Hazel In The - Chapter 24

After Hazel was sure that her husband was asleep, she snuck out to make her s’mores. It was probably close to 11 PM when she started trying to build up the fire using a video tutorial she found online.

Firewood, newspapers, and matches were kept in a storage shed nearby; she had checked earlier. All she needed to do was create a teepee of sorts out of the wood and light the kindling underneath it.

Lacking a proper marshmallow roasting stick, Hazel ended up snitching a knife with a long blade from the kitchen and sticking the marshmallow on the tip. As long as she kept it angled upward, the marshmallow didn’t fall off.

“Why are you roasting marshmallows at eleven o’clock at night?” an incredulous voice asked from behind, making her jump so abruptly that the marshmallow fell off the knife.

Will was standing behind her in a pair of plaid pajama pants and a tee shirt, appearing quite baffled. Hazel ducked her head in shame.

“…I didn’t want you to think I was being childish so I waited until I thought you were asleep. What are you doing down here, anyway?”

“I wasn’t fully asleep. When I realized you had gotten out of bed and didn’t come back for a while I figured you had gone somewhere,” Will explained before shaking his head in exasperation.

“Hazel, you don’t ever have to worry about me judging you for doing anything. And I do have marshmallow roasting sticks. They would probably work a lot better than that knife.”

She looked up at him with wide eyes. “You do? Why?”

Will sighed. “You didn’t wonder why I would have a fire pit in the first place? I happen to enjoy s’mores. The store sold marshmallow roasting sticks in a three pack; I’ll go get two. Wait here.”

He came back a moment later and handed one to her. This stick meant business. It had a wooden handle but there were two metal prongs at the other end so you could roast more than one marshmallow at a time.

Hazel wasn’t sure whether she was more embarrassed at being caught roasting marshmallows late at night or the fact that he knew she was trying to hide it from him. Will pulled another of the lawn chairs next to her so they could roast marshmallows together and didn’t say anything. It wasn’t a judgy silence but it almost made her feel worse.

Why hadn’t he scolded her for waking him up? Or made fun of her for doing such a ridiculous thing in the night? Most of all, why had he seemed perfectly content to join her?

Her husband’s behavior was very strange. She frowned. There really was no reason for him to be doing this with her since he had to leave early for work in the morning.

“Will, why are you roasting marshmallows with me?”

“It seemed fun,” he deadpanned. “I haven’t done this in a while.”

“Aren’t you going to be tired tomorrow?”

“Probably.”

“Then why are you doing it?” Hazel asked, increasingly more frustrated that she didn’t understand his actions at all.

“Because it lets me spend time with you,” Will said simply, giving her one of those devastating lopsided smiles.

Her heart flipped over in her chest. That was definitely flirting. He was flirting with her. Why was he flirting with her?

Hazel thought back to the moment they first met, when she accused him of hitting on her and he said he wasn’t but he could if she wanted him to. Did that mean he was actually interested in her? Impossible. If you’re interested in someone you ask them out, not accept their wild marriage proposal.

“I really don’t get you,” she admitted.

Will inspected his marshmallow to see if it had gotten any browner, answering without looking at her. “What’s not to get?”

Everything, okay! Nothing he did made any sort of sense! She had married a complete enigma.

It didn’t make sense for a total stranger to treat her like this. Although…he seemed to want to do things with her. Playing pool. Roasting marshmallows. Asking about her day. Wuxiaworld for visiting.

Was Will lonely? Did he accept her completely random marriage proposal because he wanted to bring someone back to help fill this giant, empty cabin? That was a possible reason but it was still pretty unbelievable.

Lonely people got pets or joined online communities, not married complete strangers. For all he knew, she could be completely psycho. She wasn’t but that was beside the point.

“Why do you act the way you do towards me?” Hazel managed to ask.

Flickering flames from the fire pit reflected in Will’s eyes as he stared at his marshmallows. “Because I want to. Isn’t that reason enough?”

She wanted to say no but honestly she couldn’t find the right rebuttal. How was she supposed to respond to that. Because he wanted to? What kind of answer was that?

A few minutes later, once Hazel deemed her marshmallows ready to make it onto the graham cracker, she finally had a response ready. She cleared her throat and wouldn’t meet his eyes, instead focusing on putting her s’more together.

“But why would you want to? You don’t know me. You had no reason to marry me since I’m basically leeching off of you and no reason not to demand something of me in return. I don’t understand.”

Will sighed and reached out to muss her hair. “You’re a paranoid one, aren’t you? But I promise, I’m the last person on earth you need to worry about. Think of me as a friend, a benefactor, a lover…whatever you want. Just know that I’m here for you.”

Hazel narrowed her eyes, even more suspicious than before. That was a strange little speech. But now wasn’t the time to worry. She had her first ever s’more to try out.

She took a big bite and nearly moaned in appreciation. This was every bit as delicious as Billy said it would be.

She should have known. Everything he told her back then had been true except for his promise that he would find her if they ever got separated. He probably was dead. He had never lied to her before then so she couldn’t think of a reason he would break his promise.

Promises meant nothing to Hazel now, including the one Will had just made. She didn’t trust a single soul in this world aside from herself. Her husband couldn’t win her trust with odd behavior and pretty words either.