Chapter 36: Newlyweds

Muffincake finally answered Hazel's message after about eight minutes. 'Oh? That sounds an awful lot like you have someone in mind. I think Topaz has a cruuuuush'

'Don't be stupid. I'm married' she typed back tersely.

'What?! Since when? You never mentioned this!' Muffincake sent over a gif of someone screaming in disbelief and Hazel couldn't help but laugh. She was so overdramatic.

They didn't normally talk about anything other than the comic they were collaborating on. Why would Hazel bother telling her she was married? It wasn't like they were friends.

'It was a recent development'

'Aww, newlyweds! So cute. How long have you been together? How did you meet? I'm so single. Please give details and make me feel worse about myself from the cuteness'

Muffincake was about to flip her lid but Hazel didn't want to lie.

'We met and married on the same day in Las Vegas. We were both hung up on our first loves and kind of just went for it because we couldn't be with them. I think he might like me now though'

As predicted… 'TOPAZ YOU ARE LIVING IN AN ACTUAL ROMANCE COMIC RIGHT NOW. THIS IS SO UNFAIR!!!!!!!!!'

Hazel frowned. How was that a good thing exactly? People got married in Las Vegas on a whim every day. There was nothing cute or special about it.

'If you want an instant husband so badly go to Vegas yourself' she suggested.

'No way, are you kidding? I might end up with a major creep. Your husband isn't a creep, is he?!'

'No, he's normal. Actually, I was upset and proposed to an entire bar saying I would marry anyone and he pulled me down off the table and said if I was serious that he would marry me so some creep wouldn't'

'Awwww, what a knight in shining armor! Is he handsome? What's he like? I need answers!'

Muffincake seemed oddly invested in this. Real life was not a plotline, okay? This girl spent way too much time reading and writing. Hazel was about to respond when she got a reply from Will.

'Some people who work with me screwed something up big time and we lost a lot of money, so that's always fun. Sounds like your day is going better than mine'

No kidding! Losing money always sucked but especially when it wasn't even your fault. Will had been so kind to her; there had to be something she could do to cheer him up when he got home. In the meantime she couldn't even think of something comforting to say.

Her first instinct was to send over her initial reaction. 'Yikes' That seemed harsh though so she send a second message. 'I'm sorry that happened to you. Hang in there'

Hazel buried her face in her hands. She was no good at comforting people! It wasn't like she ever had to do it before. Billy Lawson didn't ever show when he was upset so she couldn't even practice on the one person she was close to before she ended up dumping him for being a liar.

Although…didn't she used to hold the other Billy's hand when he got mad? It didn't happen terribly often and was usually only in relation to how Hazel got treated. He was very sensitive about her well-being.

That was so many years ago that she had nearly forgotten. Maybe she could give that a go. Will did seem to enjoy being touched, asking for cuddles more than once. Oh! All she had to do to make him feel better was cuddle him!

But it didn't feel like enough for such a huge loss. He seemed to really like her art…she could draw him some sort of silly cartoon on a card. At the very least it might make him laugh. She could do both.

Going back to Muffincake's question…what was Will like? He was charming, kind, and had a devastating smile and hazel eyes that changed color and seemed to stare right through you.

Sometimes Hazel got the oddest impression she was actually very important to him because of the way she caught him looking at her. But he wasn't one to push his luck. He probably wouldn't say anything unless she asked.

That was one answer she wasn't sure she wanted. They had a good friendship going now and she didn't want to ruin it by trying to have a relationship she couldn't fully commit to.

'He's sweet, considerate, and loves to read. He's also an art enthusiast and enjoys traveling. He's handsome in a normal kind of way but his smile is devastating' Hazel responded.

'A devastating smile, huh? This I want to see. Do you have a picture? And why do you think he likes you?' Muffincake typed eagerly.

Hazel didn't have a picture. The only ones they had were from the wedding and they were on a CD somewhere. She wasn't sure where Will put it. It would be weird asking Will to send over a picture of himself so she did a quick sketch of him smiling from memory.

She sent over the picture and thought about the next question. Honestly, she had no idea why he would like her. But that wasn't what Muffincake was asking. She wanted to know why Hazel was suspicious of him.

It was kind of hard not to feel like a man liked you when he was ridiculously nice to you despite being complete strangers. He treated her far better than any other man in that bar would have; of that she was sure.

Anyone else would have wanted her body but Will never pushed her for anything she was truly uncomfortable with. He hadn't even kissed her.

'For some reason he makes me feel cherished. He's very kind to me considering we were strangers'

She was too embarrassed to tell her colleague that they hadn't so much as kissed yet. That was kind of personal. She had already shared far more personal details with this random woman from the internet than she had anyone she actually knew in person since opening up to Billy as a child.

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