Alrighty, so this was a request from a review for Because I Want You, by a guest. I recieved this request a long time ago but was too busy and too indecisive on how to write it to actually write it. So here it is. Not well edited becuase I wanted to get it up quickly. I had the idea already formed but certain things I just slapped on it to have a bit more fluency. Hope it's not so bad.
Philby's P.O.V
"Let go of me!" I shouted, never having felt so angered, or fearful. I didn't know what it felt like to be in SBS and I didn't want to find out. But, under the circumstances, I was near positive I was going to, whether I liked it or not. Ridiculous as it may sound, I was both captured and dragged away by the Country Bear Jamboree Bears.
Not even paying attention to my yammering, they continued to carry me away, farther and farther from the familiar surroundings of Animal Kingdom. The area where they were taking me seemed to be a shipping area, where supplies were loaded off of trucks and carted to the different stores. Even I, who knew many of the Disney parks like the back of my hand, had never seen this section.
"Where are you taking me?" Silence, none of them spoke. They were going through all this trouble to kidnap me in my DHI form yet they didn't have the courtesy to tell me where I was being taken. Talk about rude.
Before I knew what was going on, I was unwillingly shoved into a wooden crate. The lid was replaced, sealing me in completely; I heard something click. Pounding violently on it was a useless effort; a lock was bolted into place, leaving me without a single idea of how I was going to get out. "Great, this is just perfect." I mumbled, feeling helplessly trapped.
All of a sudden, I was tossed around, in a harsh rocking of the crate. They must be moving me somewhere more secret and secure. To say the least, it was very unpleasant. I wouldn't be surprised to wake up with a few large bruises and aching all over. That is, if I woke. Stop! Think positive.
Finally, the movement stopped. It seemed everything stopped. Really. It was dead silent; I couldn't hear a thing. There was no light coming into the crate; I couldn't see a thing. It was as though all my senses had been turned off. Permanently? "I must warn you, I'm awfully claustrophobic!" I lied, hoping there would be some kind of effect, but I knew there wouldn't be. Nothing moved.
Wait, no, I'm wrong. There is movement. Next to me, I can hear it. "Hello?" A small, hopeful voice came from next to me.
"Willa?" I asked, wondering if it was, indeed, one of my fellow DHI's.
"Philby, is that you?" I could hear the optimism in her voice, rising, as though she thought she'd never come in contact with the outside world ever again.
"Yes, it's me. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. A few scrapes and bruises, but I'll live."
"How did you end up here?"
"I fell asleep." She muttered, regretfully. "I thought I could close my eyes, just for a minute or two. Now, I feel stupid for taking the chance."
"Don't worry." I told her, honestly, "I probably would have dozed off too, eventually."
"So, how did you get here?" I could hear shifting, as though she was trying to find a more comfortable spot. That wasn't going to be achieved easily.
I shrugged, out of second nature, despite the fact that she couldn't see me. "A tiger knocked me down and I hit my head. I must have fallen unconscious."
"Oh my god! Are you hurt?" Nothing but concern in her voice, her sudden compassion seized me strangely. I couldn't link it to a time I'd felt it before. I doubted I had.
"I'm alright." I responded, feeling sorry for frightening her. "I wonder where the others are."
"I hope they're okay." She paused, to think, I assume. "What do you think they're going to do to us?"
"I don't know. I guess the same as they did with Maybeck. Hide us and hope we aren't found." It wasn't the most reassuring of thoughts, I can say that. But, somehow it didn't seem so bad with Willa.
Suddenly, I heard an engine roar to life and we were jerked forward. There was a thud beside me and a quick yelp. "Ow," Willa mumbled.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" I asked, concerned. I could feel us moving over gravel, small bumps making the crates shift. We must have been in a car.
"Yes. The crate fell over, I landed on my arm."
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm okay, really." I couldn't tell if it was just the vibrations of the car or if her voice was trembling.
"Willa, are you scared?"
"No, you're here with me." A chill went up my spine. Usually if a girl liked me, I felt indifferent about it. I couldn't care less about the girls in my school, although I was well aware of their ardor toward me. But something was different now; she felt safe with me, and I was beyond happy to bring her comfort. "Where did you tell your parents you were going?"
"Pardon?" I asked, my thought still faltered by the odd tingly feeling that surged through my body when she spoke.
"The excuse, the reason you gave your parents to be our so early. You must have lied, right. My mom wouldn't have let me come. But, then again, she hasn't really cared since…" She stopped herself, quick, holding her tongue to keep from letting the following words spill unwillingly out of her mouth.
"Since what?" I urged her to continue.
"It's nothing." Out of the Keepers, she seemed the one who least opened herself up. Maybeck would ramble on about anything in his life, just to have the attention on him. Charlene, though quiet at times, told quite some things about herself. As well had Finn and I. Amanda and Jess were a bit more secretive, but they were fairly new to the group. We were all becoming close friends, but Willa was taking her good time to getting accustomed to it.
I knew that trying to drag it out of her wouldn't be fair, but I needed her to trust us, have faith in us. I pushed the subject further, trying not to go too overboard and make her feel self-conscious
"Willa, please tell me. I don't bite." She gave a small laugh at this, but then I said seriously, "You can tell us anything. Remember, we're united. Whether you like it or not, we're going to be in your life a lot from now on." She hesitated. "You can trust me."
