Take A Chance On Me ☆ [Mamma Mia - Bill Anderson X Reader]

☆9☆

Bill's POV

"Mmmnuurrggh," I hear behind me from the stove, and I look to the spare bed to see Y/N blinking slowly from inside her mass of curly hair. From all the rain it isn't even curly anymore; it seems to have grown into a small cloud permanently attached to her head. It looks very cute.

"Good morning," I call out, and she properly opens her eyes and looks around the cabin. First, she looks confused, then she remembers as dawning realisation floods her face.
"Just tell me we didn't sleep together, okay?"

Cheek! I'm not that bad! "I only sleep with women when they are fully awake and fully consenting, thank you very much. Is that how lowly you think of me?" I touch my hand to my chest in mock heartbreak, and she giggles sleepily at me.
I finish cooking our breakfast and pour it into two chipped bowls, walk over to her, and give her the least broken one. She takes it with a small grateful smile, and looks at the contents. She looks back up to me with an eyebrow raised, this time in amusement.
"Porridge?"
"Isn't that what British people have for breakfast every day?"

She laughs, more awake now, and her laugh sounds really good. Not scoffing or patronising, like I heard the day before - it sounds low and full and fruity. It's not musical like her sister's constant laughing, and I find it perfectly suits her. Before I realise what I'm doing I spread my lips into a small smile, then forcibly turn it into a broad grin, because where the Hell did that small smile come from?

As she begins to eat with the spoon I gave her, I stand up from where I was bent over and start to tidy up things, turning off the stove and putting away ingredients.
"I didn't want to wake you, because it seemed you had quite an adventurous day yesterday. Although, at times throughout the night I was worried you had actually gotten a concussion so I had to wake you up every so often and check your eyes. You're all fine - even your leg has gotten better." I look back to her bed, and remember how uncomfortable that hard floor was to sleep on last night. I don't want anyone dying on me, that would be horrible, especially since I am technically a doctor.

As if she could see into my train of thought, Y/N says to me from her bed, "Ah, because you're a doctor aren't you? Or at least that's what my memory tells me."
She walks over to me and swipes a mug of coffee I had just made - for myself. I smirk at her - oh well, she probably needs it more.
"Yes, I am," I reply whilst she takes a swig of my drink, "but I don't want to be."
"So that's why you're sailing?" she asks studiously, and I put down the washcloth and look at her, thinking she would be staring at me for more but she's actually looking down into the mug, concentrating on something else with a cloudy face.

"Yes," I say softly, surprising myself, "that's why - to find my true calling. What about you?"
She looks into the liquid as if she's not going to answer, then clicks her tongue and looks at me and shrugs.
"I don't know. Mum does it? Donna wants to do it? Why does anyone do anything? They're pushed to by other forces. My forces are my family, I guess."
I remember what she said whilst falling asleep yesterday, and gently say, "You told me it's something to do with being sensible at home."

She nods, and looks into the distance from a window just past me. "Mum's always gone, Dad is just a fantasy, and Donna has the Sheridan free spirit -"

I'm quick to say, "So do you!" and she immediately shakes her head slowly. I frown: she does too have a free spirit, I can see it in her, it just seems to be trapped in her own soul. She needs to let it out to learn about herself.

Changing tack, I ask, "Where have you gone the past few days?"
She shrugs, taking a sip. "France, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, the Greek mainland, then here. Why?"

I risk getting myself slapped so she can see her spirit, and slowly place my hand on the middle of her chest, between her shoulder blades and above her breasts. She does nothing, just stares at me with understandable confusion and slight alarm in her eyes.
I press onto her skin. "Y/N, you have the free spirit. I can see it. But it's trapped inside something, although it has been fluttering its wings since a few days ago. Trust me... you have the spirit."

Her eyebrows slowly rise and her lips form a small O.
She looks me in the eyes with a yearning expression, and says in a voice I can barely hear, "You really think so?"
I nod soberly, knowing this must be a big deal to her. "I know it is in there."

The two of us stay staring into each other's eyes, time losing itself as I note every eyelash curled upwards, each wisp of bouncy hair that falls into her face, her smooth lips as she breathes silently through them. She really is beautiful - not just her face, but her soul too. My Aunt Sophia on the island always said I had the gift for seeing souls like our ancestors, and hers is like a song waiting for its chance to sing.

After a while, I don't know how long, Y/N blinks and breaks away looking furtive and mildly annoyed. She firmly places the half-full mug on the tabletop next to the stove and looks around to find her camera. As she finds it and goes to examine how bad the damage is, my eyes follow her. Why does she seem angry at herself?

She grunts in frustration and drops a piece of the camera back onto the towel they were rested on. "It's dead. Everything's broken apart from the SD card. I can't believe I'd be so stupid! This was a professional-standard camera from a ruddy film set, I've had it for years, and I go and drag it through a storm!"
I go to her, patting her shoulder because it seems the right thing to do. "I'm sorry for your camera."
She shakes her head, barely registering my hand on her shoulder. "I really wanted to take photos of this island. Kalokairi looks so captivating, and now I won't have anything to remember it by."

She seems to remember something else though, as she blinks and her eyes get wide, and she stands up to search the boat and asks me, "Is there anything else of mine here?"
I resist the bachelor's urge to joke, 'only my heart,' and shake my head no. She walks up to the deck and I follow her, and she's already stepped onto the docks and is walking away.

Wait! I don't want her to leave now, she's really interesting and cute!
"Hey, where are you going?" I call after her, and without looking back she shouts, "I have to find Donna!"
It always seems she worries about Donna more than herself. Why is she like that with her twin - I'm not like that with mine.
"How about when I come back in three weeks I get you a new camera?" I yell, and her dot on the beach shouts something I can't quite hear, then disappears between the rocks.

I smile in a mixture of intrigue and amusement. This girl is odd. In a different way to her sister: Donna is wild, but Y/N seems to carry her and her sister's responsibilities on her shoulders. I feel my lips turn upwards again as I think about how cute she looks. I wonder if her hair will ever turn back to normal?

Mildly satisfied yet bummed that I will not see either of these girls again for a while, I turn to my boat and fix it up so I can set sail for the competition.
The sky looks calm, a good sign - no storms to come again for what looks like a while. I forgot to tell Y/N that. Should I go find her and tell her? No, I think as I tighten the rigging, that would be weird. I've known her for a partial day and a half, and I don't run after strangers. It's not my style.

I double check that everything is firmly set, then go to the engine and switch it on. I then move to the wheel and I set off from the island for the second time in two days, looking back at the spot where Y/N disappeared.

Anyway, time to get to the competition and focus...

"I'd heard about you before...
I wanted to know some more...
And now I'm about to see...
What you mean to me..."