Above Ground: Inner Sanctum (Effigy Room)

Lara shrugged. "Either way it sucks. We all stay here and rot or we get up off our asses and do something. We die here, or we die there." in a quieter voice she added. "Wouldn't you regret not taking this opportunity? Some point down the road?"

"Yeah I would..." Will sighed and shook his head. "Sorry, I'm just..."

He didn't really know what he was feeling, to be honest. Nor how he could explain it. He felt something in between frustration, fear and anticipation, but he also felt sort of empty. He looked up at the ceiling for inspiration.

Pulling the hand that was on his back away, Lara reached for Will's hand, squeezing it gently. "It's ok..." she whispered.

Will gladly welcomed the warmth that came from Lara's hand and let himself be comforted. He squeezed her hand and glazed at her intently. She looked so beautiful...

Noticing Will squeeze her hand back, Lara looked up to see just exactly how intently he was studying her. While the way he was looking at her made her slightly nervous, she couldn't bring herself to break her gaze from his...

Will looked at her and slowly leaned forward...

When Lara noticed how close Will was leaning, part of her wanted nothing more than meet him halfway. She almost did. At least, until she realized what she may be getting herself into...

True, she liked Will, probably more than a friend should... but she didn't want to totally kill off their friendship because she was afraid of relationships.

Carrying out the first thing that came to mind, Lara raised her right hand and slapped it right across Will's face. Not hard enough to leave a mark... but hard enough to hurt.

"What are you doing?!?!?" she breathed out in a panicked tone.

Will held his cheek where Lara's slap had stung.

"I thought it was obvious what I was doing." Will said. In his voice, he made it more than obvious that it was displeased with the outcome.

"Well if it was obvious that you were ruining our friendship, why'd you still go ahead and do it?" Lara exclaimed in a panicky tone.

She sighed before adding in a much softer tone. "You broke the rules..."

"I wasn't ruining our friendship!" Will said indignantly. "And what rules?"

He'd never been more frustrated, embarrassed and confused in his whole life. He wanted them to be together... was that so wrong...?

"The rules where we stay friends forever! Where we're there for each other no matter what, messing around with each other and just hanging out!" she blurted out.

"How're we supposed to keep it that way if we start going out? Not to mention what would happen in the end when it's all over." Lara sighed. "Will... you're one of my best friends. One of the only people I can have a conversation with without ever having the urge to hex them. I don't wanna lose that..."

When did they settle that? He asked himself seriously confused.

But that thought was desintegrated when he heard her logic.

"I..." Will avoided her eyes... she was right, if they started to go out and things went sour... She was one of his bestmates too... He didn't want to lose that...

But...

He wanted her. And he was pretty sure she felt something for him. He was willing to bet his motorcycle on it... but could he wager his friendship with her?

"I'm sorry..." He said finally, pulling away from her. "...it was a - mistake. It won't happen again, I promise."

Lara nodded slowly, breathing in shakily. As much as she wanted to go over to him and tell him to screw everything she said and kiss her, she couldn't. At least... not now. Not while their present was how it stands.

"Someday..." she thought to herself.

At his apology she forced a small smile unto her face, though she felt a sharp coldness the moment he pulled back. "It's fine, please, don't worry about it." she said as she punched him lightly on the shoulder. The way friends do. Friends. Not boyfriend and girlfriend.

"Yeah, you should probably forget everything that just happened..." Will said trying to lighten up the mood, but failing miserbly. Somehow his voice didn't want to cooperate. His delivery sounded rather mean.

He continued to avoid her gaze and when she punched him, he tried to smile, however, it seemed to be very much forced and looked like a grimance.

He decided before he said or did anything stupid, he would leave there immediately. "Listen, I'm just going to go for a fly. I'll see you around later."

Before she could answer he turned around and headed for his motorcycle. He needed to clear his head.

The forced smile fell off Lara's face as she called for him to return. "Will, wait..." Although she was almost positive it was too late and he was probably beyond hearing range.

Will heard her. He had half a mind to just keep going and pretend to not hear her but something in him forced himself to stop.

Lara quickly caught up to Will, approaching him and locking her gaze with his.

"Someday..." she whispered softly into his ear. She kissed him gently on the cheek before running away.

Will touched his cheek, stunned.

Funny really, on one cheek he got slapped, on the other, kissed. That was reason number 562 of why he liked Larissa Kaminski. One second she was as sweet as she was bitter the second before.

As he watched Lara exit the Effigy Room, one thought was in his mind... He would make someday, sooner than she thought.