163 Under the Grapevines End

'Ya think?'

As Liz heard this cheeky reply from her inner voice, she ignored it and wondered what Will might be thinking.

This really had gone much further than she had imagined, so she was panicking, slightly afraid that she might actually push Will away as she had been too bold.

She had heard that men didn't really like it when their girlfriends were too forward, instead preferring that they always take the lead.

Of course, she couldn't apply this to Will, but silly thoughts like this sprung up in her head due to the silence.

No. She couldn't give her mind free rein.

Most of all, she was afraid that the relationship which had been progressing so nicely till now might be spoilt in some way, but she decided that she would face it head on, instead of imagining what might or might not be, which might lead to unnecessary or foolish misunderstandings.

So, she turned around and was surprised to see that Will was actually smiling at her with his hands behind his back.

There were none of the emotions she had feared on his face, and happiness was the only thing she could see in his eyes.

This made her let out the breath that she had been holding while turning around, while Will walked forward to stand right in front of her before looking into her eyes.

"Why so shy now? You weren't just a moment ago…", He said, but Liz could tell that he was just teasing her.

Still, she couldn't help but look down.

However, when Will raised his hand and used his thumb and index fingers to hold her chin before gently making her head tilt up, she didn't resist.

"You are…"

As he thought about what words he could use to express his feelings, Will was surprised when he came up with a blank.

She was just too amazing to be described with words!

Before, it had been quite amusing to see that bold girl from before show her back to him while feeling shy.

At that moment, he had realised clearly just how much he liked her.

He could tell that this awkwardness was definitely because what was between them hadn't been put into clear words yet, even though Mama Dorota had declared them boyfriend and girlfriend.

Hence, he had decided to tell her exactly how he felt, and also that there was no reason to be embarrassed.

Because he was too busy thinking about words to use, he didn't notice that Liz's eyes were sparkling while looking at him.

She had already understood exactly what he wanted to say, as it was so clear in his eyes, so much so that he didn't even need to use any words to describe it.

Still, she waited to hear what he would say, as any woman would definitely love being spoken about by their boyfriend.

To encourage him, she put aside some of the shyness and caught hold of his hands, which made him shout out one word in exasperation:

"…awesome!"

As if understanding that he had used the most rudimentary and ordinary of words to describe someone so extraordinary, Will shook his head with slight panic appearing on his face.

However, seeing Liz's chuckle, this panic disappeared and was replaced once again by sheer joy due to the fact that this woman was standing in front of him.

Deciding that he should stop thinking and just speak, he opened his mouth and said, "Ignore that. I was a fool to even try and use words to describe you. The truth is that I could never say just how special you are and just how much you mean to me, Elizabeth Redmayne. Right now, I cannot even imagine spending a day without at least talking to you. Without even realizing it, you have become such an integral part of my life, that not a minute goes by without me thinking about you. You are brilliant, smart, funny, gorgeous, and can I say, after that engagement we just had – insanely hot."

Liz had been smiling gently with happiness feeling her up, but that last part once again made her blush before looking down.

This time, Will chuckled before saying, "There is no reason whatsoever to be embarrassed about what happened. I want it to happen again and again and again. It was amazing. You are amazing. And I think that it is high time we let go of all that awkwardness. I think I'm ready for that. How about you?"

As each word came out of his mouth, Will slowly felt the wound that he had suffered all those years back that was still fresh and bleeding to this day, slowly get stitched up, bit by bit, allowing him once again to be himself, instead of that gravely injured being that only wished to live forever in its shell, closed off from everyone.

All that coldness, all that awkwardness, all that resistance – all of it had been due to this wound, but he now found that he could step past it.

Of course, he couldn't change completely overnight, but it was definitely true that he was on the right track – at least with this woman, he could definitely try to be himself – an intelligent, caring, doting and bold man who would do anything for his girl.

However, one last fear stopped the last stitch. So, identifying what it was, he decided to speak it out.

"There is something that I want to tell you, Elizabeth. I know the Keren already mentioned it. I was hurt, once, and that changed me in ways that even I cannot begin to understand. However, I do know one thing: I need there to be complete honesty between us. No secrets, no lies. If there is even one, I'm afraid that I will completely break apart into a million pieces, with no hope of ever recovering again. It was secrets and lies which broke me before, and I don't know if –"

Towards the end, Will's voice started to break, as he began to remember all of those things that he had stored away in the deepest recesses of his mind.

His pain could be felt in his tone, but to his surprise, before he could finish, he found himself interrupted by two lips.

Indeed, Liz had stepped forward and tiptoed to kiss him briefly on his lips before stepping back and looking down again before nodding.

From this point on, everything was going to change.