blow my cover on my feelings for her. I had no idea for how much longer I could keep them in but I would try my hardest. I was not risking my friendship with her over some stupid feelings.

"Well this has been a nice heart to heart but it's getting too sappy for my cold heart so I think it's better if we go upstairs and call it a night. We still have a lot tomorrow and the drive back will not be easy if we're both exhausted."Willow said jumping off the swing pulling her hand away from mine.

I wanted to protest but that would be creepy and I didn't want to scare her off.

"Is that all or do you want more of the birthday cake?"I asked getting off the swing and following behind her.

"You caught me red handed."She grinned holding her hands up in surrender.

"Great, I thought I was the only one. It was a nice birthday by the way, Charlie couldn't stop smiling."

"As long as he's happy, I'm happy."

We made it back to our rooms and she went to check up on the boys before joining me in our room. We gorged on some of the left over cake, took turns in the bathroom before turning in for the night.

"Henry."Willow called in a whisper a few minutes after we both turned off the lights.

The room was dark and quiet but I could hear her slow and steady breathing.

"Yeah."I whispered back.

"Thank you for coming. This weekend has been a much better experience with you around."She confessed.

I smiled even though she could not see me,"You're welcome and it was my honor."

"Okay, Goodnight."

"Goodnight Willow, sweet dreams."

After that no one said anything else and a few minutes later her breathing evened out meaning she had fallen asleep.

It took me some time to fall asleep and the whole time I was thinking how easy it would be to slip into bed next to her and fall asleep with her in my arms. I didn't do it though so I was grateful for when I finally drifted off to sleep before I did something crazy.