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Chapter 101 - The END

He just silently stared as the tired boy caught his breath, indescribable emotions flashing in his eyes. Charlie also didn't say anything, just standing there.

They stood like that for a while. Finally, Willow said, "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to save you."

Willow cut him off and said in the coldest voice he could muster, "From what? My lover? The one I cheated on you with?"

Hurt flashed in Charlie's eyes. Still, this time, he didn't step back. He didn't withdraw himself and still hugged him as he said those words, wrapping his arms tightly around the thinner boy.

"Don't lie. He's not your lover," he tightened his grip, as if to engulf him completely in his arms. He repeated in a steadier and more confident voice, "He's not your lover. I knew it then, and I'm sure of it now."

"What do you know?" Willow cross-questioned, desperately hoping Charlie wouldn't release the hug, lest he see the tears in his eyes, which had started to fill up at some unknown moment. Was it when he hugged him, or when he said that he knew Willow didn't love Liam? He didn't know when, but if there was something he did know, he was crying now, and convincing Charlie that he didn't love him was going to be really hard with that face.

"I know. A lot more than you think." Charlie didn't elaborate further. 

He simply said, "Adelia does go through with things once she's determined."

Willow also didn't ask for any elaboration. He didn't ask for forgiveness either, nor did he try to give an explanation. He simply continued to stare into space as Charlie kept his arms wrapped around his body, as if trying to convey that he was still with him, and he was going to be. Maybe it was too far-fetched, but at this moment, Willow couldn't help but selfishly wish that this was what the hug meant.

"Aren't you mad I stole your first love away from you?"

Charlie didn't reply immediately. Instead, he released the hug, gently taking Willow by the shoulders to make them look right into each other's eyes. His eyes were shaking with nervousness but were also as determined as ever as they stared into Willow's lifeless ones, not looking away for a second. He took his time as he slowly said, "Will, I'm going to say it as many times as necessary. You are my first love. My only love."

Willow sighed in frustration, "Why aren't you understanding? Do you really want me to say it clearly?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Willow couldn't take this beating around the bush any longer. He finally lost the little bit of patience he had left, and all that frustration, anger, and sorrow came tumbling out. Tears streamed down his face as he cried, "I am not Willow! Do you understand now?!"

"I am not your first love! I'm not the person you hold in such high regard! That person died months ago!"

"I-" his throat hurt from screaming, his heart hurt from screaming. Even saying a single word hurt as he continued in a hoarse voice, "I'm just an imposter. Someone who stole his way into Willow's body. Someone who took all of your affections, which clearly weren't meant for him, like a thief."

"A lying scammer. That's what I am." He looked closely at Charlie's face as he finished his statement. Previously, whenever he thought about this truth coming out, he always shuddered in fear. He imagined that he'd be crying as Charlie looked at him with contempt. Well, he was still crying, but other things couldn't be more different. His own mental state was a lot different from what he'd imagined it would be in this moment, for starters. He wasn't afraid or desolate… rather, he felt free. Free from the weight of guilt. 

He felt more free than he'd felt in months.

When pressured about something too much, humans, at one point, just give up. They just think, "Forget it," and go with whatever, because every person has a breaking point. Every person has a limit to how long they can bear guilt, and Willow thought he'd reached his long ago. Or at least, that's what he thought.

Sure, he felt weightless and free, but at the same time, there was a crippling fear in the back of his mind- fear of not being accepted by Charlie. Although he thought and might even have convinced himself for some time that he couldn't care less about what Charlie thought, he did, in fact, care a lot about it. He cared the most about what he thought. Willow knew this sounded sappy, but at that moment, he felt like he could survive any amount of hate or contempt from the world if only he could have one person to always look at him like he was his everything. And that one person was standing before him, indescribable emotions on his face.

Willow took a shuddering breath, waiting for the verdict to be delivered.

Charlie didn't reply to his statement from before. He simply repeated his earlier words, as if he hadn't heard Willow shout and cry at all, "I love you."

"I love you. I love you more than anything in the world. I love you, and I will continue to love you the rest of my whole life, whether you like it or not. So...don't you ever say such horrible things about the person I love." 

"You don't deserve any of this, Will. All this self-hate, loathing, guilt- a person as kind as you doesn't deserve to go through this one bit. That's why I'm going to love you to the end."

"But...the original Willow-"

"Forget about him." Charlie took his hands in his own before leaning in. All objections Willow had left dissolved as Charlie, for the first time, initiated things and captured his lips in his.

Willow's lips were dry from dehydration these past days, flaps of dry skin clinging to them. Charlie's soft lips were strange on his own coarse ones, making him momentarily stop and wonder why he hadn't noticed them before. At this moment, dry lips were the least of his problems, but he still couldn't help but think about it, everything else seemed too trivial at this moment.

They kissed for a while before Charlie pulled away, gasping for breath. Willow himself wasn't any different; both of them were as inexperienced as the other, and as they saw each other's flushed faces, they couldn't help but laugh.

Charlie suddenly came close.

Their faces were almost touching as Willow felt Charlie's warm breath on his nose.

"Willow- I mean, the original one...he was just a crush. Someone who would've drifted away from me in the course of time, fading into nothingness. But you—" he cupped Willow's face in his hands, "You are the person I love. The amazing person who was just so dazzling that I couldn't help but fall hopelessly in love with you. And I wouldn't trade that love for anything else in the world."

"I fell in love with your soul. I fell for your kindness, your personality—just, everything about you. And I'll continue to love you, whether you're in this body or some other. I'll love you no matter what, I promise. Forever."

"That..." Willow felt his eyes water again. He tried to wipe them and asked softly, "You know you won't get to take it back, right? The promise, I mean."

"I don't need to."

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