"It's just that, a while ago, we were driving home from the movies. My father, my older brothers, and I. It was dark out. It-it happened so quickly. I didn't process it fast enough to realize what was happening until it happened." I could hear the tears in her voice, so painful, it was tearing a hole in my heart. "A drunk driver swerved out of nowhere and slammed into the side of the car. M-my dad didn't make it."
"Oh, god, Willa, that's awful!" I said, sympathy urging its way into the focus of my emotions. For a moment, all I wanted to do was hold her, let her cry until she couldn't anymore, and tell it was going to be okay. Of course, I couldn't.
"Now it's just me and Mark. Andrew went to join the Marines and my mom isn't around a lot since the accident. She goes out of town a lot because of work, or so she says. Either way, I'm glad. When she is here, she acknowledges me and my brother like it's our fault."
"Willa, I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. It's not your fault." The muffled tears stopped, and I think she'd calmed down a little. "I know it might not seem like it because I don't really tell you guys a lot about myself, but I'm really happy I have you for friends. And Amanda and Jess. This is the first time I've really talked about it. With anyone. Thank you, I really appreciate it."
Now I really wanted to hug her. Stupid cage! So instead I said, as compassionately and kindly as possible, "Anytime. That's what friends are for."
"Friends," She repeated, as though testing it, to see if it fitted the whole situation of the DHI's. There was a moment when she went utterly silent. "Friends." Approval. Apparently, she thought it did. Laughter, followed by sniffles and the wiping of tears. "Anyways, so what was your lie?"
"From what I said, my parents think I'm helping a kid from school fix his computer. I told them it might take a long time, maybe even the entire day."
"That's a good one. Oh, and by the way, what you did to Amanda's binoculars, so cool. You must really know your technology, huh?"
I laughed. "Yeah. I guess I do. You think it's cool, though? Not nerdy?"
"Most definitely not nerdy!" She said, giggling to show my absurdity with this statement. "It's awesome! And really helpful with the DHI stuff"
"Really? Thanks." It seemed rude to change the subject so suddenly, and to something we'd both probably not want to worry about, but I had to ask. "Do you think the others will find us?"
She sighed, telling me she'd been thinking about that as well. "That depends, is honesty a key factor of my response?"
"I'll catch you if you lie."
"Fine, then. If I'm being honest, I'm not all too sure. You did find Donnie when he was in SBS but, we can never be positive."
"Yeah, I know. This is very unpredictable and hectic." I admitted. "But, it does have its perks."
"Oh, yeah, and what's that?" She asked, but not irritably, more out of amusement, waiting to see what I could come up with. Some might read her wrong; her occasional moodiness did not work in her favor when it comes to first impressions. But, once you got to know her, she was actually one of the sweetest people you can come to know.
"The fans, for one. Getting to roam the parks at night, something nobody else on Earth gets to do."
"I'll agree to that. It is pretty amazing." I could feel her smile radiate through the wooden walls of our prisons to me, sunshine that gracefully filled the smallest of cracks.
"And I get to spend time with you." Did I really just say that? I could feel myself begin to panic. Urgency surged through me, a need to get out of there, but at the same time, a need to get an answer. The silence was weighing down on me, increasing with every second that went by, until I was sure it was going to crush my bones.
"I like spending time with you too."
Simple. But it was exactly what I needed. Her giggle, happy and perky, swept through me sweet as honey. It was weird, the way I was being overpowered by these hearty feelings.
Did I have a crush on Willa Angelo? I remembered quickly becoming friends at the initial recording sessions, and how we had sat and had lengthy conversations together while the others were taping theirs. She did intrigue me, and I liked how she thought, the way her mind worked, how she contemplated things and made observations of aspects I wouldn't even think of. But did I, going elementary with this wording because it's one of the few ways to impose a likeness towards someone without their being love in the relation, like-like her?
It was then, when I was pondering this, that I heard distant voices, too silent to be even whispers. But they were there. Shortly after, I felt something touch my shoulders, but when I looked there was nothing. It was not wind, not in that securely shut box.
"Did you…did you just feel something?" I asked her quietly, worrying that our speaking to one another might be dissented by the Overtakers and we would be separated. My image flickered, the lining of my DHI faltering slightly.
"Yes." She whispered back, an endearing all-knowingness in her voice. "I think we're being crossed-over."
"Well, then," I smirked, "See you on the other side. I'll be there when you wake up."
"As will I you."
Everything halted. Time. Motion. Flow of blood. And suddenly, I was waking up, feeling immensely groggy, in a Disney hotel room. Maybeck pulled my arm, yanking me out of the comfort of the bed. I looked to the side and saw Finn awakening Willa on the bottom bunk of the bed near me.
"I know you must feel like a zombie right now, but we need to go." Maybeck said, advising us out. We followed their urges. As we ran down the path of the hotel hall, I turned to Willa. She beamed at me, a jovial twinkle in her eyes. And then I knew.
I had a crush on a girl with a petite frame, a charming smile, deep brown eyes, and long dark hair. I had a crush on a girl who was smart, book smart, literature-revolved rants smart. I had a crush on a girl who loved animals, all kinds, even bats. I had a crush on a girl who you were comfortable getting into deep conversations with. I had a crush on a girl I'd met by chance, at a Disney job my mother forced me to audition for.
I had a crush on Willa Angelo.
Okay so please review. No flaming. Sorry if this didn't fit the way you pictured it.
By the way, this might end up like Wilby weekend because I had another few Philby + Willa oneshots that I had ideas for an want to write. I will try to find time to write them and have them up!
