"Happy new year, sweetie" Mom said and kissed my head as I pulled out a box of cereal and a bowl. "Sorry I didn't get the chance to see you last night. I didn't feel very good and I went to bed right after midnight"

"It's okay. I don't think we left Nick's until two or three. Chantel left to pick up Beck soon after midnight."

"Well did you at least have fun?" She asked.

I thought back to what happened last night. I nodded with a blush spreading across my cheeks. I just hope Mom didn't notice.

"I'm glad you had a fun. I'm gonna go lay down. I still don't feel very great. Love you"

"I hope you feel better." I kissed her cheek.

"Thanks sweetie." She left and went into her room.

I finished making my bowl of cereal and I put the stuff away when I was waiting for my cereal to be a little bit soggy. I didn't feel like moving to the table so I ate at the counter.

"Hey Coco" Dad said as he walked in the kitchen and kissed my head in the same manner as Mom. "I heard about you and Will last night, are you getting back together?" Dad asked casually.

"What the he- Carter Maverick Barnes get your ass over here now!" I yelled and I started to go upstairs. Dad stopped me with his arm.

"Woah there Coco. I told him to watch over you last night. I was worried after what happened at Christmas. He didn't mean to tell me, he just slipped up."

I sighed, knowing Dad was telling the truth.

"So are you gonna answer the question?" He asked.

"We kissed" I shrugged. "I don't know what we are exactly. We didn't get the chance to have a conversation after."

"Would you get back together if he asked you?" Dad asked seriously.

I thought for a second about what I would say or do if he asked me for forgiveness.

"Well yeah I think I would. I still love him. I never stopped loving him. He's easily my best friend, the love of my life, my soulmate. He's the only person on the earth for me. Yeah I'd take him back in an instant. It might be a little hard at first, but no one ever claimed love is easy."

"Wow Coco, that was very mature of you and I completely understand, but if that boy hurts you again I will hurt him." He laughed. I joined in at my dad's dorkiness. "In all seriousness, I'm super proud of you. You went through a lot these last few weeks, but you kept going with a loving heart and composed mind. You were mature about it. And I couldn't be prouder of you."

All of a sudden I felt a huge weight of burden lift from my shoulders. I knew he would always be there to help me lift every burden of mine whenever I needed. I swear I could see tears welling up in his eyes.

"I love you Dad" I wrapped my arms around his neck and squeezed him tight. He wrapped his immediately around me too.

"I love you Cora Maeve more than you could possible imagine."

The moment was interrupted when Sky ran in happily into the kitchen. She slept a lot later than she normally would. I got pictures and videos of her and back last night from Mom. They are so cute.

"Sissy!" She ran into my arms. I picked her up and put her on the counter.

"Morning nugget" I smiled. "Did you have fun last night?"

She nodded vigorously. "Beck and I had juice and candy until ten! Then we stayed up until midnight!" She raved.

"Wow that sounds so fun!"

"Can Beck come over more? I like him." She asked.

I chuckled at the relationship the two of them have. "We'll see maybe sometime this week or next, okay?"

She sighed dramatically. "That long? Okay" she whines in defeat. "Can we play Barbies?" She asked.

"Only after you eat breakfast, nugget" I told her.

She reached up for me to put her back on the ground. I helped her make some breakfast and waited as she ate it.

After breakfast, we went to her room and played with her new Barbies. We played for a while. We made up whole stories about superheroes and proms together. Sky was having a lot of fun.

Mom knocked softly on the door. "Hey kiddo, you have to take a bath before going to Aunt Lauren and Uncle Jack's house remember."

Sky pouted. "I was playing with sissy" she pouted.

"Skylar Paige I already asked you once and I told you yesterday about it. I will not ask you again" Mom said in a calm voice. "I already filled up the bath. I'll bring your clothes in a minute.

Sky sighed in defeat. "Yes mommy" she got up and went to the bathroom.

"Are you going to Lauren's?" She asked me as I stood up from my position and put the Barbie in their bedrooms.

"Um I think I'm gonna sit this one out. I'll go next time though" I told her.

"Okay that's fine. Love you sweetie"

"Love you to Mom" I walked past her and into my room. Bandit jumped down from Sky's bed and followed me.

I laid in my bed and sighed. My eyes were getting heavy and I let out a yawn. Last night wore me down. I needed a nap. Before I knew it, I fell asleep.

***

The sound of my phone ringing in my ear. It took me a second to blink the sleep out of my eyes. I picked up my phone and answered without looking at the caller Id.

"Hello?" I said as I answered the phone groggily.

"Cora? I'm sorry, did I wake you up?" Will's voice called from the other side of the phone.

I pulled my phone away from my ear to check the time. It was already five.

