Althea wakes up the next morning her head throbbing. She realizes that the covers were laid on top of her, even though she remembers going to sleep the other way around. The smell of bacon wafts through the room making her stomach growl. She slowly gets out of bed, her eyes heavy from the tears she cried last night. She shrugs towards the door following the smell. Entering the kitchen, her hazel eyes lands on William who was having a hard time flipping a pancake. Forcing it off the skillet, the circular bread flew up and flopped onto his spiky dark brown hair. He curses, picking the failed creation off his head.  

Althea bursts out into laughter, causing William to jump back and drop the pancake to the floor. "Ha, ha. Very funny. Go ahead laugh it up." He smiles at her happy to see her laughing. 

"I can't. I can't help it." Still laughing, she walks to the stove and takes over making the pancakes. "Here, I'll handle this, hurry and get the bacon of the stove before it burns." She takes a spatula and begins scraping off the pieces that stuck to the bottom of the pan, then turns down the eye of the stove seeing that the main problem was him cooking it too fast.  William follows her orders taking out a paper plate and laying a paper towel over it. He takes the bacon from the skillet and places them on the plate.

Althea pours a bit of oil into the pan and takes the bowl of pancake mix left to the side on the counter, giving it a quick stir and checking the viscosity. She pours it in the pan and gives it time to cook. She feels two arms wrap around her waist as William puts his chin on her shoulder. He was only a few inches taller then her. He was around 5'11 and lean while she was 5'8 and lanky, barely anything on her. No curves or even boobs, not even a booty which apparently as an African American was something she was supposed to have. Someone should have told her genes. She was a complete stick. 

"I can't flip it with you holding me like this." She says keeping an eye on the pancake.

"But I don't wanna let go." He moans into her neck. She smacks his arms with the spatula. He quickly lets go and backs away from her shaking his hand back and forth rapidly from the sting. "Fine, I'll just then." He smirks. 

"Do you want breakfast or not?" Althea humphs as she flips the pancake over. 

William breathes out a small laugh and watches Althea adoringly, "Are you feeling alright?" 

"Of course," She says not looking at him and working on making the next pancake. "Feeling great."

"Are you sure?" He asks concerned. "When I got here last night. You didn't seem all too well."

"Yup, super." She says a little too quickly, trying to get him to stop asking. 

Will frowns at her tone of voice, but doesn't push any further. He waits until she's finished making the last pancake. He helps her out by taking out a couple of plates and cups. Althea places a stack of three on his place along with several strips of bacon, while taking two of each for herself.  William pours them a glass of orange juice then grabs the syrup.

As Althea walks to the couch, William steps in front of her path, gently placing his fingers under her chin lifting up her head so that her eyes would meet his. He looks at her heavy lidded eyes, the darken bags that looked as if they were heavy enough to weigh down on her soul. He strokes fingers across her cheeks and brushes the bags under eyes. "You know you can count on me, right? You don't have to hide it." He gives her an encouraging smile. 

Althea turns to peek at him. She knew that smile all too well. That tight lipped smile saying everything will be alright, yet unsure of the words being said. 

Althea nods, "I know." She smiles back. She appreciates the gesture, even if she was not that sure. Satisfied, he moves out the way for her. The two sit on the couch eating their breakfast and watching an anime. While William was not too big on them, Althea loved them and would binge series after series. William would always casually watch them with her knowing how happy it made her to have a person to enjoy her favorite entertainment with, he did not even complain when she would force him to watch some shonen ai, or anime shows with light male on male relationships. In return Althea would watch and root for his favorite football team, Manchester, and being apart of the varsity football team, she had always managed to dutifully show up to every game.

"When do you have to go back?" William asks. Althea finishes her food and puts the plate down on the coffee table in front of them. She leans against Will's shoulder as the opening to the next episode played. 

"Thursday," She states. "So in four days."

"I have practice Thursday. I'll tell coach to see if I can get out of it."

"No," Althea closes her eyes cutting him off. "You should go to practice. Don't worry, my dad will be with me. He kind of outclasses you when it comes to comfort." She makes a small joke in teasing him.

Will laughs, "Alright, but tell me how it went when you get back." He takes her left hand and looks at the small engagement ring wrapped on her small finger. Althea grips his hand back. He always made her day better, always giving her a reason to smile. She tells him of her former idea to make letters and everything that went on last night. At first, Will was not so thrilled of this, but after awhile he agreed to it, supporting her and holding her closer.  Althea takes in his warmth as two stay like that for awhile, allowing themselves a precious moment in time.