Target: Wilford Warfstache

Ch. 25

*Wilford's POV*

I didn't know what to do with her. She had suddenly held onto me tightly but wasn't speaking. She was just silent. I tried to get her to talk to me but she wouldn't say anything. I had seen this before when I was sick but...I didn't know what it meant.

All I could do was hold her back, trying to soothe her by rubbing her back some and muttering soft things to her to help her wake up. As if by waking up, she would come back. She would talk to me. She would tell me everything...

I just needed to wait again...

Wait for her to come back to me.

After some time had passed, she began moving. She used her hands to push away from me.

I looked to her and saw her face normalizing. "You alright Lil?"

She nodded, getting up and looking away. "Come on, we should go. The others are probably wondering where we are."

I paused for a moment before nodding, following her. "...Lil?"

She looked over to me silently.

"...Are you ok? You kind of were lost in your thoughts right now and weren't really responding-"

"Everything is fine. Let's just get back to the others." She looked back towards the park.

As cold as she was being...I couldn't let it go. I took hold of her hand. "Lil-"

She pulled up and over herself, making me go over her and onto the ground. But despite the pain I was in, I didn't let her go. "Lil-"

"Let. Go." she demanded, glaring at me...but I knew behind those eyes weren't hatred. She couldn't hate me.

I wouldn't let her.

I shook my head as she continued to glare. "Let go Wilford!"

"Tell me what's wrong Lily," I retaliated, staring into her brown eyes with my own fierce determination. I don't care whether or not I get killed during this transaction-I was not letting go until she told me-

"You say that the others and yourself 'love' me. You say that we will be sticking by each other through thick and thin! But really, all you are doing this for is to gain something. I know it!" she yelled, her voice cracking towards the end. "If my own mother had to force operations of 'love' to get what she wanted, then there's no way in hell any of you would love me without wanting something else to gain from it!" Her grip tightened on my hand and I could feel her nails piercing through my skin. "TELL ME WILFORD! TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT FROM ME!"

As she caught her breath, I was silent. I waited for her to calm down a bit as pain etched through my hand...but I still held on.

After a while, her breathing returned to a normal pace but she was still glaring at me. This was my chance.

I pulled her downwards onto me and held her close, her beginning to struggle and fight back with me but I refused to let her go. She was going to hear me out whether she liked it or not.

After a while, she stopped moving...instead of struggling, she softly muttered, "Wil, please...just let me go..."

"...No. I'm not letting you go until you listen to what I have to say-got it?"

She paused for sometime before sighing and nodding into my shoulder.

I sighed and rubbed her back gently. "...Lily. As much as you think that we want something from you, we don't. Love doesn't require anything to be returned. Hell, you don't even have to love us back but we'll still be caring about you. I don't know why your mother made it seem like a chore or what she had to gain from it apart from you but..." I sighed. "Nothing is being forced...we are treating you the way we are by our own will. We really do care about you despite what you may think...I really care about you...I care about you so much that I want to know everything about you and I want to help you break your walls. I want to make sure you don't get hurt and I want to just hold you close and never let go. I want to be with you, Lily. Through everything. Good, bad, ugly, it doesn't matter to me. Even if it's just us hanging out and sitting together; I want it. I want to love you without any strings attached because...because..." I paused myself as I held her closer. "Because...you are part of us now...you're in our team...and we're going to stick by you no matter what you say. There's no leaving now!" I chuckled some. "So please...if you have any room for belief, let it be now. We love you Lily."

She was silent for some time. She didn't even really move at all she was just...there. I didn't mind though...I knew whatever she was going through right now she would need to fight on her own but...if I could help in any way, I was going to be there for her...forever.

Then, she nodded her head and muttered, "O-Ok..." She hugged me a little tighter and I returned it, feeling tears sting my eyes in joy.

We sat there for awhile, just holding each other. It was nice to be in her arms and to have her in my own...just here, holding one another. Giving each other a comfort that not everyone has access to...and maybe she herself had no access to for a good chunk of her life...

She needed this...

She needed me...

And I was going to be there for her...

No matter what it takes.

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*Lily's POV*

Eventually, Mark, Dark and Google drove up beside us and we separated. As they brought us home, it was quiet mostly, leaving me to my own thoughts about...everything.

Ever since I have been with these people, I have gone through a lot of changes. Being in a group, you have to talk. Communicate. Be in each other's presence for more than a minute.

Spend time with them.

Over the course of these past few weeks...this has been something that we have engaged in on multiple occasions...

Along with being in a group, you grow to have...a 'care' about them. Whether it's them being sick or just enjoying their presence...it's still something...

Something I thought I was incapable of feeling...

Since I'm supposed to be different.

But yet, here I am crying, laughing, caring...All these things I never thought I'd be able to do...

And yet in just a few weeks time, this man, Wilford Warfstache, has...changed me.

I looked over to him to see him looking out the window. This man has altered me from my old self...Something that all doctors had told me would never happen has happened...Something that separated me from everyone else...has been mended...

And now, he claims to love me...I looked to the others. That they all love me...

And for once in a long long time...I was going to believe it.

I felt something on my shoulder and I looked over to see Wilford had fallen asleep on my shoulder. I smiled softly and shook my head.

I was going to believe that the bombastic pink mustached man loved me.

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*???'s POV*

I went up to Kevin's office and knocked before letting myself in. "Hello," I greeted mildly.

He nodded as he referred to a chair. "I presume you have received my message?"

I nodded as I sat down. "I wouldn't be here if I hadn't. You know how my schedule is. I don't have time to waste."

He nodded once more and paused. "We need her removed from them. I feel now would be the best time to bring her here while she's at her peak. Before she begins to believe anything that bumbling idiot tells her."

I nodded and snickered. "It's really funny that before all of this, you had been able to alter anyone's words with a snap of your fingers. Now she's met someone real and your whole operation is on the line!"

He merely chuckled as he looked over his glasses with his demeaning blue eyes which always managed to give me the chills. "Oh Anti, this, this is why I choose to keep you." I stared at him as he pushed his glasses back up. "Now, go find some way to get her away from them. I want her as soon as possible and then, after all of this folds over, you will get your part of it."

I nodded and smirked as I got up, saluting him with two fingers. "See you later, boss."

He waved before turning around and staring out the window.