[DISCONTINUED] string bean pt. 2 | wilbur soot

          "You're awake" was the first thing Wilbur said when I answered the phone. "Why're you awake? It's late."

          "Hello to you, too. I woke up from a nap, like, 20 minutes ago. I can't fall back asleep. Is that a problem?" I chuckled, somewhat amused at his over worrying. "Besides, you're the one that called me. What if that woke me up?"

          I could hear Wilbur tsk. "You and I both know you always turn your ringer off before you go to bed."

          He was right; I did do that. He knew me too well. Sometimes I wondered if he knew me more than I knew myself. If I'm being honest, he probably did.

          There was a small beep from my phone. Pulling it away from my ear, I saw that it was a FaceTime request from Wilbur which I gladly accepted. As I watched my brunette British man appear on my tiny screen, I felt a lot calmer with myself.

          I opened my mouth to ask Wil how he'd slept, as it looked like he'd just woken up not long before calling me, but he beat me to it. "Why're you staying with the Lunch Club?"

          "What?" I asked, holding out the 'a.' "I'm not staying with the Lunch Club, what're you talking about?"

          He sighed, rolling his eyes playfully. "Let me rephrase that. Why're you staying at Carson's? Did... something happen?"

          It was my turn to sigh after that, though mine wasn't nearly as playful. I don't know why, but I just didn't want to tell Wilbur the truth. I knew he'd be there for me and be nothing but supportive, but the last thing I wanted was for him to worry about me. At the end of it all, I'll be fine. "Nothing happened," I lied. "I just wanted a bit of a change of scenery is all, y'know? And I missed Carson and Travis."

          "And Cooper?" 

          I looked at his face; full of anticipation. You could tell that he didn't actually want to hear the answer to that question. "Well, yeah, of course. Just... in a friendly way. I missed his friendship. And right now, it's not weird or anything. Like, we can have a normal conversation now-"

          "Don't let him get weird," he interrupted, shaking his head. "I don't want him to do what he did ever again."

          "And it's never happening again, Wil. You have nothing to worry about," I said softly. It was at that moment that I decided that it was probably a good idea to change the subject, but of course, he beat me to it.

          He asked, "Are you sure you're just there for a change of scenery? Nothing happened at home with Elena or anything?"

          "Nothing happened. I'm okay, Wilbur."

          I felt bad lying to him, but I'm sure he had greater things to worry about. He didn't need to worry about his girlfriend on the other side of the world not having a place to live. He'd try too hard to fix it. I don't want him to have to do that for me.

          "Okay," he mumbled, giving in. "If you say so."

         I asked him if he'd stay on the phone while I tried to fall asleep. Of course, he said yes and I fell asleep that night with Wilbur singing soft melodies to me as I tried my best to ignore the tiny pang of guilt I felt in my stomach.

a / n  -  sorry for not writing for a while LOL
was in a pretty bad spot mentally so i just
didn't do it. i'm feeling better now tho so
hopefully, i'll stop procrastinating and 
actually write for you guys :) ily all <4