Chapter Twenty-Four

Iquickly knock on the door and cross my fingers hoping that Willow is in a good mood today. If she's not, there's no chance I get any information from her.

"Hey, Archie! Long time no talk!" she practically shouts as she pulls me in for a hug.

"I know, I'm sorry, I've just been a bit busy," I say as I hug her back.

"Busy with Alison." She winks.

"Busy with the tour, thank you very much."

"Yeah, yeah," she waves me off as she grabs my arm and pulls me inside. "So, what can I do for you? Assuming you're not just here to catch up, right?" She pauses for a second. "Wait, you screwed up with Alison didn't you. What did you do? Come on, Archer, you were doing so well." She starts advancing towards me.

I throw my hands up, "No, no! Everything's fine between us as far as I know."

She slaps me on the shoulder. "Good! Don't scare me like that."

"I just had a . . . um . . . question for you."

She raises her eyebrows at me. "Okay, go ahead." She throws herself down on the couch and drapes her feet over the armrest.

"So, Alison. What's going on with her? Is she okay?" I pause, not knowing what to say next.

Willow quickly sits up and pushes her hair out of her face. "Yeah, what do you mean?" Her eyes dart away from mine. She's clearly trying to play off like she doesn't know what I'm talking about.

"Willow, you know what I mean." I walk across the room and kneel in front of her so that we're eye level. "I know something's wrong with her."

"She's probably just tired," she waves off as she continues to keep her eyes off of mine.

"Wil, you and I both know that isn't true. She's more than just tired right now. She's exhausted. She's clearly in pain. Have you heard how she moans when she moves too much or too quickly? That's not normal even after performing a show. And this morning, she was muttering under her breath when she thought I was sleeping about needing to take medicine before the pain gets worse. Just tell me. I know something isn't right." At this point, I'm basically begging her to tell me anything. I don't even care how pathetic I sound.

"Have you asked her?" Willow questions.

"Not completely outright, but every time I ask her if she's okay, she just says she's fine, but I know she's lying."

Willow just shrugs at me. "Archer, you know I like you, but I'm sorry. There's nothing I can say to you."

I turn my head away from her trying not to let my frustration get the best of me. I understand where she's coming from. Alison is her best friend. Telling me anything without her permission would be a betrayal of trust. I wouldn't want to do that to Willow or to Alison, but I'm beyond worried about her.

"Okay, well can you at least tell me what I can do? Or how I can convince her to tell me what's going on? I just want to help her."

Willow finally turns her eyes back to mine. She stares at me for a few seconds. I sit, waiting for her response.

"You care about her don't you?" Willow finally says.

"Well of course I care about her," I say nonchalantly.

"No. You CARE about her," Willow says again but with more emphasis on care this time.

I turn away from her and stare at the floor. The next thing I know, Willow is off the couch and kneeling on the ground next to me. She grabs both of my hands and takes them in hers.

"Listen, Archer. I can't tell you much, but I can tell you this. I have never seen Alison happier than when she is talking to you or about you. The smile she has on her face is different than before. It's real. It's not some fake show smile that she thinks everyone wants to see. You brought back my best friend, whether she realizes it or not." She drops my hands and wraps her arms around me pulling me in for a hug. "I don't know how to thank you for that."

"Um . . ." I'm at a loss for words.

She suddenly pushes me away from her. "But if you hurt her, I will hurt you. Remember that."

I nod.

"Now, go. I have stuff to do."

Willow stands up, pulling me with her. She all but shoves me to the door. Before I know it, I'm standing outside and the door is closing behind me. I turn back and stare at the numbers on the wood. What just happened?

Dad picks up on the first ring.

"Hey, Arch! Great show tonight. I wanted to come say hi afterwards, but I couldn't find you."

"Sorry, Dad. I had something I had to take care of. I actually wanted to talk to you about that." I bite at the skin on the side of my nail.

"Sure, go ahead."

"Well, something's going on with Alison. Something bad, I think." I pause.

"I'm here to listen," my dad responds.

I let out a breath of relief and just unload everything on him. He doesn't interrupt me once, he just listens. That's one of the things I love about him. He really just knows how to listen without judgement.

"So, what do you think I should do?" I ask confidently. He'll know what to do.

"You want my honest answer?"

"Yeah, of course." I swallow knowing from his response that I'm not going to like what he has to say.

"I don't think there's anything you can do. I think you need to wait and see if she wants to tell you what's going on. You just need to be there for her and be ready to listen when she's ready to talk."

"But, Dad . . . I just . . . I can't sit back and watch when she's clearly suffering. I can't do nothing. I just can't."

"That's exactly what you have to do. Believe me. I've been there. Sometimes the best thing you can do is nothing. When she's ready, she'll come to you. Willow said that you brought her best friend back, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then it sounds like you're already doing exactly what she needs. Keep bringing light into her life."

I nod, again. "Thanks, Dad."

"Anytime."

I hang up my phone and pass it back and forth between my hands. Dad said that I need to keep bringing light into her life, but what he doesn't realize is that she's brought light into mine. I toss my phone onto my bed.

I have the perfect plan.