Chapter Text
“You’re Stronghold’s friend.”
It wasn’t a question and as soon as the words left Warren Peace’s mouth, Layla outwardly groaned.
“Yeah.”She decided to leave out the unfortunately that was sitting at the tip of her tongue, waiting to be released.
Layla was really beginning to hate always being associated with Will Stronghold. It was like he had taken up every square inch of her brain; her crush she had had on him for the better part of her childhood, her name always associated with his but never in the way she wanted.
The farther that Will had grown apart from her, the more she felt like just an extension of him. No one knew her without Will standing beside her and slightly in front of her, blocking her from the limelight. And she had let him do so for years because she figured that eventually he would understand his feelings but it was beginning to become abundantly clear that he wasn’t.
Even Warren Peace didn’t see her as Layla Williams. He saw her as “Stronghold’s friend.” What a ringing endorsement.
“Do you want me to heat that up for you?” he asked her, snapping her out of her swarming thoughts. The question had caught her completely off guard.
“You’re not supposed to use your powers outside of school,” she said, sweeping her eyes from left to right, making sure no one was listening in on their conversation and dropping her voice to a whisper for good measure.
“I was just going to stick it in the microwave,” Warren responded, hunching down to her level and dropping his own voice in a mocking manner that made Layla let out a surprised laugh.
Maybe the fact that she was stood up by her childhood best friend turned crush turned now resented childhood best friend/crush was messing with her judgment because next thing she knew she had asked Warren to sit down with her.
But whatever was going on in her head must have been nothing compared to what was going on in Warren’s because to her complete and utter shock, he took the seat opposite of her. Layla found herself sitting across from Will’s sworn enemy and the thought alone sent a thrill coursing through her veins. Doing something because she wanted to and not because she knew Will would approve felt good.
Layla let a grin form on her face, which only spread wider once Warren lit the candle at her table with a swish of his finger. So much for not using powers outside of school. Even though it was completely out of character for her, Layla couldn’t bring herself to be irritated by the blatant disrespect of rules.
Before long the two of them fell into a comfortable conversation. Warren wasn’t much of a talker, but Layla didn’t mind. She resorted to telling one of her favorite childhood anecdotes about growing lima beans for a school project. Will had driven himself insane trying to figure out how she grew hers so fast.
“So finally I took mercy on him and I told him about my powers and we’ve been best friends ever since,” she said, trailing off at the end of her sentence. Saying those words out loud had made her too aware of her current situation. She was sitting there laughing, telling a story about how they became friends fondly on the same night he stood her up.
“And the falling for him,” Warren started, seeming to tread lightly, noticing the shift in her demeanor, “Did that come before or after the lima beans?”
Layla’s gut instinct was to lie, lie, lie. She could easily get away with denying any feelings she had ever had for Will. There was no reason for her to share any personal information with the boy seated across from her. But she didn’t have it in her to keep it in any longer.
Especially now, when she was beginning to question everything.
“After,” she responded, straight to the point, “I know, I’m pathetic. He doesn’t even value our friendship enough to get dinner with me after weeks of evading me and I still harbor some kind of feelings for him.”
She was so frustrated with herself, with Will, with herself for being frustrated with Will, and with herself for not letting herself be frustrated with Will when he was so obviously in the wrong here.
“It’s just I don’t know who I am without him, you know? We’ve always been friends. I can’t even remember a time in my life where there was a me without him. It was only natural that I fell for him but I’m starting to wonder if the feelings were ever real to begin with. God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to overshare.”
Layla tried to cover her steps up, to sweep the words she just let tumble out back under the rug where she thought they belonged, but she couldn’t. She could tell by how Warren was looking at her, an expression of almost pity, that she couldn’t take it back.
And would she want to even if she could? Layla was beginning to understand why the concept was called venting. It felt good. Now, the person she decided to vent to wasn’t exactly the prime choice but the fact remained; everything she did tonight, that she’d never let herself do around Will, felt good. Really good.
“It’s ok,” Warren said, interrupting her thoughts for the second time that evening, “I think I understand more than you could imagine.”
And Layla knew it was ridiculous to say but she believed the complete and utter sincerity in his voice. Hea hated Will and probably her by extension and yet she was looking into his eyes and saw not a single hint of mocking or deception.
“Warren Peace, you are not at all what I expected.”
It was like a splash of cold water to his senses. Just like that, the semi-open Warren she had come to know during their conversation was gone. She didn’t understand what exactly she said to wipe the easy-going expression off of his face but it was gone so fast she wondered if she had imagined it in the first place.
All of a sudden there were rushed words being spoken from the kitchen and Warren was unceremoniously leaving Layla to continue his work at The Paper Lantern. He didn’t turn back with a parting, friendly smile and it only made her more sad. Layla was back to square one; alone, stood up, and completely lost in her feelings.
And although he had left her in the end, Warren Peace was the one who had brought Layla happiness and company, if only for a short period of time, not Will Stronghold.