"No you're good. I needed to wake up anyway. What did you need?"

"I was wondering if you could talk, but if you have things to do then we can talk later"

"I'm free. Do you want to meet somewhere or talk on the phone?" I asked.

It sounded like a more serious talk than anything else.

"Do you want to come over?" He asked me.

"Yeah give me like ten minutes and I'll be over"

"Okay I'll see you then" he said and hung up the phone.

My stomach filled with butterflies. What could he possibly need to talk to me about? I don't know. It sounded serious.

I ran a brush through my hair and tied it up in a messy bun. I grabbed one of Connor's hoodies and that I stole and slipped it over my pajama shirt. I threw on a pair of black running shorts and slipped on my slides.

I grabbed my keys and realized that Carter had the car. I went downstairs and thankfully Dad was in the living room. They must've gotten back from Lauren's house already.

"Hey Dad can I take your car? Carter has ours." He said.

"Take Harper's. The keys are on the table" he pointed over to the entry way table. "Where are you going?" He asked.

"To Will's. He wants to talk." I answered.

"Okay be safe please" he said and turned back to the living room tv.

I grabbed Mom's car keys and headed out to her car. Bandy was crying behind me for leaving without him.

I drove to Will's just as Karla and Michael were getting ready to leave.

"Hey Cora, I didn't know you were coming over" Karla hugged me.

"Will called me, where are you going?" I asked her.

"Of course. We're going shopping. We need some kitchen things. You have fun. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Bye Karla. Bye Micheal" I said. She hugged me one last time. Micheal waved at me as he waited on his wife.

I walked up to the house and Will was already there waiting on me. I gave him a hug and walked in. We went up to his room after I assured him that I didn't need anything to eat or drink. I'm not gonna lie I was a little bit hungry since I hadn't eaten since breakfast, but he didn't need to know that.

We sat in his bed and looked at each other in silence for a little bit. He awkwardly cleared his throat.

"I know we forgave each other for the fight we had and made up, but I still feel like an asshole because of everything that happened. I truly am sorry Coco. I love you and I don't want to lose you"

I took a deep breath. He just got right into it. "I don't want to lose you either Will. Believe it or not you are the absolute best thing that's ever happened to me. Despite what happened, you are my best friend before anything else and I don't want to lose any of that."

"I want everything I had back with you. The love, the bickering, the jokes, the smiles, the FaceTime calls, the good, and the bad. I want it all back. I miss you and I made a shitty mistake. I'll never forget it. If it's okay with you, I'd like to try and fix what went wrong with us."

I small smile spread across my face. "I'm not saying it's going to be easy. I know it's not, but I'd like to try. Love isn't easy. Everyone has their battles, and challenges. We're gonna have to work for it, but I'm willing to do it because I love you. It's true I really really love you and I can't imagine loving anyone else like I love you."

He reached over and hugged me tight. I hugged him back. He kissed my cheek softly.

Honestly I'm kind of glad he didn't try anything more because of the solemn moment we were having. It was soft and sweet.

"Do you want to watch a movie?" He asked.

I nodded and he grabbed his remote. We snuggled up to each other and everything felt so natural.

We chose a movie and hit play. Will loosened up as did I. The music played and it made me yawn.

"Are you tired?" He asked my softly.

I nodded slightly. "A little but I'm okay I promise."

"Okay" he said and left it alone. "Do you want to stay for dinner? We're having fajitas."

"That sounds lovely." I hummed in delight at the thought.

The movie played and my eyelids felt heavier and heavier until they closed and didn't open back up.

I woke up to the smell of an amazing dinner being cooked. It was a few minutes before I realized I wasn't at home. My senses woke and I remembered what happened.

I looked over to see Will sleeping soundly next to me. His arm was draped loosely over my side. The movies was playing quietly in the background. Looks like we were both really tired.

I slipped out of his arms and went downstairs to the kitchen.

"Hey Cora" Karla said when she saw me. "You feeling okay? Will said you were sleeping pretty much all day."

"Yeah I'm just exhausted for some reason. It's been a long couple weeks."

"I get it. Are you staying for dinner?" She asked me.

I nodded. "Will I said I could. If that's okay with you of course." I added.

"You are always welcome in our home Cora." She stopped with the vegetables and turned to me. "You're basically family." She hugged me.

"Thank you Karla"

"Anytime baby. I love you like my own daughter"

"I love you too Karla." I said and she turned back to her vegetables. "Do you need help with anything?" I asked.

She nodded over to the salad that she had yet to make. "If you want to start on the salad you are more than welcome to, but you don't have to"

"Of course" I said and picked up the knife and cutting board to start on the tomatoes.

***